2 - Africa and Its Constitutional Development

Abstract

Constitutional Democracy in Africa in 5 volumes by Ben Nwabueze
Spectrum Books, Nigeria, 2004, 2092 pp., ISBN 9-78029-432-5, £250.00

In his foreword to this work, the late Julius Nyerere described it as “at once magis terial and authoritative; … learned and erudite without being pedantic, critical, incisive and perceptive without being carping, informative and comprehensive without being tedious.” The author, Professor Nwabueze, a leading constitutional lawyer in Nigeria, has written a work on Public Law from a lawyer’s perspective, but has given considerable attention to political and social, as well as moral issues related to its subject-matter. Each of the five volumes can be read as a self-contained work. Clearly, however, they are closely related to each other and together form an extensive, imposing exploration of a range of issues around the topic of Constitutional Democracy in Africa...