A mini-history of a nation's life told in the stories of three protagonists

"An insider traces the details of hope and ambition gone wrong in the Giant of Africa, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. When it gained independence from Britain in 1960, hopes were high that, with mineral wealth and over 140 million people, the most educated workforce in Africa, Nigeria would become Africa s first superpower and a stabilizing democratic influence in the region. However, these lofty hopes were soon dashed and the country lumbered from crisis to crisis, with the democratic government eventually being overthrown in a violent military coup in January 1966. From 1966 until 1999, the army held onto power almost uninterrupted under a succession of increasingly authoritarian military governments and army coups. Military coups and military rule (which began as an emergency aberration) became a seemingly permanent feature of Nigerian politics. The author names names, and explores how British influence aggravated indigenous rivalries. He shows how various factions in the military were able to hold onto power and resist civil and international pressure for democratic governance by exploiting the country's oil wealth and ethnic divisions to its advantage."--Publisher's description.

A revelatory account of British imperialism's shameful impact on Africa's most populous state.

This volume is an authoritative and agenda-setting examination of Nigerian politics.

This invaluable Dictionary provides an essential guide to the politics and economics of the African continent. Each individual entry provides clear and concise information, and entries are fully cross-referenced to enhance the book's usability. Organizations listed include contact details wherever possible. Key features * Provides authoritative up-to-date information on a region that is changing fast, and for which reliable data is often hard to locate * Each country's recent history and economy are described and analyzed in separate essays. Entries include: Apartheid, Central African Republic, Christianity, Colonialism, Development Aid, Genocide, Great Lakes, International Monetary Fund, Languages, Nelson Mandela, Mining, Tobacco, Uganda. Countries covered in this voume include: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spanish North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In the aftermath of a teen's disappearance from bustling Port Harcourt in 1995 Nigeria, a once-ordered family is irreparably shattered in ways that prompt its youngest member, Ajie, to embark on a quest for answers that reveals long-forgotten secrets andregional brutalities.