Ethnic crises and national security in Nigeria

The article focuses on the interface between ethnicity and national security in Nigeria. It critically explores the negative mobilization of ethnicity in Nigeria's fourth republic, and how this has been shaping (and reshaping) the democratization process, particularly in the management of cooperation and conflict over contestations for power and other resources. The re-democratization of Nigeria in 1999 has been preceded with high expectations of meaningful reductions in the high level of insecurity witnessed under the long years of military suzerainty. However, this has not been the case. Rather, what is obtained is an increase in national insecurity on a much larger scale. This article argues that one of the banes of national security in the Nigerian state is ethnic politics, which continues to witness changes in context and character with grave consequences for the future of democracy. The central argument is that ethnicity has always been a major driver of politics and conflicts in Nigeria and the trend is not likely to change anytime soon.     

初中生情绪不安全感与攻击行为的关系

本文基于情绪安全感理论,探讨初中生情绪不安全感与攻击行为的关系,采用问卷调查的方式,对新疆某市区274名初中生进行调查。结果显示:①初三年级间接攻击水平显著高于初一年级(F=4.41,p<0.05);②初一、初二年级情绪不安全感水平显著高于初三年级(F=8.31,p<0.001);③初中生情绪不安全感与攻击行为之间存在显著正相关(r=0.32,p<0.01)。调查结果表明,降低初中生的情绪不安全感水平,有助于减少其攻击行为的发生。     

领悟社会支持与高中生学习投入的关系:自尊和未来教育规划的链式中介作用

目的:探究领悟社会支持对学习投入的影响,以及自尊和未来教育规划的链式中介效应。方法:采用领悟社会支持量表、自尊量表、未来教育规划问卷和学习投入量表,对446名高中生进行施测。结果:①各变量两两之间均存在显著地正相关(r=0.32~0.50,p<0.001);②领悟社会支持能正向预测高中生学习投入;③在领悟社会支持对高中生学习投入的预测中存在三条路径:一是自尊的中介作用;二是未来教育规划的中介作用;三是自尊和未来教育规划的链式中介作用,效果值分别为:14.81%,27.78%和16.67%。结论:领悟社会支持不仅直接影响高中生学习投入,还通过自尊和未来教育规划影响高中生学习投入。     

DAR ES SALAAM

Countries in transition often experience increased levels of crime, making their citizens vulnerable to the exploits of criminals. The lack of reliable statistics hampers the development of sound crime reduction strategies. This essay considers the value of victim surveys as additional sources of information to augment official police data. It presents the findings of such a survey undertaken in Dar es Salaam and compares them with findings obtained in similar surveys of Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. The information obtained in the survey conducted in Dar es Salaam provides valuable insights into crime rates and patterns. In comparing the results of the survey in Dar es Salaam, some interesting trends emerged around the theft of vehicle parts and vehicle theft, violent crimes, the levels of violence employed in burglaries and the use of weapons. The information gleaned from these surveys will go far in developing crime reduction strategies and measures that will be effective and appropriately targeted.     

Artisanal small-scale opal mining (ASOM) insecurity in the Delanta wereda,Ethiopia: The shifting landscape of multidimensional insecurity in the face of emergent ASOM wealth

The commencement of opal mining in Ethiopia a decade ago has attracted the involvement of poor peasants, wealthy traders and traffickers. Although the academic and official literature on artisanal small-scale opal mining (ASOM) has primarily focused on the loss of wealth owing to a lack of skill and its traditional nature, this study explores the multidimensional insecurity that the discovery and mining of opal stones in the Delanta wereda of Wollo has brought about. This study contends that the ASOM industry has brought a new and previously unknown body of wealth to a society that is not used to the circulation of huge amounts of money in its narrow geography of commerce, engendering multidimensional insecurity. To make things worse, the network of patrimony and rentierism connecting locals with powerful people at the regional and federal level has given licence to illegal wealth extraction at the cost of exacerbating local insecurity. The qualitative data for the study was collected using interviews, focus group discussions, non-participant observations and document analyses at Delanta mining sites, the Wegel Tena town administration and Dessie city.     

Foliage and violence: Interrogating forests as a security threat in Nigeria

The discourse on security challenges in Nigeria has generated much scholarly insight. What is yet to be sufficiently interrogated is the place of forests in the problem. Situating the problem within the context of global occurrences, the study explores security threats posed by the poor management of some Nigerian forests, which has resulted in invasion and exploitation by criminals who engage in militancy, kidnapping, ritual killing, armed robbery, cattle rustling and cannabis cultivation. Using the theory of ungoverned spaces as a foundation, the study locates the major reason for the invasion and use of forested landscape for criminal activities in the Nigerian state, the presence of the authorities in these sanctuaries is either non-existent or, at best, sporadic.     

Correlates of Perceived Insecurity: Evidence from Pakistan

This study explores the correlates of perceived insecurity among the households in Pakistan. For this purpose, data from the third round of Pakistan Panel Household Survey are merged with terrorist incidents taken from Global Terrorism Database. The results illustrate that objective risk, signified by violence in the district of residence, and victimization play an important role in the formation of perceived insecurity. Moreover, males and residents of rural areas feel more insecure than females and urban residents, respectively. Furthermore, spatial variation in violence indicates that terrorist attacks in the first-order contiguous districts (i.e. the immediate neighbors) are also associated with subjective insecurity. These are crucial findings because behavioral changes, such as perceived insecurity, could force the households to make suboptimal investment decisions. More importantly, since changes in behavioral parameters may be highly persistent, this study cautions that violence in Pakistan may have potentially long-term impacts on social welfare.