Extraversion strategies within a peripheral research community: Nigerian scientists' responses to the state and changing patterns of international science and development cooperation

Labelled ‘giant of Africa’ in the 1970s on account of its promising human and natural resources, Nigeria entered in the early 1980s in an unprecedented period of recession following the domination of corruption over government operations, the fall of the oil market price and the introduction of a structural adjustment programme in 1986. Despite its potential wealth, Nigeria is ranked today as part of the world’s thirty least developed countries. This has, of course, had severe repercussions on institutions of higher learning and the scientific community through the twin effects of the deterioration of working conditions and that of the purchasing power of the academic staff. However, our study, based on visits in nine of the most prestigious research institutions and interviews with forty five scientists working there, reveals that, contrary to all expectations, research has not died. It has, rather, been transformed in various ways along the survival strategies evolved by scientists and the needs of the international community