Sixty-six years on - how can Nigeria escape the fragility trap and unlock its potential?
Speaker
Chair
Join us for a fireside chat book launch that introduces the new book by Olu Fasan, In The National Interest: The Road to Nigeria's Political, Economic and Social Transformation.
More than a century after its creation by Britain in 1914 and sixty-six years after independence in 1960, Nigeria remains a deeply fragile nation: ethnically polarised, politically unstable, economically vulnerable and socially fractured.
In this chat, Dr Fasan examines the political, economic and social roots of Nigeria's predicament, drawing on extensive scholarly policy research and rigorous evidence-based analysis. He argues that Nigeria's difficulties a rooted in the country's "birth defects", troubled historical evolution and path-dependent institutional development, reflected in three fundamental failures: weak nationhood, limited state capacity insufficient commitment by leaders and citizens to act in the national interest. The book makes the case for a new political and constitutional settlement and offers thoughtful ideas for national renewal.
Timed to coincide with Nigeria's sixty-sixth Independence Anniversary this event provides a timely platform for critical discussion on Nigeria's future and the prospects for political, economic and social transformation.
Meet our speaker
Olu Fasan is a scholar-practitioner of International Economic Law, International Political Economy and African Development. He spent nearly 20 years with the UK Government, advising on policy areas such as trade, regulatory reform, industrial strategy, as well as energy and climate change.
Dr Fasan holds a Master's degree in International Political Economy from the Department of International Relations (IRD) at LSE, where his PhD in International Economic Law was also jointly supervised. He later returned to the IRD as a Visiting Fellow and Guest Teacher, teaching Economic Diplomacy and the Politics of International Trade.
He currently researches African Development with the International Growth Centre, and writes a weekly column for Vanguard and BusinessDay, Nigeria's leading newspapers, where he comments on politics, governance and economic reform. He is a member of the English Bar and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Chair
Milli Lake is Professor of International Security in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Her expertise lies in civil wars, political violence, security, state-building, rule of law, governance, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She co-directs the Women's Rights After War project and co-convenes the Advancing Research on Conflict consortium.
More about this event
The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) at LSE is now in it's 99th year - one of the oldest as well as largest IR departments in the world, with a truly international reputation. Throughout 2027 we will celebrate our centenary with a series of events and initiatives involving faculty, students, alumni and the public. We are ranked 2nd in the UK and 5th in the world in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2026 tables for Politics and International Studies.
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