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The Politics of Technocracy in Fourth Republic Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2018

Alexander Thurston
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Abstract:

The technocrat, a supposedly apolitical figure who joins government on the basis of technical expertise, looms large in discussions of governance. The empowerment of technocrats has sometimes been taken as a barometer for Africa’s economic and democratic progress. Rejecting this conventional wisdom, this article argues that technocrats are inevitably trapped in a web of politics—politicians leverage the apolitical image of technocrats for political gain, and public debates implicate technocrats as targets of protest. This article pursues this argument through a case study of Nigeria, where technocrats were both politicized and politicizing figures during the rule of the People’s Democratic Party between 1999 and 2015.

Résumé:

Le technocrate, une figure soi-disant apolitique qui a rejoint le gouvernement de par son expertise technique, occupe une position importante dans les discussions sur la gouvernance. L’autonomisation des technocrates a parfois été considérée comme un baromètre des perspectives économiques et démocratiques de l’Afrique. Rejetant cette idée répandue, cet article soutient que les technocrates sont inévitablement pris au piège dans un réseau politique—que les politiciens tirent parti de l’image apolitique des technocrates pour le gain politique et les débats publics impliquent les technocrates comme des cibles de protestation. L’article poursuit cet argument à travers une étude de cas au Nigeria, où les technocrates ont été politisés et politiser pendant le règne du Parti démocratique populaire entre 1999 et 2015.

Keywords

NigeriaAfricatechnocratsneoliberalismOlusegun ObasanjoUmaru Yar’AduaGoodluck JonathanMuhammadu Buhari
Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 61 , Issue 1 , April 2018 , pp. 215 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2018 

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