📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
This doctoral study applies Post-Development theory to deconstruct the dominant discourses, assumptions, and power relations embedded in European Union development programming in Nigeria, generating an original critical analysis that challenges the epistemic foundations of EU-sponsored development interventions. Post-Development scholars including Escobar, Sachs, and Ferguson have argued that development discourse is itself a mechanism of power that reproduces colonial relationships and marginalises non-Western knowledges. This study develops the first systematic application of Post-Development theory to EU development discourse in a Nigeria-specific context, filling a significant gap in both EU Studies and African development studies literatures. Methodologically, the research employs genealogical discourse analysis (following Foucault) and ethnographic programme observation to examine EU development discourse at three levels: macro policy texts (EU Strategy on Africa, Global Europe), meso-level programme documents (Country Indicative Programme for Nigeria), and micro-level project interactions observed through fieldwork in EU-funded programmes in Borno (North-East) and Cross River (South-South) States. Original contributions include a Post-Development critique of EU-Nigeria development discourse specifically grounded in Nigerian scholarly and community voices, an original methodology for multi-level EU development discourse analysis, and theoretically grounded recommendations for decolonising EU development programming practice. Keywords: Post-Development theory, EU development discourse, Nigeria, decolonisation, Foucauldian discourse analysis.
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