Analysis of Human Capital Development Index in Kano State

The study focuses on the analysis of human capital development index domesticated in Kano state, Nigeria. The main objective of this study is design human capital index and explores the contributors and inhibitors to the development and deployment of a healthy, educated and productive labour force in the state. The study covers the 44 local government areas and 122 wards of the State. Four key indicators were used for the design of human capital index in Kano State which are; level of education, health and wellness, workforce and employment and enabling environment. These indicators were analyzed using standardization method of ranking. From the index, some regions of the states have impressive and fair human capital index which are Northern Central, Eastern and North Western regions while some regions have poor ranking of human capital index in the State especially Far South, Western and Southern regions were most of the index were negative as per the defined indicators as captured by the level of education, health and wellness, workforce and employment and enabling environment. In view of these findings and low public sector resource availability, the study recommends that government should overhaul the financial management system in health and education towards attaining higher value for money in expenditure spent and enhance the ease of access for private providers of health and education services towards complementing that provided by the public sector and strengthen regulatory framework for effect supervision and quality standardization. Keywords: Human Capital Development Index, Kano State, Health, Educatio

Putting context to numbers : a geotechnical risk trajectory to cost overrun extremism

The study investigates the cause of the unusually high cost overruns experienced in highway project delivery in the tropical wetland setting of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This is in view of the extensive literature supporting the link between geology, the lack of geotechnical best practices and cost overruns. An empirical profiling of cost overrun research further reveals the predominance of mono-method studies based on survey methods, correlative analysis and archival data modelling techniques, all of which are underlain by positivism. The study argues that such positivist philosophies, although methodologically valid, cannot adequately explain and provide in-depth understanding of the contextual cost overrun drivers in highway organisations., Using a robust and thoughtfully designed mix of methods, the paper examines the contribution of geotechnical risks to cost overruns experienced in highway project, and demonstrates the relevance of context in cost overrun research. Cost overrun data from documentary sources for 61 completed highway projects in the Niger Delta are gathered and analysed, revealing an average value of 216%, with extreme cases, ranging up to 1925% of budgeted cost. To uncover the intrinsic contextual drivers, 16 interviews were conducted with participants from the three highway agencies in the region, responsible for the execution of the sampled highway projects. Adopting a geotechnical narrative, the data is thematically analysed, deductively and inductively. The results of the analysis identified that poor project governance, management and procurement practices, have inhibited the competent management of geotechnical risk, creating a propensity for extreme cost overruns on the highway projects. The study submits the phenomenon of cost overruns in public infrastructure projects is underlain by a complexity of contextual social constructs, which would have been overlooked in positivists studies. Cost overrun research therefore, needs to be contextually and numerically anchored. Keywords: Context, Cost overruns, Highway projects, Mixed methods, Social Construct

Diversifying Nigeria\'s petroleum industry

Nigeria's extreme reliance on crude oil earnings has triggered structural difficulties for its economy and exacerbated the neglect of other productive sectors of the economy. The paper suggests, therefore, the deepening of the country's economic reform initiatives to include effective diversification of the petroleum sector and development of the agriculture and solid minerals sectors for the global markets. NESG Economic Indicators Vol. 13 (4) 2007 pp. 41-4

Multiple attenuation using eigenvalue decomposition

Multiple reflections constitute one of the most troublesome forms of coherent noise in seismic exploration, especially in marine surveys. There are many approaches to attenuating or suppressing multiples, but none can remove all multiple reflections under all conditions. We have eveloped two new methods to attenuate multiple reflections using the Karhunen-Loeve transform which extract coherent information from multichannel input data in a least-squares sense. They supplement conventional methods. The first is the ‘localized multiple attenuation' method. Its aim is to attenuate a single (typically water bottom) multiple reflection in deep water or multisource marine acquisition. It is similar to velocity filter methods but is not as prone to spatial aliasing and edge effects. The criterion of local coherency gives the method the flexibility to discriminate between primary and multiple reflections. The second is the ‘targeted multiple attenuation' method. It uses the similarity between a primary reflection and its multiple in both the spatial and time directions. Its aim is to remove a particular multiple reflection associated with a specified primary rather than all the multiple energy for an entire trace. The method can be applied pre- or post-stack, and to 2D or 3D data. Keywords: multiple, reflection, suppression, eigenvector, eigenvalueGlobal Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 12(2) 2006: 225-22

First record of a specialist folivore of Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) in Togo, and indices of its range expansion in Nigeria: implications for biological control

ABSTRACTPareuchaetes pseudoinsulata is reported for the first time in Togo and widespread in south-western Nigeria, albeit in low densities and difficult to detect. Country-wide surveys are warranted in both countries, with the intention of renewing efforts in the biological control of Chromolaena odorata in western Africa, where the socio-ecological impact of the weed is significant

Assessment of water quality Index for groundwater in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria

This research focuses on the ground water quality index in Ado-Ekiti State, Nigeria. Groundwater sample wells were randomly collected and their spatial locations captured using a handheld GPS. Water samples were taken from 45 wells and their physio-chemical properties were analyzed in the laboratory. Spatial distribution maps of the water quality parameters were then developed. Herein, the Kriging method of interpolation from geospatial analyst wizard in Esri ArcGIS software was deployed in the generation of thematic maps of water quality parameters. A drinking water quality index was subsequently developed to describe the overall quality of groundwater in the study area. Laboratory analysis of 34 wells showed water of acceptable use as it conforms to WHO standard, while 11 wells were found to have unsuitable water for domestic use. The results further show spatial variation in the water quality. The south central depicts poor water quality, fair water quality in the south-east, while the North, north east, north-west down to the south west depicted the best water quality

Spatial distribution and challenges in accessing HIV drugs centers in Oyo, Nigeria

There is no complete cure for HIV infection, but highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been applied to reduce the morbidity and mortality of HIV worldwide. Still, the ease of accessing these medications poses a serious concern. This work was carried out to understand the effectiveness and efficiency of area coverage of HIV drug centers. Google Earth Pro was employed to capture imagery of the study area and GPS instrumentation was used to pick the coordinates of the HCT and HIV Drugs centres within the study area. A questionnaire was then used to collect the attribute information of the facilities that exist. Subsequently, ArcGIS software was applied to import imagery to bring out the spatial entities of the area. Herein, GIS operations like network analysis, nearest neighborhood and Query were accessed. Average Nearest Neighbor Index (Rn) for HIV Drugs centres within Oyo metropolis was then calculated based on average straight line distance from each facility to its nearest neighboring facility. Herein, the Rn was 28.8. The Rn value indicates that spatial pattern of HIV Drugs centres in Oyo metropolis are dispersed. The Z-score (74.813624) and P-value (0.00000) reveals that the pattern of HIV Drugs centres in Oyo metropolis also exhibits significant dispersion. This means that the pattern of HIV Drugs centre location in the study area was significantly different from a random pattern. Network operation was then applied to determine best route from one HCT centre to HIV Drugs centre and to find if alternative routes were possible. The study shows that the spatial distribution of HIV Drugs centres is uneven - with 35 existing HCT (HIV Counselling and Testing) centres in 3 local governments, as well as 2 HIV Drugs centres. The service area calculation result shows other areas are in need of HIV Drugs

The distribution and abundance of the stem-galling fly, Cecidochares connexa (Macquart)(Diptera: Tephritidae), a biological control agent of Chromolaena odorata (L.)(Asteraceae), in Ghana

Chromolaena or Siam weed is one of the worst invasive weeds in West Africa and a serious threat to food security. The stem-galling fly was released in the Ivory Coast in 2003 and first detected in Ghana in 2014. Its distribution and abundance in Ghana was determined by country-wide surveys in 2015 and 2016. Galls were found at varying densities across Ghana and also in Togo in low numbers. The gall fly has dispersed about 1000 km in ten years and, while there is some evidence that the gall fly is still moving eastwards, its range and densities could be limited by the dry climatic conditions. Actively redistributing the agent over this dry corridor to the more humid and higher rainfall areas of Nigeria, may result in its spread through the rest of West and Central Africa, thereby aiding the control of chromolaena in the region