TERRORISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The spate of various terrorist activities is hamperingNigeria’s concerted attempt at becoming one of the 20 top economies of the world in 2020 with an economy that will be large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive. Nigeria is now being challenged by the threats and activities of terrorism. Peace and security is indispensible prerequisites for sustainable development, without which progress is unlikely with respect to development. To meet this goal requires a consistent annual economic growth rate of 12.5% for the next 20years from the inception of the 20:2020 agenda.This paper aims at examining the relationship between terrorism and sustainable development in Nigeria. Considering the new trends and strategies of terrorism in Nigeria and government measures against it, this paper also assess the impact of government measures. Considering Nigeria’s limited knowledge in counterterrorism, the “cure all” measure in amnesty seemed to have failed, the use of hard power that tend to be yieldingsome result in terms of curbing incessant attacks will not solve the root cause(s) of the conflict. This paper therefore concludes that neither amnesty nor use of hard power will ensure sustainable development but the reform of socio-economic andpolitical institutions

Issues and challenges in the Privatized Power Sector in Nigeria

Various attempts by successive Nigerian governments at industrialization and rapid economic growth have been hampered by energy infrastructure deficit gap. Constant and adequate power supply is an important condition for industrialization. Many efforts have been made to close this gap including privatization. The economic rationale behind privatization includes efficiency among others. Therefore, the privatization of the power sector is aimed at tackling the myriads of problems in the sector: limited access to power, inadequate generation and usage of power capacity, overlapping/conflicting roles and responsibilities between government and holding companies etc. Apart from the above, unbundling of the power sector is now becoming a global practice. This paper therefore examines the efforts at revamping the sector before privatization/unbundling, with special focus on the issue and challenges that confronts the sector after privatization: inadequacy of gas for firing turbines, community issues over bidding and ownership, cost recovery challenge due to over -priced power plants, transmission issues, the Multi Year Tariffs Orders, end user tariffs, labour and workforce, assets and liabilities of holding company etc. It is the view of this paper that if these issues are solved and the challenges tackled, then would a solid foundation for actualization of Vision 20:2020 laid for a rapid industrial development that will transform Nigeria to a highly industrialized economy

Analysis of corruption and economic growth in Nigeria

This paper studied corruption and the Nigerian economic growth. In doing this, the study looked at historical overview of corruption in Nigeria and conceptual issues were also discussed. It also reviewed the causes and effects of corruption, without leaving out the dynamics of corruption. Also, the study looked at the relationship between corruption and the Nigerian economic growth. However, the study introduces a new perspective on the role of corruption in economic growth and provides quantitative estimates of the impact of corruption on the economic growth in Nigeria as well as their causal relationship. This study used the ordinary least squares (OLS) to determine the relationship between corruption and economy growth. The study applied the granger causality method to measure the causal relationship that exists between corruption and the gross domestic product (GDP). The results revealed that corruption impairs and impacts economic growth. It is on this basis, we draw our conclusion and suggest that Private Anti-Corruption Initiatives, Public anti-corruption initiatives andPublic education campaign/programmes should be strengthened and motivated in to address the cause of corruption rather than its effects. Key Words: Growth, Granger Causality, Corruption, Nigeria, Economi

How Has Political Sharia Fared in Nigeria?

Exactly twenty years ago, twelve states in northern Nigeria treaded the volatile path of religious politics through the adoption of sharia law. Since Nigeria’s political independence, it has designated itself a secular state, yet religious crises have been ubiquitous, claiming tens of thousands of lives in the process. The journey of Nigeria’s political romanticization with the sharia law started in October 1999. Interestingly, the sharia law adopted by these twelve states essentially originated from the political elite rather than the populace

Do Violent Extremism Impact Foreign Direct Investments in the Lake Chad Basin Countries?

The paper examined how foreign direct investment (FDI) responded to violent extremism in Lake Chad Basin Countries (LCBCs). The LCBCs are those countries that are situated within the Lake Chad area. Based on the selected countries’ distinctive characteristics, such as small, open, and developing economies, the study pooled time series and cross-sectional data within the Panel Structural Vector Autoregressive (P-SVAR) model framework, to examine how FDI responded to terrorism in LCBCs. The data for this study were sourced from the World Bank’s and World Development Indicators (WDI) dataset, and the data are sampled at the same frequency, following Kalman filter technique. The data was analyzed through thematic literature reviewed using e-views. The findings of the study were presented in a scientific report for examination. Firstly, the study investigated the extent to which the inflow of FDI is determined by the level of political or institutional quality. Secondly, the study used a panel VAR model in a dataset of the LCBCs spanning 2000 to 2019 to explore the extent to which violent extremism in the form of terrorism affected FDI. The results showed a mixture of positive and negative shocks. Furthermore, the findings reveal that FDI significantly responds to terrorism. It argues that higher level of terrorism impedes FDI. The findings also reveal that terrorism increased military expenditure. Thus, the study shows that there is a significant positive relationship between terrorism and military expenditure. Consequently, the study recommended that the LCBCs region should guide against terrorism and be conscious of its occurrence to attract FDI to improve economic growth and the general wellbeing of the region

IMPLICATIONS OF HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION ON OUTPUT AND EMPLOYMENT: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Many studies have documented that human capital formation is important to boost output both empirically and theoretically. However, studies on the implications of human capital on employment are still scanty, especially for developing countries. Against this background, the study investigates the shock and long-run implications of government financing on education and health on output and employment in Nigeria using a vector error correction model (VECM). The results show that the forecasting error shocks from government expenditure on health and education affect output more than employment along the 10-horizon period. Evidence from the long-run output model showed that government expenditure on education and human capital index is statistically significant, while government expenditure on health is not statistically significant. Government expenditure on education and the human capital index has a positive relationship with output. For the long-run employment model, government expenditure on health and education is statistically significant; while investment in human capital is not significant with employment. Government expenditure on education has a negative relationship with employment, while a positive relationship exists between government expenditure on health and employment. The result implies that human capital indicators in terms of quantity and quality do not contribute positively and significantly to employment growth in Nigeria. The study recommends the need to encourage self-reliance through entrepreneurship training to bolster employment opportunities in the long run

Impacts of violent extremism on Foreign Direct Investments in the Lake Chad Basin Countries (LCBCs)

The LCBCs are those countries that are situated within the Lake Chad area with distinctive characteristics such as small, open, and developing economies. The study pooled time series and cross-sectional data within the Panel Structural Vector Autoregressive (P-SVAR) model framework to examine how FDI responded to terrorism in LCBCs. Using World Bank’s and World Development Indicators' (WDI) datasets, the data were sampled at the same frequency, following the Kalman filter technique. The study investigated the extent to which the inflow of FDI is determined by the level of political or institutional quality. It also used a panel VAR model in a dataset of the LCBCs spanning 2000 to 2019 to explore the extent to which violent extremism in the form of terrorism affected FDI. The findings reveal that FDI significantly responds to terrorism and that terrorism increased military expenditure. It revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between terrorism and military expenditure

Corruption Framing And The Antidotal Policies: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria’s Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administrations

Corruption is an endemic problem in Nigeria. Successful governments have attempted to tackle the problem through policies that were either preventive or punitive. This article examined the framing of corruption by the administrations of both Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, examine the policy response of each administration to fight corruption; and examine different policy approaches of each administration as well as the effectiveness of the policies. It employed secondary sources of data collection. The data analysis was done using content analysis. The study’s findings reveal among others that the two administrations framed corruption differently and that informed their policy outlook. The study concludes that corruption is a cancerous ebola that have continued to consume the physicians as not government in Nigeria have not been enmeshed in one corruption scandal or the othe

Challenges in Nigeria’s education sector and the migration of Nigerian postgraduate students to South African universities

Education remains the weapon for upward stratification, social and economic development of any nation but the Nigerian government has not shown enough commitment to the educational sector. The manifestation could be seen in the shrinking government funding on education, decaying and lack of infrastructure in Nigeria’s universities which have led to demoralization of the academia. A major consequence of this is the frustration experienced by postgraduate students who are pursuing higher education and having to spend longer period than expected record time. This frustration in pursuing higher educational qualification often leads to stunted career progression. This has led to an alternative decision to migrate in search of higher education abroad. Consequently, in recent times, Nigerian postgraduate students have migrated more than ever before to South African Universities that are believed to have modern facilities for training and ensuring completion of programmes in record time. This study employed the use of structured questionnaire to investigate the determinants of this form of migration. Among other findings, this study found that the decision to migrate and pursue postgraduate student abroad is informed by the demoralization and frustration suffered in attaining postgraduate education in Nigeria. The study also found that many Nigerian postgraduate migrant students that desired to stay back in South Africa after the programme were discouraged from doing so because of the frequent hostilities between the bulging South African youths. Their hostility is associated with the shrinking capacity of the host government (South Africa) to create new jobs for them. In addition, the belief of the agitating South African youth that the migrant postgraduates are responsible for their unemployed status, by taking up their jobs especially in those areas where required skills among the South African are lacking further gingers hostilities. This study, therefore, suggests among others that the home country should increase budgetary allocation to improve the education sector as well as monitor such allocation to ensure that it is prudently utilized. It is also recommended that institutional processes and procedures to monitor and evaluate postgraduate studies in Nigerian universities be institutionalized