Since the end of civil war in 1970, Nigeria has struggled to build a stronger federal center and to reduce conflicts that have arisen from uneven development and from ethnic, regional, class and religious differences. This book provides a comprehensive account of the dynamic interplay between the political and economic forces that have shaped gover

Tom Forrest was formerly a lecturer in economics at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He is currently a Research Associate at Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, and is engaged in research on the growth of indigenous companies in Nigeria.

Introduction -- State, Society, and Economy -- State, Society, and Economy: Historical Background -- Political Development -- Military Government and Politics, 1970-1979 -- A Hollow Democracy: Civil Rule, 1979-1983 -- The Return of the Military: The Buhari Regime -- The Babangida Regime -- Economic Development -- The State, Oil Dynamics, and the Economy, 1970-1979 -- Civil Rule and Economic Policy, 1979-1983 -- The State and Agriculture in the 1980s -- Structural Adjustment and National Accumulation