Donderdag 29 November 2018

Political instability in the Sahel is increasing and many observers point at the role of nomadic pastoralists in the various political and jihadist movements. Nomadic populations of the Sahel face changes that seem strongly linked to the dynamics of the state in West Africa as the latter evolved from the colonial process to its current extensions. How these changes affect nomadic populations must be identified and understood. The task, however, is not to provide a holistic analysis of these shifts; it is to describe the ways that pastoral associations perceive and analyse these questions in their activist work – thus providing an understanding of their strategies, actions, and areas of interventions in the face of change. This approach immerses us in the discourse on collective action, as it operates in a nomadic environment. The ultimate goal is to understand the contours of social change in today’s Sahel. Chair: Prof. Mirjam de Bruijn, ASCL. Speaker: Dr Mahaman Tidjani Alou, LASDEL, Niamey. Please register

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Lecture by David Ehrhardt. Governance in Nigeria is commonly associated with oil rents, poor public services, and, above all, corruption. In this light, the re-introduction of sharia in northern Nigeria is often viewed cynically, as a self-serving attempt by religious and political elites to use the public’s religious sentiments to mobilise political support, without actually providing better governance. This lecture examines the development of Islamic authority and governance in the sharia era in northern Nigeria. It highlights that sharia implementation has indeed in some ways been cynically political; yet there are also instances in which it has created opportunities for governance reform and improved public service provision. This variation suggests important hypotheses about the conditions under which sharia can promote good governance.

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