Leadership Behaviour and Worker Performance in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Leadership is a dynamic process in which an individual influence other to contribute to the achievement of an assigned task. This paper investigates leadership behaviour and its impact on construction workers’ performance in Lagos, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 50 site-supervisors and 250 construction-workers involved in simple construction works. An investigation was carried out using a questionnaire survey method. The leadership variables investigated were ranked, regressed and correlated to workers performance. From the primary data analysis, leadership behaviour exhibited by supervisors were found to influence the site workers commitment to achieving the goal of the construction projects. The most exhibited leadership behaviour on the studied construction site is transformational leadership behaviour with an overall mean score of 4.09. There also exists a positive linear correlation of transactional leadership behaviour with construction workers performance. Findings revealed that the adoption of laissez-faire leadership behaviour results in negative correlation with construction workers performance. The study concludes that the success of construction projects depends on the project manager and its employees, therefore leadership qualities is an important skill that everyone in the construction industry should possess as it enhances the timely delivery of construction works

A Study of Neem Seed Husk Ash as Partial Replacement for Cement in Concrete

The production of neem products from neem tree generates large quantity of waste annually. There is need to reduce environmental pollution resulting from neem seed covering. Therefore, the use of Neem Seed Husk Ash (NSHA) as partial substitution for cement in concrete was investigated. Neem seed husk was obtained from Bishop Smith Memorial College, Ilorin, Nigeria; sun – dried for 3 days and then calcined at 650o C. The calcined neem seed husk was ground and sieved using 200 μm sieve to obtain NSHA. Pozzolanicity test was conducted on NSHA to determine its chemical composition. Concrete was produced with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% by weight of NSHA substitution for ordinary Portland cement. Workability tests (slump and compacting factor) were performed on fresh concrete while compressive strength test was conducted on 150 mm cubes at ages 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56, 90 and 180 days for the hardened concrete. NSHA mainly comprises Al2O3, SiO2 and Fe2O3 with a combined percentage of 75.35%.  The slump and compacting factors of NSHA concrete ranged from 5.50 mm to 10.00 mm and 0.91 to 0.95, respectively. The compressive strength at 180 days decreased from 26.9 N/mm2 to 19.4 N/mm2 as the NSHA content increased from 5% to 25%. Only 5% NSHA substitution is adequate to enjoy maximum benefit of strength gain

Youths’ perception on cashew production towards poverty reduction.

The study assessed youth perception on cashew production towards reducing poverty in Osun State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are; to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the youths involved in cashew production, identify the factors that encourage the involvement of youths in cashew production and examine the perception of youth about cashew production in Osun State. A multistage sampling procedure was adopted to select 96 respondents and structural interview scheduled was used to collect data from the selected respondents. The data collected were subjected to descriptive analysis such as frequency counts, percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential analysis such as chi-square analysis to test for the hypothesis. Results show that the majority (83.3%) of the youths  that involved in cashew production are male, with mean age of 30.94 ± 2.4 years, an average farm size of 2.19 ± 0.45 hectares and average annual income of ₦164,844 00K ± ₦41,965.40K ($457.9 ±$116.6). About 53.1 percent of the respondents practice cashew farming mainly to earn a living. Findings from the study show those factors such as unemployment in non-agricultural sectors; favourable environment for cashew production including marketing availability and provide employment opportunity among others are motivational factors that enhances their involvement. Furthermore, source of information (χ2=32.331, p ≤0.01)), sex (χ2=7.513, p ≤0.05), marital status (χ2= 10.603, p ≤0.05) and reason for practicing cashew farming (χ2=29.766, p ≤0.05) had a positive and significant association with perception of youths towards cashew production. The study concluded that youths had a positive perception of cashew production and recommended among others that trainings in cashew value chain activities should be organized by agricultural development stakeholders to promote youth involvement in cashew value chain activities

Youths’ involvement in oil palm (Elaeis Guineensis) fruit processing activities

This study assessed the youths’ involvement in oil palm fruit processing activities in Ondo State, Nigeria. It described the socio-economic characteristics of youths involved in oil palm fruit processing activities, determined their level of involvement, examined their perception and identified constraints associated with their involvement. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 120 respondents from the study area. Interview schedule was employed to collect relevant data, which was analysed with SPSS software package. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data while inferential statistics were used to draw inference on hypothesis. The results show that majority (63.3%) were male, 95.8% had formal education with a mean age of 27.2 ± 2.7 years. Picking of fresh fruit bunches ( = 2.71), packaging ( = 2.60) and gathering of bunches ( = 2.50) were the major activities youth involved in. Higher percentage (57.9%) of the youth had favourable perception towards involvement in oil palm fruit processing activities. Lack of modern processing facilities ( =3.65) and funds/inadequate credit facilities ( = 3.65) were the prime constraints to their involvement. Number of labour (r = 0.7460; p≤0.01) and income (r = 0.601; p≤0.01) of the respondents were significantly related to youth involvement. The study concluded that youth had moderate involvement in oil palm processing activities. However, agricultural development stakeholders like government should provide adequate and functional credits facilities to these youths to encourage their involvement

POTABILITY AND IRRIGATION POTENTIAL OF GROUNDWATER SOURCES AT THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

Groundwater is an important source of freshwater and its quality determines it’s potential for domestic and agricultural use. Water samples from ten boreholes located within the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria were collected and analysed for physico-chemical and bacteriological properties, cations and metals using standard procedures. Results were compared with the regulatory standards while water quality index (WQI) method was used to classify the water potability. Potential of groundwater for irrigation was investigated using appropriate indices. The range of values for the measured parameters include: pH: 6.9 – 7.82; electrical conductivity(EC): 127 – 650 μS/cm; total dissolved solids (TDS): 58 to 284 mg/L; magnesium (Mg2+): 10 - 61 mg/L; nitrates (NO3-): 0.01 – 1.38 mg/L; iron (Fe): 0.02 – 0.05 mg/L; biological oxygen demand (BOD): 0.1 – 2.83 mg/L and total coliform: ND - 28×10cfu/mL. Majority of the water quality parameters fell within regulatory limits with the exception of magnesium and total coliforms. Escherichia coli, an indicator of faecal contamination was also absent in the water samples. On the average, groundwater within the study area has a WQI = 46.3 and can be classified to be of good quality for domestic use.  Sodium absorption ratio (SAR) was less than 10% and Magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR) was less 50 %, and are therefore classified as of excellent quality for irrigation purpose. Soluble sodium percentage (SSP) values range between 11.1 and 51 %. All samples were found to be good or fair for irrigation purpose with no harmful effects to the soil.     &nbsp

Stakeholder identification methods used in private organisations’ projects in Nigeria

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine the stakeholder identification (SI) methods used in building projects procured by private corporate organisations in Southwestern Nigeria to draw a correlation between methods used for SI and project performance in the study area, thereby enhancing project performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a census survey to purposively select 30 projects managers (who indicated from a first-stage questionnaire) that they have participated in structured stakeholder management (SM) from a list of 106 project managers and client representatives who have been involved in SM of building projects procured by private corporate organisations between 2008 and 2017 in the study area. A second-stage questionnaire was designed to elicit information from the respondents. The quantitative data that were collected were analysed using mean score (MS) analysis and Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings – The study found that brainstorming in group meetings (MS = 4.33), interviews with the expert (MS = 3.20) and identification by other stakeholders (MS = 3.00) are the most frequently used SI methods in the study area. It was also found that the use of a questionnaire (MS = 0.87), Delphi method (MS = 0.80) and public hearing (MS = 0.57) was rare for SI in the study area. A further result showed that there was no significant difference in the opinion of project managers on 85% of methods used for SI in the study area irrespective of the procurement method employed. Practical implications – The study examined the methods project managers used for SI on building projects procured by private corporate organisations to advocate for more robust and all-inclusive SI methods. Originality/value – The study empirically examined methods used for SI and correlated them to project performance

Stigma and utilization of treatment for adolescent perinatal depression in Ibadan Nigeria

This study identified predisposing, enabling, and hindering factors to health services utilization by adolescent mothers. Approximately 95% of all births to girls under age 18 occur in low- and middle -income countries (LMICs), where supporting infrastructure for healthcare is limited. Depression is a common and severe disorder among low-income adolescent mothers, where treatment often includes stigmatizing attitudes towards adolescent sexuality by healthcare providers. The study recognizes that it is difficult for someone young to enforce anything at home because they are not autonomous

Responding to the challenge of adolescent perinatal depression (RAPiD) : protocol for a cluster randomized hybrid trial of psychosocial intervention in primary maternal care

The project, “Responding to the challenge of adolescent perinatal depression (RAPiD)” is designed to address the need for interventions, as well as demonstrate effectiveness of interventions, for depressive disorders among adolescent mothers. The article provides a detailed proposal outline including background information and methodology of the RAPiD programme development and objectives, including conducting a comprehensive process evaluation to assess the barriers and facilitators of scaling up the intervention. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of interventions delivered to adolescents with perinatal depression. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 11% of all births worldwide are to girls aged between 15 and 19 years

Assessment of the impact of communication strategy (Radio Jingle) on the awareness of and the production of indigenous vegetables in Southwestern Nigeria

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)The IDRC-GAC (Global Affairs Canada) project on “Synergizing fertilizer micro-dosing and indigenous vegetable production to enhance food and economic security of West African farmers” project utilized a branded radio program “Ramo Elefo” (or Ramo, the Vegetable Seller) to create awareness about products and innovations promoted by the project as well as to effectively mobilize the general populace in adopting the innovations made popular by the project. The project intensively used three major mass media: radio, TV, newspapers/magazines. The media strategy reached up to 8 million people in Benin Republic and more than 10 million in Nigeria