From Monopolism to Competitionism: A Market Analysis of The Performance Of The Nigerian Postal Service, 1985-2011

The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) is an outstanding public organization that has enjoyed an overwhelming and voluminous customer patronage in the recent past. Key to this reality is the envious monopolistic hegemony enjoyed by the agency in the ‘dark ages’, when people willingly and helplessly cluster or pin themselves down in an endless cue, just to assess NIPOST services. However, the opening up of the postal industry in the ‘digital age’ rather dispersed this awkward trend. Particularly, well over 256 courier services are now in competition. Therefore, this paper seeks to link between the institutional limitations or poor adaptation of NIPOST to the prevailing market benchmark of qualitative service schemes (such as service automation/digitalization), and the dwindling public patronage uprooting the organization. Accordingly, qualitative methods of data collection and analysis are applied. We conclude that the failure of the NIPOST management to comprehensively automate and strategize its operations in tune with the prevailing postal market indications is fundamental to the poor performance of the organization. As a result, NIPOST faces a diminishing and waning customer patronage. However, genuine efforts towards service upgrading and diversification of operations are relevant in setting the organization in the right pedestal. Keywords: Public Enterprises, Inefficiency, NIPOST, Customer Patronage, Service Delivery, Mail Performance, Automation, E-communication etc

Legal Protection Of War Victims In International And Non-International Armed Hostilities: A Scholarly Exposition Into The Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 And Two Additional Protocols Of 1977

The motive of every war has always been to actualize socio-economic and political interest. Attendantly, the ugly implications of these are gross violations of the international law governing armed hostilities, such as the four Geneva Convention of 1949, Two Additional Protocols of 1977, e.t.c.  Several lives are lost and the properties of all kinds are destroyed. Women, children, the ship wrecked, the sick, the wounded e.t.c., often fall victims of war and a times, are treated unfairly. Hence, it is the task of this paper to x-ray the legal protections of war victims in armed hostilities and level of observance, as contained in international law of armed conflicts. Data for this paper were generated mainly from secondary and primary sources, such as textbooks, journals, official documents from United Nations e.t.c. Indeed, it was found that the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 provide effective legal protections for women and children during armed hostilities, but with weak instruments for execution. Again, the wellbeing of the sick, the wounded, prisoners of war and the shipwrecked are also provided for in the two additional protocols of 1977, with little or no enforcement capabilities in contemporary armed conflicts. Key words: Protection, War Victims, Armed Conflicts, Geneva Conventions, Prisoners of Wa

A Reflection on Nigeria’s Past: Africa as the Centerpiece of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy Revisited

Over the years, Nigeria had lived with the big name and informal recognition as the ‘giant of Africa’. Perhaps her population might, of about 140 million, the largest in Africa, and her reputable oil wealth, have placed this diplomatic privilege in clear perspective. In acquiescence, Nigeria had variously lived more than this expectation. The country had overwhelmingly given both solicited and unsolicited supports to African neigbours: intervened positively in their internal crisis, provided humanitarian services, doled out billions of dollars as charity, sent technical aid corps, formed and sent military supports, and so on. In most cases, these flamboyant gestures were defiantly done against home interest and survival. However, there seems to be a disconnect between what is given out and what is given in return. Therefore, this paper seeks to build a linkage between Nigeria’s flamboyant foreign policy thrust in Africa and the ironical diminishment of Nigeria’s prominence and economic value both home and abroad. The qualitative mechanism of data collection and analysis is applied. We argue that the superfluous involvement of Nigeria in Africa’s problems, in defiant of home problems, aimed at acquiring cheap fame, rather makes her unpopular and diminishes whatever prestige that had been built already. Not only that, these beneficiary countries never appreciate such, they rather sabotage Nigeria’s interest in global politics in recompense. It is observed, also, that in the present, Nigeria’s foreign policy thrust has not shifted radically from the ‘Africa centerpiece’ bent. We conclude that for Nigeria to achieve genuine economic and political standing/reputation, a holistic revision and redirection of this blind focus on Africa is highly imperative. Keywords: Foreign Policy, Afro-centrism, West Africa, African Union, ECOMOG, ECOWAS, NEPAD, Economy

EU-US Denuclear Diplomacy And The Future Of Global Security In Post Cold War International Relations: Iran Revisited

The US, in full of her hegemonic outreach, courts the European Union into a diplomatic alliance, so as to dement the Iranian nuclear thirst and its nuclear reproductive potentialities. To concretize this motive, the US lobbied, coveted and achieved EU frown on Iran, especially to water down Russia indispensable friendly (or) parental safeguards over Iran. Hence, this piece adopts a collective security theory and a qualitative analytical bias to explore the diplomatic contents of a medley of EU-US containment agenda over Iranian nuclear aggrandizement exercise. This work worries fervently, that as the success of the EU-US disarmament diplomacy in Iran remains inconclusive, the global security regime is deeply questioned. US should therefore intervene militarily under the provisions of UN article (iv) for collective security. Keywords: Democracy, Nuclear Program, Security, Diplomacy, Collective Security, Sanctions, International Atomic Energy Agency

Combating Terrorism: Approximating the Operational and Intelligence Vulnerability of The Nigerian Police Force, 1999-2010

Variously, tangible efforts have been invested by the Nigerian Police towards combating internal terrorism. Yet, adequate security of lives and properties has remained elusive. This study adopts qualitative descriptive mechanism. We argue that the Nigerian Police has not been able to effectively guarantee the security of lives and properties of Nigerians. Major institutional, operational and intelligence limitations are at the root of the security crisis in Nigeria. On these grounds, we submit therefore, that the government should fundamentally equip the Police Force, and provide intelligence architectures, so as to better reposition the Force towards effective securitization. Keywords: Police, Security, Intelligence, Arms Tracking, Terrorism, Bombs, Corruption, Conflict