African Journal on Conflict Resolution Vol 19 No.1

In all five articles in this issue, some aspect of governance plays a significant role. The term ‘governance’ appears in the titles of two articles, and words such as ‘govern’, ‘government’ and ‘governance’ occur in all the articles – altogether more than two hundred times. This did not happen in response to any call for papers or as a result of any planning for a special issue. This is therefore not a special issue on governance, but it happens to be a regular issue full of articles about governance matters. The first article 'State fragility and the conflict nexus: Contemporary security issues in the Horn of Africa' by Yonas Adaye Adeto gives a brief description of the research context where extra-regional security actors and their role in state fragility and violent conflict in the Horn have been outlined. The following article is titled: Boko Haram insurgency and the necessity for trans-territorial forestland governance in the Lower Lake Chad Basin written by Al Chukwuma Okoli examines the imperative for transnational forestland governance in the lower Lake Chad Basin, in the light of a continual incidence of Boko Haram insurgency in that context . ' Linking governance and xenophobic violence in contemporary South Africa' on page 57 authored by Jean Pierre Misago argues that governance is a key determinant of xenophobic violence in South Africa and of collective violence generally. The following article : The challenges of power-sharing and transitional justice in postcivil war African countries: Comparing Burundi, Mozambique and Sierra Leone on page 81 written by Sadiki Koko uses the cases of Burundi, Mozambique and Sierra Leone to analyse transitional justice processes in African societies where power sharing was used as a key tool to end very protracted and violent civil wars. The last article: Pervasive intra-party conflicts in a democratising Nigeria: Terrains, implications, drivers and options for resolution on page 109 written by Adeniyi S. Basiru examines the terrain, implications and drivers of intra-party conflicts in a democratising Nigeria with a view to recommend options for resolution.