This study investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercised by the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta, and its impact on sustainable development (SD) in this important region of Nigeria. Particular focus is given to sustainable improvement in well-being and enhancement of socio-economic development for the local communities. To investigate these, archival from newspapers, magazines documents on CSR in Niger Delta from NGOs, documents from oil company’s websites and interview data from forty participants from the local communities, stakeholders and senior managers from the MNOCs were obtained. The MNOCs’ CSR and SD policies and practices were also inspected from the company’s website and photographs of the local environment around the MNOCs extraction suites and plant were also collected. These data were then analysed using: photo voice, document analysis, constructivist grounded theory, website-based content analysis, and covert participant observation. The study identified discrepancies between the MNOCs declared online CSR and SD policies and practices and those in operation in the Niger Delta region. Our findings also show that local communities are marginalised. To address this, it is argued that Ruggie’s frameworks, Sen’s capability approach for a full life, and Bowen’s list of social goals should be used as guiding principles by the MNOCs in the Niger Delta region. The study offers theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions to the studies of business ethics, international management and international business by offering new insights into CSR and SD.

Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) have become a key component of the postconflict peacebuilding orthodoxy. Therefore, this study evaluates the efficacy of Amnesty, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (ADDR) in conflict prevention and resolution using the 2009 Niger Delta ADDR programme as a case study. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the programme using the minimalist and maximalist framework advanced in the DDR literature. The key findings and conclusions of the Study were that a minimalist DDR would only achieve security stabilisation and return excombatants to the status quo- ante society with all the pre-conflict grievances unaddressed thereby bequeathing a high potential of relapse to violence. Furthermore, for DDR to be an effective conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and postconflict peacebuilding force, its conceptualisation, design and implementation must be maximalist in nature with a transformative agenda that aims to address the roots causes of violence.

This research discusses the impacts of oil and gas extraction in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria on the right to health and the right to a healthy environment of the Niger Delta people. It highlights the importance of FDI in oil and gas sector development and the responsibility of multinational corporations towards human rights and environmental rights protection in developing host States where national laws and regulations may not be properly developed and adequate in protecting the people’s human rights. The work argues that BITs should rightly be employed in efforts to protect the right to health and a healthy environment against the excesses of oil and gas multinational corporations. The Niger Delta is used as a case study.

Contaminated land management has become a major concern for Nigeria. Sites affected by petroleum hydrocarbons from oil exploitation activities have been identified as a major environmental and socio-economic problem in the Niger Delta region. Though air and water regulations have received the most attention, the regulatory system for contaminated land remains largely undeveloped. As a result, Nigeria oil contaminated land governance lacks a clear and well-established policy framework; administrative structure and capacity; technical methods; and incentive structures. A consequence of these limitations is the inevitable ad hoc management of contaminated land in Nigeria. This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive and integrated contaminated land management policy framework for Nigeria. This work adopts a qualitative approach including critical review methodology and field surveys to investigate the current practice in contaminated land management in Nigeria. Key findings from this research clearly indicate an urgent need for a regulatory policy supported by a holistic and coordinated structure, coupled with improved technical capacity and additional resources to prevent new contamination and to address legacy contaminated sites. A technical strategy to identify and characterise contaminated land in terms of Source-Pathway-Receptor (S-P-R) linkages, a liability regime and the establishment of land use standards are required in Nigeria. Field surveys were used to pilot a proposed stakeholder engagement approach that integrates consideration of social values that could influence contaminated land management policy. Top ranked social values included drinking water, soil quality, and food and local supply chain. Based on this research a pathway for improving the current policy was proposed. The pathway identifies the need to engage stakeholders, educate and improve awareness, increase trust and transparency and integrate societal values into contaminated land management decision- making. An integrated risk assessment framework for contaminated land management in Nigeria was also proposed, and completed with a pathway for integrating the social values and sustainability indicators identified previously. The study proposes a timeline for achieving comprehensive contaminated land management policy in Nigeria. Finally, a multi-attribute methodology for contaminated land prioritisation in Nigeria was developed to identify and promptly respond to sites that pose the highest risk to receptors, considering the limited nature of resources for contaminated land management.

Region specific foods in the Niger Delta like yam and cassava are consumed on a daily basis by at least 70% of the population. In addition to other commonly consumed foods, high volumes of unavoidable food wastes are generated. With 78% of the households in the region disposing their waste by burying, burning or in unauthorised heaps, environmental degradation is sustained. The region also suffers an infestation of Water Hyacinth (WH). Anaerobic Digestion (AD) presents a viable way of managing these wastes in addition to providing a clean source of energy. Limited research has been conducted on the characterisation and biogas potential of these exotic food wastes due to their localised availability, leading to a knowledge gap. My original contribution to knowledge is the Specific Waste Index (SWI), nutrient characterisation and biogas potential of the local food wastes and WH. Also novel is the design and optimisation of the AD process for mono and codigestion including the quarter hourly analysis of CH4 and CO2 content of the biogas composition over the complete duration of an AD test. The research approach was experimental and involved using conventional research methods in new fields of investigation. SWI was determined by replicating local food processing practices while nutrient composition was obtained using standard analytical methods. The Bio-Methane Potential (BMP) tests were carried out on the four most common food wastes, Yam Peel (YP), Cassava Peel (CP), Cocoyam Peel (CoP), Plantain Peel (PP), following VDI 4630 guidelines and using a newly designed cost-effective bioreactor. Laboratory scale batch reactors ran over 20 days at 37⁰C (310 K). The food wastes were anaerobically co-digested with WH in the ratio 2:1 g Volatile Solid (VS) with a total substrate mass of 8.4 g VS. The S:I ratio was 1:2 g VS and tests were carried out in duplicates to give an indication of repeatability. The results showed a wide range of SWI from 0.2-1.5. The Total Solid (TS) content varied from 7% for WH to 82% for Egusi Shell. Crude Protein and Crude Fibre were highest for Ugwu Stalk at 37% VS and Egusi Shell at 82% VS respectively. Cassava Peel had the highest oil content at 25% VS. NFE which was the major nutrient for 80% of the samples was highest for Yam Peel at 82% VS. YP+WH, CP+WH, CoP+WH and PP+WH had specific biogas yields of 0.42, 0.29, 0.39, and 0.38 m3/kg VS respectively. The yields represented 76%, 48%, 70% and 69% of their respective theoretical values. The samples had their highest methane content during the Technical Digestion Time (T80) period, which lasted up to the 8th day of digestion. The pH values ranged from 7.3 to 7.9 indicating that there was no inhibitory accumulation of organic acids. The results of the mono-digestion tests showed that co-digestion with WH reduced the biogas yields for YP, CP, CoP and PP by 16%, 22%, 7% and 7%. This drop in gas production was due to presence of complex molecules in the WH co-substrate, which cannot be digested by the anaerobic microbes. Further tests showed that fresh waste produced more biogas than dry samples, while a lower S:I produced more biogas due to increased microbial population. It was concluded that waste and nutrient content varied widely between different types of Niger Delta foods. In addition mesophilic digestion of food wastes have good biogas potentials which reduce when co-digested with water hyacinth. The methane content is shown to vary widely throughout an AD test. The findings of this research would provide valuable information to AD databases and its implementation would support clean energy production, environmental remediation and allow researchers in poor regions to perform BMP test on novel feedstock using cost-effective reactors. Key Words: Anaerobic Digestion, Co-Digestion, Water Hyacinth, Niger Delta, Yam, Cassava, Cocoyam, Food Waste, Specific Waste Index, Biogas.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria contributes more than 95 percent of the country’s export incomes and generates more than 40 percent of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 85 percent of the nation’s total revenue (Karl and Gray, 2003, p. 26). Although most multinational oil companies (MNOCs) have found the Niger Delta a fertile ground for business, the region remains backward, poor and underdeveloped. The host communities have been frustrated by the effects of oil production on the environment, which include oil spillages, the reduction of arable land, and the destruction of wild life and fish reserves. As a result of the oil bearing communities’ angry sentiments towards the MNOCs and the Nigerian Government, incessant conflict, and violent crises have enveloped the region. To mitigate the anger, the MNOCs have engaged in some programs and projects intended to benefit the oil- bearing communities in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This thesis is focused on how the CSR strategies of the MNOCs have contributed to the perennial conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The mixed methods descriptive design study employed involves the use of survey instruments and content analysis to interrogate the conflict situation. Findings indicate that the failure of MNOCs operating in the Niger Delta region to provide concrete and sustainable CSR, and the government’s inability to regulate the MNOCs and plough back the taxes paid by the latter to develop the region, has led to the current crises. These supported the thesis that the lack of concrete social responsibility contributes to conflicts in the Niger Delta. Building upon the stakeholders’ theory, the theory of frustration and aggression, and conflict theory, this study discovered that the cause of the conflict in the Niger Delta is not solely an issue of corporate social responsibility and revenue allocation, but it largely depends on the divergences of the different stakeholders’ interests. This study, therefore, recommends a revocation of the 60/40 ownership structure between the government and the oil companies. Instead, host communities should be considered part owners of the oil deposits in their land, which would give them a fair percentage in the ownership structure.

Wetlands are dynamic ecosystems and important sources of natural resources that provide a large array of ecosystem services. Unfortunately, most wetlands are threatened by human and natural stressors, such as damming, irrigation, water abstraction, climate change and variability that compromise the sustainability of the whole system. The Inner Niger Delta (IND), Mali, West Africa, is one of the biggest floodplains in the world, has a vast natural resource that attracts many people to live in and around the delta. The IND is considered a hub of human activities that include agriculture, fishing, transport, and tourism and plays an important role in promoting sustainable development for food security, water management, and the environment. As for most wetlands in the world, the very existence of the IND is at stake with the ever-increasing number of dams and irrigation schemes that are built to feed the growing population in the region. Given the fragility of the system and the multiplicity of water uses in the IND, the current knowledge of the flood dynamics and its relation to ecosystem services and the productivity of economic activity is insufficient. There is no operational hydrodynamic model of the IND, and the Malian authorities rely on simplified models and empirical relations for water resources management in the area. This thesis contributes to a better water resources management of the IND by a) developing the first 2D hydrodynamic model based on a triangular adaptative mesh of the IND that performs well despite the poor quality of available topographic/bathymetric data b) developing an innovative way of accounting for the strong hysteresis phenomenon in the IND in the hydrodynamic modeling that allowed a better reproduction of the hydraulic connectivity between important lakes and the main river and c) developing the first non-stationary relationship between the water levels at a reference station and the flooded area in the IND. The first part of the thesis deals with the challenge of developing a hydrodynamic model using only two low-resolution satellite-derived Digital Elevation Models: the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which has a 30m horizontal resolution, and the Multi-Error-Removed Improved-Terrain (MERIT). Given the low vertical accuracy of global DEMs, another DEM was derived using the waterline method, by combining water extent map from satellite images and local water level information. Channel depths were approximated using the hydraulic geometric relationship methods, while the friction coefficient was derived from the global land-use class classification (GLCC) data. The river network was extracted from the water extent map corresponding to the lowest water level. Six different hydrodynamic models were created by varying the DEM and downstream boundary conditions. Each of the models was calibrated for discharge and water levels. Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) was finally used to combine the outputs of all six hydrodynamic models into one robust simulation. In the second part, the effect of hysteresis at the downstream boundary condition of the hydrodynamic model was examined. Existing hydrodynamic models of the IND use a static stage-discharge relationship as a downstream boundary condition during both the rise and recession of the flood, leading to potential inaccuracies in the simulation of the flood extent. This paper explores the improvement in the simulation of the flood and connectivity dynamics resulting from the use of a looped rating curve at the downstream boundary of a hydrodynamic model of the IND. The hysteresis effect is integrated into the rating curve using two methods, one based on dimensionless discharges and levels (DLRC) and the other based on the modified Jones formula (MJRC). Results show that the hysteresis effect is better represented using DLRC and that simulations using any of the modified rating curves improves the accuracy of floodplain extent simulations in the areas close to the downstream station, as well as the timing of the connectivity of the river system to one important lake in the IND. The improvement in water level simulation decreases steadily with distance from the downstream boundary of the modeled area. The third part of the thesis deals with the development of an improved relation between inundation extent and water levels in the IND. Accurate knowledge of the flooded extent considered crucial for the proper management of natural resources in the IND. Several authors have developed empirical relationships between water levels at key stations in the IND and the flooded extent in an attempt to provide simple tools to link hydraulic parameters to the performance socio-economic activities in the IND. However, simulations from a hydrodynamic model of the IND showed that the relationship between water levels and the inundation extents varies greatly from year to year, and cannot be adequately captured by static formulas. First, it is demonstrated in this paper that if the maximum water level area is known in advance, accurate relationships between water levels and inundation extents can be derived. In the second part of the paper, stepwise regression is used to develop a function that can forecast maximum water levels at Akka using observed streamflow and precipitation upstream of the Delta. The combination of the two results allows a realtime estimation of the inundated area in the IND using observed water levels, precipitation, and streamflow.

In 1956, shortly before Nigeria’s independence, Shell BP found crude oil in Oloibiri Bayelsa State marking a turning point in the socioeconomics and politics of the nation. Since then, oil has grown into a major export commodity comprising over ninety-five percent of the nation’s gross national product. The region is one of the world’s largest ecosystems, but due to the ongoing pollution, a direct result of the oil companies lacks potable water. This study addresses this humanitarian crisis and examines the agency of Nigeria’s federal government and the collaboration with multinational oil corporations’ contributions to the environmental deconstruction in the region. The thesis further investigates the historical moments building towards the uprising in Ogoniland, centered around the leader Ken-Saro Wiwa, who was killed by the Nigerian government. It examines social movements in the region, and aims to tie the local question to the federal question of unity in the country.

Dissertation Title: Transforming Violent Masculinities: Nigeria's Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programme in the Niger Delta Abstract Gender mainstream in security studies has been erroneously equated with the introduction of women in security practices. Hence, gender analysis of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes have largely underestimated the importance of also considering men's gender identity. Breaking this pattern, this dissertation examines the ability of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration approach adopted in the Niger Delta to change or consolidate violent masculinities among ex-combatants. The selected case study is of special relevance to the topic at hand since the conflict in the Niger Delta has been partly attributed to the constructions of masculinity that prevail in this Nigerian region. Following previous research in the field of critical masculinities and feminist peacebuilding, the paper reveals that the transformative potential of the Presidential Amnesty Programme is extremely limited, exclusively offering a way of expressing positive masculinities as part of the economy. This is the result of the Nigerian government's decision to adopt a minimalist approach to DDR that pays full attention to ex-combatants as individuals rather...

Einen großräumigen Überblick über ein Gebiet von Interesse können Satellitenbilddaten ermöglichen. Dabei werden räumliche Beziehungen erkennbar und lassen sich untersuchen. Die Bestimmung der räumlichen Verteilung und des zeitlichen Ausmaßes eines großräumigen Ereignisses, wie einer Überflutung, ist oftmals nur mit Unterstützung von fernerkundlichen Daten möglich. Es besteht der Bedarf an kontinuierlichen Informationen über den Zustand eines Systems über einen längeren Zeitraum, wenn Zusammenhänge zwischen den natürlichen Schwankungen und unterschiedlichen anthropogenen sowie natürlichen Einflüssen untersucht werden sollen. Das Nigerbinnendelta in der Republik Mali nimmt in der semi-ariden Region eine besondere Stellung ein, da es sich um einen Gunststandort handelt, der wesentlich zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Region beiträgt. Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit zu erstellende Datenbasis beruht auf SAR-Daten, deren größter Vorteil in der Wetter- und Tageszeitunabhängigkeit liegt. Eine Herausforderung bei der Nutzung von Radaraufnahmen sind die spezielle Bildgeometrie, der auftretende Speckle-Effekt sowie das komplexe Rückstreuverhalten der Strahlung. Die Datenbasis bilden ERS- und Envisat-Aufnahmen, deren Auswertung zunächst die Datenaufbereitung bzw. die Vorverarbeitung, u. a. in Form einer radiometrischen Kalibrierung und einer Speckle-Filterung, vorangestellt ist. Die Anwendung von pixelbasierten Auswertemethoden ist aufgrund der radiometrischen Eigenschaften der Daten weniger geeignet, weshalb die in der Fernerkundung neuere objektorientierte und wissensbasierte Klassifikation zur Anwendung kam. Das Fehlen von zeitnah erhobenen Geländebeobachtungen sowie das komplexe Rückstreuverhalten der Mikrowellen erfordern eine ausführliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Untersuchungsgebiet sowie mit dem Verhalten der C-Band SAR-Daten in Feuchtgebieten. Innerhalb der SAR-Daten treten vermehrt Überschneidungen in der Rückstreuung unterschiedlicher Landbedeckungen auf. Deren Trennung erfordert Vorkenntnisse über die Ausbreitung der Landbedeckungen zu unterschiedlichen hydrologischen Stadien. Die zum Aufbau der wissensbasierten Auswertung erfolgte Auseinandersetzung mit dem Untersuchungsgebiet beinhaltete neben der geographischen Aufbereitung die Erstellung einer Vergleichsbasis, basierend auf multispektralen Aufnahmen. Auf Grundlage je einer Aufnahme während sowie nach der Überschwemmung wurden für die objektorientierte Klassifikation zwei Regelwerke, in die neben der auszuwertenden SAR-Aufnahme zusätzliche Informationen wie z. B. der Texturparameter Entropie eingingen, erstellt. Das Ergebnis ist eine Datenbasis der Überschwemmungsflächen zu verschiedenen Aufnahmezeitpunkten. Die Evaluierung von zwei Klassifikationsergebnissen ergab eine sehr gute Trennung der überschwemmten und nicht überschwemmten Bereiche. Die aufbereiteten SAR-Daten geben einen Überblick über die Ressource Wasser für bereits vergangene Zeitschnitte. Zusammen mit aktuellen Informationen können diese einen Beitrag für ein nachhaltiges Management dieser Lebensgrundlage im Nigerbinnendelta leisten.