Breakdown and reconstitution in Nigeria

[Richard Akindele]

Breakdown and reconstitution; democracy, the nation-state, and ethnicity in Nigeria

Bah (sociology, Northern Illinois U.) looks at successive waves of democratization and military dictatorship in Nigeria, analyzing the connections between democratization, nation-state building, ethnicity, and institutional design. He describes the historical genesis of the country and the legacies of colonial rule, examines ethnic conflicts rooted in struggles for power and resources, discusses forms of leadership and policies of successive governments, and explores the conditions under which various institutional arrangements have been designed. He argues that confronting the realities of ethnicity has forced Nigeria to search for alternate models of democracy and national integration that can balance the interests of the three major ethnic groups within different institutions, although their reliance on consociationalism has sometimes undermined the possibilities for the development of a democratic and inclusive nation-state.