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Showing posts from January, 2014

Who Are the African Immigrants?

Who Are the African Immigrants? A presentation at Willingboro Public Library, NJ on Saturday, December 7, at 2 p.m. Willingboro Public Library presented an interactive lecture "Who Are the African Immigrants?," with Professor Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome.  "Our goal is to inform and create awareness about this growing and diverse group of Africans, who live and interact with others in New Jersey," says Paulette Doe-Williams, adult services librarian. "We aim to dispel stereotypes and encourage dialogue between groups in Willingboro and surrounding towns." The talk is the second in a series on African Immigrants in New Jersey, funded by a grant from the N.J. Council for the Humanities.  Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome is a professor of political science at Brooklyn College.  A Nigerian by birth, she was educated at the University of Ibadan, Long Island University, and Columbia University. Her most recent books are:  Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, editor. Contesting t

Two new books: Contesting the Nigerian State AND State Fragility, State Formation and Human Security in Nigeria

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For the past year, I've been working on two edited books.  The second one was just published. Contesting the Nigerian  State: Civil Society and the Contradictions of Self Organization ,  Edited By Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome   ( Palgrave -Macmillan, 2013) T his book addresses the meanings and implications of self-organization and state society relations in contemporary Nigerian politics. The conventional wisdom in public choice theory is that self-organization could generate collective action problems, via the tragedy of the commons, or the prisoner's dilemma, or a condition akin to Hobbes' state of nature, where selfish interests produce social conflict rather than cooperation. In the absence or unwillingness of the state to provide such services, entire communities in Nigeria have had to band together to repair roads, build health centers, repair broken transformers owned by the public utilities company, all from levies. Consideration of post-authoritarian state-ci

US Immigration Reform: Implications for West Africans on Both Sides of the Atlantic

The West African Research Association (WARA) sponsored roundtable on "US Immigration Reform: Implications for West Africans on Both Sides of the Atlantic" at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA) Friday, November 22, 2013, from  4:45-6:30pm in Harborside Ballroom, Waterfront Marriott, Baltimore, MD. Participants: Chair: Louise Badiane, Bridgewater State University Zain Abdullah, Temple University Emira Wood, Institute for Policy Studies Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, Brooklyn College, CUNY Moderator: Ndimyake Mwakalyelye, VOA Broadcast journalist; Africa expert The video was recorded by students from Morgan State University