Browsing by Author "Isike, Christopher Afoke."

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Conflict resolution and management of inter-group relations in South Africa : a study of Black South African reactions to other African immigrants ("Amakwerekwere"), 1994-2008".
(2014) Chiwueze, Benedict Udeh.; Okeke-Uzodike, Nwabufo Ikechukwu.; Isike, Christopher Afoke.
On the 11 May 2008, South Africa was awakened to a major xenophobic violence that was targeted at mainly black African nationals resident in the country. The violence later gained momentum spreading through the different provinces of the country in a space of weeks. While this was not the first and last of these kinds of violence against African immigrants, this marked a watershed in terms of its magnitude. The net import of these kinds of attacks shows strained relations not only between South Africans and African immigrants but also between their states. This study therefore sought to analyse the deep-seated reasons behind afrophobia and the violence that accompanies it in South Africa. This was with a view to highlighting the development implications of this afrophobia for South Africa. The overarching goal of the study which also underscores its significance is to proffer solutions on how to achieve intra-racial harmony and peaceful co-existence between different social groupings in South Africa to foster its development. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study illuminated the hydra-headed nature of xenophobia in South Africa and analyses the danger xenophobic violence poses to South Africa‘s national security and reputation. Its findings showed that not only is xenophobia not peculiar to South Africa, but that the country may not be as xenophobic as is popularly portrayed by images of the May 2008 violence. In view of this, it proffers practical recommendations that will provide lasting solutions to xenophobic violence in South Africa. Some of these include instituting and practising peace education across various organisations and tertiary institutions in South Africa, abolishing all forms of apartheid structures and racial hierarchies of social benefits, inter/intra-racial integration and upholding the teaching and learning of various South African languages across South African institutions. Others include the provision of jobs and housing, strengthening of the judicial system and government agencies to act against xenophobic violence and hate speech, and instituting national integration policies like a compulsory "national youth service"programme.
Feminising the peace process : a comparative analysis of women and conflict in the Niger-delta (Nigeria) and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
(2009) Isike, Christopher Afoke.; Okeke-Uzodike, Nwabufo Ikechukwu.
This study starts with the premise that the paucity of women in political leadership positions in society accounts for their absence from the formal peace table. Indeed, as many studies have shown, women are globally marginalized at all levels of public decision-making, and Africa is not left out of this trend. For a continent that is particularly plagued by armed conflict, Africa is generally known for masculinisng the public space including political governance. In this way, women in the continent are formally excluded from peace processes despite not only the roles they play during and after conflict but also their disproportionate vulnerability to the after-effects. Therefore, this study hypothesises that involving women in politics and governance on an equal basis with men would enhance the peace process in conflict-affected societies in Africa. To test this hypothesis, the study investigates the extent to which women’s participation in political processes or governance can enhance peacebuilding in conflict-affected communities using KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and the Niger Delta in Nigeria as case studies. Specifically, it poses the following questions: What is the impact of conflict on women in these study areas, and how does it define the women’s reality with regard to the conflict cycle? How have women responded to conflict and its resolution in these study areas? Will increased political representation of women both in government and decision-making points of the peace machinery enhance the peace process? What societal notions and ideologies under-gird the role perception and construction of women as ‘victims only’ in conflict situations, and which help to fuel their exclusion from peace processes? And what veritable lessons can be learnt from women’s involvement in conflict resolution in these case studies? In grappling with these questions, the study utilises a combination of research methods and approaches in collecting and analysing data from the both secondary and primary sources. For example, it adopts a qualitative method which it combines with feminist research (perspective and practice) and comparative case study approaches. Using the questionnaire and interview instruments, the study relies on data from surveys of 295 women and 4 men drawn from both case studies. In KwaZulu-Natal, an additional 40 students (25 females and 15 males) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal were also surveyed in two focus group discussions. While all data were analysed by content analysis with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), the questionnaire survey data were further subjected to statistical analysis (Chi Square and Logistic Regression Analysis) to test for the significance of the variables that could explain the perception that more women in politics would enhance peace building. Mainly, the study found out that just as women are victims of armed conflict, they are also agents of peace. Second, women often articulate conflict and peace in different ways to men based on the ethic of care which defines their femininity. Third, women are active peace agents (as reconcilers and community builders) at the informal levels in their communities and they can be used for reconciliatory roles in the peace process – that is to break down gender dualism which perpetuates conflict. Fourth, in partnership with men, women make peace building more effective than if there are few or no women. Therefore, there is a need to mainstream women into politics on an equal basis with men, and men need to be carried vi along in this project. Fifth, given the failure of male dominated politics to prevent and manage violent conflict, women need to be encouraged to come into politics as women so that they can bring their own values to bear. Finally, based on statistical analysis, some of the positive predictors of the characteristics of women which suggest that more women in politics would enhance peace-building include marital status, education and place of interview (context). The study also explores some theoretical considerations for feminising peace-building. These include the human security paradigm, the human factor paradigm and John Lederach’s moral imagination model of peace building. The relationship between these paradigms/models and peace building is located in their emphasis on the importance of the human agency in peace building discourse and action. For instance, while the human security paradigm emphasises the significance of factoring people into the security, peace and development calculus, both the human factor and moral imagination paradigms underscore the fact that the quality of the people that can make the difference between violent conflict and peace matters. For example, while positive human factor qualities such as integrity, accountability, selflessness and truthfulness can create a fertile environment for good governance and development, from a moral imagination perspective, relatedness, collaboration, love, empathy and tolerance are necessary and sufficient factors for creating a fertile environment for peace building. From a critical survey of literature on women, politics and peace building in pre-colonial African societies, this study found that women in Africa generally embody positive human factor traits and moral imagination capacities which reinforced the high moral authority society accorded them. Oftentimes, women drew on this moral authority, which was based on the ethics of care that defined their femininity, to exert themselves politically, economically and socially. For instance, they leveraged on this moral authority to assume peacemaking and peace building roles by mediating in intra-community and inter-community conflicts, educating children to value peaceful co-existence and, frequently, carried out peace sacrifices and purification/cleansing rites to reintegrate their warriors into civil society. Based on this, and the practical illustrations/stories of women’s peace agency in parts of post-colonial Africa, this study contends that the values they represent can be appropriated and developed into an African feminist ethic of peace which can be utilised as both a conflict-prevention and post-conflict reconstruction model in other conflict-prone areas of the continent. However, the potential of women’s peace agency is clogged by their exclusion (by both men and women themselves) from the peace processes of their communities and nation-states, and this is perpetuated by the political marginalisation of women. Therefore, based on the finding that women (in partnership with men) make peace building more effective than if there are few or no women, the study makes a number of recommendations which are in line with the mandate of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. These include: African states should enact constitutionally guaranteed electoral laws and policies to enable women to appropriate their own political spaces. Second, the peace process should be engendered in ways that will enable women to continue to play traditional reconciliatory roles especially at the grass root level. Third, because men remain critical to the gender equality project, they should be carried along through re- enlightenment that will make them see women empowerment as an African renaissance rather than as a western imposition. In the same vein, re-socialising men to assume co-parenting responsibilities will help deconstruct the basis of patriarchy in society and in the process enthrone a new kind of civilisation. This is imperative considering that gender equality in private and public life is both a necessary and sufficient factor for peace building.
The theory and application of consociational democracy in South Africa : a case study of KwaZulu-Natal.
(2015) Dlamini, Siphetfo Nicholas.; Mtshali, Khondlo Phillip Thabo.; Isike, Christopher Afoke.
Liberal democracy has failed to address issues of development, especially in plural societies such as South Africa, where different segments of society and government representation coexist. Its focus on individualism rather than collectivism; its competitive nature and lack of participation, injects an uncommon practice to the African political culture. Liberal democracy has been perceived by scholars and more generally, political commentary as an appropriate political system to address issues of development. This in part may be the result of not drawing focus on the relationship of development to other systems of government, more especially consociational democracy. And thus, due to the weaknesses and assumptions inherent in both new and classical liberal democracy, the study explored the consociational model in a search for a development model appropriate for South Africa. In essence, the study specifically seeks to provide an alternative paradigm of development by drawing on the consociational theory as advocated by Claude Ake. The study argued that the importance of achieving development through coalition and participation by different segments of society deserves much attention. The conflict perpetrated by power struggles amongst elites is a significant obstacle in the path of development. In filling in the gap between liberalism and development, the study employed the consociational theory in examining the extent to which coalition between different segments of KwaZulu-Natal can work collaboratively towards achieving development. The theory based on Ake’s paradigm of development is used to narrow down the research into a developmental paradigm that will specifically be in reference to KwaZulu-Natal’s three districts, eThekwini, uMzinyathi and uMgungundlovu. Such a paradigm essentially focuses on cooperation and is characterized by a people driven development agenda. The study argues that Claude Ake’s paradigm of development with both its inclusive nature of the individual and emphasis on collective representation appears more feasible and capable of bringing about an African paradigm of development than the dominant liberal approach. The study uses a qualitative research method. As research instruments, interviews and a questionnaire are used to get more detailed information out of participants. Using structured interviews and open interview schedules, interviewees consists of focus groups and elites in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. These interviewees are; councilors at district and local municipalities, traditional leaders, non-governmental organizations, politicians from different political parties, senior government officials, and the unemployed. The study found out that it is abundantly clear that Africa in the 21st century requires a paradigm shift in shaping and conducting its democratic practices and its development agenda. There is a need to adopt a clear paradigm of development that is human centred and characterised by the inclusion of various segments of society. This paradigm should embrace the spirit of inclusiveness, cooperation, participation and recognition of people’s capabilities and freedoms to value. While the study acknowledges the conscious attempts made by South Africa to ensure the participation of the citizenry in development issues, a greater emphasis on cooperation and unity in decision making is necessary in ensuring a smooth process of development, particularly in South Africa’s most deprived communities.
United Nations Security Council Resolutions in Africa : the conundrum of state and human insecurity in Libya.
(2013) Ekwealor, Chinedu Thomas.; Okeke-Uzodike, Nwabufo Ikechukwu.; Isike, Christopher Afoke.
Both interventionist and anti-interventionist scholars have advanced the view that the 2011 Libyan conflict probes the need to establish an international organisation to settle disputes between nations with a view to maintaining international peace and security. Ironically, 67 years after the founding of the United Nations, post-colonial African states remain deeply troubled and affected by conflicts that are often exacerbated by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. The 2011 Libyan conflict was not a war for democracy; rather, it represented and demonstrated clearly the asymmetrical relations between Africa and Europe. This study therefore, is anchored on the thesis that the Western Countries—especially Britain and France—within the UNSC ignore the values that are embodied in the Treaty of Westphalia which established state sovereignty. Some Permanent five (P5) members of the UN were typically insensitive to Libya’s sovereignty and to the creed of democracy and this inevitably undermined the national security of the state in favour of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ clause. The outsourcing of the UNSC’s mission, among other things, in Libya to ensure ‘international peace and security’ to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was a critical reason for the loss of human lives and values in the 2011 Libyan pogrom. The introduction of a no-fly zone over Libya and the use of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) contained in UNSC Resolution 1973 clearly stoked the conflict in Libya in order to further the political and pecuniary interests of some of the P5 members. The involvement of NATO and the attendant bombing campaign in Libya served to undermine the militarily weak continent of Africa in its effort to broker peace under the umbrella of the African Union (AU). In order to secure these political and economic interests, the NATO jet bombers declared war against a sovereign UN member state and openly participated in the eventual overthrow and death of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. In essence, this study underscores that the use of Responsibility to Protect in Libya was orchestrated at the highest level of international politics to justify external interference and ultimately, to secure regime change in Libya. The net effect of the outcome of the 2011 Libyan conflict is the post-war imperial control of Libya’s natural resources facilitated by the National Transition Committee established by these imperial forces. The extent of the damage caused by the UN-backed NATO intervention in Libya is also the result of the collective failure of the African Union to assert itself in the Libyan situation.