Oluwole Ojewale PhD

Nigeria’s North Central violence reveals systemic state failure | ISS Africa Durable solutions to end deadly attacks in Benue State will remain elusive if the crisis continues to be misdiagnosed.

Recent deadly attacks in Nigeria's Benue and Plateau states have killed over 250 people.

In this article, we argue that framing the root causes of any conflict is vital to finding durable solutions.

Click the link below to read the full article 👇

issafrica.org/iss-today/ni...

separatist groups at 8.1%, and unidentified armed groups at 5.4%.

To download the paper freely, click the link below👇

enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/page...

arms trafficking, abduction, and money laundering.

✅Another key finding of the paper is that in addition to traditional cattle rustlers, the predominant actors engaging in cattle rustling include the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) at 71.4%, Boko Haram at 9.5%

inadequate governance, environmental influences, porous borders, cultural perceptions and social acceptance, corruption, and an ineffective justice system.

⚙️The paper shows the connection between cattle rustling and other forms of organized crime, such as financing terrorism, cross-border smuggling

🔈 Cattle rustling is increasingly contributing to the financing and resilience of armed and terrorist groups in the subregion.

📝The paper shows that the primary factors contributing to cattle rustling include transhumance, child labour, multiple conflicts

Publication Alert 🔔

I am very pleased to share our research paper co-authored with Aimé Raoul Sumo Tayo.

🔙This paper is a product of our direct and extensive field work carried out in Chad and Cameroon in 2024.

YouTube video by NATO Strategic Direction - South HUB THE SOUTHERN TALKS #12: Western Sahel - The Fear of Growing Terrorism

In this webinar with the NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub I discussed the growing threat of terrorism in the Sahel and it broader implications for the west Africa region.

Many thanks to the officials at NATO for the collaboration.

youtu.be/9q1KYDglTIU

Publication alert 🔔
I am very pleased to share my paper published in Crime, Law and Social Change (Vol 83).

The paper can be accessed through the link below 👇

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

…asserting that the crisis can serve as a catalyst for renewed African agency, mobilizing local resources to reshape the continent’s social development agenda.

Can African philanthropy fill in for American aid cuts? | ISS Africa Africa must look within to improve resource allocation and promote social impact investments that go beyond just boosting profits.

The dominant narrative suggests that Africa will suffer from the reduction in U.S. aid. However, in this ISS Today published by Institute for Security Studies and co-authored with Nengak Daniel Gondyi, we challenge this view…

issafrica.org/iss-today/ca...

Undermining Peace: Banditry, Gold, and Elite Collusion in Northwest Nigeria This study presents evidence on the nexus of banditry and illicit gold mining in Nigeria. Drawing on qualitative research, this article explores how bandits leverage gold mining and elites’ collusi...

The article appraises state responsiveness to illegal gold mining by bandits, and offers some deeper reflections on pathways to durable peace.

The eprint link (50 copies) is now ready to use and is:

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/HQU8P...

Publication Alert 🔔

I am very pleased to share my first 2025 publication on Banditry, Gold, Elite Collusion and Violence in northwest Nigeria.

West Africa could soon have a jihadist state – here’s why A combination of population explosion, failure of governance and endemic poverty creates a perfect breeding ground for a jihadist state in west Africa.

I argue in this article that the key factors that could aid the establishment of a jihadist state in the Sahel region of west Africa include mutually reinforcing issues such as failure of governance, endemic poverty and connection to global terrorist groups…

theconversation.com/west-africa-...