Faculty of Social Sciences

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Faculty of Social Sciences

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Open Access
History and Society
(University of Ife Press, 1976-02-24) Oloruntimehin, B. Olatunji
MR VICE-CHANCELLOR. I feel honoured and privileged that I have the opportunity to deliver my inaugural lecture before this distinguished audience. I understand that it is the first to be delivered by a historian in this University. However. I must confess to some diffidence in doing so. For one thing. I am a rather new comer to the University. and newer still as a member of the unit that has formal responsibility for history as a subject. Although I have been a happy member of the community of historians since I came here as a research professor. I became a member of the department of history only when I was redeployed in the recent restructuring and reform of the University as a system. It is against this background of limited experience that I entertain the feeling that. by addressing you now. I might be rushing like a fool where angels have feared to tread. Nonetheless. I feel encouraged by the fact that the world of scholarship is a universal one. and that the real purpose of an inaugural lecture is better served if delivered at the beginning. or as close as possible to the beginning. of one's tenure as a professor. In the tradition of our people. I wish to pay homage to those who have had the duty of cultivating the discipline of history in this University. Dr. Saburi Biobaku must be mentioned first in spite of the fact that he was associated with the department only for a fleeting moment. He did a great deal for history and related disciplines as founder and first director ofthe Institute of African Studies at a time when the African component of the curricula of the University was still scanty and needed tending by a protecting hand. Up till now, Dr. Biobaku has remained tireless in popularising the idea of history and in stimulating public awareness of the value of cultural studies in a technological age. As far as history within the University of Ife is concerned. Professor I. A. Akinjogbin easily comes to the forefront as the longest serving member, and as the single individual who has had the privilege and the challenge to have been the head of the department for almost a decade now. Professor Akinjogbin has devoted his entire career as a' university teacher to the department. Indeed, the image of the department bears clear imprints of his own as a scholar. It could hardly have been otherwise since the department itself is less than fourteen years old. The growth of the department in this relatively short period has been remarkable. and all who, in their varied ways, have contributed to it deserve commendation. I feel honoured to be a member, and, as a believer in collective effort, I pledge my loyalty to the task of developing the discipline in a virile and purposive way. I believe there is a lot still to be done to build an Ife School of history-especially in the area of research and postgraduate training, in the latter of which the department is still very much a toddler.
Open Access
The Spatial Dimension in Nigerian Agricultural Development
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1977-02-22) Agbola, S. Akin
The objectives of this augural lecture are as: to show that agriculture permeates all aspects of national life in Nigeria to an extent that only a multi-disciplinary approach can cope with its multi-faceted problems and that geography has a contribution to make to the solution of these problems; to emphasize the significance of the spatial dimension in agricultural development; to draw attention to the lack of justice done to the spatial theme in Nigerian agricultural studies; to assess geographical contributions to the spatial analysis of Nigerian agriculture, and to highlight the gaps which remain to be filled; and to suggest guidelines for space-oriented research in Nigerian agriculture.
Open Access
Rural Settlement Patterns and Rural Development in the Yorubaland of Nigeria
(Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ife, 1982) Osunade, M. A. A.
This paper focuses on three aspects of rural settlements: the concept of rurality, rural settlement characteristics and development implications. The conception of rurality by the Yoruba people is sociologically defined and thus inconsistent with demographic definition. A settlement of 40 houses may be called a town (ilu) and another of 80 houses a village (abule) depending on history and the people. The analysis showed that: (a) the curnmulative total of the number of settlements conforms to the S-shaped or sigmoid growth form of biological population; (b) rural settlements do not take the form of a wave diffusion in which areas occupied by earlier settlement lay adjacent to the 'mother' town, and (c) there is no appreciable relationship between topographical factors roads and settlements. The factors of size and spatially dispersed distribution of settlements emphasize the attendant problems of rural development. It is therefore suggested that a reorganisation of settlements for increased threshold population under the Local Government framework is desirable.
Open Access
Ajobi and Ajogbe: Variations of the Theme of Sociation
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1983) Akiwowo, Akinsola
The root words ajobi and ajogbe of alajobi and alajogbe have been translated into the English language as consanguinity and co-residentship. Both are variations on the theme of sociation. The lecture discussed sociation, characteristics of ajobi and ajogbe, and ajobi and ajogbe as variations on the theme of sociation. This subject is the direction that sociology may take as, a theoretical and an empirical discipline in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular.
Open Access
A Flow-of-Funds Model of Portfolio Behaviour of Nigerian Commercial Banks.
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1985) Odedokun, Matthew Odeyinka; Ojo, O. O.; Uwajaren, G. P.
Commercial banks use funds at their disposal to finance cash holding in various forms and investments in various securities and to grant various loans and advances. The study investigates the factors that determine the amount of funds used in each of the above ways. Commercial banks also sometimes consciously borrow in order to expand their asset holdings. The study also investigates their borrowing behaviour. A knowledge of the determinants of the sources-and uses-of-funds behaviour of commercial banks is very useful in formulating and executing monetary policy. Using a flow-of-funds framework of analysis employing quarterly data for Nigerian Commercial banks from the beginning of 1967 to the end of 1981, we find that the amount and the mix of deposit inflows and the inflow of other miscellaneous funds are used as substitutes to borrowing and in financing holdings of various assets except loans and advances which do not appear to be financed by deposit inflows. We also find that commercial bank sources and uses-of-funds behaviour is sensitive to various credit guidelines issued by the Central Bank, that seasonal factors affect the mix of assets held and the mix of liabilities issued just as the rates of return on each asset type and the borrowing costs. In addition, uncertainty about deposit flows increase their cash holding while the actual holdings of each asset and liability are determined by the gap between the existing and desired holdings.
Open Access
The Impact of Cocoa Cultivation on Soil Characterstics in Southwestern Nigeria
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1985) Ekanad, Olusegun; Jeje, L.K.; Adejuwon, J.O
This study investigates the impact of cocoa cultivation on soil properties in a part of the Nigerian Cocoa Belt with a view to providing a framework for land use planning and management. For comparative purposes, the conditions under forest and fallow were also investigated. The plant-soil model was adopted in order to investigate the functional and reciprocal effects between soil and vegetation properties over time using the inferential analytical approach. This was based on the side-by-side comparison of soil and vegetation properties in cocoa and fallow plots of different ages, and in forest plots in geographically separate locations within a homogeneous zone in respect of the physical environment and landuse practices. Standard field and laboratory techniques were used to collect and analyse 15 soil and 11 vegetation parameters. The changes in, and interrelationships between soil and vegetation properties under cocoa over time viz--a-viz the situation under fallow and forest were analysed using ANOVA, 'student's t-test, Pearson' s correlation, cumulative deviations from the mean, canonical correlation and stepwise regression. The results obtained from these analyses show that: (i) the values of most soil properties are significantly lower under either cocoa or fallow than under forest while a few exhibit significant differences between cocoa and fallow; (ii} complex soil-vegetation relationships exist under cocoa as opposed to the simple situations under fallow and forest thereby indicating the disturbance of the soil-vegetation system under cocoa over time; (iii) as opposed to what obtains under forest and fallow, tree density and biomass indices under cocoa indicate deleterious effects on cocoa soils. However, foliage cover and accumulated litter indicate beneficial effects on cocoa soils over time; (iv) at about the fortieth year of cocoa cultivation the cocoa soil-vegetation system breaks down. Thus, to maintain the fertility of cocoa soils over time in the Nigerian Cocoa Belt there is the need to apply organic soil improvement techniques. For optimum land use efficiency it is recommended that moribund cocoa plots, unyielding to rehabilitating efforts, should be converted to food-crop plots t) enhance food production in Nigerian.
Open Access
Spatial Analysis of Variations in Level of Living within the Ibadan Metropolitan Region.
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1986) Yirenkyi-Boateng, S; Abiodun, J. O.
In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to the living conditions of people in formulating national development plans. Similarly, geographers interested in the regional dimension of development now take greater cognizance of issues related to level of living. This thesis is a contribution to this growing area of regional development. It investigates the spatial dimension of development as related to level of living at the city level. Ibadan has been selected for this purpose. 2403 households were selected for the study from 30 residential zones in Ibadan based on 23 variables. The techniques adopted in analysing the data are factor and regression analyses, cluster analysis and causal modeling analysis. The investigation revealed the following findings: (i) The factors or dimensions underlying the relation-ships between the 23 variables were found to reflect three broad social classes in Ibadan: the upper class, poor working class and middle class factors, which contributed 60.75%, 19.36% and 6.80% respectively to the total variance. (ii) The three social classes were observed to owe their existence largely to institutional and traditional factors with their particular spatial patterns in Ibadan. Whilst the institutionalized high class residential areas displayed multiple nuclei patterns in the city, the newly emerging slums associated with the poor working class factor displayed arc-like patterns on the outskirts of the city. The middle class factor generated multiple nuclei and sectoral spatial patterns. However at the aggregate level, it was observed through regression analysis, that there was a general increase level of living from the centre of Ibadan to the periphery. (iii) Causal links were also found to exist between the factors and their associated spatial patterns- a situation which tends to perpetuate existing conditions. (iv) Five major residential groups were obtained application of cluster analysis. These five groups represented the broad frame work within which the variations in level of living within the Ibadan metropolis could be discussed. From the findings, it has been proposed that the traditional and institutional factors would have to undergo major changes before considerable improvements in the general living conditions of the population of Ibadan could be achieved. It has also been suggested that social area analysis should specifically focus on the level of living dimension which is a crucial factor in the development process.
Open Access
A Geographic Analysis of the Pattern of Integration between the Discrete Communities in Ile-Ife.
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1986) Akorede, Viscount Emmanuel Adebanjo; Adejuyigbe, Omolade
This is a politico geographic study of the pattern of integration of the different discrete communities of Ile-Ife. The study identified that two distinct groups, Elus and Oduduwas, existed in the earliest days of Ile-Ife. The Elus were in the area before the Oduduwa group, the two groups were not united until the arrival of a third group, under Oranmiyan, which succeeded in defeating first, the Oduduwas and later the Elus. Oranmiyan organised the defeated groups and his own followers into five communities of Iremo, Ilode, More, Ilare and Okerewe. Much later, new arrivals in Ile-Ife were settled in the Modakeke area. Sabo-Eleyele is the newest of the communities. Analysis of the pattern of integration of the seven communities was based on social, marriage, business, market, educational and religious interactions of 2742 people selected from all parts of Ile-Ife. Modified form of Soja's Transaction flow model and Bouldings Image Matrix were used in the analysis. The number of registered voters in each ward for the 1979 parliamentary elections was used as surrogate for its population. The differences between the potential and the actual transaction flow into each of the wards for each of the ward in respect of the eight variables were ranked to derive the image of each community in respect of each variable. The image scores were ranked and the ranks summarised to get an overall image score for each of the wards. On this basis, Iremo was identified as the community to which others are greatly attracted whilst Modakeke was the one with least attraction. The findings confirm the hypothesis that communities with the same time of arrival were much more integrated inspite of their earlier history of disagreements and political conflicts.
Open Access
Socio-economic Linkages of the Ife-Ijesa Frontier Population in Southwestern Nigeria
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1986) Aloba, Oluwole; Adejuyigbe, Omolade
This study has developed a methodology for determining the socio-economic linkages of frontier population. This is achieved by a study of the historical and current socio-economic linkages of the communities in the Ife-Ijesa frontier area of southwestern Nigeria. The historical linkages of the settlements in the frontier area were examined by a study of the origins of the founders of 94 randomly selected settlements in the area. The current socioeconomic linkages of 29 of these 9 settlements were then studied in detail with respect to movement patterns of people among the settlements for religious, educational and medical services as well as movements to rural markets and to urban centres for the purchase of building materials, new clothing, shoes, books and motor vehicle spare parts. The adjoining community to which the sampled frontier settlements were attached was determined through a systematic analysis of the aggregate of the historical, current socio-economic and other forms of deep rooted cultural factors like the pattern of town-house ownership by the frontier population. This method of analysis facilitates an objective grouping of frontier settlements and their territories with any of the adjoining communities to which they are strongly attached thereby providing an enduring solution to inter-community territorial disputes in a frontier region. The study shows that there is need to readjust the present administrative boundary between the Ife and Ijesa administrative units so as to ensure that each settlement is located into the community with which it is most strongly attached. Four of the 29 studied settlements are in this category. However, for the determination of a boundary between Ife and Ijesa communities which groups all settlements as suggested by this study, a survey involving all settlements in the frontier area would need to be carried out.
Open Access
Graduate Unemployment Problem and the Nigeria University System: 1970-85.
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1987) Oladeji, Sunday Idowu; O. Ojo, Oladejo
This study has attempted to understand the nature and causes of graduate unemployment in Nigeria. The relevance of the 'over-production hypothesis' was addressed. A framework for the validation of the hypothesis was developed and applied to the Nigerian situation in the period 1970 - 85. The analytical technique made use of the Incremental Labour-Output Ratio (ILOR) technique to determine the manpower need of each of the three plan periods spanned by the study-period. Furthermore, the consequences of the over-production of university graduates on the issues of 'search unemployment' and the potential mobility of graduates in the country were analysed. The results from the study indicated that the problem of over-production has been in existence in the country since the last one decade or so (1975 - 85). In the period 1975- 80, the rate of over-production was 17% and the unemployment rate was 9.3%. For the period 1980 - 85, direct quantification was impossible because of data problem. The evidence of over-production was confirmed by the fact that the "over-production - free" growth rate of 10.7% was higher than 7.2% target growth rate and the actual growth rate of - 3% recorded in 1981- 84 period. According to our expectation, the fresh graduates (1984 graduates) interviewed appeared to have high potential mobility, only about 4% declared strong preference for own state. Nevertheless, they still demonstrated high expectations about salary and kind of job. Only 6.2% would accept anything less than 300 per month (Grade level 08). This does not, however, provide a fool-proof evidence of search unemployment since just 26.7% of the graduates would sacrifice a period of unemployment for the preferred jobs. Our thesis is that the responsibility for the unemployment lies not with the graduates but the distortion in the economy and the planning of the country's universities.
Open Access
An Econometric Model of Nigeria's Financial Sector.
(Obafemi Awolowo University, 1987) Ikhide, Sylvanus Ihenyen; Ojo, O.
This study has attempted to construct a model for the financial sector of the Nigerian economy. Three subsectors were identified - the commercial banks, the non-bank public and the monetary authorities. Using data collected on a quarterly basis from the economy between 1968 and 1983, equations were formulated to explain the behaviour of these sectors within a general portfolio analysis. Due to the interactive nature of the three subsectors, two-stage least squares method of estimation was employed. To test the validity of the model, a historical simulation of the major endogenous variables was performed in order to find out how well the model tracked actual series. Based on the results of the historical simulation, an unconditional forecasting of the same variables was attempted from the first quarter of 1984 to the last quarter of 1985 to ascertain the forecasting ability of the model. Among others, the study confirmed that the money supply may not be strictly under the control of the Central Bank since it is affected by rich variables as government expenditure and the balance of payments. The study also confirmed the sensitivity of the non-bank public to the yields or returns on government securities. The results also show that the money supply narrowly defined is better approximated by working through its components - Currency and Demand deposits than through a money-multiplier equation. The policy implications of the findings are two-fold. Since there are variables outside the control of the Central Bank affecting the supply of money, the monetary authorities could employ a defensive monetary policy by using open market operations which hitherto has not been used consistently to control the effects of these variables. In addition to this, the Central Bank could easily identify variables determining Currency and Demand deposits holding and through these forecast the level of money supply from time to time.
Open Access
The Nigerian Male: Changing Gender Roles and Relationships
(2001) Oladimeji, B. Y.; Odebiyi, A. I.
Gender-role specialisation is in the interest of system maintenance. Parents tend to socialize their children to assume the gender-roles so that the smooth running of the family is maintained. However, with urbanization and socio-economic changes, women are now in jobs and professions traditionally viewed as "the preserves" of men. The opportunity for more women taking leadership role in the community at large has widened. The present study was designed to thrown some light on the attitude of Nigerians towards the changing gender roles. Are there changes in perception that could possibly be a source of conflict, which could disrupt the family system. To determine this, a masculine values inventory was administered on men in 250 households in Ile-Ife, using a systematic random sampling technique. Attitude to marriage and inter-relationship between husbands and wives, work, family and economic responsibilities were explored. The findings revealed the ambivalent attitude of men towards the changing gender roles and relationships, highlighting the need for carefully designed public awareness and education programmes, directed at the male population as decisive partners in progress.
Open Access
Effects of mothers' socio-economic status on the management of febrile conditions in their under five children in a resource limited setting
(BMC International Health and Human Rights, 2006-01-20) Adenike, Olaogun; Olufemi.E, Ayandiran; Ayinla.A, Adebayo
Public health research is shifting focus to the role of socioeconomic indicators in the promotion of health. As such an understanding of the roles that socio-economic factors play in improving health and health-seeking behaviour is important for public health policy. This is because the share of resources devoted to different policy options should depend on their relative effectiveness. To measure the effect of socio-economic status (age, education, occupation, income, religion and family structure) of mothers on the management of febrile conditions in under-fives children. Two hundred mothers who brought their febrile under-five children to a health facility were interviewed on the treatment they gave to their children before reporting at health facility. Data collected were entered and analyzed using the SPSS software. Binary logistic regression was adopted for the quantitative analysis of the effect of socio-economic variables on the mothers' actions prior to utilizing the health facility. Results showed that while mothers' age was negatively correlated (-0.13), occupation was positively correlated (0.17) with under-fives mothers' action. Education, religion, income and family structure were however insignificant at 5% level. This poses a lot of challenges to policy makers in the developing nations where women's education and earning capacity is low. There is therefore a need to increase the number of women benefiting from micro credit. This will ensure that more women are engaged in a form of occupation that is profitable and can sustain the economic and health needs of the family.
Open Access
A GIS-Based Procedure for Downscaling Climate Data for West Africa
(Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008-10) Akinyemi, Felicia; Adejuwon, James Oladipo
Local studies aimed at assessing the impact of climate variability on crop yield at the individual farm level require the use of weather and climate data. These are often collected at points known as meteorological stations. In West Africa, meteorological stations are sparsely distributed and as a result, are often unable to satisfy the data requirements for such studies. One major problem arising from this is how to estimate values for locations where primary data is not available. General Circulation Models (GCMs) have recently been deployed for weather forecasting and climate change projections but the resolution of their outputs is low requiring downscaling. This article describes a GIS-based procedure for downscaling GCMs’ outputs for use in studies assessing the impacts of climate variability on crop yield at the farm level. The procedure is implemented with the Hadley Centre's GCM (HadCM2) data, although any other GCM can be used. Results in this study show that the model works best when representing drier months as compared to wet months in all three domains tested. For example, it estimated the rainfall for January (the driest month) better than that of July which is the peak of the rainy season in West Africa. There is also a north-south pattern influencing the accuracy of estimated rainfall distribution, with stations in the south better represented than those in the north. For the greater part of West Africa where similar climatic conditions persist as in Nigeria, this procedure can be considered suitable for interpolation and downscaling
Open Access
Assessing conflict impacts on urban physical infrastructure:
(International Journal of the Physical Sciences, 2011-12) Ayanlade, Sina; Orimoogunje, Oluwagbenga O. I.
This paper used geographic information systems (GIS) technique to assess the impact of conflict on land use in Ile-Ife and Modakeke in Nigeria. There has been limited systematic research work in terms of mapping the impacts of the communal crisis on the land use pattern using GIS. Therefore, the major aim of this paper is to map the impact of communal conflict on land use with the aid of GIS. Global positioning system (GPS) was used to take the co-ordinates of the affected area. The GIS map produced more than six years after the last clash between both communities. The research team counted 53 houses that were totally destroyed and remained to be re-built or rehabilitated.
Open Access
How Important is Oil in Nigeria’s Economic Growth?
(Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2012-04-01) Akinlo, Anthony Enisan
This study assesses the importance of oil in the development of the Nigerian economy in a multivariate VAR model over the period 1960-2009. Empirical evidence shows that the five subsectors are cointegrated and that the oil can cause other non oil sectors to grow. However, oil had adverse effect on the manufacturing sector. Granger causality test finds bidirectional causality between oil and manufacturing, oil and building & construction, manufacturing and building & construction, manufacturing and trade & services, and agriculture and building & construction. It also confirms unidirectional causality from manufacturing to agriculture and trade & services to oil. No causality was found between agriculture and oil, likewise between trade & services and building & construction. The paper recommends appropriate regulatory and pricing reforms in the oil sector to integrate it into the economy and reverse the negative impact of oil on the manufacturing sub sector
Open Access
Financial Policy and Corporate Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Nigerian Listed Companies
(Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2012-04-01) SALAWU, Rafiu Oyesola; ASAOLU, Taiwo Olufemi; YINUSA, Dauda Olalekan
This study investigates the effects of financial policy and firm specific characteristics on corporate performance. Panel data covering a period from 1990 to 2006 for 70 firms were analyzed. Pooled OLS, Fixed Effect Model and Generalized Method of Moment panel model were employed in the estimation and data were sourced from the annual report and financial statement of the sampled firms. The estimation of the dynamic panel-data results show that long-term debts, tangibility, corporate tax rate, dividend policy, financial and stock market development were all positively related with firms’ performance. Furthermore, the positive relationship between stock market development and ROA suggest that as stock market develops, various investment opportunities are opened to firms. Therefore, there is need to monitor the performance of these variables in order to stabilize and enhance performance of listed firms in Nigeria. In addition, the result shows that growth, size and foreign direct investment are negatively related with firms’ performance (ROA). In addition, the result indicates that higher income variability increases the risk that a firm may not be able to cover its interest payment, leading to higher expected costs of financial distress. This may leads to reduce their profitability. The results of the study generally support existing literature on the impact of financial policy on corporate performance.
Open Access
Income Inequality, Unemployment, and Poverty in Nigeria
(Routledge Informa Ltd Registered, 2013-02-25) Muibi.O, Saibu; Temidayo, Akinbobola
The main features of poverty are low levels of consumption and income, a fact-of-life in most African countries. This paper analyzes the fundamental trends of per capita income, government capital expenditure, the human development index, and the rate of unemployment in the Nigeria. A vector autoregressive model finds that: A reduced unemployment rate improves human development and consequently reduces poverty. As growth in public capital expenditure rises, unemployment falls and the human development index improves. Therefore, infrastructure-based policies, which initially reduce unemployment, will also improve the living conditions of Nigerians in the end.
Open Access
A multi-perspective view of the effects of a pipeline explosion in Nigeria
(International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2013-11) Makinde, E. O.; Eludoyin, Adebayo O; Salami, Ayobami T
Vandalisation of petroleum pipelines is a major cause of pipeline fire disasters. However, except the number of deaths recorded, little information of the effects of such disasters on the environment is often reported in developing countries, and post-disaster remediation process is thus usually unmonitored or ineffective. This study investigated the effect of a major pipeline disaster in a rural environment in Nigeria from multi-date satellite imageries (orthophoto map, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, ETM þand IKONOS), social and ecological surveys. Results showed that some of the affected settlements were within the pipeline corridor before the disaster, and pipeline vandalisa- tion was encouraged by one or more cases of faulty and exposed pipeline, deficient pipeline monitoring system, sabotage and readily available markets for siphoned oil. Ecological effects include loss of about 200 ha of vegetation resulting into significantly lower woody and herbaceous plant species in the affected regions than the adjacent plots. Significant proportion of the survivors also reported lower quality of groundwater (well water), air and streams, health problems (mainly abdominal pain) after they drank the well water and destruction of their crops and farmlands. The study concluded on the need for enforcement of the right-of-way laws on pipelines in Nigeria.
Open Access
Air temperature, relative humidity, climate regionalization and thermal comfort of Nigeria
( International Journal of Climatology, 2014-05) Eludoyin, Oyenike M.; Adelekan, Ibidun O.; Webster, R; Eludoyin, Adebayo O
Planners and policy makers require information about the regions for which they are responsible. However, it seems that many developing countries, including Nigeria, are not adequately prepared either for their current climates or for the impact of climate change because they lack sufﬁcient information. We have therefore examined the variations in the thermal condition in terms of the temperature, relative humidity, effective temperature (ET), temperature– humidity index (THI) and relative strain index (RSI). We studied the spatial and temporal (1951–2009, 1951 –1980, 1981 –2009, decadal, seasonal and monthly averages) variations in the thermal climate of Nigeria, and we divided Nigeria into thermal climate regions for effective climate change management. Mean annual minimum, mean and maximum temperatures (with their standard deviations) were 21.4 (3.5), 27.1 (2.7) and 32.8 (3.4) ◦C, respectively, while the overall mean relative humidity was 62 (24.8)%. Mean ET, THI and RSI were 24.3 (0.85), 24.8 (1.83) and 0.2 (0.18) ◦C, respectively. The ET, THI and RSI provided contrasting expressions of thermal comfort for Nigeria, because of its varied climate. We also found that elevation; the movement of the Inter Tropical Discontinuity and urbanization affect thermal comfort in Nigeria. We conclude that thermal stress has increased in Nigeria from 2000 at most stations, especially in the south and north-western regions, and that Nigerian thermal comfort climate is heterogeneous and requires analysis of multiple thermal indices