State, Class, and Underdevelopment in Nigeria and Early Meiji Japan

Beginning with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, with similar processes in post-independent Nigeria in its effort to achieve capitalist development, this study compares the social processes that explain Japanese development. Before the Restoration and independence, both Japan and Nigeria lacked any prospects for further development. Japan, however, pursued fundamental social transformations of society leading to capitalist development, whereas Nigeria, following independence, has lacked any transforming ideals resulting in underdevelopment and social stagnation.