Thesis (D.C.L.). / Written for the Institute of Comparative Law. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/08/04). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Nigeria has earned huge revenues from the exploitation of oil resources in the Niger Delta since the discovery of oil in 1956. These huge economic gains have however, not been translated into sustainable growth and development. The Niger Delta is characterized by poverty and squalor which has been attributed to environmental degradation from the activities of oil exploitation by the Nigerian government and multi-national companies in the area and also poor governance. This study adopts an exploratory case study method to explores the interrelationship between Oil Exploitation, Environmental Impacts and Conflicts in the Niger Delta and tries to answer the question what is the nature of and inter-relationships between conflicts associated with oil exploitation in the Niger Delta Area? The Niger Delta area has experienced a lot of oil related conflicts over the decades, which have manifested in the form of peaceful protests, violence, combat with Nigerian military forces, rise of youth militia groups, illegal oil markets, vandalism of oil pipelines, hijacking of offshore and onshore oil vessels, hostage taking, kidnapping of expatriates and oil company workers in the region. Conflicts have also taken the form of inter-communal conflicts, intra-communal conflicts, inter-state conflicts and conflicts between the Nigerian Government Oil Companies and the affected communities. The root causes of conflicts include; the high dependence of the Niger government on oil revenue for economic growth, marginalisation and underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region, struggle for resource control and derivation formula, existing systems of neo-patrimonialism, corruption, land decrees and poor governance. The major findings include; the presence of crude oil in the Niger Delta is strongly linked to conflicts experienced in the area, rent seeking practices such as oil theft and bunkering, political thuggery, corruption and the struggle for economic and political power by political elites characterise the Niger Delta region. / XL2018

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The giant Pascua Au-Ag-Cu high-sulphidation system is located in the El Indio belt in north-central Chile, and is hosted mainly by Triassic granitic rocks and locally by Miocene breccia bodies. Hydrothermal activity involved two distinct high-sulphidation alteration stages, the later of which was accompanied by main stage mineralization. The early hydrothermal activity consisted of extensive and pervasive advanced argillic alteration, local development of vuggy silica and distal argillic to propylitic alteration. This alteration was locally overprinted by an intermediate stage comprising argillic alteration, silicification and primary jarosite, more or less contemporaneously with the formation of Brecha Central, the main breccia body in the deposit. The superimposed second major hydrothermal event produced significant advanced argillic and vuggy silica alteration. The latter likely formed at pH near 0 owing to the limited buffering capacity of previously altered rocks. Termination of the second stage of alteration coincided with the main Au-Ag-Cu mineralizing event, in which Au dissolved in pyrite and enargite, formed inclusions in these minerals, and precipitated as isolated grains of native gold. Detailed EPMA and SIMS imaging and analyses of pyrite and enargite show that both contain Au, Ag, As, Cu, Se and Te and that their distribution is crystallographically controlled. The main trace element associations in the mineralized pyrite are As-Ag, Au-Cu and Se-Te. I suggest that the first two, As-Ag and Au-Cu, were the result of coupled substitution in the Fe site, whereas Te and Se replace S by direct anion exchange. The nature of the coupled substitutions observed in the gold-bearing pyrite underlines the fact that gold is not necessarily coupled with arsenic as previously thought and that arsenic can behave as a metal in the structure of pyrite. Approximately 55% of the gold in the deposit was scavenged from mineralizing fluids that were mainly under-saturated with respect to native gold and trapped into the structure of pyrite and enargite (50 and 5%, respectively). The remaining 45%, including - 7% as inclusions in sulphides, precipitated mainly in the form of native gold with lesser calaverite for which the gold depositional mechanism is interpreted to be an increase in pH that destabilized AuHS and AuCb". Substantial late-stage Ag-enrichment, characterized by halogen-bearing phases, is evident in the upper parts of the deposit and overprints previous alteration and mineralization. The silver enrichment event is interpreted to represent the waning stage of the hydrothermal system. Secondary leaching and weathering of pyrite, enargite and alunite created two supergene products, one dominated by secondary soluble sulphates such as voltaite, massive coquimbite, chalcanthite, and romerite, and one by jarosite. Abundant sulphides in vuggy silica altered rocks, which lacked the capacity to neutralize later oxidizing fluids, were the main locus of formation of the soluble sulphates. Elsewhere, the pH likely rose above 1, which inhibited precipitation of soluble sulphates and favoured formation of jarosite. Direct-ion SIMS images and trace element analyses of soluble sulphates indicate that these minerals likely contain gold in their structures.

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This thesis examines the social character of petroleum-related grassroots struggles in Nigeria’s oil-producing region. It does this against the background of the dominant scholarly narratives that portray the struggles as: a) a disguised pursuit of an ethnic/sectional agenda, b) a 'minority rights' project, and c) a minority province’s protest against 'selective' environmental 'victimisation' by the majority ethnic nationalities. While the dominant scholarly analyses of the struggles are based on the activities of the better known activist organisations operating in the oil region, this thesis focuses primarily on the everyday 'grammar' of discontent and lived worlds of ordinary people vis-à-vis upstream petroleum operations and petroleum resource utilisation. The aim has been to gain an understanding of the forces driving community struggles in the oil region and their wider societal significance. Examined alongside the narratives of ordinary people are the legal/institutional framework for upstream petroleum operations and the operational practices of the oil-producing companies. Using primary data obtained through ethnography, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and visual sociology, as well as relevant secondary data, the researcher constructs a discourse matrix, showing how grassroots narratives in selected oilproducing communities intersect with contemporary civic discourses in the wider Nigerian context. The thesis highlights the theoretical and policy difficulties that arise when the social basis of petroleum-related grassroots struggles and ordinary people’s narratives are explained using an essentialist idiom. It reveals, above all, the conditions under which so-called 'locale-specific' struggles in a multi-ethnic, oil-rich African country can become a campaign for the emancipation of ordinary people in the wider society. This research extends the existing knowledge on citizen mobilisation, extractive capitalism, transnational corporate behaviour, and Nigeria’s contemporary development predicament. It sheds light on some of the processes through which ordinary people are forcing upon the state a change agenda that could drive the country along a more socially sensitive development and democratisation trajectory.

This study is an examination and comparison of the manner in which Nigeria, Iran and Libya used oil revenue for their economic development. The research methodology was the case study approach, utilizing statistical time series data, as well as a historical profile of each country's income and expenditure accounts. As a prelude to the oil injection, the pre-oil revenue economy, the history of the oil industry, and the previously implemented development plans of each of these nations is surveyed. The impact of the oil revenues on the standard of living and the non-oil sectors of these economies is examined. The paper concludes with projections concerning each country's ability to continue to promote economic development when its exhaustible oil reserves runs out.

In July 1979, Nigeria's federal military government declared a 100% takeover of select operations belonging to the London-based oil company, British Petroleum (BP). The takeover of BP marked the takeover of Nigeria's most lucrative industry that had been controlled by foreign investors. Within the secondary literature a more elaborate version of this event is offered by scholars, declaring it nationalization with little agreement over why this "Giant of West Africa" nationalization BP. Some mention South Africa, others Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe); some mention oil, while others solely discuss UK diplomacy. Why the discrepancy over the reason for nationalization? This project sets out to explain not only why Nigeria nationalized BP in 1979, but also how the nationalization fits into the broad theoretical discussions on nationalism, economic policy, foreign relations, and nationalization. It challenges the popular narrative of why Nigeria nationalized BP and substantially revises it. The argument is put forward that the nationalization of BP hinged almost entirely on the notion of economic nationalism and that the nationalization fit into an established trend of takeovers aimed at foreign companies. The federal military government simply used southern Africa --discussed as the sole reason for nationalization within the secondary Literature-- as a way to bolster international support. This project also project uses the nationalization as a looking-glass into Nigeria and its oil industry during the 1970s. Also, this project addresses the impact the nationalization had on Nigerian society. With regard to nationalism, Nigeria represents an excellent case for understanding the existence and application of economic nationalism, which functions not only as a subject of study much like ethnic nationalism or civic nationalism, but also as a new perspective on the relationship between the various expressions of nationalism and economic policy.