State

Urban governance and spatial inequality in service delivery: a case study of solid waste management in Abuja, Nigeria

Upphovsperson:	Adama, Onyanta
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics |
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Urban governance, spatial inequality, State, Privatization, solid waste management, Abuja, Nigeria, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Spatial inequality in service delivery is a common feature in African cities. Several factors account for the phenomenon but there is growing attention towards urban governance and the role of the state. Urban governance policies such as privatization serve as key strategies through which the state regulates and (re)produces spatial inequality in service delivery. This study examined how governance practices related to privatization and the regulatory role of the state reinforce spatial inequalities in the delivery of solid waste services in Abuja, Nigeria. It focused primarily on the issue of cost recovery. Privatization became a major focus in Abuja in 2003 when the government launched a pilot scheme. Although it has brought improvements in service delivery, privatization has also increased the gap in the quality of services delivered in different parts of the city. Drawing on empirical data, the study revealed that little sensitivity to income and affordability, and to income differentials between neighbourhoods in the fixing of user charges and in the choice of the billing method is contributing to spatial inequalities in service delivery. Furthermore, the study suggests that these practices are linked to a broader issue, a failure of the government to see the people as partners. It therefore calls for more inclusive governance especially in decision-making processes. The study also emphasizes the need for a policy document on solid waste management, as this would encourage a critical assessment of vital issues including how privatization is to be funded, especially inlow-income areas.

Endangered democracy? : The struggle over secularism and its implications for politics and democracy in Nigeria

Upphovspersoner:	Tar, Usman A. | Shettima, Abba Gana
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	politics, Religion, Secularism, State, Political power, democracy, Islam, Christianity, Cultural pluralism, Religious groups, Political conflicts, Nigeria, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper critically examines the pivotal role religion plays in Nigerian politics, particularly as it relates to the ways Islamic and Christian identities have been manipulated by competing political elites in their struggle for power. It provides a concise but well-informed history of the evolution of the religious factor in politics and its adverse implications for Nigeria’s democracy. Its point of departure is a critique of the notion of a secular Nigerian state (as prescribed by the constitution), which shows how governments and politicians have taken advantage of constitutional loop holes and used state resources to foster the politicisation of religion, with serious consequences for society at large. Some of the adverse consequences identified include religious conflict, political instability, insecurity and the undermining of the country’s democracy and development. The study carefully peels away the outward display of religious piety by political elites and leaders to reveal some of the underlying personal and narrow calculations. Over time, these calculations have eroded the social elements binding relations in a multi ethnic, multi-religious setting such as Nigeria, and there have been periodic explosions of sectarian and communal violence in various parts of the country. The authors show how the politicisation and ethnicisation of religious differences have further fuelled conflict between competing groups and geopolitical interests in Nigeria and raised serious questions for Nigeria’s democracy, development and the nation-state project. While noting that religion cannot be completely de-linked from politics, the study proffers some suggestions to begin to address and reverse the adverse effects of the intrusion of religion into democratic politics in Nigeria, Africa’s largest country and leading oil producer.

The security-development nexus : expressions of sovereignty and securitization in Southern Africa

Medarbetare:	Buur, Lars | Jensen, Steffen | Stepputat, Finn
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; HSRC Press
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	violence, Crime, Economic and social development, politics, Government policy, State, International relations, Peaceful coexistence, Citizenship, Human security, Regional security, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The link between security and development has been rediscovered after 9/11 by a broad range of scholars. Focusing on Southern Africa, the Security-Development Nexus shows that the much debated linkage is by no means a recent invention. Rather, the security/development linkage has been an important element of the state policies of colonial as well as post-colonial regimes during the Cold War, and it seems to be prospering in new configurations under the present wave of democratic transitions. Contributors focus on a variety of contexts from South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, to Zimbabwe and Democratic Congo; they explore the nexus and our understanding of security and development through the prism of peace-keeping interventions, community policing, human rights, gender, land contests, squatters, nation and state-building, social movements, DDR programmes and the different trajectories democratization has taken in different parts of the region.

Short-cut to decay : the case of the Sudan

Upphovspersoner:	Harir, Sharif | Tvedt, Terje
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	1994
Ämnesord:	Civil war, conflicts, Economic conditions, Ethnicity, Government policy, political development, State, Sudan, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The Sudan can demonstrate that while there is no short-cut to progress there is one to decay and misery. After eleven years of peace, the second civil war has now lasted for more than ten years. Regional, ethnic and religious conflicts are intensifying all over the country. The economy is in shambles while a small élite is enriching itself.

African conflicts and Informal Power : Big Men and Networks

Medarbetare:	Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Zed Books
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Foreign intervention, Dispute settlement, International politics, International relations, Post-conflict reconstruction, State, Local government, Political power, Informal sector, case studies, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Through a variety of indepth case studies – from DRC to Somalia to Liberia amongst others – this book shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent’s  conflict areas.

The Zimbabwean Nation-State Project : A Historical Diagnosis of Identity and Power-based Conflicts in a Postcolonial State

Upphovsperson:	Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J.
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Zimbabwe, nationalism, State, Political conflicts, political development, Political leadership, Elite, Ethnicity, National identity, Nation-building, Post-colonialism, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper draws attention to the often overlooked aspects of the limits, poverty and contradictions embedded in the “unfinished business” of the Zimbabwe nation state project. It is located within the broader context of the crisis of the nation-state in an African continent increasingly buffeted by waves of globalisation. It also revisits the debate on whether postcolonial nationalism can completely avoid reproducing the racial and ethnic discrimination that characterised its colonial past. Zeroing in on Zimbabwe, the paper argues that the nation-state crisis has roots in the legacy of settler colonialism, the ethnic fragmentation that marked the history of the liberation movement and the character of the nationalist elite. Its critique of the politics of the nationalist and political elite, the Lancaster House Agreement, the National Democratic Revolution and the Global Political Agreement makes this paper an important contribution to the debates on the real legacy of the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe and the prospects for a common national identity based on nationalism, social justice, inclusive democracy and development in the country.

The Agrarian Question in Tanzania? : A State of the Art Paper

Upphovspersoner:	Maghimbi, Sam | Lokina, Razack B. | Senga, Mathew A.
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; University of Dar Es Salaam
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Agrarian policy, Agrarian structure, Peasantry, Agricultural population, Land tenure, State, Agrarian reform, Land reform, Rural development, Economic and social development, Tanzania, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African Studies was established at the University of Dar es Salaam in 2008. The main objective of the chair is to reinvigorate intellectual debate on the campus and stimulate basic research on burning issues facing the country and the continent from a pan-African perspective. This is the first state of the art paper published by the chair. The Agrarian Question in Tanzania. There are about four million peasant families in Tanzania. They farm on the smallest scale, the average farm being two acres in size. The principal agricultural equipmentis the hand hoe. Since the onset of the colonial era, those in authority have pursued policies to dominate the peasantry. It is argued that the small scale of operations has contributed to the widespread poverty among farmers. There is still good agricultural land that is not farmed, but the current land tenure of peasants reproduces itself on new farmland. The conclusion is that in order to accelerate agricultural development, land tenure must be institutionalized.

Pastoralist perspectives in Nigeria : the Fulbe of Udubo Grazing Reserve

Upphovsperson:	Gefu, Jerome O.
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	1992
Ämnesord:	Nigeria, West Africa, Fula, State, Nature reserves, Grazing, Pastoralism, Economic conditions, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The food and hunger crisis ravaging in many countries in Africa has turned the attention to the production of indigenous livestock. A large part of the African livestock is produced by people who are pastoralists, and any attempt to increase livestock production must be based on an understanding of the pastoralist way of life, and the often unexpected reactions to uniformed government policies. This study covers the Fulbe pastoralists of the Udubo Grazing Reserve in Bauchi state in nothern Nigeria. The author focus is on the description of the livestock systems, and the relationship between the pastoral Fulbe and the government interventions.