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Socio-political responses to austerity-induced hardship in Nigeria
Abstract
Some scholars have suggested that political and even social instability in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) is a by-product of the normal activity of the world capitalist economy. In the 1980s, world market instability originating in a commodity market (crude oil) had an adverse effect on the Nigerian economy. One view holds, though, that such an impact is mediated by domestic political factors which may either blunt, amplify, or not have any influence at all on the destabilizing external influence. This study found that the impact of the oil glut of the 1980s on the Nigerian economy was indeed amplified by domestic factors, especially of runaway economic consumption in the days of the oil boom and then austerity measures adopted when oil revenues were curtailed. More central to the study, however, is the testing of the hypotheses that: (1) austerity-induced hardship in Nigeria would be differentially perceived by the various demographic tracts; and (2) austerity-induced hardship would adversely affect support for the political system and quality of social relations which would, in turn, have an adverse effect on political support. The writer conducted a survey of segments of the Nigerian population in the summer of 1987. The analyses of the results of this survey partially supported the hypotheses. The Igbos, and those with lower socioeconomic status seemed to perceive greater hardship than their counterparts in the sample. We also found that although an increase in hardship tended to decrease political support and quality of social relations, the relationships between hardship on the one hand and political support and quality of social relations on the other, were not significant.
Subject Area
Political science
Recommended Citation
Uhiara, Ihemelam Joshua, "Socio-political responses to austerity-induced hardship in Nigeria" (1989). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8925262.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8925262