Volunteerism as a Strategy for Community Development in Nigeria (Published)
Community development remains a key concern in Nigeria. Despite frantic efforts of the government and non-government organizations to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of rural communities in Nigeria, there are indicators of under development in the areas. This study examines volunteerism as an effective strategy for developing rural communities in Nigeria. It adopts qualitative research method. The study relied on the secondary sources of information, such as journals, textbooks, the internet, and newspaper. Concerned with the challenges of prevalence poverty in the country and success stories of volunteerism as a viable strategy, the study advocates for the involvement of more Nigerian in delivering selfless services for the benefit of others and their immediate communities.
Keywords: Community, Poverty, Socio-economic development., Volunteerism
Comparative Analysis of Differences in Women Entrepreneurship in Rural and Urban Communities in Cross River State (Published)
This study was conducted to assess disparities in women entrepreneurship in urban and rural communities in Cross River state. Specifically the study was aimed at identifying motivation for entrepreneurship by urban and rural women, identifying entrepreneurship activities engaged by urban and rural women entrepreneurs and challenges faced by urban and women entrepreneurs in the state. The study adopted survey design while cluster sampling technique was used to select samples. Questionnaires were used for data collection while percentages were used for data analysis. The study reveals that most women entrepreneurs from age category 41-45 while in rural areas, most of them were from ages of 36-40. In both areas, majority of the women were married. Majority of urban women entrepreneurs had tertiary education while in rural communities; most of the women had secondary education. Further, most of the women in urban areas were from monogamous relationships while relationships of most of rural women entrepreneurs were from polygamous. The study also found that entrepreneurship activities engaged by urban women entrepreneurs included mostly retail stores, followed by jewelry or boutiques, event management outfits, beautician shops and tailoring shops and small eateries. For the rural women, the most common business activities were agricultural business, followed by food restaurants, palm wine/beer joints and retail shops. Urban women entrepreneurs sourced their capital from mostly family, followed by personal savings, financial institutions and friends. Rural counterparts sourced capital mainly from informal financial institutions, followed by sale of crops and friends. The most common motivations for entrepreneurship for urban women entrepreneurship included the need to generate extra income while social status was the least motivation. For rural women, support their family members was the most common reason. Challenges faced by urban women entrepreneurs mostly included conflicts between business and family functions and lack of access to credit, inexperience and gender discrimination. For rural women, lack of funds, gender discrimination, government neglect in entrepreneurship programmes, low education and lack of business skills were the challenges. The study therefore recommended for opportunities for access to capital urban and rural women, involvement of rural women in entrepreneurship programmes and gender equality.
Keywords: Communities, Entrepreneurship, Socio-economic development., Urban Areas, rural areas
Impact of Trade Union on Productivity of Teachers in Public and Private Primary Schools in Cross River State, Nigeria (Published)
The study investigated the impact of trade union on productivity among teachers in public and private primary schools in Cross River state. Specifically, the study compares productivity of teachers in private and public primary schools in the study area. Survey design was deployed in the study while cluster random sampling was used to select 180 pupils and purposive sampling technique to select six (6) key informants. Survey interviews and key informant interviews were used for data collection. The analysis of data involved use of percentages, mean and chi-square and transcription of views of the key informants. The study revealed that teachers in private primary schools are more productive than their colleagues in public schools based on indices of productivity such as attendance to school, attendance to classes, average number of lessons held per day and involvement in extra lessons. The study also found a significant difference in school attendance between the public and private primary schools in the study area as the computed chi-square value of 2.222 was greater than the critical value of 1.543 on 1 degree of freedom and confidence level of 0.05. Also there was a significant difference in regular class by teachers in the public and private primary schools as computed chi-square value of 46.723 was greater than the critical value of 44.416 on 1 degree of freedom and confidence level of 0.05. The study therefore recommends regular audit of teachers, strict monitoring on the job, training and retraining and inclusion of teachers’ productivity as one of the core aims of trade Unions.
Keywords: Private Schools, Socio-economic development., Teachers Productivity, Trade Union, Unionism, public schools