COVID-19 began as a shared global challenge in need of international action and solidarity. In some areas, Africa’s response to the pandemic has been hampered by failure to build resilient social systems, agile institutions, and inclusive economic growth. The papers in this volume focus on rethinking peace and security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper “Pandemics and Cross-Border Trade“ by Brivery Siamabele examines the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on cross-border trade and its implications on trade within and amongst African countries. This qualitative desktop study in “The Consequences of COVID-19 on Human Rights and Freedoms” by Mutsa Murenje and Shauna Kimone Porter relied on existing literature to gain concise knowledge of the consequences of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on fundamental human rights and freedoms in Africa. Spurred by the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread to the northeast, an environment already devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency, the article, “The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria’s North-East Region by Sharkdam Wapmuk and Nufaisa Garba Ahmed, looks at its impact on internally displaced persons (IDPs). This study “Contending Narratives on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Public Authority Governance in Nigeria” by Nzube A. Chukwuma interrogates the contending narratives in the fight against COVID-19 and public authority governance in Nigeria. This qualitative study, “Conceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Religious Leaders in Nigeria: Implications for Responses and Coping Mechanisms” by Anene Chidi Pensive examines the concomitant relationship between the different conceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic among religious leaders in Nigeria and its implications for their various response and coping mechanisms. Drawing from the growing literature on the securitisation of public health in general and, in particular, that of infectious diseases in Africa, this paper “Rethinking the Securitization of Public Health in Africa: A Frame of Reference’ by Abdouahim Lema and Lukmon Akintola, explores the process through which certain health issues are perceived as security and existential threats.
