Exploring Cultural Expression's Effectiveness in Nigerian Tourist Destinations for Enhanced User Experience

Nigeria's cultural assets have made it a prominent tourism landmark in Africa. Cultural tourism has become a thriving sector, with creative industries leveraging cultural expressions to promote tourist destinations. However, many destinations face challenges in effectively packaging culture into tangible products and integrating it into architecture to enhance tourist satisfaction. This research explores the effectiveness of cultural expression in enriching user experiences and identifies various approaches to expressing and commodifying culture to attract tourists. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, using case studies and questionnaires to gather and analyze information. The findings demonstrate that cultural expression significantly contributes to user satisfaction and the preservation of cultural assets in tourist centers. Prioritizing the cultural needs of tourists is crucial for tourist destinations to attract visitors and provide exceptional experiences, fostering consistent growth and development. Recommendations for the tourism industry include understanding and meeting the cultural preferences of tourists, creating an environment that appeals to visitors and ensures their continued engagement, ultimately contributing to the sustainable progress and prosperity of tourist destinations. Keywords: Cultural Assets, Cultural Expression, Exploration, Nigerian Tourists’ Destinations, User experience DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/71-04 Publication date:July 31st 202

Educational Expenditure and Economic Growth Nexus in Nigeria (1987-2016)

This study empirically investigated educational expenditure and economic growth nexus in Nigeria using secondary and times series data from 1987 to 2016, sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other agencies and sources. Relevant statistical tools were employed in exploring the relationships between these variables. The random characteristics of the variables were tested using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) technique. The links among educational expenditure, education sectoral output and economic growth were tested via the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and bound test approach developed by Pesaran and Shin. Four research hypotheses were tested. The literature reviewed guided the interpretation of the results. The population for the study was Nigeria. The findings show that educational expenditure was inconsistent with education sectoral output. On the other hand, while recurrent educational expenditure exhibited significant relationship with real gross domestic product (economic growth), in contrast, capital expenditure on education was insignificant. Generally, the study concluded that the impact of educational expenditure on real GDP is mainly a function of the expenditure type in Nigeria. This is premised on the fact that only recurrent educational expenditure had both positive and significant long-run impact on economic growth within the period of study. The study attributed these findings to the fact that educational expenditure within the period of study was distorted by extraneous factors such as policy mismatch, inadequate funding, less priority placed on capital expenditure, fund misappropriation, etc. The study recommends that in line with international standards, the educational system of Nigeria requires an institutional transformation in terms of policy formulation, implementation and monitoring as well as funding. Also, priority must be given to capital expenditures to translate to economic growth

Nexus Between Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Commitment in Selected Private Universities in South West, Nigeria

This study investigated the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in private universities in South West, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the nexus between Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and employees’ commitment in selected private universities in South West, Nigeria. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The study population frame is 3,261 (three thousand two hundred and sixty-one) involving all academic staff members from the selected private universities. The Taro Yamane formula was used to statistically determine the sample size, which was 356 (three hundred and fifty-six). The study used primary data and collected responses from respondents in the selected private universities in South West, Nigeria through a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics employed for data analysis were frequency counts, simple percentages, bar charts, mean scores, and standard deviations, while the inferential statistics utilized was the multiple linear regression with the aid of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 23. The findings of the study revealed that, HRM strategies have a substantial impact on employee commitment at a number of private universities in South West, Nigeria (β=1.001; t = 27.947, p<.05). The study concluded that the adoption of HRM practices such as employee evaluation and pension benefits has improved organizational performance in private universities in South West Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that to allow for increased organizational commitment, the variables of HRM practices namely training and development programmes, employee evaluation and pension benefits needs to be employed by universities and it should be modelled in such a way that the employers can make use of it for their universities operations

Evaluation of lactic acid bacteria viability and anti-diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli activities of non-alcoholic fermented beverage ‘Kunu’

Kunu is a non-alcoholic fermented cereal beverage consumed primarily as a refreshing drink. This study investigated the effects of storage conditions on viability of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) in kunu and the antibacterial effects of Kunu against diarrhoea caused by Escherichia coli strains. Kunu was prepared according to local traditional method. Viability counts of LAB in kunu stored at two different conditions, cold (4 ℃ average) and room temperature (26 ℃ average), were evaluated. Isolated LAB from kunu were identified by partial sequencing of 16S rRNA gene. Five pathotypes of diarrhoea caused by E. coli strains were co-cultured with kunu to evaluate its antimicrobial activities. Viable LAB count in kunu ranged from 5.0 x 109 to 1.0 x 1011 cfu/mL. Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides were identified from kunu. There is a drastic decrease (2-5 log reduction) in E. coli strains co-cultured with kunu. The observed high viable counts of beneficial LAB in kunu with its antimicrobial activities against diarrhoeaogenic E. coli strains indicates that kunu is not just a refreshing drink, but it also has antimicrobial potential against diarrhoea caused by E. coli

Sales of Medicinal Forest Tree Barks in Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria

The marketing of forest tree barks used for medicinal purposes were investigated in some markets in Abeokuta metropolis. This was to provide the much needed information on the sellers, buyers and producers of these products for sustainable production and maximum socio-economic benefits. This study identified 43 species being sold in the market places sampled namely Kuto, Omida, Itoku, Lafenwa, Iberekodo and Elega. Almost the same species were traded in all the markets sampled. This study further revealed that the trade of forest tree barks is pre-dominated by women accounting for 93.3% of the total respondent. Fifty one percent of the respondents were recorded among the youths between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. Forest tree bark sales were found to contribute to the monthly income of the respondents. For instance more than half of them earned between N7,500 and N10,000 as monthly incomes from bark sales. A total of 62 or 41.33% or the total respondents were found to earn more than the State Government minimum wage of N4,600 monthly. The Chi-square statistical analysis showed that there was a relationship between income earned by the respondents and the location of the markets. African Research Review Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 65-7

Metropolitan Infrastructure and Property Values: An African Experience

This paper evaluated impact of infrastructure in residential property on its property values in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total number of 450 questionnaires were administered out of which 423 questionnaires were retrieved. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected for the study). The study revealed that burglary proof was seen as the strongest index of satisfaction in the study area, this was followed by security guard. Kitchen and fenced round ranked third and fourth respectively, while bathroom/toilet and access road ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Water supply ranked seventh, while drainage channel ranked lowest in the study area. The paper concluded that property developers that want to invest in residential buildings development should endeavor to provide infrastructure that will attractive rental values on their residential property in Ibadan in particular and towns and cities in developing nations

EFFECTIVE ALKALINE PEROXIDE OXIDATION PRETREATMENT OF SHEA TREE SAWDUST FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOFUELS: KINETICS OF DELIGNIFICATION AND ENZYMATIC CONVERSION TO SUGAR AND SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL BY FERMENTATION USING Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Shea tree sawdust delignification kinetic data during alkaline peroxide pretreatment were investigated at temperatures of 120 °C, 135 °C, and 150 °C. The activation energy during delignification was 76.4 kJ/mol and the Arrhenius constant was calculated as 8.4 x 106 per min. The reducing sugar yield for the treated to the untreated biomass was about 22-fold. Enzymatic hydrolysis conditions studied were; time (72 h and 96 h), substrate concentration (20, 30, 40, and 50 g/L), and enzyme loadings (10, 25, 40, 50 FPU/g dry biomass), which showed the optimum conditions of 96 h, 40 g/L, and 25 FPU/g dry biomass at 45 °C hydrolysis temperature. At the optimized enzymatic hydrolysis conditions, the reducing sugar yield was 416.32 mg equivalent glucose/g treated dry biomass. After 96 h fermentation of treated biomass, the ethanol obtained at 2% effective cellulose loading was 12.73 g/L. Alkaline peroxide oxidation pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis improved the ethanol yield of the biomass

Antifungal Potential of Four Aloe Species

Increase in the use of biologically based fungicides for controlling plant and human pathogens in the recent years have led to this research to determine the efficacy of solvent type, to determine the best species of aloe for breeding new variety with more potent biocides for controlling these fungal pathogens under reducing the use of synthetic fungicides which have long term adverse effect on the environment, plant and the end users. The biocides of the leaves and the roots of four species of aloe (Aloe keayi, Aloe macrocarpa var. major, Aloe schwenfurthii and Aloe vera) were extracted with four different solvents (i.e. acetone, ethanol, methanol and hot water) while their fungicidal properties were investigated against three fungal pathogens of crops (Sclerotium rolfsii, Trichoderma rubrum and Colletotrichum lindemuthiamum). The result shows that A. macrocarpa var. major and A. schwenfurthii are the most suitable parental genotypes for the breeding of an aloe with more potent biocides

Effect of thermal ageing treatment on the mechanical properties of antimony-modified A356.0-type Al-Si-Mg alloy

Studies have been made on the mechanical properties upon thermal ageing of a sand cast antimony-modified A356-type Al-Si-Mg alloy. The produced alloy was solution heat treated at 540oC/1 h then subjected to thermal ageing treatment at 180oC for 1-5 h. There mechanical properties; Tensile properties, Hardness and Impact strength were used as criterion. From the results, the tensile properties and hardness increased with thermal ageing treatment. While the impact energy and elongation decreased upon ageing. The tensile properties of antimony-modified Al-Si-Mg alloy improved with ageing time and that the microstructures indicate spherodization of the silicon flakes to fine structures, which account for the improved propertie

Utilization of lignocellulosic waste for ethanol production: Enzymatic digestibility and fermentation of pretreated shea tree sawdust

Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation methods were evaluated on alkaline peroxide pretreated shea tree sawdust conversion to ethanol. Optimum pretreatment conditions of 120 oC reaction temperature, 30 min reaction time, and 20 mL L−1 of water hydrogen peroxide concentration (1%(v/v)H2O2) solubilized 679 g kg−1 of hemicellulose and 172 g kg−1 of lignin. 617 g kg−1 cellulose was retained in the solid fraction. The maximum yield of reducing sugar with optimized enzyme loadings by two enzyme preparations (cellulase and β-glucosidase) was 165 g kg−1 of dry biomass. The ethanol yield was 7.35 g L−1 after 72 h incubation period under the following conditions: 2% cellulose loading, enzyme concentration was 25 FPU (g cellulose)−1 loading, yeast inoculums was 10% (v/v), 32 oC, and pH 4.8. The pretreatments gave information about the hindrances caused by lignin presence in lignocellulosic materials and that hemicelluloses are better hydrolyzed than lignin, thereby enhancing enzymatic digestibility of the sawdust materia