Following years of its evil war on Nigeria and its immediate neighbors, events in the last few weeks indicate that there is a coordinated major military offensive by these countries that has resulted in retaking a string of border towns from Boko Haram. A surprising series of military successes leading to scores of deaths of the extremist fighters come ahead of talks in Cameroon to agree on details of the 7,500-strong taskforce proposed by the African Union to tackle the militant Islamist group. Reports suggest Chadian troops have crossed into North-eastern Nigeria and re-captured at least three border towns,…
Author: CASADE
All governments face the same problem: how can they know whether the actions they take to benefit citizens are successful or are, instead, wasting valuable resources and slowing social and economic progress? Obtaining that knowledge is hard and often considered a quixotic ambition, particularly in the data-poor environments of many middle- and low-income countries. Taking time to learn how well government programs work has also been criticized as a technocratic sideshow to the main stage of politics. The tide is turning, however. Throughout the world policymakers and citizens alike are recognizing that the very legitimacy of public sector institutions…
Mudiaga Erhueh. The aftermath of the terrorist attacks in France during the first week of 2015, in which seventeen people were killed introduced a new dimension to the fight against terrorism. As a result of the attacks, Paris was arguably the most powerful site to be on 11 January 2015, because around forty-four world leaders were in the same place, at the same time, for the same cause – to peacefully say ‘no’ to terrorism. Even the French President is reported to have stated that, “Paris is today the capital of the world.” This response to the attacks with…
Jake Effoduh. The Niger Delta is one of the ten most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems in the world and is home to more than thirty-one million people.[1] Its massive oil deposits have been extracted for decades by the government of Nigeria and multinational oil companies. Extracted crude oil has generated more than six hundred billion U.S dollars since the 1960s;[2] but environmental quality and sustainability of the overall wellbeing and development of the region remain a serious concern as more than sixty percent of the people in the region depends on the natural environment for livelihood.[3] The environmental resource…
Godwin Haruna. The African Union has officially launched the Kigali Action Plan, which translates into a 50-million euro agreement to bring drinking water, basic toilets and hygiene promotion to 10 million Africans in 10 countries. The action plan has come as the United Nations enters final negotiations on the next 15-year blueprint for development within the framework of Sustainable Development Goals. The present draft includes a dedicated goal on water and sanitation. The programme, agreed with the African Development Bank and led by the government of Rwanda, is designed to make water and sanitation programmes higher priority in national spending…
John O. Ifediora. In all oil producing countries in Africa, a major source of lethal environmental pollutants derive from flaring of natural gas. On the landscapes of these countries, dotted with oil drilling equipments, plumes of smoke incessantly belch into the atmosphere serving notice of their nasty consequences. When crude oil is pumped out of the ground it is accompanied by natural gas, which in turn contains contaminants such as Hydrogen Sulphide and Carbon Dioxide. But since natural gas is not the primary object of drilling, the accompanying gas is flared or burnt. However, combustion converts Hydrogen Sulphide into Sulphur…
Steven Block, Tufts University. Agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa has been a qualified success. Total factor productivity growth has increased rapidly since the early 1980s. By the early 2000s, average annual TFP growth was roughly four times faster than it had been 25 years earlier. This period of accelerated growth, however, followed nearly 20 years of declining rates of TFP growth subsequent to independence in the early 1960s. Average agricultural TFP growth for sub-Saharan Africa was 0.14% per year during 1960 – 84, and increased to 1.24% per year from 1985 – 2002. The average over this period was…
This white paper was prepared by the Counterintelligence Strategic Partnership Unit of the FBI. This paper is unclassified in its entirety. Foreword This white paper was prepared by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Strategic Partnership Unit to provide awareness to administrators, senior researchers, export control offices, and technology transfer offices at higher education institutions about how foreign intelligence services and non-state actors use US colleges and universities to further their intelligence and operational needs. This paper is unclassified and fulfills part of the FBI’s goal of building awareness with public and private entities about counterintelligence risks and national security issues. Executive Summary…
“The importance of public revenue to the underdeveloped countries can hardly be exaggerated if they are to achieve their hopes of accelerated progress.” -Nicolas Kaldor, Foreign Affairs, January 1963. “I have made revenue collection a frontline institution because it is the one which can emancipate us from begging, from disturbing friends… if we can get about 22 percent of GDP we should not need to disturb anybody by asking for aid….instead of coming here to bother you, give me this, give me this, I shall come here to greet you, to trade with you.” -Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda (which…
Paul Oluikpe. With the February, 2015 presidential elections looming, a lot of security concerns became immediately apparent as political parties traverse the country’s landscape canvassing for votes and unfolding their manifestos. The historical landscape of Nigeria’s politics is littered with profound samples of election violence. At independence this nascent giant was hailed and propped up by Britain, its former colonial occupying power, as an example of the English expertise in developing and liberating her subjects. As a result Nigeria’s leaders were courted far and wide by nations willing to identify with its goodwill and potential greatness in the comity…