Meet BALOGUN WASIU ABIODUN, an Academic Staff of Lagos State University.
International Relations Of Energy And Maritime Security
Lecturer I
History and International Relations
At the History And International Relations department office
Appointment on Visitation important
Topic: ’Crude Oil Theft, Petro-Piracy And Illegal Fuel Trade: An Enterprise-Value Chain Perspective Of Energy-Maritime Crime In The Gulf Of Guinea
Description:
Crude oil theft, petro-piracy and illegal fuel trade in the Gulf of Guinea is an organised crime; combating the phenomenon requires an understanding of its enterprise nature, value chain and underpinning social networks; and a business-centred security framework offers a sustainable path to unravelling the criminality.
The
research is a major contribution to addressing the resilience of
energy-maritime criminal activities in the waters of Nigeria, by focusing on
the dynamics of criminal convergence, entrepreneurial and social activities
underpinning the illegal economy as well as its value-creation structures-
important missing links in current anti-maritime crime policy blueprint of the
government.
| # | Certificate | School | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ph.D (International Relations) | Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom | 2018 |
Russia-Africa Energy Dialogue and the Politics of Diplomacy
Russia-Africa
has a rich but chequered history. The two geographical divides maintain diplomatic
relations which have evolved through different historical epochs, transitioning
from productive bilateral cooperation of the 1960s to active disengagement in
the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war
in the 1990s. The interlude that followed the 30-year period of active Russian
engagement in Africa ensured that Kremlin’s hitherto entrenched influence in
the continent was usurped by the United States and China, with the latter making
appreciable inroads in Africa through cash and infrastructure diplomacy
embedded in the Belt Road Initiative. If Russia had beaten a retreat from
Africa in the last decade of the 20th century, she would have a U-turn
from the start of the 21st century. Through summitry diplomacy
Russia is now courting African leaders in a renewed partnership, injecting
massive capital in accelerated energy infrastructure development, and rolling
back years of diplomatic isolationism. But what is the place of energy,
especially gas in Russia’s African chequered diplomatic history? What strategic
calculations drive Russia’s gas investments in the continent? Can a coherent
strategy be discerned behind this energy push? How is Africa reacting to
Russia’s energy overtures? What does Russia’s energy rapprochement with Africa
mean for other super powers in the continent? Using a qualitative research
approach, this study seeks a critical contextualisation and ramifications of
Russia’s gas diplomacy in Africa, within the frame of neo-classical realism,
with the discourse on Kremlin’s energy investment situated within the realm of Russo-Africa
trade and commercial relations. The paper contends that Kremlin has evolved a
double-edged, well-coordinated and coherent energy strategy geared towards
resuscitating her lost glory and influence in Africa while containing rising
influence of US and China in the continent. Russia’s Africa gas strategy
reinforces conventional foreign policy strategy of Kremlin which weaponises
natural resource endowments in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.
BALOGUN WASIU is a Lecturer I at the Department of History and International Relations
BALOGUN has a Ph.D in International Relations from Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
