Book Review: Challenges of Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria. Ibadan: John Archer

Ojo’s edited book accommodates brilliant essays that focus analytically on the hurdles to Nigeria’s democratization process. The book takes the readers into an interesting, but academically cogent, theme, Nigeria’s democratization process: the odds and socio-politically expedient coping strategies. The foreword, excellently written by a Nigerian professor of political science, J. A.A. Ayoade, will no doubt ignite readers’ interest in the book. Apart from projecting Nigeria as a continental and global force, which necessarily elicits great enthusiasm from democracy observers locally and internationally, it also, precisely and concisely, chronicles Nigeria’s tortuous march to democratization. In the preface of this twenty-five chapter book, divided into six sections, the editor presents the question that the book seeks to answer, ‘how can the current democratic experiment be sustained in a country that was marked by predominantly military rule in the post-colonial era?’ (p. ix). This work is very important given the fact that previous hopes for a stable democracy have been monumentally squandered. The editor also performs a fabulous job by providing a succinct recapitulation of each chapter in the book

From Hell: The Surge of Corruption in Nigeria (1999 – 2007)

Nigeria is one of the world’s most endowed nations, with abundant human and natural resources. These resources are located in all the states of the federation and exist in commercial quantities (see Ajibewa, 2006:261). The proceeds from these resources have been disproportionately distributed to the disadvantage of the poor population while through the paraphernalia of the presidium of government, the allocation of resources has been done to generously favour the ruling and business elites as well as their cronies. This situation has given rise to the grave issue of inequality in the country. The availability of these resources notwithstanding, Nigeria is still underdeveloped; a condition that has largely been blamed on corruption. Therefore, in the case of Nigeria, there appears to be an intricate relationship between corruption, inequality and poverty. However, the universal application of this hypothesis will be a subject of further research

Peace and Governance in Africa

While some are of the opinion that good governance thrives best in an atmosphere of peace, others overwhelmingly emphasise the natural peace-inducing potentials of good governance. From the latter brand of scholarship, good governance is a necessary requirement for sustainable peace. Unfortunately, the problems confronting Africa in this century are predominantly governance-related. African countries are poorly ranked on the global scale of governance indicators. The consequences of this include recurrent civil wars, genocides, and the proliferation of organised rebellions against the state. These have largely turned the continent into a region characterised by political instability. Thus, this paper examines the nexus between good governance and peace, focusing on Africa. In view of the enormous challenges that insecurity and crises have created in Africa, the paper recommends that African leaders must deepen democracy on a continental scale, demonstrate the willingness to combat and reduce corruption, build a strong civil society and consciously promote human rights and justice

Galloping Poverty in Nigeria: An Appraisal of Government Interventionist Policies

The paper analyzes the poverty situation in Nigeria. Poverty holds sway in the midst of plenty, a situation described in Nigeria’s political lexicon as a ‘bewildering paradox’. Among the committee of nations, Nigeria has been described as poor. Even on the continent of Africa, using selected world development indicators, Nigeria is poorly ranked. Although several programs have been designed by the State to combat the scourge, their impacts on the poor population have been substantially impaired by corruption, weak administration, and poor inter-sectoral governance system. These, in the opinions of observers, have been the major challenges to poverty reduction in Nigeria. To halt the galloping nature of Nigeria’s poverty situation, the paper contends that the Nigerian state should be reformed and repositioned; conducive environment should be created for the development of market and civil society institutions; and inter-sectoral governance system should be encouraged

THE FINANCING GAP, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

From the Washington Consensus through the Copenhagen Declaration to the Millennium Development Goals, the story has been that of a remarkable shift from practices that constrain service delivery and aggravate poverty to practices that aid welfare provision and social development. A major attribute of the new arrangement is the recognition of national governments as principal actors in service delivery. However, the contraction of the fiscal space, especially in the developing world where Nigeria belongs, has left several governments incapacitated. To bridge the resultant financing gap, the new order encourages official development assistance which represents a ‘philanthropical compact’ between Northern donors and the poor countries of the developing world. Observably, civil society organizations appear to attract donors’ attention more than national governments; a condition that catalyses civil society’s engagement in service delivery. Against this background, the study critically examines the impact of the financing gap thesis on the involvement of civil society organizations in service delivery and how Nigeria’s civil society has fared in generating and utilizing aid to promote service delivery

Peace and Governance in Nigeria

While some are of the opinion that good governance thrives best in an atmosphere of peace, others overwhelmingly emphasise the natural peace-inducing potentials of good governance. From the latter brand of scholarship, good governance is a necessary requirement for sustainable peace. Unfortunately, the problems confronting Africa in this century are predominantly governance-related. African countries are poorly ranked on the global scale of governance indicators. The consequences of this include recurrent civil wars, genocides, and the proliferation of organised rebellions against the state. These have largely turned the continent into a region characterised by political instability. Thus, this paper examines the nexus between good governance and peace, focusing on Africa. In view of the enormous challenges that insecurity and crises have created in Africa, the paper recommends that African leaders must deepen democracy on a continental scale, demonstrate the willingness to combat and reduce corruption, build a strong civil society and consciously promote human rights and justice

Poverty Reduction and the Attainment of the MDGs in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects

Due to precarious socio-economic ambience and the global publicity it has generated, sub-Saharan Africa has become synonymous with poverty, and Nigeria hosts the largest population of poor people in the region. Although several ideas have been generated domestically to address the scourge but the persistence of poverty in large scale explains the inherent limitations in government interventionist measures. Consequent upon this, the inauguration of the MDGs, which represents an attempt at combating poverty through global partnership for development, appears to constitute the key to Nigeria’s escape from poverty trap. Worrisomely however, the current progress towards the attainment of the goals is approximately at a snail’s pace. The paper therefore critically examines the problems and prospects of achieving a remarkable reduction in Nigeria’s poverty profile within the framework of the MDGs. To escape from the doldrums, the paper argues that sound reform practices are required

DESIGNED TO FAIL? NIGERIA’S QUEST FOR BIOFUEL

The quest for biofuels in Nigeria, no doubt, represents a legitimate ambition. This is so because the focus on biofuel production has assumed a global dimension and the benefits that may accrue from such effort may turn out to be enormous if the preconditions are adequately satisfied. As a member of the global community, it has become exigent for Nigeria to explore other potential means of bettering her already pulverized economy. However, the prospects of achieving this momentous feat appear to be pathetically bleak in Nigeria. Although the focus on biofuel production may be a worthwhile endeavor in view of Nigeria’s development woes, but the paper argues that since Nigeria is yet to adequately satisfy the preconditions for such program, the effort may be designed to fail after all. To avoid this, the government must address key areas of concern such as food insecurity, environmental crisis and official corruption. Key words: Biofuels; Development; Nigeri

LIMITED POLICY ENGAGEMENT OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS: A GUILT TRIP ON THE NIGERIAN STATE

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) do not operate in a vacuum. In active partnership with the State, they can be effective in addressing public policy. Given the ginormous development demands of the Nigerian populace, the policy engagement of NGOs ipso facto becomes desirable. However, with the present state of affairs, NGOs seem not to be active participants in public policy design and governance; an iniquitous practice which negates the ideal of participatory development. The paper gives a revelatory insight into the contextual issues involved in the policy engagement of NGOs in Nigeria. If the policy performance of NGOs must be enhanced, the paper contends that NGOs require legal protection, the reciprocal relations between the state and civil society organizations must be strategically defined, NGOs need to be economically viable and must comply with ethical operating procedures. Keywords: NGOs; Public Policy; Political Economy; Nigerian Stat

Miseries and Fortunes: The Interface between Globalisation and Poverty

The debate on globalisation and poverty has elicited polemic ‘face-offs’ between the neoliberal protagonists and the anti-globalisation forces. Both theoretical camps do not only subscribe to the causal connection between globalisation and poverty, they critically distil the ‘miseries’ and ‘fortunes’ in the interface between the two phenomena. However, beyond the parallel dynamics in the interface and given the practical realities in the developing world, the paper dwells more on the substance rather than the divergent intellectual engagements. The substance here directly relates to the general level of human hopelessness in the developing world as a result of horrible social conditions, which have been made worse by the globalisation wave and have persisted because of low State capability. By focusing on the substance, the paper concludes that globalisation can be made more pro-poor by pursuing the ‘capable State’ agenda in the developing world, without also discounting the need to redress the distortions in the global system. Key words: Globalisation; Poverty; Developing Worl