Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture

(1966-1976)

The author names names, and explores how British influence aggravated indigenous rivalries. He shows how various factions in the military were able to hold onto power and resist civil and international pressure for democratic governance by exploiting the country’s oil wealth and ethnic divisions to its advantage.

Africa is more and more in the headlines as developed countries — and China — clash over the need for the continent’s resources. Yet there are few serious books to help us understand any aspect of the never-ending cascade of wars and conflicts. Other titles on Nigeria are mostly children’s books or travel guides, with the exception of Daniel Jordan Smith’s A Culture of Corruption. The current work focuses specifically on the social tensions, the motivations and the methods of the series of coups that rent Nigeria.