This book offers a comprehensive political biography of Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe, (1915-1990), a central figure in Nigerian political history for more than forty years. Starting in 1936 as a protégé of Nnamdi Azikiwe, then Nigeria's most renowned nationalist, Mbadiwe himself by the 1950s became a frontline nationalist. And next to Tafawa Balewa from the North who became Prime Minster in 1957, he was the most important figure in the Nigerian Federal Government between 1952 and Nigeria's first military coup in 1966. During this time he held a succession of important Cabinet positions and was Parliamentary Leader of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), which was in a ruling alliance with the Northern People's Congress (NPC). In contrast, his older prominent political contemporaries, Azikiwe of the Eastern Region, Igbo Leader of the NCNC; Obafemi Awolowo of the Western Region, Yoruba Leader of the Action Group (AG); and Ahmadu Bello of the Northern Region, Fulani Leader of the NPC, all carved out their political careers totally or largely at the regional level. Throughout his political career Mbadiwe's focus was always at the national level. Truly, it has been stated that Mbadiwe was one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian State. Nonetheless, Mbadiwe's ambition for himself to lead Nigeria and for his nation to set it on the path to greatness faced insuperable difficulties. In a country of widespread poverty, high illiteracy, and a grossly underdeveloped private sector, there were fierce ethnic and regional conflicts for the control of governments and resources, leading to massive corruption and serious instability. This in turn led to prolonged military rule twenty years in Mbadiwe's lifetime which was often more corrupt and repressive than civilian rule, and was bitterly deprecated by Mbadiwe.

Proceeding from a longitudinal analysis of Nigeria s governorship history, The Route to Power in Nigeria shows how personalities have for the most part overwhelmed institutions, to the detriment of the country s democratic consolidation. While it is customary to hold leaders solely responsible for the predicament of Nigeria s governorship, M.J. Balogun argues they could not have accomplished the task entirely by themselves. Here we see how the "silent majority", individuals who exploit weaknesses in the system, and those who have lost hope of casting votes in free elections play important roles in subverting the democratic system in Nigeria.

Life in Tanganyika in the 1950s and a look at race relations between whites and black Africans and others in this East African country are some of the subjects covered in the book. It's full of human interest stories, including the author's. Born and brought up in Tanganyika, the author writes from personal experience. He also got the chance to ask many ex-Tanganyikans a number of questions about life in Tanganyika in the fifties. Many of them were born and brought up in Tanganyika during the same period the author was. And many others went to Tanganyika as children but grew up there. The ex-Tanganyikans he contacted lived in different parts of the world including Tahiti, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the United States, the Middle East, and Russia among others. And they all had interesting stories to tell about life in Tanganyika in the fifties. The perspectives they provided, and the memories they shared with the author about their lives in Tanganyika, are some of the most interesting aspects of this book which focuses on one of the most important periods in the history of Africa. The book is a primary source of information on how life was then in Tanganyika during one of the most important decades in the history of the country just before independence.

The main purpose of the British Documents on the End of Empire Project (BDEEP) is to publish documents from British official archives on the ending of colonial rule and the context in which this took place. This publication is the second of three volumes which relate to the years 1964 to 1971, during which period ten territories became independent and all but one (Aden) became new members of the Commonwealth. Issues considered include: Britain's second application to join the EEC; colonial issues at the UN; planning and assessment of priorities for British interests after the withdrawl from Suez; major Whitehall administrative changes and the Overseas Service during 1966 to 1968; an assessment of the value of the Commonwealth to Britain; and developments relating to Rhodesia.

Livelihood in Colonial Lagos initiates a new line of historical investigation into colonial urban culture, focused on the intersections between daily living and the urban experience. It examines the livelihood challenges that Africans faced between 1861 and 1960 due to the urban planning and development policies of the British government in colonial Lagos. It historicizes the urban livelihood strategies in the informal sector, and it explores how the flow of social capital mitigated the challenges faced by both migrants to and indigenes of Lagos in that time period. Monsuru Muritala illuminates the economic and social history of Lagos with special emphasis on the coping mechanisms adopted by the people under colonial rule.