1.2 Nigeria 1.2 Nigeria Nigerianpolitical structure political structure political structure
Nigeria occupies an important place as the most populous young democratic country in SubSaharan
Africa. It is also the second largest economy after South Africa in the continent. Most
of the problems common to developing countries experimenting with democracies are not
strange to this country. Nigeria gained independence from British rule in 1960. The first
democratic regime in the country lasted for only five years before it was truncated by the
military in 1965. The country did not experience democratic rule untill 1979 when another
general election was conducted. Once again, the military terminated the democratic
governments after four years in 1983 and remained in power untill 1999. Since 1999, about
three general elections have been conducted consecutively for the first time at both the state
and the federal level. One major reason for the military intervention in politics is the
perceived failure of the democratically elected leaders to provide basic services for its
citizens.