FLOOD RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN URBAN NIGERIA: INTEGRATING TRADITIONAL AND NON-STRUCTURAL METHODS OF MITIGATING AND ADAPTING TO FLOODING IN CROSS RIVER STATE, SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA (I)

Flood resilience and sustainable development in urban Nigeria: integrating traditional and non-structural methods of mitigating and adapting to flooding in cross river state, south-eastern Nigeria. We examined application of non-structural measures in addition to conventional structural approaches by Government Agency and community for flood management in Cross River State (Nigeria) at: regional-ambit and community levels. We used focus group discussion in depth interview, and observation methods to collect datafrom primary and secondary sources. Our findings include: emphasis on structural flood control measures by government agencies contrasted to use of rudimentary non-structural approaches by communities. Conceptual frames proposed for managing disasters include: emphasizing future climate change impacts based on multiple scales (temporal, spatial and societal) and emphasizing historical response to disasters without increasing the visibility of climate change. We conclude that community institutions, non-government/civil society organizations should lead public institutions in promoting flood resilience based on integrated non-structural to structural measures and show recent developments regarding civil society coalition committed towards promoting environmental governance in Nigeria. Frequent flooding associated with huge losses of lives and property in the studyareas, as in most of urban Nigeria, persuade us to recommend that strategically placed civil society be supported by donor/funding organizations to promote integrated non-structural and traditional-structural measures to achieve urban flood resilience nationwide

Public treasury looting for global North banking, public welfare denial, migration and sex-slave trafficking of Nigerians after colonialism

Enslaving and victimising the poor by criminals within and outside governments of underdeveloped countries is gaining attention of academics in the social sciences. This article clarifies inter-relationships among modern slavery and trafficking in girls/women for sexual exploitation. It also shows how vulnerability of people victimised by the crime has been increased by policies deriving from neo-liberalism. To facilitate explication of the variables/issues, the study was based on the theoretical/doctrinal and political aspects of neo-liberalism, coinciding with scenarios of declining welfare, increasing susceptibility/vulnerability of Nigeria's poor (non-elite) and massive unemployed youth to out-migration and traffickers in persons. The explicated issues include modern slavery (generally and trafficking in Nigerian girls/women for sexual exploitation abroad) as well as the relationships among treasury looting and stashing of the loot in the banks of the global North. It is explained how declining welfare (i.e. multiple-dimensional adversities e.g. unemployment) provokes desires in the unemployed to out-migrate and increases their susceptibility to trafficking in persons. Finally, the article is concluded

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IMPLEMENTATION IN URBAN NIGERIA

A global new deal (describing a comprehensive programme designed to respond to multiple crises in financial, economic, environmental and social sectors) recently adopted by advanced countries comprises sustainable (renewable and efficient) energy and environmentally-friendly technologies. Despite the abundance of natural renewable energy resources in Nigeria, sustainable energy remains ignored and underplayed. Aetiological method and concept of postneoliberalism were used to analyse historical data on sustainable energy production and use in Nigeria. The findings include prolonged use of neoliberalistic political framework: military dictatorship, ineptitude in terms of adoption of sustainable energy due to the culture comprising historical scramble to steal and misappropriate funds earned from export, production and use, of fossil fuels (petroleum oil and natural gas). After criminally enriching themselves by stealing public funds, Nigeria’s elite (characterized by opulent living) over-use and rely on conventional energy technologies (CETs)-especially gigantic and powerful fossil fuel-run power generating sets It is concluded that the failure of Nigeria’s elite to facilitate massive and rapid implementation of sustainable energy technologies to address multiple crises hampering the achievement of sustainable development in the country beckons for the creation of new postneoliberalistic policies are required to promote massive and rapid implementation of sustainable energy technologies at decentralized sub-national urban regions based on the proven model of distributed generation and supply of SETs.postneoliberalism, sustainable energy technologies, Nigeria, conventional energy technologies

Productivity measurement and growth in Nigeria: challenges and prospects

Productivity (growth) measurements (describing the assessment of an economy’s rate of change in the ratio of a volume measure of output to a volume measure of input use) and related analysis are regular undertakings by staff of economic development of most nations and development institutions such as the OECD. Although they strive to accomplish objectives related to studying efficiency or the achievement of maximum output physically achievable under the use of current technology and given inputs, accounting for the contribution of real costs savings; introduction of benchmarks for production processes and to highlight living standards obtaining at points in time, its emphasis has been at the expense of examination of issues related to society (institutions), history, innovation and productivity change, which are concerned with promoting growth beyond mere productivity accounting. This paper has attempted to address all these issues as they pertain to Nigeria’s rather stagnant or declining economy. This slight modification was prompted by changes from philosophers concerned with the wider area of productivity measurement and change. The literature agrees that productivity measurement (growth accounting) only “identified the significance of different proximate sources of growth” but fails to employ institutional, historical case studies to investigate the underlying causes of the growth, innovation and productivity change. Details of deficiencies related to the foregoing issues are examined and policy recommendations drafted and presented to assist practitioners, policy and decision makers and other stakeholders.productivity, change, improvement, growth, labour, corruption.

Federal revenue sharing, marginalisation and sub-national inter-regional inequality in human capital development in south-eastern and southern Nigeria

Regional development planning/management responds to needs for preventing inequality among regions within nations characterised by multi-culturality and variation among regions, through the planning/management of appropriate programmes and policies. This paper examines inequality in the development of two of Nigeria’s states in the geographical South-East and the political South-South. Among other issues, historical conflicts among various ethno-cultural groups constituting Nigeria and culminating in violence (e.g. the 1967–1970 civil war fought against the programme of Ibo (a socio-cultural group) seceding from Nigeria’s federation to found Biafra) are reviewed. Despite Nigeria’s tragic civil war, inequality persists. We examine inequality resulting from systematic implementation of policies/programmes of Nigeria’s federal government institutions that marginalise Cross River State. Using the methods of comparative analysis and a descriptive case study, we show the consequences of marginalisation policies implemented by the federal government alone or in collaboration with (i.e. in support of) Akwa Ibom State for the development of human capital in Cross River State. The specific acts of marginalisation referred to here include: the ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula – a part of Cross River State – to the Republic of Cameroon in 2005, and more recently (2009) another ceding of 76 oil wells, hitherto the property of Cross River State, to Akwa Ibom State. We argue that, strengthened by marginalising/polarising policies (higher revenue allocation based on derivation principle of oil production), Akwa Ibom’s ongoing implementation of free education policy Brought to you by | Uniwersytet im. A. Mickiewicza Authenticated | 150.254.124.160 Download Date | 7/24/13 9:54 AM 52 Richard Ingwe , Joseph K. Ukwayi , Edward U. Utam promises to facilitate its achievement of millennium development goals in basic education by 2015, beyond which it might reach disproportionately higher levels of tertiary educational attainment by 2024 and after. By contrast, the contrived dwindling of oil revenue accruing to Cross River State deprives it of funding for competitive human capital development programme(s). We recommend that Cross River State employs serious monitoring of marginalising schemes against its people considering recent traumatising experience, and plan/implement human capital development programmes aimed to improve its competitiveness under the context of intra-regional inequality

Sub-national regional development and degree-awarding tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria: descriptive, geo-demographic and geo-spatial analyses

Public and private investments in educational institutions as a means of catalysing economic growth has been recognized a veritable strategy for developing human capital, increasing productivity and competitiveness at various regional levels. Nigeria’s multiplicity of cultural groups whose political sensitivity to (in)equality in the sharing of nationally pooled resources has been a source of conflicts including the 1967-70 civil war, presents an ideal scenario for understanding the extent of balance or otherwise of tertiary educational opportunities across the national landscape. This has not been sufficiently addressed in the academic literature. This article reports findings of a study of the provision of degree-awarding tertiary educational institutions (TEIs) by governments and private entities in Nigeria’s sub-national regions. Geo-demographic-spatial and description analyses were used to analyze secondary data. We found among others that: the numbers of TEIs provided in the sub-national regions (geo-political zones and their constituent states) have not been determined by the population size of the sub-national regions (state/territory); highest concentration/localisation of TEIs were in Nigeria’s SouthWest geo-political zone. It is argued that the full government financing of education implemented in the former (South) Western Region about half a century ago (since the 1950s) laid the foundation for creating critically needed human capital mass that has continued to regenerate in multi-dimensional strategies for establishing more TEIs thereby promoting regional development in the present South-West Region thereby contrasting with Nigeria’s other geo-political regions

Emerging opportunities for responding to climate change in the Obama administration : why China should propel developing countries towards global carbon reduction cooperation

The use of diplomatic brinkmanship by the USA and her more recent uncooperativeness with global response to the climate crisis (Kyoto Protocol) under the presidencies of George W. Bush and Bill J. Clinton has led to fears in quarters that China, a rapidly industrialising country might opt to become uncooperative in the global climate change efforts. We use suitable conceptual frameworks of international relations to review the US’ previous conduct in international relations during the “cold war” among others to analyse recent issues pertaining to global carbon reduction under the Kyoto Protocol. We argue that China’s rising profile in economic, political and social spheres especially the way it offers loans on softer terms compared to the Western Consensus model, her ratification of the Kyoto are among the several indications that her relationship with the USA and other nations in carbon reduction portend good relationship in future. We argue also that Presient Obama’s promise of acknowledging the reality of climate (change) science and to lead other nations in responding to the crises seem to be getting fulfilled based on recent evidences. We conclude that the future for global cooperation between the USA and China, on one hand, and between USA and the rest of the world, on the other, present grounds for optimism that global carbon reduction would proceed more peacefully and profitably than it was hitherto

Between cultural and natural heritage

The planning of tourism products in the north-central Cross River State (corresponding to ‘old Ogoja province) is examined in this study. Explained in the article are: justification of the need for undertaking community-based tourism development strategy as a means of reducing inter- regional disparity in development aroused by historical discrimination against the region through eras of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, colonialism, and successive post-independent governmentscreation of special development funds aimed at addressing challenges posed by personalization of government thereby creating governance deficitsand descriptions of the tourism potentials/resources of the north-central Cross River State. Rather than adopting the advice of tourism experts in the 1960s that African countries ought to prefer to design cultural-heritage tourism products aiming towards attracting some 145 million tourists from the United States of America (USA) who might be satiated with natural heritage tourism products offered back home. Here, it is argued here that considering myriad socio-economic-political dynamics thereafter – including anti-African/Nigerian political measures such as barring US citizens from visiting Nigeria or parts of it- there is no need concentrating on such restricted tourism products. This is justified by the fact that with nearly 170 million population –most of whom are expecting to move from poverty towards the middle class among other prosperous economic statuses and who do not need to immediately access foreign natural heritage tourism, there is need for north- central Cross River State –a region possessing diverse tourism resources to plan tourism products that seek to integrate natural heritage with the cultural varieties in order to properly capture both local and foreign tourists. Foreign tourists here covers a larger spectrum beyond US visitors including visitors from large and increasing number of member states of the United Nations

Urbanisation, urban environmental quality, national socio-economic conditions and diseases burden in Africa

The investigation of socio-economic, political and environmental aspects of urbanization in Africa is gaining research attention. Most recently, information on the patterns in urbanization, population growth, slumisation, among other aspects of urban Africa within the past quarter of a century or thereabout were reported. While this report elucidated on the relevant challenges, it was restricted to the regional patterns of the variables investigated. This report indicates that more information on the sub-regional aspects of these variables is required to elucidate on urban planning in the region and its sub-regions. Here, the ways forward in investigating these issues and variables underlying them are outlined. The theoretical, methodological, spatial and temporal aspects or requirements of the proposed research are discussed to provide a compass for future research