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Diamond in the Rough: Unearthing Botswana\u27s Sources of Political Legitimacy
Get PDFBotswana has garnered analytic attention in the past few decades as Africa\u27s developmental miracle. Being among the poorest countries in the world upon its independence in 1966, it catapulted itself to one of the fastest growing economies in the world for a period of four decades. What made the Botswana experience all the more outstanding, was that within the context of its company among other non-renewable natural resource dependent countries, it stood as an anomaly. This is because these resource endowed countries generally suffered or were susceptible to the resource curse. This paper identifies legitimacy as having important value in explaining both Botswana\u27s political and economic development as well as its escape of the resource curse. It argues that Botswana\u27s experience can best be illuminated and understood through exploring its sources of political and state legitimacy which were carried from pre-colonial, through colonial into the post-colonial era, and not disrupted to the same extent as elsewhere on the continent and in other natural resource exporting countries. Adopting a Weberian understanding of legitimacy, it argues that legitimacy in Botswana stemmed from the low levels of arbitrariness in its colonialism that facilitated the continuation of legitimate norms and justifications of authority; from the traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority of its elites; from the horizontal legitimacy of its society fostered by largely voluntary precolonial and post-colonial mechanisms of assimilation; as well as legitimacy from its autonomy against external disruptive forces. The paper concludes by stating that research on regional variation on developmental outcomes particularly in Africa as well as research on the resource curse should pay closer attention to political legitimacy as an explanatory value beyond the traditional structural and institutional explanations
Democracy and Poverty: The Nigerian Experience
Get PDFThis study examines the plight of the poor within the new democratic rule in Nigeria. Since the inception of democracy in 1999, there has been a sustained prosperity in terms of oil windfall that swells government\u27s revenues on the order of over 60 billions. This reserve is the highest ever in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this financial outlay has not resulted in improved standard of living of the broad majority of the people. The circumstances of the poor, weak, vulnerable members of society, women, disabled, elderly, chronically mentally ill, widows, children, orphanages, retirees and those with loose attachment to the labor force have not improved. There are no new genuine and meaningful anti-poverty programs that declare war on poverty. The government\u27s anti-poverty program christened as National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEED), which is supposed to be a panacea to all the ills of the society and consequently wipe out poverty only exists on paper. In the meantime, the ruling elite in the new democratic order cart away the oil windfall to foreign bank accounts and support their opulent lifestyles, while the masses continue in their misery
Sudan-Ethiopia Relations and Islamization Policy
Get PDFThe central focus of this paper is on Sudan\u27s islamization policy under Al-Bashire\u27s regime and its regional impact. In the past, some African countries have officially protested against Sudan\u27s Muslim fundamentalism policy while other states have officially broken relations with Sudan and have come close to taking military measures against it. Ethiopia has become one of Sudan\u27s neighbors which had her relations severely stained due to Sudan\u27s cross-border Islamic expansionist agenda. The study will analyze the fact that the quest for Ethiopia\u27s internal opposition have always been characterized as having fully political motives rather than religious ambitions. It would appear that Sudan\u27s cross-border policy based on radical islamization principles did not have its root in any realities of Ethiopian politics. It is not so much a question of explaining existing tensions in Ethiopian society, but of hoping to create them in the first place
The Lack of Access to Quality Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria: Its Implications for the Nigerian Citizens
Get PDFThis study examines the lack of access to quality healthcare delivery for the broad majority of Nigerians using Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in Rivers State as a case study. The paper argues that corruption and mismanagement are the linchpins for the lack of access and the provision of quality healthcare delivery for the citizens of Nigeria. In spite of the nation\u27s abundant resources and financial solvency due largely to oil revenues, there is very little awareness by successive leaderships both military and civilian rule of the need to confront the pressing problem of healthcare. As a consequence, today, a child born in Nigeria lives to be only 44 years old, which is 3.3 years less than a child born in the United States at the beginning of 20th century before any breakthrough in drugs to prolong life and other advances made in medical science and technology. Most of the illnesses of the vast majority of citizens are not diagnosed early during treatable phase due to the lack of access to quality healthcare. The primary method employed in this study is secondary source along with in-depth personal interviews using a purposeful sampling process. The study findings identified five broad areas as the reasons for the lack of access coupled with poor service delivery in a public healthcare system, namely: (a) poor funding; (b) lack of equipment: (c) personnel; (d) absence of health promoting public education; and (e) lack of awareness and access to available services. The study major implications are the fact that owing to poor hea lthcare funding, the huge economy burden of healthcare expenditure rests on the shoulders of individuals particularly, in a society where a sizeable number of citizens are abjectly poor. This state of affairs results in needless untimely deaths of untold number of people who cannot access healthcare services
From Importer to Exporter: The Changing Role of Nigeria in Promoting Democratic Values in Africa
Get PDFThis paper takes a critical look at Nigeria\u27s changing role in the promotion of democratic values in Africa since its return to democracy in 1999. The paper argues that the changing role of Nigeria from an importer to an exporter of democracy can be understood in terms of the global wind of change; Nigeria\u27s African centre-piece policy; perception of threats to its leadership position in Africa especially from South Africa; and the personality of Obasanjo given his international credentials and stature. The paper however notes that inherent contradictions in the domestic political economy such as nsmg poverty, inequality and politics of disempowerment, which have served to limit the reach of the project, may have also served as an added impetus for Nigeria\u27s changing role so as to divert attention away from domestic inadequacies. However, unless these contradictions are redressed, coupled with a sustainable regime of evaluating Nigeria\u27s efforts, the hope of exporting democracy abroad and that of consolidating Nigeria\u27s democracy, will remain a mirage after all, whatever the level of pretensions to the contrary