Lagos Historical Review

Editorial

2023-07-09T10:29:25+00:00

No abstract

Cameroonian Agency in Bota/Tiko Ports in British Southern Cameroons

2023-07-09T10:36:45+00:00

Bota and Tiko ports in Cameroon, established at the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, emerged as relatively autonomous nodes in global flows of people, goods, and ideas prior to and, more importantly, during the British administration of the territory between 1916 and 1961. This was first under the League of Nations Mandate and later United Nations Trusteeship. Cameroonian agency in these ports has not been given scholarly attention and also in the maritime history of the country. European merchants, travellers, administrators and others have occupied centre stage. This is in fact a lopsided narrative. Cameroonians loaded and off-loaded bananas, timber, agricultural products and imported goods. Others were mail runners linking the hinterlands with the ports and still others did carpentry work and built port structures such as warehouses, office buildings and docksides. Some painted the gangway leading to the wharf. Cameroonian contractors provided adequate loads for the Victoria pier and guarded warehouses and offices. Others were the marine beach, lighter, boat, slip-way, and wharf boys, quarter masters, boatswain or non-commissioned officers who maintained vessels, boats or other equipment. Still, others were cleaners, middlemen, traders, miscellaneous and other staff that provided launches to handle deaths on sea journeys from Tiko to Douala and back. Cameroonians were thus intermediaries in the port history of Tiko and Bota but also disrupted commercial activities when unfairly treated.

The military factor in the rise and development of Lagos, 1863-1967

2023-07-09T10:52:31+00:00

This article examines the influence of the military on the rise and development of Lagos. It argues that the influence of the military on the transformation of Lagos from a fishing community to a commercial and industrial centre over several centuries was extensive. The original inhabitants of Lagos are the Aworis, wellknown for fishing, agriculture and trading. However, this group was conquered by Bini warriors in c.1550-78 which led to a new political institution that has survived to the present. The coming of the British and the conquest of Lagos (1851-1861) also brought Consular administration and the creation of a modern army. In 1914 Lagos became the capital city of Nigeria and the operational headquarters of the
Nigerian Regiment. Between 1960 and 1967, the defence of Lagos had reached a high point as the city performed a dual role as the state capital and capital city of Nigeria. Using the primary and secondary sources of data such as internet material and personal observations to substantiate its claim; the study establishes that military influence in Lagos contributed immensely to the safety of lives and property, political, and socio-economic developments. It concludes that robust civil-military relations in Lagos will forestall crime and criminality and also stimulate further developments in the state.

Global initiatives and the development of the health sectors of Nigeria and Botswana, 1978-2000: A comparative analysis

2023-07-09T11:01:54+00:00

The study examines a historical course of the various global initiatives relating to developments in the health sector, especially under the purview of the United Nations, which had been adopted in Nigeria and Botswana before the year 2000 when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) framework was launched. While global health development has a deep history, such has been more applicable to African states after the attainment of political independence. Accordingly, the major international initiatives pertaining to Nigeria and Botswana and the agencies responsible for them are being explored in terms of their nature and impact, as examples of such in the Western and Southern subregions of the continent. Among others, it argues that while the colonial setting of both countries laid certain foundations in them, it is their peculiar national focus in social development issues as well as their patterns of implementation of international initiatives over the years that have tremendously shaped their respective health sectors’ development in the post-independence period.

The judiciary and adjudication of electoral disputes in Nigeria, 1999–2011

2023-07-09T11:21:00+00:00

Globally, the judicial resolution of electoral disputes has become a fundamental feature of any electoral democracy, not only for emerging democracies, such as Nigeria, but also for those countries whose democracy could be seen as both advanced and mature. Thus this work interrogates the extent to which various legal regimes and adjudicatory role of the judiciary had impacted on electoral disputes in Nigeria. The paper adopts a historical approach, with the constructive analysis of primary and secondary sources. The study draws inferences from some selected landmark presidential and gubernatorial election petition cases, arising from the 1999 to 2011 cycles of general elections in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the gradual improvements recorded in Nigeria’s electoral process, could not be insulated from judicial activism. This had impacted positively on the institution of pre-(election) lawsuits and post-election petition cases, and had helped to prolong the life of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, in particular and the polity, at large.

Nigeria and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from western countries, 1957-1985

2023-07-09T11:36:21+00:00

Capital, whether domestic or foreign, is the bedrock of economic development. No nation is self-sufficient no matter how advanced its economy. The quality of relations among nations, to a large extent, determines how much economic benefit each nation makes. Economic benefits constitute a major part of national interest in international relations. This article examines how Nigeria fared in her relations with the advanced and investing nations as she struggled to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into her economy since her independence to the mid- 1980s. Nigeria is a nation of abundance in terms of natural and human resources. She had enough resources for resource-seeking FDIs and a great market for marketseeking ones. With all these advantages why was Nigeria starved of sufficient Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into her economy during the period under investigation? What had been the impact of Nigeria’s relations with the investing nations on her economy as she constantly played host to them? This article seeks answers to the above questions through a historical analysis of Nigeria’s relations
with nations that were home to FDIs and how these relations impacted her success or failure in attracting FDIs into her economy. The analysis is based on Social Exchange theory, a psychological as well as sociological theory that explains social change as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. The theory has roots in economics. It is also used quite frequently in the business world to imply a two-sided, mutually contingent and rewarding process involving transactions. The methodology is narrative and analytical employing both primary and secondary sources of data, including archival materials, Newspapers and books for information. The article concludes that Nigeria’s style of relations with investing nations from the 1960s to the mid-1980s was inconsistent and impacted her efforts in attracting FDI negatively and changed the landscape of Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria. Hence, we can say that the paradigm shift to open door policy can only benefit her if conducted with utmost sincerity and strategy.

The changing role of traditional medicine in the provision of health care in Tanzania from precolonial to post-colonial period

2023-07-09T11:48:49+00:00

This paper aims to present the changing role of traditional medicine in the provision of health care in Tanzania. The paper covers the time from precolonial societies through colonialism to postcolonial period. The paper is organized in two sections; the first section of the paper discusses the concept and the use of traditional medicine in Tanzania by outlining how the traditional medicines are prepared and the issue of transfer of knowledge from one generation to another. Moreover, in this section the paper outlines the diversity and commonalities of traditional medicine in Tanzania. Furthermore, the second section of the paper discusses about the role of traditional medicine in pre-colonial societies; also the paper in this section presents the complex relationship between traditional medicine and biomedicine during the colonial time. However, before the conclusion, the paper presents the changing role of the traditional medicine in postcolonial period in Tanzania and its challenge in the provision of health care. Therefore, the paper concludes with the discussion on the need for the government to invest on the traditional medicine in order to incapsulate the use of traditional medicine in the national health system.

The 2014 West African Ebola Outbreak and the myth of global health diplomacy

2023-07-09T12:00:05+00:00

The 2014 outbreak of Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa – the disease’s deadliest outbreak ever – came to the region as a major unfamiliar health challenge. With no existing vaccines against the Ebola virus, the outbreak, exacerbated by poverty, weak national health systems, and legacies of protracted violence and civil war, left profound harm on already impoverished countries in the region, claiming a combined death of 11,325 lives – a figure that dwarfs casualties in all previous outbreaks. Despite the existing framework for global health diplomacy and governance, which advocates swift global response to health emergencies no matter where they occurred, international responses to the outbreak were lax, complicatedly slow and uncoordinated. Works of diverse backgrounds have analysed the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from different perspectives. Yet, with only a few exceptions, existing scholarship has focused on the nature of the outbreak, its geographical spread and impact, as well as the inherent weaknesses in the local health system of severely affected countries. Thus, intellectual discourse on the international response to the outbreak has received minimal attention from scholars. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by building on primary and secondary sources and exploring the lax response of the mechanisms of global health governance to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. It asks: Why was the international response to the West African Ebola outbreak atrociously slow? Is international response only swift and comprehensive if an outbreak is seen to bear greater risks for developed countries? Findings reveal that though there were eventually significant steps and efforts by many states, non-state actors and relevant international health agencies, however, they did not represent a coherent, comprehensive and coordinated swift response to issues of international health emergencies envisaged by the principles of GHD. Among others, it suggests that since epidemics/pandemics cross borders far and near, international responses to infectious diseases outbreak should be swift, comprehensive and based on the idea of shared threat and shared responsibility.

Small and light weapons and conflict in Kenya

2023-07-09T12:14:49+00:00

The availability of small arms and light weapons and its misuse have been a problem in Kenya for many years. The post-2007 election violence increased the urgency of small arms reduction efforts. While the government has made progress, law enforcement efforts to control the proliferation of small arms still face considerable challenges. The government and other stakeholders have brought about initiatives in peace and security in which the major one was the creation of the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons (KNFP) as an interagency directorate within the Office of the President, which was instrumental in formulating the Kenya National Action Plan for Arms Control and Management in 2006.This paper seeks to identify the sources of small arms proliferation and its effects in Kenya and the different initiatives put in place by the Kenyan government to curb this menace. It is believed the geographical location of Kenya and politics are the main factors influencing the proliferation of small arms. Weapons are locally made by the indigenous people in Kenya and some of them are imported from other countries. Also, weapons stolen from security personnel have contributed to arms proliferation in Kenya. Kenya’s relationship with its neighbors such as Sudan, Ethiopia and some of the countries in the horn of Africa will also be looked at as it is believed most of the small arms come into Kenya through these countries and this contributes to arms increase.

US Middle East Policy under President Trump: Analysis of a new approach to the Middle East peace process

2023-07-09T13:02:54+00:00

The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most intractable conflicts in the world since the mid-20th century. The conflict has shaped, for decades, the political, economic and diplomatic relations of surrounding states and concerned superpowers. Amongst other factors, the establishment of the State of Israel in the region, its continuous expansion and the dispossession of Palestinians (primarily Muslim Arabs) translated consequently into Arab resentment leading to persistent war, violence and non-recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. But more importantly, the religious and historical significance of Jerusalem – which reflects special meaning for Jews, Muslims and Christians – has made it one of the most compelling factors at the heart of the conflict. Since 1948, claims and counterclaims to Jerusalem by Israel and Palestinians (with both aspiring to make it their future capital) saw the city initially divided – west and east Jerusalem respectively – until the 1967 Six Days War when Israel completed its unilateral occupation of the city. Undoubtedly, the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict is welldocumented in published literature. This is reflected in a high volume of literature on many facets of this lingering conflict. Still, works that have thoroughly analysed US Middle East foreign policy under President Trump are rather scanty. This study analyses US Middle East policy under President Trump with focus on the
Abraham Accords and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It seeks to understand the key role played by the Trump’s administration which culminated in its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the normalisation relations between Israel and many Arab states, and its broader implication and consequences for the Palestinian peace process. Findings indicate that the moves, seen by many as huge foreign policy milestones for the Trump administration, did not only stir backlash and huge rejection from the Arab and the Muslim world but have also further complicated the hope of a just and lasting peace in the region.