Building the Record of a Moral Superpower
Author: Philip Chukwuma Aka
Publisher:
Published: 2016
Total Pages: 309
ISBN-13:
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Human Rights in Nigeria's External Relations
Author: Philip Aka
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2016-12-20
Total Pages: 325
ISBN-13: 1498533566
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book is a broad-ranging argument for thorough reforms at home and abroad in Nigeria as the only antidote to the nation-building dilemmas Nigeria confronts in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. Because of its enormous material and human endowments, Nigeria is dubbed the “Giant of Africa.” It is a moniker many of its leaders take seriously. Yet, Nigeria is a state rife with instability, some of it periodically erupting into violence. Given still-ongoing national security challenges in the land that notoriously includes a bloody religion-oriented terrorism, the Fourth Republic since 1999, the longest period of continuous democratic rule since independence—key to the timeline of this book—has not been insulated from the spell of instability. The main argument of this work is that internationally agreed-upon ethical standards embedded in human rights can save Nigeria. This book is a methodologically and theoretically-grounded, seminal discourse on Nigerian foreign relations that spells out the human rights or lack thereof in those relations, including underlying and impinging domestic forces. This work is set around six issues of application embedded in a temple of Nigeria’s human rights foreign policy, comprising two steps and four pillars: reconstructed national interest, increased human rights at home, redesigned peacekeeping, reshaped foreign policy machinery, increased bilateralism in foreign relations, and the use of ECOWAS as human rights tool. Although focused on the period since independence, for proper understanding of events from the past that shape the current patterns of politics in the land, this book also embodies a historical background chapter that overviews the pre-colonial and colonial eras.
Improving Disability Laws under Nigeria's Fourth Republic
Author: Philip C. Aka
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2022-11-08
Total Pages: 225
ISBN-13: 1666914185
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPersons living with disabilities (PLWDs) are imbued with inalienable human rights and have talents and potential that would aid in the Nigerian government’s unceasing pursuit of economic development. However, under Nigeria’s Fourth Republic since 1999, implementation of disability laws has been lethargic. In Improving Disability Laws under Nigeria's Fourth Republic: Ten Measured Steps into the Future, Philip C. Aka and Joseph Abiodun Balogun explore measures for improving the capacity of the Nigerian national government to implement regional and global treaties related to disability that are human rights-centric. They emphasize the need for a human rights focus and for the Nigerian government to implement laws that support the potential of PLWDs, including their contributions to socioeconomic development.
Navigating the Tension Between Sovereignty and Self-Determination in Postcolonial Africa
Author: Philip C. Aka
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2024-01-16
Total Pages: 501
ISBN-13: 3031481313
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book addresses the unique challenges faced by Africa regarding peaceful self-determination. Unlike other regions, Africa has seen limited success in nonviolent self-determination campaigns. Since 1989, only three African nations - Namibia, Eritrea, and South Sudan - have joined the UN after enduring prolonged and violent struggles for independence. In a world characterized by constant change, border alterations typically require armed conflicts in postcolonial Africa. In response to this disconcerting trend, the book offers pragmatic blueprints for achieving peace, emphasizing constitutional approaches to navigate the delicate balance between sovereignty and self-determination. The work delves into the complexities of five self-determination struggles spanning three African countries, providing valuable insights into the challenges faced. It distils six critical lessons from these case studies and presents fourteen blueprint proposals tailored to address the unique dynamics of postcolonial Africa, where reconciling sovereignty and self-determination remains a pressing concern.
Africa in the Twenty-First Century
Author: Gashawbeza Bekele
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2018-12-04
Total Pages: 239
ISBN-13: 1498564526
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book interrogates contemporary debates, controversies, achievements, challenges, and future prospects of African development and democratization from varied theoretical perspectives. The diverse issues and sub-themes addressed in this volume include tenets of democracy such as democratization, democratic institutions, good governance, term limits, minority rights, and women’s political participation; and dynamics of development such as economic growth, liberalization, development strategies and models, Millennium Development Goals, uneven regional development,sustainable development challenges, transport development and management, and health and development. Featuring established and emerging scholars, this book is a vital resource for scholars, policy makers, and students interested in African politics and development.
The Illusion of the Post-Colonial State
Author: W. Alade Fawole
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2018-06-01
Total Pages: 255
ISBN-13: 1498564615
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book challenges the long-held conventional wisdom that Africa is a post-colonial society of sovereign nation-states despite the outward attributes of statehood: demarcated territories, permanent populations, governments, national currencies, police, and armed forces. While it is true that African nation-states have been gifted flag independence by their respective colonial masters, few have reached fully developed status as a secure nation-state. Most African nation-states have, since independence, been grappling with the crisis of state-building, nation-building, governance, and myriad security challenges which have been chronically exacerbated by the dynamics of the post-Cold War era. To focus merely on the agency of the African political elite and their inability to sustain functional modern nation-states misses the point. The central argument of the book is that an understanding of Africa’s contemporary governance and security challenges requires us to historicize the discourse surrounding nation-building and state-building throughout Africa.
Africans and the Exiled Life
Author: Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2018-01-12
Total Pages: 333
ISBN-13: 1498550894
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSince their early beginning in Africa as foragers, hunters and gatherers, humans have been on the move. In modern times, their movements have been compelled by geographical, economic, political, cultural, social and personal reasons. However, beginning in the second-half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century their reasons for and pattern of migration have been largely influenced by globalization. Globalization, by its very nature, cuts across virtually every aspect of the human life and human society. And especially in the United States, African immigrants are subject to the undercurrents of globalization – particularly in the areas of culture, religion, interpersonal relationships, and the assimilation and acculturation process. Relying on the vast theoretical and practical experience of academics and public intellectuals across three continents, this book succinctly interrogates some of the pull/push factors of migration, the challenges of globalizing forces, and the daily reality of relocation. The everyday reality and experiences of blacks in the diaspora (Latin America, Caribbean, and Europe) are also part of the discourse and the subject matters are approached from different perspectives and paradigms. Africans and the Exiled Life, therefore, is a compelling and rich addition to the ongoing global debate and understanding of migration and exile.
Bosnia as Civic State and Global Citizen
Author: Philip C. Aka
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2021-11-22
Total Pages: 292
ISBN-13: 1538159910
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor long, the narrative in constitutional law, public policy, and statecraft is that Bosnia must join the EU, as a matter of economic development and nation building. This book introduces another dimension to the narrative, oversighted, without which the story remains one-dimensional, rather than balanced. That missing element in the literature this study integrates is a reformed Bosnian state, along the lines proposed in this book, that operates outside the EU. The setting of the work within the fields of knowledge of comparative constitutional law, and public choice theory provides added value to the reader, including students, scholars, policy makers, and lay persons.
Nigeria–United States Relations, 1960–2016
Author: Olayiwola Abegunrin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2018-10-24
Total Pages: 185
ISBN-13: 1498573789
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book examines relations between Nigeria and the United States, analyzing the levels of collaboration and interaction between the two countries since Nigerian independence in 1960. The central objective of the volume is to understand how American policy-makers have thought about and acted toward Nigeria from the time she achieved statehood in 1960 until the end of Obama Administration. There is huge potential in Nigeria; the country has the largest population in Africa and is well-endowed in terms of both human and natural resources. Additionally, it has the largest economy and biggest market on the continent, the largest concentration of Black population in the world, a burgeoning and vibrant youthful population, and a tradition of international engagement since its independence. With a population of over 170 million, and as America’s largest trading partner in Africa, Nigeria is a key power in Africa, and a major player in world affairs. Nigeria’s position in the twenty-first century offers the possibility for a positive new chapter in Nigeria-United States relations.
Nigeria's Niger Delta
Author: Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2017-01-31
Total Pages: 225
ISBN-13: 1498542948
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe problems and challenges of the Niger Delta predate Nigeria as a Republic. The resultant violence can be traced to 1966, when the late Isaac Boro and his colleagues attempted to secede from Nigeria due, in large part, to the underdevelopment of the region. Historical reality aside, since 1970 oil has displaced agriculture as Nigeria’s primary revenue earner and it has, for the last four decades, been the nation’s breadbasket. But in spite of this, the Niger Delta remains vastly underdeveloped and has been given the least federal presence. These deficiencies led to high unemployment, social dislocations, youth restiveness, and extralegalities. It was these realities that bred disaffection with the government and the multinational oil companies and eventually, to violent militancy. Between 2003 and 2009, it also led to low intensity conflict between militant youths and the Nigerian government. In the summer of 2009, however, the Nigerian government extended an offer of presidential pardon (amnesty) to the militants. The amnesty program was intended to bring peace and quiet to the region. However, this has not been the case. In spite of the financial and political resources that have been expended, the region continues on the path of volatility. This book looks at the issue of nationhood, the cause and cost of the crisis, past approaches and current efforts at solving the crisis. In addition, it offers a tenable solution to the decades-old crisis. Furthermore, the case is made that unless there is a fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian state and its governing structure and institutions, the problems of the region—and the larger problems that makes the country such a difficult to place to live in and govern, is likely to continue.
