Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has undergone tremendous change shaped by political instability, rapid population growth, and economic turbulence. The Historical Dictionary of Nigeria introduces Nigeria's rich and complex history. Readers will find a wealth of information on important contemporary issues like AIDS, human rights, petroleum, and faith-based conflict.
The history of Nigeria has often been difficult to follow. Politically, the country passed through several democratic phases that were interrupted by regimes controlled by the military. Internally, regions and states have been sporadically created and divided to counteract ethnic or other tensions existing between the peoples of this densely populated African nation. This historical dictionary of Nigeria serves as a guide for the person interested in sorting out the political, economic and social history of this variegated nation. Updated for the 1990s, this second edition expands on information previously researched. It includes a chronology and a new bibliography by Thomas Ofcansky, highlighting books and articles published in Nigeria about the country's security affairs.
Sitting on the cusp between Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa, Niger is in many ways a remarkable place, blending in the harsh Sahelian environment a great diversity of cultures and lifestyles to make up a poor but resilient nation. The country was established in the early 20th century in what used to be the busy crossroad of exchanges between the kingdoms and empires of West Africa and the Arab-Islamic world. The resulting melting pot is a blend of Western Sudanic cultures, manifest in particular in its food, music, and dance, as well as in the enduring rituals and practices of animist religions, along with a good deal of Arab culture imported through the Islamic religion and a dash of French culture. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of Niger covers the history of the peoples of the Republic of Niger from medieval times to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries covering elements of pre-colonial and colonial history, recent politics, cinema, literature, religion, economics, and finance. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Niger.
Niger is a crossroad, the gate to the outside for West Africans, and the port of entry into West Africa for cross-Saharan tidings and travelers. It remained for centuries the largely uncontrolled periphery of the large empires of the western Sudan and the market cities of the central Sudan. In these two ways, the land forged a very distinctive identity, a fluid blend of diverse communities which make up a nation of marginal cosmopolitans – a paradox illuminated in this book. This fifth edition of Historical Dictionary of Niger contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Niger.
Having achieved its independence from France in 1960, Chad has run into a serious crises of national building, which have continued to haunt it to the present day, making it one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries on the globe. Chad is a country with sharp geographic and climatic contrasts that puzzle and fascinate the visitor, displaying first a monotonous but majestic portion of the Saharan Desert in the north, punctuated by plains and high altitudes displayed by the Tibesti mountains, where the highest point, Emi Koussi, reaches 11,204 ft.; the middle Central Sahelian zone, where pastoral transhumance lifestyle predominates but where and nut cultivation and harvesting is possible; and an endowed southern tropical zone where the forest and the savanna meet, blessed by several long-running rivers, most notably, the Logone and the Chari that empty their waters into centuries-old Lake Chad. Even though things in Chad seem to have improved during the past 10 years, most observers agree that the path to peace, reconstruction, and economic progress is still long and arduous. This fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Chad contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Chad.
Benin is now perceived of as a model of democracy in Africa because it has successfully established a democratic political system based on consensus and regular and fair elections, and it continues to improve its electoral and parliamentary systems. Since its democracy it has taken important steps towards laying the foundation for the rule of law by establishing stable political institutions that can withstand the test of time. It has also engaged in an important legal, institutional, and regulatory reform to establish a more favorable environment for private initiative. The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Benin covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Benin.
A Dictionary of Nigerian English Usage illustrates the variety of English used in Nigeria thereby allowing Nigerians and foreigners alike to recognise and learn Nigerian English and gain more in-dept understanding of the state of the variety. The entries have been selected on the basis of frequency of usage in written texts and speech and for their cultural and historical importance. The dictionary contains a detailed introduction which explains the features of Nigerian English, the history of English in Nigeria and research techniques and methodology.
Cameroon is a country endowed with a variety of climates and agricultural environments, numerous minerals, substantial forests, and a dynamic population. It is a country that should be a leader of Africa. Instead, we find a country almost paralyzed by corruption and poor management, a country with a low life expectancy and serious health problems, and a country from which the most talented and highly educated members of the population are emigrating in large numbers. Although Cameroon has made economic progress since independence, it has not been able to change the dependent nature of its economy. The economic situation combined with the dismal record of its political history, indicate that prospects for political stability, justice, and prosperity are dimmer than they have been for most of the country's independent existence. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon has been updated to reflect advances in the study of Cameroon's history as well as to provide coverage of the years since the last edition. It relates the turbulent history of Cameroon through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Cameroon history from the earliest times to the present.
"While widely known and admired, Quakers are too often known only superficially. The A to Z of the Friends (Quakers) clears up these superficialities by digging deeper into the Society's past and present. The dictionary's numerous cross-referenced entries describe its origins and history, its current situation in many different countries, basic concepts and practices, and views on important contemporary issues, as well as leading figures and founders. The chronology shows the Society's progression over time, and the bibliography points the way to further reading."--BOOK JACKET.
