Papers by Aliyu Mukhtar Katsina
This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspecti... more This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspective. It attempts to achieve this objective through careful identification and discussion of the fundamental values and principles that guided the practice of public administration in the state of Medina under the Prophet and his four immediate successors known as the Caliphs. Further analysis of these fundamental principles and values of public administration shows that they have become, in modern time, the standard indicators of assessing the effectiveness or otherwise of a public organization. By focusing attention on the practices that obtained in the early state of Medina under the leadership of the Prophet (SAW) and the Rashidun Caliphs, it is pointed that public administration, in that period, was not only effective, efficient, and responsive, but was also cost-effective and anchored on the principles of new-managerialism which many states in modern times are presently attempting to...
This paper analyses ethnic cleavages in Africa and the challenges of integration and unity in the... more This paper analyses ethnic cleavages in Africa and the challenges of integration and unity in the continent. The choice of Nigeria as a case study is informed by the fact that the country is the most diverse in terms of ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious differences, just as it is the most populous. Nigeria embodies all the challenges which ethnic cleavages pose to post-colonial societies anywhere in the world. The article traces the problem of cleavage to the process of colonization in which it is argued that the institutions and systems bequeathed by colonialism are ill-suited to accommodate or address the diverse nature of the emerging post-colonial societies. Thus, no sooner had the colonialists departed than these societies started to confront the challenges of ethnic division, which today fifty years after decolonization, are probably the greatest threats to their stability and progress.
This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspecti... more This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspective. It attempts to achieve this objective through careful identification and discussion of the fundamental values and principles that guided the practice of public administration in the state of Medina under the Prophet and his four immediate successors known as the Caliphs. Further analysis of these fundamental principles and values of public administration shows that they have become, in modern time, the standard indicators of assessing the effectiveness or otherwise of a public organization. By focusing attention on the practices that obtained in the early state of Medina under the leadership of the Prophet (SAW) and the Rashidun Caliphs, it is pointed that public administration, in that period, was not only effective, efficient, and responsive, but was also cost-effective and anchored on the principles of new-managerialism which many states in modern times are presently attempting to...
A short guidebook for concerned citizens and other volunteers involved in monitoring elections in... more A short guidebook for concerned citizens and other volunteers involved in monitoring elections in Nigeria in order to ensure credible and acceptable outcome. The handbook offers in brief chapters the broad outlines of the issues involved in monitoring elections, the challenges which volunteers will likely face, and how to address them in a non-violent way.
This lecture discusses election and post-election violence in Nigeria and strategies for preventi... more This lecture discusses election and post-election violence in Nigeria and strategies for preventing its outbreak in 2015 and beyond. In this lecture, I show that in order to understand the causes of post-election violence in Nigeria, one needs to understand not only the nature of elections in Nigeria, the impartiality of the electoral umpire, the commitment of the political class, the professionalism of the security agencies, but the integrity of our judiciary as well. These factors prepare the ground, and nurture the drivers and triggers of post-election violence in Nigeria in the past. A proactive strategy, therefore, for preventing future recurrences would necessarily be community-driven. The lecture concludes with exploring seven important strategies, which stakeholders at the community levels could adopt to ensure the absence of post-election violence.
This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspecti... more This article examines the conception and practice of public administration from Islamic perspective. It attempt to achieve this objective through careful identification and discussion of the fundamental values and principles that guided the practice of public administration in the state of Medina under the Prophet and his four immediate successors known as the Caliphs. Further analysis of these fundamental principles and values of public administration shows that they have become, in modern time, the standard indicators of assessing the effectiveness or otherwise of a public organization. By focusing attention on the practices that obtained in the early state of Medina under the leadership of the Prophet (SAW) and the Rashidun Caliphs, it is pointed that public administration, in that period, was not only effective, efficient, and responsive, but was also cost-effective and anchored on the principles of new-managerialism which many states in modern times are presently attempting to adopt. Consequently, modern societies have a lot to learn from the lessons of that period.
This article discusses the body of laws and other regulations that guided the operation of politi... more This article discusses the body of laws and other regulations that guided the operation of political parties and party politics in Nigeria between 1999 and 2011 as a new democracy. Owing to the nature and scope of its functions, no single socio-political institution is as critical to governance and representation in a democratic state as a political party.It articulates policies, form government or opposition as the case may be, and generally serve as a bridge between the government and the governed in a democratic state. However, for a party to effectively perform these functions it needs a robust system of laws to guide and regulate its behaviour within the wider national laws. It is this system of laws that actually distinguishes a party from numerous other organized groups in a democratic state. The focus of this article is on identifying and discussing the major components of those laws that provided parties in Nigeria's Fourth Republic not only their legitimacy, but also legal and institutional frameworks in which party politics was generally practiced during this period.
This paper examines the causal relationship as well as the general influence of poverty on the pr... more This paper examines the causal relationship as well as the general influence of poverty on the prevailing state of insecurity in Nigeria. The paper approaches this question from the perspective of the integrative security approach which postulates that any proper understanding of internal security problems among modern states in contemporary period must necessarily start from the economic and political development of the country concerned. It is revealed that the negative fallout of poor economic development -inequality and unemployment -and those of political development -policy inconsistency and corruption -nurture and sustain poverty on the largest scale possible in Nigeria. In turn, this provides the nourishing ground in which all forms of antisocial tendencies and crimes germinate and grow. The general consequence of this is the prevailing level of insecurity in Nigeria today. Rightly therefore, to address insecurity in Nigeria is in fact to address the crisis of economic development, crisis of democratic development and the crisis of inequality and poverty in the country.
This paper develops a new approach towards understanding and explaining the causes behind the pre... more This paper develops a new approach towards understanding and explaining the causes behind the prevailing level of insecurity in Nigeria today. Today, the country is in the grip of various destructive forces that are coalescing to give it a failed-status toga. The paper shows that the current state of insecurity is a manifestation of deep-rooted and structurally entrenched crisis of development that creates the environment for the emergence of conditions of poverty, unemployment, and inequality in the country. These, in turn, lead to frustration, alienation and, ultimately, social discontent that spark violence and insecurity. Without the enabling environment, these conditions could not have metamorphosed into serious national security problems threatening to tear the country apart. The findings of the paper show that although Nigeria may appear to be failing, the trends leading to this situation are reversible, if seriously proactive and sustained measures could be adopted by the government and the international community. The implication of this is that policymakers have the duty to arrest this drift through social justice and development. Thus, to address the security problem in Nigeria is in effect, to address its crisis of development.
This article investigates the parties and party systems in Nigeria since independence. The articl... more This article investigates the parties and party systems in Nigeria since independence. The article argues that the country has witnessed four different types of party systems corresponding to the four democratisation attempts that saw the emergence of constitutional governments since 1960. Special focus is awarded to the transformations of the four party systems and developments in their various institutional designs including regulating the number of parties that participate in the electoral politics of the country. In trying to achieve its objective, the article adopts chronological and thematic approaches. Chronologically, the paper investigates these party systems in successive order beginning with the First Republic when the elements of party politics were first adopted in Nigeria. Thematically, the article focuses on those issues that influenced the formation and transformation of the party systems from the First Republic in 1960 to the present Fourth Republic.
This paper analyzes the impact of poverty on social crime in urban areas in Nigeria. It attempts ... more This paper analyzes the impact of poverty on social crime in urban areas in Nigeria. It attempts to link the spread of urban crime to three important variables. These are bad governance, poverty, and inequality. The choice of Nigeria as the case study is informed by several considerations. The first and the most important is that it has been always assumed that democracy promotes good governance and social equality; the two components that are necessary for addressing urban crime. Nigeria's failure in this regard provides an interesting lesson through which the phenomenon of urban crime can be studied, its causes analyzed, and its effects revealed. The period covered is between 1999 when democracy was restored to the present. In the final analysis it is shown that bad governance, poverty, and social inequality are responsible for the spread of urban crime in the country over the last twelve years.
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Papers by Aliyu Mukhtar Katsina