This issue of African Security is dedicated to the memory of Russell C. Smandych. Russell died on 9 May 2023 following a gallant fight with cancer. He was 67. Russell was a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba, Canada, where he was on the faculty from 1986 to 2021.
Russell was an academic of the finest kind. He supervised the MA thesis of one of us (Temitope) many years ago. The relationship grew from supervisor-supervisee to one of genuine friendship. Russell was soft spoken, witty and fun to be around. There was never a dull moment. That included Temitope’s visit to him in April 2023 as it became clear he had a few days or weeks to live.
Russell Smandych received his BA from the University of Saskatchewan in 1977, an MA from Simon Fraser University in 1981 and a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1989, where he was mentored by Dr. Richard Ericson.
Russell devoted a significant part of his mentoring energy to international students. His was a robust transgenerational carousel of academic care regardless of background or origin. In 2010, he received the Internationalization Award from the Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, in recognition of his decades of work mentoring students from distant shores and conducting high-impact globally relevant research.
The Smandych home was a warm and welcoming space for international students. Russell was compassionate. He leaves behind his life partner, Kathryn and their three children, Timothy, Amelia, and Alissa. He was a beloved grandpa to his seven grandchildren.
This edition combines issues 2/3. It is fitting that the lead paper was coauthored by Russell C. Smandych. While delays in the peer-review process meant Russell could not hold the published piece in his hands, the paper and many others and books he wrote in his lifetime will remain eternal testament to Russell’s transnational and boundless scholarship. In “Media Reform and Prospects for Peace and Conflict-sensitive Journalism in Nigeria: A Critical Appraisal of International and African Research on Media and Peacebuilding,” Peterson, Smandych, Oriola and Yusuf draw on -colonial and southern criminologies to offer a robust and critical assessment of the role that the media, and peace and conflict-sensitive journalism, can play in peacebuilding in African countries. The paper explores in particular the history and roles of the media in Nigeria. This is a compendium for scholars interested in peace-sensitive journalism.
The second paper in this issue, “National Submissions to the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee as Constructions of National Identity: Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria,” explores national identity construction vis-à-vis post-9/11 counter-terrorism sanctions regime established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. In it, Lee Jarvis and Tim Legrand interrogate documents by Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria to problematize such printed words as “inventories of national capacity” and “performances of national identity within a specific historical moment.” The argument of Jarvis and Legrand is two-fold. Firstly, a delineation of the self from other, which construes terrorism as an externally induced evil. Secondly, Jarvis and Legrand argue that such documents contain inventive iteration of national identity. This is an important addition to the literature.
In “Manufacturing Scarcity: Understanding the Causes of Conflicts Between Farmers and Herders in Asante Akim North Municipality of Ghana,” Daniel K.L.B. Yeboah, Christian P. Hansen, Abdulai Abubakari and Adzo D. Doke explore farmer-herder conflicts in Africa. Contrary to works on scarcity, Yeboah, et al. argue that the primary cause of such conflicts is political. In particular, they note the role of traditional authorities in land transactions as well as lack of institutional safeguards regarding herding. The paper challenges conventional wisdom on farmer-herder conflicts in Africa and will be an excellent guide to policy-makers and theorists of conflicts.
The final article in this issue continues the theme of conflict. In “Urban-Rural Geographies of Political Violence in North and West Africa,” Steven M. Radil, Olivier Walther, Nick Dorward and Matthew Pflaum problematize the link between population density and political violence in West and North Africa. The findings demonstrate a preponderance of political violence in rural areas and a “classic distance-decay effect,” close to urbanized spaces. The paper highlights regional variations in political violence: largely rural-based jihadi violence in West Africa and concentrated urban violence in North Africa. The paper distills findings to the state level. For example, violence is largely a rural phenomenon in Mali but urban in Nigeria. This is a theoretically important and policy-relevant paper.
Our final thoughts return to Russell C. Smandych, a friend, mentor and confidante. Russell’s memory will be forever fresh in the many lives that he touched with his professionalism, kindness and friendship. He will be missed.