Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study seeks to understand the ways that environmental concerns and the phenomenon of oil production in the Niger Delta are captured in contemporary literary representations. In the thesis, I enlist several works, five poetry collections and a Nollywood video film, produced between 1998 and 2010, to investigate and analyse the different ways they engage with the effects of oil extraction as a form of violence that is not immediately apparent. Amitav Ghosh argues that representing something of such magnitude as oil modernity can only be done adequately through narratives of epic quality such as realist fiction or the historical novel. I move away from Ghosh’s assumptions to argue that the texts, poetry and video film have adequately captured the oil encounter, but not on a grand scale or through realist fiction. I situate Niger Delta representations of the oil encounter within the intellectual frame of petrocultures, a recent field of global study which explores the representational and critical domain within which oil is framed and imagined in culture. In their signification of what I call the “oil ontology”, that is, the very nature and existence of oil in the Delta, lived-experience in its actual quotidian specificity, takes precedence in the imagination of the writers that I study. I propose that the texts, in very different ways, articulate these experiences by concatenating social and environmental concerns with representations of the oil encounter to produce a petro-literary form which inflects and critiques the ways in which oil extraction, in all its social and environmental manifestations, inscribes a form of violence upon the landscape and human population in the oil sites of the Delta. I suggest that the texts articulate a place-based, place-specific form of petroculture. They emphasis the notion that the oil encounter in the Delta is not the official encounter at the point of extraction but rather the unofficial encounter with the side-effects of the oil extraction. The texts, in very different ways address similar concerns of violence as an intricate feature in the Delta, both as a physical, spectacular phenomenon and as a subtle, unseen category. They conceive of violence as a consequence of the various forms of intrusion and disruption that the logic of oil extraction instigates in the Niger Delta. I suggest that the form of eco-poetics that is articulated gives expression to environmental concerns which are marked off by an oily topos in the Delta. I maintain that in projecting an artistic vision that is sensitive to environmental and sociocultural questions, the writings that we encounter from this region also make critical commentary on the ontology of oil. The texts conceive the Niger Delta as one that provides the spatial and material template for envisioning the oil encounter and staging a critique of the essentially globalised space that is the site of oil production. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die maniere waarop omgewingsbelange en die instellings van olieproduksie in die Delta van die Niger-rivier vasgevang word in kontemporêre letterkundige voorstellings. In my tesis gebruik ek verskeie werke – vyf versamelings van gedigte en ‘n Nollywood [Nigeriese] video, almal geskep tussen 1998 en 2010 – om die verskillende wyses waarop hierdie tekste omgaan met die gevolge van olie-ontginning, as ‘n vorm van geweld wat nie onmiddellik opvallend is nie, na te vors en te analiseer. Amitav Ghosh argumenteer dat, om ‘n fenomeen van sulke geweldige omvang soos olie-moderniteit uit te beeld, slegs na behore uitgevoer kan word in narratiewe van epiese dimensies; byvoorbeeld realistiese fiksie of die historiese roman. Ek beweeg weg van Ghosh se aannames deur te argumenteer dat die tekste (gedigte en ‘n video-film) wel die olie-ervaring behoorlik vasvang, maar nie op groot skaal soos in realistiese fiksie nie. Ek plaas die Niger-Delta uitbeeldings van die olie-ervaring binne die groter raamwerk van Petro-kulture: ‘n nuwe studiegebied wat die voorstellings- en kritiese domein waarbinne olie gekonseptualiseer en kultureel verbeel(d) word, ondersoek. In hul voorstellings van die olie-ontologie van die Delta neem die ervaringswêreld in sy daaglikse werklikhede (in die gekose skrywers se uitbeelding daarvan) ‘n sentrale plek in. Ek konstateer dat die tekste, hoewel op heel uiteenlopende maniere, hierdie ervarings artikuleer deur sosiale en omgewings-oorwegings byeen te bring met uitbeeldings van die olie-ervaring ten einde ‘n petro-literêre vorm te skep wat die maniere waarop olie-ontginning, in al die sosiale en omgewings-effekte daarvan, ‘n vorm van geweld op die landskap en die menslike bevolking van die olie-ontginningsgebiede van die Delta inskryf, inflekteer en krities analiseer. Ek stel dit dat die tekste ‘n plek-gebaseerde en gebieds-spesifieke vorm van Petrokultuur artikuleer. Hulle benadruk die feit dat die olie-ervaring in die Delta nie die offisiële ontmoeting by die ontginningspunt is nie, maar eerder die onoffisiële ondervinding van die newe-effekte van die olie-ontginningsproses. Op hul verskillende wyses spreek die tekste ‘n ooreenstemmende besorgdheid uit aangaande die ingewikkelde rol wat geweld in die Delta speel – beide as ‘n fisiese, ooglopende fenomeen en as ‘n subtiele, ongesiene kategorie. Die tekste konseptualiseer geweld as seinde die gevolg van die verskeie vorme van ingryping en versteuring wat deur die logika van die olie-ontginningsproses in die Niger-Delta meegebring word. Ek suggereer dat die vorm van eko-poëtika wat hier geartikuleer word, uitdrukking gee aan omgewings-oorwegings wat in die Delta deur ‘n olie(rige) topos omgrens word. Ek maak die stelling dat, deur middle van ‘n artistieke visie wat gevoelig is vir omgewings-en sosiale vrae, die tekste wat in hierdie gebied ontstaan, kritiese kommentaar bied op die ontologie van olie. Die tekste verbeel die Niger-Delta as ‘n gebied wat die ruimtelike en materiële templaat voorsien om die olie-ervaring te visualiseer en te konseptualiseer, om sodoende ‘n kritiek te skep van die geglobaliseerde ruimte van olie-produksie.

This thesis explored the academic staff working conditions, organizational commitment and performance of Nigerian universities. There is a general thinking that there has been a decline on the motivation of the average academic staff in Nigerian university system leading to brain drain situation and a decline in quality of performance of the universities. Incidentally, there is limited empirical evidence comprehensive enough to serve as a framework of what the academics need at work to make them more inclined to remain in their universities, including university performance. This thesis explored the topic in a comprehensive way with academics from six Nigerian universities. It answers the question what and how did the perceived obstacles to academic staff organizational commitment and university performance in Nigeria evolve, and what can be done to improve it? The research design was cross-sectional. Qualitative and quantitative information were gathered to uncover the historical origin of the problems; satisfaction with current working conditions, issues of personal growth, organizational commitment, and university performance. A sample of 248 academics participated in the study. Historically, both structural and managerial issues, internal and external factors, were implicated in the evolution of the problems in the university system. Satisfaction with teaching resources and facilities was poorest. Factors important for personal growth were the same as those that would make the academics more inclined to stay, though, concern with basic salary and welfare were more prominent in decision to stay. Reference to comparable situations with colleagues elsewhere was basis for need to improve on some work factors like salary. The thesis concludes that, deficiency-growth factors, intrinsic-extrinsic factors, and equity issues are important in dealing with the organizational commitment and performance problems in the Nigerian universities studied. Sugestions and limitations of the study are provided.

This study examined the relationship between love attitude and marital adjustment across five stages of the marital life-cycle in Nigerian society. The subjects for this study were 202 volunteers from six protestant churches representing six cities in the southern part of Nigeria. An average of 20 couples were representatives of each of the five marital life-cycles. Each of the subjects completed the Love Attitude Inventory (LAI), and the Marital Adjustment Test (short form) (MAT). Wilk's multivariate analysis revealed no significant differences between husbands' and wives' love attitude and marital adjustment across the five stages of the marital life cycle. Multivariate analysis split-plot 5.2 with repeated measures revealed no significant difference for the total sample among the groups, but indicated a significant difference between love attitude and marital adjustment for the total sample using sex as a factor. A univariate test of the MAT and LAI indicated that the MAT accounted for the difference. A canonical correlation indicated a significant positive relationship between husbands1 and wives' marital adjustment and love attitude within each of the five groups. The findings suggest that husbands and wives included in this study have a good understanding of their roles in the marriage relationship and that the partners have general agreement regarding those roles. The marriage partners apparently have strong influences on each other's perceptions of love attitude and marital adjustment.

The problem investigated by this study was that of understanding types of behaviors exhibited by participants in negotiations processes and impact of behaviors on collective bargaining in Nigeria. The study's three purposes were to describe the nature and extent of interpersonal conflict that occurs in collective bargaining, to determine the consequences that stem from such conflict, and to suggest the behaviors and performances during the face-to-face negotiations that should exist to enhance labor-management relations in Nigerian public education. This study examined behavior in negotiations by using simulation, i.e., a quasiexperimental method. Four outcomes of negotiations--time required to reach agreement, terms of agreements, verbal behavior exhibited during negotiations, and satisfaction derived by negotiators in negotiations—were examined.

This study surveys the issue of military coups in Nigerian politics. An attempt is made to explain the causes of coups d'etat. To this end, Thompson's thesis of military grievances has been rigorously employed to explain the occurrences of military coups in Nigeria. The Thompson thesis asserts that coups occur because the military is aggrieved. A study of the opinions of expert observers familiar with Nigerian politics confirmed that four out of the six military coups occurred due to problems emanating from the Nigerian military establishment. Although military grievances such as its political positions, resource bases, ethnicity, and factions within the military caused most coups, there is sufficient evidence that societal factors like economic crises, election decisions, and the need for reforms also encouraged the military to overthrow governments in Nigeria.

The problem of this thesis is to examine the military-press relationship in Nigeria from 1966 to 1979 and to determine whether activities of the military government contributed to violation of press freedom by prior restraint, postpublication censorship and penalization. Newspaper and magazine articles related to this study were analyzed. Interviews with some journalists and military personnel were also conducted. Materials collected show that the military violated some aspects of press freedom, but in most cases, however, journalists were free to criticize government activities. The judiciary prevented the military from arbitrarily using its power against the press. The findings show that although the military occasionally attempted suppressing the press, there are few instances that prove that journalists were denied press freedom.

The approach of the study is historical and institutional. The thesis compares the performance of the pre-war Nigerian economy to its post-war performance. The study analyzes the role of petroleum production, agriculture, and the banking system as the major generators of growth in the economy. It portrays the political framework of the country, and endeavors to give a clear and concise understanding of the economic and political implications of the war. Development planning policy issues are examined and evaluated to ascertain the degree to which Nigerian planners are fully aware of the nation's development obstacles.

Changes and developments of the educational instituion of Nigeria are discussed. The analysis is based upon available data. Historical developments, including social movements and nationalism, are related to changing educational needs of an emerging nation. Developments during the past twenty years are discussed in detail. Increased levels of education are related to social mobility, agencies and types of socialization, and the development of Nigerian independence. Demographic changes, particularly decreases in mortality and differential fertility, are described in detail. The demands for technical and vocational training are related to urbanization. Based upon analyses of these historical trends, recommendations are suggested which should better enable Nigeria to cope with the modern world.

This study reviews the evolution of Nigerian broadcasting from 1935 to 1979, with emphasis on the development of Nigerian television broadcasting. The problem was to discern how Nigeria's social and political structures have affected its radio and television system. The study concludes that both the heterogeneity of Nigerian society and the country's continued political unrest pose a threat to either private or government ownership of television stations. Today, approximately 1.5 million television sets serve over 80 million Nigerians, and this imbalance should be corrected before Nigerian television can be considered a mass medium. Nigeria's present administration maintains that its control of the country's television is necessary; critics feel, however, that federal control restrains television from developing its potential, especially in promoting national unity.

This study is about the impact of information and communications technologies (ICT) in developing countries, in light of development expectations in healthcare, education, commerce, government services, and other activities that can improve the lives of citizens. However, the deployment of these ICTs have not always resulted in the anticipated ends i.e. development outcomes. Also, expectations and deployment experiences vary amongst developing countries - indicating a need to understand what is locally relevant, meaningful and achievable within development initiatives. These ideas are explored within this study, with intent to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of ICTs and Development. The study is particularly concerned with the current efforts at deploying a National Identity system in Nigeria, in light of failed attempts over the past 34 years. This is an essential initiative due to the lack of a secure, reliable, or cost effective system of identification within the country (e.g. international passports and drivers’ licenses). The case is explored using Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) to development, which advocates the expansion of people’s freedoms (and opportunities) to engage in valued activities that improve lives. The unique application of the CA for a comprehensive study of the deployment and outcomes of the National Identity system constitutes a theoretical contribution (amongst others) to research - in light of previous applications which only evaluate the latter. Also, the findings reveal deep seated socio-cultural issues (such as corruption and tribalism) as sources of commonly reported technical and managerial problems within IS projects. These offer useful insights and advice for both policy makers and practitioners involved with the ICTs and Development agenda.