Programmes In Nigeria Research Articles

Fourth Industrial Revolution and Business Education Programme in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities

The fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is all about changing technologies and trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) that will have broad and deep impact on all aspects of life such as education, health and business. The purpose of this paper is to determine the challenges and opportunities of 4IR for humanity in general and Business Education Programme in Nigeria in particular based on a desktop study. The concept of Industry 4.0 and historical development of Industrial Revolutions (IRs), emerging challenges brought by the 4IR with its opportunities were briefly analyzed. The paper equally examined Business Education programme in Nigeria with myriads of problems undermining effective training of students to meet the challenges of global technological age. For Business Education Programme in Nigeria to meet the challenges posed by the 4IR, the paper recommends among others; the need for curriculum review to meet the 21 st Century skills need of the industry, adequate funding of the programme in the area of ICT adoption, training and retraining of business teacher educators, and collaboration between academia and the industrial sector.

How Entrepreneurs Achieve Purpose Beyond Profit: The Case of Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria

This paper investigates how entrepreneurs achieve a sense of purpose or, more precisely, eudaimonic well-being—the experience of a good and meaningful life. We explore this in the context of women entrepreneurs participating in a business training program in Nigeria. Specifically, we conduct mixed-methods research, starting with an inductive qualitative Study 1 of what eudaimonic well-being means for these entrepreneurs. We find that, in the context of their enterprises, eudaimonic well-being implies opportunities to experience self-cultivation, mastery, social recognition, and to benefit others in the community. Unexpectedly, the women in our study also experience eudaimonic well-being related to their households. These initial insights inform theory in Study 2 on how enterprise-related learning (i.e., acquiring and assimilating knowledge regarding the enterprise) and household-related learning (acquiring and assimilating knowledge regarding the household) influence their eudaimonic well-being, itself driven by strong social ties with other women entrepreneurs in the training program. Hypotheses testing through a quantitative study of 484 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria over time corroborates the theory. Our research provides a contextualized perspective of “purpose” in entrepreneurship and how to achieve it: by developing strong social ties, enabling enterprise- and household-related learning, women entrepreneurs in our context initiate greater eudaimonic well-being, beyond improving firm performance. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.15341 .

Incarcerated individuals and education programmes in Nigeria: A task for social workers.

Much is not known about education programmes for Nigerian incarcerated individuals. Consequently, different correctional institutions worldwide have different forms of correctional education offered to incarcerated individuals. Nigerian incarcerated individuals perceive that there are implementations of education programmes offered to them. However, little or nothing is known about how incarcerated individuals perceive these education programmes. To this end, this study ascertains the incarcerated individuals' perception of education programmes as well as the expectations of social work profession in ensuring that incarcerated individuals in correctional institutions are provided with quality education. In-depth interviews involving 20 convicted incarcerated individuals from Owerri correctional centre were conducted. Thematic analysis was used in analyzing data generated for the study. Findings show that education programmes are available and essential, but the quality of the programme does not go down well with the incarcerated individuals. It also revealed that incarcerated individuals were not allowed to decide on the type of education programme to be involved in. To this end, their participation in the programme is jeopardized. The findings further revealed that little or nothing is known about social workers in prison education. Therefore, the inclusion of correctional social workers as an integral part of education programmes that aim to reform, rehabilitate and reintegrate incarcerated individuals becomes necessary.

Genesis and contents of value-based human love, sexuality and family life education programme in Nigeria – I

Background: The first stand-alone sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) clinic developed in Nigeria in 1974 from the Endemic Diseases Clinic of the referral consultants’ Medical Out-Patients’ (MOP) Clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. At that time, a good number of patients seen there included subjects with complications of the STDs, in both males and females. Young people were hardly seen at that clinic then. By the 1980s young people began to be seen there. Because of this, a purely preventative extra-curricular health education programme was started for secondary schools in Ibadan. The need for the programme to be value-based also evolved and all the community values in the locality were included in a values clarification component of the programme. Progression: Over time, some teachers of the adolescents as well as some of their parents showed interest in the programme and together joined the youth programme as well as developed the expanded programme for the adults, families and leadership audiences. The basis of these expansions were the participants further needs identified along the previous programme as existed. This article is a review of the programme and the in-course researches conducted on it over the 37 year old programme in this June 2023. Current programme: As of today, a full programme of 46 lecture and seminar-workshop topics has developed as well as subsidiaries thereof, run as individual lecture-seminars or as adolescents, adults, family, or advanced follow-up community leadership programmes. This article is a summary presentation of the development and contents of the programme as well as some of the within-service research products thereof. Conclusion: It is hoped that the nature and importance of this programme may be appreciated as a complement to the “value-free” ones already well known; for a truly socially healthy, free and mutually respectful world.

Exploring Managerial Entrepreneurial Competencies Framework for Technical College Programs

One of the challenges of technical education in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, is the lack of an appropriate entrepreneurial framework for the content of the technical college curriculum. The purpose of this study was to explore the entrepreneurial competencies for technical college programs in Nigeria. This study was guided by qualitative approach through document analysis and semi-structured interview with 15 participants selected purposively and eleven Journal Articles were analyzed. The empirical findings from semi-structured interviews confirm the theoretical findings in document analysis. This study found several managerial entrepreneurial competencies in document analysis and interviews, eventually analyzed thematically. Themes include: Business plan, Decision making, technical know-how, Interpersonal relationship and Communication. The study analyzed only 11 documents and conducted 15 interviews, so the conclusions drawn from these sources depend on the authenticity of the information provided by the participants. The study found that managerial entrepreneurial competencies are worth for inclusion into the technical college programs curriculum in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that the curriculum needs to be reviewed to ensure that they meet the educational changes such as global trends, 21st century education policies and Industrial Revolution 4.0, which now become a worldwide phenomenon.

Assessing HIV Care Services in Nigeria: A Comparative Study of the North-East and South-South regions of Nigeria

This study conducted a comparative case study analysis of the HIV program in Nigeria’s South-South and North-East regions of Nigeria to determine the access and quality of HIV care and treatment services. Service delivery is an essential component of the WHO Health systems framework. Data were collected from 385 respondents using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that the North-East region of Nigeria had significantly lower numbers of primary healthcare facilities and inpatient beds per 10,000 population compared to the South-South region. The North-East region had an average of 0.02 inpatient beds per 1,000 population, significantly below the WHO standard, while the South-South region had an average of 0.18 inpatient beds per 1,000 population, relatively closer to the WHO standard. The general service readiness score for delivering HIV program services was at least 94% in all health facilities in both the North-East and South-South regions. The HIV service readiness index for the North-East region was higher than that of the South-South region, with some disparities in the availability of national ART guidelines, national HIV counselling and testing guidelines, staff training, and availability of HIV prevention services. HIV testing and counselling services were described as readily available and accessible in both regions, with some communities taking ownership of promoting the availability of these services. However, both regions had a relatively high service readiness score for delivering HIV program services, with some disparities in the availability of national guidelines and training of staff. These findings demonstrate extensive investment of government and donor agencies in delivering quality HIV services with areas to improve to ensure alignment with WHO system strengthening framework. Keywords: Health systems, HIV, North-East, Service delivery, South-South, WHO.

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) endemicity and performance of preventive chemotherapy intervention programme in Nigeria (in year 2021)

Preventive chemotherapy (PC) is an important tool to address transmission and reduce morbidities associated with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs). The aim of the study is to assess the PC implementation programme coverage and relate the same to the endemicity of STH in Nigeria. The secondary data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) through the expanded special project for elimination of neglected tropical diseases (ESPEN) and made available at the ESPEN portal was used for the study. The PC implementation coverage and frequency of treatment were evaluated and related to STH endemicity levels in Nigeria. STH was actively transmitted in all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The southern part of Nigeria was more endemic compared with northern Nigeria. There was no PC intervention in preschoolers and effective PC coverage (19.3%) fell below the WHO ≥ 75% PC coverage index benchmark in school children. The percentages of children that harbour low, moderate, and high STH infections were 41.5, 41.6, and 13.4%, respectively. Multiple treatments did not necessarily reduce the endemicity of STH on certain occasions. STH continues to be a public health threat in Nigeria. The current treatment strategies should be reviewed to accommodate preschoolers in PC implementation programmes. Treatment should be integrated with the WASH programme in order to achieve a lasting impact.

A generic theory of change-based framework with core indicators for monitoring the effectiveness of large-scale food fortification programs in low- and middle-income countries.

Large-scale food fortification (LSFF) programs are widely implemented in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies. However, these programs may not achieve the desired impact due to poor design or bottlenecks in program implementation. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and a set of agreed indicators can help to benchmark progress and to strengthen the evidence-base of effectiveness in a standardized way. We aimed to formulate recommendations towards core indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of LSFF programs with their associated metrics, methods, and tools (IMMT). For this, we used a multi-method iterative approach, including a mapping review of the literature, semi-structured interviews with international experts, compilation of a generic Theory of Change (ToC) framework for LSFF program delivery, and selection of IMMT for M&E of LSFF programs at key stages along the ToC delivery framework. Lastly, we conducted exploratory, qualitative interviews with key informants in Nigeria to explore experiences and perceptions related to the implementation of LSFF programs in Nigeria's context, and their opinion towards the proposed set of core IMMT. The literature search resulted in 14 published and 15 grey literature documents, from which we extracted a total of 41 indicators. Based on the available literature and interviews with international experts, we mapped a ToC delivery framework and selected nine core indicators at the output, outcome and impact level for M&E of the effectiveness of LSFF programs. Key informants in Nigeria revealed that the main bottlenecks for implementation of the proposed IMMT are related to the lack of technical capacity, equipment, laboratory infrastructure, and financial resources. In conclusion, we propose a set of nine core indicators for enabling comprehensive M&E of the effectiveness of LSFF programs in LMIC. This proposed set of core indicators can be used for further evaluation, harmonization and integration in national and international protocols for M&E of LSFF programs.

Implementation of the “unplugged” school-based prevention programme in Nigeria: Results of process evaluation

Process evaluation can improve the quality of program implementation and the achievement of program outcomes. This paper aims to describe the fidelity of implementation of the school-based prevention program 'Unplugged' in Nigeria, i.e., the degree to which the intervention was delivered as intended, and the satisfaction of teachers and students. The program aims to prevent tobacco, alcohol, and substance use and consists of 12 standardized units, one-hour each, delivered by class teachers. Sixteen schools implemented the program. Eleven schools, 33 classes, 27 teachers, 993 students provided process evaluation data. Eighty-two percent of classes implemented the entire program, with lower rates of activities implementation at the beginning and at the end of the program. Each unit took on average 55 minutes. More than 90% of teachers perceived high students' interest for units 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9, high interactivity for units 1, 2, 8, and 9, and declared high comfort in implementing most units. About 80% of teachers reported an improvement in knowledge, teaching skills, and relationships with students due to the program. More than 75% of students declared the program changed their way of seeing themselves, was helpful to answer questions about themselves, and improved their relationships with mates and teachers. About 95% of students reported an increase in knowledge of the consequences of substance use. Students declared Unplugged educative, informative, helpful, impacting on change, interesting and suggested the program should be spread to other schools.

Influence of geochemistry and topography on vegetation in tropical Nigeria: Geochemistry and soil thickness surpass topographic position

The influence of lithospheric parameters on vegetation varies from one location to another, regardless of the prevailing climatic conditions. Reliable scientific information on the vegetation-environment relationship is crucial to sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Poignantly, such information is not readily available, particularly in resource-poor countries. In this study, we assemble spatially referenced datasets on vegetation pattern, topography, soil thickness and bedrock geochemistry. We subject the datasets to global and local spatial regression analyses on GeoDa 1.18 and MGWR 2.2.1 platforms. Our intention is to examine the influence of lithospheric parameters on vegetation patterns over a climatically homogenous basin in the rainforest belt, southwestern Nigeria. The results of our study show that the variation in vegetation pattern can be explained by soil thickness, topographic curvature, and bedrock concentrations of major minerals. Bedrocks’ KO2/Fe2O3 enrichment and soil thickness are the main lithospheric parameters that influence vegetation pattern in the study area. Bedrocks’ K enrichment is relatively high and less heterogeneous while P enrichment is very low and highly heterogeneous across the study area. Fe concentration is highly heterogeneous, with the highest enrichment recorded for schist and the lowest for gneiss. While the concentration of K is discriminately high in granitic rocks, the highest concentration of P is recorded for schist. Vegetation index is averagely higher on schist than on granitic rocks. Regression models show that bedrock geochemistry and soil thickness exert the greater influence on vegetation in the study area. Based on the available data, we observe that the study area’s greenery can self-rejuvenate if left undisturbed. Our data show that the study area could support a large pool of forest carbon stocking. This potential makes the study area suitable for the UN REDD + program in Nigeria.

Clinical characteristics and treatment patterns of pregnant women with hypertension in primary care in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria: cross-sectional results from the hypertension treatment in Nigeria Program

BackgroundHypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including hypertension, are a leading cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria. However, there is a paucity of data on pregnant women with hypertension who receive care in primary health care facilities. This study presents the results from a cross-sectional analysis of pregnant women enrolled in the Hypertension Treatment in Nigeria Program which is aimed at integrating and strengthening hypertension care in primary health care centres.MethodsA descriptive analysis of the baseline results from the Hypertension Treatment in Nigeria Program was performed. Baseline blood pressures, treatment and control rates of pregnant women were analysed and compared to other adult women of reproductive age. A complete case analysis was performed, and a two-sided p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsBetween January 2020 to October 2022, 5972 women of reproductive age were enrolled in the 60 primary healthcare centres participating in the Hypertension Treatment in Nigeria Program and 112 (2%) were pregnant. Overall mean age (SD) was 39.6 years (6.3). Co-morbidities were rare in both groups, and blood pressures were similar amongst pregnant and non-pregnant women (overall mean (SD) first systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 157.4 (20.6)/100.7 (13.6) mm Hg and overall mean (SD) second systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 151.7 (20.1)/98.4 (13.5) mm Hg). However, compared to non-pregnant women, pregnant women had a higher rate of newly diagnosed hypertension (65.2% versus 54.4% p = 0.02) and lower baseline walk-in treatment (32.1% versus 42.1%, p = 0.03). The control rate was numerically lower among pregnant patients (6.3% versus 10.2%, p = 0.17), but was not statistically significant. Some pregnant patients (8.3%) were on medications contraindicated in pregnancy, and none of the pregnant women were on aspirin for primary prevention of preeclampsia.ConclusionsThese findings indicate significant gaps in care and important areas for future studies to improve the quality of care and outcomes for pregnant women with hypertension in Nigeria, a country with the highest burden of maternal mortality globally.

Relationship between technological change, digitization, and students’ attitudes toward distance learning in Lagos Higher Education institutes

The focus of this research is to investigate the relationship between learning flexibility, support services, and students' attitudes toward remote learning programs in Nigeria. A correlational research methodology is used, and 385 individuals drawn from a multi-stage sampling technique form the study's sample. The data collecting tool is a three-section questionnaire devised by the researchers. Experts validated the questionnaire, which was then administered once on a randomly selected sample to assess the internal consistency. The Cronbach Alpha formula produced values of .74, .77, and .78 for the three separate questionnaire constructs. At the .05 level of significance, two research questions were posed, and two related null hypotheses were investigated. The collected data is analysed using the Mean, Standard Deviation, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation formulas. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between digital learning flexibility and students' attitudes toward distant learning programs (r =.439, Freq=476, p.05). There is also a favourable link between technology supports and students' attitudes toward distant learning programs (r =.339, Freq=476, p.05). It is thus recommended, among other things, that providers of distance learning programs guarantee high flexibility and quality learner support services to cater to the academic needs of learners with different characteristics, as this would improve students' positive attitudes and increase the enrolment of candidates in distance learning programs.

13 years of the amnesty programme in Nigeria: an assessment of its impact on the Niger Delta region

The study is aimed at assessing the impact of the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta Region over the 13 years period. The historical method of data collection involving a systematic and critical analysis of secondary data was adopted for the study. The findings indicated amongst other things that while the amnesty programme has succeeded in reducing youth restiveness in the Niger Delta Region, the general state of underdevelopment, environmental degradation, poor infrastructure, lack of sustainable employment still constitute visible features of the Niger Delta Region. The study further noted that the amnesty programme has been inundated by corruption, political manipulation/interference, poor monitoring and evaluation of the programme, delay in payment of stipends to ex combatants, lack of meaningful economic engagement activities for trained ex militants amongst others. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were outlined: there is need for transparency in the implementation of the programme, proper monitoring and evaluation of the programme, proper engagement in meaningful economic activities should also be made a priority. Furthermore, focus should be given to agricultural entrepreneurship and local communities should work with the Amnesty Programme to determine their unique development needs and objectives.

Quality Assurance of Business Education Programme in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria

Purpose: This paper discussed the concept of business education programme and the need for quality assurance in tertiary institutions. It examined the important roles of NUC, NCCE and TRCN in assuring quality in business education programme in Nigeria.&#x0D; Design/methodology/approach: This paper focused on the underlined heading as follows: objectives of business education, needs for business education ,quality assurance measuring parameters, constraints of quality assurance in business education such as; inadequate funding; staff recruitment; inadequate teaching and learning materials , control measures of quality assurance in business education, current efforts of ensuring quality in business education in Nigeria were discussed.&#x0D; Findings: On this note, it was recommended that Business Education curriculum should be revisited and tailored towards equipping for self-employment, among others. Therefore, cooperation and collaboration among Business Education’s stakeholders are needed in an attempt to achieve the stated objectives in Business Education by providing ample and proper modern facilities in tertiary institutions. Also, accreditation teams should be selected based on their integrity and not who you know, by this institutions will comply to put in place all the needful in order to be accredited. &#x0D; Paper type: Research paper

Inclusive Poverty Reduction for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

This study is premised upon the fact that any poverty reduction programme that is not inclusive can not fully deliver on sustainable development. Hence, the study focus is on how poverty alleviation policies can be inclusive so as to guarantee susatainable development in Nigeria. The study appraised some of the poverty reduction programmes in Nigeria so as to assess the extent to which they are inclusive when compared with global best practice using the Chinese multi-dimensional poverty reduction model. The study revealed that the Chinese model was designed to capture various dimensions of poverty with the intention of solving them based on their uniqueness and that some poverty levels are environmentally determined. The study further revealed that the poverty reduction approaches in Nigeria cannot be said to be inclusive and sustainable. level and to suggest possible solutions in order for poverty reduction policies to bring about desired inclusivity and sustainable development in Nigeria. The study recommended that Government policy on poverty alleviation should follow a multisectoral approach where all the stakeholders are given specific roles to play and that the Government should determine how the intended beneficiaries are to be identified to ensure that the benefits reach them directly.

WEO Newsletter.

WEO Newsletter.

A fractional order vaccination model for COVID-19 incorporating environmental transmission: a case study using Nigerian data

In this work, a fractional-order vaccination model for the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) incorporating environmental transmission is considered and analyzed using tools of fractional calculus. The Laplace transform technique and the fixed point theorem lay out the model solutions' existence and uniqueness. The solutions' positivity and boundedness are also demonstrated. Additionally, the stability of the model's equilibrium points is discussed using the fractional-order system stability theory. The model is fitted using the data sets for the Pfizer vaccination program in Nigeria from April 1, 2021, to June 10, 2021. In conclusion, simulation results for various fractional parameter values are presented. It has been observed that increasing fractional-order values has distinct effects on the various model compartments, for R0 &lt; 1 and R0 &gt; 1, respectively.

Yield and Post-Harvest Pest Status of Some White Yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.) Landraces in Uyo Southeastern Nigeria

Field experiment was conducted at National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI),Uyo out- Station in 2012 and 2013 to evaluated yield and post-harvest pest status of some yam landraces in Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD), replicated thrice. Treatments were eight white yam landraces; Nwopoko, Obiotorugo, Offala, Hambakwashe, Aloshi, Udeanyi, Pepa and Eteme and one improved yam cultivar TDr 89/02665. Data obtained from yield and pest severity were subjected to analysis of variance. Result showed that Hambakwase produced significant tuber yield of 31.10 and 33.01 t/ha in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Obioturugo produced 28.18 and 28.02 t/ha, respectively. Eteme produced the least tuber yield of 16.23 and 15.33 t/ha. Udanyi had significant higher number of rotten tubers per plot at harvest; 2.41 and 2.08 in both years. At 3 months in storage, Offala had significant dry rot of 1.73 and 2.01, followed by 1.61 and 0.91 dry rot tubers per plot, recorded in Aloshi. Number of wet rot tubers per plot as influenced by white yam landraces at 3 months storage varied significantly different (p&lt;0.05). Udanyi had significant higher number of wet tuber rot; 4.30 and 3.22 in 2012 and 2013. Presence of mealy bug infestation were seen Offala, Aloshi,Udanyi and Eteme in 2012. In 2013, Offala, Udanyi, Eteme and TDr 89/02665 had mealy bug infestation. .Among the yam landraces, scale insects were observed in the following; Obioturugo, Hambakwase and Udanyi in 2012 while in 2013, Obioturugo, Udanyi and Eteme had presence of scale insect in tubers at 3 months storage. This study therefore recommended Hambakwase and Nwopok for high tuber yield, less susceptible to rot, beetle and termite attack. Also, these promising yam landraces showed be incorporated into yam breeding programme in Nigeria.

The 2022 Naira Redesign Programme in Nigeria: Implications on the Local Economy and Financial History

The 2022 Naira Redesign Programme in Nigeria: Implications on the Local Economy and Financial History

Prevalence of Pneumonia and Its Determinants among Under-five Children attending a Primary Health Care Clinic in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The incorporation of Haemophilus influenza type b and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines to infant routine immunization programme in Nigeria have been reported to reduce the frequency and severity of respiratory tract infections especially bacterial pneumonia. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of pneumonia and its determinants among under-five children attending Primary Health Care (PHC) clinic in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area Lagos State, Nigeria.&#x0D; Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select 330 under-ve children who presented to the Festac PHC clinic. Data was collected using a pretested, structured and interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed using EPI INFO software version 7.0. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were used to identify the determinants of the development of pneumonia. The level of statistically significant was set at p&lt;0.05.&#x0D; Results: Of the 330 children, the median age (IQR) was 24 (10-26) months and the majority 186 (56.4%) were males. The prevalence of pneumonia was 42 (12.7%). There was no significant association between the development of pneumonia and the immunization status of children under five years of age (p=0.05). The odds of developing pneumonia was increased with prematurity [AOR=2.791, 95%CI (1.245 - 6.256), p=0.013].&#x0D; Conclusion: About 1 in 8 under-five children in this study had pneumonia. Prematurity was the major determinant of pneumonia among under-five children. Health workers should create more awareness and sensitize mothers as well as the community members on the risk factors that can predispose children to pneumonia.