Nigeria’s violent awakening

LSE alumnus Ebenezer Obadare argues that Boko Haram’s reign of terror is the product of a nation schooled by the violence of Nigeria’s decades-long military rule.

The Alternative Genealogy of Civil Society and Its Implications for Africa: Notes for Further Research

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ad/article/view/22204.Despite its ubiquity in popular and academic discourses, consensus about the epistemological status of the idea of civil society remains elusive. In Africa, the literature is circumscribed by doubts about, first, its applicability; and second, the usefulness of civil society in explicating social processes on the continent. This has generated a conflictive, yet deeply illuminating, scholarship. The paper makes a modest contribution to the debate, first, by mapping the main contours of the existing intellectual divide, and second, critically complicating it by suggesting the emergence of an ‘alternative genealogy' that seemingly renders the debate itself redundant. The ‘alternative genealogy' seems to have emerged, partly out of the desire to respond to misgivings about the possibility of civil society in Africa, and partly to provide a description of civil society which, while not totally divorced from its original meaning(s), nevertheless strikes out in fresh directions, taking into cognisance the radical ways in which the notion of civil society is being used across non-Western societies in general. The paper concludes with an examination of the implications of this re-imagining of civil society for both theoretical analysis and practical engagement

Nigeria: What is to be done

As Nigeria awaits results from the 2015 elections, Ebenezer Obadare introduces a new ebook, entitled Nigeria: What is to be done published on Africa is a Country

On democratic despond

As inequality in Nigeria widens, Ebenezer Obadare explores the growing disenchantment with democracy in the most populous African nation

Statism, Youth and Civic Imagination: A Critical Study of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Programme in Nigeria

Statism, Youth and Civic Imagination: A Critical Study of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Programme in Nigeri

Kids in need of desks; a continent in need of a moral overhaul

Corruption by many African leaders and the failure of the continent’s intelligentsia to hold them to account has led to poverty becoming ingrained rather than being reversed, laments Ebenezer Obadare

Civil Society and Development in West Africa: Practitioners' Perspective

In West Africa, CSOs have evolved and gained important recognition in public policy debates and contribution to democratic development. Civil society has contributed in varied ways to good governance and socio-economic development. Specifically, CSOs have intervened in elections and governance processes, conflict prevention and management, humanitarian crisis, health and sanitation challenges (Ebola outbreak in the region).Even though CSOs are contributing significantly to development, very little has been highlighted and documented to demonstrate their achievements and contributions to the regions development.This research report seeks to present a potpourri of existing and emerging issues on civil society's contribution to development in West Africa. Its sixteen chapters are written by civil society practitioners actively working in the field and represent perspectives of all the fifteen countries. The book has two main objectives: To identify, gather, document, and share civil society's contribution to development as well as effectively use the evidence to shape public policy making in the region. The main priority is to present evidence that strongly reflects issues on the ground that would challenge preconceptions while still maintaining a relevance to public policy and practice. What the authors have done is to individually capture the historical evolution of civil society, its contributions to development and propose concepts that will frame the development discourse in West Africa.The overall aim of this research report is to move forward the documentation of the contributions of civil society to development across the region. It also seeks to open up the space for continuous discussions by showing the intrinsic value of civil society, using evidence drawn from each of the fifteen countries focusing on contributions to good governance, democracy, and sustainable development

Professor Patrick Chabal: A tribute to the unelected Dean of African Studies

LSE’s Wendy Willems and Ebenezer Obadare of the University of Kansas pay tribute to Professor Patrick Chabal, an eminent scholar in the field of African Studies

On the theologico-theatrical: explaining the convergence of Pentecostalism and popular culture in Nigeria

As the supply of 'assurances of salvation' in the Nigerian religious market exceeds supply, Pentecostal pastors are turning to popular culture to help expand their congregations, writes Ebenezer Obadare

Volunteering and Civic Service in Three African Regions: Contributions to Regional Integration, Youth Development and Peace

This paper broadly looks at the role of youth volunteering in cultivating peace and development in Sub-Saharan Africa