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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 [...]

There is still little discussion on how community-based organizations (CBOs) may help counter violent extremism (CVE) in Nigeria. This research explores the implications of CBOs' use of external networks for CVE and the distribution of humanitarian aid in North-East Nigeria. It finds that because CBOs depend so heavily on outside funding, they are constantly exposed to the demands and whims of donors. We therefore urge the government to prioritize CBOs in CVE programmes and operations to reduce external influence and to limit the spread of violent extremism in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the funding of community-based organizations (CBOs) as instruments for reducing the extreme behaviors of violent extremist organizations (VEOs). Evidence abounds that CBOs in industrialized nations like the USA and Canada have budget lines designated for government expenditures to deal with extremist behaviors in their local communities. This state-level effort to reduce violent extremism and VEOs behavior is absent throughout Africa, especially in Nigeria. This gap is the focal point of our investigation into how external resource dependence affects CBOs in northeast Nigeria. We triangulated our data sources using secondary data, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. However, this study discovered that in Nigeria, external donor agencies, NGOs, and organizations that support CBOs financially, logistically, materially, and in terms of training also tend to impact their programming selection, training content, and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

While earlier studies have concentrated on the political and historical dynamics of the Cameroon Ambazonian separatist conflict, there is little knowledge on the effects of the conflict in Anglophone regions on Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. The study used the mixed method to show how decades of Cameroon's repressive governance system that favors Francophone Cameroonians against Anglophone Cameroonians accounts for the Ambazonian separatist movement, forcing Cameroonians into migration and generating humanitarian crisis for Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. It recommends that the intervention of the United Nations is capable of mitigating the conflict and preventing the humanitarian consequences in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While previous studies have assessed the linkages between the implementation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown and human rights issues in non-African contexts, how the state containment of COVID-19 pandemic affected human rights in African context has been understudied, particularly in Nigeria. Using a qualitative-dominant mixed methods approach, this study assessed how state containment of COVID-19 pandemic affected human rights in Nigeria. It demonstrated that the state's security operatives repressed the citizens during the implementation of COVID-19-induced full and partial lockdown in Nigeria. Despite the prospects of COVID-19 lockdown in mitigating the spread of the virus, state repression of citizens has implications for shrinking the civic spaces and engendering human rights violations. The study concluded that judicial reform and promotion of rights-based education among security operatives involved in the implementation of COVID-19 lockdown present opportunities for regulating the excesses of the state officials during public health emergencies, preserving human rights as well as advancing democracy and development in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While extant literature has examined how autochthony claim-making and narratives account for violent conflicts, they neglect how ethnic groups traversed by Nigeria–Cameroon boundaries manipulate autochthony claim-making and generate ethnic identity crises in the Mambilla Plateau. Using the qualitative dominant mixed-method approach, this paper describes the various ways in which people have come to understand themselves and deploy the autochthony narratives to construct group identities in the Mambilla Plateau. It also examines how the couching of these autochthony narratives and their politicization reinforce contested territorial ethnic claims and generate ethnic identity crises in the region. Relying on social identity thesis, the study argues that extreme ethnic in-group and out-group divides undermine peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups, drive identity crisis as well as fuels ethnic hostilities and population displacements in the Mambilla Plateau. The study concludes that nuanced and inclusive autochthony claim-making presents an opportunity for reducing inter-ethnic hostilities and promoting the peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups in the Mambilla Plateau and other multi-ethnic societies in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has undermined the functionality of formal and informal economies globally, with developing countries suffering the social, political and economic effects of the pandemic. Economic downturns in the global south, including Nigeria, have given rise to declining state control in the face of human insecurity. This study, hinging on the neoliberal political economy thesis, examines the economic crisis and declining state control the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered in managing the security situation in Nigeria. The study, utilizing the dominant qualitative methods, comprising interviews, focus group discussions, and documented evidence, highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown disproportionately affected the people, mainly poor people, households and communities in different parts of the country. The failure of the government to engage in an effective social protection policy generated discontent and led to criminal activities undermining security in Nigeria. The study concludes that the insecurity and economic crisis the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered have weakened the state's authority in Nigeria. The study suggests that engaging effective social protection policy presents an opportunity for mitigating security challenges to bring about socioeconomic stability in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debates on hate speech regulation have divided scholars and practitioners. While the liberals largely argue that hate speech ban is anti-democratic and counter-productive for preservation of fundamental human rights, the humanists posit that hate speech is harmful and its regulation is relevant in order to avert the collateral damage/harm it inflicts on human dignity and equality of human beings. Despite the significant efforts in Africa to regulate hate speech, its debates focus on United States and Western Europe. Thus, the account of hate speech regulation in African context is largely understudied. This study therefore examines the impact state regulation of hate speech on sustainable democracy in Africa. Using the qualitative dominant mixed methods approach and data generated from Nigeria and Kenya, the paper argues that state regulation of hate speech presents an opportunity for fostering order, advancing national cohesion, reducing hate speech and promoting inclusive governance for all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion and economic status. The paper concludes that implementing hate speech legislation alongside other non-legal, dialogue-based, egalitarian, voluntary approaches are relevant for diminishing hate speech and the harms it engender as well as promoting sustainable democracy in Africa and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While previous studies have focused on how political and economic factors fuel herder-farmer conflicts, there is a dearth of knowledge on how desertification-induced migration amidst ungoverned spaces affect herder-farmer conflicts in Nigeria. Using data from qualitative dominant mixed method, this study interrogates how desertification-induced migration and state failure to provide security governance affect herder-farmer conflicts in Nigeria. It argued that poor security governance escalates the southward migration of herders and contributes to the intensification of herder-farmer conflicts in Nigeria. These conflicts endanger livelihoods, fuel population displacements, and undermine human security. The study concludes that effective security governance amidst increased desertification in Northern Nigeria presents an opportunity for regulating southward migration of herders, mitigating herder-farmer conflicts, and promoting human security in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak and spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is probably the most serious global challenge since World War II. While research has paid considerable attention to the technical, epidemiological and public health aspects of the pandemic in Africa, it neglects the social, economic and political dimensions. Relying on analysis of data on trends of COVID-19 infections from the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and a rapid review of available international and national policy/programme documents on COVID-19 control responses in Africa, this study assessed the extant protocols and responses to COVID-19 in relation to urban governance principles. Utilizing the political economy framework, the social conditions of informal labour and business activities during the COVID-19 pandemic are explored with accession to social habitus of informality. The paper argues that in as much as the COVID-19 pandemic is a pervasive health problem it should be treated more as a social and political economy challenge given the large informal nature of urbanism in Africa. The study concludes that urban governance that incorporates collective organization, community groups, non-state and informal actors offers scope in the battle against COVID-19 in Africa. Rethinking African urbanism in line with the principles of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance is also canvassed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has considered how poor governance, exclusionary politics and electoral malpractice affect election violence, the effect of hate speech on election violence has not received adequate academic attention. Using a mixed methods approach with qualitative dominance, this study examines the effect of hate speech on election violence in Nigeria during the 2011, 2015 and 2019 presidential elections. The article demonstrates that an entrenched culture of hate speech is an oft-neglected major driver of election violence in Nigeria. The study concludes that the implementation of existing anti-hate speech laws presents an opportunity for protecting the rights of minority groups, promoting political inclusion and preventing election violence in Nigeria and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are several security threats in Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region remains the most critical security problem in the country. While previous studies have examined how unemployment, poverty, poor governance, corruption, weak judiciary system affect insecurity and the impact of exclusionary politics on insecurity in Nigeria, the role and challenges of the Nigerian military in countering the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria has received limited scholarly attention. This paper examines the role and challenges of the Nigerian military in countering the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region of Nigeria. Using secondary data and the structural-functional theory, this study argued that the Nigerian Armed Forces face several operational, strategic, and tactical challenges in their counterinsurgency operation, including inadequate funding, inadequate and outdated weapons, the presence of a 'third force' sabotaging the war efforts and a lack of personnel motivation. These challenges undermine the capacity of the military to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and promote national security. This study concludes that improved funding of the military presents an opportunity for proper equipping of the armed forces, improved morale of personnel, effective countering of Boko Haram and the mitigation of insecurity in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]