Soldier's paradise : militarism in Africa after empire / Samuel Fury Childs Daly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Daly, Samuel Fury Childs, 1986- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postcolonialism--Nigeria.

Postcolonialism.

Dictatorship--Africa--History--20th century.

Dictatorship.

Military government--Africa--History--20th century.

Military government.

Postcolonialism--Africa.

Nigeria--History--1960-.

Nigeria.

Nigeria--History, Military--20th century.

Nigeria--Politics and government--1960-.

Place of Publication:

Duke University Press 2024

Summary:

"Soldier's Paradise is an exploration of the ideologies that fueled military dictatorships in late-twentieth-century Africa. Through speeches and writing, the development of martial law, and public prosecutions, including the 1977 raid on Fela Kuti's compound, Samuel Fury Childs Daly provides a history of Nigeria's military dictatorship. In so doing, he also shows how the new nation's legal structures, largely inherited from British colonizers, were complicit with and facilitated military rule. Using an original collection of legal records, archival documents, and memoirs, Soldier's Paradise shows how law enabled militarism-and worked against it. Daly establishes Nigeria's military rulers as having recognizable theories and participating in legitimate structures of governance. In so doing, this book pushes back against some strains of African social history which try to position the militarism that affected the bulk of postcolonial African societies as aberrant. Instead, it explores how these governments worked (and didn't work) and why they appealed to civilians (and didn't). Long submerged by more hopeful ideological currents, militarism is now rising back to the surface of African politics. Soldier's Paradise describes where it came from, and why it lasted so long"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The gavel and the gun : the inheritance of colonialism

The soldier's creed : discipline as an ideology

The portable coup : the jurisprudence of military "revolution"

Oracles and autocrats : the uses of customary law

Fela Kuti goes to court : the spectacle of inquiry

The gift of martial law : military tribunals for civilians

Coda: Militarism's denouement.

Notes:

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

1-4780-9418-4

1-4780-5982-6