Against all Odds

The 1960s in Africa was a period of significant political transformation which saw the end of European colonialism and the emergence of independent African states. Like other emerging nations in Africa, Nigeria entered the postcolonial period with a sense of optimism. As various Nigerian societies began to respond to the emerging political systems bequeathed by British colonialism, the ideology and culture of ethnic politics began to find resonance among the political elites from...
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The 1960s in Africa was a period of significant political transformation which saw the end of European colonialism and the emergence of independent African states. Like other emerging nations in Africa, Nigeria entered the postcolonial period with a sense of optimism. As various Nigerian societies began to respond to the emerging political systems bequeathed by British colonialism, the ideology and culture of ethnic politics began to find resonance among the political elites from diverse ethnic groups. By the middle of the 1960s, Nigeria had begun to experience political crises that culminated in the Nigeria-Biafra war (1967-1970) which pitched the rest of Nigeria against the Igbo of the Southeast. Against All Odds explores the experiences of the Igbo in postcolonial Nigeria. It evinces both the grim side of postcolonial politics in Nigeria, particularly the horrors of ethnic politics, civil war, and the Igbo example of perseverance and human potential to overcome dreadful conditions of such magnitude. The collection illuminates the tension emanating from the enduring colonial legacies and their influences on Nigerian peoples and public life. Against All Odds links socioeconomic, cultural, and political events in Nigeria since the 1960s and the peculiar circumstances faced by the Igbo ethnic group with the continuing attempts to forge a more perfect nation state in which every constituent group is treated with fairness and equity. This book will appeal to the wider academic community working on modern Nigeria. It will also be of value to those whose work involves the nature of the postcolonial state in Africa and the crisis of nation building in modern Africa.