WAEC SSCE - Geography - 2016 (Essay)

(a) Objectives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS):

1. To promote economic cooperation and integration among member states, leading eventually to an economic union and a common market.
2. To encourage free movement of people, goods, services and capital across member states and raise the living standards of West Africans. (Also: to maintain regional peace and security.)

(b) Problems hindering the achievement of ECOWAS objectives:

1. Language and colonial differences: The mix of English, French and Portuguese speaking states hinders communication and unity.
2. Political instability: Coups, civil wars and insecurity in member states disrupt cooperation.
3. Poor transport and communication links between member states limit trade.
4. Inadequate funding and smuggling: Non-payment of dues, differing currencies and widespread smuggling weaken the community.

(c) Ways the problems can be solved:

1. Adopt a common working language and improve translation to ease communication.
2. Promote good governance and maintain a peace-keeping standby force to ensure stability.
3. Improve inter-country roads, railways and communication to boost trade.
4. Ensure prompt payment of dues, adopt a common currency and check smuggling to strengthen the union.

(a) Characteristic features:

(i) Conurbation:

• It is a large continuous built-up area formed when several once-separate towns grow and merge into one another.
• It has a very large population and a shared network of roads, transport and services, often without a single dominant centre. Example - the Greater London/West Midlands conurbation.

(ii) Megalopolis:

• It is a very large urban region formed by the merging of several conurbations and cities into an almost continuous chain of settlement.
• It covers an extensive area with an extremely large population and heavy interconnection of economic activities. Example - the Boston-to-Washington (BosWash) belt in the USA.

(b) Functions which settlements perform (with examples):

1. Administrative function: serving as centres of government. Example - Abuja.
2. Commercial/trade function: centres of buying, selling and banking. Example - Lagos, Onitsha.
3. Industrial function: centres of manufacturing. Example - Aba, Kano.
4. Educational function: centres of learning with schools and universities. Example - Ibadan, Nsukka.
5. Religious function: centres of worship and pilgrimage. Example - Mecca, Ile-Ife.
6. Residential/dormitory function: providing homes for people who work elsewhere. Example - suburban towns around big cities.

(Others: port, mining, resort/tourist and defence functions.)

(a) Advantages of industrialization in Nigeria:

1. It creates employment and raises the incomes and living standards of the people.
2. It diversifies the economy and earns foreign exchange by processing raw materials locally and reducing dependence on imports and on crude oil alone. (Also: promotes technology and infrastructural growth.)

(b) Problems that retard industrialization in Nigeria:

1. Inadequate/unreliable power supply: Frequent electricity failures force reliance on costly generators and disrupt production.
2. Shortage of capital: Insufficient funds and high interest rates limit the establishment and expansion of industries.
3. Inadequate skilled manpower and technology: Shortage of trained technicians and reliance on imported machinery lower efficiency.
4. Poor infrastructure and small market: Bad roads, poor water supply and low purchasing power hinder movement of goods and sales, worsened by competition from cheap imports.

(c) How the problems can be solved:

1. Improve and expand power generation to give industries steady electricity.
2. Provide industrial finance and credit through development banks and encourage local and foreign investment.
3. Train skilled manpower through technical education and adopt appropriate technology.
4. Develop infrastructure and protect local industries by improving roads, water and transport, and controlling harmful imports.

(a) Explanatory notes (any two):

(i) Population density: This is the average number of people living per unit area of land, usually per square kilometre. It is obtained by dividing the total population of an area by its land area:

It shows how crowded or sparsely settled an area is (dense, moderate or sparse).

(ii) Birth rate: This is the number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in one year. A high birth rate means many babies are born relative to the population, and it is a major factor in population growth.

(iii) Optimum population: This is the population size that, given the available resources and level of technology, yields the highest standard of living and the best return per head. It is the ideal balance between population and resources, neither under- nor over-populated.

(b) Ways of solving the problems of under-population:

1. Encourage higher birth rates through incentives such as tax relief, child allowances and maternity benefits.
2. Encourage immigration of skilled and labouring workers to increase the population and labour force.
3. Improve health services to lower death rates and raise life expectancy.
4. Develop resources and industries and provide jobs and amenities to retain people and attract settlers.

(a) Modes of transportation:

1. Road (land) transport.
2. Rail (railway) transport.
3. Water (inland waterway and ocean) transport.
4. Air transport. (Also pipeline transport.)

(b) Constraints to inland water navigation:

1. Waterfalls, rapids and cataracts that interrupt the river and block through-passage of boats.
2. Seasonal variation in water level - rivers become too shallow in the dry season and flood dangerously in the wet season.
3. Silting and sand bars that make channels shallow and difficult to navigate.
4. Presence of vegetation and obstacles (floating weeds such as water hyacinth, sand banks, rocks) blocking the channel.

(c) Ways the constraints can be solved:

1. Construct locks, canals and by-pass channels around waterfalls and rapids to allow boats to pass.
2. Build dams and reservoirs to regulate water levels so that rivers remain navigable throughout the year.
3. Regular dredging of channels to remove silt and sand bars and deepen the waterway.
4. Clear floating weeds and obstacles and mark channels with buoys/beacons for safe navigation.