The quest for autonomy: The case of Anglophone Cameroon
August 2013
The former British Southern Cameroons opted in a UN organised plebiscite in 1961 to reunify with La Republique du Cameroun to form a federation of two states that were said to be on a footing of equality. But contrary to declarations and expectations, the federation was not one of equal states. It was instead a veiled preparatory stage for the total assimilation of the Southern Cameroons into the highly centralised La...
Agricultural development-led industrialization strategy in Ethiopia: An overview
August 2013
This paper assesses the recent policy reforms. The result shows that there is no evidence that the poverty situation has improved. Most individuals and government officials have said there are political, socio-economic and nation-building achievements in the successful completion of 19 years (1991-2010) EPRDF-led govt. They claim remarkable progresses have been made in the areas of economic growth, employment, poverty...
Six-party negotiation on DPRK nuclear talk
August 2013
Nuclear negotiation with DPRK is a geopolitical as well as Inter-Korean issues. DPRK is one of important geopolitical issues of USA and handled by 6-party talk, while DPRK is also inter-Korean issue of ROK. The sequencing of the two processes has significant impact on the future of Korean peninsular and the stability of East Asia. However, negotiation between US and DPRK on nuclear issues has been dragged for a decade....
Torture, capitalism, and the new white man’s burden
July 2013
The not so recent distribution of the Abu Ghraib photos throughout the United States and the world brought forth the detection of a practice that is commonly used by the U.S. and its “satellite states.” For the mainstream U.S. American public, it was a shocking and horrifying discovery. For others, such as Carlos Mauricio who “had flashbacks when he saw the guy with the hood (at Abu...
Understanding the minds, problems and aspirations: An untold story about the Egyptian dilemma
July 2013
Journalism exits in a cultural context, which must be understood within its local socio-political and economic context before it can be accurately evaluated. Egypt is in a state of flux and is considered a classic example of how journalism practice has been affected by the current distributional changes that altered the rules, and positioned journalism at its lowest ebb since the 'Open Door Policy'...
Southern African Customs Union (SACU): A viable building block for the African economic community
July 2013
The AU, in April 2006, passed a resolution on the rationalisation and harmonisation of Regional economic communities (RECs). A moratorium and suspension of recognition of RECs followed in July. Eight RECs were consequently identified as the building blocks to the African economic community (AEC). Interestingly, in Southern Africa, the youngest REC, the EAC has been identified as one of AEC’s building blocs...
Party affiliation in new democracies: Local reactions to the split of the ruling party in Malawi
July 2013
The split within Malawi’s ruling party in 2005 offers an opportunity to investigate underlying perspectives about what it means to belong to a political party in a new democracy. Although a mirage of a three-party system emerged after the first multiparty election in the early nineties, Malawi is a typical case where the fluidity of party membership is an ongoing process. By reading the existing literature on...
Legislative regulation and financial institutions in environmental assurance in developing countries: Case study of mining in Ghana
July 2013
The use of financial institutions and legislation are some of the regulatory mechanisms for ensuring an effective Environmental Financial Assurance (EFA) implementation. Third party involvement in regulation could mitigate regulatory implementation inefficiency in developing countries. This research uses Ghana as a case study to examine the effectiveness of these two regulatory mechanisms...
Revisiting state intervention: State-sponsored micro-credit and poverty reduction in Uganda
June 2013
Whereas it is often argued that state intervention with credit to reduce poverty is a futile venture, our research findings in Uganda show that while this thesis may be true in some cases, it should not always be taken for granted. Hence, we argue that state-sponsored credit schemes can also perform better provided their programme designs are fortified with best practices. We demonstrate this case using a comparative...
Public health, genomics and biopolitics - human security vis-à -vis securing ‘exception’
June 2013
‘Biopower’ has been the building block to address human beings as global mass with liberal government practices. The sovereign power continuously categorizes the population between ‘political life’ and the ‘other’ mute bearers of ‘bare life’. To ensure human security to all, threats to human security have been broadened beyond the realm of military security. Equitable...
From Kyoto protocol to COPENHAGEN: A theoretical approach to international politics of climate change
June 2013
Industrialization, modernization and technological breakthrough are posing a greater challenge in contemporary international politics. They have paved a new dimension in the study of international relations and politics in the area of environmental security, cooperation and even interdependence. This paper is a critical theoretical approach to the study of international green politics, encompassing the nature...
Stories behind the western-led humanitarian intervention in Libya: A critical analysis
June 2013
The Western-led NATO intervention in Libya attracted global attention, causing a misunderstanding of the concept of ‘humanitarian intervention’. The level of controversy is not alleged to stem from the imperative ‘to intervene or not to intervene’ but rather from the question ‘what interests were intervening states possibly pursuing’? Comments from the Western hemisphere mainly...
The need for political awareness for Africa’s younger generation
May 2013
Is it democracy that in Africa, where majority of its population are below forty years old, elect majority of its leaders, who are above sixty years of age, to power? Are we really satisfied with the way our countries are being governed by leaders of that age group whom are not in touch with the realities/expectations of the moment? Take for example, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Cameroun, Malawi and Liberia where the heads of...
Oil as a source of political conflict in Niger Delta
May 2013
The presence of natural resources in some countries has lead to eradication of poverty and development but in other countries the same resources contribute to misery and underdevelopment. This can well be seen in the case of Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The region which is rich in resources particularly oil has been economically deprived. The various ethnic minorities which reside in the area are struggling with...
Public expenditure management reforms and national development: A critical evaluation of Obasanjo’s administration, 1999-2007
May 2013
The article examines Obasanjo’s public expenditure management reforms in Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Anecdotal evidence indicated that public expenditure management (PEM) projects of the various regimes in Nigeria had been at best non-facilitator in fostering Nigeria’s Development. However, an evaluation of PEM during Obasanjo’s regime from 1999 to 2007, offers a heuristic insight into the political...
Prison health in Nigeria: A sociological discourse
May 2013
In many developing countries including Nigeria, prison conditions are far from being humane, and prison health is yet to be seen as a profitable social project. This is often displayed in the various forms of social interactions obtainable among prisoners, prison staff and the larger social system. Prisons in Nigeria over the past years have been in deplorable conditions with increase in disease burden among inmates....
The ASEAN factor in Iranian foreign policy
May 2013
In the current systems, international organizations are operating stability and making an opportunity for integration and cooperation between governments. In this regard, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is very important as one of the major regional organizations in terms of political, economic and security trends and can provide economic and welfare goals in the region through providing basic goals. The...
Regime survival strategies in Zimbabwe in the 21st century
May 2013
Zimbabwe at the turn of the new millennium has received widespread condemnation particularly with the implementation of the controversial land reform programme. Such criticisms and attacks on the government threatened the existence of the regime; as such the regime employed various strategies to ensure its survival in an anarchical environment. The image portrayed abroad has been tattered as some of the survival...
Federalism constraints and opportunity in Pakistan
May 2013
This paper made an effort to examine the constitutional fundamentals of federalism in Pakistan. Its focal point is on the major constitutional developments made in Pakistan for the promotion of federalism, by examining the problems faced by federalism. This is because of the fact that the federal form of government is more proper for those societies which are diverse in nature. A greater part of the societies in...
Democratic consolidation, fiscal responsibility and national development: An appraisal of the fourth republic
May 2013
The return of civil rule to Nigeria in 1999 brought a lot of hope for speedy national development in the country. This was because, unlike under the country’s prolonged military rule, democratization was expected to usher in openness, accountability and, more importantly, fiscal responsibility. However, in the twelve years that the fourth republic has operated, there has been scant regard for fiscal...
Much ado about nothing? The limited effects of structural adjustment programmes and the highly indebted poor countries initiative on the reduction of external debts in sub-Saharan Africa: An empirical analysis
May 2013
Reassessing the rationale underlying the emergence of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) in the 1980s, this article looks more specifically at the effects of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative on the debt burden in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it illustrates how in spite of important degrees of economic growth during the last...
Africa’s leadership challenges in the 21st century: A Nigerian perspective
April 2013
Leadership crisis in Africa is often seen from the point of view of the misdemeanor of various political rulers dotting the continental landscape. This paper sees it differently. It explores the fundamental cause of the misleadership parody, ranging from the personal capacity underdevelopment, to social-psychological and value deficiencies and misunderstandings that need to be addressed for Africa to be...
Common humanity not common community: The solution to global crisis
April 2013
Is a peaceful world an impossible dream? This is one of the most mind wafting questions of the contemporary era. The contemporary period is dotted with both minor and major conflicts and wars. Therefore, scholars are afraid that with the trend and ferocity of the phenomenon, humanity stands the risk of going into obliteration. To check this insidious phenomenon, men developed several socio-political and religious...
Effects of Iran’s ideological identity in the formation of international agreements against it, according to the critical theory
April 2013
Three sanction resolutions were approved by the UN Security Council against Iran during 2006 to 2008, showing an international agreement among the state agents against the nuclear programs of the Islamic Republic. Why different interests of the Security Council members did not prevent them from reaching "agreements" against Iran? On the other hand, the play off game of Iran did not achieve any suitable result....
The place of spoilers in peace processes in Sudan
December 2012
Based on the concept of ‘spoiling’, this paper posits that it was not only within the domain of the rebels or militia from Southern Sudan or from Darfur to indulge in violent activities that were spoiling peace and stability in Sudan. Rather, the Government of Sudan (GOS), a state actor whose mandate is to protect civilians including their properties perfected the art of spoiling by doing little to encourage...
Role models in peace-building in Africa: An assessment of selected characters
December 2012
African scholars and experts have developed several methods and strategies of conflict management and peace-building, they have not been widely popularized as role models. Thus, researchers and practitioners have to fall back on theoretical frameworks and methodologies propounded in Europe and Asia in building peace in Africa. This has created problem of intellectual poverty for the continent. This paper, therefore,...
Africa: Beyond the “new†dependency: A political economy
December 2012
Scholars seek to articulate plausible explanations for the current world situation where the vast majority of countries are underdeveloped while a relatively small portion- the Western countries, are rich. From the classical Marxist analysis emerged the neo-Marxists, encompassing the Third World scholars theorizing on the persistence of this division and development alternatives. Their central argument is...
Gender rights in post-colonial societies: A comparative study of Kenya and India
December 2012
This paper is a comparative legal study undertaken to determine the current status of gender rights in two countries: India and Kenya. The countries were selected on the basis of their similar legal systems, colonial heritage and the demographic dispersion of women in rural areas. Using theConvention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as the international benchmark for state...
Reconceptualising the African state in the strategic relational approach: A case of Mauritius state and trade policy-making
November 2012
The view of a crisis of the nation-state in Africa has culminated into a number of emerging solutions most of which do not adequately address the relationship between political actors and the state. Central to the examination of African states is the wide usage of the concept of neo-patrimonial state – a concept criticised for inadequately explaining African states. This paper seeks to reconceptualise the...
Application of the theories that explain the causes of civil conflicts in Zimbabwean conflicts
November 2012
There are several theories which tend to explain the causes of civil conflicts. These theories have identified certain elements or conditions which make civil conflicts feasible. Zimbabwe has experienced conflicts. Each time such conflicts have occurred, no one has been well prepared to handle them or prevent them. This paper attempts to examine and analyse various theories relating to the causes of civil conflicts and...
Struggling to weaken the giant: Litigation as a measure to compel the adoption of tobacco control instrument in Malawi
November 2012
The tobacco companies continue to resist the adoption of tobacco control laws in developing countries in spite of the predicted high risk of a tobacco epidemic in those areas. In contrast to previous studies which focused on the developed and middle income countries and concluded that interest groups impact policy making, this study examines the strategy of anti-tobacco interest groups to promote the regulation of...
The trend towards rationalism among Chinese local administrators: Developments within the Shanghai community administrators’ psychological quality
October 2012
This paper presents data on the development of psychological qualities of Shanghai community administrators. By comparing results of 2001 and 2010, the author analyzes the difference of the psychological qualities of Shanghai community administrators. The conclusions from the data are based on a decade of psychological profiling research on the administrators, using the internationally recognized and widely adopted...
Habermas’ Deliberative Democracy and the Zimbabwean Constitution-Making Process
October 2012
The paper applies Habermas’ theory of deliberative democracy to argue for an objective, non-partisan and non-evil outcome in the Zimbabwean constitution-making process. Habermas’ deliberative democracy is particularly useful because it emphasizes rational discourse and it tries to put away prejudices and egoistic tendencies in constitutional making. For Zimbabweans, non-partisan thinking assumes political...
Nigerian State and the management of oil minority conflicts in the Niger Delta: A retrospective view
June 2012
Controversy generated by oil minority rights and agitations in the Niger Delta is as old as the Nigerian State. On the eve of Nigeria’s independence, even before the exploitation of oil commenced in the Niger Delta, a colonial government commission of enquiry, the Willink Commission of 1957/1958, acknowledged its peculiar developmental needs and thus recommended a developmental board. The Niger Delta Development...
The treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the challenges of nuclear capability projects in Iran and North-Korea
June 2012
One of the greatest challenges facing the world today is the overwhelming quest by some member nations to acquire, develop and possess nuclear capabilities with the intention of balancing power, fears and terror at the centre stage of world politics. Iran and North Korea have been in the fore front of arms race. Therefore, it is the task of this paper to examine the circumstances surrounding the development and...
Guantanamo: The United States in dispute with international law
April 2012
After the Second World War, to establish a modern, lawful and world wide system in relation to the chaotic and tense world of postwar, the United States led a new challenge for protection of human rights and free trade. Now, in reality, the question is why does the United States pursue the violation of those laws that had been established by itself in a period of time? The matter of utmost significance, in this article...
Institutionalizing the culture of accountability in local government administration in Nigeria
April 2012
Local government is the third tier of government in Nigeria that is nearest to the people at the grassroots. It is a structure that provides for the goods and services needed by the people and to also bring development and good governance to the local level. This notwithstanding, development has not thrived at the grassroots level due to paucity of the culture of accountability and transparency in the administration of...
China - Africa culture differences in business relations
April 2012
With the Chinese rapid industrial development, there became a need for importation of oil and minerals (that is, iron ore, bauxite, nickel, copper), which Africa have in great quantity. For that, China now becomes Africa’s second largest trading partner after U.S. As a result of this, bilateral trade with Africa reached $114 billion in 2008, up from $65.9 billion in 2007. This was as a result of the...
What Americans want from their leaders in the U.S. and foreign nations: A comparison of Universities’ roles in the leadership development of the American State
March 2012
American Universities are playing a great role in shaping leadership and development. Their work, as regards the vital role played by them, can give us the concept of Democracy for all. The historical outlook of that which was mentioned by Mark R. Nemec and Ann Arbor in their book “Ivory Towers and Nationalist Minds: Universities”, and Benjamin I. Page and Marshall M. Bouton, “The Foreign Policy...
Ethnicity and citizenship crisis in Nigeria: Interrogating inter ethnic relations in Sardauna Local Government Area, Taraba State
March 2012
The recurrence of ethnicity and citizenship question generate the debate whether citizenship in Nigeria is inclusive. This problem is very topical in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State. Sardauna Local Government Area which is located in south-east of Taraba, north-east Nigeria was part of the former British Northern Cameroon that voted to join Nigeria after the 1961 plebiscite. The people in Sardauna Local...
Crisis of governance and the violations of human rights: The Nigerian experience, 1999 to 2007
March 2012
This study draws attention to the crisis of governance which has bedevilled Nigeria since independence, and how this has facilitated the violation of the basic rights of the Nigerian people, under the Obasanjo-led civil administration from 1999 to 2007. It is demonstrated that all the regimes in post-colonial Nigeria have violated the rights of the people and that these violations took place on all spheres of...
Habermas’ deliberative democracy and the Zimbabwean constitution-making process
February 2012
The paper applies Habermas’ theory of deliberative democracy to argue for an objective, non-partisan and non-evil outcome in the Zimbabwean constitution-making process. Habermas’ deliberative democracy is particularly useful because it emphasizes rational discourse and it tries to put away prejudices and egoistic tendencies in constitutional making. For Zimbabweans, non-partisan thinking assumes political...
Exogenic factor and the futility of conflict resolution in Africa: The Darfur experience
February 2012
This paper studies intractable conflict in Africa using the Darfur experience as case illustration with the primary goal of evaluating the place of exogenous factor(s) in the persistence of such conflict. With the aid of alternative dispute resolution theory, the paper discovered that there is a strong relationship between the dynamic interests of external forces and the intractability of the Darfur conflict. The use of...
An assessment of ethnic conflict and its challenges today
January 2012
In this article we shall begin by defining ethnocentrism. According to anthropologists, the concept combines the belief that one’s own culture is superior to other cultures, with the practice of judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture. Sociologists and social-psychologists extend the term to group attitudes shown by religious, economic, racial, caste and class group within a...
Urban poverty in Nigeria and approaches to poverty alleviation: A review
January 2012
The menace of urban poverty though global is most devastating in Africa especially Nigeria. Human conditions have greatly deteriorated particularly during the last decade with real disposable income declining steeply, malnutrition rates have risen sharply, and food production has hardly kept pace with population growth and the quantity and quality of health and education services deteriorating. This present trend of...
Functional education, militancy and youth restiveness in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: The place of multi-national oil corporations (MNOCs)
December 2011
The oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been in global focus for sometime due to youth restiveness and lately, militancy occasioned by the disruption of activities of multi-national oil corporations, hostage taking of both foreign nationals and Nigerians alike. This paper opines that functional education is the only panacea to the prevailing situation in the region. By functional education, the paper means such...
Using Hooke’s law of elasticity to explicate trends and dimensions of crisis in the Niger Delta
December 2011
The study draws from a corollary in the physical sciences, showing how a quantitative form could change to a qualitative form (that is water under 100°C). Likewise, the constant bombardment of the Niger Delta social formation could alter its relations of production. To this end, the study goes beyond, (i) the era of early oil exploration/expansion years and community passivity (1903-1970), (ii) Era of oil-industry...
African perceptions of democracy
December 2011
There are many perceptions, concepts and constructs of what it means to be democratic or what constitutes a democracy. Unfortunately, many of those paradigms are linear, Western-oriented models, which tend to overlook the historical and cultural variations of democracy, especially in pre-colonial African systems of democratic governance. For example, there were associational and horizontal-type democracies,...
The conservative discourse and hegemonic failure of the reform discourse in Iran
December 2011
When Mohammad khatami’s discourse of reform in Iran gave the political field to its anti discourse of conservative with the leadership of Mohammad Ahmadi Nejad after 8 years, several factors were recognized as the cause of failure of this discourse among which software and hardware power of conservatives were the most influential factors. In addition to criticizing the aforementioned minimalizing...
Niger delta struggle: Assessment of selected Nigerians’ perceptions
December 2011
This study was meant to evaluate happenings in the Niger Delta region arising from agitations for physical development for the region in terms of provision of long-lasting infrastructural facilities, dependable social amenities, control of environmental pollution ravaging the area and physical transformation of some selected locations in the region into mega cities. It is also the desire of the Niger Delta...
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