The precariousness of prebendalism

Abstract

A critical aspect of Richard Joseph’s argument in Democracy and Prebendal Politics is easily overlooked. His analysis of the short-lived Second Republic (1979-1983) is well-known for identifying access to public office as the dominant political imperative in Nigeria, and that ethnic and regional identities became entrenched as a result of this quest for state resources. Less evident, however, is the basic, taken-for-granted motivation that sustains this prebendal system-insecurity.