Nigeria

An Assessment of Post-Flood Disaster Risk Recovery and Reconstruction Responses of Urban Households in Makurdi Metropolis, Nigeria (Published)

Flood disaster is increasingly becoming a common occurrence around the world due to unwholesome human activities and climate change affecting urban areas including Makurdi metropolis in Benue state, Nigeria. Given its geographic location in the Benue valley and geophysical characteristics, Makurdi regularly experiences flood disaster during rainy season with the 2012 flood event been the worse with considerable impacts on the lives and properties of urban households. This study assesses the 2012 post-flood disaster risk recovery and reconstruction responses of urban households in Makurdi metropolis. Data was collected from 200 affected households of the 2012 flood disaster in flood prone areas of the town through physical observation and questionnaire administration, and was analysed using descriptive statistical techniques. The result of the study reveals different levels of damages caused by the flood in the study area with destruction of residential houses accounting for the highest (30.6%). Post-disaster recovery and reconstruction responses vary among households with low-income households being the most vulnerable and 85% have not fully recovered from the disaster. The study reveals varying nature of recovery efforts undertaking by the affected households in the study area with 38.9% of them rehabilitated their residential buildings. The highest post-flood recovery assistance accounting for 82.4% came from victims’ relatives/friends. Based on the findings, the study recommends for more sensitization of the public on proactive flood disaster risk management through preparedness; readiness, response and recovery/rehabilitation with involvement of all stakeholders in the study area.

Keywords: Flood, Makurdi metropolis, Nigeria, post-disaster risk, recovery and reconstruction, urban households

A Framework for Assessing Women’s Economic Empowerment (Published)

Global progress towards gender parity across critical areas of life is still at the disadvantage of women. Women are in a disadvantage position in such areas as the ownership and control over assets, access to affordable credit, social reproduction, to socio-political representation, cultural practices and participation in formal sector of the economy. The consequence of such disparities limits the extent women can exercise choice and make decisions economically, socially, and politically. Therefore, how to flatten the curve and reverse these disparities remains the subject of the subsisting women’s empowerment conundrum about whether others can externally determine empowerment, or if women have to be the agents of their empowerment. What then defines the empowerment framework and understandings of the form that empowerment should take remains debatable. This paper critically reviewed how the empowerment of women has been discussed and conceptualised within development studies, with particular focus on women’s economic empowerment. The paper further looked at issues around women’s empowerment measurement and indicators; identified some frameworks for measuring women’s empowerment. Lastly, the author proposed a conceptual framework within which women’s empowerment might be assessed. To this end, women’s economic empowerment was defined as the extent women exercise control over decisions relating to accessing and use of resources and the resulting household reality.

Keywords: Agency, Empowerment, Nigeria, Women’s Empowerment, economic empowerment framework, indicators

Mitigating stakeholder conflicts in Nigerian tertiary institutions: The Ignatius Ajuru University and Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic examples (Published)

Several crises in tertiary institutions in Nigeria have been traced to poor policy communication, stakeholders’ rejection of decisions or the management of conflicts. However, while some tertiary institutions in the country often encounter internal crises, the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic have remained relatively calm. This study investigated the communication flow patterns and decision-making approaches of these institutions, especially since conflicts and crises in many campuses in Nigeria have been linked to poor policy communication or disagreements arising from decisions. Among other objectives, the study investigated the structures that encourage participatory decision-making in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic. The study was anchored on the Stakeholder theory. The descriptive survey research design was used to study a population of 21, 089 from which a sample size of 375 was drawn. Findings of the study showed that the authorities of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic involve staff and students of the institutions in decision-making through designated participatory structures. It was also found out that participatory decision-making mitigated stakeholder conflicts in the institutions. The study recommended, among other things, that the authorities of tertiary institutions in Nigeria should create and sustain structures that enhance wider stakeholders’ participation in decision-making in order to mitigate the occurrence and escalation of stakeholder conflicts.

Keywords: Nigeria, Tertiary Institutions, participatory decision-making, patterns of stakeholder communication, stakeholder conflicts, stakeholders’ participation

Deployment of Ritual for Social Regeneration in Contemporary Nigerian Drama (Published)

The Nigerian society since independence has been disturbingly marked by inter-ethnic hostilities, religious intolerance, unemployment, poverty and intense corruption. The alternation of power between the military and the civilian elites has not yielded lasting solutions to these obstacles to national development. Dramatists like Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi, Femi Osofisan and a host of others, have engaged the Nigeria political imperative as they have used their arts to denounce the greed and ineptitude of politicians. They have shown interest in the project of national re-birth in a way that is different from the superfluous and grandiloquent spirit of the politicians. Sometimes these dramatists explore aspects of indigenous cultures to articulate their political and artistic concerns. One significant aspect of indigenous culture being explored in contemporary drama is the tradition of ritual cleansing. In a traditional society like Nigeria, myth, symbols and religious rituals nurture social interactions and regeneration. The practice of ritual cleansing is common to many communities as it is a significant aspect of the people’s religion and civic culture; they dedicate certain occasions to spiritual renewal by individuals and the community as a whole. Thus, this work captures the analysis of Wole Soyinka’s The Strong Breed and Femi Osofisan’s No More the Wasted Breed as they explore ritual as a weapon for social construction and regeneration for community development. Ritual in this study thus becomes the dominant instrument through which the Nigerian society is reflectedly purified. However, the societies captured in the two texts used for this study show different need and importance attached to ritual performance. Thus, Soyinka’s The Strong Breed examines ritual as a cultural ethnic cleansing annually embarked upon and making use of a carrier who takes the cleansing obligation upon himself while in Osofisan’s No More the Wasted Breed, ritual is employed as a dominant instrument of liberation. It is employed as the only way through which the society can be transformed from its ill-state.

 

Keywords: Nigeria, Ritual, drama rebirth, social regeneration

Demographic Structure and Dynamics of Manufacturing Output in Nigeria (Published)

The manufacturing sector is ubiquitously seen as the pathway to economic growth and development due to its driving potentials. Modern theories present population increase in an optimistic light as opposed to the doomsday assertion of Malthus. It is in light of this foregoing that this study examines the impact of population growth on the manufacturing sector output in Nigeria for the stretch of 1981 to 2018. The population growth was ventilated into male population growth, female population growth and youth population to help examine which category of population spur or inhibit the growth of the manufacturing sector output. The test for long-run association between manufacturing output ratio to GDP and population components was done using the normalized co-integration technique. In addition, the study used the error correction mechanism (ECM) to examine the short run dynamics of the variables and the speed at which past year’s disequilibrium will be corrected in the current period. The normalized co-integration showed a positive and significant relationship between male population growth and manufacturing sector contribution to GDP, while a negative and significant long run relationship was found between female population growth, youth population growth and manufacturing sector contribution to GDP respectively. The study hence recommended an aggressive entrepreneurial awareness programmes and starter packs to help draw in the active and vibrant youth population and a parity or non-dichotomy in employment, pay and other employment benefits between male and female employees.

Keywords: Nigeria, Youth, female population growth, male population growth, manufacturing output, population growth

Language and Culture as Synergy for National Integration in Nigeria (Published)

Trends in historical evolution indicate that the nation-state of Nigeria came into existence since 1914. Her territorial boundaries were fixed with prejudicial colonial interests without considering the interests and aspirations of the traditional ethnic groups involved. Since then, the nation has been governed and exploited by the feudal-bourgeosie, privileged to inherit the nation from the colonial masters. Worst still, the various machineries at different periods and republics charged with the responsibility of ruling the nation has proved anti-social, adopting in their distribution of values, formulas detrimental to the general welfare of the citizenry. Thus, we are left with a fragile nation, drifting apart and her people resorting to communal and individual self-definition. The persistent call for national conference among the various ethnic groups to resolve the national question gives credence to the deduction that the nation was founded upon vested colonial interest, without consulting the component ethnic groups. The issue of national integration has become a re-assessment of the pre-requisite for Federalism towards the continued existence of the sovereign nation state in Nigeria. Thus, the focus of this paper is how to adopt a paradigm shift from the previous abortive methods that have been employed so far, to the pragmatic resolve of using language and culture in attaining the long elusive national integration in Nigeria.

Keywords: Culture, Diversity, Integration, Language, Nigeria

Promoting peace and social stability through cultural values in Nigeria: the Social Studies perspective (Published)

Conflict, insurgency, terrorism and crime had become the prominent super war agents, waging dynamic war against Nigerian territorial integrity and economic boom. This study sought to examine how peace and social stability through cultural values in Nigeria from the social studies perspective. To achieve this, two research questions were raised to guide the study. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Data used for the study were generated through a questionnaire titled “Promoting Peace and Social Stability through Cultural Values Questionnaire” which was administered to 70 Social Studies Educators purposively selected from the study area. Their responses to the questionnaire were coded to identify recurrent themes and patterns and were tested using the simple percentages, means and statistical frequency. The result of the analysis showed that in respect to the first research question, a mean percentage ‘Yes’ responses 74.69% and ‘No’ responses of 25.31%  Where as in respect to research question two  a mean percentage ‘yes’ response of 78% against the mean percentage ‘no’ response of 22% was obtained. The implication of this is that cultural values significantly influence the promotion of peace and social stability in Nigeria. , it was therefore concluded that the peace and stability of the Nigerian society can be promoted if cultural values are revived, promoted, taught and applied in the country and  recommended that administrative leadership of Nigeria should be broaden to include traditional leaders and priests in the governance of the Nation.

Keywords: Cultural Values, Culture, Nigeria, Peace, Social Studies Perspective., social stability

State Police and Police- Operational Efficiency: Footing For Strengthening National Security In Nigeria: – A Scrutiny of Ojo in Lagos State (Published)

The current insecurity in Nigeria which includes widespread killings, kidnappings, cultism and police brutality justifies the agitation for creation of state police in Nigeria. Hence, this paper assessed the creation of state police and police operational efficiency as footing for strengthening national security in Nigeria. The study applied theoretical and quantitative methods; information was sourced secondarily through content analysis of textbooks, journals and newspaper. The quantitative data was obtained through administration of 250 questionnaires to the residents of Ojo Local Government by applying simple random sampling and convince techniques. Findings showed that 66 %( 165) of the respondents were male while 34% (85) of the respondents were female, 79%(198) of the respondents strongly agreed that state police will resolve insecurity in Nigeria while 15%(37), strongly disagreed that creation of state police will resolve insecurity in Nigeria however 6%(15) of the respondents were neutral. The paper recommends creation of state police with strict judicial control and deployment of smart security technologies. This study will be of immense benefits to government at various levels, NGOs, the Nigeria Police Force and the researchers in the field of security and public administration.

Keywords: Efficiency, Lagos, Nigeria, Police, Police-operation, State

Economic Analysis of Terrorism in Nigeria (Published)

The different agitations and goals of the perpetrators of terrorism in Nigeria seem to define the root causes of terrorism in Nigeria. This study provides an in-depth economic analysis of terrorism in Nigeria, it linked terrorists costs-benefits matrices (as incentive to violence) to the root causes of terrorism such as; economic deprivation, socio-economic conditions, and population group with different identities. The effects of terrorism on Nigeria progress accounts for the dislocation and distortions of both industry and education in the affected parts of the country (this has also re-enforced terrorists activities). The study recommended among others that counter-terrorism measures must therefore take into account these root causes of terrorism in Nigeria with the view of making the price of terrorism and the opportunity costs of terrorism very high, so as to reduce the incentive to terrorists activities in Nigeria.

Keywords: Economic Analysis, Nigeria, Terrorism

Global Development Agenda, Poverty Crisis and the Challenge of Structural Distortion in African Development Paradigm: A Case Study of Nigeria (Published)

African has continued to embrace Global development frameworks particularly the erstwhile Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the on-going Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiatives with high expectations because of the critical problems of excruciating poverty, underdevelopment and her seemingly capacity to impact key development super-structure towards desirable growth and sustainable development.  She agreed to the on-going SDGs initiatives with the hope that things will eventually turn around. The study critically examines the effects of global a development agenda on African development crisis against the backdrops of high expectations. The study observes that African developing countries are worse off after international development intervention. It further observes that development interventionists’ initiatives have not been able to stem the tide of African underdevelopment crisis due to structural deficiencies in African development matrix. With the results of development performances in Nigeria based on key indices, the study concludes that the level of poverty remain excruciating thereby bringing about the challenge of designing and nurturing new development  paradigm that emphasizes removing inherent African structural deficiency in development matrix as we voyage into the new SDGs

Keywords: African Development, Global Development Agenda, Nigeria, Poverty Crisis, Structural Distortion