SOUTH EAST JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

INTERROGATING THE RIVALRY BETWEEN STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND FORCES OF GLOBALIZATION IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND POLITICS AMONG NATIONS

Okibe Hyginus Banko — 2021-05-14

This paper focuses on the rivalry between sovereignty and globalization in the contemporary world order. It is a comparative study, descriptive in nature and employs secondary data. The study adopts theory of power by Hans Morgenthau to explain how differentiated capacities define nations and why globalization seems to supplant sovereignty in response to changes brought about by technological innovations and advancements. As a result, globalization has been in constant rivalry with sovereignty and sometimes violates the rights that nations have over their internal affairs. The study recommends that both sovereignty and globalization, though important in the modern world, should have the mode of their applications and limitations clearly defined in international law and dutifully respected by nation-states.

OPPOSITION POLITICS AND ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA

Hope Chinenyenwa Nwaigwe — 2021-05-14

Precisely, democracy is seen as a political system that is characterized by periodic and free elections in which politicians organized into political parties, engage themselves in competitive polls to form government. After most of the recent elections, new types of nondemocratic government have come to the fore, competitive authoritarian regimes, in which autocrats submit to meaningful multiparty elections but engage in serious democratic abuse. These regimes have formal democratic institutions, but their leaders circumvent and ignore them so often that they cannot be described as democratic. This study seeks to assess and evaluate the impact of electoral democracy in Nigeria, especially in terms of the performance of the Opposition in 2019 general election, and make a projection regarding a vibrant democratic space that will go beyond routine elections to speak to the issues preoccupying the Nigerian masses. The study adopted the pluralist theory for its framework of analysis and relied on documentary method of data collection. In the analysis of data, the paper relied on the use of qualitative-descriptive tool and content analysis. It was established that there is deficiencies in the intellectual and ideological capacities of political leaders that often impact on the choices made by political parties and hence on the desire to extend a stay in office, despite the efforts of the opposition. The paper recommended among others that, democratic principles should be strictly adhered to by political parties during election, and that political parties should be embedded on shifting from political predatory metaphors of grievance, greed, forgery and griotism to embrace a new political patriotic dispensation of values, views, genuineness and vision.

THE CHALLENGES OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS

Okibe Hyginus Banko — 2021-05-14

The outbreak of coronavirus in late December 2019 manifested profusely from the first quarter of year 2020, and left several countries in a state of disarray with serious impact on every facets of national and international life. The new strain of the coronavirus referred to as COVID-19, was either new to the scientists or to the medical practitioners. It explains the lapses in its management that stunned the world. Although no one anticipated the outbreak of such virus, however, the debates about its origin admixed with conspiracy theories preoccupied many countries and distracted attention on how to contain the virus from further spread with the accompanying fatality. Focusing on Nigeria, this study examined the management of COVID-19 in the country, especially, how political leadership braced up with the challenges. As analytical research, it relied on secondary data and applied content analysis for inference. It adopted “bounded rationality model” of decision-making theory to explain the challenges posed to decision-making under crisis or emergencies, and discuss how it affected the management of coronavirus in Nigeria. The findings show that there are glaring deficits of proactive leadership in the COVID-19 management in Nigeria. It resulted in most of the management guidelines introduced by government being copy and paste (imitation of what other countries adopted without comparing the differences in climate). The consequences were dissensions and remarkable poor public compliance behaviours. It requires that Nigerian leaderships begin to develop health infrastructure, human and industrial capacities that countries tap during emergency that confines nations to its territorial borders.

THE POLITICS OF HATE SPEECH AND FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT IN NIGERIA, 2015-2020.

Queen Eyikorogha — 2021-05-14

One of the cardinal pillars of democracy is the right to free speech. This right is universally recognizes and protected in several statutory instruments of states, albeit its limitations. In Nigeria, however, the protection and promotion of freedom of speech appears to be problematic due to governmental policies and actions targeted at curbing alleged incidences of hate speech. This paper interrogated the politics of hate speech and fundamental human rights with specific reference to efforts by the current administration in Nigeria to censor hate speech; an action that has brought about public outcry, mass criticism, protests and agitations that marred government proposal concerning hate speech law. The paper adopts the social Responsibilities Media Theory originated from Robert Hutchins Commission on the freedom of press of 1947 that explain the rights of the press to criticize any institutions and even government. The paper adopted a qualitative approach, addressed three objectives, which were tested by content analysis by relying on extant literature and other documented evidences. Findings of the study show that hate speech in Nigeria is largely promoted by the political class. Findings further show that hate speech law poses serious challenges to fundamental human rights of freedom of expression in Nigeria. It also found that existing laws that seek to address hate speech in Nigeria, such as the Electoral Act, have implementation gaps. Besides, it revealed that hate speeches are catalysts of disintegration among the different religious and tribal groups in Nigeria The paper insists on a clear and objective understanding of what constitute hate speech and the parameters for delineating it as necessary pre-condition for mitigating its abuses and therefore guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression by political opposition and ordinary citizens. The study recommends that the guarantee of freedom of expression requires that hate speech laws are carefully drafted, and that the implementation gaps associated with laws that address hate speech and rights violation should be strengthened.

THE STATE AND POVERTY PROGRAMME FAILURES IN NIGERIA

Vincent C Onah — 2021-05-14

The relevance of history in appreciating the past, understanding the present and predicting the future cannot be ignored. This paper explores the history of poverty policy failures in Nigeria. In its attempt to unveil the underlining reason for the inability of past poverty policies to reduce poverty in Nigeria, the study adopts the theory of post-colonial state. Data was collected through the qualitative method with reliance on secondary data sources like books, journals and other documentary materials. The study adopts qualitative descriptive data analysis. The paper highlights various past and current poverty reduction programmes articulated and implemented by the Nigeria state. It discovers that the culture of corruption inherent in Nigerian political environment accounts for the failure of these poverty reduction programmes to achieve their desired objectives. The paper affirms that unless, selfless and responsible political leadership is entrenched in Nigeria, the issue of poverty reduction shall remain unresolved.

ELECTION VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA AND THE WAY FORWARD

Azuka Ikechukwu Arinze — 2021-05-14

Election violence can be defined as those illegitimate, obscured means and instrumentality employed by the major actors in electoral process in order to achieve victory at the expense of others. The resultant effect of election violence is illegitimacy of government and loss of confidence in the electoral process from the comity of nations. Overtime elections in Nigeria have metamorphosed to an alarming violent situation. This assertion came to its climax during 2019 General election, which played out between February and March 2019. The study undertakes a critical review of 2019 elections in Nigeria from Presidential to Governorship Elections. Empirical evidences from the field, comprising the licensed election observers, those who played direct or indirect roles during the 2019 elections, such as electoral workers, government agencies or representatives of the political parties, the media, and the security agencieswere also examined. Data gathered from the field during the elections as well as other secondary sources were critically examined using the exploratory and descriptive analytical method.The thrust of this analysis is enshrined in the various themes and sub themes selected. In analyzing the data all the factors responsible for various forms of malpractices observed during the elections were unmasked. The game theory is deployed in this analysis for a comprehensive grasp of the subject matter. Conclusively, from the observations made, solutions were proffered to drastically reduce or completely eliminate election violence in Nigeria and make the process truly free, fair and credible. This will enhance its acceptability at the global stage.