First Published in 1968. In retrospect it now seems clear that the federal elections of December 1964 and the constitutional crisis which followed mark the apogee of the civilian government headed by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The ‘broadbased’ government which emerged from the crisis represented, at best, a shaky compromise. A decisive jolt came when in the early hours of January 15, 1966, a group of young army officers, mainly Ibo, led some soldiers in a coup which ended in the death of the Federal Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar. The regional Premiers of the North and the West were also killed, as were a number of high-ranking Hausa and Yoruba officers. This volume asks what went wrong and ledto Nigeria’s slow decline into civil chaos and the possibility of political disintegration.

First Published in 1968. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 1968. In retrospect it now seems clear that the federal elections of December 1964 and the constitutional crisis which followed mark the apogee of the civilian government headed by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The ‘broadbased’ government which emerged from the crisis represented, at best, a shaky compromise. A decisive jolt came when in the early hours of January 15, 1966, a group of young army officers, mainly Ibo, led some soldiers in a coup which ended in the death of the Federal Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar. The regional Premiers of the North and the West were also killed, as were a number of high-ranking Hausa and Yoruba officers. This volume asks what went wrong and ledto Nigeria’s slow decline into civil chaos and the possibility of political disintegration.

This important work, originally published in 1963, examines the social bases, strategies and structures of Nigerian political parties during the final phase of British colonial rule. As Professor Sklar explains in a new introduction for this edition, the defining characteristics of political parties today have been shaped by the intellectual origins of the independence era parties. This seminal volume is an essential tool for understanding the political and social reality of contemporary Nigeria.

In 2015, Nigeria's voters cast out the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Here, A. Carl LeVan traces the political vulnerability of Africa's largest party in the face of elite bargains that facilitated a democratic transition in 1999. These 'pacts' enabled electoral competition but ultimately undermined the party's coherence. LeVan also crucially examines the four critical barriers to Nigeria's democratic consolidation: the terrorism of Boko Haram in the northeast, threats of Igbo secession in the southeast, lingering ethnic resentments and rebellions in the Niger Delta, and farmer-pastoralist conflicts. While the PDP unsuccessfully stoked fears about the opposition's ability to stop Boko Haram's terrorism, the opposition built a winning electoral coalition on economic growth, anti-corruption, and electoral integrity. Drawing on extensive interviews with a number of politicians and generals and civilians and voters, he argues that electoral accountability is essential but insufficient for resolving the representational, distributional, and cultural components of these challenges.

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

The 1970s and 1980s were times of political and religious turmoil in Nigeria, characterized by governmental upheaval, and aggressive confrontations between the Sufi brotherhoods and the Izala movement. In Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria, Roman Loimeier explores the intermeshing of religion in the struggle for political influence and preservation of the interests of Nigerian Muslims. Loimeier's careful scholarship combines astute readings of the work of previous scholars--both published and unpublished--with archival material and the findings of his own fieldwork in Nigeria. His work fills a substantial gap in contemporary Nigerian studies. This book provides invaluable and essential reading for serious students of Nigerian politics and of Islamic movements in Africa.