Great Presidents of Nigerian 4th Republic Nigeria has arrived; Nigeria is born again with the most credible April 2011 general and presidential elections in 50 years according to International Community. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, VP Namadi Sambo and INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega deserve national and international honours. President Jonathan won landslide with 23 million votes across all party lines. The 'Promised Land' journey begins in earnest. Nigeria is marching forward steadfastly despite bumps and teething gestation problems to encounter. With 160 Million inhabitants, Nigeria is world's largest concentration of Blacks. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's presidency beginning May 29, 2011 represents the fulfillment of hope, change, salvation, good luck and blessings after decades of military dictatorships between 1966 and 1999. Structured like USA Presidency, bi-cameral Legislature and Independent Judiciary, Nigeria became beloved to International Community sooner than anticipated. With membership in UN, OPEC, Commonwealth of Nations, AU, ECOWAS, NEPAD, Nigeria is seventh world's largest petroleum supplier and fifth supplier to USA. Nigeria is becoming economic super-power - 'Vision 2020' with abundance of oil, gas, bitumen, gold, etc. Nigeria is beautified by Atlantic Ocean, Rivers Niger and Benue, Lake Chad, Tinapa Holiday Resort (world-class), Olumo Rock, Igbesa Free Trade Zone. Nigeria, blessed and protected from natural disasters never witnessed devastating Tsunami, Katrina, volcano, thunderstorm, iceberg, earthquake and mudslide that wipe-out settlements and kill thousands seasonally. International Social Scientists' 4-year survey rated Nigeria as the world's happiest country (2006) while USA, Britain, Japan and Russia were outside the first 10. Also, International Financial Agencies confirmed Nigeria's 35% return on investment as world's highest. Nigeria's incredible hospitality encourages some Americans, Europeans and Asians to become naturalized citizens of Nigeria. Oil-rich country Nigeria, often described as African giant, peace and power broker Nigeria, granted amnesties to secessionists (1970), Niger Delta militants (2009) and settled Bakassi Peninsula dispute with Cameroon (2006) diplomatically. War-mongering super-powers and allies, intimidating and occupying weaker nations illegally, should emulate Nigerian leadership examples of Presidents Obasanjo, Yar'Adua and Jonathan's peaceful conflict resolution best practices for world peace. Wake Up Nigerians! Make Nigeria Great and Prosperous! Failure Is Not An Option! Nigerians Are Tired of Excuses for Avoidable Leadership Indiscretion and Slumber for 50 Years of Independence! Always Put Nigeria First! Change 'Business as Usual'! GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!

At the start of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic on 29 May 1999, there was great optimism as to the emergence of a new democratic future representing a significant break from the political undulations of the past. Two decades and four presidential epochs later, there is a prevalent question as to how well Nigeria has fared in governance and human rights post-1999. This book revisits the democratic ‘new dawn’ of the Fourth Republic discussing pertinent matters integral to Nigeria’s democratic future post-2019.

This book examines the contributions, both intentional and unintentional, of Nigerian Pentecostal churches and NGOs to development, studying their development practices broadly in relation to the intersecting spheres of politics, economics, health, education, human rights, and peacebuilding. In sub-Saharan Africa, Pentecostalism is fast becoming the dominant expression of Christianity, but while the growth and civic engagement of these churches has been well documented, their role in development has received less attention. The Nigerian Pentecostal landscape is one of the most vibrant in Africa. Churches are increasingly assuming more prominent roles as they seek to address the social and moral ills of contemporary society, often in fierce competition with Islam for dominance in Nigerian public space. Some scholars suggest that the combination of an enchanted worldview, an emphasis on miracles and prosperity teaching, and a preoccupation with evangelism discourages effective political engagement and militates against development. However, Nigerian Pentecostalism and Development argues that there is an emerging movement within contemporary Nigerian Pentecostalism which is becoming increasingly active in development practices. This book goes on to explore the increasingly transnational approach that churches take, often seeking to build multicultural congregations around the globe, for instance in Britain and the United States. Nigerian Pentecostalism and Development: Spirit, Power, and Transformation will be of considerable interest to scholars and students concerned with the intersection between religion and development, and to development practitioners and policy-makers working in the region.

This is a contemporary book for everyone, but it is more relevant to those who wish to know why we say corruption is an enemy to the society, how it starts, what propels it, and what the society suffers as a result of corruption. It is not an over expectation for the workers to look up to their manager and the citizens to look up to the elected politicians for welfare projects because according to the book, the primary responsibility of democratic governments, especially in developing economies, is the protection of lives and properties of her citizens, providing welfare schemes and creating an enabling ground for her citizens to strive for their self-development. Corruption has rubbed us of all these. The citizens entrusted their collective will in the hands of the elected politicians believing that they will make the society a better place to live, but in return, we have a society tightly dotted with terrorists and politically motivated attacks on the innocent citizens. The country became difficult for an average man to survive in, leading to irregular migration even to less developing economies where, at least, they can be sure of security.

Escaping Poverty and Unemployment in Africa: A Flagship Strategy calls out unemployment as a major cause of poverty, and sees both of them as twins representing two sides of the same bad coin. After several years of failures in addressing the twin crises with stand-alone policies and programs in Nigeria and other African countries, the book proposes an innovative strategy aimed at addressing mass unemployment and mass poverty simultaneously. Inspired by the author's field experience as one of the key actors in the successful implementation of the UNDP-ILO-sponsored Jobs for Africa (JFA) program in over ten African countries (between 1998 and 2001), the book presents an alternative framework from the failed extant approaches for tackling the stubborn crises of unemployment and poverty in the continent. The proposed Flagship Strategy is a cocktail of three key policy elements, namely, (1) putting in place a maximum employment-driven macroeconomic economic stability, (2) mobilizing and empowering "ready-to engage" transformational entrepreneurs for leading investment projects/programs to ensure success and sustainability, and (3) undertaking massive investment for poverty-reducing employment (IPRE) projects in all the key sectors of the economy. Given Nigeria's exceptionalism in Africa's poverty profile, the application of the Flagship Strategy has been illustrated for over eight key sectors of this nation's economy. This presents a model for possible replication across other African countries. The empirical validation in the application of the three elements of the Flagship Strategy, along with the successful experience of emerging industrializing countries (of South Korea, Singapore, and China, etc.) in achieving massive reductions in poverty and unemployment using the elements of the strategy, commends its application to African and other developing countries facing the twin challenges. The book is intended to serve generally as an informative read for all who are interested in escaping poverty and unemployment either by themselves or for the people they care about. It has also, in particular, offered fresh strategic insights to scholars and students of development, working on African poverty and unemployment challenges. It can furthermore easily serve as a policy blueprint/ manual for policymakers and/or politicians with genuine interests in finding quick and sustainable solutions to Africa's daunting and existential poverty and unemployment challenges.

A fundamental question about contemporary Africa is why does Africa remain so poor, long after the departure of the European Colonial domination and in the midst of so many natural resources? Poverty Reduction Strategies in Africa provides new understandings of the persistent issue of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and makes recommendations for policy frameworks to help African governments alleviate poverty. Each chapters uses case studies to review the old strategies for resolving the problem of poverty in the continent and make the case for new initiatives to address poverty. The contributors focus on practical and day-to-day issues as the best approach to formulate and implement poverty reduction strategies in contemporary Africa. This book is invaluable reading for students and scholars of African politics and development.

" This monograph describes how a failed state in 2030 may impact the United States and the global economy. It also identifies critical capabilities and technologies the US Air Force should have to respond to a failed state, especially one of vital interest to the United States and one on the cusp of a civil war. Nation-states can fail for a myriad of reasons: cultural or religious conflict, a broken social contract between the government and the governed, a catastrophic natural disaster, financial collapse, war and so forth. Nigeria with its vast oil wealth, large population, and strategic position in Africa and the global economy can, if it fails disproportionately affect the United States and the global economy. Nigeria, like many nations in Africa, gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. It is the most populous country in Africa and will have nearly 250 million people by 2030. In its relatively short modern history, Nigeria has survived five military coups as well as separatist and religious wars, is mired in an active armed insurgency, is suffering from disastrous ecological conditions in its Niger Delta region, and is fighting one of the modern world's worst legacies of political and economic corruption. A nation with more than 350 ethnic groups, 250 languages, and three distinct religious affiliations--Christian, Islamic, and animist Nigeria's 135 million people today are anything but homogenous. Of Nigeria's 36 states, 12 are Islamic and under the strong and growing influence of the Sokoto caliphate. While religious and ethnic violence are commonplace, the federal government has managed to strike a tenuous balance among the disparate religious and ethnic factions. With such demographics, Nigeria's failure would be akin to a piece of fine china dropped on a tile floor--it would simply shatter into potentially hundreds of pieces."--DTIC abstract.