Data protection in Nigeria: Addressing the multifarious challenges of a deficient legal system

This paper provides an overview of the current state of privacy and data protection policies and regulations in Nigeria. The paper contends that the extant legal regime in Nigeria is patently inadequate to effectively protect individuals against abuse resulting from the processing of their personal data. The view is based on the critical analysis of the current legal regime in Nigeria vis-à-vis the review of some vital data privacy issues. The paper makes some recommendations for the reform of the law

Reducing Patient Risk for Suicidal Behaviors with a Safety Bundle of Best Practices with Non-Psychiatric Patients

Practice Problem: Suicide is a public health condition that affects people globally. The increased suicidal behaviors of patients in a medical-surgical unit demanded an effective screening protocol to identify high-risk patients. PICOT: In patients 18 years and older on a medical-surgical unit, does the implementation of the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) tool and application of a Safety Bundle of Best Practices (SBBP) increase early identification of suicide risk with decreased patient self-harm behaviors, compared to the current standard practice of no assessment tool or safety bundle of best practices within 12 weeks? Evidence: Ten studies served as evidence that assessment of early suicidal-risk behaviors decreased patient self-harm. The evidence supported the implementation of the C-SSRS tool and application of the Safety Bundle of Best Practices for the project intervention. Intervention: The intervention consisted of three phases (pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention): a) patients were screened with the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS); b) suicidal patients were managed with Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS); and c) a Safety Plan Intervention (SPI) was employed to manage suicidal behaviors. Outcome: At the start of the assessment period, pre-intervention data yielded a C-SSRS risk score mean of 0.81; following the eight-week implementation period, post-intervention data yielded a C-SSRS risk score mean of 0.75. There was a marginally significant difference between the means at pre- and post-intervention, showing a lower suicidal risk at post-intervention, p = 0 .07, t-test result (31) = 1.87. Conclusion: The decrease in patient self-harm behaviors with the implementation of the C-SSRS tool and application of SBBP was not statistically significant (SBBP). However, the decrease did indicate a clinically meaningful improvement in suicidal behavior outcomes after implementation of the intervention

Relationships between the Physico-chemical Water Parameters and Zooplankton Fauna of Tiga Lake, Kano, Nigeria

This study investigated the relationships between zooplankton fauna and physico-chemical water parameters of Tiga Lake, Kano, Nigeria from March 2009 to March 2011. Water transparency, pH, Cl-, SO42- and dissolved oxygen (DO) showed significant positive correlations (p<0.05) with species occurrence, while total solids (TS), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, NO3- and PO43- showed significant negative correlations (p<0.05) with species occurrence. There were significant positive correlations (p<0.05) between zooplankton abundance and conductivity, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), Ca2+, Na+ and K+. The general chemical characteristics (pH, total alkalinity, conductivity and TDS) and major ions (Ca2+, Na+ and K+) were all within the permissible limits for aquatic life, and they showed direct relationships with the zooplankton fauna of the lake. Physical parameters (water transparency, turbidity, TS and TSS) and nutrient content (NO3- and PO43-) were considered to be limiting on the occurrence and distribution of zooplankton in Tiga Lake. The ecological relationship between zooplankton and physico-chemical parameters of the lake is an indication of its suitability for aquatic life.Keywords: Tiga Lake; relationship; water parameters; zooplankton faun

Availability and Utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Spoken English Teaching and Learning in South West Nigeria

The English language plays a prominent role in education in Nigeria and the school provides the most viable formal setting in which it could be studied. This research attempts to identify the extent of utilisation of Information Communication Technology components in the teaching and learning of spoken English in selected private/public secondary schools in South West Nigeria. Twenty-five respondents each was selected from four public schools, 20 from two private schools and 20 English language teachers. These respondents responded to fifteen questions on required ICT facilities. Each respondent.s cumulative responses was calculated and converted to simple percentages. Findings from the public secondary schools overall responses revealed that majority of the ICT facilities that can facilitate spoken English lessons were not readily available nor utilised, with higher percentages of 90%, 92%, 96%, respectively attesting to their non availability and non-utilisation. For the private secondary schools though, some respondents attested to their availability but personal observation revealed that these facilities were scanty and not maximally utilised. This investigation concludes that there is the need for government and educational administrators in South West Nigeria to be ICT driven in order to enhance a better performance and achieve international intelligibility for Nigerian spoken English. Key words: Information Communication Technology, Teaching and  Learning, Intelligible, Spoken English, Availability and Utilisation, South  West Nigeri

The role of entrepreneurial competencies in Finnish SMEs

Previous studies indicate a lack of research in entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) in Finland. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the role of ECs in Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The three research questions of the study include: What are the important ECs in Finnish SMEs? What is the most important EC in Finnish SMEs? How are the important and the most important ECs used? This study is qualitative in nature and follows a deductive research approach. As a data collection method, semi-structured interviews were conducted and the respondents were from six Finnish SMEs in four different industries, that is, cosmetic, health, food and film industry. A cross-industry analyses of the six SMEs were carried out to answer the research questions and to reach the objective of the study. The findings of this study suggest that relationship, commitment, learning orientation, strategic, innovativeness, decision-making and problem solving competencies are important in Finnish SMEs. In addition, this study identified how the aforementioned ECs are used. Moreover, based on different industry analysis (cosmetic, health, food and film), relationship competence was identified as the most important EC. This study offers theoretical contribution to the existing studies on ECs in Finnish context by offering insights on the important and the most important EC. The managerial implications of this study include that besides commitment, learning orientation, strategic, innovativeness, decision-making and problem solving competencies, the major focus must be on building relationship competence. This can be achieved, through effective communication with employees within the organization and by building ties and trust between an entrepreneur and his/her business networks.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Environmental Effects of Abandoned Properties in Ogbomoso and Osogbo, Nigeria

This study appraises the effects of landed property abandonment in Osogbo and Ogbomoso. Information on each of the observed effects was obtained through the administration of 658 structured questionnaires (304 and 354 for Ogbomosho and Osogbo respectively) to 25 sampled blocks from each city, sampling 20 respondents from each block. Case records from hospitals and police stations in the study area were also analyzed in the study. All observed environmental effects were ranked with N par and Kruskal-walis test. ANOVA and chi-square test were used to explain the variation in the incidence of environmental effects among the residential densities. Correlation analysis was also used to explain the relationship between the incidence of abandonment and variables of environmental problems. Effects observed include pollution, health problem, city’s financial loss, obscenity, crime, property value decline, development control problem, wastage of resources, dangerous reptiles, accident and vagrancy. The brunt of abandonment is found to be more in the medium residential density. The study thus recommends an aggressive environmental management that offsets blighted conditions in the environment.Keywords: Effects, Buildings, Lots, Abandonment, Landed Properties, Environmen

Sesotho Address Forms

Address forms constitute an integral part of Basotho sociolinguistic etiquette. They are regarded as a kind of emotional capital that may be invested in putting others at ease. They are indicators of deference, politeness and markers of social distance. (Fasold 1990, Akindele 1990, 1991, 1993) This paper examines the address forms used by the Basotho people. It analyzes and discusses the various types and the factors determining their use. The discussion of address forms in Sesotho focuses on First Name, Title plus First Name, Title plus Last Name, Nickname, Multiple Names, and Teknonym. Drawing data from semi-literate and literate urban and rural population of Maseru district of Lesotho, it was found that the commonest form of address used by the Basotho people is title plus first name. e.g. ntate Thabo (father Thabo), 'm'e Puleng (mother Puleng), ausi Maneo (sister Maneo), abuti Mahao (brother Mahao). It is used by close relations, associates, and familiar people in both formal and informal situations

INDICES OF VOLUNTEERING ON MANAGEMENT OF SPORTS COMPETITIONS IN NIGERIA

The study investigated indices of volunteering on the management of sports competitions in Nigeria. The researcher adopted a descriptive survey research method. The population for the study includes sports administrators, coaches, sports fans, stakeholders, and athletes from the National Sports Commission (NSC) and Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC). The sample for this study was two hundred (200) respondents selected using the simple random sampling technique. A researcher designed and validated questionnaire was the instrument used to collect relevant data. The reliability of the instrument was determined through a test-retest method. Data from the test-retest reliability was subjected to the Pearson Product Moment Correlation with a coefficient of 0.87. Descriptive statistics of Pie and Bar charts were used to analyze the demographic variables while Inferential statistics (Chi-Square (X2)) was used to test all stated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that motivation, commitment, and partnership, as indices of volunteerism, had a significant influence on the management of sports competitions in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is recommended that sports organizations and sports clubs should understand that the management and development of volunteers is a comprehensive process integrated into the overall strategy, fulfilling the process