<p> This dissertation offers to make new insights into certain aspects of the tonal phonology in mutually intelligible dialects of the Nko (Mande) language, namely the two major (with larger number of speakers) dialects of, Bamana and Maninka, and the two minor dialects, Jula and Mandingo. Theoretical analyses of tone assignment and tonal interaction in these languages have been diverse, often conflicting, and at times contradictory. The divergence between tonal analyses reported in the literature is likely to have arisen for a variety of reasons including dialectal variation, limited data, and limited speaker access. Among these proposed analyses are those that support the presence of specific tonal configurations considered to be marked structures in the language (Green 2010), as well as those that draw upon the proposition of multiple abstract floating tones whose spreading, deletion, and surface effects are predicted only by complex derivations (cf. Rialland &amp; Badjime 1989). Moreover, an attempt will be made to bring together generalizations that previous analyses did not make regarding the tonal patterns of the Nko dialects. Specifically, I argue for three novel analyses: 1) that the definite marker in Nko is a Mid tone suffix, rather than an abstract Low tone suffix as analyzed in previous literature, 2) that Nko noun forms are derived from an underlying form that I refer to as &lsquo;citation form&rsquo; which can be distinct from both the surface definite and indefinite nouns, and 3) that a final High tone is used as a marker of nouns in the major dialects of Nko (Courtenay 1974). These analyses have implications for the understanding of the tonal structure of Nko, especially with respect to the nature of lexical and grammatical tones in both the major and minor dialects. My analysis is consistent with that of other researchers in positing just two lexical tones, Low and High. The posited Mid tone to mark definiteness is a grammatical tone. Further, I agree with previous research in viewing that the surface tonal contours found in these varieties are due to the restricted tonal inventory and are not lexical tones. These result from multiple tones associating to the same syllable. Several analyses of tone in Nko dialects will be discussed and a full picture of the tonal schemas (or melodies) in the language is proposed. </p><p>

<p> The nonuse of community correction in the Nigeria criminal justice system has led to increased recidivism, contributed to prison congestion, introduced the risk of prison victimization, and lacked the provision of a rehabilitative structure for nonviolent offenders. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore Nigerian judges&rsquo; use of alternatives to incarcerations for nonviolent offenders. Dolinko retributive punishment theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Ten participant judges comprised the study sample from a purposeful and criterion random sampling method. Data were collected from participants through structured interviews and were coded manually, sorted, and analyzed using the Saldana data coding process framework. According to study findings, judges were inclined to use alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. Also, community correction could reduce overcrowding in prisons and provide the opportunity for self-improvement for nonviolent offenders supervised in the community. The implications for positive social change include a better understanding and implementation of community corrections for Nigeria judiciary and policymakers and the use of alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, which would improve rehabilitation, reformation, and reintegration of offenders into society. </p><p>

<p> Years of conflict, political instability, and national emergencies have left behind very little information on water resources in Liberia, West Africa. This research leverages major ion and trace element analysis, <i> Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) field tests, and high-throughput sequencing of microbial 16S rRNA genes to address these gaps and develop a comprehensive snapshot of groundwater quality in the region surrounding Monrovia, the capital city. A novel protocol to collect and preserve microbial DNA from groundwater under tropical field conditions lacking a constant source of electricity was employed and yielded high quality DNA sequences of bacterial and archaeal phylogenetic marker genes. </p><p> Multivariate compositional data analysis methods were used to investigate geochemical processes impacting groundwater quality throughout the study area. Low conductivity, low pH groundwaters were found to dominate the system with the majority of geochemical variability in the water samples attributed to surficial inputs both natural and anthropogenic. The implicated low buffering capacity of the groundwater system suggests a high risk associated with mining operations in Liberia. From a public health perspective, nitrate contamination, attributed to widespread but localized infiltration of human and or animal waste/fertilizer(s), was identified as the most important chemical water quality issue. Sulfate was found to be indicative of urban water cycling processes. </p><p> Although nitrate, arsenic, and lead concentrations exceeded WHO guidelines in several wells, <i>E. coli</i> was identified in 39% of all groundwaters analyzed, suggesting fecal contamination as the most significant regional water quality risk to human health. Deeper wells had significantly (p &lt; 0.05) lower probability of <i>E. coli</i> contamination, with no <i> E. coli</i> encountered in any well greater than 22 meters deep. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes revealed highly variable microbial community compositions. Surficial inputs are suggested as the major drivers of microbial diversity and community composition. Groundwaters that tested positive for <i> E. coli</i> in the field were found to have significantly higher estimates of microbial alpha diversity (p &lt; 0.05) than groundwaters that tested negative. Additionally, nitrate, silica, pH, and several other geochemical constituents were found to be strongly correlated with shifts in microbial community structure. </p><p> The identification of a wide diversity of pathogen-associated bacteria to the genus and species level suggests that microbial contamination is more widespread than indicated by the <i>E. coli</i> field test alone. Results highlight the vulnerability of aquifers in Liberia to contamination and call for an increased investment in the water supply infrastructure and enhanced monitoring of chemical and microbial constituents throughout the country. This work will help the government of Liberia establish baseline water-quality conditions and provides an initial set of water resource databases to improve water-quality monitoring capacity.</p><p>

<p> The dictionary is the core reference object of a language. It is used to learn and understand the lexicon of languages. Speakers acquire and develop knowledge of the language through its lexicon. Ewe speakers are not an exception. Ewe dictionaries are their main reference works and it emerges from our research that more than a dozen dictionaries have been produced in Ewe. However, many of them have not survived and exist only in bibliographical references. Many others are quite rare. In general, Ewe dictionaries are difficult for the public to acquire or access. </p><p> This dissertation presents the theoretical study of the Ewe dictionary and has three parts. In the first part, we provide a geolinguistic and sociolinguistic overview of Ewe language. In the second, we consider many theoretical and methodological frameworks to define the word &ldquo;dictionary&rdquo; and all related concepts. In the third part, we provide a scientific study of Ewe dictionaries. We begin by adopting a metalexographic perspective to compare the lexicographical works that currently exist. Published between 1857 and 1995, most dictionaries of Ewe are the work of missionaries who made many errors in their analyses largely because they were not native speakers of the language. We note that Ewe dictionaries need to be modernized and the number of entries increased to reflect current usage. We then identify and discuss the numerous social, political, and economic issues that have stood in the way and must be addressed for dictionary production to move forward. </p><p> The lack of a dictionary in Ewe is a both a linguistic deficiency and a challenge for native speakers. It is important to meet this challenge by updating or making new dictionaries in Ewe and to make them accessible to speakers of Ewe.</p><p>

<p> In this dissertation, I conceptualize a rhetorical and linguistic analysis of politics from a decolonial framework (Mignolo, 2011; Smith, 2012). My analysis draws on classical rhetoric (Aristotle, 2007), cultural rhetoric (Mao, 2014; Powell, et al., 2014; Yankah, 1995), and linguistics (Chilton, 2004) to reveal the different ways ideological and hegemonic struggles are discursively constructed in Nigerian political campaign discourse. The data for this study come from two speeches delivered by former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 electoral campaign. This includes his declaration-of-intent speech and his speech marking the commencement of his formal campaign activities. My research demonstrates the richness of conceptualizing political discourse within its immediate and larger contexts and the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary approach&mdash;which I call an integrationist approach&mdash;in unmasking the different forms of hegemonic struggle in discourse. Analysis of linguistic elements such as tenses, indexicals, and cultural metaphors and the rhetorical elements of apologia, apologies, enthymemes, call-and-response, and fictive kinship terms such as &ldquo;my brother and sister&rdquo; reveals that hegemonic discourse in a Nigerian context is neither autonomous, nor flowing from a single dominant power, but constituted by multiple, heteroglossic and complex processes that connect the local and the global. To this end, my analysis focuses on a dual critique of local and colonial forms of hegemonic powers that are now codified in the overall discourse of globalization. This dual orientation is necessary because the social struggles below and above the nation-state are strategic spaces of political intervention that might be ignored when the focus of the analysis privileges just the nation-state. The findings present the merits of combining decolonial epistemologies with the perspectives of linguistics and rhetoric in the analysis of politics. Particularly, such approaches have the potentials to open up ways of knowing that would otherwise be taken for granted or completely marginalized based on our positionality as academics. The awareness of the diversity of cultural ways of knowing and theorizing encourages us to learn not only from dominant Western systems of knowledge, but more inclusively from culturally different, historically marginalized ways of thinking and knowing.</p><p>

Increased regional integration in Europe, Africa and Asia is a defining feature of the 21st century. This increase has been followed by the growth of region-to-region collaboration (inter-regionalism) as a means of international cooperation. In the past, EU-Africa relations mainly served as a medium for economic cooperation however, this is now changing with the inclusion of security cooperation in EU-Africa relations. This new relationship was explicitly outlined in the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES). Within the new relationship, security cooperation through inter-regionalism is founded on the principles of equality, partnership and ownership. Despite these shifts, academic research has not caught up to examining the reasons and implications of security through inter-regionalism. The thesis therefore explores the extent to which security cooperation has contributed to changes in contemporary EUAfrica relations. In this context, the thesis specifically evaluates security cooperation between the EU and Africa primarily through the African Union (AU). The thesis develops institutionalised interregionalism as a framework through which this new type of international cooperation is best understood. It assesses two cases of EU support for new security initiatives in Africa. The first case study examines the efforts to create functional battle ready groups for peace missions. The second case study evaluates the European Union’s commitment to small arms control initiatives through the African Union. It does this by applying the historical institutionalism theoretical approach to the empirical concept of inter-regionalism. The thesis uses a multi-method qualitative approach including elite interviewing, non-participant observation, documentary and narrative analysis. The thesis finds that while the inter-regionalisation of security cooperation constitutes a shift in EU-Africa relations, changes to the institution are more likely when the EU is internally coherent, coordinated and employs a division of labour model to implement its support for the African Peace and Security Architecture. The lack of division of labour among EU actors has been impeded by lack of political will on the part of EU Member States as well as a ‘turf war’ or competition between the European Commission and Member States. The competition within the EU has been particularly detrimental to a region-to-region approach in EU-Africa relations. The lack of a single or streamlined approach undermined some of the AfricanUnion’s peace and security aims. In addition, the limited capabilities of the African Union, has negative implications for the implementation processes of the peace and security cooperation as it undermines the aspirations of ownership and partnership. This research thesis makes a substantive contribution to the literature on EU external relations generating new insights into the changing nature of international cooperation based on regionalism. It moves beyond the discourses on EU challenges in achieving common positions on security matters. Rather, it focuses on challenges (and opportunities) occurring in EU external relations despite the common positions. Additionally, it contributes to the debates in EU-Africa relations beyond the development focus of the literature to consider insights from the empirical reality of security cooperation. Finally, the thesis contributes to the burgeoning literature on burden sharing in international security through division of labour among international actors. The thesis is therefore relevant to current trends in the study and practice of international relations.

<p> The fusion of the Internet with instructional design, and curricula delivery methods eliminated transactional distance in online learning. However, distance education (DE) in Nigeria has not aligned its pedagogy to the new reality in technology. The purposes of this non-experimental, predictive, validity study were to determine faculty and administrators&rsquo; perceived barriers and concerns to online adoption and to validate the behavior engineering model (BEM) instrument. Ninety-six respondents from four public universities in Nigeria completed the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used respectively, to assess barriers and concerns militating against faculty and administrators&rsquo; online adoption, as well as validate the survey instruments. For faculty and administrators, incentive, motive, knowledge and skills influenced DE adoption. Except for age, all demographic factors influenced faculty&rsquo;s concerns. Gender was observed to influence administrators&rsquo; concern. &ldquo;Level of online use&rdquo; influenced neither faculty nor administrators&rsquo; concerns. Technographic characteristics influenced faculty, but not administrators.&rsquo; Though the BEM instrument was reliable in measuring faculty and administrator&rsquo;s stages of concern, however, the 6-factor BEM, tested at the 95% significant level, did not give a good fit. The study contributes to positive social change by identifying gaps to effective DE implementation, and recommended the appropriate interventions to transform the DE experience for students and their universities. The study also proposed the framework to fast track Nigeria&rsquo;s vision and mission for DE.</p><p>

This study examines whether beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of 2000 in resettlement areas maintain linkages with communal areas of origin. Present studies about the FTLRP provide limited in-depth attention to the importance of understanding linkages with places of origin. The study sought to explore the extent to which beneficiaries of the FTLRP are connected to their communal areas of origin, as well as the implications of the ties. Analysis of linkages is through social relationships and labour exchanges between people in resettlement areas and communal areas. This was done through a conceptual framework of belonging, which helped explain the various attachments to places of origin. The study was guided by a qualitative research approach. A case study of Machiroli Farm, an A1 villagised settlement, and Zvimba communal areas (Ward 6), Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe was utilised. The study's main finding is that beneficiaries of the FTLRP in the A1 model on Machiroli Farm retain linkages with communal areas of origin; beneficiaries of the FTLRP acquired new land without discarding ties and relations with places of origin. Most respondents attached clear importance to maintaining linkages with places of origin. Some respondents did not maintain ties with places of origin because of conflicts and breakdowns in family ties, highlighting that belonging is not static. Evidence from this case study shows that maintenance of linkages assists with agricultural production and enhancing social relations. Another important finding is that belonging enforced the maintenance of relations through factors, such as familial relations, burial sites, clubs, ceremonies and labour exchanges with communal areas of origin. The study argues that belonging is an aspect that ties people together despite physical translocation. Thus, this study's contribution is that, within land reform debates, physical translocation does not break the bonds with, or ties to, places of origin. Belonging enables several functions, such as access to labour, mitigation of economic challenges and enhancement of social relations, as demonstrated by this case study. For scholarship, the study contributes to land reform debates by applying the concept of belonging, which has mostly been applied to border and migration studies policy. The framework of belonging within land reform reveals the importance of social, cultural, religious and economic effects in accessing labour and enhancing agricultural production in agrarian settings. The study draws the conclusion that beneficiaries of land reform desire to remain relevant to a host of political, economic, spiritual and social aspects anchored in places of origin. Therefore, resettlement does not break ties which people have with places of origin, people embrace the new without discarding the old relations.

The representation of the Niger Delta insurgency in cultural texts is often registered from the viewpoint of human history, an approach that foregrounds the politics of resistance against the multinational oil corporations in ways that ignore the contribution of the non-human elements in the historical struggles in the region. In this study, I seek to understand the ways that the Niger Delta landscapes and environment are imagined in the works that I describe as the Niger Delta drama. Drawing on a number of plays to reflect on the different historicizations of spaces in the region, I examine and analyse the ways in which these spaces exercise social and political agencies in the unfolding events in the region. I tentatively delineate the region’s history into two analytic epochs: pre-oil and oil modernity Niger Delta. Though noting the centrality of the creeks and swamps in both temporal contexts, I argue that the drama of the pre-oil modernity textualized the "ontology of water" as a site of socioeconomic and ecological relations with the people who inhabit the Delta terrain. In the event of oil modernity, these spaces and relationships are reframed in the material transformations of the region’s landscape and environment from a site of decay and degradation to that of material recalcitrance and revolt that petro-violence provokes. In that vein, I treat the spaces represented by the creeks as "spaces of exception" - a phrase coined by Giorgio Agamben to explain how political democracies exclude certain zones to legitimise state terror - in which biopolitical securitisations are programmatically unleashed on trouble-prone geographies in ways that reduce the citizens to the status of bare-life. Although Agamben has identified the concentration camps as the paradigmatic basis of the modern state of exception, I propose that the creeks of the Delta offer an exemplary case that is consistent with bare life - a space as much excluded as included in the sense of Agamben’s paradoxical formulation of homo sacer, where life is violently exposed to the state apparatus of repression. Texts situated within the frame of exclusion and violent geographies deploy a poetics of waste and decay, what I term "environmental scatology" to capture the condition of bare life in the Delta, and reflect on the state of abandonment and invisibility that underwrites the exclusion. At other times, the texts illustrate how the ontology of water and the knowledge that it enables construct the people's mode of resistance, articulating ways in which the seaweeds and crocodiles that inhabit the swamps are entangled in the violent political ecology of the region. I read these texts as inaugurating a truly environmental drama in which the human-nonhuman nature is entangled in the performance of political resistances in the violent geography of the Delta.

Includes bibliographical references. . / The history of black radio in South Africa demonstrates the legacy of colonialism, but also exhibits the performance of novel identities in the 'modem' state. In this dissertation I look at the early years of black radio in South Africa circa 1940-1944, focussing primarily on the Zulu language service. The service was originally broadcasted on the Afrikaans and English radio stations in South Africa. It was 3 minutes in length at its inception in 1940 and was gradually extended to 30 minutes by September of 1942. Based on the collection of archival material and newspaper clippings I look at three colonial figures that were active in the early years of native radio, namely: Hugh Tracey, who was the initiator of broadcasts in Zulu, K. E. Masinga, who presented the first shows in the Zulu service, and The Zulu Radio Choir, who were mentioned as part of the first groups to be recorded for the Zulu radio service (Tracey 1948). All three of these stakeholders have played a foundational role in the establishment of the radio archive in South Africa. Using discourse analysis and Judith Butler's performativity theory (1988; 1990; 1999), I trace the discursive interactions of these stakeholders-an area where 'African tradition' meets 'colonial modernity' (Mudirnbe 1988). I then proceed to show how their performative acts reveal multi-layered processes of redefinition and negotiation. A recurring thread in the entire dissertation is a quest to represent Africa and its people's in new ways that challenge colonial legacies.