Beyond the State

This book was commissioned as part of a research project, located in the Centre for Social Science Research and Development, an independent research organisation based in Ikorodu, Nigeria, with the intention of building knowledge about positive leadership in Nigeria. Supported by the Ford Foundation, it is part of a global initiative to encourage a diversified understanding of leadership beyond State and public actors, giving prominence to new ideas, and recognising leaders in various communities whose work have contributed to positive social change.

The volume is informed by the need to revisit the nature of leadership in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, now burdened with the onus of assuming a leadership role at a regional level. Its overall approach conceives leadership as a complex web of individuals, institutions and hierarchies working together.

In historical context, the contributors examine experiences of leadership in the country in pre-colonial times and past examples of collective leadership in traditional societies, for example: the culture of leadership in traditional Igbo society, the Idoma national forum, and nineteenth century Yoruba politics. They further consider dimensions of ‘non- political’ leadership of indigenous institutions in Nigeria, providing theoretical and empirical insights. In a contemporary context, the authors consider the dynamics of the interface between traditional and modern experiences of leadership, collective memory and contemporary reality. They explore the role of such cultural institutions as the media, sport, gender and education in the production and reproduction of leadership cultures in diverse aspects of Nigerian life. They further consider the issue of leadership in the workplace, and the problematic area of leadership and governance.