Socio-Cultural and Demographic Dynamics in Sustainable Entrepreneurial Development in Nigeria

Entrepreneurial development is now regarded as the magic bullet that can remedy some of the embedded socioeconomic challenges facing the modem state. Poverty, unemployment, falling standards of living and dipping personal economies of citizens have conflated to raise the national temperature of various countries to uncomfortable levels as protests, youth restiveness, economic-related crimes and a militant and irascible citizenry have become common symptoms of an existing economic blight. Literature on entrepreneurship points to the positive effect of entrepreneurial activities on the civil population with greater impact on the vulnerable sectors. This has strengthened the argument for greater entrepreneurial culture in a developing country like Nigeria. Job creation, massive product development, strengthening of the macro economy through export of products and services, inter alia, are some of collateral benefits of entrepreneurial activities within the society. In achieving sustainable entrepreneurial development initiatives in Nigeria, actors within the policy, social and business ecologies must address the socio-cultural and demographic dynamics that could hamper an effective maturation of the entrepreneurial development process. Issues of institution building, creating the right environment for small- and medium-scale businesses and initiatives to thrive and a general paradigm shift towards citizen empowerment will help to overcome the hydra-headed challenges of gender bias, population explosion, poverty, corruption, unemployment, poor infrastructure, insecurity and leadership crisis, which are some of the banes that may tackle entrepreneurial development. Leaning on the State Theory's position that development can be achieved through internal growth, this paper argues that for sustainable entrepreneurial development to happen in Nigeria, certain internal contradictions bordering on socio-cultural and demographic dynamics must be addresse

Synthesis and characterization of some transition metal complexes of N'- [(E)-(1H-indol-2-yl) methylidene]pyridine-4-carbohydrazide

N'-[(E)-(1H-indol-2-yl)methylidene]pyridine-4-carbohydrazide was prepared by refluxing indole-2- carbaldehyde and isonicotinic hydrazide in ethanol for 4 hrs. Fe3+, Co2+ and Cu2+ complexes of the hydrazone ligand were similarly prepared and the compounds characterized spectrophotometrically. The melting point and conductivities of the ligand and complexes were recorded. The asymmetric hydrazone and the metal complexes obtained showed melting points/ decomposition temperature range 156 - >300 oC. Two ligands was found to coordinate to the metal centre via the carbonyl O and azomethine N along with two chloride ions giving rise to octahedral geometry. Ligand and complexes are insoluble in water, ethanol and other common organic solvents but soluble in DMSO and DMF. Molar conductivity values obtained (2.55-7.23 cm-2mol-1) shows they are nonelectrolytes in solution.Keywords: Asymmetric, Bioactive, Hydrazone, indole, Isoniazi

ICT and Health Delivery System in Nigeria

Health is increasingly being discussed in different fora globally and locally. Increasing the effectiveness of healthcare services, with the aim of making medical care more accessible to all citizenry, demands a more effective way of health care delivery. Against the backdrop of the Diffusion and Innovations Theory, this chapter essentially looks at healthcare delivery in 21" century Nigeria and the possibilities and challenges ofapplying ICT in healthcare delivery in the country. This chapter concludes that ICT application can be achieved through raising the general level of literacy in the country. Furthermore, for Nigeria to benefit fully from the application of ICTto healthcare delivery systems. there is need for people-centred development programmes, strong political will on the part of government and its representatives and sensitivity to and pragmatism in reducing the deleterious effects of corruption in the system

Expert System-Based Predictive Cost Model for Building Works: Neural Network Approach

Project managers need accurate estimate of building projects to be able to choose appropriate alternatives for their constructions. Estimated costs of building projects, which hitherto have been based on regression models, are usually left with gaps for high margin of errors and as well, they lack the capacity to accommodate certain intervening variables as construction works progress. Data of past construction projects of the past 2 years were adjusted and used for the study. This model is developed and tested as a predictive cost model for building projects based on Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) with Levenberg Marqua. This model is capable of helping professionals save time, make more realistic decisions, and help avoid underestimating and overestimating of project costs. The model is a step ahead of Regression models

DESIGN OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR A MEDICAL TELE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (MTMS) IN RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED SETTINGS

Medical tele-management is an emerging field of study in tele-health that proposes an interactive and proactive disease management approach which combines tele-monitoring and tele-consultation services through an information and communications technology (ICT) supported partnership. It is aimed at minimizing the burden of health management both for the patient and physician, especially in developing countries. However, existing solutions in form of systems and frameworks exist singly either as tele-monitoring or tele-consultation systems and majorly in developed countries with dedicated and adequate ICT resources and infrastructure. Hence, this paper presents the design of a Medical Tele-Management System (MTMS) which serves as a framework that combines both tele-monitoring and tele-consultation services within an information and communication technology resource-constrained setting. &nbsp