Building CSR and Ethical Values into Organizational Culture

Jide Afon and Carrie Picardi's poster on corporate social responsibility and ethical values within corporate and organizational cultures

Spatial Distribution of Delinquent Behaviour in a Yoruba Traditional City: The experience from Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Obtaining information from 334 households systematically in four identifiable residential zones, this study investigated the spatial distribution of delinquent behaviour in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Rate of occurrence of delinquency in the identified residential areas was measured through an index of 5 and tagged Delinquency Rate of Occurrence Index (DROI) showed that truancy (DROI=4.10) was the most prevalent delinquent behaviour in the traditional town centre while stealing was established as the major delinquent behaviour in the middle income (DROI=3.04), high income (DROI=4.42) and post crisis (DROI=3.91) residential areas. Findings further revealed that the local area conditions (locality) predicted 69.3% of adolescent conduct disorder in the study area while the remaining 30.7% were predicted by other factors. Regression Linear equation defined for independent variable x (delinquency behaviour) and dependent variable y (locality) was y=2.463+0.547x. The study concluded therefore that significant variation existed in the rate of occurrence indices of delinquent behaviour (DROI) as local area conditions largely determined the level of conduct disorder among the adolescents in different residential zones of Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The approach to reduce delinquent behaviour so as to curb future criminal activities and make residents feel more secured should be guided by those variations in occurrences and local area conditions. Keywords: Delinquency, Spatial, Variation, Distribution, Juvenile, Crime, Disorder

Modeling of hot-air drying of pretreated cassava chips

Tunde-Akintunde T. Y, A. A Afon(Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, PMB 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria)Abstract: Effects of pretreatment (soaking and boiling) on cassava chips dried in a hot air drier at temperature of 60℃ and constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s were investigated.  Mass transfer during air-drying of pretreated cassava chips was described using the Fick’s diffusion model.  Drying took place entirely in the falling rate period.  The form of pretreatment was observed to have an effect on drying rate of the samples.  In order to select a suitable drying model for prediction of the drying kinetics of dried cassava chips, four thin-layer drying models were fitted to the experimental data.  The Page model best described the drying behaviour of pretreated cassava chips with high correlation coefficient values.  The effective moisture diffusivities of the pretreated samples varied from 7.31×10–7 – 8.06×10–7 m2/s.Keywords: modeling, cassava chips, pretreatment, batch dryingCitation: Tunde-Akintunde T. Y, and A. A. Afon. Modeling of hot-air drying of pretreated cassava chips.  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(2): 34-41.&nbsp

Seasonality of violent and property crime in Nigeria: Some Preliminary Findings

This study examines seasonal patterns of crime in two Nigerian cities with varying weather conditions. Using residents’ perception of crime data, break-ins are perceived to occur more frequently in the low quality neighbourhoods in Benin City, whereas in Minna, it is perceived to occur regularly in the high quality neighbourhoods. Overall results show that Minna, with warmer climate has higher levels and seasonal variations for violent crime (assaults) while Benin City, with colder climates has higher levels and seasonal variations for property crimes (break-ins). It is apparent from this study that seasonal patterns of crime in one place may not translate effectively into another. Hence, continuous researches into seasonal analysis of crimes are justifiable in the security planning efforts to ensure an environment that is suitable for living, working and recreating

Spatial Pattern of Crime in Nigerian Traditional City: The Ile-Ife Experience

This study identified the prevalence and spatial occurrence of criminal activities in Ile-Ife. Data were obtained through the stratification of the study area into the traditional town centre, middle income, high income and post crisis residential areas. Sample was selected using systematic sampling. The study established that residents’ socio-economic attributes varied significantly. Rate of occurrence of crime measured through an index tagged Crime Rate of Occurrence Index (CROI) showed that store breaking with CROI of 3.44 was the most prevalent crime in the traditional town centre. House breaking was the most prevalent crime in the middle income (CROI=4.24) as well as the high income (CROI=3.96) residential areas. With an index of 3.34, attempted rape was perceived to be the major challenge in post crisis residential area. Pearson Product Momentum Correlation coefficient revealed that store breaking had high positive correlation with average monthly income (r=0.765,

A Framework for Enhancing Contractor-Subcontractor Relationships in Construction Projects in Nigeria

The delivery capability of main contractors depends largely on the quality of their subcontractors and the harmonious relationships that exist between them. Research work was therefore conducted to identify the mechanisms to facilitate the understanding between these pairs and also develop a model that puts emphasis on the factors. To achieve this aim, one hundred questionnaires each were administered randomly to main contractors and labor-only subcontractors in the study area. Seventy-five and eighty-eight questionnaires were respectively filled and returned in this regard. The application of total weight value and rating index techniques shows that type of contract, scope of contract, payment terms, cooperative attitudes, third-party involvement are the main factors that influence this relationship and this was further validated by a model. The paper concludes that this methodology could culminate into a useful decision making tool for both main contractors and subcontractors during the development and execution stages of construction projects in the study area

Exposure to bioaerosols at open dumpsites: A case study of bioaerosols exposure from activities at Olusosun open dumpsite, Lagos Nigeria

Activities associated with the open dumping of municipal solid waste has the potential for greater impact on the environment and public health compared to other forms of waste-to-land treatment of such wastes. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on the exposure to bioaerosols from open dumpsites, hence impeding the development of effective interventions that would reduce the risk of respiratory symptoms among scavengers and waste workers at such dumpsites. This study investigated exposure to bioaerosols at Olusosun open dumpsite, Lagos Nigeria using three methodologies; (1) Conducting a cross-sectional survey on the respiratory health of the population on the dumpsite, (2) Measuring bioaerosol concentrations in the ambient air by measuring four bioaerosols indicator groups (total bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, Aspergillus fumigatus and total fungi) using a Anderson six stage impactor sampler, (3) Measuring activity related exposures to bioaerosols using an SKC button personal sampler. After a cross sectional health survey of 149 participants (waste workers, scavengers, middlemen, food vendors and business owners), smokers reported higher symptoms of chronic cough (21%) and chronic phlegm (15%) compared to non-smokers (chronic cough 15%, chronic phlegm 13%). Years of work > 5 years showed no statistically significant association with chronic phlegm (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.4–3.4; p > 0.05) or asthma (OR 1.8, 95% CI 0.6–5.2; p > 0.05). At the 95th percentile, the concentration of total bacteria was the highest (2189 CFU/m3), then gram negative bacteria (2188 CFU/m3), total fungi (843 CFU/m3) and Aspergillus fumigatus (441 CFU/m3) after ambient air sampling. A comparison of the data showed that the activity-based sampling (undertaken using body worn personal sampler) had higher bioaerosols concentrations (104 –106 CFU/m3), i.e. 2–3 logs higher than those recorded from static ambient air sampling. Bioaerosol exposure was highest during scavenging activities compared to waste sorting and site supervision. Particle size distributions showed that 41%, 46%, 76% and 63% of total bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, Aspergillus fumigatus and total fungi respectively were of respirable sizes and would therefore be capable of penetrating deep into the respiratory system, posing a greater human health risk. This study has shown that exposure to bioaerosols can be associated with activities undertaken at open dumpsites and may contribute to the high prevalence of the chronic respiratory symptoms among the workers in such environments

A review on regulations, current status, effects and reduction strategies of emissions for marine diesel engines

Marine diesel engines, which provide main power source for ships, mainly contribute to air pollution in ports and coastal areas. Thus there is an increasing demand on tightening the emission standards for marine diesel engines, which necessitates the research on various emission reduction strategies. This review covers emission regulations and emission factors (EFs), environmental effects and available emission reduction solutions for marine diesel engines. Not only the establishment of the emission control areas (ECAs) in the regulations but also many experiments show high concerns about the sulfur limits in fuels, sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. Research results reveal that NOx emissions from marine diesel engines account for 50% of total NOx in harbors and coastal regions. Sulfur content in fuel oil is an important parameter index that determines the development direction of emission control technologies. Despites some issues, biodiesel, methanol and liquefied nature gas (LNG) play their important roles in reducing emissions as well as in replacing fossil energy, being promising fuels for marine diesel engines. Fuel-water emulsion (FWE) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) are effective treatment option for NOx emissions control. Common rail fuel injection is an effective fuel injection strategy to achieve simultaneous reductions in particulate matter (PM) and NOx. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and wet scrubbing are the most mature and effective exhaust aftertreatment methods for marine diesel engines, which show 90% De-NOx efficiency and 95% De-SOx efficiency. It can be concluded that the integrated multi-pollutant treatment for ship emissions holds great promise

Residents’ Perceptions of Property Rating in a Traditional African City

The success of any revenue generation drive by government depends on the support shown by an area’s residents. This in turn depends on the latter’s perceptions of the revenue. This study examines the influence of residents’ perceptions of a property tax in the different residential districts of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Two of the ten political wards representing the three identifiable residential districts in the city were sampled. Two hundred and thirty-one occupants of dwellings were sampled, using the systematic random technique. The study identified that although variations exist in the socioeconomic status of residents in the different residential districts, there was not much significant difference in the perceptions held of the tax. While residents’ level of awareness of the existence of the tax and the proportion of residents that had once paid the tax increased from the core residential area to the suburban, an inverse proportion of residents supported the justification for its imposition. The study concluded that the tax should be portrayed as charges on services provided and that the residents’ present negative perceptions of the tax would change if services are provided to meet minimal residents’ satisfaction.Keywords: internally-generated revenue, residents’ perceptions, property tax, residential zone, traditional city. Le succès de toute initiative de génération de recette fiscale menée par le gouvernement dépend de l’adhésion des résidents de la région où ce projet a lieu. Par conséquent, un tel projet doit sa survie à la façon dont ces résidents perçoivent la question de l’impôt. Cette étude examine donc l’influence de la perception que les résidents ont sur le régime d’impôt foncier instauré dans différents quartiers résidentiels de la ville d’Ogbomoso, située dans l’État d’Oyo, au Nigeria. Deux des dix  circonscriptions administratives représentant les trois quartiers  résidentiels de la ville ont été retenues dans l’échantillon. Deux cent trente et un occupants de logements ont été sélectionnés à l’aide de la méthode  d’échantillonnage aléatoire systématique. L’étude a permis d’identifier que, bien que la situation socioéconomique des habitants présente des variations dans les différents quartiers résidentiels, il n’y avait pas de différence significative dans leurs perceptions de cet impôt  foncier. Bien que le degré de conscience de  l’existence de la taxe et la proportion de résidents ayant déjà payé la taxe de  résidents aient progressé de la zone résidentielle de base pour s’étendre vers la banlieue, une proportion inverse de résidents a soutenu les raisons qui ont justifié cette taxe. L’étude a conclu que pour une meilleure adhésion des habitants, cette taxe devrait être présentée comme des frais additionnels prélevés pour les services offerts et que les perceptions négatives actuelles des résidents changeraient si les services offerts assuraient un minimum de satisfaction aux résidents.Mots-clés : recettes générées au niveau local, perceptions des résidents, impôt foncier, zone résidentielle, ville traditionnelle.