Information needs and access of Members of Vigilante in Adamawa State, North -East Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study investigated the Information needs and access of Members of Vigilante in Adamawa state, North-eastern Nigeria, one of the three states bedeviled by the Boko Haram insurgency. Quantitative research methodology and Cross-sectional survey design was applied for the study. The population of the study comprised of One Thousand Four Hundred Members (1400) drawn from Nineteen (19) local governments areas in the state. Krejcie and Morgan Table (1970) was used to draw (302) members as sample of the population, while Walpole’s (1982) formula for proportions was used in arriving at a sample for each stratum (i.e. each local government area). In collecting data, a total of Three Hundred and Two (302) copies of questionnaires were administered, and Two Hundred and Forty 240 copies (79.47%) were returned and found useful. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The outcome of the study revealed that the information needs of members were daily mainly work related and from informal sources, as there were no public libraries/information centers in 17 local governments’ areas of the state. The outcome of the research also revealed barriers to information access to include general lack of formal information infrastructure such as libraries/information centers, poor and unreliable informal information sources, as well as lack of training on information literacy skills for members of Vigilante. It is recommended that there is a need for those involved in vigilante information delivery to continuously examine and identify evolving information needs of members of vigilante in order to meet such needs. Government should resuscitate the dying public libraries in all the local government areas of Adamawa state to provide information services. Libraries should organize training on information literacy and other information use skills for members of vigilante, because if this is done, it will enhance and improve information access across communities in Adamawa state. Finally, information resources be repackaged in order to take care of challenges of proximity to sources of information, language barrier and other challenges faced by members of vigilante

“Pure Water” Sale and its Socio - Economic Implications in Nigeria.

The study aim to show the gradual acceptance of buying water in the open market across Nigeria. The commoditization of water is most manifest in the boom of packaged water, especially the ones in sachets popularly called ‘pure water’. The initial position of the government was to ignore the industry as part of the informal economy. After considerable concerns were raised on public health grounds that water merchants were selling ‘pure gutter’ instead of ‘pure water’, the government, through the National Agency for Food and Drugs Control (NAFDAC) intervened to regulate standards. Proprietors of packaged water are expected to apply for licenses which can only be issued after inspection of their facility by NAFDAC officials. Consumers are advised to patronize only packaged water with NAFDAC number, which is supposed to come with a certification of quality. The paper also examined the socio-economic implications of “pure water” sale, taken cognisance of the policies and reforms on water supply in Nigeria historically. Content analysis through the review of Secondary sources was used. The sale of packaged water will help to ease the hardship in accessing portable water, but the need for tight measures for ensuring its purity by regulatory bodies is paramount

Monetary Reward and Teachers’ Performance in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Kano State

This is a conceptual study that intends to examine the relationship between monetary reward and teachers’ performance in Some Selected Kano State public secondary schools. Secondary schools are the bridge between primary education and higher institutions in Nigeria. The need for students to acquire more knowledge and skills beyond primary level in Nigeria has become imperative and hence the need for secondary school education. Therefore, teachers performance is of utmost concern since improvement of teachers’ performance can lead to effective performance of students and the education sector at large. The study is going to be quantitative and will adopt survey research design. Cluster sampling technique will be used to obtain responses from the sample of 375 teachers. Regression analysis will be used for Data analysis through SPSS version 17. Keywords: Monetary reward, Performance, Teachers, Motivatio

Adoption and economic assessment of Integrated Striga Management (ISM) technologies for smallholder maize farmers in Northern Nigeria.

Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.The agricultural sector plays a crucial role in Nigeria. According to a recent report released by the Food and Agriculture organisation and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the agriculture sector contributed only 20% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the year 2014. The sector remains critical to national food security, wealth creation, employment generation and above all poverty reduction, as over 70% of the workforce is engaged in the sector either directly or indirectly. However, the sector is being constrained by many factors. Significant among them are the infestation of the parasitic weed, Striga, drought, low soil nitrogen and climate change. Globally, the estimate of the land area affected and under threat by Striga spp. is about 44 million hectares (ha) of cultivable land. This weed impinges on the livelihoods of more than 100 million smallholder farmers. Striga mostly affects land planted with cereals, which lead to a substantial loss of cereal yield ranging between 10% and 100%, depending on crop and variety. Host plants severely affected are cowpea and cereals like rice and sugarcane. Cereal is usually the most severely damaged crops, followed by cowpea. The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) estimated that over 822,000 ha of maize farms in Nigeria is infested by Striga, which represents about 34% of the total farmland in Africa. Striga decreases maize productivity by 20% to 100%, sometimes leaving farmers with no harvest and little or no food. Based on the initial study output obtained in the Bauchi and Kano states, the major constraints plaguing maize and cowpea growing areas in the study region were identified to be Striga, stem borers, termites, storage insects, low and erratic rainfall, water logging, and low input. The majority of farmers (over 80%) in the surveyed states reported Striga as the most important constraint upon maize production. As a result of the intensity of Striga’s occurrence in northern Nigeria and its damaging effect on cereal and legume crops, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) commissioned and initiated an Integrated Striga Management in Africa (ISMA) project in collaboration with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), the Bayero University Kano (BUK), the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), the Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA) and the Bauchi State Agricultural Development Programme (BSADP). The ISMA is an extension project being implemented in two states, Kano and Bauchi, with a lag period of four years, starting from 2011-2014. Specifically STR varieties and other Striga management technologies needed to be developed in order to curb with Striga problems. This action was essential considering the economic importance of cereal production, particularly maize, and the magnitude of investment made towards improving maize production such as doubling the maize project via the Federal Government and donor agencies in northern Nigeria. There is a need to understand why many farmers are not adopting the ISM technologies despite its suitability and ease of application. At this stage, there is also a lack of research on the prospect of adoption and the economic benefits of using ISM technologies in northern Nigeria. This study was, therefore, an attempt to address these knowledge gaps. Furthermore, it provided an opportunity to draft relevant policy and management implications to inform future strategies in the agricultural sector, particularly in maize production. The specific objectives of the study were (i) to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of maize-producing households and their perceptions of ISM technology attributes in the study area; (ii) to determine factors influencing farming households’ potential adoption and intensity of adoption of ISM technologies in the study area; (iii) to estimate the potential impact of ISM technology adoption on livelihood improvement, income and food security of maize-farming households in the study area; and (iv) to assess the financial and economic profitability, and identify the constraints upon the adoption of ISM technologies at smallholder farm level in the study area. The data used for this study were collected by means of a multi-stage sampling procedure from a cross-section of 643 respondents selected from 80 communities (353 adopters and 290 non-adopters from both project intervention areas (PIAs) and non-project intervention areas (NPIAs). The results revealed a significant overall adoption rate of 55% of the targeted population in the study area. The difference in performance in terms of adoption between PIAs and NPIAs was 11%. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of on-farm trial evaluations with farmers through organized field days. Thus, the scaling out of the technologies to NPIAs will help potential adopters to make more informed decisions in eliminating Striga. In addition to on-farm trials and field days, the improvement of public knowledge about ISM technologies can be achieved through mass public education and awareness programmes. Results from the double hurdle regressions showed that the estimated coefficients of exogenous income and distance to extension office had a negative impact on adoption. Higher total farm income, polygamous households, past participation in on-farm trials, awareness of the technology, contact with extension agents and access to cash remittances had a positive impact and are the most significant factors likely to influence ISM technology adoption. Marital status, household size, farm size and access to cash remittances are the most significant factors influencing adoption intensity. Maize farmers in the study area, who adopted ISM technologies, were found to have obtained higher output than non-adopters, resulting in a positive and significant effect on their total farm income. Hence, policies targeted at increasing maize productivity through Striga management need to include ISM technologies as a potentially feasible option. This study recommends actions to improve farmers’ access to financial services in order to increase their liquidity. Nevertheless, immediate action will be an improvement in farmers’ access to extension services, as they have demonstrated to be a reliable source of information in rural areas. Results from the TE regression model indicated that adoption of ISM technologies played a positive role in enhancing farm productivity of rural households, with adopters producing about 47% higher maize output than that of non-adopters (p<0.001) after controlling for selection bias and endogeneity. Also, the result from the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) index showed that adopters are not as poor in terms of household income per adult equivalent when compared to non-adopters. The result from the endogenous switching regression (ESR), which accounts for heterogeneity in the decision to adopt or not, indicated that ISM technologies have a positive effect on farmers’ income, as measured by farm income levels per adult equivalent. It was also found that ISM adoption increased farming income by 66%, although the impact of technology on farming income was smaller for farm households who did adopt the technology than for those who did not adopt it. In the counterfactual situation, however, if non-adopters had adopted the technology, they would have gotten more benefit than adopters. It implies that the integrated approach to Striga management is beneficial to smallholder farmers and need to be scaled out to other areas prone to Striga. Results from the economic impact analysis also indicated that gross margins (GM), benefit-cost ratio (BCR), and net benefit per capita for the ISM technologies are all positive across all locations. Therefore, farmers can recover their costs and maintain a positive balance. The highest GMs made ISM technologies a viable, profitable, bankable and potential option for northern Nigeria which is prone to Striga. ISM technologies guarantee significantly higher yields than local practices. Thus, the long-term economic worth indicators showed that ISM technologies could lead to increased income and poverty reduction. Also, its net present value (NPV), BCR and net benefits per capita are attractive. ISM technologies, especially maize-legume rotation with STR maize and Imazapyr-resistant maize (IRM), should occupy a central role in the design of Striga eradication campaign initiatives and sustainable management in maize fields. ISM technologies should therefore be prioritised, particularly in the Striga-infested areas of northern Nigeria. In general, findings from the study proved the need to support the provision of extension services, on-farm trials and field demonstration to remote areas, as the results suggest that distance to the extension office do influence adoption of ISM technologies. In an effort to enhance farmers’ access to ISM technologies, the public sector needs to take the lead in technology promotion and dissemination at the initial stages and create an enabling environment for effective participation of the private sector. Awareness campaigns for ISM technologies, combined with the improvement of appropriate access to these technologies and corresponding inputs, and accessible rural micro-finances at reasonable costs will offer the most likely policy mix to accelerate and expand the adoption of ISM technologies. While awareness of ISM technology is a major problem, it is clear that the availability of seed (for seed-based technologies) is a serious issue. Therefore, improvement in the Nigerian seed sector is required to boost adoption. High risk and fear of failure are related to farmers’ risk aversion. All technologies requiring cash investment reflect a face of fear and risk constraint for most farmers

Challenges to Democratic Development in Nigeria 1999 -2013

This paper attempts to look at some challenges impeding Nigerian democratic development. Nigerian democracy is apparently enshrouded or marred by manipulation of religion, region, ethnicity, rigging, post-election violence, and abuse of human rights etcetera. This exploitation of democracy has been growing from simple to complex in all nooks and crannies of the country since the return to civilian rule in 1999. The struggles for self-determination by Africans during the colonial period strongly and clearly aimed at a democratic system of government, where the majority could determine who gets what, when and how. Moreover, it is a known fact that the basis and beauty of any democratic dispensation lies in its ability to conduct free, fair and credible elections at all levels as well as respect human rights. This undoubtedly paves the way for other democratic dividends. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, right from the First Republic to the present-day, the opposition parties have been suppressed and manipulated a great deal; with no hope for justice and fair play from the electoral bodies and even the judiciary which is supposed to be the last resort of the common man at the grassroots. Therefore, the paper unearths and elucidates on some democratic challenges in the Fourth Republic. Finally and sanguinely, this paper concludes that the interpretations and assessments in this research will provide positive historical evaluation and paradigm shift in apprehending the realities of Nigerian democracy and proffering solutions to the impediments therein. Keywords: Rivalry, Democracy, Rigging, Electoral Violence, Election and Abus

Party Politics and Democracy in Northern Nigeria 1951-1983

هذا البحث عبارة عن نظرة جديدة للمشاكل التي تعتدي على النظام الديموقراطي في نيجيريا حيث وضح أن السبب الأساسي للاضطرابات السياسية هو السياسة الحزبية، خلافا لما اشتهر من نسبة الأسباب إلى التعصب القبلي أو الإقليمي أو الديني. استهدف البحث إلى تقييم السياسة الحزبية الديموقراطية في نيجيريا على وجه العموم والمنطقة اشمالية على وجه الخصوص. فتم النظر في عمليات الأحزاب السياسية وأثرها، وما هي المشاكل والتحديات التي تواجهها حاليا، وما هي الدروس التي يمكن أن نستفيد من ماضي سياسة البلد حتى نجد حلا للحاضر. وعلى هذا قدم البحث معلومات مهمة تساعد الباحثين الراغبين في معرفة تاريخ السياسة الحزبية الديموقراطية في نيجيريا ومدى تأثيرها مع بيان جانب النجاح وجانب الفشل ليتبين للسياسيين عموامل الضعف والانحطاط في الجمهورية الأولى والثانية. لذا صار من الضروري رسم الأهداف والدهاة السياسي التي تساهم في مواجهة التحديات التي تواجه الديموقراطية. وقد استعمل الباحث مناهج البحث المختلفة وجمع المعلومات من المصادر الأولية من كتابات منشورة وغير منشورة والمخطوطات والسجلات. فطاف بالجامعات والمكتبات العامة والأرشيف الوطني وغيرها، إضافة إلى المقابلات الشخصية التي قام بها. وأما المصادر الثانوية التي استخدمها الباحث فتشتمل على المجلات المحكمة والجرائد والكتب والبحوث العلمية. وانحصر حدود البحث في الدراسة التاريخية لنشأة السياسة الحزبية في شمال نيجيريا من العام 1951م إلى العام 1983م. وتوصل البحث إلى أن حَرْبَرْت ماكولي وأصحابه أول من أسس حزبا سياسيا في نيجيريا باسم: الحزب الديموقراطي الوطني النيجيري ) (NNDP. وكان المبدأ الانتخابي الأول مستمد من قانون كليفورد (Clifford Constitution) في الربع الأول من القرن العشرين. يُعد كل من إنمدي أزكوي، وسعاد زنغور، وأوبافيمي اَوُولُوو، ومالم أمين كانو، وأحمد بللو وأبوبكر تافاوا باليوا، من قادات حركت طلب استقلال نيجيريا إلى أن حالفهم النصر عام 1960م. وأثبت البحث أن السبب الرئيسي للأزمات السياسية في المنطقة الغربية في البلاد وسقوط الجمهورية الأولى والثانية والحرب الأهلية إنما هو السياسة الحزبية لا التعصب الديني أو الإقليمي أو القبلي. علاوة على ذلك، فإن التحول من النظام البرلماني إلى النظام الرئاسي لم يستطع أن يحل المشاكل التي تواجه الديموقراطية في نيجيريا بسبب السياسة الحزبية القبيحة. وحقق البحث كذلك أن كثيرا من الأحزاب السياسية المنتخبة عجزت عن الوفاء بما وعدت أثناء الحملات الانتخابية، كما أن أكثر الأحزاب السياسية كونت على أسس دينية أو إقليمية أو قبلية سرًّا أو علانيةً

Landholders’ Involvement in the Compulsory Acquisition of Land and Compensation Process in Bauchi, Nigeria

This study aims to assess landholder’s involvement in the compulsory acquisition of land on their satisfaction with the compensation process in Bauchi, Nigeria, to identify areas of weakness in the process and propose areas of improvement. The study adopted the use of a quantitative approach and data were collected through a questionnaire survey from 327 landholders affected by the compulsory acquisition and compensation exercise by the Bauchi State Government. The data collected were subjected to descriptive with mean ranking, frequency distribution. The study revealed that before the process of compulsory acquisition landholders were very well involved, during the process of compulsory acquisition they were also involved but at the compensation process, they were not involved at all. It recommended that Landholders should be involved not only in the process of compulsory acquisition but they should be involved in the process of compensation as it will minimize resistance to compulsory

REGULATORY FAILURES AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE CAPITAL MARKET IN NIGERIA: ALIGNING RESPONSIBILITIES WITH ACCOUNTABILTY

Despite the damaging impacts of the crash in the Nigerian capital markets between 2007 and 2011 on the economy and the established cases of regulatory failures in the industry, the question of regulatory accountability has not received much attention in Nigeria. Looking back at these regulatory failures vis-à-vis the statutory responsibilities of the regulators of the capital markets in Nigeria and comparing same with the securities regulatory authority of the UK under the FSMA, 2000 this article argued that responsibilities should go with accountability for an effective capital market regulation in Nigeria. The article found that the apex regulator in Nigeria lacks the necessary operational independence. It questioned the increasing trend of regulatory laxity and ‘highhandedness’ in the capital market. The article recommended a proper regulatory accountability through a review of administrative decisions, actions in torts on the grounds of regulatory negligence, breach of statutory duty and misfeasance in public office. It also recommended a total restructuring of the apex regulator to make it more operationally independent in line with global best practices.