Nigeria: A vicious cycle: The growth of terrorism and counterterrorism in Nigeria, 1999–2016

2019 ◽  
pp. 409-432
Author(s):  
Jennifer Giroux ◽  
Michael Nwankpa
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Organized Violence ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
The Impact

Violence in Nigeria has a tendency to shape-shift - from violent crimes, such as kidnapping and robbery, to various expressions of political violence, such as terrorism and insurgency, as well as police and military brutality.  Indeed, because of this, it’s difficult to talk about one type of violence without appreciating not only how it relates to specific contextual conditions but also to other forms of violence, which often overlap each other. Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 the term ‘terrorism’ has increasingly been a part of the national discourse on security. On the one hand, the government refers to countering terrorism within the framework of its national security agenda while on the other hand, insurgent movements, namely those that have emerged in the southern Niger Delta region as well as the northeast, have increasingly used terrorism as one of many tactics within their violent campaigns. Though one can certainly make the argument that terrorism in Nigeria has been a growing concern, particularly in the last decade, analysis tends to look at the phenomenon in isolation rather than considering how it is connected to other forms of violence, and more importantly, how state responses to organized violence drive non-state groups to adopt new tactics and escalate conflict. To fill this gap this article will look at how terrorism is understood and experienced in Nigeria and how its conceptualization shapes the practice of counter-terrorism. Our analysis will capture both international and domestic factors - including the impact of 9/11 and subsequent EU and US efforts to counter terrorism in Nigeria - as well domestic realities, namely the societal impact of Nigeria's 1999 transformation from long military to democratic rule as well as the more recent insurgencies in the Niger Delta (2005-2009) and in the northeast (2009-present). Combined, analyzing the domestic and international considerations over a 15-year time period will allow us to trace how the conceptualization of terrorism and practice of counter-terrorism has changed over time.

scholarly journals An Impact Assessment of the National Policy on Guidelines and Standards for Environmental Pollution Control in Nigeria, 1991: A Case Study of the Niger Delta

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 5155-5162
Author(s):  
Dr. Korikiye Wenibowei
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
Gas Flaring ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
The Government ◽  
Guidelines And Standards ◽  
The Impact

Oil exploration and exploitation has been on-going in the Niger Delta region in several decades. This has had disastrous effects on the region’s biodiversity and socio-economic environment. More importantly, the peoples’ sources of livelihood have been greatly affected due to pollution resulting from gas flaring and oil spills from explorative and exploitative activities. In the face of all these, there are existing laws and policies aimed at controlling and preserving the environment from total destruction. The main focus of this paper is the evaluation of the impact of the national policy on environment particularly the Federal Government Policy on the “Guidelines and Standards for Environmental Pollution Control, 1991” as a regulatory instrument for environmental management in Nigeria. The findings based on secondary data reveals that policies as guiding principles and regulations are essential but the enforcement of these policies have not been effective enough to attain the desired objectives for which they are enacted. The paper posits that the lack of enforcement of the policy on the guidelines and standards for environmental pollution control in Nigeria in the Niger Delta region has resulted in the continuous degradation of the region’s environment, producing very severe hardship on the people as this directly affect the economic sources of survival. The country’s dependence on crude oil revenue buttresses the lackluster approach by the government to environment law enforcement in the Niger Delta region. Thus, oil spillages and gas flaring is continuing in the Niger Delta region.

scholarly journals Terrorist campaigns and the growth of the Muslim population: a reply

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Clara Egger ◽  
Raul Magni-Berton
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract A recently published paper in this journal (Choi, 2021) establishes a statistical link between, on the one hand, Islamist terrorist campaigns – including terrorist attacks and online propaganda – and, on the other the growth of the Muslim population. The author explains this result by stating that successful campaigns lead some individuals to convert to Islam. In this commentary, we intend to reply to this article by focusing on the impact of terrorist attacks on religious conversion. We first show that Choi's results suffer from theoretical flaws – a failure to comprehensively unpack the link between violence and conversion – and methodological shortcomings – a focus on all terrorist groups over a period where Islamist attacks were rare. This leads us to replicate Choi's analysis by distinguishing Islamist and non-Islamist terror attacks on a more adequate timeframe. By doing so, we no longer find empirical support for the relationship between terror attacks and the growth of the Muslim population. However, our analyses suggest that such a hypothesis may hold but only in contexts where the level and intensity of political violence are high.

scholarly journals An analysis of the circumstances and factors that have influenced the development of Animation Industry in Iran in the 1960-2002 periods

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (SE) ◽  
pp. 61-77
Author(s):  
Naser Golmohammadi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Animation Industry ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Iranian History ◽  
The Government ◽  
Printed Materials ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

In the early part of 20th century animation emerged as a revolutionary way of making art. It evolved into a powerful means of expression and creativity of artists who could merge all art genres into one art form. The subsequent developments of animation have opened its diverse uses in entertainment business, education and political propaganda. This article attempts to examine the factors that have influenced and shaped the development of animation industry in Iran. It takes a historical view and investigates the impacts of changing socio-economic and political forces that have determined the functions of animation in the Iranian society. The study traces the establishment of the industry to the government-run centres, describing the pioneering role of artists who gave rise to the ‘golden age’ of animation in the pre-revolutionary Iran. Especial attention is throughout paid to the long and rich cultural and artistic heritages, as the thematic basis for indigenously produced animated films in Iran. The growth of the industry is considered in conjuncture with the expansion of feature films cinema and expansion of television networks. The latter is particularly important for the fact that it provides a secured market for a sizeable audience of children and young people in Iran. The study analyses the impact of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on the animation industry from a period of stagnation to a highly promoted and government sponsored artistic and industrial activity. In the post-revolutionary period, the industry was transformed from one reflecting the Iranian history and culture to the one that emphasises the Islamic-Iranian values and Islamic traditions; hence animation has become an ideological means in propagating the cultural policy of the state. Thus, animation has increasingly become a cultural industry assigned to supply growing needs of television and artistic works reserved for international festivals.This research is largely based on extensive interviews with animation artists and those who are working in the industry complemented with a sample of questionnaires addressed to both Iranian artists and foreign observers and participants in the Iranian International festivals on animation. The research methodology is also supplemented with the research on printed materials – very few and often descriptive- and personal experience of working over twenty years in the industry.

scholarly journals E-Government services in Moldova: Value and opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 325 ◽  
pp. 347-358
Author(s):  
Mihai Grecu ◽  
Ilie Costaş ◽  
Artus Reaboi
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Electronic Government ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Telecommunications Infrastructure ◽  
Technology Changes ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Impact

Technological progress in ICT has created conditions for a new government paradigm - from a government that leads to a government providing services to society. Technology changes the nature of the connection between government and citizens: governance becomes more participatory and citizens' interests prevail. The impact of e-Government solutions is complex, on multiple levels, depending on the maturity of the models applied and the capacity of citizens and business to assimilate e-Government services. In a short time, electronic government services in Moldova have evolved from simple information services to integrated transactional services. On the one hand, this is due to high performance telecommunications infrastructure (broadband, 2G, 3G and 4G technology) and, on the other hand, to citizens' expectations that boosted recently and determined the government to accelerate the implementation of new e-services, increasingly complex and a better quality. The paper addresses the issue of e-Government services in terms of the value that it gives to the government and to citizens' lives and analyzes opportunities to develop e-Government services in the new technological and social realities.

Coverage of Government and Judiciary Relationship: A Study of Urdu and English Newspapers of Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Behramand Durrani ◽  
◽  
Riffat Alam
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One ◽  
National Reconciliation

This present study analyzes the role played by the media during the controversy between Government of Pakistan and its Supreme Court in 2012. This study is particularly focused on the issues pertinent to the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case. It employed content analysis as research study and quantitatively examined the columns in the Pakistani newspapers; including, Dawn and Daily Jang for the one year time period in the year 2012. A conflicting relationship has been found between the government and judiciary concerning the National reconciliation ordinance (NRO). It was concluded that Dawn and Daily Jang, both newspapers, follow the same agenda about the NRO issue as both of these newspapers offered negative coverage of this issue. Compared to Jang, Dawn was more inclined to the negative framing of judiciary, and Jang was inclined to the negative reporting of government performance. Hence, the Pakistani Print media has framed the issues negatively between the government and the judiciary. Frequent negative slants were observed in Urdu newspaper as compared to English newspaper.

Current Economic and Political Dispensation and Teacher Education Programs in Niger Delta Region

2016 ◽  
pp. 1424-1437
Author(s):  
Nwachukwu Prince Ololube ◽  
Nanighe Baldwin Major ◽  
Peter James Kpolovie
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
The Impact

In this chapter we highlighted the impact of the current economic and political dispensation in Nigeria and its impact on teacher education programs and the means of enhancing teacher education in the Niger Delta region. This paper is a conceptual and methodological breakthrough in Nigeria's academic landscape where qualitative and quantitative experiences highlight issues that are pertinent to teacher education program in the Niger Delta. The chapter proposed that the Niger Delta region's and the entire Nigeria's teacher education programs would be advanced if the component parts of the current economic and political disposition are resolved. This chapter contends that the Niger Delta region has the potential to address the challenges currently faced in the region such as social disruption (violence threat), poverty, hunger, disease, conflict, marginalization, and the achievement and improvement for effective teacher education programs. This chapter is of the immense judgment that successfully addressing the challenges currently faced in the Niger Delta region, teacher education programs will greatly improve qualitatively and quantitatively.

Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and Key Characteristics of Greek Agro-Firms

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Lemonakis
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Efficiency Assessment ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Financial Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to investigate key characteristics for the competitiveness in Greek agro-firms during the time period 2004 to 2011, based on firm level financial data. The study attempts to determine the firms' efficiency as well as the impact of exporting activity in agro-firms competitiveness, and more specifically in fisheries, farms with livestock and farms with fruits, vegetables and cereals. Although many empirical studies have been conducted relative to manufacturing firms' financial characteristics, limited research exists on agro-food firms. The use of DEA method seems to be a very useful tool for efficiency assessment and identification of best practices in firms' management for both managers and the Government as well in order to facilitate the growth of the agricultural sector.

The Arab Spring and the International Defense Market

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jeroen Klomp
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Abnormal Return ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Dynamic Panel Model ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
Stock Market Return ◽  
The One ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the political violence during the Arab Spring on the stock market return of international defense firms. The direction of this impact is not directly straightforward as the civil unrests influence the expectations of investors in two opposite ways. On the one hand, investors might expect that when the peaceful demonstrations were turned into violent events, the Arab governments involved will start acquiring more military-strategic goods to repress the protests or send a strong signal of power to ensure their stay in office. However, on the other hand, when the popular protests escalated, investors, perhaps, became more concerned about the possible imposition of international military sanctions against the Arab Spring countries to restore peace and protect human rights. The main empirical findings of a dynamic panel model clearly confirm this pattern and point out that when the Arab Spring originated, the abnormal return of international defense stocks starts to rise immediately. However, in the course of time, the concerns of the introduction of arms embargoes become stronger and eventually start to dominate, causing the abnormal return to fall again, while the idiosyncratic risk began to fall due to enhanced diversification. It turns out that firm-specific factors can explain a substantial part of the effect found. For instance, the reaction of investors to the Arab Spring is significantly larger for firms that produce predominantly military goods.

scholarly journals The political use of victimhood: Spanish collective memory of ETA through the war on terror paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Charlotte Heath-Kelly ◽  
Laura Fernández de Mosteyrín
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
International War ◽  
The Impact

AbstractVictims have become a topic of scholarly debate in conflict studies, especially regarding the impact of their activism on the evolution and termination of violence. Victims of terrorism are now enlisted within counter-terrorism, given their moral authority as spokespeople for counter-narratives and de-escalation. Our research explores how Spanish terrorism victims’ associations have evolved across eras of political violence and how they mediate the translation of international War on Terror discourses into Spanish counter-terrorism. We offer a topography of how the War on Terror has opened a ‘social front’ in Spanish counter-terrorism, with Spanish political elites prominently employing the victims’ associations to this end. Contemporary terrorism discourses are read back onto the memory of ETA, with victims’ associations assisting the equation of ETA with al-Qaeda and ISIS. Collective memory of the defeat of ETA has also contributed the veneer of ‘lessons learned’ to contemporary counter-terrorism measures. Our research explores the fluidity of terrorism-memory and the importation of global terrorism discourses into Spanish politics, relying upon interviews with key stakeholders in victims’ associations, local politics, and the research director of the new Victims of Terrorism Memorial Centre in Vitoria.

A Comparative Study of the Relationship Between Time and Criminal Justice: the New Face of Criminal Statutes of Limitations in Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-334
Author(s):  
Simone Lonati
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
Limitation Periods ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Made In

Addressing the need to avoid punishing long past events that have fallen into oblivion, only to then come into play when the government, by means of proceedings, stages a re-enactment and thus a reminiscence of those events: statutes of limitations in criminal law are marked by an axiological ambiguity. The debate on their quomodo becomes particularly heated when the focus turns to the possible interferences between limitation periods and criminal proceedings. The discussion stems from the difficult attempt to balance primary and essentially heterogeneous interests: on the one hand, protecting the accused from the “punishment of trial” and, on the other, providing the criminal justice system with adequate time for prosecuting and adjudicating criminal offences as a way to effectively protect the interests harmed by the commission of certain crimes. Furthermore, there is a widespread concern to avoid instrumental conducts by the parties solely aimed at running out the clock. The matter is undoubtedly complex, as the issues and implications it gives rise to are multiple and varied. In an attempt to outline a possible statutory framework that may govern the relationship between the passage of time after the commission of an offence and the time needed for its adjudication, it may be useful to expand the knowledge base from which to draw upon in order to identify appropriate solutions: to look beyond domestic boundaries is, after all, good practice when faced with an impasse. This analysis aims to closely examine the choices made in two legal systems-Germany and Spain-whose legal traditions are the closest to Italy. Firstly, the study will describe the key features characterizing, in general, limitation periods for criminal offences. Subsequently, special attention will be paid to the rules governing the impact that the launch and dynamics of criminal proceedings have on the running of limitation periods. Based on the differences and especially the similarities between the respective rules in force in the two countries, it will be possible to formulate a number of observations regarding the provisions implemented by the Italian legislator. Lastly, comparing and contrasting the German and Spanish legal experiences will allow a closer look at the more recent reforms of statutes of limitations in Italy, to the extent that the latter appear roughly inspired by the principles applied in the aforementioned systems.

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