No abstract

No abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the conundrum in military-media relations in Nigeria with regards to access and dissemination of strategic and tactical information that impacts counterterrorism efforts. Is there a line between media responsibility to report and the gathering and dissemination of strategic and tactical military information not meant for public consumption but filters to terrorists who are also members of the 'public'? Most times, such publications potentially afford Boko Haram terrorists prior notice of military plans, giving them early warnings that compromise military counter offensive. The paper is based on a study of academic and grey literature, official documents and journalistic coverage. The paper concludes that the Nigerian security forces have tried and failed to clamp down on tactical and strategic information in media reports that compromise its counterterrorism efforts in Nigeria – therefore the state should consider adopting Sri Lankan consequentialist approach to the existential problem. To address this conundrum, it is recommended that the Nigerian authority and its military architecture should adopt a State Consequential Approach on Terrorism and media issues; re-invent its Strategic Communication; Re-establishment of security and intelligence coordination; Develop an image recovery plan by raising quality standards, seek foreign support, and enact terrorism-related media legislations.

Nation-building is intertwined with certain political agency interactions in conflict-prone regions of the world. Within these conflagrations comes the question of legitimacy in transition processes. It is more so when the military is the main actor. The military variable in these processes, and civilians in the uprisings that led to the fall of the long-term leaders of Zimbabwe and Algeria highlight the vulnerability of the state in search of a sustainable nation-state. The problem under assessment in this paper is interwoven with the following questions: why is the military institution a challenge to democracy or civil rule in both countries (by extension Africa)? Could military coups be associated with civilian misrule? Could it be a case of poor civilian-military relationship? All these questions remain a sub to the question of military legitimacy in Democratic transitions of both countries and by extension Africa. The political leaderships in Zimbabwe and Algeria claim to draw their political legitimacy from the liberation histories of their countries that make them a stakeholder in democratic processes. The establishment of this claim to legitimacy remains a question when viewed from the prism of mass engagement in protest and uprisings. The conclusion here is that the two countries were similar in terms of their prevailing situations and have compromised efforts to legitimize governments in both countries. This paper employs the comparative content analysis of the relations between the military and the civilians in the two countries. It relies on the qualitative research approach and the desk research methodology which are effective in analyzing electronic and non-electronic documentary evidence. The paper recommends that the mechanism that guarantees the restriction of the military to their traditional assignment of defending the state and dissuading them from intruding into politics needs to be instituted in both countries.

The conduct of elections in Nigeria is generally associated with manipulation, which has often undermined the credibility and fairness of the process since the country gained its independence. COVID-19 poses a very serious challenge to the electoral process, considering the nature of the disease, which has led to the promotion of limited physical interaction as an approach to mitigate its transmission and safeguard the health of the people while at the same time impacting negatively on state's electoral justice. While elections remain a key factor to the attainment of political positions in a democratic setting globally, several scholars and media reports have made attempts to assess the political intrigues in the state of Edo as a result of the tense atmosphere created by political gladiators. The use of the pandemic and various forms of propaganda to destabilise the camp of perceived opponents with the aim of winning public support are notable strategies employed by the main contending political parties and their candidates as the election approaches. Therefore, this article evaluates the impediments and political manoeuvrings in the electoral process in the state of Edo, considering the increasing number of corona-virus infections, the country's frail electoral system, and the desire to maintain credible democratic consolidation in the country.