Estate Surveying, Valuation, Education and Practice in Anambra State: Challenges Faced by Female Professional Practitioners (Published)
Professional practice especially in Estate Surveying and Valuation industry no doubt has its challenges and there is an increasing quest to survive by both the male and female practitioners in Nigeria. However, it appears the females are finding the practice of the profession more challenging than their male counterparts. This study however looked at the challenges faced by female Estate Surveyors and Valuers (ESV) in the public and private sectors of the industry in Anambra State. Primary data were collected and analysed using simple tables and percentages. Challenges identified include; difficulty in balancing work and family lives, the inability to attend to assignments outside the town at short notice and lack of marital support. The study recommended that efforts should be made to encourage more women, attract them into practice, also into educational sector, give more opportunities to them for research and more importantly discourage sexual harassment.
Keywords: Challenges, Female, Real Estate, estate surveyors and valuer, professional practice
Challenges of Utilising the Key Messages of Coronavirus Pandemic Campaigns in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria (Published)
This study investigated the challenges of utilising the key messages of coronavirus pandemic campaign in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted for the study while questionnaire was the instrument of data collection. The study was anchored on social cognitive theory and Health belief model. The population of the study comprised of residents of Akwa Ibom State, which according to 2018 projection of the National Population Commission census figure of 2006 was 5,828,267. The sample size of 400 was drawn using Taro Yamane’s sample size formula. The study found out that the level of awareness of the coronavirus pandemic campaign was high in the metropolis but low in rural communities. The study also found out that the level of compliance was very low. Moreso, the study found out that majority of respondents did not believe that coronavirus exist in Nigeria. The study recommends that awareness should not be left alone in the hands of government, individuals should be ready to save lives by promoting the campaign of coronavirus in the society.
Keywords: Challenges, Messages, campaign, coronavirus, pandemic
THE CHALLENGES OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES MAINTENANCE IN TERTIARY HOSPITALS IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA (Published)
The research work critically analyses the inherent challenges of healthcare facilities maintenance in tertiary hospitals in South East Nigeria. The main challenges of managing tertiary healthcare facilities are the highly diverse network and range of functions which are needed to maintain operations as well as the complexity of the support services. Tertiary healthcare hospitals render specialist services with sophisticated healthcare structures, equipment and machinery that can only be maintained by experts.
Keywords: Challenges, Maintenance, healthcare facilities, tertiary hospitals
PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS CONTRACTORS IN NIGERIAN PUBLIC SECTOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AND THEIR CHALLENGES IN MANAGING WORKING CAPITAL (Published)
Over the years, indigenous contractors in Nigeria have recorded a low level of participation and have often been sidelined in large scale construction activities. This has been attributed to, amongst a number of factors, mismanagement of funds and working capital which makes them prone to bankruptcy, with poor project execution and abandonment the likely outcome. The paper thus focused on studying the extent of participation of indigenous contractors in Nigerian construction projects, identifying and examining the most severe factors that hinder effective and efficient working capital management and affect the level or amount of working capital requirement of indigenous contractors. Literature studies, field survey and oral interviews were carried out to determine the major challenges faced by contractors in managing working capital and the extent of indigenous participation in public projects respectively, while a questionnaires were distributed to a selected sample of contractors in Imo state to obtain the severity weight of each factor. Findings revealed that evidently, the common challenges facing Nigerian indigenous contractors in Nigeria in the area of working capital management are low awareness of the need for working capital management, one-man business setbacks, under-capitalization, poor funding and cash flow problems, high cost of construction finance, economic recession, reckless spending and diversion of funds, poor project planning and control. Factors affecting the level of working capital requirements comprises: inflation, delays in interim payments, taxation at source and deduction of retention funds. Indigenous contractors also recorded a low level of participation on major public contracts. Results of the severity ranking exercise indicated that the problems of the one-man business set up is the most severe of the factors hindering proper working capital management, while deduction of retention fund and inflation respectively, ranked highest in factors affecting the level or amount of the contractors’ working capital requirement. It was thus recommended that in order to enable indigenous contractors realize construction projects within pre-planned cost, time and quality, reduce the incidences of project abandonment and improve their overall participation, there is need for concerted efforts on the part of the contractors to take appropriate steps in maximizing their awareness on the gains of proper working management and minimize incidences that will lead to cost escalation of his working capital requirement and on the part of the Government, a focused, political will to devise policies and create the enabling environment for improving indigenous content in the construction industry
Keywords: Challenges, Indigenous Contractors, Management, Nigeria, Participation, Working capital.