University of Nigeria Journal of Political Economy

Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and the Prospects of Peace and Development in the Niger Delta

Prince Eze, Nnamdi Okonkwo — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Given the Host Community Development Trust Fund as provided for by the PIA in which host communities will be funded with 3% of the Opex of upstream players, this study using data generated through secondary sources and Marxist Political Economy as a framework for analysis, examined the prospects of peace returning to the Delta and the underdevelopment narrative of the region becoming a thing of the past. Findings from the study revealed that, just like other noble initiatives and interventions adopted in the Delta, given the nature and character of the Nigerian State this new legislation may not yield the expected result because of poor implementation and corruption. The elites who often see any opportunity to serve the public, as a medium for personal enrichment as well as, insincerity on the part of the TNCs and the Government will also serve as a setback to the PIA. Among other things, 100 per cent implementation of the PIA is recommended. It is also recommended that host communities must elect people with track records of integrity, honesty, transparency and capacity to represent them on the management committee of the host communities’ development trust.

Public health emergency multi-sectoral response plan and the early fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria

Kelechukwu Charles Obi, Victor Chidubem Iwuoha — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This study interrogates the obstacles in the implementation of National COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Response Plan and its impact on the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. It shows that Nigeria’s reaction to the pandemic exhibits important issues related to lack of capacity to fund growing COVID-19 public health emergency expenditures and welfare policies arising from shrinking fiscal space. The study highlights some fundamental problems of limited COVID-19 testing capacity, shortage in medical equipments and logistics such as ventilators, personal protective equipment etc., and links these problems to the increase in the number of newly infected cases. Also, there are poor welfare policies and lack of effective economic stimulus measures to cushion the economic effects of the pandemic on the people. Hence, there is need for home-grown economic diversification approaches targeted at deepening and strengthening the Nigeria’s fiscal base necessary to putting to a stop the ravaging impacts of COVID-19 in the country.

Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Chibuike Chris O. Ugwu, Casmir Chukwuka Mbaegbu, 3Christian Obinna Ugwu — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Who or what is to blame for the elusive governance, development and security in Africa? Security and good governance are precondition for sustained development. Security involves the search to avoid, prevent, reduce, or resolve violent conflicts — whether the threat originates from other states, non-state actors, or structural socioeconomic conditions. The study examines the dynamic impact of COVID-19 on governance, security and efforts to embed sustainable development within the social, economic and political milieu of Africa. Accordingly, the methodology is based on qualitative mechanism of secondary data. We argue that poor governance undermines security which manifests in direct, structural and cultural violence. We, note among others, that there is a logical interdependence between good governance and development as insecurity inhibits development and diverts resources to military purposes that could be better used for total transmogrification of man which is central to sustainable development. The results show that COVID-19 pose great challenge to African state incapacitation arising from bad governance; increased economic fragility and has often been followed by outbreaks of conflicts, violence and wars.

Nigeria-China Relations and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria

Emmanuel Onyebuchi Ezeani, Ruth Obioma Ngoka — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The economies of the world have become greatly connected through globalization. Mutual benefits in forms of investments, technological and infrastructural developments, financial aids and the likes have driven many nation states to engage one another in relationships. Since the establishment of diplomatic relationship in 1971 between Nigeria and China, both countries have strived to explore available avenues to benefit from each other. The study analyses the impact of Nigeria-China relations on infrastructural development in Nigeria. The research is geared towards ascertaining if China’s investments in the energy sector enhanced sustainable energy transition in Nigeria and; to determine if China’s investment in the Belt and Road initiative led to transport infrastructure development in Nigeria. Documentary method of data collection was adopted for the study. Data were analysed using content analysis. The study adopted dependency theory as a theoretical framework. The findings revealed that China’s investment in the Nigerian energy sector has not birthed sustainable energy transition. However, China’s investment in the Belt and Road initiative has fostered rail and road transport infrastructure development in Nigeria though Nigeria still faces bottlenecks in her transport sector.

Implications of Population Growth on the Quality of Life of City Dwellers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Vincent C. Onah — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Nigeria remains the most populous country in Africa and the seventh globally. The country has estimated population of 198 million. The recent World Population Prospect predicts that by 2050, Nigeria will become the third most populated country in the world. The country’s average annual population growth rate is 6.5 per cent without commensurate increase in social amenities. Currently, Nigerian cities host wide spread poverty, under-employment, unemployment and insecurity. Ideally it is the duty of the state to regulate population growth in accord with economic development. In most post-colonial formations like Nigeria, policies made to regulate population growth have not been successful in terms of moderating the population growth vis-à-vis economic growth. Thus, the Act of the National Assembly which made it legal for a married woman to procreate 4 children only was defeated by the culture and religion of the people. This article investigated the incidence of population explosion in Nigeria and its implication on the quality of life of the city dwellers in 2019 and beyond. Specifically, the research investigated the causes and consequences of population growth in Nigeria. The study is a qualitative research and it relied on the Marxist theory of the post-colonial state. It found that the culture and religion of the people has rekindled the population increase in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper made cogent recommendations on the ways to bridge the gap between population explosion and economic growth.

Domestic Terrorism, Religious Insurgency, and the National Security Question in Nigeria

Cyril O. Ugwuoke, Lois Chidera Ugwuanyi, Elias C. Ngwu — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The paper reports the findings of a study on domestic terrorism and religious insurgency in Nigeria. It focused on the impacts of the religious insurgency and the ongoing war on terrorism. It applied accidental sampling technique due to the tension and insecurity atmosphere in the study area the Northeast of Nigeria, and used other administered questionnaire to sample 250 respondents who were in a mood to respond to investigation. The findings indicate that the activities of Boko Haram terrorist group are strong enough to stretch the ability of the Nigeria military and equally threaten the sovereignty of the state. It further found that the current strategies adopted by the Nigerian government to combat terrorism have reduced the fighting powers of the terrorism but the war is still ongoing, taking both military and civilian causalities and many refugees are still in camps. The paper recommends the importance of inter-religious committees, redressing palpable social inequality and to open communication to dialogue with the terrorists.

Democratic Governance and Infrastructural Development in Enugu State, 1999-2019

Joseph Okonkwo Duhu, Desmond Onuigwe Onwo, Jonah Onuoha — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The relationship between democracy and development is one of the major theoretical arguments put forward for justification of the drive towards the universalization of the neo-liberal ethos under the aegis of globalization. According to the purveyors of neo-liberalism, democracy is not just the only moral and legitimate way by which a society can be ruled, it also provides the needed nexus between governance and development. Thus, democracy not only prescribes how political power should be acquired but also what to do with it or how it should be exercised to ensure the good lives of the citizens. Regardless of the debate over the actual meaning of development, it is generally accepted that the state of infrastructure in any nation is reflective of the state of development of such a nation. In this regard, the return to multiparty democracy in 1999 held a ray of hope for the tackling of the myriad of Nigeria’s developmental challenges, especially the infrastructural decay that characterized the long years of military rule. Sixteen years of democratic governance in Nigeria has left many observers wondering whether democracy is indeed the pathway to development given the appalling state to which infrastructure has degenerated in most Nigerian States. Even though several scholars have examined the relationship between democratic governance and infrastructural development in Nigeria, generally this study focuses specifically on democratic governance and infrastructural development in Enugu State between 1999 and 2019. The study adopted the theory of prebendalism as its theoretical framework of analysis, and also used descriptive research method as means of sourcing information through documentary method. This study argues that the poor infrastructural development in Enugu State is linked to the fact that government functionaries are not inclined to the people’s yearning for democratic dividends. We therefore, found among others that democratic governance has not impacted fully on infrastructural development in Enugu State, and recommends that leaders should pay particular attention to the people’s needs.

Land Management and Violent Conflict in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Ifeanyichukwu Michael Abada, Paul Hezekiah Omeh — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The nature and character of conflicts in Africa have remained intractable. This is as a result of an unending agitations and fights among parties to the conflict, struggling to win at all cost. In Nigeria, the extent of conflict, especially communal has taken a dangerous shape as losses are counted unceasingly. Interestingly, the degree of eruptions and spread of violent communal conflicts, and claim of ownership of land by communal groupings in Ebonyi State have created a state of perceptible fear among Ebonyians with the attendant loss of lives and property and displacement of thousands of people. Violent communal conflicts have caused huge disarray in the state’s internal security situation and reached critical proportions, yet no systematic effort has been made to know the nexus between management of land in the state and persistence of violent communal conflict in the state. Thus, it was on this premise that the study examined how undocumented method of customary management of land account for the persistent violent communal conflicts in Ebonyi state, and how persistent occurrence of violent communal land contestation lead to forced population displacement in Ebonyi state. Methodologically, the study utilized documentary method, and data were analyzed using content analysis. The theoretical framework of analysis for the study was anchored on the theory of Eco-violence theory. The study found that predominance of communal land regimes which makes for management of land undocumented, and subsistence agricultural system where greater percentage of the people depended on were responsible for the continuous violent communal conflict in the state. The study recommended that Ebonyi State government should develop a land law in line with the 1978 Land Use Act that will make land available to peasant farmers in different communities, and also to develop a proactive mechanism that will detect early warning signals where violent communal conflict may likely occur in the State and set up a special panel to hear all land issues in different communities.

The Politics of National Leadership and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria

Nnaemeka Emmanuel Nnani — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The politics of national leadership and democratic consolidation in Nigeria have continued to gain the attention of political scientists, historians, economists, and other social science and humanity scholars and writers. The fact may remain the rising worries over the trajectory of political democracy and national leadership in Nigeria as both are interwoven. The essence of this paper is to diagnose the gamut of the interwoven of politics of national leadership and democratic consolidation in Nigeria and with a view to chat a new course and develop a narrative that could help better the country’s national leadership and democracy. The role money plays is no longer a novel to the prospects of political democracy in Nigeria and who knows how poverty had dealt with it too. In an attempt to deal with the problems of politics of national leadership and democracy in Nigeria, fragmented and poverty syndrome of democracy in Nigeria theoretical paradigm was initiated and developed by this author in order to help chat a new and a better course for the country’s political democracy and national leadership using the secondary method of data collection and content analysis approach to assess the study. The electoral act should prohibit the sharing of money by any candidate of political party during party primaries. In that regard, this paper among other recommendations suggested the need for the Nigerian national legislature to create an act that would make provisions for national trust fund for national delegates of all political parties during general elections in Nigeria and in addition make the giving and collection of money during party primaries from party candidates by the party delegates a crime punishable by law.

Workers’ Participation in Decision Making and Performance of Public Sector Organization in Enugu State Local Governments, Nigeria

Ifeyinwa J. Eze, Chukwudi Vincent Ogbuka, Obinna Christian Ugwu — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The impact of decision-making on organizational performance cannot be overemphasized. There is a common believe among management theorists that decision-making is one of the most important of all management activities. It is also generally believed that workers’ participation in decision making has positive impact on the overall performance of any organization. Therefore, this work is an assessment of workers’ participation in decision making and its impact on public sector performance with particular reference to Enugu state local government system. The researcher adopted the use of both primary and secondary data. The study adopts a descriptive method of research. The population size of the study is five hundred and ninety-five (595) junior and senior staff drawn from the seventeen (17) local governments in Enugu state. Thirty-five (35) staff from each local government sample size is three hundred and forty staff determined by Taro Yamani’s statistical formula. The sample size comprises of 137 junior staff of 17 local governments and 102 senior staff. Each local government comprises of 8 junior and 6 senior staff. Therefore, fourteen (14) copies of the questionnaire were distributed to each local government which amounted to a total number of 239 copies of the questionnaire to get information on the major areas of concern. The data collected for this study was analyzed using tables, percentages and averages. The hypothesis was calculated with the use of chi-square (X2). The study adopted McGregor’s theory x and y as a framework of analysis. Several findings which include the strategies through which the skills and abilities of workers could be maximized in any organization will be unveiled. The study made some recommendations which include that further research on the subject matter should be conducted.

Reforming the African Union

Arinze Ngwube — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

20 years marks the constitutive act of the African Union. However Africa’s progress towards political and economic integration remains elusive. This challenge combined with the persistence of instability and new forms of insecurity on the continent have been partially attributed to the incompetence and futility of the AU even by her own members. One has to admit that the AU has been plagued with a number of challenges, the most pressing being a lack of financial autonomy making it unable to address some of African’s protracted civil conflicts in different parts of Africa. The reliance on international partners for the provision of funding undermined the AU’s legitimacy and leadership in African’s affairs. It is expected the reform will likely facilitate the realization of AU’s Agenda 2063 which seeks to achieve an integrated prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its citizen and representing a dynamic force in the international arena.

Prevalence of Drug Abuse among Student in the University of Benin, Nigeria

Maryam Mustafa-Shaibu, Omorovbiye Igbinoba-Ojo Iyayamwan — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Drug abuse continues to be a major social problem among University undergraduate’s students, with physical and mental health complications. Despite the known risks that are associated with drugs abuse, students continue using these drugs. The study examines the prevalence of drug abuse amongst student in University of Benin ,It identify the factors that influence the consumption of drug abuse amongst the University of Benin students and to investigate the effects of drug abuse on student academic performance. The Differential Association Theory by Edwin Sutherland guided this study, whereas questionnaires were used to collect information from respondent. The sample sizes for the study were 200 respondents and were purposively selected. More so, the findings showed that majority of student’s abuse drug due to peer influence, academic related problems and one of the major reasons for drug abuse among the students was to be appreciated by friends and alcohol was said to be the most frequently abused drug followed by marijuana and cigarette. Addition to that, the rate of school or class attendance for students who involved in consumption of drugs was observed to be poor hence lead to low in academic performance.

Rethinking the Lake Chad, Herder-Farmer Conflicts and Food Security in Nigeria

Kenneth Nnamdi Dim, Kenneth Nnamdi Dim, Joseph O Duhu, Elias C. Ngwu — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon with significant deleterious socio-economic impact. One of the impacted areas of the contemporary climatic change is the Lake Chad in North Eastern Nigeria and Sahel region of West and Central Africa. Reported cases of dislocation of the ecosystem of the Lake Chad environment are on the increase and worsening. The effects have led to perennial conflicts between herders and sedentary farmers, threatens food security as well as overall human security and the security of the Nigerian state. The thrust of this paper is to interrogate the lingering herder-farmer conflicts in the Lake Chad basin, Nigerian government’s responses and the implication for food security in the country. Data for the paper were derived from documentary sources and analyzed using content analysis. The human security approach was adopted as framework of analysis. We argued that in view of government’s weak and uninspiring responses to challenges posed by the shrinking of the Lake Chad and the resultant conflicts between herders and farmers, the government’s avowal to ensuring food sufficiency for its citizens through local production is imperiled. We, therefore, urge a rethink and rejigging of government’s climate response strategy generally and its approach to the resultant violent clashes between herders and farmers.

Between the State and the Civil Society

Nkwachukwu Orji — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Since 1999, there has been persistent agitation for constitutional reform in Nigeria. Pressures for constitutional change in Nigeria were inspired by two considerations. The first is the contention that Nigerian Constitution is fraught with several complications and contradictions, which limit its capacity to address the national question. The other consideration is that the Constitution failed to adequately address interests of less privileged social groups in Nigeria. This paper contends that for the controversy surrounding Nigerian Constitution to be settled, and a relevant and acceptable constitution fashioned, Nigeria needs to adopt a more inclusive, participatory and democratic process of constitution making. This paper is arranged in five sections. The paper begins with a theoretical exploration of the question: who should make the constitution? It argues that a synergy between the state and the civil society is a necessary condition for creating an acceptable and legitimate constitution. The next section reviews the history of constitution making in Nigeria. It demonstrates that the state has an overwhelming predominance over the civil society in the process of constitution making in Nigeria. The third section assesses the consequences of state-dominated constitution making in Nigeria. The fourth section addresses the current effort to review the 1999 Constitution and suggests a greater civil society involvement. The final section concludes the discussion.

Addressing Nigeria’s Politico-Structural Contradictions

Daniel Ikechukwu Nnaji, Paul Ani Onuh — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Since its emergence, the Nigerian State has grappled with challenges arising from the contradictions of its history, and issues that perpetuate these contradictions without seeming respite. This study deals with the arguments over these contradictions as manifest in the country’s political arrangement. The country currently has seen resurgence in the wave of separatist torrents, leading to massive deployment of the military in most States of the country rather than stationing. These separatist torrents and State response has led to securitization of the country’s politics especially in the South East. The study examines existing centripetal and centrifugal arguments for State organization, making a case for State constitutions, and a collegiate central executive. Data is gathered from documents, and analyzed using the qualitative descriptive technique. The study finds that Nigeria is in terminal political decline, and would likely not survive its contradictions. The study recommends that for a revamp, Nigeria must address its structural contradictions by continuous cession of governing power to sub-national units. Also, states of the federation or such other nomenclature that the country may adopt in its political structuring must have constitutions guiding its internal governing arrangement so as to avoid situations where state executives become more powerful relative to its citizens. Furthermore, a collegiate federal executive is necessary to address issues of balance and representation in the federal executive.