A Systematic Review on Social Housing in Nigeria: Challenges, Prospects and the Road Ahead

Social housing in Nigeria plays a crucial role in enhancing well-being and development, necessitating heightened attention and action from stakeholders. This systematic review investigates the challenges, prospects, and future directions of social housing provision and its impact on the country. Employing a mixed-methods approach encompassing descriptive statistics, thematic analysis, and meta-analysis, data from 42 relevant articles published between 2010 and 2022 are analysed. The study addresses four key research questions: Factors influencing social housing delivery in Nigeria, Factors influencing social housing design in Nigeria, Factors affecting social housing affordability in Nigeria, and Factors influencing the impact of social housing in Nigeria. Findings unveil the multifaceted nature of social housing in Nigeria, shaped by diverse factors impacting its provision and effects. Moreover, social housing yields mixed outcomes across social, economic, and environmental dimensions of well-being and development. Recommendations for policy and practice are derived from the study's insights, accompanied by a recognition of its limitations and avenues for future research and enhancement in the field of social housing in Nigeria. Keywords: Social housing; Systematic review; Delivery; Design; Affordability; Impact. DOI: 10.7176/ADS/107-02 Publication date:September 30th 2023

Taking the First Step towards Entrenching Mental Health in the Workplace: Insights from a Pilot Study Among HR Personnel in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The continued relevance of optimal employee mental  health to sustainable human capital development in the workplace  underscores the need to start harnessing all resources that can be  mobilized to promote the entrenchment of workplace mental health. The strategic place of workplace Human Resource (HR) units in formulating and implementing workplace welfare schemes makes them potential partners. To actualize this, it is important to initially assess the preparedness of HR personnel for, and the possible barriers to entrenching mental health in the workplace. To suggest the initial course of action and to serve as a  template for a robust large-scale study, we conduct a pilot assessment of the experience with, attitudes towards, and level of prioritization of mental health in the workplace among a cohort of HR personnel in Nigeria.METHODS: Participants were recruited in the course of a seminar/workshop and questionnaires were developed by authors to assess variables of interest. Attitudes were examined using an adapted form of the Link's Discrimination-Devaluation (LD-D) scale.RESULTS:A total of 90 human-resource personnel completed the  questionnaires. Only 16% of the participants reported having handled the case of an employee with a suspected mental health problem in the preceding 2 years. Attitudes toward employees and prospective employees with mental illness were largely poor. For instance, more than 70% werelikely to consider for employment someone with a pre-existing physical disability than for someone with a history of mental illness. In terms of workplace health promotion priorities, physical health seminars took wide precedence over mental health seminars.CONCLUSION: The preliminary findings of this pilot study justify a need to conduct a large scale study. Significant challenges encountered in the course of this pilot study were highlighted while insights were drawn for the conduct of the main study/project.KEY WORDS: mental health, occupational health, workplace, HR personnel, attitude

ANAEMIA AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE

 This study was conducted at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Respondents were two hundred         (200) female undergraduates who filled out their questionnaires properly and had their anthropometric         measurements and their matching blood samples taken. Haemoglobin concentration was determined        for each respondent using WHO standard and their nutritional status assessed using Body mass index              2         (wt/ht ).   Descriptive   statistics   was   used   to   analyze   data   from   the   questionnaires.   Results   from   this        study showed that more than half (59%) of the population were anaemic. Many (45%) of the students        were also underweight. It can be concluded that the low haemoglobin levels found among the students         may be as a result of low food consumption and the frequent consumption of tea.  Nutrition education         is recommended to improve nutritional status of the students&nbsp

Decompressive Craniotomy in the Management of Entrapment of after Coming Head of Breech with Intrapartum Fetal Death in a Rural Centre: A Case Report

Background: Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of strong aversion for caesarean section among Nigerian women; hence, interventions of proven efficacy in reducing caesarean section rate are crucial. Although controversial in modern day obstetric practice, destructive operation is still of importance in reducing caesarean section rates in Nigeria, especially in the rural setting.Case: A case of breech delivery complicated with intra-partum fetal death and entrapment of the aftercoming head is presented. The patient  presented with a fresh stillbirth dangling in the introitus in breech presentation with the head entrapped in the pelvis. A de-compressive craniotomy was performed with subsequent delivery of the entrapped after-coming head.Results: There were no post-procedure complications.Conclusion: Training of medical personnel in the skills of destructive  operation is recommended, as it still has a role in reducing caesarean section in rural settings

A Simple Technique for Sustaining Solar Energy Production in Active Convective Coastal Regions

The climatic factors in the coastal areas are cogent in planning a stable and functional solar farm. 3D simulations relating the surface temperature, sunshine hour, and solar irradiance were adopted to see the effect of minute changes of other meteorological parameters on solar irradiance. This enabled the day-to-day solar radiation monitoring with the primary objective to examine the best technique for maximum power generation via solar option in coastal locations. The month of January had the highest turbulent features, showing the influence of weather and the poorest solar radiance due to low sunshine hour. Twenty-year weather parameters in the research area were simulated to express the systematic influence of weather of PV performance. A theoretical solar farm was illustrated to generate stable power supply with emphasis on the longevity of the PV module proposed by introducing an electronic concentrator pillar (CP).The pictorial and operational model of the solar farm was adequately explaine

Ergo-effects of designed school furniture and sitting positions on students behaviour and Musculo-Skeletal Disorder in Nigerian tertiary institutions

Improper design of school furniture is one of the contributing factors to back pain among students as indicated in some studies. In the case of designing school furniture where sitting constitutes a considerable time in the school, seat becomes important for comfort. This study is carried out in three selected institutions in Nigeria to determine level of musculoskeletal disorder in students’ and the furniture that they use. 720 questionnaires with 240 students (120 boys and 120 girls) drawn from each participating institutions were administered and 675 responses were received. The results show that the number of students having MSD, accounted for 93.75%. However, the distributions of pain in the body parts in each school were different. The musculoskeletal pain, mostly concentrated on neck, right shoulders right elbow right wrist right hand, upper back and lower back. The result also reveals that most of the students are sitting on chairs with seat that are too high and too deep or too shallow and of tables that are too high. However, it is recommended that further study on effect of designed school furniture and sitting position in larger sample of students’ representative in Nigeria tertiary institutions should be carried out in order to reduce the effect of body pains

Enhanced proactive planning approach: a crucial to an improved workers’ safety in Western Nigeria small scale industry

This study evaluated managements’ proactive planning approach (PPA) to enhance safety among workers in South-western Nigeria small scale industry (SSI). The main objective was to rate the managements’ efforts at eliminating risk among their employees. By worker participatory and psychological survey approach, three tools were used; workplace observation (visual), management safety culture (questionnaire) and managers interviews (oral). The survey included 200 workers, 120 supervisors and 80 managers, in 82 SSI. Four steps to a safety proactive action plans (PAP), (looking for clues, prioritization of identified potential hazard, making improvements to eliminate the risk and follow up), were rated by employees on a scale from 0 to 5. Paired t-test was used to appraise the significant difference between the managers’ mean scores rated by the supervisors and other workers. 77.1% of workers and 64.2% supervisors rated their managers as either “not done at all” or “poorly done”. Workers’ scores for managers PPA had statistically significantly lower ratings (mean = 1.09, SEM = 0.22) compared to that of the supervisors rating (mean = 1.55, SEM = 0.32), with t (14) = −1.185, p = 0.784. There is a closed poor performance perception gaps, of managers’ PPA, of the two groups of employees. It can be concluded that safety is not emphasized, by managers of SSI, as overriding priority and this may have contributed to high reported injuries among their workforce. Courses to enhance managements’ understanding for inclusion of safety among the leading priorities becomes necessary. This will reduce work-related risks and promotes occupational safety and health among the group of workers

Anthropometric design of furniture for use in tertiary institutions in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria

Students sit for most of the time on school furniturein the classroom. However, the design of schoolfurniture in Nigeria using the anthropometric dataof the users has yet to be given adequate attention.This study was carried out to obtainanthropometric data of students in higherinstitutions of learning in Nigeria for the design ofergonomics chairs and tables for use by students inthose institutions. Seven hundred and twenty (720)students in three selected institutions participatedin the study. Various body dimensions (sittingelbow height, shoulder height, knee height,popliteal height, buttock-popliteal length, statureand body weight) of the students were measuredusing standard anthropometer and 5 th, 50th, and95 th percentiles of the data obtained werecomputed using a SPSS 16.0 statistical package.The existing furniture dimensions in the selectedinstitutions were also measured. Based on theobtained anthropometric data, this paper proposesfurniture design dimensions for seat height, seatdepth, seat width, backrest height (upper), armrestand desk height for students in the selected tertiaryinstitutions. The present study may be a pointer tothe effect that in the design of tables and chairs foruse in higher institutions, the anthropometric dataof the Nigerian students were not considered. It ishereby recommended that similar study should becarried out in other sections of the country

Teaching strategy preferences in upper basic schools in Ilorin west local government area, Kwara state, Nigeria

Introduction: Several studies have been carried out on various teaching strategy broadly categorised as teacher-centred, student-centred and student-teacher centred. This study was premised on investigating preferences for these strategies among basic school teachers. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate teacher's teaching strategy preferences in classroom situations in teaching and learning in Upper Basic Classroom situations. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive research design of survey type. Teachers in Ilorin West Local Government area of Kwara State constituted the study population while the target population was all Upper Basic school teachers sampled randomly. The instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire tagged "Teachers' Teaching Strategy Preferences Questionnaire" (TTSPQ) which was face and content validated by measurement and evaluation experts. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach's alpha with a reliability index of 0.78. The validated instrument was administered electronically via Google Forms. Data were analysed using percentages, t-test and ANOVA statistics. Results: Results showed that teacher-student centred strategy using discussion, demonstration, question & answer, field trip, and reciprocal methods were preferred while there was a significant difference in teaching strategy preferences based on teaching the subject with Mathematics teachers most contributors to the significance. Recommendations/Classroom Implications: It was recommended that schools constantly organise training and workshops to better expose all teachers to deploying student-teacher-centred teaching and learning methods

Mineral Profile of \u3ci\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/i\u3e var. Ntchisi as Influenced by Organic Nitrogen Rate and Age at Harvest

The study was aimed at profiling the mineral contents of Panicum maximum var Ntchisi as influenced by organic (poultry) nitrogen rate and age at harvest. The study was carried out at the organic research farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria in 2016. The experiment was laid in a 4 x 3 factorial arrangement in a split plot design with four (4) organic nitrogen rate (0, 100, 200 and 300 kgNha-1) as the main plot and three (3) age at harvest (4, 8 and 12 weeks after cutback) as the subplot which amounts to twelve (12) treatment combinations with four replicates. The macro mineral contents were significantly (P\u3c 0.05) influenced by the nitrogen rate. The calcium (Ca) content was up to 4.35 gkg-1DM for the grass at 0 KgNha-1 which was the highest value. The magnesium (5.59 – 8.43 gkg-1DM) content had a linear increment with increased nitrogen rate. The potassium content ranged from 15.58 to 30.80 gkg-1 DM with the grass fertilized at 0 KgNha-1 having the highest K content. The phosphorus was linearly (P\u3c 0.05) influenced with the grass fertilized at 300 KgNha-1 with the highest (1.78 gkg-1DM) content. The micro mineral contents were significantly (P\u3c 0.05) influenced by the nitrogen rate though without a definite pattern. The macro and micro mineral contents were significantly (P\u3c 0.05) influenced by age at harvest except for the copper content. The macro mineral contents decreased with advancement in age at harvest. It was concluded that the grass harvested at younger age will make a good feed resource in terms of mineral requirement of ruminants in the tropics