62 research outputs found
The People's Republic of China and FAPRA: Catalysts for theory building in Africa's public relations
Africa is experiencing an unusually high economic interest from the People's
Republic of China, whose government has invested billions of dollars in schools,
clinics, roads, railways, factories, and oil wells on the continent; has canceled more
than 5 billion in preferential loans and credits through 2009. Its top
party officials traverse the continent, seeking to develop business relationships and
to reinforce others. While such efforts help place Africa on the cusp of significant
economic growth, they also boost the programs and activities of the Nairobi,
Kenya-based Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA), and
an umbrella body of all national public relations associations in Africa and a
consultant to African governments and to the African Union. FAPRA has launched
a 5-year action plan to improve the stature and social relevance of the public
relations practice, largely through enhancing its efforts to professionalize it. Both
China and FAPRA are, in essence, collaborating to create environments conducive
to enhancing the practice in Africa, and to laying a foundation for an expansive
view of public relations research—one that questions grand narratives, defines
concepts, challenges orthodoxies, measures variables, and determines program
outcomes or effects. And researchers and practitioners work together in creative
ways to improve the practice. This article argues that questions and concepts are,
in themselves, opportunities for a much-needed theory building in Africa's public
relations. It, therefore, outlines 4 propositions as a template for such theory
building, based on a 4-concept research agenda: culture, good governance and
rule of law, economic freedom, and FAPRA's integrated programs and activities
outlined in its 5-year action plan.
The return of China … to global economic prominence in the twenty-first century
is likely to reshape global politics and society. The overwhelming dominance of the
West, which lasted half a millennium, is probably passé. We should view these
developments not only with awe, but with anticipation. (Sachs, 2005Sachs, J.
D. 2005. The end of poverty: Economic possibilities of our time, New
York: Penguin. [Google Scholar], p. 187)
We want to work in partnership with the international community, but we believe
that it must be a partnership based on mutual respect and mutual accountability.
(Former Namibian Prime Minister Geingob, 2006Geingob, H. 2006. “Democracy
in Africa”. In Democracy rising: Assessing the global challenges, Edited
by: Muñoz, H.55–60. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. [Google Scholar], p. 56
‘Communicating development’–a cultural shift: emerging discourses on entrepreneurial development and poverty reduction by Nigeria’s banking and microfinance sectors
This article departs from the dominant orthodoxies in discourses on
communication and development by introducing, as a major cultural shift, theoryguided strategic communication themes in two complementary sectors of Nigeria’s
financial industry: banking and microfinance. In both sectors, the personal
influence model and relationship marketing provide the overarching theoretical
framework for investigating the immanence (or lack thereof) of three key variables
in the relationships of those sectors with their primary stakeholders, for the primary
purpose of entrepreneurial development and poverty reduction. Those variables –
trust, commitment and satisfaction – are subsumed under ‘relationship quality’, an
embodiment of culture as an integral part of the impact of microfinance on Nigeria’s
economy. This article adopts a development strategy that focuses exclusively on
relationships established and sustained in exchanges between nonpublic
organisations (i.e., the banking and microfinance industries) and key stakeholders
for the primary purpose of entrepreneurial development fueled by a cultural
economy that ensures the production and wide distribution of finished products,
not necessarily commodities. Thematic discourses that use theories to guide
institutional policies and actions are proffered in an attempt to create stronger
institutional bonds between banking and microfinance institutions and their
disparate stakeholders
Managing a crisis of confidence in Nigeria's banking and financial industry
An ongoing crisis of confidence in the banking and financial industry in Nigeria's emerging
economy calls for using integrated marketing communications (IMC) in optimizing five
potentially normative actions as a beachhead in procuring corporate benefits from three variables
that predict significantly customers’ favorable impressions of business: satisfaction, trust,
relationship commitment. The actions: (a) personalize the stakeholder experience, (b) integrate
ethics into the workplace and into corporate communications, (c) participate in training sessions
in applied ethics, (d) use brandstanding expansively and integratively, and (e) conduct rigorous
outcomes assessment and disseminate its results promptly to stakeholders
Sedimentation, depositional environments, and hydrocarbon potential of the Maastrichtian-Paleocene Araromi Formation, eastern Dahomey (Benin) Basin, southwestern Nigeria
The Cretaceous sediments in southwestern Nigeria are host to one of the largest bitumen deposits in the world. In the current paper, an integrated study on sedimentology, palynology, and applied petroleum geochemistry of the Maastrichtian-Paleocene Araromi Formation was used to determine the depositional environments and hydrocarbon potentials of the formation on the eastern Dahomey Basin. Four sedimentary lithofacies were identified from core samples, namely, lower limestone (F); medium to coarse-grained sandstone (F); lower loosely consolidated sandstone (F); and shale and siltstone (F). Sedimentation in the eastern Dahomey Basin occurred mainly in fluvial and shallow-marine (shelf) environments. The palynological assemblages of the Araromi Formation reflect deposition in coastal through brackish water to shallow shelf environment with periods of localized wind-induced storms. The shale and siltstone samples of the Araromi Formation are characterized by total organic carbon (TOC) values of up to 2.50 wt % and S (hydrocarbon-generating potential) values ranging from 0.26 to 0.70 mgHC/g rock, indicating poor source rocks. Shales show poor quality and thermally immature organic matter at shallow depth and could neither have generated liquid hydrocarbon nor contributed to the heavy oil occurrence on the bitumen and tar-sand belt of eastern Dahomey (Benin) Basin
Packages of Care for Epilepsy in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
In the second in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental health disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Caroline Mbuba and Charles Newton discuss treatment for epilepsy
Cognitive Neuro-Assessment In Nigerian Africans – Predictive Validity Of A Computerized Testing
The cognitive consequences of diseases of various body organs often significantly and adversely affect quality of life and this has resulted in increasing awareness of the importance of cognitive assessment to identify the impairments in different cognitive domains. The neuro-cognitive assessment has evolved from traditional psychometric testing to computerized testing which is able to detect subtle cognitive changes. The objective of this study is to determine the predictive validity of a computerized cognitive test battery, the Iron Psychology (acronym FePsy) among Nigerian Africans and compare its accuracy with a standard psychometric test, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). A consecutive sample of 370 epilepsy patients were assessed with these cognitive tests and compared with 270 randomly selected age, sex and level of education matched apparently healthy controls. The patients comprised 228 (61.62%) males and 142 (38.38%) females and the controls were made up of 155 (57.40%) males and 115 (42.60%) females. The mean ages for the patients and controls were 29.4±11.6 and 31.6±17.4 years respectively. There are statistically significant differences in the performances of the patients with epilepsy (PWE) when compared with the controls with both cognitive tests (
Cognitive Effects Of Anti-Epileptic Drugs In Nigerians With Epilepsy
Background
Epilepsy is particularly highly prevalent in developing African countries and has been associated with cognitive disturbances, but more importantly is the contribution of the anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs).
Objective
This study aimed at comparing the effects of AEDs on the cognitive functions of Nigerian epileptic patients.
Methods
This is a prospective study of 55 consecutive patients with epilepsy, aged 14 years and above, over a two year period (October 2000 to October 2002), recruited from the Neurology Clinic of the University Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Anti-epileptic treatment with either carbamazepine (19 patients), phenytoin (18 patients), or phenobarbitone (18 patients) which was randomly assigned constituted the interventional measure. Cognitive testing, using the Iron Psychology (FePsy) a computerized neuro-psychological test battery, measured the visual and auditory reaction times, the continuous performance test and the recognition memory test to assess the mental speed, attention and memory respectively.
Results
The effect of the individual drug on cognitive performance revealed significant impairment of mental speed (p0.05). Carbamazepine did not significantly affect the verbal (Words section) memory scores (p>0.05) implying better performance in tasks of verbal memory (
- …