ICT: Vehicle for Educational Development and Social Transformation

The world has become a global village as a result of the information tsunami and knowledge explosion being experienced as a result of Information Communication and Technology (ICT). The industrialized nations are miles ahead of the developing countries as a result of the information revolution. Education is a process by which society transmits its values, norms, mores, and ethos to generation yet unborn across time and space. The medium of transmission cuts across formal, non-formal and informal settings. This paper examines the impact/roles of ICT on education as an agent of social transformation and the hindrances of developing countries such as Nigeria in adopting ICT to aid their educational development and transformation of the society. The interconnection between information, ICT and social transformations is succinctly discussed in this paper. Furthermore, the paper examines the relationship between ICT and education and suggests measures that can be taken in adopting the use of ICT in Nigeria as well as the crucial role of government and the educational sector in this regard. The paper concludes that ICT make a significant contribution to the educational development and the social transformation of the Nigerian society

African Traditional Government: A Case Study of Shaka the Zulu

Bantu is a general name given to a vast group of peoples who speak several hundred different languages that can be shown to be related to one another. The Bantu who settled in South Africa belonged to a branch of Bantu peoples known as the Southern Bantu. They can be divided into a number of groups by reference to their languages. The east-coast strip was the home of numerous tribes belonging to the Nguni-speaking group. By the 18th century they occupied the coastal area as far as the Great Fish River and were beginning to settle to the Southwest of that river in a land known as Zuurveld. The Bantu were organized in tribes, each of which consisted of one central clan, though it may contain members of other clans as well. The advent of Europeans on African soil did not meet a vacuum. Africans had systems of government that served them well. This paper investigated the rise of Shaka, the Zulu and his contribution to African traditional government that became a formidable obstacle to British imperialism in Southern Africa in the 19th century. Keywords: administration, military, despot, and loyalt

Railway interference management: TLM modelling in railway applications

This thesis deals with the application of analytical and numerical tools to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) management in railways. Analytical and numerical tools are applied to study the electromagnetic coupling from an alternating current (AC) electrified railway line, and to study the electrical properties of concrete structure - a widely used component within the railway infrastructure. An electrified railway system is a complex distributed system consisting of several sub-systems, with different voltage and current levels, co-located in a small area. An analytical method, based on transmissions line theory, is developed to investigate railway electromagnetic coupling. The method is used to study an electrified railway line in which the running rails and earth comprise the current retum path. The model is then modified to include the presence of booster transformers. The analytical model can be used to study the railway current distribution, earth potential and electromagnetic coupling - inductive and conductive coupling - to nearby metallic structures. The limiting factor of the analytical model is the increasing difficulty in resolving the analytical equation as the complexity of the railway model increases. A large scale railway numerical model is implemented in Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) and the electromagnetic fields propagated from the railway model is studied. As this work focuses on the direct application of TLM in railway EMC management, a commercially available TIM software package is used. The limitation of the numerical model relates to the increased computation resource and simulation time required as the complexity of the railway model increases. The second part of this thesis deals with the investigation of the electrical properties of concrete and the development of a dispersive material model that can be implemented in numerical simulators such as TIM. Concrete is widely used in the railway as structural components in the construction of signalling equipment room, operation control centres etc. It is equally used as sleepers in the railway to hold the rails in place or as concrete slabs on which the whole rail lines are installed. It is thus important to understand the contribution of concrete structures to the propagation of electromagnetic wave and its impact in railway applications. An analytical model, based on transmission line theory, is developed for the evaluation of shielding effectiveness of a concrete slab; the analytical model is extended to deal with reinforced concrete slab and conductive concrete. The usefulness and limitation of the model is discussed. A numerical model for concrete is developed for the evaluation of the effectiveness of concrete as a shield. Initially, concrete is modelled as a simple dielectric material, using the available dielectric material functionality within TLM. It is noted that the simple dielectric model is not adequate to characterise the behaviour of concrete over the frequency range of interest. Better agreement is obtained with concrete modelled as a dispersive material having material properties similar to that exhibited by materials obeying Debye equation. The limitations of the dispersive material model are equally discussed. The design of conductive concrete is discussed, these have application in the railway industry where old existing structures are to be converted to functional rooms to house sensitive electronic system. A layer of conductive concrete can be applied to the facade to enhance the global shielding of the structure

The Impact of Radio Frequency Identification Detection in Cellular Networks

Radio Frequency Identification Detection technology (RFID) is a convenient and automatic instrument of identification and detection. It’s application can be extended to cellular network. Cellular network is a form of radio technology that makes used of radio waves for its functionality. It major goal is to cover a larger geographical area without the use of cables. It has been observed that cellular radio failures in base station has not being given due attention by researchers in terms of improving quality of service. The failure of cellular radios can hindered or suspend easy exchange of calls between users and could sometime lead to distorted billing from the operator’s end. This study takes a look on some current studies in RFID while the major aim was focused on the need to enhance cellular network performance through the using RFID technique. An analytical method was employed through the use of a mathematical model to demonstrate how RFID readers can be used to monitor tagged cellular radios with a given region. Keywords: radio frequency identification, cellular networks, radio waves, rfid tags, rfid reader

Soil seed bank dynamics and regeneration potentials in a degraded forest reserve

Prolonged degradation of a forest has the tendency to reduce its potentials for regeneration, most especially when the degradation impact has dovetailed to the soil level. This study investigated soil seed bank status of Omo forest reserve in Ogun state through seedling emergence in randomly sampled soil at 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm depths. One kilogramme of air-dried soil samples (approximately 1.3 L) of each depth were placed in separate plastic trays, watered and observed for seedling emergence within 20 weeks. Emerged wildlings were identified by species, counted and removed. Data were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed that seed bank varied significantly (p<0.05) both in distribution and abundance across seasons and depths, with 0 to 20 cm soil depth holding up to 89% of seeds. The study showed that the soil of the enumerated Forest Reserve still supports some of the most diverse and productive plant communities despite anthropogenic activities. Therefore, stringent conservative management measures are recommended to forestall forest degradation and from eroding the soil of the Forest Reserve

Parents’ Perceptions on the Efficacy of Yorùbá Folktales in Cultivating Moral Values among the Youths

A quantitative study of parents’ perception of the efficacy of Yoruba folktales in cultivating moral values among the youths in Oyo State of Nigeria was reported in this study. Six hundred twelve parents selected through accidental sampling technique participated in the study. A 14-item close-ended researcher-designed questionnaire was employed for data collection. Mean, standard deviation, and the t-test were used for data analysis. The study’s findings revealed that the parents’ perception of the efficacy of Yoruba folktales in cultivating moral values among the youths was high, and there was a significant gender influence on their perception. The study concluded that Yoruba folktales cultivate moral values among the youth. It was recommended that parents should intensify efforts in ensuring that they engage their children with folktale narration and employ the moral values embedded in the tales to mold and educate their children to become good citizens.

Effectiveness of Complaint Management in CRM System

Customer Relation Management (CMR) is a tool that has shown prospect even beyond customers’ retention to customers’ attraction. A focus on an aspect of CRM is important to retain customers and also attract customers. The aim of this study was to propose a Complaint Management System that could add more value to CRM in businesses. The research employed the use of secondary data and telephone interview. The study showed that there is a need to re-direct attention/focus in the area of complaint management, in order to facilitate and enhance intelligence in business. Keywords: Complaint Management, Customer Relation Management, Customers’ retentio

Influence of trans-border trading activities on senior secondary school students' academic performance in economics in Ogun State, Nigeria

The study investigated the influence of transborder trading activities on senior secondary school students’ academic performance in economics in Ogun state, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design involving 320 students that comprised males and females were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Two self-developed instruments were used: student questionnaire on transborder trading activities (SQTTA) with a Cronbach alpha index of 0.7845; and the economics achievement test (EAT) with a co-efficient index of r= 0.814. The results of the data collected were collated, coded, analyzed and interpreted through the use of descriptive research statistics of frequency, mean, percentages, and standard deviation while Step-wise regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses raised in the study, and the inferential statistics t-test was used to test the significant differences between the independent and dependent variables. The results revealed that there is a positive significant influence of smuggling on students’ academic performance in economics concepts (t=4.123; df =307, p0.05). The study revealed that the most prevalent transborder trading activities like smuggling of used tyres, small firearms and fairly used clothes had negative influence on students’ academic performance. Based on these findings, discussions were focused on the involvement of students in trans-border trading activities and the location of schools, amongst others, which has no significant influence on students’ academic performance. However, it was recommended that schools should not be located near border areas in future

Functional salvage of a mangled lower limb using custom-made endoprosthetic replacement

Functional salvage of a severely injured extremity is a challenge for the patient and the treating surgeon. We report a case of a woman presenting with severely injured lower limb and bone loss, which was managed using a custom-made endoprosthetic replacement for successful functional outcome. Despite being complicated by bone loss, nerve injury and infection; a planned staged surgical treatment and rehabilitation have resulted in satisfactory outcome. At 3-year follow-up, the functional score according to the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society-International Symposium on Limb Salvage System was 70% and the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score was 62%. Endoprosthetic replacements may have a limited role in managing selected patients with mangled extremity and can lead to a good functional outcome to these patients

Adolescents and HIV-related behaviour in Nigeria: does knowledge of HIV/AIDS promote protective sexual behaviour among sexually active adolescents?

HIV/AIDS prevalence among Nigerian youth remains one of the highest in the world. Although studies confirmed a high knowledge of HIV among Nigerian youth, there is a lag in linking HIV/AIDS knowledge with protective sexual behaviour. The study utilized data from the Nigeria 2007 National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS). Analysis was on 865 sexually active adolescents. About 75% of adolescents had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Logistic regression models showed that HIV knowledge was significant predictor of non-use of condom (OR=2.34; p=0.041) and accepting gifts for sex (OR=2.02 p=0.043) among male, and predictor of multiple sexual partners (OR=1.30; p=0.023) among females. Regardless of HIV knowledge, higher education, older age at first sex, higher wealth index and urban residency are significant predictors of engagement in non-protective sexual behaviour. The study concludes that high knowledge of HIV/AIDS is not statistically significant in HIV protective attitudes among adolescents