This thesis examines the potential of the indigenous right to internal self-determination as a framework accommodating the demands of the Niger Delta Peoples for Self-determination within the sovereignty of Nigeria. The unsustainable exploitation of crude oil in the Niger Delta resulted in the ecological devastation of the region and adversely affected the Niger Delta People's subsistent traditional mode of using their lands. The response of the Niger Delta People was originally to seek redress by instituting legal actions in Nigerian courts. The failure of the majority of these actions, and the combined factors of the exclusion of the Niger Delta People from the process and proceeds of the oil industry and their marginalization in the political and administrative structure of Nigeria resulted in the demand by the Niger Delta People that Nigeria recognize their right to self-determination. They justified this demand for self-determination with the arguments that:  Their dispossession from their lands by the government in Nigeria was akin to the exploitation of indigenous peoples in the Americas by colonial settlers.  The unsustainable exploitation of resources in their territory placed them in the same position as colonized peoples experienced under foreign domination in the era of colonization. In a bid to protect her sovereignty, Nigeria does not recognize the rights of self-determination or 'peoplehood' or even minority status of any ethnic groups within Nigeria. This thesis argues that the indigenous right to internal self-determination is a framework that has the potential to bring lasting solution to the conflict between the Niger Delta people and the government of Nigeria for the following reasons:  Indigenous internal self-determination prescribes a category of self-determination that is consistent with the sovereignty of states because it recommends inter alia autonomy with the territories of states. Indigenous internal self-determination provides a regime for sustainable development of resources as it recommends inter alia that states recognize the right of indigenous peoples to participation, consultation and free prior informed consent in the exploitation of resources in indigenous peoples' territory.

No description available.

The Upper Niger Basins (UNB) and the Inner Niger Delta (IND) are integral parts of the Niger River Basin, which flows through 10 countries and constitutes the third longest river in Africa. Natural climate variability and human interventions are two major factors affecting the hydrological regime in the UNB and IND. This study focuses on the later factor, by assessing the hydrological impacts of key existing and planned manmade structures and irrigation schemes in the UNB: the Sélingué (existing dam in Mali), four variants of the Fomi/Moussako dam (planned in Guinea), and Office du Niger (irrigation scheme located in Mali). The Fomi /Moussako dam will be located in the headwaters of the UNB and therefore, is expected to alter the hydrological regime in large parts of the watershed. Expected impacts include a reduction of the flood peak which will adversely affect critical ecosystems in the IND, and higher flows directly downstream of the dams in the dry season to sustain irrigation. These higher flows will, however, be consumed by Office du Niger irrigation scheme, leading to possible severe water shortages downstream of the irrigation scheme and in the IND. This is likely to affect the Malian economy and the poorest parts of its population, as the IND is crucial for the socio-economic and ecological preservation and development of the population surrounding it. The hydrological impacts of the dams and the irrigation scheme were evaluated in this study by developing a model of the IND and UNB using SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool). After the model was calibrated, the effects of the dams and the irrigation scheme on selected flow statistics (mean and standard deviation) were determined at fourteen hydrological stations. In general, the results have shown that (1) the Fomi/Moussako dam will noticeably reduce the downstream high flows, and reduce the average flow; (2) if the Fomi/Moussako dam was to be built, the alternatives with the least storage volume (Moussako 388.5') will have the least impacts on the downstream flows. To assist in related decision making for various users, a Decision Support System (DSS) was also developed. The goal of the DSS is to help users analyze the effects of dams and irrigation on the flow regime by performing a comparative analysis (presence and absence of dams and irrigation in the river). A number of potential adaptation measures were also proposed.

While a lot of ink has been spilled and numerous papers devoted to the variegated causes of the Niger Delta conflict, what has been conspicuously moot in the literature is their integration into a sufficient explanatory system to facilitate the intelligibility of empirical data and support effective policy intervention. Also, while writers have investigated the internal dimensions of the conflict, little systematic attention has been paid to its international dimensions. The study proposes to fill these gaps in existing literature through a two-level analysis of the Niger Delta Conflict: (1) internal (2) international. The internal level is anchored on a four-dimensional explanation which argues that political and economic factors are the root causes of the Niger Delta conflict, with environmental and social-security factors as the proximate causes. At the international level, the study probes the role of the international community in the moderation of the Niger Delta conflict and concludes with an appraisal of the extent to which the internationalisation of the conflict engendered both attitudinal and policy shifts on the parts of key players. Problematising the usefulness of majoritarian democracy for resource starved plural societies, the study canvasses, inter alia, the implementation of consociational mechanisms in the Nigerian political process as a more effective way of mitigating the seething cauldron of conflicts in the Niger Delta, and promoting inter-ethnic equity and amity in Nigeria as a whole. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Sociology))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) has been used in various engineering and technological fields to assist regulatory agencies, and decision-makers to assess and reduce the risks inherent in complex systems. PRA allows decision-makers to make risk-informed choices rather than simply relying on traditional deterministic flood analyses (e.g., a Probable Maximum Flood) and therefore supports good engineering design practice. Type and quantity of available data is often a key factor in PRA at an early stage for determining the best methodology. However, implementation of PRA becomes difficult and challenging since probability distributions need to be derived to describe the variable states. Flood protection is one of the rare fields in civil engineering where probability is extensively used to describe uncertainty and where the concept of failure risk is explicitly part of the design. The concept of return period is taught in all civil engineering classes throughout the world, and most cities in the developed world have developed flood risk maps where the limits of the 50-year or 100-year flood are shown. While this approach is useful, it has several limitations: • It is based on a single flow value while all flow ranges contribute to the risk; • It is not linked to the actual economic damage of floods; • So far, flood risk maps only account for river water levels. It has been demonstrated that intense rainfall causes significant property damages in West Africa. This study aimed to explore the possibility of developing and implementing a probabilistic flood risk estimation framework where all flow ranges are accounted for: 1) The probability of flood occurrence and the probabilistic distribution of hydraulic parameters, and 2) The probability of damages are spatially calculated in order for the decision-makers to take optimal adaptation decisions (e.g., flood protection dike design, recommendations for new buildings, etc.). In this study the challenges of inferring the probability distribution of different physical flood parameters in a context of sparse data, of linking their parameters to flood damages, and finally the translation of the estimation risk into decision were explored. The effect of the choice of the one-dimensional (1-D) or two-dimensional (2-D) hydraulic models on the estimated flood risk and ultimately on the adaptation decisions was investigated. A first case study on the city of Niamey (Niger, West Africa), was performed using readily available data and 1-D and 2-D HEC-RAS (Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System) models. Adaptation options to flood risk in Niamey area were examined by looking at two main variables: a) Buildings’ material (CAS: Informal constructions – a mixture of sundried clay and straw, also known as Banco, BAN: Mud walls, DUR: Concrete walls, and SDU: Mud walls covered by mortar); and b) Dike height within a scenario-based framework, where numerical modelling was undertaken to quantify the inundated area. The 1-D and 2-D hydraulic models, HEC-RAS, were tested on a 160 km reach of the Niger River. Using the numerical modelling, water levels within the inundated areas have been identified. The extent of residential areas as well as exposed assets (polygons and building material) associated with each scenario have been evaluated. 1000 probabilistic flood maps were generated and considered in the estimation of the total loss. Benefits and costs of different adaptation options were then compared for residential land-use class in order to implement flood risk maps in the city of Niamey. Results show the individual as well as the combined impact of the two abovementioned variables in flood risk estimation in Niamey region. Dike heights ranged from 180.5 m to 184 m, at a 0.5 m interval, and buildings’ material were considered to be of 0% to 100% of each type, respectively. The results enable decision-makers as well as the regulators to have a quantitative tool for choosing the best preventive measures to alleviate the adverse impacts arising from flood. Also, because of the lack of detailed information on the exposed infrastructure elements in the study area, a feasible yet fast and precise method of extracting buildings from high-resolution aerial images was investigated using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) method – Deep Learning (DL). The applied deep learning method showed promising results with high accuracy rate for the area of interest in this study and was able to successfully identify two introduced classes of Building and Background (non-building). The findings contend that although the proposed structural adaptation options, as a resisting to environment approach, are applied to the area of interest and considered to be technically feasible, other non-structural measures, which have long-term effect of risk mitigation, should be taken into consideration, especially for highly hazard-prone areas. The results of this study would significantly help in loss estimation to the buildings due to the yearly floods in the region of interest, Niamey, Niger. However, since the buildings are of various type of material, having an accurate building database has a great importance in assessing the expected level of damage in the inundated areas, especially to the critical buildings (hospitals, schools, research labs, etc.) in the area.

No description available.

Nigeria’s petroleum industry is the lynchpin of its economy. While oil has been the source of immense wealth for the nation, that wealth has come at a cost. Nigeria’s main oilproducing region of the Niger River Delta has experienced tremendous environmental degradation as a result of decades of oil exploration and production. Although there have been numerous historical works on Nigeria’s oil industry, there have been no in-depth analyses of the historical roots of environmental degradation over the full range of time from the colonial period to the present. This thesis contends that the environmental degradation of Nigeria’s oil producing region of the Niger Delta is the direct result of the persistent non-implementation of regulatory policies by post-independence Nigerian governments working in collusion with oil multinationals. Additionally, the environmental neglect of Nigeria’s primary oil-producing region is directly traceable back to the time of colonial rule. Vital to this argument is the view that the British colonial state created the economic institutions which promoted Nigerian economic dependency after independence was achieved in 1960. The weakness of Nigeria’s post-colonial dependent system is exposed presently through the continued neglect of regulatory policies by successive post-colonial Nigerian governments.

No description available.

No description available.