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Journal of Contemporary Politics

Article

Exploring the Economic Potentials of Nigeria’s International Border Communities: Implications for National Economic Development
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Journal of Contemporary Politics

DOI: 10.53989/jcp.v4i1.37

Year: 2025, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 10-19

Original Article

Exploring the Economic Potentials of Nigeria’s International Border Communities: Implications for National Economic Development

Funke Amanda Olowoniyi1,∗, Joshua Olatunde Fajimbola1, Oluwatoba David Alabi2

1Department of International Relations, Faculty of Humanities, Social and Management Sciences, Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, Nigeria
2Department of Political Science and Defence Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]

Received Date:09 April 2025, Accepted Date:21 May 2025, Published Date:10 June 2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Mainstream studies on African border communities focus on security issues, neglecting the region's economic potential. The necessity of developing an efficient and reliable work plan for managing border communities to ensure that their potential is harnessed for national economic development has been recognised globally. Rather than points of opportunity for trade, social connections, and building better bilateral relations, these frontiers are now often perceived by regional governments as places of vulnerability and threat. The study examines the panoptic view of border communities in Nigeria as 'ungoverned spaces, neglecting their pivotal position in national economic development. The Complex Interdependence theoretical paradigm was adopted to evaluate the contributions of the economic activities across the Seme and Idiroko International Border Communities (IBCs) to Nigeria's economic development, an important element often disregarded in border studies research. The mixed method approach, comprising a 12-year (2010-2022) Annual Customs Trade Records and in-depth interviews, was used. This work contributes by highlighting the need for research into the economic potential of IBCs in sub-Saharan Africa and expanding the position that complex interdependency can occur within a nation, not necessarily at the global level. Recommended that investment in infrastructure and the adoption of functional economic policies must be prioritised to adequately position IBCs to contribute to national economic development.

Keywords: Antagonistic co­evolution, Balance of trade, Complex Interdependence Theory, Fayawo, International Border communities, Low Location Quotient

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Copyright

© 2025 Published by Bangalore University. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 

  • 10 June 2025

Year: 2025, Volume: 4, Issue: 1

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