ENHANCEMENT OF CHURN PREDICTION ALGORITHMS

Customer churn can be described as the process by which consumers of goods and services discontinue the consumption of a product or service and switch over to a competitor.It is of great concern to many companies. Thus, decision support systems are needed to overcome this pressing issue and ensure good return on investments for organizations. Decision support systems use analytical models to provide the needed intelligence to analyze an integrated customer record database to predict customers that will churn and offer recommendations that will prevent them from churning. Customers churn prediction, unlike most conventional business intelligence techniques, deals with customer demographics, net worth-value, and market opportunities. It is used in determining customers who are likely to churn, those likely to remain loyal to the organization, and for prediction of future churn rates. Customer defection is naturally a slow rate event, and it is not easily detected by most business intelligent solutions available in the market; especially when data is skewed, large, and distinct. Thus, accurate and precise prediction methods are needed to detect the churning trend. In this study, a churn model that applies business intelligence techniques to detect the possibility that a customer will churn using churn trend analysis of customer records is proposed. The model applies clustering algorithms and enhanced SPRINT decision tree algorithms to explore customer record database, and identify the customer profile and behavior patterns. The Model then predicts the possibility that a customer will churn. Additionally, it offers solutions for retaining customers and making them loyal to a business entity by recommending customer-relationship management measures

Poverty Alleviation Among Nigerian Youths via Entrepreneurial Education: Issues and Challenges

This paper discussed the relevance of entrepreneurship education in alleviating poverty among Nigerian youths. The paper equally discussed the issues and challenges inherent in the implementation of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria Universities. Objectives of entrepreneurship education were highlighted. Theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the study was reviewed. Finally, the study recommended among others that all the three tiers of government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and all other stakeholders in education industry should ensure that entrepreneurship education is properly funded for effective implementation. Key words: poverty, alleviation, youths, stake holders,  entrepreneurial education, self-reliance, issues, challenges

The American No Child Left Behind Act: Implications for the Nigerian School System.

This paper discussed the facts about the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) in America and compares that with the Nigerian equivalent of No Child Left Behind. The standards and goals set forth by both the American and Nigerian legislations were addressed. The paper touched the positive and negative aspects of NCLB on our school systems in both America and Nigeria. Several research articles that discuss the impact of NCLB on our school systems were also discussed. Finally, recommendations on ways and means to help the Nigerian students with disabilities forge ahead in the 21st century were made. Keywords: Special education, Litigation, Social issues, parental involvement, Education refor

Family Planning in Nigeria: a Myth or Reality? Implications for Education

This study investigated the extent of family planning, the methods and contraceptive devices in use and the influence of education on family planning among couples in Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprises all the married couples in this area. A sample size of six hundred married people was selected for this study.  Questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument which was validated by three experts in relevant areas has two parts. Part A elicited the respondents’ bio-data while part B consisted of 12 items to elicit information to answer the research questions. The items were structured on a four point scale.  In the selected area, the instrument was administered personally by the researchers to the literate respondents while the illiterates were interviewed using the items in the questionnaire. Percentages were used to answer research questions 2 and 3 while real limit of numbers was used to answer research question 1. The result shows that family planning practice among couples in Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State is high; the contraceptive methods used were mainly traditional.  Educational status has positive influence on family planning in the area. It was recommended that the rural areas should be enlightened on the efficiency of the modern family planning methods. Key words: family planning, traditional methods, modern methods, couples, education

The Effect of Industrial Development on Economic Growth (An Empirical Evidence in Nigeria 1973-2013)

The effect of industrial development on the economic growth of Nigeria has over the past decade been a recurring issue for analysis like every economy most especially developing economies. Nigeria has enjoyed a long period of sustained economic growth since 2001 and yet, there is poor contribution from the industrial sector to the country’s GDP. There are various studies that have supported that industrial development is a pathway to sustainable economic growth. Thus, this research investigated the effect industrial development on the Nigeria’s economic growth 1973 - 2013. PC Give 8.00 version statistical package was used to analyze the secondary data that was collected from National statistical bulletin. GDP was used as the dependent variable, while foreign direct investment, industrial output, total savings and inflation was used as the independent variables. The model explain that the influence of industrial output on economic growth is not statistically significant, though the sign obtained from its àpriori expectation is positively related to (economic growth) GDP but does not hold strong enough. Savings has a positive relationship and also significant impact on the economy. Inflation has a negative relationship while net foreign direct investment is positively significant on the impact of economic growth. R-squared shows a 76% increase on the GDP. Based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that the government and its agencies should ensure political stability and also the implementation of strategic policies that will create a fair playing grounds for foreign investors which will also improve the establishment of industries especially the manufacturing industries to encourage industrialization of the Nigerian economy as this will facilitate the strengthening of economic growth (GDP). Increase in savings will make money available for the economy through high interest rate and income adjustments from the monetary policy. The Bank of Industry (BOI) should be ready to aid Nigerian industrialization along Nigeria’s line of development and not a total shift to accepting models which worked elsewhere given their environment and circumstance which differs from place to place

An Inquiry into the Impacts of Personnel Evaluation as a Control Mechanism on Employee’s Performance

This paper centers on an inquiry into the impacts of personnel evaluation as a control mechanism on employee’s performance. Three research questions were raised as a guide to this study while data generated through the questionnaire were analyzed using Non-parametric chi-square test. The outcome of the study revealed the followings: that personnel evaluation plays a significant role as a control mechanism for employee’s commitment, that personnel evaluation has a significant role as a control mechanism for employee’s productivity; employee’s team participation can be influenced by personnel evaluation. Keywords: personnel evaluation, personnel performance, employees’ commitment, employee’s productivity and employee’s team participation skill

Effect of aqueous ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract on sperm quality and haematology in lead acetate-treated male albino rats

Purpose: To evaluate the ameliorative effects of aqueous ginger extract on sperm quality and haematology in lead acetate-treated male albino rats.Methods: Twenty-four male albino rats used for this study were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 6). Group 1 was the normal control. Lead acetate (4 mg/kg) was given to group 2 for 6 weeks. Lead acetate (4 mg/kg) and ginger (300 mg/kg) were given to group 4 simultaneously for 6  weeks, while group 4 was given lead acetate (4 mg/kg) for 6 weeks, and then, ginger (300 mg/kg) for another 6 weeks. Haematological parameters, including packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC) and red blood cell (RBC) counts, hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, and differential  leukocyte count were evaluated in blood obtained from the retrobulbal plexus of the rats.Results: Sperm motility and viability were markedly lower (p < 0.05) in group 2, in comparison to groups 1 and 3, while sperm motility and viability in group 3 were similar, but differed from group 1 (p < 0.05). The sperm motility and sperm viability of groups 4 and 2 were comparable.  Haematological profile showed a marked reduction in the RBC of rats in group 2, when compared to those in groups 1 and 3. The WBC of group 2 was significantly higher than those of groups 1, 3 and 4 (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The results indicate that aqueous ginger extract has the potential to protect sperm quality and haematology in lead acetate treated male rats. Keywords: Ginger, Lead acetate, Sperm quality, Haematolog

Reaction of Banks and Insurance Companies’ Stocks to Acts of Terrorism - An Event Study Approach

The paper examines the reaction of banks and insurance companies’ stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Market to two major terrorist events (the bomb blast on October 1, 2010-Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary day, and the bombing of the United Nation’s (UN) embassy office on August 26, 2011, all in Abuja). The data stream for the study consisted of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Daily Official list on some selected banks and insurances stocks over the event period of eight (8) days for both the United Nation’s (UN) embassy office bombing and the October 1 bomb blast respectively. Using the standard event study methodology and the single-factor market model, the study finds that of the two terrorist events, only the October 1, 2010 attack resulted in significant negative abnormal returns in the Nigerian stock market. The UN office bombing, though expectedly resulted in a negative abnormal return, the abnormal return was however not statistically significant at 5% level and only occurred a day after the event day, suggesting that the stock prices reacted rather slowly. The study therefore recommends that the federal government of Nigeria should explore ways of reducing the frustration of her citizens because the consistent neglect by successive governments to improve on the well-being of the commoners in this oil-rich nation has always led to frustration and aggression, and these are popular substratum for terrorism. Keywords: Terrorism, banks, insurances companies, event study, stock market

Web GIS in practice IX: a demonstration of geospatial visual analytics using Microsoft Live Labs Pivot technology and WHO mortality data

The goal of visual analytics is to facilitate the discourse between the user and the data by providing dynamic displays and versatile visual interaction opportunities with the data that can support analytical reasoning and the exploration of data from multiple user-customisable aspects. This paper introduces geospatial visual analytics, a specialised subtype of visual analytics, and provides pointers to a number of learning resources about the subject, as well as some examples of human health, surveillance, emergency management and epidemiology-related geospatial visual analytics applications and examples of free software tools that readers can experiment with, such as Google Public Data Explorer. The authors also present a practical demonstration of geospatial visual analytics using partial data for 35 countries from a publicly available World Health Organization (WHO) mortality dataset and Microsoft Live Labs Pivot technology, a free, general purpose visual analytics tool that offers a fresh way to visually browse and arrange massive amounts of data and images online and also supports geographic and temporal classifications of datasets featuring geospatial and temporal components. Interested readers can download a Zip archive (included with the manuscript as an additional file) containing all files, modules and library functions used to deploy the WHO mortality data Pivot collection described in this paper