Imperialism and ethnic politics in Nigeria, 1960-19961998

The book examines the class dimension of the Nigerian political crisis since 1960, when this culturally diverse nation assumed the stature of independent nationhood from the British imperial state. The writer posits that the ruling elite, whether constituted in the military or the civil society, consistently used ethnicity to secure its own class domination in the absence of a coherent class ideology. The author argues that the military transition agenda to a "democratic state" is nothing more than a ploy by the military elite and its civilian partners to perpetuate themselves in power in spite of international opposition.