Liberalism in Nigeria

This article gives an overview of liberalism in Nigeria. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme, it is not necessary that parties labelled themselves as a liberal party.

Introduction

See also: Human rights in Nigeria

Because Nigeria's political history has been primarily dominated by conservative, ethnonationalist, religionationalist or militaristic entities, the presence of liberalism in Nigeria outside such realms is hard to come by from previous historical research and records. The closest that the political scene in Nigeria has come to any form of liberalism is the presence of progressive political parties; however, in the areas where progressive parties have ruled at the local or state levels, the "progressive" governments with such majorities have often engaged in initiatives or passed laws which may run against the idea of civil and personal liberties while focusing more on economic development.

Furthermore, the liberal contingent is much more represented in the non-political civil rights activism and advocacy organizations in Nigeria. Such organizations and their members have been subjected to both state-sanctioned, clerically-sanctioned and non-official persecutions throughout Nigeria's history.

The growth of liberalism in Nigeria was very much witnessed during the period after colonialism.