Department of History and Strategic Studies

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Browsing Department of History and Strategic Studies by Author "Adeleke"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Open Access
    Canada and the origin of NATO: resolving a historiographical problematic
    (2007) Adeleke
    The historiography of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, has grown tremendously since the pact was signed in 1949. One notable feature of this historiography is the breadth of its range and diversity and the different perspectives that scholars have brought to bear on their works. For example, a section of the literature is devoted to the problems of alliance politics, that is, the nature of relations between the members. These works explore the cultural, economic, social, and intellectual problems within the alliance, while others explore the role of the smaller powers in the organization. Some authors are more interested in security or military matters. Others focus on the organization’s response to internal and external crises. While some authors measure the organization’s accomplishments and failures, others prognosticate on its future, especially in the light of recent changes in the international system. Then there are the many official histories produced by the organisation. In fact, the literature on NATO is so vast that it will be patently absurd to attempt to cover all of it in one review. The paper will therefore focus on one theme: Canada’s contribution to the origin of NATO. This theme has received very conflicting and contradictory treatment in the literature. Most authors who have examined NATO’s origin have restricted their account to a few chapters; others have treated the subject in conjunction with other themes in general works ranging from memoirs to national histories. Few of the authors agree on the exact nature of Canadian contribution. The lack of consensus on the origin of NATO or of Canada’s contribution has generated a historiographical problematic. The paper seeks to resolve this problematic by determining the nature and extent of Canadian contribution to the formulation of the alliance.
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    Open Access
    Constructing a nation through the constitutional process: the Canadian experience
    (2004) Adeleke
    The paper seeks to contribute to the search for the appropriate constitutional framework by drawing on the experience of Canada, a country that has used the constitutional process to resolve the contradictions of the “two nations” concept that is at the heart of its historical and political development. In addition to the multi-ethnic factor, Canada shares certain historical antecedents with Nigeria. Both countries were creations of British colonialism and are therefore inheritors of British political, legal, administrative and socio-cultural traditions. Both countries are also federal in structure. However, whereas Canada has resolved the contradictions of its ethnic composition and has now evolved into a nation Nigeria remains a “geographical expression” that is yet to evolve into a nation. Nigeria has remained a country in search of nationhood. The Nigerian nation-in-being has remained a mirage and would not evolve until a solution is found to the Nigerian Question.
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    Open Access
    Identity Politics and the Search for an Ethnic Consensus: Indigenizing a Canadian Model for Nigeria
    (CBAAC, 2004) Adeleke
    Since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigerians have intensified the search for a new structural, organisational, and administrative paradigm for their nation. Various interest groups have made strident calls for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference or a Conference of Nationalities to restructure the country. Pro-establishment politicians, particularly those with a direct stake in the current administration, reject the modalities outlined by the advocates of national conference and are rather seeking to restructure the country through constitutional amendments. They too accept in principle the need for restructuring although they would prefer to work within the confines of the 1999 constitution. There is therefore a consensus, across the national firmament, that the present configuration of the country, a witches brew of federalist and unitary principles, is not workable, not least because the power symmetries do not reflect a balance among the various ethnic nationalities that make up the country. The cries of marginalization echoed by virtually all the ethnic and geopolitical groupings in the country are a clear manifestation of the nation-wide dissatisfaction with the current arrangement. There is clearly a need to find a workable system, an ethnic and multicultural consensus, on which to build a virile and united nation. The paper seeks to bring to bear on this search a Canadian paradigm, cooperative federalism and multiculturalism as a model, which can be studied and its fundamental assumptions adopted and/or adapted for Nigeria. Canada shares with Nigeria a common historical experience. As former British colonies, they have inherited common traditions, particularly in the field of law and jurisprudence, in administration, social organisation, and legislative behaviour. Both nations are federal in structure and both are ethnically heterogeneous. Canada’s historical evolution and constitutional development have been shaped by what a commentator described back in 1840 as ‘two nations warring in the bosom of a single state”. Since then relations between English Canada and French Canada have been the major issue around which national cohesion has evolved. How have Canadians been able to achieve a correlation between power symmetries and ethnic nationalism? How have they been able to maintain their nation’s structural integrity in the face of French Canada’s demands for sovereignty? What methods have they employed to resolve the demands and contradictions of identity politics? How can these be indigenised in Nigeria? These are some of the questions and issues which are explored in the paper.
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    Open Access
    Nigeria and the Commonwealth
    (Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), 2004) Adeleke
    This article examines Nigeria’s relations and connections with the Commonwealth. It focuses on a number of questions: why did Nigeria join the organisation at independence? What role has the organisation played in the actualisation of Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives? What have been the benefits of membership to Nigeria? What does Nigeria stand to benefit by maintaining its connection with the organisation? The paper begins with a brief exploration of the origins of the Commonwealth
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    Open Access
    Regional Integration in Southeast Asia: modelling for African integration
    (University of Lagos Press, 2006) Adeleke
    The Southeast Asian region, which is the focus of this chapter, has been actively involved in the re- awakening and intensification of regionalism and regional integration. The ten countries in the region—Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—belong to several trade blocs at various levels of economic integration. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are members of APEC. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines and Thailand are members of the Bangkok Agreement, which also includes Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka in South Asia and the Republic of Korea in Northeast Asia. The East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) brings together ten Asian countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. There is also the Colombo Plan, which has twenty-six members including all the countries of Southeast Asia except Brunei. Although the Plan is not dedicated to economic integration, it provides aid for economic development and therefore contributes indirectly to promoting the objectives of regional integration. The earliest attempt to foster regional integration in Southeast Asia was in fact made through the Colombo Plan. However, the attempt failed and it was not until the late 1960s that serious efforts were made to promote regional integration. This led to the establishment first of the Association of Southeast Asia, ASA, the Asian and Pacific Council, ASPAC, and subsequently of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, ASEAN, which has an exclusive Southeast Asian membership. All the ten countries in the region are members of ASEAN. The chapter explores the evolution of regional integration in Southeast Asia.