* James Ibori former Delta State Governor

Influential criticisms of Fundamentalism include James Barr's books on Christian Fundamentalism and Bassam Tibi's analysis of Islamic Fundamentalism.

Influential writers, such as George Wharton James and Charles Fletcher Lummis, avowed that it was so.

Influential figures in modern economic sociology include Fred L. Block, James S. Coleman, Mark Granovetter, Harrison White, Paul DiMaggio, Joel M. Podolny, Richard Swedberg and Viviana Zelizer in the United States, as well as Luc Boltanski, Laurent Thévenot, or Jens Beckert in Europe.

* Dan Barber – Best Chef in America 2009 by the James Beard Foundation, Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People of 2009

* David Chang – named Rising Star Chef in 2007, Best Chef: New York City 2008 by the James Beard Foundation and Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People in the World of 2010

Influential work was done by Herbert Alexander Simon and James G. March and the so-called " Carnegie School " of organizational behavior.

Influential acts that have played concerts include The Rolling Stones, The Police, Etta James, the Ramones, and Talking Heads.

Influential contemporary artists include Larry D. Alexander, Laylah Ali, Amalia Amaki, Emma Amos, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dawoud Bey, Camille Billops, Mark Bradford, Edward Clark, Willie Cole, Robert Colescott, Louis Delsarte, David C. Driskell, Leonardo Drew, Mel Edwards, Ricardo Francis, Charles Gaines, Ellen Gallagher, Herbert Gentry, Sam Gilliam, David Hammons, Jerry Harris, Richard Hunt, Martha Jackson-Jarvis, Katie S. Mallory, M. Scott Johnson, Rashid Johnson, Joe Lewis, Glenn Ligon, James Little, Al Loving, Kerry James Marshall, Eugene J. Martin, Richard Mayhew, Sam Middleton, Howard McCalebb, Charles McGill, Thaddeus Mosley, Sana Musasama, Senga Nengudi, Joe Overstreet, Martin Puryear, Adrian Piper, Howardena Pindell, Faith Ringgold, Gale Fulton Ross, Alison Saar, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, John T. Scott, Joyce Scott, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Renee Stout, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Stanley Whitney, William T. Williams, John Wilson, Fred Wilson, Richard Yarde, and Purvis Young, Kehinde Wiley, Mickalene Thomas, Barkley Hendricks, Jeff Sonhouse, William Walker, Ellsworth Ausby, Che Baraka, Emmett Wigglesworth, Otto Neals, Dinga McCannon, Terry Dixon ( artist ), and many others.

One particularly notable case of scam baiting involved an American who identified himself to a Nigerian scammer as James T. Kirk.

As reported in Lost Rights by James Bovard: " Nigerian drug lords have employed an army of ' swallowers ', those who will swallow as many as 150 balloons and smuggle drugs into the United States.

Transition quickly became Africa's leading intellectual magazine, publishing such diverse figures as Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, South African novelist Nadine Gordimer ( Nobel laureate ), Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, and Americans James Baldwin and Paul Theroux.

James Godday ( born January 9, 1984 ) is a Nigerian athlete who specializes in 400 metres.

He was also responsive to developments in African theatre and was responsible for the Ghanaian premieres of plays by two Nigerian dramatists: James Ene Henshaw andWole Soyinka.

* 1921 – J. James Exon, American politician ( d. 2005 )

* 1726 – James Bowdoin, American politician, 2nd Governor of Massachusetts ( d. 1790 )

* 1955 – James Reilly, Irish politician

* 1937 – James Florio, American politician

* 1803 – James Curtiss, American politician, Mayor of Chicago ( d. 1859 )

Robert James Lee " Bob " Hawke AC GCL ( born 9 December 1929 ) is a former Australian politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991.

* 1925 – James Sullivan, American politician ( d. 2012 )

* 1924 – James A. McClure, American politician ( d. 2011 )

* 1957 – Carole James, Canadian politician

* 1892 – James Forrestal, American politician, Secretary of the Navy ( d. 1949 )

* 1929 – James Schlesinger, American politician

* 1901 – Roddy Connolly, Irish politician, son of James Connolly ( d. 1980 )

In Canada they included soldier and governor of Quebec James Murray, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald and politician and social reformer Tommy Douglas.

For New Zealand they included politician Peter Fraser and outlaw James Mckenzie.

* 1927 – Edmund James Flynn, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Quebec ( b. 1847 )

* 1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist ( d. 1938 )

* 1950 – James Hahn, American politician

* 1831 – James Monroe, American politician, 5th President of the United States ( b. 1758 )

* 1868 – James Buchanan, American lawyer and politician, 15th President of the United States ( b. 1791 )

* 1960 – James M. Kelly, American politician

* 1793 – James Madison Porter, American politician, 18th United States Secretary of War and a founder of Lafayette College ( d. 1862 )

* 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish politician ( d. 1940 )

James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger ( 13 December 1769 – 17 April 1844 ) was an English lawyer, politician and judge.

* 1879 – James F. Byrnes, American politician ( d. 1972 )

* 1722 – James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish nobleman, soldier, and politician ( d. 1773 )

" He was featured in Times The 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2010, and has been called " the most successful politician of his time.

* 1951 – Umaru Musa Yar ' Adua, Nigerian politician, 13th President of Nigeria ( d. 2010 )

* 1990 – Olabisi Onabanjo, Nigerian politician ( b. 1927 )

* 1920 – Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian politician and jurist ( d. 2005 )

* 1998 – Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, Nigerian industrialist and politician ( b. 1937 )

* 1998 – Sani Abacha, Nigerian military dictator and politician, 10th President of Nigeria ( b. 1943 )

* 1929 – Lateef Jakande, Nigerian politician

* 1946 – Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian politician ( b. 1864 )

* 1909 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian politician ( d. 1987 )

* 1908 – Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian politician ( d. 1997 )

* 1933 – C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Nigerian politician

** Bola Ige, Nigerian politician ( d. 2001 )

* Chief Alabo Graham-Douglas ( born 1939 ), Nigerian politician

* Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, a Nigerian politician

* Funsho Williams, ( MSc 1974 ), Nigerian civil servant and politician.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu ( 4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011 ) was a Nigerian military officer and politician.

Ojukwu served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970 and a Nigerian politician from 1983 to 2011, when he died, aged 78.

* Festus Okotie-Eboh ( 1919 – 1966 ), Nigerian politician and former minister for finance during the administration of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

* Theophilus Danjuma — influential Nigerian soldier and politician

Adebayo Adedeji ( born December 21, 1930 ) is a Nigerian politician.

General Sani Abacha ( 20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998 ) was a Nigerian military dictator and politician.

In his Path to Nigerian Freedom ( 1947 ) — the first systematic federalist manifesto by a Nigerian politician — he advocated federalism as the only basis for equitable national integration and, as head of the Action Group, he led demands for a federal constitution, which was introduced in the 1954 Lyttleton Constitution, following primarily the model proposed by the Western Region delegation led by him.

* Ahmadu Bello ( 1910-1966 ), Nigerian politician

The city is home to the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the main airport serving northern Nigeria and was named after Nigerian politician Aminu Kano.