Oil and Empire: Iran, Nigeria, and the Battle for Oil

Oil and Empire: Iran, Nigeria, and the Battle for Oil

by Yemi Adesina

What happens when two nations discover oil—but take opposite paths in confronting empire?

Oil and Empire is a gripping, deeply researched, and morally urgent exploration of how Iran and Nigeria, two of the world’s most oil-rich nations, faced the same global pressures—but responded in radically different ways. One chose resistance and paid the price in sanctions, isolation, and war. The other chose accommodation, and paid in corruption, environmental ruin, and a hollowed-out state.

In June 2025, history roared back to life. A joint military offensive by Israel and the United States struck deep into Iran’s nuclear and energy infrastructure—an act publicly framed as defence, but rooted in a long-standing pattern of punishing nations that dare to defy Western control. These were not just strikes on nuclear facilities—they were symbolic attacks on a country that had dared to nationalise its oil, survive decades of sanctions, and build capacity on its own terms.

This book situates that moment in a much longer timeline. Drawing from history, geopolitics, postcolonial theory, and lived experience, Nigerian historian and social reformer Yemi Adesina traces Iran’s journey from the democratic defiance of Mohammad Mossadegh in the 1950s to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and through decades of siege, resistance, and reinvention. Alongside this, he lays bare the Nigerian story—a postcolonial state that entered the oil era already fractured by colonialism, and quickly became a textbook case of resource curse, elite capture, and lost potential.

From the bombed oilfields of Isfahan to the flaring skies of the Niger Delta, Oil and Empire exposes the hidden logic of the global oil system:

• Sovereignty is punished.

• Compliance is corrupted.

• Wealth without control is bondage in disguise.

But this is not just a story of exploitation. It is a call for reimagination. As the world transitions beyond fossil fuels and the age of oil fades, Adesina asks what kind of future the Global South can claim—one based not on rebellion or obedience alone, but on solidarity, justice, and strategic self-determination.

Oil and Empire is perfect for readers of history, international relations, energy policy, African and Middle Eastern studies, and for anyone who wants to understand the deeper forces shaping our postcolonial world.