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Nigerian politicians accuse foreigners of contributing to the many security challenges in the country. As a result, the government of Nigeria securitised foreigners' immigration to justify its policy of land border closure in 2019, which it claimed was aimed at mitigating the security problems bedevilling Nigeria. This study analyses how Nigeria's national security is impacted by the securitisation of border governance and migration. Relying on the securitisation theory and qualitative methods based on focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and desk reviews of existing literature, it found that the securitisation of migration to establish strict border governance represents the interests of the political elite who have failed to address security challenges in Nigeria. The study concludes that government should de-securitise foreigners' immigration by addressing underlying domestic and external factors driving insecurity in Nigeria., Author(s): Confidence Nwachinemere Ogbonna [sup.1] , Nsemba Edward Lenshie [sup.2] , Chikodiri Nwangwu [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Political Science, Evangel University, , Akaeze, Ebonyi State, Nigeria (2) grid.442600.4, [...]

The resurgence of Biafra separatism in Nigeria is largely a reaction to a perceived ethno-national superordinacy as well as the compromised state-building capacity of the Nigerian ruling groups. The tendency to attribute the upswing in ethnic nationalism, separatist agitations and the ascendancy of sectarian cleavages in Nigeria to the widening of the democratic space since 1999 is flawed. Whilst every part of Nigeria is bedevilled with one security challenge or another, the most visible existential threats to lives and livelihoods in Nigeria's South-East are coordinated attacks on state facilities by unknown gunmen and the brutal military response of the Nigerian state to the neo-Biafra separatist uprisings. Although the reinvention of Biafra separatism has received substantial scholarly attention, available studies have neglected how the persistence of state repression has lubricated the wheels of the neo-Biafra separatist movement in Nigeria. This study argues that the repressive disposition of the Nigerian state towards Biafra separatism is at the base of the current mutation of the Indigenous People of Biafra's strategy from the non-violent option to the armed movement. This article relies mainly on the analysis of secondary data on Biafra separatism and state repression in Nigeria. Drawing from the basic assumptions of the theory of state repression, this study concludes that the wanton deployment of the kinetic approach involving harassment, proscription, arrests, extraordinary rendition, torture and mass killing of pro-Biafra agitators tends to stimulate insecurity in the South-East., Author(s): Chikodiri Nwangwu [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10757.34, 0000 0001 2108 8257, Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, , 410001, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria Introduction This study investigates how [...]

In most African states informal motorcycle transportation is a popular means of urban and semi-urban mobility. While studies have examined the transportation-economic development nexus, the political economy of the ban of motorcycles and shift from informal commercial motorcycle to tricycle operation for urban/peri-urban mobility in Nigeria has been grossly neglected in academic discourses. Using a qualitative approach and neoliberal political economy framework, this study investigates how the ban of commercial motorcycles and their replacement with commercial tricycles have impacted urban/peri-urban mobility in Nigerian cities. Contrary to the expectation that replacing motorcycles with tricycles would increase the vulnerability of the majority of informal transport operators and constrain transportation of urban/peri-urban poor without personal/private means of mobility, the replacement has facilitated the development of road infrastructure, reduced road crashes, minimized motorcycle induced crimes, and improved the income of informal transport operators in Nigerian cities. The study concludes that sustainable use of commercial tricycles for urban and peri-urban transportation is relevant for achieving organized and safe informal commercial transportation in Nigeria and other less-developed countries. Keywords Tricycle, urban/peri-urban mobility, informal economy, neoliberal political economy, The role of road transport infrastructure for achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development cannot be overemphasized. This is because transportation of goods and services is critical for economic development [...]

While previous studies have interrogated the motivations of Boko Haram and the role of security agencies in counterinsurgency, explanations of the escalation of Boko Haram attacks on Nigerian security agencies have received limited academic attention. This study re-examines the dynamics of counterinsurgency operations in Nigeria within the context of the fragile state thesis. It argues that fragility of relevant state institutions has compromised the military-led counterinsurgency operations by flipping out strategic intelligence to the terrorists, embezzlement of arms procurement funds, sabotage and deplorable welfare condition of combatants, among others. Thus, the relevant state institutions should be strengthened to proactively respond to the maladies bedeviling the military-led counterinsurgency operations in the North-East region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the phenomenon of crime–terror nexus from the standpoint of the linkage between banditry and Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria. Using a descriptive analysis predicated on a combination of primary and secondary studies, the paper reveals that both groups have functionally adapted each other's structures and strategies. While Boko Haram and its splinter groups have occasionally engaged in acts of banditry, there has been mutual co-option by both groups as the exigencies of their operations demand. Nigeria's drive at mitigating the banditry-terrorism conundrum must proceed with a pragmatic understanding of the gamut and dynamics of their situational nexuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethno-regional coalition during electioneering has become an intrinsic historical relic of political mobilisations in Nigeria. However, the 2015 presidential election had the added feature of being highly tainted with hate campaigns and mudslinging as Nigeria witnessed, more than ever, the mobilisation of voters along ethno-religious and geo-political lines. These primordial concerns shaped the pre-election period, the post-election rivalry, and mistrust between in-groups and out-groups, as well as the exclusionary political appointments of President Muhammadu Buhari's regime. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other discussion forums were exploited for the propagation of hate-laden contents. As a consequence and contrary to the emphasis of Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution and Goal #10.2 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on political inclusion, post-election appointments have been sectional and divisive. This has greatly impaired the quest for national integration under President Buhari's regime. Hence, this article investigates the role of hate campaigns, especially through the manipulation of social media, in weakening post-election national integration and state-building in Nigeria. The data generated from documentary evidence were analysed thematically. The study concludes that the deliberate reduction of post-election exclusionary tendencies through the democratisation of politics is the panacea for national integration in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Briefing argues that Nigeria's hegemony over energy trade in the Gulf of Guinea maritime domain makes other states' political commitment to regional trans-border frameworks difficult. It finds that the contradictions of rentier oil governance in Nigeria have implications for the rise in maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of hate speech for political mobilisation and its overall impact on democratisation have generated debate and controversy in both post-colonial formations and more advanced democracies. This is because hate speech tends to promote hatred between different ethnic groups. In Nigeria, it is usually deployed in the build up to elections. Using mixed methods approach, this study interrogates the consequences of hate speech as a political campaign strategy on electioneering and democratisation in Nigeria. The study argues that the use of hate speech in political campaign entrenches hatred and discriminatory voting pattern among citizens. It grossly affects democratisation, the quality of party programmes and candidates chosen by voters. Despite its appeal to extreme right populism based on ethnic voting and other forms of exclusionary politics, the use of hate speech as a political campaign strategy neither promotes the principles of majoritarian democracy nor protects minority rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of elite politics in the emergence of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. It argues that the struggle between political elites of northern and southern extractions over the control of state power has intensified national conflicts and insurgency in the country. Political elites are no longer divided by ideology but by economics of state power. Elite politics of who gets what, when, and how and the struggle for state power led to the formation of the sect and fuels the incessant attacks and insecurity in Nigeria. The study adopts a methodology involving re-description of history based on documentary research. It establishes that elite politics accounts for the emergence and escalation of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Accordingly, the study recommends that good and inclusive governance be employed as a panacea for harmonizing the fractured Nigerian state and overcoming insurgency in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]