Garrison state structure of Egypt and its implications for growth and development

Ever since Egypt’s independence in 1952, its military has enjoyed political leverage and patronage unparalleled to any other institution in the country. The domination of the military in the state’s civil apparatus can be deemed as a key factor that has undermined Egypt’s socio-economic growth and development. This paper, therefore, by employing Garrison State theory, formulated by Harold Laswell, aims to understand the ramifications of military domination on Egypt’s political economy. While examining its impact on the country’s macro-economy, the paper also examines the implication of military domination on Egypt’s socio-economic indicators, namely: health, education, income, and gender equality. Structuring the analysis on Amartya Sen’s schema of Development as Freedom, the paper concludes that diversification and democratization of the political structure are imperative to overcome the plight of underdevelopment in Egypt Keywords: Political Economy, Garrison State, Egypt, Military, Growth, Development, Freedom

Buying peace or building peace? AmnesBuying peace or building peace? Amnesty deals and the rising armed banditry in Northwestern Nigeria ty deals and the rising armed banditry in Northwestern Nigeria

In light of the failure of the Nigerian military in containing the bandits in the northwest, the nonmilitary solution was advanced as an alternative to address the violence. This came in the form of amnesty deals involving “financial settlement”, among others, for the bandits in exchange for peace. However, rather than containing the crisis, the amnesty deal acted in opposite direction, leading to its escalation. It is in this context that this study interrogates the changing dynamics of banditry in the region. It contends that three interrelated factors were responsible for the failure of the amnesty deals. First, the bandits are cluster groups without any identifiable central leadership, thus, amnesty for some groups only encourage the proliferation of more groups for material accumulation. Secondly, the intricate linkage between banditry in northwest and terrorism in the northeast has implication for the escalation of the crisis. Lastly, lack of commitment to the deals by bandit groups who operate transnationally without respect or recognition for national laws or governments. The study recommends a new approach through which banditry can be curbed in Nigeria. Keywords: Amnesty deal, banditry, security, northwestern Nigeria

Regulating social media in Nigeria: A quantitative perception study

The advent of social networks as Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, among others, has revolutionized communications. The power of social media messages rests on its ability to instantly and simultaneously reach a wide, diverse audience, and transforming social life. While the public has overtime become accustomed to the regulation of conventional media like the Radio, TV and Print establishments by government regulatory agencies, the idea of regulating social media, a space which many users consider to be the major avenue to air their views, is one that has generated mixed feelings. This study seeks to understand the perception of everyday Nigerian social media users towards government's attempt to regulation social media, amidst the recently proposed Social Media Regulation Bill by the Nigerian lawmakers. The respondents randomly selected for this study were the University of Abuja students and the researcher adopted the survey research design to collect information from the population through questionnaires. The findings indicated that despite respondents' awareness of the possible demerits of an unregulated social media, majority of them (54%) kick against the idea of social media regulation, while a substantial (46%) support the move on the provision that it is not politicized. The study therefore recommends transparency and openness on the part of government officials for better cooperation by the public. Keywords: Media regulation, Social media regulation, Free speech, Social media bill.

Rethinking the taproot of the security challenges in Africa: bringing back the colonial legacy

This paper offers a counter-narrative to the constricted Western narratives that often discount how colonial domination, exploitation, and external interference have shaped Africa’s past and present, especially in the area of security. It focuses on the numerous security challenges in Africa and its complex historical nexus to the colonial legacy. The piece draws from the variegated dominant arguments and counterarguments on African (in)security issues, colonial rule, and the theoretical security models and concepts. The paper demonstrates, through an exploration of the formation of postcolonial states, that colonialism cannot be excused as some distant root cause of the security problem on the continent, but has deliberately crafted some specific subjects, societies and states that serve to perpetuate the challenges in the security complex of Africa. Keywords: security, colonial legacy, nation-state, Africa