Olubukola S . Adesina | University of Ibadan (original) (raw)
Papers by Olubukola S . Adesina
RESEARCH IN PRAGMATICS, 3(2), 67–87., 2024
Effective leadership is crucial for guidance towards shared objectives. This study analyses Oluse... more Effective leadership is crucial for guidance towards shared objectives. This study analyses Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970, to explore its significance in understanding the intersections of politics, war, and leadership. Obasanjo’s role as a military commander during the Nigerian Civil War offers valuable insights into leadership dynamics in challenging contexts. Despite provoking severe criticisms, scholarly attention to the memoir remains limited. Using transformational leadership theory, this study undertakes a textual analysis of My Command, highlighting Obasanjo’s leadership principles and their impact on actions and decisions during the conflict.
Journal of African elections, 2012
Nigeria's 2011 elections marked a watershed in the country's democracy. Before then elections con... more Nigeria's 2011 elections marked a watershed in the country's democracy. Before then elections conducted there had been marred by controversy, with monitors and observers who assessed the quality of elections consistently questioning their integrity. The 2011 elections, however, received resounding approval as an improvement. This article examines the monitoring and observation by international and local groups of the 2011 elections. It underlines the qualified credibility of the elections considering the level of irregularities and violence noted by observers and monitors and argues that the declaration of the elections as credible must not detract from the need to be mindful of their inadequacies if Nigeria is to reap the benefit of election monitoring and observation in future elections.
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2010
During the Month of March movement in Taiwan, students behaved in much the same way as they had i... more During the Month of March movement in Taiwan, students behaved in much the same way as they had in mainland China. In both cases, students relied on peaceful methods of protest, occupied the central square in the capital, and petitioned the government for political reform. More important, students in both movements displayed a great concern with maintaining order. As an outgrowth of this, leaders strictly enforced a separation of student and nonstudent protesters, using a security line (jiuchaxian) to delineate different groups. In addition, student leadership and organization in both movements underwent numerous transformations and divisions. In both cases, a subgroup of students spontaneously initiated a hunger strike, circumventing the established student authority of the time and contributing to a radicalizing trend in student actions and proposals. At the same time, notions of charismatic legitimacy arose and came into conflict with representative organizations. These similarities derived largely from commonalities in the political environment faced by students in both movements. First, at the national level, students were subject to single-party dominance over major policy decisions and the media. Consequently, student leaders consciously and carefully devised strategies to minimize the possibility of official slander. Second, in both China and Taiwan students experienced party penetration of the campus. As a result, student dissidents were aware that their actions were under surveillance and could incur serious punishment. In this atmosphere, student activists felt that trust in their fellow collaborators was crucial. More negatively, students constantly feared that their goals would be betrayed by incompetent or traitorous individuals. In this environment, when a student undertook a
Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the ... more Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the world. However, there is also a growing level of security challenges facing the country, which calls for serious concern. The rising level of unemployment in the country can be attributed for the increase in security challenges in the country. Many school leavers and employable adults are unable to secure jobs and the government is unable to act fast enough in finding a solution to this problem. This paper argues that the high rate of unemployment in the country is directly responsible for the increasing security challenges in Nigeria. For sustainable development to be achieved, the government must urgently address the unemployment crisis facing the country so as to be able to adequately tackle its security challenges. The paper suggested various measures the Nigerian government can put in place to arrest this situation.
As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, ... more As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, the country is exposed to both the positive and negative effects of globalization. This paper examines the negative effects of globalization on Nigeria by focusing on its impact on science and technology and the environment. It argues that although globalization presents many opportunities, it also exposes developing countries like Nigeria to many new challenges. The paper also suggests ways by which the negative effects of globalization can be addressed.
Canadian Social Science, 2016
Corruption is a major problem confronting the world. Nigeria, in particular, has a serious proble... more Corruption is a major problem confronting the world. Nigeria, in particular, has a serious problem of corruption. It is very widespread and it manifests itself in virtually all aspects of national life. Practically every government since the 1960s came into power with a promise to address corruption. The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not an exception, and it is demonstrating huge commitment to waging a war against this menace. Anchoring on the institutional, public choice and cultural theories, and drawing data from secondary sources, this study examines the problem of corruption in Nigeria and the anti-corruption campaign of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The study argues that the fight against corruption is negatively affecting the image of the country in the international community. It concludes that the fight against corruption is a very daunting task which will require maximum cooperation from all segments of the Nigerian society.
As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, ... more As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, the country is exposed to both the positive and negative effects of globalization. This paper examines the negative effects of globalization on Nigeria by focusing on its impact on science and technology and the environment. It argues that although globalization presents many opportunities, it also exposes developing countries like Nigeria to many new challenges. The paper also suggests ways by which the negative effects of globalization can be addressed.
According to the 2013 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic, globally, an estimated 35.3 (32.... more According to the 2013 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic, globally, an estimated 35.3 (32.2–38.8) million people were living with HIV in 2012, with Sub-Saharan Africa being home to 70% of all new HIV infections in that year. In 2012, an estimated 1.6 million people in the region became newly infected; and an estimated 1.2 million adults and children died of AIDS, accounting for 75 percent of the world’s AIDS deaths in 2012 (UNAIDs, 2013: 4, 12).
Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the ... more Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the world. However, there is also a growing level of security challenges facing the country, which calls for serious concern. The rising level of unemployment in the country can be attributed for the increase in security challenges in the country. Many school leavers and employable adults are unable to secure jobs and the government is unable to act fast enough in finding a solution to this problem. This paper argues that the high rate of unemployment in the country is directly responsible for the increasing security challenges in Nigeria. For sustainable development to be achieved, the government must urgently address the unemployment crisis facing the country so as to be able to adequately tackle its security challenges. The paper suggested various measures the Nigerian government can put in place to arrest this situation.
African Studies Quarterly, 2017
Justin Pearce. 2015. Political Identity and Conflict in Central Angola, 1975-2002. New York: Camb... more Justin Pearce. 2015. Political Identity and Conflict in Central Angola, 1975-2002. New York: Cambridge University Press. 184 pp. Pearce examines the internal politics of the war that divided Angola for more than a quarter of a century after independence. The book is based on interviews with the elites and ordinary people in towns and rural areas, which helped the writer to document how ideologies of state and nation developed on both sides of the Angolan conflict and how these came to define the relationship between political movements and people. The book is divided into an insightful introduction and nine chapters, which examined the period from independence in 1975 until the peace initiatives of the late 1980s. A major gap in literature the research attempts to fill is to interrogate the internal dynamics of the conflict in Angola, in particular the question of the relationship between elites and the broader Angolan population. Specifically, the book examines, on the one hand, th...
Canadian Social Science, 2017
Advances in global telecommunication infrastructure, including computers, mobile phones, and the ... more Advances in global telecommunication infrastructure, including computers, mobile phones, and the Internet, have brought about major transformation in world communication. In Nigeria, the young and the old now have access to the world from their homes, offices, cyber cafes and so on. Lately, internet or web-enabled phones and other devices like iPods, and Blackberry, have made internet access easier and faster. However, one of the fall outs of this unlimited access is the issue of cybercrime. Consequently, cybercrime, known as “Yahoo Yahoo” or “Yahoo Plus”, is a source of major concern to the country. Nigeria’s rising cybercrime profile may not come as a surprise, considering the high level of poverty and high unemployment rate in the country. What is surprising, however, is the fact that Nigerians are wallowing in poverty despite the huge human and material resources available in the country. With the aid of the human security approach, this paper aims to (i) establish a nexus betwe...
Zoning and rotation of power was designed to enshrine peaceful co-existence especially amongst di... more Zoning and rotation of power was designed to enshrine peaceful co-existence especially amongst diversity of ethnic nationalities as well as those with different religious and regional backgrounds. In Nigeria, the country is known to have the largest population in Africa. It is a State with different ethnic nationalities across the geo-political zones. Zoning became a tool as used in 1999-2007 to enshrined peaceful co-existence between the Nigerian people whom are known to have different ethnic, religious and regional backgrounds. The quest for political power and the control of the seat of power in the country’s capital, Abuja, became a political tussle. The research paper seeks to investigate the role of the zoning formula model on how it could be used to resolve the continuous agitations for the control of the Nigeria’s seat of power, the presidency, especially with the new agitation for the creation of Biafra Republic as spearheaded by some quarters from the South-East Region of ...
Culinary diplomacy, also referred to as gastrodiplomacy, involves using cuisine to communicate cu... more Culinary diplomacy, also referred to as gastrodiplomacy, involves using cuisine to communicate culture in a public diplomacy context. While many countries are using their cuisines to project power around the world, African countries are not yet exploiting culinary diplomacy as a tool of international relations, despite the fact that the continent can boast of myriad of cuisines peculiar to its various cultures. This paper examines the concept of culinary diplomacy and the role cuisines play in diplomacy. It advocates that Nigeria (and by extension, other African countries) should embrace the exporting of the country’s culinary heritage in an effort to project its image, thereby encouraging economic investment and trade, and engaging with members of the international community on a cultural and personal level.
This article examines violent internal armed conflicts in Africa within the context of internatio... more This article examines violent internal armed conflicts in Africa within the context of international law, particularly the genocide convention. Africa, the article notes, is home to many cases of internal or intra-state armed conflicts in which heinous and egregious crimes are perpetrated. However, while heinous acts committed in the conflicts are hardly treated as genocide or contested as untrue, the article argues that they truly are, if the notion of genocide is properly understood. It concludes that noncompliance with the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the AU and some African leaders, and the threat of withdrawal by some States from the institution is a tacit support for impunity.
Kristin Peterson. 2014. Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria. Durham... more Kristin Peterson. 2014. Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press. 238 pp. Kristin Peterson's book is a powerful description of the Nigerian pharmaceutical markets. Its six chapters illustrate the ways daily market life (labor, price, credit, and other social practices) is linked to transnational financial capital as well as policy changes in North America and Nigeria that are mutually constitutive, as well as localized, in significant Lagos markets. Based on extensive archival search, observations, as well as extensive interviews conducted over a period of four summers in Nigeria, the author ethnographically situates Nigeria as a geographically centralized place from which one can see how the rest of the pharmaceutical and other related worlds have come into being. The book focuses on the speculative practices found in the pharmaceutical market to emphasize the ways actors negotiate structural constraints and...
RESEARCH IN PRAGMATICS, 3(2), 67–87., 2024
Effective leadership is crucial for guidance towards shared objectives. This study analyses Oluse... more Effective leadership is crucial for guidance towards shared objectives. This study analyses Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970, to explore its significance in understanding the intersections of politics, war, and leadership. Obasanjo’s role as a military commander during the Nigerian Civil War offers valuable insights into leadership dynamics in challenging contexts. Despite provoking severe criticisms, scholarly attention to the memoir remains limited. Using transformational leadership theory, this study undertakes a textual analysis of My Command, highlighting Obasanjo’s leadership principles and their impact on actions and decisions during the conflict.
Journal of African elections, 2012
Nigeria's 2011 elections marked a watershed in the country's democracy. Before then elections con... more Nigeria's 2011 elections marked a watershed in the country's democracy. Before then elections conducted there had been marred by controversy, with monitors and observers who assessed the quality of elections consistently questioning their integrity. The 2011 elections, however, received resounding approval as an improvement. This article examines the monitoring and observation by international and local groups of the 2011 elections. It underlines the qualified credibility of the elections considering the level of irregularities and violence noted by observers and monitors and argues that the declaration of the elections as credible must not detract from the need to be mindful of their inadequacies if Nigeria is to reap the benefit of election monitoring and observation in future elections.
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2010
During the Month of March movement in Taiwan, students behaved in much the same way as they had i... more During the Month of March movement in Taiwan, students behaved in much the same way as they had in mainland China. In both cases, students relied on peaceful methods of protest, occupied the central square in the capital, and petitioned the government for political reform. More important, students in both movements displayed a great concern with maintaining order. As an outgrowth of this, leaders strictly enforced a separation of student and nonstudent protesters, using a security line (jiuchaxian) to delineate different groups. In addition, student leadership and organization in both movements underwent numerous transformations and divisions. In both cases, a subgroup of students spontaneously initiated a hunger strike, circumventing the established student authority of the time and contributing to a radicalizing trend in student actions and proposals. At the same time, notions of charismatic legitimacy arose and came into conflict with representative organizations. These similarities derived largely from commonalities in the political environment faced by students in both movements. First, at the national level, students were subject to single-party dominance over major policy decisions and the media. Consequently, student leaders consciously and carefully devised strategies to minimize the possibility of official slander. Second, in both China and Taiwan students experienced party penetration of the campus. As a result, student dissidents were aware that their actions were under surveillance and could incur serious punishment. In this atmosphere, student activists felt that trust in their fellow collaborators was crucial. More negatively, students constantly feared that their goals would be betrayed by incompetent or traitorous individuals. In this environment, when a student undertook a
Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the ... more Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the world. However, there is also a growing level of security challenges facing the country, which calls for serious concern. The rising level of unemployment in the country can be attributed for the increase in security challenges in the country. Many school leavers and employable adults are unable to secure jobs and the government is unable to act fast enough in finding a solution to this problem. This paper argues that the high rate of unemployment in the country is directly responsible for the increasing security challenges in Nigeria. For sustainable development to be achieved, the government must urgently address the unemployment crisis facing the country so as to be able to adequately tackle its security challenges. The paper suggested various measures the Nigerian government can put in place to arrest this situation.
As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, ... more As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, the country is exposed to both the positive and negative effects of globalization. This paper examines the negative effects of globalization on Nigeria by focusing on its impact on science and technology and the environment. It argues that although globalization presents many opportunities, it also exposes developing countries like Nigeria to many new challenges. The paper also suggests ways by which the negative effects of globalization can be addressed.
Canadian Social Science, 2016
Corruption is a major problem confronting the world. Nigeria, in particular, has a serious proble... more Corruption is a major problem confronting the world. Nigeria, in particular, has a serious problem of corruption. It is very widespread and it manifests itself in virtually all aspects of national life. Practically every government since the 1960s came into power with a promise to address corruption. The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not an exception, and it is demonstrating huge commitment to waging a war against this menace. Anchoring on the institutional, public choice and cultural theories, and drawing data from secondary sources, this study examines the problem of corruption in Nigeria and the anti-corruption campaign of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The study argues that the fight against corruption is negatively affecting the image of the country in the international community. It concludes that the fight against corruption is a very daunting task which will require maximum cooperation from all segments of the Nigerian society.
As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, ... more As a member of the international community, Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, the country is exposed to both the positive and negative effects of globalization. This paper examines the negative effects of globalization on Nigeria by focusing on its impact on science and technology and the environment. It argues that although globalization presents many opportunities, it also exposes developing countries like Nigeria to many new challenges. The paper also suggests ways by which the negative effects of globalization can be addressed.
According to the 2013 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic, globally, an estimated 35.3 (32.... more According to the 2013 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic, globally, an estimated 35.3 (32.2–38.8) million people were living with HIV in 2012, with Sub-Saharan Africa being home to 70% of all new HIV infections in that year. In 2012, an estimated 1.6 million people in the region became newly infected; and an estimated 1.2 million adults and children died of AIDS, accounting for 75 percent of the world’s AIDS deaths in 2012 (UNAIDs, 2013: 4, 12).
Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the ... more Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing Nigeria like many other countries in the world. However, there is also a growing level of security challenges facing the country, which calls for serious concern. The rising level of unemployment in the country can be attributed for the increase in security challenges in the country. Many school leavers and employable adults are unable to secure jobs and the government is unable to act fast enough in finding a solution to this problem. This paper argues that the high rate of unemployment in the country is directly responsible for the increasing security challenges in Nigeria. For sustainable development to be achieved, the government must urgently address the unemployment crisis facing the country so as to be able to adequately tackle its security challenges. The paper suggested various measures the Nigerian government can put in place to arrest this situation.
African Studies Quarterly, 2017
Justin Pearce. 2015. Political Identity and Conflict in Central Angola, 1975-2002. New York: Camb... more Justin Pearce. 2015. Political Identity and Conflict in Central Angola, 1975-2002. New York: Cambridge University Press. 184 pp. Pearce examines the internal politics of the war that divided Angola for more than a quarter of a century after independence. The book is based on interviews with the elites and ordinary people in towns and rural areas, which helped the writer to document how ideologies of state and nation developed on both sides of the Angolan conflict and how these came to define the relationship between political movements and people. The book is divided into an insightful introduction and nine chapters, which examined the period from independence in 1975 until the peace initiatives of the late 1980s. A major gap in literature the research attempts to fill is to interrogate the internal dynamics of the conflict in Angola, in particular the question of the relationship between elites and the broader Angolan population. Specifically, the book examines, on the one hand, th...
Canadian Social Science, 2017
Advances in global telecommunication infrastructure, including computers, mobile phones, and the ... more Advances in global telecommunication infrastructure, including computers, mobile phones, and the Internet, have brought about major transformation in world communication. In Nigeria, the young and the old now have access to the world from their homes, offices, cyber cafes and so on. Lately, internet or web-enabled phones and other devices like iPods, and Blackberry, have made internet access easier and faster. However, one of the fall outs of this unlimited access is the issue of cybercrime. Consequently, cybercrime, known as “Yahoo Yahoo” or “Yahoo Plus”, is a source of major concern to the country. Nigeria’s rising cybercrime profile may not come as a surprise, considering the high level of poverty and high unemployment rate in the country. What is surprising, however, is the fact that Nigerians are wallowing in poverty despite the huge human and material resources available in the country. With the aid of the human security approach, this paper aims to (i) establish a nexus betwe...
Zoning and rotation of power was designed to enshrine peaceful co-existence especially amongst di... more Zoning and rotation of power was designed to enshrine peaceful co-existence especially amongst diversity of ethnic nationalities as well as those with different religious and regional backgrounds. In Nigeria, the country is known to have the largest population in Africa. It is a State with different ethnic nationalities across the geo-political zones. Zoning became a tool as used in 1999-2007 to enshrined peaceful co-existence between the Nigerian people whom are known to have different ethnic, religious and regional backgrounds. The quest for political power and the control of the seat of power in the country’s capital, Abuja, became a political tussle. The research paper seeks to investigate the role of the zoning formula model on how it could be used to resolve the continuous agitations for the control of the Nigeria’s seat of power, the presidency, especially with the new agitation for the creation of Biafra Republic as spearheaded by some quarters from the South-East Region of ...
Culinary diplomacy, also referred to as gastrodiplomacy, involves using cuisine to communicate cu... more Culinary diplomacy, also referred to as gastrodiplomacy, involves using cuisine to communicate culture in a public diplomacy context. While many countries are using their cuisines to project power around the world, African countries are not yet exploiting culinary diplomacy as a tool of international relations, despite the fact that the continent can boast of myriad of cuisines peculiar to its various cultures. This paper examines the concept of culinary diplomacy and the role cuisines play in diplomacy. It advocates that Nigeria (and by extension, other African countries) should embrace the exporting of the country’s culinary heritage in an effort to project its image, thereby encouraging economic investment and trade, and engaging with members of the international community on a cultural and personal level.
This article examines violent internal armed conflicts in Africa within the context of internatio... more This article examines violent internal armed conflicts in Africa within the context of international law, particularly the genocide convention. Africa, the article notes, is home to many cases of internal or intra-state armed conflicts in which heinous and egregious crimes are perpetrated. However, while heinous acts committed in the conflicts are hardly treated as genocide or contested as untrue, the article argues that they truly are, if the notion of genocide is properly understood. It concludes that noncompliance with the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the AU and some African leaders, and the threat of withdrawal by some States from the institution is a tacit support for impunity.
Kristin Peterson. 2014. Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria. Durham... more Kristin Peterson. 2014. Speculative Markets: Drug Circuits and Derivative Life in Nigeria. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press. 238 pp. Kristin Peterson's book is a powerful description of the Nigerian pharmaceutical markets. Its six chapters illustrate the ways daily market life (labor, price, credit, and other social practices) is linked to transnational financial capital as well as policy changes in North America and Nigeria that are mutually constitutive, as well as localized, in significant Lagos markets. Based on extensive archival search, observations, as well as extensive interviews conducted over a period of four summers in Nigeria, the author ethnographically situates Nigeria as a geographically centralized place from which one can see how the rest of the pharmaceutical and other related worlds have come into being. The book focuses on the speculative practices found in the pharmaceutical market to emphasize the ways actors negotiate structural constraints and...