Interrogating the nexus between irregular migration and insecurity along ‘ungoverned’ border spaces in West Africa

ABSTRACT

The ‘coloniality’, porosity, and ‘ungovernability’ of borders in West Africa, have engendered undocumented migration, in which most people engage to visit their kin and for economic reasons such as herding, farming, fishing, hunting, and trading. This occurs concurrently with human smuggling, human trafficking, gun-running, terrorism, and money laundering. The rise in these cross-border criminal activities and the resultant insecurity have put irregular migration into the mainstream of political and academic conversation, generating national, regional, and global concerns. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the nexus between irregular migration and insecurity along ‘ungoverned’ borders in West Africa, based on a review of relevant literature on migration, security, and governance in scholarly journals, books as well as relevant reports, newspaper, and media accounts. The overarching question which this raises and is addressed in this paper is: How does the coloniality and porosity of ungoverned borders in West Africa engender and/or entrench cross-border insecurity? Addressing this question suggests the need to provide sufficient governance mechanisms that involve both state and non-state actors in order to reduce the ungoverned spaces in this part of Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Ungoverned spaces
• irregular migration
• terrorism
• insecurity
• West Africa

Notes

1 Pham, Securing Strategic Gulf, 23.

2 Musah, West Africa: Governance, 31.

3 Lamptey, Rethinking Border Management, 7.

4 Omilusi, ‘Transnational Threats and Security’, 11.

5 Achieng and El Fadil, ‘On African Migration?’ 3.

6 Abebe and Mugabo, ‘Migration and Security’, 146.

7 Hovy, Laczko, and Kouassi, ‘African Migration: Trends’, 18.

8 Yaro, Migration West Africa, 9.

9 Achumba, Ighomereho, and Akpor-Robaro, ‘Security Challenges in Nigeria’, 81.

10 Hazen and Horner, Small Arms, and Insecurity, 14.

11 De Haas, myth Irregular Migration, 8; Shaw, Migration in Africa, 16; Adepoju, ‘Migration West Africa’, 37.

12 Adebusuyi, Migration and Regional Integration, 41.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Taylor, ‘Thoughts on Ungoverned Spaces’, 7.

16 Rabasa and Peters, ‘Understanding Lack of Governance’, 15.

17 Menkhaus, ‘State and Ungoverned Space’, 175; Onwuzuruigbo, ‘Enclaves of Banditry’, 20; Lloyd, ‘Ungoverned Spaces and Insecurity’, 136; Whelan, ‘Africa's Ungoverned Space’, 62; Mitchell, ‘Ungoverned Space’, 293.

18 Jasper and Giarra, ‘Disruptions in the Commons’, 11.

19 Prinz and Schetter, ‘Conditioned Sovereignty’, 119; Marsden, Ungoverned Spaces? 61.

20 Jackson, Quasi-states: Sovereignty, 49.

21 Olaniyan and Akindele, ‘Nigeria's Ungoverned Spaces’, 2.

22 Clunan and Trinkunas, Ungoverned Spaces: Alternatives, 75.

23 Raleigh, ‘Seeing the Forest for the Trees’, 384.

24 Keister, The Illusion of Chaos, 6.

25 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Yearbook of World Armaments, 4; Enwegbara, ‘Why is Africa Unstable?’ 13; Adebajo, ‘A Middle Crisis for Africa’, 8; The Economist, ‘Courage, mon brave’, 7.

26 Council on Foreign Relations, Al-Shabab, 2.

27 Schette, ‘Ungoverned Territories’, 99.

28 Raleigh and Dowd, ‘Governance and Conflict’, 12.

29 Nunan, Humanitarian Invasion, 56.

30 Marsden, Ungoverned Spaces? 48.

31 Ali, ‘Winning in Ungoverned Spaces’, 10.

32 Patrick, ‘Failed States and Global Security’, 657; Stanislawski, ‘Para-states, Quasi-states, and Black Spots’, 369; J. Prinz, ‘Ungoverned Space’, 5; Gordner, ‘Ungoverned Spaces?’ 3.

33 Keister, ‘The Illusion of Chaos’, 7.

34 Patrick, ‘Failed States and Global Security’, 651.

35 Ibid.

36 Aniche, ‘Migration and Sustainable Development’, 49.

37 International Organisation for Migration, National Migration Policy, 13.

38 Adepoju, Creating a Borderless West Africa, 26.

39 Marc, Verjee, and Mogaka, The Challenge of Stability, 11.

40 Ibid.

41 Adepoju, Creating a Borderless West Africa, 22.

42 Altai Consulting, ‘Irregular Migration between West Africa’, 7.

43 Devillard, Bacchi and Noack, A Survey on Migration Policies, 12.

44 Adedokun, The Rights of Migrant Workers, 15.

45 Patrick, Are ‘Ungoverned Spaces’ a Threat? 9.

46 Ojo, ‘Governing “Ungoverned Spaces”’, 77.

47 Adeola and Oluyemi, ‘The Implications of Cross Border Migration’, 3.

48 Achumba, Ighomereho, and Akpor-Robaro, ‘Security Challenges in Nigeria’, 12.

49 Ibid.

50 ACCORD, OSAA & IOM. Conflict-induced Migration, 17.

51 Ibid.

52 Florquin and Berman, Armed and Aimless, 3.

53 Edeko, ‘The Proliferation of Small Arms’, 57.

54 Hazen and Horner, Small Arms, and Insecurity, 15.

55 Stohl and Tuttle, ‘Small Arms and Light Weapons’, 6.

56 Ibrahim, Democracy and Small Arms, 22.

57 Steinberg and Werenfels, ‘Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’, 408.

58 Torres-Soriano, ‘The Road to Media Jihad’, 77.

59 Ibid.

60 Boeke, ‘Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’, 914.

61 Torres-Soriano, ‘The Road to Media Jihad’, 78.

62 Bartolotta, ‘Terrorism: Boko Haram’, 50; Onuoha, ‘Boko Haram's Tactical Evolution’, 30; Adetula, Transnational Organised Crime, 16.

63 Obi, ‘Terrorism in West Africa’, 91.

64 Institute for Economics and Peace, Global Terrorism Index 2020, 19.

65 Achumba, Ighomereho, and Akpor-Robaro, ‘Security Challenges in Nigeria’, 80.

66 Ibid.

67 Onuoha, Boko Haram's Transnational Reach, 13.

68 Yabi, Peace and Security in Africa, 20.

69 Onuoha, Boko Haram's Transnational Reach, 11.

70 Wilkinson, ‘AQIM's stalemate in Algeria’, 8.

71 Boeke, ‘Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’, 916.

72 Cilliers, Africa's Conflict Burden, 9.

73 Thurston, Boko Haram: Jihadist Movement, 21.

74 Ibid.

75 Yabi, Peace and Security in Africa, 16.

76 Bowd and Chikwana, Understanding Africa's Contemporary Conflicts, 2.

77 Tonah, ‘Fulani Pastoralists, Indigenous Farmers’, 46.

78 Abbass, ‘Fulani Pastoralists and Farmers’, 335.

79 De Andrés, West Africa Under Attack, 7.

80 Idowu and Okunola, ‘Pastoralism as Terrorism in Nigeria’, 50.

81 McGregor, ‘Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen’, 8; Imo, ‘Nomadıc Herdsmen and Farmers’, 49.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ernest Toochi Aniche

Ernest Toochi Aniche holds Bachelor of Science (BSc), Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees of the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) with bias in International Relations. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University Otuoke (FUO), Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He was the Acting Head, Department of Political Science, Hezekiah University, Umudi, Imo State, Nigeria (2017–2019).

Inocent Moyo

Inocent Moyo is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, where he teaches Human Geography courses. As a Political Geographer, Dr Moyo is passionate about the interface between people and the environment in its various manifestations. Dr Moyo is a seasoned researcher on issues of migration and development, African regionalism, regional integration in the SADC migration and immigration politics, informal cross border trader, transnationalism, borders and borderlands and urban informality and governance. He has published and done international presentations on these topics.

Christopher Changwe Nshimbi

Christopher Changwe Nshimbi is Director and Research Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), University of Pretoria. He researches migration, regional integration, borders and borderlands, the informal economy, social cohesion and water resource management. Chris also teaches in the Department of Political Sciences of the university. Some courses he teaches include Regional Integration; African Regions and Politics; and States, Governance and Political Dynamics. Chris also sits on regional and international technical working groups on migration, regional integration, the integrated water sector, social protection and wellbeing. Twitter: @csn_chris.