Infrastructure turned suprastructure: Unpredictable materialities and visions of a Nigerian nation

Abstract

There are signs hidden in the infrastructure. In the Nigerian city of Jos, the unpredictable availability of power, fuel, water, etc. becomes a vehicle of meaning. In many settings across the globe, infrastructure is often made invisible, and the centre stage that it takes in everyday life remains unrecognized. In Jos, however, as in many African cities, the constant need to predict its flows contradicts the prefix infra (below); rather than being hidden beneath the realm of experience it is brought to the surface as a puzzle to be figured out. These explorations in turn come to reveal matters beyond the infrastructure itself. Just as diviners infer the state of the world from the stones they have thrown, reading significance out of the seeming randomness of matter, the infrastructure turns intricate questions into tangible clues. It becomes a suprastructure -a divination tool giving clues about the past, present and future of the Nigerian nation. KeywordsAfrican urbanity, anthropology, infrastructure, materiality, NigeriaThere are signs hidden in the infrastructure. When the power goes out in the Nigerian city of Jos, it tells a story. When it comes back, it tells another. Likewise, the unpredictable availability of fuel, the enigmas of intermittent water supply or glitches in the telecommunication networks become vehicles of meaning. Just as diviners infer the state of the world from the stones they have thrown, reading significance out of the seeming randomness of matter, the infrastructure turns intricate questions into tangible clues. Out of its vague rhythms and tenuous patterns, hidden meaning is uncovered. Taking Jos as a

Infrastructure as a divination tool: Whispers from the grids in a Nigerian city

“…In Jos, as in Nigeria at large, people look back upon the early days of independence in 1960 as a golden age when there was water in all the lines and electricity was constant (Trovalla and Trovalla, 2015). During the oil boom of the 1970s, massive investments were made in the infrastructure.…”

Mobile phones, gender‐based violence, and distrust in state services: Case studies from Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea

“…In other words, mobile phones as state infrastructures (also) reveal ‘interrupted futures’ (Trovalla and Trovalla, : 48). They reaffirm what appears to be a state inability to provide basic services to its citizens, to fulfil the basic entitlements that Cox (: 965) argues are foundational for an ‘ethos of citizenship’ to develop in contemporary Solomon Islands.…”

“…Mobile phones are then also ‘suprastructures’, structures that are ‘above and visible’ (supra) in the possible disruptions that they cause. They ‘[transcend] the realm of mere utility, signifying the unpredictable and elusive essence of [Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea]’ (Trovalla and Trovalla, : 54).…”

A road to development? Rural perspectives on infrastructure maintenance in Solomon Islands

“…Infrastructures that have already been built but that are regularly not working, such as Solomon Islands' roads, prevent this shift in perspective and require a more concise understanding of the politics that surround both disrepair and maintenance efforts. While, as Barnes (2017) notes, much existing research on maintenance has focused on teasing out and, to some degree, celebrating the (invisible) contributions of maintenance workers, a growing body of literature points to the importance of examining the politics of maintenance and disrepair, their transformative potential and their entanglement with broader social and political struggles (see Smith 2016;Trovalla and Trovalla 2015). This research asks "who decides what is to be maintained and how is it to be maintained?"…”