Corporatist interest and ethno-religious identity in the corporatism of a public institution in Nigeria: a study in political intrigues

Abstract

The absence of dedicated study of political intrigues has made some unresolved questions to challenge contemporary literature on institutional politics. For instance, in the governing councils of public universities in Nigeria where corporatist interest representation is shadowed by ethno-religious identity, how can the intrigues for appropriating power and privileges, instructed by the status of equilibrium in their governing councils, be described? To examine that question, theories of corporate governance and ethnicity provided the framework. The study explored the crisis surrounding the 2009 vice-chancellorship selection episode in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as a case study. In-depth interviews were conducted with four of the eighteen members of the institution’s 2009 governing council. The study found that the structure of political representation in the institution’s governance was schemed to balance the numeric of corporatist interests but neglected to balance ethno-religious identities in the governing council. The intergroup intrigues that ensued were constructed on the opportunity of majoritarian numeric and made use of strategic feigned ignorance, indifference and acquiescence as tools for deception.