Adeoye O. Akinola

Resource Misgovernance and the Contradictions of Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Theoretical Conversation

Nigeria remains Africa’s largest energy producer and at the same time possesses one of the highest gas flaring rates in the continent. Gas flaring in the Niger Delta region, estimated at 75% of the entire gas produced in Nigeria, highlights the environmental abuse posed by resource extraction, and exposes the failure of successive governments to eliminate the threat it portends to human survival in the oil region. The federal government formally declared gas flaring illegal since 1984, but multinational oil companies continue to treat compliance as a matter of convenience and not of necessity. Despite persistent protests against environmental degradation by the oil-producing communities, the refusal of the oil companies to end gas flaring and complicity of the government remained sources of concern. In the light of these, the study examines the crux of the gas flaring imbroglio, assesses the cost–benefits of gas flaring, and explores how gas emissions to the atmosphere have threatened human existence and ecological sustainability in the Niger Delta oil region. The study reiterates the urgency to enforce a zero-gas-flaring policy in Nigerian oil communities.

Ubuntu and the Quest for Conflict Resolution in Africa

Many postcolonial African states have experienced violent conflicts, prompting the quest for viable approaches to conflict resolution and peace-building. Certain groups’ desire to control power and resources at the expense of others lies at the heart of the racism, civil wars, armed insurrections, terrorism, ethnic conflict, genocide, xenophobia, and intracommunity and domestic conflict prevalent in Africa, particularly in countries that experienced prolonged foreign domination. The quest for peace and security led to the resurgence of Ubuntu, an African humanist ideology, as an indigenous approach to conflict resolution and peace-building. This article explores the place of Ubuntu in the continent’s peace and security projects. Despite the utility of Ubuntu’s principles in a few postconflict societies, the article highlights the difficulties involved in its adoption by state institutions, mainly due to the complex interactions exemplified by the modern state. However, adherence to the principles of Ubuntu by state and nonstate actors would drastically reduce threats to peace and security in Africa.

Land reform in South Africa: an appraisal

ABSTRACT Land-related issues have taken centre stage in socio-political and economic discourse in post-apartheid South Africa. As in other societies, access to land is vital for social–cultural sustainability, improved livelihoods and economic development; hence, the sensitivity of the land reform projects initiated by successive governments. While the South African state has made strides in correcting the unequal ownership patterns inherited from the previous regime, the skewed pattern of land distribution persists, and conflict over land and poverty prevail. Stakeholders in the land reform project have different perspectives. While some advocate for accelerated ‘return’ of land to the original black owners, there are compelling reasons to question the unproductive utility of land that has already been transferred. This article interrogates government performance in the land restitution and redistribution project, assesses the utility of land re-allocated to new owners, and explores the convergence between land reform and persistent poverty. In so doing, it identifies many flaws in the land reform scheme.

Land Reform in Africa: Towards Resource Utilization and Sustainability

The chapter captures the policy implications of land reform in Africa. It is pertinent to engage in conventional scholarship on the motivations and trajectories of land policies in the immediate post-colonial Africa. Some of the discourses have failed to capture the developmental realities of the modern socio-political and economic order. Many of the hitherto agrarian economies, like that of South Africa, that rely on land as the most important factor of production has become industrial; hence, diversification of African economies, in a way, and particularly, the rural-urban surge has diminished the importance of land to human survival. Many of the states concentrated on nationalization of land, land restitution and redistribution of land to correct the racially-skewed land arrangements, thereby jettisoning gender parity in respect of upholding women land rights. Although, the chapter recognizes the threat that unresolved land tenure system portrays; the need remains to devise an equitable land arrangement that promotes gender equality, land productivity, food security and both human and national sustainable development.

The Regionalism-Innovation Nexus: The ECOWAS Experience

The West African sub-region has experienced decades of dire socio-political and economic decline and marginalization within the global economic order. Early hopes of rapid development in post-colonial Africa were quickly dashed by a series of problems ranging from poor economic policies, to impoverishment, civil wars, inept political leadership and political instability (Akinola 2010). Bundu observes that: nEconomic problems appear to have accumulated over time as policymakers battle with chronic food shortages, high population growth rates, deforestation and desertification, excessive dependence on commodity exports, deteriorating terms of trade, huge balance-of-payments deficits, government deficit financing, and increasing indebtedness (both domestic and external). Nowhere in West Africa have development strategies been successful in reversing the structural imbalances of our economies. (Bundu 1997, p. 29)

Cultural Practices and Women’s Land Rights in Africa: South Africa and Nigeria in Comparison

Over the years, Africa has been characterised by poverty, gender inequalities and socio-economic underdevelopment. It was soon discovered that cultural and traditional belief system constitutes one of the drivers of gender inequality, which is reflected in the skewed land arrangement in the continent. This chapter examines women’s land rights (access and control) in Africa, focusing on the Nigeria and South Africa’s experience. It assesses African traditional practices and norms that limit women’s property rights and explores how gender inequalities in terms of land ownership and rights have jeopardized attempts at sustainable development in Africa. It notes that the continental challenges of land utility, food security and enduring development have a direct correlation with the denial of women’s right to land ownership and use. The chapter concludes by reiterating the urgent need to promote gender equality in the resource sector, this is an essential corollary for African survival and sustainable development.

Africa and the Land Reform Question

In Africa, colonialism led to the distortion of land arrangements, which defines the land-related conflict experienced by post-colonial African states. The modern states that emerged from the debris of foreign domination in Africa soon realized the urgency to initiate land reforms and effect changes in the inherited land tenure system. Land reforms, as implemented by many African states, thus became the instruments to redress the skewed land patterns and effect socio-economic transformation on the continent. Through a focus group study, the chapter draws on historical experiences as well as contemporary realities and explores how state policies on land reform affect African states, economy and society. It found that despite the implementation of land reform programmes in post-colonial Africa and the liberalization of land resource, the contradictions inherent in the prevalent land arrangement led to the resurgence of land hunger and conflict in Africa.

Oil Sector Reform and the Proliferation of Corruption in Nigeria

The endemic nature of corruption remains at the centre of discourses on economic development and good governance in Nigeria. While rich in oil resources, Nigeria has failed to transform its oil wealth into good governance due to poor oil management and unsuccessful oil reform, engendering contradictions that have worsened the economic status of the Nigerian citizenry. This article assesses the manifestation of corruption in the Nigerian downstream oil sector and explores stakeholders’ roles in oil corruption. The study reveals that oil reform and successive price increases are instruments for the proliferation of oil corruption. Therefore, corruption remains the most decisive impediment to effective reform and good governance in Nigeria.

Xenophobia and the Paradox of Regionalism in Africa: The West African Experience

Xenophobia often manifests as creeping resentment of those who are seen as not belonging, such as immigrants, or as hostilities between groups within a state, fear or phobia toward others, and as the product of fanaticism, extra-nationalism or prejudice against non-natives. For some, it is a thinly veiled mechanism to protect the indigenous economy from domination by non-locals. In Africa, cross-cultural hostilities and violence against foreign nationals have contributed to the difficulties associated with building prosperous economic blocs such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Incidents of xenophobia have weakened efforts to implement the ECOWAS Protocol, which allows for the integration of the West African citizenry, thereby impeding sustainable development in the region. There is a rich literature on the security-development nexus. Xenophobia has become a potent threat to regional peace and stability in West Africa, and Africa at large. This chapter historicizes xenophobic attitudes in West Africa, examines the convergence between xenophobia and economic development, and explores how xenophobic attitudes impede serious attempts at integration in the region. It concludes that intolerance and a crisis of identity, in the form of xenophobia are an impediment to ECOWAS integration and Pan-Africanism. Also, the chapter decries institutional support for xenophobia and the indifference of Africa’s supra-national institutions and calls for a multilateral approach to combat xenophobia on the continent.

The Scourge of Xenophobia: From Botswana to Zambia

Xenophobia has been a consistent feature of Botswana’s policymaking and social reality for decades, Zambia only awoke to this scourge as a result of the looting of about 60 Rwandan-owned shops during the 2016 xenophobic violence that resulted in the loss of lives and property. While locals accused foreigners, especially Rwandans of ritual killings; this appears to have been an excuse to attack foreigners and loot their tuck-shops. Although there have been few incidents of xenophobia in Zambia, the country’s image as a haven for refugees and other immigrants has been dented. In contrast, dislike of foreigners continues to rise in Botswana. The study found similar patterns of xenophobia with Zambians singling out Rwandans for attacks, while in Botswana, Zimbabweans were targeted. Foreigners have been blamed for spiralling crime and other social ills in the two countries, dwindling economic opportunities and challenging economic realities, political discontent, and poor service delivery continue to aggravate social tension and reinforce xenophobia in the Southern African region. It is thus concluded that governance failure explains xenophobic attacks in these countries. To stem the tides of xenophobia, it is imperative for the government to exploit the opportunities presented by foreigners in terms of skills acquisition and transfer, and also implement pragmatic policies for effective governance and improvement in the lives of the masses.