Postcolonial Urbanism and the Politics of Public Space in Nigerian State Capitals: A Comparative Theoretical Analysis

Public space in Nigerian state capitals embodies a complex palimpsest of colonial spatial ordering, post-independence nation-building ambition, military urban reorganisation, and democratic-era commercial transformation, and its interpretation demands a theoretical framework capable of accounting for these layered political and spatial histories. This dissertation develops an original theoretical analysis of postcolonial urbanism and the politics of public space across six Nigerian state capitals representing each geopolitical zone: Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Maiduguri, and Ibadan. The theoretical framework draws on postcolonial urban theory, Lefebvrian spatial politics, assemblage urbanism, and African city studies to construct a comparative analytical lens that neither reproduces colonial urban historiographies nor applies Western urban theory without contextual modification. The primary research methodology combines spatial biography analysis for key public space cases in each city, tracing their physical and social transformation through archival, cartographic, and oral history evidence; ethnographic observation of current spatial practices and contestations; and discourse analysis of state spatial policy documents. The analysis develops three original theoretical propositions: first, that Nigerian public spaces operate as contested sites of ongoing sovereignty negotiation rather than resolved civic achievements; second, that informal spatial practices constitute a form of subaltern spatial politics with material planning consequences; and third, that the concept of spatial liminality better captures the condition of many Nigerian public spaces than either formal planning categories or informality framings allow. The dissertation contributes an original African urban political theory of public space. Keywords: postcolonial urbanism, public space, Nigerian state capitals, spatial politics, African urban theory.