Analysis Of The Giant Of Nigeria

Osaghae, O.E. (1998). Crippled Giant: Nigeria since Independence. London: C. Hurst & Co. Ltd. Reviewed by Akinyetun Tope Shola (M.Sc. Comparative Politics & Development Studies)

Introduction

Nigeria has been fondly termed the 'Giant of Africa' and it is expected that as a giant, Nigeria should not only be the voice of Africa, but should be a big brother to the rest African-states. Present experience and occurrences however points away from the "Giantness" of Nigeria. A giant that has come to be relegated to the background, whose economy has continuously weakened and whose political climate cannot be used as a prototype or model for other African states to follow. It therefore begs the question, what happened to the great giant? Did the giant fall? Has the giant turned to a toddler? Is the giant sleeping? Oh! the giant is crippled. It is now understandable why Osaghae thinks the giant has crippled. If the giant has not crippled, why hasn’t the giant taken its place? Shouldn’t the giant be in charge and be dominating? The questions become endless. Little surprise Osaghae submitted that

So also, how Caliphates and Emirates were established. It also assessed the West which was then a group of closely related empires, states and kingdoms, most notable of which were Oyo and Benin, Smith (cited by Osaghae, 1998). These empires controlled almost the entire regional formation even though the emergence of new states and political alliances led to their decline. The East on the other hand were city-states whose political organization was highly non-centralist. Hence, it can be deduced that without external intervention, the present state Nigeria might not have