Past Event

As part of the Brownbag Seminar Series,  please join us on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, as Dr. Adeoye O. Akinola  presents:  “Governance, Conflict, and Security in Africa: A Convergence”

Abstract:

Post-colonial Africa has been categorized as a conflict zone, while the scourge of misgovernance and poverty have become the lot of its teeming population. Due to its colonial heritage, the interactions between the states, economy, and society engender conflict. While there are exhaustive studies on conventional security threats, there has been a dearth of rigorous conversations on other emerging threats to human security, which have continued undermining Africa’s security and development. While cases of armed insurrections and civil wars have reduced, diverse forms of violent conflicts have endangered the security of lives and property. Despite the African Union’s (AU) “Silencing the Guns” initiative and the optimism associated with the “Africa rising” conversation, several African states keep demonstrating their incapacity to ensure peace, security, and effective governance within their territorial delineations. The shrinking of these states and the deepening of structural violence have reinforced new forms of violent conflicts – terrorism, xenophobia, youth-led dissent – and the resurgence of old conflicts, as seen in the new waves of military coups in the Sahel region. Through a political economy approach, it becomes imperative to explore the intricate interplay between governance, conflict, and security dynamics in Africa. The conversation aims to provide a robust engagement on some of the trends of conflict and insecurity that are becoming apparent in contemporary Africa. It also challenges the continent’s orthodox governance and peace architectures and reveals the changing demographics, political, and economic factors that have security implications. It concludes by providing a deeper understanding of how to address the socio-economic and political threats to African security.

Dr Adeoye O. Akinola is Head of Research and Teaching, and Head of Unit: African Union Studies, at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC), University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He obtained a doctorate in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He was a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria (2007-2012), a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Visiting Professor at the UN-Mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) Africa Regional Programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the author of several books, including “Contemporary Issues on Governance, Conflict and Security in Africa”. He specializes in African political economy, African Union studies, migration, peace, and conflict studies.