Putting the Facts in Perspective on how the Press failed Nigeria setting the wrong agenda and excessively attacking ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in breach of professional ethics on absolute neutrality! A brief historical guide to the build-up of facts and culmination in the present political dilemma of political uncertainty. A conclusive personal view on the possible way forward for the Nigerian Press
"Leadership and Crime: Siamese Twins in Africa" is a work that examines the festering woes of Black Africa in the quality of leadership it has had across-the-board since the departure of European colonizers from its individual countries. Using Nigeria - the country with the highest population and the largest economy on the continent - as a case study, it identifies the respective areas of leadership failure by indigenous leader but not without highlighting the self-serving groundwork laid by departing colonizers to safeguard long-term strategic interests with zero thought of the future of the indigenes. The resultant impact of conflicts, dictatorship, and self-enrichment to the detriment of the vast, suffering masses is clearly showcased in this sober, matter-of-fact presentation.
At the start of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic on 29 May 1999, there was great optimism as to the emergence of a new democratic future representing a significant break from the political undulations of the past. Two decades and four presidential epochs later, there is a prevalent question as to how well Nigeria has fared in governance and human rights post-1999. This book revisits the democratic ‘new dawn’ of the Fourth Republic discussing pertinent matters integral to Nigeria’s democratic future post-2019.
An exploration of political developments in Nigeria since the birth of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The post-military democratic experiment has since witnessed four Heads of State duly elected, often in controversial circumstances. This work seeks to reflect political-historical realities through different articles written by the author in the various era of the political journey.
"Africa's Diabolical Entrapment" exposes Sub-Saharan Africa as a region that is wantonly bruised it its trap between two major religions in the continent namely Christianity and Traditional Animism. It compares religious beliefs in Africa with historical religious developments in other continents of the world to identify where Black Africa is getting it wrong. While advancing the central message that the belief in Witchcraft, Demigods, Spirits of the dead, the Ancestors and Jesus Christ is not peculiar to Africa it also emphasizes that the pervasiveness of these beliefs in today's Africa poses a serious challenge to the intellectual growth of the society in general. Its conclusive projections and recommendations are definitely a subject of interest to stakeholders in the process of starting a long overdue debate in a continent that is waiting to find its place among progressive nations.
Lost in Democracy is an expos on Africas difficulty with democracy. It examines the indigenous systems of government that existed in different parts of the continent prior to the arrival of explorers and colonial adventurers in the continent as well as the introduction of the western sociopolitical systems. It compares African leadership with leaderships in other parts of the world with similar colonial experiences and identifies the problems posed by global powers protecting strategic interests in Africa. It also identifies the strength and weaknesses of democracy in the continent against the backdrop of all such difficulties as well as the up and down sides of the primordial African indigenous systems. It concludes with suggestions of possible alternatives to the current unworkable systems.
An arc of instability stretching across Africa’s Sahel region, an area of strategic interest for the United States and its allies, is plagued by violent extremist organizations (VEOs). These organizations, including Boko Haram, al Qaeda, and other terror groups, have metastasized and present a serious threat to regional stability. Now these VEOs are transitioning. Under sustained pressure from French and regional security forces, and reeling from the loss of senior leaders, many of these groups feel backed into a corner. Despite setbacks, these groups continue to plague the region. To enhance policymakers’ understanding of these threats and how to respond to them, CSIS experts from the Africa Program and Transnational Threats Project conducted field-based and scholarly research examining the broad range of factors at play in the region. This research provides little ground for optimism. Chronic underdevelopment, political alienation, failed governance and corruption, organized crime, and spillover from Libya help foster and sustain violent extremists throughout the Sahel.
An urgent Penguin Special investigating the 2014 mass-kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by the world's deadliest terrorists On 14th April 2014, 276 girls disappeared from a secondary school in northern Nigeria, kidnapped by the world's deadliest terror group. A tiny number have escaped back to their families but many remain missing. Reporting from inside the traumatised and blockaded community of Chibok, Helon Habila tracks down the survivors and the bereaved. Two years after the attack, he bears witness to their stories and to their grief. And moving from the personal to the political, he presents a comprehensive indictment of Boko Haram, tracing the circumstances of their ascent and the terrible fallout of their ongoing presence in Nigeria.
This volume provides a systematic and cross-regional analysis of radicalisation, militancy and violence in West Africa. Concern about terrorism in, or from, West Africa, has been recognised in academic research, and the adoption of militarised approaches to addressing it questioned. However, the basis for that questioning – the need to investigate factors such as the historical and socio-economic roots of militancy – is not developed, nor is it substantiated in existing studies. The significant impact of religiously motivated radicalisation and violence in West Africa upon international security makes it essential to understand the issues of militancy and violence in the region. In this volume, the authors draw upon empirical research in West Africa to develop understanding in these areas. Over the course of several chapters written by leading experts in the field, the book successfully blends historical and conceptual analysis with new empirical research gathered from focus group discussions and research interviews. Each of these core studies is structured around five interrelated issues: tracing the antecedents of radicalisation; monitoring trends; identifying actors; anticipating possibilities; and analysing the strength of existing preventive mechanisms. This book will be of much interest to students of African security, African politics, radicalisation, political Islam, war and conflict studies and security studies in general.
