Volume 2, Issue 1 , 2014

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    Open Access
    Adaptive Capacity to Climatic Change in the Nigerian Savannah
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Elias, P; Fasona, M; Adedayo, V; Olorunfemi, F; Adeniji, G
    This study is based on the premise that the adaptive capacity of people and places is closely related to their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics which in turn determine their resilience. The study therefore examined the demographic and socioeconomic dimensions of selected agricultural communities in the Nigerian savanna with a view to assessing their adaptive capacity to climate change. The Nigerian savannah has been largely altered by human related activities which have reduced its capacity to support the teeming rural farming communities and the livelihood systems in the region. Livelihood systems in the region are closely associated with terrestrial ecosystems, and changes in global climate could exacerbate the conditions of the rural farmers. The methodology for the study was based on the multistage random sampling technique and Rural Rapid Appraisal (RPP) of eleven communities across ten Local Government Areas (LGAs) in two states of the southwest and north central Nigeria.Household survey, Key Informant Interview of traditional rulers and Government officials were carried out while an intensive Focused Group Discussion among all the actors was done. Both ex-ante and ex-post factors of gender, local knowledge and experience, education, income from farm and off-farm sources, ability to diversify, willingness to adapt, proportion of savings, and local adaptation mechanisms were identified and used to understand adaptive capacity of the local communities to climate change in the region. These factors provide an understanding of existing local actions which could point to future coping and adaption strategies given emerging challenges of climate change. By upscaling the local adaptive capacity it is possible to evolve regional and national policies for improving the resilience of rural agricultural communities.
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    Open Access
    Bardolatry and the Creative Space: The Example of Niyi Osundare and Akeem Lasisi
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Anyokwu, C
    The question of "Influence" is one that dates back to ancient classical times and one which has engaged both creative and critical writers and scholars down the ages. In his influential study entitled The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry, Harold Bloom thoroughly investigates the concept, arguing the inescapability of "Influence" in the creative process as well as in the critical enterprise. Basing our argument on Bloom's theory, we examine the relationship between Osundare's verse and Akeem Lasisi's poetry and conclude that the one influenced the other in spite of the fact that both poets hail from Yorubaland.
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    Open Access
    China's Economic Growth Driven Reform Strategies 1978 - 2010: Any lessons for Nigeria?
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Iwuagwu, O
    China's rapid economic transformation over the past thirty years has come as a surprise to many considering the previous condition of the country. This has resulted mainly from China's open door policy, adopted in 1978, thus facilitating massive inflow of foreign direct investments (FDJ) into its manufacturing sector. China's manufacturing sector continues to churn out complex export products that have created an unprecedented export-led growth. China's experience, especially when compared with other developing economies, is exemplary. This is unlike Nigeria's resource-driven economy, where even the meagre FD1 that comes in is channelled into the oil industry, while manufacturing production receives limited attention. The article the lessons that Nigeria could learn from China in view of the similarities between the two countries
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    Open Access
    The Complex Sentence In Legal English: A Study of Law Reports
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Wiredu, J.F
    Using Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar as its theoretical framework, this study analyses case reports of Ghana's Supreme Court decisions which were published in the Daily Graphic of 20 II and 2012. There were 87 such cases reported in the newspaper in that period The study is based on the assumption that legal English is a recognised specialised form of language use and that the language is specific to the special requirements of the law. Earlier studies have noted that the pursuit of precision, clarity and all-inclusiveness is an important goal of legal language. Accordingly, in this work, we have established that these goals of precision, clarity and all-inclusiveness are achieved through the use of detailed information to avoid confusion.and ambiguity in the interpretation of the law. if legal language is perceived as complex and incomprehensible, it is because there are specific linguistic steps taken to ensure that the language is precise, clear and unambiguous. One such measure is the use of grammatical structures. For instance, in order to accommodate the high volume of information within a sentence, different structural types of clauses are used in law texts. The main question we answer in this work is: what are the linguistic structures we find at the unit of sentence in law reports? From the analysis, the following results have emerged The declarative is the only sentence type used in the reports which we analysed In addition, it is noticed that hypo taxis is the preferred clausal relationship in this variety. As a result, the picture that emerges in this analysis is that there is the overwhelming dominance of the dependent clause type. This is an indication that: there are links between ideas in the sentence; that there is the process of information integration in the legal texts; andthai there is information ranking in the texts. All these indicators are realised through rankshifting, a grammatical process which has facilitated the packaging ahd the ranking of the ideas in a single sentence.
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    Open Access
    The Creative Use of Themes in Contemporary Igbo Popular Music in Nigeria
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Osigwe, C.N
    Popular music is an offshoot of several musical typologies which are indigenous or acculturated, incorporating both local and foreign elements. Most popular musical styles or genres in Nigerian music scene evolved through various contributions from musicians of diverse cultural sensibilities. Furthermore, the musical practices of the Igbo are seen through their social, religious and cultural lives as their music accompanies every stage of human and social development (childhood - adulthood - death). Igbo popular music, being a contemporary genre, depicts both the language and cultural elements of one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria. The music has evolved owing to acculturation, economic factor, technology and globalisation. This articles attempts to appropriate musical theme - a borrowed concept from Western classical music - into the structural form of 19b 0 popular music vis-a-vis its vocal and instrumental elements. It effectively analysed selected songs of prominent Igbo artistes/ musicians and further established how these themes are creatively used in contemporary Igbo popular music. Three distinctive methods were deduced from the analysis - the antiphonal theme, instrumental theme and instrumental/ antiphonaltheme.
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    Open Access
    Financing Effects of Global Economic Crisis on Energy Investments in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis of Pre-Crisis and Crisis Era
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Adeoye, B.W; Atanda, A.A
    The energy sector is recognised as one of the most crucial real sectors in any economy, considering the dependent nature of other sectors' development on its growth. The emergence of the global financial crisis that engulfed most African nations is one of the greatest threats to energy development in terms of investment and financing options despite the "resource curse" confronting most of the resource-endowed economies like Nigeria. This has motivated this study to examine the impact of the global financial crisis on energy investment and financing in Nigeria between the pre-crisis era (2000-2005) and the crisis era (2006-20/0). The descriptive and graphical analysis employed revealed that between the pre-crisis (2000-2005) and during crisis era (2006-20/0) total energy investment by both private and public sectors declined by 75.2% andthis negatively affected most energy development indicators such as the hydro power generation capacity from Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro; total electricity production per capita; total electric power consumption per capita; and net oil proceeds to national output in Nigeria. Following these findings, the study recommends that joint partnership agreement between the private (both foreign and local institutional investors) and public sectors should be implemented to undertake most of the abandoned energy projects due to lack ofjinance, via a "Build, Operate, and Control (BOC) " system in order to revamp the energy sector development by 2020.
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    Open Access
    Public Agitation, Social Media and the Government: An Analysis of the Use of Social Media as a Catalyst for Change in Nigeria
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Williams-Elegbe, S
    Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have enjoyed a political and economic renaissance in the last 25 years. Politically, many countries have enjoyed relative democratic stability and the economic benefits that accompany democratic rule. It is generally assumed that a stable democracy is synonymous with responsible (or at- least, more responsible) leadership, howsoever defined. One country that appears to deny this assumption is Nigeria. An assessment of the type of leadership that Nigeria has endured since 1999, illustrates that the Nigerian democracy does not appear to be attracting the kind of leadership that can translate political rhetoric into developmental benefits. There are several reasons for this, which include the educational constraints; the vestiges of military governance, which has limited the collective awareness of appropriate leadership styles as well as the funding mechanism for political office, which excludes the intelligentsia and the middle class from ejJectively participating in the political process amongst others. This paper presents a critical assessment of public agitation for good governance, as stimulated by social media in Nigeria between 2009 and 2014. 1t will examine social media responses to leadership failings in Nigeria and determine whether citizen responses are able to provide a catalyst for a change. The paper will conclude with an assessment of citizen-led measures that may work, are working or have worked in Nigeria that may affect the quality and nature of leadership in Nigeria.
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    Open Access
    Reading Strategies: A Catalyst for Enhancing Comprehension and Summary Writing' Proficiency, among High School Students in Lagos State
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Ikonta, N.R; Ugbede, N.J
    Designs the effects of the use of reading strategies on the development of students ' proficiency in reading comprehension and summary writing That is, it sought to determine whether students exposed to reading strategies would improve and perform better in reading comprehension and summary writing than those not so exposed. A total of 240 senior secondary I (SSJ) students and 50 teachers were randomly selected ./i"OI7l four randomly selected senior secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. Two separate questionnaires of the Likert scale type were administered on the teacher and student samples. Five reading passages were used to teach students some relevant reading strategies such as predicting, thinking aloud, inferring, questioning, context clues and summarising. The pre-test and post-test exercises were used to collect data in both comprehension and summary writing Data collected were analysed using percentages, mean, standard deviation and ANO VA statistical tools, at 0.05 significant level. Findings showed that while teachers were aware of some reading strategies and techniques of summary writing, students were not; the use of reading strategies had a significant positive effect on students' performance in reading comprehension; reading strategies positively affected students' performance in summary writing; and there was a significant difference in performance between students who received reading instructions using reading strategies and those who did not in both comprehension and summary writing Based on the findings, recommendations were made on how to create more awareness about reading strategies, their benefits and how to cultivate their use to enhance the performance of students in reading comprehension and summary writing
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    Open Access
    Table of Content
    (2014) UNILAG Journal of Humanities
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    Open Access
    Toward Effective Repatriation of Illegally Acquired Assets in Nigeria
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Odusote, A
    Repatriating looted state assets in foreign jurisdictions. it is the view of this article that the forms of proceeding available in Nigeria to recover looted assets are inadequate. The paper discusses successful assets recovery cases and the not so successful casesinvolving Nigerian corrupt officials. it also discusses the main challenges [0 assets recovery through criminal proceedings and highlights various approaches to assets recovery. The paper recommends that for effective assets recovery, Nigeria must, among others, enact forfeiture and confiscation laws that should be applied through the civil process rather than the traditional criminal justice system. The article proposes some strategies for assets repatriation, but with a caveat that the success of these proposals is contingent on strong political will on the part of the Nigerian government and its ability to constructively engage the requested state.
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    Open Access
    Urban Development and the Changing, Role of the Balogun Institution in Abeokuta
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Davies, L
    This study attempts to analyse the changing role of the Balogun chieftaincy title among the Egba, right from its inception when the Egba people consciously formed a military group for the defence of their townships at their Orile (homestead), and the time they arrived . Abeokuta up tiff the twentieth century. Studies on Egba political and military history have not been devoted to the evolution of the Balogun chieftaincy institution in Egbaland or Abeokuta nor has any of these studies considered the changing role of the Balogun institution in an urban setting. This article is the first attempt at studying the changing roles of the Balogun institution from the time it was instituted in the Egba forest. It discusses the fortunes of the institution in the city of Abeokuta where urban and political development greatly affected the traditional role. The article argues that urbanisation and political development in the city of Abeokuta brought about the transformation of the Balogun to what it became in the twentieth century