Year: 2023
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: The origin of African military greatly influences its character, ethos, and mores. The military in most African states were products of European adventures in Africa. Many started as armies of private trading companies. The defining ethos of the colonial armies were centered on conquest and dominance through the use of violent force to achieve the colonial agenda of Europe. European governments licensed private companies known as charter companies to trade in different parts of the world. They were principally concerned with profit making which cannot be realized if they cannot dominate “their sphere of influences.” This they achieved by establishing military forces. The military forces in this African states have their roots in the commercial greed of private entrepreneurs. The military therefore took the form, ethos, and culture of the European colonizers. Critically these values were transferred to African militaries at independence. This chapter sets to study how the colonial origin of the African military impacted on contemporary African politics. It is this thematic issue that the chapter seeks to explore using historical descriptive method which relies on secondary data and analyzed through content analysis. The research concludes that the irrational behavior of dominance and violence is a critical fallout of the military being a continuum from colonialism to contemporary period. As such the military is central to the defining political dynamics in the African states and therefore remains impactful on politics in the continent.
Institutions: Nigerian Army University Biu, Bowen University
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4382407657