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Though the history of hikes in petroleum prices began in 1973 when
the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon increased the price of
petrol to 9 kobo per litre from the equivalent of 8.8 kobo that had
prevailed before then, the politics and economics of removal of
subsidies on premium petroleum products entered into the national
lexicon in 1986 when the military administration of General Ibrahim
Babangida announced that due to the devaluation of the Naira, the
domestic price of fuel had become unsustainable cheap and was
becoming a burden on the national purse. Ever since, most regimes
in the country have toyed with the idea of removing the subsidies,
with organised labour and the civil society usually vehemently
opposed to the idea. In late 2011 the Jonathan administration
announced plans to completely remove the subsidies but gave no
timeline amid threats by organised labour, students and civil
society groups to stoutly resist the move. On January 1 2012, the
regime announced the removal of the subsidies and subsequently
reiterated that its decision on the issue was irreversible. It
however announced some measures, including the provision of buses,
to help cushion the impact of the move. This volume takes a
critical look at the politics and economics of the pro- and
anti-subsidisation lobbies. It also examines the likely economic
and social impacts of the move and its implications for the poor,
the overall economy and the country's democratic project.
_____________________________ Jideofor Adibe has been a Guest
research fellow in a number of institutions across the world
including the Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen, Denmark;
the Nordic Institute for African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, the
Centre for Developing Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal,
Canada and the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of
London, UK. He currently teaches political science at Nasarawa
State University, Keffi and also writes a weekly column for the
Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust. He is equally a member of the
paper's Editorial Board. _________
In this study we look at how free speech interests are balanced
against the need to protect reputation in American and English
defamation laws. We studied cases from both countries to see how
this tension is resolved. We pay special attention to 'public
interest' defence since the media often justifies its attack on
reputation on 'public interest', even when it is substituting its
own interest for this 'public interest'.
Boko Haram has been one of the most important sources of security
challenges facing the Nigerian government since the group became
radicalised in 2009 following a government clampdown and eventual
death of their founder Mohamed Yusuf. The monograph critically
interrogates the various explanatory theses for the emergence and
radicalisation of the group and concludes that the sect is merely a
symptom of the severe crisis that has engulfed the country's
nation-building. This crisis, it argues, has triggered a massive
de-Nigerianisation process, often with the state as the enemy:
those entrusted with the nation's common patrimony steal it blind,
law enforcement officers turn the other way if you offer them a
little inducement, organised labour, including university lecturers
go on prolonged strikes on a whim, students resort to cultism and
exam malpractices and workers drag their feet, refuse to put in
their best and engage in moonlighting. Most people and groups seem
to have one form of grouse or the other against the Nigerian state
and its institutions, meaning that unless the trend is urgently
reversed, there is a risk of having Nigeria without Nigerians.
Jideofor Adibe studied political science at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka and holds a doctorate degree in International
Development Studies from Roskilde University, Denmark. He also
holds an LLM degree in Media Law from City University, London and
equally studied the New Economic Powers at Oxford University, UK.
He has been a Guest Research Fellow at several research institutes
across the world including the Centre for Development Research,
Copenhagen, Denmark, the Nordic Institute for African Studies,
Uppsala, Sweden, the Centre for Developing Area Studies, McGill
University, Montreal, Canada and the Institute for Commonwealth
Studies, University of London, UK. Dr Adibe teaches political
science at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria and is also
the founding editor of the quarterly, peer-reviewed journal,
African Renaissance, which has been published continuously since
June 2004. He is equally a columnist for the Daily Trust - one of
the leading national newspapers in Nigeria and also a member of the
paper's Editorial Board. Dr Adibe has published several books and
articles and can be reached at: [email protected]
Though the history of hikes in petroleum prices began in 1973. Ever
since, most regimes in the country have toyed with the idea of
removing the subsidies, with organised labour and the civil society
usually vehemently opposed to the idea. In late 2011 the Jonathan
administration announced plans to completely remove the subsidies
but gave no timeline amid threats by organised labour, students and
civil society groups to stoutly resist the move. In 2012, the
regime announced the removal of the subsidies and subsequently
reiterated that its decision on the issue was irreversible. It
however announced some measures, including the provision of buses,
to help cushion the impact of the move. The book takes a critical
look at the politics and economics of the pro- and
anti-subsidisation lobbies. It also examines the likely economic
and social impacts of the move and its implications for the poor,
the overall economy and the country's democratic project.
In this compendium of essays, Dr Jideofor Adibe discusses the
issues around which contestations for state power and Nigeria's
quest for development revolve and also interrogates the various
desiderata for resolving those issues. The essays, mostly from the
author's weekly column in two of the leading newspapers in Nigeria,
also cover issues of 'societal beliefs' such as policemen arresting
and detaining a goat on the assumption that the goat was a criminal
who through magical means turned into an animal to evade arrest.
The articles are well-researched and written with remarkable
authority and gusto. The book is a must read
______________________________________- Jideofor Adibe studied
political science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and holds a
doctorate degree in International Development Studies from Roskilde
University, Denmark. He also holds an LLM degree in Media Law from
City University, London and equally studied the New Economic Powers
at Oxford University, UK. He has been a Guest Research Fellow at
several research institutes across the world including the Centre
for Development Research, Copenhagen, Denmark, the Nordic Institute
for African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, the Centre for Developing
Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada and the Institute
for Commonwealth Studies, University of London, UK. Dr Adibe
teaches political science at Nasarawa State University, Keffi,
Nigeria and is also the founding editor of the quarterly,
peer-reviewed journal, African Renaissance, which has been
published continuously since June 2004. He is equally a columnist
for the Daily Trust - one of the leading national newspapers in
Nigeria and also a member of the paper's Editorial Board. Dr Adibe
has published several books and articles and can be reached at:
[email protected]
Who is an African? At face value, the answer seems obvious. Surely,
everyone knows who the African is, it would seem. But the answer
becomes less obvious once other probing qualifiers are added to the
question. How is the African identity constructed in the face of
the mosaic of identities that people of African ancestry living
within and beyond the continent bear? Do all categorised as
Africans or as having an African pedigree perceive themselves as
Africans? Are all who perceive themselves as Africans accepted as
such? Are there levels of "Africanness," and are some more African
than others? How does African identity interface with other levels
of identity and citizenship in Africa? And what are the
implications of the contentious nature of African identity and
citizenship for the projects of pan-Africanism, the making of the
Africa-nation, and Africa's development trajectories? Contributors
to the volume, including Ali Mazrui, Kwesi Prah, Gamal Nkrumah,
Helmi Sharawy and Marcel Kitissou, address these questions and
more. They examine the issues of African identity and citizenship,
the politics spurned by the co-existence of peoples of different
Africanities in the same country, and the prospects of constructing
an Africa-Nation in which Africans of all hues are as sentimentally
attached to, as say, the Europeans are attached to Europe. Though
the projects of pan-Africanism and the making of the Africa-nation
have not achieved the desired levels of success, some of the
contributors found sufficient grounds for optimism: These grounds
include the deepening democratic ethos in the continent, which is
believed will unleash a love of freedom that will supersede the
fissiparous tendencies that underlie the various notions of
Africanity; and the rise of new economic powers such as India and
China, which are increasingly looking towards Africa as the next
big destination. The emergence of Barrack Obama, whose father is
Kenyan, as the President of the United States of America, also
appears to be unleashing a new wave of can-do attitude. It is
argued that for many Africans, Obama is both an African name they
can relate to, and a metaphor expressing that anything is possible
if you strive hard for it with the 'right attitude.' This 'right
attitude' is an attitude that is post-chauvinism, for it is only by
being post-racial and a reconciler that a Blackman, with an African
Muslim father, who was not born into privilege, could emerge
president of the most powerful country in the world. This lesson is
not lost on Africans and it is a powerful boost to the African
unity project. _________________________________________________
Jideofor Adibe studied political science at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, and was the first to complete a doctorate degree
in International Development Studies at Roskilde University,
Denmark. He also studied the New Economic Powers at Oxford
University, United Kingdom, and equally holds an LLM degree in
Media Law from City University, London. He has been a guest
research fellow in a number of institutes, including the Centre for
Development Research, Copenhagen, Denmark, the Centre for
Developing Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and
the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. He
is currently the editor of the multidisciplinary journal, African
Renaissance, and the publisher, Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd.
His books include The Loneliness of Exile (in Danish translation,
1995), Broken Dreams (2003) and Free Speech v Reputation: Public
Interest Defence in American and English Law of Defamation (2009).
He also writes a weekly column for a major newspaper in Nigeria.
Amid the smouldering tension of impending civil war, Pete Ogwu and
his wife Teresa are forced to flee their home in western Nigeria,
leaving behind a baby son and their housemaid. Adopted by Madam
Cash, Femi grows up to be an idealistic socialist writer, convinced
that he is destined for greatness. Bimbo, the result of a fetish
union between Ogwu and a local madwoman, endures domestic brutality
and prostitution, eventually seeking solace and redemption in a
local religious group. Ogwu, by now a famous televangelist and
founder of the fastest-growing Pentecostal church in Nigeria wants
to help but ends up being involved. Set against a backdrop of
religious fervour, the intertwined lives of these family members
are inexorably drawn to a shocking conclusion. Jideofor (Patrick)
Adibe studied political science in Nigeria and was the first person
that successfully completed a doctorate degree in International
Development Studies at Roskilde University Denmark. He has been a
research fellow at a number of institutions including the Centre
for Development Research, Copenhagen, Denmark, the Scandinavian
Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden and the Centre for
Developing Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He
works currently as an editor in a leading media intelligence
company in London, and is also the Books Review Editor for the
monthly magazine, Africa Today. His other books include The
Loneliness of Exile (published in Danish translation)
A cross between an academic journal and any higher-end news
features magazine. It is a bi-monthly publication targeted
principally at policy makers, policy makers, policy moulders,
professionals, intellectuals and 'stakeholders' in African affairs.
The aim is to have a platform where Africanists can engage in
serious discussions without the Shenanigans that are usually
associated with academic publications.
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