Publication Archives - Center for Democracy & Development

Nigeria: Women and Electoral Politics in 2023 — Charting the Way Forward

by adminPublicaitons, Publication, Publications January 9, 2022January 9, 2022No Comments

As Nigeria enters a new general election season — with political parties already conducting local congresses ahead of primaries next year— what prospects lie ahead for Nigerian women interested in seeking political leadership positions? Women have remained a vastly underrepresented minority in the halls of political power throughout Nigerian history. Since the resumption of electoral …

AN ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA’S ECONOMY 1999-2020

by adminPosts, Publicaitons, Publication, Publications January 9, 2022January 9, 2022No Comments

This study assesses the Nigerian Economy over the past two decades using the key economic plans of the various administrations. It focuses largely on comparing the projected and actual performance of the real, monetary, fiscal, and external sectors within the plans of each administration and their respective performance targets. Our assessment of the Nigerian economy …

Liberia’s Fake News Ecosystem: An Overview

by adminPublication November 25, 2021November 25, 2021No Comments

Fake news is spreading fast and wide in Liberia driven by increased access to the internet. This report provides an overview of the fake news ecosystem in Liberia by investigating — through key informant interviews and secondary research — how information is produced, shared and spread in the country. The report focuses on the key …

UNE INFLUENCE CROISSANTE: La Chine en Afrique de L'ouest

by adminPublicaitons, Publication, Publications June 7, 2021Comments are Disabled

Cette édition de West Africa Insight Cs’intéresse à la manière dont la Chine étend son influence en Afrique de l’Ouest. Tobi Oshodi et James Barnett commencent par donner une vue d’ensemble et une analyse du rôle que les Instituts Confucius, qui sont maintenant au nombre de 15 en Afrique de l’Ouest, jouent pour soutenir l’agenda …

Increasing Influence: China in West Africa

by adminPublicaitons, Publication, Publications May 14, 2021Comments are Disabled

This edition of West Africa Insight reflects on the ways China is extending its influence across West Africa. Tobi Oshodi and James Barnett start by providing an overview and analysis of the role Confucius Institutes, of which there are now 15 in West Africa, are playing in support of China’s soft power agenda in the …

How Youth Can Reshape Political Participation in Nigeria

by adminBlog, Publication, Publications April 21, 2021Comments are Disabled

By Chris Olaoluwa Ògúnmọ́dẹdé Can Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests evolve into a force that can restructure electoral politics? Or will the protests, which culminated with the state opening fire on its own citizens in Lagos, simply become a dramatic, but ineffective interlude, to the status quo? If recent electoral contests held in Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Plateau …

Deradicalizing Rehabilitating and Reintegrating: Building Peace in Nigeria's North East

by adminPublicaitons, Publication, Publications April 13, 2021Comments are Disabled

Since 2009, Boko-Haram’s violent activities have ravaged Nigeria’s north-east – primarily Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states – leading to the death of over 30,000 civilians and the forceful recruitment of youths, women, young girls, and school children among other human rights violations. These events have destroyed affected communities’ social fabrics, traditional institutions and impacted on …

Farmer-Herder Conflict in Northern Nigeria: Trends, Dynamics and Gender Perspectives

by adminPublication, Publications April 13, 2021Comments are Disabled

The farmer-herder conflict has become persistent and pervasive with debilitating consequences on human lives and their sources of livelihoods. Although scholars, policymakers and development workers have given attention to the conflict, the trends and dynamics of the conflict, as well as the direct and indirect actors in the conflicts, are constantly changing. The constantly changing …

SULH-ALHERI NE Replacing Evil with Something Better: Promoting Alternative Peacebuilding Narratives

by adminPublicaitons, Publication, Publications March 28, 2021Comments are Disabled

Attacks launched by Boko Haram and other extremist and self-defence groups in northern Nigeria has claimed over 30,000 lives in the last decade. The rise of the Boko Haram insurgency has also led to the destruction of communities, resulting in gross human rights violations, mass atrocities, disappearance and forced displacement. Restoring peace and rebuilding the …

How tenure elongation and a lack of term limits weaken the integrity of elections in Africa

by adminBlog, Publication, Publications March 23, 2021Comments are Disabled

By Ayisha Osori Until the late 1980s, Liberia’s constitution was the only one in Africa to provide clarity for presidential term limits. Without these limits, political succession was a major source of instability on the continent, with many countries dominated by a single leader who insisted on his – and it was always him – …

Crafting Credible Election Commissions in West Africa

by adminBlog, Publication, Publications March 10, 2021Comments are Disabled

By Professor L. Adele Jinadu The crass and partisan manipulation of African electoral management bodies (EMBs) was a central feature of the legacy of abuse that successor regimes to colonial rule in Africa inherited and perpetuated. Embedded in partisan politics through “outright control” by successor regimes, EMBs became “ineffectual mechanisms for democratically managing diversity”. To …

Judgements and Jurisprudence: Presiding over presidential petitions in Africa

by adminPublication, Publications, Uncategorized March 3, 2021Comments are Disabled

By Dr O’Brien Kaaba In 2017 the Kenyan Supreme Court became the first court on the African continent to annul a presidential election following full due process. In February 2020 the Malawian High Court, sitting as a constitutional court, followed suit in cancelling the results of the May 2019 presidential election. Not only did the …

Electoral Corruption In Nigeria: A Case Study Of The 2019 General Elections

by adminPublication, Publications March 3, 2021Comments are Disabled

A major pillar of post-1990 democratic transitions in Africa is the periodic organization and conduct of constitutionally entrenched competitive partyelections, by an independent electoral management body (EMB), to electivepublic political offices in the executive and legislative branches of government in the African state. The conduct of the elections is required to conform substantially with guiding …

Personal Data and the Influence Industry in Nigerian Elections

by adminPublication, Publications March 1, 2021Comments are Disabled

In Nigeria’s 2015 election, Cambridge Analytica (CA) spread targeted disinformation to suppress opposition votes and allegedly released sensitive medical and financial information about then opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari. In 2018, the Nigerian government formed a committee to investigate, amongst others, CA’s 2015 activities and promised criminal prosecutions if necessary. However, two years on, there has …

Liberia's Truth And Reconciliation Commission: Reviving Its Recommendations?

by adminPublication, Publications February 11, 2021Comments are Disabled

After 14 years of civil war that flouted six peace agreements, Liberians representing the warring parties along with civil society groups,and political parties signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) inAccra, Ghana, on 18 August 2003. The CPA called for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and an inclusive two-year interim national government. The …

Sustaining Peace: Reflections On Transitional Justice Approaches In West Africa

by adminPublication, Publications February 11, 2021Comments are Disabled

For several decades, West Africa has faced different and varying degrees ofviolent conflict, authoritarian and repressive undemocratic governments.The region has witnessed civil wars, political conflicts, insurgencies, inter-communal conflicts and the “not so new” trend of violent extremism. Liberia experienced more than 14 years of civil unrest and conflict. The country had two distinct civil wars …

Local Learning: Ideas For Reducing Farmer-Herder Conflicts In Nigeria

by adminEvent, Publication, Publications February 7, 2021Comments are Disabled

The farmer-herder conflict has mutated and is now manifesting and transforming into other forms of conflicts. In Kaduna and Katsina state, the conflict has mutated into armed banditry involving cattle rustling, destruction or theft of farm crops, kidnapping and armed robbery. For example, a traditional leader in Batsari Katsina categorically stated that “they were no …

Tackling COVID-19: The Need for a Nigerian Response

by adminPublication, Publications November 20, 2020Comments are Disabled

The coronavirus is a human tragedy that is now affecting over a million people around the globe. The World Health Organization ( declared COVID 19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It indicated with certainty that the coronavirus (SARS CoV 2) will spread to all parts of the world and pointed out that all governments, …

Tackling COVID-19: Finding West Africa's Path

by adminPublication, Publications November 18, 2020Comments are Disabled

Introduction The days when COVID-19 was only a distant threat to West African countries are over. It is now evident that the virus is here to stay andmust be addressed with practical responses that take into account the West African settings. Although the infection curve is not exponential, community transmission is beginning to gain ground …

The Outlook for Ondo: Votes and Violence

by adminPublication, Publications October 6, 2020Comments are Disabled

Introduction On the 10 October 2020 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the sixth governorship election in Ondo State since the restoration of democracy in 1999. The state, in Nigeria’s south west geo political zone, is currently held by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and is strategic in protecting the APCs political hegemony …