bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Water and fire as transformation elements in ritual deposits of the Scandinavian Neolithic
Authors: Larsson Lars
Published: November 2011

Flint axes are the most common Neolithic (4000–1800 calBC) artefacts found in southern Scandinavia. The vast majority of the tens of thousands that we know of have been recovered from former wetlands. In fact, detailed work in southern Sweden suggests that flint or stone axes were deposited in almost every single bog. There is also evidence that many axe blades underwent forms of treatment that involved transformation by fire, deliberate destruction and purposive deposition. These details of context, form and treatment suggest that axe blades were often of great symbolic significance to Neolithic communities, and implicated in the reproduction of the social world.
A glimpse of human life from the Neolithic cemetery at Tell el-Kerkh, Northwest Syria
Authors: Tsuneki Akira
Published: November 2011

The excavations at Tell el-Kerkh, Northwest Syria, have uncovered the presence of a large Neolithic settlement that had a long cultural sequence. The settlement covers a vast area of at least 16ha and shows signs that it was a complex society. Excavations recently revealed a Neolithic cemetery with the remains of over 240 individuals that is one of the earliest outdoor communal cemeteries in West Asia. The discovery of the cemetery has provided a great deal of information about Neolithic life, and forms the basis of this paper, which discusses causes of death, division of labour, and ownership in Kerkh Neolithic society.
1 - Class and Ethnicity in the Struggle for Power—The Failure of Democratization in the Congo-Brazzaville*
Authors: Anne Sundberg
Published: November 2011

En Afrique, les grandes questions à l'ordre du jour sont celles des droits et des libertés, de la guerre, de la violence et de l'insécurité au sein de la société. A partir de mes recherches au Congo, j'aimerais dire que la société est de plus en plus fragmentée et désorganisée. Dans le document, j'ai essayé de montrer que l'ethnicité est utilisée tant par les hommes politiqties que par les gens pour rivaliser et se disputer le pouvoir; les jeunes sont devenus plus individualistes, se sentant abandonnés et trahis par leurs dirigeants politiques; ainsi il se sont organisés en milices pour s'impliquer dans la lutte pour la distribution des ressources. En outre, ces milices et la prolifération du banditisme apparaissent comme étant un défi à l'endroit de ceux qui gouvernent. Dans une telle situation de frustration sans perspectives heureuses, les populations se retrouvent dans une insécurité totale. L'imaginaire, avec ses propres modes d'interprétation ou de mobilisation culturelle/ethnique, semble être le seul moyen de lecture de la réalité. La lecture de la réalité selon l'ordre symbolique s'appuie sur le pouvoir des hommes politiques et leur capacité de se servir de la dynamique de l'imaginaire à leurs fins propres.
8 - Democratic Transition and Political Violence in Nigeria
Authors: Obadare Ebenezer
Published: November 2011

Des temps coloniaux à nos jours, l'activité politique a toujours été accompagnée d'un certain niveau de violence au Nigeria. Les deux tentatives d'instauration de la démocratie civile durant la première et seconde républiques se sont soldées par un échec en raison de l'anarchie sociale. Une fois de plus, le pays est en plein à une convulsion sociale, en témoigne une avalanche d'attentats à la bombe et d'assassinats dans tout le pays. Le présent article soutient que la violence politique actuelle au Nigeria est le résultat du processus de transition politique raté, et en l'occurrence, l'interruption brutale du processus de transition qui était supposé introduire la Troisième République. Par ailleurs, l'article affirme que la violence, dans sa nature, est totalement différente de la violence politique que connaissait le Nigeria. avant, constituant ainsi une génération nouvelle du phénomène. La conclusion qu'il est possible de tirer provisoirement est que la violence politique peut avoir un impact néga tif sur le demier programme de transition du Nigeria, étant donné surtout le penchant bien connu des militaires à user du prétexte d'instabilité pour perpétuer leur règne.
3 - Resources, Population and Conflicts: Two African Case Studies*
Authors: Obi Cyril
Published: November 2011

This article critically analyses the complex linkages between population, resource insecurity and conflict. It argues that rapid population growth beyond the limits of the 'carrying capacity' of the eco-system and resource scarcities cannot alone be the cause of conflict. Rather, issues of the distribution of resources, power, and the linkage between the modes of production and the contradictions embedded in social relations are the fundamental causes of conflict. Using two cases: that of the conflict between the Ogoni, and Shell and the ecological dimensions of the Sudanese civil war, it is shown that the state in Africa is not just a mediator of conflict, but is an actor in conflict, repressing its own citizens, alienating them, and blocking their access to resources, at the behest of global capitalist interests and those of local elites. Thus, conflicts over the control of resources—power—tend to be defined more by access to the means of violence, state power, and the survival of the people.
5 -La source de financement des investissements de la PME: Une étude empirique sur données sénégalaises
Authors: Sall Mahmoudou Bocar
Published: November 2011

La théorie financière moderne de l'entreprise suggère l'existence d'une hiérarchie de financement de l'investissement à cause de coûts de faillite, de coûts d'agence, ou de relations entre l'entreprise et ses créanciers. Dans cette étude, nous tentons de vérifier l'existence d'une hiérarchie de financement au niveau des investissements des petites et moyennes entreprises sénégalaises au moyen de données agrégées et individuelles sur la période 1992-1999. Les résultats de l'analyse descriptive de l'échantillon montrent que l'autofinancement n'est pas utilisé en préférence. Le recours à l'endettement est aussi important que celui de l'autofinancement dans le financement des investissements de la PME sénégalaise. Le recours à une augmentation de capital est quasi-nul. On peut noter, par ailleurs que, plus la PME est de grande taille, plus la moyenne des financements par endettement est élevée. Nous présentons également les caractéristiques des sources de financement des entreprises étudiées, qui confirment l'existence d'une structure de financement particulière des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises.
6 - Extension Needs of Women Cassava Farmers in Igueben and Esan Northeast Local Government Areas of Edo State, Nigeria
Authors: Onemolease Eddy
Published: November 2011

Women's advancement is predicated upon their educational development. But what exactly should this education focus on vis-à-vis cassava production? Answers to this question pre-suppose an understanding of their knowledge of modern cassava production-related practices. The study addresses these issues by gathering data from 120 women cassava farmers in two selected local government areas of Edo State. Results show that the respondents were relatively young, largely illiterate and had long years of farming experience. Their levels of knowledge of improved cassava varieties and fertilizers were high while they were low for herbicides and recommended agronomical practices. There is therefore a need for the agricultural extension agency to focus its educational efforts on these problems, in addition to providing such farmers with information on sources of farm chemicals, credit and market opportunities.
2 - Institutionalised Marginality, Social Conflicts and the Quest for National Unity in an African Nation-State: A Theoretical Exploration
Authors: Ujomu Philip Ogo
Published: November 2011

This essay focuses on the issue of marginality, marginalisation and the quest for national unity. Although, the issue of marginalisation in a nation-state such as Nigeria has been widely discussed by writers, few have attempted to offer a systematic analysis of the issue through a theoretical or conceptual basis. This paper examines the extent to which the competition for resources and the exer cise of political control have compelled the marginalisation of various segments of Nigerian society. It highlights the evolving nature and different expressions of marginalisation. By looking at the issue of marginality and the social order in Nigeria against the backdrop of the brutal facts of injustice, inequality and exploitation, we seek to discern the epochal configurations and socio-cultural locations of the problem. Our aim is to discover how this problem has militated against the quest for national integration and reconciliation in the polity. And by highlignting the attendant crisis of social order occasioned by marginalisation, this essay reinforces the need for the urgent establishment of enduring humane rules of distributive justice in the society.
3 - Globalisation and Industrial Performance in Nigeria
Authors: Onyeonoru Ifeanyi
Published: November 2011

This paper examines the impact of the neo-liberal globalisation of African economies on industrial performance in Nigeria. Evidence from the study indicates that, contrary to claims by the World Bank, the economic performance of firms in the manufacturing sector during the globalisation period in the study was adversely affected by the process. The study confirms the position that the globalisation project that aims at the structural economic transformation of modern capitalist relations in Africa is associated with a process of de industrialisation. On the basis of conclusions from the study, the author highlights critical lessons for African countries - the need to be critical in the implementation of the IMF/World Bank open-economy, and the 'hands off market-driven, non interventionist development model premised on Adams Smith's 'invisible hand'.
8 - A Relevant Education for African Development—Some Epistemological Considerations
Authors: Nyamnjoh Francis A.
Published: November 2011

This paper argues that education in Africa is the victim of a Western epistemological export that takes the form of science as ideology and hegemony. Under the Western epistemological export, education in Africa and/or for Africans has been like a pilgrimage to the Kilimanjaro of Western intellectual ideals, the tortuous route to Calvary for alternative ways of life. Sometimes, with rhetorical justification about the need to be competitive internationally, the practice has been for the elite to model education in Africa after educational institutions in the West, with little attempt at domestication. Education in Africa has been and mostly remains a journey fuelled by an exogenously induced and internalised sense of inadequacy in Africans, and endowed with the mission of devaluation or annihilation of African creativity, agency and value systems. Such cultural estrangement has served to reinforce in Africans self-devaluation and self-hatred and a profound sense of inferiority that in turn compels them to Tighten their darkness' both physically and metaphysically for Western gratification. The paper argues that the future of higher education in Africa can only be hopeful through a meticulous and creative process of cultural restitution and indigenisation even as African scholars continue to cooperate and converse with intellectual bedfellows in the West and elsewhere. If Africa is to be party to a global conversation of universities and scholars, it is only appropriate that it does so on its own terms, with the interests and concerns of ordinary Africans as the guiding principle.
5 - The Informal and Formal Sector Inter-linkages and the Incidence of Poverty in Nigeria: A Case Study of Ilorin Metropolis
Authors: Ijaiya & Gafar T. , Umar Chika A.
Published: November 2011

Using a multiple log-linear regression analysis, this paper examines the influence of the inter-relationship between the informal sector and the formal sector of llorin on the incidence of poverty in Ilorin metropolis. The study, carried out using a structured questionnaire to 480 informal sector operators, reported that 200 and 280 of the operators are not poor and poor respectively. Based on those that are poor, their relationship (in terms of the supply of labour, supply goods and raw materials, supply of equipment, provision of financial and technical assistance) with the formal sector is used in determining their influence on the incidence of poverty in Ilorin metropolis. The incidence of poverty thus proxied with their consumption-expenditure. The results obtained (with the exception of the financial linkage) show that the relationship between the informal sector and the formal sector is inversely related to the incidence of poverty, thus confirming our a priori expectations. The paper further suggests measures that would continue to make the informal sector a catalyst for poverty reduction in particular and relevant to the economic development of Ilorin in general.
3 - The Growth of Islamic Learning in Northern Ghana and Its Interaction with Western Secular Education
Authors: Iddrisu Abdulai
Published: November 2011

This paper examines the growth of Islamic learning in northern Ghana and its in teraction with western secular education. It argues that colonial policies and prac tice had far-reaching implications for Islamic learning, stifling attempts at growth, and suggests that the contemporary situation with regard to Islamic learning in Ghana cannot be properly understood without an appreciation of the historical forces that have helped fashion this system of learning. It concludes that there is need for a meaningful and sustainable interaction between Islamic and Western secular edu cation, especially in the era of decentralisation and increased demand for new com petence at local levels
4 - Graduates' Perception of University Programmes and Their Relevance to Employment: University of Nairobi (1991 -1998)
Authors: Kimani Gerald Ngugi
Published: November 2011

This paper reports a study to assess graduates' perception of the learning conditions and provisions at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. The study identified the jobs held by the graduates and the extent to which they use knowledge, attitudes and skills acquired during their study at the University of Nairobi in their present jobs. The sample consisted of 1,640 graduates drawn from 3,300 graduates of Bachelor of Education (Arts), Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce degree pro grammes who had completed their studies between 1991 and 1998. Questionnaires were sent to 1,400 graduates and some 240 others were administered directly to respondents. A total of 580 questionnaires were returned representing a return rate of 35.4 per cent. The findings show that overall the scope and coverage of the courses, teaching quality of lectures and contact with students were the most highly rated aspects of study conditions and provisions of the University of Nairobi. Counseling services, catering facilities on the campus and recreational facilities were the lowly rated aspects. About 61 per cent of graduates were employed in public sector while 37 per cent were in private sector. About 2 per cent were self employed. Of the surveyed graduates 72 per cent indicated that they used knowl edge and skills acquired at the university to a high or very high extent while 25 per cent indicated moderate use. Only 3 per cent responded to the contrary.
6 - Globalisation, ICTs, and the New Imperialism: Perspectives on Africa in the Global Electronic Village
Authors: Ya’u Yunusa Z.
Published: November 2011

Globalization as promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) is resulting in a new imperialism that is characterized by knowledge dependence and the shrinking of the national space for decision making. It is facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs). The centrality of ICTs to globalization has resulted in an international concern for bridging the unequal access to ICTs that has come to be termed as digital divide. However, the discourse about bridging the digital divide tends to mask the reality of the digital deficit which is the consequence of a wider development divide. Yet the reality is that the marginality of Africa cannot be addressed by isolationism as a counterforce to globalization. What is needed is to rethink the terms and nature of Africa's integration in the global economy. This means interrogating among others, the current discourse about bridging the digital divide. This contribution addresses the substantive nature of the new imperialism and offers explanation as to why the digital divide tends to increase rather than decrease in spite of the various efforts aimed at closing it. It concludes by offering some directions in which the digital deficit as part of the wider development divide can be addressed.
8 - NEPAD and the Digital Divide: The Case of Botswana and the Silent Marginalised Minorities
Authors: Mphinyane Sethunya Tshepho
Published: November 2011

This paper addresses the question of whether the New Partnership for Africa deve lopment (NEPAD) through its e-Africa Commission and its Science and Techno logy agenda for ICT provides for new possibilities for Africa's marginalised indi genous minorities to engage meaningfully with development processes. It questions whether NEPAD recognises the power of ICT beyond providing access to informa tion, particularly its potential as a resource for the oppressed to wage their battles for self-determination, and willing to go beyond questions of access, and address the politics of power and the Internet and other ICT. Is there likelihood in Africa, for ICTs to become new sites of resistance and oppression? The paper suggests that there is already evidence that for marginalised ethnic minorities such as the Basarwa, the San peoples of Botswana, this new forum and the Internet in particular will be yet another tool to mute their voices.
10 - NGOs and Conflict Prevention in Burundi: A Case Study
Authors: Wohlgemuth Lennart
Published: November 2011

Since the abortive coup in October 1993, Burundi has been in a severe crisis, however, lately reaching a more hopeful situation. The international community has made substantial efforts at preventing the escalation of the conflict and at contributing to a process for sustainable peace in the country. This includes the UN system, bilateral countries and in particular the neighbouring states. A number of NGOs have been among the actors. Here the efforts of some major NGOs lending their support to Burundi's peace process are discussed both as regards their support for peace building and for support to peace mediation. The aim has been to assess their performance based on their aims and objectives in relation to respective NGO's overall reasons for coming to Burundi in the first place, as well as their wider aims. Efforts are made to find common denominators and possible conclusions and recommendations useful for others involved in similar activities in Burundi and elsewhere.
1 - All Knowledge Is first of all Local Knowledge: An Introduction
Authors: Njoku Chukwudi Anthony , Devisch René
Published: November 2011

Against a monolithic view of knowledge production and the tendency to universalize science, this article calls attention to the unique genius and distinctive creativity and originality which underlines production of knowledge in any given cultural context. It takes seriously, the fact that, at its roots, knowledge production is context bound. Hence the authors emphasize the fact that all knowledge is first of all local knowledge. From this fundamental understanding of the true wellsprings of the production of knowledge, it argues against a mythic veil, which reformist modernity, especially, tended to place on the process of producing and transmitting knowledge. This deceptive myth about knowledge production, it opines, has had the negative impact of stereotyping, blackmailing, inferiorizing and derailing the production and sharing of knowledge and its artefacts in cultures other than the West. The colonial encounter, with its assumptions and presumptions, helped to rub in this vision of reformist modernity and to muffle the voices of colonised cultures. Hence such labels as 'indigenous' knowledge. In recognition, therefore, of the creative and genuine originality latent in every culture, this article seeks to empower cultures to realise, work on and appropriate the riches embedded in their own local knowledge tracts and trajectories. This appropriation by cultures, of their own rich genius, is, for the authors, the gateway to re-acquiring cultural dignity and self-confidence and indeed an opportunity for each cultural node to positively contribute to the commonwealth of world knowledge. Such variegated approach to mining the wisdom and ecological advantages of various cultural groups will enhance the sharing of knowledge in a spirit of both vertical and horizontal border-linking exchanges of riches found in different cultural contexts and knowledge fields. The ancient wisdom of the Igbo of south eastern Nigeria is used in the article as an illustration of this latent, culture specific genius. The article also highlights the mission of Whelan Research Academy for Religion, Culture and Society, Owerri, Nigeria, in creating awareness, space and forum for paying closer attention to indigenous knowledge tracts endangered in this derailment of a wider spectrum of cultural nodes of knowledge.
3 - Traditional Igbo Numbering System: A Reconstruction
Authors: Ogomaka Patrick Mathias  C.
Published: November 2011

This article presents the properties of the traditional and decimalized Igbo number systems and the principles governing their formulation. It looks at the cultural and religious uses of Igbo traditional number system and their implications for the development of curricular in not just mathematics and ethno-mathematics in tertiary level education, but also in arithmetic for primary and secondary school levels.
10 - Review Article/Revues de livres: 'Specializing Bergson and the Dilemmas of Decolonization'. A review of Messay Kebede, Africa's Quest for a Philosophy of Decolonization, 2004
Authors: Osha Sanya
Published: November 2011

Absract
11 - Book Reviews: Richard Werbner, 2004, Reasonable Radicals and Citizenship in Botswana: the Public Anthropology of Kalanga Elites (Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis
Authors: Selolwane Onalenna Doo
Published: November 2011

Abstract
1 - Globalisation and the Challenge of Democracy in Arab North Africa
Authors: El-Baz Shahida
Published: November 2011

Democratization processes have emerged recently as an essential component of globalization and thus, have been paramount in its discourse, and as a political prerequisite for integrating developing countries in the global market. The em phasis, however, has been on liberal democracy. The paper argues that the very process of globalization based on unequal global power relations and the exter nally formulated policies imposed on developing countries of the south are nei ther democratic nor an expression of their authentic needs and interests. In this respect globalization represents a denial of democracy on the global level. Mean while, the early and involuntary adoption of structural adjustment programmes by globalized countries of the south, with their socially polarizing impact, have enhanced the exclusion of greater numbers of the people from economic, social, and political processes and led the already undemocratic governments to adopt a more authoritarian praxis to enforce unfriendly globalization policies. A nominal liberal democracy was adopted only to bring the globalized economic elite to power to the further exclusion and marginalization of the majority of the popu lation. The paper then discusses the debate by African and Arab intellectuals on the different types of democracy and their relevance to Arab North African societies.
7 - Globalisation and Technology: Problems and Prospects for the Agricultural Sector in Africa
Authors: Agbu Osita
Published: November 2011

This paper examines the linkage between globalisation as a phenomenon and technology as the catalyst on the state of the agricultural sector in Africa. It is observed that though agriculture is the dominant economic sector in Africa, it is currently facing a food crisis of monumental dimensions. Figures pertaining to food production growth rates and the percentage share of agriculture in total labour force are presented to highlight the poor state of this sector. Apart from the impact of globalization on the sector, the paper sought to determine the link between technological capacity and the food crisis in Africa on the one hand, and the prospects for increased technological inputs in African agriculture on the other. Fundamentally, the paper argues that Africa cannot begin to benefit from global developments in trade, technology and therefore improving the welfare of its peoples until food security is reasonably attained. It recommends the use of science-based technology generation to ensure sustainable agricultural development. African governments are called upon to balance the vicissi tudes of the multilateral framework on agriculture with their immediate national objectives. Finally, the author opines that a brighter future awaits those coun tries that can competently manage the impact of globalization on this sector, while infusing appropriate technologies to ensure food security.
8 - Demise or Resilience, Customary Law and the Changing Order in Africa: The Case of Chieftaincy in Botswana
Authors: Morapedi Wazha G.
Published: November 2011

This paper reviews customary law and how it relates to the institution of Chieftainship in Botswana from the pre-colonial to the post colonial period. It accedes to the widely held view that in Botswana, as in many other African countries where the institution of chieftainship was undermined by colonial rule, chiefs have survived and continues to play a pivotal role in evolving African societies. In Botswana, customary laws governing the institution of the chieftainship, particularly the succession rules, have enabled the chieftainship to surmount the hurdles placed against chiefs by the colonial government. The colonial government onslaught on chieftainship only weakened some chiefs, but not the institution. Since 1966 the post-colonial liberal democratic govern ment of Botswana has continued to enact laws which whittled down the powers of the chiefs considerably, but the institution has adapted and chiefs have also managed to manipulate the political situation to their advantage. Today, due to the dynamism of customary law, chiefs play a pivotal role in the socio-eco nomic, political and administrative systems of Botswana
1 - The Land Act (1998) and Land Tenure Reform in Uganda
Authors: Okuku Juma Anthony
Published: November 2011

In agrarian societies land is not only the main means for generating a livelihood, it is also a means to accumulate wealth and transfer it between generations. In Uganda, it is a basic source of food, employment, a key agricultural input and a major determinant of a farmer’s access to other productive resources. The na- ture of land tenure, therefore, has profound implications for the development process of nations. As the historical experience of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa indicates, land tenure can either impede or facilitate positive socio- economic change in a given economy. The Land Act (1998), which aims at reforming land tenure relations in Uganda, is therefore one of the most far- reaching legislation enacted by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) gov- ernment. The new tenure system aims at supporting agricultural development through the functioning of a land market, establishing security of tenure and ensuring sustainable utilisation of land in order to bring about development. This paper discusses three major issues. First, the extent to which the new Land Act (1998) ensures security of tenure to the peasant majority in the country. Second, the issue of its capacity to resolve the long-run contestation between the mailo landowners and tenants (bibanja) holders. And third, the ambiguities and difficulties facing the Act in the process of its implementation must be con- fronted. The article is based on the textual analysis of the various land laws in Uganda historically. The literature brings out several constraints and ambigui- ties regarding the land reform process in Uganda.
4 - How Britain Underdeveloped Bechuanaland Protectorate: A Brief Critique of the Political Economy of Colonial Botswana
Authors: Mogalakwe Monageng
Published: November 2011

Britain declared Bechuanaland a ‘protectorate’ in 1885 in a move largely driven by military strategic considerations rather than by the availability of economic resources. This can give the impression that in Botswana the process of eco- nomic underdevelopment, that is often associated with colonialism, never took place in this British ‘protectorate’. This article reveals that even in the so-called ‘protectorate’, the British colonial state policies subverted indigenous economic interests and stifled opportunities for indigenous private capital accumulation, while actively promoting the economic interests of a small white settler capitalist class.
6 - La lutte anti-corruption : l’expérience des pays d’Asie du Sud-Est
Authors: Dialla Basga Emile
Published: November 2011

De par son caractère impalpable et son impact corrosif sur la croissance économique, la corruption, bien qu’elle ait toujours existé dans l’histoire de l’humanité, est devenue de nos jours la préoccupation majeure de la communauté internationale. Longtemps ignorée par des disciplines comme la sociologie, la corruption s’apparente à des infractions diverses et serait un phénomène des temps modernes lié à l’économie du marché. En effet, elle se développe dans les pays où les institutions sont trop faibles pour y faire obstacle, du fait des pressions exercées sur les autres secteurs de la société par l’économie marchande. En somme, la corruption, un fléau contre lequel la lutte sera longue et difficile, fleurit dans le vide institutionnel. La stratégie de lutte anti-corruption doit allier volonté politique, information et sanction, avec l’implication de toutes les couches sociales et de la communauté internationale. L’expérience de certains pays d’Asie du Sud-Est en la matière pourrait, dans une certaine mesure, inspirer les pays africains dans leur lutte quotidienne contre ce fléau des temps modernes.
7 - Football malgache féminin : un exotisme genré ? Étude de cas d’une association locale
Authors: Héas Stéphane
Published: November 2011

Le football adulte féminin existe à l’état embryonnaire à Madagascar alors même que son existence est très récente et demeure très minoritaire dans nombre de pays occidentaux. Cette apparition exotique interroge dans un contexte interna- tional sportif, et plus largement politique, favorisant la parité tout en maintenant largement une domination masculine. Le football malgache devient une focale soulignant les rapports de genre et les résistances aux changements corporels, par conséquent culturels entre hommes et femmes, mais également entre les femmes.
3 - The ECOWAS Court and the Politics of Access to Justice in West Africa
Authors: Banjo Adewale
Published: November 2011

Although the creation of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (ECJ) was approved in 1991 in pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6 and 15 of the 1993 Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States, it was only set up a decade later in 2001. By utilising a content-analysis method, in addition to extensive personal interviews with the President of the Court, this study describes the emergence, composition, vision and competence/jurisdiction of the ECJ. The paper probes the various challenges currently faced by the ECJ, which include among others, logistics, limited public awareness among ECOWAS citizens, and non use by member states. The inability of ECOWAS citizens to access justice is given prominent emphasis with reference to the case of Afolabi Olajide vs. Federal Republic of Nigeria. The case typifies the extent to which the ECJ’s establishment fulfilled or failed to meet the expectation of ECOWAS citi- zens’ quest for justice. The study’s conclusion examines current efforts at broad- ening access to the court for citizens of the community.
4 - District Assemblies in a Fix: The Perils of Self-Seeking Tendencies in Decentralisation Policy Reforms in Malawi
Authors: Chinsinga Blessings
Published: November 2011

This article appraises the prospects of the District Assembly system inaugu- rated under the auspices of decentralisation policy reforms introduced to insti- tutionalise local governance structures and processes that are responsive, demo- cratic, and capable of improving the livelihoods of the poor. While there seems to be reasonable consensus about the desirability of a decentralised planning framework as a vehicle for sustainable governance, development and poverty reduction, most stakeholders are nevertheless primarily motivated by the desire to advance, safeguard and gratify self-interests. Therefore, the major thrust of the argument of this paper is that unless these self-seeking tendencies are effec- tively tamed, the trinity of good governance, development and poverty reduc- tion in the evolving structures and processes of local government will remain an unattainable ideal.
1 - Attracting Foreign Direct Investment for Growth and Development in sub-Saharan Africa: Policy Options and Strategic Alternatives
Authors: Abdulai David N.
Published: November 2011

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in fostering economic growth and development in developing countries. While FDI is known to bring to the latter much needed capital for their growth and development efforts, it also brings with it skills and new technology. For most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, whose economies have recently recovered from a long period of stagna- tion, FDI inflows are needed to accelerate growth, and development. Several countries in the region registered impressive growth rates in the 1990s, with some attaining and sustaining double-digit growth rates in most recent times. However, if sub-Saharan Africa is to accelerate its growth rates to enable it move the majority of its peoples out of poverty, it must attract more FDI. Efforts so far have been encouraging. However, when compared to countries in South East Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China, FDI inflows into sub- Saharan Africa pale. What are the causes for such low FDI inflows to this re- gion? How can sub-Saharan Africa attract more FDI for its growth and develop- ment efforts? What policy options are available to these countries? What strategic alternatives can sub-Saharan countries adopt to increase FDI inflows? What role can multilateral and bilateral organisations play in this effort? This paper will address these questions by examining current FDI flows into sub-Saharan Africa and examine ways through which the sub-region can further attract much needed FDI to enable it to attain sustainable growth and development.
2 - Assistance and Conflict: The African Diaspora and Africa’s Development in the Twenty-first Century
Authors: Erhagbe Edward O.
Published: November 2011

Africans in the diaspora contributed laudably to the socio-political liberation of Africa, especially in the southern Africa sub-region. A discernable feature of their involvement in Africa’s political liberation efforts was that they tended to work within the boundaries of ‘the agreed agenda’ of African peoples and governments. With the liberation of South Africa, there has now been an obvious shift in the main agenda of ‘African Liberation’. The emphasis now seems to be on democratisation and the socioeconomic development of Africa. However, the differences of opinion and the conflictive nature of the new programmes of focus require some pertinent questions, in order to chart a realistic, workable and less confrontational agenda and modus operandi for diaspora and continental African co-operation in the years ahead. Among other things, this paper sets in a clear historical perspective the varied ways Africans in the diaspora contributed to Africa before now. It also highlights the shift from the ‘political liberation theology’ to ‘developmental theology’. Considering the rather sensitive and complex issues of national sovereignty, integrity and interventionism, the paper explores whether there is still a basis for diaspora Africans continuing their ‘interference’ in African internal business; who should set the agenda for their involvement; and how should they be involved. A fundamental conclusion of the paper is that the cooperation of diaspora and continental Africans is important in fostering Africa’s development. Nevertheless, such a cooperation should respect the national sovereignty and integrity of African nations and peoples. Consultation and cooperation, rather than antagonism or confrontation between the two groups, stand as the viable and workable option.
6 - Globalisation and Labour Utilisation in Nigeria: Evidence from the Construction Industry
Authors: Anugwom Edlyne E.
Published: November 2011

This study examines the influence of globalisation on labour utilisation in Ni- geria using the construction industry as a case study. It reveals that the era of globalisation has given rise to profound changes in the way labour is utilised, specifically in terms of employment patterns as well as the related issues of earnings, job security, unionisation etc. In effect, the way the worker is used by the firms in the industry is determined solely by the dictates of capitalism, i.e. the profit motive. The conclusion is that the consequences of globalisation have been unfavourable to the workers in the so-called ‘semi-skilled’ category. Thus, neo-liberal globalisation, contrary to the often-benevolent impacts attributed to it, has worsened rather than improved the situation of workers in the construc- tion industry in Nigeria. This then calls attention to the need for inter alia a more focused regulation of the activities of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the enforcement of minimum ILO standards in member countries, especially in the developing world where the need to attract the all important foreign invest- ment may override any other consideration.
2 - Developmental Local Government in Post-Apartheid South Africa? A Feminist Rethinking of the State and Development in the Context of Neo-liberalism
Authors: Samson Melanie
Published: November 2011

Neoliberal dictates and structural adjustment policies have denuded African states and attempted to limit their role to enabling the building and functioning of markets. These policies have failed to promote development, exacerbated gender inequities, and deepened Africa’s entanglement within exploitative imperialist economic relations. There is, therefore, a pressing need to re-establish a proactive, developmental role for the state in Africa. This article argues that in the current conjuncture such a project must be grounded in a radical reconceptualisation of both development and the state. Previous statist theo- ries of development erred in casting development as a set of outcomes to be delivered by the state to a passive population. Due to their inattentiveness to gender they also reproduced and exacerbated exploitative gender relations. The article argues that in a context where it is difficult to even imagine an alternative to neoliberalism, development should be redefined as building collective capac- ity to envision, create and struggle for a society and economy free of gender, racial and class exploitation. The state must be reconfigured so that it is both strengthened by and helps to build collective capacity through processes of participatory democracy attentive to addressing and overcoming the mutually constituting structural inequalities of gender, race and class.
Amidst the continent-wide retreat of the state from an active role in the development process, the post-apartheid South African policy of ‘developmen- tal local government’ would seem to be grounded in just such a retheorization of the state and development. The policy establishes that the local government must promote development, redress apartheid inequalities and be participatory and gender sensitive. The article argues however that the South African ap- proach is compromised by three fundamental weaknesses at the level of policy formulation. These pertain to the liberal conceptualisation of participation, the reduction of commitments to gender transformation to a focus on the participa- tion of women, and the endorsement of a contracting vision for the local state which eliminates an active role for either the state or the citizenry in the develop- ment process. The article concludes by exploring more successful attempts at gender transformative, participatory approaches to governance and development in other parts of the world and reflecting on the challenges to pursuing them in the South African context.
2 - Nurturing the Fourth Generation: Defining the Historical Mission for Our Generation
Authors: Mshaï S. Mwangola
Published: November 2011

Reflections on the African academy have identified different generations of African scholars. These interventions have sought to using different criteria, identifying different foci and arguing the importance of each. This paper fur- thers Thandika Mkandawire’s reflection on the first three generations of the post-colonial era (1995) by suggesting a historical mission for the next, the emerging fourth generation.
1 - Introduction: Public Sector Reforms and the Quest for Democratic Developmentalism in Africa
Authors: Edigheji Omano
Published: November 2011

Developmentalism has been one of the main justifications for public sector reforms. In what concerns Africa, this, in part, has been based on the assumption that public sector reforms, which will make the state effective, efficient, responsive, accountable and productive, are necessary conditions for the development of the continent. Not surprisingly, a plethora of public sector reforms has been initiated and implemented. The intersection, synergies, complementarities and, at times, disjunctures between the reforms and the continent’s quest for devel- opment, may not have received the scholarly attention it deserved, beside a few exceptions, including the work of the late Professor Guy Mhone. Therefore, this introductory article will focus on the public sector reforms in Africa, especially as from the 1980s, and will necessarily draw heavily on the work of Guy Mhone.
2 - Violence, Identity Mobilization and the Reimagining of Biafra
Authors: Ukiwo Ukoha
Published: November 2011

The events leading to the Nigeria Civil War marked the triumph of force and violence over dialogue and negotiation as a means of conflict resolution. The success of the Nigerian state in imposing a military solution on the preceding political crisis, and then suppressing the ensuing Biafran rebellion, has had a lasting effect on state–society relations. As a result, the state has not refrained from using violence at the slightest provocation against competing and con- flicting ethno-religious groups. The tendency of the state to exercise domina- tion through the deployment of violence implies an ongoing crisis of state he- gemony rather than a resolution of civil unrest. This article argues that state violence was more important than ethnic divisions in triggering the secessionist attempt of Biafra, and has continued to create rather than resolve ethnic divi- sions across the country. The emergence in post-Civil War Nigeria of regimes that perpetrated or permitted mass violence against restive social groups re- mains critical to understanding the contemporary rise of ethno-nationalist move- ments and waning allegiance to the Nigerian state, particularly among the Igbo. The aim of the article is to underscore the understated salience of state violence in the debates on identity and citizenship in multi-ethnic societies.
5 - Humanitarian Aid and the Biafra War: Lessons not Learned
Authors: Pérouse de Montclos Marc-Antoine
Published: November 2011

Abstract
7 - Mutual Gains from Hostile Confrontations: Land Boards, Their Clients and ‘Self-allocation’ in Botswana
Authors: Onoma Ato Kwamena
Published: November 2011

This article argues that hostile confrontations between state and societal actors pursuing divergent goals can sometimes end up empowering both. In Botswana, successful efforts by less powerful clients to reclaim the power to allocate land from land boards through various stratagems ended up also strengthening the land boards and also the state. By tricking land boards into legitimizing plots on which they had squatted, clients brought their land interests to the awareness of the land board and contributed to bettering land board records. The better records enable land boards to allocate land and resolve disputes in more in- formed ways. Better records also provide state officials with valuable informa- tion that various state agencies can use to tax, police, plan and implement vari- ous social projects better. In presenting this argument, the article contributes to the state-in-society discourse by showing that we need not limit the possibility of positive sum gains to situations where state and societal actors collaborate to achieve mutual goals.
5- Nigeria’s Niger Delta: Understanding the Complex Drivers of Violent Oil-related Conflict
Authors: Obi Cyril
Published: November 2011

This paper explores the complex roots and dimensions of the Niger Delta conflict which has escalated from ethnic minority protests against the federal Nigerian State-Oil Multinationals’ alliance in the 1990’s to the current insurgency that has attracted worldwide attention. It also raises some conceptual issues drawn from ‘snapshots’ taken from various perspectives in grappling with the complex roots of the oil- related conflict in the paradoxically oil-rich but impoverished region as an important step in a nuanced reading of the local, national and international ramifications of the conflict and its implications for Nigeria’s development. The conflict is then located both in the struggle of ethnic minority groups for local autonomy and the control of their natural resources (including oil), and the contradictions spawned by the transnational production of oil in the region. The transition from resistance – as-protest – to insurgency, as represented by attacks on state and oil company targets by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), is also critically analyzed.
2 - Faillite de l’Etat et administration de l’espace public politique par les « jeunes patriotes » en Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: Babo Alfred
Published: November 2011

En Côte d’Ivoire, depuis le déclenchement de la guerre en 2002, des mouvements de jeunes regroupés dans ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler « jeunes patriotes » sont apparus. Ils ont joué et continuent de jouer un rôle de premier plan dans l’espace public politique. Il apparait que leur irruption dans cet espace découle de plusieurs facteurs dont l’un des principaux est la conjugaison de la défaillance de l’Etat – gagné par une crise structurelle et institutionnelle profonde – et de l’activisme audacieux de ces jeunes qui visent à la fois à répondre aux appels de la puissance publique, mais en même temps à constituer une alternative aux limites de l’Etat. Dans cette étude qui revisite les rapports Etat- société, nous mettons en exergue l’intérêt de la relativisation théorique de l’approche habermasienne de l’espace public, mais aussi du concept de « mouvement sociaux » perçus comme généralement indépendants, sinon contestataires de l’Etat. L’étude montre que les « jeunes patriotes » non seulement évoluent comme des mouvements sociaux, mais en plus interviennent dans l’administration de l’espace public sous la forme, non p s de contestation ou de protestation, mais plutôt de soutien à l’Etat.