The fundamental question asked in this book is: what is the basic structure of the postcolonial African state? Taking the postcolonial African state as it is and as it ought to be, Frank Abumere defines the basic structure of the postcolonial African state as how the scope and contents of the rights and obligations that govern the vertical and horizontal relationships within the postcolonial African state are determined. In his conception of the basic structure of the postcolonial African state, on the one hand, vertical relationship is the relationship between the state and its citizens and residents, what the state owes to its citizens and residents, and what they owe to the state. On the other hand, horizontal relationships are the relationships among citizens (and residents) and what they owe to one another.