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Abstract
The nobility of the objectives and aspiration of the African Union's Agenda 2063 towards the developmental needs of the African people are laudable, as are the attempts being made to ensure collective action, despite the ‘shield of sovereignty behind which too many corrupt leaders have hidden’. However, these noble objectives and aspirations may be undermined and threatened by the upsurge in militant Islamism and the spread of terrorism within and outside Africa, a fact not being addressed by Agenda 2063. Yet while Agenda 2063 does not seek to address the challenges posed by terrorist networks within the continent, which are threatening human security as well as the sovereignty, territoriality, legitimacy and stability of political regimes, these issues are at the core of the agenda. This article argues for Agenda 2063 to step up its efforts to combat both the roots of terrorism and the threat to development that terrorism itself poses.
Notes on Contributor
Maurice Ogbonnaya is a Research Fellow with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Nigeria. He had previously worked as Security and Policy Analyst at the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), National Assembly, Abuja-Nigeria. A Laureate of the VII South-South Institute jointly organized in 2014 by the International Development Economic Associates (IDEAs), Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) in Bangkok, Thailand, Ogbonnaya holds a Doctorate degree in International Relations from University of Uyo, Nigeria.
Notes
1 African Union Commission, Agenda 2063 Draft Framework. Addis Ababa: African Union Commission, 2013.
2 African Union, Agenda 2063: A Shared Strategic Framework for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development. Addis Ababa: African Union, August 2013, p. 7. For details on the Lagos Plan of Action, the Abuja Treaty and New Partnership for Africa’s Development, see Organisation of African Unity, Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa: 1980–2000. Addis Ababa: Organisation of African Unity, April 1980; Organisation of African Unity, Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community. Addis Ababa: Organisation of African Unity, June 1991; African Union, The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Abuja: African Union, October 2001.
3 African Union Commission, Agenda 2063: The Future we Want for Africa. Addis Ababa: African Union, February 2014, p. 18.
4 African Union, Agenda 2063: A Shared Strategic Framework for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development. Addis Ababa: African Union, August 2013, p. 22.
5 Williams P, Violent Non-state Actors and National and International Security. Zurich: Swiss Institute of Technology, 2008.
6 Taylor I, ‘African Unity at 50: From non-interference to non-indifference’, E-International Relations, 25 June 2013, http://www.e-ir.info/2013/06/25/african-unity-at-50-from-non-interference-to-non-indifference/ (accessed 4 September 2015). See also Murithi T, ‘The African Union's transition from non-intervention to non-indifference: An Ad Hoc approach to the responsibility to protect?’, IPG, 1, 2009, pp. 90–106; Williams PD, ‘From non-intervention to non-indifference: The origins and development of the African Union's security culture’, African Affairs, 106, 423, 2007, pp. 253–79.
7 For a detailed analysis of the issues raised here, see Sesay, A, The African Union: Forward March or About Face-Turn? Claude Ake Memorial Papers No. 3, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University and Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, March 2008; Hodge, T, From OAU to AU: Same old lady, new dress. The Perspective. Atlanta, 2002.
8 For some of the critics of NEPAD, see Taylor I, NEPAD: Towards Africa's Development or Another False Start? Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005; Adesina JO et al., Africa and Development Challenges in the New Millennium: The NEPAD Debate. London: Zed Books, 2006.
9 African Union Commission, The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD): Framework Document. Addis Ababa: African Union, 2010, p. 18.
10 Verwey L, ‘NEPAD and civil society participation in the APRM’, IDASA-Budget Information Service, Occasional Paper, 2005, http://www.un-ngls.org/orf/cso/cso8/nepad.pdf (accessed 4 September 2015).
11 Adesina JO et al., Africa and Development Challenges in the New Millennium: The NEPAD Debate. London: Zed Books, 2006 (especially Chapter 3, pp. 86–104); Sako S & G Ogiogio, ‘Africa: Major development challenges and their capacity building dimensions', African Capacity Building Foundation Occasional Paper no. 1, 2012.
12 Boko Haram is now renamed Wilayat al Sudan al Gharbi (ie Islamic State's West Africa Province, ISWAP), a clear indication that the group has set its territorial influence beyond Nigeria to the sub-region. However, for ease of recognition, this paper will retain the earlier name of Boko Haram.
13 Ogbonnaya UM, K Ogujiuba & N Stiegler, ‘Terrorism in Nigeria: Implications of Boko Haram movement for security and stability in the ECOWAS sub-region’, African Security Review, 23.2, 2014, pp. 145–60.
14 Ogbonnaya UM, ‘Arab spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya: A comparative analysis of causes and determinants’, in Amour PO (ed.) The Arab Spring: Comparative Perspective and Regional Implications, Special Issue, Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, 11.3, 2013, pp. 4–16.
15 Global Terrorism Index, Measuring and Understanding the Impact of Terrorism. New York: Institute for Economics and Peace, 2015.
16 Ernst and Young's Attractiveness Survey: Africa 2014, p. 6, www.ey.com/attractiveness. (accessed 10 January, 2015).
17 The World Bank, Annual Percentage Growth Rate of GDP of ECOWAS Countries (2000–2011): African Economic Outlook. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013.
18 See for instance, Willian, E. Lost Decades: Developing Countries’ Stagnation in Spite of Policy Reforms, 1980–1998. New York: World Bank, February 2001; Sandbrook R & J Barker, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation. London: Cambridge University Press, 1985; Mabikke SB, ‘Africa's wealth of resources, blessing or course?’ Paper presented at the Expert Conference organised at the European Academy Otzenhausen (Saarland), Munich, Germany, 18–20 January 2012.
19 An example is the European Union (EU) where regional institutional and legal frameworks have been developed to forge concerted regional efforts in the war against terrorism (see Casale D, ‘EU institutional and legal counter-terrorism framework’, Defence Against Terrorism Review, 1.1, 2008, pp. 49–78).
20 For the purpose of this article, except where otherwise defined, terrorism is taken to mean premeditated, politically motivated acts of violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets and populations either by state or non-state actors (see Title 22 of the US Code).
21 Lyman PN & JS Morrison, ‘The terrorist threat in Africa: Slaying the hydra’, Foreign Affairs, January/February, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59534/princeton-n-lyman-and-j-stephen-morrison/the-terrorist-threat-in-africa (accessed 27 March 2015).
22 See Sputnik International. ‘Deadliest terrorist attacks in history’, 9 November 2010, http://sputniknews.com/infographics/20100911/160531792.html
23 Global Terrorism Index, Measuring and Understanding the Impact of Terrorism. New York: Institute for Economics and Peace, 2014, pp. 2 and 8.
24 Alexander Y, Terrorism in North Africa and the Sahel in 2014. Sixth Annual Report for Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Inter-University Centre for Terrorism Studies and International Law Institute conducted for Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Inter-University Centre for Terrorism Studies and International Law Institute, February 2015.
25 Global Terrorism Index, Measuring and Understanding the Impact of Terrorism. New York: Institute for Economics and Peace, 2015.
26 See Ray N. ‘The growing threat of terrorism in Africa: The case of Boko Haram.’ Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Issue Brief, 20 February 2016.
27 Tanchum M, ‘Al-Qa’ida's West African advance: Nigeria's Boko Haram, Mali's Touareg, and the spread of Salafi jihadism’, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 6(2), 2012, pp.75-76.
28 Ogbonnaya UM & K Ogujiuba, ‘AFISMA and the Mali crisis: Rethinking security intervention and democratic consolidation in Africa’. Paper presented at the 3rd African Unity for Renaissance Conference and Africa Day Expo organized by Africa Institute for South Africa, held at the South Africa Department of International Relations and Cooperation's auditorium and Burgers Park Gardens, Tshawane, Pretoria, 20–21 May 2013.
29 United Nations Security Council, Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council, S/2012/42, 17 January 2012.
30 African Development Bank, Jobs, Justice and the Arab Spring: Inclusive Growth in North Africa. Tunisia: African Development Bank Group Publications, 2012; United Nations Office for West Africa, Youth unemployment and regional insecurity in West Africa. Dakar: UNOWA, 2006; Hutchful, E, ‘Economic Community of West African States counterterrorism efforts’, in Le Sage A (ed.) African Counterterrorism Cooperation: Assessing Regional and Sub-regional Initiatives. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press and Potomac Books, 2007, pp. 113–26.
31 York G, ‘Fighting imperils eradication of guinea worm disease’, The Globe and Mail, 18 January 2013, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/fighting-imperils-eradication-of-guinea-worm-disease/article7553295/ (accessed 15 February 2014).
32 See Crime Data, Nigeria Police Watch, http://www.nigeriapolicewatch.com/resources/crime-data/
33 The internally displaced persons are those who have been dislodged or dislocated from their homes by Boko Haram activities within Nigeria while refugees are those who have sought protection across borders.
34 These figures were correct as at 12 April 2016. See Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, http://www.internal-displacement.org/sub-saharan-africa/nigeria/
35 Ogbonnaya UM, K Ogujiba & N Stiegler, ‘Terrorism in Nigeria: Implications of Boko Haram's movement for security and stability in the ECOWAS sub-region’, African Security Review 23(2), 2014, 145–60.
36 Moitui, JN, When Peacekeepers Become the Target of Terrorism: Suicide Attack on UN Base in Mali. The Organization for World Peace, 18 April 2015, http://theowp.org/when-peacekeepers-become-a-target-of-terrorism-an-insight-from-the-un-suicide-attack-in-mali/ (accessed 14 May 2016).
37 Onuoha FC, ‘Small arms and light weapons proliferation and human security in Nigeria’, Conflict Trends, 1, 2012, 50–6.
38 Esiedesa O, ‘Finding solutions to Nigeria's $11b annual crude theft’, Daily Independent, 23 March 2014, http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/03/finding-solution-to-nigerias-11b-annual-crude-theft (accessed 4 September 2015).
39 Skinner, A. ‘The rising trend of female suicide bombers in Nigeria’. Fund for Peace, 28 March 2015, http://library.fundforpeace.org/blog-20150328-nigeriawomenbombers. (accessed 27 June 2016).
40 Amnesty International, Stars on their Shoulders, Blood on their Hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian Military (London: Amnesty International, June 2015).
41 The Leahy laws are a set of US laws that prohibits the US Departments of State and Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. For details, see US Code › Title 22 › Chapter 32 › Subchapter III › Part I › § 2378d (22 U.S. Code § 2378d – Limitation on assistance to security forces).
42 Adetayo O, ‘Boko Haram: Buhari orders the release of $21million to task force’, Punch, 14 June 2015, http://www.punchng.com/news/bharam-buhari-orders-immediate-release-of-21m-to-mnjtf/ (accessed 25 September 2015).
43 Kyama R, ‘The threat of terrorism to Kenya’, Terrorism Monitor, 5 October 2006, http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=925Jamestown (accessed 25 September 2015).
44 Rosand E, A Millar & J Ipe. ‘Implementing the UN global counter-terrorism strategy in East Africa’, Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, December 2012.
45 Athumani R, ‘Africa: Lack of funds dogs Africa's Agenda 2063’, Tanzania Daily News, 26 March 2015, http://allafrica.com/stories/201503261038.html (accessed 28 March 2015).
46 Mataboge M, ‘AU's dependence on cash from the West still rankles’, Mail & Guardian, 12 June 2015, http://mg.co.za/article/2015-06-11-aus-dependence-on-cash-from-the-west-still-rankles (accessed 24 June 2016).
47 Ogbonnaya UM & O Femi-Adedayo, ‘African solutions to African problems: The necessity of African Union's intervention in the crisis of democratic institutionalisation in post-Arab spring Egypt’, Journal of African Union Studies, 3.1, 2014, pp. 105–27.
48 Ogbonnaya UM, ‘ Political exclusion, violent conflicts and development in Africa: A cross country analysis’, in Inequality, Democracy and Development under Neo-liberalism and Beyond. New Delhi: International Development Economic Associates, Latin American Council of Social Sciences & Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2015, pp. 212–31.
49 ECDPM, ‘Tackling the threat of terrorism and election violence: A challenging year ahead for Africa in 2015’, Talking Points, 6 February 2015, http://ecdpm.org/talking-points/challenges-africa-terrorism-elections (accessed 28 March 2015).
50 Casale D, ‘EU institutional and legal counter-terrorism framework’, Defence Against Terrorism Review, 1.1, 2008, pp. 49–78.
51 African Development Bank, Jobs, Justice and the Arab Spring: Inclusive Growth in North Africa. Tunisia: African Development Bank, 2012.