Extremist Conflicts, State Failure and Development in Africa: Peace and Governance Options for Citizens

Abstract

"This paper reviews the current state of extremist conflicts in different countries of Africa and after analyzing the problem in terms of state failure, provides insights and suggestions based on the work of institutional analysts, including the Ostroms and others like Abraham Kuiper of the Netherlands on how to contain and reverse state failure in the region. The fact that civilian politicians and military authorities have failed to address this problem over the years underscores the need for alternative civic organs to champion the cause of institutional renewal and state resilience. This article targets a group of people whose influence has grown tremendously in Africa: faith based organizations (FBOs), who while being a part of the problem presently may hold the key to transforming the continent. In that sense, they would be playing the historical role which the people of faith have played in the transformation of western societies."