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The Role Of Regional Integration Organizations On Energy Transition And Sustainable Development In Africa, Neba Ridley Ngwa

Journal of African Policy Studies

The Paris Agreement represents a pivotal milestone in multilateral efforts to combat climate change and facilitate energy transition globally. As a comprehensive international legal framework, it outlines commitments for nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to climate impacts. This research examines the key role of regional and sub-regional integration organizations in facilitating energy transition and promoting sustainable development across Africa. As the continent grapples with the dual challenges of energy crisis and climate change, the African Union and its specialised agencies have emerged as key players in enhancing energy cooperation among member states. Though previous scholars have …

Social Movements And Democratization In Nigeria Since 1999: The Search For Good Governance And Justice, Kwame Adum-Kyeremeh, Danladi Abah

Journal of African Policy Studies

What factors account for the surge in social movements in Nigeria and what are the implications for democratization? Who have been the actors and what internal and external dynamics are reconfiguring the materiality of social movements? How is the state responding to the dramatic fluidity and frequency in movements? And what strategies have civil societies used to harness the potentials in social movements for sustainable democratization? Through a political economy approach, oral interviews with NGO leaders, leaders of human rights and pro-democracy activists, interviews with some citizens, and use of journals, newspapers, magazines and reports, this study interrogates and documents …

Les Archives Au Cameroun Dans Les Politiques Publiques De Développement: Des Plans Quinquennaux A La Stratégie Nationale De Développement Snd 2020–2030, Esther Olembe

Journal of African Policy Studies

Cet article examine la place des archives dans le contenu des documents de politiques publiques de développements au Cameroun, depuis les plans quinquennaux d’aprèsindépendance jusqu’à la Stratégie Nationale de Développement 2020–2030 (SND2020–2030). Après l’accession aux indépendances, les pays africains ont cherché à formuler des politiques endogènes de développement, souvent sous l’influence des modèles de coopérations internationales. Le rôle des archives dans ces processus de développement est paradoxalement resté relativement marginal, bien que crucial pour la continuité et la transparence des actions publiques, comme le démontre la revue de la littérature étudiée. L’article met en lumière la difficile intégration des systèmes …

Leading Schools In The Midst Of Covid-19: Experiences Of Basic School Leaders Of The Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem District Of The Central Region Of Ghana, Corinne Brion

Journal of African Policy Studies

This qualitative study uses a phenomenological approach to understand the experiences of thirteen Ghanaian head-teachers in suburban and rural areas of the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem district during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings revealed that these leaders faced numerous challenges related to pivoting to remote learning for the first time combined with the lack of access to technology. Other challenges pertained to the absence of infrastructure and resources such as books. Despite these challenges, these Ghanaian head-teachers were able to adapt to the crisis and alter their leadership style to educate the children they served. Currently, there is a limited …

Archives In Cameroon In Public Development Policies: From Five-Year Plans To The National Development Strategy 2020–2030, Esther Olembe

Journal of African Policy Studies

This article examines the role of archives in Cameroon’s public development policies, from post-independence five-year plans to the National Development Strategy 2020–2030 (SND2020–2030). After gaining independence, African countries sought to formulate endogenous development policies, often influenced by international cooperation models. However, archives have paradoxically remained relatively marginal in these development processes, despite being crucial for continuity and transparency in public actions, as demonstrated in the reviewed literature. The article highlights the challenges of integrating archive management systems into development strategies, despite being essential for the planning, management, and evaluation of public policies. It also analyzes current archiving policies and proposes …

Nigeria's Federalism And The Threat Of Secession: The Case Of The Ipob, Emmanuel Oladipo Ojo, Osadola Oluwaseun Samuel

Journal of African Policy Studies

Since 2015, there has been renewed agitation for the creation of the Republic of Biafra. This article focuses on one of the two organizations involved in that struggle: The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB, the second being the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB). The Federation of Nigeria, inaugurated on 1 October 1954 under the Lyttelton Constitution, which became operational on that date, has been assailed by a plethora of centrifugal pulls and secession threats since 1950. While many of these threats were resolved politically and at round tables, a few had involved armed confrontation …

Nigeria's Retirement Pension System And Elderly Poverty, Tonyesima Furro

Journal of African Policy Studies

This study examines the nature of Nigeria's contributory retirement pension system. It shows that the government took monthly payroll deductions from the incomes of retirees and deposited in said retirement funds. Prior to retirement, retirees would receive a severance package of a lump-sum payment of a few months to a few years' earnings. They were assured that their regularly scheduled monthly disbursement would be remitted to their designated bank accounts. But due to the cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, many pension claimants were unsuccessful in receiving their benefits before death. The study reveals that the nation's pension administration system is characterized by …

Methodological Analysis Of The Guinea Bissau Nationalist Movement 1963-1974: Amilcar Cabral-Marxist Or Pragmatist Revolutionary?, Aliou Ly

Journal of African Policy Studies

On 24 September 1973, the former Portuguese colony of West Africa, Guinea Bissau, under the leadership of Amilcar Cabral and the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands), declared its independence after fighting a national liberation war against their Portuguese colonialists. This was the first and the only war for independence in West Africa, with the complete defeat of a European colonial army. During and after the Guinea Bissau Liberation war; 1963-1974, many social scientists, particularly those using the Marxist framework analyzed this African nationalist struggle as a successful Marxist revolution in West Africa. …

The Lack Of Access To Quality Healthcare Delivery In Nigeria: Its Implications For The Nigerian Citizens, Tonyesima Furro

Journal of African Policy Studies

This study examines the lack of access to quality healthcare delivery for the broad majority of Nigerians using Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in Rivers State as a case study. The paper argues that corruption and mismanagement are the linchpins for the lack of access and the provision of quality healthcare delivery for the citizens of Nigeria. In spite of the nation's abundant resources and financial solvency due largely to oil revenues, there is very little awareness by successive leaderships both military and civilian rule of the need to confront the pressing problem of healthcare. As a consequence, today, a child …

Tsenacommacah, Wylan Blair

Persimmon Creek

This poem is about the area that was once called Tsenacommacah, the Powhatan people, and the horrors of the centuries that followed 1607.

The Man In The Frame, Joshua Holt

Persimmon Creek

The Man in the Frame - Poetry by Joshua Holt

America Is Banking On You! Selling American Ideology During World War Ii, David W. Maupin

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This essay uncovers advertising from World War II found in tear sheet archives. Through deep reading and contextual analysis, this essay seeks to determine what these advertisements—found in magazines, newspapers, and posters—were asking their viewers to do in response to the global conflict of the 1940s. It argues that advertisers used emotions and racism to entice citizens of specific classes to invest, enlist, and align their values with American ideals. The creators of these advertisements were hired by American companies, who used government sponsored tactics to woo citizens to the American Ideology while keeping the corporate brand in the public …

Peacemaking Or Pacification For The Pool: The Restoration Of State Authority In A Rebellious Region Of Congo-Brazzaville, John F. Clark, Brett Carter

Journal of African Policy Studies

Congo (Brazzaville) has experienced a succession of periods of civil violence that has included an outbreak of ethno-political killing in 1993-1994, two full scale civil wars in 1997 and 1998-1999, and another round of regional rebellion in 2002-2003. Since 2003, the Pool region, site of the last round of serious fighting, has often been the scene of continuing episodes of banditry and corollary government crackdowns. The civil war of 1997 brought back to power Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Congo's ruler under a nominally Marxist regime between 1979 and 1991. Since 1997, Sassou has operated as an "electoral authoritarian" ruler; that is, he …

Youth Participation In Local And National Development In Ghana, Ca. 1620–2013, Ransford Gyampo, Franklin Obeng-Odoom

Journal of African Policy Studies

While there has been a long tradition in development studies on analyzing types of participation and their effectiveness, the idea that participation is not stationary, but that it can evolve with variegated experiences, is relatively unexplored. This paper takes up the challenge of showing how participation in development planning can change, the role of underlying institutions, and the implications of evolutionary participatory development for policy making. It uses a critical postcolonial approach and zooms in on the role of the youth in development planning in Ghana. It knits together the diverse processes and dynamics of youth participation in postcolonial Ghana …

Uganda Intervention, Saba Jallow

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

Anglophone Cameroon In Search Of Identity: Obstacles And Prospects, Tangie Nsoh Fonchingong

Journal of African Policy Studies

The former British Southern Cameroons opted in a UN organised plebiscite in 1961 to unify with La Republique du Cameroun to form a federation of two states that were said to be on a footing of equality. But contrary to declarations and expectations, the federation was not one of equal states. It was instead a veiled preparatory stage for the total assimilation of the Southern Cameroons into the highly centralised La Republique du Cameroun francophone unitary state. Through a number of assimilation stages, the Southern Cameroons has lost its autonomy to La Republique du Cameroun, its people marginalised, institutions destroyed, …

Economic Integration As A Contribution To Sustainable Development In The Horn Of Africa, Mengsteab Tesfayohannes, Hany Besada

Journal of African Policy Studies

The Horn of Africa is one of the most geopolitically important regions of the world, with great human and natural resource potential. Unfortunately, the region is notorious for its crises and instability. This is due to internal and external destabilising factors related to ethnicity, tribalism, resource sharing, poverty, superpower rivalry, porous borders and hegemonic desires. Although it differs slightly between countries, the average per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the region is less than $200. Gender disparity in education and economic activity is prevalent in the region at all levels. Over 75% of the labour force is engaged in …

The Influence Of Christianity And Islam On Educational Attainment In Africa: Using Literacy Rates As An Indicator, Natalia A. Castaner

Journal of African Policy Studies

This is a quantitative research study using current data from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Member States through its Institute for Statistics (UIS) annual data collection for the 57 countries in Africa. This study shows that a religious factor, i.e., Christianity and Islam, has a significant effect on the levels of educational attainment within each specific country in Africa. This study illustrates the need to consider the impact religion has on educational attainment in Africa.

Democracy And Poverty: The Nigerian Experience, Tonyesima Furro

Journal of African Policy Studies

This study examines the plight of the poor within the new democratic rule in Nigeria. Since the inception of democracy in 1999, there has been a sustained prosperity in terms of oil windfall that swells government's revenues on the order of over $30 billion annually. For the first time in over 20 years, the GDP growth rate is 7.5 percent. The nation has accumulated an impressive foreign exchange reserve of $60 billions. This reserve is the highest ever in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this financial outlay has not resulted in improved standard of living of the broad majority of the people. …

Beyond The Geometry Of State Sovereignty: Regionalism And Non-State Actors In The Southern African Development Community (Sadc), Lesley Blaauw

Journal of African Policy Studies

The collapse of the Cold War and accelerated globalization have reshaped the international political economy and in the process ignited a new impetus for regionalism. This paper posits that despite the transformation of SADCC into SADC, regional integration in southern Africa remains quintessentially statist with minimal (if any) involvement of civil society organizations and the private sector. This suggests that states in SADC remain crucial in lending scope and providing guidance about the content and character of regional integration. There is, therefore, in SADC, not yet a realization about the complimentary roles to be played by states, civil society organizations …

Falsification Of Population Census Data In A Heterogenous Nigerian State: The Fourth Republic Example, Bamgbose J. Adele

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines critically the controversy surrounding the recently concluded population census in Nigeria which came up between March 21 and March 25, 2006. While population census is a deliberate attempt to enumerate people within a delimited territory at a specific time so as to determine their number, their contribution over the land area and their basic socio-demographic and economic characteristics, many of such exercises have been juggled especially in Nigeria. Many infallible proofs for several scores of years have been showing that census taking in Nigeria has been surrounded by deliberate falsehood with the intents and purposes to derive …

The Roles Of Human Capital And Infrastructure On Fdi Inflow: Empirical Evidence From Sub Saharan Africa, Alemu Aye Mengistu

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper analyzes the impacts of physical infrastructure and human capital on FDI inflow in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Towards this effect a panel data of 960 observations of 32 countries from 1975 to 2004 have been analyzed using alternative panel estimation methods. Accordingly, the study revealed that human capital and infrastructure are indeed the key determinants for enhancing inward FDI. However, the evidence shows that the level of human capital and infrastructure are below the threshold level in SSA to play a positive role in attracting FDI and materialize a structural change in the economy. Thus, investment on education and …

Electronic Payments In Sub Saharan Africa: Will Mobile Telephony Accounts Systems Be The Next Leapfrog Technology For Development?, Donald Sparks

Journal of African Policy Studies

No abstract provided.

Population Increase, Environment, Food Access And Development In Africa: The Role Of The African Union, Amado J. Kaba

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines the impact of the massive population increase in Africa in the post World War II era and the environmental challenges the continent confronts in trying to feed such a high number of people. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section examines the demographics of Africa, which show that the continent has increased its total population by 750 million people from 1950 to 2008. The second section of this paper then presents arguments by scholars pertaining to the environmental challenges, especially for agriculture, facing Africa as it finds ways to feed this massive number of …

Information, Public Policy Analysis And Sustainable Development In Nigeria, Joseph E. Imhanlahimi, M. O. Ikeanyibe

Journal of African Policy Studies

Information and public policy analysis are critical factors in adequate public policy formulation, implementation and evaluation if the public good is to be achieved in Nigeria. This paper has carried out a critical examination of the interface between information and the public policy process and the effect on public policy analysis and has found that there is a crucial interrelationship among them in order to promote sustainable development. The paper found that the interrelationship is however, seriously interfered with or obstructed by a variety of dominant constraints. The constraints include inadequate human capital, financial resources, large-scale secrecy in government business, …

Of Corruption And Anti-Corruption Strategies In Nigeria: The More You Look The Less You See, Sylvester Olubani Fajonyomi

Journal of African Policy Studies

This statement from the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria reflects the outcome of the regime's efforts at fighting corruption in its first four years (1999-2003) in office: "Some members of the Nigerian public have expressed their opinion to the effect (that) our anti-corruption crusade in the last four years has been deficient in credibility because it appeared to lack the support of the Federal Executive Council who only rarely expressed their support in public. The situation has to change with the new cabinet. Each and every one of you must do more than give a nodding support for …

‘Good Old John Decker’: Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands, Grace C. Maciel

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

'Good Old John Decker': Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands (May 2025)

Grace C. Maciel, M.A., Texas A&M International University

Chair of Committee: Dr. Jerry Thompson

This thesis presents the first scholarly study of John Decker, a French-born immigrant whose rise as a merchant and civic figure in the 19th-century U.S.–Mexico borderlands offers a compelling case of adaptability, resilience, and immigrant success. Settling in Rio Grande City and Camargo, Tamaulipas, Decker built a lasting presence during a period marked by regional volatility, navigating war, revolution, and economic transformation. His story is explored across five chapters, …

Chinese Students, Jim Crow Schools: Navigating Education In A Black-And-White Society, Amanda Young

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Previous research on the history of education in the Jim Crow South has largely focused on the effects of legal segregation on Black communities. However, there existed another group: the Chinese. In the seemingly bifurcated system, their intermediate status was particularly discernible in the school. After Lum v. Rice (1927) stipulated that Chinese people, as members of the “colored” race, should be excluded from white schools, Chinese families sought other forms of education, including private tutors and church-sponsored mission schools. Still, they remained steadfast in their commitment to accessing white public education. The Chinese reproduced, acquiesced to, and in some …

Political Parties And Factionalism In Nigeria's Fourth Republic: Their Impact On Political Stability, Adele J. Bamgbose

Journal of African Policy Studies

The desire to transform a nation's political system through organized political parties forms the bedrock of a genuine patriotism to move the country forward. When such patriotism becomes pseudo in nature through factions which produce strife leading to stresses and strains and other discord of malfunctioning organizations, the grand political edifice constructed through a genuine patriotism begins to crumble, and in a poetical manner, things will begin to fall apart and the center will no longer hold. This in a nutshell describes the Nigerian party system from inception. Thus, the enthusiasm that metamorphosed into the creation of political parties in …