Computer Self-Efficacy of Librarians and Users as Influencers of University Libraries’ Information System Security: Evidence from Nigeria

Librarians and their users interact with the library’s information systems for different reasons. The need to protect information and information systems from unauthorized access, modification, data loss and destruction by librarians has become topical in recent times, hence this study. Using survey research design of the correlation type, three University libraries in the South-western Nigeria were purposively selected. Structured questionnaires for 48 librarians and 44,508 registered library users were used. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique for library users with Undergraduates, post graduates and staff as the basis for stratification was used. Total enumeration was used to capture all the librarians, total of 845 (95%) for library users and 42 (88%) for librarians were successfully completed and used for the study. Findings revealed that the librarians and library users had high computer self-efficacy levels related to information system security. Furthermore, computer self-efficacy of librarians significantly influence information systems security (β = .61, t= 4.86, p.05). The study concludes that these two groups have a strong belief in their abilities to use computers effectively to impact on the information system. The librarians’ belief is in the positive; the users’ appears to be for negative reasons. The study recommends very high level of computer and other technologies efficacy for librarians, regular training and retraining while users should be re-orientated to the realities and benefits of secured information systems

Assessing Undergraduates Social competence on Social Media in Nigeria

Undergraduates are known to be early adopters and users of social media and are socially competent online as against offline. The study sought to determine the social competence of students as exhibited on social media against the background of a growing decline in undergraduates’ offline social relevance. Using survey research design of correlative type, 850 undergraduates in similar faculties in two selected Universities in South west Nigeria were selected using multi-stage sampling. Questionnaire was used to collect data; reliability score of (α = 0.82) was derived for social competence on social media and (α = 0.88) for students’ use of social media. Eight hundred questionnaires (94%) were found usable. Findings revealed students are active on popular social media sites; social competence of undergraduates on social media was high ( = 64.19) and frequently use of social media. Social competence of undergraduates was positively related to social media use (r = .771, p = \u3c 0.01); social competence of undergraduates on social media was different based on gender (t = 4.02; p = \u3c 0.05), there was a significant difference in student’s use of social media based on gender (t = 5.064; p = \u3c 0.05). Social competence of the students is exhibited on social media and there is a continued adherence of the young population of Nigerians to online platforms for social interactions and relevance at the expense of natural physical dialogues. The study recommends complementary role for online media, encouraging undergraduates to build offline, natural social interactions and relationships

Incidence, aetiology, and sequelae of viral meningitis in UK adults: a multicentre prospective observational cohort study

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license Background: Viral meningitis is increasingly recognised, but little is known about the frequency with which it occurs, or the causes and outcomes in the UK. We aimed to determine the incidence, causes, and sequelae in UK adults to improve the management of patients and assist in health service planning. Methods: We did a multicentre prospective observational cohort study of adults with suspected meningitis at 42 hospitals across England. Nested within this study, in the National Health Service (NHS) northwest region (now part of NHS England North), was an epidemiological study. Patients were eligible if they were aged 16 years or older, had clinically suspected meningitis, and either underwent a lumbar puncture or, if lumbar puncture was contraindicated, had clinically suspected meningitis and an appropriate pathogen identified either in blood culture or on blood PCR. Individuals with ventricular devices were excluded. We calculated the incidence of viral meningitis using data from patients from the northwest region only and used these data to estimate the population-standardised number of cases in the UK. Patients self-reported quality-of-life and neuropsychological outcomes, using the EuroQol EQ-5D-3L, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Aldenkamp and Baker neuropsychological assessment schedule, for 1 year after admission. Findings: 1126 patients were enrolled between Sept 30, 2011, and Sept 30, 2014. 638 (57%) patients had meningitis: 231 (36%) cases were viral, 99 (16%) were bacterial, and 267 (42%) had an unknown cause. 41 (6%) cases had other causes. The estimated annual incidence of viral meningitis was 2·73 per 100 000 and that of bacterial meningitis was 1·24 per 100 000. The median length of hospital stay for patients with viral meningitis was 4 days (IQR 3–7), increasing to 9 days (6–12) in those treated with antivirals. Earlier lumbar puncture resulted in more patients having a specific cause identified than did those who had a delayed lumbar puncture. Compared with the age-matched UK population, patients with viral meningitis had a mean loss of 0·2 quality-adjusted life-years (SD 0·04) in that first year. Interpretation: Viruses are the most commonly identified cause of meningitis in UK adults, and lead to substantial long-term morbidity. Delays in getting a lumbar puncture and unnecessary treatment with antivirals were associated with longer hospital stays. Rapid diagnostics and rationalising treatments might reduce the burden of meningitis on health services. Funding: Meningitis Research Foundation and UK National Institute for Health Research

Incidence, aetiology, and sequelae of viral meningitis in UK adults: a multicentre prospective observational cohort study

Background Viral meningitis is increasingly recognised, but little is known about the frequency with which it occurs, or the causes and outcomes in the UK. We aimed to determine the incidence, causes, and sequelae in UK adults to improve the management of patients and assist in health service planning. Methods We did a multicentre prospective observational cohort study of adults with suspected meningitis at 42 hospitals across England. Nested within this study, in the National Health Service (NHS) northwest region (now part of NHS England North), was an epidemiological study. Patients were eligible if they were aged 16 years or older, had clinically suspected meningitis, and either underwent a lumbar puncture or, if lumbar puncture was contraindicated, had clinically suspected meningitis and an appropriate pathogen identified either in blood culture or on blood PCR. Individuals with ventricular devices were excluded. We calculated the incidence of viral meningitis using data from patients from the northwest region only and used these data to estimate the population-standardised number of cases in the UK. Patients self-reported quality-of-life and neuropsychological outcomes, using the EuroQol EQ-5D-3L, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Aldenkamp and Baker neuropsychological assessment schedule, for 1 year after admission. Findings 1126 patients were enrolled between Sept 30, 2011, and Sept 30, 2014. 638 (57%) patients had meningitis: 231 (36%) cases were viral, 99 (16%) were bacterial, and 267 (42%) had an unknown cause. 41 (6%) cases had other causes. The estimated annual incidence of viral meningitis was 2·73 per 100 000 and that of bacterial meningitis was 1·24 per 100 000. The median length of hospital stay for patients with viral meningitis was 4 days (IQR 3–7), increasing to 9 days (6–12) in those treated with antivirals. Earlier lumbar puncture resulted in more patients having a specific cause identified than did those who had a delayed lumbar puncture. Compared with the age-matched UK population, patients with viral meningitis had a mean loss of 0·2 quality-adjusted life-years (SD 0·04) in that first year. Interpretation Viruses are the most commonly identified cause of meningitis in UK adults, and lead to substantial long-term morbidity. Delays in getting a lumbar puncture and unnecessary treatment with antivirals were associated with longer hospital stays. Rapid diagnostics and rationalising treatments might reduce the burden of meningitis on health services

Cerebral palsy in Mulago hospital, Uganda : comorbidity, diagnosis and cultural adaptation of an assessment tool

Background and aim: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common form of chronic motor disability that begins in early childhood and persists throughout life. The clinical features, including motor function, comorbidities and nutritional status, have not been investigated in Uganda. In addition, no assessment tool to measure functional skill development and the level of independence performance in activities of daily living has been developed for these children. The overall aim of this thesis was to describe the neurological, anthropometric and brain imaging findings of Ugandan children with CP and to develop a culturally relevant assessment tool for measuring their functional performance. Methods and participants: Five cross sectional studies (I-V) were carried out at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala and in varied rural and urban districts within Uganda. Three studies were conducted at the health facility (I-III), while two were conducted in the community (IV-V). Study I investigated the clinical types, motor function and comorbidities of children with CP. In Study II, this same cohort had their anthropometric measurements taken, as well as information about their clinical, feeding and perinatal history to determine their nutritional status and associated factors. Study III, performed on a sub sample of the original cohort, investigated the brain computed tomography (CT) scans and associated features. In Study IV, the Pediatric Evaluation Disability Inventory (PEDI) was translated and cross-culturally adapted to the Ugandan environment to create the PEDI-UG instrument. The psychometric properties of the new PEDI-UG instrument was validated in Study V. Results: Bilateral spastic CP was the main clinical subtype (45%). Severe gross and fine motor function levels were more common in the bilateral spastic and dyskinetic CP subtypes. Signs of learning disability (75%) and epilepsy (45%) were the most common comorbidities. Speech and language impairments were associated with bilateral spastic CP and severe gross and fine motor dysfunction (Study I). More than half (52%) of the children with CP were malnourished, with being underweight (42%) presented as the most common form. Malnutrition was associated more with children 5 years of age or older, and those with a history of complications during the neonatal period (Study II). The distribution of brain image patterns differed from that seen in high income countries with more primary grey matter injuries (PGMI) (44%) and normal scans (31%) and very few primary white matter injuries (4%). PGMI were more common in children with a history of hospital admission following birth (Study III). In the culturally adapted PEDI-UG, overall 178 of the original 197 PEDI items (90%) were retained, with a number of modifications in the remaining items, to create the final 185-item PEDI-UG. (Study IV). Most activities of the culturally adapted PEDI UG (95%) showed acceptable fit to the Rasch model. In addition, the caregiver assistant rating scale was changed from a six-point to four-point rating scale (Study V). Conclusions: There was a large proportion of severely affected children with CP in this cohort, with frequent malnutrition and more PGMI. These results suggest a different etiology of CP in infants born full-term between sub-Saharan Africa and high-income countries. Our findings could imply a higher occurrence of birth asphyxia, postnatally acquired infections or other varied insults around the last trimester period which may possibly benefit from improved emergency obstetric and postnatal care. The culturally adapted PEDI-UG instrument with a four categories caregiver assistant rating scale is appropriate, providing a valid measure of the functional performance of typically developing children from the age of 6 months to 7.5 years in Uganda and other similar African contexts

A Functional Stakeholder Model of Corporate Governance for Banks in Challenging Institutional Contexts: A Case Study of Nigeria

This thesis seeks to address the limited stakeholders’ recognition and protection under the Anglo-Saxon corporate governance model currently practised in Nigeria. The Anglo-Saxon corporate governance model originated from the UK and the US and focuses on profit maximisation for shareholders’ benefit at the expense of other stakeholders, such as customers and employees. The thesis argued that the relative success of the Anglo-Saxon model in developed economies, such as the UK, is because of the availability of functional institutions, such as an efficient legal system which includes the state apparatus for making, interpreting and enforcing the law. The UK Anglo Saxon model is dependent on an active external market for corporate control and organised civil societies for its success. Nigeria inherited the UK corporate governance model because of its historical past. Despite the differences in their institutional environments, Nigeria has continued to model its corporate governance framework on that of the UK, despite its inefficient legal system resulting from the systemic corruption across the entire branches and tiers of government. Thus, implementing the UK’s corporate governance model in Nigeria has deviated from what theories have envisaged. This is due to Nigeria's institutional environment, evidenced by its weak institutions, such as inadequate legal, regulatory and supervisory systems, insiders’ ownership concentration, an underdeveloped capital market and systemic corruption across the entire branches and tiers of government. This has resulted in Nigeria’s persistent banking failures because of the weak corporate governance framework, evidenced by inaccurate reporting and non-compliance with regulatory requirements, gross insider abuses resulting in substantial non-performing insider related loans, persistent illiquidity, and poor assets quality. Because of Nigeria’s institutional voids, when banks fail, stakeholders, mostly customers and employees, suffer because the current framework does not offer them any protection. Therefore, given Nigeria’s challenging institutional context, this thesis proposes an alternative corporate governance framework in the Nigerian banking sector that will promote the recognition of stakeholders and protect stakeholders’ interests. The thesis makes original contributions to the existing scholarship in comparative corporate governance and regulation, particularly as it relates to banking regulation and stakeholders

Adapting 'A Man of the People to stage: can stage adaptation successfully return Igbo literary fiction to the Igbo people?

With the death of the folk storytelling tradition in Igbo society, the hope of passing Igbo stories to future generations seems to lie with the novel and dramatic theatre. Unfortunately, in the past two to three decades, both the reading culture and theatre practice in Igbo land have seriously declined. The political situation, the economy, the non-practical approach to problem solving by the literary and cultural intellectuals, the ceaseless streaming of popular and trash cultures from the West through television into Igbo towns and villages, the rise of home movies with pseudo-voodoo stories, have all contributed to the demise of honest and purposeful storytelling in Igbo society. Confronted by a society on the threshold of losing its identity, I thought of a practical step I could take to address the situation through the dramatic adaptation of one Igbo novel, Chinua Achebe‘s A Man of the People. Adapting the novel to stage offered me two opportunities in one: to contribute not only towards the revival of literary appreciation, but also of theatre practice, which, as anthropologists like Victor Turner, have argued, belongs to popular culture. This task involved rewriting the novel into a drama script, producing it on stage in Igbo land and observing how it impacted on the audience and community. I chose to adapt A Man of the People because of its relevance to my understanding of the socio-political atmosphere in Igbo land and in Nigeria as a whole. In order to understand the context, and complete my adaptation, I examined and analysed the history of the Igbo people, culture and literature, the political atmosphere in Nigeria and the nature of African drama. Adaptations, according to Linda Hutcheon, are not simply repetitions. They rather 'affirm and reinforce basic cultural assumptions' (Hutcheon 2006: 176) while re-creating and re-interpreting an earlier story in the light of new realities. Ours is a society in need of its earlier stories for its continued existence as a people, and as a nation with shared values. My conclusion is that adaptation and dramatisation can have an important role to play in reviving and then, in maintaining the Igbo culture and improving literary appreciation among the people

Central Bank of Nigeria, Corporate Governance and the Quest for Sustainable Banking System in Nigeria: An Exploratory Analysis

This study intends to achieve two objectives. First, the thesis seeks to thoroughly investigate the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria in ensuring that banks comply with the code of corporate governance (CG) and secondly to examine the level of compliance with the law of corporate governance by Nigeria banks pre 2009 and post 2009. Various activities such as insider abuse, poor governance practices, erosion of depositors’ funds and poor compliance culture which are considered inimical to the sustainable banks in Nigeria, necessitate a research study of this nature. This study will help unravel the challenges affecting compliance in the Nigeria banking sector, based on the perceptions gotten from the respondents. Three theories were considered suitable for this research, one the agency theory because of its dominant position in corporate governance. The second theory used for this work was the stakeholder theory. This theory was considered appropriate due to the governance issues affecting banks and number of stakeholders involved in banks compared to non-financial firms and finally institutional isomorphism theory, because of the institutional factors prevalent in a developing nation like Nigeria. Employing an interpretivism research philosophy, the research study adopts a qualitative research strategy. Data was collected using semi-structured, face-to-face/telephone interviews from three groups of stakeholders (regulators, bank employees and bank depositors). To aid data triangulation and improve the credibility and trustworthiness of the data collected, other sources of data, such as focus group and document review, were also collected. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. In highlighting the barriers to compliance of corporate governance codes in the banks under the purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria, this study revealed that factors such as regulatory forbearance and regulatory capture are still affecting the effectiveness of the CBN in ensuring the banks are fully compliant to the CG codes. Also, due to the institutional factors such as judiciary system, legal system and lack of political will, the CBN is constrained from using its powers, to effect a change of the culture of compliance in the Nigeria deposit banks. Finally, the recommendations of this study provide insight into how the Central Bank of Nigeria can ensure Nigerian banks are sustainable, through the best practice of corporate governance

No Trespass Zones: Governing the Mobility of Citizens and Migrants in the Post-Civil Rights Era

Ph.D