Decolonizing Nigeria : Politics, Power, and Personalities, 1945-1960

Decolonizing Nigeria: Politics, Power, and Personalities examines the last fifteen years of British colonial rule in Nigeria, a time of major reforms and power transition.

Using the perspectives of history, memory, and collective psychology, the book explores, among other topics, the activities of the first cast of regional leaders; the formation of political parties as part of anticolonial nationalism; the Nigerianization of the civil service; and, finally, the educational reforms and social and cultural changes that characterized this period.

The book is organized into three parts. Part One focuses on the driving forces of transformation that brought about self-determination for Nigeria.

Part Two covers British development policies aligned with the decolonization agenda.

The five chapters in Part Three are organized under the central theme of "Regionalism and Change." The book's conclusion examines the efforts of Nigerian leaders have taken since independence to deal with the "unfinished businesses" of decolonization. Accessibly written and deeply affecting, Decolonizing Nigeria will appeal to scholars and students of postcolonialism, political economy, and Nigerian history, and to general readers with an interest in global affairs. Toyin Falola, Past President of the African Studies Association, holds the Frances and Jacob Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin.

He is the author of numerous books, including The African Diaspora: Slavery, Migration and Globalization.Bola Dauda, a public administrator and independent scholar, is Managing Director, The Early Years Education Foundation, Nigeria.

He is coauthor of Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy, and Nation Building in Nigeria.