Security Dilemma in South Asia

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review Vol.2 No.4

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW

Fourth Publication 2011

www.ijsshr.comCopyright Oteh Chukwuemeka O. Department of Sociology/Anthropology Ebonyi State University AbakalikiEbonyi State - Nigeria.

ISSN 0781 – 3232Published by Ebonyi University Press Abakaliki

VOL.2 NO.4 OCTOBER 2011.


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Editor-in-chief Dr. Oteh, Chukwuemeka OkpoDepartment of Sociology/Anthropology Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Ebonyi State e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]: +2348034356286

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EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:DR. OTEH CHUKWUEMEKA OKPO Department of Sociology/AnthropologyEbonyi State University- Abakaliki e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

CONSULTANT EDITORS:PROF. I.V.O. MODO Department of Sociology/Anthropology University of Uyo Akwa Ibom State

PROF. NTUNDE FLORA Department of Sociology/AnthropologyEnugu State University of Sciences & Technology ESUT

PROF E.B.J. IHERIOHANMA Directorate of General Studies Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State Nigeriae-mail: [email protected]

DR. LIONEL E. UKOKA Department of General StudiesAkwa Ibom State Polytechnic Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene

DR. C.I. ANAH Directorate of General Studies Federal University of Technology, Owerri Imo State Nigeria

DR. WALTER MBOTO Department of Sociology/ Anthropology University of Calabar Cross-Rivers State

DR. EDET ABU SOLOMON Department of Sociology/Anthropology Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

DR. NNAMDI TOBECHUKWU EKEANYANWU Head, Department of Mass Communication Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. Email: [email protected] [email protected]

DR. OKOLO, N. C. Sociology DepartmentUsmanu Danfodiyo University, SokotoSokoto State, Nigeria.E-mail [email protected]


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CONTENTS

1. THE COPING MECHANISM OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT TIMES: A CASE STUDY OF INTERETHNIC CONFLICT IN NORTHERN GHANA BETWEEN GONJA ON ONE HAND AND NAWURI AND KONKOMBA ON THE OTHER IN THE EAST GONJA DISTRICT IN 1991- AHMED BABA YAHAYA - - - - - - - 1

2. DISPOSITION OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS CAREER

IN SOCIOLOGY- AJIBADE DAVID - - - - - - - 11

3. HOME-BASED FEMALE SEX WORKERS AND EXPOSURE TO HIV IN SUBURB OF CITIES IN NIGERIA- AMOO EMMANUEL OLAGUNJU - - - - - - 17

4. AGENDA SETTING, FRAMING AND MASS MEDIA COVERAGE OF OBASANJO/ATIKU FEUD- NWABUEZE, CHINENYE (Ph.D), UGWONNO CHINEDU & NGONSO, BLESSED - 26

5. AN ANALYSIS OF TEMPORAL PATTERN OF DAILY ACTIVITIES IN A TRADITIONAL AFRICAN CITY AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURAL PLANNING: A STUDY OF ILORIN, NIGERIA- ADEDOKUN, OLUTOYIN MOSES (Ph.D) - - - - - 36

6. HARNESSING TRADOTRONIC MEDIA POTENTIALS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN NIGERIA’S NIGER DELTA- KONKWO, DEDE E. J. (Ph.D) - - - - - - - 47

7. CHALLENGES OF GENDER STUDIES IN AN AFRICAN SOCIETY: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE- BAMMEKE, FUNMI (Ph.D) - - - - - - - 60

8. INTERMEDIARIES IN STAPLE FOODSTUFF DISTRIBUTION AND FOOD SECURITY IN THE BENIN REGION- IKELEGBE, O. O. (Ph.D) - - - - - - - 68

9. THE CRISIS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE IN NIGERIA- JUMARE, BASHIR - - - - - - - 75

10. COMMUNITY CONFLICTS AND MASS MEDIA RESPONSIBILITY IN SUSTAINABLE PEACE BUILDING IN NIGERIA: A PRESCRIPTIVE DISCOURSE- KUR, JUDE TERNA (Ph.D) & OBIORAH, COLLINS CHIDOZIE - - - 85

11. EMERGING YOUTH LEADERSHIP IN PANCHAYAT OF GUJARAT, INDIA- MAKWANA, RAMESH H. (Ph.D) - - - - - - 95

12. FINANCIAL REFORMS AND FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: DOES THE MCKINNON – SHAW HYPOTHESIS HOLD- YAQUB JAMEELAH O. (Ph.D) - - - - - - 103

13. EFFECTS OF STRATEGIES ON THREE MEASURES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS MEMORY PERFORMANCE- OKEREKE, CHINWE (Ph.D) - - - - - - - 111


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14. THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN MITIGATING THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS- IGBOKWE-IBETO, CHINYEAKA JUSTINE - - - - - 115

15. AN OVERVIEW OF AFRICAN MEDIA IN THE FACE OF THE NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES- LAMIDI, KAMORUDEEN I. - - - - - - 129

16. GLASS CHARACTERS IN J.D. SALINGER’S “A PERFECT DAY FOR BANANAFISH”: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL STUDY- HABIBI NESAMI MORTEZA, MONTASHERY IRAJ & SHAHBAZI MOGHADAM MASOOMEH 135

17. WOMEN, GENDER EQUALITY AND HEALTH IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE- OKE, OLUBUKOLA A. - - - - - - - 141

18. STABLE DEMOCRACY AND AFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF

SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES- ABUBAKAR, SALISU - - - - - - - 148

19. DEMOCRACY AND INTERNAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA: AN EXAMPLE OF 2011 POST ELECTION VIOLENCE- DAHIRU, UMAR - - - - - - - 159

20. THE DIMENSIONS OF SECURITY DILEMMA IN SOUTH ASIA- SUJIT KUMAR DATTA & NATASHA ISRAT KABIR - - - 168


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THE COPING MECHANISM OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT TIMES: A CASE STUDY OF INTERETHNIC CONFLICT IN NORTHERN GHANA BETWEEN GONJA ON ONE HAND AND

NAWURI AND KONKOMBA ON THE OTHER IN THE EAST GONJA DISTRICT IN 1991

AHMED BABA YAHAYADepartment of Sociology & Anthropology

University of Cape CoastCape Coast, Ghana.

[email protected]

ABSTACTThis study discusses the efforts made by women to cope up with the difficult situation of war in seeking for livelihood and survival for themselves and other members of the community in war times using the inter-ethnic conflict between Gonja on one hand and the Konkomba and Nawuri on the other in 1991 in the East Gonja District of Northern Ghana. Armed conflict decimates sources of livelihood and necessities of live resulting into difficulty for the vulnerable women to survive. This is a descriptive study therefore the qualitative method of study was used to collect data and analysed. The study revealed that women exploit several new survival strategies in addition to what they were used to in the pre conflict era. Some of the women falsely migrated to the southern cities of Ghana and other places to work for income. Women become the sole bread winners in conflict times as men are engaged in fighting.

Keywords: East Gonja, conflict, women, survival, bread winners

Background to the studyViolent conflict has the tendency of destroying the limited available sources of livelihood causing hunger and starvations to the communities affected by conflict. This is a problem as survival in any given situation is significant. According to Rehn and Sirleaf (2002), local economies are sustained on a day-to-day basis, by women’s participation in petty trade in local communities where conflict happens. It is worth noting that some women occasionally extend their activities to involving themselves in male-dominated areas of trade such as agricultural produce. This effort of women helps to provide income for the family and helps the communities to sustain the economy or serves as mainstay of local economy during depressed conditions. Petty trade seems to be an appropriate alternative opportunity for women because it does not stop them from carrying out their traditional roles such as childcare and provisioning roles within the family. Also trading may be less risky for women than for men. This is because conflict perhaps opens opportunities for women traders in the sense that they could cross enemy lines and undertake long-distance travel more safely than men. They could also easily transport and sell commodities at a time when the usual marketing systems have broken down. Women could also act as a money transfer facility serving as “mobile banks” (El-Bushra and Lopez 2003).

According to a World Bank report (1998), conflict affects societies in a variety of profound and far-reaching ways that weaken their ability to complete the transition from war to a sustainable peace. Date-Bah et al (2001), are of the view that insufficient gender analysis in the emergency relief and programmes may sometimes create systems for delivery and distribution of aid that deprive women of access to assistance, increase women’s dependence and expose them to sexual exploitation. This may be the case, for example, when men are exclusive aid distributors or where the family’s eligibility for aid is based on the registered male heads of households in a post-war situation with an increased number of female-headed households.

Statement of the problemAccording to Baden (1997), conflicts have an enormous human, social and economic impact. In terms of death, disability, displacement and trauma suffered by the population. Violent conflicts break down the underpinnings of the economy and undermine positive predictability and confidence in the future. Conflict also disrupts markets distribution networks, and banking and credit systems. Displacement denies access to previous livelihoods and to basic services. Social organization and group reciprocal support system are


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also frustrated (World Bank 1998). In the absence of all these facilities life becomes unbearable for the society at large but women face the consequences more than men because of cultural roles assign to them. Women often become the only remaining breadwinners, because their men are either involved in fighting or have been killed, displaced or wounded. In view of this, women may be forced to adopt several survival strategies to enhance their conditions in society and provide basic necessities of life to sustain the family including the combatants exerting enormous pressure on them. The conflict in East Gonja was not exceptional in terms of destroying the sources of livelihood causing hunger and starvation to the inhabitants of the conflict areas especially women who are more vulnerable in times of wars.

Objective of the studyThe focus of this study is to examine the survival strategies of women during the conflict. Men are mostly the combatants in war situation leaving women to fend for themselves, children, aged, disadvantaged in the absence of sources of livelihood and pervasiveness of insecurity. This renders life unbearable for women as sole breadwinners of the households. The main aim of this work is to find out how women are able to seek for means of survival in the conflict times among the conflict groups.

Source of data and methodData for this study were sought from two main sources. The first was through library research which constitutes the secondary data. The other source of data was obtained from the field. In-depth interview and Focus Group Discussions were conducted to solicit for information. These two methods were used because of descriptive nature of the study. Three communities engaged in the conflict were visited to interview the women and also discussed with them their experiences during the conflict with regard to their coping strategies. The respondents were all illiterates except the queen mother of Kpandai a Nawuri community who is a professional teacher and could speak English. In view of this local languages were used to solicit for information after which the responses were transcribed into English for processing. A total of fifteen women were interviewed purposively that is only women who experienced the conflict and were ready to be interviewed were considered. 8 women participated in each Focus Group Discussions. The field work was undertaken in 2004 when the when I was undertaking a graduate programme.

Women’s survival strategies in conflict situationsAccording to Rehn and Sirleaf (2002), women use many different coping mechanisms which enable them to survive in times of crisis. This section examines the literature on women’s survival strategies in conflict situations.

Adaptations of harsh environmentA first coping or survival mechanism that women embark upon in their environment according to Date-Bah (2003), is to make adaptations to their existing roles and activities. They often have to cope with the scarcity of social basic services such as health and school education facilities and necessities of life: food, water, and shelter, access to information and support networks. Consequently, women may have to walk over long distances to collect water, whilst they are at the same time responsible for providing health care to the ill, old and wounded family, and community members under circumstances of increasing communicable diseases and higher risks of epidemics. They also provide home schooling to their children thus limiting their time to undertake other tasks that will earn them income (Date-Bah, 2003).

Migration as a coping mechanismMeertens and Clark (2001), observe that another coping mechanism employed by women is migration. Migration is associated with many disadvantages including separation from sources of income such as land, the community’s reciprocal labour, the community network for support and protection, adopting a new lifestyle, building up new skills and expertise to generate income and making daily activities such as collecting firewood, cooking and medical care extremely difficult. Women have been able to exhibit remarkable resilience in adapting to these new surroundings and livelihoods than men (Meertens and Clark, 2001:133-144).

Women are able to show a level of continuity in their household chores during migration, while relying on familiar forms of informal networking. On the other hand, they tend to be lost and disoriented without their usual employment and public roles to play.


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According to Lindsey (2000), women eventually become household heads taking over tasks previously carried out by men. They undertake alternative livelihood activities for which they are untrained or under-equipped. This means that they are overstretched in their daily activities. They are exposed to serious risks because they are in a strange environment or away from their traditional community (Lindsey, 2000). Bouta and Frerks (2002), argue that in this situation, women lack access to wage labour, they cannot get traditional work groups, which are destroyed as a result of displacement, divorce, separation or death (Bouta and Frerks 2002).

Women living on their own labour for survival in conflict situationAnother aspect of survival is getting help. Family networks, friends and persons born in the same locality are of equal importance for women. However, their support generally is of short duration. Women get work more easily than men. This means that they initiate all kinds of survival activities such as street vending, washing of clothes or other kinds of domestic service. These activities give them a certain guarantee of survival, no matter how dangerous they are. These strategies have the positive impact of increasing women’s economic independence and ability to provide for their families. In addition, women are likely to be more vocal and active in community decision making in an effort to take advantage of the new opportunities. However, in some cases, these changes have long-term negative consequences. Women who provide the resources to keep their families alive continue going to the fields to cultivate, to the forest to make charcoal, or to markets to trade their goods even though doing so puts them at risk of sexual violence (Akidiende 2002).

Commercial sex as a means of livelihood for women during conflict timesFor some women, commercial work is used as one way in which to provide for their families. In addition, some women whose husbands had died or migrated may engage in exploitative relationships such as prostitution probably because they need economic or social security. In the long-term these women may be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. The engagement of women in paid work indicates “empowering experiences as they generally gain greater autonomy, decision-making and access to the public sphere than before the conflict” (Date-Bah 2003:123).

According to Bop (2001), Women may also engage in more dangerous occupations such as smuggling and sale of prohibited goods and services such as illegal drugs. For example, in Senegal women partisans of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance were selling cannabis to fund the rebellion. Women are perceived to be less threatening or less likely to be involved in any form of illegal business, and therefore it is usually easier for them to cross the borders.

Involvement of women in distress work in conflict situationsAnother coping mechanism used by women in conflicts is to take up activities that are not only new but may be socially unacceptable, such as working outside the home (in societies where women are kept indoors and only men go out and work to bring food home), petty crime, illegal trade, engagement in prostitution, which, due to the absence of other sources of income and the availability of potential clients such as male combatants or international peace-keepers, become a viable method of income – generation (El-Bushra and Lopez, 1993:27). These latter forms of coping are categorised as distress coping mechanisms. It is difficult to link or relate specific coping mechanisms to the pre-conflict, actual conflict or post-conflict phase. However, women tend to continue with their normal life as long as possible. They increasingly have to adapt with coping mechanisms, starting with relatively simple forms of coping but gradually tending to forms of distress coping. Once conflict is declining, women are among the first to contribute to rehabilitation efforts, often particularly paying attention to the rehabilitation of effective health and education services, in order to take up their normal daily activities again (El-Bushra and Lopez, 1993).

Acceptance of badly remunerated work by womenWomen are also compelled to accept badly remunerated work in the informal sector which tends to expand rapidly in conflict situations as formal structures cease to function. In the post-conflict phase, women also mainly find employment in the informal sector because this sector resumes almost immediately, whereas investments in formal and larger enterprises are delayed as investors wait for political stability, peace and


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order before they become active. Women get involved in small-scale trading in markets and door-to door sales (Date-Bah 2003) as it is extremely difficult for women to secure employment opportunities in the formal sector. The collapse of the state and the closure of private companies may lead to a general loss of employment during conflict. On the other hand, the loosening of traditional labour relations and the increase in war-related sectors, such as arms manufacture and trade, may broaden women’s involvement in the formal employment sector. In relation to the post-conflict phase, when combatants return to civilian life during the early phases of post-conflict transition, female workers in the organised sector, regardless of their education, were generally first to lose their jobs (International Alert, 2002). There is a recurrence of traditional divisions of labour, which tends to limit women’s chances for formal employment. However, the post-conflict phase may provide an opening to build on the progress made by women. Women who become the sole providers of income after the conflict become frustrated because labour laws in most cases do not protect women’s full and equal access to employment. Their wages are sometimes only half of their male counterparts, and problems of leave allowances and forced early retirement are exacerbated in conflict situations. Some of these impediments are the result of neo-liberal economic policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (International Alert, 2002).

Transformation of women's domestic skills into profit venture in conflict timesAccording to Date-Bah (2003), the absence of male income support and labour may necessitate women’s entry into wage work and assumption of male tasks that constitute more fundamental changes in gender relations and societal norms. Some changes might not be drastic. It is easy for women to transform their domestic skills into profitable ones such as catering; engaging in petty trade is also common among women. Women also engage in production and sale of handicrafts and other goods. Agricultural tasks that are performed by men such as clearing are also assumed by women, which give them greater access to and control over income and surpluses. Some women also work as domestic helpers. These strategies have the positive impacts of increasing women’s economic independence and ability to provide for their families (Date-Bah, 2003:123).

According to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (1998), the most common obstacle of women is their limited land and property rights besides having difficulties in having access to important training programmes, which can equip them with the expertise and knowledge to take up their new tasks in conflict situations. It is extremely difficult for women to gain access to private or community farms as combatants often destroy them as a means of warfare or because mines have made it too dangerous to use such lands. However, the major cause preventing women to own land in some countriessuch as Bosnia-Herzegovina is that under modern systems of customary law, women are prohibited from owning, renting or inheriting land, property and housing in their own names, and access to and control over land rests completely with male relatives. (International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)2001:94).

El-Bushra and Lopez (1993) argue that on a more advantageous note, in conflict situations, there is general breakdown of traditional systems and the traditional division of tasks, and that women are regularly granted access to land for farming to ensure their own survival and that of their family. However, the accessibility to land and property does not give the same title and safeguard as ownership. Husbands and male relatives return home after conflict and restore the traditional divisions of tasks and roles. They take over activities outside the home, which during conflict were undertaken by women. Also, women are forced to take up their roles in the household again when men start generating income anew. The restoration of traditional divisions of tasks and (inheritance) systems in the post-conflict era has a negative impact on widows and female-headed households. Whereas they may be allowed access to land and property during conflict probably because men are engaged in warfare and have no peace to think of property, this may change after conflict, in the sense that, women’s legally recognised rights to inherit land from deceased male relatives are lacking or ignored. For instance, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, women returnees and widows in particular were disadvantaged by gender inequality.

Observations from the literature reviewThe review of the literature shows that women undertake many forms of survival strategies in conflict times in order to survive. These include making adaptations to their existing roles and activities such as petty trading and domestic services for economic reward. Other women also get involved in illicit work like prostitution and petty crimes. The literature also highlighted that conflict has serious socio-political


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and economic effects ranging from death, disability, displacement and psychological trauma suffered by the population. It also destroys social amenities such as health posts, schools, bridges, railways and energyfacilities which facilitate women's work. There may be insignificant difference in terms of negative consequences of armed conflict between large scale and small scale conflicts and methods of survival strategies adopted by women in the aftermath of conflict. In view of this the literature review will help the researcher to find out in the field ways and means used by the women to survive after their means of livelihood had been destroyed by the combatants.

Theoretical underpinning of the studyLindsey (2003:13), makes a proposition that “women experience armed conflicts in a multitude of ways”. According to Lindsey (2003), this includes participation of women in conflict as combatants, adoption of unfamiliar roles, strengthening of existing coping skills and the development and adoption of new ones. Lindsey further states that the unavailability of men’s income support and labour may necessitate the engagement of women into waged work and assumption of male tasks that constitute more fundamental changes in gender relations and cultural norms. Some changes may not be completely dramatic. Rehn and Sirleaf (2002:43) postulate that:

In every society women bear the responsibility of the burden of caring for those who are ill. This does not alter when women are in the midst of war; they still try to protect and care for their children and the elderly and they also offer support for husbands, their siblings and their parents (Rehn and Sirleaf, 2002:43).

The responsibility of care for others is so embedded in women’s psychology that even in the most desperate condition, women still endeavour to take care of every person around them in the community. This might mean that the social responsibility of caring for the ill or disabled adds heavily to the workload of women in conflict times. Rehn and Sirleaf further observe that other roles women play in conflict times to take care of themselves include carrying and smuggling weapons, providing intelligence of the whereabouts of munitions and also ensuring that the daily household survival strategies are assured. Rehn and Sirleaf (2002:43) further argue that:

given that many conflicts arise out of social and economic inequality, it is not surprising that women take sides in an effort to better their lives, or to protect themselves and their families. However, this can put them at even greater risk if they are caught by the opposing side.

The link between theoretical underpinning and the study The gender analysis takes care of the objective of the study; finding out the survival strategies of the women in conflict times. Violent conflict has the tendency of destroying the limited available sources of livelihood causing hunger and starvations to the communities affected by conflict. This is a problem because to survive in any given situation is significant. The proposition of Lindsey (2003) reveals some of the ways and means women adopt during difficult times of conflict to survive. For instance it is not impossible for women to transform their domestic skills into profit making ventures such as catering. The women’s responses on coping and survival strategies during the conflict conform to Lindsey’s proposition.

THE WOMEN’S VOICES:SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD FOR WOMEN DURING THE TIME OF THE CONFLICTThe following are the responses of women interviewed during the field work. The women’s voices revealed how they struggled to get food to feed themselves, children, husbands, aged, and injured combatants during the times of the conflict.

Survival strategies of women during the conflictRespondents were interviewed or asked of what they were doing to earn a living during the time of the conflict. A woman in Kito had this to say:

After our home was destroyed, I was virtually left with nothing. I started going to the Battor community (fishing community) to buy fish, smoke it and sell to support my family (quotations from a respondent in Kito).

A responded at Kito also narrated that:I fled to Salaga and I was idling there. People were helping me once in a while with food, money and clothing (quotation from a respondent in Kito).


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This respondent solely depended on charity and aid in Salaga in order to survive. The respondent further said when she was asked whether she received aid:

I personally had only two bars of soap and that was all. I can’t best tell the source of the aid (quotation from a respondent in Kito).

Another respondent at Kuwani also narrated that:My husband was bringing food to the house and I was responsible for bringing money which I got from my fish business. Considering our plight the Government brought us rice, beans, maize and oil. The church also gave me second–hand clothing (quotation from a respondent at Kuwani).

A respondent in Kpandai also narrated that:I got aid from the Government in the form of oil, second hand cloth, rice and sorghum. The church also gave me milk powder, maize and sorghum (quotation from a respondent in Kpandai).

Another respondent from Kito lamented that:I was doing nothing. People were supporting me. I also got support from Government and NGOs (quotation from a respondent in Kito).

The Queen Mother in Kpandai also expressed her view in the following:I was fortunate that the NGOs and the church came to my aid and gave me food items (quotation from a respondent in Kito).

During Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) at Kpandai, respondents were of the view that:The chief of Lungi provided us with shelter, and water. The church also gave us second hand clothes, wheat and soap for bathing and washing of our dresses. The Government however was discriminative providing assistance only to our enemies and forgetting of us (quotation from respondents during FGDs at Kpandai).

It is possible to see these activities adopted by the respondents being executed by both men and women beyond the research areas in Ghana. However, what makes these activities undertaken by the respondents worth mentioning is that prior to the conflict, the majority of the respondents claimed that they were involved in agriculture as a main occupation. This means that agriculture was the dominant occupation of the women. Prior to the conflict, the respondents were not used to some kinds of jobs such as “kayayoo”, asking for charity and involvement in domestic work for reward. This indicates that conflict has the ability and capability of changing means of livelihood or survival mechanism of a social group or individuals as it had happened in East Gonja District. Conflict could also change a social status of social group either by elevating them or relegating them to the background. Here, the women’s honour, dignity and integrity was reduced as some of them had become house helps, a service they might not had offered if conflict had not happened in their communities. Another implication may be that conflict could forcefully change occupation of people. The respondents deserted the land and involved themselves in other means of livelihood in order to survive which were hitherto not common to them.

The In-depth Interview and FGDs confirm that another aspect of survival strategy for women in conflict times is relying on charity. The majority of respondents stated that they were getting help from their men and grown –up children who survived the violent conflict. They also mentioned their sources of help to be from individuals or neighbours in the communities they emigrated to as well as Government and religious organizations. This help was in the form of money and basic petty goods that could help recipients in their daily lives. However the help was short-lived. The women had to fend for themselves after some time when the help ceased.

Employment in the informal sectorA respondent at Kpandai was interviewed about what she did to survive and she said that:

I was doing abawa (working as a servant) work and also involved in hard labour –working on people’s farms and getting money to help my family (quotation from a respondent in Kpandai).

The Queen Mother at Kpandai commented that:I am a professional teacher. During the conflict, the schools in Kpandai were closed down as a result of insecurity. I stayed at Lungi (village )for many months without work and salary. I could not travel to Salaga, the town of our enemy to collect my salary amidst the


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conflict. I had to help people on their farms before I could get food to eat (quotation from a Queen Mother at Kpandai).

A respondent at Kito explained that:I fled to Kumasi and was doing kayayoo (head porter) in order to get money to support my family back home (quotation from a respondent at Kito).

The FGDs at Kito revealed that the respondents were involved in:Burning of charcoal and chopping firewood to get fuel wood to sell. We also became domestic helpers in Salaga. Some of us were washing clothing of people in exchange for basic needs and money. Our elderly women acted as baby sitters for people who had trust in them that they are not witches before they could get food to survive (quotation from respondents at Kito).

Also in Kuwani the FGDs revealed that the respondents were involved mainly in farming during their stay in the bush. A few of them were involved in pito brewing, which gave them insignificant amounts of money to enable them buy commodities such as salt and matches.

The responses of the respondents above buttress the views of Date- Bah (2003), that women mainly find employment in the informal economy because job opportunities in the formal sector are scarce due to break down of law and order which characterises conflict zones where public and privately owned enterprises would not be ready to operate. Date- Bah (2003), further argued that women in most cases lack skills required for formal employment in addition to their willingness to engage in any kind of work available that will secure the survival of their families. These jobs are often gender–stereotyped extensions of women’s household duties such as sewing, cooking, washing of clothing (laundry), which is low paid but offer women opportunities. It can be observed from the responses that apart from teaching there was complete absence of formal job opportunities for women. The teachers deserted the communities because of insecurity.

The situation at Kito was however different because all the respondents emigrated to Salaga and almost all of them became dependents in the Salaga community. The FGDs at Kito reveal that the respondents did not trade. However, few of them mentioned that they were involved in:

Burning of charcoal, domestic work as house helpers and washing of people’s clothing in order to get food and money to support their families (quotation from respondents at Kito).

In Kpandai a respondent explained that:I was processing gari and sending it to Accra to sell. I got a lot of money out of it but I was not able to make any savings. I used the money to take care of my families and also sponsored the war by buying bullets for our men to fight our enemies (quotation from a respondent at Kpandai).

Another respondent at Kpandai explained that:I was preparing food and selling. I was not making profit because of some of our people did not have money and were always begging to eat. I was satisfied with that situation because my family was also depending on me for their livelihood (quotation from a respondent at Kpandai).

FGDs in Kpandai revealed that the respondents were involved in a variety of income generating activities to support themselves. These include processing of gari, working on the farms of their neighbours and begging for basic materials such as utensils, food, water and clothing in order to live averagely.

Respondents explained that the petty trading in most cases was some kind of barter system where exchange of goods and services took place without the use of physical cash. A respondent at Kuwani says:

There was no money during the conflict times. Those of us selling petty goods had to exchange with other people’s goods in order to get what we did not have. One cannot get money to buy salt so you have to use farm produce to exchange for salt (quotation from a respondent at Kuwani).


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The informal sector is always available that was why some of the women undertook petty trade as a means of survival. The information gathered on the field buttresses the view of International Alert (2002) that women find it difficult to secure employment opportunities in the formal sector. But the informal sector is always available either in war or in peacetime.

MigrationOne of the survival strategies of the women was migration. The majority of the respondents and even all of them were internally displaced and this made them flee from the conflict-affected areas to other areas as migrants. A respondent at Kito responded that: “I have run to Salaga to escape death”.During the FGDs the above statement was confirmed by all respondents that they emigrated to Salaga. They spent three days and nights in the bush. They narrated the following:

On Saturday early morning we were in our rooms when we were stoned out of the rooms and our houses destroyed. We the women were all gathered under a big tree. Our men also shot guns but they run out of bullets because they were not prepared for the war. Most of them were killed and the few who were lucky managed to escape. After that they (Konkomba) told us (women) to get up and go away. We told them that we could not go because we were afraid of being killed on the way to Salaga. They later stopped us and were searching us, because they thought some male babies were with us. Our baby boys were seized and killed. We could not withstand the atrocities, therefore we ran into the bush. Some of us spent three days and three nights in the bush before we finally got to Salaga. In Salaga, some of us did not have relatives; therefore we entered people’s houses unannounced seeking for accommodation, protection and security. It was indeed a sad event (quotation from respondents at Kito).

In Kuwani the respondents did not migrate to any place. They rather fled to the bush to hide. The respondents revealed the following during FGDs:

Some of us (women) were afraid and weak and could not fight. We ran into the bush with our children and the disabled people among us. We were only suffering at that time. We lost all our belongings as they were burnt. It is only unfortunate that human beings do not eat grass otherwise that was what we would have depended on in the bush. We ate raw cassava because we had no cooking utensils to cook. We did not have matches to use to help us roast the cassava. We also ate all the yam seedlings of our men and they could not get some to farm during farming season. Some of us (women) were beaten by snakes and stung by scorpions. Reptiles also worried us a lot because we were sleeping with them in the bush (quotation from respondents at Kuwani).

In Kpandai the FGDs revealed that respondents emigrated to Lungi because of general insecurity in their native land.

We (women) took our children to the bush for several days before we emigrated to Lungi (avillage near Kpandai) with the permission and invitation of their chief. Even though we were readily welcomed by the people, the situation was unbearable for us. The people shared their accommodation, food and clothing with us for a short period of time and we had to fend for ourselves afterwards. Some of us further emigrated to other places such as Bimbila and Tamale. We did all kinds of manual work as refugees in order to survive. The salary earners among us especially the men agreed to share their monies with us so that we could afford to buy basic necessities such as salt, kerosene and matches. We stayed in Lungi for about three months before we moved to Kpandai after our men conquered the town (quotation from respondents at Kpandai).

The women suffered a setback during the period of migration. According to International Alert (2002), women in situations of migration cannot get access to wage labour and traditional work groups because of false separation, divorce and death. Because they were foreign in the new environment, it became very difficult for them to adapt and that was why they returned to their communities as soon as relative peace was installed. The respondents in Kito commented that:

We could not pay our rent, light bills and water bills in Salaga that was why we are back to Kito to live with Konkombas. If we could survive in Salaga better we would not have returned to this place (quotation from respondents at Kito).


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Reliance on grown-up daughters for livelihoodA respondent at Kito has this to say on the role played by her daughter to keep the family surviving when she was asked to mention her source of livelihood.

I lost my husband during the conflict and it was morally wrong to instantly enter into relationship with another man who would provide me with my basic needs. I have two grown-up daughters who were befriended by young men in Salaga and they were providing us with money and other material gifts (quotation from respondent at Kito).

The above response reveals an aspect of culture of the people in Kito. According to the women, widows could not marry after the death of their husbands for at least four months. It is a taboo for a woman to immediately or instantly remarry after her husband’s death.FGDs in Kito and Kpandai revealed that:

It was difficult for our men to marry because of lack of money. Therefore, some of the girls entered into relationships with soldiers, police officers and town young men who were giving us assistance. Prostitution is a taboo in our society but there was nothing we could do to stop our daughters because there was no job for them to do during the time of the conflict. Some of the girls traveled further south to look for work. The girls in some cases became our source of livelihood (quotation from respondents at Kito).

The attitude of the girls who entered into relationships with Government officials in order to get money confirmed the view of Date- Bah (2003) that illicit work was one of the ways women adapt in order to obtain food for their families during conflict times. She added that those women could be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/ ADIS, in the long–term.

Reliance on male children for livelihoodRespondents explained that some of the women relied on their male children for food to survive. A respondent at Kuwani says:

My grown-up male child used to ride a bicycle in the night to search and collect water for us to use. It was difficult for us (women) to search for water as a result of general insecurity. I was afraid that enemies would attack me in the process of looking for water (quotation from respondent at Kuwani).

Another respondent in the same community expressed her appreciation to her son in the following:He was responsible for going to my husband’s farm in the night to bring food to our settlement. He also helped in bringing fuel wood for me to roast cassava for the young ones (quotation from respondent at Kuwani).

FGDs at Kito and Kpandai confirmed that the grown-ups males were helpful to the women. The young men served as security for the women, after the latter lost their husbands and other male relations in the conflict.

Major findingsThe study reveals that women are not just always dependents solely on others for survival in adversity; women rather continue to work assiduously in difficult situations to fend for themselves. The women were involved in numerous and varied forms of survival strategies and coping mechanisms. Some of the women got involved in domestic work, or became migrant head porters in the southern cities of Ghana (Accra and Kumasi). Others also depended on NGOs, religious bodies, and benevolent individuals for charity. These were new survival strategies adopted by the women which hitherto were uncommon to them.

Limitations of the study The limitation of this work is that there had been conflict in many districts of Ghana destroying sources of livelihood rendering women in a state of unbearable situation of fending for themselves and other members of the community. However, this study takes care of only East Gonja District making it difficult to generalize the findings. To make a generalization of the finding of the study, it is appropriate to take a sample of women of all the conflict areas in Ghana and undertake a similar study.

Summary and conclusionsThe study seeks to investigate the survival strategies of women during the inter ethnic conflict between Gonjas on one hand and the Konkomba and Nawuri on the other in the East Gonja District of Northern Ghana. The study revealed that sources of livelihood such as farms have been destroyed. Also the men were mostly engaged into fighting desserting women to fend for themselves and other disadvantaged social


10

groups in the community. The women coped up with this situation by engaging into several new survival strategies in addition to the traditional ones they are used to during peace times. Some of the women transformed the cultural domestic work such as childbearing into commercial ventures as they were involved in babysitting during the period of migration in order to survive. It is a descriptive study hence the qualitative method of data collection and analysis were used to undertake the study.

ReferencesAkidiende, O. (2002). West Africa. (4351).Baden, S. (1997). Post – conflict Mozambique: women’s special situation,

population issues and gender perspectives and the integration of these concerns in skills and employment promotion. Unpublished.

Bop, C (2001). Women in Conflicts, Their Gains and Their Losses in Meinjes S.; Pillay A.; Turshen M., The Aftermath-Women in Post-Conflict Transformation. London: Zed Books.

Bouta, T, and Frerks, G. (2002). Women’s Roles in Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Post Conflict Reconstruction. Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations Cliengendael.

Date-Bah, E (2001). Crises and Decent Work: A Collection of Essays. Geneva: ILO.Date-Bah, E. (2003). Jobs After War. A Critical Challenge in the Peace and Reconstruction Puzzle.

Geneva:International Labour Organisation.El-Bushra, J and Piza-Lopez, E. (1993). Gender Related Violence: Its Scope and Relevance in H.O’

Connell (ed). Women and Conflict, Oxfam Focus on Gender: 1(2) 1-9. International Alert (2002). The Sharing Know-How Workshop. Oxford: International Alert.Lindsey, C. (2000). Women and War. Geneva: ICRC.Lindsey, C. (2002). Women Facing War. Geneva: International Committee On the Red Cross.Meertens, D. (2001).The Nostalgic Future –Colombia, in Moser, C..O and Clark F.C Gender, Armed

Conflict and Political violence. London: Zed Books. Rehn, E and Sirleaf, E. J. (2002). Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the

Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building. New York: UNIFEM.

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (1998),Yahaya, A. B (2007). The Implications of the Konkomba-Nawuri-Gonja armed conflict of 1991 For The

lives of Women in East Gonja District of Ghana. Unpublished M.Phil. Thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropolgy. University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast.

World Bank (1998). Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Role of the World Bank. Washington DC: World Bank.


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DISPOSITION OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS CAREER IN SOCIOLOGY

AJIBADE, DAVIDDepartment of Sociology

Kogi State UniversityP.M.B 1008 Anyigba,Kogi State, Nigeria.

[email protected]

ABSTRACTThis study examined the disposition of Senior Secondary School Students towards career in Sociology. A total of four hundred (400) respondents were randomly selected from eight (8) public secondary schools in Abeokuta metropolis. Data were generated through the use of both questionnaire and oral interviews. Data generated through questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive technique such as frequency counts and percentage while the data obtained through interviews were content analyzed. The study revealed among others that majority of the respondents intend to enroll for tertiary educational degree/diploma after completion of their secondary school education. Despite this, it was revealed that many of the respondents were ignorant of the discipline of sociology and this accounted for its low preference among the respondents as only 35.5 percent showed positive disposition towards career in sociology while 63.7 percent preferred studying other courses and the remaining 0.8 percent were neutral. The study concludes with a set of recommendations which will help to popularize the course as well as arouse the interest of students in the discipline of sociology.

Keywords: Disposition, Sociology, Students, Career, Abeokuta.

INTRODUCTIONSince the word sociology was coined by Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857), it has become widely accepted not only in Europe but also in United States of America, Japan, Canada and in other parts of the world as an academic discipline and as a tool for analyzing and understanding society. But what is sociology? Several scholars such as Kornblum (1994); Ross and Haag (1961); Wilmot (1985); Henslin (1997); Lindsay and Beach (2003); etc have explained the meaning of sociology. For instance, Kornblum (1994) defined sociology as the scientific study of human societies and of human behaviour in the groups that make up a society. It is concerned with how social conditions influence our lives and individuals. Ross and Haag (1961) on their own defined sociology as the study of the formation and transformation of groups and the relationship of groups and group members with one another. To Wilmot (1985) sociology is a science of human companionship, fellowship, association and interaction.

While all these definitions may be accurate/correct, however, in this study, Smelser (1994) definition was adopted. He defined sociology as the scientific study of social relations, institutions and societies. Although not all sociologists accepted the scientific status of the discipline (Tukura, 2004; Haralambos and Holborn, 2004) but it is accurate to characterize the discipline as a scientific one given the very strong emphasis placed on empirical investigation and systematic explanation according to the scientific method. Most importantly, it utilizes a set of procedures that minimizes the personal bias of researcher while at the same time maximizes precise measurement (Isiugo-Abanihe, Isamah and Adesina, 2002).

Sociology is an important discipline in faculties of social sciences in Nigeria universities. The social sciences are academic disciplines that deal with people in their social and cultural context (Otite and Oginwo, 2006). Other disciplines in the social sciences include Anthropology, Psychology, Political Science and Economics. Some faculties of the social sciences include other disciplines such as Demography, Geography, Social Work, and Accounting. But what distinguishes Sociology from the other social science disciplines is that as each of these social science disciplines study an aspect of the society, sociology is interested in all aspects of the society. Also, sociology has a unique way of analyzing reality which has been referred to by scholars such as Hess, Markson and Stein (1996) as the sociological perspective or way of seeing.


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A major in sociology gives one distinct skills to look beyond the often neglected and taken-for-granted aspects of our social environment and examine them in fresh and creative ways (Berger, 1963; James and Zanden, 1996). People trained in sociology work in a wide range of interesting jobs, in the public, corporate and community sectors. Sociologists work in neighbourhood and community development, in ageing, urban, youth or women’s services in health program evaluation or program management. They work in media, not-for-profit organizations and many works as researchers in areas from family life to educational change. They are found in large corporations, community groups, and the three levels of government i.e. Federal, State and Local (Huber, 1984; American Sociological Association, 1984).

Inspite of many job opportunities available for sociologists, information from literature (Nworah, 1997; Iheanacho, 2000; Joshua, 2003) indicate that many secondary school students always aspire to study courses such as Medicine, Accounting, Pharmacy, Business Administration, Engineering and Law without a single thought on course like Sociology. This phenomenon is a threat as it has implication for planning the recruitment into the sociology profession in Nigeria. Hence, this study was conceived to find out how far such finding hold for the generality of senior secondary school students in Abeokuta metropolis. In pursuance of this, attempts were made to provide answers to the following research questions: (i) what are the career goals/intention of students after secondary school education? (ii) who influences their career choices? (iii) are they aware of the discipline of Sociology? (iv) would they like to choose sociology as a course to study in tertiary institution after their secondary school education?. The result of this study will contribute to a better understanding of the disposition of senior secondary school students in Abeokuta towards career in sociology. The finding will also go a long way in making an empirical contribution to the literature on career education and sociology in Nigeria.

AREA OF STUDY AND METHODOLOGYThis study was carried out in Abeokuta, a city in South Western Nigeria. Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun State. It is located between latitude 7o00W – 7o30N and longitude 3o00E – 3o30E, and it hosts two local government areas namely Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North. Most of the inhabitants of Abeokuta are Egba, a subgroup of the Yoruba people. Other Nigerians from other parts of the country as well as expatriates are also living in the city. Abeokuta has over twenty public secondary schools.

The study population consists of the final year senior secondary school commercial class students in Abeokuta metropolis. The science and art oriented students were excluded because of their subject combinations which cannot permit/allow them to study sociology in any Nigerian university. As regards selection of sample, a total of eight (8) public secondary schools were selected using random sampling technique. The schools selected were African Church Grammar School, Abeokuta; Gateway Secondary School, Abeokuta; Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta; Unity High School, Abeokuta; Premier Grammar School, Abeokuta; Olumo High School, Abeokuta; Abeokuta Girls’ Grammar School, Abeokuta; and Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta. Selection of sample of students was done through the use of simple random sampling technique. A total of fifty (50) students were chosen from each of the eight (8) selected schools to give 400. Equal numbers of students were selected in order to ensure equitable representation and reduce bias.

Data for the study were collected through the use of both questionnaire and oral interviews. The questionnaire revolved around the (i) respondents social background (ii) other issues raised in the research questions of the study. Oral interviews were also held with some of the respondents in order to have in-depth information on some of the issues raised in the research questions. However, before administering the questionnaire, the permission of the selected school authorities was sought and obtained after introduction of the study. The verbal consent of the respondents were also sought and obtained. The researcher personally administered the questionnaire to all the respondents in their various schools during the school hours to ensure maximum return of the instrument. In all, 100 percent return rate was achieved. Data collected through questionnaire were analysed using descriptive techniques such as frequency counts and percentage while the data obtained through interviews were content analyzed.


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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONTABLE 1: SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

VARIABLES CATEGORIES FREQUENCY PERCENTSex Male

FemaleTotal

201199400

50.349.7

100.0Current age of the respondents (years)

0-1011-1213-1415-1617-18>18Total

--

02137142119400

--

0.534.235.529.8

100.0Respondents position in the family

First bornSecond bornThird bornOthersTotal

9911012170400

24.827.530.217.5

100.0Fathers’ educational level

No formal educationalPrimary school certificateSecondary/technical school certificateTertiary certificateOthersTotal

42100130128

-400

10.525.032.532.0

-100.0

Mothers’ educational level

No formal educationalPrimary school certificateSecondary/technical school certificateTertiary certificateOthersTotal

6014012575-

400

15.035.031.318.7

-100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2010

Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents. From the table, a little more than half (50.3 percent) of the respondents were male while the remaining (49.7 percent) were female. The high figure of male respondents is an indication that more male than female enrolled in secondary schools in the study area. Currents age of the respondents shows that about 35.5 percent fell within age 17-18 years, 34.2 percent were within age 15-16 years while 29.8 percent were age 18 years and above. The high proportionof those whose age ranges between 17-18 years is an indication that most of the respondents began their educational career at the national official age of six years.

Respondents position in the family shows that about 30.2 percent were third born, 27.5 percent were second born while the remaining others were17.5 percent. Education level of the respondents father show that about 32.5 percent had secondary/technical school certificate, 32.0 percent had tertiary school certificate while 25.0 percent had primary school certificate. This finding implies that the respondents father were fairly literate. Respondents mothers’ educational level show that about 35.0 percent had primary school certificate, 31.3 percent had secondary/technical education certificate, 18.7 percent hold tertiary education certificate while the remaining (15.0 percent) respondents never attended school. This result also indicates that the mothers of the respondents were equally fairly literate.

TABLE 2: RESPONDENTS CAREER GOALS/INTENTION AFTER SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

CAREER GOALS/INTENTION NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE(%)


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Enroll for tertiary educational degree/diploma

236 59.0

Work immediately after completion of Secondary school education and later enroll for tertiary educational degree/diploma

81 20.3

Enroll for short term vocational training 66 16.4No response 17 4.3TOTAL 400 100.0Source: Field Survey, 2010

Table 2 shows the intention of the respondents after leaving secondary school. Majority (59.0 percent) of the respondents intend to enroll for tertiary education degree /diploma. About 20.3 percent intend to work for some time and later enroll for tertiary educational degree/diploma; 16.4 percent intend to enroll for vocational training in either tailoring, carpentary, painting, hairdressing, barbing saloon, etc, while the remaining (4.3 percent) respondents did not respond. A situation where more than half of the respondents intend to enroll for tertiary educational degree/diploma could be as a result of the role of education in the enlightening and liberation of man from the vagaries of nature. It enables man to be self sufficient materially and philosophically (Martin, 2003). Furthermore it is the most potent weapon of political influence and power (Amingo,2003). Also, in a country (like Nigeria) of over 400 language groups (Otite, 2000) higher education seems the sole open sesame to elite status (Amingo,2003).

TABLE 3: INFLUENCE ON RESPONDENTS CAREER CHOICEINFLUENCE ON CAREER CHOICE NUMBER OF

RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE (%)

Teacher 62 15.5Career guidance 47 11.7Parents 251 62.8Peers 34 8.5Others 06 1.5Total 400 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2010

Table 3 shows influence on respondents career choices. From the table, more than half (62.8 percent) of the respondents rated their parents as the most important influence on their career choice while teachers (15.5 percent) were the next followed by career guidance (11.7 percent) peers (8.5 percent) and others (1.5 percent). By and large, a situation were more than half of the respondents rated their parents as the influence on their career choices indicates that parents are the most significant individuals influencing career choices of their children in the study area. This finding conforms to that of Breakwell, etal, 1998; Dick and Rallis, 1991; Ferry, 2006; Agarwala, 2008. These scholars in their various studies unanimously found parents to have important influence on children career choice.

TABLE 4: RESPONDENTS AWARENESS OF THE DISCIPLINE OF SCIOLOGYAWARENESS OF THE DISCIPLINE NUMBER OF

RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

(%)Yes 57 14.3No 339 84.7No response 04 1.0Total 400 100.0Source: Field Survey, 2010

Table 4 shows the respondents awareness as regards the discipline of sociology. Majorities (84.7 percent) of the respondents were ignorant of the discipline of sociology; about 14.3 percent knew of the discipline of sociology while the remaining (1.0 percent) did not respond. It is unfortunate that as much as 84.7 percent of the respondents were ignorant of the discipline of sociology. Ignorance about the existence of the discipline of sociology and what it entail is likely to be a key factor responsible for its low level


15

popularity. This is unlike the case of other courses such as Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Law, Accountancy, and Business administration where awareness of and interest among students is very high before they are ready for tertiary level education. Respondents who claimed the awareness of the discipline of sociology were asked the source of their information. Majority of them claimed to know of the discipline through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination/Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (UTME/JAMB) brochure while the remaining had knowledge of the discipline through their school teachers.

TABLE 5: RESPONDENTS DISPOSITION TOWARDS CAREER IN SOCIOLOGYCAREER IN SOCIOLOGY NUMBER OF

RESPONDENTSPERCENTAGE

(%)Yes 142 35.5No 255 63.7No response 03 0.8Total 400 100.0Source: Field Survey, 2010

Table 5 shows the respondents view towards career in sociology. Majorities (63.7 percent) of the respondents signify no; about 35.5 percent indicates yes, while the remaining (0.8 percent) did not respond. The result of the interviews equally corroborates this finding as many of the interviewees show unfavorable disposition towards career in sociology. Majority of the respondents perceived sociology as unprestigious course that cannot fetch them good income, high social status and respect. They however preferred career in accountancy, banking and finance and business administration. They perceived these courses as the one that can enhance their social status as well as prospects of securing high paying job in the banking, oils and gas, shipping, insurance and manufacturing industries. In the words of one of the interviewees: I would like to be addressed by people either as an Accountant or Banker than sociologist.The unfavourable disposition of majority of the respondents could be attributed to their ignorance of the essence, utility and career prospects of the discipline of sociology. In sum, this finding indicate that majority of the respondents have negative disposition towards career in sociology. This however partly confirmed the finding of scholars such as Nworah, 1997; Iheanacho, 2000; and Joshua, 2003. For instance, Nworah in his work titled “Factors Influencing Career Choice among Secondary School Students in Onitsha Zone” found out that students preferred reading courses such as law, accounting, banking and finance, medicine and geology. Similarly, Joshua (2003) in his work titled “Aspiration Pattern of Senior Secondary School Students in Calabar Municipality” found greater numbers of students aspiring to read medicine, law, accountancy, and business administration.

CONCLUSIONThis study examined the disposition of senior secondary school students towards career in Sociology. The finding revealed among others that majority of the respondents intend to pursue tertiary educational degree/diploma after their secondary school education. Despite this, it was revealed that many of the respondents were ignorant of the discipline of sociology. This ignorance makes the courses to be largely unpopular in the study area and thus accounted for its low preference as only 35.5 percents intended to study sociology while 63.7 percent preferred studying other courses such as Accountancy, Banking and Finance, etc and the remaining (0.8 percent) were neutral. Based on the findings of this study one can conclude that senior secondary school students in Abeokuta metropolis have negative disposition towards career in Sociology after leaving secondary school.

RECOMMENDATIONIn view of the forgoing findings and conclusion, it is hereby recommended that:(1) Adequate and sustained publicity especially among the students in the secondary schools should

be made by the Nigerian Sociological Association in order to increase awareness on the benefits of the discipline of Sociology to society and to popularize the course.

(2) Government through Ministry of Education should provide schools with career guidance counselor who will be enlightening students on the career prospect of the discipline of Sociology.

(3) Parents being most important influence on career decision of their children should be enlightened by the Nigeria Sociological Association on the essence, utility and career prospects of the discipline of Sociology.


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(4) Accomplished sociologists should take up responsibilities in organising and sponsoring mass publicity programmes on the discipline of Sociology. Apart from its obvious advantage of wider outreach, this strategy will help to bring great public awareness about the course among a wider audience.

REFERENCESAgarwala. .T (2008) “Factors Influencing Career Choices of Management Students in India” Career

Development International, Vol. 13, Iss.4: 362-376Amingo, 1 (2003) “Higher Education and Development in Nigeria” in S.B Nwideeduh (ed) Trends and

Issues in Managing Universities in Nigeria, Owerri: Spring Field Publisher Ltd. Pp 90-105American Sociological Association (1984) Careers in Sociology, Washington DC: American Sociological

Association.Berger, P.L (1963) Invitation to Sociology: A Humanist Perspective, Garden City, N.Y: Anchor Books.Breakwell, G.M; Fife-schaw, C and Devereux, J (1988) “Parental Influence in Teenagers Motivation to

Train for Technological Jobs” Journal of Occupational Psychology,61:79-88Dick, T.P and Rallis, S.F (1991) “Factors and Influences on High School Students Career Choices”

Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 22: 281-292Ferry, N.M (2006) “Factors Influencing Career of Adolescents and Young adults in Rural Pennysylvania”

Journal of Extension, Vol 44, No. 3:1-4Haralambos, M and Holborn, M (2004) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. 6th ed. Hammersmith,

London: HarperCollins Publisher Ltd.Henslin, J.M (1994) Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, 3rd ed, Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Hess, B; Markson, E and Sten, P (1996 )Sociology, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Huber, B.J (1984) Career Possibilities for Sociology Graduates, Washington DC: American Sociological

Association.Iheanacho, R.A.E (2000) “Comparative Preference for Professional Training in University of Calabar:

Implications for Universal Basic Education” The counselor, 18, 1:77-83.Isiugo-Abanihe, U.C, Austin, N and Adesina, J.O (eds) (2002) Current and Perspective in Sociology.

Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.James, W and Zenden. V (1996) Sociology: The Core, 4th ed, USA: McGraw-Hill IncJoshua, M.T (2003) “Aspiration Pattern of Senior School Students in Calabar Municipality” Olumo

Journal of Education, Vol .2 No 1:65-76.Lindsay, L and Beach, S (2003) Essentials of Sociology, U.S.A.: Printice Hall.Martin, 1 (2003) “Women: Education and Empowerment in Nigeria-An overview” in S.B Nwideeduh (ed)

Trends and Issues in Managing Universities in Nigeria, Owerri: Springfield Publishers Ltd. Pp 189-202.

Nworah, O.M. (1997) “Factors Influencing Career Choice among Secondary School Students in Onitsha Zone” The counselor, Vol.15 (1&2): 89-96.

Otite, O (2000) Ethnic pluralism, Ethnicity and Ethnic conflicts in Nigeria, 2nd ed, Ibadan: Shaneson.Otite, O and Ogionwo, W (2006) An Introduction to Sociological Studies, Ibadan: Heineman Educational

Books (Nigeria) Plc.Ross, R and Haag, E.V.D (1961) The Fabric of Society: An Introduction to Social Science, New York:

Harcourt Brace.Smelser, N (1994) Sociology, Cambridge: Blackwell.Tukura, D.W (2004) What is Sociology? Groundworks of Sociology Monographs, Vol. 1, No1, Jos: Mt

Tabor University Book.Wilmot P.F (1985) Sociology: A New Introduction, Zaria: Asekome Academic.


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HOME-BASED FEMALE SEX WORKERS AND EXPOSURE TO HIV IN SUBURB OF CITIES IN NIGERIA

AMOO EMMANUEL OLAGUNJUDemography and Social Statistics Program,

Department of Economics and Development Studies, School of Social Sciences, Covenant University, Canaanland, Ota,

Ogun State, [email protected]

+234 8035520849

AbstractSex workers are widely present around the globe but yet publicly acknowledged by none. The covert activity of their trade is a catalyst for plausible spread of HIV/AIDS. The study examined the knowledge and sexual behaviour of home-based-sex-workers (HBSW) and their exposure to the risk of HIV. Data were generated via a face-to-face structured interview with 94 identified female homeworking prostitutes in two suburb communities around Lagos and Abuja using non-probability informant sampling technique. Data were analyzed using only univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. The study revealed that most respondents are young literate females in age group 30-39 year. Knowledge about HIV is very high (79.2%), however, it does not significantly reflect in their practice. 79.8% would concede the use of condom if the client is ready to pay higher money while only 11.7% knows their HIV status. All mechanisms against HIV are self-medicated/prescription. The business’ peak period is festival/holiday/weekends and charges varied depending on the client status. The paper recommends sexual health education (SHE) outreaches and occupational rehabilitation for female sex workers.

Key words: Home-based-sex-workers, sexual education, HIV, prostitution, etc.

Statement of the problemSex is sacrosanct and prostitution is surrounded by myths. Round the globe, sex workers are widely present everywhere but yet publicly accepted or acknowledged by none. The presence but covert activity of this trade is a catalyst for the silent spread of HIV/AIDS among the sub-populations that are vulnerably high-risk for sexually transmitted infections. Despite the effort of governments` and international agencies in tackling the menace of HIV/AIDS with a focus on the conspicuously street and professional prostitutes, the preponderance of women who use their homes or apartments for the illicit acts of exchanging sex for money calls for serious concern.

Commercialisation of sex remains an illegally professional in Nigeria and some other countries of the world, however, the operation of homeworking prostitution cannot be deniable. In spite of all programs and provisions, the challenge does not only remain but could be regarded as a demographic, socio and political affronts. The potency of hitherto efforts cannot be doubted except that it could be considered as ‘horizontal-approaches’ at reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS. Till date, sparser efforts have been devoted to the examination of the magnitude and impact of home-based prostitutes. Specifically, streetworking prostitutions have been the cynosure of the public interventions, societies permissiveness of exchange of sex for money within and in the neighbourhood might be a formidable hindrance to manifestation of the gains of most interventions on HIV (Hor et al, 2008). The sub-group of population concern is a hidden population. The clout of secret over them and their activities make them more exposed to numerous adverse sexual hazards including STIs. Home based prostitute is shielded from any form of societal pressures, stigma, and discrimination as experienced by streetworking prostitutes. However, with the kind of social changes that Nigeria like other transiting economies is experiencing coupled with the recent globalisation, the societal condition and attitude towards obscene or illicit act of homeworking prostitute is expected to be improving. Thus, there is need to examine the societal attitude towards this clandestine act as a way of curbing the spread of HIV in the society. It is also expedient to unearth the module operandi of homeworking prostitutions and probable effects on the incidence of sexual transmitted diseases.


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Objectives of the studyWhile this study is not a mapping of homeworking prostitutes or census exercise, it is instituted to assess the operation of homeworking sex workers and examine their knowledge and precautionary mechanisms they are adopting to reduce their being infected with HIV/AIDS. Efforts were specifically devoted to identification of home-based female sex workers and modus operandi. The overriding objective is to provide recommendations for effective prevention strategies towards the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. It is strongly believed that findings will be useful for planning, implementation and evaluation of HIV/AIDS intervention programs in at least Nigeria and other parts of sub-Sahara Africa.

Literatures Review Commercial sex workers have been everywhere since the time immemorial, though there are no record to show where commercial sex first started in any country neither is there documentation of the category of home-based prostitutions. Also, the desire to measure, define and keep statistics on sexuality or sexual comportment and gender is a relatively new phenomenon in human history (Neil and Barnard, 1997). Not until recent times, the terms heterosexual, HIV/AIDS, safer sex and a host of others were non-existence but now in vogue due to the advent of ‘modern socialisation’ (Eleanor et al, 2007). In ancient times, sanctity of sex and limited sexual partners are sacrosanct in this part of region but the emerging new societies have created categories for sexual orientation and gender without observable control over emergence sexual behavior especially among women. These unchecked behaviours have covertly or overtly created catalogue of sexual deviancies with disregard towards existence of HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2002; WHO, 2010).

Sex work activity is conceptualized in this context as sexual activity performed for the purpose of receiving compensation especially financial benefit from the buyer. It is regarded as a business-like service adopted as means of livelihood by the suppliers (women in this regard) whereby the women made herself available for the opposite sex exclusively for sexual activity. While the open operation of this trade is known as prostitution and believed to be at variance with social and religious dictates, its clandestine practice is seemingly unchallenged in the society. Also, it is known fact that the trade is frown at by the federal constitution, and deceitfully abhorred, the buyers and the sellers live within the community. However, this paper is not intended to contest the legitimacy of the trade but to examine the risk factors inherent in business of disguised transactional sexual activity among women in their usual residential homes within the community.

There is limited statistics on prostitution and there is known know literature that confirm their total number in Nigeria. However, the HIV/AIDS statistics both at global and national levels are awesomely frightening. A total of 33.4 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2008 in the world all over (WHO, 1989; UNAIDS, 2002; WHO, 2010; Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), 2005 and 2007). Estimated number for women living with the disease in 2008 was 15.7 million, and children living constituted with it 2008 were 2.1 million in number. In addition, more than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981. Africa has over 14 million AIDS orphans. A disturbing revelation showing that at end of 2008, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide. In developing and transitional countries, 9.5 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 4 million(42%) are receiving the drugs and the proportion is very much on the increase. Despite the efforts towards curbing the menace of HIV, the number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to 33 million today, and is not yet abated (UNAIDS, 2002; UNAIDS 2009; WHO, 2010).

Two-thirds of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, although this region contains little more than 10% of the world’s population. AIDS has caused immense human suffering in the African continent. During 2008 alone, an estimated 1.4 million adults and children died as a result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the inception of the disease, over 15 million Africans have died from AIDS epidemic. Recent reports also highlighted that fewer than half of Africans who need treatment are privileged to have access to them (WHO/UNAIDS/UNICEF 2009; UNAIDS 2009; UNAIDS 2008).

Going by the world data, HIV/AIDS is a ravaging disease and sub-Saharan Africa has been the hardest-hit by it. Over 6,000 young people are infected with HIV daily in sub-Saharan African region and 62 percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS are young women (Population Council and United Nations Population


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Fund (UNFPA), 2002; UNAIDS, 2002; National Population Commission (NPC) and Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), 2004). The prevalence of HIV is alarming in Nigeria and sub-Saharan region in general. The disease was first discovered 24 years ago in Nigeria with a prevalence rate of 1.8 percent in the year 1991. This figure rose to 3.8 percent in 1993, 4.5 percent in 1995 and 5.2 percent in 2007 (Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), 2007). The current prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria is 4.4 percent that covers both rural (3.9 percent) and urban (3.9 percent) (FMOH, 2005; FMOH, 2007). Till date, there is general yearning for a decline in incidence of this terminal disease in all nooks and crannies of the nation. Since its first discovery in Nigeria in 1986 and until 1991 there was no intervention assessment by the Nigerian government (Amoo et al, 2010). Several campaigns, initiatives and other interventions have been on the increase but the disease is still with us today.

In Ethiopia, the incidence of HIV was regarded as worrisome between 1988 and 1991 with about 20% in urban centers and up to 50% in some other towns within the country (Mehret, 1990; Workineh, 1990). Programs were instituted like venereal diseases (VD) control program which examined sex workers and waitresses working in hotels, bars, restaurants on a monthly basis for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and other communicable diseases at government health centers and clinics between 1960 and 70s. The economic downturn and cost of living have been ascribed to be the widening factors of prostitution in Pakistan despite its illegal pronouncement.

Every Nigerian today has seemingly smattering knowledge that transmission of HIV/AIDS is through multiple sexual partners however this knowledge is inversely related to extramarital affairs and indecent sexual comportment (Isiugo-Abanihe, 1994; Amoo et al, 2010). There is great difference between knowledge and the actual behaviour. Thus, it is exigent to have well-well-articulated studies that could inform, cause wariness and inject decent sexual comportment among the youth and the public as a whole. Every study that could delve into the whys of continue exposure of adolescent, the youth and the general public to sexual hazards should be encouraged. There is urgent need for modification and radical change in premarital, extramarital and sex working if the aspiration for millennium development goals and vision 20-2020 are anything to go by.

Unsafe sexual behavior is an important challenge associated with the spread of HIV/AIDS especially among Africans. Sexual studies have associated HIV/AIDS as a health problem associated with poor sexual habits, cultural and gross negligence among health personnel. With level of heterosexually transmission and women having a high population of the infection, which implies faster spread due to multiple partners and sex trade. Status of HIV/AIDS calls for a realistic re-engineering of the currentstrategies in order to ensure a reduction in the spread by enhancing preventive measures such as high use of condom and changing the quest for sex trade. Sex industry is characterized by unsafe sexual practices such as sex without condom, use of drugs and poor health seeking behavior. The economic impacts of HIV/AIDS are enormous. For example, HIV/AIDS unlike most other infectious diseases, strikes the working-age adults during what should be their most productive working years. The mortality component is the loss of lives that suppose to be contributing to economic growth. In addition, the morbidity associated with HIV/AIDS lead workers to be less productive coupled with the fact that other AIDS-related diseases increases absenteeism from work (Fox et al, 2004). The paper therefore investigates homeworking prostitution and their perceptions concerning HIV/AIDS, knowledge of prevention and willingness to quit the sex work. Despite the challenges inherent in describing the gamut of circumstances of sex workers and the reasons for indulging in the trade as encountered in this study, the author is confident on all assertions indicated in this paper.

Research MethodsThe technique of quantitative research approach was employed for data gathering. Data were collected using survey that was aided by semi-structured questionnaires in a face-to-face interview with only 94 identified homeworking prostitutes in the suburbs of Lagos and Abuja cities. All respondents were literates and could speak pidgin fluently. The sampling procedure was non-probability informant technique since there is known sampling distribution for the group involved. The choice of the study areas was also subjective.

Data analyses were a combination of univariate and multivariate analytical techniques. The univariate segment comprises of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, to assess the socio-demographic


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characteristics of the respondents, inter-dependent association amongst identified variables vis-a-vis indulgence in scanty dressing habit. Linear regression analytic procedure was also employed as the third level of analysis principally to test hypotheses formulated. It was adopted because it can provide the line of best fit which explains how the typical value of the dependent variable changes when any one of the independent variables is varied assuming other independent variables are held constant (Hughes and Grawoig, 1971; Sykes, 1993).

Results and DiscussionSocio-Demographic Characteristics of the RespondentsThe study was carried out in two Suburbs of Lagos and the federal capital city Abuja Nigeria. Which were purposively selected for the study. The target population was female sex workers who reside and operate within their homes and not in brothel, hotels or other places known or acclaimed for such business. They were identified with the assistant of key informants who are regular residents of the community where they operate.

The result among other things revealed that the mean age group of the target population is 30-39 year indicating they are adult individuals who could make informed decision about their lives. About 52.1 percent of them belong to the Christian faith while 38.3 percent are Muslims while only 9.6 percent claimed to be traditionalists. 36.2 percent of the target population has never married; 34 percent are currently married but are not living with their husbands as at the time of survey. About 25.5 are divorced or separated while 4.3 percent are widowed. Generally, this observation revealed that the group involved either have no spouse or are not living with one. Among this group of people, only one out of every five of them desire to marry or re-marry as the case may be while about 66 percent would not want to marry or re-marry. About 13.8 percent could not respond to the question whether they have intention to marry or re-marry. Among the reasons cited for not wanting to marry/remarry ranges from inability to found a suitable suitor to being tired of relationship having being jilted several times. The occupational status indicates that larger proportions (about 61 percent) have no other regular means of livelihood while only 39 percent claimed they have a regular job. This implies that more than half of the respondents interviewed depend exclusively on sex trade for their means of livelihood. For the latter category that engages in other work, majority of them claimed to be traders, civil servant and health practitioners.

More than half of the respondents have attained secondary level of education. 18.1 percent have had primary education about 18.1 have attained above secondary level of education while only 6.4 percent have never attended any regular school. However, all the respondents could communicate effectively with Pidgin English (a rudimentary English grammar and vocabulary widely used for communication in Nigeria). This report is a reminiscence of women’s illiterate level in Nigerian that is estimated as 24.4 percent (National Population Commission, 2010). In terms of the income, estimated mean income from the sex trade is between N10,000 and N15,000 per week, while the average weekly income from other business is also in the same range (i.e. N10,000-15,000). This finding suggests existence of equal opportunity for this group of women in both sex trade and conventional occupation and that the choice of sex trade is contingent upon other reason apart from income.


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Table 1: Socio-demographic profile of the respondents

Source: Field Survey 2010

Exposure to the risk of HIVCursory observations were into the operation of the sex trade among the target population and their clientele. It was reported that a sex worker receives up to four clients per week. 57 percent of those interviewed indicated that they get between three and four men within seven day and that Fridays and Sundays are the peak period. Much could not be achieved in the investigation of their modality for

Socio-Demographic Variables Frequency PercentGenderFemale 94 100.0Age Group10-19 years 4 4.320-29 years 38 40.430-39 years 44 46.840-49 years 8 8.5

Educational attainmentNo Schooling 6 6.4Up to Pry level 17 18.1Up to 2ndary level 54 57.4Other higher school 13 13.8Up to university 4 4.3

Religion AffiliationsChristianity 49 52.1Islam 36 38.3Traditional 9 9.6

Marital StatusNever Married 34 36.2Married but not with husband 32 34.0Separated / Divorced 24 25.5Widowed 4 4.3

Working statusCurrently engaged in other jobs 37 39.4Not currently engaged in any other jobs 57 60.6

Average Income (per month)Less than N5,000 9 9.6N5,000- N9,999 32 34.0N10,000- N14,999 12 12.8N15,000- N19,999 15 16.0N20,000 & above 26 27.7Total 94 100.0

Income from other jobsLess than N5,000 5 13.5N5,000 - N9,999 9 24.3N10,000 - N14,999 13 35.1N15,000 - N19,999 8 21.6Above N29,999 2 5.4

Total 37 24.5


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soliciting clients, however, the illustration from the few respondents pointed to ‘snowballing word-of-mouth invitation technique’, where one client informs and describe the place to another and so on. The sex workers are observed to be blunt in soliciting for clients in and around their vicinity and indirectly ignored neighbours and passerby while transacting “business” with a prospective client. A sex worker believe that several things are at stake such as bills to pay and you need to be engrossed with each client otherwise, you lose the business”. Further inquiry shows that each service could be rounded up in a jiffy and the next client turns in as the last client is ‘smuggled out’ through other exit where available. According to few of them, “smarter lady doesn’t allow the guys to meet themselves in your house at the same time”. You need to thoroughly plan you schedule and ensure it is one at a time. Each man believes you are exclusively servicing his needs” and “that is why they could afford to pay even for your rent and feeding as long as you keep them”.

It was also observed that home-based female sex workers dress in normal house clothing, normal business dress and in most cases join in the uniform dresses where and when celebration (i.e. party) is going on. This makes them to be unsuspected within the community. Few of them confirmed that at times when the business is down, they are always tempted to go to public places and request if anyone (man) want to “brush” (desire to have sexual intercourse). This practice, in most cases, succeeds more often especially among those men that could pick the signal.

However, it is appalling that only 11.7 percent of the sex workers interviewed know their HIV status while 88.3 percent have never gone for HIV test. In addition, the result of the analysis shows that 83 percent of respondents have never attended any program on HIV/AIDS while 31.9 percent have been treated for one form of sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) or the other in the last 9 months as indicated in table 2. Further analysis also shows that more than half of the respondents do not use condom while only 40.4 percent does. The use of oral pills is higher at 42.6 percent coupled with 14.9 percent that uses local rings or concoction. This revelation directly points to the level of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases including the HIV. Again, considering the level of indiscriminate sexual relationships attested to by the ‘modul operandi’ observed among the subjects and the absence or low level of prevention, this behavior seems like overt invitation to disasters which requires urgent attention notwithstanding the number of such sex-workers identified in the society. The discussion with the respondents also shows that the respondent yields or agrees with customer who refuses to use condom only if he’s ready to pay higher money.

Table 2: Sexual behaviour and the risk of HIVExposure to HIV/STDs Frequency PercentHow many clients do you received per week? 1-2 Clients 13 13.83-4 Clients 53 56.45 and above 23 24.5No Response 5 5.3Ever attended program on HIV/AIDSYes 13 13.8No 81 86.2Do you mandate your client to use condomYes 19 20.2No 75 79.8Do you use Condoms?Yes 38 40.4No 56 59.6Total 94 100.0Ever got pregnant since started this jobYes 23 24.5No 71 75.5Was the pregnancy carried to termYes 12 12.8No 14 14.9No Response/Not applicable 68 72.3


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Ever contacted health personnel in the last 3 monthsYes 43 45.7No 51 54.3Do you know your HIV status?Yes 11 11.7No 83 88.3Ever treated for STDs in the last 9 monthsYes 30 31.9No 35 38.3No Response 28 29.8Total 94 100.0

Source: Field survey 2010

Incidence of sicknesses among the respondents While the paper is not to establish a causal relationship between the sex trade and sicknesses or HIV, the findings highlight the preponderances of certain diseases among sex workers interviewed. The experiences of certain diseases were rated on a linkert four-scale of (1) very often, (2) often, (3) not often and (4) not at all. The result shows that higher proportion of respondents experiences the following sicknesses often and very often: malaria (51.1%), severe pain (58.5%), cough (42.6%) and gonorrhea (18.1%). Although, medical evidences were not available to confirm these claims, information supplied was taking at face-value. Notwithstanding, the findings portend caution and urgent action might be necessary for this category of respondents to avert epidemic and massive incidence of HIV should these claims are real.

Table 3: Rate of sickness among the respondentsRate of sickness Very

oftenOften Not Often Not at all Total

How often do you experience gonorrhea

Freq 7 10 17 60 94% 7.4 10.6 18.1 63.8 100.0

Frequency of coughing Freq 4 36 16 38 94% 4.3 38.3 17.0 40.4 100.0

Frequency of malaria Freq 19 29 31 15 94% 25.5 30.9 33.0 10.6 100.0

Frequency of severe pain Freq 25 30 27 12 94% 26.6 31.9 28.7 12.8 100.0

Source: Field survey 2010

Regression Analysis ResultsOnly one hypothesis was tested to confirm the significant relationship between selected socio-demographic variables and ever attended any program on HIV/AIDS. The idea is to find out why vulnerable group studied would not want to know their HIV status taking into consideration their plausible exposure to HIV infection. The result shows that religious affiliation, marital status, re-marriage intention, and family size are negatively related to attending program on HIV or checking status. Out of these predictors only family size and re-marriage intention are significantly related. In addition, education attainment and income level are positively associated with attending HIV program or confirming status. This is closer to real life situation considering the fact that most centers for testing HIV status are located in urban areas. On the other hand, the type of respondent’s physician, having future plan, the rate of sickness are significant predictors of attendance in HIV/AIDS program at p-values of 0.000, 0.002, 0.000 respectively as indicated in table 4.

It could be inferred from this analysis that religious affiliation, educational attainment and occupation are not panacea to the menace of HIV though they could only assist perhaps in conjunction with other variables to exert influence on the sex trading and HIV reduction in general. The result also shows that age is significantly positively related to attending program on HIV/AIDS.


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Table 4: Regression analysis result on the significant relationship between socio-demographic variables and ever attended program on HIV/AIDS Coefficients(a)

Model

Unstandardized Coefficients

Standardized Coefficients

t Sig.

B Std. Error Beta B Std. Error(Constant) 1.465 .152 9.638 .000Marital Status -.015 .007 -.056 -2.074 .068Any intention to marry / re-marry again

-.298 .022 -.532 -13.520 .000

Other Occupation Engaged in -.001 .001 -.005 -.501 .628Average income per week .001 .003 .007 .483 .641Income (per month) from other job(s)

.008 .003 .048 2.781 .021

Respondent Educational Attainment

.000 .003 -.001 -.067 .948

Age Group of Respondent .054 .007 .142 7.370 .000

Religion Affiliations -.033 .015 -.098 -2.180 .057

Size of family -.025 .003 -.192 -7.667 .000

Sickness rate .280 .012 .629 23.035 .000

Who is your personal physician

.026 .004 .281 7.514 .000

On the average, How many clients do you receive per week

.004 .000 .365 13.275 .000

What are your future plan .087 .021 .155 4.230 .002

R Square = 0.999 Adjusted R Square = 0.999a Dependent Variable: Ever attended any program on HIV/AIDS

Conclusion and RecommendationsThe study identified the female who are engaging in “disguised commercial sexual acts” without adequate knowledge about the likely consequences of their behaviour. Indiscriminate sexual work is going under cover with impunity as observed in the study locations. It is been established that the highest level of infection of HIV recorded anywhere in the world have been found among the female prostitutes (Neil and Marina, 1997; Lawrence, 2000). The continuation of this kind of transactional sex without policy guidelines and massive Sexual Health Education (SHE) including sexual health security among the public could be inimical to the achievement of millennium development goal for sub-Saharan Africa nation as especially Nigeria. The continue attention on “public ordained prostitutes” with fragrant closure of attention on those who operates within the neighbourhood but not in notable places should be reversed. This paper thus constitutes an eyes opener to clandestine transactional sex within our neighbourhoods and the need for urgent proactive applicable actions from the government and other stakeholders.

It is suggested that safe sexual practice could be possible if the weaker partner (women) are empowered. Female home-based-sex-worker is real and the non-use of condom remains undeniable. The act of exchanging sex for money or gifts appears to be the standard situation for most separated, divorced, young widow or “old” single ladies. However, since there is widespread statistical evidence of a relationship between unsafe sexual behaviors and increased in HIV infection, a new intervention is required to monitor and officially document the rampancy of this new evolving system of home-based prostitution. Finally, while condom use is the only widely acceptable palliative measure against the spread of STDs/HIV/AIDS as at today, it is high time free distribution of condom is re-awakened in nooks and crannies, villages and the suburbs of cities and town when people live. In addition, since the main motive of trading in sex is money, occupation rehabilitation is considered necessary to enhance financial empowerment of this vulnerable group.


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ReferencesAmoo Emmanuel and Adeyemi Olugbenga (2010). Scanty Dressing Habit and Sexual Comportment

among Adolescent Girls in Metropolitan Lagos: Implications for HIV/AIDS Incidence. Gender and Behaviour. The Ife Center for Psychologia Studies. Ile-Ife. 2010 p2806-2824

Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, Richmond Tiemoko and Paulina Makinwa-Adebusoye (2007). Human Sexuality in Africa, beyond Reproduction. Action Health Incorporated 2007

Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) (2005). Technical Report. National HIV/Syphilis Sero-Prevalence HIV Sentinel Survey. Department of Public Health, National AIDS/STI Control Programme. NASCP/FMOH, Abuja. Nigeria.

Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), (2002). National Reproductive Health Strategic Framework and Plan. Federal Ministry of Health Abuja June 2002.

Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), (2007). National Strategic Framework on the Health and Development of Adolescents and Young People in Nigeria. Federal Ministry of Health Nigeria. July 2007.

Fox Matthew P, Rosen Sydney, MacLeod William B., Wasunna Monique, Bii Margaret, Foglia Ginamarie and Simon Jonathon L (2004). The impact of HIV/AIDS on labour productivity in Kenya. Tropical Medicine and International Health, Volume 9 No 3 pp 318–324 march 2004

Hor Bun Leng and Tuot Sovannary (2008). Mapping the Pattern of Sex workers, Entertainment Establishments and Men who sex with men in Cambodia. March 2008.

Hughes Ann and Grawoig Dennis (1971). Statistics: A Foundation for Analysis. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. 1971

Isiugo-Abanihe, U.C (1994). Extramarital relations and perceptions of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Health Transition Review. 1994 Oct; Vol 4 No 2, p111-125. PMID: 10150513.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2002). Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2000. Geneva: UNAIDS.

Lawrence M. Salinger (2000). Deviant Behaviour 00/01. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, Connectcut, 2000National Population Commission (NPC), (2010). 2006 Population and Housing Census of Federal

Republic of Nigeria. Housing Characteristics and Amenities Priority Tables. Vol 2. National Population Commission. March, 2010

Neil McKeganey and Marina Barnard (1997). Sex work on the Streets: Prostitutes and their clients. Open University Press. Marston Book Services Limited Oxford. 1997

Sykes, Alan O. (1993): An Introduction to Regression Analysis. The Inaugural lecture. Chicago Working Paper in Law and Economics. 1993. http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Lawecon/WkngPprs_01-25/20.Sykes.Regression.pdf

Victor Ulasi (2009). Nigerian prostitutes offers sex freebie. Articlesbase. Dec 12, 2009. http://www.articlesbase.com/journalism-articles/nigerian-prostitutes-offers-sex-freebie-1574086.html

WHO (2010). Sexual and reproductive health. WHO-convened international technical consultation on sexual health in January 2002. World Health Organisation, 2010

World Health Organisation (WHO), (2010). Ethical Issues, Scientific and Ethical Review Group, Reproductive Health Involving Adolescents. WHO, 2010

World Health Organisation (1989). The Reproductive Health of Adolescents: A strategy for action, A Joint WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF Statement, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989.


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AGENDA SETTING, FRAMING AND MASS MEDIA COVERAGE OF OBASANJO/ATIKU FEUD

NWABUEZE, CHINENYE (Ph.D)Department of Mass Communication

Anambra State UniversityAnambra State, Nigeria.

&

UGWONNO, CHINEDUCityHill Media Initiative, Onitsha

Anambra State, Nigeria.

&

NGONSO, BLESSEDWell Spring University, Benin

Edo State, Nigeria.

AbstractThe media play agenda setting role in the society, determining which issues move from press agenda to public agenda. Framing is a process that sees journalists interpreting and ascribing meanings to news items. This process of news framing could be influenced by political commitments, interests of media stakeholders, and wider relations of power in the society in which the media exist. This study seeks to find out how the Nigerian press covered the Obasanjo/Atiku feud with emphasis on the process of setting and framing the agenda on the issue. It combines quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques in content-analyzing selected Nigerian newspapers to find out how they covered the Obasanjo/Atiku feud within the period of six months selected for the study. The study found among others that the Nigerian press gave prominence to the issue, and that political commitment, interests of publishers and media stakeholders influenced the Obasanjo/Atiku feud. It recommended that the press should not lose sight of their watchdog role in the society even in the midst of influences that are a product of wider relations of power in the society within which they exist.

Keywords: Agenda setting, Framing, Media coverage, Political commitment, Power.

IntroductionThe press play basic roles of information education, and entertainment in any society. They do not just expose us to events in the society but largely shape our understanding of social reality. This is essentially because the media “lie between us and this complex world” (Ndolo, 2005:20). The society relies on the mass media to mirror events to it. The media act as a check not just to abuse of official authority but the abuse of all sources of power in both the public and private realms (Curran, 2005).

Mass mediated message is a product of social matrix of communication. This is because the media do not exist in isolation. They coexist with other institutions and units which make up the society. As Udoakah (1993:90) observes, “mass media products are dependent products - products of social, political and economic forces”. Since the media engage other institutions in the society in a mutually interdependent and interactional relationship, the mass communicated message could be influenced by this relationship. In the midst of this relationship, the media set the agenda for the public through priority and frequency of coverage of an issue. They determine what dominates public discuss. The press further determine how the set agenda or topic of discussion should be viewed. This entails framing of news which, according to McQuail (2005: 379), is “a way of giving some overall interpretation to isolated items of fact”. It consists


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of presenting and interpreting facts of an issue such that the audience are not just made aware of an event but are ‘directed’ on how to view the event. News presentation with certain kinds off choices of words or from specific perspectives play vital roles in framing the news.

Agenda-setting and framing could largely be influenced by the interplay of forces and interdependent relationship within which the media and media workers exist. The issue of ‘subjective objectivity’ could come to play. This is where a media house reports an event ‘objectively’ but from its perspective or angle of how it thinks the ‘objective’ facts should be compiled and presented, which could differ from another medium’s perception of objectivity . This simply gives credence to existence of influences or forces which shape the mass mediated message. As Curran (2005:126) notes:

The media are assumed to be independent, and to owe allegiance only to the public, if they are funded by the consumer and organized through a competitive market. This theory ignores the many other influences which can shape the media, including the political commitments and private interests of media shareholders, the influence exerted through news management and the cultural power of leading groups in society. In short, this extremely simplistic theory fails to take into account the wider relations of power in which the media are situated.

In the same vein, while discussing the intricacies of news framing, McQuail (2005:379) avers that “it is almost unavoidable for journalists to do this and in so doing to depart from pure ‘objectivity’ and to introduce some (unintended) biases”. Setting the agenda could be dependent on trend of events in the society, including how these events meet the news values with varying degree of importance. Framing the agenda, however, could be largely dependent on the chain of forces or influences which the media house is a part of. It is against this backdrop that this study explores the nature of coverage of the feud between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar by Nigerian Newspapers.

The Obasajo/Atiku Feud at a GlanceThe face-off between President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar could be said to have started filtering into public domain in 2003 during the Presidential primaries of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held in that year. It was alleged that Obasanjo had planned to drop Atiku as his running mate for the 2003 general elections which ushered in his second tenure in office. Atiku got wind of this plan and used his party machinery to threaten the substitution of Obasanjo by the party for the 2003 general elections. Obasanjo was said to have literally gone on his knees to ensure that the party flag was given to him for his re-election and has since not forgiven Atiku for that act.

The sour relationship between these two top citizens of Nigeria which is now commonly referred to as the Obasanjo/ Atiku feud, has unarguably received wide and quick publicity in the Nigerian media. The Vice President said in an interview, that President Obasanjo has never called him and told him his problem with him (Atiku) but that he heard the President is angry with him because he said Atiku had a hand in an attempt to impeach him during his first tenure in office, and that Atiku wanted to run against him in 2003 (The Guardian, November 21, 2006, P.4). Atiku denied these allegations but their relationship continued to get worse, culminating to alleged declaration of the Vice President’s seat vacant, by the Presidency, his alleged indictment for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the accusations and counter accusations at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) ad hoc committee hearing in the Senate, exposure of gross corruption in the Presidency, among other related developments.

The problem got to its peak shortly before to 2007 general elections when the Vice President was contesting for Presidency, on the platform of Action Congress (AC). This feud with the President haunted him with his “purported” disqualification by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the indictment of both Atiku and Obasanjo by Senate ad hoc committee on PTDF, a chain of legal battles to support or defend their stands, among others. The Atiku/Obasanjo feud received international attention after the Vice President was alleged to have had a tele-conference with members of the influential U.S Council for Foreign Relations, CFR, following which the presidency sent a team to the U.S to counter the view of Atiku on the Presidency (Akande, the Guardian, January 12, 2007, p.1).


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The Obasanjo/Atiku feud as operationally defined in this work includes all issues that were originated by the face-off between the President and Vice President as covered by the studied newspapers. This includes the Senate ad hoc committee hearing on PTDF, Atiku’s alleged removal by the Presidency, his attempts to fight back in court and through his aides, comments made by Nigerians on this feud, among others. This paper focuses on media coverage of the feud with specific emphasis on how the media set and framed the agenda on this issue.

Problem StatementThe Obasanjo/Atiku feud was described as a national and international embarrassment to Nigeria following which some public figures called for the removal of these personalities from office (Daily Sun December 21, 2006, P.1; Daily Sun, February 9, 2007, P.1; The Guardian, January 21, 2007, P.1; The Guardian, February 2, 2007). This is apparently because of the public show of shame the two have engaged in through accusations and counter accusations of corruption and abuse of office both at local and international arena. The press played vital role in mirroring this feud to the public. The press are expected to manage crisis in the interest of the society (Mboho, 2004:68). However, political commitments, private interests of media shareholders, the influence exerted through news management, and cultural power of leading groups in the society are among factors that shape the media (and by extension media framing of news) (Curran, 2005). It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to find out the nature of coverage of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by the Nigeria press, whether the magnitude of coverage was to the extent that it placed the issue as priority agenda. It further seeks to find out the nature of framing of the issue by the press, and whether the extraneous influences such as has been listed above may have shaped the framing of this issue by the press.

To this end, the following research questions guided the study:1. What is the level of coverage of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by Nigerian press?2. What is the nature of framing of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by Nigerian press?3. Was the framing of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by the Nigerian press influenced by Ownership

factor?The level of coverage here refers to not just the frequency but prominence given to the issue in terms of placement by the press. The nature of framing here refers to not just the direction of coverage but the implication of news representation in the press, i.e. what meaning the audiences would make from the dominant framing or representation of issues that make-up the Obasanjo/Atiku feud. Owner’s interest could influence coverage of issues by the media. This could be as a result of what Curran (2005: 126) described as the “wider relations of power in which the media are situated”. The third research question dwells on ascertaining whether this factor played any role in the coverage of Obasanjo/Atiku feud by the Nigerian press.

One hypothesis was tested in this study. The research hypothesis states as follows; H1 The Nigerian press gave prominence to the Obasanjo/Atiku feud.

Theoretical BaseThe press determine for the audience issues to be ranked high in the order of public discuss. They set the agenda for the public as regards what to discuss and to some extent, how to discuss it. The agenda-setting theory posits that by frequently covering and giving prominence to issues, the audience attach importance to those issues more than others. Various communication scholars have through various studies confirmed and independently referred to the agenda-setting function of the media. Pulitzer prize-wining author Walter Lippman observed that the media act as a mediator between “the world outside and the pictures in our head”; Bernard Cohen notes that “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is successful in telling its reader what to think about” (in Griffin, 2000:361). McCombs and Shaw (in Griffin, supra) who could be said to have popularized the agenda-setting theory observe that the mass media are able to transfer the salience of items on their news agenda to public agenda, and that the public judge as important what the media judge as important.

By giving prominence to an issue in terms of its placement, frequency of coverage, space or time allotment, as the case may be, the media transfer the issue into public agenda. Dearing and Rogers (in McQuail, 2005: 513) while critically analyzing the agenda-setting theory, offer several generalizations about the theory, one of which is that “it is not the absolute significance of an issue that counts but the


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relative strength of forces and people trying to define and promote an issue”. This explains why certain issues move into public agenda faster than others. The Obasanjo/Atiku feud for instance, is the product of power play between prominent personalities, giving it serious focus by the media and by extension, the public.

Framing of news consists of giving specific interpretations using specific words in news representation such that the audience do not just understand an event but understand it from a specific perspective. While agenda setting suggests what the audience should think about, agenda framing suggests how they should think about it. Framing consists of “using certain words or phrases, making certain contextual references, choosing certain pictures or film, giving examples as typical, referring to certain sources and so on” (McQuail, 2005:379). It is how “messages are encoded with meaning so that they can be efficiently interpreted in relation to existing beliefs or ideas” (Ike, 2005:88). Framing of an issue largely consists of the way media organizations or their reporters treat news. This may not always be an objective exercise but is based on the reporter’s interpretation of an issue.

Studies have shown that framing plays vital role in media coverage of events. Hunt (1996:207) found that elite American press coverage of Africa was negative, focused on trouble spots, wars, and conflicts, and lacked indepth analysis and highly researched background materials. These are factors that influence agenda framing. After a study of how British press covers diplomatic scandal in Nigeria, with the Umaru Dikko affair as a case study, Uche and Ngumoha (1996:225) found that British newspapers gave quiet a good amount of coverage that presented a most negative image of Nigeria to its national and international readers, during the period (the affair took place). It has also been established that framing largely determines public opinion and decision making on an issue. This was particularly expressed in initial public support for the U.S led-war on terror and subsequent invasion of Iraq. According to Entman (2005:254), “Many U.S citizens supported the war on the grounds it made the U.S.A safer from 9/11- style terrorism, based on dominant news framing that emphasized Saddam Hussein’s possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and active assistance to al-Quaida.”

Framing of news is largely influenced by a reporter’s idiosyncrasies and perception of social reality. As Oso (2006:68) notes:

The way journalists do their work in selecting and processing what becomes news is not a neutral activity as proponents of objectivity will like us to believe…. They bring to their work certain knowledge or cultural maps which in some way, influence the way they conceptualise events and issues.

The framing of Obasanjo/Atiku feud could be a product of certain influences one of which is the interest of media owner. Some of the media owner’s political interests may have covertly or overtly influenced the choice of words, phrases and angle of coverage adopted in framing the issues related to the feud either in favour of the parties or simply to stay away from the wrath of one of the parties. This is part of what this study seeks to find out.

MethodologyContent analysis was adopted in carrying out the study. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were adopted in the study. The quantitative method was used in measuring the frequency of coverage while the qualitative technique was adopted in determining framing of news by the selected papers. Three national dailies were purposively selected for the study. They are Daily Sun, Daily Champion, and The Guardian. The selection of these three privately owned newspapers was specifically to ascertain whether ownership of media organization has a significant relationship with framing of news. Daily Champion is owned by a business mogul, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu who is also a strong member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and South East Coordinator of Obasanjo/Atiku Campaign Organization. Daily Sun is published by Chief Orji-Uzor Kalu who decamped from the PDP to Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) as the party’s presidential candidate. Kalu who is a former governor of Abia State was noted for vibrantly criticizing Obasanjo’s regime. The Guardian is published by Chief Alex Ibru a business mogul who has no overt political affiliation.

Although the Obasanjo/Atiku feud has existed since 2003, the problem could be said to have gotten to its peak in the second half of 2006 with the Vice President’s ordeal in office. A period of six months –


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October 2006 to March 2007 - was selected for the study. This represents the last six months before the general elections in April 2007.

All the editions of the selected newspapers for the period of six months were studied. It then follows that 181 editions of each of the newspapers were studied, bringing the grand total to 543 of the three newspapers studied. Only the stories that appeared on the front and back pages of the newspapers were studied. Placement, especially on the front page, is a strong factor in determining priority given to coverage of an issue, and by extension, the possibility of that issue moving into public agenda.

Units of AnalysisOnly the headline of stories was studied. This was used in constructing or operationalizing the units of analysis for this work. They are (i) Main headline: Any headline that leads the front or back page, as the case may be; (ii) Ordinary headline: Any headline that is not the main or lead headline (as determined by size) on the front or back page; (iii) Headline placement: The placement of headline on the front or back page.

Only the front and back pages of the selected newspapers were studied. The researcher decided to restrict the study to front and back pages because these two pages play strong roles in agenda setting. Another basic reason for this decision is to find out the degree of importance attached to the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by the Nigerian press, particularly based on placement of the story on the front and back pages. All headline on these two pages were studied, the it is headline of a straight news story, feature, front page comment, or column.

Content CategoriesThe content categories were defined based on the direction of framing of headlines. Three categories guided the study; (i) framing in favour of Obasanjo; (ii) framing in favour of Atiku (iii) neutral framing which does not favour Obasanjo or Atiku. These categories were determined based on choice of words, phrases or sentences, as the case may be, used in casting the headlines that were studied. Intercoder ReliabilityThe intercoder reliability for this study was calculated using Holsti’s formular (in Wimmer and Dominick, 2003:157):

Reliability = 2M N1 + N2

Where M = number of coding decisions on which two coders agree

N1 + N2 = total number of coding decisions by the first and second coder respectively

Twenty four coding decisions were taken by two coders (on twenty four manifest items randomly selected from November and December editions of the three newspapers studied). These were based on three content categories for the study. The two coders agreed on 18 decisions i.e. they both agreed that certain specific items were framed in a particular direction. The data were used to calculate the intercoder reliability thus:

2(18) 3624 + 24 = 48 = .75

With a reliability coefficient of .75, it could be said that the study has an acceptable level of reliability.

FindingsTable One: Frequency of Headlines on Obasanjo/Atiku feud (on the front

and back pages) in selected newspapers

Newspaper Frequency %Daily Sun 78 40The Guardian 65 34


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Daily Champion 48 26 Total 191 100

A total of 78 headlines on the Obasanjo/Atiku feud were carried on the front page of Daily Sun. These were mostly captions in line with the house style of the paper. Seventy of the editions carried these reports (some had two front page captions on the feud). This represents 46 percent of the total editions of Daily Sun studied. Out of the 78 front page reports, 65 percent (n=51) were lead stories. Only six back page reports (analysis by columnists) were carried in this paper during the period of study.

The Guardian carried 65 front page reports on the feud during the period of study. These were contained in 58 editions of the paper (representing 38 percent of the total editions of the paper studied). The paper carried 17 back page reports on the feud. Of the 65 front page reports, 35 percent (n=23) are lead stories. The Daily Champion carried 48 front-page stories and one back page report (column discussion). 41 percent (n=20) of the front page stories lead the editions they appeared in. 44 editions of the newspaper carried the front page reports (some editions featured two front page reports on the feud).

It then follows that out of 543 editions of the three newspapers studied, 31 percent (n=172) featured 191 front page reports on Obasanjo/Atiku feud, out of which 94 were lead stories. The months of January and February featured the highest number of front page reports, 51 percent (n=98), in the three papers studied. This was the peak of the crisis especially allegations and counter-allegations of fraud being leveled against one another by members of the president’s and vice president’s camp.

With reference to framing, some interesting observations were made in the three newspapers studied.

Table Two: Framing of Obasanjo/Atiku feud in Daily Sun Newspaper

Direction of framing frequency % favourable to Atiku 52 66 favourable to Obasanjo 8 10

neutral 18 24 Total 78 100

Daily Sun presented the feud from a perspective that showed the presidency as being unfair to the vice president. Table two shows that 66 percent (n=52) of the headlines were framed to favour Atiku, 10 percent (n=8) to favour Obasanjo, while 24 percent (n=18) were neutral framings. The paper made use of words and phrases in most of its captions to make a hero out of Atiku, and present a picture of a corrupt and autocratic presidency being exposed by the courageous moves of Atiku. It captioned and presented its reports from the angles of Atiku’s efforts to escape executive unconstitutionality on him, or Atiku’s exposure of the presidency. Among the captions that shaped this frame are “PTDF: Court clears Atiku for 2007 presidency, declares EFCC report, Admin. Panel reports (on Atiku), gazette, null and void” (Daily Sun, Thursday November 30, 2006 p.1); “Not again … we must not allow a few power drunk individuals to trample on our rights to good governance - Atiku”; (Daily Sun, Wednesday, December 27, 2006, p.1); “Naked Dance: Atiku insists on public probe of PTDF (Tuesday, December 5, 2006, p.1); “Messy: Atiku indicts Obasanjo over PTDF looting” (Wednesday, December 20, 2006, p.1); “Atiku seeks FBI Aid” (Thursday, January 18, 2007, P.1); “AC to OBJ: Stop Atiku, get Another Joker” (January 7, 2007 p.1); “Rough play: Atiku’s security withdrawn again, V.P can’t resume office” (Daily Sun Wednesday, January 24, 2007, p.1), “Watch your tongue: Senate Cautions Obasanjo, why he must be stopped – Atiku” (Daily Sun Friday, February 23, 2007 p.1); “Atiku remains V.P – N’ Assembly” (Friday, February 9, 2007) “No stopping Atiku – Osoba” (Daily Sun, March 28, 2007, p.1). From this kind of captioning which dominated Daily Sun reports on the feud, the impression is created that the battle is being won by Atiku camp.

Table Three: Framing of Obasanjo/Atiku feud in Daily Champion Direction of framing frequency % favourable to Atiku 7 15 favourable to Obasanjo 31 65 neutral 10 20


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Total 48 100

Daily Champion, on the other hand framed the captions, including lead stories, from the perspective of the presidency spanking Atiku. Table three above shows that 65 percent (n=31) of the headlines were favourable to Obasanjo, 15 percent (n=7) favourable to Atiku, while 20 percent (n=10) were neutral framings. The captions and stories portrayed an Atiku that is stubborn and disobedient to his boss, and is gradually being nailed by the presidency and party (PDP) machinery through the courts and other means. Among the captions that structured this frame are “PTDF: Atiku has case to answer - Presidency” (Daily Champion, Friday, December 1, 2006, p.1); “Atiku remains disqualified - Iwu” (Daily Champion, Tuesday, February 27, 2007, p.1); “You’re the real dictator – Ali tells Atiku, Balarade demands V.Ps apology” (Daily Champion, Wednesday, January 24, 2007, p.1.); “OBJ Chides Atiku over corruption” (Daily Champion, Friday, January, 26 2007, p.1) “V.P risks arrest if … - Maduekwe” (Friday, February 23, 2007, p.1), “Fear of exclusion grips Atiku, others” (February 3, 2007, p.1), “ASO Rock Feud: OBJ warns Atiku” (Daily Champion, Thursday February 1, 2007), “INEC stops Atiku, advises AC to replace him; its unconstitutional - AC” (Daily Champion Sunday, February, 11 2007).

Table Four: Framing of Obasanjo/Atiku feud in The Guardian Newspaper

Direction of framing frequency % Favourable to Atiku 6 9

Favourable to Obasanjo 11 17 Neutral 48 74

Total 65 100

The Guardian presented the feud such that no faction or camp would be seen to be dealing with the other, as the other two papers did. Table four above shows that 74 percent (n=48) of the headlines were neutral, 17 percent (n=11) favourable to Obasanjo, while 9 percent (n=6) were favourable to Atiku. Though the paper reported most of the issues other papers covered, it did not sensationalize words that will show Obasanjo dealing with Atiku, or would show the Vice President dealing with Obasanjo. Some of the captions that indicated this frame are “Court rules on Atiku, PDP suit Oct. 31” (The Guardian, Thursday Oct. 26, 2006, p.1), “Senate panel gets nod to summon Obasanjo, Atiku over PTDF” (The Guardian, Thursday, October 5, 2006, p.1), “Obasanjo, Atiku disagree on court ruling over PTDF” (The Guardian, Thursday November 30, 2006, p.1), “Obasanjo, Atiku file counter suits at Appeal Court” (The Guardian, Thursday, December 28, 2006, p.1), “Supreme court to serve Obasanjo, Atiku hearing notice this week, US leaders express concern over feud” (Monday, January 20, 2007, p.1), “Govt. sends team to counter Atiku’s Campaign in U.S” (The Guardian, Friday January 12, 2007, p.1).

Where the three papers report an issue, the language usage and angle of caption would show which frame is neutral and which seems to portray Obasanjo or Atiku as the weaker or favoured party. For instance, an incident occurred in January when Atiku went for INEC screening and was given a petition from PDP seeking his disqualification. Daily Champion captioned it this way: “Screening: Atiku at INEC, served PDP’s petition” (Thursday, January 25, 2007). Daily Sun captioned it thus: “Desperadoes: PDP sends petition to INEC, asks it to disqualify Atiku” (Thursday, January 25, 2007). It first uses the word “Desperadoes” to create an impression about those fighting Atiku. On a similar case, the Guardian used this caption: “Govt. seeks court’s nod to press graft charges against Atiku” (Friday, January 19, 2007). The paper uses “Seek” to provide a neutral frame. While Daily Sun of December 20, 2006 had the front page lead story caption: “MESSY: Atiku indicts Obasanjo over PTDF looting,” The Guardian of the same day (December 20, 2006) simply put it thus: “Govt. asks Atiku to prove claims on PTDF”, with the rider “Daukoru, PTDF, bank chief fault VP’s claims on funds”. While the Guardian presents a picture of debate over fraud allegations, Daily Sun presents a picture of indictment on Obasanjo. The implication of these framing by the studied newspapers would be discussed next.

Test of HypothesisThe research hypothesis being tested in this study states thus:H1: The Nigerian press gave prominence to the Obasonjo/Atiku feud.


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The test was done with data on frequency of headlines on the issue as published by the selected newspapers. Table Five: Frequency of headlines on Obasanjo/Atiku feud as placed on

front and back pages of selected newspapers.

Newspapers Frequency Daily Sun 78 (63.66) The Guardian 65 (63.66) Daily Champion 48 (63.66) Total 191

The values in parenthesis are expected frequencies. Calculated value of chi-square = 7.1 Table value of chi-square at 2 degrees freedom and probability level of 0.05 = 5.991Since the calculated value of chi-square (7.1) is greater than the table value of chi-square (5.991), the research hypothesis which states that the Nigerian press gave prominence to the Obasanjo/Atiku feud stands.

DiscussionThe findings show that the press gave a high coverage to the Obasanjo/Atiku feud. The press also gave prominence to the issue. This is in view of the fact that 31 percent (n=172) of 543 editions studies contained stories on Obasanjo/Atiku on the front page. The front page stories on the issue amounted to 191 (some editions contained two front page stories on the issue), 94 of which are lead stories. The fact that the press gave prominence to this issue was also confirmed by the only hypothesis tested in this work. The question of prominence and high level of coverage given to the issue is not in doubt. This shows that press coverage of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud placed the issue in public agenda. Frequency of coverage and placement are two strong variables for actualizing agenda setting function of the press.

The postulation by Dearing and Rogers (in McQuail, 2005: 513) that the relative strength of the forces and people trying to define and promote an issue largely contribute in moving an issue from news agenda to public agenda, was played up in the process of placing the Obasanjo/Atiku feud in public agenda. Stories on the feud were woven around such important agencies and bodies as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the courts, PDP or AC, which are two strong political parties to which Obasanjo (PDP) and Atiku (AC) belong. They were also developed from interviews granted by renowned personalities in Nigeria and party chieftains. Some of such stories are “SACK THEM: Gani Fawehinmi calls for Obasanjo, Atiku’s impeachment” (Daily Sun, Thursday, December 21, 2006, p.1), “AC to OBJ: Stop Atiku, get Another Joker” (Daily Sun, January 7, 2007, p.1), “Watch your Tongue: Senate cautions Obasanjo” (Daily Sun, Friday, February 23, 2007, p.1), “No Stopping Atiku – Osoba” (Daily Sun, Wednesday, March 28, 2002, p.1) “El-Rufai Shuns Atiku at Nnamani’s book launch,” (The Guardian, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006, back page), “Vice President’s seat: it’s all over for Atiku – Jibril Aminu; No, I won’t give up- Atiku” (Daily Champion, December 30, 2006, p.1), “IBB wades into OBJ/Atiku rift” (Daily Champion, Wednesday, October 4, 2006, p.1). Such government agencies like INEC, Courts (High Court, Supreme and Appeal Courts), Code of Conduct Bureau, including institutions, political parties and bodies such as National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives), PDP, AC etc. were among the institutional forces that influenced the agenda setting process of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud. This supports the postulation by Oso (2006: 73), after a study, that “powerful sources sometimes use the news to gain strategic advantage over their opponents”. Similarly, Molotch and Lester (in Oso, supra) opine that news is “a battlefield of actors struggling to generate public experience.” The use of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by PDP and AC chieftains, including loyalists of Obasanjo and Atiku to trade blames against each other, supports this postulation.

The findings show that the framing of news on Obasanjo/ Atiku feud differed. This could be as a result of the owner’s interest, which is tied to political commitments and private interests of media shareholders. As was stated in the findings, Daily Sun framed the news such that Atiku is seen as a hero or an innocent politician trying to survive the unfair treatment by the presidency. Chief Orji Uzor Kalu is the publisher of Daily Sun. As the governor of Abia State, he was known to have openly criticized Obasanjo’s regime. He


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decamped from PDP to Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) as the party’s presidential candidate. He also has a good relationship with Atiku. These interests may have influenced the framing of Obasanjo/Atiku feud against the ruling PDP. The framing of the issue as depicted in the captions gave away this influence on the newspaper.

On the other hand, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is the publisher of Daily Champion. He was the South East coordinator of Obasanjo/Atiku campaign and a strong PDP Chieftain. Daily Champion framed the Obasanjo/Atiku feud such that the vice president is seen as a disobedient subordinate facing an ordeal he brought upon himself. The framing did not only seem unfavourable to him but placed him at the receiving end. A good number of the stories on the feud contained in Daily Champion portrayed this picture. The political interests or commitments of the publisher may have play subtle role in this respect.

The Guardian took a more neutral posture in the framing of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud. Chief Alex Ibru is the publisher of the newspaper. He does not have any known overt interests in or relationship with the camps of the president and vice president. This may have informed the more neutral framing of the feud which portrayed the two camps as engaged in a tussle for supremacy. The paper plays down the tone of words used in captioning the stories. Where Daily Sun says “Atiku indicts Obasanjo in PTDF Scam”, the Guardian carries a similar story captioned “Atiku camp links Obasanjo’s lawyer, minister to PTDF”. The framing of the issue by the Guardian differed from the framing by Daily Champion and Daily Sun.

The political power play which seemingly influenced framing of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud by Daily Champion and Daily Sun gives credence to the postulation by Curran (2005) that political commitments, private interests of media shareholders, the influence exerted through news management, and cultural power of leading groups in the society are among factors that shape the media and by extension, media framing of news.

ConclusionThe mass media coexist in the society with other institutions and units which engage them in an interactional and interdependent relationship. Mass mediated message is a product of social matrix -forces and influences which shape individual journalists and media houses. In the course of news framing, the journalist may not be entirely objective since certain forces and influences which shape his existance could come to play. The press may appear to be objectively playing their watchdog role in the society but are actually acting out a script which is premised on other commitments and private interests. As Curran (2005:126) notes: “Media attacks on official wrongdoing can follow private agendas. ‘Fearless’ feats of investigative journalism, in these circumstances are not necessarily the disinterested acts undertaken on behalf of the public that they appear to be”.

The media gave priority coverage to the Obasanjo/Atiku feud with the issue dominating the front page mostly as lead stories, during the period of study. The nature of news framing adopted in covering the issue in such that extraneous forces, influences and political commitments played vital roles in this respect. Political interests and affiliations of owners of two of the studied newspapers played subtle roles in framing of the agenda. It follows that such extraneous considerations, including influence exerted through news management, and consideration of interests of stakeholders in the media (which includes major advertisers in a medium) affect framing of news.

The strength, integrity, and credibility of personalities and forces that constitute news sources playsignificant roles in determining the movement of an issue from press agenda to public agenda. It is not just the interest of media houses or stakeholders that matters but the strength of the sources or personalities being used to project these views, interests and agenda. An issue could receive quick, and easy access into public agenda based on those who constitute the channels through which the media disseminate the issue to the public.

News should be framed objectively, to reflect the press as a neutral watchdog and to guide the public in understanding the true picture of events in the society and premising decision-making on such understanding. Entman (2005:252) aptly recommends that the press should adopt “news framing that helps citizens make the right choices and keeps them from supporting leaders who do not maximize the values and interests they want…” The press should not use news framing to fool the public or make them take


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wrong decisions. Framing of the Obasanjo/Atiku feud, for instance, is sensitive because it deals with accountability in government and the character of the nation’s leaders. Giving deceptive framing could be inimical to nation building. A neutral framing which presents issues as they are, should be adopted in such instance, so that the public will be equipped with the right facts and perspective upon which to take the right decisions.

The press should insist on objective performance of their watchdog role to the society. Personal interests and political commitments affect objectivity in news representation. This is not an attempt to rule out the fact that the mass mediated message is a product of social matrix. The pressure of allowing the extraneous influences in the social matrix to stifle objectivity should be avoided. There is need to understand the wider relations and interplay of power within which the media exist so as to use such knowledge to the advantage of media operations.

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Wimmer, R., and Dominick. J. (2003). Mass Media Research: An Introduction, Seventh edition, Belmont: Wadsworth.


36

AN ANALYSIS OF TEMPORAL PATTERN OF DAILY ACTIVITIES IN A TRADITIONAL AFRICAN CITY AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURAL PLANNING: A

STUDY OF ILORIN, NIGERIA

ADEDOKUN OLUTOYIN MOSES (Ph.D)Department of Geography

Federal College of Education, ZariaKaduna State, Nigeria

[email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses the temporal pattern of activities of the people in Ilorin especially the length of time spent on each activity. Data were collected from 500 residents of Ilorin, each of whom completed a time budget diary over one week. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to summarize the data and to test the research hypotheses. The result shows that the activities were fixed in time and three variables: age, income and occupation were the major determinants of the time spent on the activities. The study also shows clearly that the temporal structure of activity in Ilorin is different from what obtains in Western cities where there is flexibility in the usage of time.

Keyword: Pattern, Traditional African, Urban Infrastructural Planning, Occupation, Income.

INTRODUCTIONThe study of the interaction between population, activities and times is a complex one with many dimensions. These dimensions include the location, timing, duration, sequence and type of activities and or trips. These characteristics of space-time behaviour have made the simultaneous analysis of its many dimensions imperative (Kwan, 2002, 2003). Previous researches have either focused on spatial dimensions or have completely ignored time element as if it is not important (Main, 1982) Although Geographers view places in a two dimensional ways namely space and time (spatio-temporal), they often tend to ignore the time element. This paper, thus, discusses the temporal pattern of activities, that is, the time spent on various categories of activities, the determinants of the time spent and its implication on urban infrastructural planning.

The approach of integrating individual spatial behaviour overtime was pioneered by Hãggertrand (1969). He used a simple diagram to illustrate his concept of space-time dimensions (Figure 1) Hãggertrand postulated the geographers’ two-dimensional space on the surface of the earth or on the surface of a map. A line on this surface indicated movement in space but not in time. He suggested a third dimension to signify time.


37

Figure1 represents a very simple working day. Solid lines represent the path of all obligatory activities and dotted lines the prism or feasible regions of movement in periods for which there are no fixed activities. The worker is assumed to be effectively fixed at home until 7:30am to 8:00am where he can conveniently sleep and take breakfast. He must then take a direct route to work, where he is obliged to stay until lunchtime. During the lunch hour he has a certain amount of freedom; he must be back in the office exactly an hour. From 2pm until about 5pm he is again expected to stay at work. But after 5pm he has no need to be home until 7pm for supper. In this period, 5-7pm, he can stay on at work or he can go somewhere near or stop off on the way back for a drink or visit. The main feature implicit in this model of daily behaviour is the idea that certain activities are fixed in both space and time.

Method of Data analysisThe following methods were use to analyse the data: (i) descriptive statistics to summarise the data; (ii) Analysis of variance to determine the structural dimension of daily behaviour of the respondents. The preliminary description of the allocation of time among different types of activity is subdivided into three parts:

Fig.1 Man’s daily space-time dimensionsSource: Adapted from Haggerstrand (1969).

Time

9Pm

8Pm

7Pm

6Pm

5Pm

4Pm

3Pm

2Pm

1Pm

12Non

11am

10am

9am

8am

7am

6am

SpaceOfficeHome

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review

(a) Time spent by respondents on different classes of activity that isbased and outdoor based activities on daily basis: Day 1 to 7.

(b) Spatial allocation of time (mean duration of activity) on each category of activities.(c) Temporal disaggregation of time spent on daily activities.

THE STUDY AREAWhen the present city of Ilorin was founded is not very clear. Indeed, little is known about its prepolitical development. Ilorin is today the capital of Kwara State. It is located on latitude 80.30N and Longitude 40.35’E. It lies on the southelocated in the Guinea savanna grassland belt of middle belt region of Nigeria. The main river in Ilorin is the Asa which flows in the south-north direction. It divides Ilorin into twocore or indigenous area and the eastern part where the Government Reservation Area (GRA) is located.

Ilorin has experienced a rapid growth in its population over the years. The first population census in 1911 put the population of Ilorin at 36,343 while the 1953 population census put the town’s population at 40,994. The 1963 and 1991 censuses recorded the population of the town as 208,546 and 532,088 respectively. The projected population of Ilorin in 2005 when this annual growth of 3.5 percent.

METHODOLOGYSource of DataThe Activity Network Approach (ANA) was adopted for this study. ANA is a microinductive approach that makes ‘predictions individuals using Time Budget Diary (TBD). TBD questionnaire focuses on the socioof the individual, types of activities, location of activities, beginning and end time of activparticipants in each activity, extent to which each activity was arranged and whether an individual could have done: - Anything else at the time of this activity, - This activity at any other time, - This activity elsewhere, and whether, - Been anywhere else at the time of his activity is taking place.

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review

Time spent by respondents on different classes of activity that is on home based, office/work place based and outdoor based activities on daily basis: Day 1 to 7.Spatial allocation of time (mean duration of activity) on each category of activities.Temporal disaggregation of time spent on daily activities.

When the present city of Ilorin was founded is not very clear. Indeed, little is known about its prepolitical development. Ilorin is today the capital of Kwara State. It is located on latitude 80.30N and Longitude 40.35’E. It lies on the southern fringes of the savanna region and north of the forest zone. located in the Guinea savanna grassland belt of middle belt region of Nigeria. The main river in Ilorin is the

north direction. It divides Ilorin into two parts: a western part representing the core or indigenous area and the eastern part where the Government Reservation Area (GRA) is located.

Ilorin has experienced a rapid growth in its population over the years. The first population census in 1911 put e population of Ilorin at 36,343 while the 1953 population census put the town’s population at 40,994. The

1963 and 1991 censuses recorded the population of the town as 208,546 and 532,088 respectively. The projected population of Ilorin in 2005 when this research was carried out was 748,150 based on an assumed

The Activity Network Approach (ANA) was adopted for this study. ANA is a microinductive approach that makes ‘predictions about the whole from disaggregate data of the behaviour of individuals using Time Budget Diary (TBD). TBD questionnaire focuses on the socioof the individual, types of activities, location of activities, beginning and end time of activparticipants in each activity, extent to which each activity was arranged and whether an individual could

else at the time of this activity,activity at any other time,

where, and whether,anywhere else at the time of his activity is taking place.

Vol.2 No.4

38

on home based, office/work place

Spatial allocation of time (mean duration of activity) on each category of activities.

When the present city of Ilorin was founded is not very clear. Indeed, little is known about its pre-jihad political development. Ilorin is today the capital of Kwara State. It is located on latitude 80.30N and

rn fringes of the savanna region and north of the forest zone. Ilorin is located in the Guinea savanna grassland belt of middle belt region of Nigeria. The main river in Ilorin is the

parts: a western part representing the core or indigenous area and the eastern part where the Government Reservation Area (GRA) is located.

Ilorin has experienced a rapid growth in its population over the years. The first population census in 1911 put e population of Ilorin at 36,343 while the 1953 population census put the town’s population at 40,994. The

1963 and 1991 censuses recorded the population of the town as 208,546 and 532,088 respectively. The research was carried out was 748,150 based on an assumed

The Activity Network Approach (ANA) was adopted for this study. ANA is a micro-behavioural, about the whole from disaggregate data of the behaviour of

individuals using Time Budget Diary (TBD). TBD questionnaire focuses on the socio-economic attributes of the individual, types of activities, location of activities, beginning and end time of activities, number of participants in each activity, extent to which each activity was arranged and whether an individual could


39

Sampling ProcedureThe 20 electoral wards in Ilorin formed the spatial framework for primary data collection. The use of these wards was based on the fact that it makes it easier to obtain data on population. The sample size was 500 literate individuals. This number was proportionally distributed among the 20 wards based on their 1991 population projected to 2006, using 3.5 percent annual growth rate. Number of respondents to be interviewed from each ward was randomly selected. This sample is considered adequate for the study of this nature because of the complexity of completing the questionnaire, the time and cost involved in administering the questionnaire, monitoring the respondents, and more importantly, because researches involving Time Budget Diary do not normally accommodate large samples (Timmermanns, 2000; Kwan, 2005). Each respondent was issued seven copies of the TBD questionnaire, one for each day of the week. Research assistants monitored the respondents at home and work places.

MAJOR FINDINGSSpatial allocation of time by place of activity and day of the weekTable 1 shows the spatial allocation of time to various activities that is, the mean duration of activities in minute from day 1 to day 7. The daily variation in the allocation of time by the location of activities clearly demonstrated that office/workplace based activities had a much greater average duration than the home based activities.

Table 1: Spatial allocation of time (mean duration of activity in minutes)Days of Weeks

Location of activities

Mean time spent

Standard Deviation

% of Total sum

Sunday Home basedOffice/work place

Out door

544.24 81.78 85.71

181.9089.91

.00

56.640.62.8

Monday Home basedOffice/work place

157.38 704.3

73.5486.04

39.061.0

Tuesday Home basedOffice/work place

166.38 1037.24

80.40104.51

37.562.5

Wednesday Home basedOffice/work place

151.0 1325.12

73.04109.39

46.653.4

Thursday Home basedOffice/work place

168.5 995.4

47.90148.71

42.158.0

Friday Home basedOffice/work place

132.04 1045.52

56.85114.61

47.053.0

Saturday Home basedOffice/work place

143.30 1104.85

53.87133.89

49.650.4

Source: Filed work, 2006.

Daily Temporal disaggregation of time spent on activitiesThe variation in people’s allocation of time between different periods of the day was obtained from the temporal disaggregation of the time spent on different activities on different day of the week as shown in Table 2

Table2: Variations in People’s Allocation of Time between different periods of the DayACTIVITY

DAY PERIOD HOME BASED

OFFICE/WORK PLACE

OUTDOOR TOTAL

1MorningAfternoonEveningTotal

13113243306

3333

2

2

13313276341


40


3511753

1121615278

14717212331


161057128

821155202

9822012330


23851109

741405219

972256328

MorningAfternoonEveningTotal

615210122

491507266

11020117328


21971118

1154511171

13614211289


1202915164

2650985

1467924249

Source: Field work, 2005.

The summary of the variations in people’s allocation of time between different periods of the day is presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Distribution of respondents by time of day and place of activityACTIVITY PERIOD OF THE DAY TOTAL %

MORNING % AFTERNOON % EVENING %Home based 57 18.15 73 23.23 12 3.85 142 45.22Office/work place

65 20.70 94 29.94 11 3.50 170 54.14

Out door 2 0.6 2 0.6Total 124 39.50 167 53.18 23 7.96 314 100


Table 5 shows that 39.50 per cent of the respondents undertook their activities in the morning period, out of this 18.15 per cent, 20.70 per cent and 0.64 per cent were spent on home, office/work place and outdoor based activities respectively. While 53.18 per cent undertook their activities in afternoon out of which 29.94 per cent were spent on home based activities and 29.94 per cent on office/work place based activities. Finally 7.32 per cent undertook their activities in the evening with 3.85 per cent on home based activities and 3.30 per cent undertaken in the home and office/work place respectively. It is evident; therefore, that majority of the respondents (50 per cent) undertook their activities in the day time, 92.68 per cent which was in the morning and 39.50 percent in the afternoon.

TEMPORAL FIXITY OF ACTIVITIESThe concept of fixity implies that some activities are fixed to a certain space and/or time of the day and also that certain spaces are closely associated with certain activities and/or time of the day. To establish the temporal nature (fixity) of activities, respondents were asked whether they could have done anything else at the time they did a particular activity The result shows that 280 (94.59) respondents said they could not do anything else at the time while 16 (5.41%) indicated that they could do something else at the time. This


41

result, however, varies with different socio-demographic variables: gender, marital status, religion, age, educational qualification and occupation.

Table 4: Temporal fixity and activity location


The temporal fixity of activities was further established when it was asked if these activities could be done at some other time as shown in Table 7

Table 5: Activity location and temporal fixityActivity Location Could you have done this at some other time?

Yes % No % Total %Home based 21 7.4 119 40.20 141 47.64

Office/work place 1 0.4 153 51.7 153 51.7Outdoor 2 0.7 _ _ 2 0.7Total 24 8.5 272 91.5 296 100


From Table 5 , it is evident that only 8.5% of the respondents do not have their activity fixed in time. This include 7.4%, 0.7% in office/work place activities. On the other hand 91.5% of the respondents could not have done their activities at some other time. This includes 40.0% who are engaged in home based activities, 51.0% in office/work place activity and 0.7% in outdoor activities.

DETERMINANTS OF TIME RESPONDENTS SPENT ON ACTIVITIESThe determinants of time respondents spent on their activities were analyzed by using the stepwise multiple regression analysis. The choice of this analytical technique is informed by the fact that “it is a search procedure for identifying which independent variables, previously thought to be of some importance actually have the strongest relationship with the dependent variable’

The dependent variables in this study are the amount of time devoted to the activities each day. The independent variables are the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents i.e. the gender, marital status, age in years, religion, educational qualification and occupation of the respondents. It is expected that the variable(s) that have higher score(s) is/are likely to be responsible for people’s time allocation each day.

The result of the stepwise regression in shows that only three steps are possible. The criterion for selecting variables in the analysis is set at 0.05 level of significance. The result shows that age estimated annual income and occupation of respondents are significant. The level of significance is as high as 0.001. This implies that apart from age, annual income and occupation, all other variables are not significant in explaining time devoted to activities; although this variables differ vary from day 1 to 7.

The age factor is significant in the sense that all the sampled respondents fall within the age group of economically viable or productive segment of the population (i.e. between the age brackets of 18 years to 60 years) in all gender, qualification and occupational groups. On the other hand, annual income as a factor significant in explaining time devoted to activities is due to the fact that majority of the respondents belong to low income group, hence they have to work from morning till evening to make ends meet while those in public service engage in multiple occupations. Finally, occupation as a significant factor explains one of the characteristics of third world cities where people engaged in mostly informal sector and self -owned occupations hence they can afford to spend longer time.

Activity type Could you have done anything else at this time?Yes % No % Total %

Home based 14 4.72 112 37.8 126 42.57Office/work place 2 0.68 166 56.08 168 56.76Outdoor _ _ 2 0.69 2 0.69Total 16 5.41 280 94.59 296 100


42

Table 6: Stepwise regression analysis for determinants of amount of time devoted to activitiesDAY

Model

Step Variable Description

B Standard of b

Beta T Significance level

R R2 Adjusted R2

Standard Error

1 1 1 Age (yrs) -28.502

4.403 -479 -6.474

001 479 .229 .224 526.216

2 AB

Age (yes)Estimated annual income (N)

-22.792-6.13

4.701 .000

-333-234

-4.849-2.959

001004 .524

b.274

.264512.318

3 Abc

Age yrsEstimated Annual IncomeOccupation

-21.695-6.0369.772

4.682 .00034.585

-.364-.230.145

-4.634-2.9432.017

001004046 .542

c.295

.280

506.792

2. 1

2

3

A

b

c

Estimated Annual Income (N)

Estimated Annual Income Age (Yrs)

Estimated Annual Income Age Yrs Occupation

-1.112E.04

-9.09E.05-12.069

8.96E.05-11.81153.529

.000

.0003.435

.0003.40126.746

-.562

-.454-.260

-.448-.225.134

-8.004

-6.137-3.514

-6.102-3.4732.001

.000

.001

.001

.047

.562a

.610b

.624c

.315

.372

.390

.311

.363

.376

380.816

366.165

362.242

3 1

2

A

b


Estimated annual income (N)Ag (Yrs)

-1.3E-04

-9.18E-05-11.813

.000

.0003.438

-.563

-.458-.255

-8.038

-6.187-3.436

.000

.000

.001

.563a

.609b

.317

.371

.312

.362

380.450

366.470

4 1

2 a

b


Estimated annual income (N)

Ag (Yrs)

-1.14E-04

-9.64E-05

-10.231

.000

.000

3.663

-.555

-.467

-.213

-7.805

-6.142

-2.793

.000

.000

.006

.555a

.588b

.308

.345

.303

.336

397.092

387.592

5 1 A Age (in Yrs)

-5.597

1.782

3.003

.000

-.173

-1.864

.065

.168

.181a

.033 .011 317.361


43

Source: Authors analysis, 2006

On the day 1 the R value in the first step is 0.479 percent while R2 is 0.229%. This implies that age account for about 23 percent of how people spent their time. In the second step, R value is 0.524 percent and R2 is 0.274%. This implies that estimated annual income account for about 274 percent and on the third step R is0.543% and R2 is 0.295% which implies that occupation type account for 29.5 percent. In all, the three variables account for about 80 percent of the factors (variables) that explain how people spent their time. The percent change in R2 between first and second step is 0.045 while the difference between first and third step is 0.066. These represent 4.5 percent and 6.6 percent of the explanation. In other words, the difference between the explanation in the first and second step and in the first and third step in the analysis is only 4.5 and 6.6 percent given an average difference of 5.6 percent.

On day 2, the R value in the first step is .562 and R2 is 315 while for the second step R is .610 and R2 is .372 and R for third step is .624 and R2 is .390. This result shows that on the second day estimated annual income account for about 31.5 percent, while age in the second step account of about 37 percent and in the third step, occupation type account for 39 percent on the second day. The difference between the contribution of the variables i.e. between first and second step is 5.7 percent while between second and third step is 2 percent given an average difference of 5.1 percent.

On days 3 and 4, only two steps are possible. In the first step for day 3 R is .563 and R2 is .317. This shows that estimated annual income account for about 32 percent. On the second step R is .609 and R2 is .371. This result shows that age accounts for about 37 percent of the difference between the first and second step in the analysis of day 3 is 5 percent.

On day 4, the first step R is .555 and R2 is .308. This explains that estimated annual income account for about 31 percent in the analysis while in the second step R is .588 and R2 is .345. This result explains that age of respondents account for about 34.5 percent. The difference between the first and second step is just 3.5 percent of the explanation.

On day 5, 6 and 7, only one step is possible and the R values for these days are .181, .226 and 194, while Rs is .03, .051 and .038. These explain that age account for 3.3 percent, 5.1 percent and 3.8 percent in the analysis of days 5, 6 and 7 respectively.

Furthermore, attempt was made to determine the significance of these three variables (age, income and occupation of the respondents) in explaining time allocation. To achieve this ANOVA test was conducted for the stepwise regression as presented in the Table 7

Table 7: SUMMARY OF ANOVA TEST FOR STEPWISE REGRESSIONDAY MODEL Source of

VariationSum of Squares

d/f Means Square

F Significance

1 1 RegressionResidualTotal

116055393904339250648932

1141142

11605539.48276903.492

41.912 .0001a

2 RegressionResidualTotal

139031023674583050648932

2140142

6951551.050262470.213

26.488 .0001b


Occupation

E-05

17.52223.538

.129

.063

1.385

.744.458

6 1 A Age (yrs) -7.507 2.902 -.226

-2.587

.011 .226a

.051 .044 326.226

7 1 A Age (yrs) -6.922 3.357 -.194

-2.062

.042 .194a

.038 .029 338.251


44


149484143570051850648932

3139142

4982804.736256838.257

19.401 .0001c


92900892015784629447935

1139140

9290088.503145020.476

64.061 .0001a


109453031850263129447935

2138140

5472651.679 134077.038

40.817 .0001b


114708991797703629447935

3137140

3823632.953 131219.239

29.139 .0001c


93518002011918929470989

1139140

9351800.432144742.367

64.610 .0001a


109376011853338829470989

2138140

5468800.6211342999.914

40.721 .0001b


96058282160247031208298

1137138

9605827.614157682.264

60.919 .0001a


107773802043091831208298

2136138

5388689.837 150227.339

35.870 .0001a


459942.61359696514056907

3135138

153314.215100718.256

1.522 .212a


712427.8213119653213908960

1124125

712417.792106423.643

6.694 .011a


486564.0124711512957679

1109110

486564.041114413.901

4.253 .042a

Source: Author’s Analysis, 2006.

The result of the ANOVA test shows that all the variables are significant at 0.05 significance level for every day. This indicates that for all variables and at all days, the calculated F values at 0.05 confidence level are greater than the critical table values. Hence we accept that the three variables: age, income and occupation of the respondents are significant in explaining time spent on various activities.

The results of the regression, ANOVA show that three variables: age, income and occupation affect time spent on activities. The explanation for this is that, most people are self-employed or they are having multiple occupations/combining many occupations due to lack of formal employment, also most of the people are low-income earners. This is a major characteristic of Africa urban centers. It is an indication of the nature of activities in an emerging nation with a weak industrial base where informal activities dominate urban economic landscape. Also most people are self employed or they own their businesses hence these is no time table for their activities. Furthermore they have no structured work scheduled they work from morning till evening to make ends meet because they are still within the active working age.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSConceptual ImplicationOne important outcome of this work is the concept of Objective Spatial Structure (OSS) defined as “the actual locations of all potential activities and their associated objective levels of attractiveness within an urban area” (Sears, 1971; Bourne and Murdie, 1972; Bourne; 1974, Procos and Harvey, 1977, Cullen and Godson, 1975; Kwan, 2004 and Joh et al 2005).

Fig.3 Objective Spatial Structure (OSS)


45

Activity

Source: Kwan, 2004.The OSS sets the outer limit of possible individual behaviour and it increases with geographical scale of an urban areas. Enclosed in the OSS are the three limiting sets of: perception, preference and opportunity. The interaction of these elements determines the actual “activity set” of the individual. The preference set consists of these elements of the OSS which the individuals has preference and the perceived set contains both objective and subjective of the systems as they are perceived or seen by individuals. Based on this and an overview of the relationship between three main components of activity, time and space emerge the concept of fixity. This concept forms the basis of the planning implication. The concept of fixity implies that some activities are fixed to a certain space and/or time of the day and also that certain spaces are closely associated with certain activities and/or time of the day.From the data collected and analyzed in the study area, about 89 percent of the respondents had their activities fixed in time because most of the respondents are engaged in informal sector and are self-employed. These population characteristics and the activity pattern (time) generated mainly home and office/work place based activities which the people have adjusted and accustomed to. The implication of this is that certain spaces would be in greater (or lesser) demand at a particular time. This forms the basis for the proposed model for this study.

Figure 4: A Model of Urban Neighbourhood Activity CentersSource: Derived from the author’s findings (2009)

Perception Preference

Opportunity

Space

Human (Spatio-Temporal)Behaviour

Office/Workplace

Neighbourhood ActivityCentres

Fixed

Home

Activity Pattern

Time

Activity Location

Urban Activities

Urban Centre Urban Population


46

Given a medium size urban centre with its population, there would emerge various types of urban activity located in different parts of the city. The location of these activities would in turn generate activity pattern with space and time (or spatio-temporal) dimensions. The activity pattern itself would generate human spatio-temporal behavior. In the study area, the human behaviour in space and time was fixed. The fixity in human spatial behaviour is shared between home and office/work place. The urban neighbourhood activity centre model is of the view, therefore, that in planning for a medium size urban centre in developing world; there may be the need to adopt a strategy that would incorporate the behaviour of the people. Instead of strict land use zonation approach, facilities may be located closely to or around neighborhoods where people are fixed to. In this case and as demonstrated, facilities and infrastructures should be located between homes and work places. Obviously, if there is a demonstrable linkage between two activities in time, it makes sense to locate the facilities housing them in the same space so as to eliminate time and energy consuming travel.(Adedokun, 2008, 2009)

ReferencesAdedokun, O. M. (2008) A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Activity Linkages in Ilorin, Kwara-State.

Savanna 2,1 pp41-52Adedokun, O. M. (2009) A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Activity Linkages: A Case Study of Ilorin,

Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Blalock, H.M. (1964) Causal Inferences in non-experimental Research. London, Chapel Hill.Bourne, L.S. (1976) ‘Monitoring Change and Evaluating Impact of Planning Policy on urban structure: A

Markov Chain Experiment’ Plan Canada. Bourne, L.S. and Murdie, R.A. (1972) ‘Interrelationships of Social and Physical Space in the City’

Canadian Geographer, xvi, 3.Cullen, I. and Godson V. (1972) The Structure of Activity Patterns: a bibliography. Research Paper, No 2,

Joint Unit for planning research.Haggerstand, T. (1969) What about People in Regional Science. Regional Science Association 24.Joh, G.H., T.A. Arentze and H.J.P. Timmermans (2005) A Utility-based analysis of activity time allocation

decisions underlying segmented daily activity-travel patterns Environment and Planning A 37, 11 pp.105-125.

Kwan, Mei-Po, (2002) ‘Time, Information Technologies and the Geographies of Everyday Life’ Urban Geography 25, 5, 471-482.

Kwan, Mei-Po, (2003a) New Information Technologies, Human Behaviour In Space Time and the Urban Economy Paper Presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board (TRB) Washington D.C. Jan 12-16

Kwan, Mei-Po, (2003b) ‘Geovisualization of Activity Travel Patterns Using 3D Geographical Information Systems’ Paper Presented at 10th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research. Luierne. Aug. 10-15.

Kwan, Mei – Po (2005) Measuring Activity and Action Space/time in Martins E.H.,Lee-Gosselin and T. D. Seen (eds) Integrated Land-Use and Transportation Models: Behavioural Foundaations. Oxford: Pergamon-Elsevier pp 101-132

Main, H.A.C. (1982) Time–Space Study of Daily Activity in Urban Sokoto, Nigeria Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University of Liverpool, U.K.

Olsson, G. (1970) ‘Explanation, Prediction and Meaning of Variance; An Assessment of Distance Interaction Models’ Economic Geography 46, 2 pp.223 – 2333.

Procos, D. and Harvey, A.S. (1977) Activity Network: A system approach to urban Modeling ResearchPaper Institute of Public Affairs. Dalhouise University.

Sears, D. (1971) Dynamic Spatial Classification Architectural Design 2,1.Timmermans, H.J.P. (2000) ‘Theories and Models of Activity Patterns’ Albataros pp 6 – 70.Witherill, G.B. (1972), Analysis of Variance; Elementary Statistical Methods. London, Chapman and Hall.


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HARNESSING TRADOTRONIC MEDIA POTENTIALS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN NIGERIA’S NIGER DELTA

KONKWO, DEDE E.J. (Ph.D)Associate Professor

Department of Mass CommunicationImo State University, Owerri

Imo State, [email protected]

AbstractThe paper examines the fusion and deployability of indigenous and electronic media towards the resolution of conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The study is informed by the strategic importance of oil not only to Nigeria, but also to the rest of the world whose energy needs are satisfied through oil importation from Nigeria. The Niger Delta, comprising nine out of the 36 states of the federation, is where Nigeria’s oil is produced and as a result, is, until today, also where the most environmental devastation and lack of development has taken place. This led to the region becoming a theatre of youth restiveness, constant confrontation between the Niger Delta militants and Nigerian security forces, kidnapping and vandalising of oil production facilities, leading to significant reduction in oil output and therefore to losses in national income, since about 95% of the country’s revenue is derived from oil. The paper discusses the need for peace predicated on justice as the precondition for national development and as being achievable when there is, apart from massive development of the Niger Delta, also a proper and effective fusion of the traditional and electronic (tradotronic) media in the strategic efforts to bring about a resolution of the conflict in the region.

Keywords: Militancy, tradotronic, media, conflict, resolution

IntroductionOwing to its complex and dynamic nature, modern society today is characterised by one form of conflict or another. And it is argued that no government can make any meaningful progress in the midst of conflictive situations. Conflictshave always been known to erupt or be aggravated when the special interests or intentions of the contending forces in society are at variance with one another and when the information about them is either misdirected, misunderstood, misinterpreted or misjudged. Nwabueze (2009: 33) also contends that misunderstanding of information tends to complicate facts and situation reports, leading to (the) outbreak of crisis. This can have very far-reaching negative effects on the political, economic and social life of not only the immediate society, but also the international community. A case in point is the stymied operations of oil exploration, mining and servicing companies in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as a result of the activities of militant groups and other restive youths, which deplete Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product as they affect international oil exports. In 2008, Nigeria lost more than $150-billion in oil revenue due to pipeline vandalising, shut-in flow stations, kidnapping of oil workers, etc.

For corporate bodies such as the oil companiesto succeed in their activities and be able to contribute their quota to the national and international economy, they should not only engage in corporate social responsibility, but they should also be able to put in place a communication machinery that enables them to manage and resolve conflicts. Traditional and modern forms of (broadcast) communication should also be harnessed, where necessary. To this end, the paper adopts the tradotronic media strategy conceptualised within the context of development support communication as the means through which effective communication can be achieved between the contending forces in the Niger Delta and the Federal Government of Nigeria.


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Literature reviewDevelopment communication is a holistic communication effort, approach or action designed to mobilise a people towards active participation in programmes aimed at achieving improved physical, socio-cultural, political and economic environments for the benefit of human beings in society (see Nwodu, 2007: 18); Edeani (1993: 30) sees development communication as “the use of all forms of communication in reporting, publicizing and promotion of development at all levels of society”. Quebral (1989: 27) defines development communication as the “art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people”. From these definitions, we can see that development communication concerns itself with:

1. social objectives among development agents; 2. communicating development programme objectives to the programme targets;3. mobilising development targets for active participation in the programmes; and4. evaluating programme strategies before, during and after the programme implementation for the

purpose of enhancing future delivery.Development communication demands the effective use of various modes of communication media to propagate news and information about social change, such as in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. As Moemeka (1989: 14) observes, development (which is communication driven) should aim at improving “the human, cultural, socio-economic and political conditions of the individual and, consequently, of society. Linden (1989, cited in Okunna (2002: 293) agrees that development should focus on social change aimed at improving the quality of life of human society, especially that of the underprivileged majority of the population.

To facilitate development, Moemeka (1989), and Nwosu (1991) note that in almost all development communication projects, some kind of media mixing or combination seems most desirable, if not imperative. This involves careful and cost-effective integration of the traditional, interpersonal, group and mass media models of communication, for greater results. The effective deployment of some traditional modes of communication, like folk media, market places, village square meetings, age-grades (i.e. persons born within the age range of between 1 – 3 years) and other similar for a in some development communication contexts has also been documented and reported in the African developmental research literature (Nwosu and Megwa, 1993). And such traditional modes of communication can be effectively deployed in the effort to resolve the conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

In this study, we propose the fusion of modern media systems with the traditional (i.e. tradotronic) communication channels in the effort to aid the resolution of crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta as well as facilitate the social, economic and political development of the people of that region.

The genesis of the Niger Delta oil conflictThe extractive industry is the life-blood of the Nigerian economy, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the country’s major income earner. But strategic as this may be, oil and gas fortunes have sadly brought Nigeria lots of woes and misfortunes. This is to be analyzed and understood within the context of the social, economic and political crises associated with oil and gas, the grand human scale of the politics of oil or what is described as the curse of oil in Nigeria.(The Guardian Jan. 4, 2009).

The oil issue is certainly at the heart of the Nigerian question and the theatre for the interplay of associated or contending forces. And the battleground of the dilemma is the Niger Delta, one of the largest wetlands in the world, and clearly the largest in Africa, covering over 20,000 square kilometers (The Guardian, Jan. 4, 2009). It comprises nine out of the 36 states that make up the country, namely: Cross River (often considered a marginal player), Ondo, Imo, Abia Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Delta. Of the Niger Delta states, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Delta face more peculiar problems. This is because it is in these states that oil exploration, mining and production is pursued most intensively and extensively. Consequently, the most environmental degradation also takes place here, causing unprecedented losses in flora and fauna, depriving the oil-bearing communities of their traditional means of livelihood – fishing and farming – and thereby impoverishing them.

The strategic importance of oil as a major source of energy is well known. Whenever and wherever oil is used, in one form or another, there is a linkage to a complex process that involves exploration, refining,


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high-end engineering and technology, human and material resources, the politics of nations and the rights and expectations of human beings. Whereas the core Niger Delta states constitute the treasure base of Nigeria’s economy, a visit to them reveals a baffling paradox: there is widespread poverty, especially in the riverine areas, as there is massive youth unemployment, virtually no healthcare delivery, no schools, no federal government presence and as there are youths without employable skills. Over the years, the people of the Niger Delta region have had to endure the painful reality of seeing other parts of Nigeria, especially Abuja, being constantly developed with the oil revenue derived from their land, while they themselves wallow in abject poverty, want and official neglect. In order to therefore draw the attention of the world to their plight, the youths of the region who have become restive over the years, took up arms against the oil companies and the government. Unfortunately, this otherwise legitimate struggle for self-preservation soon gave way to the criminal activities of hoodlums who latched onto it to unleash mayhem on innocent Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Oil was first discovered in Nigeria in 1908 at Iho in Imo State by Shell D’Arcy, but commercial exploration commenced when oil was discovered at Oloibiri (present day Bayelsa State) in 1956. From an initial production of 5000 barrels per day, oil production from Nigeria in over 140 oil fields, over the years, reached as high as 2.4-million barrels per day. The projection for the 2009 budget put it at 2.9-million barrels per day, although instability in the oil producing region, as occurred during the civil war, 1967-70, and in the course of the current insurgency in the Niger Delta can obstruct oil production activities, “again exposing the soft underbelly of Nigeria’s cash cow” (The Guardian Jan 4, 2009).

Nigeria is generally referred to as an “important African country” by the West, not necessarily because of its technological or economic development, but mainly owing to the advantages that access to its oil offers, as well as her population, which provides a huge market for Western manufactured products. Nigeria is known to have gas reserves that can last for more than 100 years should all its oil wells dry up today. The crisis in the Middle East has even made it necessary for the industrialised countries to look for other sources of oil supply. It is noted that this is why the United States has been looking for new sources of oil, with its eyes trained on the Gulf of Guinea and Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources; hence the decision to bring American military presence to the Gulf of Guinea (The Guardian, ibid).

As of January 2007, Nigeria’s proven oil resources were estimated at 36.2-billion barrels. And with continuing discovery of new oil wells, it is estimated that by 2010, the nation’s proven oil reserves might increase to about 40-billion barrels. In addition, Nigeria’s gas reserves are estimated to be up to 3.5-million cubic metres (Tell magazine, 2008). The Niger Delta and its off-shore locations are where all these resources are located, yet their people have nothing to show for it.

Table 1: Estimated crude oil production and revenue in Nigeria (1958-2006)Year Production (million barrels) Revenue (N million)1958 1.9 0.21959 4.1 3.41960 6.4 2.41961 16.8 171962 24.6 171963 27.9 101964 44 161965 99.4 29.21966 152.4 451967 116.6 29.61968 51.9 Not available1969 196.3 75.41970 395.8 1671971 558.7 5191972 655.3 7641973 719.4 1,0161974 823.3 3,7241975 660.1 4,272


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1976 758.1 5,3651977 766.1 6,0811978 696.3 4,5561979 845.5 8,8811980 760.1 12,3541981 525.5 8,5641982 470.6 7,8151983 450.9 7,2531984 507.5 8,2691985 547.1 10,9151986 535.9 8,1071987 482.9 19,0271988 529 20,9341989 626.7 39,1311990 660.6 55,2161991 689.9 60,3161992 711.3 115,3921993 695.4 106,1921994 696.2 160,1921995 715.4 324,5481996 681.9 369,1901997 855 416,8111998 806.4 289,5321999 774.7 500,0002000 828.3 1,340,0002001 859.6 1,707,6002002 725.9 1,230,9002003 844.1 2,074,3002004 900 3,354,8002005 923.5 4,762,4002006 814 6,109,0002007 880TOTAL 23,183.9 N29.8 TRILLION

Source: Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN)Statistical Bulletin, Vol. 17, 2006

However, despite the fact that Nigeria is ranked as the world’s sixth oil producer, its management of oil revenue has been recorded as poor. At present, not much can be seen to have been done to bring about appreciable development and poverty alleviation, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars earned since the commencement of commercial oil exploration. For instance, the number of poor people in Nigeria rose from 19 million in 1970 to a staggering 90 million in 2000 (Ugolor, 2004). An IMF assessment (2003) indicates that oil, rather than bringing about general human development, has instead hampered economic growth and eroded institutional quality in Nigeria. The report also noted that oil has contributed to civil war, marginalisation and corruption, not to mention heightening regional tensions and conflicts, including the Niger Delta conflict.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria today is synonymous with persistent agitation for resource control, youth restiveness, militancy and retarded growth and development as people continue to kidnap and kill others over foggy disputes. It is contended that the wealthy and corrupt elite have grown stupendously wealthier, while the majority of the population live in abject poverty. Published and televised interviews of militants indicate that their grouse emanates from perceived injustices meted to their people over the years. They cite dispossession of their “God-given” resources by the federal government, environmental degradation by the oil companies, general poverty, inequitable deployment of the proceeds from their resources to develop other parts of the country to the utter neglect of their own region as some of the reasons for their agitation and armed struggle. The issue of derivation and resource control has been a contentious one in the effort to examine the genesis and circumstances of the conflict in the Niger Delta.


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In order to douse the escalating tension and bring about some tranquility in the region, the administration of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua created a Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs towards the end of 2008, which, however, some critics believe, hardly represents a solution to the problem in the long run.

Agitation for resource controlUnder British colonial authorities, the federating units of Nigeria first enjoyed 100 percent derivation in 1946, then later 50 per cent, and contributed only 20 per cent of their resources to the common pool. Owing to the fact that the different parts of the country were productive centres of activity, there was great competition among the regions to see which would surpass the other in terms of development.

But the discovery of oil and the oil boom suddenly put an end to this as all Nigerians strove to have a share of the “national cake” to which they contributed nothing in baking. With the ready availability of petro-dollars, the incentive for hardwork, creativity, resourcefulness and productivity gave way to political contact and patronage as requirements for success. In the 1963 Constitution, derivation (ie, the percentage share accruable to a state from the proceeds of the natural resources, such as petroleum, derivable from that state, in the Federation Account)as 50 per cent, and the federal government got only 30 percent. This same constitution granted the ownership of the continental shelf to the regions. But by 1966 this had been practically jettisoned and, subsequently, through various legislations, the Federal Government took over all the resources of the country, including the continental shelf.

Controlling Nigeria’s oil resources became the obsession of the federal military government. The civil war further exposed the strategic importance of the oil resources in the Niger Delta, and as the military seized control of power and politics, exercising control over oil and revenue became a major task. By 1970, derivation had been reduced to 45 per cent. In 1975, it was further reduced to 25 per cent. In 1981, the Shagari administration took it all the way down to five per cent. General Buhari further reduced it to 1.5 percent in1984. Under the Babangida administration, 1985-1993, it went up again to 3 percent.

In the 1999 Constitution, derivation is fixed at 13 per cent, in response to agitations by the oil producing communities. The Guardian (Jan. 4, 2009) notes that by far the biggest damage that the obsession with oil has done to Nigeria over the years is a gradual descent into national indolence. According to the newspaper, every month, Commissioners of Finance from the states travel to Abuja to collect their own states’ share of oil revenue. In those states, almost nothing is done to encourage productivity. Through various legislations, the federal government vested to itself all control of the resources in the country, thereby disempowering the federating units. For instance, there are the Minerals and Mining Act, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act, the Land Use Act, the Oil in Navigable Waters Act, the Oil Pipeline Act, the National Inland Waterways Authority Act, the Petroleum Act, the Exclusive Economic Zone Act, the Territorial Waters Act and the Lands (Title Vesting etc.) Decree. Sections of the extant constitution, notably sections 16 (2), 162 (5) – (7) item 39 on the Exclusive list have also been identified as contentious.

This led to the undue politicization of Nigeria’s extractive industry, fuelling rebellion among the people of the Niger Delta who, confronted with a rapacious Nigerian state, began to protest against the injustices occasioned by what they see as theft of their resources by the Nigerian state.

Owing to the unease in the Niger Delta states, there was a steady decline in crude oil production over the past five years. Some oil majors, especially the Anglo-Dutch energy giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its American counterpart, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), were forced to declare a force majeure at different periods in 2008 due to their inability to meet the demands of their customers.

The conflict in the oil and gas sector assumed a more dangerous dimension in June 2008 when the Niger Delta militants attacked the Bonga Fields belonging to SPDC, whose Bonga floating storage platform was located 60 nautical miles off the coast of southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The militants’ damage of the strategic production platform threw the entire nation into panic, compelling President Umaru Yar’Adua to read the riot act to the militants. However, the militants promptly dismissed the presidential threat as an “empty” one, as they became even more daring.


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Over 5000 kilometres of the company’s flow lines were carted away and pipelines blown up by the warlords (The Punch: Jan. 1, 2009). Oil exploration was subsequently suspended in the area, while oil workers had to be evacuated to safer locations. As a result of these attacks, crude oil production by the company dropped sharply from 1.105-million barrels per day in 2005 to 360 000 barrels per day in 2008. Following this development, the management of SPDC embarked on restructuring which led to the downsizing of the company’s workforce in which about 3000 staff were laid off.CNL also received a dose of the militant cum criminal activities in November, 2008 when its Escravos pipelines were blown up. Consequently, the swamp operations of the company were shut down, leading to production shut-ins from six of its production platforms in the area, and the company’s declaration of a force majeure.

The attacks on the pipelines in 2008 led to the closure of the crude oil refining plants. On October 1, 2008, the militants and criminals attacked the flow lines and this led to the shutdown of Warri and Kaduna plants for more than one month.

Similarly, the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) suffered a setback in its operations in 2008 (see also Sola Adebayo, The Punch, Jan. 1, 2009).Nigeria was unable to meet its OPEC quota in 2008 due to the suspension of oil exploration activities in many parts of the Niger Delta. Currently,(i.e. mid-2009) electricity supply by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is down to about 800 megawatts because ethnic militants regularly disrupt the supply of gas by the NGC from the Delta. The result has been constant power outages throughout the country, leading to low productivity and lack of development everywhere. In 2008, about 20.7 billion dollars was lost as revenue accruable to the Nigerian government (see The Guardian Sunday: 11 Jan. 2009).

Theoretical orientationThe fluid and very elastic nature of the concept of conflict makes it one that is always pliable and capable of being twisted at will as occasion demands. And that is why it has become an issue over which there is hardly consensus among scholars. Faleti (2007:36) agrees that:

Divided opinions on the nature, causes and impact of conflict arereflected in the fact that there is (no) single widely accepted theory on which scholars agree, though it is also possible to explain this as being a result of the multi-disciplinary nature of conflict research.

However, for our purpose, two theories of conflict are apt to capture the nature and essence of the conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. They are: the frustration-aggression theory (John Dollard and his associates 1939 cited in Faleti, (2007:47 ), and human needs theory (Rosati et al 1990).The Frustration-Aggression theory which was developed by John Dollard and his research associates in 1939 has been expanded and modified by scholars like Leonard Berkowitz (1962) and Yates (1962) and it appears to be the most widely known explanation for violent behaviour arising from an inability to fulfill needs. Social science theorists who rely on this explanation use the psychological theories of motivation and behaviour as well as frustration and aggression (Anifowoshe, 1982). In the effort to explain aggression, scholars point to the differences between what people feel they want or deserve to what they actually get. In this regard, Feierabendset al. (1969: 256-257)cited by Faleti(2007:47) speak of the “want-get-ratio” as Davies (1962: 6) speaks of the difference between “expected need satisfaction” and “actual need satisfaction”. Whenever expectation does not meet attainment, people usually tend to confront those they think are responsible for frustrating their ambitions. This forms the central argument of Ted Gurr’s (1970) relative deprivation thesis in which it is postulated that “the greater the discrepancy, however marginal, between what is sought and what seem attainable, the greater will be the chances that anger and violence will result”.

The central message of the frustration-aggression theory is that aggression does not just happen as a natural reaction or instinct (as realists and biological theorists are prone to assume), but that it is the outcome of frustration; and that in a situation where the legitimate desires (or demands) of an individual are denied either directly or by the indirect consequence of the way the society is structured, the feeling of


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disappointment may lead such a person to express his anger through violence that will be directed at those he holds responsible or those who are directly or remotely related to them.

Faleti(2007:48) and Zereuwa (2007: 125-132) agree that in situations where feelings of frustration become widespread among the population and the feeling is that people are getting less than they deserve, the most advisable thing that political leaders can do is to find out what the expectations of such individuals and groups are, and to seek ways of negotiating with them. It is contended that the position of most political leaders or office holders has been such as leads them to believe that yielding to public demands or entering into negotiation is a sign of weakness. This does not need to be the case and sometimes a state official or community leader showing concern is enough to make people believe that some action is being taken towards meeting such legitimate demands.

A fitting example of how frustration leads to aggression and violence is our earlier discussed environmental degradation, general impoverishment, youth restiveness, militancy, vandalisation of oil facilities and kidnapping that have become the order of the day in the oil-producing Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

The human needs theory is chiefly propounded by Rosati , Carroll and Coate (1990). The assumption of this theory is similar to that of frustration-aggression and relative deprivation theory. Its main position is that all human beings have basic needs which they seek to fulfil, and that the denial and frustration of these needs by other groups or individuals could affect them immediately or later, thereby leading to conflict. In this sense, “basic human needs” comprise the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. Essentially, to provide for one (e.g. food) and deny or hinder access to another (e.g. freedom of expression) will amount to a denial and could make people resort to violence in an effort to protect these needs.

Needs theorists have identified some of these needs, the denial or hampering of which causes conflict. Abraham Maslow (1970) in his Motivation and Personality invented the human hierarchy of needs as comprising the physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love, esteem and self-actualization. Burton (1979: 72) in addition identifies response, stimulation, security, recognition, distributive justice, meaning, the need to appear rational and develop rationality, the need for sense of control and the need for role defence. He describes some needs as basic, such as food, shelter, sex and reproduction. Azar (1990) lists some basic needs like security, distinctive identity, social recognition of identity and effective participation in the processes that shape such identities.

Burton establishes a link between frustration which compels humans into acts of aggression and the need on the part of such individuals to satisfy their basic needs. According to him, individuals cannot be taught to accept practices that destroy their identity and their goals that are attached to their needs and as a result of this, they are compelled to react against the factors, groups and institutions that they consider as being responsible for threatening such needs.

Human needs for survival, protection, affection, understanding, participation, creativity and identity are shared by all people, are irrepressible and, according to Burton (1979), have components (such as need for recognition, identity, security, autonomy and bonding with others) that are not easily given up, no matter the pressure or resistance. No matter how much a political or social system tries to frustrate or suppress these needs, it will either fail or cause far more damage in the long term. Gurr (1970:24) is of the view that the tension between deprivation and potential are the main issues addressed by the human needs theory. This is because when important needs are not adequately satisfied, economic and political problems will continue to grow. The non-existence or lack of economic opportunities, hyper-inflation and impecuniousness are symptoms of economic imbalance; while political imbalance leads to fear, xenophobic tendencies, crime and violence, forced migration, voluntary or forced exile and political marginalization. All these are at the root of bitter conflicts anywhere.Although scholars identify a wide range of human needs, some of which they consider to be basic, they agree that the frustration of these needs hinders the actualization of the potentials of groups and individuals, ultimately leading to conflict. Again, almost all of them agree that to resolve a conflict, or to even prevent one from erupting, the needs have to be met with appropriate satisfiers, i.e. those things or values that were denied them in the first place.


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Resolving the conflictMiller (2003:8) sees conflict resolution as “a variety of approaches aimed at terminating conflicts through the constructive solving of problems as distinct from management or transformation of conflict.” This is exactly what is needed in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, not only because of its strategic value to the country, but also given its international dimensions. Miall, Ramsbotham and Woodhouse (2001:2) note that by conflict resolution one expects that the deep-rooted sources of conflict are addressed and resolved, and behaviour is no longer violent, nor are attitudes hostile any longer, while the structure of the conflict has been changed.According to Mitchel and Banks (1998), ‘conflict resolution’ is used to refer to:

i. an outcome in which the issues in an existing conflict are satisfactorily dealt with through a solution that is mutually acceptable to the parties, self-sustaining in the long run and production of a new, positive relationship between parties that were previously hostile adversaries; and

ii. any process or procedure by which such an outcome is achieved. It is the author’s view that in principle, conflict resolution signifies or implies a sense of finality where the parties to a conflict are mutually satisfied and content with the outcome of a settlement and the conflict is actually resolved. As Best (2007:94-95) points out, “some conflicts, particularly those over resources, are permanently resolvable.” And as he further notes, “from the point of view of needs, a conflict is resolved when the basic needs of the contending parties have been met with necessary satisfiers and their fears have been allayed”.Watchers and analysts of the Niger Delta conflict agree that owing to the fact that the needs and interests of the contending forces in the region do not seem to have been met, there has been an escalation in the magnitude of the conflict. Therefore, strategic (not merely tactical) measures need to be taken to ensure that the needs of these forces are met, so that a reduction, if not total resolution, of the conflict can be achieved. To this end, the federal government of Nigeria must, through deliberate policy, address the critical issue of reversing the development frontier which has been turned away disadvantageously from the Niger Delta over the decades. It should create the enabling environment by which the people of the Niger Delta can become active participants in the oil business, not virtual on-lookers in a game they think they should be key players. Not to be forgotten is the fact that there is a correlation between the resultant resurgent youth restiveness and militancy in the area and the strident call for resource control by governors of the Niger Delta states. However in all of these, success should be achieved through the communicability of the various interest groups and government to share the ideals of a common vision. This will happen through a communicative common meeting ground established between the various groups and government in which the commonalities of peace and progress are shared. That mode of communication will not be one that alienates, nor one that harbours a tinge of repressive visibility, but that which is welcoming and reassuring; and that is the tradotronic mode of communication.

A conceptual appraisal of the tradotronic mediaThe concept of tradotronic media refers to the combination of the traditional and electronically mediated communication channels in message origination, sharing and information dissemination. It is the blending of homegrown African communication channels with today’s ICT-driven media in message signification and amplification. Its essence is the audience-bound magnification of messages for optimum understanding and internalization by the target audience. It embraces the two communication channels in synergic measure so as to bring about a functional fusion of the source credibility with the acceptability potential of the message (Author’s definition).Wilson (1990:97)and Konkwo (1997;2003) note that the traditional media are customized communication channels that people in specific societies adopt in sharing ideas, meanings, values and information. They are extensions of a people’s culture which remain credible and valid persuasive communication channels even in the face of modernization.Wilson (1990) and later Konkwo(1997) categorise these traditional communication systems into six modes, viz:

1. Instrumental mode of communication (gongs, talking drums, flutes); 2. Demonstrative mode of communication (music, singalongs); 3. Iconographic mode of communication (objects and floral media which express meaning, such

as a bowl of kolanuts, charcoal, chalk, white pigeon, raffia leaves); 4. Extra-mundane mode of communication (communication between the living and the dead or

between the living and the supernatural, e.g. incantation, chant, vision); 5. Visual mode of communication (colours, dressing, feelings or emotions, attitudes);


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Chat-rooms

withbig

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Chat-rooms

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projectors

Communic ati onpartnersouts ide

theUmunna(kindred)inthe

diasporawhosharelinguistic

commonalit ieswithcommunity

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Shared

Message

Commonalities

Shared

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Co mmonalities

Fig.1.TheTradotronicCommunicationSystem

INTERNET

Community members

(Umunna) c ommunica ting

their views in their local

dialect; sometimes V ia GSM

6. Institutional mode of communication (traditional institutions, such as marriage, chieftaincy, secret societies, shrines, masquerades)

Electronically mediated communication channels comprise the electronic media, especially radio and television, including information and communication technologies (ICTs) that have greatly facilitated message sharing and dissemination, such as the computer, the Internet, chat-rooms, digital radio and television, big screen projectors, and tele-conferencing facilities. Through ICTs, the gap between sender and receiver in the communication process has been significantly bridged.(See Fig. 1.)The tradotronic media approach entails the deployment of ICTs in the traditional milieu for communication purposes. A scenario where community members gather to deliberate on issues affecting them can be interspersed with relevant programmes presented on a wall or big screen with projectors for emphasis or effect. This is a typical tradotronic medium where there is a fusion of the traditional and the modern and where there is a reciprocation of shared linguistic and cultural commonalities between the Umunna (kindred) and their kin in the diaspora. There are instances where the elders of the Umunna make use of Internet facilities and chat-room formats to conduct their meetings (see Fig. 1). Some Igbo communities residing in the United States of America, for instance have been recorded as having been able to make use of the Internet and webcam with their kith and kin at home in Nigeria (see also Fig. 1). Through the Global System of Mobile communication (GSM), family members living in the diaspora have been enabled to spontaneously participate in their family village or communal meetings through the handset. Today, it is usual for community and opinion leaders to be invited to participate in radio and television discussion programmes and also to address issues concerning their people. We see here a fusion of the traditional media with the tremendous reach of the electronic media to maximise communicability. It also reduces the preponderance of vicarious experience in the communication of ideas which would have continued to prevail as a result of exomity or distance.

Diagram on tradotronic communication system


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Where the traditional media are fused together with the electronic media milieu or vice versa, a tradotronic medium or channel results. The establishment of a community electronic medium and the de-professionalization of its workforce and functioning through the active integration of local community members into its programmes, location, ideation, creation, planning, production and distribution to reflect their cultural background and aspirations constitutes a tradotronic media system(Two sentences of the author).

The tradotronic media approach to the Niger Delta conflictThe negative effects of the Niger Delta conflict, not only on the immediate Nigerian environment, but also on the international scene, have forced notable traditional rulers and prominent personalities to appear recently on radio and television programmes, calling on their people to lay down their arms and embrace peace, having realized the futility of violence. Often, they spoke in their local dialects for more effect. This is what the tradotronic approach to conflict resolution entails. Since research evidence shows the ability of radio to transcend the functional barriers of illiteracy and distance, the infusion of traditional modes and values into radio productions aimed at achieving peace or conflict resolution is necessary. Radio can be used effectively to highlight the need for government to meet the people’s demand for compensation for the degradation of their environment; it will also be a vital medium to propagate the demand for resource control, improved social facilities in form of access to potable water, health facilities, good roads, educational institutions and employment opportunities. This can reduce the feeling of alienation which has been the stumbling block on the road to peace building in the Niger Delta region.

Some indigenes of the Niger Delta communities such as Odi were dislodged from their natural homes and scattered to various parts of the country during reprisal attacks by the Nigerian military in 1999. The attempt to resolve the conflict through face-to-face dialogue that typifies the most effective traditional media of communication has been anything but easy. Even the total reliance on the mass media to reach out to the parties to the conflict in the Niger Delta, such as militants, has produced little, if any, results. What is more, there currently exists a credibility problem with the message sources and even the mass media themselves, as the majority of them from which these messages are transmitted are government owned.

However, the combination of traditional with the electronic media, especially radio, is likely to prove to be an effective first measure in the effort to bring about a resolution of the conflict in the region. The contending parties to the conflict could be involved in audience participation phone-in programmes through which they can give expression to their cherished and time-honoured viewpoints. Traditional rulers as well as other stakeholders can be involved in radio programmes to express their views on how the conflict in the region can be resolved, thus increasing the source credibility which has eluded the media over time. Persons of different age grades or groups in the Niger Delta could be invited to participate in radio or television programmes to advocate peace, since most of the militants belong to age grades. This is important because in most parts of Africa, including Nigeria, age grades or groups are known to have always been used to mediate or resolve conflicts successfully. But such advocacy should highlight the indispensability of justice.

Most conflicts arise as a result of misinformation or distortion of facts. Yet information is vital in conflict resolution, especially when deployed proactively since tactical efforts are known to have only had tangential effects. The GSM comes in handy here when it becomes necessary to stay in touch with the press or town union leaders and other influential opinion leaders across the country. It could be that the oil majors such as Shell or Chevron would have averted the attacks on their flow stations and pipelines, if they had reached out to their hosts in the Niger Delta communities in time to explain issues that could lead to conflict if unexplained, with the projector facility in tow to demonstrate whatever good intentions they may have for the people. Such information would have gone a long way in reducing tension and creating understanding.

Using the Internet to keep in touch with leaders is highly recommended here. Computer-literate opinionleaders can use the web chat facility to dialogue on issues in the Niger Delta. Through teleconferencing facility, it is possible to bring village heads together with other stakeholders in discussing the conflict in the region (see Fig. 1.) Since the achievement of lasting peace in the Niger Delta is not possible without effective human communication, every practical means should be adopted for this purpose. That is why the


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harnessing of the tradotronic potentials through the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is strongly advocated.

At the proactive stage, songs that call for peace by notable minstrels of a certain ethnic group could be played on radio or television to imbue the combatant with the non-violent culture or culture of peace among the people of the Niger Delta, as well as instruct the federal government to be conscious of the fact that peace is predicated on justice. Such songs should also be played during village festivals to create an atmosphere of peace and an ambience of conviviality.

Zulu (2004) notes that computer programmes or CD-ROM could be specifically developed for rural applications or for rural-based groups. Such facilities can be used to enhance the infusion of traditional modes of message transmission into ICT-facilitated communication channels for conflict resolution. According to Zulu (supra), the International Women Tribute Centre (IWCT) developed a CD-Rom with the Nakaseke Women in Uganda using their language and simple point-and-click techniques which enabled illiterate women to be able to use the Internet. Such special arrangements could demystify the use of ICTs in traditional media settings for various purposes, including conflict resolution.

Militants in the Niger Delta also belong to age grades and could be influenced positively when their peers communicate to them through radio and television programmes, calling for peace.

This integrated tradotronic media approach to conflict resolution in the Niger Delta can also be applied in other conflict regions of Africa such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, and other parts of the world such as the Middle East, Russia/Georgia, etc. to achieve lasting peace.

ChallengesHowever, the adoption of the tradotronic strategy in conflict resolution efforts is not without its challenges. For instance, functional barriers exist which can impede the work of communication or information disseminators using this approach. The fact that the use of ICT is not yet a common phenomenon among the communicators and recipients in the Niger Delta, coupled with the unreliability of electric power supply in this region in particular and the entire country generally, is contentious. Government communication and other media agents involved should first understand the nature, characteristics and audience segments for whom these media can be properly deployed so as to combine them successfully for an effective tradotronic format and use.

ConclusionThe strategic importance of oil in the world today cannot be over emphasized and no nation can make any meaningful progress in the midst of negative conflict, militancy and wanton destruction of lives and property. The success of government policies, plans and programmes is predicated on a peaceful atmosphere. This forms the rationale for our suggestion of conflict resolution strategies propelled by a conscious and sustained policy of government to reverse the official neglect that the Niger Deltans of Nigeria have suffered over the years, and usher in massive socio-economic, and political development for the people. At the root of such conflict resolution effort is a well-articulated and integrated development support communication which makes use of traditional and modern media systems for optimum results. The study takes the stand that the conflict in the Niger Delta will be resolved if government can, among other things, demonstrate the practical willingness to create the enabling environment for Niger Deltans to participate as key players in the oil business in contrast to their current position of virtual onlookers. Our review of the frustration-aggression theory and the human needs theory provides a helpful theoretical insight into the likely causes and effects of conflict and as in the Niger Delta situation, the strategic measures that should be taken for its lasting resolution.

To this end, the establishment of community radio stations in the region is also highly advocated. The creation and production of programmes of such radio stations should be largely de-professionalized in order to create opportunities for the rural folk to be part and parcel of such programmes, whose objective should be to achieve a fusion of the traditional communication values and modern electronic media to maximize the effects of the message in the Niger Delta.


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PublishersAzar, E.(1990)“Protracted international conflicts: Ten propositions”. Quoted in Rabbie, M. (1994).

Conflict resolution and ethnicity. London: PraegerBerkowitz L. (1962). Aggression: A sociological analysis. New York: McGraw HillBest, S.G.(2007) “The methods of conflict resolution and transformation”, in S.G. Best(ed.) Introduction to

peace and conflict studies in West Africa: A reader. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.Burton, J. (1979). Deviance, terrorism and war: The process of solved,unsolved social and political

problems. London: MacmillanCentral Bank of Nigeria(2006) Statistical bulletin, vol. 17.Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999).Federal Government Press, LagosDavies, C.J. (1962). “Towards a theory of revolution;” American Sociological Review, xxvii (February)Edeani, D.O (1993). “The role of development journalism in Nigeria’s development,” Gazette, 52Faleti, S.A. (2007). “Theories of social conflict”. In G. Shedrack (ed) 2007 Introduction to peace and

conflict studies in West Africa. Ibadan: Spectrum BooksGurr T.R. (1970). Why men rebel.New Jersey: Princeton University PressIMF (2003): “Nigeria: Selected issues and statistics appendix”. IMF country report No. 03/60, March. Konkwo, D.E.J. (1997) Perspectives in African traditional communication systems.Owerri: Canun

Publishers Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nded). New York: MacmillanMiall, H., Ramsbotham, O. and Woodhouse, T. (2001): Contemporary conflict resolution. Cambridge: PolityMiller, C.A.(2003) A glossary of terms and concepts in peace and conflict studies. Geneva: University for

PeaceMitchell,C. and Banks, M.(1998) Handbook of conflict resolution:The analytical problem-solving

approach. London: PinterMoemeka, A.A (1989). “Perspectives on development communication” Africa Media Review. Vol. 3 No.3Nwabueze, C. (2009) “Tradotronic media imperatives in crisis management: A typological appraisal”, in

Des Wilson (ed) Communication approaches to peace building in Nigeria.AfricanCouncil for Communication Education (ACCE). Eket: BSM Resources Nigeria Ltd.

Nwadinobi, S.C. (2006). “A critical appraisal of conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria”, in Journal of Conflict Studies, Vol. 3 No. 2 (March)

Nwodu, L.C. (2007). “Managing development communication campaign for sustainable human development,” in I.E. Nwosu, N.I. Fab-ukozor, L.C. Nwodu(eds), Communication for sustainable human development. A multi-perspectival approach. Enugu: African Council for Communication Education (ACCE)

Nwosu, I.E. (1991). “Planning and implementing media campaigns in Africa.” Module on development communication; No. 1. Nairobi: ACCE

Nwosu I.E. (2007). “Principles methods, models and theories of sustainable human development: An afro-centric overview and introduction of the synergistic communicationfor development for sustainable human development: A multi-perspectival approach”, in I.E. Nwosu, N.T. Fab-Ukozor and L.C. Nwodu (eds) Communication for sustainable human development. A multi-perspectival approach.Enugu: African Council for Communication Education(ACCE).

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Okunna, S.C. (2002). “A quick look at development communication”, in S.C. Okunna(ed). Teaching mass communication: A multi-dimensional approach. Enugu: New Generation Ventures

Quebral, N. (1989). “Peace at the centre of development communication”. Media Development, 3/1989Rosati, J., Carroll D., Coate, R. (1990): A Critical assessment of the power of human needs in world

society, in Burton, J. and Dukes, F. Conflict: Human needs theory. London:MacmillanTell magazine (Special Edition) 2008.50 Years of oil in Nigeria.Ikeja: Tell Communications.Lagos, Nigeria.The Guardian, January 4, 2009.The Guardian on Sunday, January 11, 2009.The Punch, January 1, 2009.


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Ugolor, D. (2004). “Identifying key issues for proper media reporting on the Niger Delta”. Paper presented at an interactive workshop organized by the Faculty of Hospitality, Banking and Finance (HBF), Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, for journalists covering the Niger Delta at HBF Conference Hall, DELSU.

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Peace Studies, Vol. 9. No. 2Zulu, B. (2004). Bridging the rural digital divide in Africa. In Daily Champion, Wednesday, August 11, p.

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CHALLENGES OF GENDER STUDIES IN AN AFRICAN SOCIETY: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

BAMMEKE, FUNMI (Ph.D)Department of Sociology

University of LagosAkoka, Lagos,

Lagos State, [email protected]

+2347032750441; +234805-261-3685

AbstractGender studies as an area of academic discipline faces many challenges in Nigeria. These challenges can be classified as internal and external. Internal challenges include the applicability of concepts to the lived realities of the people and a lack of understanding of the theoretical and methodological foundations of gender analysis. This leads to the trivialization of what should otherwise be a serious area of knowledge production. The consequence of this is the cynical assumption that discourses in the area of gender studies are often perfunctory and lacking intellectual rigour. External challenges include the influence of developmental paradigms and cultural practices on gender research and analysis. This article argues that in spite of its Western origin, gender studies in Nigeria can be relevant to the lived realities of the people via the production of knowledge based on autochthonous data. This way, it would contribute to the sustainable development of the society.

Keywords: Gender Studies, Challenges, Knowledge, Culture, Nigeria.

IntroductionGender Studies as an academic discipline is laden with controversy both in its ideas and purpose. Upon its introduction as an area of study, it was met with resistance from various quarters. This was not surprising because the incorporation of new fields of study in the university tends to be a contested process (Stromquist 2001). Gender analysis examines the social and cultural constructions of maleness and femaleness. It considers the organization of sexual differences in the social relations of people, as well as its consequences. In other words, in the process of analyzing gender, the differences in the lives of men and women are examined in order to identify those which may lead to social and economic inequity, with the aim of influencing policy formulation or service delivery. The main purpose of gender analysis is to adjust the historically androcentric nature of social thought in general and the social sciences in particular. The need for this is obvious. The production of knowledge had been by men, for men and about men. Being male was the standard and female, the other sex. In business, health, education, politics, agriculture etc., men were dominant players and their experiences were taken as those of all players. This gender-bias was not perceived as such. Its pervasiveness made it the norm. Olurode (1990:1) observed this when he noted inter alia that “social thought is not only male-dominated but male-centred as well…more has been written about men than women, and …even the little that had been written about women displays open bias”.

Inequality between the sexes is not new. It has existed since ancient times and it still exists in varying degrees all over the world. Religion and tradition are dominant bases of justification for the asymmetrical relationship between male and female, and education reinforces it. Literature, language, philosophy, history, theology and science excuse male dominance and strengthen it. Women had fewer opportunities and they experienced different forms of discrimination. The resurgence of the women’s movement in the 1960s and the acknowledgement on the part of governments and the United Nations to act positively against the discrimination of women led to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination


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against Women in 1967. By 1970, the UN Programme of Concerted Action for the Advancement of Women had been inaugurated (Brydon & chant, 1989:242).

Following series of international efforts including world conferences and conventions, different policy approaches were adopted in different parts of the world to improve the status of women. The Women in Development (WID) approach was adopted as a social development policy for women in developing countries. The WID approach had its limitations as a mode of theorizing and a development approach. It neither addressed male domination nor took cognizance of women’s interest in the establishment of ‘projects’ meant to integrate women into development. Rather, it allowed the marginalization of women’s interest in women’s projects (Imam 1997:19). It also failed in its consideration of women as an undifferentiated group. Gender analysis notes differences between men and women as groups and within groups of men and women. It also considers other social forces as class, race, ethnic and economic relations, which have implications for the lived realities of men and women. In addition, gender analysis also develops theoretical basis for understanding, interpreting and explaining socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity.

As an academic discipline, gender studies have become an integral part of the social sciences from America to Europe, from Asia to Africa. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, gender studies exists as a full fledged department in the faculties of arts or the social sciences where undergraduate and post graduate students major in this area of scholarship. In other institutions, women studies or gender studies are taught courses in specific departments and in others, gender analysis is incorporated into their work. Gender analysis is significant in that it interrogates prevailing paradigms, which ignore the experiences and contributions of women. Ironically, in its significance lies the discomfort of those who see the emancipation of women as a threat. The motivation for this article stems from observations of the lack of understanding and intolerance displayed by some academics towards gender issues in the university.1. The objectives of this article are threefold: (i) To identify challenges to gender studies in Nigeria (2) examine efforts by Nigerian scholars to indigenize gender studies and (3) suggest measures capable of improving its organization in such ways as to make it relevant to the people.

Challenges of Gender Studies in AfricaThe challenges discussed in this paper are neither peculiar to the Nigerian situation nor new to gender studies. They have in fact, been subjected to scholarly debates over time. The presentation from the Nigerian perspective would permit an examination of commonalities with the experiences of scholars from other African societies and the possible applicability of common measures. This article categorizes the challenges as internal and external. The former refers to challenges, which stem from theoretical and methodological issues in gender research and analysis while the latter includes issues emanating from the nature of the environment in which gender analysis is being conducted. Whether internal or external, these challenges are real and are best addressed in relation to the reality of those experiencing them.

Internal ChallengesThe origin of gender studies poses a challenge for it in Africa. Gender studies developed from women’s studies. This means that it suffers all the criticisms leveled against women’s studies, which is seen as the academic wing of the women’s movement. Indeed, the origin of women’s studies is irrevocably linked to women’s activism. Gender studies has also been strongly influenced by feminist research because of this association.

In considering gender studies within the African context, a major issue is the questioning of the prevailing concepts and theoretical approaches. Specifically, the applicability of Western concepts and theoretical approaches to the realities of African people is one of the major internal challenges of gender studies. Many feminist concepts have been criticized as being alien to Africa and therefore inappropriate to describe their experiences. The universality of gender and its dominance or even isolation as a form of inequality to the exclusion of other forms of inequality such as race and class has been criticized. It has also been observed that gender, and other feminist concepts are rooted within the Western nuclear family (Oyewunmi, 2004) and by implication are only meaningful within it. Oyewunmi’s example from what she describes as the non-gendered traditional Yoruba family, where the organizing principle is seniority based on relative age and not gender (2004: 5) is however contentious. Her assertions may be factual but the facts are subject to more than one interpretation.


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It is impossible to argue that African culture in general or Yoruba culture in particular has remained unchanged or free of Western influence. The patrilineal descent among the Yoruba and the patrilocal residence following marriage in the traditional Yoruba family also show differences in social expectation of the sexes, So does the mode of recruitment into the lineage described by Oyewunmi, where the female is recruited into the lineage of the male and becomes subordinate. Oyewunmii’s assertion deserves attention because it contradicts the experiences of young Yoruba male and female receiving tertiary education and most likely to access her views. For these people, their realities cannot be described as non-gendered. Rather than show that the Yoruba traditional family is non-gendered, Oyewunmi’s illustrations show the fluidity and dynamism of gender across time. Gender takes on different meanings depending on the socio-cultural context in which it occurs. In spite of the possibility of seniority as the dominant language of power in Yoruba culture, it may not be the only form of power relationship operating outside other forms of hierarchy (Bakare-Yusuf, 2004:64). In the same vein, the non-inscription of gender difference within discourse or its marked absence within language cannot be interpreted as its absence in social reality (Bakare-Yusuf, 2004:71).

Feminism, womanism and woman are other concepts of gender theories, which have been questioned and reexamined. The argument that womanism and not feminism best describes the African woman is really unnecessary because when Alice Walker coined the term womanist, she used it to describe a black feminist or a feminist of colour. The critique against feminism is that its Western origin prevents it from taking cognizance of family bonds and motherhood, which are important to the African woman who cherishes her role as a homemaker as well as her status as a mother or potential mother (Kolawole, 1997:31). Kolawole’s assertion generalizes about the African woman and provides a basis for the abuse of non-conformists. It provides ready weapon for critics of female emancipation who believe that women should only seek to excel in their roles as wife or mother and that other achievement of success are not important to women and should not be sought by them. Kolawole however makes an important point that the goal of women’s emancipation need not be that of becoming similar to men (Anfred, 2004).

Beyond the applicability of Western concepts to local contexts, another challenge is the lack of understanding of these concepts. In spite of the efforts of gender researchers to improve the production of knowledge in the area, ‘scholars’ who make claims to knowledge but display ignorance endanger this area of scholarship. Many of these ‘scholars’ dismiss gender studies as extensions of women’s studies and therefore as unnecessary.2 The inability of gender scholars to provide adequate answers for these cynics is often taken as a validation of their position. Gender studies includes but is not synonymous with women studies and it is more than just adding women on. The advent of gender analysis does not make women’s studies less important or unnecessary. Women’s studies is both the ‘mother’ and a specific field of gendered analysis (Imam, 1997:6). A legitimate field of enquiry, women’s studies is studies of women as a social group. “The long ignoring of women makes women’s studies absolutely necessary as a corrective to the gender-blind and biased work of mainstream social science (Imam, 1997:6). A major objective of women’s studies is to “render visible women’s engagement with society and culture whilst making explicit the masculine biases underpinning traditional knowledge (Jary and Jary, 1999:735)”. Although both women studies and gender studies emanated from a common concern for the conditions of women, the latter focuses on the socially constructed ways in which women, as well as men, are located and differentiated in a given context (Pereira 2002).

The lack of understanding of the essence of gender studies by some who claim to be gender researchers often lead to a trivialization of what should be a serious exercise of knowledge production. The consequence of these is the cynical assumption that discourses in the area of gender studies are often perfunctory and lacking intellectual rigour. In such situations, cynics often dismiss any attempt at gender analysis as unreasonable agitation by female academics. A commonly asked question is ‘what do the women want again?’ In describing the lack of understanding by scholars interested in gender studies, Odejide and Isiugo-Abanihe (1999:1) wrote, “misconceptions abound among academics who, (though) they are interested in gender are not well-grounded in concepts and theories and are often less than receptive to new ideas”.

The demonstrated hostility towards gender studies as an area of academic discipline is another challenge. The hostility could be directed at scholars who work in that area who are mostly women and a few men


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(they are often labeled as agitators of equal rights.). On the one hand, the hostility could be borne out of a genuine lack of understanding of concepts by critics or selective understanding by those who want to trivialize gender discourses. On the other hand, it could be borne out of a perceived need to resist whatever smacks of intellectual imperialism. In this case, scholars’ attitude to what they perceive as received knowledge prevents them from acknowledging whatever value might be in such knowledge.

The production of knowledge based on autochtonous data is one means through which gender scholars can develop the area. Lack of funding is however another difficulty. Stromquist (2001) confirms the financial vulnerability of gender/women studies programmes and their struggle for academic recognition and autonomy. In many cases, courses are floated without proper planning for funds. In Nigeria, this could be related to the underfunding of education in general and gross under funding of university education in particular. The fact that gender studies in Nigeria has not developed to the level where there are full-fledged departments of gender studies has implication for funding. In addition to this, once sneering academics do a volte-face at the slightest chance of accessing funds and feign interest in gender studies thereby denying committed scholars the opportunity of contributing to the development of the area. Apart from non-gender researchers cornering donor’s fund meant for gender research, donor-driven agendas can also take over gender research, dictating both the intellectual content as well as the direction of research. A major contemporary dilemma of gender research in Africa is how to take advantage of the political and donor interest in gender studies, while at the same time maintaining intellectual autonomy.

Another challenge internal to gender and women studies in Nigeria is the dearth of indigenous materials for teachers and students. The dearth may not really be the absence of research and materials but the fact that the work of small publishing outlets in Africa is not easily available because it falls beyond the circulating networks of most academic activity (Lewis 2003). In addition, oftentimes, only readers within the locality of authors can access the few available materials due to poor and limited circulation. The lack of coordination of the activities of gender scholars and gender activists is also worthy of mention as it is not in the interest of the development of gender studies. The integration of scholarly work and activism will ensure that one informs the other without unnecessary gaps.

External ChallengesDevelopment paradigms are a major source of external challenge to gender studies, especially at the level of research. Gender research at a level where it can make meaningful impact is hampered by developmentalist approaches, which sever scholarship from the agendas and priorities facing African women and delimit development to narrowly economic and donor-related concerns (Lewis, 2004:32). Lewis explains how structural adjustment and conservative postcolonial state building reduces the broad field of gender analysis to categorical gender issues and easily identifiable technical points. The consequence of this is that “short-term problem solving and immediate action takes priority over the careful analysis and political insight that could shape radical programmes and projects for long-term transformation (Lewis, 2004:33). The total reliance on donors for the funding of gender research does pose a problem too. Often times, the interest of donors do not reveal the needs of the people. The consequence of this is that such research would have no relevance to the people.

Culture poses a challenge to gender studies as many critics of gender research often resist the questioning of inequality by hiding under the umbrella of culture. In Nigeria, critics of gender studies question the relevance of this field of enquiry to the cultural context of various ethnic nationalities in the country. These critics consider culture sacrosanct only when it is in their interest to do so. No culture remains static but those who benefit from the oppression of one group often defend oppressive practices as part of African culture.3 In examining the realities of the lives of men and women, should gender discriminatory practices be ignored or accepted in the name of tradition? Culture is perhaps one of the strongest factors that privilege men against women. It allocates roles to men and women and biological differences assume the status of superiority or inferiority within specific socio-cultural contexts. Culture has valuable and positive assets and provides effective models for gender research that can lead to the empowerment and advancement of African women. However, because culture represents routine behaviour that carries norms and values of a society, it is often not easily changed (Steady, 2004: 54).


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Local Efforts Aimed at Understanding Gender Studies in NigeriaThe role of the Network for Women’s Studies in Nigeria is significant in considering local efforts to promote the understanding of gender studies. The Network has organized workshops, which are very instructive in determining the future of gender studies in Nigeria. The aim of the first workshop on ‘setting an agenda for gender and women’s studies in Nigeria’ was to “bring teachers and researchers in the general area together as a national think tank to review the history and current state…and to use the information as a base for charting a future course(Mama 1997: 1)”.

The second workshop on ‘Concepts and Methods for Gender and Women Studies in Nigeria’, emerged from the agitations of participants of the first workshop that it was important to define basic terms and what they mean or should mean in the African/Nigerian context. The third, ‘Curriculum Workshop for Gender and Women’s Studies in Nigeria’ aimed at developing the range of gender courses being taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Nigeria. This, it sought to do, by articulating the objectives, goals, content, knowledge and skills specification for Gender Studies in the country.

Focusing on the efforts of the Network for Women’s Studies in Nigeria in no way downplays the efforts of other scholars in the African region. Gender researchers and scholars in Africa have at various times risen to the challenge of the relevance or otherwise of the major concepts and theories in gender studies to Africa (see for example Imam, 1997, Anfred 2004, Bakare-Yusuf 2004, Steady 2004, Lewis, 2003, 2004, Oyewunmi 2004 etc.) By interrogating these concepts, which were developed under different social and political conditions, and reflecting on their applicability to local experiences and conditions, African scholars seek to build up local and regional resources (Mama, 1997:4). Since there is no universally applicable theory, the task before African scholars as observed by Mama (1997:5) is to “develop our own applications of given theories and more radically, of taking our own realities as the starting point for articulating perspectives or even entirely new theories that emanate organically from our particular conditions and concerns”. Gender studies must also address the misconceptions in various theories received from the West.

The ThesisA major criticism against gender studies is that it is laden with foreign values. The concepts used in gender studies however can be interpreted to reflect the realities and values of the society in which they are used. It can be argued that values enter every stage of the production of sociological knowledge e.g. choice of topic, methods of study, theories, hypotheses and even the interpretation of findings. As expounded by critical social scientists, values are inevitable in Sociology but scholars must use their work to improve society. The central argument of this article is that the concepts used in gender studies should reflect the realities and values of the society in which they are used. Rather than concern themselves with the universality of the concepts, African scholars should focus on interpreting the concepts in a way that makes them relevant to their own society. Critical social science notes that knowledge is never complete because the social world is constantly changing and knowledge can never be separated from experience. The experience of scholars and other people in a society should therefore inform their interpretation of concepts. The task however is to “get beyond the dominant values of society …so that the true values underlying them can be revealed (Harvey 1990)”. Gender analysis is very useful in dismantling dominant values, which seek to perpetuate the status quo of power asymmetry in the social relations of men and women.

Within the Nigerian context, gender analysis is useful in addressing many local concerns. These include the problems of childcare, which confront young parents (especially mothers) in the face of the increased participation of women in wage labour and the modification of the extended family system. The differential valuing of male and female children and the primacy of marriage and fertility to the status of women in relation to men can also be addressed by gender analysis. The relative undervaluing of the career and education of women in the face of rising incidence of female-headed households are also issues for gender analysis. These issues and others such as gender-based violence, gender disparities in political participation and representation are relevant to the Nigerian society and can be empirically investigated under gender studies.

The ‘muted group’ syndrome explains why many women scholars in gender studies are reluctant to critique dominant values or use concepts ‘that may offend the powers that be’. The theory of the muted


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groups states in part that suppressed subgroups whose views differ considerably from the dominant ideology may lack the language to express their own views or they may adopt the prudent course of not addressing those differences beyond their own subgroup to avoid antagonizing the dominant group (College 1983).

The Way ForwardGender studies is invaluable as an area of scholarship and its usefulness transcends academic rhetoric. By examining socially constructed ways in which women, as well as men, are located and differentiated in a given context, gender studies exposes inequity and questions it. Through this interrogation, gender studies reveals the basis of oppression, which prevents individuals and groups from their optimizing their potentials and contributing to development. It is imperative that gender studies is not stifled by the numerous challenges confronting it. A number of measures are important to ensure that gender analysis not only remain relevant within disciplines where it already exists but that gender analysis becomes ‘mainstreamed’ in all academic disciplines.

Nigeria lags behind many Sub-Saharan African countries in terms of the development of full-fledged department of gender studies awarding degrees and diplomas. What obtains in some institutions is the floating of few courses in women or gender studies and these courses are often electives. While the courses are a good beginning, there is urgent need to move beyond this, given the level of ignorance and cynicism within the academia. One can only wonder about the attitude of those outside the academia. Gender studies should be compulsory at all levels of education and the way out is to incorporate it into school curricula in a manner relevant to the learners’ level of understanding. The institutionalization of Gender Studies in Nigerian universities requires more than lip service. The academic contents of courses in gender studies must be of high standards. A long-term goal should be the development of full-fledged department of gender studies and the award of degrees in Gender Studies or Women’s Studies.

Gender studies should teach as well as sensitize young Africans. Rather than have centres and institutes of gender studies which exist only on paper because of lack of expertise, gender scholars and activists should be allowed to operate such centres for optimum result. There is still need for women’s studies as a distinct aspect of gender studies, but gender studies should really be what they ought to be- studies of the social construction of men and women, their different locations within specific context and especially in relation to the possession and exercise of power.

At the tertiary level, the contents of what is taught as gender studies should be reviewed so that misconceptions are not passed onto students. The focus of scholars should shift from arguments on the existence of concepts within the local context to the local interpretation and applicability of concepts in line with people’s reality. Teachers must also make effort to find local equivalent for what they teach. This underscores the need for the training and retraining of academics. For those who work in the area of gender studies, methodological workshops and training would be of immense benefit. This includes basic training to help them distinguish the problems faced by men and women because of gender roles from those faced because of sex. There is need for them to be able to engage in critical thinking and constructive criticism of their own preconceived ideas and those of others. They need to know about the application of gender concepts in research and theory across disciplines to maximize the interdisciplinary approach of gender studies. It is also important that in teaching, they avoid stereotypes and bias in language use etc. Others also need gender training to sensitize them and promote their understanding of gender issues so that they do not resist scholars in this area. Teaching gender studies also requires commitment on the part of teachers.

There is no doubt that a lot of work is being done in the area of gender and women studies in Nigeria today but to what extent have these been able to influence policy or transform social relations?. Gender research must influence policy for it to make an impact. Advocacy should also be strengthened as a means of influencing policy. Many oppressive and discriminatory practices are still sustained in Nigeria under the guise of African tradition and culture. Girl children and women still have relatively lower value than boy children and men and this often translates into all forms of gender inequity. Culture can be explored to achieve acceptability for gender studies using respectable male figures speaking up for it. Gender studies should emphasize positive aspects of culture and play these up. For example, female education has become more acceptable in some communities because of the increasing practice of educated daughters


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caring more for parents in old age than uneducated ones. The reality is that education empowers both sons and daughters to meet the economic needs of their aging parents as well as offer them other forms of support expected by culture. The worth of the benefits accruable to parents from their daughters’ education however outweighs the old belief that the education of the girl child is wasted as it ends in a kitchen.

The manifest support of the State for the empowerment of women through various structures and programmes often appears to be a charade. It has increased the visibility of first ladies and their apologists but has left ordinary women in their impoverished and subordinate position. The non-governmental organizations have recorded modest achievements through their combination of research and activism. They however need to work more with academics.

In the light of the various divides prevailing among Nigeria women in terms of class and education, several challenges have been identified as confronting women and gender studies today. These are, to produce the kind of knowledge that will strengthen the agency of diverse categories of women, particularly those impoverished and disempowered within the status quo. To support women’s existing efforts to produce knowledge outside the academy; to facilitate women’s recognition of diverse forms of oppression across social divides; to strengthen women’s collective efforts to organize effectively across such divides, in support of gender equality and social justice (Pereira 2002).

The purpose of gender research must be understood in line with the needs of the local community. Gender equality in accessing community resources, for example, may have different meanings in different communities. In a community where women have the responsibility of getting water for their households from the local stream but are allowed access to the stream only thrice a week and are barred from the stream by tradition for the rest of the week, tradition is responsible for the unequal access to water. This is different from a farming community where women have usufruct rights but are prevented from exercising these rights due to their relative economic disadvantage that prevents them from being able to effectively use land as a resource. In this community, it is the economic disadvantage of women that should be addressed. Only in consideration of the people’s needs can gender research be relevant and meaningful.

Footnotes1. At a workshop where some female scholars presented empirical data on gender inequality in the

academia in September 2004, a young male graduate fellow in the Faculty of Social Sciences got up and asked why precious time was being expended on such a non-issue as gender inequality.

2. A professor (not in the Social Sciences) dismissed the need for gender studies on a national television programme.

3. In a course on Women in Society, a male undergraduate said it was proper to withdraw a young girl from school and give her out in marriage if her culture demands it.

ReferencesAnfred, S. 2004. Gender Research in Africa: Dilemmas and Challenges as seen by an Outsider. African

Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. CODESRIA Gender Series 1, Dakar, CODESRIA, pp.82-99.

Bakare-Yusuf, B. 2004. Yorubas Don’t Do Gender: A Critical Review of Oyeronke Oyewunmi’s The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. CODESRIA Gender Series 1, Dakar, CODESRIA, pp.61-81.

Brydon, L. and Chant, S. 1989. Women in the Third World: Gender issues in Rural and Urban Areas. England: Edward Elgar.

College, H. 1983 Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices: An Introduction to Women’s Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.

Imam, A. 1997. Engendering African Social Sciences: An Introductory Essay’. In Imam, A.; Mama, A. and Sow, F. (eds.) Engendering African Social Sciences. Dakar: CODESRIA, pp.1-30.

Jary, D. and Jary, J. (1999) Dictionary of Sociology 2nd ed. Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers


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Kolawole, M. 1997. Womanism and African Consciousness. Africa World Press.Lewis, D. 2003. ‘African Feminist Studies 1980-2002’ A Review Article for the African Gender Institute’s

“Strengthening Gender and Women’s Studies for Africa’s Social Transformation Project. Retrieved 12 October 2004 from http://www.gwafrica.org/knowledge/africa%20review/intro.html.

Lewis, D. 2004. African Gender Research and Postcoloniality: Legacies and Challenges. African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. CODESRIA Gender Series 1, Dakar, CODESRIA, pp.27-41.

Mama, A. 1997. Defining Terms and Concepts for Ourselves. In Pereira, C. (ed.) Concepts and Methods for Gender and Women’s Studies in Nigeria. Tamaza Publishing Company, Zaria. pp.1-6

Olurode, L 1990. ‘The Problematic about Women’s Studies’ in Olurode, L (ed.) Women and Social Change in Nigeria. Lagos: Unity Publishing and Research Co Ltd. Pp. 1-22.

Oyewunmi, O. 2004. Conceptualising Gender: Eurocentric Foundations of Feminist Concepts and the Challenges of African Epistemologies. African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. CODESRIA Gender Series 1, Dakar, CODESRIA, pp.1-7.

Pereira, C. 2002. ‘Locating Gender and Women’s Studies in Nigeria: What Trajectories for the Future?’, Revised version of paper presented at 10th General Assembly of CODESRIA, ‘Africa in the New Millennium’, 8th-12th December 2002, Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 8 June 2005 from http:// www.gwsafrica.org/knowledge/pereira.html.

Steady, F. 2004. An Investigative Framework for Gender Research in Africa in the New Millennium. African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. CODESRIA Gender Series 1, Dakar, CODESRIA, pp.1-7.

Stromquist, N. P. 2001. Gender Studies: A Global Perspective of their Evolution, Contribution and Challenges to Higher education. Higher Education 41:373-387, 2001


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INTERMEDIARIES IN STAPLE FOODSTUFF DISTRIBUTION AND FOOD SECURITY IN THE BENIN REGION

IKELEGBE, O. O. (Ph.D)Department of Geography and Regional Planning

University of Benin, Benin City.Edo State, Nigeria.

[email protected]+2347031636176, +2348056023001

ABSTRACTIntermediaries in Staple foodstuff trade constitute the main caveat for food distribution. Their activities are hampered by structural and operational factors. The study employed quota random sampling techniques in selecting twenty markets and six hundred middlemen in both local and regional markets for questionnaire interviews. The study revealed that middlemen were faced with problems of transportation, poor infrastructural facilities provision in rural market, a lack of organization and coordination of their activities, among others. The paper suggests the need for government intervention in the production, marketing, transportation of foodstuff as well as enunciating a population data monitoring for the middlemen participation in space and time in order to attain food security in the region.

Keywords: food stuff, transportation, marketing and Government

IntroductionThe food crisis in Nigeria is at present multi-faceted. An aspect that is in most cases neglected is that of the distributors’ activities in foodstuff trade. At local, regional and national levels, governments have not been able to co-ordinate and organize the activities of urban middlemen who constitute the main actors in meeting urban staple foodstuff demand. This may partly be adduced to a lack of market organization on the part of the local government councils and on the other hand, the absence of a national food policy. Pervious attempts to promote food production have focused on improvement of agricultural practices to increase outputs while the importance of the middlemen in foodstuff trade has been neglected. However, government must realize that no sound economic development can take place without adequate food for the people (Daily Independent 2008). This calls for the dire need to ensure food security. The activities of the intermediaries in staple food trade cannot be ignored if freedom from hunger and malnutrition which is a fundamental right of every citizen is to be attained in line with the Millennium Development goals. Consequently, the role of intermediaries in staple foodstuff trade in the Benin region and the attainment of food security is selected for discourse in this paper

The distribution of staple foodstuff from rural to urban areas is determined by structural and operational factors. Intermediaries play a large role in this regard. These traders who in most cases situate in urban areas travel to rural areas on scheduled market days to source food for sale in urban markets. At a regional level, intermediaries may come form other ecological zones to purchase food which is distributed to other states in the nation. They are involved in many operations in the trading process of staple food trade. They are largely involved in the main exchange points within distinguished channels in the staple foodstuff trade. Consequently they play a large role in ensuring food security as well as sourcing incomes for their personal livelihoods.

The paper attempts to identify as well as assess the role of these intermediaries in the staple foodstuff distribution system since they constitute a major caveat of ensuring food security in the Benin region and beyond. The structural dimension of their activity relates to the accessibility of roads to these rural markets and the availability of vehicles for transportation as well as affordable haulage rates to and from their destinations. Consequently both structural and operational dimensions of food distribution are relevant in


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ensuring food security. An examination of this situation in then Benin region is the main thrust of the paper

Methods and MaterialsThrough the use of quota and random sampling technique, 20 rural markets (10 regional and 10 local) were selected for the study. Six hundred middlemen, 100 each for the six selected foodstuff were also interviewed on their marketing activities. Results were analysed through simple percentages. The selected staple foodstuffs, (cassava, cocoyam, garri, maize, yam and plantain) which are the main source of carbon hydrate and iron intake in the region have been selected for study.

Conceptual FrameworkFood security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it (Wikipedia 2011)Two commonly used definitions of food security come from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. (FAO) Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum

1. The ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and 2. An assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without

resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). (USDA)[12]

Literature ReviewSeveral empirical studies have noted the role of intermediaries in foodstuff trade within the Nigerian internal marketing system. Among these are, Anthonio (1970) Onakomaiya (1970), Adalemo (1972), Olayemi (1974), Hussaini (1990) C. Ezedinma et al (2005) Okoh et al (2006), Ikelegbe (2007). These classes of distributors, male and female can be distinguished in order of complexity of operation and relative position in the exchange system. Various trading connections and terminals can be identified within the Nigerian marketing system. The trading process involves the accumulation and transmission of commodities and that of bulk breaking and re-distribution (which involves breaking down the consignment) until the final consumer is reached. Olayemi (op cit) argue that the three main functions of middlemen are concentration, equalization and dispersion. Concentration involves the collection of commodities into larger bulks at convenient locations. Equalization involves matching supply with demand through time, place and form adjustments while dispersion in his view involves the breaking of bulk to satisfy the quantity requirements of other distributors or of consumers.

Contrastingly, this situation differs in advanced countries where the sales of agricultural products such as fresh vegetables are carried out through paper transactions. They tend to move from producers through a complex web of marketing organisations to the final consumers (Jumper, 1974). A previous study on the distribution of staple foodstuff in the Benin Region is not available. The paper therefore tries to examine the structural and operational factors of various intermediaries in staple foodstuff trade in the Benin Region and suggest ways in which these traders can be more functional in meeting food demand within the region.

Food security in this paper relates to fundamental issues. Is food available and is the supply stable through time? If harvesting, processing/storage techniques are inefficient, supplies are likely to be unstable. Inefficiency in the supply of foodstuffs to urban areas will give rise to food insecurity as the population will be denied access to food. Commenting on the food security situation in Nigeria, Stone(XXXX) states that domestic food production is on the increase but not enough to meet national food demand. In terms of supplies, they argue that post harvest losses are (20 – 40%), because harvesting, processing / storage techniques are inefficient; as a result, supply is unstable.

DiscussionIntermediaries / Trading participants in the distributive systemAn appraisal of the participants in the distributive system is essential for an understanding of the structure and organisation of the distributive system for the selected staple foodstuffs in the Benin region. The trading participants consist of men and women, thus reflecting a non- gender bias or role specification in


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the foodstuff distribution chain. Each of the marketing intermediaries (see Figure 1) and their functions at the various level of the distributive process is briefly discussed below in relation to the selected staple foodstuffs. The study revealed that several of these intermediaries may perform various roles with respect to different commodities, but not all categories of intermediaries discussed below are involved in the distribution of each of the selected foodstuffs under survey.

The Farm-gate Middlemen or Local AgentThis class of distributor usually buys products from farmers at the farms, farmer’s house or along the paths through which the farmer comes to the rural market or within the rural markets very early in the mornings on scheduled market days. This category of intermediary is largely evident in the distribution of maize, garri, and plantain within the Benin region. These agents go directly to the farms, in the case of maize and plantain or the houses of the local processors, in the case of garri in order to purchase these foodstuffs. He bulks them for sale at the next rural periodic market where he has information of better prices in much farther markets. He proceeds to other markets in the market cycle to sell his products. He usually sells more than one type of foodstuff. There is no specialisation in his sales and as such, he trades in any type of foodstuff in season that is readily available for him to buy. He therefore performs, an important function in the distribution process by bringing foodstuffs from remote inaccessible areas to more vehicle accessible village markets, thus ensuring food security in terms of meeting threshold demand of foodstuff at the rural market..

Non–Commissioned AgentThis class of middlemen has largely replaced commissioned agents in recent years. The latter were largely unobservable in the distribution of these staple foodstuffs. This could be attributed to the depreciating economy where such commission on transactions may be inadequate for an individual’s entire sustenance. The non-commissioned agent buys foodstuffs from more remote markets or directly from farmers and sells to wholesalers in the rural markets. He usually sells to the highest bidder, after successive haggling by intending wholesale buyers. They are evident in the distribution of maize and plantain in the Benin region where he largely performs the role of a rural wholesaler. The enormous size of his consignment enables him to meet the demand of urban wholesalers.

Local Processor/TraderThis category of intermediary deals with foodstuffs that require processing. They are very essential in the distribution process. Their main function is to purchase foodstuffs such as maize and cassava, which are eaten in various forms, directly from the farmers or from the rural markets. They take such foodstuffs home for processing. These foodstuffs are usually put out to dry in the sun under unhygienic conditions. Cassava may be processed into garri, starch or akpu popularly referred to as santana. Maize is processed into pap (akamu) or dried for sale. Dried maize is brought to rural markets for urban wholesalers or rural consumers to buy. In some cases they may sell to non-commissioned agents. He then performs a dual role of being a food processor and a trader within the distribution system.

Urban WholesalerThis class of distributor is one who has a large capital base and is capable of purchasing large quantities of foodstuffs from surrounding rural markets. His major activities include assemblage, bulking, transporting, and bulk-breaking. While selling his products he grades them and also stores those which are unsold - until the next market day. Their roles can however be distinguished with the different foodstuffs. For example, in the case of yam, two or more middlemen may put their capital together to purchase foodstuff from long distant markets during off-season periods. Trips to purchase foodstuffs may be embarked on by one or all of them depending on their terms of agreement but, they all take responsibility for the total overhead costs. In the case of other foodstuffs such as plantain, garri, maize, cassava, and cocoyam,

wholesalers tend to operate more, on an individual basis. This may be attributed to the fact that these foodstuffs are available, although in lesser quantities within the Benin ecological zone during their off-season periods. During harvest periods, urban middlemen wholesalers may purchase foodstuffs from farmers, non-commissioned agents or local agents in source regions and sell to sedentary wholesalers, urban retailers, and local processors or directly to urban consumers.


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The sedentary wholesalers here are those who buy from regional wholesalers within urban markets and they largely sell their foodstuff in bulk to urban retailers who may be situated in the same or in other urban markets. This category of wholesalers is evident in foodstuff types such as plantain, yam, maize, and garri. Their status is enhanced by their large capital investment in food trade which enables them to purchase large consignments of the selected foodstuffs.

Figure 1: Trading Participants of Staple Foodstuff Trade in the Benin Region.

Key to Participant Numbers

Source: Fieldwork 2010

(Farm - gate Middlemen/)

Local Agent (3b)

Farmer (1)

Commissioned Agent (2a)

Non-Commissioned Agent (2b)

Rural Retailer (8a)

Local Processor (4)

Middleman/ Importer-Transporter (3c) (Bulking Agent/ Wholesaler/)

Importer-Transporter (3a)

Itinerant Rural Wholesaler (5)

Wholesaler Middleman Transporter (6)

Urban Consumer (9a) Institutional Consumer (9b)

Rural Consumer (9c)

Urban Retailer (8b)

INTER-REGIONAL BOUNDARY


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Urban RetailerThis category of traders, purchase foodstuff from urban wholesale-middlemen who bring food items to feeder markets from rural areas or long distant towns. They are commonly seen purchasing large quantities of foodstuff (usually above individual household consumption levels) in urban feeder markets. These traders already have market information on the time of arrival of urban wholesalers to the market. They therefore leave their stalls, which may be within the market to the arrival point, which is, popularly known as the “garage”. To buy directly from wholesalers as they arrive from the rural markets. This is common with all foodstuffs under survey.

Trade transaction between traders, is usually by haggling and where trade relationships are fixed between participants, there tends to be a monopoly in the case of the recipient of some foodstuffs such as plantain, yam, or garri. Sales here may be based upon trust. The urban retailer in some cases would pay for the purchased foodstuff after a few days when a considerable amount of the foodstuff would have been sold. The second category of urban retailers, consist of traders within the urban markets who also act as rural assemblers. They go directly to rural markets to purchase foodstuffs such as plantain, maize, cocoyam, and garri, which they personally sell within the urban markets. The method of foodstuff distribution tends to earn them higher profit margins as the added value by the intermediaries are usually abated on this case.

Urban Local ProcessorThese are people who purchase some foodstuffs such as yam, plantain, cassava, and maize in their fresh states and process them for sale within urban markets. For example, yam and plantain are processed into Amala, elubo, lafun, etcetera. Cassava may be soaked, dried or grated and fried; into santana, cassava slices (locally called bobozi), akpu, kpokpo-garri, starch, or white and yellow garri. Maize bought in large quantities may be stored and dried and later processed into Akamu.

Urban ConsumerThese constitute the most varied class of participants and form the terminal point in the food distribution process. They consist of the urban populace, which also include the traders themselves. Institutions or a group of persons may come together or meet at the market in some cases to buy foodstuff from wholesalers at market sites so as to reduce the sale price per unit of foodstuff. This is evident in the case of the sale of yams, which are usually sold in mounds of a hundred tubers. Generally, other consumers buy on an individual basis from any retailer or those who may have become their permanent customers. The prices at which foodstuffs are sold to individual consumers are dependent upon their haggling ability.

Middlemen Activities and the Challenge of Food Security in the Benin RegionResponses from the field reveal salient factors that require improvement if food security for future generations is to be attained. The structural factors relate to market locations, inadequate market facilities, imperfect specialisation of traders and low unit value of output among others. Structural Operational problems result from low outputs, reflected in low market surpluses, low capital, lack of market information, lack of market organisation, improper co-ordination of the marketing system, poor storage and transportation facilities. Others are, transport costs, which add to the unit value of commodity, haulage, handling and transfer costs. The paper highlights these problems and proffers suggestions on how to improve on the existing situation.

1) Market Locations – Most rural markets situate within villages. Their access roads are in most cases poorly developed. The roads are of a narrow width (3.00 – 3.5metres), bushy and windy. Most of them are untarred earthroads, while some have been tarred a long time ago and have potholes due to lack of maintenance over the years.. Apart from markets like Ugonoba and Ugbogui, which are, located along major highways, middlemen are faced with various challenges in the movement of staple foodstuff from rural markets to areas of demand.

2) Length of years in Foodstuff Trade – A pertinent factor in food security is the length of years that middlemen are involved in food trade. Results from the field indicate that, a large number of traders (50%) had only been in the food distribution trade in less than 5 years. The number of traders tend to be stable for the next 5–10 years/(45 %) and there is a rapidly decline thereafter. The average length of time in trade for a foodstuff middleman is about 10 years. One may attribute this to the fact that with, advancement in age, middlemen traders may find it difficult to make the


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required frequent, strenuous and lengthy journeys to ensure that food is regularly supplied to urban areas on a consistent basis. This calls for concern if food security is to be ensured.

3) Generally, transport costs are high, roads are inadequate, badly built, and poorly maintained, drivers are careless, and there is a high accident rate. As such the availability of transport to the wholesaler implies a greater control in the supply deliveries to markets as well. The vehicles presently used for food distribution lack the capacity and design for the haulage of staple foodstuffs. Oftentimes, passenger transport vehicles (mainly saloon cars and mini buses) are used by these traders and in some cases foodstuffs are loaded on top of the vehicle and may also overflow the car booth with several traders inside the vehicles. The vehicles tend to exceed their carriage capacity and the driver’s vision is often impaired from behind. Both the traders’ life and the foodstuff become insecure as this implies a high risk of accident for these vehicles.

4) Storage Problems – Storage of foodstuff is fundamental to the issue of food security as it will ensure that food is available to the urban populaMiddlemen and urban retailers often engage in some form of storage for their foodstuff on sale. The study reveals that maize traders (66%) are most involved in storage of their foodstuff. This is followed by Yam traders (60%), Cassava traders (50%), plantain traders (48%), Garri traders (42%) and Cocoyam (30%). Non-storage of large quantities of foodstuff such as cocoyam may partly indicate its inability to be stored for a long period and also its low quantity of its total production or its low value when sold. On the other hand, the low storage of garri may be explained to the fact that it is the main staple foodstuff in the Benin region. It is available throughout the year and its high turn over may inhibit its ability to be stored for a longer period.

5) Market Organisation - There is a lack of organisation of food producers and co-ordination of theactivities of rural traders as well as urban middlemen involved in selected staple foodstuff trade in the Benin region. The result is low producer returns, higher spoilage rates, lower production incentives and consequently farmers are compelled to sell at unfavourable prices.

6) Absence of Food Policy - The absence of an accountable and consistent policy making process that support private and public sector investment in productive and trading activities in Nigeria contribute to food insecurity. This is evident in areas such as; entry into staple foodstuff trade, market information, standardization and grading as well as food collection and distribution.

Suggestions:1. There is the need for Local government councils to focus on the expansion and maintenance of the

existing road networks in order to improve on the ease of access to markets sites and remove farm sites as well as consistent distribution to areas of food demand.

2. Within market sites, local government councils need to improve on facilities provision that will enhance traders and middlemen activities such as shelf life of products, storage, bulking and bulk – breaking. Specific areas need to be allotted with adequate space for these activities

3. Government involvement in the agricultural sector in terms of provision of adequate land credit facilities, improved seedlings, fertilizers at subsidized rates will improve the production capacity and consequently reduce the problem of low output, narrowness of markets and imperfect specialization of middlemen traders who are at present restricted to buying the limited available foodstuff in rural markets. This intervention will aid food security in the region.

4. Government involvement in the distribution of foodstuff from rural areas would aid food availability and reliability to areas of food demand, and ensure food security. In this regard government could provide vehicles that have facilities for adequate capacity and storage facilities that will enable the transfer of foodstuffs.

5. There is need for local government councils to also coordinate and organize marketing operations. Aspects such as the need for market information, deregulation of transport cost, uniform grading system as well as standardization of prized which at present constitute bottleneck in staple food trade should be looked into. This will obviate the high cost that has at present add ton the unit value of the commodity

6. A pertinent role of the intermediaries is ton ensure their continuity. There is need for local government councils to create a data bank of these farmers and middle men for specific foodstuff. In a temporal dimension, their decline or increase in number can then be monitored and


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government can intervene where necessary particularly in terms of providing incentives such as long and short term credit that will encourage younger women to enter and remain in staple foodstuff trade

Conclusion The paper concludes that enabling food security in staple food stuff trade in Benin the middle-belt Region cannot be attained without government involvement. This is in terms of her involvement in agricultural production/improvement in transport, provision of market facilities, the organization and coordination as well as monitoring the numbers of these traders in space and time perspective.

ReferencesAdalemo I. A (1972) The Marketing of Major Cash Crops in the Kainji Lake Basin (Ibadan) Niser

Monograph Series No. 1.Anthonio, Q.B.O.(1967) Distributors in Foodstuffs Markets in Nigeria. African Urban Notes,2,86-108.Ezedinma, C. Okechukwu, R. and Sanni, L (2005) Marketing Of Gari In Benin City and Enugu, Nigeria

In Porter Gina, Lyon Fergus and the Nigerian marketing network‘Briefing Report of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’(Ibadan) Investigations on building a Food marketing policy evidence base in Nigeria, N.I.S.E.R. Mimeograph.

Stone, V. (XXXXX) Nigerian Agriculture and Food Security Challenges in http/www/ Nigerian Agriculture/Food security 2011

Hussani B.I(1990) Food Grain Marketing System and its effects on farm incomes on Kaduna State. An unpublished Ph.D Dissertation submitted to the Department of Geography, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Ikelegbe, O.O. (2007) The Spatial Structure of the Supply and Distribution of Staple Foodstuffs in the Benin Region. An unpublished Ph.D Dissertation submitted to the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Benin, Benin City.

Jumper, S.R. (1974) Wholesale Marketing of Fresh Vegetables. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 64(3)387-396

Onakomaiya S.O.(1975) Internal Trade in Specialty Foodstuffs in Nigeria, A case study of Collection and Distribution Processes, N.I.S.E.R.(Ibadan)

The Food Crisis in Nigeria, Daily Independent Editorial, Tuesday, March 4, 2008. p. B4Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security (HTML). USDA. Retrieved on

15th September, 2011.http://www.foodsecurity.org/views_cfs_faq.html accessed on 15 September 2011http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdfThe State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003 USAID - Food Security


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THE CRISIS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE IN NIGERIA

JUMARE, BASHIR Department of Local Government and Development Studies

Ahmadu Bello University, ZariaKaduna State, Nigeria.

[email protected] or [email protected]+2348034527537

ABSTRACTLocal government finance in Nigeria has been growing markedly since 90s. Recent estimates by the Central Bank of Nigeria suggest that it amounts to 5.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Most of the studies carried out in the Nigerian Public finance growth were mostly conducted at Federal Government level. Little attention was given to size and more particular the growth of Local Government finance. The paper is set out to examine the factors responsible for the growth of Local Government finance in Nigeria. The Adolph Wagner’s Law of Expanding State Activity and the public choice theories were applied to explain the growth in Local Government finance in Nigeria. The methodology employed was basically an application of multiple regressions to regress the causal relationship between Local Government financial structures and GDP. The overall picture of Local Government Finance has grown markedly over the Fiscal periods of our study (1999-2009). The magnitude of growth in Local Government Finance as indicated in the regression equations was higher in Local Governments Revenue (1.047GDP) than in Spending or Expenditures (0.004GDP). This finding supports those theories that assert that changes in government revenues lead to changes in government expenditures (Friedman: 1978). Secondly, as the coefficient of the revenue was greater than unitary (>1), it follows that Local government’s revenue was then a rising proportion of per capita Gross Domestic Product (both at current market prices and current factor costs). In spite of the increase in the total amount of funds available to Local Governments in Nigeria since early 1990s, their economic and financial profile was still very poor. Local Governments were unable to contribute optimally to social and economic development. There was a minimum overall impact of fiscal federalism on economic development at the grass root level. The study showed that Local Government finance in Nigeria was seriously affected by public choice issues of excessive state control, budgetary lapses, poor local accountability and political influences. The study recommends a paradigm shift from fiscal federalism to more development oriented system, an output- based system of local government accounting and participatory budgeting system.

Keywords: Revenue, Expenditure, Development, Growth and Governance.

INTRODUCTION Local government finance has always been controversial, but never more so than recently. Both the growth and control of local government expenditure, and the financing of that expenditure have been the topical issues affecting the development at the local government level in Nigeria. Moreover, after many years of significant changes the whole system of local government finance in Nigeria faces the most far-reaching but fundamental reforms, which have inevitably stirred bitter experience in the working of Local Governments.

Before independence, in 1960, Local governments in Nigeria were highly efficient in providing services that improve both the social and economic welfare of the people, especially rural dwellers. The direct provision of such basic needs as health, education, food, water, sanitation, and housing by the Local Governments have had a positive multiplier effect on rural poverty in a shorter period and with fewer local Financial resources. Post seventies, Local government’s financial structures were completely altered, partly as a result of advent of oil revenue and in most cases the dominant of Military rules in Nigeria. These


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factors led to excessive control of local governments and whittling their statutory powers as a third tier of government within the Nigeria fiscal system of government. Both the 1976 local government reforms and 1979 Nigeria Constitution made far-reaching recommendations on local government financing. One of these was the statutory allocations to Local governments from the Federation Account.

As a result of this development, the Federal government allocated N100 million to the Local Authorities in 1976/77, which amounted to 1.4% of the Federal government revenue. In 1981, the Local Government’ share was 10% of the Federation Account and each state was to make 10% of her total revenue to her Local Governments. In 1990, the Military Government approved the vertical allocation formula of Federal government 50 percent, States 30 percent, Local Governments 15 percent with the balance to the Special Account. The horizontal allocation formula included equality of states 40%, population 30%, social development factor 10%, landmass and terrain 10% and internal revenue efforts 10%. In 1992, the share of the Local governments from the Federation Account was increased from 15% to 20%, while the states share was reduced from 30% to 25%. Today the share among the various tiers is as follows: Federal –48.5 percent; States- 24.0 percent Local Government- 20.0 percent and the Special Fund- 7.5 percent accrue to the Local Governments.

With these developments, Local Governments have been assured financial resources to meet their expenditure needs. The pertinent question the paper seeks to explore is what most have been the explanations for the growth in Local Government finance in Nigeria? Different academic disciplines provide different theoretical perspectives, and thus different answers, to the question of how and why local government finance has grown. This paper attempts to lay bare the assumptions behind the arguments, and relate these to Local Government finance in Nigeria

OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPERThe overall objective of this paper is to examine the factors responsible for the growth of local government finance in Nigeria. Other objectives include:

i. To analyse the causal relationship between Local Governments’ Expenditure, Revenue and Development (Proxied with GDP).

ii. To examine the future of Local Government finance in Nigeria.

HYPOTHESISIn order to achieve the objectives of this paper, the following hypotheses have been developed for testing:

1. H0: There is no causality between Local Government Revenue, Expenditure and Development (Proxied by GDP per capita).

H1: There is causality between Local Government Revenue, Expenditure and Development (Proxied by GDP per capita)

2. H0: Public Choice theories of Expenditure Growth do not help to explain the growth in local government finance in Nigeria. H1: Public Choice theories of Expenditure Growth help in explaining the growth in local government finance in Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKEconomists have studied several dimensions of the public sector economy, especially in the field of public goods provisions. The analyses of Wagner (1890), Baumol (1967), and Rostow (1971) all have a theoretical framework grounded in economics. One of the modern-day justifications for government intervention in the economy is the correction of “market failure” which is pursued principally through the performance of three fiscal functions which Musgrave, (1959) identified as: allocation, distribution and stabilization. Public choice theories, on the growth of government who identify the demand for public goods as constituting the major source of government growth premise their analyses on the assumption that government exists to perform the allocation function i.e. provide public goods and services through a “non-market” allocative mechanism in this case, the government budget.

Governments employ a number of policy instruments to influence the allocation of resources in the economy. The power to tax and power to spend are major tools of government’s allocation function, since


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expenditures are used to increase the output of goods and services which otherwise will be overproduced. These are the basic fiscal instruments of government and constitute the goods and services component of the budget.

However, it has long been recognized that public expenditure determination is a function of political influences. Explanations of government behaviour require studying the interaction of various factors. At the turn of the century Knot Wicksells' (1896) work on public finance analysed public sector decision-making in terms of political and collective choice. Lindhal (1919) followed Wicksell’s analysis by examining the part played by the political bargaining process in budgetary determination. More recently Buchanan (1978) has indicated that taxation and public expenditure must be considered within the political process determining them, i.e. public finance theory cannot be divorced form a theory of politics. Similarly in his study of the growth of government, Rose (1984) demonstrated that it is the combined impact of various social, economic and political influences that have led to an increased role for the state.

Public expenditure determination is a function of government, which, in democratic nations, acts on behalf of and in response to the wishes of the electorate. Theories of the impact of the political process on public expenditure concentrate on the actions of voters and of politicians and parties seeking electorates’ support, as well as the manner in which decisions are made.

These explanations of public expenditure growth assume that the impact of the voter in determining policy is paramount. However, the process of political bargaining is two ways: politicians do not respond passively to electors’ demands but actively attempt to secure support by offering the voter fiscal incentives. As Buchanan and Tullock (1972) suggest, the benefits of public expenditure are enjoyed by particular groups but paid for by taxes on every one. Vote maximizing politicians who are lobbied by majority groups will tend to secure their support by increasing the financial benefits to such groups, thus raising public expenditure. Additionally politicians may seek support in order to maximize any financial advantages that may enjoy as legislators.

Local government like National Government has been subjected to electoral and other pressures to increase spending. Both have been affected by the “revolution of rising expectation”. The size and more particularly the growth of Local Government expenditure has been a focus of considerable controversy. As with public spending in general, Local Government expenditure has also increased markedly. The most authoritative study of Local Government finance (Foster et al. 1980: Chapter 4) points out that:

“An average growth rate of current expenditure of 3.4 percent per annum hides large variations- with sharp falls in local spending during wartime, sharp rises in the immediate post-war years, and two longish periods of very high growth, from 1870 to 1900, and again from 1955 to 1975, when growth rates exceeded 5 percent per annum. As this was markedly faster than the growth in GDP over these two periods, it follows, that Local Government expenditure was then a rising proportional of GDP, but at other times, and notably in recent years, it has declined as a proportion of GDP (Foster:1980).”

Those associated with Local Government have attributed the rise in spending to a number of factors-the costs of Local Government reorganisation, inflationary pressures (particularly labour costs and high interest rates), demographic trends and the extra burdens placed on local authorities by central government. Local government are not entirely passive agents, however, new services have been pioneered as a result of Local initiatives-notably in the economic development and leisure fields-and some established services have been transformed and extended. Local government, like central government, has been subject to electoral and other pressures to increase spending. Both have been affected by the ‘revolution of rising expectations’.

The rise in spending has also been subject to conflicting theoretical explanations form a variety of public choice theories of public expenditure. On the right, Niskanen’s model of bureaucracy oversupply has been utilized to explain increased spending in terms of the vested interests of the local government services (Niskanen: 1973). Public choice theory has pointed to poor local accountability as explanation for the voter’s apparent preference for higher spending. The local electorate does bear the bulk of the cost of increased spending, which rational economic behaviour will thus induce it to support. On the left, neo-


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Marxist analysis suggests that increases in public expenditure in general and local government spending in particular, are functional to the needs of capital. However, it is pointed out that the bulk of local government expenditure does not directly aid accumulation of capital, involves services for the people, or what is described as “collective consumption”. Such social costs are likely to be questioned by capital, particular in periods of failing profits (Newton and Karran: 1985).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKWagner, formulated a “law of expanding state expenditures”, which pointed to the importance of government activities and expenditure as an “inevitable feature of a “progressive” state. Although other writers before and after Wagner said much the same things, he was the first to attempt to demonstrate this “law” empirically, and it is now firmly attached to his name (Wagner: 1863).

A modern formulation of Wagner’s “law” might run as follows: as per capita income rises in industrializing nations, their public sectors will grow in relative importance. Wagner offered three reasons why this development would take place.i. Firstly, an expansion would come about with respect to the administrative and protective functions

of the state. Wagner thought, because of the substitution of public for private activity. In addition new needs for public regulative and protective activity would develop as a result of the increased complexity of legal relationships and communications that inevitably accompanied the greater division of labour with industrialization. In later writings, Wagner anticipated many subsequent authors by adding the increase in population density and urbanization (which he saw accompanying industrialization) as additional factors leading to increased public expenditures on law and order and on economic regulation, in order to maintain the efficient performance of the economy in the face of the increased frictions of urban life (Kuznets: 1967).

ii. Secondly, Wagner also explicitly predicted a considerable relative expansion of “culture and welfare” expenditures, especially with respect to education and the redistribution of income. Though the reasons why he thought these activities would expand were left less than clear in his exposition, he appears to have assumed, in essence, that they constituted “superior goods” or “luxuries”. In order words, the income-elasticity of demand for these public services was greater than unity. So that more of them would be demanded as incomes rose.

iii. Finally, Wagner suggested that the inevitable changes in technology and the increasing scale of investment required in many activities would create an increasing number of large private monopolies whose effect would have to be offset, or the monopolies taken over by the state in the interests of economic efficiency. In some instances, his major example was the railroad (“steam”)_ the required scale of capital was, he thought, such that the investment could really only be financed by the state (Bird: 1971).

METHODOLOGYFor our study, the causal relationship between revenue, expenditure and development was tested to confirm the Wagner’s law of expanding state activity. As Karavitis (1987) has argued, the necessity of causality tests in the field of public expenditure growth can be considered by using Wagner's law as an example. Despite its several interpretations, the original formulation of Wagner's Law appears to imply that in the wake of economic development, government expenditure increases not merely in size but also as percentage of national income. The causality in Wagner's Law runs from national income to public expenditure. In other words, support for Wagner’s Law requires unidirectional causality from GNP (and GNP/P) to public expenditure.

In this study, causality studies based on Wagner’s reasoning were hypothesized to run from GNP (and/or GNP/P) to the dependent variable which took four different forms: E, C, E/P, E/GNP. Wagner’s Law requires that public expenditure does not cause GNP, because of that it became necessary to apply bivariate causality testing. In this regard we have considered only the expenditure by the government. There will also be tax receipts and non-tax revenue policy of government that definitely would impact on expenditure. The causal relationship between Local Government income and expenditure was also examined.

Government income and expenditure is also governed by fiscal policy. Keynesians (1936) argued that the government could maintain full employment by appropriate fiscal policy. Aggregate demand can be


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increased by increasing investment and/or increasing government expenditure. The government spending will have therefore a multiplier effect to aggregate demand. This is partly due to the Keynesian multiplier. But within the government circle two expenditure patterns are discernable: recurrent and capital. Capital spending should have more desirable impact to aggregate demand than the recurrent expenditure. In this regard, the study has also examined the allocations pattern between recurrent and capital expenditures of the Nigerian Local Governments.

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSISNigeria operates a federal system with three tiers of government, federal, state and local government. Under a federal system of administration, the public sector’s role in economic management and development is a responsibility shared among the various levels of government. A federal structure ensures that public goods and services, which are consumed at the local levels, are supplied by state and local governments while the federal government concentrates on provision of public goods and services centrally consumed. In Nigeria, the areas of responsibilities or fiscal jurisdictions of the three tiers of government: federal, states and Local Governments are enshrined in the respective legislative lists i.e. exclusive, concurrent and residual lists.

Local Government Expenditures are used to provide public goods and services to the populace through which economic growth and development are induced. Public expenditures are classified into two broad themes, namely; recurrent and capital expenditures. Recurrent Expenditures are goods, which include all consumption items that occur in a year, they are payments for non-repayable transaction such as salaries, wages and allowances. Capital Expenditure however, relates to non-recurrent expenditure or expenses/payments on capital development and special services used in production process, which contribute to long-term development. Example of Capital Expenditure, include spending on health, education, roads, and electricity, etc. Capital Expenditures are further classified into functional and economic composition. The former defines the purpose of the expenditure and sector to target, while the latter looks at the outlay such as capital, wages and salaries etc involve in providing such services.

Table 1.0 shows the size and trend of Local Government actual expenditure profile in Nigeria from 1994 to 2004. As can be seen from the table in nominal terms Nigerian’s Local Government’s expenditure has grown substantially over the reference period. The 774 Local Government Councils administered the total expenditure of N1, 521,508.45 million between 1994-2004 fiscal years. Out of this, N988, 646.67 million representing 68.45% went into servicing recurrent expenditure, while balance of N532, 861.68 million representing about 31.55% went to capital expenditures.

As is evident from the same table, there has been a marked growth in each of category of expenditure and for each year except in 2002. The low proportions of allocation devoted to capital expenditure underlie vividly the critical financial position of the Local Governments and their low capacity to contribute to the growth and development of the local economy. As a result, deterioration in the services provided at the Local Government levels was widespread and manifested in poor maintenance of facilities, such as intra-city and rural roads, primary health care, poor refuse disposal, funding of primary education, etc. This deplorable situation prompted the Federal Government to establish the National Primary Education Commission (NPEC) to take over the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries in order to forestall frequent industrial action.


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TABLE 1.1 THE ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REVENUE, EXPENDITURE AND

DEVELOPMENT (PROXIED BY GDP)Year Total RR Total

ExpGDPCF GDPCMP POPF

IGSPecapTRR

PecapTE

PecapGDPCF

PecapGDPCMP

1994 19223.10 18967.10 904004.70

907875.40

97.20 197.77 95.91 9300.46 9340.28

1995 24412.70 22443.30 1934831.00

1951884.80

110.20 221.53 101.31

17557.45 17712.20

1996 23942.10 24261.70 2703809.00

2787283.70

103.30 231.77 104.68

26174.34 26982.42

1997 31183.30 29939.90 2801972.60

2906624.90

106.50 292.80 102.25

26309.60 27292.25

1998 44968.20 44056.90 2721178.40

2836814.20

109.80 409.55 107.57

24783.05 25836.19

1999 60800.60 60441.20 3313563.10

3440204.10

113.20 537.11 112.53

29271.76 30390.50

2000 154008.20

153864.80

4727522.60

4866280.00

116.70 1319.69 116.59

40510.05 41699.06

2001 171523.10

171374.50

5374334.80

5526204.90

120.30 1425.79 120.20

44674.44 45936.87

2002 172151.20

169820.20

6232243.60

6398907.70

124.00 1388.32 122.32

50260.03 51604.09

2003 370170.90

361713.20

6061700.00

6255470.00

127.80 2719.62 127.37

47431.14 48947.34

2004 468295.20

461050.60

8352300.00

8553300.00

131.70 3555.77 129.66

63419.13 64945.33

Sources: Computed from Central Bank of Nigerian Annual Reports and Financial Statements of Accounts (1994)

It is plausible to argue that factors such as the harmonization of salaries and other counterparts at the federal and state levels of government, rising trends in salaries across the country and in particular salaries of Medical and Health Staff to match with the inflationary trend, vehicle and other allowances and the expansion of administrative staff partly because of additional Local Governments created to cope with the increasing responsibilities of Local Governments, have more than anything else increased the cost of administration relative to other sub-heads and to the overall recurrent expenditures of the Local Governments. Besides, the Salaries and wages of Chairmen and Councillors were fixed without taking into consideration the income earnings capacity, revenue base and viability of the councils. Councillors were paid as much as N120, 000.00 per month. Whereas the Chairmen, in most of the Local Government Councils have received more than N210, 000.00 monthly as their allowances. This did not include other allowances such as Hospitality allowance, Security Votes and Constituency allowances.

Despite the aforementioned problems, the fiscal operations of the Local Governments for eleven years resulted in overall surpluses ranging from N266.00 million in 1994 to N 8407.90 million in 2003 with deficit recorded in 1998 and 2000 fiscal years (Table 1.2), a phenomenon that raises questions on the absorptive capacity and funds management at the Local Government level. The worrisome aspect of this trend is that in spite of the huge Federal and State allocations and collections from the internally generated sources from citizenry no such financing were channelled in the past fourteen years into any meaningful development or social infrastructure in the councils. Where done, the costs of putting up such projects were so overpriced.


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TABLE 1.2: SUMMARY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCES (NAIRA BILLION)REVENUE/EXPENDITURE 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008A) GROSS REVENUE

i) Federation Accountii) Share of VATiii) Internally Gen. Rev.iv) Grant and Othersv) Stabilization Fundvi) State Allocationvii) Excess Crude viii) Budget Argumentation

468.3375.746.022.414.56.13.6--

597.2493.055.824.015.16.03.2--

674.3550.875.923.214.86.13.4--

832.3568.3105.121.33.83.73.0127.1-

1379.0722.3135.923.10.34.46.8335.3150.8

B) TOTAL EXPENDITURERecurrent expenditure Personnel Cost Overhead Cost CFC & Others

Capital Expenditure Administration Economic Service Social & Comm. Services Transfers

461.1297.7186.094.215.4

165.422.856.667.718.3

588.0374.5235.6119.319.5

213.529.473.087.423.6

665.8398.2261.1106.822.3

267.728.0101.3111.426.9

827.4683.6406.9220.756.0

143.815.054.459.914.5

1382.0819.4341.35355.6122.5

562.672.8252.8219.817.2

C) Current Balance 172.6 222.7 276.1 148.7 559.6D) Overall Balance 7.2 9.2 8.4 4.9 (3.0)Sources: Central Bank of Nigeria Annual reports and Financial

Statements (2004-2008)

Furthermore, most directives of the State carry financial implications most of which are not budgeted for by Local Governments. Executions of these directives not only eat deep into the little resources at the disposal of the Local Government but also affected the level of capital expenditure that may be executed. This factor is a major problem for all Local Governments. It is our believe that a virile Local Government should not only be in control of its funds but also have a good proportion of it for the provision of amenities for the people. In this regard, all Local Governments in the country do not have that free hand to decide on their programmes. To worsen the situation, approved estimates after series of consultations, amendments and distortions are no more than mere annual or routine exercise as extra-budgetary expenditure, often improperly imposed by higher levels of government, eats deep into the finances of the Local Government and often times it takes precedence over their approved proposals.

For instance in the report on the Review of Fiscal Operations of Local Governments in Nigeria (1991-1994) clearly expressed that: Expenditure on State and Federal responsibilities imposed on Local Governments was not too alarming in relative terms but quite substantial when put together for the four-year period. It amounted to N88, 841,230, representing 1.08% of total expenditure (N8, 156,627,495) of all the Local Governments (Min.: 1995). That notwithstanding, extra- budgetary expenditure, as recorded, was an infringement on the finances of the Local Governments. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to expect the local people to derive maximum services from the meagre resources of their respective Local Government Councils.

The study also revealed that a serious limitation of the Nigerian fiscal decentralization arrangements relates to an excessive dependence of sub-national governments on statutory allocations from Federation Accounts and Federally collected VAT. Internally generated revenue (IGR) of most Local government Councils over the reference periods was far less than 10 percent of their total recurrent revenues. The survey revealed that, in most cases, as the percentage of total revenue from Federation Account to the Local Government Councils increased, so did the rate of Internally Generated Revenue fall or remain much the same. The increase in Federation Account should have generated greater impetus to raise additional funds for development. The resultant effect of all these is that it undermines Local Government incentives


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for expanding a local tax base and thus for facilitating growth, while at the same time, reducing demand from local taxpayers for government accountability and budget transparency.

MULTIPLE REGRESSION OF RECURRENT REVENUE (RR DEPENDENT VARIABLE) ON TOTAL EXPENDITURE (TE) AND GDP (INDEPENDENT VARIABLES)In the same tables 1.0 & 1.2 the regression was carried out between Per Capita Recurrent Revenue (Dependent variable) on Per Capita Total Expenditure and Per Capita GDP (Independent variables). We also conducted F-test at both 1% critical level of significance and 5% moderate level of significance to establish their relationship. The results of the statistics are shown below.

Regression EquationLog RR = – 8334.36 + 82.14Log TE + 1.047Log GDP - - - - (1)Correlation Coefficient (r) and Correlation Determination (r2

)

r = 0.934r2 = 0.873SE = 479.98DW = 1.45

Descriptive Statistics

ANOVASum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Regression 11059866.67 2 3686622.22 16.002 .002Residual 1612703.67 8 230386.24Total 12672570.33 10

a. Predictors: (Constant), TE, GDPFC, GDPCMb. Dependent Variable: RR

STATISTICAL TESTS

(1.) At 1% level of significance a = 1% (extreme level)Critical region F2, 8 = 8.65 = Ft

Computed F (FC) = 16.002: - FC > Ft or 16.002 > 8.86

At extreme level of significance (1%), Null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no causal relationship between recurrent revenue (dependent variable), total expenditure and GDP (independent variables)

(2.) At 5% level of significance a = 5% (moderate level)Critical region F2, 8 = 4.46Computed F (FC) = 16.002: - FC > Ft or 16.002 > 4.46

At moderate level of significance (5%), the Null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is causal relationship between recurrent revenue (independent variable), total expenditure and GDP (independent variables).

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTSThe regression equation (1) indicates a strong positive relationship between Per Capita Recurrent Revenue (dependent variable) with Per Capita Total Expenditure and Per capita GDP (Independent variables). This also confirms the theory that “spending causes revenue”, which means that the level of spending is

Mean Std. Deviation Coefficient of variation NRR 1118.16 1125.73 100.68 11GDPFC 34517.40 16036.72 46.46 11GDPCM 35516.96 16476.36 46.39 11TE 112.76 11.31 10.03 11


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determined ad hoc on political grounds; tax and non-tax revenues are adjusted accordingly. Local Government’s revenues are adjusted only to meet those predetermined expenditures.

In the same equation the coefficient of the GDP (1.047) is greater than one. The fairly high elasticity coefficient of (1.047) not only reaffirms the strength of this relationship, it also confirms the Wagner’s law. An important property of this ‘Law’ is that income elasticity should be greater than unity. This implies that as economy grows, Local Government recurrent revenue will also grow at even faster rate. From our result, it can be seen that over the reference period of our study (1994-2004), the recurrent revenue of the Local Governments grew at a faster rate than the GDP.

The results of ANOVA-TEST have shown that at extreme level of 1% level of significance, FC is greater than Ft; therefore, null hypothesis is rejected, meaning there is relationship between Local government recurrent revenue (Dependent variable), total expenditure and GDP (Independent variables). But at moderate level of 5% level of significance FC is greater than Ft, we therefore, reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. This result indicates causal relationship between Local Government’s recurrent revenue (Dependent variable), total expenditure and GDP (Independent variables).

The overall picture of Local Government Finance has grown markedly over the Fiscal periods of our study (1994 – 2004). The magnitude of growth in Local Government Finance as indicated in the regression equations was higher in Local Governments Revenue (1.047GDP) than in Spending or Expenditures (0.004GDP).

This finding supports those theories that assert that changes in government revenues lead to changes in government expenditures (Friedman: 1978). Secondly, as the coefficient of the revenue was greater than unitary (>1), it follows that Local governments revenue was then a raising proportion of per capita Gross Domestic Product (Both at current market prices and current factor costs). The proportion of Local governments expenditures over the reference periods was far from unitary (<1). Thus the Wagner’s Law of ‘increasing State activities’ was to some extent confirmed to have taken place on the Local government’s recurrent revenue than on their expenditure.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONIn the light of the reported empirical results in this study, one may tentatively suggest that the growth of public expenditure in the case of Nigerian Local Government Councils is not directly dependent on and determined by economic growth as Wagner’s law states. Local Government expenditure is the outcome of many decisions in the light of changing economic circumstances.

There was a minimum overall impact of fiscal federalism on economic development at the grass root level. The study showed that Local Government finance in Nigeria was seriously affected by public choice issues of excessive state control, budgetary lapses, poor local accountability and political influences. The study recommends a paradigm shift from fiscal federalism to more development oriented system, an output-based system of local government accounting and participatory budgeting system.

ReferencesBuchanan, J. M. (1978); “From Private Preferences to Public Philosophy: The Development of Public

Choice”, in The Economics of Politics, London: Institute of Economic Affairs.Buchanan T. and R. Wagner (1977): Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes,

Academic Press, New York.Buchanan, J. M.; and Tullock, C. (1962). He Calculus of Consent Ann Abor, University of Michigan PressDowns, A. (1957); An Economic Theory of Democracy, New York, Harper and RawFoster, C. D., Jackson, R. and Per Imam, M. (1980) Local Government Finance in Unity State, London:

Allen and Unwin.Karavitis, N. (1987): “The Causal Factors of Government Expenditure Growth in Greece, 1950-80”, Applied Economics, 19, 789-807.Kenneth, D. (1983); Financing Regional Government: International Practices and their Relevance to the

Third Word. Institute of local government Studies, University of Birmingham, Great Britain


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Kuznets, S. (1967); Modern Economic Growth Rate, Structure and Spread Yule University Press. New Haven.

Lindhal, E. (1919); “Just Taxation: a Positive Solution” Reprinted in Peacock, A. and Musgrave, R. J. (eds.) Classification in the Theory of Public Finance, New York: St Martins Press, 1958.

Musgrave, R. (1959); The Theory of Public Finance; A Study in Public Economy, McGraw HillNewton, K. and Karran, T. J. (1988); The Politics of Local Government Expenditure, London MacDonald.Niskanen, W. A. (1971); Bureaucracy and Representative Government Chicago Aldine – Arthenem.Rostow, W. W. (1971); Political and the Stages of Growth, Cambridge University Press.Tullock, G. (1965) The Political of Bureaucracy, Washington: Public Affairs Books, U. S. Tariff

Commission (1973) Implication of Multiviatimal Firms for World Trade and Investment, Report of the committee of finance of the U. S. Senate Washington: U. S. Government Printers.

Wagner, A. (1890 and 1893); Finanzwiss Enschaff 3rd Ed., and Grudlegung der politishen Oekonomie 3rd

edition.


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COMMUNITY CONFLICTS AND MASS MEDIA RESPONSIBILITY IN SUSTAINABLE PEACE BUILDING IN NIGERIA: A PRESCRIPTIVE DISCOURSE

KUR, JUDE TERNA (Ph.D)Department of Mass Communication Technology

Federal University of Technology, Minna Niger State, Nigeria.

[email protected]+2348064397932

&

OBIORAH, COLLINS CHIDOZIE Department of Mass Communication

Federal Polytechnic, Oko Anambra State, Nigeria.

+2348037970007

AbstractThis review paper is a discourse which prescribes appropriate role for the mass media in sustainable peace building. It sets the background by examining the concept of conflict from a theoretical perspective, using largely principles from structural conflict theory. It also examines the concept of mass media from a functional perspective. Using the development media and social responsibility media theories, the paper contends that the mass media owe the society a responsibility to mandatory contribute to developmental efforts in society. One aspect of this contribution is in effective coverage of community conflicts for sustainable peace building. The mass media could do this by upholding the practices that discourage dysfunctional conflicts and encourage peaceful co-existence among the various socio-economic and political groups in Nigeria. Mass media practices that advocate for the eradication of poverty, ignorance and unemployment are suggested for peace building, since these three key factors are largely responsible for the prevalence of violent conflicts in Nigeria.

Key Words: Conflict, Community Conflict, Mass Media and Peace-building

IntroductionThe word “peace” is largely elusive in the lexicon of social relations between the linguistic, ethnic, religious as well as political groups in Nigeria. The history of the country, especially since independence in 1960, is replete with conflicts and feuds with mind-boggling consequences. The bitterness and loss that characterized the scenario have pitted the citizens against one another and steered the nation to near atrophy.

Although the major inhibiting factors against the nation’s development, as many have argued, was rooted in about a century of imperial frolic and the attendant exploitations (Rodney, 1972, Ake, 1981, Onimode, 1983, Davidson, 1992; and Ake, 1996), the disposition, attitude and behaviour of most Nigerians left much to be desired. Whilst not a few have attributed the country’s disunity to primordial ties of the citizens to parochial ethnological sentiments for which Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa once said that Nigeria has existed as one country only on paper; it is far from being united, it is obviously certain that the central integration problem in the country derives from the abject non-existence of national identity, that is, “a sense of territorial nationality transcending parochial loyalties of race, ethnicity, religion, language and region” (Roseberg, 1971, p.166) amongst Nigerians, which culminated in the thirty-month old Nigeria-Biafra civil war.

While the war, till date, remains the most spectacular expression of the pressures and cracks in the façade of cooperation and unity in Nigeria, it is by no means the only impediment to peace in the country. Other inflammable cocktails of similar but not the same dimensions have tended to produce a sense of alienation


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in the people, thereby fostering in them an attitude of gross indifference to the fate and future of the country. Chief among them are ethnicity, religious bigotry, primordial political cleavages, crass indiscipline, rancorous nepotism, ethnocentrism and much else.

None of the aforementioned, apart from the war, has adversely impacted on the unity and stability of Nigeria as the spate of ethnic and religious conflicts. The different ethnic nationalities have often lurked behind the veneers of ethnicity and religion to unleash mayhem on one another. Unfortunately, conflicts in the country, according to Tagowa & Garba (2007, p.244), have become more monstrous during the last period of civil democracy in the country when “there has been over seventy ethno-religious conflicts… in which over 35,000 lives were lost and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.”

At the moment, disparate groups in the country are continually and increasingly asserting diverse and quite often, conflicting interest which are profoundly centralized in nature. From the Niger-Delta region of the South-South to the South-East geopolitical zone of the Igbo ethnic group through the South-West and the three Northern geopolitical zones of North-Central, North-East and North-West, the refrain of dismemberment, secession, and self-determination has been all time high.

In view of their negative implications on the developmental efforts of successive administrations, we seek, in this paper, to examine the extent to which the mass media can contribute in building sustainable peace across the national divides.

Conceptual Exposition of ConflictThe term conflict is a multi-referential concept which does not lend itself to an apt or precise definition. Social conflict often serves as a catch-all phrase for every form of dysfunctional contest, strife, fighting, quarrel, destruction, coercion etc. But the word ‘conflict’ does not entirely carry with itself overtones of negativity and disaffection. At times, it is a normal process of interaction, particularly in complex social settings in which resources are usually scarce (Chandan, 1987; Das & Choudhury; 1997, Isard, 1992; Mullins, 2007; and Otite, 1991). As Mullins puts it,

Conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. Properly managed, it can have potentially positive outcomes. It can be an energizing and vitalizing force in groups and in the organization. Conflict can be seen as a ‘constructive’ force and in certain circumstances it can be welcomed or even encouraged.

In other words, conflict can serve as an instrument of positive social change, especially in diverse social systems. Das & Choudhury (1997, p.214) identify the “advantage of social conflicts” even as Isard (1992, p.10) opines that conflict is a phenomenon that is an important part of human existence. There is also the view by Weeks (1992:10) to the effect that conflict is “a natural part of our daily lives,” which can serve as a veritable instrument of social change. This latter view is in sync with the one advanced by Faleti (2005) that conflicts are a common feature of every society whether rural or urban, developed or developing, agrarian or industrialized. According to Faleti, conflicts that take place within a society may be the result of several factor; and for this reason, explanations for social conflicts, whether small or large scale, whether resulting from interactions between social groups or caused by external factors have been an issue of common concern.

Explicit in the above disclosure is the fact that we have various shades of conflicts bearing divergent nature and culminating from multifarious factors such that in the same way that it is difficult to point to a single factor as being responsible for conflict within society, it is as difficult to point to a single explanation for the emergence, escalation, or protraction of conflict, whether violent or otherwise.

In defining the term ‘conflict’, Coser (1968, p.3) identifies the major factors that precipitate conflict situations, the likely parties in crisis situations as well as their motives:

Social conflict may be defined as a struggle over values or claims to status, power and scarce resources in which the aims of the conflicting parties are not only to gain desired values but also to neutralize, injure, or eliminate their rivals. Such conflicts may take place between individuals, between collectivities, or between individuals and collectivities. Inter-group as well as intra-group conflicts are perennial features of social life.

The above definition draws heavily from the views of Max Weber as encapsulated in his liberal philosophy. In other words, conflicts result either from the desire to control the reins of the state or to


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dispel obstacles likely to impede the attainment of set goals. As Otite (1999, p.1) puts it, “changes in the social environment such as contestable access to new political positions or perceptions of new resources arising from development in the physical environment are fertile grounds for conflicts involving individuals or groups.”

It is germane to point out that competition and conflict differ in nature, impact and form. The former, according to Das & Choudhury (1997, p.212) is “a form of interaction that occurs when two or more individuals try to take possession of the same scarce object.” That is to say, competition is an expression of desire for tangible or intangible common scarce goods usually devoid of crude force and violence. Usually, however, conflicts are preceded by competition especially where the parties are unable to reach a common ground and peaceful resolution of issues. On the other hand, the terms ‘dispute’, ‘violence’, ‘crisis’, and ‘conflict’ share one striking commonality: all carry undertones of ‘violating’, and are synonymous with illegitimate force, brutality and mayhem. Though they may refer to different conditions and scope of social relationships, they operate on the same principle and are therefore used interchangeably in this paper. For us, the term defines a state of lawlessness characterized by crude force and utter disregard of individual freedom, insecurity and wanton destruction, both of life and property. Community conflict, therefore, is the expression of violence conduct in social relations resulting in the breach of human right provisions, including the destruction of lives and property both of the individual citizens and the state. The term is used synonymously with social conflict here.

Theoretical Framework This discourse finds expression in three theories: structural conflict theory, social responsibility media theory, and development media theory. While structural conflict theory explains the phenomenon of conflicts in society, social responsibility and development media theories map out the crucial role of the mass media in the development process, part of which is conflict management and peace-building.Structural Conflict Theory: This theory owes its origin to the writings of Weber (1947), Galtung (1990), Ross (1993), and Scarborough (1998). It attempts to analyze how competing interests of groups tie conflict directly to social, economic and political organizations of society as well as the nature and strength of social network within and between community groups. The main thrust of the theory is that conflict is built into the particular way societies are structured and organized. The theory sees incompatible interests based on competition for scarce resources as being responsible for social conflicts. According to Max Weber and his liberal compeers, the primary causes of conflicts in human societies are power relations and the economy of resources. In other words, conflicts result either from the necessity to advance personal or group interest or to dispel obstacle likely to impede the attainment of goals. Little wonder Otite (1999, p.1) argues that “conflicts arise from the pursuit of divergent interest, goals and aspirations by individuals, and/or groups in defined social physical environments.” Otite observes further that changes in the social environment such as contestable access to new political positions or perceptions of new resources arising from development in the physical environment are fertile grounds for conflicts involving individuals or groups. For instance, the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 by Lord Lugard without considering the North-South dichotomy together with the complexity, multiplicity and diversity of the country’s ethnicity, amplified political conflicts, economic exclusionism, injustice, and inequity in resource sharing.

Liberal structuralist, John Galtung, has propounded the theory of “negative peace” and “positive peace” to buttress how structural conflict can occur in our society when social, political, economic and cultural processes are monopolized by a group. Another version of the structuralists’ argument is the one advanced by radical Marxists epitomized by Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Joseph Lenin, and Mao Tse Tung. These radical structuralists view social conflicts from the standpoint of social relations of production and the attendant explanation and subjugation of the working class by the bourgeois minority. In the writing of the Marxists, there are two basic interrelated factors that lead to inter-social conflicts namely, alienation and class struggle, and since the evils of capitalism will not cease to entrench capitalist values, class conflicts became inevitable. Hear Marx and Engels (1977, p.28):

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and Slaves, Patrician and Plebian, Lord and Serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and the oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried an uninterrupted now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstruction of society, at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.


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Albeit the prevailing capitalist mode of production plays little or no role in the incidence of social conflicts in Nigeria and most of Africa today, the social structure of governance entrenched by colonialism has accentuated ethnicity and worsened national disintegration. It is certain that the central integration problem in the country is derived from the abject non-existence of national identity amongst Nigerians, which Roseberg (1971) sees as a sense of territorial nationality transcending parochial loyalties of race, ethnicity, region, language and religionSocial Responsibility Media Theory: This theory has roots in the findings of the Hutchins Commission, which was set up by the American government in 1942 in response to widespread criticism of the press (Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm, 1956). The Commission found that the press was abusing the freedom granted it by sensationalizing issues and over commercialization. The commission thereby coined the term “social responsibility” and named the key journalistic standards that the press should always seek to maintain. These standards constitute the principal tenants of the social responsibility media theory. They are articulated by McQuail (2005) as follows: 1. The media have obligations to society, and media ownership is a public trust. 2. News media should be truthful, accurate, fair, objective and relevant.3. The media should be free but self-regulated. 4. The media should follow agreed codes of ethics and professional conduct. 5. Under some circumstances, government may need to intervene to safeguard the public trust.

The import of the theory to this discourse is that the mass media have a duty, in their reportorial task, to maintain peace; they should not act to trigger conflicts that threaten peaceful co-existence. Where there is conflict, they should be a contributory factor to effective management of the conflict. Development media Theory: This theory essentially focuses on the use of media in the task of national development. According to Ogunsiji (1989), the theory is an effort to orient communication towards national economic, political and social goals in developing countries. The basic tenants of development media theory, as advanced by McQuail (1987), are that: media must accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy; media should give priority in their content to the national culture and language(s); and journalists and other media workers have responsibilities as well as freedom in their information gathering and dissemination tasks.

The role of the mass media in discouraging dysfunctional conflict and contributing to peace initiatives has a place in development media theory. Going by the principles of this theory, the mass media should act as a catalyst for development. The mass media should contribute to development initiatives. No development effort can be as true as that of enhancing peace, which the media (working along the principles of this theory) are expected to make.

Nigeria in the Realm of Social ConflictsAt the signing of the declaration of independence in 1776, a frontline American politician, Benjamin Franklin, enjoined Americans thus: “We must indeed all-hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately” (Fika, 1998, p.1). Americans listened, ditched their differences and united. Today, Americans are better for it. Also emerging from the ructions of fetid animosity occasioned by ideological logjam and political bickering of the last century, Russians and Germans have since coalesced.

No doubt, nothing underscores the urgency and necessity for cooperation and peaceful co-existence for a nation than such experiences. People are exhorted to hang together despite their diverse ethnological and political background, despite the devastation of war, the slave question, the biting discrimination of race, religion and culture, and despite the orgies of hunger and privation or else each one of them would hang from a different noose. Indeed, exhortations as these are important because development is virtually impossible without multiple layers of cooperative efforts by the populace in any society. Though even America of today is characterized by what Hunter (1991, p.46) describes as “war between the Christian fundamentalists, conservative Catholics and orthodox Jews and their liberal counterparts for the control of the secular culture,” and as a result, reaffirming the universalism of social conflicts, the basis and nature of such conflicts differ markedly from place to place. In Africa, for instance, similar conflicts have not only inflicted untold havoc on the state but were caused by trivial and parochial ethnocentric and primordial factors. Geertz (1962, p.222) clarifies thus:

The new states are normally susceptible to serious disaffection based on primordial attachments. These primordial ties to community, ethnicity, language, religion often come into conflict with the newer, more diffuse


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demands of a direct conflict between primordial and civil sentiments that give rise to the problem variously called tribalism, parochialism, communalism and so on.

With particular reference to Nigeria, Anifowose (1982, p.1) observes that “violence has been used by groups seeking power, by groups holding power, and by groups in the process of losing power.” According to him, violence has been pursued in the defense of order by the privileged, in the name of justice by the oppressed, and in fear of displacement by the threatened.

Conflicts have become a living reality in Nigeria. As Tagowa & Garba (2007, p.244) put it, “The Nigerian political landscape is replete with forms of conflicts of various dimensions.” One of such conflicts, which has become a constant feature in the history of the country is ethno-religious conflicts. They are conflicts that arise from irreconcilable disagreement among people of different religious faith and/or ethnic origin.

Nigeria has had enormous records of conflicts with serious socio-economic implications, especially since independence. Conflicts in the country prior to 1960 were merely political as the political parties that then existed (Action Group (AG), National Council for Nigeria Citizens (NCNC) and the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)) were ethnically based as a result of which pockets of skirmishes arose in reaction to socio-political issues.

Ironically, more ethnic and religious conflicts with enormous consequences have occurred in the country in the last twelve years in spite of the unprecedented growth of ecumenism and more importantly the entrenchment of democratic government on 29 May 1999. Between July 1999 and August 2003, Adebanwi (2003) compiled a total of 40 such conflicts making it an average of ten conflicts per year. The compilation is presented in Table 1 below:Table 1: Some reported ethno-religious conflicts between 1999 and 2003

S/N Date Site Belligerents Cause Casualty 1. July 3, 1999 Alaba

International Market Lagos

O.P.C. versus Alaba traders

That the Ibos had taken over the market

Unknown

2. July 18, 1999

Sagamu Ogun State

O.P.C. versus Hausa traders

Alleged defilement of the Oro (spirit) festival by an Hausa woman

More than 120 people

3 July 20, 1999

Aguleri/UmuleriAnambra State

Aguleri versus Umuleri

Long drawn communal dispute

Unknown

4. July 25, 1999

Kano Hausa Fulani versus Yoruba

Retaliatory attacks over the Sagamu clash

Unknown

5. Sept. 9, 1999 Apapa Lagos O.P.C. versus Ijaw/Egbasu boys

Some Egbesu boys were allegedly killed for armed robbery

28 people

6. Nov. 3, 1999 Festac town Amuwo-odofin,

O.P.C. versus Ijaw youths

Continuation of the OPC/Ijaw clash few days earlier

7 people

7. Oct. 2000 Aguleri/Umuleri Anambra State

Aguleri versus Umuleri

Long drawn land dispute Unknown

8. Nov. 2000 Nasarawa Tiv versus other ethnic groups

Inter-ethnic rivalry between Tiv (Settlers) and indigenes

Unknown

9. June 18, 2001

Tafawar Balewa and Bogoro, Bauchi State

Safawa versus Hausa-Fulani

Crisis over Chiefdom for the Safawa

Over 408 people

10. Sept. 7, 2000 Jos Native Birrom Christians versus Hausa Fulani Muslims

A woman who had disagreement with Muslims who were observing Friday prayers along Congo-Russia area Jos

Over 1000 people

11. Oct. 10 2001 Va’ase Zakibiam Benue/Taraba State

Tiv Militia men against soldiers

The Militia men mistook the soldiers for disguised Jukun militia men

19 soldiers

12. Oct. 2001 Kano Muslims versus Christians

Protest over US war against Talibans in Afghanistan

20 people

13. Oct. 15-16 2001

Ajegunle Agege, Obalende, Mile 3, Ojuelegba, Lagos Island

OPC versus Hausa, Hausa versus Igbo

OPC arrested, killed some alleged robbers who were Hausa youths. The Hausa attacked the Yorubas and the

Unknown


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Igbo in the ensuing crisis14. Oct. 2001 Ilorin OPC versus Hausa

FulaniOPC was supporting Yoruba in Ilorin, who want Yoruba Kingdom

Unknown

15. Feb. 2002 Taraba State Jukun/Fulani versus Tiv

Unknown Unknown

16. Nov. 2002 Kaduna Muslims versus Christians

This Day’s articles on Miss World Beauty Contest considered disparaging to Holy Prophet Muhammed

Over 200 people

17. August 2002 Wase Hausa Fulani versus Tarok people

Land and resources Unknown

18. Nov. 25, 1999

Ketu, Ojota, Mile 12 Market Lagos

OPC versus Shukura Yam Sellers (Hausa)

Disagreement over the collection of royalty in the market

14 people

19. Jan. 10, 2000

Bariga, Lagos OPC versus Hausa Unclear Unknown

20 Feb. 21, 2000

Kaduna Muslims versus Christians

The planned Sharia law in Kaduna State

Over 2000 people

21. Feb. 28, 2000

Oba, owerri Igbo versus Northerners

Reprisal attacks over the Kaduna riots

Unknown

22. Mar. 3-4 2000

Ile-Ife Ife versus Modakeke Signpost on a mosque describing its location as Modakeke and not Ile-Ife

Unknwon

23. June 5, 2000 Ibadan Yoruba versus Hausa Tanker drivers and others

A Kano bound trailer driven by a northerner hit a commuter’s bus killing all the commuters. The driver fled and hid among the Hausa who refused to give him up to the mob.

Unknown

24. June 5, 2000 Mushin, Lagos OPC factions OPC factions challenged another faction which had entered its territory

6 people

25. July 14. 2000

Alaba Market OPC and Igbo traders Control of the market 5 people

26. August 2000 Wase, Pische Mojontabo Zanban Dadinkowa and Wainem, Plateau Sate

Tarok and Langtang versus Hausa Fulani

Age old ethnic rivalry Unknown

27. Oct. 15. 2000

Ajegunle Lagos OPC versus Hausa Some Hausa were allegedly caught stealing


28. August 2002 Oyo-North Yoruba farmers versus Fulani Herdsmen

Herdsmen were accused of allowing their cattle to destroy farmlands

Unknown

29. Sept. 2002 Ife-Madakeke Ife versus Modakeke Old dispute on indigene versus settlers claim

Unknown

30. Sept. 2002 Nasarawa Loku, Ugede and Agatu

Access to lake used for fishing by Agatu people

Unknown

31. Numan Numan versus Demsa LGS

Long standing dispute over boundaries

Unknown

32. Sept. 2002 Adamawa Fulanin versus indigenes

Land Unknown

33. Oct. 2002 Idi Araba Lagos OPC versus Hausa Religious dispute Unknown 34. Jan. 31, Feb.

24, 2003Warri Itsekiri versus

Urhobo Rumours of impending demarcation on the local electoral wards

More than 20 people

35. Mar. 1 2003 Song, Adamawa State

Yungur versus Fulani herdsmen

Grazing land Over 100 people

36. May, 2003 Inyimagu Abakaliki Ebonyi State

Inyimagu versus Agabaja

Misunderstanding between two youths with one stabbing the other to death

Two

37. May, 2003 Uruan, Cross Iving Itiayong versus Land dispute dating back to Unknown


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River State Mbiakong villages 1910.38. May 8, 2003 Edda and Afikpo,

Ebonyi State Nguzu Edda versus Ekoli Edda communities

Land dispute Over 6 people

39. May 12-14 2003

Warri Itsekiri versus Urhobo

Ownership of Warri local council locations

More than 10 people

40. August 15-18, 2003

Warri Ijaw versus Itsekiri Offshoot of 1999 crisis over location of the headquarters of Warri South West local council


Source: Adebanwi (2003)

The last eight years have equally had their fair share of conflicts. From Kaduna to Kano, Shagamu, Lagos, Aba to Bauchi and Maiduguri as well as from Ibadan to Jos Plateau State and the Niger Delta region to mention this few, the knells of ethnicity and religious violence are far from sounding. With the emergence of such deadly Islamic sect as Boko haram, the security of the inhabitant of many northern cities hangs on the balance.

Mass Media: Functional Overview The idea of examining the functions of mass media in this discourse is to stress the perspective that the mass media have a role in peace-building. Lasswell (1944) laid the foundation for any discourse on the functions of mass media in society. In his analysis, Lasswell noticed that the mass performed three basic functions in society: surveillance of the environment, correlation of the parts of the society, and transmission of cultural heritage. Wright (1975) added a fourth function, which is entertainment. A fifth function was added, and is called mobilization.

McQuail (2005) explains the five functions as follows: surveillance is the news and information role of the mass media. It has to do with providing information about events and conditions in society and the world; indicating relations of power; facilitating innovation, adaptation and progress. Correlation refers to six things:1. Explaining, interpreting and commenting on the meaning of events and information2. Providing support for established authority and norms3. Socializing4. Co-ordinating separate activities5. Consensus building and 6. Setting orders of priority and signaling relative status. Transmission of cultural heritage, also called continuity, is about expressing the dominant culture and recognizing subcultures and new culture developments, as well as forging and maintaining commonality of values. The entertainment function means the provision of amusement, diversion and the means of relaxation. It also has to do with the reduction of social tension. Mobilization function refers to campaigning for societal objectives in the spheres of politics, war, economic development, work and sometimes religion.

In each of the five functions, there is an element of the use of mass media for integration, co-operation, control, order, stability, and management of tension. Theoretically, therefore, the mass media are a veritable agent of peace-building. In practice, however, it is not always so. Rather than functioning to bring about desirable consequences; the mass media sometimes have harmful or negative consequences. This is the dysfunctional role of the mass media (Dominick, 2009) and is irresponsibly needless for peace-building. Hence, the focus of this prescriptive discourse is the functional, and not the dysfunctional, role of the mass media for achieving peace in the pluralistic Nigeria society.

Mass Media Responsibility for Sustainable PeaceObviously, the consequences of the analysis of conflicts are quite enormous both in terms of men and materials. While we may not say that the problem of underdevelopment facing the country derives from the spate of ethno-religious and other conflicts that have occurred, their impacts both on national integration and efforts at developing the nation are well known. For instance, it is estimated that since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999, there has been over seventy ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria in which over 35,000 lives were lost and properties worth billions of naira destroyed (Tagowa & Garba,


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2007; Tempo, 2002; and The Week, 2004). Since, therefore, large proportion of her productive population together with infrastructural facilities were lost through the conflicts, the prospects of Nigeria’s development remain bleak. Okafor (1997, p.60) elucidates further:

Nigeria is the most populous nation in the African continent. Its population of about 100 million people is constituted by diverse ethnic nationalities.…Nigeria is often looked upon for leadership in Black Africa. Unfortunately, the political crisis, civil war and ethnic conflicts that characterize her history since it gained independence… have marred these potentials and in recent times brought her once flourishing economy to ruins.

Conflicts in Nigeria as we have shown is principally a function of attitudinal and behavioural orientation biased towards misguided ethnocentrism and primordial cravings. In corroboration of this stance, Akinteye, Wuye & Ashafa (1999, p.222) said of the Zango Kataf conflict of 1992 thus: “The crisis only served as an outlet to several idiosyncrasies that have long been buried in the minds of the communities against one another.” In view of this, therefore, we are of the firm belief that any potent panacea for sustainable peace building amongst the diverse nationalities in the country must be aimed at helping Nigerians imbibe the patriotic virtues of unity and brotherly relationship as well as help them jettison all vestiges of “we-before-others” syndrome among the linguistic, ethnic, religious and most importantly, the political class through aggressive media campaigns and advocacy programmes. In other words, mass communication is expected to be actively put to use in managing, controlling, and building mutual co-existence and trust in Nigeria.

It is therefore our candid belief that journalistic savvy founded on nationalistic feeling and buoyed by social responsibility rather than on inordinate pecuniary passion, rigid observance of professional codes or ethical judgment and the much taunted “public right to know” should constitute the yardstick or parameter for news judgment. This does not in any way suggest the demeaning or flagrant severance of code of ethics from practice; instead, we make case for a paradigm shift in the business of information gathering and management such that primacy should always be on the effect of what is published for public consumption. As Owens-Ibie (2000, p.10) aptly submits:

There is no doubt that news judgement is most often a victim of self-interest, whether of the reporter or the editor; whether of the proprietor or the advertiser. But in line with a standing commitment to the audience of any media output, loyalty should always rest with media audiences.

News should be sought, written and published that does not precipitate social implosion either within the government or between the people, groups or nations. Prominence should be on issues, events and subjects that reinforce the ties that bind us than fast track the attainment of the pecuniary intention and egoistic posturing of the reporter and his medium at the expense of the society. Journalism practice, by this token, should be driven by a genuine quest for human and societal growth and development.

Development journalism is for growth, for stability, for peace and for enhanced goal-attainment (McQuail, 2005). It should and must not be viewed as instrument for meeting the varied desires and tastes of the audience per se, but as a cementing factor, a binding force and a catalyst for promoting national consciousness and spirit of togetherness in the diverse nationalities and social groups in a society.

If, for instance, in an effort to inform the public, a report on a conflict elsewhere in the country touches off reprisal attacks with even more petulant and horrendous effects in other parts of the country (as we saw with the Prophet Mohammed cartoon saga and other conflicts in Nigeria), will the media in all fairness and truth claim to have kept faith with their central duty to the society which is to always sustain the environment of their operation? If again, beclouded by humanistic foray and journalistic frolics, information managers abdicate broad national goals for parochial and pecuniary gains in the performance of their information gate-keeping function, thereby paving the way for social upheavals through violence conflicts and crisis, where then lies the power, the virtue and the vivacity for which Thomas Jefferson and his compeers ranked the press above other social institutions and described the media as the engine of democratic system? (Obiorah, 2004). Therefore, from initiation, escalation, controlled maintenance, abatement and termination or resolution of conflicts (these, according to Sandole (1993) are the stages of conflicts), the media, through the instrumentality of development journalism, should be actively involved in the following ways:


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By directing the focus of government at all levels so as to meet the yearnings of the people and checkmate the rising rate of poverty, ignorance and unemployment, which are three key factors in the prevalence of violent conflicts in the country;

By always upholding principles, views, acts, programmes, and policies that promote the stability, unity, mutual existentiality of the disparate ethnic groups and the development of the nation.

By promoting ideas that would help in moulding the political culture of Nigerians; By providing correct and accurate information necessary for engendering patriotic feelings in

Nigeria; By directing attention away from negative political attitudes and dispositions; and By downplaying or rejecting outright, stories that have the propensity of generating conflicts, not

just controversies among the peoples of Nigeria.

Concluding RemarksThus far, we have demonstrated the universalism of conflicts in societies as well as shown that unlike in other places, the factors that generate rumpus and beset social relations resulting in orgy of bloodletting and destructions in Nigeria follow from such factors as religious intolerance deriving from bigotry and depraved self esteem of most Nigerians, skewed political predilections of the political class founded on primitive accumulation of wealth and more importantly, the triad of poverty, ignorance and unemployment together with what Albert (1999, p.299) aptly describes as “the phenomenon of street culture” in the case of Northern Nigeria. These factors are further reinforced by the perverse attitudinal frame and disarticulate streak of orientation of most Nigerians, as a result of which we made case for aggressive mass mobilization and attitude changing campaigns.

It would amount to sheer remiss if we sum up this discourse without alluding to the position canvassed by Leudike (1984, p.106). Of the mass media he said, “You are the mechanism of reward and punishment, the arbiter of right and wrong, the roving eye of fair judgement. You are capricious and unpredictable; you are fearsome and you are feared….” Speaking further, Leudike became vociferous in his perception of the strategic role of the media in opinion and attitude formation and declares:

There are no such things as public right to know. You made it up, taking care not to specify what it was that the public has a right to know. The public knows whatever you did have a right to know; it would then have something to say about what it is you chose to call news (p. 18).

Therefore, the media should, given the nature of the country, de-emphasize those issues that tend to divide the nation and overheat the polity. They should be always mindful of the implications of their reports as they discharge their professional and constitutional roles of mirroring the society and holding the government accountable to the governed since according to Berelson (1949), some kind of communication on some kind of people under some kind of condition have some kind of effect.

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EMERGING YOUTH LEADERSHIP IN PANCHAYAT OF GUJARAT, INDIA

MAKWANA, RAMESH H. (Ph.D)Associate Professor

P. G. Department of SociologySardar Patel University

Vallabh Vidyanagar, AnandGujarat, India

[email protected]

ABSTRACTPanchayati Raj System as an institution has a long history in India. The three tiers of the Panchayati Raj System like Gram Panchayat, Taluka Panchayat, and Zilla Panchayat. In all three tiers system Gram Panchayat is very unique in decentralization of power. Panchayats are work for prosperity, Social equity, Social justice and People’s Participation. Every Gram Panchayats has a Sarpanch, It is elected by the people directly and Sarpanch is a leader of Gram Panchayat. In traditional Indian society, the caste, aged, zamindars, elites, have landed property and maturity persons have plays a very important role in Panchayats leadership. But in contemporary time the young and energetic persons are becoming leader in the Gram Panchayats and the old have no other alternative but to obey their decision. The youth leader is a person of high economic status, education, good contacts with extension agencies, relation with most powerful person have plays a very important in Panchayati Raj leadership. Now traditional leadership is change and emerging youth leadership in panchayat at present time. In this context, An attempt is made in this write up to evaluate role of emerging youth leadership in Panchayat.To do the above positive objective a sample has been under taken from Anand, Kheda and Ahmedabad district of Gujarat state, India.

Keywords: Youth, Leadership, Panchayat, Rural Society, Democracy

INTRODUCTIONIndia is one of the largest democracy in the world. The experiment of Panchayati Raj has sought to provide firm and deep roots to democracy and broad base to democratic structure so as to make the common man a real partner in the conduct of his own civic and politics. The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have also been considered as important aspect of socio economic structures. The Panchayats three tier system has been developed and more powers have been given to Gram Panchayats. There are plans and proposals under active considerations of the government to transfer more resources and powers to have the Gram Panchayats. These play a big role in the task of democratic decentralization of power. Every Gram Panchayats has a Sarpanch, It is elected by the people directly and Sarpanch is a leader of Gram Panchayat. In traditional Indian society, the caste, aged, zamindars, elites, have landed property and maturity persons have plays a very important role in panchayat leadership. A leader usually belongs to high caste or class. It is very difficult for high caste person to accept a low caste person as his leader and to obey his commands. In fact it was more or less hereditary.

Since independence India characteristic of Panchayats leadership has very much changed. Because of the system of adult franchise, every adult has now got a right to participate in the panchayats elctions.The members are elected by the votes directly whereas Sarpanch is elected by the members themselves. In this way in any Panchayats any person can become a leader. They feel that, this has given great set back to hereditary character of leadership and now leadership does not pass on from father to the son but anyone can become a leader provided the possesses leadership qualities. In the electoral process the low caste people are as much participant as the high caste people. In fact seats are reserved for them in all the elected bodies. The former can now get elected as well as become Sarpanch. Thus now this concept has changed. The young and energetic persons are becoming leader in the Gram Panchayats and the old have no other alternative but to obey their decision. And also the 73rd amendment, which came into force on 24, April, 1993, provided SCs (scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other backward caste) women reservations of 33% seats of Panchayats. It can play a major role in change the pattern of leadership in Panchayat in India. An attempt is made in this paper to examine the emerging youth leadership pattern in panchayat of Gujarat, India.


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CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIPAccording to John C Maxwell, In the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell sums up his definition of leadership as "leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less." This moves beyond the position defining the leader, to looking at the ability of the leader to influence others - both those who would consider themselves followers, and those outside that circle. Indirectly, it also builds in leadership character, since without maintaining integrity and trustworthiness, the capability to influence will disappear.

Leadership is the kind of responsibility, which aims at achieving particular ends, by utilizing available resources (human and material), to make organization cohesive and coherent. Researchers have proposed different styles of leadership; but there is no particular style of leadership which can be said universal. As “Leadership is one of the most observed, yet least understood phenomena on earth” (Burns, 1978)

Leaders are not born, but made. In order to become a good leader, one must have the experience, knowledge, will-power, patience, and most importantly the skill to convince others… as Kenneth Boulding in The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society, says “the meaning of a message is the change which it produces in the image.

According to M.K.Gandhi (Gandhian philosophy of leadership) was one of the greatest Indian who ever lived. People understood him partly, misunderstood him vastly, yet took him to be the only leader who could influence all his countrymen. His philosophy is today known as Gandhian Philosophy. For Gandhiji morality or ethics was the very foundation of life. The moral conscience, according to him, should be man’s inner guide to his actions. A leader is required to be proficient in spiritual and emotional intelligence. Spiritual intelligence is necessary to understand and control ones emotions and feelings, while being sensitive to the feeling of others. Self-awareness is the core competence of spiritual intelligence. Unfortunately it is never formally taught so we tend to learn it by accidents. One of the foundations for healthy relationships is empathy. Leaders need to understand others at a deeper level. Gandhiji reminded management that they were responsible not only for the material well being of the workmen, but also for their moral and spiritual upliftment just like their own children. Gandhiji has immense faith in the goodness of man and he believed that many of the evils of the modern world have been brought about by wrong systems and not by wrong individuals.

LEADERSHIP QUALITIESThe main characteristics of leadership qualities are1. Good communication skill2. Honesty3. Visionary outlook4. Selecting a good team 5. Acting speaks louder than words6. Ability to motivate people around7. Consistency8. Ability to stand against critics’

THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS IN INDIAThe role of Panchayati Raj institutions in various fields in rural development can be described as follows:

(A) The Importance of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Social Life 1. Social reforms2. Panchayat are playing an important role in spreading education which has resulted in Literacy.3. Panchayats are running a number of programmers for child welfare, providing mid-day meals in

schools, sports, libraries etc;4. To tackle the problem of bonded labour, Panchayats are playing an important role5. For the welfare of women, Panchayats are doing a lot of work.6. Implementation of prohibition of liquor and other intoxicants 7. Settling of controversies and disputes.(B) Public Welfare1. Improvement in public health;


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2. Cleanliness related jobs;3. Transport facilities; 4. Entertainment facilities;5. Help during natural calamities;6. Providing fresh water, construction of wells etc;(c) Importance of Panchayats in Economic Life To improve the economic conditions and progress; Panchayats are contributing in many ways:1. Improvement in agriculture;2. Arrangement for irrigation;3. Developing feeling of peace and security;4. Helping administration; 5. Providing justice;6. Explaining importance of vote and right to vote;7. Educating people about the meaning of citizenship;8. Training them to solve their problems themselves;9. Creating awareness among villagers about democracy;10. To see that Leadership has representation of all sections of the society;11. Population census.

OBJECTIVES The major objective of this study is to analyze and understand the emerging youth leadership in Panchayat. Examine Socio-Economic conditions and role of the youth leaders in Gram Panchayat, and also assess perceptions of youth leaders towards panchayat and its different dimension.

METHODOLOGYIn Gujarat state, three districts selected namely Anand, Kheda and Ahmedabad districts. In order to understand Youth Leadership, in each district 50 youth leaders and total 150 respondents were selected under purposive sample method. Primary Data were collected with the help of well-framed interview schedule, for secondary data published books, journals and reports have been reviewed. The collected data was edited, categorized, analyzed and tabulated and findings of the study were derived. These findings are presented in this article.

A BRIEF PROFILE OF RESEARCH AREAGujarat on the west coast of India between 20.6 N to 24.42' N north latitude and 68.10' E to 74.28' E east longitude, Gujarat state came into existence as a separate State on 1st May 1960. It is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the West, by the States of Rajasthan in the North and North-East, by Madhya Pradesh in the East and by Maharashtra in the South and South East. The geographical area of the state is 196024 sq. km.The state has an international boundary and has a common border with the Pakistan at the north-western fringe. The two deserts, one north of Kachchh and the other between Kachchh and the mainland Gujarat are saline wastes. The State has a long coast line of about 1600 km, and is the longest among all states of country. For the purpose of administration, Gujarat State at present comprises 25 districts, sub-divided into 226 Talukas, having 18,618 villages and 242 towns. According to 2011 census the that total population of the Gujarat was 6,o3,83,628 consisting of 3,14,82,282 males and 2,89,01,346 females, where as urban population is 1,89,30,250 and3,17,40,767 rural. The total literates of this State were 79.31% consisting of 87.23 % males and 70.73 % females. Child sex ratio is 918 girls per 1,000 boys. The population density per square kilometer in 308.

Ahmedabad is Gujarat's largest city and the headquarters of Ahmedabad district. It is located on the banks of the River Sabarmati at an elevation of 55 meters (180 ft.) The district extends to an aria of 1300.According to 2005 census the total population was 5,171,000 while density 3,978 km.The SCs and STs population of district was 6,20,765and 58,035 respectively, among them 20% population from rural area. The total literates of this distract were 79%.Chiled sex ratio is 903 girls per 1,000 boys. For the purpose of administratition,The Ahmedabad is Municipal corporation in the State, Ahmedabad district divided into 11Talukas,and having 516 Gram Panchayats and 7 Nagar Palika.

Anand District came into existence after division of Kheda District on 2/10/1997. The District comprises of 8 Talukas, 11 municipalities and 352 village Panchayats. The District is situated between 22° 6' to 22°


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43' north latitude and 72° 2' to 73° 12' east longitude. Anand District is surrounded by Vadodara District in the east, Nadiad in the east and Ahmedabad District in the west. The Geographical area of District is 2941 sq.k.m. And total Population is approximately 18; 56,782.District Literacy rate is 74.5%. Sex ratio in district is 910 females per 1000 Males. Population density is 558 persons per sq. km.6 major industrial estates and 1 Industrial park. Anand is known as the Milk Capital of India. AMUL is the largest food brand in India and world’s largest pouched milk brand.

Kheda is one of District among 25 Districts of Gujarat State. Kheda is Kheda Capital. Total 10 Taluka, 559 Villages are in this District .The latitude and longitude of the district are 22 30’ to 23 17’ and 72 30’ to 73 34’ respectively. The total area of Kheda district is 3959 sq.km. The district is bounded on the north by Sabarkantha district, According to Census 2001; Kheda district has a total population of20.24 lakhs. The total number of households being 395493, the average family size works out to 5.12.Sex wise data shows that the proportion of males in the total population is 52.1per cent while that of females is 47.9per cent. The resultant sex ratio works out to 923 females per 1000 males.Kheda district is also known by the name golden leaf since it is the major producer of tobacco in the State. Additionally the district has a strong base of cotton cultivation specifically in Nadiad taluka.Nadiad taluka is the industrial center in the district, with major concentration of industries in sectors like Textiles, Paper, Electrical equipments and Food processing. The district has 612 inhabited villages. There are 84 big- sized villages with population exceeding 5000. In the district, 79.9 per cent of the people live in rural areas and 20.1 per cent in urban areas.

LITERATURE BACKGROUNDMany sociological attempts have been made to probe into this phenomenon. Very limited studies have been concluded in the field of youth leadership in Panchayat. Although the concept is a part and parcel of leadership, very few studies have been carry out on this topic. Oscar Louis (1958), he noted that the wealth is most important for leadership. Yogendra Singh (1958), Hitchcotch (1960), Wacon Hemor (1960), M. N. Shrinivas (1967), Sushila Mehta(1971),Desai A.R(1958), Majmudar D.M(1955), Leela Dube (1967)RamAahuja(1975)They observed that in traditional Indian society, the caste, aged, zamindars, elites, have landed property and maturity persons have plays a very important role in Panchayats leadership.

S. N. Bhilan (1955), Baijnath Sinh(1959), B.S. Bhargav(1979), A.R. Darshankar(1979) D.H. Chaudhary have carried out studies on some aspects of Leadership in Panchayat. They discussed various issues like leadership and class, leadership and age, education, New values and culture in youth leadership, Leader and political relationship, role of caste in leadership, etc.Pradiptoroy and B.Ganguli observed the picture that emerge of the leader is a person of high economic status, some education, good contacts with extension agencies, a large family and a somewhat rational orientation of life. The studies conducted by the planning commissioner recently, further revile that most of the sarpanches in the villages surveyed by the commission were recruited from upper caste. These studies too have been conducted from the different dimension and various aspect related to emerging leadership in panchayat , but no study of emerging youth leadership in panchayat has so far been made from the role of youth leader in Panchayat of Gujarat state, India.

PROFILE OF RESPONDENTSAs many as 46% of them belonged to the age group 25-30 while 54% of the belong to the age group 30-35.All of them were married and 55% had college education However, 65% were service/business; 25% mentioned social work as their profession/occupation. 78% had own house and possessed two/four wheeler, television, phone and refrigerator.

Most of the members (87.5%) were elected to the Gram Panchayat for the first time. 12.5% were also members of the previous election. 25% were also chairpersons of various standing committees. 37.5% belonged to the janata Dal, 25% were from the Congress, BJP and lokshakti were also represented. One candidate contested and won as an independent. Majority of them had entered politics for the first time and their political experience ranged from 1 to 5 year (68.8%). 25% had experience of 6 to 15 year.

Social awareness motivated 30% of the leaders and having family members in politics motivated 31.3% respondents. Poverty need to provide basic amenities and for a good cause was also mentioned as the motivating factors. It is to be noted that most of them (81.3%) had family members presently involved in


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politics and 87.5% had a political family background. The support of the family, friends and people in the locality led to their victory. The local MLA/MP and the political party also played an important role.

AWARENESS OF YOUTH LEADERSHIPElected Leaders should not be ignorant as they have the major responsibility of devising local solutions to the day-to-day problems. It was seen that the Leaders were aware of the functions of the Panchayat. Most of the Leaders (93.8%) were aware of the previous members of their locality also, though they were not clear about the names of the previous Sarpanchs.

According to the majority of the Leaders, the major activity of the Panchayat is to provide drinking water, construct and maintain roads, provide streetlights, drainage and sanitation. 56.3% said that they have not read the Gram Panchayat Act though they could not understand thoroughly. All of them were partially or fully aware of the sources of income of the Gram Panchayat .The respondents expressed that the financial grants of the government were the major source of income of the Gram Panchayat. Most of them (62.5%) were of the State Finance Commission. 74.5% of the respondents said that they had not attended any training programme. They expressed the need for periodic orientation programme.

OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONSThe analysis throws some light on the type of leadership that has emergent at the local level. It is evident that the leadership in this Panchayat is relatively young. They came from well-to-do families and had enough free time to do their duties as leader.

The level of education seemed to be good as all of them were educated and some had postgraduate degree. Though on direct correlation can be established between a particular level of education and dynamic efficiency it can be said generally the more education have better grasp of problems and issues.

The members lacked thorough knowledge of the Panchayat Act. The common remarks by the respondents show lack of understanding of the technicalities of the system. They expressed their desire to learn more and the need for political education.

While we could observe progressive trend in the representation of women in the local body, considerable stress has not been laid on the quality of the leadership and participation. The study found that the present system largely new entrants and many of the leaders are the first in their families to enter politics. They are confronted in carrying out their tasks with all facets of communal services, amenities and administration, which are complex.

The role of mass media in building awareness cannot be ignored. Equipping youth with the knowledge and skills to facilitate participation in the development process should be among the major concerns of mass media. Today the country is well knit through satellites, televisions and radios. The media, therefore, has a great potential for being used in education. Newspaper, radio and television should cover city politics in more details there should be a concerted effort through all mass media about the importance of a greater role of youth in local politics.

An important issue plaguing the country is widespread corruption. It is in politics and administration that corruption is most prevalent. The nexus between politics and corruption is the strongest and is not new. Youth are not exception to this. They too are deeply affected by it, be it opposing corruption or accepting corruption. Being relatively new entrants to the political field, they find it difficult to face or to challenge it. Nevertheless, youth could play a major role in bringing it under control if not eradicating it. A strong political will and sensitivity to the people’s needs and accountability are important elements. Reforming of the electoral system should be there so that, money and age is contained. The local leaders who form a crucial part of the government and manage the institution should be powerful in the light of the new developments. The need for training and orientation, therefore, cannot be undermined as an important part of human capital formation. Increasing emphasis has to be laid on the role of human capital in development.


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Most rural leaders are adults over thirty years of age and all are males. All of them own agricultural property. Most of them are literate and some of them are even formally educated up to primary classes but none has passed higher secondary stage. Most of them are not active members of any political party.

The villages being primary groups, the leadership activities are carried on more informally and on a personal relationship basis then formally and impersonally. Following the same pattern, benefits and advantage accruing from leadership positions or achievements are shared amongst the members of the personal-circle or clique of the leader.

The leader uses the Panchayat property and land as his own or distributes it temporarily or permanently to his friends or family members. In respect of certain types of decisions made by him, he is guided by affectivity, self-orientation, particulars, ascription and specificity.

An important finding is those young panchayats leaders have been done various activity of social development in the villages. Among them some of done social activities like 100% enrolment of eligible children, reduce of dropouts, ensuring protected drinking water supply to school, providing toilets to school, keeping the Bal-Wadi clean and neat, bringing a toilet culture among the kids, adding vegetables to the noon meal by getting donations and getting the vegetables from the school garden, creating awareness among the people about family welfare, building the skill of the women through training, building the skills of the youth through training, ensuring proper functioning of PDS, creating awareness about health, creating awareness about Panchayats functions, creating awareness among the importance of water management, records maintenance/transparency etc. For these work the Panchayats leader a strong support structure was created through the NGO and people participation. People have realized that for many of the social development activities, money is not required but a new mindset is required on the part of people. A major breakthrough has been achieved in the domain of development activities by looking at the outcome instead of the output.

Level of Policy Activities of youth Leadership in Panchayats Capacity BuildingCapacity is the ability of individuals, organizations and societies to perform functions, solve problems, and set and achieve goal. The youth are most effective in this perspective because they may be well educated active and good oriented.

An Availability and use of financial resourcesThe youth are able to deal with the government machinery. They can get financial resources as possible and used in the development work at maximum possible and used in the development work at maximum furthermore they are aware of the current situation.

Developing human resourceAdopting youth leadership practices that significantly and positively help develop people include offering intellectual stimulations providing individualized support and providing an appropriate model. Developing data infrastructures enables leaders at all levels to inquire about organizational performance and for considering.

Effective Communication between youth are officials helps understand the direction the developments are taking places, existing gaps and finding ways to fill the gaps.(Ritika & Raju,2009,p.1-6)

Empower others to make significant decisionsThis is key set of leadership practices, particularly when accountability mechanisms include Gram Sabha.

Concluding RemarksA person who merely followed but not respected cannot be called a good leader and his leadership may not last long, because as soon as fear is removed his followers will leave him. All the leaders have not equal power of understanding and their capacity to understand the issues always differs. In fact that makes a lot of difference in leadership matters. A good leader everywhere, is one who is respected as well as followed and feared. Though such a combination rarely is available but when that becomes available the leader


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becomes a great success. The one who can arrange to have good following in any walk of life is considered to be a powerful leader in that walk of life.

In spite of all good intentions and desires that the leader should be the one who has qualities to lead and that merit alone should be the criteria for picking up a leader, yet in actual practice so far caste plays a very important role in leadership. One view is that since independence leadership pattern in the Panchayat has very much changed. According to this view because of the system of adult franchise, every adult has now got a right to participate in the panchayat election. In this way any person can become a leader. Thus now the whole caste pattern leadership is changing.

In the village vast majority is still illiterate or the people only have elementary education. They usually have no capacity to understand village problems and are also not aware of the latest politics and programmes of village uplift by the government. They also have no resources for getting the village problems highlighted and tackled, so village people elected young leader who was able to understand all this thing. In this study majority young and educated leaders were argue with government officials, can follow government orders and also solve village disputes in much better way than an illiterate leader.

In the past it was believed that the old is mature and thus he has the sole prerogative to become a leader. But now this concept has changed. The young and energetic persons are becoming leaders in Panchayats and the old have no other alternative but to obey their decisions. Another fact observed in this study that, a low caste person or the one though from the high caste but poor could not become leader. But now that domination they argue has ended, the people who possess certain good qualities are voted as leader, as compared with the only rich and high caste persons. According to Prof.Yogendra Singh “Therefore, this class continues to succeed in creating a nucleus of supporters in the election of Panchayats. The chain of cumulative causation is complete when the economic deprivation of certain caste or class leads to perpetuate and enhance its social, cultural and political of power deprivation”.

All the respondents who have elected as a leader they were coming from good family background, because person with good family background will have better links with the high-ups and thus be in a better position to serve the people and help the village in coming out of difficulties. Not only family and economic background of the person counts, but his personal character very much counts insofar as leadership is concerned. According to this one who is simple minded, God fearing, possesses good character though he may not be rich, but he has the capacity to solve the problems quickly, so he has elected as a leader in panchayat. As the time is passing with that the personal qualities of the person too are being weighed. Political leaders now –a-days trying their best to have their hold in the villages. The one who has contacts with political leader and gets the work done through them is very much accepted as leader, than the others.

Thus, the picture that emerges of the youth leader is a person of high economic status, some education, good contacts with extension agencies, a large family and a somewhat rational orientation of life. The youth leadership exhibits a mixed character, modern and traditional. The leaders are elected on party tickets by sired ballot and defined procedures. The new leader have more educated and baize social values, and also political and social leader in rural India. The studies also show how this new leadership is slowly developing its grip over administrative authorities like Block Development Officer and other officials. Thus, the new young and energetic leader is emerging as a most powerful and potent force in rural India, in recent years. The positive significance of the Panchayati Raj as per the strategy of the ruling class in India lie in accelerating this process in rural India.


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REFERENCESA.Beteille (1969) Caste, Class and Power, University of California Press, Berkeley.A.R.Desai (1961) Rural Sociology in India, ISAE, Bombay.B.S.Bhargava (1979) Panchayati Raj System and Political Parties, Hashish Publication, New Delhi.T.B., Bottmore (1962) Sociology George Allen and Unwin, London.p.183.Y.Singh (1973) Modernization of Indian Tradition, Thomson Press, India. p.184H.Orenstein, Gaon (1965) Conflict and Cohesion in an Indian Village, Princeton University Press, New

Jersey.p.426M.N.Srinivas (1972) Social Change in Modern India, Oriont Longman, New Delhi.R.P.Joshi and Narvani, G.H. (2002) Panchayati Raj in India: Emerging Trends across States, Rawat

Publication, Jaipur.S.C.Dube (1953) India’s Changing Villages, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, London.G. Palanithurai (2005) Leadership Matters in Government at Grassroots, Pathfinders, Rajiv Gandhi chair

for Panchayati Raj Studies, Vol.1, Gandhigram.


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FINANCIAL REFORMS AND FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: DOES THE MCKINNON – SHAW HYPOTHESIS HOLD

YAQUB JAMEELAH O. (Ph.D)Department of Economics,

Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.


&

OMOBITAN OLUFUNSHO A. (Ph.D)Department of Economics,

Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.

+2348033041027

AbstractThe financial system in an economy is known to serve as the lubricant which facilitates the smooth running of the economy. There has been debate in the literature on whether or not the system should be deregulated and if it is to be deregulated; to what extent should it be. From the analysis carried out, it was observed that the financial sector development indicators deteriorated under deregulation since all indicators nosedived during this period. The findings suggest that the McKinnon - Shaw Hypothesis, which proposes that financial sector deregulation would promote the growth of the sector, fails to hold in Nigeria during the period of analysis. It is therefore suggested that the supervisory authorities and legal framework in the nation should be strengthened to enhance people’s confidence in the financial system thus facilitating the growth of the sector.

Keywords: Financial reforms, Financial sector, Regulation, Deregulation and Nigeria

IntroductionThe financial system has been described as the gamut of financial institutions, financial instruments and financial markets. It performs the important role of financial intermediation as well as capital formation in the economy and performs the role of managing the payment system and facilitating the effectiveness of monetary policy in an economy. There is the debate in the literature on whether the financial system should be regulated or deregulated in order to achieve financial sector development and hence economic growth. Some economists (McKinnon, 1973, and Shaw 1973) have argued that financial system liberalization is the only means of developing the financial sector and ensuring the attainment of economic growth and development while others (Williamson and Mahar, 1998) are of the opinion that financial liberalization would lead to financial instability and crises, hence the need for financial sector regulation. The argument however weigh much in favour of the former hence many developing countries have engaged in financial system liberalization of varying degrees especially following the recommendation of the IMF and the World Bank in the 1980s. In line with the reasoning above, the Nigerian financial sector has also undergone liberalization with the aim that this would promote the growth of the sector and facilitate economic growth and development. However, economic growth in Nigeria has been epileptic and oil has been the main driver of the economy.

The pertinent questions that comes to mind is whether the various reforms programmes that have occurred in the Nigerian financial sector has led to the growth of the sector or not. In other words, does financial sector development follow the McKinnon – Shaw hypothesis or the structural hypothesis? The main


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objective of this paper is thus to investigate the impact of financial sector deregulation on financial sector development.

Some previous works have examined the growth of the financial sector in Nigeria, although tangentially (Nzotta and Okereke, 2009, and Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992 among others). However, these works have focussed only on one measure or indicator of financial sector development, which bothers on financial deepening. This measure is however inadequate since it covers the overall size of the financial sector only. Other measures which cover the relative importance of players in the sector and the efficiency in the allocation of society’s resources were not stressed by these works. This paper therefore fills this gap by evaluating the effect of financial sector deregulation on these other measures of financial sector development. To address this issue we examine the various indicators of financial system development in the economy under regulation and deregulation and compare the performances of these indicators under the era regulation and deregulation. The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section two, which follows this introduction presents the background to the study while section three presents the literature review Section four contains the data description and methodology while section five presents and interpret the result. The last section contains the findings and conclusion.

BackgroundIn Nigeria the financial system comprises of bank and non-bank financial institutions which are supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Insurance Commission, among others. The Nigerian financial system has undergone various reforms in order to enhance its efficiency and promotes it growth. The period 1959 – 1986 was regarded as the era of banking regulation in Nigeria. This era began with the enactment of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 1959 which gave legal backing to the establishment of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). According to Soyibo and Adekanye (1992), the Act also gave substantial incentive to the development of the money and capital markets in Nigeria. This Act regulates the establishment of new banks as it regulated the operation of existing ones. Foreign banks operating in Nigeria during this time were also obliged to be incorporated in the country. This regulation lasted till 1986, since then the sector has witnessed different types of reform policy. The period between 1986 and 1995 was regarded as expansionary banking era because during this time, the number of new entrants into the banking industry increased significantly such that by 1993 the number of banking firms rose by 200% from its 1985 figure. The abysmal performance of the economy between 1980 and 1986 indicates that the economy did not do well under regulation hence the justification for deregulation.

Period of Financial System DeregulationA key component of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) is to liberalize the financial system so as to make the system operate on the basis of the market system and also to encourage competition in the system so as to attract foreign investors as well as local investors. It is believed that if the financial sector is liberalised it will be able to mobilise the necessary funds for development and also that liberalization will allow funds to be channelled into the most efficient use in line with the McKinnon and Shaw argument. Financial liberalization is recommended as a policy to overcome the problems of financial repression hence with the adoption of the structural adjustment programme, the adopted the policy of financial deregulation culminated into the policy of deregulation of interest rates in 1987, wherein the CBN ceased to prescribe interest rate chargeable on loans and advances or payable on deposits.

Deregulation also led to the privatization of most of the federal government banks. The period of deregulation saw the establishment of many banks and other financial institutions as the policy made it lucrative to own and run a financial institution. Between 1986 and 1989, a total of 38 new banks opened their doors while 25 others were granted licences to start operation (Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992b). Between 1987 and 1991 the licensing procedures for banks were relaxed, allowing politically connected people to obtain licenses and operate banks despite having no obvious qualifications or relevant experience. During this time 84 new banks were established. The increased number of banks overwhelmed the examining capacity of the CBN/NDIC hence many banks failed to comply with prudential guidelines. During this time the number of commercial banks and other financial institutions such as finance houses, loans and savings association as well as community banks rose phenomenally. As at 1990 the number of banks in Nigeria was well over 100 with still over 20 licensed to begin operation at that time. The period of deregulation came with other strategic changes in the banking sector. Among such is the creation of the


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Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) by Decree No. 22 of 15th June, 1988. The NDIC was charged with responsibility of insuring bank deposits, ensuring safe banking practices through effective supervision, and assisting the CBN to formulate banking policies with a view to ensuring the stability of the financial system (NDIC, 1989).

To strengthen the operations of banks the minimum paid up capital for banks were increased from September 1989 from ₦10 million to ₦20 million for commercial banks and from ₦6 million to ₦12 million. In 1990, the CBN introduced new capital adequacy requirement under which the bank’s minimum required capital and reserves are based on risk weighted assets, as in the Basle accords, in addition to the previous requirement, under which banks’ minimum adjusted capital were computed as a percentage of loans and advances. In 1991, the minimum paid up capital of commercial banks was raised from ₦20 million to ₦50 million while that of merchant banks was raised to ₦40 million. This was later raised to ₦5 billion for commercial banks. To enable Nigerian banks to compete effectively in international businesses, the capital base of banks was raised to ₦25 billion by the CBN in 2004. With this upward review of capital base, some banks have to merge while some were bought over in order to meet the requirement. However the banks which could neither merge nor bought over, but were unable to meet the new capital requirement were liquidated. The regulation on capital requirement greatly reduced the number of banks in Nigeria presently to less than forty.

The financial sector witnessed another reform with the ascendancy to office of the new CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who organised rescue programme for some banks who were about to collapse following allegation of corporate mis-governance and probably as a result of the global economic meltdown. Between 1980 and 1986 when SAP was introduced, the average deposit rate was 7.9% but this increased to 13.47% on the average between 1987 and 2003. Similarly inflation rate, which was 16.0% on the average between 1980 and 1986 rose to 26.3% on the average between 1987 and 2003. Banking system credit to the private sector, which was ₦13,315.30 on the average between 1980 and 1986 rose to ₦340,357.23 between 1987 and 2003 while the credit to the public sector increased from ₦13,315.53 to ₦141,972.84 within the same period. However, when this is deflated by the size of the economy, another picture is displayed.

Literature ReviewThe financial system in any economy serves as financial intermediary between those with surplus fund and those with deficit in order to facilitate production, trade and capital formation, it serves as the “lubricant of the economy”. The fund in the financial system is expected to be managed in accordance with specified statutory requirements laid down by government or regulatory authorities. The argument for regulation rests on the need for soundness of the financial system and sustenance of confidence of the public in the financial system (Soyibo and Adekanye 1992a). Moreover, it is argued that the financial system is characterised by information asymmetry hence there is need for government regulation to prevent financial system instability (Knutsen, 2001). Information asymmetry in the financial system and the ensuing credit market failure can create inefficiency at both micro and the macro level, via underinvestment (Mankiw 1986 and Hubbard, 1995), and overinvestment (Bernanke and Gertler, 1989).

Soyibo and Adekanye (1992a) argue that imperfections and externalities existing in the financial markets of developing countries are much more pronounced than those of the developed economies thus justifying regulation in the developing countries. Apart from the issue of asymmetry of information, other arguments put forward for the need for regulation of the financial system in developing countries include the need to redirect credit into sectors or sub-sectors deemed to have high social rates of return and low private/market rate of return; and the need to increase the flow of income towards identifiable “disadvantaged” groups in the population (Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992a). However what is observed in many developing countries is that the purpose of regulation is defeated as the performance of the economies have not justified these reasons. Rather the governments of many of these nations have used financial system regulations to keep interest rate at low level (sometimes negative real interest rate) to minimise the cost of government debt thus sustaining their unsustainably high budget deficits. What is experienced in these countries are distortions like suppression of the equity market and inducement of present consumption at the expense of savings. The regulation of the financial system according to McKinnon and Shaw results in financial repression which is characterised, in Nigeria by the policies of


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directed credit and interest rate ceiling. This is believed to cause some imperfections in the operations of the financial market.

According to McKinnon (1988) financial repression in the form of usury restrictions on interest rates, heavy reserve requirements on bank deposits, and compulsory credit allocations, interact with ongoing price inflation to reduce the attractiveness of holding claims on the domestic banking system. It was postulated by McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973) that the fragmentation of the capital market resulting from financial repression also has adverse consequences for the quality and quantity of capital formation.

Financial sector development in many empirical works is measured using the ratio of money/liquid liabilities to GDP or deposit to GDP. A higher ratio is usually associated with greater financial liquidity and depth. This may however be misleading because the ratio may decline rather than rise as financial system develops because people have more alternatives to invest in longer-term or less-liquid financial instruments. Moreover this measure only focuses on the size of the financial sector without consideration for the efficiency of the sector in allocating the society’s resources or the issue of accessibility. Hence in this study, we shall use four measures of financial sector development. The first of these measures is the ratio of broad money to GDP (M2Y). M2Y is designed to capture the financial depth or the real size of the financial sector in a growing economy and it is expected to be rising over time if the financial sector develops faster than the real sector economy.

The second measure is the ratio of domestic credit to GDP. This represents the domestic assets of the financial sector. It is expected to increase in response to improved price signalling. The third measure, which is the ratio of private credit to GDP, isolates the credits issued to the private sector as opposed to credits to the government and excludes credit by the central bank. This measure was proposed by Beck et al (1999). Although this measure is the most preferable measure of financial development in the literature, it does not directly measure the amelioration of financial and transaction costs. Higher level of this variable can be interpreted as depicting higher levels of financial services and therefore greater financial intermediary development. The last measure, which is the ratio of private credit to domestic credit, is meant to capture the aspect of domestic asset distribution of an economy. A rise in this ratio is expected to be an indication of improvement in financial development. The four measures used above were also used by Quartey and Prah (2010) with respect to Ghana.

Data Sources and Methodology The description of data used and their sources are presented in Table 1 below. The variables are expressed and percentages and it spans the period 1980 to 2007.

Table 1: List of variables, their definition and SourcesVariable Definition SourceM2Y Broad Money (M2) to GDP ratio Statistical Bulletin, 2003 and 2007DCY Domestic Credit to GDP ratio Statistical Bulletin, 2003 and 2007PCY Private Credit to GDP ratio Statistical Bulletin, 2003 and 2007PCDC Private Credit to Domestic Credit

RatioStatistical Bulletin, 2003 and 2007

Method of AnalysisIn this paper the descriptive approach is used. Data are presented in tables and graphs for easy understanding. Simple averages of financial sector development indicators are presented to make comparison between regulation and deregulation eras.

Presentation and Analysis of Results

Trend in the ratio of Private Credit to GDP (PCY)An examination of the trend in the ratio of private credit to GDP in Nigeria during the period of analysis reveals that this ratio which was 14.3% in 1980 increased to 21.9% in 1982 but declined to 18.9% in 1985 before rising to 23.8% in 1986. With the introduction of SAP and deregulation of the financial sector, the ratio declined marginally to 23.4% in 1987 and continued to decline afterwards. On the average, this ratio


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was 19.98% between 1980 and 1986 but fell to 15.5% on the average between 1987 and 1993. It fell further on the average to 15.1% between 1994 and 2007 (see Table 2). Table 2: Averages of Financial Sector Development IndicatorsVariable 1980 - 1986 1987 - 1993 1994 – 2007M2Y 31.69 22.83 20.13DCY 41.36 29.82 22.99PCY 19.98 15.47 15.14PCDC 50.34 52.48 68.24

The trend in this indicator does not show that the deregulation enhances financial sector development since this ratio was lower under deregulation compared to the era of regulation.

Figure 1: Trend in Ratio of Private Credit to GDP in Nigeria (1980 – 2007)

Trend in the ratio of broad Money to GDP (M2Y) When the ratio of broad money to GDP (M2Y) is considered, one would observe that this ratio, which was 28.6% in 1980 rose to 32.3% in 1986 but the ratio declined afterwards. On the average, M2Y was 31.7% between 1980 and 1987 but declined to 22.8% on the average between 1987 and 1993. M2Y declined further between 1994 and 2007, it became 20.1% on the average during this period. M2Y is graphed in Figure 2 below. Using this indicator; the level of financial sector development has not followed a consistent trend.

Figure 2: Trend in Ratio of Broad Money to GDP in Nigeria (1980 – 2007)

A higher level of M2Y to GDP is generally associated with greater financial liquidity and depth. The trend in this ratio does not indicate that deregulation favours financial sector development in Nigeria. It is

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however important to note that this ratio may decline rather than rise as a financial system develops because people have more alternatives to invest in longer-term or less-liquid financial instruments however gyration of this ratio does not indicate a definite direction which makes it difficult to use as a measure of financial development.

Trend in Domestic Credit to GDP (DCY)The ratio of domestic credit to GDP showed similar trend as M2Y. DCY initially rose between 1980 and 1983 but declined marginally between 1985 and 1986. The ratio fell significantly afterwards and rose marginally between 1990 and 1993. it fell sharply after 1993 only to start picking up around 2004 (see Figure 3). This ratio (DCY), which was 41.4% on the average between 1980 and 1986 declined to 15.5% between 1987 and 1993. The ratio declined further to 15.1% between 1994 and 2007. The trend in DCY also fails to show that deregulation favours financial sector development.

Figure 3: Trend in Ratio of Broad Money to GDP in Nigeria (1980 – 2007)

Trend in Private Credit to Domestic Credit (PCDC)The only ratio that showed a different pattern is the ratio of private credit to domestic credit. This ratio was 50.3% on the average between 1980 and 1986 before rising to 52.5% between 1987 and 1993. The ratio went up further to 68.2% between 1994 and 2007. The trend in this ratio shows that the ratio of domestic credit going to the private sector is rising over time and was higher during the deregulation era compared to the regulation period (see Figure 4). The performances of other indicators showed opposite pattern. For the other three indicators, the ratios were higher during regulation era compared to the deregulation era.

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Figure 4: Trend in the Ratio of Private Credit to Domestic Credit

Findings and conclusion All indicators of financial sector development (except the ratio of private credit to domestic credit) fail to show that financial sector deregulation has enhanced the development of the financial sector. It can also be observed that some degree of regulation still exist in the financial system in Nigeria in form of required reserve ratio and cash reserve ratio. In addition, the setting aside of some percentage of banks for profit for small and medium scale enterprises and the proposed ceiling on daily cash withdrawal are other forms of regulation. The public sector dominates the financial system as huge proportion of bank credit goes to the public sector. There is need for strengthening the legal system as well as the capacity of the supervisory and regulatory bodies in the nation so that financial system deregulation can be properly managed to enhance the growth of the sector and avoid the financial crisis that may accompany the deregulation of the sector. Moreover, there is the need to grow the economy through effective management of fiscal policy and effective leadership. This can further enhance the growth and development of the financial sector. It can thus be concluded that deregulation of the financial sector has not enhanced the growth and development of the sector, therefore the McKinnon Shaw Hypothesis cannot be said to hold in Nigeria during the period of analysis. There is therefore the need to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory authorities in the financial system so as to enhance people’s confidence in the financial system. This would go a long way in promoting the development of the financial sector and enables it to perform the all important role of promoting growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

ReferencesBernanke, B.S., and M. Gertler,(1989), “Agency Costs, Collateral, and Business Fluctuations,” American

Economic Review, vol. 79(1989), pp. 14-31Brownbridge M. and C. Kirkpatrick, (2000), “Financial Regulation in Developing

Countries”, Journal of Development Studies, 37(1), pp 1-24.Central Bank of Nigeria, (2003), Statistical Bulletin, Abuja, NigeriaCentral Bank of Nigeria, (2007), Statistical Bulletin, Abuja, NigeriaCreane, S.,R.Goyal, A.M.Mobarak and R. Sab (2004), “Financial Sector Development in the

Middle East and North Africa”, IMF Working Paper, WP/04/201.Hubbard, R.G., (1995) “Is There a ‘Credit Channel’ for Monetary Policy?”, Federal Reserve

Bank of St. Louis Review, no. 77 May/June pp. 63-74, Knutsen S. (2001), “Financial fragility or information asymmetry? – The inter-war banking

crisis in Norway”. Paper presented at EBHA Conference, July

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Lambo, E. (1986), “Commercial bank portfolio management”, in A. Oyejide and A. Soyode (eds), Commercial Banking in Nigeria, pp 222-234. Quoted in Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992a

Mankiw, N.G., (1986), “The Allocation of Credit and Financial Collapse”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101 pp. 455-470

McKinnon, R. (1988), Financial Liberalization and Economic Development: A Reassessment of Interest Rate Policies in Asia and Latin America, International Centre for for Ecomonic Growth, Occasional Papers Series No.6, Quoted in Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992b.

McKinnon R. I. (1973), Money and Capital in Economic Development, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

Ndako Umar B. (2010), “Financial Development and Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria”, The IUP Journal of Financial Economics, Vol.VIII, No. 4, pp. 37 – 58, December,

Ogwu, A.I., (2003), “Causal Relationship between financial sector development and economic growth”, International Advances in Economic Research, August

Owosekun, A.(1978), “The determinants of the currency-demand deposit ratio in Nigeria”, Mimeo, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan. Quoted in Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992a.

Oyejide, T.A. (1972), Deficit finance, inflation and capital formation: an analysis of the Nigerian experience, 1957-1970”, Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 14(1): pp27-43. Quoted in Soyibo and Adekanye, 1992a.

Quartey P. and F. Prah (2008), Financial Development and Economic Growth in Ghana: Is there a Causal Link? The African Finance Journal, Vol. 10, Part 1, pp 28 – 54.

Shaw, E.S. (1973), Financial Deepening in Economic Development, Oxford University Press, New York.

Soyibo, A. and F. Adekanye, (1992a), “Financial system regulation, deregulation and savings mobilization in Nigeria”,AERC Research Paper 11

Soyibo, A. and F. Adekanye, (1992b), The Nigerian Banking System in the Context of Policies of Financial Regulation and Deregulation, AERC Research Paper 17.

Williamson, J and M. Mahar, (1998), “A survey of Financial Liberalization”. Essays in International Finance 211. Department of Economics, Princeton Univercity, Princeton. Quoted in James B Ang and W.J. McKibbin, “Financial Liberalization, Financial Sector Development and Growth: Evidence from Malaysia” Brookings Discussion Papers in International Economics. June 2005.


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EFFECTS OF STRATEGIES ON THREE MEASURES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS MEMORY PERFORMANCE

OKEREKE, CHINWE (Ph.D)Department of Educational Psychology

Imo State University, OwerriImo State, Nigeria.

[email protected]

AbstractThis study ascertained the effect of memory strategies on secondary school students’ recall, recognition and retention. Three null hypotheses were answered and tested in the study. An experimental design was adopted, 68 secondary school students from Bishop Lasbery Girls Secondary School, Irete and Presentation Secondary School, Ogbaku were selected. The schools are all in Owerri education zone. The 68 students were purposively sampled and assigned into control and experimental. Twenty test items that represented recall recognition and retention were used to collect data. Data collected were analyzed using means t-test and Pearson Product Moment Coefficient Correlation. The result of the findings showed that there was an increase in the mean scores of students in experimental group in the three different subsets. Recommendations were made based on the findings that teachers should try to master the principles and practice in formation processing.

Keywords: Strategies, recall, Recognition, Retention and students performance.

INTRODUCTIONMemory is the ability to recall information that had previously been learned. Ormrod (2008) defined memory as the process of retaining information for a period of time. Again, it is the capacity of storing retrieving and acting on knowledge. An individual is constantly bombarded with information from the environment which enters his mind through various senses. According to Agulanna and Nwachukwu (2009), as these external stimuli get in, some attract the individual’s attention some do not.

Those that attract his or her attention may be held the memory for a while and then forgotten while others are remembered for a very long time. What happened actually? According to the information processing view point, three distinct components of the memory system are involved in information processing which include; sensory memory, short term memory and the long term memory. Each component varies as to its functions, how much information if can hold and for how long.

There are varieties of strategies that can be used to assist students’ memory. Most improvement shown in measures of human memory performance during development could well be the result of these improved strategies. Chizubor (2001) posited that these memory strategies aid memory performance. He further said that these strategies as concepts practices ideas and principles help students in the effective reconstruction; reproduction and recounting of earlier experience and past episode which help in the effective processing of information for recall purposes.

Ebenebe and Unachukwu (1995) outlined some strategies which included; mnemonic, organization, loci method and so on. Schacter (1996) posited that these strategies enhance on student’s recall and retention level. He continued by saying that weak encoding lack of retrieval cue and strategies have made it possible for students to forget their dreams, goals aspirations and experiences. This is as a result of lack of retrieval strategies. A lot has been suggested on different causes of the aforementioned problem but little has been written about the effect of these strategies in facilitating student’s performance.

Kamalu (2002) mentioned types of memory functions to include; retention, retrieval, recall, recognition and recollection. He posited that information’s is process, I and stored. H e explained an empirical evidence that experience is the best teacher. By studying the traces of past experiences, one can make


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corrections and apply it in future problem solving. It seemed empirical relevant to point to the logical possibility of a unique kind of mnemonic causation which does operate to being past experience to present. Ansombe (1981) posited that retention involved in memory require continuous storage. Recognition recollection and recall came into contact with ones present act by matching a stored trace with a current input. Draaisma (2000) agreed that by knowing just which trace to seek out for a given current purpose, that past can come to play a role in the present through improving an individual’s memory with facilities of memory aids

At Kinson and Shiffiring theory of memory according to Santrock (2001) stipulated that sensory input goes into sensory memory through the process of attention, information moves into short term memory where it remains for 30 seconds or less unless rehearsed. Then, the information goes into the long–term memory storage from where it can be retrieved for some purpose late.

Psychologists proposed some theories of forgetting which include; theory of Decay, Theory of interference.In decay theory, the passage of time makes the learned materials to disintegrate gradually, face away or disappear altogether due to the decay of the memory. This theory assumes that as brain memory connections are in disuse, they tend to fade away.

Again, in the theory of interference, forgetting occurs as a result of interference between new and previously learned materials. Interference occurs when information is mixed up with or pushed aside by other information thus affecting recall. One form of interference is when students are prevented from mentally rehearsing newly learned information. When students are deprived of the opportunity to rehearse information in their working memories, and are rather given additional information, interference occurs. This has great implications, teachers should take into account the limited capacity of the working memory by giving students enough time to absorb information and practice it for effective storage.

Forgetting could also occur as a result of retroactive or proactive inhibition. This is when previously learned information is lost because it is mixed up or blocked by new information. When previous or prior learning interferes with the learning of new concepts, materials or names of things or people, we refer to it as proactive inhibition.

Statement of the ProblemIn Nigerian schools today, there is a problem of poor results due to lack of memory strategies leading to wild examination malpractices (Kamala, 2002). Learning is seen as enduring effect of prior experience, yet teachers hardly create adequate experience with memory aids from students before giving them assignments, tests and examinations. Hence students cannot process information passed to them which results to low recall, retention capacities and understanding of events.

According to Okebukola (1995), students’ inability to interpret and process learned information for future use leads to the problem of remembering in learning. They sort to microchips as reminders which amount to low performance. The above explains why students remember something and forget others, hence the need for this study to ascertain the effect of strategies on three measures of secondary school students memory performance.

Purpose of Study This study investigated the effect of memory strategies on the three areas of secondary school students memory performance in recall, retention and recollection, specifically the study determined how memory can be facilitated through the use of memory strategies.

Find out the difference in means gain scores of students in control and experimental groups in a test or recall, recognition and retention.

Find out the effect of memory strategies on students academic performance.

Null Hypotheses (P0.5)- There is no significant different between the means scores of students in experimental and control

groups in a test of recall.


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- There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students in the two groups in a test of recognition and recollection.

- There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students in the two groups in a test of recognition.

Research MethodAn experimental design was adopted. The study was conducted in Owerri-East and Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. The population comprises of all the secondary school students in Owerri education zone. Two schools from Owerri West and Mbaitoli were used and 68 students in SS1 were purposively selected for the study. 34 students were assigned into experimental and control groups each. The instrument used for data collection was a 20 test itemed low free responses test. Students were free to express themselves within a broad spectrum as their capacities in reproducing information were assessed. The instrument has two sections A, B, comprising of students personal data like gender, class, age, tribe etc, section B contained 5 items for recall, 5 items for, recognition 15-recollection and 5 item for retention.

The face and content validation of the item were critically done by 2 secondary school teachers in chemistry and a lecturer in Measurement and Evaluation, Imo State University, Owerri in all testing procedure for testing reliability was adopted using two schools that were not part of the study in Owerri municipal. There responses were analyzed and a result of 0.71 was obtained. Each of the recalled items were scored points for each correct answer. Based on the score obtained, the researcher computed the mean standard deviation, variable and the coefficient correlation. Data collected were analyzed using PPMCC and t-test to arrive at the difference below the two groups.

ResultsTable H01: There is no significant different between mean scores of two groups of students in a test of recall

Sample N X SD Df Tcal +tab RExptalx 34 120 25.8 66 10.30 4.084 1.28Control 34 76 22

Sample N X SD df tcal t tab rExpta 34 120 25.8 66 10.30 4.084 1.2Control 34 76 22.0

From the above results, the experimental group showed a significant mean for recall test.The experimental group showed a mean of 120, SD = 25.8 as control t group showed X = 76, SD = 22. Again t cal equals 10.30 and t tab showed 4.08 therefore the hypothesis is rejected. This falls in the line with the findings of Revelator 2004 that effective learning makes use of memory techniques for recall. This shows that teachers should not teach similar concepts which are confusing for closely a time. One concept should be taught thoroughly before the other similar concept is introduced.

Table 2: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of two groups of students in a test of recognition are recollectedSample N X SD df tcal t tab rExptal 34 120 18.8 66 14.10 4.08 4.08 1.42Control 34 72 18.6

Table 2 showed that recall is greater than t-tab, therefore the hypotheses is rejected. This agrees with the study of Kamalu, 2002 and Schacter, 1996 that memory aids are needed to avoid misattribution in recollection and help give a valid recognition. This could be as a result of what consolidation theory explained. This theory positioned that the change that occurs in the nervous system during the formation of memory depends on the time. The difference in the mean scores could be as a result of time frame between the experimental and control groups.


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Table 3: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of two groups of students in test of retention.Sample N X SD df tcal t tab rExptal 34 114 35,2 66 7.50 4.01 1.80Control 34 72 26.8

Table 3 showed a mean gain of 42 for experimental groups. Thr t cal is 7.50 and t-tab equals 4.01 from the statistic, the hypotheses is rejected because ttab is less than t-cal. The result is suggesting that memory aids are needed for retention. This result agrees with that of Badeley (1986) that using memory techniques can enhance student’s performance. In situation, a student may be concerned with reproducing what has been taught only or using the products of learning. In this case, much retention and little transfer is required. The significant difference in the mean scores of experimental group and control group in test of retention could be that the students in control group dial more of mere reproducing, something learnt before while the experimental group students where concerned with the application of previously learnt knowledge and skills in a new problem that resulted to both retention and transfer to occur.

In conclusion, the findings showed that qualified teachers with knowledge on how to use memory aids to enhance students learning increases performance of students in academic work.

Recommendations Based on the findings, these recommendations are made that; students should be taught each topic with memory aids for effective recall, recognition and retention. Teachers should use different methods to teach similar concepts. Teachers should try to master the use of memory strategies of information processing for enhancement of students learning.Again, teachers should not give too much information within a lesson to reduce interference.

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Atimawbia: Luno Printing Press.Kamalu, B.C. (2002). Effects of Strategies and Techniques on Three Measures of Memory Performance

Among SSS3 Students in Owerri Municipal L. G. A. Master Thesis.Draaisma, D. (2000). Metaphors of Memory: A History of Ideas about Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.Samtrock, J .W. Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Dallas: McGraw Hill.Okebukola, S. (1995). Human Learning. Makurdi: Onairi Printing & publishing Co Ltd.Ewelusor, D. (2004). Memory Aids. American Psychologist, 38 1001 – 1000Schacter, D. (2001). The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Houghton

Mifflin Co.Baddeley, A. D. (1998). Human Memory, Theory and Practice. London: Allyn Bacon.


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THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN MITIGATING THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

IGBOKWE-IBETO, CHINYEAKA JUSTINEDepartment of Industrial Relation and Public Administration

(Public Administration Unit)Lagos State University, [email protected]

AbstractProductivity is the objectives of all organization. A multiplicity of factors is involved in performance and productivity improvement, and many of these factors are interdependent. Knowledge of them and how to use them by managers are therefore conditions precedent to employee performance and productivity. The role of HRM in mitigating global economic meltdown cannot be over emphasized; the human resources managers should adopt a combination of the variables and or performance management elements as enumerated in the paper depending on the degree of the crisis the organisation is into. This paper analyses the impact of human resources management in mitigating global financial crisis. In analyzing the issuesraised in the paper we applied the recruitment and labour productivity theories which enable us direct our search light on the pattern and processes of human resources management as well as the relationship between human resources management and global financial management. The paper discovered that there is a relationship between human resources management global financial crisis. However, certain steps have to be taken to promote human resource management that can prevent global financial crisis. Among others, there should always be a human capital audit, organizational and physical performance audit as well as effective and genuine performance appraisal and audit reports should be submitted to management periodically. The immediate priority, therefore, is the need to re-examine the validity and reliability of employee selection as well as performance management instruments in use in organizations. Above all, the recommendations should be sustained overtime and should be inculcated as a way of life in organizations in general and Human Resources Department in particular for sustained performance management as well as preparing the workers and the organization should the inevitable happens. It is hoped that when this report is supplemented with similar studies in the country and the world at large, generalization can be made on the role of human resources management in mitigating global financial crisis.

KEYWORDS: Human Resource, Productivity, Labour, Management, Financial Crisis and Performance

IntroductionHuman resource management (HRM) is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the organisational objectives. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR) have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a strategic role in the survival of an organization. In this time of global financial crisis, Human Resource (HR) managers must not only innovate but must also act as change agents, strategists, mentors, counselors and motivators. They must adopt a people-oriented model or approach of management instead of the go-get-them approach. The latter approach will not only push down the morale of employees but it will also shove the talented workers from leaving the organization (Armstrong, 2009).

Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks Synonyms such as personnel management are often used in a more restricted sense to describe activities that are necessary in the recruiting of a workforce, providing its members with payroll and benefits, and administrating their work-life needs (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010). So if we move to actual definitions, Torrington and Hall (1997:49) define personnel management as being: “a series of activities which: first


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enable working people and their employing organisations to agree about the objectives and nature of their working relationship and, secondly, ensures that the agreement is fulfilled". While Miller (1999:352) suggests that HRM relates to:".......those decisions and actions which concern the management of employees at all levels in the business and which are related to the implementation of strategies directed towards creating and sustaining competitive advantage". In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Human Resource Management (HRM) is also seen as the term used to describe formal systems devised for the management of people within an organization. These human resources responsibilities are generally divided into three major areas of management: staffing, employee compensation, and defining/designing work. Essentially, the purpose of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. This mandate is unlikely to change in any fundamental way, despite the ever-increasing pace of change in the business world. As Gubman (2004) observes that "the basic mission of human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent; align the workforce with the business; and be an excellent contributor to the business. Those three challenges will never change."

Until recently, an organization's human resources department was often consigned to lower rungs of the corporate hierarchy, despite the fact that its mandate is to replenish and nourish the company's work force, which is often cited—legitimately—as an organization's greatest resource. But in recent years recognition of the importance of human resources management to a company's overall health has grown dramatically. This recognition of the importance of HRM extends to small businesses and organisations, for while they do not generally have the same volume of human resources requirements as do larger organizations, they too face personnel management issues that can have a decisive impact on business health. As Burstiner (2001) observed that in "Hiring the right people—and training them well—can often mean the difference between scratching out the barest of livelihoods and steady business growth…. Personnel problems do not discriminate between small and big business. You find them in all businesses, regardless of size."

Within all organizations, the utility of labour for the accomplishment of organizational goals is emphasized. Indeed, aside manpower, there are a number of resources that contribute towards the success of any organization, such as machine, information, idea and material etc. While these resources are important, the human factors are the most significant because it is the people who have to coordinate and use other resources (Chandan, 2004). Thus in organizations, it is vital to agencies effectiveness and efficiency. However, the way and manners in which we react to work vary from one person to the other. Some people no matter what you do to them, they will never improve.

Performance management is a means of getting better results from the organization, team and individuals by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned objectives and standard (Oladimeji, 1999). Performance management is a holistic approach and process of bringing together many activities to collectively contribute to effect management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organizational performance. No wonder performance management has been defined as a systematic process for improving organizational performance by developing of the individuals and teams. It is a means of getting better results by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned goals, standards and competency requirement (Armstrong, 2009:618).

Furthermore, Weiss and Hartle (1997) define performance management as “a process for establishing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved, an approach to managing people that increases the probability of achieving success”. Performance management is strategic in the sense that it is about broader issues, long term goals and people’s management, individuals and teams. Performance management requires willingness and commitment of both the management and the employee to focus on improving performance at all levels.

It is sometimes assumed that performance appraisal is the same thing with performance management. However, there are significant differences. Performance appraisal can be defined as the formal assessment and rating of individuals by their managers at or after a review meeting. It has been discredited because too often it has been operated as a top-down and largely bureaucratic system owned by the HR departments rather than by line managers (Armstrong, 2009). Also as Armstrong and Murlis (2006) asserted,


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performance appraisal too often degenerated into ‘a dishonest annual ritual’. In contrast, performance management is a continuous and much wider, more comprehensive and more natural process of management that clarifies mutual expectations, emphasizes the support role of managers who are expected to act as coaches rather than judges and focuses on the future.

Theories of Recruitment and Labour Productivity Theories serve as tools which the researcher applies for critical analysis of phenomenon as well as data generation (Armstrong, 2009). An examination of the above submission reveals that, theoretical framework is not just a description of theories existing in a particular field, but it is rather an application of a relevant theory to guide a research endeavour/work (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2011).

According to Obisi (2000), in recruitment, two major characters are involved namely the recruiting and the recruited .During recruitment, organizations have to make choices on who to take in their organizations otherwise called the recruited. The following three theories underpinning recruitment have been identified by Obisi (2000). They include: The Subjective Theory: This theory point out how individual personality and the kind of image the organization has could influence recruitment. Here, certain influences dominate which are greatly personal and the rule of the heart if prospective employees come to know that their personality do not match the image of the organization, they may have problems in adjusting and vice versa.

Furthermore, another theory that is relevant here is the Critical Theory: When a typical candidate is unable to judge accurately what he or she wants with regards to what the organization is likely to offer, because of Lack of information on the organization. However, he may make some decisions after having a conversation with the person recruiting him from the person’s behaviours’, the attitudes exhibited by the recruiter may enable the recruiter to take his decision on his views and ideas about the organization and the job. Yet, the Objectives theory have also been identified: This theory understands and appreciates the conditions on the ground like emoluments pay incentives, merit, location, individual growth etc. if a potential employee is satisfied with the above aspects he could decide or form his opinion about the organization. The above theories are necessary because they help potential employees make choices regarding recruitment.

Another theory worthy of mentioning in this discussion is the Labour Productivity theory. Four major sub-theories have been identified as relevant in measuring productivity be it in public or private organization. According to Eneanya (2009) they include the following:

Effectiveness Theory: Effectiveness refers to how well an activity is achieving its policy objectives or other intended effects. In the words of Spreight (1970:1), “an organization is technically efficient if it is adequate to the demand on it”. Adequacy here implies competence and capacity to deliver the goals i.e. to fulfill obligations or attain goals. An effective programme or policy is one that realises its objectives. In other words, effectiveness measures how much goals and objectives are achieved. Subsequently, an efficient policy or programme may be ineffective because its activities, though efficient, are not sufficiently directed at goals and therefore not achieving such goals. Efficient is therefore, different from effectiveness. The former emphasizes means while the latter emphasizes the end of programmes.

If “technical efficiency” is taken to mean effectiveness, it qualifies as a more reliable yardstick for judging output in organizations based on the ratio of what has been accomplished and what was expected to be accomplished. For example, the effectiveness of the police in reducing crime rate would prove the efficiency of the police, while the efficiency of an administrator would mean his effectiveness in ensuring that policies are well implemented (Oko, 2003).

The second is the Efficiency Model: The concept of efficiency model refers to the relationship between output and the input. An efficient operation produces the maximum output with minimum input for any given quantity and quality (Arhuidese, 2003, Eneanya, 2009).The third is the Target or Performance Theory: Organizations’ especially the big once are organized in functional units known as departments and ministries, agencies and commissions as is the case in the public sector which direct company or government activities. In the opinion of Akpan (1982:62) cited in Eneanya (2009), target or performance theory evolved from the modern concept of “result oriented


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management”. Under it, achievement of result or fulfillment of objectives and target – getting things done within the stipulated time – is the central motivation. It places more emphasis on time than on men and materials. Since the central focus is motivation to achievement, the adoption of modern management techniques of Project Management, Management by Objectives (MBO) and Programme and Performance Budgeting System (PPBS) becomes relevant.

The fourth is the Economy or Cost Theory: Economy, in this context refers to attaining the appropriate quantity and quality of physical, human and financial resources (inputs) at lowest cost. An activity will not be economic if, for example, there was overstaffing or failure to purchase materials of requisite quantity at the lowest available cost/ Galbraith (1976) cited in Eneanya (2009) posits that “we act efficiently when we maximize the product for the given expenditure which maximizes the product”. This means that we use resources economically in order to produce maximum results in real, not monetary terms. Note: Reduction of cost of activities is often regarded as efficiency in the public service. It has been said of Nigeria’s Public Administration: that when they accomplish certain goals at minimum cost, they are efficient. “The efficiency of the public servant could be judged more by how little money he has spent than by how much he has achieved. Overspending a vote is more apparent and blameworthy than falling short of a target” (Udoji, 1974).

For the purpose of this paper, we will apply the above discussed theories. This is because of the advantages they present in analyzing the issues raised in this paper. The advantages include: The recruitment theories relating to subjective, critical and objectivism as well as economy or cost theory enable us direct our search light for possible causes of poor performance and low productivity in organizations. Yet, they assist in the careful examination and selection of applicants for employment. The theories of effectiveness and efficiency are relevant and applicable to the paper based on the fact that they enable us in accessing a worker’s value or worth to the organization. The cost and objective theories enable us evaluate projects/activities. Objective and performance or target theory guide and direct workers towards the achievement of organizational goals/objectives.

Notwithstanding the above discussed advantages, the theories equally have some pitfalls such as: the different perception of, and yardstick for measuring efficiency and effectiveness in the public and private sector are not exactly the same. Yet, target setting and performance management are viewed differently in the private and public sector organizations. Having said these, the two theories hold the key for explaining the subject matter of for the paper.

Principles of Human Resource Management Business consultants note that modern human resource management is guided by several overridingprinciples. Perhaps the paramount principle is a simple recognition that human resources are the most important assets of an organization; a business cannot be successful without effectively managing this resource. Another important principle, articulated by Armstrong (2006) observed that business success "is most likely to be achieved if the personnel policies and procedures of the enterprise are closely linked with, and make a major contribution to, the achievement of corporate objectives and strategic plans." A third guiding principle, similar in scope, holds that it is HR's responsibility to find, secure, guide, and develop employees whose talents and desires are compatible with the operating needs and future goals of the company.

Other HRM factors that shape corporate culture—whether by encouraging integration and cooperation across the company, instituting quantitative performance measurements, or taking some other action—are also commonly cited as key components in business or organisational success. HRM as summarized by Armstrong (2006) "is a strategic approach to the acquisition, motivation, development and management of the organization's human resources. It is devoted to shaping a appropriate corporate culture, and introducing programs which reflect and support the core values of the enterprise and ensure its success."

Position and Structure of Human Resource ManagementHuman resource management department responsibilities can be broadly classified by individual, organizational, and career areas. Individual management entails helping employees identify their strengths and weaknesses; correct their shortcomings; and make their best contribution to the enterprise. These duties are carried out through a variety of activities such as performance reviews, training, and testing.


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Organizational development, meanwhile, focuses on fostering a successful system that maximizes human (and other) resources as part of larger organization strategies. This important duty also includes the creation and maintenance of a change programme, which allows the organization to respond to evolving outside and internal influences. The third responsibility, career development, entails matching individuals with the most suitable jobs and career paths within the organization.

Human resource management functions are ideally positioned near the theoretic center of the organization, with access to all areas of the organization/business. Since the HRM department or manager is charged with managing the productivity and development of workers at all levels, human resource personnel should have access to—and the support of—key decision makers. In addition, the HRM department should be situated in such a way that it is able to effectively communicate with all areas of the company.

HRM structures vary widely from organization to organization, shaped by the type, size, and governing philosophies of the organization that they serve. But most organizations organize HRM functions around the clusters of people to be helped—they conduct recruitment, administrative, and other duties in a central location. Different employee development groups for each department are necessary to train and develop employees in specialized areas, such as sales, engineering, marketing, or executive education. In contrast, some HRM departments are completely independent and are organized purely by function. The same training department, for example, serves all divisions of the organization.

In recent years, however, observers have cited a decided trend toward fundamental reassessments of human resources structures and positions. "A cascade of changing business conditions, changing organizational structures, and changing leadership has been forcing human resource departments to alter their perspectives on their role and function almost over-night," (Johnston, 2000). "Previously, companies structured themselves on a centralized and compartmentalized basis—head office, marketing, manufacturing, shipping, etc. They now seek to decentralize and to integrate their operations, developing cross-functional team. Today, senior management expects HR to move beyond its traditional, compartmentalized 'bunker' approach to a more integrated, decentralized support function." Given this change in expectations, Johnston (2000) noted that "an increasingly common trend in human resources is to decentralize the HR function and make it accountable to specific line management. This increases the likelihood that HR is viewed and included as an integral part of the business/organisation process, similar to its marketing, finance, and operations counterparts. However, HR will retain a centralized functional relationship in areas where specialized expertise is truly required," such as compensation and recruitment responsibilities.

Human Resource Management—key ResponsibilitiesHuman resource management is concerned with the development of both individuals and the organization in which they operate. HRM, then, is engaged not only in securing and developing the talents of individual workers, but also in implementing programmes that enhance communication and cooperation between those individual workers in order to nurture organizational development. The primary responsibilities associated with human resource management include: job analysis and staffing, organization and utilization of work force, measurement and appraisal of work force performance, implementation of reward systems for employees, professional development of workers, and maintenance of work force (Armstrong, 2009).

Job Analysis consists of determining—often with the help of other company areas—the nature and responsibilities of various employment positions. This can encompass determination of the skills and experiences necessary to adequately perform in a position, identification of job and industry trends, and anticipation of future employment levels and skill requirements. "Job analysis is the cornerstone of HRM practice because it provides valid information about jobs that is used to hire and promote people, establish wages, determine training needs, and make other important HRM decisions," stated Bateman and Zeithaml (2002) in Management: Function and Strategy.

Staffing, meanwhile, is the actual process of managing the flow of personnel into, within (through transfers and promotions), and out of an organization. Once the recruiting part of the staffing process has been completed, selection is accomplished through job postings, interviews, reference checks, testing, and other tools (Arhuidese, 2003).


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Organization, Utilization, and Maintenance of a Company's Work Force is another key function of HRM. This involves designing an organizational framework that makes maximum use of an enterprise's human resources and establishing systems of communication that help the organization operate in a unified manner. Other responsibilities in this area include safety and health and worker-management relations. Human resource maintenance activities related to safety and health usually entail compliance with federal laws that protect employees from hazards in the workplace. These regulations are handed down from several federal agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), and various state agencies, which implement laws in the realms of worker's compensation, employee protection, and other areas. Maintenance tasks related to worker-management relations primarily entail: working with labour unions; handling grievances related to misconduct, such as theft or sexual harassment; and devising communication systems to foster cooperation and a shared sense of mission among employees (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Performance Appraisal is the practice of assessing employee job performance and providing feedback to those employees about both positive and negative aspects of their performance. Performance measurements are very important both for the organization and the individual, for they are the primary data used in determining salary increases, promotions, and, in the case of workers who perform unsatisfactorily, demotion or even dismissal (Fatile, 2010).

Reward Systems are typically managed by HR areas as well. This aspect of human resource management is very important, for it is the mechanism by which organizations provide their workers with rewards for past achievements and incentives for high performance in the future. It is also the mechanism by which organizations address problems within their work force, through institution of disciplinary measures. Aligning the work force with company goals, stated Gubman (2003), "requires offering workers an employment relationship that motivates them to take ownership of the business plan."

Employee Training and Development is another vital responsibility of HR personnel. HR is responsible for researching an organization's training needs, and for initiating and evaluating employee development programmes designed to address those needs. These training programs can range from orientation programmes, which are designed to acclimate new hires to the company, to ambitious education programmes intended to familiarize workers with a new software system (Gubman, 2003).

"After getting the right talent into the organization," Gubman (2003) posits that, "the second traditional challenge to human resources is to align the workforce with the organization/business—to constantly build the capacity of the workforce to execute the organization plan." This is done through performance appraisals, training, and other activities. In the realm of performance appraisal, HRM professionals must devise uniform appraisal standards, develop review techniques, train managers to administer the appraisals, and then evaluate and follow up on the effectiveness of performance reviews. They must also tie the appraisal process into compensation and incentive strategies, and work to ensure that federal regulations are observed.

Responsibilities associated with training and development activities include the determination, design, execution, and analysis of educational programmes. The HRM professional should be aware of the fundamentals of learning and motivation, and must carefully design and monitor training and development programmes that benefit the overall organization as well as the individual. The importance of this aspect of an enterprise operation can hardly be over-stated. As Roberts, Seldon, and Roberts (1999) indicated that "the quality of employees and their development through training and education are major factors in determining long-term profitability of an organization. Research has shown specific benefits that an organization receives from training and developing its workers, including: increased productivity; reduced employee turnover; increased efficiency resulting in financial gains; and decreased need for supervision." Meaningful contributions to organization processes are increasingly recognized within the purview of active human resource management practices. Of course, human resource managers have always contributed to overall organization/business processes in certain respects—by disseminating guidelines for and monitoring employee behaviour, for instance, or ensuring that the organization is obeying worker-related regulatory guidelines—but increasing numbers of organizations and or businesses are incorporating human resources managers into other business processes as well. In the past, human resources managers


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were cast in a support role in which their thoughts on cost/benefit justifications and other operational aspects of the enterprise/business were rarely solicited.

But as Johnston (2003) noted, the changing character of organization/business structures and the marketplace are making it increasingly necessary for enterprise owners and executives to pay greater attention to the human resource aspects of operation: "Tasks that were once neatly slotted into well-defined and narrow job descriptions have given way to broad job descriptions or role definitions. In some cases, completely new work relationships have developed; telecommuting, permanent part-time roles and outsourcing major non-strategic functions are becoming more frequent." All of these changes, which human resources managers are heavily involved in, are important factors in shaping business and organization performance.

The Changing Field of Human Resource ManagementIn recent years, several organization trends have had a significant impact on the broad field of HRM. Chief among them were new technologies. These new technologies, particularly in the areas of electronic communication and information dissemination and retrieval, have dramatically altered the organization/business landscape. Satellite communications, computers and networking systems, faxmachines, and other devices have all facilitated change in the ways in which organizations interact with each other and their workers. Telecommuting, for instance, has become a very popular option for many workers, and HRM professionals have had to develop new guidelines for this emerging subset of employees.

Changes in organizational structure have also influenced the changing face of human resource management. Continued erosion in manufacturing industries in Nigeria and other nations, coupled with the rise in service industries in these countries, have changed the workplace, as has the decline in union representation in many industries (these two trends, in fact, are commonly viewed as interrelated). In addition, organizational philosophies have undergone change. Many companies have scrapped or adjusted their traditional, hierarchical organizations structures in favor of flatter management structures. HRM experts observe that this shift in responsibility brought with it a need to reassess job descriptions, appraisal systems, and other elements of personnel management. A third change factor has been accelerating market globalization. This phenomenon has served to increase competition for both customers and jobs. The latter development enabled some organizations or companies to demand higher performances from their employees while holding the line on compensation. Other factors that have changed the nature of HRM in recent years include new management and operational theories like Total Quality Management (TQM); rapidly changing demographics; and changes in health insurance and federal and state employment legislation (Armstrong, 2006).

Human Resource Management and Global Financial CrisisRecruitment process in organizations and most especially in the public sector has been faced with so many problems including the problems of corruption i.e. over the years employment has been based on favoritism at the negation of merit. Recruitment has shifted from qualification of individuals based on job description and specification to man know man basis.

There is also the problem of potential employees who are due to retire from the service instead of retiring as and when due (right time), many rather engage in age and records manipulation in order to remain in the service of their organizations, thereby making it difficult for fresh blood to be injected into the service. Indeed, there is also the problem of lack of proper manpower inventory system creating room for ghost workers syndrome. Management lacks proper personal record, and there is also a wide range information gap between job seekers and the organizations.

Armstrong (2006) observes that the assumption underpinning the practice of HRM is that people are the organisation’s key resource and organisational performance largely depends on them. Therefore, if an appropriate range of HR policies and processes are developed and implemented effectively, then HR will make a substantial impact on firm performance. Guest, Michie, Conway and Sheenan (2003) also argue that the case for an association between human resource management and performance is based on two arguments. The first one being that the effective deployment of human resources offers one of the most


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powerful bases of competitive advantage. The second argument is that effective deployment of human resources depends on the application of a distinctive combination of practices, or the use of a consistent set of human resource practices.

In Nigeria for example, it is of view that despite the elaborate provisions in the Nigerian constitution as well as the public service laws as regards mode of recruitment into the service, the staff composition of most Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) does not reflect the provisions of the constitution. This ugly scenario has equally extended to the private sector, mediocre and quakes’ get recruited at the negation of merit and the qualified applicants, thus poor performance and low productivity in the service.

It is the aim of this paper therefore, to examine the relationship between the ‘right quality and quantity staff and recession’ period as well as discussing how Human Resource Management through effective recruitment policies can mitigate global (recession) financial crisis.

Retaining the right employee is a crucial challenge for any HR manager. In the book written by Jim Collins “Good to Great”, he does not agree with the old adage “People are your most important asset”. According to him, employees are not the most important asset of the organisation but the “right” employees are. In a troubled economic condition, HR managers should develop a strategy that will keep the most talented employees in the organisation and at the same time, discourage the “not-so” talented employees from hurting the company’s operations (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

The global economic crisis is pushing companies/organizations to stretch their financial resources to buffer the effects of limited income as a result of the sharp decline in the demand of their products and service. Efficiency is the key to the survival of any company in this kind of economic condition. Running the company at the least possible cost should be the priority of management. In order to achieve this, companies must keep a pool of competent employees that will assist the organisation in pushing their sales, expanding their market, innovating new products and in keeping the operations efficient as possible and in the case of public sector organisations, delivering the public goods and services expected of them. Employees that are causing too much “wastage” should be encouraged to be more productive and their financial contribution to the company should be at par with the salaries they are receiving. We are not saying that we should put a price tag on every employee, but we should also remember that business organisations are not synonymous to charitable organisations or institutions. Income is always their lifeblood. With this, HR managers should always find a way to motivate this type of employees, either through training and development or coaching, before making any drastic actions like transfer, demotions or terminations (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

I am glad that President Goodluck Jonathan has his priorities set on economic reforms. After all, this is one of the most important reasons for those who are in favor of his candidature and re-election. More so, the effect of the economic recession has spread the globe and unless a radical rescue or jumpstart of the ailing economy is made sooner, we will be experiencing a total economic collapse and or economic meltdown worst than a tsunami aftermath (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Many business organizations however the size, are getting the hardest hit, no wonder, the efforts are zeroed in on cutting costs in all areas of business operations to avoid closing shop. Unfortunately, the first on the list has always been streamlining human resource. We cannot blame the Government, CEOs and business owners if they still see that in a recession, in order to survive, you have to eliminate your extra baggage and that would mean laying-off a number of your employees. It is not that it is a wrong decision to make; however, this action adds more strain to the already faltering economy by further adding to the bloated unemployment rate. So, how does HRM (Human Resource Management and Managers) help the organization cope in a recession? What is the role of HRM in crucial times like these? In response to the above tasking question, Igbokwe-Ibeto (2010) identified the following as the important roles and responsibilities that HRM should focus on during a recession:

Conduct Organizational Assessment or AuditAccountants would readily point that labour is where cuts should immediately be made. As I pointed out earlier, this means streamlining the organization by laying-off employees. Usually, the non-permanent jobs or positions are the first to go. On an organizational competitiveness perspective, reduction of personnel is


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not necessarily the best or first option in cutting costs. Looking closely into the details of each business processes through an organizational assessment or audit will reveal that there are other areas where cost cutting measures can be made. The HRM should be the forefront in this activity being independent from operations. Besides, it has the competency to do such an audit. It’s amazing that in some organization business process audits I conducted independently and in a team, reduction of personnel is at the bottom list of the recommendations. Improvement in processes, reduction of waste, recycling of materials, and quality monitoring always ranked almost on the top recommendations (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Information DisseminationKeeping employees informed on a timely basis is probably the most important role that HRM can play in time of recession. Employees need to know where the business is going and what the intentions of top management are. In a recession what is more at stake are the investments made and employees come second. However, when job security is threatened due to a financial crisis, employees deserve to beinformed about the status of the organisation and their employment’s fate. With many already unemployed (some are regretfully unemployable), and the job opportunities narrowing or disappearing, employees must be informed ahead and warned of the possibilities of losing their jobs so that they can prepare emotionally and financially. Keeping communication channels open put the HRM at a very crucial role of bridging the gap that may widen when the inevitable retrenchment of employees have been decided, and which may tend to put management in a bad light, especially in unionized companies (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Providing and Coordinating Livelihood Skills TrainingIn the opinion of Igbokwe-Ibeto (2010), employees need to look beyond the comforts of their salaries and job securities. They also need to develop other skills that will help then earned a decent living other than their current employment. The HRM should have integrated in its yearly training curricula training on livelihood skill development. With these new skills, employees are better prepared to cope in cases of unemployment and may consider home or small businesses as income alternatives; besides, many small home businesses do not require huge investments.

Counseling and GuidanceA financial crisis that is global in nature has a psychological effect on the average employee. Especially when the news of bigger and more established companies are laying-off employees and/or are closing shop, they are likely wary also of their own job security. HRM should provide guidance on how employees can cope in case of the inevitable happen. It should help affected employees to find possible alternatives in cases of mass lay-offs (Igbokwe-Ibeto, 2010).

Human Resource Accounting HRA- A Challenge to HRM This requires a discussion on theories/models of Human Resource Accounting which is not our major concern here. Suffice to refer to the techniques and impacts of HRA. Human Resource Accounting is a method to measure the effectiveness of personnel management activities and the use of people in an organization. It can also be defined as Assigning, budgeting, and reporting the cost of human resources incurred in an organization, including wages and salaries and training expenses. According to Stovall and Gupta (2008), in an article “HR accounting, implication for the theory and practice”, HR accounting is an attempt to identify and record investment made in the human resources. It is an information system reporting the cost and value of the human factor to the organization. Yet it is ‘the process of identifying and measuring data about human resources and communicating information to interested parties.’ HRA, not only involves measurement of all the costs/ investments associated with the recruitment, placement, training and development of employees, but also the quantification of the economic value of the people in an organization.

It furnishes cost/value information for making management decisions about acquiring, allocating, developing and maintaining human resources in order to attain cost effectiveness. It allows management personnel to monitor effectively the use of human resources. It provides a sound and effective basis for human asset control, i.e. whether the asset is appreciated, depleted or conserved. It helps in the development of management principles by classifying the financial consequences of various practices. Indeed, HRA is a part of Management Information System MIS. Joint efforts of behavioural scientists, accountants and management are needed for the working and development of HRA.


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The desire to quantify the benefit of the human resources function has been a constant theme in the HR literature. Unfortunately, the bewildering variety of proposals on how to accomplish this has led to confusion and inaction. In the late 1960s and early 70s, a number of writers proposed that the capital nature of certain human resource costs be recognized as investments rather than as expenses, which collectively became known as Human Resources Accounting. While the underlying concept was simple and straightforward, academics observed that capitalization and amortization of applicable Human Resources Accounting costs had no measurement of "value" or worth of the HR investment. Accordingly, proposals were developed to take the basic information and add the dimension of "value" of individuals and the whole organization. Since accounting measures "cost," not "value" or "worth,” the proposed improvements in Human Resource Accounting took it out of the realm of acceptable accounting practice.

Recent literature has focused on a broader measurement, namely that of "intellectual capital." Despite those who consider intellectual capital a new approach, it is really an extension of HR accounting since without the underlying concept of HR investment there can be no intellectual capital development. Advocates of intellectual capital cannot agree on which HR variables to measure, so they propose letting the user pick and choose. Management consulting firms have picked up on intellectual capital in a big way and various firms have developed indices that purport to relate specific intellectual capital variables. The end result measures revenue growth and profit. The focus on intellectual capital has resulted in HR accounting being shifted to the sidelines, even though the HR accounting concept is far simpler and much easier to implement.

It is helpful to review how the generally accepted accounting principles relate to HR accounting, because the ultimate goal of the HR function is to have its performance measured "on the books" in the basic accounting system. This is complete with measures of profit contribution; return on investment and other measures that conventional accounting produces for the operating departments. While "off the book" indices and statistics have a place, the ability to "show me the money" (to quote a line from a recent movie), ranks far higher in prestige and in determining bonuses and incentive compensation. The basic HR accounting model parallels the acquisition of tangible assets. Any acquisition whether HR related or not, has to be recorded as an asset, an expense, or a loss.

An asset is defined as an expenditure producing future benefit, and recording an asset is known as capitalizing. Expenses and losses expire within the current period. As noted above, "value" and "worth" are not measured in generally accepted accounting principles unless there is an actual monetary transaction. So HR measurement based on "value" is not part of generally accepted accounting principles, at least as now defined. Capitalizing versus expensing the HR accounting model: What kinds of HR costs could be considered capital because of the incurrence to generate future benefits.

The companies that have implemented HR measurement either fully or partially have included such costs as: Recruitment, including agency fees, headhunters, etc. Hiring and testing Tuition reimbursement, Seminar costs, Formal training and Informal training. The same decisions on capitalizing versus expensing apply to both HR and non-HR acquisitions, namely are those costs maintenance, betterment, or improvement. "Maintenance," including normal salary costs and perhaps such extras as EAP programs and concierge services, are clearly expenses. On the other hand, costs such as those listed above, are clearly capital in nature and should be classified as assets or investments.

Where and how should HR accounting be reported? There are three areas to consider: For taxation, all HR costs would be expensed, as in current treatment. However, there are issues as to whether certain training associated with startup projects has to be deferred until the projects are operational. For external reporting purposes to shareholders etc, HR accounting must conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to be included in external statements. For internal reporting to management, there are no GAAP restrictions. Companies have implemented HR accounting systems for portions of their personnel operations as part of their budgeting and performance measurement system. What about the use of HR accounting in external reporting? Prior to the release of Accounting Principles Board Opinion in the U.S, there are examples of full or partial HR accounting disclosure in external statements. For example, the Atlanta Braves were a publicly held sports franchise whose president decided to capitalize the costs of running the team's farm club operations and then amortize that cost to expense over five years. He justified that treatment as his industry's version of research and development. The financial statements also include


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the costs of player contracts, which were also being amortized. One could argue that the contract costs warrant capitalization because of the existence of legal documents tying the players to the team. However, it was ruled that internally generated intangibles, such as employee training, must be expensed as incurred.

Accounting board's reasoning: The accounting board's reasoning was as follows: Capitalization of internal intangibles was subjective and did not meet the objectivity standard required in generally accepted accounting principles. Even if objectivity could be achieved, the period of future benefit during which capitalized costs would be amortized was uncertain. Employees were not "owned" like tangible assets, and could leave prematurely. As the successor to the Accounting Principles Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is aware of the glaring omission of such intangibles in knowledge based companies. For example, a software company where the market value of the company equity is many times greater than the underlying recorded assets. Here, the most important asset, the accumulated skills of the staff, is not reported at all. Not to delve too deeply into the accounting process, but when such a company is acquired, and money or securities change hands, those unrecorded assets wind up being recorded in a "catch all" account called "goodwill." FASB is about to release a new rule on business combinations and accounting for goodwill. This is where HR accounting comes into consideration.

The focus is on identifying as many "hidden assets" as possible, and recording them in their own right. If the acquired company had established an HR accounting system, that would facilitate the process. Aside from the goodwill issue, both FASB and the SEC are concerned about the lack of information being provided investors in knowledge-based companies that relate to human resource based "intellectual capital." For example, as an investor, I would surely be interested in knowing that turnover had reached excessive levels and that key engineering and scientific personnel had left the firm. Such information is not now shown in financial statements, leaving investors in the dark until a news source reports the defections. Despite the accounting board opinion, which may be revised as part of the "goodwill" treatment, the underlying reasons for denying capital status to HR-related costs has no basis in fact. If limited to actual outlay costs, and not measurement of "value" or "worth," capitalization of the HR costs listed above is as objective as recording an invoice for the acquisition of a physical asset. With regard to the amortization period, companies with defined benefit pension plans base their pension expenses on actuarial estimates of service life, final compensation, etc.

First and foremost, capitalization of appropriate HR costs provides meaning to HR expenditures as an investment. Calling it such and then expensing those costs, as currently done, surely does not instill confidence that these outlays are indeed intended for long-term benefit. Secondly, the rate of increase and decrease of the HR investment accounts over time (that is, either new investment exceeds amortization and write off, or amortization exceeds new investment) provides a clear indicator as to the level of personnel resources. It equates such changes to additional income or provides the basis for an HR bottom line, and for ROI calculations. Thirdly, even if the accounts are established for internal reporting to management only management can finally have accurate answers to such questions as to what the costs of turnover really are.

Dumping such costs into current expense makes it impossible to come up with an "on the books" naira amount for HR costs written off when employees depart prematurely. In the same situation, when it comes time to downsize, the amount of "investment" should be one factor in making personnel decisions. Had those costs been capitalized and amortized, a premature departure would cause management (and if included in external statements, shareholders) to be more proactive in protecting their investment by developing better retention policies. Yes, amortized cost surely does not equate to "value" nor is it supposed to in an “on the book” measure. However, to ignore the benefits of an "on the books" measurement of HR investment and consumption for some index seems to me that the creation of an HR financial measurement system will never be developed. It may very well be that the eventual resolution of the intangible reporting issue by FASB will set the pace for the implementation of a workable HR reporting system. Postscript Since the submission of the above, FASB has finalized the business combinations revised rules, which are due to go into effect on June 30. In addition, FASB has added to its research agenda a stand-alone project on reporting of internally generated intangible assets, and is gathering input from the public. The issues raised do not require a technical knowledge of accounting. The initial comments preclude the possible recognition of such costs as training and development as assets, on


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the premise that the organization incurring the costs lacks "control" over such assets. (The author believes that this control argument is archaic and is not in accord with economic reality, in that the employer would not incur such costs if it did not expect some kind of future benefit.). However, the initial comments are also directed to the nature of supplemental disclosures in financial statements (the footnotes) and to the development of a framework for such disclosures. It is in this category that the greatest promise exists for finally giving the HR function an "on the books" presence and a direct way to appraise shareholders of the effectiveness of HR policies and practices.

However, in order to estimate and project the worth of the human capital, it is necessary that some method of quantifying the worth of the knowledge, motivation, skills, and contribution of the human element as well as that of the organizational processes, like recruitment, selection, training etc., which are used in building and supporting these human aspects, is developed. Human resource accounting (HRA) denotes just this process of quantification/ measurement of the Human Resource.

The concept of HRA has encouraged HR professionals to take a more strategic and business focused approach in managing their human capital. Knowledge-based organizations value and invest significantly in human capital. Measuring the HR, therefore, becomes even more critical from a business impact perspective.

HRA - The Benefits and HurdlesThe benefits of adopting HRA were manifold. It helped an organization to take managerial decisions based on the availability and the necessity of human resources. When the human resources were quantified, it gave the investors and other clients’ true insights into the organization and its future potential. Proper valuation of human resources helped organizations to eliminate the negative effects of redundant labour. This, in turn, helped them to channelize the available skills, talents, knowledge and experience of their employees more efficiently. By adopting and implementing HRA in an organization, the following important information could be obtained:(1) Cost per employee. (2) Human capital investment ratio. (3) The amount of wealth created by each employee. (4) The profit created by each employee. (5) The ratio of salary paid to the total revenue generated. (6) Average salary of each employee. (7) Employee absenteeism rates. (8) Employee turnover rate and retention rate.

In fact, the prospects (future) of human resources accounting HRA in Nigeria and other developing economies cannot be overemphasized but unfortunately HRA is still at its infancy or not in existence in Nigerian firms and most especially the public sector. The worse is, it is yet to be accorded a professorial chair in any of the Nigerian universities. The Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions are still concerned with the traditional approach of HRM.

Conclusion It was finally concluded that as a result of the problems of poor and ineffective recruitment policies as well as poor performance management in most organizations both public and private, the systems is perceived to comprise of lazy, lousy, ineffective and inefficient people, resulting to low employee performance and productivity and in some cases closure of such companies especially during economic recession.

The role of HRM in mitigating global economic meltdown cannot be over emphasized, the human resources managers should adopt a combination of the variables and or performance management elements as enumerated above depending on the degree of the crisis the organisation is into. Have you even considered looking at your recession scorecard? There is a better remedy to this crisis without necessarily laying-off employees. Use better and accurate performance management systems.

The assets of an organization could be broadly classified into tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets referred to all the physical assets which could be presented in the balance sheet including plant and machinery, investments in securities, inventories, cash, cash equivalents and bank balance, marketable securities, accounts and notes receivables, finance receivables, equipment on operating leases, etc. Intangible assets included the goodwill, brand value and human assets of a company. The human assets involved the capabilities, knowledge, skills and talents of employees in an organization.


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Secondly, the human resources accounting can just be seen as much a question of philosophy than as of technique. This is one of the reasons behind the variety of approaches and is further underlined by the broad range of purposes for which human resources accounting can be used, e.g. as an information tool for internal and/or external use (employees, customers, investors, etc.), and as a decision-making tool for human resource management (investments in human resources as well as personnel management in general).

Recommendations In view of our discussion, we recommend that, emphases placed on all kinds of subjective and informal contacts in recruitment exercise should be discouraged. Reliable and valid selection instruments should be devised. The aim is to attract as many qualified applicants as possible.

More emphases should be placed on training, retraining and development of workers. This is because training and development is an antidote for better employee performance and productivity as well as preparing the workers and the organization should the unknown happens. There should be regular and effective institutionalized training in performance management and implementation for executives and administrative managers. There should be a correlation between training and training needs when designing training programs.

The need to re-assert meritocracy in reward and reward management, as well as the need to improve accountability in the organizations cannot be over emphasized, as higher pay alone will not automatically lead to higher performance and productivity. The enforcement should start from the top level down to lower cadre; there should be a level of accountability from those who manage organizations.

Finally, there should always be a human capital audit, organizational and physical performance audit as well as effective and genuine performance appraisal and audit reports should be submitted to management periodically. The immediate priority, therefore, is the need to re-examine the validity and reliability of employee selection as well as performance management instruments in use in organizations. Above all, the recommendations must be sustained overtime and must be inculcated as a way of life in organizations in general and Human Resources Department in particular for sustained performance management as well as preparing the workers and the organization should the inevitable happens.

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Kogan Page. Armstrong, M. (1999). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, London: Kogan Page.Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th ed., London: Kogan

Page.Becker, B. and Gerhardt, B. (1996). 'The impact of human resource management on Organisational

performance' Academy of Management Journal 39 (4) 779- 801Blau, G.E. (1978). Human Resource Accounting, 1st ed. Scarsdale, New York: Work in America Institute.Burstiner, I. (1988). The Small Business Handbook. New York: Prentice Hall.Caplan, E.H. and Landekich, S. (1974). Human Resource Accounting: Past, Present and Future, New

York: National Association of Accountants.Cascio, W. F. (1991). Costing Human Resources: The Financial Impact of Behavior in Organizations, 3rd

ed. Boston: PWS-Kent Pub.Eneanya, A.N (2009). Principles and Practice of Public Personnel Administration in Nigeria, Lagos:

Concept Publications LimitedFlamholtz, E. (1985). Human Resource Accounting: Advances in Concepts, Methods, and Applications 2nd

edition, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Green, P.C. (1999). “Building Robust Competencies”: Linking Human Resource Systems to

Organizational Strategies. Jossey-Bass.Gubman, E.L. (2000). "The Gauntlet is Down." Journal of Business Strategy. November-December.Igbokwe-Ibeto, C.J (2010). The Impact of Performance Management on Employees Productivity: A Study


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of Federal Ministry of Finance. An Unpublished MPA Thesis Lagos State University, Ojo.Johnston, J. (2003). "Time to Rebuild Human Resources." Business Quarterly. Winter.Monti–Belkaoui J. and Riahi–Belkaoui A. (1995). Human Resource Valuation: A Guide to Strategies and

Techniques, London: Quorum BooksEncyclopedia Britannica (kl ed.). "Personnel Administration is also frequently called Personnel

Management, Industrial Relations, and Employee Relations".Golding, N. (2010). "Strategic Human Resource Management" in Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T. (2010)

Human Resource Management A Contemporary Approach, FT Prentice Hall.Paauwe, J. (2009). 'HRM and Performance: Achievement, Methodological Issues and Prospects' Journal

of Management Studies, 46 (1)Pfeiffer, J. (1994). Competitive Advantage through People, Harvard Business School PressKochan, T. and Barocci, T. (1985). Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, London: Little

BrownDelery, J. and Doty, H. (1996). “Modes of theorizing in SHRM” Academy of Management Journal, 39(4),

802-835Prahalad, C. and Hamel, G. (1990). “The Core Competences of the Organisation” Boston: Harvard

Business Review.Ulrich, D. (1996). “Human Resource Champions. The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering

Results”, Boston: Harvard Business School Press..Wilkinson, A. (1988). "Empowerment: theory and practice".Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetoric’s and Realities (Anniversary ed.).

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Reece, B. L., and Brandt, R. (1993), “Effective Human Relations in Organizations”, Boston: Houghton

Mifflin.Roberts, G, Gary S, and Carlotta R (2000). Human Resources Management. Washington D.C: Prentice

Hall Rossiter, J.A. (1996), Human Resources: Mastering Your Small Business. Upstart Publishing.Solomon, C.M. (1993) "Working Smarter: How HR Can Help." Personnel Journal. June.Ulrich, D. (1998), “Delivering Results: A New Mandate for HR Professionals”, Boston: Harvard Business

School Press.Ulf, J, Gunilla E., Mikael H., Mårtensson, M. (1998). Human Resource Costing and Accounting versus

The Balanced Scorecard: A Literature Survey of Experience with the concepts, Stockholm: School of Business Stockholm University,


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AN OVERVIEW OF AFRICAN MEDIA IN THE FACE OF THE NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

LAMIDI, KAMORUDEEN I.Department of Mass Communication,

Adekunle Ajasin University,Akungba Akoko

Ondo State, Nigeria.

AbstractSince the invasion of the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) into the global scene at the dawn of the 21st century, significant changes have been recorded in the way man does things. In virtually every profession, the traces of the new ICTs are clear bringing radical changes and improvement. Specifically, media practices the world over has witnessed a great change, traditional journalism has been replaced with high tech journalism with the use of computer-assisted reporting tools like databases, internet, search engines and other online resources. Besides the use of ICTs-induced facilities to disseminate news and information at a jet speed, as in Electronic News Gathering (ENG) and Satellite News Gathering (SNG) have really taken journalism practice by storm. While these technologies have been incorporated in the daily activities of the Western media they are still struggling to find expression in the developing nations’ media. This is a pointer to the fact that African media are not meeting up with this contemporary trend in journalistic practice. The concern of this paper therefore, is to explore the critical challenges inhibiting African media with a view to repositioning African media to meet up with modern day challenges.

Keywords: African Media, Information and Communication Technology, 21st Century, Journalism, reporting.

IntroductionThe new communication technologies have no doubt defined our daily lives and made people become increasingly involved in one another’s loves. The implication of this is the realization of the prediction of McLuhan’s Global Village postulation. And since the adoption and realization that new communication technologies would change cultures, influence thoughts and usher mankind into the world of mass communication, it has become the main focus of global interests.

With these new communication technologies, communication has been greatly improved upon with facilities like fax machines, communication satellites, e-mails, personal digital assistants, cellular phones and the Interest. These days, everybody is within the reach of everybody else.

The emergence of the computer and its interlinked network – the Internet, has ushered in a new opportunity for the ICTs – induced communication. The real motive behind the communication is to create a virtual global village were information flow cannot be disrupted. Incontrovertibly, ICTs have become a way of life! ICTs affect how and where man does everything live work, play, socialize, entertain, serve, study, teach, rest, heal and project.

With these ever-changing trends in human Endeavour, media practices in Africa cannot and must not afford to miss out of the new wave. The media practitioners in the developing world must be fully prepared to key-in into the trend in order for them to be relevant in the global media market place.


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In no distant time, virtually every practice of the media will be carried out with the use of ICTs. No wonder, media practitioners are left with the only option of searching the web, use e-mail attachments, navigate newsgroups setting up list servers, downloading of web files and analysis of databases and so on. How prepared are media practitioners in Africa? This is the concern of this paper.

Theoretical FrameworkThis study is underpinned by the information society theory. This theory has been defined from five perspectives namely: technological, economic, occupational, spatial and cultural.

The technological definition sees the information society as the type born of breakthroughs in information processing, storage and transmission that have led to the application of information technologies in virtually all corners of society. The economic definition assert6s that information society is one in which the major areas of economic activities are the information goods and services. From the occupational perspectives, a society becomes an information society when the predominance of occupation is information work. The spatial sees information society as one where the constrains have been dramatically limited and time is shrunk as contact via computer communications and telecommunications is immediate. The cultural affirms that information society is one in which life is quintessential about symbolization, about exchanging and receiving or trying to exchange messages about ourselves and others. (Webster 1995).Based on the idea of “information world”, the consensus is that no serious development can take place without the application of the new information and communication technologies. The World Bank, (cited in Oyero 2007:177) asserts:

The information (and communication) revolution offers Africa dramatic opportunity to leap frog into the future, breaking out of decades of stagnation and declines. Africa must seize this opportunity quickly. If African countries cannot take advantage of the information revolution and surf this great wave of technological charge, they may be crushed by it. In that case, they are likely to be even more marginalized and economically stagnant in the future than they are today.

Developments in social, political, economic and culture is then inevitably based on the adoption and the use of new information and communication technologies. The idea, according to Oyero (2007:198) is that they (these technologies) will enable Africa to leap frog into the future of buoyancy and progress in every dimension.

Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) ClarifiedDeFleur and Davenport (1993) define Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) as “searching for information online in a variety of ways, analyzing public agency records and building customized databases”. It equally includes the use of new technologies to file-in stories. CAR goes beyond mere typing of new reports with computer systems or using computer software to design and edit news stories. CAR entails web searches, abilities to use e-mail attachments, navigating new groups, setting up of list serves, downloading of web files and analysis of databases. (Obe 2005).

Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) can be understood from two major angles.1. The use of on-line resources, like bulletin boards or the Interest, to get information. In this

category, CAR entails:a. How to use Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer (software for exploring the net),b. How to use a search engine,c. How to download a file or save a Web page.

2. Getting to compiling databases of bits of information from an agency that you have used to package diverse kinds of news stories needed.

The basic components of computer assisted reporting according to Davenport etal (cited in Obe (2005) includes commercial online databases, CD-ROMs, Electronic Bulletin Board, Electronic Morgue, In-House Topical Databases, Electronic Public records, and the Internet.


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New Technologies and the Challenges Facing the Developing WorldJust as I established n the introductory part of this paper, CAR is part of the new wave ICTs brought into the media practice in the global circles. This new wave has not spread copiously to Africa, going by its low level of adoption and use. Kayo, Asiedu and Feng (2003) expatiate further on the challenges below.

Lack of Basic InfrastructureIn the developing world, the internet has not delivered on its early promise, a weak telecommunications infrastructure including teledensty (telephone networks), fewer personal computer )PC) and Internet access, low band width, electricity and sometimes bad roads or access to the rural or access to the rural or remote areas are all constraints. While the number of computers connected to the Internet in Africa jumped to 36% from July 1998 to January 1999, it is predominantly urban elite Africans who were online. Internet connectivity in the developing world used to be between the “Haves and the Have Nots”. Meanwhile, more than 70% of Africa’s population and for that matter developing world is rural and access to telephones remains scarce. There used to be only about 14 million lines installed n the entire continent-fewer than the number of phone lines in an American city and almost all are in urban areas.

The main problem with an e-mail system for most of the developing world (and much of Africa) is the unreliability of electricity and telephone lines, which are often out of order for days on end. Even when they are working, power surges and poor telephone connections can dash attempts at communicating through telematics (a term denoting the convergence of computing, telecommunications and information). One hold-up in establishing e-mail in developing countries s their phone lines cannot handle rapid data transmission, calculated in bps (bits per second), which has made e-mail so affordable. While the norm n the First World is 56,000 bps, in some parts of the developing world, phones can handle just 28,000 bps. Telephone lines are very poor and connections are not stable. This means that even those who have access to the Internet must spend hours downloading material that would take only minutes for those n the developed world with the best access.

PolicyGovernments in the developing world seem not to be ready for the ICT revolution and were taking too long a time to recognize its importance. In some cases local political oppositions have rendered the promised benefits of technology elusive. Government policies can create unfavourable climate for Internet use, prevent organizations and individuals from investing in the ICTs especially in the rural areas. Many researchers, businesses, unemployed and the general citizens in the developing world cannot access the technology for various reasons. The government is not making it easily available. The telecoms regulating agencies and in some cases the only Interest service providers do not get along well with each other.

It’s not just a matter of resources. Most of the developing world has enough resources to provide access in the major cities and even most of the rural/remote areas where higher educational institutions, businesses and major research laboratories are located. But it takes time. That’s what makes them third world. The major difference between the first and the third world is the time it takes to transfer something from the realm of possibility to reality. There are examples of where new technologies have been introduced quickly to India – for instance, the green revolution and the installing of telephone lines to make long distance and international calls in small towns and villages throughout India.

Cost and QualityIn those areas where the infrastructure has been developed, the Internet may be perceived as an all-round good deal for businesses. But not every business and community has an opportunity to take advantage of the Internet. In addition, the infrastructure may simply not be developed in remote areas, making access at any cost impossible. The cost of hosting websites (e-services sites) is high for most governments and businesses.

The speed and quality of available networks will determine the type of applications that can be supported by the network and the higher the number of applications the more the number of citizens accessing the network. But with the type of connections like twisted par copper wire, coaxial cable or he dial up systems that are in place makes accessing slow and sometimes unreliable.


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The type of hardware of software used, n most cases old hardware and software are used in the developing countries. The size of the market, number of suppliers and different application of hardware are also a constraint on the developing world. The cost of personal computer (PC), software and hardware are way above and accessing Internet depends on the accessories, this limits the use of the Internet in the developing countries.

Capacity DevelopmentIn spite of the efforts by many businesses, strategic capacities are lacking. There may be a lack of adequate and sustainable structures and institutional procedures needed to get connected to a computer modem and telephone. In addition, certain skills, tools and information are required when using the Internet. In most developing countries, some of these capacities are scarce due to the weak financial base of most business organizations; this has hampered the development of the Interest especially in the area of developing and hosting e-commerce sites including that of e-employments. A low level of education among the citizens of the developing world is also a challenge to the use of the Internet in job search and posting.

Inconsistency of Telecommunications AccessThroughout the developing world, Internet service providers are in an investment phase, especially in remote areas. Some talk of an Internet showdown in developing countries. Some see the Internet as the central focus for all communication facilities including telephone, fax, data communication and online electronic commerce. But it s difficult to gauge just how ubiquitous this sort of service will be and when it might occur.

Traditional and CulturalThe fear of a new technology making an impact and also the fear of some institutions losing their revenues are also hampering the use of the Internet. For example the Radio and Television Stations and the Newspapers losing on advertisements on job posting or Postal Agencies losing on posting of applications by job seekers, even though their coverage are not wide and generally localized. Even when they have large coverage, sometimes the advert can go unnoticed or by the time it is noticed the dead line might have passed. The low educational level of the use of ICT or the Internet throughout the society is also a factor.

Adopting the New Technologies for the Benefits of the Developing World:Strategies and Way ForwardThe first and most fundamental strategy for Africa to benefit from these new technologies is to achieve economic empowerment. This is because producers of these technologies are profit-driven and as such, would do everything possible to maximize profits and by implication people in the developing world haveno options than to pay through their nose to be able to afford such.

As it is now, Africans have no option than to prepare themselves to adopt these technologies, as it has become an irreversible occurrence. The revolution has come to stay and has become a must for all. Just as the Microsoft founder Bill Gates puts it (in Baran 2003:358):

The revolution in communications is just beginning. It will take place over several decades and will be driven by new “applications” – new tools, often meeting currently unforeseen needs …. One of the remarkable aspects of these new communication technologies is that it will eliminate distance …. Because this highly mediated networks will be unconstrained by miles and kilometers … it will create ultimate markets which will be the world’s central department store. It will be where we social animals will sell, trade, invest, haggle, pick stuff up, argue, meet new people and hang out…

What is urgently needed for the developing world is to position themselves to meet up with this new world order. It is too late to back out (if there was such opportunity)

Kayo et al (2003) offer their own suggestions: The first step everywhere is to create awareness and understanding of the nature of the fundamental advances which are now possible in developing their practical implications and how they translate into operational terms for individual organizations, governments and the citizens. Every government, investor and donor agency needs to address the new


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generation of policy which these advances call for and the new public/private sector relationships they require. Initial utility programs can build on exiting colleges, universities or large private sector concerns that are already operating networks and open and distance learning techniques. In rural areas, they can build on existing programs, use the technology for narrow purposes. Utility programs can widen the uses of that same equipment and build on the local acceptance of the technology, which has already been achieved. The early focus should be on private sector usage to build up revenue; then the utility operators should reach out to surrounding rural communities.

Need for Base Infrastructure and FacilitiesThe government should try as much as possible to make readily available basic infrastructural facilities life electricity and communications facilities. The tariff and strict measures imposed on the ISP service provider, for example, should be reviewed. The potential for wireless technologies and satellites to extend telecommunications and Internet access across wide areas and into remote rural communities would supplement fixed wire telecommunications infrastructure that already exist to provide Internet access to the enormous e-citizens especially recruiters/employers and seekers of jobs. This in a way has reduced the total reliance on the old telephone lines.

There has been a great change in the telephone system in the developing world in the past decade and this has led to telephone-based e-mail system using a computer, a modem and ordinary telephone lines. This setup would allow transfer of all types of files – word – processing, spreadsheets and graphics files.

ConclusionThis paper has been able to reiterate that the adoption and use of the new technologies among the Nigerian print (communication) media is very low. As only few journalists are really adopting the use of the components of computer-assisted reporting which is one of the new technologies for the journalists, holds that very few journalists are really adopting these new technologies for financial and technical reasons.

The paper highlights other challenges facing the developing world in this light to include lack of basic infrastructure, poor governmental policy, traditions and cultures, inconsistency of telecommunications facilities and capacity development. The paper echoes the fact that since the developing world is generally poor, its people cannot afford to sue these new technologies. Besides, the paper argues that until the development, infusion of such technologies will not improve their lots let alone, develop them. While the paper is of the view that there is no option for back-out, what the developing world needs to do is to explore avenues for benefiting in this “forceful incursion”.

One of such is for governments of the developing countries to crave for economic independence by breaking the shackles of poverty that are bedeviling them. They should try as much as possible to make readily available basic infrastural facilities like electricity and communication facilities. The tariff and strict measures imposed on the ISP Internet service providers, for example, should be reviewed. Besides, all hands must be on board to champion the crusade for technological transformation.

ReferencesAgba, P.C. (2001). Electronic Reporting: Heart of the New Communication Age Nsukka: University of

Nigeria Press.Akinfeleye, R. (2003). Fourth Estate of the Realm of Fourth Estate of the Wreck: Imperatives of Social

Responsibility of the Press. An Inaugural Lecture, University of Lagos.American Interest User Survey (1997). Emerging technologies Research Group (online). Available:

http://etrg.finsvp.com/ internet/findf.html(1998,Jan.7).Baran. S.J. (2003). Mass communication theory: Foundations, Ferment and Finance Australia: Thomson

Wadsworth.CommerceNet and Nielsen Research. (1997). CommerceNet/Nelsen Internet Demographics Survey:

Executive Summary (online). Available: http://www.commerce.net/resources/work/pilot/ nielse96/exee95.html.


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Dominick, J.R. (2005). The Dynamics of Mass Communication: Media n the Digital Age, New York: McGraw Hill: Boston.

GVU’s Seventh WWW User Survey. (1997) Georgia Institute of Technology’s Graphic, Visualization and Usability Centre (online), Available: http://www.ee.gatech.edu/gvu/user surveys/survey (1997)

Hoffman, D.L., Kalsbeek, W.D. and Novak, J.P. (1996) Internet Use in the United States: 1995 Baseline Estimates and Preliminary Market Segments (online), Available: http://www.2000.ogsm. vanderbilt.edu/baseline/1995.internet.estimates.html.

Kayo, B., Asiedu, I. & Feng, S.L. (2003). “ICTs, Internet as a tool in the developing world, Challenges & the Way Forward”. In Pakstan Journal of Information Technologies. Asian Network for Scientific Information.

MeGarvey, J. (1996). Latest Net Survey: 9.5 million Active Suffers. Interactive Week, 9.Medoff, N.J. (1982). “Selective Exposure to Televised Comedy Programmes” in. Journals of Applied

Communication Research, 10 (2), 117 – 32.MIDS. (1995). Third MIDS Internet Demographic Survey. Matrix Information & Directory Services.

Austin. TX (online). Available: http://www3.mids.org/ids3/pr9510.html.O’Reilly Survey Sets D.S. Internet Size at 5.8 million. (1995). Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Publishing

(online). Available: http:// www.ora.com/research.Obe, J.O. (2005). “Online Journalism and the New Media: Implications for Man’s Social Development”.

A Text of a Paper before the International Conference on Human Development held at the Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.

Obe, J.O. (2008). “Adoption of Computer – Assisted journalism in Nigeria and its Implications on the Realization of the Millennium Development Goals”. In Mojaye E.M., Arkogba, E. and Oso, L. (eds.) Media Dialogue, Peace Building and Reconciliation: Conference Proceedings. Abraka: African Council for Communication Education.

Oyero, O.S. (2007), “The New Media Technologies: Prospects and Challenges for Development in Africa” in Mojaye, E.M.V. Salawu, A. and Oyewo, O.O. (eds.) Ebenezer Soola Conference on Communication: Proceedings Ibadan: Ebenezer Soola Conference on Communication.

Tandom, Y. (1998). Globalization: A Critical Introduction. London: Macmillan Press.Taylor, C. (1997, July 5). Net Use Adds To Decline n TV Use, Radio Stable. Billboard, 85.


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GLASS CHARACTERS IN J.D. SALINGER’S “A PERFECT DAY FOR BANANAFISH”: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL STUDY

HABIBI NESAMI MORTEZAEnglish Literature

Faculty of Modern Languages and CommunicationUniversiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

19-26 Vista Impiana, Bukit Serdang, Seri Kembangan,Section 10, Serdang, Malaysia

[email protected]

&

MONTASHERY IRAJEnglish Literature

Faculty of Modern Languages and CommunicationUniversiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

3-26 Vista Impiana, Bukit Serdang, Seri Kembangan,Section 10, Serdang, Malaysia

[email protected]

[email protected]

&

SHAHBAZI MOGHADAM MASOOMEHPolicy Studies

Perdana SchoolUniversiti Technology Malaysia (UTM)

15-13A Juta Mines, Balakong, Serdang, Malaysia0060173363802

[email protected]

AbstractRegarding the fact that Salinger’s stories are somehow character studies, study of these stories demands an appropriate approach to carry out the main purpose of the research that is the study of characters in the stories. As it is obvious from the title of the paper, Salinger’s characters in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” are analyzed according to different psychological theories. This analysis in the research would clarify the characteristics of a group of characters whom Salinger has paid special attention. This group contains characters with special features and personalities. In any community and society they are labeled as the others, abnormal or even insane. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this research is to emphasize Salinger’s optimistic consideration toward this group and also to eradicate the misconceptions mentioned before.

Keywords: Abnormal, psychological adjustment, isolation, neurotic characters, Seymour Glass

IntroductionThe phrase ‘perfect day’ in the title of J.D Salinger’s short story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” might keep any reader’s expectation of the concept of ‘perfectness’ at bay. Seymour, as a typical hero of what Salinger considers as innocent appears and dies because of the failure of confrontation with the hostile world; the world which is only tolerable for people who according to Salinger belongs to the phony world


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of adulthood. To unravel the actual characteristics of Salinger’s typical heroes, psychoanalysis can serve as a proper approach. This paper deals with three psychoanalytical concepts of sexuality, psychological adjustment and Neurosis in the two groups of characters. In one side there exists the minority group including the adults with special qualities which are not acceptable or considered as ‘normal’ and all children in contrast to the second group including the majority of people in the other side.

SexualityDespite the critics ‘strong belief in lack of sexuality in J.D Salinger’s works, Freudian psychoanalysis can pave the way to discover the traces of sexuality in unconscious form. In fact the roots of sexual urges in characters would be studied to discover how different are Salinger’s typical heroes in their sexual impulses in comparison with the majority group. According to Freud, any sexual satisfaction whose aim is out of reproduction is called sexual aberration and aberrant is the one who chooses different ways for sexual satisfaction in comparison with other people. He believed that aberration does not represent illness (Freud & Strachey, 2000, p. 28). There are different kinds of aberration: choosing sexually immature persons as sexual objects, sadism, masochism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, incest and homosexuality. Some of them are traced in Salinger’s fictional characters.

Children chosen as sexual objectFreud believed that children are sometimes chosen by adults as sexual objects. It is considered as a kind of aberration because it is not normal to have sexual relationship with children. Therefore those who have these abnormal relationships are called aberrant.(Freud, 2009, p. 18 Thee contributions to the Sexual Theory) It happens when someone who is cowardly or has become impotent adopts them as a substitute or when an urgent instinct (one which cannot allow of postponement) cannot at the moment get possession of any more appropriate object (Freud Three Essays on Sexuality 14).

In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” Salinger showed Seymour’s sexual inadequacy with his obsession with trees, his story of engorged bananafish trapped in banana hole, his paranoiac suspicion that a woman look critically at his bare feet, and his choice of the pistol as the suicide weapon (Gwynn & Blotner, 1958, p. 20)However, it should be stated that the word “inadequacy” does not necessarily mean impotency. Seymour chooses Sybil as a sexual object, but not for the purpose of sexual intercourse. In the sea he holds Sybil on the water and in response to the little girl’s request to take care of her, says: “I know my business. You just keep your eyes open for any bananafish. This is a perfect Day for Bananafish” (Salinger Nine Stories 16). Regardless of the bananafish as a phallic symbol, it is used by Simon to keep Sybil busy in the water so that his light physical contact lasts longer. He even kisses the little girl’s foot and called her ‘my love’ which shows his unconscious sexual attraction to the little girl.

Even Seymour arouses the feeling of jealousy in Sybil by complementing Sharon, Sybil’s friend. He compared Sybil with three and half-year-old Sharon who knew where she lived while Sybil did not.According to Morris in Human Zoo, banana and fish both like candle, tie, crutch, snake, carrot, tree, light house and tower are phallic symbols. Banana, because of its erect shape and fish because of both its shape (its flexibility) and its movement in water represent phallus (Morris, 1996, pp. 129-130). Hence, Seymour’s fantasy of bananafish represents being obsessed with sexuality in his unconscious. Seymour helplessly turned from his wife to a little girl because his wife who belongs to the phony world cannot satisfy his needs. It does not mean that she cannot satisfy him sexually, because as it appears, she likes Seymour. As Warren French stated:

From Muriel’s telephone conversation, we learn that she has waited through the war for Seymour, has waited again for his release from a military hospital, has allowed him to drive against her parent’s wishes and is willing to defend vigorously both herself and Seymour from her parent’s meddling (French, 1988, p. 81).

It means she cannot understand him and she is not completely concerned with Seymour kind of people who belongs to minorities. It should be, however, mentioned that Muriel can satisfy him sexually providing Seymour himself accepts her as a sexual partner. In the course of the story we come to the fact that Muriel is a woman who is sexually normal because at the very beginning of the story she was reading an article about sex in a magazine, wearing makeup and putting lacquer on her nails. Thus, it is Seymour himself who cannot communicate with Muriel and is not eager to be in bed with a woman belonging to the


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phony world of adults. Even their ‘made-up twin beds’ represent their sexual detachment. Obviously, he hates to have a sexual partner among the adults because he could choose another woman or mature girl among the people at the beach, not an immature child. However, the blame is not directed only at Seymour. Muriel is a “tower of coolly-self-controlled strength, as a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing. Such composure is actually quite a rare mark of tough-mindedness in a neurotic society that jumps when bells ring and horns honk” (French, 1988). Seymour and Muriel are not sexually mated and it is probably because of Seymour’s reluctance to be sexually in contact with his wife. Consequently according to Freud’s definition of aberration, Seymour is considered as an aberrant, but his unconscious tendency toward the little girl without any sexual intercourse can represent the innocence because his inner sexual desire had no harm for the his sexual object – Sybil.

Another kind of aberration is fetishism. In Fetishism when the sexual aim, whether normal or perverse, is entirely abandoned, a new substitute which bears some relation to it is found for that. According to Freud, some parts of the body such as foot (which is an old age sexual symbol in Mythology and hair replace the sexual object.(Freud & Strachey, 2000, pp. 19-21) Because Seymour could not have real sexual relation to the little girl, the unsuitable substitute for the sexual object as explained before was Sybil’s foot. Many times in the story Seymour puts his hands on the little girl’s ankle and finally kisses her wet and sandy foot. Even he is very sensitive about his own feet that warn the woman in the elevator not to see his feet. On the other hand fetishism in Sybil herself when she shows her interest in chewing candles.

Alienation and isolation of Salinger’s characters it is one of Salinger’s favorite themes in his stories. Therefore there is a need to analyze characters in order to discover the sources and to uncover the true self of the characters.

Psychological AdjustmentIn his “Civilization and its Discontents” Sigmund Freud states that being happy is very difficult and he specified three main origins for suffering: From our own body, from the outer world and finally from our relations with other people. Relatively he introduced the last one as more painful than any other (Freud & Strachey, 2005, p. 29).Freud believed that there should be some palliative remedies to lessen our pains and disappointments. He named some of these remedies: “powerful diversion of interest, which lead us to care little about our misery; substitutive gratifications, which lessen it; and intoxicating substances, which make us insensitive to it. Something of this kind is indispensable” (28). Moreover, Freud named some other means of alleviation as subdivisions of the main ones such as: scientific works, works of art, fantasy, isolation and loneliness and also love” (28).

Human beings have both physical and mental requirements. If these requirements and desires were not gratified, they would lose their composure and equilibrium. Therefore in order to keep his composure and balance in life, man must fulfill his wishes. In other words, life is a series of processes with which man’s composure would be disturbed and then regained. These processes which begin with some requirements and end with great effort to gratify them are called adjustment. Adjustment consists of the psychological processes by means of which the individual manages or copes with various pressures. Because human needs cannot be met easily, man has to change the course of his activities to adjust himself to the environment and gratify his desires. Sometimes he has to find new ways of adjustment even for his survival.

CompensationCompensation is the excessive insistence in doing whatever alleviates anxiety. This mechanism takes the place of the original aim. Alcoholism and smoking are two examples from many examples of compensation mechanism.

In Salinger’s stories a lot of characters are heavy-smokers or alcoholics. Their behavior shows the application of compensation mechanism. Alfred Adler considered drinking as compensation for inferiority complex. In order to compensate the lost object, another one replaces that. It can take the place of the former one. In other words when someone wants to be liked, he may compensate his desire by excessive drinking and overeating. (Hall, 1999, pp. 117-118)


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Like alcoholism, excess in smoking is a defense mechanism that is compensation. Of course they are not included in the category of psychopathic patients because even people in high rank positions and those who considered healthy in the society are chain-smokers. They smoke cigarette because they want to alleviate their anxiety. This behavior sometimes applied by very healthy people just for removing everyday tension and anxiety. They smoke, get drunk, overeat, get angry, chew their nails, fantasize, wear make up in front of the mirror and sometimes put their finger in their noses.

Taking a look at Salinger’s Nine Stories, a host of characters smoke cigarette and drink excessively. For instance in the first story of the collection, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” Muriel wears make up and smokes cigarettes and accepts the psychiatrist’s invitation to join them for a drink. So drinking and smoking are means of compensation mechanism to remove tension and anxiety in life and it is applied even by the psychiatrist in this story. It shows Muriel’s tension in life probably because of her husband. Even she cannot tolerate her talkative mother. Generally, it can be remarked that the chaotic situation after the World War and generally the anxiety caused by the turmoil the people have in their life in the twentieth century leads to addiction and in its mitigated form smoking cigarette.

Isolation is another kind of mechanism which can be traced more in Salinger’s. Isolation, Negativism and Fantasy are three important kinds of escape mechanism. In Salinger’s stories many characters adopt escape mechanism because they cannot adjust themselves to society and the reality of their life; but the remarkable point is that most of these characters are the protagonists of the stories and those who we call minorities or neurotics.

Isolation and AlienationIsolation is a kind mechanism which is used for adjustment and alleviating the anxiety. Isolation is adopted by the individual because it quickly leads to results. An isolated individual does not take part in any competition or any social activities. Therefore he never experiences failure and this is what an isolated likes. Isolation is a very important theme in Salinger’s stories. Most of his characters are isolated because of different reasons will further be discussed. There are a lot of causes for adopting isolation; but three more striking ones that are used in Salinger’s stories are Social pressure, Parental alienation and War.

Social PressureIn many of Salinger’s stories the protagonists are alienated from the outer world and people; just because the people around them cannot understand them. From the view point of Salinger’s hero, people in its particular meaning, adults are dishonest, hypocritical and a host of other notorious adjectives and Salinger himself called them “Phony”. So one of the useful mechanisms they can apply to their anxiety is isolation. A very remarkable instance of this kind of isolation and alienation is found in Seymour’s case in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.” He is so alienated from the adult world that even concealed his body from it as in the elevator scene. He was seriously irritated at the woman gazing at his feet. Somewhere else in the story he said to his wife that he does not want a lot of fools looking at his tattoo. Above all, his complete detachment form people (whom he calls fools) is evident from his choosing a child as a companion and also from his location on the beach. It is absolutely apparent from the description in the story that he laid down in a very far distance from the area reserved for guests of the hotel in an oblique run up the soft part of the beach (Salinger, 2008, p. 12). Also Salinger included the word “alone” in the description of Seymour’s return to the hotel from the beach. “He plodded alone through the soft, hot sand toward the hotel” (17).

Children Isolation and Parental Alienation (PA)Freud postulated that one of the primary wishes of early childhood is to be the centre of attention and love from parents (Thurschwell, 2009, p. 45), otherwise the child would feel a sense of loss in its life that leads to some harmful consequences.

According to Richard A. Gardner in The American Journal of Family Therapy Parental Alienation (P.A) results from the parents. Children may become alienated as a result of parental abandonment. Ongoing parental acrimony, especially when associated with physical violence, may cause children to become alienated (93-115). In some of Salinger’s stories, children are alienated from parents. Charlotte Alexander in her critical commentary of Nine Stories remarks that the theme of alienation of children from parents is suggested in the brief interchange between Sybil and her mother. They speak to one another, but there is


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no meaningful communication between them at all (30). Referring to the story, it can be inferred that Sybil is not fully the center of love and affection from her mother. Although Mrs. Carpenter cares to put sun-tan oil on Sybil, she seems indifferent to her emotional needs. Likely she cares about her child’s physical condition, not the emotional one. In the story, Mrs. Carpenter sends Sybil alone to the beach and she goes to the hotel in order to have a Martini with Mrs. Hubble “I’ll bring you the olive” (Salinger, 2008, p. 13).Therefore, it will be definite to expect Sybil to be alienated from parents and she can communicate with a member of adult family who himself is alienated from them and can communicate with children in their own manner. In fact Sybil substitutes Seymour for her parents (more likely his absent father) as the one who pay emotional attention to her.

FantasyAnother important mechanism for adjustment and removing the tensions is fantasy. In this mechanism the individual fantasizes about whatever he is abandoned from. Generally love, comfort and power are the most important concepts that man fantasizes in his lifetime. One of the remarkable fantasies in Salinger’s stories is Seymour Glass’s fantasy about the bananafish. In his fantasy he considered himself as a bananafish who gets banana fever and dies. In fact he wishes death for himself because he says: “it is a perfect day for bananfish” (p. 16). His perfect day is the same day and he commits suicide. So before his suicide, he fantasized it in his mind by telling the story of bananafish to Sybil.

Neurosis Not IllnessCarefully studying Salinger’s characters, one type of them is highlighted in his works. This character type which Salinger often choses as his heroes from, most of the time are alienated from the society and form the minority group of the society. Most of the time, they are called abnormal or antisocial. Moreover they are labeled as insane and ill. On the contrary, they are very thoughtful, orderly, sensitive and vulnerablepart of the society. In his stories, Salinger tried to make readers feel sympathy to this type of characters and as a member of this group he wanted to justify their behaviors by introducing the opposite party (phonies) and highlighting their behavior in contrast to the first type. In order to study these two types of characters, first of all it is useful to have the definition of the concepts of normality and abnormality. Also the definition of the term “Neurotic” and different kinds of that will be helpful to realize the difference between the two.

Normal and AbnormalWho is normal and who is called abnormal? Is abnormality the same as illness? Is violation from normality means being included in the category of mental ailments? Psychologists have not yet been able to reach an agreement about the fact; because it is quite a dependent concept; but most of the modern psychologists are in opposition to the traditional psychology. Today those groups of people, who formerly were considered abnormal, are not thought as abnormal anymore. In easy words, one is called abnormal who cannot adjust himself to different situations; and in confronting different situations, shows abnormal behaviors.

War Neurosis Seymour is a typical example of war neurotic. He is an isolated and alienated man. In addition he is very orderly and neat. On the beach when he wanted to go to the water, “he unrolled the towel he had used over his eyes, spread it out on the sand, and then laid the folded robe on top of it” (Salinger, 2008, p. 19). On the other hand, his communication with a little girl demonstrates his need for love. He likes to be liked; but not by everyone especially phony adults.

Negativism and pertinacity is another symptom of neurotics which can be found in Seymour’s character. In the elevator scene, his argument with the woman about staring his feet, his car accident with Muriel’s father’s car and his misbehavior to their Bermuda pictures and his objection toward people who look at his tattoos are examples of his pertinacity. In fact he protests to the malevolent world indirectly. His neurosis is so severe that leads to his suicide. In fact the ‘perfect day’ for him is the day when he ends all his sufferings by leaving this terrible world.

As other children in Salinger’s stories, Sybil is the center of attention. Most of the children in his stories are neurotic children. They are not ordinary children in every society. They are not that much childlike. They speak as if they are knowledgeable adults. They cannot easily communicate with adults even their parents. They find their friends if possible among the special kind of adults; those who lack the dreadful


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characteristics of other adults. The cause of neurosis in children is for the great part psychic factors. As demonstrated in the psychic factor for neurosis, parents and family relationship play indispensable role in making a child and consequently an adult neurotic.

Sybil reflects herself as a neurotic child. The ill relationship between Sybil and her mother probably is due to the poor relationship between her parents. As mentioned before, lack of one of parents can be a spark for neurosis in children. In this story absence of father in the story represents the probable problem between Sybil’s parents. Her mother is so indifferent to her that despite she cared about her skin, she did not pay attention to her question “did you see more glass?” .She lets her go to the beach alone. “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is such a short story that the little girl has not been characterized fully. In fact her mother’s short presence in the story and her father’s complete absence do not provide enough information about her family. So it can be easily inferred that she suffers from ill family relationship and she is an isolated little girl.

As mentioned before two types of characters are distinguishable in Salinger's stories. Previously they could not be classified as normal and abnormal because there is no definite definition of these terms. Therefore it is better to call the second group neurotic and the next group non-neurotic. The second type is not called healthy and normal because the first type is not ill or abnormal. It is noticeable that Salinger did not choose his characters and even heroes only from neurotics, rather he sometimes adopt the second type as his heroes to show the oppositions between the two. That is to say he wanted to arouse his readers' sympathy toward the neurotics and prove that they are not ill but they are prone to illness in the case of more pressure and more anxiety. On the other hand by introducing the second group as "phony," he tried to justify the hostility of his heroes toward these people that form the majority of the society. He shows the majority of the society as people with the same disorders but in different ways. Because when any immorality and vice become rampant in a society, it turns to a custom and its terrible effects are overlooked. Hence, Salinger tried to magnify these conformist characters –Those who consider themselves and their behavior normal moreover condemn and disdain the minority group or the neurotics abnormal, ill and insane. By comparing these two types of characters, it will be clear that they have some traits in common.

Neurotic people and those who think differently from the rest of the society should not be considered as abnormal and ill; because in their own community and among those who are exactly like them, they are considered as normal. Consequently if the number of these people (others) increases and becomes greater than the former (majority), they will be considered as normal and the other party as abnormal. As a matter of fact Salinger’s characters may be called ‘others’ because they are fewer in number than ‘non-others’.

ReferencesFrench, W. G. (1988). J.D. Salinger, revisited: Twayne Publishers.Freud, S. (2009). Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory: General Books LLC.Freud, S., & Strachey, J. (2000). Three essays on the theory of sexuality: Perseus Books.Freud, S., & Strachey, J. (2005). Civilization and its discontents: Norton.Gwynn, F. L., & Blotner, J. L. (1958). The fiction of J. D. Salinger: University of Pittsburgh Press.Hall, C. S. (1999). A Primer of Freudian Psychology: Meridian.Morris, D. (1996). The human zoo: a zoologist's classic study of the urban animal: Kodansha International.Salinger, J. D. (2008). Nine Stories: Paw Prints.Thurschwell, P. (2009). Sigmund Freud: Routledge.


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WOMEN, GENDER EQUALITY AND HEALTH IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

OKE, OLUBUKOLA A.Department of Behavioural Studies (Sociology Programme)

Redeemer’s University, Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria.


ABSTRACTThis paper reviews the interrelations between climate changes, environmental degradation and health in Nigeria from a gender perspective. Climate change poses a significant challenge to the achievement of sustainable development for Nigerian citizens, especially women, who will suffer disproportionately from its impacts. To date little has been done to mobilize and empower women and men in Nigeria to address global environmental challenges such as climate change. Although some estimates of the health effects of climate change have been undertaken, there is still no clear understanding of the potential social effects especially in developing countries. Unless it is effectively dealt with, climate change will have a dramatic impact on the environment and on economic and social development. Already putting at risk the lives, livelihoods, health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, climate change impacts the very existence of the poorest and most vulnerable who lack the financial, technical, human and institutional resources to adapt. In rural areas, specifically, environmental change has immediate and direct effects on the health and well-being of millions of households that depend on natural resources for their basic livelihoods. In terms of health, some potential climate change scenarios include: increased morbidity and mortality due to heat waves, floods, water scarcity and contamination. Given the changing climate, health hazards do not only affect women, their responsibilities as primary givers, and the health of their families’, it also impacts agricultural production and the general economy.

Keywords: Health hazards, environment, poverty, gender, development

INTRODUCTION“Climate change presents the most serious threat to development and could potentially reverse many of the gains that have been made.” (DFID 2007: 32)RationalePrinciple I of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that “Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature”. The goals of sustainable development cannot be achieved when there is a high prevalence of debilitating illnesses, and population health cannot be maintained without ecologically sustainable development. The issue of climate change is not new, neither is its take-up as a key development concern and its integration into pro-poor planning nor the integration of a gender-sensitive perspective in climate change research and responses. Sustainable development must be for all, men and women alike. Yet, women and men do not experience today's challenges in the same way, be they environmental degradation, threats to bio-diversity or violent conflicts.

This paper, seeks to make the most of available resources; drawing on existing publicly available literature in the field of gender and climate change, the paper outlines key linkages between climate change and gender inequality – focusing particularly on the health of women as it relates to the quest for sustainable development. It attempts to analyze, from a gender approach, how climate change may affect the achievement of the MDGs, seeking to identify gaps in the existing body of work on gender and the environment, which has focused primarily on women’s agricultural livelihoods, access to natural resources, or disaster risk reduction. The paper ends with recommendations regarding priority areas for future research and highlights some practical steps required to achieve more equitable, appropriate climate change policies and programmes.


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CLIMATE CHANGEClimate Change refers to changes in the climate over time, including regional or global temperature changes and the increased prevalence of extreme weather conditions. Resulting effects and evidence of climate change include melting glaciers and permafrost; elevated water levels in oceans; forest fires; fatal heat waves, prolonged droughts; water shortages; desertification; soil erosion; erratic rain fall; and severe cyclones, hurricanes and floods. [Copenhagen, 2009] According to the vast majority of scientists, climate change is the result of human activity - including the clearing of tropical forests for wood, rubber and other products and the copious burning of fossil fuels (i.e. oil, coal and natural gas) to drive cars, generate electricity, and operate homes and businesses. Released emissions from burning fossil fuels act like a blanket, trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere and altering weather patterns around the world (Maslin, 2008).

Climate Change is a global phenomenon, and is evident in Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of about 140 million impacting on the physical environment through their various activities within the area of 923.000 square kilometers. This coupled with variability in elements of climate such as rainfall and temperature exposes the country to the impact of climate change. Nigerian’s vulnerability is in two-ways; First the resulting impacts of climate change and second, the impact of response measures. This is because Nigeria’s economy is highly dependent on income generated from the production, processing, export and consumption of fossil fuels and associated energy-intensive products (Chikueze, 2009; Chizoba and Abiola-Oloke, 2007; Adejuwon, 2007).

The negative impacts of climate change such as temperature rise, erratic rainfall, sand storms, desertification, low agricultural yields, drying up of water bodies and flooding are real in the desert prone eleven front line states of Nigeria. Environmental degradation and the attendant desertification are major threats to the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the frontline States of Nigeria (Chizoba and Abiola-Oloke, 2009). This leads to increasing population pressure, intensive agricultural land use, overgrazing, bush burning, extraction of fuel wood and other biotic resources. Women and children are particularly the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Many factors contribute and compound the impacts of current climate variability in Nigeria and will have negative effects on the nation’s ability to cope with climate change. These include poverty, illiteracy and lack of skills, weak institutions, limited infrastructure, lack of technology and information, low levels of primary education and health care, poor access to resources, low management capabilities and armed conflicts. The overexploitation of land resources including forests, increases in population, desertification and land degradation pose additional threats (UNDP 2006; FAO, 2007).

The Stern Review (2007) pointed out that climate change would hinder growth and development across the developing world. In some areas this is already happening, with climate change undermining attempts to reduce poverty. It is because of climate change’s devastating effect on the world’s most marginalized groups that it is increasingly being considered as a human rights issue. Climate change threatens several universally recognised rights, including the rights to life, food, adequate housing, health, and water. The rights of women, children and minorities are central in the fight against climate change. Projected population displacement will create additional challenges in low and middle income countries to ensure sustained access for all to services including education, health and social support.

Health According to the widely recognized definition of health adopted by the WHO, health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The WHO concept of health "emphasizes the significance of the social welfare of populations and not merely the medicalization of disease" (Cook 1994, p. 5) and allows for the consideration of the complex set of cultural, economic, social, political, and environmental factors, as well as biological and genetic components, that influence the health and well-being of populations (Tsikata 1994). This broad definition acknowledges the role of human activities, social structures, and the environment in good health and creates the space to discuss the role of gender relations in health (Tsikata 1994).


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To achieve a state of "complete physical, mental, and social well-being," a number of prerequisites for health have been identified by various commentators. To begin with, adequate shelter, nourishing food, good hygienic practices, clean and abundant water, and fuel are clearly essential. Health and well-being also requires peace, freedom from violence, access to income-earning capacity and opportunities, access to educational resources, social justice, a stable ecosystem, and sustainable resources (Cook 1994; Timoteo and Llanos-Cuentas 1994).

Actions undertaken outside the health sector can have much greater health effects than actions within the health sector. Therefore, to improve and sustain health, broad-based, inter-sectoral, and multi-sectoral activities at a number of levels are required to develop truly effective and integrative programs and policies (Bradshaw, 2004).

GENDER, CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTHClimate change has significant impacts on human health. Global warming, rising sea levels and extreme weather events, alongside with increasing rainfalls in some regions and higher frequency and intensity of droughts in other parts of the world cause a multitude of effects on public health (Chan, 2007; Bridge, 2008; Bartlett, 2008; Bradshaw, 2004). These include the threats posed by coastal flooding, malnutrition and reduced drinking water availability, as well as the occurrence of heat stress and the spreading of water-borne and vector-borne diseases. Air-pollution related health effects like respiratory diseases are also increasing.

Gender DimensionClimate change is already affecting many Nigerian rural communities, and is bringing with it threats to the economy and health, as well as possible opportunities. The impact of climate change on the health of Nigerians will vary, depending on factors such as age, socio-economic status, lifestyle, culture, location and the capacity of the local health systems to adapt. It is likely that the most vulnerable will be those living close to the land in remote communities, who are already facing health related challenges (Chinweze, 2002).Rural Nigerian women in small, isolated communities, with fragile support systems, little infrastructure and marginal to non-existent public health systems, may be the most vulnerable (Gabriel, 2004; Adejuwon, 1994).

Women and men can be harmed in different ways. Because male and female bodies are differently vulnerable, the resulting needs for health services and health care can be gender-specific. For example, men and women differ in their response to extreme heat. Women would sweat less, have a higher metabolic rate and have thicker subcutaneous fat that prevents them from cooling themselves as efficiently as men. Women would be therefore less able to tolerate heat stress (WHO, 2003). Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns give disease vectors the possibility to increase. Children and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to diseases that thrive in such conditions such as diarrhoea and cholera. These physiological differences are increased and accompanied by social factors and gender-specific exposure patterns (UNDP, 2003; WHO, 2003; IPCC, 2007)

Millennium Development Goals, climate change and gender inequalityThe Table below shows how the effects of climate change has differentiated implications for women and men especially in with regards to health and how these have an impact on achieving the MDGs.Millennium Development Goals Effects of climate change Implications4. Reduce infant mortality

5. Improve maternal health

Climate change will harm health because it will heighten people’s vulnerability to diseases caused by poor nutrition, poor quality water, increase in vectors and more favourable conditions for spreading viruses associated with temperature and heat.

Due to women’s traditional role of taking care of family health, their workload will increase and so will their probability of catching infectious diseases.

Loss of medicinal plants used by women impedes their traditional capacity to treat ailments.

Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to water-borne


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diseases and malaria. Anaemia, as an effect of malaria, causes one-quarter of maternal mortality.The high index of mortality of mothers/women during disasters, causes an increase in infant mortality and more children to be orphaned.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

In less developed countries, the poorest households affected by HIV/AIDS have fewer resources to adapt to the effects of climate change. For example, it is harder for households headed by women and with family members suffering from AIDS to adopt new crop strategies or rear cattle.Increase in climate change related disasters has consequences that add to the risk of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Post-disaster increase in the number of girls getting married at an early age, school dropouts, sexual harassment, trafficking in women and prostitution with more risk of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Because families are separated and people are forced to crowd together, migration following climate change increases the risk of HIV/AIDS infection.

Sources: Aguilar, et.al., 2007, Dankelman et al., 2008, UNDP, 2003 and Oxfam, 2005.

Women and girls are generally expected to care for the sick, particularly in times of disaster and environmental stress (IUCN/WEDO 2007). This limits the time they have available for income generation which, when coupled with the rising medical costs associated with family illness, heightens levels of poverty. It also means they are less able to contribute to community-level decision-making processes on climate change or disaster risk reduction. The role as primary caregivers, responsible for the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of their families, can cause mental stress for women in the events of disasters. In addition, being faced with the burden of caring for dependents while being obliged to travel further for water or firewood makes women and girls prone to stress-related illnesses and exhaustion (Adejuwon, 2007; CIDA 2002).

Cultural restrictions on mobility of women and girls and their responsibilities as caregivers often hinder them to seek appropriate healthcare for themselves. Due to the reported correlation between women’s status in society and the probability of them getting access to public healthcare it can be assumed that in periods of increasing pressure on societies negative consequences on women’s health will aggravate (Chukuezi, 2009).

GENDER, CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT In “Our Common Future”, the World Commission on Environment and Development states that to have development that is sustainable is to "ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED 1987, p. 8). The correlation between health and sustainable development has often been overlooked because concepts of development have been traditionally associated with economic improvement. Development means more than economic growth alone. New models of development that invest in human potential and create enabling environments for the full use of human capabilities are needed. Development should focus directly on people and health as key variables and not be restricted to the increase of income and wealth.

Healthy human beings are central to sustainable development. Investments in health can translate into healthier men, women, and children and increased capacity to lead socially and economically productive lives. Children who are healthy grow and learn better and have an improved chance of developing the skills necessary for employment. Women's health is a critical component of sustainable development. Although most of the world's poor suffer from poor health and nutrition, women often suffer from higher rates of malnutrition and greater burdens of illness and disability than men. Assuring women's good health means that they will be better able to perform their essential roles both inside and outside the home.


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Gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right. Women are entitled to live in dignity and in freedom from want and from fear. Empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing developmentand reducing poverty. Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities and to improved prospects for the next generation. The importance of gender equality is underscored by its inclusion as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Gender equality is acknowledged as being a key to achieving the other seven goals. Gender must be understood as a conditioning factor of all aspects of social life: in the work force, in the family, in political and cultural relations, as well as in ways of relating with the environment (Aguilar et al., 2007).

The world is now realizing that ensuring people’s basic rights to cushion them from the effects of climate change – is equally pressing. The impacts of climate change on health and development cannot be met unless we take into account its human dimension, rather than solely its economic significance. A rights-based approach is the best way to do this. We will not see sustainable progress unless we fix failures in health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, education, employment and political position.

A human rights approach to climate change compels us to look at the people whose lives may be most adversely affected and to put in place a wider range of remedies, and to mobilize the international community to assist in this endeavor. Crucially, it insists on States' obligations under international law toprevent and address some of the direst consequences that climate change may wreck on basic human entitlements and fundamental rights. Several of these obligations are relevant to addressing specific vulnerabilities to climate change. These include the obligation to provide better housing, located away from hazardous zones; improved access to sanitation, safe drinking water and healthcare; access to adequate food; effective participation in planning and decision-making; accountability; as well as access to information and justice (IPCC, 2007; Stern, 2007).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONSClimate change is potentially the world’s greatest health threat. Government at all levels must champion health as a key driver of socioeconomic progress. Health is no longer a mere consumer of resources; it is also a producer of economic gains. In so doing, they elevate the status of the health sector.

Basic public health functions in relation to climate changeThe ten (10) essential functions of public health in relation to the risks posed by climate change, with examples, are as follow (Frumkin et al., 2008):

1. Monitor the population’s health status, to identify and resolve risks to health e.g. tracking of diseases and trends related to climate change.

2. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community. e.g. Assess contribution of climatic changes to outbreaks of water-, food-, and vector-borne infectious disease outbreaks.

3. Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues. e.g. Informing the public and policymakers about health impacts and risks of climate change

4. Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems. e.g. Form public health partnerships with industry, other professional groups, community organizations and others, to develop and implement solutions

5. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.6. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety. 7. Link people to needed personal health services and ensure provision of health care. e.g. Health-

care service provision following climate-related disasters.8. Ensure competent public and personal health care workforce change e.g. Training of health care

providers on health aspects of climate.9. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services. 10. Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems. e.g. Research on health

effects of climate change, including innovative techniques such as modeling, and research on optimal adaptation strategies.

Ensuring that these basic rights and entitlements are fulfilled may also help to prevent displacement or migration related to climate change. Mitigation and adaptation efforts should systematically and effectively address gender-specific impacts of climate change in the areas of, inter alia, food security, agriculture and


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fisheries; biodiversity; water; health; human rights; and peace and security. Government must integrate the health concerns, including those of the most vulnerable populations, into strategies, policies and programmes for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

The WHO Gender Strategy (2003) also recommends countries: To integrate gender into health policies To strengthen information systems by systematically collecting sex disaggregated data and

gender sensitive data To build capacity to perform gender analysis and address gender inequities in health To link gender with other socioeconomic determinants of health To promote gender balance in decision making process

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Leadership in Environment And Development (Lead) Training Programme, Yaba, Lagos. 7 June 2007.

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Aguilar, L., (2006), Climate Change and Disaster Mitigation: Gender Makes the Difference, World Conservation Union (IUCN)

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and Middle Income Countries’, International Institute for Environment and Develpment (IIED)Human Settlements Discussion Paper – Climate Change 2, UK: IIED, available from www.iied.org

Bridge (2008) Gender and Climate Change: Mapping the Linkages. A Scoping Study on Knowledge and gaps. [http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/DFID_Gender_Climate_Change.pdf

Canadian International Development Association (CIDA), (2002). Gender Equality and Climate Change: Why consider gender equality when taking action on climate change? Canada: CIDA,http://www.acdicida.gc.ca/INET/IMAGES.NSF/vLUImages/Climate%20change3/$file/ Gender- 2.pdf

Chan, M. (2007). “Climate Change and Health: Preparing for unprecedented challenges", Keynote statement at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA.http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2007/20071211_maryland/en/index.html?language

Chinweze C.U (2002) “The impact of an Oil Spill on Women Health in the Niger Delta Region: Mobil Oil Spill Case Study” Journal of Environmental Health, Vol 1(1), 2002.

Chizoba C. and Abiola-Oloke,G. (2009) Women Issues, Poverty and Social Challenge of Climate Change in the Nigerian Niger Delta Context. Paper presented at IHDP Open Meeting 2009, the 7th International Conference on the Human Dimension of Global Environmental Change, 26-30 April, 2009, UN Campus, Bonn, Germany.

Chukuezi, C.O., (2009) Gender and Renewable Energy in Rural Nigeria, International NGO Journal Vol. 4 (7), pp. 333-336

Climate Change. Global risk, challenges and decisions. Copenhagen, (2009). http://climatecongress.ku.dk/newsroom/congress_key_messages/ (accessed March 25, 2009).

Cook, R. (1994) Women's Health and Human Rights. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 62 pp.

Dankelman, I., Alam, K., Bashar Ahmed, W., Diagne Gueye, Y., Fatema, N., & Mensah-Kutin, R. (2008). Gender, Climate Change and Human Security Lessons from Bangladesh, Ghana and Senegal. WEDO, ABANTU for Development in Ghana, Action Aid Bangladesh and ENDA in Senegal.

Department for International Development (DFID), (2007). Gender Equality Action Plan, 2007-


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2009, UK: DFID, http://users.ox.ac.uk/~qehwemc/documents/DFID-Gender-equality-plan- 2007.pdfDFID, (2007), Gender Equality – At the Heart of Development, UK: DFID,http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/gender-equality.pdfFrumkin, H., et al., (2008). Climate change: the public health response. American Journal of Public

Health, 98: p. 435-445.Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), (2007). Gender and Food Security: Agriculture.

[http://www.fao.org/Gender/en/agri-e.htm] Gabriel, A.O.I (2004). “Women in the Niger Delta: Environmental Issues and Challenges in the Third

Millennium” The Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa. Vol 6(2).GenderCC Network, (2007). ‘Gender and Climate Change Network ‘, Women for Climate Justice Position

Paper’, presented at UNFCCC COP 13, Bali, Indonesia, December 2007Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), (2007). ‘Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and

Vulnerability’, IPCC Working Group II Report, Chapter 19, IPCC,http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-chapter19.pdfIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate change, (IPCC), 2007. Impacts, adaptation, and

vulnerability, Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Masika, R., (2002). Editorial, in, 'Gender, Development and Climate Change', (Masika, R. Ed.,Oxfam Gender and Development Journal, Volume 10 Issue 2 2002, UK: Oxfam,http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/downloads/FOG_Climate_15.pdfMaslin, M. (2008). Global warming, a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Oxford Commitee for Famine Relief (Oxfam), (2005). The Tsunami’s Impact on Women. Briefing Note.Stern N., (2007). The economics of climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Tsikata, D. (1994). Environmental degradation, gender and health in Ghana. In Wijeyaratne, P.; Jones

Arsenault, L.; Hatcher Roberts, J.; Kitts, J., ed., Gender, health, and sustainable development: proceedings of a workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya, 5-8 October 1993. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada. pp. 150-162.

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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2006). Gender and Water Alliance, Gender in Water Management: Resource Guide.

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STABLE DEMOCRACY AND AFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES

ABUBAKAR, SALISUDepartment of Accounting,

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Kaduna State, [email protected]@yahoo.co.uk

+2348033860665

AbstractThe 1990s was marked as the new era where stable democracy and accountable governments arrived in Africa. Despite these positive political developments, many African governments have been unable to improve their peoples’ standards of living. With democracy the level of poverty, ill health and lack of education opportunities are expected to drop and general standard of living to improve. Does democracy brings better economic changes to the African countries that embrace it? This study provides empirical findings on the impact of stable democracy on the economic development of selected African countries. The study uses ten years statistical panel data that indicate economic development. GDP per capita, life expectancy rate at birth, literacy rate, population below poverty line, and unemployment rate are used as surrogates of economic development. The data was analyzed using student regression technique in order to establish the significance of relationship. The findings from the study revealed that stable democracy, for at least the last decade, had no significant impact on the selected African countries’ economic development. The study recommends that the African countries should utilize the freedom achieved under the democratic governance in executing developmental projects that better the lives of the Africans. The leaders in Africa should view democracy as ‘service to the people’ not as ‘people to their service’. With a transparent democracy via the conduct of free and fair elections, African countries can enhance the rate at which democracy impact on the economic development of the African nations.

Keywords: Democracy, Economic development, African countries, stable democracy, Standard of living

IntroductionThe 1990s was marked as the new era where stable democracy and accountable governments arrived in Africa. Despite these positive political developments, many African governments have been unable to improve their peoples’ standards of living (Mafeje, 1995). With democracy the level of poverty, ill health and lack of education opportunities are expected to drop and general standard of living to improve (Halperin, Siegle and Weinstein, 2005). However, it is evident in most African countries that abject poverty and lack of basic healthcare facilities keep on deteriorating. At independence, Africa did not enjoy democracy for up to a decade when most of the newly independent African countries experienced a continuing and deepening crisis of democracy (World Views, 2005; Ake, 1991). This was signaled by a series of military coups in 1969 after visible signs of tension in the mid-sixties between civilian and military leaders in some African countries (Mafeje, 2002). The military generals then accused political leaders of corruption and economic mismanagement.

The concept of democracy and its relationship with economic development has been an area of debate (Rodrick, 1997). The debate has revolved around whether or not democracy promotes economic development or, conversely, whether or not economic development produces an environment that allows democracy to thrive and be sustained in the longer term (Matlosa, Elklit and Chiroro, 2007). According to Horacio (2006), the predominant focus now is more on democracy as a prerequisite for economic development. The statistical association between economic development and democracy is the cornerstone of the theories surrounding the study of democracy and economic development. These theories see a direct causal link between economic growth & development and democracy (Held, 2006; Madrick, 2000). Whereas the modernization theory was built on the premise that economic growth & development


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engenders a culture of democracy and provides the foundations for democratic political institutions; the Marxist/neo-Marxist theory advocates that democracy generates economic development. This study was therefore built on the conception of Marxist/neo-Marxist theory. In this vein, democracy was seen as a mechanism for the achievement of economic development.

Democracy has become widely recognized as prerequisites for sustainable economic development (Johnson 1982; White and Wade 1988). This is because it fosters transparency, accountability, the rule of law, respect for human rights, civic participation, and civic inclusiveness; all of which are necessary for securing economic productivity, equitable distribution and state legitimacy (The Ghana Center for Democratic Development, 2001). With stable democracy relatively achieved in Africa during the past two decades, can we statistically say that African countries are more developed economically now than during the time of tyrants and dictators? To what extent does stable democracy influences economic development in Africa? These are the basic questions that this study answered. The study also addressed the following null hypotheses:

H01: Stable democracy does not have significant impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of African countries. H02: Stable democracy does not have significant impact on life expectancy at birth in African countries. H03: Stable democracy does not have significant impact on literacy rate in Africa. H04: Stable democracy does not have significant impact on the African population below the poverty line. H05: Stable democracy does not have significant impact on unemployment rate in Africa.

Democracy and Economic DevelopmentThe last two decades have renewed hope about the birth of democracy in Africa (Adejumobi, 2000; Mazrui, 2002). Democracy is far more than just elections. It requires independent courts, non-party civil servants, robust institutions such as churches and universities; the rule of law and property rights; a free press; constitutional checks and balances; above all a culture of openness and tolerance, especially of minorities (Center for the Study of African Economies, 2009). In contemporary usage, the term democracy refers to a government chosen by the people, whether it is direct or representative. It is a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives (Murunga, 2011; Dahl, 2000). Ideally, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. It can also encompass social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination (Diamond and Leonardo, 2005; Birch, 1993).

Mazrui (2002) argued for the importance of distinguishing between democracy as a means and as a goal. He suggested that the most fundamental of the goals of democracy are probably four in number and they are: to make the rulers accountable and answerable for their actions and policies; to make the citizens effective participants in choosing those rulers and in regulating their actions; to make the society as open and the economy as transparent as possible; and to make the social order fundamentally just and equitable to the greatest number possible. On the other hand, he argued that for democracy to serve as a means to development, four fundamental ends must emanate from it. These ends are accountable rulers, actively participating citizens, open society and social justice. He concluded his studies by asserting that Africa’s three greatest needs are development, democracy and stability.

Many studies established a strong cross-country correlation between income and democracy, but they do not typically control for factors that simultaneously affect both variables. Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson, and Yared (2005) studied the relationship between income and democracy thereby controlling for such factors that simultaneously affect both variables by including country fixed effects. Through that approach, they found that the statistical association between income per capita and various measures of democracy were removed completely. In other words, their study found no causal effect of income on democracy. They concluded that the long-run evolution of income and democracy is related to historical factors, which could lead to the disappearance of the positive correlation between income and democracy.

Bratton and Mattes (2001) conducted a study on support of democracy in Africa and whether democracy support in Africa is intrinsic or instrumental. Their study was a comparative analysis of original survey


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data from Ghana, Zambia and South Africa, which was used to assess the attitudes of African citizens towards democracy. They found as much popular support for democracy in Africa as in other Third Wave regions but less satisfaction with the performance of elected governments. They concluded that the fact that Africans support democracy while being discontented with its achievements implies a measure of intrinsic support that supersedes instrumental considerations. This means that democracy in Africa is characterized by lack of government’s capacity at delivering economic goods to the citizens.

Theoretical FrameworkThe study of the relationship between democracy and economic development has given rise to two theoretical frameworks. They are the modernization theory and the Marxist/neo-Marxist theory. Modernization theory argues that democracy corresponds with the industrial phase of capitalist development, whereby capitalist development promotes features like structural differentiation, secularism, bureaucratization, urbanization, and individualism, all of which engender a new logic of power and ethics of governance, and of liberal democratic politics (Kurt, Raaflaub and Robert, 2007; Adejumobi, 2000). As for the Marxist and neo-Marxist conception, the economy was considered as the sub-structure of society, which determines the superstructure that includes the polity. The theory prioritizes the issues of economic underdevelopment and dependency as the prime political agenda for Third World countries to resolve (Kurt et al, 2007; Dahl, Shapiro and Cheibub, 2003; Adejumobi, 2000).

Documented records revealed that economic development began to appear in economic literature after the Second World War (Todaro and Smith, 2009). Emergence of economic development as major issue in the subject of economics was influenced mainly by the reconstruction of Europe after the war. According to Blakely and Leigh (2009), Cypher and Dietz (2008), and Hunt (1989), economic development encompasses a wide range of concerns including: an issue of more economic growth; involving the wise application of public policy that will increase a country’s competitiveness; a code phrase for industrial policy; sustainable development that harmonizes natural and social systems; a vehicle for increasing wages, benefits, basic education, and worker training; a way to strengthen inner city and rural economies in order to reduce poverty and inequality; and lastly it embodies the range of job creation programs in response to the decline of federal domestic assistance.

In the study of economic development, theories are plentiful and vary in basic, fundamental ways. They make different behavioral assumptions, use different concepts and categories, explain the development process differently, and suggest different policies (Mookherjee and Ray, 2001). The Economic Base Theory is one of economic development theories, which viewed economic development as equivalent to the rate of local economic growth measured in terms of changes in the local levels of output, income, or employment. The essential dynamic of the theory is the response of the basic sector to external demand for local exports, which, in turn, stimulates local growth. The theory's major strengths are its popularity as a basis for understanding economic development in North America; and its simplicity as a theory or tool for prediction (Malizia and Feser, 1999). Its major weakness is its in-adequacy as a theory for understanding economic development, especially in the long term. Economic base theory strongly supports attracting industry through recruitment and place marketing.

Another theory under economic development is called Staple Theory. This theory identifies industrial sectors as its basic categories. It defines economic development as sustained growth over the long term (Ray, 1998). The theory's major strengths are its historical relevance to North American economic development and its emphasis on understanding the region's economic history. Its major weakness is that it describes, more than explains, the development process (Hoff and Stiglitz, 1999). Sector Theory was developed as another theory under economic development. The theory uses three aggregate sectors as basic categories namely: the primary, secondary, and tertiary categories (Aghion and Bolton, 1997). The level of development depends on sectoral diversity, emphasizing a prominent tertiary sector, and labor productivity. Although Sector Theory is attractive because it can be applied and tested empirically, the primary, secondary, and tertiary categories are too crude to be useful in practice (Todaro and Smith, 2009). The overriding application is the need to attend to industries producing income-elastic commodities in order to achieve sustained growth.

Under the Classical Liberal theory, economic development is understood as economic growth and capital-formation. The key to economic growth under this theory was capital formation. This led to an emphasis


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on large-scale infrastructure projects and on foreign aid loans (Fields, 1981). Social Theories of economic development emphasized the importance of human capital in development. The key to economic growth include education, health, and fertility. They shifted concerns from the overall rate of economic growth to considerations of poverty, inequality, urbanization and other social ills (Ferreira, Leite and Ravallion, 2010).

Structural Theories of economic development emphasized the conditions unique to Third World countries. The key to economic growth was recognizing that the experience of Europe could be duplicated in the context of former colonies (Ray, 1998). The theory shifted concerns to "import substitution," high tariffs and government protectionism. The Neo-classical Theories of economic development emphasized the negative role often played in development. The key to economic growth is free markets. They shifted concerns from the role of government, which is often considerable in structural theories, to private investment and market efficiency. This set of theories is currently the most widely practiced (Mookherjee and Ray, 2001; Malizia and Feser, 1999). Other theories of economic development include growth pole theory, interregional theory, product-cycle theory, entrepreneurship theory, and flexible production theory.

In this study, the Classical Liberal and Social theories are adopted because they recognize and incorporate human capital into the definition and measurement of economic development. The study used Human Development Index (HDI) variables to measure the economic development of Nigeria viz-a-viz the country’s external debt. This is because since 1990, HDI is adopted especially by the UN agencies and other international bodies to measure both economic and human development. HDI has become very popular among development economists (Nagel, 2007).

MethodologyThis study employed a descriptive research approach. It is a cross-sectional study that examined the impact of stable democracy on the economic development of selected African countries. The study used secondary data on the surrogates of economic development. The surrogates of economic development used in the study are GDP per capita, life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, and population below poverty line. The data were collected from World Bank Statistics of African countries.

Study Population and Sample SizeThe population of this study comprised all the 53 African countries. For the purpose of drawing the sample size for the study, the 53 African countries were categorized into strata based on North, Central, East, Southern, West, and Island classification. The sample size was drawn scientifically using Israel (1992) sampling technique. The procedure in arriving at the sample size is provided in Appendix 2, which wasdetermined using Israel (1992) formula:

n = [ Ζα/2.σ ]² ε

Where: Ζα/2 = Critical value i.e. the positive Z value that is at the boundary for the area of Ζα/2

in the right tail of the standard normal curve; σ = Standard deviation of the population; ε = Marginal/Standard error; n = Computed sample size.Based on the computations in Appendix 2, twelve (12) African countries were selected representing 22.64% of the population. The African countries selected proportional to each stratum are Algeria, Benin, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

Model SpecificationThe study used ten years statistical secondary data on the identified proxies of economic development from 2000to 2009; and regression was used to find the extent to which stable democracy impacted on these economic development proxies. The independent variable used is Stable Democracy represented by ‘Combined Polity Score’ as computed by the United Nations and used to measure the stability of democracy of all countries. The regression equations formulated are:

GDPC1 = α1 + β1 SDEM + ε1 ----------------------------- (1)LEXB2 = α2 + β2 SDEM + ε2 ------------------- (2)


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LITR3 = α3 + β3 SDEM + ε3 ------------------- (3)PBPV4 = α4 + β4 SDEM + ε4 ------------------- (4)UNEM5 = α5 + β5 SDEM + ε5 ---------------------------- (5)

Where: GDPC = Gross Domestic Product Per Capita LEXP = Life Expectancy at Birth LITR = Literacy Rate PBPV = Population Below Poverty Line UNEM = Unemployment Rate SDEM = Stable Democracy

α = The interceptβ = Beta coefficient of the independent variable.ε = Standard Error of the Estimate

Each of the five equations were formulated based on the study null hypotheses and were tested using the regression technique.

Results and DiscussionsTable 1 below is generated from the information contained in Appendix 1 via the use of SPSS.Table 1: Statistical Results on the Dependent Variables

Statistical VariablesDependent Variables

GDPC LEXP LITR PBPV UNEMR 0.178 0.035 0.169 0.170 0.000R Square 0.032 0.001 0.028 0.029 0.000Adjusted R Square 0.023 -0.007 0.020 0.021 -0.008α 3116.217 51.554 59.386 48.103 22.867β 0.178 0.035 0.169 -0.170 0.000ε 3966.113 11.022 16.659 23.423 16.819F Statistics 3.855 0.147 3.461 3.524 0.000t values 1.963 0.384 1.860 -1.877 -0.003Significance 0.052*** 0.702 0.065*** 0.063*** 0.998

Source: Computational Results using SPSSNote: *** indicate significance at 10%.GDPC = Gross Domestic Product per capitaLEXP = Life expectancy at birthLITR = Literacy ratePBPV = Population below poverty lineUNEM = Unemployment rate

The statistical results in Table 1 above indicate that GDPC, LEXP, LITR, and PBPV has an insignificant positive correlation with the independent variable stable democracy (SDEM) since the R, in all cases, are less than rule of thumb of 0.875. Only UNEM has neither positive nor negative correlation with the SDEM, which means the absence of any correlation. The adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) of GDPC, LEXP, LITR, and PBPV maintain the same pattern. The R2 of the GDPC, LEXP, LITR and PBPV were computed as 0.032, 0.001, 0.028, and 0.029 respectively, which indicate that only 3.2%, 1%, 2.8%, and 2.9% of the variations in the GDPC, LEXP, LITR, and PBPV of African countries are explained by SDEM. Additionally, the adjusted R square values combination of positive and negative values, indicating that there are other variables that significantly explain the variations in the GDPC, LEXP, LITR, PBPV, and UNEM of African countries other than SDEM.

The beta coefficients of 0.178, 0.035, and 0.169 for GDPC, LEXP, and LITR indicate a positive relationship between the GDPC, LEXP, and LITR, on one hand, and SDEM, on the other hand. This means that as more stable democracy is achieved in Africa, the GDP per capita, life expectancy at birth, and literacy rate of the African countries will increase; but only to the extent of 17.8%, 3.5%, and 16.95 respectively. As for the PBPV and UNEM, the beta of -0.170 and 0.000 respectively indicate that PBPV is negatively related to SDEM while no relationship exists between UNEM and SDEM. So, when stable democracy is achieved by African countries, the population of African below poverty line will reduce by 17%.


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The t – values of 1.963, 0.384, 1.860, -1.877, and -0.003 for GDPC, LEXP, LITR, PBPV, and UNEM respectively; are consistently lower than the table critical t-value of 12.706 at 5% level of significance (i.e. t<t0.05). The t significance values GDPC, LEXP, LITR, PBPV, and UNEM indicate that there is no significant relationship between the five variables and the SDEM at 5% level of significance. This is because the 5.2%, 70.2%, 6.5%, 6.3%, and 99.8% values of the five dependent variables are greater than 5% in each case. Though the F statistics gives positive values of 3.855, 0.147, 3.461, 3.524, and 0.000 for GDPC, LEXP, LITR, PBPV, and UNEM respectively, the values indicate insignificant or no relationship.

The regression equations as stated earlier in this study are restated below substituting the computed beta values of the variables:GDPC1 = 3116.217 + 0.178 SDEM + 3966.113 ------------------- (6)LEXB2 = 51.554 + 0.035 SDEM + 11.022 ------------------- (7)LITR3 = 59.386 + 0.169 SDEM + 16.659 ------------------- (8)PBPV4 = 48.103 - 0.170 SDEM + 23.423 ------------------- (9)UNEM5 = 22.867 + 0.000 SDEM + 16.819 ------------------ (10)

From equations (7) to (8), SDEM has positive beta coefficients and can influence a positive change in the GDPC, LEXP, and LITR whenever there is an increment in the ‘combined polity score’ for African countries; while in equation (9), SDEM has a negative effect on the PBPV. But in equation (10), SDEM has no relationship with UNEM. These findings revealed that whenever there is a unit increment in the SDEM, the GDPC, LEXP, and LITR will increase by 17.8%, 3.5%, and 16.9% respectively; PBPV will decrease by 17%; and UNEM will stay the same.

These results, however, provide evidence that the regression model is well fitted and that stable democracy has no significant impact on economic development of African countries. The inference here is that for stability of democracy in African countries in isolation will not bring about economic development in the region. Therefore, this study has no sufficient evidence to reject the five null hypotheses formulated. Whereas the study established insignificant impact of SDEM on GDPC, LEXP, LITR and PBPV; but no relationship was found to exist between SDEM and UNEM.

Conclusion and RecommendationsThis study was able to establish and explain the impact of stable democratic governance on economic development in Africa based on the proxies of the economic development. The findings from the study revealed that stable democracy alone has no significant impact on economic development in Africa during the ten-year period covered. Some of the proxies of economic development in Africa like GDP per capita, life expectancy rate at birth, literacy rate, and proportion of the populace below the poverty line were found to improve insignificantly with stable democracy. However, the study found that unemployment rate among African countries will not alter at all simply because a stable democracy in place in Africa. The negative relationship between the stable democracy and population of Africans below poverty line is explained as a positive impact. This is because a reduction in the population below poverty line means achieving some level of positive economic development. The study, therefore, inferred that stability of democracy in Africa has made an insignificant positive contribution to the economic development of the African countries during the period covered by this study.

From the findings and conclusion of the study, it is recommended that the African countries should utilize the freedom achieved under the democratic governance in executing developmental projects that better the lives of the Africans. The leaders in Africa should view democracy as ‘service to the people’ not as ‘people to their service’. With a transparent democracy via the conduct of free and fair elections, African countries can enhance the rate at which democracy impact on the economic development of the African nations. The concept of true and fair elections should not be interfered or hampered with by the people in power. By and large, full democracy is the best form of governance to be embraced by all African countries and it is high time that disruptions to the system are avoided so that stable economic development would be sustained.


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APPENDIX 1GDPCModel Summary

R R SquareAdjusted R

SquareStd. Error of the

Estimate.178 .032 .023 3966.113

The independent variable is SDEM.

ANOVA

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.Regression 60639453.360 1 60639453.360 3.855 .052Residual 1856146249.765 118 15730052.964Total 1916785703.125 119


CoefficientsUnstandardized

CoefficientsStandardized Coefficients

t Sig.B Std. Error BetaSDEM 161.297 82.151 .178 1.963 .052(Constant) 3116.217 491.249 6.343 .000

LEXPModel Summary



Estimate.035 .001 -.007 11.022


ANOVASum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Regression 17.909 1 17.909 .147 .702Residual 14335.070 118 121.484Total 14352.979 119



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t Sig.B Std. Error BetaSDEM .088 .228 .035 .384 .702(Constant) 51.554 1.365 37.763 .000

LITRModel Summary



Estimate.169 .028 .020 16.659







t Sig.B Std. Error BetaSDEM .642 .345 .169 1.860 .065(Constant) 59.386 2.063 28.781 .000

PBPVModel Summary



Estimate.170 .029 .021 23.423






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t Sig.B Std. Error BetaSDEM -.911 .485 -.170 -1.877 .063(Constant) 48.103 2.901 16.581 .000

UNEMModel Summary



Estimate.000 .000 -.008 16.819



Regression .002 1 .002 .000 .998Residual 33379.881 118 282.880Total 33379.883 119




t Sig.B Std. Error BetaSDEM -.001 .348 .000 -.003 .998(Constant) 22.867 2.083 10.977 .000

APPENDIX 2Classification of African Countries for Sample Size Determination

S/No. Strata No. of Countries (x)

( ¯x – x) ( ¯x – x)2

1 North African Countries 6 2.83 8.00892 East African Countries 11 -2.17 4.70893 West African Countries 17 -8.17 66.74894 Southern African Countries 6 2.83 8.00895 Central African Countries 7 1.83 3.34896 Island Countries in Africa 6 2.83 8.0089Total 53 98.8334

Source: Personal Computations, 2011i) Step I - Compute the Standard Deviation (σ):Note: ¯x = ∑ x /N

= 53/6= 8.83

σ = √98.8334/53= 1.37

Step II – Compute the marginal/standard error (ε):


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ε = σ/√∑x= 1.37/√53= 1.37/7.28= 0.19

Step III – Find the critical value of the Z value at 95% confidence level (i.e. 1.96, which gives a table value of 0.4750) and apply the formula:

n = [ 0.4750 × 1.37 ]² 0.19

= 11.73Therefore, 12 African countries make up the sample size.


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DEMOCRACY AND INTERNAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA: AN EXAMPLE OF 2011 POST ELECTION VIOLENCE

DAHIRU, UMARDepartment of Local Government & Development Studies,

Ahmadu Bello University, ZariaKaduna State, [email protected]

+2348026368460, +2348198351954

AbstractThe history of Independent Nigeria is marred by uncountable political and socioeconomic mishaps and upheavals of varying intensities and consequences. This is regardless of the enormous endowments that the country is blessed with, which if utilized effectively, the country could have attained a very enviable height in terms of development, among the comity of nations. Unfortunately, this is not achieved due to lack of good governance. After decades of political turmoil, Nigeria returned to democratic dispensation in 1999, with high and greater expectations by the citizens. But this glory is fading gradually due to spate of political, economic, communal, etc problems, which shake the root of the acclaimed democracy from its roots, to the extent that Nigerians do not feel very safe in places that they did not originate therefrom. Temporary migration is noticed within the country whenever a major election is about taking place, people run to safety; an example of the April 2011 post election violence. I argued that apparent irregularities in the conduct of the elections and poor governance are the causative agents of such dismissal happenings; and genuine democracy and good governance is the only solution.

Keywords: Democracy, Elections, Internal Security, Violence and Governance.

IntroductionSince the return of the Nigerian state to democratic rule in 1999, the country witnesses persistently uncountable security threats unprecedentedly, as against the initial euphoria and expectation of the citizens that under a democratic rule, their lots will be significantly bettered. Mijah, (2009:30) submitted thus:

Among the generality of the people of Nigeria, the transition was a welcome development, not only because it signaled the eventual termination of … military rule, but more so because it was perceived as the dawn of an era of great optimism and realization of … a good life.

Contrarily, ethnic, religious and sectarian crises prevail in the country in a persistent manner. Organized crime; such as armed robbery, assassinations and insurgencies rock Nigerians with great violence, Niger Delta and Boko Haram insurgencies are good examples. This dismal scenario is also observed by Elaigwu (2005:57-76) that: … since the return to civil rule in 1999, Nigeria is said to have witnessed over 90 violent ethno-religious, communal and political conflicts of varying intensities and magnitude. Mohammed added that there is a palpable feeling of great insecurity … due in large parts, to rising crime rates and the increasing constriction of space for effective popular participation. Mohammed,(2005:18-19).

The recently concluded presidential election of April, 2011, which saw President Goodluck as the winner of the race and which is revered by some; including the internal bodies as the greatest of all elections in Nigeria, threw the country into another version of socio-political turmoil. In northern part of the country in states like Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Sokoto etc., chaos broke out and people took the laws into their hands, consequent upon which so many lives and properties were destroyed, thousands of people were displaced, an example of of the violence in Southern Zaria in Kaduna state. This resulted in the imposition of curfew and invitation of the military, in order to bring back normalcy in these places; unfortunately, both the curfew and the military interference, are direct abnegation to the core principles of democracy and an indication of the failure of the policing agencies and the acclaimed democratic rule in the country.


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Democracy which is purportedly supposed to engender national unity and cohesion in the country paradoxically generates tension and national disunity. Impliedly, something is fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian democracy as alluded by the former President; Obasanjo that;

While we have managed to work with available instruments and institutions…some imperfections in the system and the constrained legitimacy of the instruments have culminated in seeming alienation of some constituencies. These…had led to…political manipulation…poor leadership, corruption and the inability of the state to meet the basic needs of the people (Emphasis added).

We are therefore compelled to ask some pertinent questions; such as: Is the persistent erosion of insecurity in Nigeria the result of highly defective democracy practiced in the country? Can the police and other security agencies in the country be capable of preventing the reoccurrence of such violence in the country? If uncorrected would democratic elections continue to be source of fear and animosity in Nigeria? Attempt is made to provide answers to these questions in the subsequent sections of this work.

Conceptual DiscourseRight from the olden days, democracy symbolizes a form of government whereby the power to govern lies with the people, who exercise such powers directly in a village assembly or forum. The rulers are accountable to the people for what they do therein. On classical doctrine of democracy, Joseph Schumpeter holds that:

… Men have natural rights to participate equally in political power, just as they have a natural right to be free from enslavement or to appeal on equal terms to judicial tribunals for protection of their lives and property against assault, trespass or encroachment of any kind. What is known as democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions which realizes the common good by making the people itself decide issues through the election of individuals who are to assemble in order to carry out its will… Schumpeter J. in Johari (2007:504).

In the contemporary period democracy remains the most widely acclaimed form of government, because of the freedom and participatory elements in it. Democracy is seen as a form of government whereby the citizens rule their country through a body of elected representatives, who hold unto power for a specified period of time. Heater argues that:

There are … five basic elements without which no community can call itself truly democratic. These elements are equality, sovereignty of the people, respect for human life, the rule of law and liberty of the individual. Heater (1964:117).

These elements reflects, free and fair election ‘one man one vote’ regardless of ethnicity, greed and so on, and the notion of sovereignty means that the power lies with masses who decide what take place during and after elections. Heater submits further that: respect for dignity and worth of human mind and body, is a basic ingredient for democrat … government being based on impersonal law, rather than … the whims of men. In other words rule of law should prevail.

Liberal democracy in contemporary period comprises of certain basic elements as espoused by Held, thus: This cluster includes elected government; free and fair elections in which every citizen’s vote has an equal weight, a suffrage which embraces all citizens irrespective of distinctions of … class, sex and so on … Held (1993:16).

Internal security on the other hand, can be best understood within the framework of this work, when the predicate; security, which according to Lippman (1987:143) “a nation is secure to the extent that it is not in a position to lose core values, life, property and liberty, and if it wishes, to deter aggression or win war when avoidable: Shinkaiye (2004:2) also, sees security as “the protection of a nation from all types of external (and internal) aggression, espionage, hostile reconnaissance, sabotage, subversion, annoyance and other inimical influence.


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This view of security is from the classical perspective which sees security as the employment of the military by the nation-states in order to protect and preserve, a nation’s interest and interest from a probable or real threat/ aggression. Contemporarily, concepts like positive peace makes national security to have a wider perception, now it includes economic strength, internal cohesion, technological ability, good governance; national cohesion and strong nationalism are considered as parts of national security. Thus, securing the lives and property of the citizenry and freeing them from fear and anxiety, in such a way that they pursue their lawful activities without hindrances, is what security of national level implies. Imobighe in Mbachu and Eze (2009:33) submits that internal security means:

Freedom from or the absence of those tendencies which could attenuate internal cohesion and the corporate existence of the nation audits ability to maintain its vital institutions for the promotion of its core values … as well as meet the legitimate aspirations of the people … internal security also implies freedom from danger to life and property and the presence of a conducive atmosphere for the people to pursue their legitimate interests within the society.

Ability or failure of a given state to effectively meet those basic legitimate aspirations of its populace has a direct bearing on its internal security, in terms of making or undoing a democracy. It flows from all the above that, security institutions and hardware would be mere gadgets and ineffective in ensuring internal peace and security if the human and development elements are not well catered for.

Democracy and Internal Security in Nigeria: A Contextual AnalysisAn authority in the field of politics, by name David Easton, sees politics as an authoritative allocation of values in the society. Flowing from this we may deduce that without politics, society will become highly chaotic, because of the unregulated struggle that men will engage themselves in attempt to get their share out of the very scarce societal values. But with politics, particularly under the aegis of democracy, the assumptions is that man is moral and rational animal more particular because of the existence of laws designed to curtail the excess of man.

Liberal democracy has four main principles three of which as pointed out by Fansworth in Mbachu (2006:86), are:

(i)…a belief in the individual, based on the idea that the individual is both moral and rational (ii) a belief in reason and progress based on the belief that growth and development are natural conditions of makind with politics and art of compromise (iii) a consensus theory of society based on the belief that society is a kind of mutual benefit association based on the desire for order and cooperation, rather than disorder and conflict.

This depicts the ideal where things go on in an organized manner and where the state is functional and discharging its functions for the good of its people, dutifully. This is the main thrust of the liberal political theory, that the state exists to promote the welfare of the citizenry and to protect their lives and property. If the above is achieved, state would definitely enjoy loyalty and support and high level of patriotism from the citizens, this is based on the scientific principle of reciprocal nature of relationship. It flows that where the state has apparently fall short of ensuring the welfare and security of lives and property of its people like the case of Nigerian state, legitimacy and relevance will be drastically eroded, and the state will fall back on brutality to assert its authority. Under such tighten situations; the masses are triggered in violent unrest by the slightest provocations of economic, political etc., dimensions. Realistically, what makes the people to become highly volatile is the existing tension originating from economic crunch which looms large in the horizon and reduces their living standard to zero level. This is what generates the heat that translated into a full blown crisis in many parts of northern Nigeria, during the April 2011 Presidential Polls, the people are actually tightened thus opted for a change which will assumable turn around things for the better; due to instable political order which in Nigeria despite the 50 years of the country’s independence, Nigeria is unable to bound itself as an entity for economic and political development; and still exhibits negative attributes, some of which are captured below:- Highly centralized system of governance- The rule of man as against rule of law- Pervasive corruption among state officials


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- Limited participation in governance by the majority of the citizens- Preferential access to power and resources … determined by religious, ethnic, or

geographical consideration - Gross insensitivity of top government officials to the yearnings and aspirations of the

teeming poor masses.- Poor articulation and weak pursuance of purposeful economic ventures that will

guarantee steady development and growth; ibid (2009:90)

These negative traits undermine democracy and internal security in the country, they further aggravate the divides along primordial lines, as noticed right from the second republic, when the country fell into the dungeon of economic crisis due to the failure in the process of oil in the international market and the neglect of the agricultural sector, as a result of which the state imposed some economic measures. The crisis of state and economy in Nigeria, dating back to the early 1980s and the consequent structural adjustment it engendered revealed the potent threat to domestic security inherent in its structural imbalance ibid (2006:56). Economy is the determinant of the political, social, etc. configurations of any society, if the economy is buoyant and inclusionary, the entire societal values will be positive and developmental and reverse is the case when inequity and exclusion form the basis for resource distribution as obtains in Nigeria – this is what is called as Economic Determinism in the Marxian parlance. Economic crises have multiple impacts on the state; it makes the scramble for resources among the elites to be intensified and ravenous, because of the shrinkage of the economic frontiers – the scene of their prebendal character …. Thus, factions of the state elites get excluded from the largesse of the state they began to fall back on their ethnic/religious constituencies and to manipulate such sentiments in the struggle for state resource … Ibid (2009:39).

Since the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999, neoliberal reforms began to take effect in form of privatization, liberalization, de-subsidization and so on, this acts divest Nigerians of a lot of welfare packages and it engenders job-losses and differential distribution of resources between regions, ethnic nationalities etc, Soludo (2006:49) argues that: the programme of economic reform in Nigeria is exclusionary and de-participatory … the so-called attempt at the democratization of the economy by the Nigerian state can be said to have constricted the room for participation … of the mass majority of Nigerians. Consequently, numerous threats to the country’s internal security become pervasive and persistently destructive to the core values of the country, example of the Niger-Delta crisis, Boko Haram uprising and of recent the April 2011, elections violence, among others and the negative output. This is the Nigerian state under democratic rule which is defective in all ramifications, such as open election rigging and manipulation of results, excessive use of money and thugs lack of concern on anything developmental but the interest of prebendal clique and so on. As noted succinctly by Mijah (2009:42), the … failure of democratic governance and the growing insecurity it engenders, elicited violent forms of reactions that threatens internal security and the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria …

MethodologyThe scope of this study is the entire country, but the target population are drawn from the northern part of the country who partook/witnessed the events (the election and violence) surrounding the April 16th 2011, presidential election. Zaria town is the location of data gathering by way of (In-Dept Interviews) held with 22 respondents purposively selected among the electors, party stalwarts, INEC staff, Corp-members, victims and witnesses to the violence. The researcher’s direct/systematic observation is equally employed. Secondary sources, articles and news magazines were utilized. Data analysis in this study was qualitatively done.

Data analysis and InterpretationThis sub-section is divided into two parts: preparation and the conduct of the election and; the post-election violence and the aftermath.

Preparation and the conduct of the ElectionThe appointment of an academic of great repute in person of Prof. Attahiru Jega on June 30th, 2010 was the starting point of the preparation for the 2011 General Elections. The Chairman delved immediately into action and came out a provisional elections schedule in October 2010, which slated the election to take place in January, 2011, before the rescheduling of the elections time table. He also presented an enormous


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bill of N87 million (later jacked-up to N100 million) which the government consented. The 2010 Electoral Act and the Constitution were equally amended twice to capture the shifts in the elections time table. Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines were procured for voter’s registration, though not without so many disappointments. Corp Members formed the bulwark of the adhoc staff who received training for the entire electioneering process.

This intimidating preparation raised the expectations of the Nigerians to the highest level and reinvigorated the lost trust and confidence of the electorates on INEC’s capability to conduct a free and fair election in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, these machines turned out to be great disappointments to the electors who came out in large number to register. 15 of the respondents interviewed lamented about the difficulties they encountered during the registration exercise, and they attributed their difficulties to the ineffectiveness of the operators of the machines and as well the dysfunctionability of the machines these, are the main issues: (i) Lack of electricity to power machines and charge the back-up batteries (ii) slow function of the machine (iii) Insufficient working material, like cartridge, lamination materials etc. at the polling booths where I registered, some good Nigerians had to volunteer for the replacement of cartridges for the exercise to continue, it took over me three days to get my own voter’s card. These and other numerous failures at the preparation stage, pointed to the fact that INEC as usual cannot stop electoral malpractice, right from the on-set. This perception is supported by a submission by TELL Magazines of 7th March, 2011, as paraphrased by Seidu (2011:970): For example it provided evidence that many DDC machines were being redirected by politicians in collaboration with INEC officials from inaccessible centres to facilitate multiple registration, buying of registration cards… The sharp practices were carried-out because the politicians know that voting will not be done electronically, and that the DDCs are not networked to detect multiple registrations.

Coming to the Election proper, the electors began to lose hope in the credibility of the election, when the exercise get halted half-way on the day of the first election according to the first schedule, this frustrated many voters, to the extent community/religious leaders in the country had to go on air to appeal to the electorates not to despair, but try to vote when next it is available.

Our interviewees told us that in the conduct of the election, the high expectation it received from Nigerians did not come to be true, as the usual obstacles and challenges known in the previous elections, also surfaced, even more forcefully in some places. These problems were: late arrival of voting materials and late commencement of the exercise among others.

But on the general note, the presidential election in Zaria, from my Direct Observation, was conducted smoothly; the electorates endured the drudgery and organized themselves, so that their popular and highly reputable candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari can have their votes. Noteworthy, here is that large number of electors in the north and the country as a whole, which had lost their confidence in the entire system and had thus stopped participating in such exercise, participated during the 2011 presidential election. This is however, due to derive for change that permeated the country, because the citizens wanted to salvage themselves from the ailing sitting government, that failed to deliver over the years.

2011 Post-Election Violence and the aftermath One of the underpinning elements of liberal democracy is election; which is the only means recognized under such arrangement through which government or authority to govern changes hand or being renewed at a specified point in time. However, for an election to be worthwhile, it must possess and recognize principles of i. free and fair election, ii. Universal adult suffrage, etc. As noted by Adejumobi (2000:59), elections constitute an important element in liberal democracy. They are a viable means of ensuring the orderly process of leadership succession … and an instrument of political authority and legitimating. In Nigeria, the issue is quite different from the ideal; due to the failure of the system to uphold the virtues principles of elections under liberal democracy. Former military autocrats and looters of the treasury keep recycling themselves and or their ‘Yes Boys’ in the garb of pure democrats and political ‘Born Agains’ and manipulate their ways back to the corridors of power. The others are systematically de-participated through massive injection of their ill-gotten monies into the system. Adejumobi supported this view thus: The


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present tendency is to regard elections not as a catalyst, but as a devalued element and a fading shadow of the democratic process … (Ibid: 60).

The most lucrative business in Nigeria is for a politician to wriggle himself into the corridors of power at all the three levels of government in the country. National wealth is at the disposal of those few, but politically cunning elements, and is personalized to a greater extent. They earmark, very huge amount of salaries, allowances and other benefits to themselves. This is what prompted the Central Bank Governor Sanusi to declare that 25% of the country’s budget is expended on the national legislators alone. For example, federal legislators receive an average pay of N24 million per month, while the annual Constituency Allowance of a Senator is as high as N1.6 billion (ASSU Bulletin 15/07/2011).

While all other professionals; civil servants, academics, engineers etc are battling with the government for N18, 000 minimum wage. This over concentration of all the nation’s distributive resources in the hands of the so-called politicians attracts mad rush by Nigerians who want to have a bite on the national cake to the scene of politics and elections; apparently not to serve the nation but to be served. This is what makes election in Nigeria a ‘do or die’ affair, hence the employment of the divisive elements by the power brokers amidst the alienated broad masses. Thus, economy and not other factors is what actually triggered the post-election violence of April, 2011 in Northern Nigeria, poverty is more in the north than in the southern part of the country, and is the resultant effect of bad governance and excessive corruption by the leadership. This compelled the masses to have aspiration for change and thus opted for it with the hope of getting their salvation through the acclaimed change.The electors resolved to bring forth change peacefully through elections, but the prevailing circumstances of our democracy prevailed.

Nigeria Times News Network of Friday, April 22, 2011, reported that:President Goodluck Jonathan desperately set his ministers and PDP Governors to campaign for him and ensure that they win their states in the presidential election. So the PDP flush with slush funds went to work to win by all means and all costs by using political bribery and power of incumbency to manipulate the electoral process and rig the elections … using National Youth Service Corps members and others to rig the election were reported online and offline and with over 75 million users of GSM phones in Nigeria the reports from BlackBerry pugs were circulated fast. Two female NYSC members working for INEC were caught thumb printing in Enugu and the video of massive thumb printing by indentified members of the PDP in Rivers was circulated widely on You Tube.

This and other proofs of election rigging, upon the confidence given to the masses by the authorities and the placement of highly respected academic like Prof. Jega to captain the election that made the masses to register and voted with good hope; provoked the violence by the millions of the supporters of the opposition; when the results showed that PDP was leading, then they went on rampage.

In a speech at the White House in 1962, J.F. Kennedy submits: those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. The elections result sparkled-of violence that spontaneously raged across the entire northern states. Ogbmudia (2011:9) asserts that the… April general elections have come and gone, leaving behind sorrows, tears, anguish and pains…This is exactly what happened, democratic election that is supposed to be a blessing to a country turned out to be a curse, many lives and properties were destroyed and more unfortunate some of the victims were innocent, apart from thousands of displaced persons languishing in refugee camps around the country. Reuters, May 18, 2011, reported that: more than 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in three days of violence following a presidential election in April. In Kano alone according to the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), as reported by Reuters; at least 10,000 people have been displaced in Kano state following the crisis that engulfed some northern states shortly after the last Saturday’s presidential elections. In Zaria and southern part of Kaduna state, people went on rampage and attacked prominent PDP stalwarts and even community leaders that give their support to the ruling party, while in the southern part of Kaduna state, non indigenes Hausa-Fulani, came under vicious attacks from the predominantly Christian indigenes, an example of attack on Matsirga village in Jema’a local government. Eminent


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traditional rulers like the Emirs of Zazzau, Kano, the Sultan, etc. came under attack by the provoked electors, due to the suspicion of the support by these erstwhile prominent and revered leaders, to the ruling party – this has broken down the community power structure of the communities. The palaces of these leaders is an example of Emir’s Palace in Zaria is under watch day and night by heavily armed military and police men, in addition to the second wall erected round the palace, after the April’s upheavals.

All these anomalies are as a result of poor democratic consolidation in Nigeria. Mbachu (2009:18) says: Nigerian politicians seem not to have learnt any good lesson from Nigeria’s immediate past political history. They still exhibit, according to Elaigwu, “residual military psyche in their actions. They seem not to be ready for democratic practices. They are more concern with the material accumulation and looting of state treasury. Adejumobi (2000:9) further lamented on democracy and election crisis in Africa, that: … the dominant is the most rulers organize an electoral ‘coup detat’ which ensures their selection in the name of popular electoral process. The tactics employed include stifling opposition parties … covertly corrupting the electoral process or embarking on outright election rigging.

The aftermath of this election succeeded in nothing but fragmenting further the fragile Nigerian state. People are left in a state of constant fear and feelings of insecurity. Our IDI respondents submitted that: in the future Nigerians would hardly stay in a place where they do not belong to vote in an election. Thus, whenever, any general election is by the corner unprecedented internal migration would be witnessed in the country. Everyone will run to where he belongs for his safety. This is unfortunate, and it accelerates further the failure of the continuous corporate existence of Nigeria, simply due to the self-centered interests of the so-called leaders/politicians.

Conclusion and RecommendationsThe attempt is to point out a connection between democracy and internal security in Nigeria. This is supported by practical evidences of crises, insurgencies and other internal threats that forcefully manifest in the country from 1999 to date. Democracy by name alone is not capable of unifying and moving Nigeria forward, until the noble principles are at play. This will bring forth good governance that will bring national cohesion and development.

Incredible elections, corruption and inequality in the distribution of the country’s resources, will continue to create animosity and divisions among the nationalities in the country. Politicians too, can only stop the suicidal rush to grab power when it happens that national resources are not war booties to those in power. The only antidote to this is genuine democracy, elections and good governance. In the light of findings and discussions in this study I recommend that Nigerian leadership must entrench a genuine democracy that will be capable of ushering in a genuine democracy for national security as against the unfortunate occurrence of April, 2011. Adedayo’s (2011:524), recommendations are handy, thus:

a. National consciousness, good democratic process and governance;b. Provision for basic services and human security;c. Job opportunity for the unemployed members of the citizens;d. Rule of law and stringent anti-corrupt practice crusade (not like the one at hand)e. Provision against money bag politicking;f. Refresher courses for security personnel and re-equipment with modern day facilities;g. Better educational and research training, skills acquisition and development orientation; andh. Better long term developmental planning and implementation


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ReferencesAdejumobi, S.(2000) “Elections in Africa: A Fading Shadow of Democracy?” International Political

Science Review, Vol. 21, No. 1.ASSU Bulletin,15/07/11.Elaigu, J.I (2005),“Crisis and Conflict Management in Nigeria since 1980” in Yakubu, A.M. et. al. (2005)

(eds.),Crisis and Conflict Management in Nigeria since 1980 (Vol.1) Kaduna, Nigerian Defence Academy Press.

Heater,D.B. (1964) Political Ideas in the Modern World, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.Held, D. (ed) (1993) Prospects for Democracy: North, East,West Cambridge Polity PressImobighe in Mijah, E.B. (2009) Democracy, Internal Security and Challenges of Policing in Nigeria” in

Mbachu, O and Eze L.M, (eds)(2009), op.citLippman, W. (1987) in Mbachu O. (2009), “Democracy of National Security” in Mbachu, O. and Eze,

C.M (eds)(2009), op.citMijah, E.B. (2009),“Democracy, Internal Security and the Challenges of Policing in Nigeria” in Mbacu, O.

and Eze, C.M. (eds.) (2009) Democracy and National Security: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, Kaduna, Medusa Academic Publishers.

Mohammed, A. (2005), “Crisis and Conflict Management in Nigeria” in Yakubu, A.M. et al (eds.)(2005), op.cit

Nigeria Times News Network of Friday April 22, 2011.Obasanjo, O. (2005) Address at Inauguration of National Political Reform Conference (NPRC), Abuja.Schumpeter,J.A. “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy” in Johari, J.C. (2005) Principles of Modern

Political Science, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers Private Limited.2011 General Elections Proper PILOT DAILY NEWSPAPER Home.


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THE DIMENSIONS OF SECURITY DILEMMA IN SOUTH ASIA

SUJIT KUMAR DATTADepartment on International Relations,

University of Chittagong. Chittagong, [email protected]

+8801711-907136

&

NATASHA ISRAT KABIRUnesco Madanjeet Singh Institute of Regional Cooperation

Pondicherry Central University, Pondicherry, India.

[email protected]

Abstract This paper argues the urgent need for a paradigm shift in security perceptions in South Asia. India and Pakistan have both acquired nuclear weapons and this has upset the balance of power that existed until now. Any hostilities between India and Pakistan will always have the risk of a nuclear exchange. The two countries however continue to spend large amounts of funds to boost their defense budgets ignoring the social sector where poverty, hunger and malnutrition continue to affect a large section of the population. One of the arguments of the paper is that traditional security threats increase when human security is ignored. Terrorism and social conflicts have better chances of spreading in poor and under-developed regions and these have cross border linkages. The paper explores various security dilemmas in South Asia and reiterates the point that traditional state centric security concerns cannot be ignored. But it argues that while building strong and modern armed forces are important but they cannot be the only concerns. In the current scenario, human security needs immediate and urgent attention in South Asia. The paper also deals with external players who have close links and interests in South Asia, such as China and USA. It also discusses the changes that have taken place since 9/11.This makes India and Pakistan more suspicious of each other. But it may still be possible to create a common security community by focusing on human security.

Keywords: Security, Dilemma, Nuclear, Terrorism and Weapons

Introduction:“South Asia has become the most dangerous place on earth,” Opined President Bill Clinton during his trip to the region in January 2000. This had been amply borne out by the 1999 eruption of hostilities in the Kargil region of Kashmir that is under Indian control, the fourth resort to organized violence since the Founding of the two states in the poet World War II decolonization. Since then, American intervention into Afghanistan in pursuit of suspected terrorists has only further complicated an already delicate regional balance. Yet, weaponization, in the view of nuclear deterrence strategists, while clearly raising the states must be no means in controvertibly upset the regional balance of power.

Dimensions of security in South AsiaThe geo-strategic position of the region has enhanced its importance to the world. It is neighboring Afghanistan, Iran and China and it is very near to Guy states and central Asia. It is not only of high interest on the agenda of United States but is keenly watched by the rest of the world. But the two major states, Pakistan and India have been foes, thus bringing instability to the region. considering the security of South Asia, it concerns the well being of nearly 1.3-1.5 billion people seeking stability and economic development security, which should not be taken as protection in military terms also involves the economic well being of the people for lasting peace, stability and cooperation.Since inception both the largest but antagonist states of South Asia, India and Pakistan have been indulged in hostile relations heading to crisis, and even wars. Pakistan and India joined the nuclear club as de facto


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nuclear powers when they crossed the nuclear threshold by conducting nuclear tests in May 1998. The importance of security, peace and stability of the region is so arid to an all time high and the region became the most dangerous nuclear flash point in the world, the strategic importance of the region after the cold war and the demise of Former Soviet Union became a frequent and favorite subject of debates. Rapidly growing economy of India and Pakistan providing access to central Asian states oil and gas resources have further highlighted the importance of South Asian Region, but in this region, peace and security is the pre-requisite.

The security approach which is dependent on military is inadequate to deal with the nature of threats to the security of South Asia. Therefore it is now imperative to consider the non military threats (Hough, 2004). The policy makers of both countries have been paying more attention to enhance the defensive and offensive capabilities against each other, which have undermined the socio-economic development of both countries. Even though the achievements in missiles technology and nuclear capability have enhanced the image of both the countries in the world but both countries have to divert huge proportion of their resources towards these fields. The question that arises now that both the antagonist states can improve their social security without neglecting national security. Both countries can keep both national security and social security well balanced by introducing and incorporating liberal ideas to their polices.

The neuclearization of South Asia in 1998 has further complicated security arrangements between the two rival states and has made the region a nuclear flashpoint. The event of 9/11 has further highlighted the states of the region, now within a day south Asia has become a very sensitive region, due to terrorism and neuclearization. With world’s 1/5th population, the region provides immense opportunities to its large population. The nuclear neighbor shaves a long border but look upon each other with hatred, suspicion and mistrust. Pakistan is strategically located at the cross roads of three important ancient civilizations, it can act as a bridge between Central Asia and the Middle East and South Asia. This will only be possible when Pakistan is willing to provide transit facilities to its neighbors specially India due to its growing economy. This could not be materialized due to the ongoing antagonism between Pakistan and India for the past more than 60 years, both has been involved in arms race with huge stock piles of weapons assuring mutual destruction. The security paradigm of the region is dominated by this dangerous strategic competition.The traditional hostility has led the decision makers of both states to adhere to the military security thus spending large amounts of their resources towards militarization. Consequently, already underdeveloped region has failed to enhance the economic and social conditions of its people as a result this, the region has lagged behind in over all development and has so upgrade their offensive and defensive capabilities,mangers of both the countries have been laying more emphasis on military strength and for this purpose, huge expenses on defense expenditure on both sides scored high. Not only this, but huge amounts are being spent on maintenance and research towards military. An expensive arms race is being witnessed especially of nuclear weapons that required immense resources. Testing of new and more devastating missiles is a regular feature. This is all being done by spending a large amount of budget on their militarycapabilities, as a result, both poses a large modern and sophisticated military.

Now looking at the other side of the picture, due to the massive spending on military’ as a consequence the other side gives a bleak picture of the social economic conditions of its people which were neglected leading to under development in many sectors. The region is poverty ridden leading to grave social and economic problems. There have been ups and downs in relations of both countries since their creation From 1965 war to Tashkhand agreement, then 1971 war and debacle of East Pakistan and then Similar Agreement, 1998 detonation of nuclear weapon to the public embrace between the two prime ministers at Lahore, both witnessed high tensions at kargil and then the serenity of Agra in 2001, the confrontation during 2002 and the hand shake at 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad and recurrent rounds of C.B.MS. The Oldest developments manifest that bilateral relations between the belligerent neighbors have been improving, but any results of the composite dialogue process are yet awaited. “Even though progress has been essentially on after and less contentious issues, the security environments have improved significantly.” “Although Karl Deutch’s ‘Security community’ may not be just around the corner in South Asia, the region could be more peaceful, stable and secure if the countries makes changes in their attitudes. South Asian security could be enhanced by way of making the countries of the region more interdependent and less ‘Clause Ulithian’, People to people contacts and the SAARC could still be the best hope For the Socio-economic development and eventually for security.” Both need to develop a culture of peace and


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understanding as there is realization in both the countries that their common enemy is poverty. The defense expenditures are growing but have failed to provide absolute security to either side.”

However there are certain apprehensions also; “it is taken as even if the Kashmir dispute is resolved in favor of Pakistan’s wishes, it remains a moot question whether this can bring much sought amnesty between India and Pakistan, as the pre and part- partition memories have searched the minds of many people in both countries which has become a stumbling block to open a new bright chapter in friendly relationship. The outcome of any clash, whatever the cause is, going to be disastrous, as now that both of them passes nuclear weapons. As to avert a nuclear confrontation is South Asia both needs to institutionalize CBMS. Mutually acceptable solutions need to be found through genuine debate and talks. The relations between India and Pakistan have been based on fear and mistrust which both sides have been unable to overcome. The violation of the international non proliferation regime, so arduously achieved (but not yet ratified by its chief sponsor. the United States), might be said to exemplify the tragedy of the commons; collective interests are eclipsed by the unilateral prioritization of national interests. As Amit Gupta indicates, this was particularly painful for India, given the country’s long championship of world peace and disarmament.

CHINA Factor:China has seldom been included in traditional discussions on threats to India, and where it has, the discussion has usually been on its military capabilities. The reality is that it is the internal situation in the country that can drive its external actions, exactly as they did in 1962, when adverse views about the efficacy of the policies adopted by the then china man Mao Zedong, helped to tip the balance towards a war that served as the lightning rod for neutralizing dissent, mean while Pakistan’s more recent acquisition of bombs, with the poorly concealed assistance of the people’s republic of China, though obviously intended to deter the Indian threat, could conceivably have other strategic uses. The Indian Foreign Minister George Fernandez blamed china For the May 1998 missile tests.

US Factor:Several policy makers believe that it is the US and not the PRC (People Republic of China) that is evolving as the partner of choice for Delhi. There is no doubt that the United States will be India’s most significant partner in the coming decades, given the myriad links that exist between the two countries However, such a partnership does not mean automatic acquiescence in all the policies of the US towards other countries. This became particularly relevant after September 11, 2001, with the spectacular initiation of a Jihad (Religious holy war). No international regime is entirely self-enforcing, hence the rise of self-appointed police men.

The Emerging Bipolar nuclear Balance in South Asia:The emerging bipolar nuclear balance in South Asia is out lined with considerable precision in the articles by Karl & Sagan need not be recapitulated here. At the same time New Delhi continues to call for universal nuclear disarmament and has made pledges that are of no use. The Gandhi-Nehru ideology of non-Violence (ahimsa) is rather fundamental to the Indian state. But the question is New Delhi was ever really impelled by this need.

Mutually cross-cutting effect:One problem is that doctrines and capabilities tend to have a mutually cross-cutting effect: India’s stronger industrial base and technical capabilities enable it to build a second stroke capability indistinguishable from preparing for a first strike, whereas Pakistan’s relative weakness and sense of vulnerability engenders a strategic culture with a cult of the offensive.

The nuclear stand offIt is somewhat reminiscent of the cold War “balance of terror”, but as Ganguly and Biringer point out, there are also essential differences. For one thing, the super power confrontation was bipolar and comprehensive, tending at its high points to cleave the world into two relatively comprehensive rival alliance networks, whereas the Indo-Pakistani confrontation is sandwiched into a mid level regional tier. The sub continental balance is further complicated by the meddling efforts of international arms control regimes hoping to stream line nuclear proliferation, as well as partner-client ties with extra-regional powers.


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Table: Military Expenditures India China

1990 2.9% $7,750mn 2.7% $10,800mn1991 2.6 7,249 2.5 11,4001992 2.5 6,939 2.7 13,8001993 2.4 7,832 2.1 12,7001994 2.2 7,795 1.9 12,2001995 2.1 8,004 1.8 12,5001996 2 8,165 1.8 13,7001997 2.2 8,935 1.9 14,9001998 2.1 9,264 1.9 16,900

Source: 1999 SIPRI Yearbook (Internet edition, http://editors. sipti.se/Rus/Ybgg.html).

NOTE: The comparison is between military budgets as a percentage of the total budget and estimated growth rate of the size of the military budget as translated into US constant dollars. The Chinese Figures represent informed estimates.

Powerful third Party:China’s place is that of a quasi-interloper in the region: like India or Pakistan, china is an Asian country, but it is not a South Asian country. As a powerful third party, china might have conceivably played the role of balance, possibly even mediator, in the Indo-Pakistani confrontation. But for china to play the pivot in a regional triangular game would require scrupulous neutrality. China has been moving gradually toward a more neutral position, For example by refusing after 1990 to be drawn into the Kashmir dispute, calling rather for Indo-Pakistani rapprochement modeled on the 1972 similar accord. Yet, China has a long border with India that has been in chronic dispute since the late 1950s, precipitating one short but litter border war (in 1962) and a confrontations that came perilously close to war (in the same sector) in 1986-1976. China has also been consistently suspicious of India’s quest for regional hegemony and has thus consistently underwritten Pakistan’s defense efforts, to New Delhi’s chagrin. More recently, Beijing has also courted Myanmar (Burma) and even made overtures to Sirilanka and Nepal, in a fairly transparent effort to gain strategic leverage. Thus, what might have been a strategic triangle functions more as an augmented bipolar system, in which the smaller “Pole” (Islamabad) resorts to external balancing. As Jing-dong Yuan reports-“At bottom the two share perspective on a fairly wide range of International issues.”

Border conflicts:Given an old rivalry in which rancorous border conflicts underwritten by violent disagreement over the political role of religion have in no less than four conventional conflicts in the past 40 years, one key issue is the nature of the relationship between conventional and nuclear war. Analysis has agreed to attribute this to the “stability-instability paradox” i.e. precisely because neuclearization is assured to provide a “cap” on escalation; this facilitates the resort to violence.”

Escalation to the level of all out war:Now that these two nuclear states have set this precedent, the strategic implications could play out in one or two possible ways. The first is that an increasingly clear distinction becomes established, by tacit mutual agreement of the two antagonists, between limited war and full-scale war. The Former may be waged with relative impunity on issues such as irridenta, which can be more easily detached from national security, while the latter are to be resolutely eschewed, as their sew-sum contingency would be more art to bring into play the nuclear option. The second possibility is that in practice it becomes to establish such a working distinction.

Will the South Asian bipolar system be able to replicate? The 50 Years nuclear peace by superpowers Owing to a combination of technical and organizational factors, they see plenty of from for hostile misinterpretation and catastrophic error. Neither side has an assured second stroke capability, and close geographic proximity (as in the old Sino-Soviet) dispute) reduces a warning time from 20-30 minutes to perhaps 7-10 minutes, boasting the incentive to “use them or lose them”, that is, to shift From a deterrent to an offensive posture. As the two opposing arsenals are small and technically primitive, this means they


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lack sophisticated fail-safe devices-the double keys, the elaborate procedures insuring against an unintended attack (a hot line had been constructed between the directors-general of military operation by 1987, but it was apparently used more for purposes of deception than to defuse crises or build confidence). As Scott Sagan notes, bath countries have Flawed command-control arrangements, but For quite different reasons: in India’s case, civilian political control is so complete as to block useful military inputs, where as in Pakistan military control is equally lopsided, with a resultant bias in favor of preventive war. As Tim Host quoted-

“Pakistan’s leadership has also displayed a Fatal historic predisposition for “Strategic Myopia” repeatedly starting wars they had little hope of winning.”

The reconsideration of above findings in the light of 9/11:Any special issue on a contemporary topic offers a hostage to fortune, thus the relevance of man of the above Findings must be re considered in the light of 911, resulting in an American-led punitive expedition against the terrorist network entrenched in Afghanistan. Although the situation is extremely fluid, it seems at this point conceivable that the American involvement in Afghanistan may be protracted, in view of the inherent difficulty of flushing out a crafty and elusive quarry. Having through shrewd diplomacy parlayed an upsurge of sympathy into a broad if quite diverse array of support, including not only the security pact but also sanghai cooperation, Washington seems intent upon a sustained effort at coalition building redolent of the cold war. On the other hand, we have the sub nu clear but hardly, “Conventional” new threat of international terrorism, as represented by the al-Qaeda Network and nurtured by the Taliban regime. Whether this represents the last gasp of reactionary nationalism, making boldly imaginative use of conventional armaments in its war against globalist modernization on the spread of a rising tide of a ubiquitous new form of insecurity unmarked conventional “Fronts” on national bonders remains very much to be seen.

Conclusion:As we have seen during the regime of President General Pervez Musharraf, who has taken the pre caution of purging his army and calling upon the more than 3,000 Pakistan’s sewing the Taliban administration to return home. For the time being he earned gratitude of Washington, which needs over flight rights and basing facilities in the region. At the dawn of the 21st century, We Find South Asia poised on the abyss of a nuclear future, but hampered from fully comprehending the nature of its emerging security dilemma by the reverse momentum exerted by two bingeing conventional threats. On the other hand, we have the quicksand of unresolved bonder issues between the would-be sub-continental hegemony and its two most threatening neighbours. Yet the balance of power is asymmetrical to the advantage of the status quo power. To the north the power balance may be said to Favor the country pressing for an adjustment of the status quo, Yet the issue in contention is perhaps less urgent or volatile, Although none of these border disputes is beyond the scope of conventional diplomacy, the multilaterally rising tide of nationalism makes their resolution uncertain.

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