Nigeria's Cobweb of Corruption and the path to Underdevelopment

Corruption in Nigeria has grown slowly from the time of pre-independence and it has surely taken over Nigerians’ public and private spaces in the last five decades with compelling evidences to show first among the legislative, the executives and recently the judicial arms of government as well as the unexpected quarters in the private sectors such as the Stock Exchange. This paper highlights several factors and institutions in Nigerian society that have sustained and entrenched corrupt practices by government officials and high profile private sectors participants. The institutions identified here are regarded as eaters of corruption proceeds around which a cobweb of corruption has been weaved by the corrupt public/private individuals to create a network under the control of the grandfather- spider of corruption (The federal government); the father- spiders (the state government) and the children- spider ( the local governments spread across the Nigerian society). The paper concludes that corruption is a national thing in Nigeria and that the over centralization and the control of means of survival by the grandfather spider has weakened almost all major institutions in the Nigerian society; created a Master- Servant, Lordship and Serfs relationship, which if not re-structured will continue to sustain corruption and perpetuate further development of underdevelopment of the Nigeria Scale and Society. Therefore, Nigerians should shun corruption and see it as a major problem to development in Nigeria.Key Words: Corruption, underdevelopment, cobweb, leaders, masses, Nigeri

Incorporating crown dimensions into stem height and basal area for Triplochiton scleroxylon

Four crown dimensions (crown diameter, crown projection area, crown length and crown ratio) were each incorporated into nonlinear individual tree total height and basal area increment models for African white wood (Triplochiton scleroxylon K. Schum). The basic height/basal area growth model was formulated as a function of the tree size (i.e. total height or basal area), age and tree form (i.e. taper which is the ratio of diameter at breast height to total height). These increment models, with and without crown dimension were fitted to a modelling data set and the statistical significance of each of the crown dimensions was examined. All the models were then compared for predictive ability using an independent validation data set. The results obtained were similar for both the total height and basal area increment models. All the crown dimensions except crown projection area were found to be significant in the basic models (i.e. models without crown dimensions) in terms of model fit. However, for predictive ability, increment models (for both total height and basal area) with crown ratio term were found to have the smallest bias and the greatest prediction precision of all the models examined both with and without crown dimension. Therefore, for tree total height and basal area prediction of African white wood, models with added crown ratio term were found to be most appropriate. Keywords: Crown dimension, growth and yield models, Triplochiton scleroxylon, African white wood Ghana Journal of Forestry Vol. 19 & 20 2006: pp. 45-5

Analyzing the effects of organizational trust and organizational commitment in anti-productivity behaviours in managerial approach dimension to achieve a strategic competitive advantage

It is observed that negative approaches in organizational functioning and attitudes towards work have recently become increasingly common. Such developments weaken employees’ feelings of commitment and dedication to the organization and work. To improve the organizational commitment and dedication of the employees, first, the causes of emotions that inhibit these emotions and solution methods to eliminate alienation to work should be analyzed. In this study, anti-productivity behaviours, their causes, factors that influence the formation of organizational trust and commitment, and the relations between anti-productivity behaviours will be evaluated