Radiographers’ willingness to work in rural and underserved areas in Nigeria: a survey of final year radiography students

Background: Radiographers are in great demand and inadequate distribution to the rural hospitals and underserved areas affect prompt health service delivery to patients. Patients travel several kilometres from rural and underserved areas in Nigeria to access radiographic services and this affects morbidity and mortality.Objective: To assess factors associated with Radiographers’ willingness to practice in rural and underserved areas in Nigeria.Methods: The study adopted a cross sectional survey. A total of 124 final year students from Southern Nigeria in Departments of Radiography in two tertiary institutions in Southeast Nigeria participated in the study. A researcher-developed questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The questionnaire elicited questions on willingness to work in rural and underserved areas based on socio-demographic characteristics,remunerations, security, working conditions, peculiar incentives, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.Results: A total of 27 % of the student radiographers showed strong willingness, 32 % showed weak willingness and 41 % showed unwillingness to practice in the rural and underserved areas in Nigeria. Age, sex, remuneration, peculiar allowances and security were strongly associated with willingness to practice in rural and underserved areas (p < 0.05). Love for patient care, job satisfaction, provision of accommodation and opportunity for professional development had weak association (p > 0.05) with willingness to practice in rural and underserved areas.Conclusion: Greater number of the student Radiographers were not willing to practice in rural areas ofNigeria. Areas of insurgency, some parts of northern Nigeria, primary and secondary healthcare centres located outside the major cities were unlikely to attract young energetic radiographers. Males and older respondents were more likely to work in rural and underserved areas of the country. There is need for adequate planning and provision of social incentives if radio-diagnostic services will be adequately covered in the national program for universal health coverage in Nigeria

Challenges in the Teaching of Use of English in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions in a Globalising World

Teaching English as a foundation course in our tertiary institutions can be cumbersome and tasking.  The use of English is a main course taught in almost all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.  The use of English refers to the conventional English language programme taught to new entrants in tertiary institutions.  The approach is general and not geared to any specific group of students despite the diversity in their academic pursuit and language needs.  However, the course faces many challenges.  This paper therefore aims to examine these challenges by looking at English and the concept of global language, challenges of globalization, problems faced in teaching the use of English and proffers solutions to these challenges. Key words: Use English, Challenges, Teaching and Globalising

The Use of Ict in Dissemination of Career Information in Secondary Schools in Ogbadigbo Local Government Area of Benue State Nigeria

The study sought to find out the use of ICT in dissemination of career information in secondary schools in Ogbadigbo local government area of Benue State, Nigeria. Three research questions and a hypothesis guided the study. Population consisted of all teachers and counselors in Ogbadigbo council area. The sample was 200 teachers and counselors drawn using stratified sampling through simple random sampling technique. Instrument for the study was questionnaire. Mean score and t-test statistics were used for data analysis. Results showed that teachers and counselors have not recognized ICT as a primary source of career information. The result also shows that students are ignorant of the basic skills in operating computer and that many government schools do not have adequate computer laboratories. It was also shown that no significant mean difference existed between teachers and counselors in the awareness of ICT as a source of career information. Implications of the findings were highlighted, limitations pointed out, recommendations and suggestions for further research made also. Keywords: Use, ICT, Dissemination, Career, Informatio

Analysis of Online Reactions to the Proscription of IPOB as Terrorist Organization

The classification of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB as a terrorist organisation has been condemned by those who felt government went overboard The voice of these individuals and groups are so strident that it seemingly drowned the support accorded the proscription by those who believe that IPOB deserved to be so labelled These divergent positions of newsmakers were examined since as opinion moulders they greatly influence the thinking of the populace towards any particular subject The analysis was done within the framework of the democratic participant theory which posits that input of the people in public policy and decisions should matter Using Google filters the researcher x-rayed a sample of the reactions of newsmakers published online as news to answer four research questions yielding among other things that government s designation of IPOB as terrorist organization was not popular especially as a much more violent group Fulani militia recognized abroad as terrorist organization was not so classified locally Therefore this paper called on the authorities to be even handed when dealing with criminal groups irrespective of the part of Nigeria they come from and advocates that government should give every segment of society a sense of belongin

Challenges encountered in maintaining mobile early childhood care and education centres: Practitioners’ perspectives

This research aims to examine the challenges faced by practitioners who maintain mobile Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centers. Using a qualitative approach, ten practitioners from one organization that provides mobile ECCE in the Free State Province participated in this study. A semi-structured interview guide was used for data for this study. ATLAS.ti software was used to analyze qualitative data. The findings showed that the language barrier is one of the greatest challenges presented by mobile ECCE programs. Further, psychosocial challenges, such as the abuse of alcohol by parents and poverty as well as rain and wind, dust and cold are also challenges to practitioners. Therefore, these findings have strong policy implications for the need for ECCE policy frameworks to mitigate language barriers and psychosocial challenges in mobile ECCE centers by knowing the different home languages of the children

Impact of Poor Accounting Practices on Budget Implementation on Government Owned Industries. A Study of Enugu State

This work titled impact of poor accounting practices on budgetary implementation on Enugu State owned industries aimed at identifying the major causes of poor accounting and budgetary practices in government owned industries; determine the effects of these problems on implementation of budgets in government owned industries; and analyse the impact of these numerous problems to the growth and development of government industries in Enugu State.  The study reviewed other existing literature. It applied content analysis techniques. The study discovered that there exist poor accounting practices in government owned industries in Enugu Sate and also appropriate budgetary implementation are hardly kept by these industries. It was found also that employment into these industries are defective hence poor accounting practices and impact of budgetary implementation are hardly met.  The study recommend that appointment into board members should not be defective. Rather people who are called to serve should be appointed in-spite zone or local government to ensure success of government industries. In addition, employment into those industries not be zoned to ensure that experts are employed and they effectively discharge their duties diligently and proper things being done at the right time.  Government Should introduce policy where wrong appointee should be re-visited or cancelled if possible to ensure that correct personnel is employed for effective performance.  Study is recommending that national growth should be preferred by introducing measures that will motivate and increase individual representative willingness and performance through incentives and rewarding system.   Implication of the findings. Due to the fact that required personnel often do not occupy the right position in government industries in Enugu State it creates loopholes especially in area of accounting and its budgets. It affects the performance of the entire industry

Impact of Financial Development Indicators on Economic Growth In Nigeria, 1980 – 2013

An empirical investigation of the impact of financial development on economic growth in Nigeria was carried out in this paper by employing co integration test and VECM, using the data of annual time series for the period 1980 – 2013. The findings reveal the existence of 3 co integrating vectors which show a long run relationship among the variables. The VEC results show that the ratio of broad money supply to GDP and ratio of domestic credit to private sector to GDP have no significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. The results suggest that economic growth can be enhanced through increases in ratio of broad money supply to GDP and ratio of domestic credit to private sector to GDP. Thus, if the objective of a policy is to sustain a high rate of economic growth in Nigeria, priority should be given to the development of financial sector. This paper finds support to “supply-leading” (i.e “finance- led growth”) economic growth. Keywords: Broad money supply, domestic credit, Economic growth, VECM, Finance-led growth

Information and communication technology tool and children’s achievement in Basic Science: Implication for Evaluation of Library and Information Resources

The mode of teaching shifted from the traditional face-to-face to the remote or online mode of teaching in most countries of the world due to the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, the new normal demands the use of information and communication tool for instructional delivery across the levels of education. On this premise, the study sought the efficacy of information and communication tool (flipped classroom) on the children’s achievement in Basic Science. Adopting simple repeated measures design, 31 primary three children participated in the treatment session. Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT) that was properly validated and trial-tested was used to collect data for the study. The children were exposed to two different pretests prior to the treatment and two posttests after the treatment. A mixed-design repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to analyse the data. The finding revealed that information and communication technology tool (flipped classroom) significantly (p = 000) improved the achievement of children in Basic Science. This finding implicates evaluation of library and information resources to come up with best practices in online information resources to propere instructional delivery. Based on this finding, the adoption of information and communication technology (flipped classroom) in teaching and learning Basic Science was recommende

Quality Control of Conventional X-Ray Tube in Three Tertiary Hospitals in South-East, Nigeria

Background:Quality control of conventional x-ray tube ensures that the patient integral radiation dose is minimized and image quality is improved, by controlling the x-ray beam to reduce scatter radiation.  Objective:To assess x-ray tubes for half value layer (HVL), x-ray field and light field congruence using known standard. Methodology:The HVLs were measured using calibrated, non-invasive, digital multifunctional detector meter that incorporate computer output. The detector was positioned at the center of the collimated beam axis with focus-to-image distance (FID) of 100 cm. Tube potentials of 80 and 100 kVp were selected, and used to make exposures. The corresponding HVLs were then recorded. Also, x-ray field and light field congruence were measured by placing 18 cm x 24 cm cassette loaded with film at FID of 100 cm. The collimator light was in ON position and metal markers were used to delineate the periphery of the light field. Misalignment was calculated from the developed radiographs using standard formula. Results:The HVL ranged from 3.40 to 4.4mmAl. Also, the sum of the misalignment in both orthogonal directions ranged from 7.21 to 9.70 % of FID in all three centers. Conclusion:The HVL were within standard limit at 80 and 100 kVp in all the centers studied. However, x-ray field and light field were grossly misaligned.   &nbsp