Paper short abstract:

After over 60 years of independence in Africa, why are the African leaders unable to deal with the persistence of the border disputes despite the instruments for resolution and cooperation? To what extend is the role of the affected borderland communities in the persistence of the dispute?

Paper long abstract:

African borders are configured to mirror the European concept of nation-states. The post-independent African leaders agreed to respect the inherited colonial instruments defining the borders at the time of independence. Six decades after independence, territorial border disputes continue to persist. At the heart of the disputes are the borderland communities. Most borderland communities in Africa are caught in-between the demand for modern states and the retention of their homogeneous cross-cultural heritage and socio-political solidarity.

The study focused on the northern sector of Nigeria - Benin borderland in West Africa. The preoccupation of the population in the borderland is farming. The region is bedeviled by conflicts between the communities astride the border due to undetermined territorial border limits. Issues of citizenship, identity, land ownership and underdevelopment continue to take it's tall on the communities and has exposed them to structural margination dictated by center-periphery dichotomy.

The study investigates the extend of the role of the borderland communities in the persistence of the border dispute in the border region. Contrary to most findings in the existing literature, the study reveals that the persistence of border disputes was a mere diversion by the leadership of the states despite having the exclusive preserve for the border determination and the dispute is responsible for conflicts between the erstwhile united homogenous borderland communities.

Keywords: Borders, Borderlands, Disputes, Development, Citizenship and Identity