Jurisprudence and International Law

The foreign policy of a nation is a reflection of its domestic demands, needs and aspirations. Much as there is a relationship between a state domestic policy and those foreign to it, the outcomes in the course of their implementation could turn out to be complementary or simply contradictory. In the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in this fourth republic heralding the transition from military dictatorship to civilian rule in 1999, paved the way for democratic dispensation with the leadership endeavouring to steer the nation's foreign policy in accordance with democratic ethos. This became expedient in order to re-integrate the country into the international community from a pariah state and to embark on economic growth, social infrastructure and development, also the challenge of combating sectional militia and insurgent groups among others are key issues of domestic policies which must be balanced by equally robust external policies. The focus of this paper is to interrogate on whether there was a synergy between domestic and foreign policies or contradictions during the period in question. The methodology is basically qualitative. At the end, it was discovered that the leaders have maintained to a large extent the status quo in the pursuance of the nation's foreign policy in which case, the domestic policy has dictated the external course of actions.

African States, upon the attainment of political independence have continuously been in pursuit of economic growth and development under different administrations. Faced with the economic challenges of low domestic savings and investment, the polities in Africa have had to resort to the fiscal policy option of borrowing short, medium and long term loans from international financial institutions and buoyant economies alike. Years after, a number of these African countries have piled up an unserviceable external debt which consequently has landed them into a sovereign debt crisis. Nigeria for one is an African State to have suffered and still is suffering from the ripple effect of her ballooning foreign debt owed creditors abroad. This paper therefore examines first and foremost the nature, causes, and the remedies thus far adopted at resolving the sovereign debt crisis bedeviling African States from the 1980s till date. The historical and empirical methodologies adopted over this paper were heavily dependent on secondary sources of quantitative data. Of its significance, this paper serves as an eye opener to the reading community on how the protracted debt crisis on the continent has continually stood against the needful economic prosperity and modernization of contemporary African countries. .

Ever since Deng Xiaoping " s 1978 economic reform began fully in 1979, the People " s Republic of China (PRC), for more than three decades now, has been experiencing an unprecedented economic growth rate of 9-10%. The " economic miracle " that ensued the economic reform has in effect not only transformed the communist State from a Third World country to an emerging economic power, but also an ascending military power which under the leadership of the incumbent President, Xi Jinping, has become more assertive in the disputed South China Sea like never before. The approximately 3.5 square kilometres South China Sea (SCS), is a semi-enclosed geostrategic sea in the Western Pacific region. Over the years, the control and ownership of the sea " s waterways, geographic features and natural resources led to contested sovereignty and jurisdiction claims between the heavyweight, China and the diminutive littoral States – Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei that imperfectly ring the South China Sea. This paper therefore, take first and foremost, a critical look at whether rising China " s growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea is legally justifiable, and lastly, to consider the roles international law and diplomacy can play in the peaceful resolution of the multifaceted South China Sea disputes. The research methodology for this paper includes the historical and analytical approach as well as the qualitative method of data collection.

In this paper, the narrative of the emergence of the People " s Republic of China (PRC) as a global power began with Chairman Mao Zedong " s failed attempt to transform China into a modernised and industrialised State. By 1978, the pragmatic leader, Deng Xiaoping, came into power and reformed China " s closed economy. Ever since then, China for more than three decades has been experiencing an unprecedented economic growth rate of 9-10%. This " economic miracle " has not only made the Chinese State an economic powerhouse recently but also a country that is fast becoming a military power under the incumbent President, Xi Jinping. The South China Sea (SCS) is an approximately 3.5 square kilometres sea in the western region of the Pacific Ocean. This geostrategic sea " s waterways, geographical features and natural resources have for more than three decades been subjected to the overlapping sovereignty and jurisdiction claims of the heavyweight, China and the diminutive littoral States – Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei that surround the South China Sea. This paper therefore takes first and foremost, a critical look at the emergence of China as a global power and lastly whether it would be a peaceful rise or pose a threat to international order in the context of the South China Sea Disputes. The historical and analytical approaches were used to carry out this study as well as the qualitative method of data collection.

The United Nations as a quintessential " universal " International Organisation, was established in 1945 to save succeeding generations from the scourge of another catastrophic world war, which till date, it has successfully precluded. However, the United Nations risk being an irrelevant body in the nearest future as it has failed to carry out a comprehensive reform of its obsolete structural organs, precisely, the Security Council that is the mandated guardian of international peace and security. That it might become more effective, legitimate, credible, representative, democratic, transparent, flexible and accountable as the executive organ of the United Nations, there is an urgent need to revamp the outdated Council in order to reflect the international reality of the 21 st century as well as deal with the new security challenges arising. This paper therefore revisits the discourse on the overhaul of the septuagenarian United Nations, with a focus on the enlargement, democratisation and, the working methods of the Security Council. My finding was that the long awaited reform of the archaic Security Council is not likely to happen anytime soon owing to the five permanent members lack of political alacrity, the impasse in the General Assembly and, the contradicting proposals on substantive Security Council reform. The research methodology for this study included the historical and analytical approaches as well as the qualitative method of data collection.

In January 2001, the Republican, George W. Bush Jr. was sworn-in as the 43 rd president of the United States of America. Not long after his administration started, the terrorist group, al-Qaeda, struck the U.S homeland on September 11, 2001. To forestall another devastating terrorist attack from occurring on U.S soil, President George W. Bush Jr. adopted a new grand strategy called the " Bush Doctrine ". Asides his counterterrorism initiative, Bush Jr. focused on immigration and narcotics control with Mexico, Israeli-Palestinian peace process, North Korea and Iran " s nuclear programme, combating HIV/AIDS globally among others. In Nigeria, precisely in May 1999, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was inaugurated as the president-elect of the federation. Facing squarely the problems his administration inherited i.e. the Nigerian State pariah status, the country " s battered image abroad, huge external debt burden among others, President Olusegun Obasanjo embarked on shuttle and economic diplomacy around the world. Still on the international scene, Nigeria during the Obasanjo administration played a major role in conflict management and resolution in Africa as well as in the creation of the economic development framework for the region – NEPAD. The objective of this paper is to critically study the foreign policy of the U.S and Nigeria under President George W. Bush Jr. and President Olusegun Obasanjo after which a comparison would be made. To successfully do this, the historical and comparative approaches were adopted with the qualitative method of secondary data collection as part of the research methodology.

A political party is an organised group of people with a sui generis label and possibly an acronym that, primarily recruit, train and field candidates to be elected to vacant public offices by eligible electorates through the constitutional means of periodic election. As an agent of democracy, party ideology remains an essential feature. Reason being that a party's manifesto is drafted based on the adopted ideology which its candidates, if elected, would execute for the greater good of the country. In the Nigerian State, this has not always been the case from the colonial to the post-colonial era. Hence, this informative research paper examines critically the origin and proliferation of political parties in Nigeria from 1923 to 2018, studying closely the first generation political parties that began with a good ideological footing in the 20 th century to most of the 21 st century political parties in the country which are ideologically barren. Embedded in this study is an exposé on the incursion of the military in Nigeria's politics which curtailed the development of political parties and the consolidation of democracy in the country. A major finding of mine was that there is a protracted dearth of ideology in political parties as indicated by most parties' ideologically-unguided manifesto and the defection of their members to another party since the fourth republic began on the 29 th of May, 1999. For this research paper, the historical approach was adopted with the qualitative method of secondary data collection.

For over five decades, Africa has been a theatre of bloody civil wars, conflicts, crises, coup d'états, post-election violence and terrorism that have not only claimed the lives of millions of unarmed civilians, but also disrupted the peace and stability of the continent. Hence, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), despite being sub-regional economic organisations, have since the early 1990s taken up the responsibility of primarily preventing, managing and resolving conflicts in their sub-region. Based on this indispensable role RECs have played over the years in the peace and security of the continent, the African Union (AU) has recognised eight of them and made them the 'building blocks' of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). This paper therefore examines the hierarchical relationship between the AU as the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the eight RECs. The objective of the study is to proffer an answer to the research question, is there, based on the principle of 'subsidiarity', a synergy or competition between the AU and RECs?. The answer surfaced following the study of the AU-ECOWAS relations on the Malian crisis in 2012. The historical approach was adopted for this study and the qualitative method of secondary data collection.

Crude oil remains an essential commodity that fuels the economy of countries the world over. On a high demand from time-to-time in the international oil market, countries endowed with the ‘black gold’ produce and export barrels of oil daily at a given price determined by the market forces of demand and supply. Nigeria, the largest oil producing country in Africa, maximum production capacity is 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Heavily dependent on the proceeds from the sales of her Bonny Light crude oil, it is in the best interest of the Nigerian State for oil prices to be high in the volatile international oil market. Hence, it became a full Member State of the cartel – Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1971. Over four decades later, Nigeria’s membership of OPEC became a topic for debate among erudite scholars, astute analysts and professionals in Nigeria’s oil industry following the plummet in oil prices from 2014 which adversely affected the country’s undiversified petro-dollar economy. This research paper weighs the cost and benefit of Nigeria’s membership of the oil cartel in order to ascertain whether Nigeria should remain a member or use the exit door out of OPEC. Theoretically, Realism was adopted for the study. Also used were the historical and comparative approaches with the qualitative method of secondary data collection.

Conflict, in time past and in recent years, has been an ill in human relations the world over. On the African continent, precisely in the Central African sub-region, armed conflicts originating from power struggle, resource control and, ethno-religious differences erupted from the late 20th century into the 21st century. In the resource-endowed Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the horrendous First Congo War (1996–1997) and the Second Congo War (1998–2003) between the Congolese government and rebel groups not only caused the death and internal displacement of millions of people, but also the trauma of sexually assaulted women. Intermittently, peace accords were negotiated and accordingly signed by the Congolese government, rebel groups and the neighboring States that participated in the wars. However, none of the agreements brought a lasting peace to the country, especially to the Eastern region of the DRC were pockets of violence still occur. This informative research paper takes a critical look at the armed conflicts in the DRC and how its natural resources fueled such conflicts. Theoretically, this study was predicated on Paul Collier et al.’s Conflict Trap Theory. Also used were the historical and analytical approaches with the qualitative method of secondary data collection.

Since the post-Cold War era began in 1991, several political leaders, government officials, high-ranking military officers, warlords and armed groups have initiated, planned, aided and abetted and, committed grave atrocities during armed conflicts, post-election violence, insurgency etc. In order to put an end to the evil culture of impunity in the new millennium, hold the perpetrators of international crimes accountable for their actions and, get justice for the victims of the crimes, The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) was founded in 2002. Africa as a region presently has 33 State parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, thus making it the largest bloc in the Court of 123 State parties. But no sooner had most African State parties supported the establishment and operations of the ICC than they stopped cooperating with it under the umbrella of the African Union (AU). The unabated hostility between the AU and the ICC centres on the indictment and prosecution of sitting African presidents which enjoy immunity based on customary international law and, the disproportionate indictment, prosecution, and conviction of Africans for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This paper critically examines the allegations by most African States parties to the Rome Statute that, the ICC has an African bias and that it pursues 'selective justice'. The research methodology adopted for this study is the historical approach with the qualitative method of secondary data collection.

Much has been written on the important role state actors and political figures have played in the formulation and execution of domestic and foreign policies of their nations over time, and in most cases, their contributions usually have lasting effects on political ideology in their states. The political development of the now defunct Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, and the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin, are strong examples of this. The Russian revolutions of 1917 had signified the end of Tsarist autocracy, paving the way for the rise of the Soviet Union, the first socialist country in the world at the time. The Bolsheviks, which later became the Communist Party, was led by Vladimir Lenin, whose socialist ideologies formed the basis of Soviet political thinking.
After the death of Lenin in 1924, Joseph Stalin emerged leader of the Soviet Union; he moved to consolidate power within the communist party, and also enacted policies that were designed to ebb the Soviet Union towards industrialization. Prior to Stalin’s emergence as President of the socialist nation, Vladimir Lenin had introduced the New Economic Policy, a response to the massive peasant revolts that threatened Bolshevik power from 1921. The peasants were revolting against War Communism, the forcible requisitioning of their produce to feed the army and cities. Many saw the New Economic Policy as a betrayal of communist principles, as it was some sort of mixture of Socialism and Capitalism; the state kept control of heights, but allowed a free market, therefore creating room for free enterprise. In 1928, after the Grain Procurement Crisis, Joseph Stalin abolished the New Economic Policy to make way for his Five Year Plans, which were designed to radically precipitate Soviet Industrialization.
Decades after Stalin’s demise and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin became leader of the Russian Federation, taking over from Boris Yeltsin, who had unexpectedly resigned on December 31, 1999. Putin inherited a Russia that had been hitherto
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humiliated in the global community, a nation facing financial crisis, and in the middle of market reforms. In the years before Putin came into power, Boris Yeltsin had initiated several reforms, including privatization of businesses, and market trade liberalization, which subsequently led to an economic decline between 1990 and 1995, this shifted control of enterprise from state agencies to individuals with inside connections with government. These policies pushed Russia deep into an economic depression, with an increase in mortality rate, millions of people were plunged into poverty, and criminal activities were on the rise.
This paper will explore the various similarities and differences between the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, and the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin. We will be making a comparative analysis of the foreign and domestic policies of the two state actors who seemingly came into power at very volatile periods of their nation’s history. First we look at Joseph Stalin, a man whose ideologies were instrumental to the emergence of the Soviet Union as a world power, and whose methods were widely frowned upon by fellow party members and the west. Then we examine the development of the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin who inherited a nation with a failing economy, and was tasked with salvaging what was left of the former world power. Within this context, we will be able to understand how these two figures, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin, influenced Russian policies and ideologies at important periods in their nation’s history, and how their actions affected world ideology and the Russian people.

The establishment of the United Nations at the end of the Second World War in 1945 was a welcome development after the failure of the League of Nations to ensure the protection of international peace and security. After the war, the victorious allies founded the UN under the principles of the UN Charter of 1945; under the charter, the United Nations Security Council was given the responsibility of ensuring the UN’s prompt and effective actions in carrying out its duties for the maintenance of international peace and security, which is a primary objective of the United Nations. The Security Council is indeed one of the most important of the 6 organs of the United Nations, as all decisions of the organization must be deliberated upon by members of the Council, and the resolutions or decisions from the Council play an important role in the actions of the United Nations towards ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security. The Iraqi invasion, the Syrian issue and the increase in international terrorism and the failure of the United Nations to provide an effective and sustainable solution that will bring about the end of the crises has caused many to doubt the effectiveness of the Security Council in carrying out its mandate of ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security. This paper thus takes a critical look at the roles of the Security Council, with a view to understanding how its composition and functions affect the way the United Nations acts in response to crisis and matters where international aid is needed. This paper also discusses the effectiveness of the Security Council in carrying out its duties, and the many criticisms of the Council on its composition and its mode of operation.