The chief, the youth and the plantation: communcal politics in southern Nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	The chief, the youth and the plantation: communcal politics in southern Nigeria
Author:	Hellermann, Pauline von
Year:	2010
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies (ISSN 0022-278X)
Volume:	48
Issue:	2
Pages:	259-283
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	chieftaincy local politics youth
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/40864717
Abstract:	In August 2006 the chief of Udo, a small town in Edo State, Nigeria, was deposed and the town taken over by the 'youth', a group of younger chiefs and their supporters. This event presents the classic fall of a 'big man' who had lost support, but also involved long-standing chieftaincy rivalries, electoral competition in the run up to the 2007 elections, and conflict over a nearby oil palm and rubber plantation. Through an examination of Udo's crisis, this paper engages with three key questions concerning contemporary communal politics in southern Nigeria: the manifestations of patrimonial power and resistance to it, the meaning and role of 'youth', and the impact of expatriate capital. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]