University of Nigeria Journal of Political Economy

Ethnic Politics and the Challenge to National Integration

Lucky Nwaoburu — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the political implication of ethnic politics and the impact on national integration in Nigeria. Ethnic politics has been at the bane of staggering development and discordant unity in Nigeria due to sentimental selective preferences. For a country with over 200 million people, and more than 500 ethnic groups speaking over 1,300 dialects, it is impossible not to have hurdles on the path to national integration but managing the challenges to promote national integration is a prerequisite for development and national growth. From leadership tussles to resource allocations, the country has been stroking the bows of ethnocentric perspectives for decades. British colonialism introduced federalism through Bernard Bourdillon and the colonialists targeted the country for its natural resources, gaining dominance through the legitimate commercialization of indigenous products such as cotton, palm kernel, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil. During colonialism, the British interest in Nigeria’s resources than its unity fostered a disparity that encouraged, and this left a crevice along its path to growth and development. The paper recommends Prioritizing national interest in lieu of personal and sectional interest as a critical factor in curbing the menace of ethnic politics in Nigeria.

Independent National Electoral Commission and the Management of 2015 General Election in Rivers State

Nengi Atonsimaka Adoki, Anthony Egobueze, Emmanuel Opuene Davies — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The paper interrogated the challenges faced by the Independent National Electoral Commission in it policy implementation in the management of electoral violence in the 2015 general election in Rivers State. The Independent National Electoral Commission is a body created by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) to organizes elections, orientate the public on the methodology of the conduct of election, the offences and possible punishment that may arise from any violation of the election norms and declare winners of elections as well as issue certificate of return to such winners of elections. Methodologically, the study adopted mixed research method; utilizing both survey and descriptive techniques. Primary data were sourced through questionnaire and interviews, while newspaper publications, journals, the Electoral Act of 2010 and 2022 respectively, as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) were adopted for secondary data. The inferential statistics (ANOVA) was adopted to validate the hypothesis. The findings revealed that the policy implemented by the Commission in the management of the 2015 General Election in Rivers State were good, but yielded minimal result because it was bedeviled by some challenges. Consequently, the paper recommended that Independent National Electoral Commission should start preparing Nigerian for electronic voting and the use of robotics in places of humans during elections, this would stem the tide of hostilities experienced during the elections.

Nigerian Government and the challenges of mitigating the effects COVID-19 pandemic

Chigozie Rita Umeh, Emerem Jennifer Obidebube, Chinasa Maryrose Ugwunnadi — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, in 2019 is a tragic historical event that has repercussions around the world, posing health concerns that require policy attention. Given the preceding, this article examines the Nigerian government's response to COVID-19 and the difficulties it faces in reducing its effects on citizens. The study was founded on the theory of emergency management. Data was gathered from secondary sources and then examined using content analysis. The study also discovered that the Nigerian federal government implemented several strategies to mitigate the health and economic consequences of COVID 19. The paper finds that the government has been unable to offer welfare to everyone in need due to corruption and politics in the distribution system. The paper recommends among other things, that the Nigerian government reduce misuse of public funds by committing to transparency, strengthening anti-corruption institutions, and being deliberate in its acquisition of medical equipment to equip its healthcare system, ensuring that the healthcare system can provide healthcare services to its citizens continuously.

State and Economy in Nigeria

Isah Mohammed Abbass, Aliyu Dalha Kankia — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the complex nexus between the state and economy in nations, with Nigeria standing as an illustrative reference point. It sheds light on the critical roles and responsibilities being played by political economists in interdisciplinary examination and analysis of the dynamics in the relationship between state actions and economic outcomes. It underscores the practical and theoretical role played and challenges encountered by political economists in the evolution and implementation of economic policies. The paper also examines the discourse on the theoretical underpinnings, history and significance of political economy, tracing the evolution of the field from classical to modern perspectives and highlighting the immense contributions made by political economists, including Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. The paper conducted a comprehensive review of extant literature and empirical analyses as sources of data and information. It found that political economists play a profound role in shaping the contours of state micro and macro-economic policies and that state actions reverberate throughout the economic landscape determining the success or failure of economic decisions and policies aimed at economic growth, poverty reduction and equitable distribution of resources. The paper concludes that for a transparent and accountable governance framework, efficient resource allocation and minimizing rent-seeking attitude, political economists need to be given large latitude in discharging their practical and theoretical responsibilities in state policy conceptualization and implementation.

Youth Restiveness and Sustainable Rural Development in Ukanafun L.G.A-Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, 2015 – 2020.

Paul Chibuike Ezebuilo — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The youths in every community are strong force to reckon with towards achieving meaningful rural development, if only when their strengths are been controlled, harnessed and properly utilized. Therefore, this paper assesses the effects of Youth Restiveness on Sustainable Rural Development in Akwa Ibom State, with a focus on Ukanafun L.G.A. Social Strain and Frustration theory was adopted as the theoretical framework of analysis. This paper adopted descriptive survey research design. Primary and secondary sources of data collection were employed. This paper targeted the entire population of Ukanafun L.G.A. thus; purposive random sampling technique was applied while, 300 respondents were targeted as the sample size while 260 returned questionnaires were used for the data analysis. The data collected were presented on Logical Data Framework (LDF) and analyzed using quantitative method of statistical analysis of frequency table, mean and chi-square parametric test. The paper finds out that; bad governance/leadership, unemployment, poverty/hunger, peer group pressure/influence, marginalization etc. are the major causes of youth restiveness thus, leading to the serious escalation of various social vices such as kidnapping, cultism, armed robbery, killing/assassination, dehumanization, issuing of life threatening letters; sexual harassment/rape; destruction/burning of private/public properties etc. in Ukanafun L.G.A., Akwa Ibom state. The paper recommended that; there is need for job creation, skill acquisition centers and youth empowerment programme; inclusion of positive peace education and building in education curriculum, making policy for youth enlightenment, counseling; granting of amnesty etc.

An Assessment of the Implications of Executive Orders 21 and 22 for the 2023 General Elections in Rivers State, Nigeria

Kenneth Nweke, Evans O. Nwankwo — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper assesses the implications of Executive Orders 21 and 22 for the 2023 general elections in Rivers State, Nigeria. The paper opined that Executive Orders derive from existing laws but it is not the case with the Rivers State Executive Orders 21 and 22. The paper argued that the Executive Orders 21 and 22 are designed to grandstand and stifle opposition and the people from freely engaging in competitive political contestations in the build-up to the 2023 general elections in Rivers State. The paper adopted the legalist theory to interrogate the
constitutionality of the Executive Orders 21 and 22 as they run contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended) and other extant electoral laws within the confines of exclusive powers of the National Assembly. Sources of data are both
primary and secondary and the methods of data analysis are descriptive and content analytic models, respectively. The paper concluded that implementing the Executive Orders 21 and 22 would negatively affect the 2023 general elections in Rivers State, hence a recipe for political violence and voter apathy in a State perceived to have been polarised along ethnic and party lines, and consequently conquered for certain selfish political interests. The paper recommended among others, that the opposition and Civil Society Organisations should challenge the legality of the Orders in Court to act as a deterrence to successive State Chief Executives with a view to ensuring a level-playing field for all not just for the 2023 but future general elections in Rivers State.

Internal Democracy and The Politics of Defection in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Kenneth Nwoko, Kenneth Nweke — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study undertook a comprehensive appraisal of the nature of internal democracy in Nigeria, vis-a-vis its impact on the circumstances that promote the sustained rise in incidences of inter-party cross-carpeting by politicians, particularly in this fourth republic era. The background
to this study demonstrated the widely-acknowledged role political parties play in entrenching and advancing the virtues of democracy in a society’s political system. It however, decried the prevalence of tendencies relating to members-leadership gladiatorial relationship, leadership
impunity and the flagrant derogation of the relevance of party ideology in Nigeria’s internal democratic system. Thus, aggravating the gale of inter-party defections. The study relied on secondary sources like textbooks, journals, newspapers and internet materials for data generation. The institutional theory on which the study was anchored, emphasized the indispensable importance of values, norms and principles in determining the fortunes or otherwise, of institutions like the political party. The study further revealed that the lack of poor ideological base of political parties in Nigeria, selfish interests of members, inherent constitutional controversies, etc, constitute the major factors that heighten instability in internal democratic practice and hence, trigger the unbridled upsurge in inter-party defections. The study concluded by emphasizing that the problem would remain unabated unless there are among other things, a change in criteria for the selection of leaders of political parties and a constitutional amendment with regards to inter-party defections.

Interrogating the nature of local economy and communal conflict disruption

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines Ebonyi State local economy and its Effium/Ezza-Effium communal conflict which has implications on food security of the state. The aim of the study is to explore Ebonyi State’s local economic activities often disrupted by communal conflicts which affect food production and local sustainable development. The study utilises primary (online interview and transcription of historical video documentary) and secondary data with content analysis in its descriptive form as well as thematic explication of key issues, leveraging on ex post facto research design which helped to unravel historical background issues of the communal conflict, necessary in diagnosing the causes, effects and the future of the conflict situation. The entire study was anchored on the theory of Marxism apt in explaining the dynamics, impetus and implication of societal conflicts. The findings revealed that the conflict caused major devastation on the economic activities of the local area. Particularly, agricultural activities were disrupted, households, employees, traders and farmers were displaced, insecurity and proliferation of arms heightened, and ultimately, food scarcity and hike in food price ensued in the state especially its capital and the surrounding communities of the conflict area that witnessed massive influx of victims. The paper recommends among others, engagement of local stakeholders and authorities in timely arrest of causes of conflict, and to adopt inclusive resolution strategies in its dealings. Finally, it solicits for funding
and placement of displaced farmers, and creation of safe environment for agriculture cum local economic activities.

Is Democracy Deepening in Nigeria?

Ikemefuna Taire Paul Okudolo — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper attempts to explain de-democratisation as an outcome of the prevalence of dubious local elections. Ordinarily, chronicling political practices in local elections based on the Nigerian account between 1999 and 2019 is bound to generate several hypothetical conjectures regarding outcomes related to de-democratisation as the case is of the country. As a matter of fact, plethora of questionable and incredulous local elections likely will indicate more of outcomes associated with de-democratisation. Based on a conceptual framework labelled de-democratisation from bottom-up, the paper argues that the deepening of undemocratic deeds and ultimately de-democratisation in Nigeria derives from multiplicity of state government-administered local elections that often contravene key principles of the theory of electoral democracy. Thus, the paper draws insight from works of literature on electoral democracy to postulate how Nigeria’s local elections during the understudied period reinforces the country’s de-democratisation. It also highlights how the legal-constitutional groundings for local polls in Nigeria during the studied period accentuates de-democratisation of the country. By coming to terms with Nigeria’s de-democratisation on the throes of incredulous cum disputed local elections, the paper sketches the reason why the nation’s democracy is not deepening. It establishes that the local election governance laws as defined in the operating 1999 Constitution instigates de-democratisation rather than democratisation. Accordingly, the paper proposes amendment of the constitutionally codified rules governing local election organisation, administration, management and governance in Nigeria to galvanize local elections to support the deepening of Nigeria’s democracy viz democratisation and not de-democratisation.

Civil Society Organizations and the Promotion of Liberal Democracy

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Democracy promotion has been a reoccurring feature of the neoliberal international order that emerged after the ideological triumph of liberalism in the cold war. Neoliberal scholars have vigorously projected the quest for democracy as a universal yearning while western governments have continued to provide support for countries of the Third World where the democratic tenet is low in order to ensure its consolidation. Such support has mainly been in the form of providing funding for sundry civil society groups with a focus on democracy promotion programming. In Nigeria, a cottage industry of democracy-promoting civil society groups has since emerged. Scholars have interrogated the role of these foreign-funded civil society organizations in the actual consolidation of democracy in the country. Extant explanations are however inadequate for explicating the intractable nature of Nigerian politics viz-a-viz the activities of these groups. The present study therefore deploys the Gramscian hegemonic theory to the explanation of the activities these groups in the country.

Interrogating State Response in the Management of Banditry activities in Nigeria

P.P. Izah, Uchenna S. Nzeako, Dimas Garba, Yerima, E. Gyong — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Armed banditry is fast becoming a new normal life in Nigeria. From the North-East to the North-West, to North-Central and from the South-East, South-West and South-South; the story is the same, armed bandits have taken over both govern and ungoverned spaces in Nigeria. Nigerians are currently living in palpable fears of been kidnapped by armed bandits. Travelling across the country by road or even by rail is now a nightmare. This paper therefore interrogated the state's response in the management of banditry activates in Nigeria, with special focus on Katsina State; which to many, has become the epicenter of these armed bandits. The paper deployed Hearts and Minds (HAM) theory as its framework of analysis. The paper collected data from primary sources such as questionnaire and secondary sources such as books, journals, newspapers/magazines and online materials among others. Data collected from the field survey were presented in tables and descriptively analysed. The paper found that that armed banditry has been prevalent in the state in recent times, and has become a new normal life for the people of the state. Based on this finding, the paper recommended among others that, the activities of informants should be tackled
by the security agencies especially, the Directorate of State Services (DSS). Furthermore, the government should urgently address the problem of unemployment, which is a major cause of banditry activities in the state.

Political Economy of Restructuring the Nigerian State

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The restructuring discussion seems to be the most current topic in Nigeria’s political discourse today, and it has been picking up steam since 2014. In the meantime, it appears that Nigeria’s current federal system seems to have failed the entire nation. Thus, it is argued in this paper that unwillingness of successive governments to comply with calls for the restructuring of the Nigerian state may be attributed to the advancement and protection of elite economic interests. It went on to say that, this has fueled more pent-up resentment, frustration, impatience, distrust, restlessness as well as some degree of dissatisfaction which is grounded in the escalating class struggle between the populace and the political elites. This study is anchored on regulatory capture theory as its theoretical compass. The study adopted documentary approach for data collection while relying on sequential qualitative analytical techniques. The paper therefore concluded that the growing clamours for restructuring of the Nigerian state are a result of the country becoming a failed state that is unable to carry out the fundamental functions of a sovereign nation-state in this contemporary world system. As a result, this paper recommends using distributive justice, equity and fair play to address Nigeria’s issues with injustice, unfairness and inequalities.

Africa the Centre-Piece of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy

Ibrahim Baba Shatambya — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Nigeria since independence, has engaged in relations with other countries. These relations have been guided by a carefully crafted philosophy as encapsulated in its foreign policy. The philosophy upon which Nigeria’s foreign policy is anchored is that of Africa as its centerpiece. This philosophy was developed and maintained for the most part of the countries existence as a sovereign entity since 1960. It is against this background that the country has remained forthcoming in coming to the aid of other African Countries faced with challenges of colonial domination, civil wars, financial dilemma and even technical deficiencies. Apart from the Country’s contribution in the form of funds mostly to Southern African Countries fighting Colonial Domination, Nigeria has through its peace keeping activities promoted peace and security in the West African Sub-region and other parts of Africa. The technical aid corps initiated by Nigeria has also assisted some African countries with key technical services. This has cost Nigeria billions of dollars. It has also claimed lives of many of its citizens engaged in peace keeping operations. Unfortunately, the Country has no gain to show for its unwavering commitment to African countries. This is why the paper advocates for a rethink of the Africa centerpiece postulation of Nigeria’s foreign policy. As an alternative its foreign policy philosophy should be revised to accommodate mainly the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

E-Voting and Electoral Credibility in Nigeria

Ijeoma Brigid Ochi, Kelechukwu Dennis Ezeh, Chukwunonso Joseph Akogwu — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Electoral fraud and violence are slack to democracies all over the world. This is compounded by the fact that the conduct of free, fair and credible election is always faced with numerous challenges. In continuous search for conduct of credible elections, advanced and developing
democracies are shifting from manual conducts of election to electronic conducts. As a result, countries are increasingly deploying technologies in their elections. These have greatly helped to minimize electoral fraud and violence in such countries. The increasing reliance on E-voting among advanced and emerging democracies all over the world demonstrate that credible election is the backbone of democracy. In Nigeria however, manual voting since independence has totally failed. As a result of the inherent security and credibility challenges confronting successive elections in Nigeria, INEC from 2011 and most remarkably since 2015, tilted towards electronic voting. Since then, the electoral body has continued to make several attempts to ensure that e-voting is fully employed in the conduct of federal and state governments elections in the coming years. Evidence of this, is the introduction and deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) by INEC in the conduct of Anambra State 2021 gubernatorial election. This study therefore investigated how BVAS impacted on electoral credibility in the Anambra state election, employing data gathered from secondary sources. The study adopted the E-democracy framework in the analysis. The paper however argued that although BVAS encountered some challenges in the form of capacity gaps on the part of the operators and polling officials and secondly, tech-glitches, the device if properly modified will have the capacity of enhancing electoral credibility in future Anambra State elections.

Income Elasticity Of Health Expenditure

Okonta Patrick Onochie, Ikechukwu A Mobosi — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The role of health in economic growth sustainability cannot be overemphasized. Generally, good health is recognized as a basic human right and an essential element of human welfare which sustained social and economic development. Healthy children attain more education, high labour efficiency as adults and therefore enhance income growth. Thus, investment in health improves human capital, which enhances labour efficiency, increases output and income. In literature, evidence abound that countries with low health expenditure and catastrophic health status are associated with poor economic growth trajectory. In the light of this, this paper used pooled-panel (1995-2016) of selected Sub-Saharan African countries examines the income elasticity of health expenditure and its implication for sustainable growth in the region. The study employed the homogenous and heterogenous panel unit roots and cointegration approaches to test the mean reversion and cointegration properties among the selected variables. Due to the inherent presence of cross-section dependence and endogeneity of studies like this paper, Pooled Cross-Section SUR estimation model, which estimates a feasible GLS specification correcting for both cross-section heteroskedasticity and contemporaneous correlation will be adopted. The findings of this paper are expected to show that very low-income elasticity of health expenditure exists across Sub-Saharan African countries and across different health expenditure types. It is also expected that low-income countries exhibits negative income elasticity of health expenditure compared with upper middle and high income countries. Also a country with very low income elasticity of health expenditure is expected to experience low or poor growth sustainability trajectory. The study recommends that governments of SSA should invest on health in order to gain a sustainable growth trajectory. They should design a regional robust and sustainable model that will help to improve health system performance across member countries, and in effect reverse the negative income- health spending linkages for sustainable growth.

Democracy and the Challenges of Ethnicity in Nigeria Fourth Republic

Emeka J. Onyetube — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Democracy is the most widely acceptable system of government in the world by majority of the countries. In Nigeria, democracy is challenged by the multiplicity of ethnically induced factors such as ‘our turn’ syndrome, ‘our interest’ cries of marginalization, fear of domination etc among various ethnic groups, with significant impact on democracy and development. This paper seeks to examine the challenges posed by ethnicity on democracy in Nigeria forth republic. Data were mainly gathered from secondary source for this study qualitatively analysed using content analysis method. Theory of democracy was adopted as its framework of analysis. However, juxtaposing the basic tents of democracy with the negative factors of ethnicity in Nigeria, the paper argues that the dividend of democracy in fostering peace, unity and development is not only insignificant but also marginal compared to what obtains elsewhere. This is so because of certain ethnicity factors hindering the operation of true democracy in Nigeria. The paper concludes that ethnic diversity in Nigeria should be a source of strength for maximizing dividends of democracy and development. Thus, it suggests among others that there is brighter chances of achieving development and strengthen democracy with appropriate governance structure in place that will help play down on the negative factors of ethnicity in Nigeria.

YOUTH BULGE, RURAL BANDITRY AND UNGOVERNED SPACES IN NIGERIA

Yusuf Abdullahi Manu — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Contemporary Nigeria like most African states is challenged with problems associated with youth bulge that has affected her internal security negatively. The paper examines the impact of youth bulge and rural banditry on Nigeria’s national security. It relied on documentary data as its methodology. It argued that the failure of the Nigerian state to harness potentials of her youths has exacerbated insecurity in the country most especially in the rural areas that hitherto use to be safest areas than urban cities. It recommends that the Federal as well as state governments must ensure that laws relating on demographic control be enacted or where it exists it should be enforced so as to reduce the level of youth bulge for effective planning and safety.

Voter Apathy and Political Participation in Nigeria

Kelechukwu Charles Obi, Kenneth Chinedu Asogwa , Ikpechukwuka E Ibenekwu — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

As a vital ingredient of democracy, political participation is utilised to authenticate and legitimise a government for general acceptance. Voter apathy is a potent protest against outrageous irregularities in electoral process and bad governance in Nigeria. In the last two decades, non-political participation of voters in Nigeria’s electoral processes has become the country’s major perennial challenge in election administration. The study interrogated deficits in governance to unveil the critical factors implicated in voter apathy in Nigeria. Reciprocal determinism theory was used to explain how the political environment serves as stimulus to voter apathy in the electoral processes. The study used descriptive qualitative method supplemented by descriptive statistics to analyse the data garnered. The findings revealed weak institutional framework, incompetence, bad governance and corruption as voter apathy determinants. The study, therefore, recommends inclusive democracy, strong and autonomous institutional frameworks; and liberty of the people to foster sustainable democratic development in Nigeria.

Budget Implementation on Road Infrastructure and Structural Violence in Taraba South Senatorial District of Nigeria, 2015-2021

Evans Oluwagbamila Ayeni, Gerald E Ezirim — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Budget implementation is needed in the delivery of viable infrastructure required for the effective functioning of society to forestall any form of structural violence. Much literature has averred that government budget on road infrastructure has a significant impact on economic growth; however, there is doubt if budget implementation in Nigeria has led to the provision of good road networks that meet people basic needs. This study, therefore, examines ‘budget implementation on road infrastructure and structural violence in Taraba South Senatorial District, 2015 to 2021'. The research design employed for this study is the survey research design. The study employed Marxian theory of post-colonial state as a theoretical framework of analysis. The study found that the government of Taraba State misappropriated and diverted the budget expenditure meant for the execution of road infrastructure to reduce the level of poverty in the study area. The study recommended that Taraba State Government should furnish its citizens in Taraba South with the various roads marked for construction in the annual budget to ensure that good road network necessary to enhance quality of life are delivered to reduce rate of disabilities and deaths in the society..