ABSTRACT
The political arrangement represented by the Nigerian state has its root in the colonial strategy of capital accumulation, which dates back to the fusion of the Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914. It is a contraption that one of the main actors in the early days of its evolution (the late Ahmadu Bello, the Sandauna of Sokoto) claimed was a consequence of the mistake of 1914. The Nigerian state that was granted independence on October 1, 1960, was a surrogate of colonial capitalism. It inherited from its foreign progenitor its socioeconomic structures, which were rooted in authoritarian, exploitative and predatory proclivities. It must also be emphasized that the Nigerian state functions as a mechanism for capital accumulation in the hands of domestic and foreign capital interests. 1
