Deck 13: Nigeria

Question 1

Christians in Nigeria are primarily found among the

A) Hausa.
B) Igbo.
C) Hausa and Igbo.
D) Hausa and Yoruba.
E) Igbo and Yoruba.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

When Nigeria was a British colony, what was Nigeria's most important export?

A) Tobacco
B) Gold
C) Timber
D) Diamonds
E) Palm oil

Answer 2

E

Question 3

One result of British agricultural policy in colonial Nigeria was

A) an increase in food production.
B) a reinforcement of geographic divisions within the colony.
C) the development of a large-scale herding "industry".
D) the introduction of maize (corn).
E) an emphasis on family farms.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Olusegun Obasanjo first came to national prominence as the

A) leader of the civil war rebellion.
B) military ruler who helped to create the Second Republic.
C) instigator of the coup that overthrew the Second Republic.
D) assassin of Sani Abacha.
E) Nigerian associate of Osama bin Laden.

Question 5

Biafra was

A) a political party organized by Yoruba politicians.
B) the practice followed by elected officials of naming people from their home villages to government jobs.
C) the original capital of Nigeria.
D) a fortified Muslim city at the heart of the resistance to the First Republic.
E) the secessionist state during the civil war.

Question 6

In Nigeria, high-stakes politics has meant that

A) authoritarian military governments have been the only ones able to make policy decisions in the national interest.
B) the establishment of non-partisan institutions and procedures has been a top priority for all regimes.
C) even excluding the civil war, political killings are a bigger problem in Nigeria than in most of the Third World.
D) nearly all people in positions of authority have used state power for their own benefit.
E) public employees are well paid to discourage corruption.

Question 7

What is the name of the current Nigerian president?

A) Olusegun Obasanjo
B) Sani Abacha
C) Muhammadu Buhari
D) Umaru Yar'Adua
E) Boko Harim

Question 8

The weakness of the Nigerian state is evidenced by the

A) difficulty of recruiting civil servants.
B) poor state of military readiness in the armed forces.
C) lack of universities.
D) eradication of polio in the country.
E) inability to maintain law and order in Lagos and other major cities.

Question 9

As part of the effort to make the Nigerian colony pay for its administration, the British

A) invested heavily in new industry.
B) levied heavy taxes on exported raw materials.
C) promoted plantation farming of cash crops.
D) encouraged unemployed British citizens to emigrate to West Africa.
E) offered subsidies to Nigerian entrepreneurs.

Question 10

Of the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, which group is the largest?

A) Yoruba
B) Igbo
C) Hausa-Fulani
D) Zulu
E) Dinka

Question 11

Poverty in Nigeria

A) is isolated in small pockets in the driest areas of the North.
B) is the condition in which most people live.
C) has declined significantly in the past ten years.
D) has rapidly declined as oil prices have risen.
E) is a bigger problem for state governments than for the national government.

Question 12

Indirect rule in Nigeria resulted in

A) the political socialization of Nigerians to accept British political values.
B) an intensification of divisions between ethnic groups.
C) valuable policy-making experience for the Nigerian elite.
D) the integration of ethnic and linguistic groups into the nation of Nigeria.
E) reinforcement of Nigerian nationalism.

Question 13

One reason that politicians from the middle belt have been less concerned with ethnic and religious issues is

A) the military has stronger control in the region.
B) no one religion or ethnicity dominates in that area.
C) the area was the focus of colonial rule by the British.
D) the capital, Lagos, is located there.
E) most of Nigeria's oil is found in the middle belt.

Question 14

In Nigeria, ethnic and religious cleavages

A) usually cancel each other out.
B) promote neighborly interactions.
C) play a major role in grassroots politics but are of little importance in elite politics.
D) are overwhelmed by economic issues.
E) generally coincide with geographic cleavages.

Question 15

The end of Olusegun Obasanjo's military rule came when he

A) was assassinated.
B) voluntarily gave up power.
C) was ousted in a coup.
D) fled into exile.
E) was arrested for corruption.

Question 16

Nigeria's current solution to electing a president with national support is

A) only allowing political parties that nominate candidates from the middle belt.
B) rotating between a president from the north and one from the south.
C) having the military pick a president from among a list of approved candidates.
D) holding elections in multiple stages across the various regions.
E) allowing the party with a majority in the legislature to name the president.

Question 17

British colonial rule introduced

A) a series of changes to undevelop Nigeria.
B) the idea of "cash crops."
C) a single Nigerian colony.
D) Options A, B, and C are true.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 18

The popularly elected president in Nigeria's Second Republic was intended to

A) create a nationally unifying official.
B) prevent the obscure complication of an Electoral College.
C) be popular enough to rule by decree when necessary.
D) become a figurehead symbol (not a real power) in Nigerian politics.
E) provide a Muslim leader for the whole country.

Question 19

The dual mandate was a philosophy used by which colonial power that controlled Nigeria?

A) United States of America
B) Spain
C) Germany
D) Great Britain
E) France

Question 20

After initial struggles, what event signified the end of the First Republic in Nigeria?

A) The president was assassinated.
B) The prime minister was assassinated.
C) The king returned and took control.
D) The military staged a coup.
E) The First Republic still exists today.

Question 21

Approximately __________ percent of Nigerian children do not live to see age five.

Question 22

Nigeria's active and relatively free press has had less influence than European and American observers might expect because

A) so few people are literate in English.
B) interstate transport of newspapers is strictly regulated.
C) most newspapers are published in local languages.
D) they are mostly sensationalist tabloids.
E) most have supported whichever government has been in power.

Question 23

Which of the following explains why Nigeria's economy is, and has been for a while, in shambles?

A) Corruption
B) Mismanagement by the government
C) The fluctuations in oil prices
D) Reliance on importing food, foreign investment and manufactured goods
E) All of the above are true.

Question 24

Muslims make up about __________ percent of the Nigerian population.

Question 25

Which group was responsible for the bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja and for other attacks in the northern part of Nigeria?

A) Nigerian Liberation Movement
B) Al Qaeda
C) MEND
D) Boko Haram
E) NLA

Question 26

At the top of the hierarchical patron-client relationships one finds the

A) oya.
B) supreme leader.
C) president.
D) chief.
E) general.

Question 27

The main issue motivating MEND activists is

A) a lack of voting rights and representation.
B) corruption in local government.
C) religious persecution against Muslims.
D) control of oil fields in the area.
E) the prevalence of Western values and culture.

Question 28

The primary mode of nonelectoral political participation in Nigeria is

A) violent conflict.
B) large-scale protests and strikes.
C) making strategic political contributions.
D) membership in a union.
E) participation in a patron-client relationship.

Question 29

Nigerian federalism has impeded the establishment of democracy because

A) it has separated national from local politics.
B) it has reinforced ethnic cleavages.
C) it has given more of the important cultural/linguistic groups a home "territory".
D) local elections have preceded national elections.
E) government services are delivered more efficiently.

Question 30

To be elected president in Nigeria's Second Republic, a candidate not only had to win a plurality of the popular vote but also

A) win a plurality in most states.
B) win approval from most legislators.
C) be endorsed by a majority of the state governors.
D) win a fourth of the popular vote in at least two-thirds of the states.
E) win a run-off election between the top two vote getters.

Question 31

The presence of parastatals tells us that Nigeria has

A) committed firmly to privatizing its economy.
B) a mixture of private, public and pseudo-public entities in its economy.
C) a command or socialist economy.
D) not performed any of the restructuring required by the World Bank and IMF.
E) a flourishing economy based around oil production.

Question 32

General Babangida, one of Nigeria's military dictators, endorsed what he called the custodial theory, which held that

A) whoever is in charge must clean up the mess of the previous administration.
B) corruption must be ended before civilian rule can resume.
C) military government must be temporary and only to prepare for a return to civilian rule.
D) opponents of the military regime must be "cleaned out" and imprisoned or executed.
E) prisoners should be used to clean government buildings as part of their punishment.

Question 33

The dominant ethnic group in the Western part of Nigeria is the __________.

Question 34

How did the Second Republic in Nigeria fall?

A) Presidential assassination
B) Prime ministerial assassination
C) Military coup
D) Military defeat by Kenya
E) Military defeat by South Africa

Question 35

The provision that a successful candidate for president must win at least a quarter of the vote in most states is designed to

A) ensure a basis of nation-wide support for an elected president.
B) guarantee that candidates will campaign in most states.
C) force candidates to deal with national, not local, issues.
D) provide more opportunities for "chop-chop" deal making.
E) increase voter turnout.

Question 36

The federally-run Delta steel complex in Aladja is an example of a(n)

A) social movement.
B) multinational corporation.
C) conditionality.
D) oya.
E) parastatal.

Question 37

The political implications in Nigeria of the collapse of world oil prices in the early 1980s included

A) a noticeable reduction in political corruption.
B) a crisis for a regime that got nearly all its income from oil revenues.
C) greater willingness to proceed with structural adjustments.
D) placing a greater emphasis on basic public services like road building and education.
E) the abandonment of plans to create a new capital city.

Question 38

Nigeria's primary natural resource is __________.

Question 39

Countries have to agree to conditionalities when they

A) accept funding from the International Monetary Fund.
B) join the United Nations.
C) overthrow their democratically-elected governments in a coup.
D) gain their independence.
E) allow foreign election monitors into their country.

Question 40

The political parties that contended with each other in the 1993 elections (Third Republic)

A) were clearly descended from the First Republic's regional parties.
B) had little chance of winning without forming coalitions.
C) were created and funded by the military government.
D) included several religious parties.
E) sought funding from European and American sources.

Question 41

Do you think Nigeria should be divided into multiple, smaller countries based on either ethnicity or religion? Why or why not? Is Nigeria's current federal system sufficient to meet its diverse needs?

Question 42

Farmers were not able to provide enough food during British rule because they were required to plant __________ crops.

Question 43

When the British controlled Nigeria as a colony, in the southern part of the country they relied upon traditional colonial structures, but in the northern region they used __________ rule.

Question 44

Nigeria has had __________ different periods of military rule since independence in 1960.

Question 45

__________ are government-owned corporations designed to promote a policy of import substitution.

Question 46

Religion has been a rather divisive force in Nigerian politics since 1960. Why? Is it likely to continue to be divisive in the near future? Do you see a way for religion to make Nigeria stronger politically, economically, or culturally in the future?

Question 47

Do you think that Nigeria will become more or less democratic in the future? Why do you reach this conclusion?

Question 48

What impact did the slave trade in the eighteenth century have on Nigeria? Are those impacts still being felt today?

Question 49

Why has Nigeria had so much trouble defeating Boko Haram and other identity based groups?

Question 50

How does Nigeria's imperial past play a role in modern Nigerian politics and governance? Why is the past still so prominent in the country?

Question 51

Nigeria has gone from an economically growing country in the 1960s and 1970s to one with negative growth, declining incomes, and increasing malnutrition. What factors have contributed to this change? Were these factors inevitable or could they have been avoided?

Question 52

What is one example of how military rule has benefitted Nigeria? What is one example of how military rule has damaged Nigeria? Overall, are the benefits more valuable than the damages? Why?

Question 53

Some political scientists label Nigeria a failed state. Do you agree? Why (not)?

Question 54

Would Nigeria be helped or hindered by a stronger centralized government? Has federalism been a necessary part of Nigeria's government or a hindrance that has prevented the country from flourishing?

Question 55

Nigeria is rich in natural resources, most notably oil, yet its citizens are desperately poor. What are the reasons for this? What might be done to change that?

Question 56

How has the alternation of power between military and civilian authorities affected the development of Nigeria?

Question 57

__________ was the secessionist state founded at the beginning of the civil war.

Question 58

Has globalization and the imposition of World Bank and International Monetary Fund conditionalities been a good thing or a bad thing for Nigeria? Why?