Samuel Decalo

Historical dictionary of Chad

One of Africas largest yet least known countries, Chad has a rich pre-colonial heritage and a turbulent recent political history. This latest edition of the Historical Dictionary of Chad features new tables that list important statistics on its economic conditions - principal crops, gross domestic product, public finances, and main trade partners, as well as six maps, a list of abbreviations and acronyms, and a selected chronology. Reviews of the Previous Editon: ...Will prove handy for researchers, historians, journalists, teachers, politicians, and economists. For English speakers, the collection is a double blessing as this is the first time such a source of information on the French speaking countries is presented to them in their own language. -WEST AFRICA Mr. Decalo is eminently qualified...especially impressive...presents excellent background to the political and social history...-THE REFERENCE BOOK REVIEW

Regionalism, Political Decay, and Civil Strife in Chad

The creation in November 1979 of a Transitional Government of National Unity under the leadership of Wodei Goukouni was greeted by most observers with a sigh of relief and a measure of guarded optimism. The composition of the new regime in Chad, and especially the enhanced role of the defeated Sara south within it, may possibly stabilise a situation still exceedingly volatile and inherently unstable. Yet, as West Africa cautioned, ‘twenty years of government by a group unrepresentative of the country, pretending to fill the vacuum at the centre of power and doing so with conspicuous ineffectiveness, cannot be easily erased’. 1 Even given the sincerity and goodwill of all 11 groups in the new power hierarchy – which is far from assured, because every conceivable opportunistic faction has been included – the attempt to bring unity and stability to a land that has never experienced either may easily founder against the harsh realities of sharp internal divisions.

Full Circle in Dahomey

On May 7, 1970 the Fourth Dahomean Republic was inaugurated following a series of developments that snatched political stability from the jaws of civil anarchy, turned back the clock ten years, and gained the small West African state two questionable distinctions: the continents first collegiate presidency and Africas first head of state to bounce back to power after being toppled by the military. As secession and civil war threatened the country following the aborted March 1970 elections, Dahomey had just completed a tortuous tenyear cycle of acute instability, during which every possible combination of political forces had tried and failed to govern the country. The political triumvirate of Dahomey--Ahomadegbe, Maga, and Apity--maintained a tight electoral stranglehold over their respective tribal fiefs in Abomey, the North, and Porto Novo, buttressed by their traditional claims to legitimacy. Intense regionalism and ethnic exclusiveness, dating to the precolonial era and perpetuated by the French administration, mitigated against the emergence of durable interregional political alliances. The period 1958-1965 was characterized by shifting coalitions between the three leaders that collapsed almost as soon as they were created as a result of continuous intrigues, plots, and jockeying for sole power (for a detailed analysis of this period, see Thompson 1963, Decalo 1968).

People’s Republic of the Congo

Congo occupies an irregularly shaped territory of 342,000 sq. km. that straddles the equator, with a narrow 160 km. Atlantic littoral and 1000 km. of its long border with Zaire delineated by the Congo River. The territory rises from a narrow sandy plain to the forested Mayombe escarpment (altitude 500–600 metres), which is notable for its hydroelectric potential.1 In the foothills are found large potash deposits2 and valuable, though dwindling, timber resources. Further to the east is the fertile Niari valley (approximately 245,000 hectares), the centre of Congolese agriculture. The valley slopes northwards to the Chaillu massif (near the Gabon border), to the east of which is the poorly settled and infertile Bateke plateau. The north-eastern part of the country is part of the Congo basin, a region of dense equatorial forests, swamps and rivers, virtually uninhabited except for small population centres at its rim.

People’s Republic of Benin

Benin – until 1975 known as Dahomey – is one of Africa’s smaller states and by far the continent’s most unstable polity. During its eighteen years of independence from French colonial rule, the country has experienced six coups and numerous other military upheavals; ten civilian or military presidents have risen to power and six different constitutions have been promulgated. What distinguishes the current regime-which rose to power by military coup in 1972 – is both its declaration of a Marxist–Leninist state and its continuance in office despite several attempts to dislodge it.

Historical Dictionary of Niger

Written by one of the foremost authorities on West Africa, the third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Noger provides an updated and easy-to-use single-volume reference for scholars of West Africa and Third World development.