are responsible for the management of the renewable natural resources at the Local Government level; the .... depth of information that was to be collected.
Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Development COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA, NIGERIA; A CASE STUPY OF BONNY ISLAND, RIVERS STATE Ezenwaka Jasper and Abere S. A. Department of Forestry and Environment, Rivers State University of Science and Technology Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria ABSTRACT The research was conducted to evaluate the present level of community involvement in natural resources management options in the Bonny Island. The participatory methodology was adopted. The study involved the conduction of semi-structured interviews with government agencies that are responsible for the management of the renewable natural resources at the Local Government level; the communities as the custodians and primary owners of the resources; and the private sector (as key contributors to the achievement of this goal of sustainable use of natural resources). The result showed that the community people have not been involved in planning for the sustainable management of the natural resources of which they were naturally supposed to be the primary custodian. These same natural resources are their source of livelihood. The non involvement of key stakeholders in planning for the management of natural resources was found to be a major threat to sustainable use of these natural resources in Bonny Island. It is recommended that a framework for the sustainable management of the Bonny Renewable Natural Resources (BRNRs) should be developed. This should involve the private and public sectors as well as the communities i.e. a development of a tri-sector partnership framework for the sustainable management of the BRNRs is recommended. INTRODUCTION The Niger Delta is defined politically to include 9 Nigerian States of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Akwa-Tbom and Cross River States. But when geographically defined by the Niger River; the Niger Delta is comprised of 3 States - Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States. The research work was carried out in Bonny, Rivers State. Bonny can be referred to as a micro-Niger Delta as almost every describable feature of all parts of the Niger Delta can be found on this small island which houses the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, a multi-billion dollar investment. Bonny is the capital of the Bonny Local Government Area (LGA) in Rivers State and is one of the coastal LGAs in Rivers State. This island is essentially blessed with abundant renewable natural resources including water and land resources in addition to crude oil and gas. Management of renewable natural resources needs to be as inclusive as possible. Legitimate stakeholders, particularly local communities and indigenous people, should be strongly encouraged to play active roles in planning and in the joint management of sites as this is the sure way of ensuring sustainability. The involvement and understanding of local communities and indigenous people in the management of the resources is of particular importance where the resources are under private ownership or is in customary tenure. Since the
local communities are themselves the custodians and managers of the resources, it is vital that the management planning process is not seen as one imposed from outside upon those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods. The Niger Delta region is the economic powerhouse of the country. Revenue from the region’s oil and gas accounts for about 95% of Nigeria’s export earnings and about 80% of the total annual income. In addition to crude oil, the region is also blessed with numerous Renewable Natural Resources. Natural resources are one of the livelihood assets that the Bonny people rely on for their continuous survival. Bonny possesses the mangrove, beach / barrier island forest types as well as coastal sand plane vegetations. The area contains distinct faunal zones, terrestrial and aquatic, and several species that are nationally and globally of ecological and economic importance. The sustainable utilization of the renewable environmental resources is of paramount necessity on this island but this cannot be achieved without a clearly planned out management programme which involves all stakeholders on the Bonny island. Management of the renewable natural resources needs to be as inclusive as possible. Legitimate stakeholders. Particularly local communities and indigenous people, should be strongly encouraged to play active roles in planning and in the joint management of sites as this is the sure way of ensuring sustainability. The involvement and understanding of local communities and indigenous people in the management of the resources is of particular importance where the resources are under private ownership or in customary tenure. Since the local communities are themselves the custodians and managers of the resources, it is vital that the management planning process is not seen as one imposed from outside upon those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods. The major objective of this research is to evaluate the present level of community involvement in natural resources management options in the Bonny Island. METHODOLOGY The participatory methodology was adopted. The study involved the private and public sectors as well as the community as primary stakeholders. The objective for this was to create a situation where all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities in sustainably managing the natural resources of the Bonny Island. Interviews were conducted with government agencies responsible for the management of the renewable natural resources at the LGA level; the communities as the custodians and primary owners, the private sector as contributors to the achievement of this goal. The study was in three phases: 1. Preliminary studies (desk study / review of relevant literatures): this involved a review of available literatures with the view of finding out what work had been done in relation to the management of the resources. This phase provided data which was used as a guide for the remaining part of the study.
2. Field study (gathering of primary data): current efforts aimed at sustainably managing the resources were appraised both at the community and external levels (government and other agencies). Extensive interviews and stakeholder meetings were conducted during this phase. 3. Compilation of results and analysis Semi-structured interviews were adopted during the interview stages. The interviewees were selected carefully (using stratified random sampling method) while bearing in mind the type and depth of information that was to be collected. Semi-structured interview was adopted because the interest of this research was to open up issues. In other words, the research was aimed at exploring factors that either enable the communities to participate in the management of the renewable resources or otherwise. In any exploration survey of this type, semi-structured interviews would usually yield results because it captures the richness and complexities of the issues and also does not simplify the matter but allows the respondents to ‘pour out’ their mind (Ezenwaka 2002). Other advantages of this type of survey include that it gives the researcher a better understanding of the issues and is also good for the generation of hypothesis on the subject. For example, a cause effect relationship could be developed from the results (Ezenwaka 2002). A checklist of questions was produced as a guide for the semi-structured interviews. These questions were open-ended. This was done in other to allow the respondent to clarify issues and explain their point by using their own preferred words for the description of issues. This helps to reveal the points that are of paramount importance to the respondent, which sometimes, might not have been anticipated by the researcher during the planning phase of the research. It is worthy of note that during the actual interviews, attention was paid to the difficulties that may arise as a result of the open-ended questions being asked e.g. respondents finding it difficult to articulate their responses or inability to properly and fully explain their attitudes and motivations. Some might even forget important points while some others might need some prompting. In all, three (3) private sector organizations were interviewed and two (2) government agencies as well as five (5) communities. FINDINGS/DISCUSSIONS Livelihood activities The Livelihood of the people is tightly anchored on the abundant renewable resources in their environment. Subsistence agriculture, particularly crop farming and fishing, are the dominant economic activities. Just as is common in most part of the Niger Delta, farm sizes are small. The collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as Irvingea spp is also a major part of people’s income. Fishing is carried out both along the coastal areas and in the freshwater swamps, lakes and rivers. Over the years, local communities have developed ingenious ways of catching and trapping fish, as well as of processing and marketing them. The Bonny people are known to be good hunters. They hunt for game and protein supplement. According to history, it was during one of such hunting exercises that they followed a bird called okolo (Curlew) in the native dialect to the present day Bonny Island and settled on there because of the large number of the bird on the island. Livestock production is also common and is practiced by both individuals and government establishments. The people are also engaged in local craft industries such as
canoe-carving, pottery and mat making, which are all based on local skills. The mangrove pros ides one of the most basic needs relevant the pre-occupation of the people. For instance, the bulk of the fuel wood which is used in drying the fishes is collected from the mangrove forests. These species are good for this purpose as it does 1ot require an drying before it can be used as fuel wood it burns whether fresh or dried. Source of timber for building, carving and other construction work is the Barrier Island and fresh water swamp forests. The most important urban industry in the Bonny Island is the oil and gas industry. It was gathered during the field work that the influx of foreigners to the island since the inception of the NLNG has drastically affected the way the above traditional occupations are now carried out. The many oil / gas vessels have affected the fisheries resources while the ever increasing human population has continually placed pressure on available lands. This has resulted in the conversion of agricultural lands into urban areas. The need for more land to build houses. hospital, road expansion, security posts, etc have drastically impacted on forest resources. Environmental pollution has also increased giving rise to lowered agricultural production and increase in occurrences of diseases. The increased human population has also affected the income of the people because of inflation. To date, not a significant number of the indigenes are employed in the multinational companies. A great percentage still depends on government employment and other minor private sector organizations for livelihoods. Figure 1 (below) shows the level of dependence of the community on their natural resource base. It shows that a great amount of their income is still dependent on available natural resour6es. It is worthy to note that even those having a paid employment still have one or two things to do with the natural resource base.
Threats to sustainability of the Bonny Renewable Natural Resources (BRNRs) The threats to the sustainability of RNR in the Bonny Island are categorized into three major groups as follows: • Natural/Environmental: this includes coastal and riverbank erosion, flooding, subsidence, sedimentation and siltation. • Developmental: urbanization, land degradation, soil fertility loss, agricultural decline, loss of vegetation (especially NTFPs) and habitat for wildlife, biodiversity depletion especially fisheries decline, and pollution from industrial activities. • Socio-economic: poverty, unemployment, and displacement of people, loss of sources of livelihood. While the continued survival of the Bonny Renewable Natural Resources (BRNRs) depends on the continued function of the renewable resources as a stable ecosystem, the threats to the future of the BRNRs if left’ unchecked might become more severe in the nearest future. Most of these resources are already threatened and needs conservation plan (Akani 2003). Consequent on the above threats, the following are some major interrelated threats that are
currently undermining the ecologic-economic stability of the BRNRs, with attendant detriments to the human inhabitants of the Island: Biodiversity loss: Biodiversity on this island is currently being depleted rapidly by hunting, uncontrolled logging, and poorly conceived developmental projects especially oil and gas exploitation. Furthermore, federal, state and local governments and their agencies have limited capacity and support to conserve biodiversity in designated protected areas and other priority sites for conservation. Wetlands have important values and functions in biodiversity conservation (Delmar 2000). Declining fishery resources: increasing number of vessels that visit the island and pollution of the water ways has further aggravated the issue of depletion of the Bonny fish stock which was formally due only to over-fishing by local fishermen. Pollution is a major contributor to fisheries resources decline (IUCN 1993, King 2003, Powell 1995). Fishing is a critical activity for local communities of the Niger Delta. Many rural dwellers (more than 50%) depend on fishing as a means of livelihood. Fish is major source of income and protein intake in the rural areas where majority of people in the core Niger Delta states live.
TENURE RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO RESOURCES IN BONNY Land is communally owned but is further divided into families or what is otherwise called the war canoe houses in Bonny. The natural resources on any piece of land are controlled by th owners of that land although there is no boundary or demarcation on the rivers when it comes to fishing in the open waters i.e. everyone has the same rights and access to the water resources. Also, apart from timber, all other landed natural resources are accessible to all community members except for privately owned farmlands. Privately owned plantations and ponds are totally controlled by the respective owners. Lands are not owned b women although all the resources on the land are accessible to them. Although the open waters are free to all Bonny indigenes, the creeks and operations on any of the creeks are entirely controlled by the war canoe houses and no one can perform any operations there without the consent of the head of such war canoe house. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Government makes the policies for the management of the natural resources. This process does not in any way involve the community people who are actually the primary custodians of the natural resources. The community people are also the primary users of these resources. Their non involvement in policy development may have been responsible for the stiff opposition that government faces whenever the issue of resource conservation is raised at the local level. Community involvement has been passive at the best (Figure 2). Active participation of all stakeholders is needed if sustainable resource management is to be achieved.
Case study of the Finima Nature Park
The Finima nature park was established around the year 2000 at the request of the indigenes. It was decided upon because of the massive bush clearing for the purposes of the NLNG. The establishment of this park was a form of forest reservation which could serve as a gene pool to preserve the native species. The project is funded by the NLNG but managed by a non government organization and with active community involvement. This is the only initiative to date aimed at conserving natural resources of this all important island. This is the only initiative that has active community participation. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS From the above results, it is obvious that the non involvement of key stakeholders in planning for the management of natural resources is actually a major threat to sustainable use of these natural resources. A framework for the sustainable management of the BRNR should be developed. This should involve the private and public sectors as well as the communities i.e. a development of a trisect or partnership model fun’ the sustainable management of the BRNRs is recommended. Full participation of all stakeholders, including local communities and indigenous people in the sustainable management of the Bonny Renewable Natural Resources (BRNRs) will be beneficial to this island. Legitimate stakeholders, particularly local community and indigenous people should be strongly encouraged to play active roles in planning and in the jo management of sites as this is the sure way of ensuring sustainability. The involvement and understanding of local communities and indigenous people in the management of the BRNRS is of particular importance resources are under private ownership or customary tenure. Since the people are themselves the custodian and managers of the resources, it is vital the management planning process is not seen as one imposed from outside upon those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods. The concept of a community based resource management is premised on the ideas that communities will manage local resources if they are Assured of their ownership of the natural resources Allowed to use the resources themselves and or benefit directly from other uses of them Given a reasonable amount of control over the management of the resources. REFERENCES G. C. and Luiselli, L. (2003): Amphibian Faunal Diversity and Conservation Status in the Niger db Basin (Southern Nigeria): An Update. Delma , B. (2000): Celebrating our wetlands of international importance; a message from the Secretary General of the convention on wetlands (2 Feb. 2000 - World Vetlands Day).
Ezenwaka, (2002): Role of social capital in sustainable livelihoods and natural resources management in the Niger-Delta. Unpublished MSc Thesis, Cranfield University, Silsoe, England. IUCN (2000) IUCN (1993): Oil and gas exploration and production in mangrove areas. IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, with E&P Forum, London, UK. Kings R P. and Teugels, G. G. (2003): Unpublished Report. Center for Wetland and Waste Management studies University of Uyo, Nigeria. NDES (1997): Briefing note 2; activities and achievements since inception. NEDECO (1961): The Niger Delta: Report on an Investigation. Netherlands Engineering Consultants: The Hague. Powell , (1995): Wildlife Study 1. Report submitted to the Environmental Affairs Department, Shell roleum Development Company of Nigeria, Ltd. www. open.ac.uk!daptf7froglog/FROGLOG-5 1-3 .html ramsar.org. Background papers on wetland values and functions (accessed March 2004). ramsar.org. Wetlands and biodiversity (accessed March 2004)
L’eviopIIIeI1L 0/zone 6, A’u,nber 1, Februa,3’ 9— /2, 20/0 Ehitrini Banigo Auditorium, Uni’ersity of Port Harcourt, A’/geria INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT): AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ‘Idrisa Wazamtu, 2Garba Kantoma Abubakar, 3Yaga y. Mama and 4lshaku Hamidu Maidala l&4Dept of Pre-ND Studies, Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 2&3Dept. of Accountancy, Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria ABSTRACT This study examines the information and communication technology (‘ICT,) as an indispensable tool for national development. The study aims at finding the extend to which implementation of ICT objectives contributes to the actualization of the reform agenda. The factors militating against the effective implementation of the ICT and the strategies for improving the ICT in Nigeria was discussed. On the basis of the findings some recommendations like urgent need to boost the Power Holding Company, provision of modern facilities as well as ICT infrastructure, constant training and retraining of ICT programme. The tasks offunding ICT by the government etc. were made. INTRODUCTION The present millennium poses a great challenge to every field of human endeavour. The pace of development in the area of infrastructure and communication technology is quite startling and should be a thing of concern not only to educators but all aspect in an information society where computer age is giving way to information age. There is no limit to changes and improvements in inventions in human activities such as information technology, particularly computer machines. Nigeria as the giant of Africa, shall not absolutely be found wanting in the wave of changes even though the rate of accelerations is shown due to some cultural impediments and are subjected to amendments and improvements. Philip (2003) asserted that Information and Communication Technology is a global phenomenon that has influenced the modern business all aspects of lives of many nations. It has brought about tremendous improvement in the communication (e.g. internet services) the domestic market has been converted ihto 24-hours global market in which trading activities take place all year round. According to Hornby (2002) Information and Technology (IT) is the study or use of electronic equipments especially computer for storing analyzing and sending out information. It is a process of collecting, storing and sending out useful information. Iheanachc (2004) defines information as the basic driving force behind any useful assistance a counselor or a psychologist offers to his client. Aliogo (2005) opines that we are in a revolutionary global knowledge: therefore we need to be conscious of what we claim to know today, which may become obsolete tornorrov, Education is what we know today we have to be conscious of time and dynamics within time frame. According to Philip (2003) the world’s focus now is on information technology and how business can he transacted through the super — highway. Information
Technology is quite a new concept and is still confusing to many people. Simply put, it is a term used to describe the whole instruments used in the manipulation, storage and communication of information electrically. Not until 1940s according to these sources that modern revolution of computer systems actually came into being. In Nigeria, it dates back to the last decade (Eze, 2008). Owing to its recent development in educational and other business sectors has been factored by many problems as well as prospects. The major goals of ICT in attaining higher and qualitati\e education, business and all aspects of life is the clarion call of every developing nation and Nigeria is not an exception. Indeed we continuously find more areas of application research development, business, aviation defence, communication, health sector etc, the world over. As Nigeria is clarnouring for the attainment o different programmes and agenda like vision 2020 millennium development goals and the seven point agenda which includes power and energy, food security and agriculture, wealth creation and employment, transport, land reform, security and education. To achieve the goals or programmes therefore the effectiv implementation and development of information and communication technology (ICT) is necessary. Th ICT has helped institutions to utilize and deliver learning in variety of ways it provide early accessibilities t both teaching and learning outcomes, business, and indeed all spheres of life. Of course, ICT is increasing[ de-emphasizing conventional learning systems. The walls of learning become slimmer but enhancing greate opportunity for both teachers and learners exploring educational resources within and outside their vicinity In most tertiary institutions of learning today, ICT have undoubtedly, impact on the learning scenario. Tb application of ICT in emerging disciplines, research and development, education planning, administration educational technology, evaluation of learning outcome, teaching aids and multimedia are worthy of noting Aligo (2005) pointed out that information and communication technology has greatly engulfed every aspect
