The United Nations and Conflict Resolution in Africa: Evaluating UN Mission Effectiveness with Insights from Nigerian Academic Discourse at UNN

The United Nations has deployed numerous peacekeeping and political missions across Africa since the post-Cold War expansion of its conflict management portfolio, generating rich scholarly debate about the conditions under which such missions succeed or fail. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as a leading center of African studies and international relations scholarship, provides a productive intellectual environment for evaluating the theoretical and empirical dimensions of UN conflict resolution effectiveness on the continent. This study examines the determinants of UN mission success and failure in Africa, with particular attention to the perspectives and analytical contributions of scholars affiliated with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, drawing on academic publications, conference papers, and faculty interviews from 2020 to 2024. A systematic literature review methodology is combined with qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews of relevant faculty in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of African Studies. The study is theoretically grounded in liberal institutionalism, the responsibility to protect doctrine, and African agency frameworks. Findings reveal that while UN missions generate significant humanitarian dividends in conflict zones, their political effectiveness is frequently undermined by mandate ambiguity, insufficient troop quality, and inadequate coordination with regional organizations such as the African Union. Nigerian scholars at Nsukka consistently foreground African agency, arguing that UN missions risk producing dependency dynamics that displace local peacebuilding capacities. The study recommends greater investment in AU-UN complementarity frameworks and Africa-led peace processes. Keywords: UN peacekeeping, conflict resolution, Africa, University of Nigeria Nsukka, African agency