Democratic Nigeria
Nigeria’s democratic governments from 1999 to present, including presidential administrations, reforms, protests, and state politics.
The 1923 Tinubu Square Shooting, When a Lagos Courtroom Turned Into a Scene of Tragedy
In the history of colonial Lagos, few courtroom tragedies matched the shock caused by the killing of barrister Moronfolu Abayomi in August 1923. What...
Nigeria as West Africa’s Enforcer, ECOMOG, Intervention, and the Cost of Regional Power
During the 1990s Nigeria emerged as the central military power in West Africa. When civil wars threatened to destabilize Liberia and Sierra Leone, Nigeria...
Nigeria’s Paris Club Debt Relief Changed the Country, But It Did Not End the Debt Question
Nigeria’s debt relief agreement with the Paris Club stands as one of the most significant financial turning points in the country’s modern economic history....
Why Nigeria’s Democratic Crisis Cannot Be Solved by Military Rule
Nigeria’s Fourth Republic began on 29 May 1999 when military rule formally ended and Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office as a civilian president. The transition...
Rule by Decree, How Nigeria’s Military Governments Weakened Law, Courts, and the Press
Military rule in Nigeria was frequently justified as a corrective to civilian politics. Soldiers who seized power argued that elected governments were slow, divided,...
When Tafawa Balewa Met Melville Herskovits
A surviving photograph from 1960 shows Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa standing beside anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits at Northwestern University while both men...
Mallam Aminu Kano and the Rise of Talakawa Politics in Northern Nigeria
Mallam Aminu Kano was born in 1920 in Kano, one of the most important commercial and cultural centres in Northern Nigeria during the era...
Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo and the Fall of Kano’s Civilian Government in 1983
Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo belongs to the generation of northern Nigerian politicians whose careers were shaped by grassroots political mobilization and the intense contests...
Julie Coker, Miss Western Nigeria Who Helped Shape Early Nigerian Television
Julie Coker belongs to the generation that entered public life just as modern Nigerian broadcasting was beginning to take shape. Long before television became...
Life and Celebration on Colonial Lagos Island, Igbosere in 1946
In 1946, a colonial era publication described a place called “Igboshere Fishing Village” on Lagos Island. The scene was colourful and lively. Visitors arrived...