1st Edition
Sékou Touré’s Guinea An Experiment in Nation Building
Originally published in 1976, this book was the first comprehensive analysis in English of the post-independence developments in the West African Republic of Guinea. It is a scholarly analysis of the different aspects of life in the country: political, economic and social. Among other things, the significance and consequences of the 1958 historic vote for independence are carefully examined: the role of President Touré, the country’s first and only Head of State, is assessed; the role of one of Africa’s earliest single mass parties, the Democratic Party of Guinea is also discussed, and the abortive invasion of November 1970 is situated in its correct historical perspective. This carefully researched book was based on observation and interviews, and on published and unpublished government and party documents, most of which were only available inside Guinea.
1. Introduction 2. The Political Institutional Framework for Nation Building 3. Economic and Social Development: The Strategy for Development 4. Economic and Social Development: Assessment of Performance 5. The Quest for a National Identity 6. Balance Sheet of the Guinean Experiment and the Prospects for the Future 7. Conclusion: Some Theoretical Reflections on the Guinean Experiment in Nation Building. Appendices: A: Prelude to the Ballot Box Revolution of September 1958 B: The Constitution of the Republic of Guinea C: Extracts from the Statutes of the Democratic Party of Guinea.
Biography
Ladipo Adamolekun is a Professor of Public Administration and a former Dean of the Faculty of Administration at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria. For about two decades, he held senior appointments in the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He has written and published extensively on politics and public administration in Africa. He has won many honours and distinctions at home and abroad over the years, including the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) award, officially described as the "highest national prize for academic and intellectual attainment".
Review of the original edition of Sékou Touré’s Guinea:
‘Sékou Touré’s Guinea is an informative work and an interesting contribution to the literature on nation-building in Africa.’ Lansiné Kaba, Journal of Modern Africa Studies, Vol 15, No. 2.
