Nigeria is one of the most interesting countries in the world. It is energetic and sometimes chaotic, and its people are wonderfully entrepreneurial. Nigerian women are particularly enterprising. The actions of a small percentage of Nigeria’s population have given the country a bad name—one associated with corruption—and this book talks about that. But the overwhelming majority of Nigerians are honest, hardworking citizens who want what citizens elsewhere want—for their government to provide peace, stability, and basic services and then get out of their way so they can live their lives.
The country is large (924 square kilometers) and complex. With an estimated 2017 population of about 190 million, it is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh-most populous in the world. One in six Africans is Nigerian. Nigeria is projected to be the fifth-largest country in the world by 2030 (estimated population 264 million) and the third-largest by 2050 (estimated population 410 million). Currently, 63 percent of Nigeria’s population is under twenty-five years of age, and like the rest of Africa, its youthful population can either be harnessed for a demographic dividend—or it can pose a tough employment and outmigration challenge.1
Nigeria’s complexity arises partly from its more than 350 ethnic groups, which speak as many languages, most of which are not mutually understandable. There are three main ethnic groups—Igbos in the southeast of the country (18 percent), Yorubas in the southwest (21 percent), and Hausa-Fulani in the north (29 percent).2 English is the official language, an outcome of British colonial rule when Great Britain amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria into a unified country in 1914. Most Nigerians also speak a version of English called Pidgin English that incorporates indigenous words and expressions.
Further complexity arises from religion. The country is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. The north of the country is mainly Muslim with an important Christian minority, and the south is largely Christian with an important Muslim minority. It is not uncommon in Nigeria to find families that have both Christian and Muslim members. In both the north and south, some groups still practice indigenous religions.
Nigeria is a fledgling democracy patterned on the American style with a powerful elected executive president and vice president. There are several political parties, but the two main ones are the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is currently the governing party. Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and briefly tried the British parliamentary style of democracy before going through a civil war (the Nigeria-Biafra war) from 1967 to 1970 and lapsing into military rule for a long period. The current democratic period began in 1999 after almost three decades of military rule were interspersed with brief periods of civilian rule.
The country’s 1999 constitution provides for a federal government; a Federal Capital Territory where the capital, Abuja, is located; thirty-six states whose governors are elected; and 774 local governments. The states are grouped into six geopolitical zones—North West, North Central, North East, South West, South East, and South-South. Some of them, such as South East and South West, coincide with major ethnic groups such as the Igbo and Yoruba respectively, and others are home to myriad ethnic groups. The legislature forms an important arm of government, with an upper house or Senate with 109 members and a lower House of Representatives with 360.3 The judiciary makes up the third arm of government. The continuation of traditional forms of governance—emirates in the north, kingdoms and chiefdoms mainly in the south, with sometimes quite powerful traditional rulers—adds an interesting mix to governance in the country, although the constitutionally defined and elected branches of government hold the most power.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, with an estimated 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) of $400 billion.4 South Africa, the continent’s next largest economy, has a GDP of $317 billion. Nigeria constitutes 71 percent of West Africa’s GDP5 and 27 percent of the continent’s GDP. GDP per capita is $2,123, compared to $5,588 in South Africa, so although Nigeria is classified a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, poverty remains a problem, as it does for many nations in this category. An estimated 36.1 percent of the population live below the absolute poverty line of $1.90 per day.6
Nigeria’s economy is highly dependent on oil, which makes up over 90 percent of exports7 and 70 percent of government revenues. The country, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was the fifteenth-largest oil producer in the world in 2016.8 It has the world’s eleventh-largest oil reserves9 and ninth-largest natural gas reserves.10
Nigeria’s natural resource wealth has not served its population as well as it should because certain key institutions remain weak or nonexistent and a small kleptocratic ruling elite has perpetuated and taken advantage of this vacuum. But the country has had periods of good growth and reasonable economic performance. In the decade from 2005 to 2015, the economy grew at a robust pace of 6.5 percent per year due mainly to three things—good macroeconomic management, high oil prices, and good performance of the nonoil sectors (agriculture, manufacturing, telecommunications, and other services). Economic performance weakened starting in 2015 due to falling oil prices and weak economic management. The economy fell into recession for the first time in twenty-four years in 2016 and contracted by minus 1.5 percent, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF projects a recovery in 2017, with a growth rate of about 0.8 percent rising to 1.9 percent in 2018.11 However, with a population growth rate of 2.6 percent per year,12 this implies negative to zero per capita income growth—meaning that more people will be thrown into poverty. Both the IMF and the World Bank have recommended important macroeconomic and structural policy reforms, such as better management of the foreign exchange regime and continued diversification of the nonoil economy to engender a stronger and broader-based economic recovery.
Due to its size and economic importance, Nigeria matters for West Africa, Africa, and the world. This is why good political and economic governance is essential for the country and why the world must pay attention and lend its support to ensure that Nigeria moves onto the right development path. Discussing candidly, as this book does, where and why corruption happens, what is being done to fight it, and what more needs to be done is an important part of clearing the way for Nigeria’s entrepreneurial people to fulfill their potential.