Survival In Nigeria Research Articles

Sources of the Competitive Advantage of Family Enterprises: An International Approach Focusing on China, Nigeria and Poland

Objective : The objective of this paper is to identify some crucial factors influencing family businesses in China, Nigeria and Poland through a prism of the competitive advantage theory as well as company values. Research Design & Methods : The empirical research results were employed: findings from a survey on competitive advantage, from a study of Family Enterprises’ (FEs) survival in Nigeria, from interviews conducted with the owners of Polish FEs, from a survey with Polish consumers, and from interviews conducted with FEs’ managers in China. International desk research was carried out as well. Findings: Major attributes of FEs which can support their competitive advantage created on the market were identified. The significance of family enterprises in contemporary economies of China, Nigeria and Poland was examined. Implications & Recommendations: The success of FEs and their important nature mean that more research is needed to understand their development for the future. A holistic and cross-cultural approach is required. As the consumers’ attitudes towards FEs in the three countries differ ignificantly, a unified survey which can be adjusted for the cultural requirements of each country is recommended. Contribution & Value Added: While comparing FEs in the three countries, some crucial factors which influence their functioning were discovered. Despite of identified obstacles in performance of FEs, there are some sources of CA highlighted and divided into similarities, differences and autonomous features by the authors.

Retrofitting and Greening Existing Buildings: Strategies for Energy Conservation, Resource Management and Sustainability of the Built Environment in Nigeria

Energy consumption in residential buildings is one of the increasing phenomenal in the built environment. It has become imperative to react to the state of rapidly dwindling natural resources, environmental pressures and climate change posing fundamental threat to economic systems and human survival in Nigeria and globally. Until fairly recently, green considerations for existing residential buildings have received less attention. In Nigeria, several thousand households of low income buildings spends large sums of their earnings on energy bills, while getting less energy-driven services for their appliances and utilities to meet their needs. This paper explores possible alternatives for less dependence on national energy supply with more environmental benefits through sustainable retrofit and resource-efficiency interventions for low-income houses. The objective is to address issues relating to energy generation, conservation and other associated resource management with a view to achieving the development of a low carbon and more eco-friendly built environment. It is expected that the outcome of this paper will make an important contribution in the form of recommendations for future policies and programmes regarding retrofitting of existing residential houses and the construction of new ones in Nigeria. It concludes that if policies and regulatory mechanism are put in place for greening low-income housing in Nigeria, this could deliver a pathway to improving energy efficiency of the existing building sector.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.15.2.15557

Predictive Model of Pediatric HIV/AIDS Survival in Nigeria using Support Vector Machine

This paper is focused on the development of a predictive model for the classification of HIV/AIDS survival among Nigerian pediatric patients located in south-western Nigeria using supervised machine learning. Following the identification of the risk factors of HIV/AIDS survival from the review of literature and expert medical physicians, the case files of patients were used to collect information about the distribution of the risk factors and the HIV/AIDS survival status of pediatric patients selected at two hospitals in southwestern Nigeria. The predictive model was formulated using the sequential minimal optimization (SMO) algorithm implemented by the support vector machine (SVM) – a binary classification algorithm based on the information collected. The predictive model was simulated using the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) using the 10fold cross validation technique for model training and testing. The SVM classifier performed well in the classification of the survival of pediatric HIV/AIDS patients with an accuracy of 97.7%. The predictive model developed can be useful to medical practitioners especially in the area of decision support regarding the survival of HIV/AIDS pediatric patients in Nigeria.

Maternal Health Care Services Access Index and Infant Survival in Nigeria

Infant mortality rate in Nigeria is among the highest world-wide. Utilization of modern health care facilities during pregnancy and at delivery reduces infant mortality rate. We examined the relationship between Infant Mortality (IM) and Maternal Health Care Services Access Index (MHCI) in Nigeria. This cross-sectional study utilized 2013 NDHS data and included women aged 15-49 years (n=12511). MHCI was obtained from information on antenatal visit, antenatal attendance, tetanus toxoid injection during pregnancy, place of delivery and birth attendance. Cox-proportional hazard and Brass models were used for the analysis (α=0.05). Mean MHCI was higher among women with lower prevalence of IM. About 5.1% and 3.4% of the women with none and complete MHCI had experienced infant deaths respectively. The hazard of experienced infant deaths was 1.497(1.068-2.098) and 1.466(1.170-1.836) significantly higher among women with no and low MHCI respectively than those with complete MHCI. This pattern was observed when other factors were used as control. The refined IM probability (range=0.0482-0.1102) and IM rates (range=50-119) increased with reduction in the level of MHCI. The IM rate reduces from 119 per 1,000 live births among women whose MHCI score was zero to 50 per 1,000 live births among those with complete MHCI score. Infant death was least experienced among women who had complete MHCI. If women optimize utilization of health facility during pregnancy and delivery, infant deaths will reduce in Nigeria.

Dominant Political Parties, Struggling for Survival in Nigeria: The Narrative of Decapitated Sleaze and Crusade of Anti-Corruption Legitimacy

This paper examines how the dominant political parties in a corruption-prone political system have been struggling for survival (and legitimacy) based on anti-corruption crusades and the attendant supports. The study has in the process, interrogated what may constitute the core concerns of the leading political parties, in such corruption-bedeviled polities. The investigation is fundamentally, a case study of the Nigerian state. Accordingly, the central research questions of the paper are as follows: How are the two dominant political parties in Nigeria brawling for survival? Attendant to the wrestles, what is the fate of good governance in the country? The study finds that while the two dominant political parties are engaged in the scuffle to survive, a national vacuum is in contradiction, created in the area of general political mobilization. It has been posited in the paper that political parties’ legitimacies are never constructed on single societal agenda. It is finally recommended in the work that while the government (in power) may be wedging wars against the debilitating sleaze in the system, the political parties (in order to survive and retain legitimacy) must continously engage in the articulation and aggregation of politically complementary programmes and actions. This would not only lead to the survival of the parties as political entities but in a generic dimension, lead to the critically desired national growth and survival in such countries, where corruption still presents the overriding national challenge. The methodology of the paper is logical argumentation.

Innovation and small business survival in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of innovation in the creation of small businesses consisting of financial and non-financial products offered by banks offering microfinance, micro and small enterprises for growth, formation, development and production in Nigeria.

Trends in neonatal mortality in Nigeria and effects of bio-demographic and maternal characteristics.

BackgroundNigeria’s efforts to reduce under-five mortality has been biased in favour of childhood mortality to the neglect of neonates and as such the literature is short of adequate information on the determinants of neonatal mortality. Whereas studies have shown that about half of infant deaths occur in the neonatal period. Knowledge of the determinants of neonatal mortality are essential for the design of intervention programes that will enhance neonatal survival. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the trends and factors associated with neonatal mortality in Nigeria.MethodsThis was a retrospective analysis of the reproductive history data collected in the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) for 1990, 2003, 2008 and 2013. Neonatal mortality rates were estimated as the probability of dying before 28 completed days using synthetic cohort life table techniques. Univariate and multiple Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to explore the effects of selected maternal and bio-demographic variables on neonatal mortality. The Hazard Ratio (HR) and its 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were estimated to prioritize obtained significant factors.ResultsNigeria neonatal mortality rate stagnated at 41 per 1000 live births between 1990 and 2013. There were rural-urban and regional differences with more deaths occurring in rural areas and northern regions. In 1990, antenatal care (HR = 0.76; CI = 0.61-0.95), facility delivery (HR = 0.69; CI = 0.53-0.90) and births interval less than 24 months (HR = 1.67; CI = 1.41-1.98) were significantly associated with neonatal deaths. Factors identified from the 2013 data were antenatal care (HR = 0.76; CI = 0.61-0.95), birth interval less than 24 months (HR = 1.67; CI = 1.41-1.98), delivery at health facility (HR = 0.69; CI = 0.53-0.90), and small birth size (HR = 1.72; CI = 1.39-2.14).ConclusionThere was little improvement in neonatal survival in Nigeria between 1990 and 2013. Bio-demographic and health care related characteristics are significant determinants of neonatal survival. Family planning should be intensified while government should improve the quality of maternal and child health services to enhance the survival of neonates.

Fuelling the Flames: Boko Haram and Deteriorating Christian–Muslim Relations in Nigeria

At present, the Boko Haram terrorism marks a major threat to the survival of Nigeria. Since the beginning of Boko Haram's terrorist activities in 2009, a body of literature is increasingly emerging in the research community with an array of analyses of the phenomenon from various dimensions. However, there has not been any useful analysis on the implications of Boko Haram for existing relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. This study, therefore, aims to contribute to the literature by demonstrating how Boko Haram has heightened the historical tension between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. This study shows the different patterns of conflicts between the religious groups in the era of Boko Haram which border on their different perspectives on the sponsors and agenda of the group, the principal targets of the group, and the counter-terrorism strategy to fight the group. Following this, the study illustrates a number of violent clashes that have emerged from the conflicts between the religious groups. Given evidence provided in the paper suggesting that Boko Haram marks an enemy to both Christians and Muslims, the authors advocate unity between the religious groups to address the problem of Boko Haram.

Cyber Risks and Fraud in the Nigeria’s Business Environment: A Postmortem of Youth Crime

This article examines the opportunities and the negative impacts associative of the use of Internet technology in the era of E-Business. Contextually, it zeroed on the activities of youths as they engage in online fraud as a means of survival in Nigeria. It further postured that the Internet medium tremendously promoted e-commerce and simultaneously created a new form of socio-economic insecurity that is highly unprecedented in the world history. The magnitude of vulnerability and concomitantly the monetary loss often attendant of wireless transaction cross culturally engenders fear, skepticism and disillusionments among Internet users in the cyber environment. In order to minimize this trend, the authors were of the view that a special inbuilt security mechanism attachable to the Internet technology hardwires be provided for the censorship of online monetary related interactions. This unique configuration is expected to serve as checks against fraud and other maladaptive uses of the technology by cyber predators.

The effect of solid fuel use on childhood mortality in Nigeria: evidence from the 2013 cross-sectional household survey.

BackgroundIn Nigeria, approximately 69% of households use solid fuels as their primary source of domestic energy for cooking. These fuels produce high levels of indoor air pollution. This study aimed to determine whether Nigerian children residing in households using solid fuels at <5 years of age were at higher risk of death.MethodsThe 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data were analysed in Cox regression analyses to examine the effects of solid fuel use on deaths of children aged 0–28 days (neonatal), 1–11 months (post-neonatal), and 12–59 months (child).ResultsThe results indicated that approximately 0.8% of neonatal deaths, 42.9% of post-neonatal deaths, and 36.3% of child deaths could be attributed to use of solid fuels. The multivariable analyses found that use of solid fuel was associated with post-neonatal mortality (hazard ratio [HR] =1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42–2.58) and child mortality (HR = 1.63, CI: 1.09–2.42), but was not associated with neonatal mortality (HR = 1.01, CI: 0.73–1.26). Living in rural areas and poor households were associated with an increased risk of death during the three mortality periods.ConclusionLiving in a rural area and poor households were strongly associated with an increased risk of a child > 1 to < 60 months dying due to use of solid fuels. The health effects of household use of solid fuels are a major public health threat that requires increased research and policy development efforts. Research should focus on populations in rural areas and low socioeconomic households so that child survival in Nigeria can be improved.

Boosting Cancer Survival in Nigeria: Self-management Strategies

Cancer is a menace fast gaining momentum in Nigeria and other developing countries. It is an expensive disease requiring a major financial and human resources for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. With no national policy on cancer control in the country, incidence (111.7/100,000 population) and mortality (86.6/100,000) rates in Nigeria are spiraling beyond control. This literature search study was primarily aimed at providing recommendations on cost-effective strategies for development interventions to promote self-management for cancer survivors in Nigeria with a goal to improve quality of life and overall survival.

Out-of-pocket cost of managing sick newborns in Enugu, southeast Nigeria

BackgroundNeonatal illnesses usually require long hospital stays and specialized care and/or facilities, which usually results in huge medical bills. With more than 70% of people in Nigeria living on less than US$2 per day, these bills are not affordable to many families’ livelihoods.AimThis study aims to determine the average cost of managing neonatal illnesses in Enugu in southeast Nigeria and the proportion of family income spent on these illnesses. It further seeks to ascertain the cost of various components in the management of neonatal diseases.MethodsThis is a longitudinal and descriptive study involving 106 newborns admitted to the sick baby unit of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital and the out-of-pocket medical expenditure in the management of their illnesses.ResultsA hundred and six newborns participated in the study. All (100%) medical bills were out-of-pocket payments, and 103 (97.2%) of these were catastrophic health expenditure (more than 10% of total family monthly income). The average duration of hospital stay and cost of managing a neonatal illness was 12.86±8.81 days and ₦36,382±19,389.72 (US$223±119), respectively. This expenditure amounted to 157%, 71%, and 25% of total monthly family income for the low, middle, and upper socioeconomic class families, respectively, with a mean percentage of 85%. Families with a total monthly income of less than ₦10,000 (US$61), ₦10,000–49,999 (US$61–306), and ₦50,000–100,000 (US$306–612) and more than ₦100,000 (US$612) on average spent 683%, 108%, 54%, and 20% of their monthly income on their newborn’s illness. Hospital and utility bills compared with bills accruing from drug and laboratory investigations account for a significantly larger proportion of total cost incurred in neonatal sepsis (₦23,499±14,987 [US$144±92], P=0.001), low birth weight (₦39,863±24,003 [US$224±147], P=0.001), severe anemia (₦40,504±13,923 [US$248±85], P=0.001), transient tachypnea of the newborn (₦10,083±1,078 [US$62±7], P=0.001), birth asphyxia (₦24,398±14,096 [US$149±86], P=0.001), and meningitis (₦26,731±7,675 [US$164±47], P=0.001), whereas cost for laboratory investigations was significantly higher for neonatal jaundice (₦11,690±3,169 [US$72±19], P=0.001). There was a strong positive correlation between duration of hospital stay and total medical cost incurred (r=0.897, P=0.001).ConclusionHealth expenditure on neonatal illness is high and leads to catastrophic expenditure for the majority of households in the state. There is a need for effective health insurance schemes to help subsidize and cushion this disastrous and impoverishing health expenditure on families for improved neonatal survival in Nigeria.

Mothers' reading skills and child survival in Nigeria: Examining the relevance of mothers' decision-making power

Mothers' literacy skills are emerging as a key determinant of children's health and survival in low-income contexts, with emphasis on the cognitive and psychological agency that literacy skills provide. This work has clearly established a strong association between mothers' reading skills—a key subcomponent of broader literacy and language skills—and child mortality. However, this relatively nascent literature has not yet considered how broader social structures condition the process. In Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, gender-based social inequality constrains many mothers' decision-making power over children's health matters; this structural feature may condition the association between mothers' reading skills and child mortality. This paper uses data from the 2003 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (N = 12,076) to test the conditionality of the relationship between mothers' reading skills and child survival on mothers' decision-making power, highlighting how structural realities should factor more heavily into this individual-action-oriented literature. Among Nigerian children whose mothers have decision-making power, mothers' reading skills convey a 27 percent lower risk of child mortality; however, for children whose mothers lack decision-making power, mothers' reading skills do not yield a significant survival advantage. Overall, these findings support the need for future work to further analyze how broader social structures condition the benefits of mothers' reading skills for children's health.

New trends in under-five mortality determinants and their effects on child survival in Nigeria: A review of childhood mortality data from 1990-2008

Under-five mortality in Nigeria has been reported to be on the decline, but the dynamics are yet to receive adequate attention. Thus the main objective of this study was to assess these factors and quantify their relative contributions to under-five mortality between 1990 and 2008. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data for 1990, 2003 and 2008 were re-analysed to assess the trends in determinants of under-five mortality.Cox Regression model was applied to determine the relative contributions of each factor to the under-five mortality risk.The results showed there were improvements in maternal education (8.6%), childhood vaccination (17.7%), use of oral rehydration therapy (13.9%) and medical treatment of childhood illnesses(17.5%) over the 19-year period. There were declines in proportions with birth interval less than 24months (3.9%), access to improved sources of drinking water (24.2%), improved toilet facilities (9.0%) antenatal care (4.5%), skilled delivery (3.0%) while maternal age at childbirth remained unchanged. These factors increased the death hazards by 4.6% between 1990-2003 but decreased them by 12% between 2003 and 2008. It was concluded that Nigeria has recorded very minimal improvements in birth spacing and antenatal/delivery care. Poor access to potable drinking water and sewage disposal, and short birth intervals,are among the factors fueling childhood mortality risks. Further improvements in these environmental and health practices as well as other factors are recommended as strategies for promoting child survival in Nigeria.

Paediatricians' perspectives on global health priorities for newborn care in a developing country: a national survey from Nigeria.

BackgroundAn understanding of the perception of paediatricians as key stakeholders in child healthcare delivery and the degree of congruence with current investment priorities is crucial in accelerating progress towards the attainment of global targets for child survival and overall health in developing countries. This study therefore elicited the views of paediatricians on current global priorities for newborn health in Nigeria as possible guide for policy makers.MethodsPaediatric consultants and residents in the country were surveyed nationally between February and March 2011 using a questionnaire requiring the ranking of nine prominent and other neonatal conditions based separately on hospital admissions, mortality, morbidity and disability as well as based on all health indices in order of importance or disease burden. Responses were analysed with Friedman test and differences between subgroups of respondents with Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsValid responses were received from 152 (65.8%) of 231 eligible physicians. Preterm birth/low birthweight ranked highest by all measures except for birth asphyxia which ranked highest for disability. Neonatal jaundice ranked next to sepsis by all measures except for disability and above tetanus except mortality. Preterm birth/low birthweight, birth asphyxia, sepsis, jaundice and meningitis ranked highest by composite measures while jaundice had comparable rating with sepsis. Birth trauma was most frequently cited under other unspecified conditions. There were no significant differences in ranking between consultants and residents except for birth asphyxia in relation to hospital admissions and morbidity as well as sepsis and tetanus in relation to mortality.ConclusionsCurrent global priorities for neonatal survival in Nigeria largely accord with paediatricians’ views except for neonatal jaundice which is commonly subsumed under “other“ or "miscellaneous" neonatal conditions. While the importance of these priority conditions extends beyond mortality thus suggesting the need for a broader conceptualisation of newborn health to reflect the current realities, paediatricians should be actively engaged in advancing the attainment of global priorities for child survival and health in this population.

Corporate social responsibility: An organizational tool for survival in Nigeria

Demonstrating socially responsible behaviour has become increasingly important for corporations. The study identifies the extent of participation of the banking industries in corporate social responsibility, the bankpolicies as it affects CRS and the impact of the bank the on the practice of CRS. The study utilized primary source of data collection procedure through the administration of questionnaire. 120 copies of the questionnaire wereadministered on employees of four major banks in Osogbo Osun State. The respondents of this study are employees of the upper, middle and low cadre across all the department of the banks. They were purposelyselected for this study. All the copies of the questionnaire were retrieved and analyzed using frequency distribution and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study revealed that about 90% of the respondents indicated the extent of participation in corporate social responsibilities activities is high, the findings also revealed that a significant Pvalue of 0.417 which shows a non-significant relationship was observed from the relationship between the type of the bank and CRS practices. In addition, the findings of the study revealed that a significant P-value of 0.028 which ascertain a significant relationship was observed between bank profitability and CRS practices. Lastly, a significant relationship was observed from the P-value of 0.0317 between bank policies and CRS practices.It is recommended that Governments shouldminimize the excessive demands they make from corporate organizations, particularly Banks, for financing of projects and events. Usually, expensesincurred on these constitute a huge drain on the scarce financial resources of organizations that would have been spent in other CRS projects that will be more beneficial to the populace and society. And that government at all levels should encourage organizations to implement more of CSR initiatives by granting them tax reliefs, rebates and other concessions,

Factors constraining the growth and survival of SMEs in Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that hinder the growth and survival of small businesses in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA survey method was used to gather data from 211 small business owners and managers located in selected cities in Nigeria. Several statistical analyses were conducted to identify the factors constraining the growth and survival of SMEs in Nigeria.FindingsThe results of the study reveal that the most common constraints hindering small business growth and survival in Nigeria are lack of financial support, poor management, corruption, lack of training and experience, poor infrastructure, insufficient profits, and low demand for product and services.Research limitations/implicationsThe instruments used for this study need to be subjected to more statistical tests in order to establish a more robust validity and reliability. Based on what we have learned, the instruments could be further refined to more closely capture each of the problem areas identified in the literature. Replication of this study using larger samples and a broader geographic base is suggested for cross‐validation purposes.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the factors hindering the growth and survival of SMEs in Nigeria will help policy makers – governments (federal, state, and local), NGOs, and other stakeholders – to design targeted policies and programs that will actively stimulate innovation, as well as helping those policy makers to support, encourage, and promote SMEs for poverty alleviation in Nigeria. For SMEs, this study offers alternative models to counteract the problem of collateral and lending issues. Strategic alternatives on how to address issues such as poor management, poor infrastructure, and corruption are discussed.Originality/valueThe significance of this study stems from the fact that very few studies have explored the issue of factors constraining the growth and survival of SMEs for poverty alleviation in Nigeria. The results provide additional insights into operations of SMEs in Nigeria, a sub‐Saharan African country. Sub‐Saharan Africa has been negated and, therefore, has been less researched. Also, the insights gained from this study to contribute the future development of this line of research, particularly in a non‐Western context.

Breast cancer patients in Libya: Comparison with European and central African patients

The present study evaluated the incidence of breast cancer in Libya and described the clinicopathological and demographic features. These features were then compared with corresponding data from patients from sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria) and Europe (Finland). The study consisted of 234 patients with breast carcinoma, admitted to the African Oncology Institute in Sabratha, Libya, during the years 2002-2006. The pathological features were collected from pathology reports, patient histories from hospital files and the Sabratha Cancer Registry. The demographic differences between the Libyan, Nigerian and Finnish populations were prominent. The mean age of breast cancer patients in Libya was 46 years which was almost identical to that of Nigeria, but much lower than that of Finland. The Libyan breast cancer incidence was evaluated as 18.8 per 100,000 female individuals. This incidence was markedly higher in Finland, but was also high in Nigeria. Libyan and Nigerian breast cancer is predominantly of premenopausal type and exhibits unfavorable characteristics such as high histological grade and stage, large tumor size and frequent lymph node metastases. However, the histological types and histopathological risk features show similar importance regarding survival as European breast cancer cases. Survival in Libya ranks between the rates of survival in Nigeria (lowest) and Finland (highest). In conclusion, in Libya and other African countries, premenopausal breast cancer is more common than postmenopausal breast cancer. However, the opposite is true for Europe. Population differences may be involved, as suggested by the known variation, in the distribution of genetic markers in these populations. Different types of environmental impacts, however, cannot be excluded.

Capital Account Liberalisation: has it improved SMEs situation in Nigeria?

This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of the impact of economic liberalisation on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) development in Nigeria. Specifically, it examines the impact of Capital Account Liberalisation (CAL) on SMEs access to finance, and if the policy improved the problem of access to finance by SMEs following the liberalisation of capital account in Nigeria. The policy was expected to encourage the inflow of investible funds into Nigeria for SMEs access to funds. However, the results of the policy are far from the objectives in terms of SMEs access to finance and survival in Nigeria. On the basis of the findings of this report, it appears that CAL partly contributed to the failures of most manufacturing SMEs contrary to the policy objective of improved SMEs access to finance.

Poverty: legal and constitutional implications for human rights enforcement in Nigeria

This work ventilates the problem of poverty in Nigeria, where over 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line, and the theoretical and practcal implications of this for the enforcement of the human rights of the poor, woh are completely absorbed in the daily rigours of the struggle for survival in Nigeria.