Papers by Nsemba Edward Lenshie
International Business Management, 2017
This paper explores the political economy of resource curse with the view of appreciating the dev... more This paper explores the political economy of resource curse with the view of appreciating the development challenges caused by crude oil dependency in Nigeria. Relying on the systematic analysis of secondary data, it posits that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, a major oil producer and one of the leading member of OPEC, since the discovery of crude oil, have been awash with petrodollar but without sustainable development and industrialization. The problem attributed to the challenges is the crude oil dependent and rentier economic structure of Nigeria, where crude oil surpluses were misappropriated by the successive governments. To unravel the dialectics of crude oil dependency from a resource curse perspective, the paper argues that crude oil discovery and the oil boom of the 1970s and 1990s rather than bringing about meaningful development, under ‘right-talk’ led to a series of agitations and violence in the Niger Delta region. To mitigate the challenges of resource curse arisin...
Research on humanities and social sciences, 2015
This paper is an examination of the political contestations over ‘true federalism’ in Nigeria. Th... more This paper is an examination of the political contestations over ‘true federalism’ in Nigeria. The paper posits that the demand for ‘true federalism’ continue to pose serious challenges to the corporate existence of Nigeria, especially since the return to democracy in May 29, 1999. It contends that the contestations over the quest for the adoption of ‘true federalism’ render prejudicial the conceptualization and contextualization of federalism. The paper concludes that there is no ideal federalism anywhere, as no federal system is ‘true’ or ‘false’, despite the differences across many countries practicing federalism. The paper suggests that inclusive and competitive federalism rather than ‘true federalism’ should be the watchword in the discourse of federalism in Nigeria. Keywords: True federalism, Multiculturalism, Resource control, Colonialism, Nigeria.
Research on humanities and social sciences, 2014
The Northern Cameroons, which the Sardauna LGA of Taraba State constitutes a part, was neither a ... more The Northern Cameroons, which the Sardauna LGA of Taraba State constitutes a part, was neither a colony nor protectorate of Northern Nigeria, but a mandate of the League of Nations (1922 to 1945) and later, a trusteeship territory of the United Nations (1945-1961) handed to Britain to administer after Germany was defeated by the allied forces in the First and the Second World Wars. At the close of colonisation and the independence of most African countries, particularly the British colony, Nigeria and the French colony, Cameroon in 1960, the political future of the Northern Cameroons was not decided until the plebiscite of 1961 conducted under the supervision of the United Nations. The plebiscite impacted on the cooperate existence of the various ethnic groups, who on equal bases voted to join Nigeria, by creating identity question that have become a post-colonial dilemma in the area. This paper argues that since their amalgamation with Nigeria, ethnic groups from this region have h...
This study questions the erratic behaviour of the UN and Africa’s global governance to understand... more This study questions the erratic behaviour of the UN and Africa’s global governance to understand how the State has become a smokescreen for global security. Using the African case of Cote d’Ivoire and Libya, the study argues that the UN’s role in global governance has been rather reactionary to the challenges posed by the political leadership in Africa without considering the aftermath. Using super-States to execute global governance on their behalf in the global south, the UN’s behaviour has erratically undermined the sovereignty of weaker states. It also continues the geopolitical struggles at the level of the United Nations Security Council between super-States – the United States, United Kingdom and France versus China and Russia –, producing all sorts of undesirable outcomes that shape the process and the execution of the current approach of UN interventions in conflict around the world. The study suggests that the UN and international powers should encourage the strengthening...
Central European Journal of International and Security Studies
Nigeria operates a multidimensional and complex system in which ethnicity and religion have found... more Nigeria operates a multidimensional and complex system in which ethnicity and religion have found expression in a competitive environment to exclude other groups. This study aims to examine how ethnicity and religion underlie the hostility and violence in the economic relations between Hausa-Fulani and Igbo people in northern Nigeria. Using documented evidence, the study argues that economic relations between Igbo people and Hausa-Fulani ethnic group have remained unpalatable since the 1960s, and it is associated with the gregarious, assertive and domineering nature of Igbo people in the informal economic sector of northern Nigeria. Democratic revival in 1999 generated new dynamics of ethnic and religious intolerance against Igbo people, especially with the violent transformation of Boko Haram since 2009. Boko Haram violence not only scuttled businesses, but also led to the destruction of lives and properties in which Igbo people incidentally have been victims in most parts of north...
Small Wars & Insurgencies
Conflict Studies Quarterly
Nomadism has been an age-long mode of pastoralism. Over the centuries, the practice has thrived a... more Nomadism has been an age-long mode of pastoralism. Over the centuries, the practice has thrived amidst certain socio-ecological dialectics which has in luenced its essence, including con lict and insecurity, climate change, urbanization, as well as changing patterns of land-use systems. Embedded in the practice of nomadism is the phenomenon of transhumant migration whereby pastoralists undertake a seasonally amenable geo-spatial sojourn in search of pasturable ields, resulting to both trans-local and trans-national migration. This pattern of migration has become a veritable source of security and livelihood threats in some parts of Africa in the contemporary times. This study explores the nexus between nomadic migrancy and rural violence in northern Nigeria against the backdrop of the degenerating complexion of nomadism in that context over the recent years. By means of a descriptive analysis, predicated on secondary sources and anchored on the 'ungoverned spaces' thesis, the study sets forth to establish how nomadic migrancy has accentuated and/or complicated the incidence of rural violence in the focal area. The study posits that non-regulation of nomadic migration and pastoralism by the Nigerian government has provided an opportunity for the perpetuation of violent crimes, such as rural banditry and herdsmen militancy in the focal area. The study makes a case for a pragmatic securitization of Nigeria's border and immigration governance systems as the way forward.
Revista Brasileira de Estudos Africanos
Este estudo questiona o comportamento errático da governança global da ONU e da África para enten... more Este estudo questiona o comportamento errático da governança global da ONU e da África para entender como o Estado se tornou uma cortina de fumaça para a segurança global. Usando os casos africanos da Costa do Marfim e da Líbia, o estudo argumenta que o papel da ONU na governança global foi bastante reacionário aos desafios colocados pela liderança política na África, sem considerar as consequências. Ao utilizar super-Estados para executar a governança global em seu nome no sul global, o comportamento da ONU minou erraticamente a soberania dos Estados mais fracos. Também corrobora para as lutas geopolíticas no nível do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas entre super-Estados – Estados Unidos, Reino Unido e França versus China e Rússia –, produzindo todos os tipos de resultados indesejáveis que moldam o processo e a execução da abordagem atual intervenções da ONU em conflitos em todo o mundo. O estudo sugere que a ONU e os poderes internacionais devem incentivar o fortalecimento e...
Small Wars & Insurgencies
Conflict Studies Quarterly
The ECOWAS principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states included in its... more The ECOWAS principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states included in its Charter was in line with the sovereignty of states in the international system. This principle, ECOWAS, has to some extent been kept, but the growing insecurity arising from internal con licts in West Africa states motivated the adoption of ECOMOG as a mechanism for peace and security. The ECOMOG, in the effort to securitize the region to enable economic integration and development as major goals of ECOWAS, has engaged in several peacekeeping operations. However, the nature of the con lict from these states rendered peacekeeping operations inadequate, leading to the adoption of peace enforcement as a new mechanism for mitigating intractable con licts in West Africa. It is in this context that this article investigates the role of ECOWAS in peacekeeping operations and its transformation to peace enforcement in the West African security complexes.
Revista Brasileira de Estudos Africanos
Este estudo questiona o comportamento errático da governança global da ONU e da África para enten... more Este estudo questiona o comportamento errático da governança global da ONU e da África para entender como o Estado se tornou uma cortina de fumaça para a segurança global. Usando os casos africanos da Costa do Marfim e da Líbia, o estudo argumenta que o papel da ONU na governança global foi bastante reacionário aos desafios colocados pela liderança política na África, sem considerar as consequências. Ao utilizar super-Estados para executar a governança global em seu nome no sul global, o comportamento da ONU minou erraticamente a soberania dos Estados mais fracos. Também corrobora para as lutas geopolíticas no nível do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas entre super-Estados – Estados Unidos, Reino Unido e França versus China e Rússia –, produzindo todos os tipos de resultados indesejáveis que moldam o processo e a execução da abordagem atual intervenções da ONU em conflitos em todo o mundo. O estudo sugere que a ONU e os poderes internacionais devem incentivar o fortalecimento e...
Ethnic Studies Review
The relationship between Fulani herdsmen and farmers has in recent years become hot-tempered moti... more The relationship between Fulani herdsmen and farmers has in recent years become hot-tempered motivated by competitive control of land resources, particularly in central and north-east Nigeria. In Taraba State, the ongoing nomadic migration pattern from the Sahel in quest of pastures has led to violent confrontation between Fulani herdsmen and farming indigenous natives. Using a descriptive approach consisting of documented evidence, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, the analysis revealed that conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous native farmers have culminated in population displacement and destruction of life and property in numerous rural enclaves in Taraba State. Despite the consequences of the conflicts, the Taraba State government was unable to act proactively because of the centralization of command over Nigerian security agencies. Accordingly, the study suggests decentralization of security agencies in Nigeria, especially the police, as the way forw...
Conflict Studies Quarterly
Nomadism has been an age-long mode of pastoralism. Over the centuries, the practice has thrived a... more Nomadism has been an age-long mode of pastoralism. Over the centuries, the practice has thrived amidst certain socio-ecological dialectics which has in luenced its essence, including con lict and insecurity, climate change, urbanization, as well as changing patterns of land-use systems. Embedded in the practice of nomadism is the phenomenon of transhumant migration whereby pastoralists undertake a seasonally amenable geo-spatial sojourn in search of pasturable ields, resulting to both trans-local and trans-national migration. This pattern of migration has become a veritable source of security and livelihood threats in some parts of Africa in the contemporary times. This study explores the nexus between nomadic migrancy and rural violence in northern Nigeria against the backdrop of the degenerating complexion of nomadism in that context over the recent years. By means of a descriptive analysis, predicated on secondary sources and anchored on the 'ungoverned spaces' thesis, the study sets forth to establish how nomadic migrancy has accentuated and/or complicated the incidence of rural violence in the focal area. The study posits that non-regulation of nomadic migration and pastoralism by the Nigerian government has provided an opportunity for the perpetuation of violent crimes, such as rural banditry and herdsmen militancy in the focal area. The study makes a case for a pragmatic securitization of Nigeria's border and immigration governance systems as the way forward.
Explorations in Ethnic Studies
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014
This paper examines the clash of religious civilizations in Nigeria to understand the dynamics of... more This paper examines the clash of religious civilizations in Nigeria to understand the dynamics of religious violence. The paper posits that religious violence in Nigeria dates to the era Islam and Christianity through the activities of the missionaries was introduced among the various ethnic groups from the North and South Poles respectively. The two religions with 'messianic' mission of civilizing the world, transformed into competition for converts. In the search for converts the missionaries perpetuated violence against indigenous populations, their cultural and religious systems. The hitherto existing indigenous religion-the African Traditional Religion-cemented relationships between people, society and nature. With the arrival of 'new religions'-Islam and Christianity, in their quest to dominate led to conflicting relations among various ethnic groups that make up the Nigerian federation. The collision of these religions gave birth to the clash of religious civilizations, which have become unprecedented in contemporary time. The nature of religious violence in Nigeria is tied to elite manipulation of religious adherents to advance their own interests in the political arena. The paper concludes that putting religious differences to culture is central to curbing religious violence in Nigeria.
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014
The Northern Cameroons, which the Sardauna LGA of Taraba State constitutes a part, was neither a ... more The Northern Cameroons, which the Sardauna LGA of Taraba State constitutes a part, was neither a colony nor protectorate of Northern Nigeria, but a mandate of the League of Nations (1922 to 1945) and later, a trusteeship territory of the United Nations (1945-1961) handed to Britain to administer after Germany was defeated by the allied forces in the First and the Second World Wars. At the close of colonisation and the independence of most African countries, particularly the British colony, Nigeria and the French colony, Cameroon in 1960, the political future of the Northern Cameroons was not decided until the plebiscite of 1961 conducted under the supervision of the United Nations. The plebiscite impacted on the cooperate existence of the various ethnic groups, who on equal bases voted to join Nigeria, by creating identity question that have become a post-colonial dilemma in the area. This paper argues that since their amalgamation with Nigeria, ethnic groups from this region have had their indigeneity and the citizenship rights contested by the authorities. The problem associated with indigeneity and citizenship questions have persisted because of their transverse nature on the Nigeria-Cameroon borders, lack of historical and political trajectories captured in the Nigeria's political development, and the constitutional gaps in reflecting their unique status of citizenship in Nigeria. The paper concludes that except these problems are addressed, ethnic tension and conflicts will continue to characterise ethnic relations in the area.
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Papers by Nsemba Edward Lenshie