Nigeria is a democratic African country located on the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria’s federal government is comprised of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The Nigerian President, Buhari, is currently the head of the Executive branch–he is up for reelection in February 2019. Nigerian citizens vote on their president every four years. In 2015 Nigeria had a rather peaceful election despite the uproar happening within the country, and the threat of attacks from Boko Haram. Political tensions will still be high for this upcoming election due to to the unrest coming from both the North and South ends of the country. Despite this the current president is urging all candidates “to go about their campaigns peacefully and decently”. The international community has chimed into this issue and have called for, “free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections” they further “ urge all involved – political and non-political actors – to refrain from using hate speech and take a firm stance against violence”. Nigeria currently has two major political parties; The All Progress Congress, this is the party of the current president; and the Peoples Democratic Party, this is the party Atiku Abubakar is a member of, Abubakar is running against Buhari in February 2019. The ideology behind the All Progress Congress is increase in security and a policies for anti corruption. The Peoples Democratic Party is currently focusing on transformation of Nigeria.
The president’s responsibilities include the duties of commander in chief, chief of state, and head of the government. The president holds the right to sign bills or veto them. The Legislative branch includes the house of representatives as well as the senate. The house of representatives is comprised of 360 members. These members are elected every four years based off simple majority. The senate has 109 members, for every 3 districts they have one senate member represent them. The Judiciary branch has 13 associate judges led by the Chief Justice. These judges are appointed by the president and approved by the senate.
The corruption in Nigeria is a threat to its democracy; some politicians are in office for the sole purpose of stealing from the government. The officials running Nigeria are selfish and care only about their personal agenda. In regards to the upcoming election the international community is particularly concerned with vote-buying and stress this is a huge threat to having a free and fair election. Due to the corruption within the country Nigerians fear being able to canvass for the candidate of their choice. Expressing this concern could cause them to be framed and jailed for a crime they didn’t commit. This could be viewed as a violation of freedom of speech as the intolerance increases for those that hold contradictory views. Nigerian citizens also are in fear of having peaceful protest, and often lack the right to publically dissent. The corruption within Nigeria is tearing its democracy apart and demolishing everything the country has worked hard to achieve.
Boko Haram, a terrorist group, is affecting the entire lake chad basin, Nigeria included. More than 2.3 million people within the Basin are displaced. Food insecurity and malnutrition have reached critical levels. Over 100 children have had explosives fastened to their bodies.This is in clear violation of the international war law and the international humanitarian law. The international community has stepped in. The United Nations Security Council resolution 2349 of 2017 states “the need for a holistic, comprehensive approach to degrade and defeat Boko Haram and ISIL that includes coordinated security operations, conducted in accordance with applicable international law” this resolution was unanimously passed. The international community recognizes the uproar Boko Haram is causing and agrees that this must be dealt with immediately. Boko Haram is an incredibly dangerous terrorist group with a record of attacking and kidnapping foreign victims including United Nation staff, French citizens, Britain’s, Germans, Lebanese, Italians, Chinese, Greeks, and Koreans. This is a regional issue that requires and international solution. The United Nations also recognizes that it can not infringe on the national sovereignty of this country, in resolution 2349 they write: “Affirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria”. Nigeria has been in communication with Boko Haram for quite some time. They have had many discussion regarding a ceasefire; however, critics of the government say this a sham and the government can not adequately handle the terrorists groups.
The Nigerian government also has to deal with the guerilla movement coming from the southern end of Nigeria. This movement is in regards to the conflict between Nigerians and the multinational oil industries. The Nigerians claim that the oil companies have neglected the Nigerian populations and caused irreversible environmental damage over the past decade. The Nigerians are maddened by this and have formed many gangs to get revenge on the oil companies. Non governmental organizations such as Amnesty International have chimed in on this issue and have stated that the Nigerian government says they have a handle on the situation; however, Amnesty International noticed no government intervention and does not think the “government has a grip on the situation”.
Nigeria has a very evenly split Muslim and Christian community. The Muslims are comprised of groups including the women’s organization, student organizations, emirate traditions, Boko Haram extremist, as well as just ordinary Nigerians. The Christian population includes: Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, and Pentecostals. There is conflict between these two religious communities.