A History of Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and the world's eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy. Toyin Falola, a leading historian intimately acquainted with the region, and Matthew Heaton, who has worked extensively on African science and culture, combine their expertise to explain the context to Nigeria's recent troubles through an exploration of its pre-colonial and colonial past, and its journey from independence to statehood. By examining key themes such as colonialism, religion, slavery, nationalism and the economy, the authors show how Nigeria's history has been swayed by the vicissitudes of the world around it, and how Nigerians have adapted to meet these challenges. This book offers a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense, but unrealized, potential.

Historical Missionary Activity, Schooling, and the Reversal of Fortunes: Evidence from Nigeria

“…We empirically investigate reasons why the effect of missions on schooling has persisted at the level of the ethnic group. The persistence of the effect of early missions on schooling we find is a little puzzling because Nigeria has been governed as a single entity since 1914 (Falola and Heaton, 2008). We find that controlling for household characteristics, especially wealth, significantly reduces the point estimate for the impact of missionary activity across most specifications.…”

Building Armies, Building Nations: Toward a New Approach to Security Force Assistance

“…5 SC can include any and all interactions between U.S. defense officials or the U.S. military and foreign defense officials or foreign militaries. 6 Security force assistance refers to DoD and U.S. Department of State activities that "support the development of capability and capacity of foreign security forces (FSF) and supporting institutions." 7 SFA activities are "primarily used to assist an HN [host nation] in defending against internal and transnational threats to stability (i.e., supporting foreign internal defense [FID], counterterrorism, counterinsurgency [COIN], or stability operations).…”

“…7 SFA activities are "primarily used to assist an HN [host nation] in defending against internal and transnational threats to stability (i.e., supporting foreign internal defense [FID], counterterrorism, counterinsurgency [COIN], or stability operations). 8 In contrast, security assistance refers to a group of SC programs "authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as amended, Title 22, United States Code, as amended, or other related statutes, by which the U.S. provides defense articles, military training, and other defense-related services to foreign nations by grant, loan, credit, or cash sales in furtherance of national policies and objectives." 9 Not all SA programs can be considered SFA, although SFA generally requires SA programs.…”

Narrativas Transatlânticas: Reflexões Sobre Identidade E Nação Em Compaixão, De Toni Morrison E Americanah, De Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie

“…Esse percurso demonstra como as autoras procuram se distanciar do que chamo de "gramática racial" -em se tratando de Morrison -e da "gramática étnica" -no que se refere a Adichie, com base no uso de "um novo inglês", contralíngua da retórica do nacional. As análises se sustentam a partir dos pressupostos de Achebe (1965Achebe ( , 1990Achebe ( , 2012, Gates e Appiah (1993), Bhabha (1993Bhabha ( , 1998, Gates e West (2000), Wenzel (2006), Falola & Heaton (2008), Anderson (2008), Fasan (2010), entre outras referências.…”

“…Este dia marca a junção dos protetorados britânicos do norte e do sul, como uma iniciativa colonial de criar uma área de exploração homogênea e desenvolvida (FALOLA & HEATON, 2008). Esta junção, sengundo os historiadores Falola & Aderinto (2010), é muito mais uma conveniência admistrativa e econômica por parte dos oficiais britânicos do que uma tentativa de construção de uma nacionalidade coerente, o que gerou tanto a falta de consenso histórico quanto de consenso da ideia de nação naquele espaço.…”