For more than thirty years, the HIV pandemic has caused immense harm across sub-Saharan Africa. From the middle of the last decade, however, a treatment revolution has been underway, as effective antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) have become available to millions of ordinary people. This thesis examines the far-reaching consequences of this new reality in Northern Nigeria. It argues that the significance of the ARV era cannot be fully understood simply by monitoring how many patients are receiving treatment, but instead must be explained in terms of the multifaceted changes it has driven in institutions and the lives of HIV positive people. This study uses ethnographic case studies and participatory methods to understand this new historical moment from ‘below’. It provides new empirical perspectives on how the ARV era has profoundly altered the ways in which HIV positive people suffer. The difficulties of daily life when subjected to opportunistic infections, side effects from drugs, and social stigma are compounded by memories of past trauma and fears for an uncertain future. Previous studies have indicated HIV positive people often form new relationships (e.g. Rhine, 2009), but rarely have these post-HIV relationships been described. This study argues that these new relationships, often distant from conventional family supervision, have a unique character, blending traditional forms with ‘modern’ ideas about romance. After a HIV disclosure, incomes and assets (particularly those reliant on family relationships) are often reduced. Along with the cost of treatment (broadly defined to include a range of curative practices), this forces those living with HIV to adapt their livelihood strategies, often using networks of solidarity between positive people. The process of lobbying for improvements in medical care is also explored. Both doctors and NGOs advocate on behalf of HIV positive people, but do so with strikingly different tactics and results. This has important implications for continuing debates about working ‘with the grain’ (Crook and Booth, 2011) for development in patrimonial states. In summary, whilst HIV treatment has saved the lives of millions, inventing drugs and getting them to the people who need them are merely the first steps in alleviating suffering. The thesis traces the most important tasks in securing wellbeing in the ARV era – those pursued by HIV positive people themselves.

This thesis is a micro-history of gender relations in nineteenth-century Yorùbáland (present-day south-west Nigeria) using the town of Abẹ́òkúta as a case study. It investigates the lived experiences of men and women in a time of radical and sweeping political, economic, social and cultural changes characterised by violent and debilitating intra-ethnic wars that lasted almost a century; the advent of Christian missionaries and their corresponding influences; the spread of Islam; and the dawn of British colonialism. It challenges existing frameworks for understanding gender in Africa, which often considers sex categories only, by exploring how the intersections of sex, age and socio-economic status shaped the pre-colonial gendered experience. Since nineteenth-century Yorùbáland was essentially a gerontocratic society, it analyses gender from a lifecycle perspective, illuminating how the lived experiences of males and females transformed from childhood, to youth to adulthood and then old age and eventually death. The study engages with current discourses about the highly contested notion of the presence of gender categories in Yorùbá society. Decades of research have either confirmed or contested the idea that gender categories based on biological sex existed in pre-colonial times. While some feminist authors, such as Oyeronke Oyewumi, have argued that sex-based gendered categories are strictly a western invention in Yorùbáland and most of Africa, others, including Bolanle Awe and Oyeronke Olademo have taken a more middle road. They claim instead that although sexed categories were present in precolonial times, Africans did not view sexual difference in western terms of male superiority and female subordination, neither was sex a significant contributor to a person’s life trajectories. They have argued that Western and African experiences had marked differences and that the relationship between men and women in Yorùbáland were complementary. Using nineteenth- and early twentieth-century written sources and oral traditions and building on the works of certain social historians who contest these constructions of the past, this thesis counters the gender complementarity arguments and contends instead that sex played a more significant role in the nineteenth century than previously realised. It maintains that although age hierarchies played a substantial role in social differentiation, sex was also an important factor in determining a person’s quality of life and future aspirations. Although the study is focused on women, a significant portion of the thesis discusses men in order to contextualise women’s experiences. It argues that since gender relations permeated all aspects of society including non-discursive practices, to study the experience of only one sex would give an incomplete and perhaps distorted view of society.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Introduction: Self-directed learning (SDL) is the essential mechanism of lifelong learning which, in turn, is required for medical professionals to maintain competency due to advancing technology and constantly evolving disease care and contexts. Yet, Nigerian medical schools do not actively strive to develop self-directed learning skills in medical students, neither is it implemented in the College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo (COHUU). - Aim of study : The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of self-directed learning behaviour amongst final year students, and the perceptions of faculty leadership towards SDL in a Nigerian medical school. - Methodology: A mixed method research method was used for the study. A survey design, in which students completed a self-rating scale for self-directed learning as a means of quantitatively assessing their self-directed learning behaviour, was employed. A focus group discussion involving selected faculty leaders provided the qualitative data for this study. - Results: The medical students displayed moderate self-directed learning behaviour, based on the score on the Self-rating Scale for Self-Directed Learning (SRSSDL). Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the faculty leadership perceived SDL as essentially self-motivated learning by students in a task-sharing partnership with and guided by, their teachers. Faculty expressed concerns over a possible misunderstanding of what SDL implies for students. They furthermore considered their students’ SDL behaviour to be low. Faculty was willing to implement a COHUU model for achieving SDL. - Conclusion: This study suggests the baseline SDL behaviour of medical students at University of Uyo to be low to moderate, based on both the perceptions of Faculty leadership and the SRSSDL. Faculty are willing to implement a COHUU model for achieving SDL.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Agricultural financing has a wide and deep history in Nigeria, owing to the fact that the Nigerian economy has huge potentials for growth especially from its agriculture sector which is the second largest contributor to GDP. Since the establishment of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme over 30 years ago, the total sum of 647,351 loans amounting to over N34 billion have been disbursed to farmers as at 2009. The result from this study shows that the guarantee scheme has been effective in providing agricultural financing as well as stimulating agricultural production in Nigeria. More specifically, the study found that, out of the five variables used in the models to determine agricultural performance, the credit finance provided under the ACGS and foreign exchange rates was found to be statistically significant to agricultural output. The credit provided under the ACGS has a significant effect on aggregate output; it was also found that the crop and the fishery subsectors are significantly affected by the credit finance provided under the ACGS, due to their short gestation period. However, the livestock and forestry subsectors do not have an immediate significant relationship with the credit finance due to their long gestation period; rather, they have a significant relationship with the depreciation of foreign exchange rates. A major policy implication from the study is that the government should continue to promote and support the operations of the ACGS to encourage farmers to invest their best efforts in agricultural production in Nigeria for food production and for enhanced agricultural export.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / This study was undertaken to find out how the SME sector in Nigeria has developed over time and to what extent it has performed its critical role of driving the country’s industrial transformation and development as it has done in other developed countries. This study has explained in detail, the development of SMEs in Nigeria and identified the economic potential of SMEs, their major problems, challenges and constraints, which have hindered them from playing the vital role in the Nigerian economic growth and development as well as made appropriate recommendations for redressing, reducing and/or eliminating them so that they could occupy their pride of place in the Nigerian economy. It also considered the various programmes implemented by various governments, to support and promote SMEs’ growth and development as well as the roles played by the government and the financial institutions towards promoting the development and growth of SMEs in Nigeria. The study employed primary date via questionnaires which were administered to the sampled financial institutions and SMEs’ operators, and the emanating data was analysed using simple percentages, charts and mean ranking. The Chi-square analytical technique was employed and the empirical analysis indicates that there has not been any significant contribution of government support towards developing SMEs, and also that there is a relationship between the sizes of SMEs and their modes of financing. The study determined, among others, that with the exclusion of lack of finance, the major constraints or challenges of SMEs ranked in descending order are inadequate managerial/board expertise, poor infrastructural facilities, inconsistencies in government policies, lack of financial records, multiple taxes and levies, etc. It also determined that lack of finance is a function of multiple problems and that the major sources of credit available for the financing SMEs in Nigeria are personal savings, family/friend support and commercial banks. The study recommended, among others, SME partnership and equity participation by financiers, loan guarantees, interest rate concession, fiscal incentives, and adequate training for SMEs as the factors that will drive the rapid transformations and development of the SME sector in Nigeria.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 21st Century is witnessing the concurrence of neoliberal globalisation and widespread informalisation. To this extent, the informal sector or economy is perceived as a permanent ‘feature of modern capitalist development’ (Chen 2007: 2). Its expansion, particularly in developing countries, has far reaching implications for employment generation, occupational or livelihood diversification, urban form dynamics, urban planning, as well as the general economic outcome. The historical evolutionary truth of the informal origin of most businesses coupled with the reality of informal-formal sector continuum gives credence to the critical imperative of multi-path development regime that does not consider the informal sector as a dead end. Consequently, the research explored the policy implications of the spatial and structural relationships between the informal and formal business sectors in urban Nigeria. The study region is viewed from the prism of Enugu, the major administrative centre in the southeast region of the country. Here, spatial-structural causalities at the city level are conjectured as surrogates of the globalisation-induced transformations occurring in the country from 1990 to 2010 (Andranovich & Riposa 1993). The research sought to: one, examine the extent relationships between the distribution structures of two economic segments in the city; and two, explore the changes in inter-sectoral linkages and the urban business landscape mediated by the global-local economic changes. To guide the study, two research hypotheses were formulated, viz.: (1) to prove whether or not some significant spatial/structural relationships exist between the distribution of informal and formal business units in the study area; and (2) to verify if the observed changes in the spatial and structural relationships between the two segments are accounted for by the same sets of physical, economic, and socio-cultural variables. The study made use of primary and secondary data, which were collected via mixed research methods. The proportional stratified sampling was used where necessary. The primary data were collected through casual observation/recognisance, photographic and questionnaire surveys, and semi-structured personal interviews; while the secondary data were sourced from literature review, maps and databanks of local governments and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The data analytical procedure involved data reduction and hypotheses testing. The former technique consists of sectoral aggregation (the segmentation by coherent attribute-sectors) and spatial aggregation (translation from quantitative into spatial dimensions) (Wang & Vom Hofe 2007), while the latter required the use of Spatial Statistics Analysis toolsets of the ArGIS software and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the SPSS package. The Spatial Statistics Analysis (the Spatial Autocorrelation or Moran’s I index) and PCA results permitted the rejection of the two null hypotheses respectively. The Moran’s I index is 0.16 with a Z score of 159.78 at a significant level of .01 and critical value of 2.58, revealing a highly clustered spatial association (or dependence) between the informal and formal business distribution in the study area. Based on the eigenvalues of 10 selected variables, the PCA extracted three major determinants of the observed spatial-structural causalities, namely: socio-economic and cultural traits or business ethos, client base and market control, and physical environment/business transaction mode. The findings challenges the received model of Nigeria retail hierarchy, and among the key recommendations for guaranteeing stronger informal-formal sector linkages that are generative of sustainable endogenous development are: (i) the reinstatement of the import substitution programme; (ii) implementation of the innovative Cluster Concept of Industrial Development Strategy (CCIDS) of 2007; and (iii) adoption of urban planning standards that are pro-informal sector. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die 21ste eeubeleefonsgelyktydigneoliberaleglobalisasie en wydverspreideinformalisasie. Samelopendhiermee word die informelesektorvandieekonomiegesien as ’n “permanentekenmerk van die kapitalistieseontwikkeling.” (Chen 2007: 2). Die uitbreidingdaarvan, veral in ontwikkelendelande, het verreikendeimplikasies vir die skepping van werksgeleenthede, die diversifikasie van loopbaan- en broodwinnings-moontlikhede, stedelikevorms, stedelikebeplanning, asookalgemeneekonomieseuitkomstes. Die historieseevolusionêrewaarheidoor die oorsprong van die meestebesighede, tesame met die realiteit van die informelesektorkontinuum, verleengeloofwaardigheidaandie kritiesebelangrikheid van die multi-pad ontwikkelingraamwerkwaarbinne die informelesektorniegesien word as ’n doodloopstraatnie. Gevolglik het die navorser die beleidsimplikasies van die ruimtelike- en struktureleverhoudingtussen die informele en die formele sake-sektors in stedelikeNigeriëondersoek. Die studiegebied word besigtigvanuit die prisma van Enugu, die hoof administratiewesentrum van die suidelikestreek van Nigerië. Hier word ruimetelik-struktureleoorsaaklikhedegebruik as maatstawwe vir die transformasieswatdeurglobalisasieveroorsaak is, en wattussen 1990 en 2010 in die land plaasgvind het (Andranovich&Riposa 1993). Daar is in die navorsinggepoog om eerstens die omvang van verwantskappetussen die verspreidingstrukture van die twee ekonomiesesegmente van die stad vas te stel, en tweedens, om die veranderings in inter-sektorieseskakels en die stedelike sake landskapwatdeur die globaale-plaaslikeekonomieseveranderingsbemiddel is, te bestudeer. Twee navorsinghipoteses is geformaliseer, naamlik (1) om te bewys of daarbetekenisvolleruimtelike/struktureleverwantskappebestaantussen die verspreiding van informele en formeleeenhede in die studie- gebied, en (2) om te bevestig of die veranderings in die ruimtelike en struktureleverwantskappetussen die twee besigheidsegmentetoegeskryfkan word aandieselfdestelfisiese, ekonomiese en sosio-kultureleveranderlikes. In die studie is daargebruikgemaak van primêre en sekondêre data watdeurmiddel van gemengdenavorsingmetodesversamel is. Die proporsioneelgestratifiseerdesteekproefmetode is, waarnodig, gebruik. Die primêre data is deurterloopseobservasie, fotografiese- en vraelysopnames, en semi-gestruktureerde persoonlike onderhoudeversamel, terwyl die sekondêre data verkry is uit ’n oorsig van die letterkunde, landkaarte, en die databanke van plaaslikeowerhede en die binnelandsebelastingsdiens. (FIRS). Die data ontledingsproses het data reduksie en hipotesetoetsingingesluit. Dievorigetegniekbestaanuitsektorieseaggregasie (segmentasiedeursamehandeattribuutsektore) en ruimtelikeaggregasie (oorgesitvanafkwantitatiewenaruimtelikedimensies) (Wang & VomHofe 2007). Vir die laasgenoemde was dit nodig om Spatial Statistics Analysis gereedskapstel van die ArGISsagteware en die Principal Component Analysis (PCA) van die SPSS paket te gebruik. The Spatial Statistics Analysis (die Spatial Autocorrelation of Moran se I indeks) en die PCA resultatehet die verwerping van die twee nulhipotesesmoontlikgemaak. Moran se I indeks is 0.16 met ’n Z telling van 159.78 teen ’n betekenisvollevlak van .01 en ’n kritiesewaarde van 2.58, wat ’n hoogsgetrosderuimetlikeassosiasieaantoon, of dat die verspreiding van die informele en formelebesighede in die studiegebiednabymekaargeleë en afhanklik is van mekaar. Gegrond op die eigenwaardes van die 10 gekoseveranderlikes, is daardeur die PCA bepaalwat die drie hoof ruimtelik-strukturelekousaliteite is. Dit is sosio-ekonomiese en kulturelekenmerke, kliente basis en markbeheer, en fisieseomgewing/sake transaksie modus. Die bevindingeverskil van die ontvangdemodel van die Nigeriesehierargie. Om sterkerinformele-formeleskakelswatvolhoubareendogeneontwikkelingwaarborg, te genereer, word die volgendeaanbevelingsgemaak: (i) die invoerplaasvervangings-program moetingestel word, (ii) die Cluster Concept of Industrial Development Strategy (CCIDS) van 2007 moet implementer word; en (iii) stedelikebeplanningstandaardewat pro-informelesektor is, moet aanvaar word.

This thesis provides a structure for understanding the various issues in the design and implementation of a petroleum tax system. Its main objective is to examine whether the Nigerian petroleum tax system is appropriately designed to achieve the benefits the country desires from its petroleum contractual arrangements. Informed by the literature reviewed, economic rent theory was adopted as a theoretical framework in the thesis. While other theories could have been applied as a framework, economic rent theory was deemed to be most appropriate because taxes levied on economic rent are not generally perceived to act as a disincentive to the initiation or continuation of business operations. Informed views on the petroleum fiscal system used in Nigeria were sought from a range of "experts" in the field via a large scale questionnaire. The empirical data collected were then subjected to statistical analysis to determine the overall response patterns of the respondents for each of the 58 variables surveyed. This analysis enabled tentative conclusions to be drawn about the validity of various hypotheses developed in the thesis. Further analysis was carried out to determine and critically assess statically significant responses between respondent groups. The study revealed that the Nigerian petroleum taxation system was viewed as being well-designed, insofar as it protects the interests of both the government and the international oil companies operating within Nigeria. Furthermore, the "expert" respondents were of the view that a majority of the measures put in place to ensure compliance with the petroleum taxation system have been effective. However, the study revealed differences in views amongst the various groups of "experts" to some questions which suggests that some groups may have articulated views based on partisan values. The differences suggest that the different groups may have vested interests in the petroleum taxation system. Given the role these groups play in the petroleum fiscal system in Nigeria, it is argued that these vested interests may well have negatively affected the design and operation of the petroleum fiscal system. This finding may have important implications for the future design and operation of the Nigerian petroleum taxation system. The literature reviewed and survey data analysed resulted in a number of conclusions. First, it is argued that it is very difficult to make a single petroleum tax system that serves the needs of different countries. Second, it is suggested Nigeria‘s petroleum tax regime is predicated upon a desire to capture as much revenue as possible for the government. Third, the thesis concludes that the implementation processes of the Nigerian petroleum tax system are fundamentally weak and require further improvement. Fourth, it is also the conclusion of this thesis that the Nigerian petroleum tax system lacks the capacity for timely review. Finally, it is shown that the Nigerian petroleum tax system is sensitive to changes in tax regulations across oil producing countries.

This study attempts to explore the perceptions of victims of terrorism, and staff of NGOs with relevant experience of terrorism, based on the premise that social problems have contributed to the growth of terrorism in Nigeria; which in turn has created more social problems. This study posits that International social work can be used to manage and proffer solutions to these social problems in Nigeria.  International social work refers to social work practice that applies international knowledge and practice and is not limited to one country. This study used qualitative methods - seven semi-structured interviews to collect data. The General systems theory served as the theoretical base for the analysis of the data. The findings indicated that social problems could be attributed to the rise in terrorism, and that there was an urgent need for International social workers and their competencies in combating the causes of terrorism and its disastrous effects.

The state of solid waste management in cities of most developing countries is fast assuming the scale of a major social and environmental challenge. In Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, the combined influence of poverty, population growth and rapid urbanization has tended to worsen the situation. The gravity of this problem is perhaps best reflected in the level of attention given to it in the United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) outlined in the declaration have waste or resource efficiency implications. In response to the waste challenge many developed countries have embarked upon ambitious environmental reforms, recording remarkable advances in best practises and sustainable management of their Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). However, many developing countries such as Nigeria have fared less well in this regard as a result of several barriers militating against sustainable management of MSW. The principal aim of this research is therefore to carry out a critical analysis of the various barriers as well as success factors that affect the sustainable management of MSW using Abuja, Nigeria, as a case study. The study adopts a largely quantitative methodological approach, employing waste composition analysis of samples from the case study area, questionnaire survey and focus group interviews of stakeholders in MSW management as key methods for generation of data. Results from analysis of data, using the Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences (SPSS), indicate that between 65-70% of MSW samples from Abuja is biodegradable, mostly comprising of high wet weight and high moisture content kitchen wastes. On the other hand between 11%-30% of MSW samples from the City comprises mostly of non-degradable but recyclable materials such as glass, metals and cans, non-ferrous metals and waste electrical and electronic equipment. The implication of the high levels of moisture content in the biodegradable components is that samples are not suitable for incineration but are ideal for composting and other mechanical and biological management options. Data analysis also reveals that the main barriers to sustainable MSW management in the City include low public awareness/education on MSW management, obsolete and insufficient equipment and funding limitations. On the other hand, the most important success factor affecting sustainable MSW management in Abuja was found to be the bourgeoning City population which has a huge potential for uptake of recycled products. In summary, this research concludes that the factors affecting MSW management in Abuja are typical of many tropical urban environments. Fundamental shifts in current practises towards waste prevention; driven by a structured public education programme in MSW management is recommended, so as to bring about a more sustainable management regime. As a result of resource and time limitations, it was not possible to complete several potential lines of investigation related to this study. To fully understand the character of the Abuja waste stream however, further chemical characterization including proximate and ultimate analysis is required. Future research in this genre must endeavour to collect data from a larger sample to increase the precision of the analysis and to enable firmer conclusions to be drawn.

This dissertation examines why healing among the Yoruba people remained a successful popular institution in the colonial period between 1922 and 1955. The factors that allowed the Yoruba healing system to flourish were diverse. The Yoruba’s indigenous and colonial political structures provided some outlets for continued healing practices. Additionally, the purely physical perspectives of western medical and religious competitors were unappealing to many Yoruba. Importantly, the Yoruba healers’ systematic and in-depth knowledge of medicinal remedies was attractive to patrons. Furthermore, Yoruba healers’ use of religious tools and/or the expansive use of spirituality reinforced this healing system as holistic, thus keeping the appeal of the system broad. Lastly, healers’ alliances, standards, certifications and publicity thereof bestowed greater credibility upon the system and its practitioners in an increasingly impersonal region. While changes within Yoruba healing are revealed in this study, additional objectives of this work are to: illustrate the first known history of this institution; situate Yoruba healing as a legitimate system; include female healers in this investigation of Yoruba healing; and present a normal view of an ‘alternative’ medicine. The period of 1922 to 1955 is ideal to explore because various aspects that allowed the Yoruba healing system to thrive developed during this time. / text