Crippled Giant: Nigeria Since Independence

Eghosa E. Osaghae surveys Nigerian politics since the country's independence in 1960, probing the factors that have kept it from realizing its enormous economic potential. Osaghae links characteristics of Nigeria's political culture and economic development to its colonial origin and current status as a neo-colonial formation. Post-independence political developments are examined chronologically from the First Republic (1960-1966) to the Abacha regime (1993 -- ). Special attention is paid to the political situation of the late 1980s and 1990s, when the country went into a steep decline. He concludes that Nigeria's problems are not of recent making but can be traced to structural impediments from colonial times.