Magister Legum - LLM / Land allocation and administration is a crucial role for traditional leaders, because it has remained one of the few de facto powers and sources of influence still available to them in their areas of jurisdictions.1 This role has been played by traditional leaders from time immemorial. Furthermore, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa recognises the existence of traditional leaders.2 Moreover, the Constitution seeks to integrate the institution of traditional leadership by expecting national legislation to be put in place so that the roles of traditional leaders are known in society.3 However, roles with regard to the allocation and administration of land by traditional leaders have not been promulgated in legislation. Therefore, this research will look at the issues of land allocation and administration by traditional leadership in the democratic dispensation.

Cette thèse porte sur la pratique des échanges et du commerce dans la société précoloniale du Gabon. L’enjeu est d’étudier cette pratique en privilégiant un angle d’approche général au départ, et en mettant en œuvre une démarche analytique progressive, afin de saisir les acteurs, les modes de production mais également les produits faisant l’objet de ces échanges. L’objet « La pratique des échanges commerciaux dans la société précoloniale du Gabon : XVIe-XIXe siècle » se situe à la croisée des relations internationales, de l’analyse des contacts avec les peuples de « l’extérieur », de processus d’européanisation et peut donc faire l’objet d’approche différentes selon les variables qu’on entend privilégier. Nous avons choisi de l’étudier selon une démarche non seulement historique mais anthropologique et sociologique qui nous conduisent à privilégier certains concepts clés : historique des peuples, étude de leur milieu et mode de vie, configurations de relations entre acteurs structurant un nouvel espace social d’interactions. D’un point de vue méthodologique, cette étude s’appuie sur une démarche qualitative et privilégie l’usage des entretiens : le corpus de compose d’une cinquantaine d’entretiens, complétés par l’audio-visuel, la littérature spécialisée et grise sur le sujet. Elle se compose de deux parties, découpées en six (6) chapitres totaux. Dans une première partie, la thèse se concentre sur l’historique des peuples du Gabon précolonial en prenant en compte les facteurs, les circuits et les dénouements des migrations, en l’occurrence les implantations de ces groupes ethniques dans leur habitat actuel. Elle s’étend ensuite sur l’étude de l’organisation sociale politique et culturelle des peuples à travers l’analyse des structures parentale, matrimoniale, juridique et culturelle. Enfin, cette partie précise le contexte et le jeu des différents acteurs à l’origine du développement de ces échanges : la production agricole et artisanale favorisée d’une part par la division sociale du travail et la spécialisation des groupes et d’autre part par les failles écologiques (l’inégal répartition de ressources, aridité des sols, animaux dévastateurs des cultures). Dans un second temps, la thèse fait porter l’analyse sur le déroulement des activités d’échange d’une part et de commerce d’autre part. Elle met en relief les différents circuits empruntés par les acteurs et les produits ainsi que les zones d’aboutissement. D’abord, elle fait une description des échanges en milieu local mettent en scène les membres des mêmes milieux ou des milieux proches les uns des autres. Cette interdépendance observée au sein des groupes avait comme base les liens de familiarité ou d’amitié entre ces différents groupes d’acteurs concernés. Ensuite, est évoqué le système d’échange hors des territoires, quoi que le concept territoire ne soit qu’employé de façon péjorative. Cette catégorie d’échange fait naître des contacts entre les populations avec celles des localités environnantes du nord au sud, de l’est à l’ouest. Enfin, le poids de l’abolition de la traite des noirs joue à un niveau macro comme obstacle des activités économiques des européens, ce qui soulève dès lors des enjeux capitalistes pour ces derniers. La naissance de cette économie de traitre, mais également son déroulement et son ascendance sur l’économie traditionnelle préexistante font l’objet de notre troisième et dernier chapitre de cette seconde partie. Entre héritage et ajustements de nature, ces politiques économiques vont mettre en place de types de monnaies, de produits et d’habitudes. Là encore, le poids des cultures et des habitudes étrangères à ces peuples, limitaient la pratique des échanges traditionnels, développant les effets d’apprentissage aux métiers pourvoyeur du gain. / This thesis deals with the practice of the exchanges and some trade in the pré-colonial society of the Gabon. The stake is to study this practice by favoring an angle of general approach at first, and by operating a progressive analytical approach, to seize the actors, the modes of production but also the products being the object of these exchanges. The object " the practice of the trades in the pré-colonial society of the Gabon: XVIe-XIXe century " is situated between the international relations, between the analysis of the contacts with the peoples of " the outside ", process of Europeanization and can thus be the object of different approaches according to the variables which we intend to favor. We chose to study it according to an approach not only historic but anthropological and sociological which leads us to favor certain key concepts: history of the peoples, the study of their middle and lifestyle, configurations of relations between actors structuring a new social space of interactions. From a methodological point of view, this study leans on a qualitative approach and favors the use of the conversations: the corpus of composes of about fifty conversations, completed by the broadcasting, the specialized and grey literature on the subject. It consists of two parts, cut in six (6) total chapters.In a first part, the thesis concentrates on the history of the peoples of the pre-colonial Gabon by taking into account factor, circuits and outcomes of the migrations, in this particular case the setting-up of these ethnic groups in their current housing environment. It extends then over the study of the political and cultural social organization of the peoples through the analysis of the parental, marital, legal and religious structures. Finally, this part specifies the context and the game of the various actors at the origin of the development of these exchanges: the agricultural and craft production favored on one hand by the social division of the work and the specialization of groups and on the other hand by the ecological weaknesses uneven distribution of resources, aridity of grounds, devastating animals.Secondly, the thesis makes concern the analysis the progress of the activities of exchange on one hand and trade on the other hand. It accentuates the various circuits borrowed by the actors and the products as well as the zones of outcome. At first, It makes a description of the exchanges in local environment stage the members of the same circles or the close circles from each other. This interdependence observed within the groups had for basis the links of familiarity or friendship between these various groups of concerned actors. Then, is evoked the system of exchange outside territories, whatever the concept territory is only used in a pejorative way. This category of exchange creates contacts between the populations with those of the surrounding localities from north to south, from east to west. Finally, the weight of the abolition of the slave trade plays a level macro as obstacle of the economic activities of the European, what lifts from then on capitalist stakes for the latter. The birth of this economy of traitor, but also its progress and its ancestry on the pre-existent traditional economy are the object of our third and last chapter of this second part. Between inheritance and natural adjustments, these economic policies are going to set up of types of currencies, products and habits. Even there, the weight of the cultures and the habits foreign to these peoples, limited the practice of the traditional exchanges, developing the effects of apprenticeship in the jobs supplier of the earnings.

This study is entitled ‘investigating the challenges in enforcing international human rights law in Africa: Towards an effective regional system’. It centres around a critical research problem namely: what challenges beset regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa and how can they be addressed to ensure the effective promotion and protection of human rights in the continent? It critically reviews and revisits the discourses and scholarly arguments on the crucial issue of regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa. It traverses through historical epochs in order to explain the origins, scope and evolution of human rights law in Africa. This is done in the quest for answers to questions such as: When and how did Africa’s regional human rights system originate? What factors led to its emergence? Was the concept of human rights recognised in Africa prior to European colonial rule? What is the present status of international human rights in Africa? It therefore lays the foundations for a better understanding of the historical and philosophical origins and evolution of Africa’s regional human rights system. The study then proceeds to review the normative and institutional mechanisms established in Africa to enforce human rights at the regional level. Particularly, it highlights the roles of the African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the light of their contribution to, and challenges in, the enforcement of human rights in the region. The study concludes with recommendations on the possible ways to invigorate the African human rights system. One of the key findings is that, with appropriate reforms, the system can be more effective. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.D. (Public, Constitutional and International Law)

By focusing on the “nature” of mapping, this thesis falls under the category of critical cartography closely associated with the work of Brian Harley in the 1980s and early 1990s. As such the purpose of this research is to highlight the historical context of British maps, map-making and map-reading in relation to West Africa between 1749 and 1841. I argue that maps lie near the heart of Britain’s interactions with West Africa though their appearance, construction and use evolved dramatically during this period. By beginning this study with a prominent French example (Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville’s 1749 “Afrique”) I show how British map-makers adapted cartography from France for their own purposes before circumstances encouraged the development of new materials. Because of the limited opportunities to make enquiries in the region and the relatively few people involved in affecting change to the map’s content, this thesis highlights the episodes and manufactured narratives which feature in the chronology of evolving cartographies. This study concludes with the failure of the 1841 Niger Expedition, when Britain’s humanitarian agenda saw the attempted establishment of a model farm on banks of the Niger River and the negotiation of anti-slave trade treaties with nearby Africans. The cartography and geographical knowledge which supported this scheme is in stark contrast with what existed in the mid-eighteenth century. More than simply illustrating geographical and ethnographical information though, these maps helped inform Britons about themselves and I argue that much of what occurs here features prominently in national discourses about identity, civilization and the justification of British efforts to improve Africa.

This study is entitled ‘investigating the challenges in enforcing international human rights law in Africa: Towards an effective regional system’. It centres around a critical research problem namely: what challenges beset regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa and how can they be addressed to ensure the effective promotion and protection of human rights in the continent? It critically reviews and revisits the discourses and scholarly arguments on the crucial issue of regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa. It traverses through historical epochs in order to explain the origins, scope and evolution of human rights law in Africa. This is done in the quest for answers to questions such as: When and how did Africa’s regional human rights system originate? What factors led to its emergence? Was the concept of human rights recognised in Africa prior to European colonial rule? What is the present status of international human rights in Africa? It therefore lays the foundations for a better understanding of the historical and philosophical origins and evolution of Africa’s regional human rights system. The study then proceeds to review the normative and institutional mechanisms established in Africa to enforce human rights at the regional level. Particularly, it highlights the roles of the African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the light of their contribution to, and challenges in, the enforcement of human rights in the region. The study concludes with recommendations on the possible ways to invigorate the African human rights system. One of the key findings is that, with appropriate reforms, the system can be more effective. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL.D. (Public, Constitutional and International Law)

LLM / Department of Public Law

This dissertation is mainly on Wole Soyinka as a dramatist. It aims to show that Soyinka, far from being an irrelevant artist as some of his fiercest critics have alleged, is a deeply committed writer whose works are characterised by a strong sense of concern with basic human values of right and wrong, good and evil. Furthermore, the dissertation shows that although Soyinka is not an admirer of Marxist aesthetics, he is certainly not in the art-for-art's-sake camp either, I because he is fully aware of the utilitarian value of literature. Soyinka's works are much influenced by his social and historical background, and the dissertation shows that Soyinka's socio-political awareness pervades all these works, although it will be seen that in the later plays there is a sharpened political awareness. Although largely concerned with his own country's issues, Soyinka also emerges as a keen observer of humanity universally / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This study investigates two central research problems. These are: What are the healing practices of Aeta women? What are the implications of the healing practices of Aeta women in the academic discourse? This inquiry is important for the following reasons: (a) it focuses a reconsidered gaze and empirical lens on the healing practices of Aeta women healers as well as the lessons, insights and perspectives which may have been previously missed; (b) my research attempts not to be 'neutral' but instead be an exercise in participatory action research and as such hopefully brings a new space of decolonization by documenting Aeta women healers’ contributions in the political and academic arena; and (c) it is an original contribution to postcolonial, anti-colonial and Indigenous feminist theories particularly through its demonstration the utility of these theories in understanding the health of Indigenous peoples and global health. There are 12 Aeta women healers who participated in the Talking Circle. This study is significant in grounding both the theory and the methodology while comparatively evaluating claims calibrated against the benchmark of the actual narratives of Aeta women healers. These evaluations subsequently categorized my findings into three themes: namely, identity, agency and representation. This work is also important in illustrating the Indigenous communities’ commonalities on resistance, accommodation, evolution and devolution of social institutions and leadership through empirical example. The work also sheds light on how the members of our Circle and their communities’ experiences with outsider intrusion and imposed changes intentionally structured to dominate them as Indigenous people altered our participants and their communities. Though the reactions of the Aeta were and are unique in this adaptive process they join a growing comparative scholarly discussion on how contexts for colonization were the same or different. This thesis therefore joins a growing comparative educational literature on the contextual variations among global experiences with colonization. This is important since Indigenous Peoples' experiences are almost always portrayed as unique or “exotic”. I can now understand through comparison that many of the processes from military to pedagogical impositions bore striking similarities across various colonial, geographical and cultural locations.

This study investigates two central research problems. These are: What are the healing practices of Aeta women? What are the implications of the healing practices of Aeta women in the academic discourse? This inquiry is important for the following reasons: (a) it focuses a reconsidered gaze and empirical lens on the healing practices of Aeta women healers as well as the lessons, insights and perspectives which may have been previously missed; (b) my research attempts not to be 'neutral' but instead be an exercise in participatory action research and as such hopefully brings a new space of decolonization by documenting Aeta women healers’ contributions in the political and academic arena; and (c) it is an original contribution to postcolonial, anti-colonial and Indigenous feminist theories particularly through its demonstration the utility of these theories in understanding the health of Indigenous peoples and global health. There are 12 Aeta women healers who participated in the Talking Circle. This study is significant in grounding both the theory and the methodology while comparatively evaluating claims calibrated against the benchmark of the actual narratives of Aeta women healers. These evaluations subsequently categorized my findings into three themes: namely, identity, agency and representation. This work is also important in illustrating the Indigenous communities’ commonalities on resistance, accommodation, evolution and devolution of social institutions and leadership through empirical example. The work also sheds light on how the members of our Circle and their communities’ experiences with outsider intrusion and imposed changes intentionally structured to dominate them as Indigenous people altered our participants and their communities. Though the reactions of the Aeta were and are unique in this adaptive process they join a growing comparative scholarly discussion on how contexts for colonization were the same or different. This thesis therefore joins a growing comparative educational literature on the contextual variations among global experiences with colonization. This is important since Indigenous Peoples' experiences are almost always portrayed as unique or “exotic”. I can now understand through comparison that many of the processes from military to pedagogical impositions bore striking similarities across various colonial, geographical and cultural locations.

This dissertation is mainly on Wole Soyinka as a dramatist. It aims to show that Soyinka, far from being an irrelevant artist as some of his fiercest critics have alleged, is a deeply committed writer whose works are characterised by a strong sense of concern with basic human values of right and wrong, good and evil. Furthermore, the dissertation shows that although Soyinka is not an admirer of Marxist aesthetics, he is certainly not in the art-for-art's-sake camp either, I because he is fully aware of the utilitarian value of literature. Soyinka's works are much influenced by his social and historical background, and the dissertation shows that Soyinka's socio-political awareness pervades all these works, although it will be seen that in the later plays there is a sharpened political awareness. Although largely concerned with his own country's issues, Soyinka also emerges as a keen observer of humanity universally / English Studies / M.A. (English)