Men without women: an analysis of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria

Women do not often receive the support and mentoring they need to compete with their male counterparts in politics. Even voters do not fully appreciate the benefits of having a mix of men and women in government, often saying that women are over-ambitious when they aspire for any political position. As a result, there is currently a low representation of women at all levels of government in Nigeria. In the 2011 general election, female candidates fared poorly, with only 32 women elected to the national parliament out of 469 members, which is barely 8% representation. This paper examined the level of women participation in the 2015 general elections. Qualitatively driven with reliance on secondary sources of data; it argued that women’s political involvement in that election was very low in spite of decades of struggle for gender equity and women’s empowerment. The paper equally identified and discusses the issue of the patriarchal nature of the Nigerian society, lack of internal democracy, political violence among others as the challenges faced by women in their quest to participate in politics. The paper discussed the theoretical perspective of the discrimination and inequality suffered by women; and lastly suggested possible measures that could aid their political participation and empowerment.Keywords: Men, Women, Elections, Political Participatio

Retail Store Managers’ Strategies to Reduce Employees’ Voluntary Turnover

Employee voluntary turnover can adversely affect the retail industry workforce and business success. Retail managers are concerned with high voluntary turnover as it leads to high hiring costs, poor customer service, and low productivity for store managers. Grounded in Vroom’s expectancy theory and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies retail store managers use to reduce employees’ voluntary turnover. The participants were five store managers from five Delaware retail stores who successfully reduced employee voluntary turnover. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of publicly available company documents. Using thematic analysis, four themes emerged: (a) effective training, (b) competitive wages and compensation, (c) building relationships and trust between employees and their managers, and (d) empowering employees. A key recommendation is for retail managers to prioritize building relationships with employees by actively listening to their concerns and providing career development to foster inclusiveness in the workplace. The implications for positive social change include the potential to lower unemployment rates and reduce economic instability. Additionally, increased profits support local projects, such as building roads and providing educational opportunities for underprivileged citizens

Healthcare professionals’ perception of quality of care of patients with cardiac disease in Nigeria: Implication for clinical guideline, inter-professional education and team work

BackgroundHeart disease is one of the leading chronic conditions posing a major and growing threat to the public. Studies on quality of care given to patients with heart diseases in Nigeria are not available. The purpose of this study was to explore healthcare professionals’ perception of quality of care of patients with heart disease at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. MethodsA mixed method design was utilized in this study. Twenty eight healthcare professionals consisting of cardiologists, nurses, physiotherapists and dieticians were recruited into the study through purposive sampling technique. A questionnaire developed and validated from existing questionnaire was used to survey the health care professionals’ perception of care and qualitative design was further used to explore their perceptions of care. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of percentages and graphs. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Quality of care was assessed through structure, process and outcome of care indices.ResultsThe mean age of the healthcare professionals was 38.46±8.988 years. 19 (66.7%) reported that there were treatment guidelines for cardiac disease management but there was no system for internal quality assurance. 18 (95%) out of these 19 healthcare professionals reported that the treatment guidelines were either never applied or not applied regularly during treatment. Other areas that were perceived as poor were poor teamwork, poor staff strength, inadequate equipment, and inadequate consultation with staff during procurement of medical supplies. ConclusionQuality of care for cardiac patients in a Nigerian tertiary hospital was perceived as sub-optimal. There is a need for the improvement of the structure and process of quality of care to enhance quality of care for cardiac patients in Nigeria

A Comparative Analysis of Nigerian and United States Secondary School Administrative Structure, Practices, and Problems

This study, which portrays the administrative structures and practices in the secondary schools in Nigeria and the United States, might shed some light on the things both countries have in common and their differences. Nigeria and the United States share educational, economic, political, and social interests

Highly-Skilled Black African Immigrant Women’s Narratives on Healthcare Workplace Experiences and Socioeconomic Integration

Many highly skilled Black African immigrants are concentrated in low-wage positions among occupations in the healthcare industry. This education–occupation mismatch has contributed to substantial labor market hurdles affecting socioeconomic integration in the host country. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to gain a deeper understanding of highly skilled Black African immigrant women’s daily experiences within the U.S. healthcare workplace and the implication of these experiences on their socioeconomic integration. A qualitative narrative inquiry was conducted involving 7 highly skilled Black African immigrant women in the U.S. healthcare workplace. The study was framed by 2 fundamental concepts: talent management and integration needs of highly skilled women Black African immigrants. Five conceptual categories were revealed via thematic analysis of the narratives. The findings clearly demonstrated that the challenges facing highly-skilled Black African immigrant women with social integration, social class change, ethnicity and gender bias are faced by all African American women in the healthcare workplace. These issues were often compounded by marginalization of their talents and contributions simply because of their immigrant status. The findings should act as a catalyst for social change highlighting the professional challenges faced by highly-skilled Black African immigrant women in the healthcare workplace and its connection to their socioeconomic integration in their host country, which creates the potential for a positive outcome for the migrant women and the host society as well as better capture and utilization of the talent of these highly-skilled immigrant Black African migrant women

Solving Minimum Cost Multi-Commodity Network Flow Problem Using Lexicographic Goal Programming Approach

In an urban transport system, a dysfunction often occurred as demand for transportation infrastructure exceeds available supply. The result includes traffic congestion, higher travel time and cost, higher emission of harmful gases and general reduction in quality of life. In this research, an attempt was made to minimize travel time on three urban road segments using Lexicographic Goal Programming. The positive and negative deviations from the goals were minimized. A minimum cost multi-commodity network flow problem with multiple objectives was successfully modelled using LINDO 6.1. The modelling technique provided a solution that effectively minimized travel time by 50%

A STUDY ON THE USE OF ACADEMIC SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (ASNSs) BY PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

This study takes a holistic look at the usefulness of academic social networking sites as the basis of which significant links could be established globally. The use of social media and networking sites is increasingly facilitating communication among people in all walks of life. Professional librarians normally use the sites to connect with each other faster and easier for research purposes, professional development, personal development, as well as entertainment or any other purpose. The popular academic networking sites include LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Quora, Google Scholar, ResearchID, Mendeley, and so on. This study examines the use of academic social networking sites by professional librarians in public universities in Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, the study investigates the librarians’ level of awareness of ASNSs, their registration status with the ASNSs, frequency of visits to the ASNSs, purpose of use of the ASNSs, level of satisfaction with the ASNSs, and devices used to access the ASNSs. A two-part questionnaire and a five-item interview schedule were used to elicit responses from 82 professional librarians in the two (2) available public universities in Akwa Ibom State which are University of Uyo and Akwa Ibom State University. Data collected were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings indicate, among others, that apart from Google Scholar (2.90), ResearchGate (2.88), Academia.com (2.82), and LinkedIn (2.68), other academic social network sites are not known by majority of professional librarians studied and many of them have not registered with the sites. The research also shows that the frequency of visits to the ASNSs by professional librarians is low. The study recommends that academic librarians should be upskilled and provided with opportunities for effective use of ASNSs, etc

Climate Change, Environmental Justice and Children’s Health: Break the Cycle of Climate Change by Cultivating Future Leaders

Children are more vulnerable to adverse environmental factors than adults. Children from poor communities, who are predominantly children of color, are most vulnerable to adverse environmental factors and have fewer protective resources. This combination results in adverse health outcomes for the children and impacts their potential for the future. This scenario can be viewed as an intergenerational cycle of heath disparities. Although the scope of the problem is vast, positive changes can be made on small scales, which, collectively have a significant impact in reducing health disparities and promoting health equity for all children. We have developed a program called Break the Cycle of Children’s Environmental Health Disparities, which every year invites university students from different disciplines to develop projects that will break the cycle of children’s health disparities at any point in the conceptual cycle, with the purpose of influencing their career trajectory and cultivating future leaders. This annual program has been in operation for 16 years and has guided approximately 150 students. The impact of climate change on our planet, our societies and communities, disproportionately affects the same group of socially and economically vulnerable children and their families. We plan to adapt the Break the Cycle program to address the challenges of climate change for an already besieged generation of children who have experienced discrimination as a result of poverty and being children of color. This program will focus directly on students from colleges in vulnerable communities to explore the challenges posed by the impact of climate change in their own communities and develop strategies to address the impact of climate change on children and protect them from its impact. Through the adaptation of the Break the Cycle concept to Climate Change, we anticipate creating future leaders, who will guide our communities and societies in reducing climate change and protecting our most vulnerable citizens

Analysis of Traffic Flow at Signalized Junctions in Uyo Metropolis

Traffic flows at three signalized junctions in Uyo metropolis were considered and the data used for the analysis were collected during peak periods (morning and evening) for three consecutive days. The performance measures of congestion such as the average queue length, arrival and saturation flow rates as well as the average waiting time of vehicle per cycle have been calculated for a better understanding of the traffic situation in the city by motorists and proper vehicular logistics. With the random nature in which vehicles arrive and depart, we assumed a Poisson arrival process and deterministic (constant) service time with the service rate $\mu=1/s$ which incorporate both the stochastic and deterministic components of delay estimation. Using the concept of the Canadian delay model in Hellinga and Liping (2001), we obtained the overall delay given an observation interval. An estimate of the mean overall delay which is the average time a vehicle could be delayed at any signalized junction in Uyo metropolis is approximately 63s

The challenges and prospects of United Nations peacekeeping mission in Africa

The political evolution of Africa is replete with conflicts which have unfortunately gone beyond the capabilities of the continent to resolve without resort to foreign assistance especially in the critical field of military assistance. This study discussed the concept and practice of the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa, the challenges facing such operations as well as the prospects of resolving them. It conceptualized peacekeeping, adopted the collective security paradigm in discussing the changing operational environment that has transformed UN traditional peacekeeping operations to the contemporary peacekeeping methods and the challenges that have led to half-baked results in such African operations. Qualitatively driven with reliance on secondary sources of data, the paper recommended an improvement in the quality of preparation, planning, monitoring and evaluation of the processes by the Security Council, adoption of clear and actionable mandates by the UN, proper coordination between the Security Council and countries contributing troops, good risk analysis and transparency across the chain of command among others as necessary steps to address the challenges. It concluded that the UN has the capacity to surmount these challenges if adequate support is given to it by member countries.Keywords: Conflicts, Evaluation, Intervention, Mandates, Monitoring, Peace-keepin