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‘The Thief Eats His Shame’: Practice and Power in Nigerian Vigilantism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

David Pratten
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Abstract

Contemporary Nigerian vigilantism concerns a range of local and global dynamics beyond informal justice. It is a lens on the politics of post-colonial Africa, on the current political economy of Nigeria, and on its most intractable issues – the politics of democracy, ethnicity and religion. The legitimation of vigilante activity has extended beyond dissatisfaction with current levels of law and order and the failings of the Nigeria Police. To understand the local legitimacy of vigilantism in post-colonial Nigeria, indeed, it is also necessary to recognize its internal imperatives. Vigilantism in this context is embedded in narratives of contested rights, in familiar everyday practices, understandings of personhood and knowledge, and in alternative, older registers of governmentality. In addition to mapping temporal and spatial communities in which young men are vested with the right to exercise justice, this article assesses the legitimacy of Annang vigilantism within cultural frameworks of accountability linked to conceptions of agency, personhood and power, and the oppositions this produces between vigilantes and thieves.

Le vigilantisme nigérian contemporain concerne un ensemble de dynamiques locales et globales au-delà de la justice informelle. Il offre une perspective de la politique de l'Afrique post-coloniale, de l'économie politique actuelle du Nigeria et de ses problèmes les plus ardus, à savoir la politique de la démocratie, de l'ethnicité et de la religion. La légitimation de l'activité des vigilantes a dépassé le cadre du mécontentement vis-à-vis du niveau actuel de maintien de l'ordre et des défaillances de la police nigériane. Pour comprendre la légitimité locale du vigilantisme dans le Nigeria post-colonial, il faut en effet éalement reconnaître ses impératifs internes. Le vigilantisme, dans ce contexte, s'inscrit dans des narratifs de droits contestés, dans des pratiques quotidiennes familières, dans des interprétations de la notion de personne et de savoir, ainsi que dans d'autres registres plus anciens de gouvernementalité. Outre le mappage des communautés temporelles et spatiales au sein desquelles les hommes jeunes sont investis du droit d'exercer la justice, cet article évalue la légitimité du vigilantisme annang dans des cadres de responsabilité culturels liés à l'action, à la personne et au pouvoir, ainsi que les oppositions que cette légitimité engendre entre les vigilantes et les voleurs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 78 , Issue 1: Perspectives on Vigilantism in Nigeria , February 2008 , pp. 64 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2008

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