National Security Challenges and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of the Niger Delta Region (Published)
Nigeria has on daily basis experienced an upsurge of activities that threatens and endangers its national security. In recent times, the Nigerian nation suddenly metamorphosed into an abode of insecurity. The Niger Delta region which is the centre of Nigeria’s oil wealth has been the scene of protest, conflict and violence. Despite its abundant oil wealth, there has been unimaginable level of poverty, unemployment, inequality, poor infrastructure, lack of social amenities and negligible development in the region. In view of this scenario, the paper basically analyses and ascertains the impact of national security challenges on sustainable development in Nigeria with a particular focus on the Niger Delta region and the responses by successive governments in tackling them. Findings from the paper reveal among others that, the security challenges in Nigeria have long historical antecedence and the crises and conflicts in the Niger Delta region are the consequences of several years of exploitation, neglect and deliberate abandonment of the region which is the economic base of the nation, by successive governments and oil multinationals. The paper therefore concludes and recommends amongst others, the formulation and effective implementation of policies capable of addressing the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria and that more efforts should be made by the federal government and oil companies to improve the quality of human lives in the region and the nation at large. Qualitative and descriptive methods of data analysis were adopted for this study. The paper used secondary data in which conclusion and recommendations where derived.
Keywords: Challenges, Development, Insecurity, National Security, Niger-Delta, Nigeria, Security, Sustainable Development
Education Policy in Nigeria and the Genesis of Universal Basic Education (Ube), 1999-2018 (Published)
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) in Nigeria was introduced in 1999 to improve the educational system in the country. The policy was aimed at primary education and junior secondary schools which are the foundations of education worldwide. The paper discussed the UBE Act, 2004 and the statement of the problem outlined. The methodology applied is qualitative technique while cognitive development theory is considered relevant to the work. The Genesis of Education in Nigeria from primary, secondary school and higher education institutions were also analysed. The importance of primary education in a child’s overall development and the relevance of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria were emphasized. The paper suggested the way forward and made some recommendations.
Keywords: Education Policy, Genesis of Education, Nigeria, Universal Basic Education (UBE)
Reengineering the Nigerian Civil Service for Optimum Performance: The Path Not Taken (Published)
Civil Service anywhere in the world plays a very significant role in transforming government policies and programmes into reality. In most developing countries in general and Nigeria in particular the performance of Civil Service in discharging its duties is quite below expectation even after many reforms and restructuring had been carried out. The work identified and discussed what needs to be done for optimum performance of the Civil Service in Nigeria. It examined human and environmental factors that hindered Nigeria Civil Service from realization of its intended goals. The work is of the view that the attainment of optimum performance by the Civil Service in Nigeria is predicated upon the level of commitment and fidelity by the leading operator of the service. The work relied on secondary source and observation to gather the data that were used in this work. The work recommended among others that for Nigerian Civil Service to attain optimum performance there must be vigorous and sustained campaign to make propriety the prime mood of the nation’s culture.
Keywords: Civil service, Nigeria, Performance, Propriety
The Role of the International Observer in Consolidation of Democracy in Nigeria: A Case of 2015 General Elections (Published)
The paper is about the General Elections in Nigeria for 2015. Its conduct and general outcomes. It elucidates on its preparation, campaign promises, party manifestoes of the two major contesting parties — the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Information from the electoral umpire — the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) puts the number of registered voters at 68.8 million, but only 28.2 million were actually accredited during the elections, and exercised their franchise. The INEC took democratic consolidation a notch further by the introduction of new technologies like the voter’s card reading machines employed to authenticate the bio-data of the bearer; replacement of temporary voter’s card with the permanent voter’s card. By all indices, the election was adjudged free and fair — this much was attested to by international election monitoring teams that monitored the exercised and confirmed that despite few glitches, the exercise met with international best practice.
Keywords: Election and Democracy Consolidation, International Observer, Nigeria, Role
Appraisal of Cultural Vices Affecting Women and Children Human Rights in Nigeria (Published)
The crux of this paper aimed at defining the concept culture and Human Rights, and to large extend analysis the various cultural factors under mining the smooth thriving of women and children rights currently, the cultural factors are, widowhood rites, female genital mutilation, early/forceful marriage, bride price, son preference/female infanticide, levirate marriage, ritual killing, wife beating, inheritance of wife, woman in purdah, on the part of the children are twins killing, child witchcraft ,child labour, street begging, child trafficking and finally possible solutions to ameliorate such cultural barriers by way of recommendation and conclusion
Keywords: Child Labour, Culture, Human Right, Nigeria, Women, children
Party Conflicts and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria (1999 – 2007) (Published)
In every democracy the world over, political parties are seen as the instruments of democratic process. Hence, their relevance in establishing a stable democratic order cannot be overemphasized. But since the inception of the present democratic rule in Nigeria, political parties have failed to perform their fundamental responsibilities for a number of reasons which include fragile party relations, uncoordinated party system, inter and intra-party squabbles, among others. Notably, party crises have remained common features of politics in the country. But, like previous experiences where inter-party crises were the order of the day, the current democratic exercise has witnessed a predominance of intra-party conflicts, to the extent that the big parties including AD, ANPP, APGA and PDF have had and are still having their own fair share, the magnitude of which is based on the size and strength of the party. These crises had intensified unhealthy competition among the political parties and by implication, affected their functions. Exploring secondary data, this study examines the implications of inter and intra-party conflicts for democratic consolidation. While the thesis recognizes that effective political parties are essential for a nascent democracy, stable inter and intra party relations are sine qua non in consolidating democratic rule in Nigeria.
Keywords: Conflict, Democracy, Democratic Consolidation, Nigeria, Party Crises
Evolution of Constitutional Government in Nigeria- Its Implementation National Cohesion (Published)
This paper attempts tore-examine the evolution of constitutional governments in Nigeria from 1922 to 1999 and identify their impact on National coherence. It examined the patterns and degree of the people’s involvement in these processes of constitution making and development. With emphasis on how coherent these constitution have unified the country. It adapted the historical and content analysis methods for eliciting and analyzing its data. Three research questions were drawn for the study. Among other things, the paper reveals that although, we must remind ourselves that Nigerian federalism was established to secure the country’s unity and progress in the face of strong centrifugal forces. Hence, we can say that the various constitutions have tried to ensure coherence in the country. But most importantly in ensuring sustainable conference, the constitution for the people’ republic must entrench liberty and equity of all within a federal democratic structure in which power responsibility and resources are decentralized.
Keywords: Constitution, Federalism, Government, National Cohesion, Nigeria, evolution
Federal Character and Political Integration in Nigeria (Published)
Given the complexity of Nigeria’s political formation, and the federal character as well as its chequered political history before independence and after, it became increasingly necessary for Nigerians to define the processes whereby the corporate existence of the nation-state and the peaceful co-existence of its people could be ensured. Thus, the quota system as a national policy was reviewed in 1967 and adopted for filling vacancies into federally owned schools and institutions. Ironically, the policy was carried out without having in place a body constitutionally designed with the responsibility of implementing it. By 1975, the issue of “Federal Character” had become a serious political issue. The setting up of a Constitutional Drafting Committee in 1977 by late General Murtala Muhammed’s government was part of the efforts to resolve the problems of inequality and marginalization that were expressed by many Nigerians. Thus, as part of its proposals, the Constitution Drafting Committee adopted “Federal Character” in discussing issues of marginalization. The extent to which this federal character principle has resolved or impacted on political integration in Nigeria is the main focus of this presentation. Exploring secondary data, the study examines the necessity for affirmative action in Nigeria and the effectiveness of the federal character principle on political integration of the country.
Keywords: Federal Character, Nigeria, Olitical Integration
THE ROLE OF POLITICAL LEADERS IN THE RESOLUTION OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN YOBE STATE, NORTH- EAST REGION – NIGERIA (Published)
This study investigates the role of political leaders and the management of political violence in Yobe State, North –east region of Nigeria. Nigeria transited to democratic governance on May 29th, 1999 with much fanfare and great expectations. Despite the euphoria and sentiments especially from the political class, that would greet the celebrations, it is rather debatable whether there is any specific social, political and economic development in Yobe state and Nigeria generally due to the persistent spate of political violence. It is against this background that this study examines the role political leaders have played in promoting and curbing political violence in Yobe state with particular reference to the activities of the Jammatul Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati wal jihad (Boko Haram). This study is also timely due to the fact that the country is presently confronted with serious security challenges. The study is therefore guided by the following research proposition: Political violence is not an expression of systemic leadership failure. To achieve this objective therefore, the study employed the qualitative methods as the main research methodology, which was supplemented by basic quantitative methods. These two methods complemented each other through triangulation. Chart for data analysis was drawn using the 2003 Microsoft Excel XP Version 10 package. The study also utilized secondary data through an extensive review of literature in order to provide a foundation on which the empirical data was built. in fact; a sample of 510 respondents was randomly selected and administered with the questionnaire from 6 local government areas in Yobe state. The study used the conjectural political conflict model as the main theoretical framework. From the empirical data analyzed, the study revealed that political leaders have not done much in the management of political violence in Yobe State. The study therefore recommends amongst others that political leaders should be bold and have an articulate leadership style that would effectively manage and prevent conflict in Yobe state
Keywords: Boko Haram, Nigeria, Political leaders, Political violence, Yobe state, conflict management
CONFLICT BETWEEN POLITICAL ELITES AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS: IT’S GENESIS AND PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS IN NIGERIA (Published)
The paper was able to identify what led to the differences and disagreements existing between the Political Elites and the Public Administrators in terms of who does what, when and how, as one of the core reasons for most of the abuses in the public service. Also identified by the paper were the abuses emanating from the various reforms in the public service, which invariably breed inefficiency and corruption. To ameliorate these, the paper recommended that the Nigerian public sector requires mental revolution of both the political elites and the public servants and also by both parties going back to the drawing board to clarify their positions as to who does what, how and when and the need to alienate the top public servants from politics.
Keywords: Nigeria, Political Elites, Public Administrators, Public Service Reforms