Nigerian People Research Articles

Comparison of Public Mental Health in Nigeria During the Pandemic and the New Normal

Public mental health in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic and the “new normal” that followed after the pandemic. We will analyze the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the Nigerian people and how society has responded. In addition, we will also evaluate policies that have been implemented by the government and health institutions to address mental health problems caused by the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread anxiety and depression around the world, including in Nigeria. Some of the factors causing mental health problems in Nigeria during the pandemic include social isolation, economic uncertainty and fear of infection. However, after the pandemic, there have been some changes in Nigerian society that have made the mental health situation better compared to the pandemic, such as better access to mental health services, and stronger social support. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has issued policies aimed at addressing mental health problems resulting from the pandemic, such as free counseling services and mental health support programs. However, there are still several obstacles that impede the effectiveness of this policy, such as a lack of adequate medical personnel, lack of access to mental health services in rural areas, and lack of financial support from the government. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of the Nigerian people. However, with the positive changes in society and the policies implemented by the government, it is hoped that the current mental health situation in Nigeria will be better than during the pandemic. However, there is still a need for stronger efforts from the government and health institutions to tackle mental health problems in Nigeria.

Biblical paradigm for continuous management of Covid 19: an expository analysis of Exodus 12: 1-13 in the Nigerian context

The droning of the novel coronavirus pandemic has drummed hard around the globe. Experts have come to terms on the ravaging effects of the virus and the way forward. The popular mythical indifferences of coronavirus amongst Nigeria leading to unrealistic perception of the presence of the pandemic is crucial for the study. Currently, the initial threats and emotions fashioned around the presence of the virus is not as magnified, as it was during its inception. This abrupt relaxation is not the same in the Western world, where there are continuous awareness and protocols, regarding the virus. Stakeholders have tended to look at the issue from socio-psychological dynamics without complementing it with the spirituality of the biblical paradigm in making the guidelines sacrosanct for the religious mindset of the Nigerian people. The study adopts descriptive and expository methods of data analysis. The study will further create awareness of the biblical paradigm for the continuous management of coronavirus in Nigeria. It is discovered that there is a blend of measurements promoted by secular dynamics that are in conformity with Exodus 12 for disease control. This can be used for the management of coronavirus in Nigeria where the reality of the virus is becoming oblivious in social, religious and economic interaction. This paper therefore, recommend firmness and compliance towards the effective outcome of the pandemic control through collaborative efforts and constant reminders by the government and the church.

DETERMINANTS OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION (FI) IN NIGERIAN ECONOMY

In this study, which covered the 16-year period from 2006 to 2021, the factors of financial inclusion (FI) in the Nigerian economy were empirically explored. As suggested in the model, after controlling for deposit interest rate and inflation rate, GDP per capita income, domestic credit to the private sector (% of GDP), broad money supply (% of GDP), number of commercial banks network, and age dependency ratio were all suggested as the determinants of FI. Data for the study were taken from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin (2021), World Bank Data (2021), and International Monetary Fund report (2020), and were estimated using the ordinary least square approach with the aid of Econometric Views version 9.0. The study found that GDPPC, PSC/GDP NBRA, ADEPR and INFR all have a positive statistically insignificant effect on FI. This stance implies that FI in Nigeria is marginal. However, the number of commercial banks network and the age dependence ratio have a negative statistically negligible impact on FI whereas the M2/GDP and DEIR have a positive statistically significant impact. Therefore, the analysis draws the conclusion that the only significant factors of FI in Nigeria are M2/GDP and DEIR. In light of this, we advise all deposit money banks to make sure their goods and services are alluring since doing so will encourage the Nigerian people to save more.
 Keywords: FI, Deposit, Interest Rate, Inflation Rate and Credit to Private Sector.

Comparing the Efforts, Evaluations, Perceptions, and Wishes of Citizens and Governments Regarding the MDGs and SDGs: A Case Study from Abuja, Nigeria

While the global community has long worked to ameliorate the livelihoods of people and promote environmental sustainability around the world, many social, economic, and environmental issues remain unsolved. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sought to end poverty but ended with mixed results depending on the country. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are more ambitious, sought to address remaining problems and other issues extending beyond the scope of the MDGs by 2030. The SDGs cover a wide range of areas, from fulfilling basic needs to environmental sustainability, although their prioritization differs from person to person. It is critical to understand how people recognize the MDGs and prioritize SDGs in order to determine efficient means of achieving SDGs. Thus, this study assesses citizens’ perceptions and needs in Nigeria, illustrating gaps between official evaluations of goal progress and people’s thoughts about these global agendas. Economically speaking, Nigeria is the largest country in West Africa; still, it did not meet all of its MDG targets by 2015. This study found differences between the official report and people’s observations. People generally considered MDG 2 and MDG 6 to have been attained despite official evaluations asserting that these goals had made only weak progress. The study also found that people’s expectations are generally high on goals related to economic sustainability but low on goals related to environmental sustainability. Interestingly, it is found that the Nigerian government has the most concrete strategies related to social sustainability. The results suggest that the needs perceived by the government are distinct from those perceived by the Nigerian people. They also highlight the fact that the importance of environmental sustainability must be recognized by Nigerians if they are to meet their SDG targets by 2030. Of course, it is difficult for any countries facing social and economic issues to allocate significant resources to environmental sustainability, especially amid violent conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the symptoms of climate change. However, to get back on track in the years that remain and make significant progress toward environmental sustainability, it is important to heighten cooperation among ordinary people while obtaining a better understanding of their needs.

The Oye-Ekiti Christian Art Workshop and the Fusion of the European Catholic Tradition and Nigerian Indigenous Art in Three Lagos Churches

This paper discusses the influence on three Catholic churches in Lagos of the short-lived Oye-Ekiti Christian Art Workshop (1947-1954) and questions how the philosophy of the workshop and the artworks it produced are regarded today. The study traces the history of the Christian religion in Nigeria and the religious beliefs of the Nigerian people before the arrival of Christianity. It also examines the synthesis of traditional Yoruba art and the Christian religion introduced by the Oye-Ekiti, and interrogates the opposition of some church leaders in recent times to representations of Christian images in Yoruba indigenous forms. This opposition, which has led to the rejection and subsequent removal of artworks that formerly adorned the three Lagos churches is contextualized in interviews with the parish priests of these three churches. It is argued that Nigerian art is rich in signs and symbols due to its multi-ethnic, diverse culture and religious beliefs and proposes that the Oye-Ekiti Christian Art Workshop was necessary because it promoted indigenous art as a potential cultural vehicle for Christian liturgy in Nigeria.

International Organizations and Development in Nigeria: A Study of International Monitoring Fund (IMF) and World Bank

This study is an attempt to investigate the responsibilities of international monetary fund (IMF) and World Bank in the development of Nigeria from 2010-2015. The objective of the study is to assess the relationship between the level of implementation of loan conditions and an increase in development loan assistance to Nigeria by World Bank and IMF, to ascertain whether there is a link between Nigeria’s economic growth and development loan assistance to Nigeria by World Bank and IMF and investigate whether there is any significant relationship between Nigeria’s higher ability to service loans and increase in World Bank and IMF credit portfolio to Nigeria within the period under review. The dependency theory was adopted as the theoretical framework of analysis. The research adopted a qualitative design to describe the various tranche of loan and grants by IMF and World Bank. The result of the findings indicates that although IMF and World Bank claimed to be helping Nigeria and other African countries to deal with the issues of underdevelopment and stagnation through their so called policies that necessitate growth and development, it is found out that these policies are the basic cause of the underdevelopment for Nigeria, that instead of improving equality, has done the reverse by widening income inequality, poverty, food insecurity and hence deteriorating the standard of living of the Nigerian people. However, this study recommends that Nigeria must move on, from solely depending upon International Organisations. An emerging industrialising country would need a number of policies to develop the tangible and intangible infrastructure required to build up a competitive industrial sector. These would involve massive investment in providing such tangible infrastructures as roads, ports, efficient telecommunication and postal services, electricity, and water supply. For this reason, the governments should focus on developing one infrastructure at a time and, must be transparent and accountable and desist from foreign dependence for infrastructural capital. Keywords: International Organizations , International Monitoring Fund (IMF) and World Bank DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-14-05 Publication date: July 31 st 2022

Reforming and Creating a Business-Friendly Environment: An Empirical Case Study of (Non-Profit Organization) in Nigeria

As a religious country, the people's faith has influenced business behavior and actions. Some residents view their religion as a culture, way of life, trust-currency, and/or a segregation index. Previous studies have analyzed and attributed corruption in Nigeria as the primary cause of the dwindling economy, attributing a direct and sometimes indirect correlation to the nation's focus on religion as the catalyst of the country's problem. This article is an internal whitepaper of the Ane Osiobe International Foundation's activities, utilizing its costs of operation and estimated budget for future projects to analyze the economic impact of corruption on the Nigerian economy's business-friendly environment, attraction, and retention. The impact results show the direct, indirect, and induced effects of a hostile business environment as non-profit organizations try to help residents of the Nigerian economy, and the government places a heavy tax burden on their donations under section 12-A of the Nigerian tax code and the indirect bureaucratic corrupted processes on every activity that can promote economic growth and development within the region; which is simply an indirect, self-induced economic war against the Nigerian people that in turn creates a vicious domino-and-multiplier effect against the nation in the international market. The recommendation from the study builds on the premise that the most valuable asset to combat this hostile virtuous cycle is trust and transparency not only at the national level but where it is most needed, which is the individual level.

Validation of coronavirus-2019 phobia scale using preschool practitioners in urban and rural communities in Nigeria: Implication for educational sociologists.

Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019, causing significant changes in people's social lives and other human activities. The outbreak halted educational activities throughout the world. The Nigerian experience was unique in that most people were skeptical about the pandemic's existence. This practice contributed to the Nigerian people's fear of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, in Nigeria, there has never been a validated or established Covid-19 phobia scale, necessitating this study.This study was a pure validation study on COVID-19 phobia scale (C19PS). The study area was south-east states and a sample of 386 preschool practitioners in urban and rural communities of South East States, Nigeria participated in the study. The eligibility criteria include being a preschool teacher and demonstrating signs of COVID-19 phobia. The validation of the C19PS was done by subjecting the data gathered to principal axis factoring analysis with varimax rotation. The model fit for the data was tested using root mean square error of approximation and comparative fit index.It was found that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of .845 for the measure of the adequacy of the sample size. There was also a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (P < .05). This implies that the correlation matrix for the C19PS is not an identity matrix. It was revealed that C19PS had good overall reliability (α = .896) and model fit (Root mean square error of approximation = .042, comparative fit index = .943) in a sample of Nigerian preschool practitioners.As a result, C19PS was recommended as a trustworthy tool for identifying persons who suffer from COVID-19 phobia.

Institutional Restructuring and Reforms for National Development

This paper argues that weak national institutions cannot be relied upon to produce successful restructuring and reform packages that can lead to accelerated national development and higher living standards for the Nigerian people. The paper further identifies weak national institutions, the pursuit of pecuniary individual and group interests, ethnic cleavages and intra-ethnic rivalries among the elite class, including the extractive nature of politics and economic pursuits, as major factors militating against successful restructuring and meaningful institutional reforms in Nigeria, which are hinged on accelerated technological innovation, political development and wealth creation. The paper concludes that only strong and functional institutions, inclusive political and economic policies, and innovative leadership can bring about accelerated national development in Nigeria.

An Evaluation of the Challenges of Mainstreaming Cybersecurity Laws and Privacy Protection in Nigeria

The goal of this study is to discuss cybercrimes and review cybersecurity threats, with a focus on cybersecurity legislations in Nigeria that seek to protect the privacy and digital property of the Nigerian people and the country’s institutions. The study’s methodology includes a qualitative examination of Nigeria's present national cybersecurity laws. It explores how effective they are and interrogates the additional measures that may be needed-notably in cybersecurity and related national laws-to ensure that individuals, institutions are protected and that society and the national economy function well in the 21st Century. Individuals have a right to privacy, so do companies and various other institutions in post- modern societies. This right varies widely across different countries across the globe. In some countries it is minimal or non-existent, in others it is hard fought for constitutional right. In order to reap the benefits of advanced technologies in the information age, personal and institutional data have to be made available to merchants, institutions and government. The benefits of advanced technologies are immense-and vital to modern economies. However, this process involves risks. Abuse of the data is a risk, and criminal abuse has become widespread.

The Trajectory of Evolution of State Participation in Natural Resources in Developing Nations under International Law: The Nigerian Experience

The growth and development of a nation largely depends on how its natural resources are utilized for the good of the people. However, the narrative in some developing countries, particularly Nigeria is scary and this has birthed huge concerns on the global scene. The aim of this paper is to examine the history and growth of natural resource development by States for the betterment of the people in selected oil countries with emphasis on Nigeria. Nigeria’s experience with state participation in the development of its natural resources is uniquely discussed in this paper because; Nigeria being the most populous African nation and having the largest oil and gas deposits in Africa still has almost half of its population living below the poverty line.&#x0D; The study examined state participation in four different jurisdictions including; Venezuela, Indonesia, Angola and Nigeria. Focus is placed on the Nigeria experience. The study adopted a qualitative and doctrinal research methodology.&#x0D; At the root of all these frictions with natural resource development in Nigeria is the State’s inadequate policy and control with emphasis on localization to ensure that the center holds.&#x0D; Nigerian state’s participation in natural resource development has grown from mere participation agreement to state corporation participation as a player in the oil and gas industry. Indigenous companies being enabled by the local content legislation have actively participated in the development of natural resources. However, while the aim of state participation in the development of natural resource is to improve the social and economic wellbeing of citizens, it goes without saying that the Nigerian people are fettered with resource injustice of which the state is culpable. It is not new that Nigeria still lacks and pays heavily for what it produces in abundance. It is called the resource curse syndrome.

CULTURAL DYNAMISM IN NIGERIA WITH REFERENCE TO CHINUA ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART

This article aims at raising the different aspects of life of Nigerian people prior independence and exalting inheritance or profit this people has gained in return after their encounter with the white man. It is certain that the issue of colonization has been the concern of many African and even non-African writers. In fact, colonization has disrupted the socio-economic and political structures and replaced traditional values by another system of values that are not suitable for African customs. From the image the white man has painted Africans, colonization does not acknowledge the existence of pre-colonial values. Hence, by necessity, the African writer is placed in front of an essential and complex duty, that of reconstituting the actual image of his group, rehabilitating the past in substituting to the distorted image depicted by the colonizers the African vision of history. Accordingly, Chinua Achebe is one of those intellectuals who have tried to make his readers realize the specificity of the African personality. This state of affairs has been his preoccupation in Things Fall Apart, his first novel published in 1958. He has proved in this book that the encounter of Africa and the West has resulted in a clash of cultures.

Code Shifting or Code Switching as a Style in Simi’s and Adekunle Gold's Songs

Adekunle Kòsọ́kọ́ and Sìmisola Kòsọ́kọ́ (nee Ogunleye) are married singers, both born and bred in Lagos known by the stage names Kunle Gold and Simi respectively. They are among a group of young, popular, and successful songwriters, composers, and singers. Their music has gained the hearts of Nigerian people, especially the youth. The focus of this paper is to examine critically how they make use of code-switching or code-shifting in their respective music as a 'style' in order to differentiate their songs and also to make a unique identity. It is observed that they alternate between two or more languages to pass information to the target audience in order to showcase their fluency in the languages hence showing their level of literacy and flexibility. The data for analysis and discussion are songs from ‘Duduke’, ‘Sade’, ‘No forget me’, 'Selense’, ‘Promise Me’, and ‘Joromi’. Sociology Theory is used to drive home the point of discussion to reflect the effect of the songs on society.

A Political Economy of Wellbeing/Wellness in Nigeria

Since the turn of the new millennium, which was the period of clear comparison and computation of the misery index, Nigeria had always record low in the index for the report. Within the last three years, the misery index that was published has shown that Nigeria is the sixth (6th) most miserable country that one can reside. This measure of misery index was also substantiated by the recent report from the World Bank on the issue of poverty, inequality, and wellness. However, it seems to be an intensified interest in how Nigeria will overcome such an unpleasant pattern. In this research, the study examined how macroeconomic indices in enhancing people’s wellbeing—utilising economic growth, monetary policy position, and governance efficiency as, unemployment, interest rate, and inflation rate for macroeconomic performance indicators. The conclusions drawn suggest that economic growth, resulting in the advancement of wellbeing via allocative as well as distributive productivity is possible. Second, there is a stiffening effect on the wellbeing of contractionary monetary policy which increases interest rates and unemployment rates. The outcome extracted also shows that unnecessary domestic lending characteristics of the Nigerian economic system invalidate the wellbeing of the Nigerian people. Therefore, it proposed that the monetary authority reevaluate its present position on sustaining a high level of rediscount rate.&#x0D; &#x0D; Received: 17 November 2021 / Accepted: 30 December 2021 / Published: 5 January 2022

Community perception and adaptation to climate change in Benue State, Nigeria, 2021

INTRODUCTION: Climate change is a global public health problem that has affected the health, livelihoods, food productivity, water availability, and overall security of Nigerian people. We conducted this study to assess community perception and adaptation strategies to climate change in Benue State to contribute to the burden of Knowledge, policy change, and awareness programs. METHODS: we used a descriptive cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling technique to assess community perception and Adaptation strategies to climate change among dwellers in Benue State. We collected responses from six hundred and eighty-six (686) respondents using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using an Android-enabled device on Open Data Kit (ODK). We entered data into Microsoft Excel, performed descriptive and inferential statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23 and determined an association between sociodemographic variables, community perception and adaptation strategies to climate change using the chi-square test. We explored the predictors of community perception and adaptation strategies to climate change using logistic regression models at a 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: most of the respondents were females, 362 (52.8%) with a median age of 31.4 years (IQR = 20-39 years). The majority were younger age group, 15 to 24 years, and more than half, 350(51%) were married while one-third of respondents were students. About 13.4% of those employed earned between 60,000 to 120,000 naira ($146.3 - $292.7) per year. Majority the majority, 98.5% of respondents, have heard of climate change, and the main source of information includes school (52.0%), television (43.1%) and radio (30.8%). Most of the respondents, 674 (98.3%), believe climate change affects men, women, and children´s health. Risky behaviours contributing to climate change adaptation by respondents include smoking (32.9%), bush burning (32.9%) and tree felling (21.1%). Predictors of community perception and adaptation of climate change include the level of education (p

Executive-Legislative Conflicts and The Quest for Accountability in Nigeria’s Presidential Democracy: A Case of the 8th National Assembly

This paper examines the seemingly intractable tensions and frictions between the executive and legislative branches in Nigeria. Specifically, it interrogates the intricate political and personality issues that surrounded the recurring tension and open confrontation between the presidency and the 8th National Assembly between 2015 and 2019. Using a combination of both descriptive and analytical methods and through a review of the extant literature, the paper reaffirmed and established the primacy of the legislature as an institution of accountability under the Nigeria’s presidential system. The paper discovered that persistent conflicts and contradictions between the executive and legislative actors in Nigeria have made effective budget formulation and implementation a difficult task with far-reaching political and socio-economic consequences for the nation’s body politic. The rifts breed suspicion and hostility between the two branches of government, creates division in the legislature, brings distraction to the governance process and, ultimately, propels the resort to the culture of impunity and total disregard to the rule of law by the governing elites. The paper concludes that the constitutional provisions defining the interface between the executive and legislative branches are adequate to engender stable and accountable government. Nevertheless, the political actors across the executive-legislative divide must be ready to embrace the dictates of separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution, abide by the rules of democratic game, and collaborate to work for the interests of the Nigerian people.

TRACING COLONIAL IDEOLOGY IN CHINUA ACHEBE?S THINGS FALL APART AND BUCHI EMECHETA?S THE BRIDE PRICE

Inspired by the appetite to control world trade and naturally rich African and Asian countries, European powers started to dominate remote territories economically and politically in the fifteenth century. Although the main reason was to colonize other nations for their gains, European countries masked their colonial ideology claiming that they brought civilization to Africa, India for the first time. Europeans’ attitude to justify their colonization continued throughout the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, thus creating new settlements where the slave and master discourse was created. In order to meet its demand for raw materials, Britain’s domination and hegemony over the third world countries reached its peak in the nineteenth century and it exploited other nations both economically and culturally. Nigeria-exposed to British hegemony- is one of the countries whose natural resources were usurped and indigenous culture was oppressed. The indigenous Nigerian people were enslaved and forced to serve the white man. In the context of colonial reading, Nigerian writers Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta handle the colonial history of Igbo society suffering from the oppression of the colonizer. The paper in this context, aims to display the colonial acts and their impacts on the colonized people through Nigerian authors’ perspectives.

Psychometric Properties of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) on Young Nigerian People

A cross-sectional survey design was adopted to validate the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) on Nigerian university undergraduates. A multistage sampling technique was used to purposively select 1338 (mean age ± SD 19.86 ± 2.95) participants made up of 512 (38.3%) male, and 826 (61.7%) were female. Participants were drawn from four selected universities in Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. Participants responded to the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES) Affect Dysregulation Scale. Observed internal consistency of DERS showed a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .90, a Spearman-Brown coefficient of .80 and Guttman Split-Half coefficient of .80. The items that measure awareness of emotion had a weak corrected item-total correlation and did not discriminate well. A significant positive correlation was observed between DERS and SIDES, revealing a correlation coefficient validity score of (r = .622, p = .000). The DERS has acceptable psychometric properties for the Nigerian population. Observed gender-based norms were ≥113.15 and ≥114.07 for male and female respectively. DERS is found to be gender-sensitive. A re-work or expunging of the items measuring awareness to fit with the construct of emotional regulation was recommended.

Beating on the Drum of War: The Hausa Fulani Hegemony and Restructuring Agenda in Nigeria

Background: It has been argued by sections of the Nigerian state that there exists a grand hegemonic game plan by the Fulani at Islamizing Nigeria. Some have argued the current happenings of rampaging banditry as evidence of the plot in itself. As a result of this, some sections of the country are calling the government of the day to “restructure” Nigeria’s federation into a working “true federal” state or have the country seize to exist altogether.&#x0D; Objective: The objective of this paper is to interrogate the reliability of this theory of Islamization and to investigate the questions that have pulled Nigeria to the bricks of war.&#x0D; Method: The paper employed qualitative sources and leveraged both academic, grey literature, and newspaper publications as its primary sources.&#x0D; Findings: The paper found out that the historical suspicion that has existed amongst the Nigerian people since independence is retrogressive and as such anti cohesion.&#x0D; Implications/Originality/Value: The paper recommends that our common problems of basic infrastructure, security, employment opportunities, social investment among others must be adequately addressed if Nigeria is to halt the drumbeats of war. Therefore, the paper concludes that until the major contradictions inherent within the state are properly tackled, the current problems would continue to reappear even if remedial solutions are found today.

Conservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Dyeing Skills: Challenges and Strategy in Kofar Mata Dyeing Pits Industry, Kano, Nigeria

Dyeing an intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) embodied in traditional crafts is an integral part of the Nigerian people since the pre-colonial period. This practice continued into the post-colonial era, which had since evolved beyond the socio-cultural aspects to include the economic aspects. In recent years, however, there is increasing decline in the practice of this art in most parts of the country. Though practices in the dyeing industry have been widely recognized, literature regarding conservation of this important traditional skill remains scarce. This paper intends to explore and identify challenges faced by craft workers in the dyeing industry with focus on of the renowned Kofar Mata Dye Pits in Kano, Nigeria. Empirical data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion from diverse participants that included ICH dyers, government authorities, community leaders, marketers and consumers. Our study identified a number of issues threatening the preservation of this important cultural heritage. Strategies to promote and preserve this intangible cultural heritage to ensure its sustainability were also shared.