Uyilawa Usuanlele Livres

Focusing on the Edo ne Ekue, this work explores the often-overlooked non-economic diasporas in pre-colonial Africa, particularly among the Edo people. Uyilawa Usuanlele delves into their political institutions, trading networks, and unique identity within the Benin Kingdom, highlighting their connections to the royal court and interactions with local rulers. The study enhances understanding of ethnic identity and the dynamics of political, economic, and social changes across communities from 1485 to 1995, challenging the prevailing focus on West African trade diasporas.

This book offers a thematic study of key debates in the history of the ethnic politics, democratic governance, and minority rights in Nigeria. Nigeria provides a framework for examining the central paradox in post-colonial nation building projects in Africa – the tension between majority rule and minority rights. The liberal democratic model on which most African states were founded at independence from colonial rule, and to which they continue to aspire, is founded on majority rule. It is also founded on the protection of the rights of minority groups to political participation, social inclusion and economic resources. Maintaining this tenuous balance between majority rule and minority rights has, in the decades since independence, become the key national question in many African countries, perhaps none more so than Nigeria. This volume explores these issues, focusing on four key themes as they relate to minority rights in Nigeria: ethnic and religious identities, nationalism and federalism, political crises and armed conflicts.