African Journals Online
The African Journal of International Affairs and Development (AJIAD)

Abstracts of Articles (Vol 5 No 1)

Implementation of Bottlenecks and Constraints Associated With Word Bank-Associated Projects in Nigeria by Dr. Okon Eminue, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Uyo Nigeria.

Acknowledging a paradigmatic shift by the World Bank from its initial objective of promoting the reconstruction of post-World War II Europe to that of increasing involvement in the development of, and therefore in project-lending activities in Third World countries, the paper identifies World Bank-assisted projects in Nigeria. Given the proportion of such projects that have fallen into the classification of “problem projects” and their consequences for country portfolio performance, the paper identifies and discusses the major implementation constraints which tend to threaten the sustainability of World Bank-funded projects in Nigeria and recommends some remedial actions for improving implementation performance

The Political Economy of Landmines focus on Africa by Adedeji Ebo, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Defence Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria

Even Amongst conventional weapons, Anti-Personnel Mines (APMs) are unique for their indiscriminate destruction and their reputation for posing a threat to lives, particularly civilian lives, even when the hostilities of war have ended. With the signing of the 1997 Mines Ban Treaty, the campaign against mines appeared to have reached its peak. The aim of this paper is to account for the remarkable success of the anti-mines campaign, and to identify ways of further consolidating its gains. The paper concedes that the negative reputation of APMs, and the determined and organised action of the coalition of NGOs known as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) have gone a long way to facilitate the emergence of global consensus against mines can be attributed to the dynamic interaction between political and economic conditions, particularly since the end of the Cold War, which created a permissive context for consensus. The paper also argues that the global picture of success is unevenly painted. In Africa, for example, underdevelopment continues to be a constraining factor to the realisation of the objectives of the campaign. Advocacy is recommended as the most viable means of checking the scourge of mines.“Mines are fighters that never miss, strike blindly, do not carry weapons openly, and go on fighting long after hostilities are ended; they are the greatest violators of international humanitarian law, practising blind terrorism”

“A delegate at ICRC Conference held in Switzerland, April 1993, cited in West Africa, 10-16 January, 1994 , p.46

A Historical Perspective of the Nature and Development of Rwanda/Burundi Ethnic Conflicts by Victor Ojakorotu & Tajudeen A.Adeola Graduate students, Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The Menace of ethnic tension and crises in Africa has increased especially with demise of the Soviet Union and the ideological rivalry between the East and West. Apparently the heterogeneous character of the state in Africa and consequent ethnification of politics has threatened state survival in the post cold war period/era.This trend is exemplified in the escalation of the Rwanda/Burundi conflicts. This development is examined in this paper using Eric Norlinger's framework, which identifies a gamut of decision making procedures, political arrangement and behavioural rules that are potentially useful in ensuring accommodation between antagonist groups. It is found that the innate desire of either side to exclude the other from governance makes it difficult to regulate conflict, hence a validation of Norlinger's conflict theory.

Developing Countries and the Non-proliferation Treaty by Dr. Dokun Oyeshola Senior Lecturer, Department of International Relations Obafemi Awolowo Univerisyt, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The Non-proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968 with the sole purpose of preventing 'horizontal' proliferation of nuclear weapons. The efforts that followed the treaty have not yielded the desirable result; horizontal proliferation is still going on. Therefore, the renewed efforts of the international community to curb the spiral rise is a welcome development. However, the methodological approach of the West, in its efforts, seems not to take into account the economic, technological and political interest of non-westerners. It may therefore be argued that the efforts may suffer the same fate as the initial efforts. This paper concludes that the NTP will always fall in its purpose of promoting security for all until it assiduously seeks and promotes `common good' of all through cooperation as opposed to confrontation and threats.

Nuclear Issues and Nigeria by Charles Quaker-Dokubo, Research Fellow, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, Nigeria

In the late 1970s,. Nigeria embarked on what looked like a modicum of a nuclear programme. It was primarily a response to the then apartheid South Africa's nuclear threat. Beyond this, Nigeria viewed its nuclear programme as prestigious and relevant to its national objectives -development, independence, regional influence and a greater role in the international system. Thus, this article, examines and gauges Nigeria's desire with its capacity to pursue the nuclear option.

A Linear Programming Approach to Selected Troop Concentration Points on a Highway Network: The Case of Western Nigeria by Wing Commander Gambo A. Kurfi, Department of Geography Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria

The study attempts to obtain optimal troop concentration points in Western Nigeria. As a result, eight locations in the study region were selected for analysis. The method of analysis involved the case of multi-criteria analysis; the optimal points were eventually selected using linear programming. The results obtained indicate that Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta and Akure are the best locations for concentration troops. The results are plausible since in reality towns found to be optimal already serve as major troop concentration points. The study concludes by highlighting the usefulness of the methods adopted (for this study) especially for large-scale evaluation of troop location points.

The Legitimation of Intervention Through Collective Security Regime: Some Policy Implications of the Gulf War By Celestine O. Bassey (Ph.D)

The paper examines some policy implication for the Third World State in the post-cold war era of the enforcement action in the Gulf against Iraq taken under Chapter VII, Articles 39 United Nations Charter as reinforced by the General Assembly Resolution 3314, Article 2. It argues basically that the end of the reciprocal checks and balances on great powers ambitions in the post-cold war era has, in effect, transformed the United Nations into an 'agency of collective legitimation" for the emerging hegemony in the "new world order" – the coalition of dominant Western powers. Any unilateral attempt, therefore, by "dissatisfied" Third World States to challenge or fundamentally alter this status quo is inevitably bound to draw a forceful counter response. Nevertheless, such a response in the present and likely future condition will depend preeminently on the congruence between the goals of the collective enforcement action of the Untied Nations and the geopolitical interests of the dominant power whose defence and foreign policy consensus are so " firmly interlinked with those of the international system as to make them virtually interlinked with those of the international system as to make them virtually indistinguishable" in the context of inexorable process of globalisation. It is apparent that the security agenda of the periphery countries in the 1990s and beyond will be significantly different from the ones we have been used to since 1945. The deeper reality is that the centre is now more dominants, and the periphery more subordinate, than at any time since decolonization began.