Suchergebnisse

This article evaluates the transformational role of the African Union (AU) in enhancing state-building and reversing the fragility of African states. Essentially, the AU was repackaged in July 2001 as a strategic platform to meet new aspirations for African unity and development. This article notes that after over half a century of collective African attempt at strengthening its state system, the picture is still one of fragile statehood, thus emphasizing the imperative of evolving new strategies to reverse the forces of state fragility in the continent. The article contends that in the face of concerns for African development within the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs), a healthy and functional state system is an irreducible minimum requirement. In order to repair the seemingly battered image of statehood in Africa, the AU must contend with, and overcome, the interplay of internal and external forces that conduce to and trigger fragility.

Nigeria has been weighed down over the years by a huge debt overhang and has had to contend with several reform programmes prescribed by the multilateral institutions of the IMF and the World Bank. Ordinary people, especially women, children and the under-privileged, have been the worst victims of the fallout from these reforms. Recently, Nigeria was granted debt relief to the tune of US$18 billion by the Paris Club of creditors, with the proviso that the country would pay a total of US$12 billion of its remaining debt, in two equal instalments, within a specified period to the Club. Nigeria has since met this obligation and exited from the Paris Club debt trap. However, debt relief, which ought to have elicited public gratitude, instead unleashed a wave of cynicism. Opposition to the relief package emanated from popular perception of the Paris Club members as institutional loan sharks and authors of the gross contradictions in the Nigerian economy. This article distils these contradictory opinions. It argues that the optimism which the Paris Club of creditors expressed in their press release, and which the Nigerian Government holds as a sacred economic truth, namely that the debt trade-off would free resources for the rapid development of Nigeria, was hopeful at best and manipulative at worst.

In 2003, Nigeria domesticated the twin international instruments on child rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The resultant legislation from Nigeria's domestication efforts is the Child's Rights Act (CRA) of 2003. Despite the provisions of this legislation detailing the elaborate atlas of rights to be enjoyed by the Nigerian child, their fortune especially that of the girl-child, has not got better. At the base of the contentious forces militating against the rights of the girl-child are the cultural and religious norms that are intrinsically embedded in the dominant patriarchal system prevalent in Nigeria, especially in northern Nigeria. These forces are intricately united in marginalizing and precluding the girl-child from accessing education. Using the lens of radical feminism in combination with human-rights based approach, this paper interrogates the challenges faced by the girl-child in accessing education and the interventionist role played by UNICEF to salvage the situation. The paper finds that although the interventionist program of UNICEF, that is, the Nigeria girls' education project (NGEP), contributed in re-enrolling over one million out-of-school girls back to school, a lot needs to be done to salvage the girl-child from the doldrums of structural alienation that deprives her of access to education.

In 2003, Nigeria domesticated the twin international instruments on child rights, the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Childand theAfrican Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The resultant legislation from Nigeria's domestication efforts is the Child's Rights Act (CRA) of 2003. Despite the provisions of this legislation detailing the elaborate atlas of rights to be enjoyed by the Nigerian child, their fortune especially that of the girl-child, has not got better. At the base of the contentious forces militating against the rights of the girl-child are the cultural and religious norms that are intrinsically embedded in the dominant patriarchal system prevalent in Nigeria, especially in northern Nigeria. These forces are intricately united in marginalizing and precluding the girl-child from accessing education. Using the lens of radical feminism in combination with human-rights based approach, this paper interrogates the challenges faced by the girl-child in accessing education and the interventionist role played by UNICEF to salvage the situation. The paper finds that although the interventionist program of UNICEF, that is, the Nigeria girls' education project (NGEP), contributed in re-enrolling over one million out-of-school girls back to school, a lot needs to be done to salvage the girl-child from the doldrums of structural alienation that deprives her of access to education.

Several continental and global development initiatives have been evolved to trigger development in Africa, the latest being Agenda 2063 and sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper draws on relevant materials to examine the challenges of sustainable development, especially within the context of the serious structural adjustment challenges in Africa. Against the backdrop of the continent's earlier dismal experiences with development initiatives, the paper assesses the promises of both Agenda 2063 and SDGs to motorize sustainable development in the continent. The paper contends that the feasibility of sustainable development in Africa is contingent upon the institutionalization of the active state. The imperative of the active state in development architecture is because of its indispensability in charting critical pathways for all-round sustainability.

Purpose: The study draws attention to the negative impacts that the conflicts between Fulani herders and farmers have had on Nigeria's national development, especially on its quest to achieve food security while repositioning agriculture as a major player in the economy. It further draws attention to the serious danger these conflicts pose to the country's socio-economic and political sustainability. The study attempts to illuminate the disconnect between these conflicts and the actualization of the twin goals of "no poverty" and "zero hunger" as encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2. Methodology: This study generated both primary and secondary data to evaluate the socio-economic and political implications of the herders-farmers conflicts in Nigeria. While the primary data were generated through the instrumentality of key informant interviews (KIIs), the secondary data were obtained from archival materials and other published works. Main findings: The study found that herders-farmers conflicts have inflicted serious costs on the Nigerian economy in terms of loss of resources and human lives. It also found that these conflicts have jeopardized the prospects of meeting the global goals of poverty eradication and zero hunger. The study equally found that the government has no specific set of strategies to contain the conflicts and that its equivocation and unwillingness to prosecute the architects and perpetrators of the conflicts has emboldened them. Social Implications: The herders-farmers conflicts have had serious impacts on the people. These impacts include human fatalities, social dislocations, especially displacement and disruption of people's livelihood patterns and the exacerbation of poverty. Originality/Novelty: The originality of the study derives from its successful establishment of wider links between the Fulani herders-farmers conflicts and the prospects of the country derailing in repositioning the agricultural sector and meeting the global goals of poverty reduction and food security.

This study demonstrates that Nigeria's power scheme in the United Nations (UN) clearly amounts to "instrumentalizing" the world body in favor of its hegemonic interest in Africa. Through the UN, Nigeria has employed its abundant power resources to support the dismantling of apartheid and colonialism in Africa, contribute actively to the maintenance of international peace, and promote social and economic development in the developing world, including Africa. Nigeria's exploits in the above areas have yielded notable dividends, particularly the projection of the country as a leading African power. The notable dividends notwithstanding, there have been some major setbacks such as occasional disdain for Nigeria's interest and ambition in the UN by smaller African countries, overwhelming domestic security challenges, and the consequent waning of Nigeria's role in UN‐mounted peacekeeping. The study recommends that Nigeria must urgently address these challenges to return to its position of prominence in the world body.