05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008
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Browsing 05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008 by Author "Aniekwu, A N"
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PublicationDistance Learning Intervention in Unserviced Rural Communities in the Niger Delta of Nigeria( 2008-09)PCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // The Niger Delta produces the oil wealth that accounts for the bulk of Nigeria’s foreign earnings, but it paradoxically suffers pervasive local poverty. The problem of poverty in the midst of ballooning oil revenues amongst other issues has spawned discontent and disillusion and created the restiveness for which the region is now known World-wide. // The Niger Delta has a humid, semi-hot equatorial climate and due to heavy and frequent rainfalls, soils consisting mainly of silt and clay become saturated, reducing infiltration to the barest minimum and encouraging run-off, making it more expensive to construct sustainable infrastructure; physical (e.g., roads, canals and bridges); social (e.g., health and educational facilities, and public utilities); and institutional (e.g., credit institutions and postal services). // The terrain is difficult, debilitating while the effects of prolonged and reckless exploitation of natural resources has massively polluted the environment. Given the fact that the mangrove swamp zone is a massive swamp with scattered islands, population is sparsely distributed making the task of promoting sustainable human development infrastructure which usually involves large capital outlays and great elements of risk harder. // It is our view that distances learning can be used as a delivery vehicle in the absence of access, to intervene in the education of the people of the region. The Programme can also serve as a delivery vehicle for information into the remote areas of the Niger Delta targeted towards Peace Building, Conflict Resolution, Poverty Alleviation, Capacity Building, Health Issues, Modern Farming Methods and other appropriate educational information. // Paper ID 604