Is Nigeria choking on its democratization process? Why is the country's political life colored by endless corruption scandals? Author Victor E. Dike discusses these questions and more in the second edition of Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria. Thoroughly grounded in Nigerian history and based on extensive research, this edition is considerably expanded and updated with comprehensive analysis of the major sociopolitical and economic problems confronting Nigeria. Armed with lessons from stable democracies, Dike explains practical ways to reduce social tension and to build necessary institutional structures for growing the economy and sustaining a political democracy anchored on true federalism. Simple in style, direct, and unpretentious, Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria illustrates how bad leadership and corruption have combined to create social instability, a weak economy, high unemployment, poverty, and a rising crime rate in Nigerian society. The country's socioeconomic and political problems have a long history, and any attempt to adopt superficial and ad hoc measures to tackle them will only exacerbate the situation. Nigeria needs permanent and effective institutional structures to tackle its problems. Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria offers a solution.

Richard Joseph's seminal 1987 book Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria represented a watershed moment in the understanding of the political dynamics of Nigeria. This groundbreaking collection brings together scholars from across disciplines to assess the significance of Joseph's work and the current state of Nigerian politics.

Originally published in 1987, this book examines the relationship between the pattern of party formation in Nigeria and a mode of social, political and economic behaviour Richard Joseph terms 'prebendalism'. He demonstrates the centrality in the Nigerian polity of the struggle to control and exploit public office and argues that state power is usually viewed by Nigerians as an array of prebends, the appropriation of which provides access to the state treasury and to control over remunerative licenses and contracts. In addition, the abiding desire for a democratic political system is frustrated by the deepening of ethnic, linguistic and regional identities. By exploring the ways in which individuals at all social levels contribute to the maintenance of these practices, the book provides an analysis of the impediments to constitutional democracy that is also relevant to the study of other nations.

A collection of essays, commissioned to honour one of Nigeria's and Africa's most outstanding political scientists of his generation, brings together twenty six contri-butions from scholars of all generations, who all have connections with the University of Ibadan. These include: Wale Adebanwi, Adigun Agbaje, LaRay Denzer, L. Adele Jinadu, Richard Sklar, Rotimi Suberu and Adebayo Williams. The essays are organised into four sections; the structure, history, processes and dynamics of Nigeria's federal system, governance issues, the formulations and transformations of identity politics and global contexts of the production and reproductions of the Nigerian state and society.

An introduction to the politics and society of post-colonial Nigeria, highlighting the key themes of ethnicity, democracy, and development.

"Democracy in Nigeria - Thoughts and Selected Commentaries" consists of a series of essays which address a variety of issues bordering on good governance and the stability of the Nigerian state. While the author is optimistic about the future of his nation and proposes measures that can drive its democracy forward, he is unhappy that corruption, in particular, has impeded progress in an otherwise vibrant nation. He believes that proper education and a realistic federal arrangement provide the solution to religious intolerance and all the ills that are associated with it, while a more proactive population can actually tame the monster of corruption if they are genuinely worried that corruption has been responsible for their individual and collective plights.