Suchergebnisse

Scholars and policymakers widely acknowledge the critical role of good governance in rural development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately, decades of good governance reforms have not reduced poverty in Nigeria. But what is good governance? The problem is that the working definition and popularized principles of good governance do not actually emanate from the poor. Moreover, there is a lack of contextualization of the concept of good governance within the Nigerian context. Rather, donors' institutional understanding is universalized through the imposition of a good governance agenda. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the concept of good governance through the lens of rural communities in south-west Nigeria. Understanding good governance from the viewpoint of local citizens, who are the recipients of governance reforms, is vital for effective targeted reform. The study is based on the premise that communities possess a deep understanding of their own social circumstances and possess the capacity to express their unique insights. Employing Participatory Action Research (PAR) and qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the research engaged a purposively selected sample from three rural communities in south-west Nigeria. The findings revealed that, for these communities, good governance primarily involves the government's ability to meet basic needs and provide welfare-enhancing infrastructure. Conversely, bad governance is characterized by declining welfare, economic hardship, and inadequate infrastructure. Interestingly, participants did not prioritize reforms like regular elections or anti-corruption measures as core attributes of good governance, although they did not oppose these aspects. This study underscores the need to incorporate the perspectives of local citizens in defining good governance, allowing for homegrown solutions that might offer quicker and cost-effective strategies for development.

The contradictions inherent in interests of stakeholders in oil politics have escalated to armed confrontations in the oil-producing Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Years of unrealised development aspirations of the Niger Delta people and environmental crisis in relation to oil spillage and gas flaring have encouraged resistance against the oil industries and the state in the region. The manner of this resistance and state responses have undergone the process of militarisation in the last decades. The paper, which is qualitative in nature and thus drawing much from secondary data establishes that a series of political solutions, including support for zoning of Nigerian Presidency to the Niger Delta, and policy initiatives such as the amnesty programme for militants have helped to subdue the crisis. However, oil and environmental politics remains militarised for the state and resistant groups in the Niger Delta. Consequently, this article seeks to examine the nature and context of the socio-political crisis in the Niger Delta and the challenges and prospects for sustainable peace in the region.

One of the major problems facing education in Nigeria is the provision of quality Science and Technology education. Inadequate teaching facilities, non-usage of innovative teaching strategies, ineffective classroom management, lack of students' motivation and poor integration of ICT has resulted in the increase in percentage of students who failed Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Certification Examination for National Examination Council in Nigeria. To address these challenges, the Federal Government came up with a road map on education. This was with a view of enhancing quality education through integration of modern technology into teaching and learning, enhancing quality assurance through proper monitoring and introduction of innovative methods of teaching. This led the researcher to investigate how MOODLE LMS could be used to enhance students' learning outcomes in BST. A sample of 120 students was purposively selected from four secondary schools in Ogbomoso. The experimental group was taught using MOODLE LMS, while the control group was taught using the conventional method. Data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The result showed that MOODLE LMS was an effective learning platform in teaching BST in junior secondary schools (t=4.953, P<0.05). Students' attitudes towards BST was also enhanced through MOODLE LMS (t=15.632, P<0.05). The use of MOODLE LMS significantly enhanced students' retention (t=6.640, P<0.05). In conclusion, the Federal Government efforts at enhancing quality assurance through integration of modern technology and e-learning in Secondary schools proved to have yielded good result has students found MOODLE LMS to be motivating and interactive. Attendance was improved.

The property of rocks varies from one geological location to another or even disappears laterally, and these properties are important factors in determining groundwater quantity. This makes this research work focused on the correlative analysis of lithologies and borehole logs with geo-electric sections in the basement terrain of Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, using Borehole logging and geophysical electrical method. Twenty-two vertical electrical sounding stations and borehole Logsare acquired within the study area with a maximum Schlumberger electrode separation of 100m. The data are interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively by partial curve matching and computer iteration to obtain the first-order geo-electric model parameters. The results of the geo-electric investigation reveal some lithological Layers such as topsoil, clay, weathered laterite basement, and fresh basement. At the same time, those from boreholes include topsoil, loamy soil, friable brown soil, clayey-sand, sandy-clay, laterite weathered basement/saprolite, and Fresh Basement. Electrical resistivity and borehole logs correlation revealed: poor, poor-moderate and moderate-perfect correlations based on a comparison between the number of lithological layers encountered from both vertical electrical sounding derived lithology and those from borehole and depth of occurrence. The depth of water struck grouped into three 0 - 45 m, 45 - 70 m, and 50 - 100 m to bring out the most favourable depth of aquifer potential while three yields categories 0.5-2 lt/s; 2 - 4lt/s and 4 -12 lt/s are observed with the above depth classification respectively. Good yielding fractures increase with depth in the quartzite regions but decrease with depth in both gneisses and the schist rock bodies. The correlations between geo-electric sections and borehole logs have shown that the geoelectric section obtained from the vertical electric section cannot totally be substituted for borehole logging but can serve as alternative means of classifying the sub-surface lithologies in the absence of borehole logging.

This article argues that the policy of the federal government of Nigeria in establishing settlement for herders who are mostly Fulani in different states of the country is perceived by other ethnic groups as advancement of ethnic and religious politics. This perception has led to counter ethno-religious narratives with accompanying increased tensions for the country. Ethno-religious politics has not only become the defining character of Nigerian federation overtime but its continuous unbridled expression, manifestation and dire consequences are currently threatening the existence of the country as a sovereign polity. This article through qualitative secondary data from media reports, scholarly articles, government publications and internet resources examines the Cattle Settlement policy, its merits and demerits within the context of a troubled federation. The article concludes on ways of resolving the emerging crisis through proper framing of the policy for wide acceptability taking into cognizance the diversity that defines the country's existence and the need to pursue enduring peace in the polity.

Over a nine-month period, the prevalence of HIV among women attending selected Hospitals (Dr Musa Inuwa, General, Clinic A, IBB, and Clinic B hospitals) in Minna was studied. A total of 500 patients were selected and their blood samples collected. Questionnaires were used to gather relevant data on sampled patients. Presence of antibodies to HIV 1 and 2 was determined using Determin HIV 1/2 kit. Of the 500 samples, 408 tested negative while 92 tested positive, translating to a prevalence rate of 18.4%. The age group 25 – 34 years had the highest number of cases under HIV positive pregnant women (67.7%). Except for location, there was a significant association between HIV/ pregnancy status and the various factors. Government and non-government organizations are advised to intensify efforts to arrest the situation.

One of the important optimization applications (minimization and maximization) is the power grid systems. National electricity grids should be interconnected to develop larger regional grids (supergrids), and further integrated to build up a worldwide grid (global grid) for minimizing consumption of natural resources and maximizing economical useful life, recycling rate, and effective usage of natural resources. These supergrids and global grid concepts can only be developed through detailed and organized supportive research studies. This research study aims to find, define, identify, describe and select location selection factors of very large photovoltaic solar power plant investments on a global grid and supergrid concepts. Grey systems theory, fuzzy (Type-1 and 2) theories, Mamdani's type fuzzy rule-based system, Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM), Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) tool, and Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) framework and its extensions (SLEPT, PESTEL, PESTLE, STEEPLE, STEEPLED, DESTEP, STEER) are concurrently used in this study. Eleven (11) criteria are presented for preliminary screening (i.e. C1: global horizontal irradiation (GHI), C2: governments supergrid integration policy, C3: supergrid business climate and conditions, C4: High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) and High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) electrification grid infrastructure, C5: land use, allocation and availability, C6: geological conditions, C7: political, war, terror & security, C8: topographical conditions, C9: climatic conditions, C10: water availability conditions, C11: natural disaster/hazard conditions), and 191 factors are presented for pre-feasibility investment stages. Findings can directly be used or taken as a basis for further analysis by researchers and practitioners.