User:Schrutebeetfarm

Nigerian Public Policy
By: Hannah Viertel, Taylor Stein, and Karli Lutton

a. Three facts from today's reading

1) The reason most Nigerians live in debt is due to Nigeria’s large dependence on oil revenue. Instead of the people benefiting from the oil revenue, the government officials pocket all of the money, leaving their people in poverty.

2) Most Nigerians support federalism; they want any power to be shared and they want to be able to contact their government which would in turn create a true democratic rule. Many southerners point out that federalism can only exist if the central government gives some of its power to state and local governments.

3) After international oil prices plummeted in the early 1980's, Nigeria was forced to turn to international organizations for help in managing its huge national debt. In 1985, the Babangida regime developed an economic restructural adjustment program with the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The program sought to restructure and diversify the Nigerian economy so that it could decrease its dependence on oil.

b. Three assumptions from today's reading

1) The government of Nigeria operates under a patron-clientelism system in which the military and political elite operate with only their self interest in mind. State control of resources means that those in the pyramid get the spoils and they alone have access to wealth and influence.

2) Southerners protested the practice of revenue sharing because they do not trust the government and therefore no one believed that the profits would benefit anyone except corrupt government officials.

3) Northerners generally don't support the true federalism movement with regions controlling their own resources because their regions historically have not had as many resources or as much revenue to share. Many northern states benefit more than southerners from nationally sponsored redistribution programs.

c. Three unanswered questions from today's reading

1) Will Nigeria be able to remain together as a nation despite their lack of a coherent national identity?

2) Will Nigeria ever be able to diversify its economy and not rely solely on oil?

3) Is it possible for Nigeria to change from its system of patron-clientelism to establish a true democracy?