Ojogbon Globalization

I haven't written for a long time.  The reason: distress writ large about Nigeria and our girls who have now been in captivity for well over 3 months.   There's nothing less desirable for me than writing this.  The piece I'd rather write is that which leads the crowing and jubilation about Nigeria's newfound stature as the largest economy in Africa . Alternately, I’d rather write one that points out some glorious achievement or another that my country of origin or its intrepid people have accomplished.  So for many days I've put this onerous assignment on my back burner. I also felt conflicted.  At one point I just hadn't done enough in my estimation to deserve the luxury of armchair pontificating.  I also had my constant need to study more. Perhaps there was something about the Boko Haram situation that I didn't know or understand; perhaps there's some stellar analysis out there; perhaps.... Now that I'm professor #BringBackOurGirlsNYC, I have earn...

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-autho...