African Growth Miracle in a Changing Global Order: A Myth or Reality?

The Boko Haram insurgency has been a devastating conflict in terms of loss of lives, property, and downfall of economic activity in Nigeria. Indeed, the Boko Haram Conflict has not only adversely affected the most populous country in Africa but affected all countries in the Chad Basin. Religious extremism has been identified as one of the factors behind the Boko Haram Sect but there is a dearth of quality research on that subject. Many other studies have explored the social and political factors behind the sect. This research has drawn a nexus between the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria to religious extremism, as well as some remote social and political factors that have contributed to the rise of the sect. The continuing terror being visited in several areas of Northern Nigeria and some other West African countries has necessitated the need of a probe into the root cause and factors influencing the growth of the sect. This is geared towards finding a sustainable solution to the conflict and similar conflicts that may want to arise in future. The research methodology deployed by the researcher includes qualitative and doctrinal methods. The research is in 4 sections, and it explores the different conceptions of terrorism, insurgency, and religious extremism and how they can be used to explain the nature of Boko Haram's operations. The research also assesses the future outlook of the Boko Haram insurgency, considering the coalition of the armed terrorist group with the Islamic State West African Province and what this means for the fight against insurgency in the Chad Basin region. In conclusion, the research recommends that Nigeria will need to address several issues ranging from economic challenges, as well as getting external support in fighting the Boko Haram insurgents.

Since 2009, Boko Haram, first referred to as Jama’atu Ahl al-Sunnah li-Da’awati wal-Jihad (JASDJ), meaning "Group of the People of the Sunna for Preaching and Jihad," has caused significant unrest in Nigeria, especially in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. This report provides proof of global participation in the conspiracy related to the Boko Haram conflict in this area. The study examines historical data to assess the effects of the conflict, investigates conspiracy theories, and reveals both internal and external cooperation linked to Boko Haram. This study utilised a qualitative secondary data methodology, relying on previously collected information from diverse sources such as academic publications, governmental documents, news media, organisational archives, and historical records. The research findings indicate that the international community is actively engaged in the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria's northeastern states. This study reveals the presence of conspiracy theories regarding Boko Haram's actions in the North-Eastern States, illuminating the intricate nature of the conflict. The study offers insights into the complex aspects of the Boko Haram insurgency, encompassing foreign involvement, conspiracy theories, and economic effects, through a comprehensive review of historical data and secondary sources. The research demonstrated that the Boko Haram insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has expanded into adjacent nations within the Lake Chad Basin, aided by pre-existing cultural and religious connections and associations with militant organisations in other areas.

National integration and nation building is a complex process in a multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria. The problem of insecurity facing Nigeria, most especially the North-eastern region at this point in time, orchestrated by Boko Haram insurgency draws the attention of well-meaning individual who cares to the need to find rapid solution to this menace. History has demonstrated the difficulty and complexity it entails to unite a people under a government and to create among them a stable cultural, economic, political, and social community. The process has been especially cumbersome where the people to be united have large groups distinguished by their own customs, language, religion and separate identity. The unfortunate security challenges currently faced by the country, with its new ethnic and religious dimension, have once again brought to the fore, the internal contradictions of the Nigerian system. The emergence of the militant sect Boko Haram insurgency and all it represents started like any other protest, but it seems to have come to stay. The battle has been taken to the door step of the government to command attention that breaks across borders. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the effects of Boko Haram insurgency on national integration in Nigeria. The paper discusses Conflict, National Integration and Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria. The researchers employ secondary sources of data collection to generate the required data mainly from books, journals, articles, dissertations, and internet materials. The study adopts a qualitative approach to data analysis to assess the effects of Boko Haram Insurgency and findings indicate that the activities of the Boko Haram Insurgents have extreme effects on national integration and nation building in Nigeria. The paper recommended that Poverty should be address across the country through employment generation by governments at all levels, collaboration between government and the private sector, revamping ailing firms and empowering youths and women through skills acquisition programmes and agricultural practices.

NTDs in the Heart of Darkness: The Democratic Republic of Congo's Unknown Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases

Social media are steadily becoming the dominant means of keeping in touch with one another and veritable channels of public communication of this epoch. Violent crisis like the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria is one of the global phenomena which elicit concern from every rational person. This paper examined the users’ perception of crisis portrayals on social media using the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria as an example. Survey research design was applied with 300 respondents as the sample; multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the samples and questionnaire was the instrument of data collection. The study found that users perceive the portrayals of the crisis on social media as excess and over-blown, especially on Facebook b y mostly users between 15 and 35 years old. Based on the findings, the paper mainly recommends more social media education and barring of youngsters of certain age from the use of Facebook in Nigeria. Keywords: Users, Perception, Crisis, Portrayal, Social Media, Book Haram,

Sexual violence is one of the human rights violations characterising the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. These violations include rape, sexual slavery and the abduction of women and girls by members of the insurgent group. Unfortunately, the emphasis has always been on the provision of humanitarian aid rather than redressing these violations. This article argues that although there are laws in place regulating sexual violence in Nigeria, these laws are inadequate in providing redress for the victims. Besides, the laws are rarely implemented to ensure a system of justice for victims, given the patriarchal and cultural antecedents of Nigeria. It is against this background that the article evaluates the legal framework for redressing sexual violence in the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria with a view to revealing the gap that exists therein. To achieve this aim, the article defines sexual violence and instances of such in the Boko Haram context. It also examines the legal framework for redressing sexual violence in Nigeria and the limitations of these laws in that regard. The article further considers the concept of redress and what it entails. Although the article adopts a legal approach, it is concluded that this approach is inadequate in addressing the issue at stake and that, in addition, a resort to extra-legal or other radical measures is needed. To address this challenge, the article among other things, recommends the eradication of cultural practices and negative values encouraging sexual violence; stipulation of a timeframe within which cases of sexual violence must be redressed; the appointment of an independent monitoring body to ensure the implementation of constitutional provisions in that regard; judicial independence; and advocacy by both civil society organisations and the media as tools to compel the relevant authorities to fulfil their responsibility to protect victims of sexual violence. This, it is submitted, will go a long way to address the vulnerability of Nigerian women and girls faced with sexual violence by insurgent groups.

The concept of displacement is as old as creation. One is said to be internally displaced when one is forced to flee his or her home but remains within his or her country’s borders. The cause can range from, famine, drought, conflicts, and disorders or for development projects. Globally, IDPs are currently rising on a daily basis almost to a crises point. This may be attributed to rising cases of insecurity and insurgency. Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has escalated the problem. This is a qualitative and explanatory research that dwelt more on secondary information. The social psychology theory of the displaced aggression by Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears was applied in this work. Our findings reveal that displacement affects both the government and the victims physically and economically. We recommend that the government of the day should leave no stone unturned in the destruction and annihilation of insurgents. If coercive apparatus fails, investigating the causal and motivating factors contributing to the growth of the insurgency should be explored. This may bring in the necessity for dialogue. Again, in as much as internal displacement is, at times, inevitable, governments should always ensure that the rights of the internally displaced should be protected as states have the primary responsibility for providing the security and well-being of her citizens. The concept of displacement is as old as creation. One is said to be internally displaced when one is forced to flee his or her home but remains within his or her country’s borders. The cause can range from, famine, drought, conflicts, and disorders or for development projects. Globally, IDPs are currently rising on a daily basis almost to a crises point. This may be attributed to rising cases of insecurity and insurgency. Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has escalated the problem. This is a qualitative and explanatory research that dwelt more on secondary information. The social psychology theory of the displaced aggression by Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears was applied in this work. Our findings reveal that displacement affects both the government and the victims physically and economically. We recommend that the government of the day should leave no stone unturned in the destruction and annihilation of insurgents. If coercive apparatus fails, investigating the causal and motivating factors contributing to the growth of the insurgency should be explored. This may bring in the necessity for dialogue. Again, in as much as internal displacement is, at times, inevitable, governments should always ensure that the rights of the internally displaced should be protected as states have the primary responsibility for providing the security and well-being of her citizens.

This paper reviews conflict situations in Nigeria, especially Boko Haram Insurgency, and examines response initiatives by state and non-state actors. It interrogates non-adversarial third party intervention techniques as a veritable instrument to be applied in managing the Boko Haram insurgency. Indeed, ADR techniques as broad range of mechanisms and processes designed to assist parties in resolving differences have potentials for responding to intractable conflict situations, including insurgency. These alternative mechanisms are not intended to supplant court adjudication and other conflict settlement mechanisms, but rather to supplement it. The significance of ADR is with regards to the fact that it provides an opportunity for disputants to resolve disputes creatively and effectively by finding the technique that is appropriate to the unique situation. ADR techniques have readily been used in resolving myriad of disputes that never draw the attention of the court, as well as responding to a handful of cases that were instituted in court. The range of issues are inexhaustible as they include, disputes between neighbours, large commercial cases, small claims such as employment, family, environmental, landlord-tenant, consumer, intra-institutional and large-scale public disputes, plus tort cases (including medical malpractice). At the international level, ADR techniques are used in the settlement of international and non-international armed conflicts and other international disputes as was used by Nigeria and Cameroon in the processes leading to the signing of the Green-Tree Peace Agreement on Bakassi peninsula dispute. The study analyses existing Nigerian literature on conflict, insurgency, dispute resolution and state-building process to arrived at the conclusion on the potentialities on the applicability of ADR techniques in the management of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Nordic countries divided over Global Financing Facility

Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women in conflict and non-conflict settings, but in conflict settings it often receives less attention than other forms of gender-based violence, such as conflict-related sexual violence. Using data from the 2008 and 2013 Domestic Violence module of the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey spatially linked to the Boko Haram actor file of the Armed Conflict Location and Events Database, this paper employs a kernel-based difference-in-difference model to examine the effect of the Boko Haram insurgency on women's experience of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. It also examines the effect of the Boko Haram insurgency on women's experience of controlling behavior from a husband or partner, women's autonomy in household decision making, and their control over their own earnings. The paper finds that the Boko Haram insurgency is associated with slower progress toward preventing and eliminating women's experiences of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. Controlling behaviors from husbands/partners and reductions in women's autonomy in household decision making are heightened in locations that are impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency, indicating that the Boko Haram insurgency adversely affects women's agency and exacerbates behaviors that are often precursors to intimate partner violence.

Aims: As one of the most basic relations between China and African, economic relations are favored by the academic community. Based on the research of existing literature, this paper is mainly to provide a reference and data support for junior researchers who study the direction of Sino-African trade when selecting analysis samples. The possible marginal contributions of the paper include: a clearer understanding of the logistics capabilities of major African countries; provide more appropriate analysis samples; clarify the trade structure between China and Africa. Study Design: Using official data sources such as the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and China Customs, this study adopts a logistics capability analysis perspective and selects African sample countries suitable for academic research, taking into account the structure of Sino-African trade. Place and Duration of Study: Sino-African trade data from 2015 to 2024, as recorded by China Customs. Methodology: By analyzing the total trade value between China and Africa from 2015 to 2024, the top 10 countries in terms of total trade volume in each year are selected. Then, the frequency of occurrence in these countries is analyzed. Finally, the selected countries are confirmed by analyzing the level of logistics infrastructure in African countries. Results: In the statistical data from 2015 to 2024, six countries—Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria, and Algeria—appeared with a frequency of 10. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Morocco appeared with frequencies of 9, 8, 6, and 5, respectively. The Republic of the Congo and Liberia appeared with a frequency of 3, while Guinea, Libya, and Ethiopia appeared with a frequency of 2. Conclusion: Ten countries – Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria, Algeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Morocco – are the most suitable countries for the sample. Among them, South Africa has the most outstanding capabilities in air transport and rail transport; Egypt has the most outstanding capabilities in container port transportation; Morocco is the most capable in liner shipping.

2019 marked 10 years since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria—a violent conflict that later spilled over to Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, killing over 37000 people and displacing 2.6 million. For over a decade, researchers and policy makers in peacebuilding and development have been trying to understand the drivers of conflict in order to find lasting solutions. Whilst violent conflicts rarely have straightforward explanations, the narrative on the Boko Haram insurgency has been somewhat reductionist, largely addressing the role of religion, and to a lesser extent, other drivers. Moreover, a lot of the literature has focused on Nigeria, for the obvious reason that it was the birthplace of Boko Haram and the epicentre of its activities. As a result of the disproportionate focus on Nigeria, data on the conditions in the affected regions and provinces of Chad, Cameroon, and Niger that facilitated the regional spill over are very minimal. To fill the gap, this article examines the role of the underdevelopment of public infrastructure and socio-economic deprivation as underlying drivers of the insurgency in all four affected countries. Complemented by data from secondary sources, the article builds on primary evidence from field observation, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions in Borno State of Nigeria, the Lake Province of Chad, the Far North Region of Cameroon, and the Diffa Region of Niger, to establish the link between infrastructural development gaps, illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty and the Boko Haram insurgency.

The topic of this study titled ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI), the media and security challenges in Nigeria’ is a theoretical paper. To carry out this study phenomenological method in qualitative research was used. The work was guided by three (3) objectives, one of which is to ascertain the role of the media in awareness creation on artificial intelligence. Two (2) theories namely: agenda setting theory and value change theory were used. The paper delved into - application of AI in emerging terrorist sophistication, role of the media in information dissemination, challenges of deploying AI to curb the excesses of herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Four (4) recommendations were proffered, one of which was that the media should continue to create awareness on the use of AI in combating farmers/herders conflicts and Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Child nutrition during conflict and displacement: evidence from areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria

The spread of COVID-19 has been devastating for the millions of people who have been infected by the virus and lost their lives and the tens of millions of people who have lost their work and livelihoods. Governments and civil society have responded swiftly to the virus with policies that reduce human interaction and slow its spread. These policies have had the adverse effect of further reducing labour participation, productivity and capital utilization, reducing household consumption and increasing poverty across various thresholds, both in absolute and relative terms (Dabalen and Paci, 2020; International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2020b; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2020a; Roberton et al., 2020; Verity et al., 2020; World Trade Organization [WTO], 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced economic growth and altered patterns of international economic interaction. While we are still in the midst of the crisis, there is real concern that the majority of macroeconomic effects will not be temporary, but will disproportionately shift long-term development pathways in low- and middle-income countries, offsetting some of the gains made towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in recent decades. In this report, we study the long-term dynamics of COVID-19 at the country level in Africa through a macroeconomic lens. Specifically, we analyse how today’s effects on country-level mortality, gross domestic product (GDP) growth and international monetary flows of trade, aid, foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances will shape long-term patterns of mortality, economic growth and international trade by 2030 and 2050. In addition, we unravel how these macroeconomic changes will affect socio-economic indicators and human development by quantifying the outcomes for child mortality and poverty over the coming decades. This report presents a conceptual framework (see Figure 1) that conceptualizes the effects of COVID-19 on human development as cascading across three systems. First, COVID-19 directly effects human health systems, changing patterns of mortality and morbidity with differential distribution across countries. Second, these direct health effects are mitigated through government policy and civil society actions that reduce human interaction, slowing the spread of the virus and saving lives while also reducing economic activity and changing patterns of production and consumption. Finally, these changing economic effects ripple through the international economic system, changing patterns of trade, FDI, foreign aid and remittances. Some countries may have fewer direct health effects from COVID-19 – a finding particularly relevant for many countries in Africa – but may experience more direct effects from changing patterns of international economic interdependence.We model these dynamics across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Cabo Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa (referred to as the Africa-10). The countries were selected based on regional spread, differences in their domestic economic structure, and their dependency and interconnectedness with the global economic system. We use the International Futures (IFs) model to assess the immediate and long-term consequences of COVID-19 across these first-, second- and third-order effects. We built scenarios with diverging assumptions around the COVID-19 effect on mortality in 2020 and GDP growth and international trade in 2020 and 2021. We compare these scenarios with a No-COVID scenario, representing a world in which COVID-19 did not occur.