Browsing by Author "Solomon I. Ifekija"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    ALL FOR OIL: THE UNITED STATES, CHINA AND NIGERIA'S NATIONAL SECURITY INTEREST IN THE GULF OF GUINEA
    (Gregory University, Uturu, 2015-12) Luqman Saka; Solomon I. Ifekija; Aliu, Fatima O.
    The increasing volatility of the international energy market; the instability in the Middle East and the new discovery of major off-shore oil fields in the Gulf of Guinea have all contributed to amplifying the geo-strategic importance of the region in the perception threshold of major powers and their energy companies. The authorization of the United States' Africa Command, AFRICOM, signifies the increasing strategic importance of the Gulf of Guinea to the major powers. While the US and China have defined the GoG as of great strategic national interest, the resource area is also strategic to Nigeria for number of reasons. Nigeria has continued to discover new super oil fields of fits coast. There is also the fluid security situation in the Niger Delta and the diminishing contribution of onshore oil fields to the nation's annual oil production. There is also steady rise in incidence of piracy/terrorism in the waters off Nigeria coast, as well arms smuggling among others. The paper employs the theory of political realism, which places high premium on the struggle for and use of power in the pursuit of national interest. The paper argues that security threats against Nigeria's national interest are real in the GoG. Given the military dimension of the threats, Nigeria should strengthen its military presence as well as networking with key GoG states
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    Elections and Democratization in Nigeria: Some thoughts on the 2015 Genral Election
    (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, 2019-06) Hassan A. Saliu; Solomon I. Ifekija; Aliu Fatima O.
    Election in Nigeria since the advent of the fourth republic have been unique and remarkable. However, the 2015 general elections unarguably remain the most prominent in the history of elections and election management in Nigeria owing to the high significant changes it brought onto the countries electoral system and politics in general. The paper examines the 2015 general election with a focus on the changes brought in their wake with respect to the processes and the impacts of their outcomes on the country's democracy. The paper finds out that while certain common elements that have characterized Nigeria's electoral process and system since independence, such as lack of credible party primaries, electoral violence, electoral malpractice among others, resurfaced in the 2015 elections, the country's electoral and political space witnessed major transformations including technological innovation, improved funding for INEC, signing of peace accord by major political parties, and the acceptance of defeat by the incumbent candidate, all of which speak volume about improved transparency of the entire process and relative success of the polls. In light of this, the paper argues that Nigeria needs to consolidate on the gains brought about by those changes as a way of bracing up for future elections and further strengthening her democracy. Expectedly, the paper recommends among others, the integration of peace accord into Nigeria's electoral law.
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    THE CHALLENGES OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN NIGERIA'S FOURTH REPUBLIC
    (Journal of Political Science, Caritas University, 2018) Hassan A. Saliu; Solomon I. Ifekija; Aliu, Fatima O.
    The prolonged military rule in Nigeria left an appalling human rights record for the country. The period saw gross violations of human rights at extreme degrees, a situation that became a source of great concern to both Nigerians and the rest of the worlds. it was in fact an era of systematic state-sponsored pattern of human rights abuse. The patterns of human rights violations in those days resultantly gave rise to various mass movement that challenged the long-seated military rule demanding a handover of political power to civilians. The paper employs the documentary methods of date collection and analysis, while the Social Contract Theory provided the basic framework for the explanation.