Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographies. / Ph.D.

The vast corpus of works on corruption in Africa focuses almost exclusively on 'grand corruption' and political elites (so-called 'Big Men'), and hardly on 'everyday corruption' and ordinary actors. When everyday corruption appears in the literature, it is frequently explained away as petty and/or normal - something expected and accepted. In this study, I take issue with this predominant narrative, couched in an equally dominant but narrow Weberian notion of corruption. Grounding corruption in the micro-politics of urban public transport in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital and Africa's largest city, I argue that ordinary actors detest the corruption that they encounter daily. At the same time, their power(lessness) in the face of its banality compels them to constantly devise tactics to find a way around it or to make it productive for their ends. Structured into six chapters, the study begins by probing the popular imagination, discourse, and spatiality of corruption. It then shows how corruption is embedded in routine socio-economic relations, how it conditions ordinary lives and social livelihoods, and how everyday actors encounter it, exploit it, resist it, or become its victims each day. The study required eight months of ethnographic fieldwork grounded on the routine experiences and lifeworlds of road transport workers in Lagos, Nigeria. My direct experience of the 'surrounds' of these urban actors, the 'junctions' that constitute the spatial hinge of violent extortion and complicity, and routine participation in the omnipresent 'danfos' (commercial minibus-taxis) enabled access to a sense of how this complex system works.

No description available.

Dissertation--Department of history--Göteborg University, 2006. / Bibliogr. p. 327-338.

No description available.

The primary hypothesis of this research was that improved cowpea genotypes (selected under sole crop) could yield well in several Nigerian cropping systems, and that there were cowpea characteristics that improved overall system productivity. Cowpea lines were identified which were high yielding and stable in several management systems. Practices such as not applying insecticide and intercropping both reduced cowpea grain yield significantly. Land equivalent ratios were greater than one for all tested intercrop systems: cassava-cowpea (1.21-2.35), maize-cowpea (1.31-4.23), maize-cassava-cowpea (1.63-3.40) and millet-cowpea (1.13-6.88). Nitrogen nutrition of component crops was investigated. Line influenced both maize grain (12.5-28.4 kg ha-1) and total biomass (48.7-69.0 kg ha-1) nitrogen yield. Evidence from pot and field experiments (including $ sp{15}$N-dilution studies) indicated same-season nitrogen transfer. Light interception studies also indicated the increased light harvesting ability of early sole cowpea lines compared to early intercropped lines systems.

No description available.

This study seeks to explain the relationship between civic associations and attitudinal social capital---norms of trust and reciprocity---within the context of an authoritarian state. In contrast to many post-industrial nations, Nigeria boasts a vibrant civil society but seems to possess little attitudinal social capital. A deeper understanding of this relationship is offered by considering how an association's structure influences members' attitudes and how this relationship is impacted by a repressive regime. These relationships are tested using both statistical data and a qualitative study of three associations. The findings support the hypothesis that certain structural characteristics are more conducive to the fostering of attitudinal social capital but that the presence of state repression undermines this process. Furthermore, it is shown that pro-democracy associations are essential in creating the space necessary for trust and cooperation between citizens, even when they do not foster these norms amongst their own membership.

No description available.

<p>This research recommended ways in which Nigeria could unlock constraints to commercialization and investment in the Nigerian agricultural sector for sustained economic growth, enhanced food security, increased competitiveness of products in the domestic, regional and international markets, sustainable environmental management and poverty alleviation.</p>