The Experiences of Highly Educated Nigerian Immigrants in the United States

As the Child of Brain Drainers ( Highly educated immigrants that moved from a developing country to a developed country) and a soon to be highly educated African immigrant, I often ponder the effects of immigration on the families of those who immigrated as well as countries within the African continent. Oftentimes, African countries are perceived as stagnant places where progress may seem impossible because of corruption, poverty and their failing economies. Therefore, for an African to immigrate to a western country is not something unusual; this seems to be a common pattern. The narrative seems to be that if you have a chance to leave the continent, you should. It seems to be something so normal that we rarely question why people immigrate. The objective of this paper is to explore the push and pull factors of the emigration to the United States of highly educated Nigerian immigrants and their families, a subgroup of African immigrants. Push factors are the reasons why immigrants are leaving their countries of birth. Pull factors are the reasons why immigrants move to the receiving civilizations or the destination countries. This paper will also describe the experiences of highly educated (People with a bachelor\u27s degree or more) Nigerian born citizens living in the United States, speak of the effects of the increasing immigration of African immigrants or the brain drain (Void created in developing countries when many highly educated and skilled people immigrate out), highlight some of the expectations of highly educated immigrants, and speak of the effects of the increasing immigration of African immigrants on Nigeria\u27s brain drain

Neighbors in Conflict

Originally published in 1978. Millions of immigrants seeking a better life came to New York City in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ronald H. Bayor's study details how the relative tranquility among the city's four major ethnic groups was disturbed by economic depression, political divisions arising out of ties with the Old Country, and factional strife stirred up by local politicians seeking ethnic votes. Also evaluated are the effects of such emotional and political issues such as Nazism and Fascism upon the allegiances of Germans and Italians; the rift in the ethnic community caused by the communist scare; and the influence of such figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Father Charles Coughlin, and Fiorello La Guardia

The Alienation of Jezebel: Reading the Deuteronomic Historian\u27s Portrait of Jezebel in the Contemporary Global Context

Even the casual reader of the books of Kings will notice that the Deuteronomic Historian assigns a disproportionately large amount narrated time (Erzählzeit) to the reign of the house of Ahab (1 Kgs 16:29-2 Kgs 10). This is surprising because, in the judgment of the Deuteronomic Historian, “no one sold himself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH as did Ahab, incited by Jezebel, his wife.” (1Kgs 21:25). Why does the Deuteronomic Historian dedicate so much narrated space not only to Ahab but especially to the character and deeds of his wife, Jezebel? And why in this narrative does the Deuteronomic Historian craft such an unprecedentedly abhorrent and objectionable portrait of Jezebel that makes her completely unacceptable even surpassing the evil of her husband? Recent scholarly research has provided a convincing picture of 9th-8th centuries B.C.E. Israel, the setting of the Jezebel story. Ironically, the research discloses a heterogeneous society that enjoyed great diversity, accommodated a variety of deities, hosted a multiplicity of ethnicities with an array of interlocking cultures. This would be a society in which a foreign-born queen like Phoenician Jezebel would not be an anomaly but would be accepted and at home in such an environment. But the deuteronomic narrative about her suggests otherwise. Today, scholarship is almost unanimous in its view that the final redaction of the Deuteronomic History occurred in Judah in the exilic and post-exilic era. Although Judah was permitted to rebuild after the exile, it had to grapple with significant socio-cultural and religious changes and in particular, it had to define a new self-understanding. This dissertation argues that the Deuteronomic Historian’s alienating portrait of Jezebel coincides with and serves the interests of the change in Israel’s self-conceptualization, a change precipitated by the post-exilic crisis of identity. The narrative paints a portrait of Jezebel as ethnically, religiously and culturally unIsraelite. Her unacceptability in the narrative coincides with the exclusiveness that haracterized this redefinition of the Israelite community. It offers the Yehud community a clear distinction between what is Israelite and what is not

Influence of Information Availability and Use on Economic Integration of Small Scale Business Owners: The Role of Libraries

The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of information availability and use on the Economic Integration (EI) of small scale business owners, and the roles of libraries. This was achieved with the aid of five research questions and four null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted the embedded type of the mixed research design. The quantitative component employed a survey research of the correlational type for research questions one to four and the research hypotheses. This was complemented or supported by a qualitative component that addresses research question five. . The target population for the study comprised of sixty-two (62) small scale business owners in University of Ibadan community. Total enumeration was adopted as the sampling technique due to the manageable population. The closed-ended questionnaire was used to elicit data for the quantitative component of the study while structured interview elicited data for the qualitative component. Data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation, multiple regression and ANOVA).The study found that small scale business owners in University of Ibadan community had high level of economic integration, information was highly available to them and their level of information use was high. Also, information availability and use, individually and jointly influenced economic integration. The authors concluded that how economically integrated small scale business owners will be, is determined by how much information they utilize. Recommendations were made on how libraries could foster EI in line with the study

The modulation of haemolytic activity of non-ionic surfactants by oil-in-water microemulsions as vehicles for parental drug delivery

Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable, clear, transparent fluid dispersions of oil, water, and surfactant, but may include a cosurfactant typically a short chain alcohol. The unique properties of microemulsions make them suitable candidates as vehicles for improving parenteral drug delivery. In the present study, we report of our investigations into the ability of some commercial non-ionic surfactants to produce o/w microemulsions with different oils and water or phosphate buffered saline (PBS), their physicochemical properties and modulation of haemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. The compositions over which clear o/w microemulsion systems formed and their areas of existence were dependent on the structure of the non-ionic surfactant and the oil incorporated. The clear o/w microemulsion systems remained clear and stable even on dilution with water or PBS. The haemolytic activities of the micellar solutions of the non-ionic surfactants were dependent on the nature and concentration of the surfactant. Generally, the clear o/w microemulsion systems were greatly less haemolytic than their corresponding micellar solutions at equivalent concentrations of surfactant. This indicated a high modulation of the haemolytic activity of the surfactants by the microemulsion formulations. The modulation of haemolytic activity was greatest with microemulsions formulated with the highest possible oil/surfactant ratios. The use of relatively longer triglycerides (oils) greatly enhanced the modulation activity of the resultant microemulsions. Our findings signified a high level of safety associated with the o/w microemulsions and lent a good support and credence to the high potential of microemulsions as suitable and safe vehicles for parenteral drug administration.Journal of Science and Technology (Ghana) Vol. 27 (2) 2007: pp. 41-5

Genetic variation in height and diameter of tamarack (Larix Laricina) and their correlation with syllepsis

The broad sense heritability of total height, annual height increment, diameter, volume index and syllepsis of II provenances of tamarack in northwestern Ontario were examined. Genetic and Pearson Product Moment correlations among these characters were also examined. Broad sense heritability ranged from O.I3 at age three to 0.36 at age 11 for total height among provenances. Broad sense heritability within individual provenances generally increased from age three to age II but showed no geographic trend. Genetic age-age correlation between total height at ages three and 1I was 0.61. Number of sylleptic long shoots at age three and four correlated better with height at age II than height at the early ages. Good correlation between height and diameter suggests that both height and diameter could be improved by selecting for total height

Perception of External Control, Effort Expectancy and Use of Electronic Information Resources by Undergraduates in Selected Universities in Nigeria

The study examined the relationship between external control, effort expectancy and use of EIRs among undergraduates in two selected universities in Oyo State, Nigeria. The survey research design of correlational type was adopted for this study across undergraduates in Ajayi Crowther University (N=1,619) and Lead City University (N=2,046), with a total population of 3,665. The study found that both independent variables of external control and effort expectancy had individual significant relationship with undergraduates’ use of EIRs. Also, there was a significant positive relationship between perception of external control and effort expectancy in the use of EIRs. Both independent variables when taken together significantly influence use of EIRs among the undergraduates. The study concludes that the level of EIRs use in the universities understudied will be a function of available control or facilitating condition and the ease in using these resources. Recommendations for the study were made according

Community Participation in Poverty Reduction Interventions: Examiningthe Factors that impact on the Community-Based Organisation (CBO) Empowerment Project in Ghana

Masters in Public Administration - MPAHence, in this mini-thesis I argue that community participation does not automatically facilitate gains for the poor. My main assumption is that internal rigidities in communities, such as weak social capital, culture, trust and reciprocity, affect mutual cooperation towards collective community gains. I used two communities, where a community empowerment project is implemented, as a case study to demonstrate that the success of community participation is contingent on the stocks of social capital in the community. The results show that the responsiveness of the two communities to the project activities differs with the stocks of social capital. I found that trust among community members facilitates information flow in the community. The level of trust is also related to the sources of information of community members about development activities in the community. I also found that solidarity is an important dimension of social capital, which determines community members’ willingness to help one another and to participate in activities towards collective community gain. The research also demonstrated that perception of community members about target beneficiaries of projects - whether they represent the interest of the majority of the community or only the interest of community leaders - influences the level of confidence and ownership of the project. From my research findings, I concluded that, in order for community participation to work successfully, development managers need to identify the stocks of social capital in the community that will form the basis to determine the level of engagement with community members in the participatory process.South Afric

How can Local Transitional Justice Mechanisms Work Towards Measures of Non-Recurrence?

This dissertation examines questions of local agency and inclusion. It develops a conceptual understanding of whether, and if so how, local customary justice mechanisms could serve as guarantees of non-recurrence. It looks at how grassroots practices of “justice” could be utilized at the community level to deter the commission of future abuses and prevent the repetition of violent conflict, especially where the state has been completely absent. It specifically explores Acholi indigenous and customary practices of peacemaking and justice in Northern Uganda to understand how local practices could secure a lasting peace and cement communities’ commitment to peaceful coexistence. While the prevailing literature tends to conceptualize measures of non-recurrence as being the purview of a formal state and governmental apparatus, this conceptualization is based on a narrow idea that state actors are the dominant perpetrators of violence in armed conflicts. However, recent structural shifts in armed conflict demonstrate that non-state armed actors equally commit severe atrocities, resulting in varying degrees of state control, ranging from perennial weakness to complete absence. Therefore, I argue that to effectively terminate violence and prevent the future reoccurrence of violent conflict, measures of non-recurrence must be viewed as a holistic approach that engages a series of actors at different levels, especially non-state armed actors and traditional institutions of conflict management at the local level. Through the lens of social constructivism, I advance three explanations about how locally-based customary justice could help prevent the recurrence of violent conflict. First, I argue that the various customary justice instruments of how victims and perpetrators make amends at the community level could provide ex-combatants the best route to safely reintegrate into civilian life, which could, in turn, promote peaceful coexistence and reduce the likelihood of ex-combatants’ return to join armed groups. Second, customary justice and other traditional conflict management instruments such as local peace deals could also terminate localized violence, thereby serving as the springboard for broader peace processes to emerge at the national level. Third, the communal orientation of customary justice could serve as social control and accountability mechanism, which could perform a social deterrent function to prevent ex-fighters from returning to combat life