This paper examined the vulnerability of travelers to kidnapping, abduction and armed robbery att... more This paper examined the vulnerability of travelers to kidnapping, abduction and armed robbery attacks and in some extreme cases, death along Nigeria's highways. Insecurity on the nation's highways became a contemporary criminological discourse following the emergence of new strands of criminality like militancy, terrorism, kidnapping, herdsmen-farmers violence, communal conflicts and banditry. Nigerian highways have become the major operational hotspots for criminals who harass, terrorize, and traumatize travelers at will. With the ever-rising insecurity on Nigerian highways, the military and paramilitary offensives deployed by the Federal Government have not yielded the desired results culminating in the description of government's inertia as a form of state slumber. Data for this study were sourced from a content analysis of reported violent highway crimes by credible mainstream Nigerian newspapers, spanning a period of one year, from July 2020 to July 2021. Adopting the Social Disorganization Theory, the study indicated that the worrisome nature of insecurity on Nigeria's highways resulting in the high rate of abduction and murder of people of diverse military, professional, socioeconomic and political backgrounds has engendered a sense of helplessness, trauma and vulnerability among Nigerian road travelers. The paper recommends the decentralization of Nigeria Police Force structure to create State Police that will encourage and electrify effective and better people oriented patrolling and management of insecurities on the Nigerian highways.
PanAfrican journal of governance and development, Aug 30, 2022
This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpo... more This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpoint of how the socio-positional backgrounds of people accounted for their differential vulnerabilities in that regard. By way of a qualitative analysis that relied mainly on a desk study, the paper posits that the lockdown was over-securitized and anti-people, considering the gale of police brutality and violation of human rights that attended the process. The paper makes a case for a moderately de-securitized lockdown regime that is implemented based on incentivized moral suasion rather than coercion.
PanAfrican journal of governance and development, Aug 30, 2022
This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpo... more This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpoint of how the socio-positional backgrounds of people accounted for their differential vulnerabilities in that regard. By way of a qualitative analysis that relied mainly on a desk study, the paper posits that the lockdown was over-securitized and anti-people, considering the gale of police brutality and violation of human rights that attended the process. The paper makes a case for a moderately de-securitized lockdown regime that is implemented based on incentivized moral suasion rather than coercion.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 26, 2022
The paper reports the findings of a study on domestic terrorism and religious insurgency in Niger... more The paper reports the findings of a study on domestic terrorism and religious insurgency in Nigeria. It focused on the impacts of the religious insurgency and the ongoing war on terrorism. It applied accidental sampling technique due to the tension and insecurity atmosphere in the study area the Northeast of Nigeria, and used other administered questionnaire to sample 250 respondents who were in a mood to respond to investigation. The findings indicate that the activities of Boko Haram terrorist group are strong enough to stretch the ability of the Nigeria military and equally threaten the sovereignty of the state. It further found that the current strategies adopted by the Nigerian government to combat terrorism have reduced the fighting powers of the terrorism but the war is still ongoing, taking both military and civilian causalities and many refugees are still in camps. The paper recommends the importance of inter-religious committees, redressing palpable social inequality and to open communication to dialogue with the terrorists.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 26, 2022
Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phe... more Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon with significant deleterious socioeconomic impact. One of the impacted areas of the contemporary climatic change is the Lake Chad in North Eastern Nigeria and Sahel region of West and Central Africa. Reported cases of dislocation of the ecosystem of the Lake Chad environment are on the increase and worsening. The effects have led to perennial conflicts between herders and sedentary farmers, threatens food security as well as overall human security and the security of the Nigerian state. The thrust of this paper is to interrogate the lingering herder-farmer conflicts in the Lake Chad basin, Nigerian government's responses and the implication for food security in the country. Data for the paper were derived from documentary sources and analyzed using content analysis. The human security approach was adopted as framework of analysis. We argued that in view of government's weak and uninspiring responses to challenges posed by the shrinking of the Lake Chad and the resultant conflicts between herders and farmers, the government's avowal to ensuring food sufficiency for its citizens through local production is imperiled. We, therefore, urge a rethink and rejigging of government's climate response strategy generally and its approach to the resultant violent clashes between herders and farmers.
The interface between corruption and governance has been widely discussed, with corruption genera... more The interface between corruption and governance has been widely discussed, with corruption generally acknowledged as leading to poor governance outcomes. The intersection between the two is also generally believed to be a key driver of insecurity. This paper demonstrates that not only do corruption and bad governance drive conflict and insecurity, but that the latter often provide the cloaking for the perpetuation of corrupt and unaccountable governance. Using the Niger Delta militancy and the Boko Haram insurgency in South and Northeast Nigeria respectively as its units of analysis, the paper demonstrates the specific ways in which the activities of these uncivil society groupings led to the perpetration of large scale corruption and irresponsive governance in Nigeria during the period under study. keywords: governance; corruption; uncivil society; conflict; insecurity. Corrupção, administração, e a sociedade (pouco) civil nigeriana, 1999-2016. A confluência entre corrupção e governança tem sido amplamente discutida, sendo a corrupção geralmente reconhecida como fator conducente a fracos desempenhos administrativos. A interseção entre as duas é também amplamente considerada como principal propiciador da insegurança. Este artigo demonstra que a corrupção e a má governança não só geram o conflito e a insegurança, mas que esta última propicia frequentemente a cobertura necessária para a perpetuação de uma governança corrupta e impune. Utilizando a militância do Delta do Níger e a rebelião do Boko Haram no sul e no nordeste da Nigéria, respetivamente, como unidades de análise, este artigo explora os modos específicos pelos quais as atividades destes grupos da sociedade (pouco) civil conduziram à corrupção em larga escala e a uma administração irresponsável na Nigéria durante o período em análise. palavras-chave: administração; corrupção; sociedade (pouco) civil; conflito; insegurança.
Over the years, the view that a negative correlation exists between natural resource endowment an... more Over the years, the view that a negative correlation exists between natural resource endowment and development outcomes in resource-abundant developing countries has become something of an article of faith in development literature with the causal link said to run from resource abundance to negative development outcomes. Also, from the myriad of contending theoretical assumptions, rentierism has since emerged as the dominant theoretical postulate for the explication of the contradiction between resource endowment and development. Consequently, the focus of discussion has since shifted to the domain of prescribing appropriate policy tools to mitigate the consequences of this paradox. This paper takes as its point of departure the minority view that the context of natural resource discovery matters and actually shapes, to a high degree, the development trajectories of such states. It interrogates the explanatory utility of rentierism as the central organising concept for the explicati...
Policies of free trade and the adoption of neoliberal economic models, which are important aspect... more Policies of free trade and the adoption of neoliberal economic models, which are important aspects of globalization, have caused major disruptions in labor markets around the world. In the less developed regions of the world, relatively unskilled agricultural hands have been rendered redundant in production processes while in the more technologically advanced countries, several long-stable industries closed down while some others were outsourced to less developed countries in a bid to maintain competitiveness. As the flow of material and cultural goods and services accelerated over time under the rubrics of globalization, human beings dislodged from their various productive bases became important components of the exchange. However, whereas the process of globalization appears to be bringing humanity closer together due to advances in transportation and communication technologies, this apparent physical closeness has created social distance between individuals and groups across territorial boundaries. Large numbers of mostly economic migrants from the less developed regions have ossified into an army of social outcasts, born throwaways, in various destination and transit countries. This paper explored the contradictions and tensions arising from globalization-induced migration within and out of Africa. It found that the massive outflow of irregular migrants from Africa has fed into the stream of modern day slavery in transit and destination countries that is unlikely to abate even in the face of apparent repudiation of globalization by its avid promoters, the United States and Great Britain.
Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, 2019
This article seeks to examine the phenomenon of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a cas... more This article seeks to examine the phenomenon of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case-study approach, guided by the theory of territorial materialism, the study posits that the ‘colonial causation’ narrative, exemplified in the ethnic partitioning/disintegration hypothesis, does not wholly explain contemporary boundary/border disputes in East Africa, but also elsewhere in the continent. The article posits that contemporary boundary disputes in the focal area are largely associated with territorial struggles motivated by the quest for the control of geostrategic and economic resources on the affected borderlines. The article also advances an agenda for a sub-regional mechanism for border governance and security as the way forward.
The devastation of lives, livelihood and property in Nigeria caused by over a decade of insurgenc... more The devastation of lives, livelihood and property in Nigeria caused by over a decade of insurgency by the Boko Haram terrorists is a subject of security, policy, humanitarian and academic concern. Several counter-measures have been adopted by both state and non-state actors to combat the insurgency with limited successes recorded. Consequently, studies have examined several efforts taken by the Nigerian government toward ending the Boko Haram insurgency, including the challenges confronting such efforts. However, Nigeria’s de-radicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration programme for ex-Boko Haram fighters, known as Operation Safe Corridor, has received marginal attention in literature. The Operation Safe Corridor programme which was established in September 2015 is aimed at de-radicalizing, rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant Boko Haram insurgents into society. Using a field survey method involving key informant interviews and focus group discussions as well as documenta...
IKENGA Journal of Institute of African Studies, 2021
In November 2017, there was an online protest against police brutality and highhandedness in Nige... more In November 2017, there was an online protest against police brutality and highhandedness in Nigeria. By October 2020, the citizens’ discontent and dissatisfaction with the activities of the police led to a mass revolt against the institution, specifically against the Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) of the force. The response of the Nigerian state to the protest was total repression and subjugation of the demonstrators. Given the scale of the protest and the government’s response, this momentous event has attracted scholarly attention. The extant literature has identified governance deficit, illiteracy of police officers, the dynamics of the political economy and youth activism as factors that fueled the protest. The present study, therefore, explores the character of the state in the post-colonial society as a link towards the understanding of the fundamental issues that triggered the protests. Through the use of secondary sources of data collection and content analysis, the wor...
Nigeria’s eighteen years of civilian rule has been dotted with incessant ethno-nationalist agitat... more Nigeria’s eighteen years of civilian rule has been dotted with incessant ethno-nationalist agitations which have often threatened the peace and tranquillity of the Nigerian state and the orderly conduct of public and private businesses. The Nigerian state has in turn often responded to these agitations through an admixture of appeasements and the application of force in what is commonly referred to as the carrot and stick approach. While the state has largely been successful in containing such agitations, and ultimately bringing them within the bounds of order, two of such on-going agitations – the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast and the Biafra separatist agitations in the Southeast – appear to have so far defied the military prowess and the strategic ingenuity of the Nigerian state. Both also standout, whereas earlier agitations were merely targeted at redressing certain identified grievances. These lay claim to the very soul of the Nigerian state; that is, the inviolability...
Central European Journal of International Studies and Security, 2019
This article examines the essence and basis of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case... more This article examines the essence and basis of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case-study approach, guided by the theory of territorial materialism, the study observes that the 'colonial causation' narrative, exemplified in the ethnic partitioning/disintegration hypothesis , does not wholly explain contemporary boundary/border disputes in East Africa, but also elsewhere in the continent. The article posits that contemporary boundary disputes in the focal area are largely associated with territorial struggles motivated by the quest for the control of geostrategic and economic resources on the affected borderlines and frontiers. The article also proposes a sub-regional mechanism for border governance and security as the way forward.
This paper examined the vulnerability of travelers to kidnapping, abduction and armed robbery att... more This paper examined the vulnerability of travelers to kidnapping, abduction and armed robbery attacks and in some extreme cases, death along Nigeria's highways. Insecurity on the nation's highways became a contemporary criminological discourse following the emergence of new strands of criminality like militancy, terrorism, kidnapping, herdsmen-farmers violence, communal conflicts and banditry. Nigerian highways have become the major operational hotspots for criminals who harass, terrorize, and traumatize travelers at will. With the ever-rising insecurity on Nigerian highways, the military and paramilitary offensives deployed by the Federal Government have not yielded the desired results culminating in the description of government's inertia as a form of state slumber. Data for this study were sourced from a content analysis of reported violent highway crimes by credible mainstream Nigerian newspapers, spanning a period of one year, from July 2020 to July 2021. Adopting the Social Disorganization Theory, the study indicated that the worrisome nature of insecurity on Nigeria's highways resulting in the high rate of abduction and murder of people of diverse military, professional, socioeconomic and political backgrounds has engendered a sense of helplessness, trauma and vulnerability among Nigerian road travelers. The paper recommends the decentralization of Nigeria Police Force structure to create State Police that will encourage and electrify effective and better people oriented patrolling and management of insecurities on the Nigerian highways.
PanAfrican journal of governance and development, Aug 30, 2022
This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpo... more This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpoint of how the socio-positional backgrounds of people accounted for their differential vulnerabilities in that regard. By way of a qualitative analysis that relied mainly on a desk study, the paper posits that the lockdown was over-securitized and anti-people, considering the gale of police brutality and violation of human rights that attended the process. The paper makes a case for a moderately de-securitized lockdown regime that is implemented based on incentivized moral suasion rather than coercion.
PanAfrican journal of governance and development, Aug 30, 2022
This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpo... more This paper analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Nigerian populace from the standpoint of how the socio-positional backgrounds of people accounted for their differential vulnerabilities in that regard. By way of a qualitative analysis that relied mainly on a desk study, the paper posits that the lockdown was over-securitized and anti-people, considering the gale of police brutality and violation of human rights that attended the process. The paper makes a case for a moderately de-securitized lockdown regime that is implemented based on incentivized moral suasion rather than coercion.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 26, 2022
The paper reports the findings of a study on domestic terrorism and religious insurgency in Niger... more The paper reports the findings of a study on domestic terrorism and religious insurgency in Nigeria. It focused on the impacts of the religious insurgency and the ongoing war on terrorism. It applied accidental sampling technique due to the tension and insecurity atmosphere in the study area the Northeast of Nigeria, and used other administered questionnaire to sample 250 respondents who were in a mood to respond to investigation. The findings indicate that the activities of Boko Haram terrorist group are strong enough to stretch the ability of the Nigeria military and equally threaten the sovereignty of the state. It further found that the current strategies adopted by the Nigerian government to combat terrorism have reduced the fighting powers of the terrorism but the war is still ongoing, taking both military and civilian causalities and many refugees are still in camps. The paper recommends the importance of inter-religious committees, redressing palpable social inequality and to open communication to dialogue with the terrorists.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 26, 2022
Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phe... more Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon with significant deleterious socioeconomic impact. One of the impacted areas of the contemporary climatic change is the Lake Chad in North Eastern Nigeria and Sahel region of West and Central Africa. Reported cases of dislocation of the ecosystem of the Lake Chad environment are on the increase and worsening. The effects have led to perennial conflicts between herders and sedentary farmers, threatens food security as well as overall human security and the security of the Nigerian state. The thrust of this paper is to interrogate the lingering herder-farmer conflicts in the Lake Chad basin, Nigerian government's responses and the implication for food security in the country. Data for the paper were derived from documentary sources and analyzed using content analysis. The human security approach was adopted as framework of analysis. We argued that in view of government's weak and uninspiring responses to challenges posed by the shrinking of the Lake Chad and the resultant conflicts between herders and farmers, the government's avowal to ensuring food sufficiency for its citizens through local production is imperiled. We, therefore, urge a rethink and rejigging of government's climate response strategy generally and its approach to the resultant violent clashes between herders and farmers.
The interface between corruption and governance has been widely discussed, with corruption genera... more The interface between corruption and governance has been widely discussed, with corruption generally acknowledged as leading to poor governance outcomes. The intersection between the two is also generally believed to be a key driver of insecurity. This paper demonstrates that not only do corruption and bad governance drive conflict and insecurity, but that the latter often provide the cloaking for the perpetuation of corrupt and unaccountable governance. Using the Niger Delta militancy and the Boko Haram insurgency in South and Northeast Nigeria respectively as its units of analysis, the paper demonstrates the specific ways in which the activities of these uncivil society groupings led to the perpetration of large scale corruption and irresponsive governance in Nigeria during the period under study. keywords: governance; corruption; uncivil society; conflict; insecurity. Corrupção, administração, e a sociedade (pouco) civil nigeriana, 1999-2016. A confluência entre corrupção e governança tem sido amplamente discutida, sendo a corrupção geralmente reconhecida como fator conducente a fracos desempenhos administrativos. A interseção entre as duas é também amplamente considerada como principal propiciador da insegurança. Este artigo demonstra que a corrupção e a má governança não só geram o conflito e a insegurança, mas que esta última propicia frequentemente a cobertura necessária para a perpetuação de uma governança corrupta e impune. Utilizando a militância do Delta do Níger e a rebelião do Boko Haram no sul e no nordeste da Nigéria, respetivamente, como unidades de análise, este artigo explora os modos específicos pelos quais as atividades destes grupos da sociedade (pouco) civil conduziram à corrupção em larga escala e a uma administração irresponsável na Nigéria durante o período em análise. palavras-chave: administração; corrupção; sociedade (pouco) civil; conflito; insegurança.
Over the years, the view that a negative correlation exists between natural resource endowment an... more Over the years, the view that a negative correlation exists between natural resource endowment and development outcomes in resource-abundant developing countries has become something of an article of faith in development literature with the causal link said to run from resource abundance to negative development outcomes. Also, from the myriad of contending theoretical assumptions, rentierism has since emerged as the dominant theoretical postulate for the explication of the contradiction between resource endowment and development. Consequently, the focus of discussion has since shifted to the domain of prescribing appropriate policy tools to mitigate the consequences of this paradox. This paper takes as its point of departure the minority view that the context of natural resource discovery matters and actually shapes, to a high degree, the development trajectories of such states. It interrogates the explanatory utility of rentierism as the central organising concept for the explicati...
Policies of free trade and the adoption of neoliberal economic models, which are important aspect... more Policies of free trade and the adoption of neoliberal economic models, which are important aspects of globalization, have caused major disruptions in labor markets around the world. In the less developed regions of the world, relatively unskilled agricultural hands have been rendered redundant in production processes while in the more technologically advanced countries, several long-stable industries closed down while some others were outsourced to less developed countries in a bid to maintain competitiveness. As the flow of material and cultural goods and services accelerated over time under the rubrics of globalization, human beings dislodged from their various productive bases became important components of the exchange. However, whereas the process of globalization appears to be bringing humanity closer together due to advances in transportation and communication technologies, this apparent physical closeness has created social distance between individuals and groups across territorial boundaries. Large numbers of mostly economic migrants from the less developed regions have ossified into an army of social outcasts, born throwaways, in various destination and transit countries. This paper explored the contradictions and tensions arising from globalization-induced migration within and out of Africa. It found that the massive outflow of irregular migrants from Africa has fed into the stream of modern day slavery in transit and destination countries that is unlikely to abate even in the face of apparent repudiation of globalization by its avid promoters, the United States and Great Britain.
Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, 2019
This article seeks to examine the phenomenon of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a cas... more This article seeks to examine the phenomenon of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case-study approach, guided by the theory of territorial materialism, the study posits that the ‘colonial causation’ narrative, exemplified in the ethnic partitioning/disintegration hypothesis, does not wholly explain contemporary boundary/border disputes in East Africa, but also elsewhere in the continent. The article posits that contemporary boundary disputes in the focal area are largely associated with territorial struggles motivated by the quest for the control of geostrategic and economic resources on the affected borderlines. The article also advances an agenda for a sub-regional mechanism for border governance and security as the way forward.
The devastation of lives, livelihood and property in Nigeria caused by over a decade of insurgenc... more The devastation of lives, livelihood and property in Nigeria caused by over a decade of insurgency by the Boko Haram terrorists is a subject of security, policy, humanitarian and academic concern. Several counter-measures have been adopted by both state and non-state actors to combat the insurgency with limited successes recorded. Consequently, studies have examined several efforts taken by the Nigerian government toward ending the Boko Haram insurgency, including the challenges confronting such efforts. However, Nigeria’s de-radicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration programme for ex-Boko Haram fighters, known as Operation Safe Corridor, has received marginal attention in literature. The Operation Safe Corridor programme which was established in September 2015 is aimed at de-radicalizing, rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant Boko Haram insurgents into society. Using a field survey method involving key informant interviews and focus group discussions as well as documenta...
IKENGA Journal of Institute of African Studies, 2021
In November 2017, there was an online protest against police brutality and highhandedness in Nige... more In November 2017, there was an online protest against police brutality and highhandedness in Nigeria. By October 2020, the citizens’ discontent and dissatisfaction with the activities of the police led to a mass revolt against the institution, specifically against the Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) of the force. The response of the Nigerian state to the protest was total repression and subjugation of the demonstrators. Given the scale of the protest and the government’s response, this momentous event has attracted scholarly attention. The extant literature has identified governance deficit, illiteracy of police officers, the dynamics of the political economy and youth activism as factors that fueled the protest. The present study, therefore, explores the character of the state in the post-colonial society as a link towards the understanding of the fundamental issues that triggered the protests. Through the use of secondary sources of data collection and content analysis, the wor...
Nigeria’s eighteen years of civilian rule has been dotted with incessant ethno-nationalist agitat... more Nigeria’s eighteen years of civilian rule has been dotted with incessant ethno-nationalist agitations which have often threatened the peace and tranquillity of the Nigerian state and the orderly conduct of public and private businesses. The Nigerian state has in turn often responded to these agitations through an admixture of appeasements and the application of force in what is commonly referred to as the carrot and stick approach. While the state has largely been successful in containing such agitations, and ultimately bringing them within the bounds of order, two of such on-going agitations – the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast and the Biafra separatist agitations in the Southeast – appear to have so far defied the military prowess and the strategic ingenuity of the Nigerian state. Both also standout, whereas earlier agitations were merely targeted at redressing certain identified grievances. These lay claim to the very soul of the Nigerian state; that is, the inviolability...
Central European Journal of International Studies and Security, 2019
This article examines the essence and basis of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case... more This article examines the essence and basis of boundary disputes in East Africa. By way of a case-study approach, guided by the theory of territorial materialism, the study observes that the 'colonial causation' narrative, exemplified in the ethnic partitioning/disintegration hypothesis , does not wholly explain contemporary boundary/border disputes in East Africa, but also elsewhere in the continent. The article posits that contemporary boundary disputes in the focal area are largely associated with territorial struggles motivated by the quest for the control of geostrategic and economic resources on the affected borderlines and frontiers. The article also proposes a sub-regional mechanism for border governance and security as the way forward.
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Papers by Elias Ngwu