From Biafra to the Niger Delta Conflict

Memory, Ethnicity, and the State in Nigeria

Edlyne Eze Anugwom

This book analyzes the influence of memory on social conflict as well as the role of ethnicity in state formation and governance in Nigeria. It examines the nexus between the Nigerian civil war and the conflict in the oil rich Niger Delta against the background of memory and ethnicization of the state. Ultimately, both social conflicts, though separated by decades, profit from shared memories in a largely ethnicized state structure. Nigeria emerges as a centrifugal state characterized by bias in resource distribution and concentration of power in the center. These forces create the perception of marginalization and sponsor enduring memory of a biased state not helped by failure of the state to ensure closure of the civil war.

The book argues that the non-systematic closure of the civil war has generated memory lapse which has given rise to social conflicts and dissension in the socio-geographical region of the erstwhile Biafra republic. These conflicts in the contemporary history of Nigeria include the persistent Niger Delta oil conflict and recurrent struggle for the realization of a sovereign state of Biafra. In effect, these conflicts are products of structural bias and distributional injustice; and both can be related to the social memory lag of the civil war and weak Nigerian state.

The book traces how memory is produced and disseminated within social groups in Southeastern Nigeria, which is the theater of both the civil war and youth-driven oil conflict in the Niger Delta. While these conflicts have without doubt benefitted from memory lapse of the past, they have equally drawn momentum from ethnicity which has significantly and negatively affected the role of the state.

Lexington Books

Pages: 248 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-7798-4 • Hardback • November 2018 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-4985-7799-1 • eBook • November 2018 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

Subjects: Political Science / World / African, History / Africa / North, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Social Science / World / Africa, Political Science / Country and Regional Studies

From Biafra to the Niger Delta Conflict

Memory, Ethnicity, and the State in Nigeria

Hardback

eBook

Summary

This book analyzes the influence of memory on social conflict as well as the role of ethnicity in state formation and governance in Nigeria. It examines the nexus between the Nigerian civil war and the conflict in the oil rich Niger Delta against the background of memory and ethnicization of the state. Ultimately, both social conflicts, though separated by decades, profit from shared memories in a largely ethnicized state structure. Nigeria emerges as a centrifugal state characterized by bias in resource distribution and concentration of power in the center. These forces create the perception of marginalization and sponsor enduring memory of a biased state not helped by failure of the state to ensure closure of the civil war.

The book argues that the non-systematic closure of the civil war has generated memory lapse which has given rise to social conflicts and dissension in the socio-geographical region of the erstwhile Biafra republic. These conflicts in the contemporary history of Nigeria include the persistent Niger Delta oil conflict and recurrent struggle for the realization of a sovereign state of Biafra. In effect, these conflicts are products of structural bias and distributional injustice; and both can be related to the social memory lag of the civil war and weak Nigerian state.

The book traces how memory is produced and disseminated within social groups in Southeastern Nigeria, which is the theater of both the civil war and youth-driven oil conflict in the Niger Delta. While these conflicts have without doubt benefitted from memory lapse of the past, they have equally drawn momentum from ethnicity which has significantly and negatively affected the role of the state.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 248 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-7798-4 • Hardback • November 2018 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-4985-7799-1 • eBook • November 2018 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

Subjects: Political Science / World / African, History / Africa / North, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Social Science / World / Africa, Political Science / Country and Regional Studies

Author

Edlyne Eze Anugwom is professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Nigeria.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Theoretical Insights and Assumptions

Chapter 3: From Memory to Social Memory: Diversities of Knowledge and Practice

Chapter 4: The Nature of the Nigerian State

Chapter 5: The State, Ethnicity and Social Conflict

Chapter 6: Ethnicization of State Power, Resource Distribution and Self-Determination Struggles

Chapter 7: Social Memory, Ethnicity and Conflict: The Biafra War and the Niger Delta Oil Conflict

Chapter 8: Social Memory as Breeding Uniform Patterns of Remembrance and Mobilization

Chapter 9: Ethnicity and Memory Hegemonies in Nigeria

Chapter 10: The State, Memory and Dealing with the Past

Chapter 11: Conclusion

From Biafra to the Niger Delta Conflict

Memory, Ethnicity, and the State in Nigeria

Edlyne Eze Anugwom

From Biafra to the Niger Delta Conflict

Memory, Ethnicity, and the State in Nigeria

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