1. Introduction 2. An experiential approach to societal continuity and change 3. Civil society and democratization 4. An empirical baseline: post-communist civil society in comparative perspective 5. Explaining organizational membership: a statistical test of alternative hypotheses 6. Why post-communist citizens do not join organizations: an interpretive analysis 7. Conclusion.

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The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe

From the 1980 Maitatsine uprising to the 2009 Boko Haram up-rising, Nigeria was bedevilled by ethno-religious conflicts with devastating human and material losses. But the Boko Haram uprising of July 2009 was significant in that it not only set a precedent, but also reinforced the attempts by Islamic conservative elements at imposing a variant of Islamic religious ideology on a secular state. Whereas the religious sensitivity of Nigerians provided fertile ground for the breeding of the Boko Haram sect, the sect's blossoming was also aided by the prevailing economic dislocation in Nigerian society, the advent of party politics (and the associated desperation of politicians for political power), and the ambivalence of some vocal Islamic leaders, who, though they did not actively embark on insurrection, either did nothing to stop it from fomenting, or only feebly condemned it. These internal factors coupled with growing Islamic fundamentalism around the world make a highly volatile Nigerian society prone to violence, as evidenced by the Boko Haram uprising. Given the approach of the Nigerian state to religious conflict, this violence may remain a recurring problem. This paper documents and analyses the Boko Haram uprising, as well as its links with the promotion of Islamic revivalism and the challenges it poses to the secularity of the Nigerian state.

The Boko Haram Uprising and Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria Die Boko-Haram-Unruhen und die Wiederbelebung des Islam in Nigeria

1. Introduction 2. Country studies 3. Comprehensive lists of country scores 4. List of expert consultants.

The Handbook of National Legislatures: A Global Survey

Nigeria has a long history of religious conflicts, some of the most virulent being those of the Maitatsine (1980s) and Boko Haram (July 2009). The latter matched the former in intensity, organization, and spread. Given the international attention to global terrorism, there is the likelihood that fundamentalist groups receive motivation, material, and ideological support or influence from a global jihadist movement. Unresolved national issues, including the weak economy, weak security and intelligence apparatuses, and the failure to define what the national culture and identity is, are critical factors. The precedent of Maitatsine and the government's handling of it suggest that government incapacity and lack of political will have served to encourage recurrence and question the state's capacity. This paper discusses the resurgence of violence under the guise of religious revivalism and draws parallels between the Maitatsine uprisings and the Boko Haram uprising. It examines the Nigerian state response to these uprisings. It concludes that unless the state addresses concretely and tackles bravely the conditions that can aid or fuel violent religious revivalism, uprisings may recur.

Between Maitatsine and Boko Haram: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Response of the Nigerian State

Ethnicity remains an important (but not the only) cost‐effective strategic resource for organizing collective political action in Africa's emerging democracies. To advance systematic analysis of the impact of ethnicity on current patterns of democratic politics and the potential for democratic consolidation, this article describes and presents a comprehensive data set on ethnopolitical groups in all 48 African countries. It explicates the theoretical orientation that informs the data set and the methodology used in defining, identifying and coding ethnopolitical groups.

The specification of ethnic cleavages and ethnopolitical groups for the analysis of democratic competition in contemporary Africa

This study examines the rise and fall of democratic transition and structural adjustment in Nigeria during the regime of General Babangida. Providing historical narrative and political analysis, it chronicles the descent from the promise of reform to a political and economic depression.

Transition Without End: Nigerian Politics and Civil Society under Babangida

Nigerian Government and Politics Under Military Rule, 1966-1979

Nigeria's Struggle for Democracy and Good Governance: A Festschrift for Oyeleye Oyediran

Transition without End: Nigerian Politics and Civil Society under Babangida

After coming to power in 1985 via what might be described as a ‘palace coup’, General Ibrahim Babangida quickly earned himself the sobriquet of the ‘Maradona’ of Nigerian politics. In October 1989 the President surpassed his own record of unpredictability and unorthodoxy, and surprised even the closest watchers of his military regime by announcing that two parties would be established by fiat and provided with initial funding in the context of the agreed programme of transition to democratic civilian rule, laid out between 1986 and 1987, and scheduled to terminate with the inauguration of the Third Republic in 1992.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022278X0000272X

Oyeleye Oyediran

Papers

Transition Without End: Nigerian Politics and Civil Society under Babangida

Nigerian Government and Politics Under Military Rule, 1966-1979

Nigeria's Struggle for Democracy and Good Governance: A Festschrift for Oyeleye Oyediran

Transition without End: Nigerian Politics and Civil Society under Babangida

Two-Partyism and Democratic Transition in Nigeria