FORMATION, the making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation

357pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, d.w., Abuja, 2020

Published in the UK and USA in 2021.

A history of the territory that would become Nigeria from 1794, when the first Jihadists began their attack on a collection of independent nations, to 1914, when Northern and Southern Nigeria were merged by the British Governor Lord Lugard.

"I read this gripping account of Nigeria's 'Formation' straight through in one day - so powerfully evocative it is both a work of scholarship and storytelling. Reading it at one level is quite simply an act of citizenship, a necessity for anyone seeking an understanding of this vast, unruly country sill in the process of becoming." Dele Olojede, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting

"I often argue that Nigeria's foundational problem is not corruption or poor leadership, but rather that the country does not have an aligned national narrative, a founding story to build the imagined community of Nigerians that all Nigerians can feel part of and be proud of. This is what creates a nation and a national identity. Formation is the book that lays the foundation on which that Nigerian imagined community can be formed." Dr Wiebe Boer, CEO, All On, and author of A Story of Heroes and Epics: The history of football in Nigeria

Feyi Fawehinmi has spent the last 15 years working in the financial services industry across banking, private equity, asset management and insurance.

Banker and investment professional Fola Fagbule currently leads the Financial Advisory department of an African multilateral bank.