For 1 < α ≤ 2 a real number, we apply the theory of u 0-positive operators to establish the existence of smallest positive eigenvalues and their comparison for the αth-order Riemann-Liouville linear differential equations, D α 0+ y(t)+λp(t)y(t) = 0 and D α 0+ y(t) + σq(t)y(t) = 0, 0 < t < 1, with each satisfying the nonlocal boundary conditions, y(0) = p i=1 a i y(ξ i), 0 < ξ 1 < • • • < ξ p < 1, and y(1) = r j=1 b j y(η j), 0 < η 1 < • • • < η r < 1.