There are signs hidden in the infrastructure. In the Nigerian city of Jos, the unpredictable availability of power, fuel, water, etc. becomes a vehicle of meaning. In many settings across the globe, infrastructure is often made invisible, and the centre stage that it takes in everyday life remains unrecognized. In Jos, however, as in many African cities, the constant need to predict its flows contradicts the prefix infra (below); rather than being hidden beneath the realm of experience it is brought to the surface as a puzzle to be figured out. These explorations in turn come to reveal matters beyond the infrastructure itself. Just as diviners infer the state of the world from the stones they have thrown, reading significance out of the seeming randomness of matter, the infrastructure turns intricate questions into tangible clues. It becomes a suprastructure -a divination tool giving clues about the past, present and future of the Nigerian nation.
KeywordsAfrican urbanity, anthropology, infrastructure, materiality, NigeriaThere are signs hidden in the infrastructure. When the power goes out in the Nigerian city of Jos, it tells a story. When it comes back, it tells another. Likewise, the unpredictable availability of fuel, the enigmas of intermittent water supply or glitches in the telecommunication networks become vehicles of meaning. Just as diviners infer the state of the world from the stones they have thrown, reading significance out of the seeming randomness of matter, the infrastructure turns intricate questions into tangible clues. Out of its vague rhythms and tenuous patterns, hidden meaning is uncovered. Taking Jos as a