Pub Date : 2022-12-09DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2141580
V. Ojakorotu, V. C. Onwughalu
ABSTRACT To achieve development in a state of insecurity is a mirage. Africa is caught in this web, as every sub-region faces security challenges. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed as frameworks to fast track development in developing countries and sustain it in developed countries through global partnerships. This study is an advocacy to reinvent the role development partners can play to prevent and contain insecurity in the continent. It examines insecurity and development scenarios of countries in Africa, relying on the analysis of secondary data. Based on the triangulation of the Development Partnership Approach and Structural-Functional Approach as the framework for the study analysis, the findings suggest that development partners need to do more to prevent and contain insecurity in the region. The study proposes ways the development partners can achieve these.
{"title":"The dialectics of insecurity and development in Africa: The role of development partners","authors":"V. Ojakorotu, V. C. Onwughalu","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2141580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2141580","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT To achieve development in a state of insecurity is a mirage. Africa is caught in this web, as every sub-region faces security challenges. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed as frameworks to fast track development in developing countries and sustain it in developed countries through global partnerships. This study is an advocacy to reinvent the role development partners can play to prevent and contain insecurity in the continent. It examines insecurity and development scenarios of countries in Africa, relying on the analysis of secondary data. Based on the triangulation of the Development Partnership Approach and Structural-Functional Approach as the framework for the study analysis, the findings suggest that development partners need to do more to prevent and contain insecurity in the region. The study proposes ways the development partners can achieve these.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45846346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-17DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2141128
Newman U. Richards, Felix E. Eboibi
ABSTRACT Cybercrime investigators, in an attempt to rid Nigeria of cybercrime, go about arresting and demanding for digital devices, of unsuspecting members of the public, especially Nigerian youths. Upon seizing these digital devices, they compel the owners to surrender security features to gain access to the devices to fish for cybercrime evidence. The rampant nature of this investigative process partly culminated in the recent ‘ENDSARS’ protests in Nigeria that commenced in cyberspace with the hashtag #ENDSARS NOW. Although the ENDSARS protest has become a topic of discourse in the news, literature, and academic domain, there seems to be limited or no literature on the cybercrime perspectives of the protests. This paper seeks to answer the question: To what extent can cybercrime investigators legally gain access to digital devices and social networks of persons? It concludes that to avoid future protests against cybercrime investigators, implementing a structured cybercrime investigation process in conformity with best practices, as it is done in developed economies like the United States of America, is suggested.
{"title":"Cybercrime perspectives to the ‘ENDSARS’ protest in Nigeria","authors":"Newman U. Richards, Felix E. Eboibi","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2141128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2141128","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Cybercrime investigators, in an attempt to rid Nigeria of cybercrime, go about arresting and demanding for digital devices, of unsuspecting members of the public, especially Nigerian youths. Upon seizing these digital devices, they compel the owners to surrender security features to gain access to the devices to fish for cybercrime evidence. The rampant nature of this investigative process partly culminated in the recent ‘ENDSARS’ protests in Nigeria that commenced in cyberspace with the hashtag #ENDSARS NOW. Although the ENDSARS protest has become a topic of discourse in the news, literature, and academic domain, there seems to be limited or no literature on the cybercrime perspectives of the protests. This paper seeks to answer the question: To what extent can cybercrime investigators legally gain access to digital devices and social networks of persons? It concludes that to avoid future protests against cybercrime investigators, implementing a structured cybercrime investigation process in conformity with best practices, as it is done in developed economies like the United States of America, is suggested.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43353581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT Empirical studies have shown that the use of temporary volunteers to control crime is common in sub-Saharan countries. This study examines the contentious nature of volunteers’ crime control duties along Nigeria’s borders. Using a mixed-method approach, shortcomings in the volunteer scheme’s operation were discovered such as inadequate training, non-hierarchical leadership, poor conditions of service and administrative and technical loopholes that tempted volunteers to become more involved in criminal activity than in crime control. During active service, the volunteers engaged more in economic-related misdemeanours; after being demobilised, they committed felonious offences. Exacerbating factors include the temporary nature of the volunteering, an inability to meet societal and personal demands, a high knowledge of border road networks, closeness to and affinities with known criminals, unemployment and security experience. The use of volunteers in crime control should be halted for multiple reasons, including to reduce leaks about details of security operations.
{"title":"Temporary paramilitary volunteers at Nigeria’s Chad and Niger borders: A source of recruitment for Boko Haram","authors":"Adeleke Gbadebo Fatai, Lawal Musediq Olufemi, Ajayi Oluwagbemiga Oluwaseun, Ayantunji Isola Oyelekan","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2125329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2125329","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Empirical studies have shown that the use of temporary volunteers to control crime is common in sub-Saharan countries. This study examines the contentious nature of volunteers’ crime control duties along Nigeria’s borders. Using a mixed-method approach, shortcomings in the volunteer scheme’s operation were discovered such as inadequate training, non-hierarchical leadership, poor conditions of service and administrative and technical loopholes that tempted volunteers to become more involved in criminal activity than in crime control. During active service, the volunteers engaged more in economic-related misdemeanours; after being demobilised, they committed felonious offences. Exacerbating factors include the temporary nature of the volunteering, an inability to meet societal and personal demands, a high knowledge of border road networks, closeness to and affinities with known criminals, unemployment and security experience. The use of volunteers in crime control should be halted for multiple reasons, including to reduce leaks about details of security operations.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49112577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-11DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2138769
Susan Henrico, Ivan Henrico, Dries Putter
ABSTRACT The prospect of extra-terrestrial (outer space) armed conflict between major powers is a real possibility. As early as 1966, an Outer Space Treaty was signed by over 100 countries in response to such a possibility. In 2019, NATO declared outer space a new potential war zone or military operational domain alongside air, land, sea, and cyberspace. This new war zone is mainly a strategic frontier, exclusively dominated by a few global superpowers. It would be naive to think that global superpowers’ wars fought in outer space will not have a detrimental socio-economic effect on non-participating countries. On the contrary, an outer space war will have dire consequences for the developing world, such as South Africa. This article is descriptive and explanatory in nature and analyses the potential risks of a twenty-first-century space war to South Africa's national security. It provides a deeper understanding by contextualising the international legal regulation of the military use of space, the use of force against the architecture of space resources, technological advances in satellite systems and weapons, the current geopolitical tensions between the major superpowers related to space and highlights South Africa's international relations with some of these global superpowers.
{"title":"A grey zone: The contours of outer space armed conflict and South Africa’s national interests","authors":"Susan Henrico, Ivan Henrico, Dries Putter","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2138769","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2138769","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The prospect of extra-terrestrial (outer space) armed conflict between major powers is a real possibility. As early as 1966, an Outer Space Treaty was signed by over 100 countries in response to such a possibility. In 2019, NATO declared outer space a new potential war zone or military operational domain alongside air, land, sea, and cyberspace. This new war zone is mainly a strategic frontier, exclusively dominated by a few global superpowers. It would be naive to think that global superpowers’ wars fought in outer space will not have a detrimental socio-economic effect on non-participating countries. On the contrary, an outer space war will have dire consequences for the developing world, such as South Africa. This article is descriptive and explanatory in nature and analyses the potential risks of a twenty-first-century space war to South Africa's national security. It provides a deeper understanding by contextualising the international legal regulation of the military use of space, the use of force against the architecture of space resources, technological advances in satellite systems and weapons, the current geopolitical tensions between the major superpowers related to space and highlights South Africa's international relations with some of these global superpowers.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43695552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2131448
K. Lamidi
ABSTRACT Studies have examined the dimensions and components of conflict analysis. However, little or no review attention has been paid to understanding the conceptual perspectives, theoretical underpinnings and methodological issues. Hence, this paper aimed at filling the gaps and answered the basic questions: Is conflict analysis a potential tool for peacebuilding? In what ways does conflict analysis influence the practice of peacebuilding? How can conflict analysis cover the limitations of peacebuilding? Using secondary data sources, this paper underscored the perspectives and theoretical discourse which underpin the context and structural dynamics of conflict analysis. It also discussed methodological issues by exposing its different levels of practical benefit. Evident examples of conflict analysis were reviewed with notable instances in Africa. This paper, therefore, found out that conflict analysis has great potential for facilitating positive value and social coherence for peacebuilding practices. On the one hand, the outcome of conflict analysis has a direct response to the implementation of peacebuilding strategies. On the other hand, conflict analysis exposes complementary problems resulting in the limitations of peacebuilding. Also, this paper contributed to knowledge by remedying the limitations of peacebuilding. It concluded that a broad participation network would guarantee insightful conflict analysis towards the enhancement of peacebuilding.
{"title":"Conflict analysis in peacebuilding: A review","authors":"K. Lamidi","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2131448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2131448","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 Studies have examined the dimensions and components of conflict analysis. However, little or no review attention has been paid to understanding the conceptual perspectives, theoretical underpinnings and methodological issues. Hence, this paper aimed at filling the gaps and answered the basic questions: Is conflict analysis a potential tool for peacebuilding? In what ways does conflict analysis influence the practice of peacebuilding? How can conflict analysis cover the limitations of peacebuilding? Using secondary data sources, this paper underscored the perspectives and theoretical discourse which underpin the context and structural dynamics of conflict analysis. It also discussed methodological issues by exposing its different levels of practical benefit. Evident examples of conflict analysis were reviewed with notable instances in Africa. This paper, therefore, found out that conflict analysis has great potential for facilitating positive value and social coherence for peacebuilding practices. On the one hand, the outcome of conflict analysis has a direct response to the implementation of peacebuilding strategies. On the other hand, conflict analysis exposes complementary problems resulting in the limitations of peacebuilding. Also, this paper contributed to knowledge by remedying the limitations of peacebuilding. It concluded that a broad participation network would guarantee insightful conflict analysis towards the enhancement of peacebuilding.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47833444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2134810
Cedric de Coning, Andrew E. Yaw Tchie, Anab Ovidie Grand
ABSTRACT This article contends that Ad-hoc Security Initiatives (ASI) have developed over the last decade in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin and represents a new form of African collective security mechanism. The G5 Sahel Force and the Multi-National Joint Task Force emerged from a context-specific need for small clusters of African states to respond collectively to a shared cross-border security threat(s). The existing African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) mechanisms were not specific and responsive enough to meet this emerging need. Despite substantial investments over the last twenty years by the African Union, Regional Economic Community/ Regional Mechanisms and international partners to establish the African Standby Force, this instrument was not agile enough to respond to the type of threats experienced in the greater Sahel region. In this article, we trace the emergence of a new type of ASI, examine how they fill an essential gap and analyse why the African Standby Force was not able to meet this need. We then consider the implications of these developments for the future of the APSA and how closer collaboration between ASIs and APSA can be developed.
{"title":"Ad-hoc Security Initiatives, an African response to insecurity","authors":"Cedric de Coning, Andrew E. Yaw Tchie, Anab Ovidie Grand","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2134810","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2134810","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article contends that Ad-hoc Security Initiatives (ASI) have developed over the last decade in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin and represents a new form of African collective security mechanism. The G5 Sahel Force and the Multi-National Joint Task Force emerged from a context-specific need for small clusters of African states to respond collectively to a shared cross-border security threat(s). The existing African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) mechanisms were not specific and responsive enough to meet this emerging need. Despite substantial investments over the last twenty years by the African Union, Regional Economic Community/ Regional Mechanisms and international partners to establish the African Standby Force, this instrument was not agile enough to respond to the type of threats experienced in the greater Sahel region. In this article, we trace the emergence of a new type of ASI, examine how they fill an essential gap and analyse why the African Standby Force was not able to meet this need. We then consider the implications of these developments for the future of the APSA and how closer collaboration between ASIs and APSA can be developed.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49347486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2132872
E. Obioha, Ishmael Mugari
ABSTRACT The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a myriad of responses on the global, regional and national levels. One of the widely adopted measures of dealing with the scourge was the crafting of stringent regulatory frameworks to curtail the spreading of the virus through restriction of citizens’ movement. The role of the police services and, importantly, the military, came under spotlight, as they were instrumental in enforcing COVID-19 containment-related laws. The confinement of people to their homes, as well as the enforcement of the restrictive regulations, led to a paradigm shift in the crime trends. More often, the police and the military had to contend with allegations of various criminal activities and human rights violations. In this paper, which was based on a documentary survey, we discuss the policing environment during the COVID-19 era. We focus on how the COVID-19 era has altered the criminal environment, focusing on criminal activities by both the public and the law enforcement agents. We also explore the human rights implications of the enforcement of COVID-19 containment regulations.
{"title":"Policing COVID-19 restrictive regulations in Zimbabwe: The shifting crime trends and the human rights implications","authors":"E. Obioha, Ishmael Mugari","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2132872","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2132872","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a myriad of responses on the global, regional and national levels. One of the widely adopted measures of dealing with the scourge was the crafting of stringent regulatory frameworks to curtail the spreading of the virus through restriction of citizens’ movement. The role of the police services and, importantly, the military, came under spotlight, as they were instrumental in enforcing COVID-19 containment-related laws. The confinement of people to their homes, as well as the enforcement of the restrictive regulations, led to a paradigm shift in the crime trends. More often, the police and the military had to contend with allegations of various criminal activities and human rights violations. In this paper, which was based on a documentary survey, we discuss the policing environment during the COVID-19 era. We focus on how the COVID-19 era has altered the criminal environment, focusing on criminal activities by both the public and the law enforcement agents. We also explore the human rights implications of the enforcement of COVID-19 containment regulations.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41780391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2125817
Moses B. Khanyile
ABSTRACT The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been faced with a declining budget for many years, resulting in the deterioration of prime mission equipment, inability to upgrade critical infrastructure, and a very limited capacity to recruit, train, maintain, and deploy forces. This paper argues that the military can alleviate the impact of budgetary constraints through a systematic and structured sweating of land assets under its control. It articulates the rationale for embarking on such an initiative, while proposing approaches and models for the decision-making process. It also highlights the risks of inaction based on precedents in other countries.
{"title":"Development and value extraction of defence land assets in South Africa: Current paradigm revisited","authors":"Moses B. Khanyile","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2125817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2125817","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been faced with a declining budget for many years, resulting in the deterioration of prime mission equipment, inability to upgrade critical infrastructure, and a very limited capacity to recruit, train, maintain, and deploy forces. This paper argues that the military can alleviate the impact of budgetary constraints through a systematic and structured sweating of land assets under its control. It articulates the rationale for embarking on such an initiative, while proposing approaches and models for the decision-making process. It also highlights the risks of inaction based on precedents in other countries.","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48723585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/10246029.2022.2130083
I. E. Nwafor
{"title":"Digital Rights in Nigeria: Through the Cases","authors":"I. E. Nwafor","doi":"10.1080/10246029.2022.2130083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2022.2130083","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44882,"journal":{"name":"African Security Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49492750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}