“The devil,” as the age-old aphorism goes, “is in the details,” which means that the details of a matter are its most problematic aspect. In the preamble of its Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the African Union (AU) states the following: “We echo the Pan African call that Africa must unite in order to realize its Renaissance.” It then goes on to make certain predictions that it believes will come to fruition and enable Africa to unite. In this paper, I begin by employing Predictive Analytics with MATLAB to demonstrate that the AU predictions are problematic. I then argue that the AU predictions miss Kwame Nkrumah’s axioms on the most formidable challenge to African unity, which is neocolonialism. These axioms, which are embedded in his book titled Africa Must Unite and elaborated in his Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, are delineated and tested by utilizing the ancient Egyptian Behsâu-pehsa (“predator-prey”) Methodology. I conclude by making the case that Africa need not wait until 2063 to unite.

Nigeria is a country of many nationalities owing to its ethnic configuration. The Igbo ethnic stock is one of the dominant ethnic groups that struggle to take control of aspects of the state power starting from the period of colonialism to the contemporary time. The Igbo nation contributed meaningfully during the nationalist struggle to secure political independence for Nigeria. The pogrom and genocide committed against the Igbo during the July 29 counter coup d’état of 1966 as well as the devastating civil war and undue marginalization that have not been addressed overtime, spurred and necessitated the Igbo question, which has led to the contemporary Igbo nationalist struggle. The paper traces the provenance of Igbo micro nationalism and highlights the factors responsible for resurgence of Igbo micro-nationalist struggle. The discourse also examines the contradictions in the agitation and the strategies adopted by Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to pursue Igbo micro nationalism as well as the role of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, while recommending increased socio-political and economic cooperation among Igbo peoples and their neighbors in the global village.

The dynamics of leadership is fundamental for the progress or regression of any given state. Nigeria like many other African countries has been struggling with the challenge of good governance due to leadership problems. This work is centred on Nigerian civil society, leadership regression and silence that emanated from Late President Yar’Adua’s medical trip to Saudi Arabia. It found out that the Save Nigerian Group (SNG), Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) as well as Nigeria Liberty Forum based in London demonstrated and demanded for the empowerment of the then Vice President. On the other hand, the Independent Campaign for Peace, Democracy and Good Governance (ICPDGG) supported the President’s silence. The work recommends the promotion of electoral reforms, constitutional amendment and attitudinal change in the political behaviour by African elected leaders in order to prevent the re-occurrence of the heated-up scenario in Nigerian body polity.

Since the last century, Sub-Saharan Africa has been riddled by an increase in levels of intra-state armed conflict. These conflicts have not only shown to be complex by their very nature, but have also shown numerous challenges in finding a lasting solution. The conflict transformational process of two dissimilar countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of South Africa form a case study for understanding this quagmire. We argue that the paucity of or inclusion of citizens in transitional negotiations can either lead to sustainable peace in post-conflict societies or regress to a conflict stricken society. The major issues for conflict resolution therefore includes understanding transitional negotiations as a vital process that can make or mar lasting peace in conflict prone areas. This study concludes in both case studies that the lack of citizen participation in transitional negotiations does impact negatively on sustainable peace in post-conflict societies.

The paper interrogates the establishment of bases and the projection of power by the Gulf states based on a long-term strategy using the case studies of the military bases in Djibouti and Eritrea. In addition, it looks at the theoretical underpinnings that try to explain the rivalry among states in international politics. The Gulf States have been flexing their muscles in East Africa as the proxy war between the Saudi led coalition and Iran has been raging. East Africa has been seen as an access or choke point to Yemen ports and the Bab el-Mandeb straight. The Saudi led coalition has been trying to leverage their financial power by setting up bases in Djibouti and Eritrea and supplying the forces fighting the Houthi (a Zaydi, Shiite group). Djibouti is hosting UAE, Saudi and other countries, while Eritrea is hosting a UAE base. The Somalia breakaway region, Somaliland will host UAE base that is currently under construction and the Saudis have a base in mainland Somalia as well. This force projection is being translated to power projection by the financial and other forms of assistance that are being provided by the Gulf States.

Drawing on the anthropological theory of social boundaries, this paper presents the concept of race as an outlet of xenophobia in a South African academic environment. Much of what has been written (either quantitatively or qualitatively) about the state of xenophobia in South Africa, is developed around a typology which reveals people of the black race as perpetuators of xenophobia. Using race as a possible xenophobic outlet, this paper, ‘de-essentialises’ the stereotypical nature through which various research agendas have construed the discourse of xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa. It also interrogates the interpretations / misinterpretations of xenophobia, and finally unpacks the embedded nature of race and xenophobia. Through unstructured in-depth interviews conducted with thirty participants, the study suggests that racism incubates a kind of xenophobia that is subtle but is causing insidious harm to the state of collegiality and professionalism within the institution. Without undermining the effects of racism and xenophobia on the institution, one would argue that our understanding of xenophobic beliefs is often couched in inferential and biased stereotypes, contingent upon pre-conceived knowledge that people have about a place.

This paper examines the impact of habitus and administrators’ gender parities reflection to ethical performance in Africa. The study sought administrators’ opinions on the familiarity and problematic aspects of the codes of ethics enactment as they affect practice domains. The principal investigation instrument was the questionnaire structured to cater for quantitative derivatives of the SPSS multivariate comparative statistical analysis. The study findings revealed that gendered patterns and habitus accounted for ethical code knowledgeability and the demanding enactment. Recommendations were made that policy should attune for more status reconditioning within the gender patterns; emphasis on ethical code inclusiveness strategy on multi-system levels for social work administration and practice. Further studies should discover components of the codes that accounted for familiarity and demanding patterns, strategies for codes application and prioritisation, to conceptualise on ethical ombudsman and its manageability towards enhancing social work administration and practice and envision transgender ethical code enactment.

Traditional practices such as masquerade display, music and dance, story-telling, body adornment and indeed festival have always been the major means of amusing and entertaining African people. Embedded in these activities are values that help to build African societies. Thus, while being entertained, the people draw vital lessons through these practices. However, certain societal changes have led to gradual neglect and severance from these practices. Since the mass media, particularly the film medium, are believed to have the potential of not only re-awakening them but also of preserving the activities, this study was carried out to ascertain the extent to which film could be used to accomplish this. With a survey study, opinions of 420 respondents in Akwa Ibom State were sought. A focus group was also raised for discussion as well as intensive interview with five prominent film producers based in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria and with interest in traditions of the people there. Findings at the end of the study showed that not only are the traditional practices in themselves entertaining, but that showed in films, people derive as much entertainment as they would if the activities were seen in traditional environments. More importantly, the film medium was seen to have the capacity to adequately promote and preserve traditional entertainment forms. Based on this, it is recommended that movie makers should produce more of films with such traditional activities like masquerades, traditional story-telling, folk songs, traditional dances and festivals.

South Africa in 1994 transited from a regional destabilising element into inclusive democratic governance with equal opportunity for all and has since experienced transformation in her security system as typical of a regional hegemon. To the realists, security is achieved once threats to state’s security can be managed or totally eliminated. Using the discursive argumentative approach, this paper contends that the end of apartheid and other associated socio-political and economic modifications have led to a fundamental rethinking that security at regional level, economic development, and cooperation plays a significant role in defining South Africa’s national security objectives. Concluding that accentuating dialogue and mediation as the key means to resolving security issues rather than confrontation is fundamental to South Africa’s national security.