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Table of Contents :
Editorial Note
Victor Ojakorotu 9
Civil society and the protection of civil liberties are essential for the establishment and fortification of democracy. This essay is desktop-based, utilising both theoretical and historical approaches to explore how these crucial conditions for democracy have met with state-sponsored indifference and even hostility in Nigeria. One major reason behind this is that for almost half of its existence as an independent country, Nigeria has been under military rule. Periods of military rule usually conduct politics in a manner typical of military inflexibility and an almost innate hostility to dissent. Thus, under such circumstances, civil society organisations and civil liberties are frowned upon, and democracy is occluded. The paper noted, however, that even under elected or civilian governments, civil society participation and contestation have suffered. This could be down to at least two factors: the first is the influence of long episodes of military rule, and the second is that some elected leaders, now outfitted as civil leaders, are former military men forged in the same ilk as military rulers with an instinctual antipathy to civil society participation and dissent in political matters.
The 21st century has seen a rise in activism whose wave extends from physical locations to the virtual community aided by the increased popularity and usage of the internet and social media. Nigeria has had her fair share of such, the most recent being the October 2020 EndSARS protest. Using Smelser’s value-added theory, this study proposes that the public perception of police legitimacy will have no significant relationship with activism for police reform after the October 20, 2020, shooting of protesters by soldiers of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Data were collected from students and working professionals who had knowledge of the protest and analysed using structural equation modelling with the IBM AMOS software. Results suggest that trust in police and the obligation to obey police officers – both dimensions of police legitimacy – had no relationship with protest intentions be they lawful or unlawful. The study reaffirms the relevance of Smelser’s theory years after and offered discussion and implications of the findings in consonance with the theory.
This article aims at analysing the factors and forces that affect the Amhara and Oromo elites’ political discourses and their relations in the post-2018 period. The study employs a qualitative research approach, with data drawn from articles, books, online video records, reports, and interviews. During the Amhara and Oromo popular protests, politicians allied to ensure solidarity between the two groups and unleash a new political setup. However, the study reveals that the Amhara and Oromo elites have failed to heal the historical contradictions and narrow the divergent interests lingering between them for several decades using the opportunities created in the post-2018 era. In the new political setup, the Amhara and Oromo elites engage in competition for discourse, territory, and power afresh, contrary to the demand to create solidarity using the ‘Segegna Teff metaphor as a leading discourse. After the inception of the reform in 2018 in Ethiopia, they relapsed into a ‘fire and grass’ metaphor that sustains fault lines between the two largest groups. To get out of this problem, discussions and elite bargaining are essential.
The actions of the Gondar mayor office in Gondar Town are examined in this essay, as are the elements that influenced the official mission and method of government administration during the brief reign of the Imperial Majesty (Emperor Haylä Selassie I) from 1941 to 1974. Additionally, how it was used, accountability, and the performance of Mayors or Käntibas between 1941 and 1974 will be specifically covered in the article. According to my study, the view of the mayor’s administration and the level of preservation of its legacy in Gondar was influenced more by administrative requirements and urban development than by politics and nationalism. It does this by looking through administrative records pertaining to the mayor's office that has persisted in Gondar government offices. Additionally, a field survey and inventory of infrastructure such as roads, energy, transit, education, taxation, and security were prepared for the study. The majority of these infrastructures didn't work and still don’t today. By discussing the hitherto overlooked successes and shortcomings of the mayor administration and its transformational impact on the city's urban landscape and growth, this paper will close a significant gap in the historiography of the mayor administration and the purpose of twentieth-century Gondar.
Recent coups on the continent have triggered a host of concerns, including whether we are witnessing a resurgence of coups. In some African countries, understanding and practising democracy in different ways according to the preferences of politicians and the ruling elite has led to widespread disenchantment. International and regional organisations, such as the United Nations Organisation (UNO), the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have been unable to stop the wave of military coups in the region, despite imposing sanctions, suspending memberships, and condemning this worrying trend. What explains the coups, and how do we interpret their perceived public support? Why are unconstitutional changes of government considered an aberration in African legislative principles on democracy and governance? Through a qualitative literature review and thematic content analysis, this study investigates the root causes of the resurgence of coups on the continent; it relies on neo-colonialism as a theoretical framework of analysis. The study concludes that the resurgence of coups on the continent presents a chance to re-evaluate African mechanisms for conflict prevention, particularly those pertaining to governance difficulties, and it recommends that countries, with the assistance of global and regional partners, must address governance deficiencies in the form of escalating insecurity, socioeconomic frustration, and non-fulfilment of citizenship rights.
This paper examined the correlation between the current Nigeria’s security architecture, the burgeoning insecurity across the country, the resort to alternative security measures by some geo-political zones, and the implications for national integration. The study, which is essentially descriptive or qualitative in approach, gathered data from secondary shreds of evidence. Building upon variants of the social contract and securitisation theories, the study argued that the lack of robust and prompt responses to calls for protection has diminished the confidence of Nigerian citizens in security institutions. Findings revealed that failure in the country’s centrally managed security architecture, comprising the armed forces, the police, para-military forces, etc., necessitated the resort to self-help through the formation of regional security outfits across the nation. The paper recommended, among other measures, the decentralisation of the national security structure through the creation of state and community policing. Aside from ensuring grassroots security and quick access to law enforcement agents by citizens, community-based approaches to security have the potential to strengthen the links between formal and informal systems, as well as unity, peaceful co-existence, and above all, national integration.
In the post-apartheid era, it has been observed that there are many debates around land occupation and the land question in South Africa. It is because a land issue has always been intertwined with racial politics in some of the southern African countries. It has resulted in a lot of negative perceptions of the land question, especially when it comes to the issue of addressing the land question and land ownership at large. Furthermore, this negative perception stems from a series of cases about the evictions of farm dwellers and the challenges that they faced when they were evicted. Challenges such as the demolition of their houses, the taking away of their livestock, the destruction of their crops, the closing of water access from the river and other natural resources, the denial of access to government services, and even the demolition of graveyard tombs. Hence, this paper will explore the cause of the eviction of farm-dwellers by white farm owners in the Vryheid region. Lastly, it will outline a rural-to-urban migration of farm dwellers at the end of the apartheid-beginning of the democratic era since there was a declining number of farm-dwellers in the post 1990s. It will also outline why there is a continuation of farm-dweller eviction even in a new democratic dispensation since it has been rapidly increased.
In recent years, sexual exploitation of Nigerian and Gambian girls and women has become an increasing concern, particularly in the context of human trafficking. Many of these girls are enticed away from their homes by promises of a job or school, only to be pushed into prostitution once they arrive in Europe. This paper seeks to investigate the issue of Afro-Euro modern slavery in the twenty-first century in relation to the sex trafficking of girls from Nigeria and the Gambia into Europe by studying some noteworthy incidents and discussing the underlying elements that led to this situation. The information was taken from the interview guide and studies from prestigious research institutions. The technique of content analysis was used to analysed the data. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to pick respondents and locations in Nigeria and Gambia, respectively. The findings of the study revealed that economic hardship and insecurity were among the issues identified by respondents as the reasons for the acts of sexual exploitation and prostitution in both countries. These reasons were also justified by scholars who have conducted similar research on sexual exploitation. However, there appears to be a gap in the body of literature concerning the underlying causes of sexual exploitation and its expressions, which have been traced back to decades of slavery and colonial institutions. This has resulted in cultural erosion and distorted values, among other things, in the study areas. This study has reinforced the idea that sexual exploitation in Africa is a result of institutional failure, moral deterioration, and the erection of artificial borders or governments. The study recommends increased dedication on the part of African and UN officials in the fields of study and the integration of African nations on the subject.
Nigeria is presently experiencing a high level of youth unemployment, and the effects have contributed to an alarming rate of cybercrimes in the country. Making use of mixed data, the study investigated the interactive effects of endemic youth unemployment on cybercrime in Nigeria. The study adopted both Ex-post facto and Time series research designs which helped to track events bordering on the key variables of this study (youth unemployment and cybercrime) in retrospect and as they happen. The youth bulge theory was adopted, while the data collected through mixed data method were analyzed qualitatively. The study found that entrenched youth unemployment largely contributed to the upsurge of cybercrimes by the youth in Nigeria. It recommended that the Nigerian government should make policies that promote the growth of private sector in order to create jobs for the teeming youth as well as ensure positive use of exceptional intelligence of the youth about the cyberspace.
Women have become increasingly active in a variety of terrorist activities over the last decade, with increased roles as combatants, suicide bombers, wives to male members of terrorist groups, birthing the next generation of fighters, and handling logistics, among other things. All of these are critical roles in the growth of the menace. However, counter-terrorism strategies in Nigeria have primarily targeted male militants while overlooking the fact that women are playing leading roles in terrorism. The study is qualitative in nature as it depends largely on documentary review, observations and interrogations on the involvement of women in terrorism in Nigeria. The study explains why viewing terrorism through a gender lens could provide a reliable understanding of the threats as well as critical intelligence in the battle against terrorism. The study found out that women contribute significantly to terrorism, not only as covert fighters but also as overt perpetrators. Therefore, the study contributes to existing knowledge in the area of terrorism studies by advocating that a broader consideration should be given to the dynamics of gender by taking terrorism as a gender-neutral concept. Consequently, the paper recommends that women's active participation should be incorporated into counter-terrorism plans and policy interventions that address the grievances identified to cause terrorism.
Public administration has passed through several stages of development globally. Central to this development trajectory is the attempt by different countries to position or reposition their public administration systems to serve the people better. However, these developments seem not to have had a positive influence on the service delivery process in Nigeria. The public administration system is presently trapped in a quagmire of poor service delivery. There is growing concern that the public administration system is continuously failing to meet the service delivery needs and expectations of the teeming population. This article acknowledges this level of dysfunctionality and the deficiencies arising from it. The article proposes the application of the New Public Service approach to improve public service delivery in the country. This approach places citizens, communities, and civil society at the heart of the service delivery process. The methodology of the article is qualitative, with a focus on descriptive analysis. Among others, the article recommends the adoption of a national policy framework for the transformation of public service delivery in the country.
The concept of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has been appreciated as presenting an alternative vehicle for driving community development in countries in the developing world. As a relatively recent development, existing evaluation studies on the effectiveness of the vehicle are still emerging and are insufficient for conclusive generalisations to be made. This paper attempts to analyse some of the experiences of implementing the CDF idea in one of Zimbabwe’s 210 constituencies, the Mufakose Constituency. Data were gathered using documentary reviews and in-depth interviews with key informants and beneficiaries of development projects in the Mufakose communities. Findings of the study show that the CDF initiative in Mufakose has so far produced rather mixed results, where good project ideas have been executed over time but have often been let down by resource limitations and limited citizen cooperation stemming from a negative political perception of the whole initiative. The paper concludes that success with the CDF idea depends so much on the trade-offs between the roles of key stakeholders and local contextual variables, which can either facilitate or inhibit development efforts. To produce good results and worthwhile outcomes, the central government should increase the financial allocation to constituencies. Additionally, there is a need for an improvement in the citizen participation culture to increase the chances of harnessing the merits of bottom-up developmental approaches.
This article argues that corruption should be considered a consequence of bad government, ineffective service delivery, and inadequate law enforcement. It does not imply that corruption is not a disappointing result of development, but it does indicate that blaming corruption as the primary cause of poor or non-existent development is often inaccurate. The research undertakes a critical doctrinal examination of material and data related to viewpoints and arguments on corruption in emerging countries. The review of documents was compiled from relevant scholarly publications, articles from scientific journals, scholarly books, credible online websites, and legitimate online newspaper items gathered from peer-reviewed databases, as well as institutional reports such as those from institutions such as the World Bank. This study adopts complexity theory to address the mythology embedded in the narratives associated with the issue of corruption and anti-corruption in South Africa. The research reveals that various fallacies surround anti-corruption and corruption in South Africa, such as that corruption in post-apartheid South Africa is worse than it was during apartheid, that democracy diminishes the degree and scope of corruption, and that corruption cannot be quantified.
In recent years, armed banditry has been on the rise in Nigeria, with far-reaching consequences. The paper examined the growing incidence of armed banditry and how it affected human security in the Northwest Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The study is methodologically structured in using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative approach involved the use of primary data derived from the administration of a structured questionnaire to a sample of six hundred (600) respondents drawn from five (5) local governments, each chosen from four states (Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Kebbi). The quantitative approach involved the generation of data from secondary sources such as textbooks, journals, newspapers, and internet sources. The information generated from the latter source was analysed descriptively in accordance with the objectives of the study. Data derived from the primary sources was presented in tabular form and used to test the hypotheses by the utilisation of a non-parametric statistical instrument, chi square (x2), tested at the 0.05 level of significance at 6 df. The findings reveal that armed banditry affected human security in the Northwest Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. It was also found that armed banditry is driven by unemployment among youth, political interest by politicians, porous international borders, and poverty. The findings further reveal that the use of the military by the Federal Government has not helped in the fight against armed banditry; rather, it has led to the dispersal of these brigands to areas that were hitherto not affected by the menace. Finally, it was established that the surge in banditry across the country has far-reaching negative implications for human security in Nigeria. It was recommended that the federal government should, among other things, rejig the internal security architecture by increasing security presence in rural and urban centres through the deployment of more security personnel, the purchase of more patrol vehicles, communication gadgets, and modern weapons for the Armed Forces and other security agencies. Above all, it was recommended that, to effectively police our international borders, a new Border Patrol Force be established to carry out routine patrol, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations along our borders with neighbouring countries like the republics of Niger, Chad, Cameroun, and Benin, and also that a vigilante should be established in each local government area to complement the duties of the police force in the rural areas.
Ethnicity permeates every aspect of national life and has also been held responsible for the numerous problems that have plagued South Africa's unity. This study examined the impact of ethnicity on national unity. The study made use of two objectives, which sought to investigate the effect of ethnicity on national unity and the influence of government on national unity. The objectives of the study raised two research questions and a survey research design was adopted in the study. The study's population is the South African elite. Fifty elites were unintentionally chosen to participate in the study via an in-depth interview. The study revealed that both ethnicity and government policies affect national unity. The study concluded that for a country to have permanent peace, the government must have some measures in place to ensure the understanding of one voice and the opinions of all ethnic groups. The study recommends that there should be an education campaign for the general public about how different ethnic groups can live in harmony to strengthen national unity.
The paper examined the role of Nigerian political leaders in the post-independence epoch. It contends that the leaders in this period have failed Nigeria, having been afflicted with parochial traditions that are yet to be improved upon. Nigeria is richly blessed with natural and human resources and is yet to find its perfect place among the countries of the world. The major reasons that have been responsible for her national development and socio-economic stagnancy are the phenomena of poor and visionless leadership style, corruption, and insecurity. Systemic corruption, bad leadership, and insecurity are the biggest obstacles to Nigeria's development. This study analysed the challenges of political leadership, corruption, and insecurity in Nigeria with the intention of providing a way forward for the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. The study is qualitative. Data were collected from secondary sources through articles in journals, textbooks, conferences, and internet materials. The collected data were analysed using content analysis. The study revealed that there is a need for unity among the people of Nigeria, especially in the process of electing political leaders and in demanding accountability to reduce problems of political leadership, corruption, and insecurity in Nigeria. The paper concluded that corrosive and systematic corruption and poor and visionless leadership have been identified as the leading causes of insecurity in Nigeria.
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