Postcolonial Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria gained independence from the British in 1960, and by 1963, it became a republic. For the 61 years of independence, Nigeria has passed through civilian and military rule successions. Most of the time, self-rule had military leaders in control of governance. The British government did not prepare the country for self-rule and was in control from 1960 to 1963, with the Governor-General acting as the ultimate power in selecting who remained in control. The country left by the British was divided along the ethnic, regional, and religious lines, which made it difficult to have a nationalistic ideology governed by the common good. This faulty foundation was the primary purpose of the postcolonial era's failed statehood and fragile state. Every criterion used to gauge the performance of governance in this era indicated that the military and civilian leaders did not move the country forward. One noticed that when the British dismantled the leadership structure in the precolonial era, they broke the link between the new and the old, which would have ensured the new had the cultural and historical foundation to succeed.

Citation

Amah, O.E. (2023), "Postcolonial Governance in Nigeria", Amah, O.E. (Ed.) Resolving the African Leadership Challenge, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-677-320231023