Department of Geography

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Department of Geography

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Open Access
The Geological Sciences in the Service of Nigeria
(University of Ife Press, 1972-01-18) Cooray, P. G.
In the year 1900. Charles Lapworth, the then President of the Geological Society of London, asked from the President's Chair: "What is this geology of which we are so proud and confident? What has it done for the mental or material benefit of the human race? And on what grounds does it justify its claims to respect and support as one of the facts in the advance of humanity?" These questions appear to be as relevant today as they were at the beginning of the century, and my address this evening, as the title indicates, attempts to answer the first rather briefly, the second in some detail in so far as it applies specifically to the people of Nigeria, and the third not at a". as the answer lies with you-mine would be strongly prejudiced in geology's favour! The main body of my address falls naturally into three parts, namely. the manner in which the geological sciences have served Nigeria in the past, the ways in which they will continue to serve her in the future. and the contribution that the Department of Geology and Applied Geology at the University of Ife has made and will continue to make in the provision and growth of this service. But first some definitions are necessary. The science of geology, which is more than 200 years old, springs from two main sources-the consideration of the origin of rocks, and the study of minerals and crystals from the old mining districts of Germany. This is neither the time nor the place to delve into the history of our science-suffice it to say that until relatively recently geology was largely an observational science with little or no relation to the other physical sciences. Today the plctureTs very different. and the barriers between geology and chemistry, geology and physics. and geology and mathematics are being broken down as fast as they are between physics and chemistry. and chemistry and biology. It is for this reason -dissatisfaction with the limitations of the term "geology"-that I have chosen the wider term "geological sciences" for the purpose of this talk. Geology is in essence earth history and it uses every available .rneans to decipher this history. We can therefore say that the geological sciences are the various branches of geology and allied subjects that help to unravel earth history .
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
Modern Strategy of Educational Planning
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1976-04-27) Awokoya, S. Oluwole
I have chosen Modern Strategy of Educational Planning as the theme of this lecture because of its relevance to the rigorous battle for survival which all developing countries are facing in this scientific and technological age.
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
River Basin Management for Optimum Water Yield
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1978-12-07) Adejuwon, J.O
In the course of this lecture, I intend to outline a set of procedures for refining the well known generalized concept of a river basin into an empirical, predictive model that could 'be manipulated for the purpose of optimizing water yield. As a major objective, this lecture is directed at modelling the river basin for optimum water yield.
Open Access
Social Considerations in Political Territorial Organization of Society
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1980-04-24) Adejuyigbe, Omolade
In choosing the topic Social Consideration in Political Territorial Organization of Society, I intend to highlight the general principles derived from studies of the evolution, organisation and cohesion of political units and discuss their applicability to the solution of relevant problems in this country. To this end the rest of the lecture is divided into five parts, namely: basic units for political territorial organization; social considerations in the merger of the basic units; social considerations encouraging separation from established political units; social considerations in the delimitation of the boundaries of political units; and relevance to Nigeria.
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
Replenish the Earth and Subdue it
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1982-04-20) Aladeko, J.B.
The lecture shows that energy and materials constitute an inseparable entity. While we need materials to replenish our country, we need energy to subdue it and generate new materials. Results of various surveys and scientific investigations have confirmed that Nigeria is blessed with a rich store of materials and energy resources the types that if optimally used can transform it into one of the greatest countries on earth. Mention any element or energy resource and you would find that Nigeria has it. However, if the question is asked as to how these resources have been utilized so far, the answer is likely to be that we have not done what we should but we have wasted those resources we should not and there is no "economic health" in us. For the past decade or so, Nigeria has leaned heavily on a single resource - Petroleum which yields at least 80% of its foreign earnings. It is even doubtful if Nigeria derives full benefits from the oil as most of the sensitive technological aspects of the industry are effectively controlled by foreigners. Nigeria also burns off its rich store of natural gas. All these must stop if we are to survive the present and live to the future. We must develop other resources and re-cycle our materials for best results.
Open Access
Waste Recycling in the Food Chain
(University of Ife Press, 1983-01-18) Omole, T. A.
Man's emergence as a successful and resourceful member of the earth's community is largely due to his ability to manipulate and utilize other members of the community to his own advantage. However varied his other preoccupations may have been, obtaining food for survival was his constant concern. It still is. For thousands of years, man was a wandering food gathering animal. Hunger was often his lot and insecurity and uncertainty were his constant companions. His role in the natural scheme of things was that of a consumer, a confirmed omnivore and often that of a scavenger. Aristotle was correct in asserting that procreation and feeding are the main pre-occupations of all living beings. Like the lower animal, whom in many aspects he resembled, early man collected fruits, mosses and tubers, seized eagerly upon such small animals as snakes and lizards and even ate the insects that crawled beneath his feet. In these early days, man reflected nature; he was indeed a part of nature to a greater extent than at the present time. Yesterday he was full, today empty. In sunshine he was merry, in storm wretched and afraid. Life bore a terrible immediacy for him, with little thought of future and none of the past. In the childhood of human race, the mind of man was fixed on the present.
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
Landscape Evolution in the Humid Tropics and Implications for Land Resources Evaluation
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1986-05-13) Jeje, I.K
The organization of landforms into land systems on the basis of genetic factors such as lithology and formative processes like deep weathering and erosional stripping of the weathered material to form a related series of etchplains appears to constitute an important principle in a broad classification of the humid tropical terrain into mappable units; more so where such units can be shown to have associations with soil development and the other elements of the land. Such maps which can be produced from various imageries where topographic mapping at a medium scale is still unaccomplished can be very useful for development and land management purposes.
Open Access
The Heart, Life, and Soul of Technology
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1988-04-12) Mojola, O. O.
The ivory-tower ritual of delivering an inaugural lecture which I am now called upon to perform was of course transplanted into this country by the British. Within Britain itself, there was some semblance of this activity at the University of Oxford- at least as early as 1623 when, as the first Camden Professor of History, Digory Whear mounted the rostrum to deliver his oratio auspicalis in the Schola Grammaticae. By the time of Edward Thwaites (Regius Professor of Greek, also at Oxford) in 1708, the inaugural lecture had 'become somewhat _forrn alised, and the lecture has since come to be perceived by scholars as something of an intellectual feast prepared by the lecturer according to his own recipe. My recipe for this lecture, the first from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of this University, is a fairly brief e.~osition of some aspects of technology. The expose shall be lightly flavoured with summaries in the appropriate places of some of my contributions to knowledge and activities in the field for more than twenty years. I shall be di~ging into the past, tugging at the present, and (occasionally) crystal-gazing into the future. The thrust of my arguments shall be directed at some of those key elements which I consider to be the real foundations of technology. Hence my choice of a rather basal title: The Heart, Life, and Soul of Technology. According to G.K. Chesterton ( a famous English essayist, novelist, and critic), "All slang is metaphor and all metaphor is poetry." But my use of the metaphors Heart, Life and Soul in the title of this lecture (and of similar metaphors elsewhere in the lecture}, is largely a deliberate attempt to hum anise technology. Afterall, technology, like the sabbath, is made for man and not man for technology.
Open Access
The Atomic Nucleus: Janusian Aspects and Human Existence
(Obafeml Awolowo University Press, 1991-01-26) Amusa, A.
An inaugural lecture can take various forms depending on the speaker, his interests, and his disposition to problems in his field. Some of the several forms it can take are as follows: • an exposition of the past and I or ongoing scholastic efforts of the Professor, • an exposition of what one would like to be, a future direction of research and development in one's area of work internationally or within one's nation. • an exposition of past, present works and / or future projections in areas related to, or that could be beneficial to one's specialty. • an exposition of special or specific problems facing one's specialty with a view to -amelioratingthem and thus leading to maximum benefit sbeing derived from efforts in one's field, and • a general historical and philosophical overview of one's specialty for the sole purpose of enlightening the public and perhaps helping to make meaningful future projections in one's field. Before we go into the actual form adopted for this discourse, it would be useful to pass some remarks which could help this august audience in seeing the need for the choice made herein., This speaker became a Professor of Nuclear Physics more than fifteen years ago. He could thus be tagged an 'old' Professor as opposed to a 'recent' or 'eaglet' Professor on campus. Given this length of one's tenure as a Professor, it is/perhaps not totally inappropriate if anyone has a tendency to regard this lecture as belonging to the valedictory genre as opposed to its being an inaugural one. This is, however, an inaugural lecture even though a form suited to a valedictory lecture is adopted here. The obvious advantage of this approach is that one is able to focus better on the peculiarity, and .problems in one's field based on 'one's experience world - wide and in this our Third World setting.
Open Access
Regional Inequalities Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 1992-01-14) Abiodun, J. O.
The topic of my lecture of today is Regional Inequalities in Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria: Problems and-Prospects. Spatial inequality in the level of social and economic development is a universal phenomenon. One major factor that inspired increasing focus on the problems of spatial inequality in the less developed countries is the growing realization that increases in national income per capita is not necessarily accompanied by improvement in the living conditions of the poorest group in any given country. It is also well known that inequalities among units within a nation could lead to disaffection and result in political instability. The experiences of the Republic of Zaire, Sudan, and Ethiopia are cases in point. Prior to 1975, development planning in Nigeria for instance focused on achieving greater rate of economic growth through sectoral investments. In consequence, not much attention was paid to the spatial patterns of inequalities in development.
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
Nigeria, France and the Francophone States: the Joy and Anguish of a Regional Power
(Obafemi Awolowo University Press, 2010-05-25) Omole, Bamitale
To interrogate this Inaugural Lecture, which is entitled "Nigeria, France and the Francophone States: The Joy and Anguish of a Regional Power", I propose to do three things. First, I will examine grosso modo, the concept of power not in the form of an abstraction, but in relation to and in the context of its nexus between Nigeria and the French-speaking states neighbours of West Africa of Benin Republic, Niger, Cameroon, Togo Chad, Cote d'lvoire, Senegal and indeed, on one or two non-Francophone states of West Africa whose diplomatic foray impinge on the relationship between Nigeria and the Francophone states of West Africa. Secondly, I will like to examine Nigeria's claim as a regional power. Is the claim an illusion of grandeur or a Leviathan rhapsody? What really over the years have been the joy and anguish of Nigeria in her diplomatic engagement and relations with the Francophone countries of West Africa? If truly Nigeria's action and inaction with the neighbouring states in the sub-region have rendered her diplomatically inconsequential, then what do we do with this Leviathan with clay legs?
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.