AFRICAN UNION MASTER ROADMAP AND ILLEGAL USE OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS IN NIGERIA

The scope and focus of this study is the African Union master roadmap for practical steps to silence the guns in Africa. Our objective was to identify how illicit small arms and light weapons have exacerbated conflicts in Nigeria. The unlimited influx of SALWs into Nigeria has engendered volatile and intractable conflicts. It was thus the thrust of this study to interrogate how the AU master roadmap to silence the guns in Africa have addressed the spate of conflicts in Nigeria. It is instructive to observe that there had been other measures by the African heads of states to address the problem of conflicts in Africa. This study therefore adopted the conceptual and empirical analyses on the core variables under the study. It employed the sustainable security theory and Transnationalism theory in strengthening its views on the core drivers of the conflicts caused by the illicit possession of small arms and light weapons. This secondary data collection template was used, sourcing data from official government and non-government institutions, journal articles, monographs, Internet sources, etc. These materials were analysed using qualitative/descriptive method. The AU Master Roadmap for Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa also known as AUMR 2017 enacted by the African Heads of States has not been very effective due to a myriad reasons articulated above. It is against this backdrop that we suggest the need for African states, regional and sub-regional organizations to develop strategies and programmes within the context of the AUMR and other initiatives to reduce illicit arms flows