PhD student co-authors book on Nigerian Democracy

The book chronicles the political history of Nigeria since independence in 1960. It concludes that democratic transition in Nigeria has been fraught with challenges and prospects and shows that both the military and political elites have contributed to the delay in Nigeria’s democratic transition.’

The subject of democratic transition falls within Tunde’s wider research interest in comparative democratisation in Africa. Tunde explains the reasons for investigating the processes and patterns of democratic transition in Nigeria. As he says, ‘we wanted to understand how politics and political behaviour of the elites and masses of Africa’s most populous country interact to shape and sharpen the democratic experience. The research will serve as a mirror into what happened in other African nations during the trying times of democratisation and demilitarisation across the continent.’

He added, ‘The book also offers the opportunity to understand the lessons drawn from Nigeria’s recent past for democratisation and its continuous calls for electoral and institutional reforms.’

Tunde’s research supervisor, Professor Jack Vowles notes that it is very rare for a student to have co-written a book before completing his PhD. He said, ‘The quality of the book indicates that Tunde has already acquired a deep understanding of the politics of one of his key case studies, and therefore bodes very well for the success of his thesis research.’