State and Society in Nigeria

The research network focuses on the dynamics of state-society relations in Nigeria, with a particular focus on contemporary developments. Nigeria, as much as any African state, concentrates and captures a number of significant transformations taking place in the encounters between state and society. The role of religion in society, the politicisation of ethnicity, the consequences of urbanisation and urban forms of violence, the rise of new media, the long-term decline of the agricultural sector, and the politics of natural resources, are all captured by the Nigerian experience. These concerns are common to other African states, though the demographic and economic significance of Nigeria means that Nigerian state and society serve as a crucible for social transformations in Africa. At the same time, Nigeria has one of the most robust university systems on the African continent, with a number of academics at major state universities providing research on the relationship between state and society. New religious movements, youth politics, the role of violence in everyday life, the changing face of popular literature, etc., are documented in greater detail and through a greater diversity of disciplines than in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with the possible exception of South Africa.