This research project concerns the role that local Anglican Churches can play in alleviating poverty in rural Nigeria. After a brief overview of the political, economic and social background of Nigeria, the first chapter considers the causes and impact of rural poverty in Nigeria. The paper then defends a theological vision for rural development, identifying four key elements, namely stewardship, empowerment, self-reliance and the mobilization of local assets. In the final chapter, the paper argues that a combination of agriculture and micro-enterprise, in the form of small agricultural business, provides the most practical contribution the Church can make. A number of such business opportunities such as garri processing and livestock farming are considered. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

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This thesis discusses the impact that paradigms of thought have on the construction of conservation programmes. Western scientific thinking represents a distinct way of looking at the world. It accepts a separation between nature and culture and thinks that knowledge about the world can best be discovered through the use of experiments that follow a specific set of rules, the scientific method. Scientific thinking is an integral part of the world view of scientists and extends to the way in which they interact with the world. Scientific researchers design their projects in accordance with how they view nature. This leads to particular construction of the role of primates. People in the network of a conservation project are involved in this paradigm to varying degrees. The purpose that scientific thinkers put behind conservation can be in direct contradiction with that of the local people. Although all groups involved may agree that conservation is a valuable goal, the ways in which they value nature and want to conserve it can be quite different. Scientists view themselves as experts on nature and how best to conserve it, and they attempt to spread their way of thinking about nature to local populations through education programmes. Not all groups accept the scientific paradigm to the same extent and this has a wider impact on the local community and forms new causes of tension as knowledge and power shift. I studied one particular field station, and explored how scientific thinking affected the outcomes of both scientific research and additional projects. I looked at how basing the conservation around scientific research has changed the dynamics created by a forest reserve. Finally I discussed with local people the ways in which the scientific paradigm had spread to them and how the field station was affecting them.

Their poverty condition and inadequacy of government assistance at all levels (from federal to state to local) in Igbo communities of South-eastern Nigeria propels the locals to explore the self-help pathway in cooperative association as an alternative means for addressing their collective and individual needs. Over the years, the cooperative ideal has become a sustainable model of support for the Igbos of this region particularly in the rural village communities. However, the advancement of this form of livelihood in the area is fraught with many difficulties ranging from members’ distrust of government development policies, ‘nominal’ (defunct and struggling) cooperative formation, poor membership education/illiteracy, group leadership problems, youth urban migration, group patron clientism, urban-rural encroachment and group gender disparity issues. Social capital is arguably the dominant concept for examining cohesion and cooperative acts among people (Bourdieu, 1997 and Putnam, 2000). ‘Trust and reciprocity’, as principle attributes of social capital that condition most sustained cooperative interactions among members of the groups, is examined in this thesis. This research also assesses the inter-linking (bridging) bond that exists between the cooperative groups, their communities (including dispersed community members elsewhere in Nigeria and abroad) and the government. For example: Why do the ‘nominal’ cooperatives in the study communities lack this attribute? Does ‘trust’ determine the type of attention that community cooperatives receive from their government? What factor(s) facilitate assistance from the government and other community development groups especially the diaspora? Are there avenues to achieve best practice in these relationships for sustained cordiality? The thesis applies the Igbo cultural understanding of social capital as ugwu in discussing relational bonds within select cooperatives and non-cooperative farmer groups in the study communities using field tools adapted from the World Bank’s Social Capital Implementation Framework (SCIF). Previous studies conducted by some African scholars such as Uchendu (1965), Mbiti (1969), Njaka, (1974), Ekeh, (1975), Iroegbu, (1997), Ohadike, (1994), Korieh (2006), Nwagbara, (2007) were drawn upon in the discussions. The researcher adopted a mixture of qualitative (un-structured interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaires) in gathering and analysis of data. The research found that members of active smallholder cooperative societies uphold their mutual integrity (ugwu) and membership ties but contrastingly adopt a prebendalist attitude (similar to the ‘nominal’ cooperatives) in interactions with the government. Cooperative societies’ ‘ugwu’ - social capital - bond did not necessarily antecede bridging social capital particularly at interactions with the government. The research recommends that since ‘ugwu’ is central in Igbo cooperative life; the government could work closely with local institutions to formalize and strengthen this and in the process rebuild bridging trust with the locals. The churches and other traditional community institutions are mediators that could help in this process. It is hoped this study will help encourage best practice in smallholder cooperative functions and rural development practice.

This study traces the development of the missionary movement in Europe and America as part of the cultural history which led to the arrival of American missionaries in the remote area of Nigeria which is occupied by the Bura tribe. The central concern is to assess the results of that contact between members of two very different cultures and to evaluate the changes in the Bura society which have resulted from the work of these missionaries during a period of fifty years.Differences in the material environment are most easily observed and marked change can be seen in such things as the common attire of the people, in the kinds and amounts of equipment available for use in ordinary tasks and in the style of houses in which many Buras live. Missionaries exerted considerable influence in many of these changes. Improved seeds and new farming methods, the training of carpenters and bricklayers and assistance in the development of orchards are other examples of the kinds of technological innovations introduced by the mission. But many of the changes which are more directly traceable to missionary influence relate to Bura thought patterns and particularly to changes in the religious thinking of the people.There have been two basic changes in this area of Bura life. One involves the communal structure of the group. The communal approach to a Supreme Being whereby one elder often spoke for the entire group was confronted by the Christian belief that every individual must establish a personal relationship with his Deity. In secular life there has been a lessening of forms of cooperation. There is also more physical separation of clans, families and individuals as persons trained in mission schools go out of the area for higher education or for job opportunities. The total impact has been toward a weakening of the community structure.Another basic change is in the belief about the nature of the Deity. The Buras had traditionally lived in a fearful world of threatening evil spirits in which a distant Deity and lesser gods nearby required constant appeasement. The Christian idea of a loving Father presents a very different viewpoint.Positive benefits to the Buras include a written language which has helped to unify the tribe and has been of major importance in the educational program which could be carried on in a familiar medium. Christian activities initiated by the mission have enabled the Buras to meet easily with members of other tribal groups. On the negative side must be included the threat of the loss of the traditional arts since dancing, and the use of local musical instruments in worship services were discouraged by the missionaries.The final conclusion, however, is that the missionary was the only agent of change who was concerned about the moral well-being of the Buras and who attempted to prepare these people to live in the novel circumstances in which they unexpectedly found themselves.

Since 2009 the Nigerian state has been under the throes of the deadly terrorist activities of the Islamic sect formally known as Jama’atuAhlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (Association for propagating the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad). The sect, popularly dubbed Boko Haram, meaning Western civilization/education is forbidden, claims to be on a mission to Islamize the Nigerian State. Prima facie Boko Haram’s motivations appear to be religious; however, considering factors such as the dismal socio-economic conditions that prevail in the northern region, the epicentre of the sect, a religious explanation alone is reductive. Accordingly, using the root cause theoretical framework and a qualitative method of data analysis, this study investigates the socio-economic determinants of the emergence and persistence of Boko Haram terrorism. The alarming socio-economic inequality and deprivation manifested in pervasive poverty across the nation, but particularly in the northern region is accentuated as one of the main factors that predispose the teeming disenchanted and jobless populace, particularly the youths in the region to take arms against the state. Fundamentally, Boko Harm terrorism pivots on the growing anti-state tendency in Nigeria, a state arguably losing its legitimacy as a result of her inability and failure to meet the political, social and economic needs of its populace. Among the reasons for this failure include pervasive corruption and maladministration largely entrenched by the monocultural nature of the oil centric national economy. Based on the interdisciplinary nature of this degree program – Politics, Philosophy and Economics – this study philosophically engages the concept of terrorism; situates the debates on the socio-economic determinants of terrorism within the particular context of the Nigerian political economy; contributes to the body of literature that seeks to provide an understanding of the Boko Haram phenomenon from the perspective of its socio-economic determinants; and suggests some relevant policies for addressing this particular crisis as well as those of other like-minded groups in the country. Given that the state’s militarised approach to the crisis has hardly been able to efficiently stall the sect’s terrorist activities, this study accents the need for a long term solution characterised by addressing the root causes, especially through the socio-economic development of the mostly affected northern region. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The thesis is concerned with the emergence of Nigeria as a regional power since 1966, through a study of political ' relations between Nigeria, France and selected francophone West African states between 1960 and 1975 - Ivory Coast, Niger and Dahomey. Until 1966, Nigeria's policy substantially contributed to the preservation of francophone influence in West Africa. The first change in Nigeria's relationship with its neighbours was prompted by its disagreements with. Ivory Coast during the Nigerian civil war. Subsequently, Nigerian influence spread into francophone West Africa at the expense of that of Ivory Coast, a change stimulated by shifts in France's policy towards Africa. The study concludes with the climax of this evolution, Nigeria's successful creation of the Economic Community of West African States in May 1975. This is seen as the embodiment of Nigeria's emergence as an active West African power, along with its corollary, the weakening of the historic francophone-anglophone division. The study of Nigeria's changing relations with Ivory Coast in brought into sharper perspective by the inclusion of Dahomey and Niger into the analysis. Indeed, these two countries were closely bound to Nigeria in a subordinate relationship through unequal economic and social ties. Furthermore, they belonged to the core of the francophone group in Africa, for here were two of those states which, under the leadership of Ivory Coast, retained the closest links with France at the time, of their independence in 1960.

A brief account of the history of government organised tsetse and trypanosomiasis control in Nigeria is presented, and major features of the tsetse eradication programme are summarised. The achievements are considered in the context of widespread environmental change, brought about by an increasing human population, and a long term process of agricultural expansion, which have resulted in an overall reduction in natural tsetse habitats and hosts, and led to a general decline in tsetse populations. A comparison of two areas, one within, and the other outside the tsetse eradication zone, showed that they had both experienced similar rates of change in land use, and available information indicated that human and cattle populations had also increased at similar rates. The present day distribution and abundance of tsetse and cattle in a region of the Nigerian sub-humid zone, not yet reached by the tsetse eradication programme, are described. In the virtual absence of wildlife, abundance of cattle, and concentration of the two riverine tsetse species at crossing points, it was concluded that tsetse were largely dependent on cattle and/or man for their survival. The low density of riverine tsetse populations, their restricted distribution and their low infection rates, combined with Fulani herd management practices, which limited the period of contact between tsetse and cattle, indicated that under the prevailing conditions, trypanosome challenge was likely to be very low. It is suggested that this situation was typical for many areas within the sub-humid zone, and that in the future, similar conditions are likely to become even more widespread. It is concluded that, whilst government trypanosomiasis control programmes must have contributed to the general decline of the disease which has taken place, the environmental context within which they were mounted, has changed significantly. Over the past fifty years human population has almost certainly increased three or four fold, and the extent and intensity of both farming and hunting have increased commensurately. This has resulted in an overall reduction in natural tsetse habitats and hosts, which has led to a decline in vector populations. It is argued that this, together with a trend for Fulani and their cattle to become more sedentarised, has brought about a fundamental change in the balance of relationships in the vector-host-disease complex, which has favoured the development of appropriate immune responses in Fulani cattle, and the selection of less pathogenic strains of trypanosome.

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The quality of Nigerian Legal Education is fast deteriorating and in addition, the current structure of monitoring the training of lawyers is grossly ineffective. This thesis discusses steps that can be taken in reforming the current structure of Nigerian legal education to revert this trend. This thesis proposes a sytem of internal institutional assessment by law faculties in Nigeria. Financial, social-cultural constraints and politicl economy interference are obstacles to reforming Nigerian legal education, but institutional assessment can mitigagte these obstacles. Using Mariana Prado's concept of institutional bypass as a solution to overcoming these obstacles and also as a means of advancing reforms in the training of lawyers in Nigeria, this thesis proposes the adoption of institutional assessment as a strategy to create an avenue for stimulating reforms and promoting quality in Nigerian legal education.