Citizenship, rights, and the problem of conflicts and civil wars in Africa

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 23, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 148-170

  Adejumobi, Said ^a,b,c,d  

^a LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY   (Nigeria)

^b AALBORG UNIVERSITY   (Denmark)

^c Nobels Fredspris   (Norway)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CITIZENSHIP; CIVIL WAR; HUMAN RIGHTS; NATION STATE;

AFRICA;

EID: 0034966531     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2001.0001     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. See Peter Wallenstein & Margarete Sollenberg, Armed Conflict, 36 J. PEACE RES. 593 (1999).
2. See The Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa, Report of the Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.M. Security Council, 52nd Sess., Agenda Item 10, at 4, U.N. Doc. S/1998/318 (1998) [hereinafter The Causes of Conflict].
3. See Kristin Sandberg & Dan Smith, Conflicts in Africa, 2 AFRIKA MELLON KONFLETER OG UTRKING, INORMASIONSHEFTE 5 (1994).
4. See COMPREHENDING AND MASTERING AFRICAN CONFLICTS: THE SEARCH FOR SUSTAINABLE PEACE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE 5 (Adebayo Adedeji ed., 1999).
5. See The Causes of Conflict, supra note 3, at 4.
6. See WORLD BANK, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, 1999/2000 (1999); Said Adejumobi, Reconstructing the Future: Africa and the Challenge of Democracy and Good Governance in the 21st Century, 74 DEV. & SOCIO-ECON. PROG. 41-42 (1999).
7. See WORLD BANK, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, 1999/2000 (1999); Said Adejumobi, Reconstructing the Future: Africa and the Challenge of Democracy and Good Governance in the 21st Century, 74 DEV. & SOCIO-ECON. PROG. 41-42 (1999).
8. Countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, which have been engaged in protracted war, score very poorly in socioeconomic indices. They have a high rate of poverty and low per capita income, which ranks among the lowest in the world.
9. Afro-pessimism connotes cynicism about Africa's future, which is mostly expressed in the West. Indeed, some have advocated for the recolonization of Africa, with the vile argument that Africa seems incapable of controlling its future. See A. Mazrui/A. Mafeje, Debate on The Recolonization of Africa, CODESRIA BULL. (1995).
10. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
11. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
12. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
13. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
14. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
15. See TAISIER M. ALI & ROBERT O. MATTHEWS, CIVIL WARS IN AFRICA: ROOTS AND RESOLUTION (1999); Adedeji, supra note 5; Dani W. Nabudere, African State and Conflicts in Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW TO PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA 83 (Henrich Boll ed., 1999); J'Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, in 2 SOCIAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996); David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild, Ethnic Fears and Global Engagement: The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, in THE INTERNATIONAL SPREAD OF ETHNIC CONFLICT (David A. Lake & Donald Rothchild eds., 1996); RAYMOND W. COPSON, AFRICA'S WARS AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE (1994); TED ROBERT GURR, MINORITIES AT RISK: A GLOBAL VIEW OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS (1993).
16. See J'Bayo Adekanye, Structural Adjustment, Demoralization and Rising Ethnic Tensions in Africa, 26 DEV. & CHANCE 355 (1995); J'Bayo Adekanye, Debts, Arms Expenditure and Structural Adjustment in Africa: Theoretical Linkages Mimeograph, INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PRIO), Oslo, Norway (1997).
17. See J'Bayo Adekanye, Structural Adjustment, Demoralization and Rising Ethnic Tensions in Africa, 26 DEV. & CHANCE 355 (1995); J'Bayo Adekanye, Debts, Arms Expenditure and Structural Adjustment in Africa: Theoretical Linkages Mimeograph, INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PRIO), Oslo, Norway (1997).
18. ARISTOTLE, POLITICS, quoted in ROGERS BRUBAKER, CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONHOOD IN FRANCE AND GERMANY, at ix (1992).
19. ARISTOTLE, POLITICS, quoted in ROGERS BRUBAKER, CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONHOOD IN FRANCE AND GERMANY, at ix (1992).
20. T. OOMEN, CITIZENSHIP, NATIONALITY AND ETHNICITY: RECONCILING COMPETING IDENTITIES 23 (1997).
21. See BRUBAKER, supra note 12, at ix.
22. Anh Nga Longva, Citizenship, Identity and the Question of Supreme Loyalty: The Case of Kuwait, 2 F. FOR DEV. STUD. 197, 201 (1995).
23. See id.
24. See id.
25. See BRUBAKER, supra note 12; JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU, THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND DISCOURSES (G.D.H. Cole trans., 1913).
26. See id.
27. See id.
28. See JOHN BODIN, METHOD FOR THE EASY COMPREHENSION OF HISTORY 154-68 (Beatrice Reynolds trans., 1945).
29. See T.H. MARSHALL, CLASS, CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, at x (1965); Charles Tilly, Citizenship, Identity and Social History, in CITIZENSHIP, IDENTITY AND SOCIAL HISTORY 1, 8 (Charles Tilly ed., 1996).
30. See T.H. MARSHALL, CLASS, CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, at x (1965); Charles Tilly, Citizenship, Identity and Social History, in CITIZENSHIP, IDENTITY AND SOCIAL HISTORY 1, 8 (Charles Tilly ed., 1996).
31. See Marshall, supra note 22; Tilly, supra note 22; MICHAEL WALZER, OBLIGATIONS: ESSAYS ON DISOBEDIENCE, WAR, AND CITIZENSHIP (1970); Linda K. Kerber, The Meanings of Citizenship, J. AM. HIST. 833, 834 (Dec. 1997); OOMEN, supra note 13.
32. See Marshall, supra note 22; Tilly, supra note 22; MICHAEL WALZER, OBLIGATIONS: ESSAYS ON DISOBEDIENCE, WAR, AND CITIZENSHIP (1970); Linda K. Kerber, The Meanings of Citizenship, J. AM. HIST. 833, 834 (Dec. 1997); OOMEN, supra note 13.
33. See Seymour Lipset, Introduction to T. H. MARSHALL, CLASS, CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, at x (1965).
34. See MARSHALL, supra note 22.
35. See Tilly, supra note 22, at 8.
36. Id.
37. Id.
38. See Kerber, supra note 23, at 834.
39. The terms active/passive, thick/thin, oppressed, alienated/pluralistic citizens are used to describe the level of participation of the citizen in the affairs of state. See Tilly, supra note 22, at 8. The active, thick or pluralistic citizens have a high level of participation or involvement in state affairs, while the passive, oppressed, and alienated citizens participate less in state affairs. The matrix is a continuum between the very active and the passive. However, the conditions that generate passiveness differ according to place and time.
40. For a discourse on citizenship and the European Union, see CITIZENSHIP, NATIONALITY AND MIGRATION IN EUROPE (David Cesarani & Mary Fulbrook eds., 1996); Rey Koslowski, IntraEU Migration, Citizenship and Political Union, 32 J. COMMON MARKET STUD. 369 (Sep. 1994), at 369.
41. For a discourse on citizenship and the European Union, see CITIZENSHIP, NATIONALITY AND MIGRATION IN EUROPE (David Cesarani & Mary Fulbrook eds., 1996); Rey Koslowski, IntraEU Migration, Citizenship and Political Union, 32 J. COMMON MARKET STUD. 369 (Sep. 1994), at 369.
42. OOMEN, supra note 13, at 20.
43. MICHAEL WALZER, OBLIGATIONS: ESSAYS ON DISOBEDIENCE, WAR, AND CITIZENSHIP 218 (1970).
44. MORTON GRODZINS, THE LOYAL AND THE DISLOYAL: SOCIAL BOUNDARIES OF PATRIOTISM AND TREASON 213 (1966).
45. See Peter P. Ekeh, Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement, 17 COMP. STUD. Soc. & HIST. 91 (1975).
46. See id. at 106-07.
47. See M. MAMDANI, CITIZEN AND SUBIECT: CONTEMPORARY AFRICA AND THE LEGACY OF LATE COLONIALISM (1996).
48. See id.
49. See id. See also Bridget O'Laughlin, Class and the Customary: The Ambiguous Legacy of the "Indigenato" in Mozambique, 99 AFR. AFF. 5 (2000).
50. See PETER P. EKEH, COLONIALISM AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE: AN INAUGURAL LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN ON THURSDAY, 5 JUNE 1980 (1983).
51. See GROUNDWORK OF NIGERIAN HISTORY (Obaro lkime ed., 1980); A.I. ASIWAIU, WESTERN YORUBALAND UNDER EUROPEAN RULE 1889-1945 (1976).
52. See GROUNDWORK OF NIGERIAN HISTORY (Obaro lkime ed., 1980); A.I. ASIWAIU, WESTERN YORUBALAND UNDER EUROPEAN RULE 1889-1945 (1976).
53. Michael Crowder & Obaro lkime, Introduction to WEST AFRICAN CHIEFS: THEIR CHANGING STATUS UNDER COLONIAL RULE AND INDEPENDENCE, at xi (Michael Crowder & Obaro lkime eds., 1970).
54. PETER WALSHE, THE RISE OF AFRICAN NATIONALISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 34 (1971).
55. See Mahmood Mamdani, Indirect Rule and the Struggle for Democracy: A Response to Bridget O'Laughlin, 99 AFR. AFF. 43 (2000).
56. See id. at 45.
57. MAMDANI, supra note 37, at 24.
58. See CLAUDE AKE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA (1981); BADE ONIMODE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICAN CRISIS (1988); J.F. Ade Ajayi, Peace, Stability and Legitimacy in Africa: The Factor of Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism, in THE FALL OF GREAT POWERS: PEACE, STABILITY AND LEGITIMACY 215 (C. Lundestad ed., 1994).
59. See CLAUDE AKE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA (1981); BADE ONIMODE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICAN CRISIS (1988); J.F. Ade Ajayi, Peace, Stability and Legitimacy in Africa: The Factor of Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism, in THE FALL OF GREAT POWERS: PEACE, STABILITY AND LEGITIMACY 215 (C. Lundestad ed., 1994).
60. See CLAUDE AKE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA (1981); BADE ONIMODE, A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICAN CRISIS (1988); J.F. Ade Ajayi, Peace, Stability and Legitimacy in Africa: The Factor of Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism, in THE FALL OF GREAT POWERS: PEACE, STABILITY AND LEGITIMACY 215 (C. Lundestad ed., 1994).
61. In countries like Tanzania and Mozambique where centralist socialist policies were adopted in the immediate post-independence era, traditional authorities were abolished and replaced with state agents. However, this did not promote the democratization of the local structures, but only substituted a decentralized, with a centralized form of despotism.
62. The federal character principle is a provision in the Nigerian Constitution that seeks to provide for state, ethnic and regional balancing in public appointments opportunities at the federal level. It is meant to give equal access to all groups in the country through equal representation of states in federal public appointments. The objective is to prevent the marginalization and domination of one group over the other.
63. See O'Laughlin, supra note 39, at 5.
64. Professor M. Mamdani, When does a Settler become a Native?: Reflections of the Colonial Roots of Citizenship in Equatorial and South Africa, University of Cape Town Inaugural Lecture Series (13 May 1998), available on .
65. See Achie Mafeje, State and Civil Society in Independence Africa, in NETWORKING WITH A VIEW To PROMOTING PEACE: CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, supra note 10, at 67.
66. See Adekanye, supra note 11, at 38.
67. GERARD PRUNIER, THE RWASDAN CRISIS: HISTORY OF A GENOCIDE (1995).
68. Germany was in control of Rwanda between 1885-1919, but after the First World War, Rwanda was taken over by Belgium as a trusteeship territory, and controlled by Belgium between 1919-1962.
69. The Twa constitute about 3 percent of the population in Rwanda. They do not feature prominently in identity group politics in the country.
70. See Herbert C. Kelman, The Place of Ethnic Identity in The Development of Personal Identity: A Challenge for the Jewish Family, in COPING WITH LIFE AND DEATH: JEWISH FAMILIES IN THE 20TH CENTURY 3, 7 (Peter Meddling ed., 1998).
71. See PRUNIER, supra note 54, at 27.
72. In Nigeria, the preference of the British colonial regime with regard to the transfer of power in the decolonization era was the Hausa-Fulani aristocracy, who have a conservative political outlook, with little or no agitation for the political independence of Nigeria. Indeed, when Anthony Enahoro raised the motion of self-Government at the Federal House of Representatives in 1953, the Hausa-Fulani political elite opposed this. They argued that they were unprepared for independence. Also, the same thing occurred in the Sudan, where the preference of the British colonial authorities was for the Northern political elite, with a conservative bent.
73. See PRUNIER, supra note 54, at 52.
74. See id. at 53.
75. See J' Bayo Adekanye, Rwanda/Burundi: 'Uni-Ethnic' Dominance and the Cycle of Armed Ethnic Formations, 2 SOCLAL IDENTITIES 37 (1996).
76. C. ENLOE, ETHNIC SOLDIERS (1980).
77. PRUNIER, supra note 54, at 80.
78. See Hassan Mathew Kukah, The Fractured Microcosm: The African Condition and the Search for Moral Balance in the New World Order, Lagos State University, Faculty of Social Sciences Guest Lecture Series No. 1, 1998. Source on file with author.
79. Rikay Omar & Alex de Waal, 1995, cited in Kukah, supra note 65, at 17-18.
80. Anthony W. Marx, Contested Citizenship: The Dynamics of Racial Identity and Social Movements, in CITIZENSHIP, IDENTITY AND SOCIAL HISTORY, supra note 22, at 159, 163.
81. Elizabeth Jelin, Citizenship Revisited: Solidarity, Responsibility and Rights, in CONSTRUCTING DEMOCRACY: HUMAN RIGHTS, CITIZENSHIP, AND SOCIETY IN LATIN AMERICA 101 (Elizabeth Jelin & Eric Hershberg eds., 1996).