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Postcolonial Nigeria: Power and Politics in the First Republic, 1960–1966

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Nigerian Politics

Abstract

The Nigerian politics in the postcolonial period has largely reflected the colonial origin of the system. The ethno-religion, the sectional and adversarial politics all have their roots in the legacy of the colonial era politics. Due to the fragile structure on which the foundation of the new state was laid, barely 5 years after independence, the first republic collapsed. Similarly, the second republic collapsed within 5 years of restoration of democracy, while the third republic was aborted before its birth. The current fourth republic has survived for 22 years. This is unprecedented. This chapter examines the nature, the actors, and the behavior of the operators and the system in postcolonial Nigeria.

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Gberevbie, D.E., Oni, S. (2021). Postcolonial Nigeria: Power and Politics in the First Republic, 1960–1966. In: Ajayi, R., Fashagba, J.Y. (eds) Nigerian Politics. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50509-7_4

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