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Book Reviews Africa : Eghosa E. Osaghae, Crippled Giant: Nigeria Since Independence (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998), 342 pp. No price reported

In his new book, Eghosa Osaghae provides a compelling account of Nigerian politics since independence. The theoretical framework for the book is an ambitious one. Osaghae identifies the roots of Nigeria’s political problems in its colonial inheritance. He illustrates this by tracing Nigeria’s political history since independence according to four dimensions: the character of the society, the character of the state, the character of the contestation for power, and Nigeria’s location in the global economy. While this theoretical framework is not innovative, it does allow Osaghae to recount the political history of Nigeria with remarkable power and subtlety. The book covers the different themes of Nigerian political history very capably, and it is most impressive in its discussion of ethnicity. This is not surprising, for over the past fifteen years, Osaghae has established himself as one of the most sophisticated analysts of ethnic politics in Nigeria. Among the topics on which the book sheds fresh light on are the rise of northern supremacy, the role of minorities and patterns of ethnic coalitions (particularly the persistent failures of alliances between the East and the West). These strengths are evident in the discussion of the June 12 annulment. Osaghae avoids the simplistic dichotomies that are often used to describe this watershed event, and even the most attentive students of Nigerian politics should find the analysis thoughtful and informative. The book is also useful for its attention to Nigeria’s foreign relations with neighboring West African