The paradox of co-producing governance with traditional institutions: Diaspora chiefs and minority empowerment in Nigeria

Abstract

Diaspora chiefs are traditional authorities of migrant communities. In Nigeria, they can function as representative brokers who empower their communities and co-produce governance with the state. This article shows how in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city, this brokerage produces paradoxical outcomes. Based on original interviews and survey data, it describes how, on the one hand, diaspora chiefs are highly popular and have indeed created new spaces for minorities to access public resources. But, on the other, the constraints inherent in these newly created, traditional spaces mean that minority empowerment may well come at the expense of reproducing their nonindigenous, second-class citizenship status.