The Niger-Delta region is prone to conflicts and restiveness as a consequence of oil activities and under development, which, ultimately induce poverty. Oil, Democracy and the Promise of True Federalism in Nigeria attempts to demonstrate this unfortunate byproduct of federalism in Nigeria. Calling for resource control and the practice of True Federalism, the contributors of this volume identify some of the major endemic problems for the Niger-Delta people. It is in this light, that the contributors have presented the contending views on the challenges and opportunities on Nigeria's path towards the practice of True Federalism. Offering solution ideas for Niger-Delta development and the promotion of a peaceful coexistence, this comprehensive volume proposes hopeful, yet powerful arguments for the Niger-Delta region.
This book argues that the structure of the policy-making process in Nigeria explains variations in government performance better than other commonly cited factors.
Oil wealth and Federal Conflict in American Petrofederations documents the critical relationship between oil rents and federal conflicts by illustrating key concepts with six representative cross-regional case studies. Each case study discusses encompasses qualitative, quantitative and comparative elements under a common structure. With each petrofederation ranging in conflict types and modalities, the work as a whole identifies key differences including oil rent decentralization (in terms of resource property, sector management and distribution of revenues), sectoral importance (considered at national and subnational levels), and federation redistribution policy (in terms of fiscal federal imbalance, fiscal equalization, and oil rent use for regional equity). Collectively, the book generalizes a consistent theory of causality between oil rents and federal conflicts that take into account systemic variables. The book's conclusions will serve as a guide for researchers and policymakers seeking pathways to translate oil rents into development and stability. - Reviews the intimate relationship between the oil sector and its governance in the political system - Provides comparative analysis of the regulation, political institutions, rent decentralization, sectoral importance, and rent redistributive policies in the oil sector - Generalizes approaches to the causality between oil rents and federal conflicts, including implications for policymakers
Examines Nigeria's challenges with consolidating democracy and the crisis of governance arising from structural errors of the state and the fundamental contradictions of the society in Nigeria's Fourth Republic reflect a wider crisis of democracy globally. 'Today we are taking a decisive step on the path of democracy, ' the newly sworn-in President Olusegun Obasanjo told Nigerians on 27 May 1999. 'We will leave no stone unturned to ensure sustenance of democracy, because it is good for us, it is good for Africa, and it is good for the world.' Nigeria's Fourth Republic has survived longer than any of the previous three Republics, the most durable Republic in Nigeria's more than six decades of independence. At the same time, however, the country has witnessed sustained periods of violence, including violent clashes over the imposition of Sharia'h laws, insurgency in the Niger Delta, inter-ethnic clashes, and the Boko Haram insurgency. Despite these tensions of, and anxieties about, democratic viability and stability in Nigeria, has democratic rule come to stay in Africa's most populous country? Are the overall conditions of Nigerian politics, economy and socio-cultural dynamics now permanently amenable to uninterrupted democratic rule? Have all the social forces which, in the past, pressed Nigeria towards military intervention and autocratic rule resolved themselves in favour of unbroken representative government? If so, what are the factors and forces that produced this compromise and how can Nigeria's shallow democracy be sustained, deepened and strengthened? This book attempts to address these questions by exploring the various dimensions of Nigeria's Fourth Republic in a bid to understand the tensions and stresses of democratic rule in a deeply divided major African state. The contributors engage in comparative analysis of the political, economic, social challenges that Nigeria has faced in the more than two decades of the Fourth Republic and the ways in which these were resolved - or left unresolved - in a bid to ensure the survival of democratic rule. This key book that examines both the quality of Nigeria's democratic state and its international relations, and issues such as human rights and the peace infrastructure, will be invaluable in increasing our understanding of contemporary democratic experiences in the neo-liberal era in Africa.
Africa is changing and it is easy to overlook how decentralization, democratization, and new forms of illiberalism have transformed federalism, political parties, and local politics. Chapters on Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa help fill an important gap in comparative institutional research about state and local politics in Africa.
This book examines the imperative role of global environmental governance, and the need to incorporate corporate environmental accountability and mechanisms for enforcement, to effectively address the global environmental crisis. The author, Felix Moses Edoho, Sr., examines the issues at the various global, national, and regional levels. In Part I the book examines the issues at the global level and looks at the impact of transnational corporations (TNCs) and globalization on the global environmental crisis. Furthermore, it also examines the efforts of the United Nations in initiating global environmental architecture to tackle the crisis. Part II considers the issues at the national level and focuses on Nigeria. The author explores Nigeria’s regulatory and institutional framework for environmental governance and implementation. Lastly, at the regional level in Part III, the discourse centers on how decades of oil exploration and production have unleashed monumental ecological tragedies in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria due to the lack of corporate environmental accountability. This book will be of great interest to academics and students who are interested in broadening their knowledge of environmental governance and policy in developing countries. It will also be of value to environmental regulatory agencies and public administrators, development professionals, and TNCs.
Based on 30 years of fieldwork in the Niger Delta, this book debunks the determinism of the resource curse theory in Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer and the most populous country on the continent. It rather shows that oil and gas production is only one element of a social problem with much deeper roots. It also investigates the role played by the youth, a key issue in a society where half of the population is under 18 years old. To understand the multiple causes of the crisis, it thus delves into the complexity of a rich history.
The U.S. Department of Defense is fighting a new shadow war in Africa. Africa is the battlefield of tomorrow, and the United States military is spreading secret wars in the continent. This book explores how and why this has happened. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the formulation of the United States policy towards Africa has always been based on the strategic importance of the natural resources of Africa and how these can be used in the national interests of the United States. However, most Americans gave very little thought to Africa, but instead referred to it as the Dark Continent, not only because its peoples are dark-skinned, but also because it was unknown to them. Africa is no longer dark, but is rather becoming one of the lions on the move. This book examines and analyzes Nigeria and U.S. policy on the continent since the Cold War. It looks at Nigeria and the challenges facing the country, including problems of development, good governance, and security. It particularly focuses on the impacts of terrorism on Nigeria and U. S.-Africa relations since the Cold War and the realities of September 11, 2001, in relations to Nigeria and United States-Islamists/jihadists' terrorism in Africa. There is huge potential in Nigeria; the country has the largest population in Africa, and is well-endowed in terms of both natural and human resources. Nigeria also has the largest economy on the continent, the largest black population in the world, a burgeoning and vibrant youthful population, and a tradition of international engagement since its independence. Its advantageous geographical location in West Africa enables trade within the continent, as well as with Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Nigeria is the most important strategic partner for the United States in the African continent, and will become increasingly so in this century.
This 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.
