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Intergovernmental relations, climate finance and the politics of ecological fund in Nigeria DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2050-4284/2019/s1n1a1
Bamidele Olajide & Victor Ojakorotu9
Inter-governmental relations are the hub around which governance revolves. Nigeria with the adoption of the federal option at the tail end of colonial rule in 1954 has through successive constitutional arrangements ensured explicitly stated inter-governmental relations parameters ranging from financial, administrative to political aspects of the federal system. This complies with the Whearean federal requisites. The crux of this paper is to interrogate the politics of ecological funds in terms of the philosophy behind its formulation as a statutory fiscal provision in Nigerian federalism, the dynamics of its allocation to states and an assessment of its efficiency in terms of new environmental threats such as climate change. This paper notes that the while the idea of funds to combat environmental vagaries across the country is commendable, the current Ecological Fund vote is rather meagre. New environmental problems facing the world, Nigeria inclusive such as climate change brings far greater environmental concerns to the table than what the current fiscal regime can cover. It observes further the allocation of the ecological funds have been politicized, thereby pushing environmental concerns to the background and the ascension of friendliness to the Federal Government. This is in the face of worsening environmental crisis straddling the landscape of the country. Further problem of this paper is the corruption and misappropriation of ecological funds to concerns that are outside the purview of the Fund. The paper suggests that there is need to broaden the philosophical basis of the Ecological Fund so that it can take on new environmental realities, re-conceptualise environmental concerns as developmental problems and evolve more functional ecological financing that can qualify for Nigeria’s National Climate Finance Fund mechanism and help citizens adapt to new these new environmental realities.
The issue of large classes is evident at all levels of education. Regardless of this being viewed as challenging to both the students and educators, appropriate teaching pedagogies should be sought, although the teaching method used is cooperative learning, however, if appropriately used, it can prove to be very helpful to teachers who are faced with the large class scenario. However, the author is of the view that cooperative learning should be used in all classes irrespective of the number of students in the class. He believes that developing students to work within a team is beneficial to them. This method of learning will equip them for their path into the Business Sector. Cooperative learning will be the theoretical framework for this study. The aim of the paper revealed that students need to have their higher order thinking skills enhanced. The objective was to identify the various forms of cooperative learning and how it enhances higher order thinking skills. Cooperative learning has positives and negatives; however, the positives outweigh the negatives. The author has taught on many occasions and has discovered cooperative learning to be very beneficial for him and the students. Students entering the employment arena soon need to learn how to function as a team and cooperative learning develops these skills. Within this study the author narrated how he has utilised cooperative learning within his classes. The paper finally showed how cooperative learning as a teaching pedagogy enhances students higher order thinking skills.
Whilst tradition and culture can be commended for upholding the fabric of many African societies, they also in many cases violate human rights, especially women’s rights. Practices such as early marriages, forced marriages, female genital mutilations, widow inheritance, wife assault, denial of education to girls, preference for sons and discriminatory treatment of women is rampant in many African countries and they are simply classed as cultural and traditional. Many of these practises have their roots in social constructions of gender that promotes patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. Framed within a feminist standpoint epistemology and guided by feminist post structuralism theory, this article highlights these harmful practices and also examines ways in which they can be challenged and eliminated. In addition, the concepts of cultural relativism and cultural defence which promotes tolerance and legitimacy of different cultural traditional norms will be interrogated. We argue in this article that though, cultural traditions have rights of expression, it should be within a human rights framework and certainly not at the expense of women. When it promotes violence and discrimination, it should be condemned. Human rights activists and feminist groups usually face stiff resistance when they challenge such practices. However, until ways are found to eradicate or amend such practices, discrimination and violence against women will continue and justifiably so.
Many scholars are of the view that the problem of geography contributes in no small measure to food insecurity in Africa. Others tag the problem to lack of relevant technology to transform subsistence form of agriculture to mechanized one where large scale production will bring about self-sufficiency and means of foreign exchange. To this, in the late 1970s, one-size-fits-all green revolution was introduced to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Unfortunately, this program failed in Africa for various reasons such as the imposition of the program without capacity building in the form of train the trainers. Also of import is that civil servants that should receive relevant training on how to pilot the programme could not receive such. Added to this is the importation of foreign technology to agricultural practices in Africa where climatic condition and cultural beliefs are not the same, which eventually led to the failure of the programme. It is the intention of this paper to look into how Africa can do it differently to encourage food production from African way, but with an introduction of modern farming for a bumper harvest and encourage post-harvest storage to encourage sustainable development. In looking into this, this paper will adopt social constructivism as a theoretical position. Strategic human resource development and responsive agricultural legislative were recommended.
The aim of the study was to explore the burial rituals and mourning practices of the Swati people. Death is an unexpected and inevitable event. In the African tradition, when death occurs, the community is a source of support and strength to the family that has lost a loved one. The support from the community is crucial to the healing process of the bereaved as it supresses feelings of loneliness, depression and vulnerability. In most ethnic groups, the bereaved members of the family are believed to be shadowed by a dark cloud, hence the society has a tendency of isolating the bereaved because of the belief that such carry misfortune with them. The study used qualitative research design and data was collected using interviews, observations and focus group interviews. The findings unearthed that burials are not conducted in the same way, they differ according to age, clans as well as ordinary people and those from royalty. Importantly is the oppression of women under the veil of cultural practice. The study recommends the development of sub-institutions that advocate for women’s rights, specifically targeting gross human rights violation for mourning women. Also, the traditional leadership should uphold ways of restoring the indigenous practices which are consistent with the constitutional imperatives.
Governing common property suggests that strict governance systems be put in place to sustainably and resiliently ensure that institutions have a long-standing tenure. The outcomes of each institution vary depending on the collective action bestowed and the local arrangements. The action is highly dependent on the rational choice of the community actors, who strategically choose to see that their cooperative behaviours will act to the advantage of their common property. This can only occur in a climate of trust and reciprocity in polycentric systems which are self-governed. This paper suggests using Ostrom’s design principles to govern local, human-made common property and further proposes the features that make for resilient informal systems. This theory is tested using an informal water and sanitation system as well as reviewing literature from second generation scholars. It specifically opens a conversation on framing and bestowing agency on the users of common properties in the local scale, especially in informal settlements after analysing different governance frameworks.
Since the dawn of colonialism South Africa has battled with its northern sisters on the control of human and financial capital. In the colonial times, the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WENELA), mobilised labour from Southern African countries like Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia to work in the mines. The discovery of large deposits of gold and diamonds also meant that capital went south. While South Africa was still under apartheid, regional independent member countries created the Southern Africa Development Coordination Committee (SADCC) in 1980. The organisation intended to whittle down South African hegemony by creating alternative industrial and transportation hubs. The fall of apartheid South Africa in 1994 ushered in a new political dispensation in the region. However, the hegemony created in colonial times persisted especially with the fall of the Zimbabwean economy which was an alternative challenge to South African hegemony. In 2015, SADCC’s successor, Southern African Development Community (SADC) launched the Agenda 2063 that seeks to industrialise the whole region and neutralise South African Hegemony. This paper looks at how South Africa gained hegemony in the region that has seen it dominating both the human and financial capital of the region. It will also analyse regional countries’ response, the level of their successes and South Africa’s attitude to regional industrialisation.
The aim of the study was to gain an understanding on the experiences of grandmothers who were involved in raising their grandchildren in Vhembe District. A qualitative approach using an interpretative phenomenological analysis design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select grandmothers who participated in the study. Data were collected from the participants using semi-structured interviews until data saturation which occurred after interviewing 10 participants. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis framework. Two main themes which were supported by sub-themes emerged from data analysis, namely: socio-economic impact and impact on the health of grandmothers. Recommendations that are discussed focus on inter-sectoral collaboration in support of grandmothers who are involved in raising their grandchildren.
Ecology is a science that focuses on the study of the ecosystem- a system populated by animals, plant species, people, community and the biosphere. The main task of ecology is to alleviate the burden that has been placed on the environment by the inhabitants of the earth. From an African philosophy, the earth is the Mother who needs to nurture and who is the source of life, from the western worldview, the earth is there to be exploited and is the source of wealth. Besides their differing ideologies about the earth, the two has contributed substantially in the destruction of the earth. Hence the earth is now groaning and faces total destruction. The paper will highlight how both the African and western worldview has contributed to earth preservation or earth preservation, and how that has affected the environment. From the negative sides of both, there are positive sides that can assist in saving the environment. That is why the paper will seek to find out those similarities from the positive thinking so as to draw a paradigm that can contribute to preserving the environment for future generations.
Prior to 1990, the economic development of Zimbabwe was one to admire, and the country was dubbed “The bread basket of Africa”. After 1990, things turned badly as a result of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) leading to reduced economic activity, reduced donor funding and deterioration in infrastructure and resource allocation. The economic situation suddenly became dire. The sudden downturn of the country also affected the education sector. Families could not be sustained and many teachers left their jobs to look for greener pastures in other countries, especially in Botswana and South Africa. Though the government continued to ensure teachers were trained to maintain the education system but with a non-performing economy, even those teachers who were employed would go for months without a salary. After 2010, teacher vacancies were becoming scarce. In a desperate move to please donors, the government of Zimbabwe froze all new appointments in order to reduce the wage bill. This put a strain on the available workforce which was understaffed, yet there was high unemployment of new teachers who had recently qualified. That situation has not yet been fully addressed by the new government. The government is faced with a situation where even with good ideas, there were no funds to experiment or implement reforms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the developments that led to teacher unemployment and underemployment, and then situate some proposals and possible measures to address the situation.
Black protest fiction continues to be taught at South African tertiary institutions, especially at previously disadvantaged institutions and it is cogent to ascertain if students at tertiary institutions still find this genre of literature relevant. This study is an attempt to investigate the experiences of fourth year students’ experiences with Black South African protest fiction in the English Language classroom at a comprehensive rural-based university. It will also attempt to determine whether the millennium students still find this genre of literature relevant and meaningful to their lives. It should be noted that literature is a very important conduit in developing the requisite skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening and critical thinking for students training to be teachers of English. It is an imperative that students find the texts they are studying relevant – it is only if they find it relevant will they be able to engage critically with the texts. The current students are the millennium students who have not experienced legislated apartheid. Hence, this study attempts to ascertain directly from students if they find protest fiction relevant. This research study used the qualitative research approach. It employed the qualitative data generation method in the form of semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The results indicated that the majority of students believed that the teaching of protest literature was still necessary and relevant.
As poverty, hunger and development crisis continue to ravage the world, good governance has been identified as the single most important factor in eradicating these problems. Absence of good governance provides a cozy breeding ground for poor economic growth, poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment and conflicts. Sustainable economic growth and development are the products of strategic decision on resource control and allocation, and the efficient utilization and investment of such resources. Ultimately, good governance promotes the rule of law, transparency, accountability, freedom, fulfillment of electioneering promises, and achievement of the greater good of most members of the population. Regrettably, this ethical consideration in governance has eluded the Nigerian state as a result of endemic corruption. Sharp practices by past and present leaders of the country have denied the nation the benefits of good governance. Thus, poverty, hunger, unemployment, underdevelopment, weak economic growth, and insecurity have become a norm in Nigeria. Over the years, various administrations in the country have identified corruption as the bane of development in the country and have put in place various measures to curb the menace all to no avail. Reducing/eliminating corruption in the public sector was one of the cardinal objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. However, many observers believe this war by the present administration is one-sided and political witches hunt of the opposition. For this reason, this study sets for itself the task of assessing the impact of corruption on the Nigerian state with reference to the current anti-graft war.
South African learners experience serious reading problems. Findings by PIRLS conducted in (2006) where 40 countries participated, revealed shocking statistics about the state of reading among grade 4 learners in South Africa (Hugo, 2010:133). The main objective of this study is to establish reading challenges experienced by Grade 8 learners and to provide a reading model that could be used to remedy them. The researched method used to accomplish the set objectives is a mixed method, namely qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative method involves classroom observation, and reading texts for learners whereas the quantitative involved a questionnaire for teachers. Through the qualitative approach, learners will be exposed to a number of reading tasks which were followed by a shot test, testing, speed, word recognition, vocabulary/meaning words as used in those text and comprehension.
Considering the frictions and tensions about the socio-cultural and economic development of Africa and the existence of some of tendencies and actions that are not in favour of the continent’s advancement, the main aim of this article is to argue for the deliberate reinstatement and retrieval of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). The purpose this argument which in the main is a political position of an African cultural activist is to motivate for the use of IKS as a tool for socio-cultural change and economic development strategies that are vital in the era of globalisation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This is not new in that as demonstrated by situations of Japan and other Asian countries, IKS has all the potential to enable the African continent to meet the challenges of globalisation and chart its future. In addition, the article argues that the deliberate re-centering of IKS has a potential of complementing the 4IR initiatives with sciences that are embedded in life and work of communities that are majority in the world and are still depended on the natural resources that are under threat of diminishing.
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