Profitability of on and off-season plantain marketing in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria

The study analysed the profitability of plantain marketing during on and off season in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state, Nigeria. Samples of 60 respondents were randomly selected from four communities within Nsukka Local Government Area to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of plantain marketers, identity the marketing channel of distribution performed, estimate the profitability of plantain marketing in and off season, identify the problems hindering plantain marketing. Data were analysed using, descriptive statistics and cost and return. The result showed that 70% of the respondents were female, within the age bracket of 40-50 years, implying that female of this age range is likely to be more energetic and willing to take risks involved in plantain marketing. Majority of them were married (86.7%) and (60%) have post primary education. Majority (51.7%) of the respondents claim that between January to March is the on-season period with gross margin of N17, 239 while (53.3%) believe off- season is from July-September with gross margin of N23, 775. This shows that it is more profitable to market plantain off- season. Major constraints include seasonality of product, lack of finance, pest and diseases attack, product breakages, lack of market information, price fluctuation and poor access road while cost of transportation, deterioration of product and high market fees are seen as minor constraints. Based on the findings of the study the following  recommendations were made; Storage facilities for plantain should be made available to ensure all year-round production, availability and accessibility of the product

Military History and Strategic Studies as Imperatives for National Security Development in Nigeria

Nigerian military history is an aspect of Nigerian history that reconstructs the philosophies, beliefs, life and times of military personnel in relation to time and place. On the other hand, strategic studies involve a study of the security policies and political conduct of states in their interaction within the international system. Since it is the military institution that implements these security policies, itself central to the objectives of states in international politics, it is logical  to view military history and strategic studies as pivotal to the securitydevelopment of the Nigerian nation as it is for every other nation. Given this understanding, this study attempts to situate Nigerian military history and strategic studies as imperatives for national security development in Nigeria. To achieve its goal, the paper employs mostly secondary and but a few primary sources subjected to content historical analysis from which it was deduced that military history and strategic studies are important for the advancement of security development in Nigeria. Keywords: Military, Strategic Studies, History, Securit

High Voltage Transmission Line Vibration: Using MATLAB to Implement the Finite Element Model of a Wind-Induced Power-Line Conductor Vibration

Wind-induced vibration affects the performance and structural integrity of high voltage transmission lines. The finite element method (FEM) is employed to investigate wind-induced vibration in MATLAB. First, the FEM model was used to develop the equation of motion of the power line conductor. In addition, dampers, conditions for damping, free and forced vibrations of the overhead conductor were considered in the FEM model. Wind-induced experiments were conducted in the laboratory using an actual overhead power conductor. The developed FEM models were simulated in the MATLAB computing environment. The results from the MATLAB simulation, finite element and experimental recordings were compared in order to evaluate the efficacy of models simulated in MATLAB and developed using the FEM

Interation Between Globalization and Organizational Performance in the Third World: Nigeria in Focus

This paper is on how the phenomenon of globalization affects or poses a challenge to organisations operating in the Third World countries, especially Nigeria. Building on environment - organisation analysis, this paper explores globalisation – business performance relationship. Globalization acts as a two – edged sword; it slashes the throat of the weak, while as Excalibur, it further strengthens the hand of the strong. Globalization affords all the opportunities that can help Third World countries transform from Third World to First World in one generation. However, Africa has been a marginal participant in the new global order, and watches globalisation as a paradox. As a result of some skewed and embarrassing features such as inadequate skilled manpower, lack of critical social, legal and economic structures, etc, and the challenging forces and propellants of globalization such as technological innovations, economic liberalisation, etc. Third World economies have not gained the advantage of global world economies. These have made Third World economies vulnerable to the manipulations and dictates of the rampaging economies of the First World. They have caused organisations operating in these Third World economies to become victims of the globalization phenomenon thereby, hindering their (organisations) performance. It is the opinion of this paper that Third World countries need to restructure their political, economic, social and technological structures and give priority to technological and knowledge – driven human capital development. This is expedient because critical and knowledge human resource has become the key for productivity in this era of globalization.Key words: Globalization; Organizational Performance; Third World; Good Governance; Critical Knowledge and Skil

The manufacturing of global citizenry

What should society expect from the provision of university education? The universal goal of higher education is fostering curiosity about all phenomena- technological and natural- and most importantly, producing socially responsible members of society. According to this general consensus, one must explore the attributes of a socially responsible individual in a global context, commonly referred to as global citizenry. Such a concept seems quite farfetched in a world where technological advancements and global interconnectedness reaches their epitome, yet an overemphasis on national sovereignty proceeds. Simultaneous occurrences make it seem almost impossible for global citizenry of the highest caliber to be authentically practiced even among a progressive generation. Addressing the former question, I explore how attaining global citizenship can indeed be practical in our modern era if pursued as an ideal byproduct of civic education; which is simultaneously based on language and cultural acquisition, as well as closely connected to one’s academic achievement. However, this expansive form of citizenship can only be maintained through global institutional experiences during and post undergraduate education. Therefore, I argue that civic career pathways should be normalized in mainstream institutions in order to increase the demand and production of long term socially progressive citizenries. I also argue that global citizenry can reach its optimum form once pre and post civic educational opportunities are viewed as lucrative elements in universal job markets. Civic education could be transferred through practical applications of the educator and manifested in tangible forms by the educated employee, producing positive global ramifications. As a case study, I reference my own civic educational experience during undergraduate and career pathway to demonstrate a practical model of global citizenship that is indeed achievable, even in this interconnected yet divided world

Numerical Modeling of Oil/Gas Flow in Pipes in Deep Sea

The poster is on numerical model, and an introductory work on using the Fluid-Structure Interaction Model Of Abaqus To Analyse The Flow Of Oil/Gas In The Pipes In Deep Se

Novel Composite Riser Development for Offshore Deep Water Applications

Due to the increasing energy demand, there is need for a more sustainable conduit for producing and transporting fluids in the oil and gas industry. This is also in response to the increase in exploration activities in offshore deep water, from shallow waters to deep waters. Thus, more length of marine risers and subsea pipelines are required, which increases the weight of the offshore structure. The properties of composites will be harnessed to help reduce the weight of the marine risers. This necessitated the need for the development of composite risers, the studies of the mechanics and hydrodynamics of composite risers. The study shows that composite risers can be applied on offshore structures however, it works most successfully when used as a hybrid composite riser system, and when used as a top tension composite riser system

Autonomous sea craft for search and rescue operations : marine vehicle modelling and analysis.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.Marine search and rescue activities have been plagued with the problem of risking the lives of rescuers in rescue operations. With increasing developments in sensor technologies, it became a necessity in the marine search and rescue community to develop an autonomous marine craft to assist in rescue operations. Autonomy of marine craft requires a robust localization technique and process. To apply robust localization to marine craft, GPS technology was used to determine the position of the marine craft at any given point in time. Given that the operational environment of the marine was at open air, river, sea etc. GPS signal was always available to the marine craft as there are no obstructions to GPS signal. Adequate cognizance of the current position and states of an unmanned marine craft was a critical requirement for navigation of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The unmanned surface vehicle uses GPS in conjunction with state estimated solution provided by inertial sensors. In the absence of the GPS signal, navigation is resumed with a digital compass and inertial sensors to such a time when the GPS signal becomes accessible. GPS based navigation can be used for an unmanned marine craft with the mathematical modelling of the craft meeting the functional requirements of an unmanned marine craft. A low cost GPS unit was used in conjunction with a low cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) with sonar for obstacle detection. The use of sonar in navigation algorithm of marine craft was aimed at surveillance of the operational environment of the marine craft to detect obstacles on its path of motion. Inertial sensors were used to determine the attitude of the marine craft in motion

Guidelines on Designing Marine Hoses for Oil/Gas Applications

The work conducted gives guidelines on designing Marine Hoses for Oil/Gas applications. It was presented at the International symposium of recent research progress on multi-hazard resilient onshore and offshore structures. Organised by: Tsinghua University, Deep-Sea Technology Division, Chinese Society for Oceanography Ocean Engineering Division, China Association of Marine Affairs; Chairs: Facheng Wang, Cheng Fang

Analysis of postharvest losses in mango marketing in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

The study analyzed the postharvest losses in mango marketing in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Data for the study were  collected from 120 respondents in four different markets (Modern, Wurukum, Railway and Northbank market), through the use of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and likert scale rating technique were used to analyze the data. The finding showed that the mean age of the marketers was 36.1 years, mean household size was 6.0, majority (43.3%) of the marketers completed secondary school, majority (88.3%) of the respondents were females, majority were married with a percentage of (63.3%), also majority (56.7%) of the marketers sold broken variety of mango. The result further indicated that the amount of basket of mango bought is significant at 5% level of probability and positively affects the number of 7litre buckets of mango lost. Finally, the constraints with the highest mean values suggested the most essential constraints. The result showed that high degree of perishability (mean=3.8), lack of storage facility (mean=3.6), and inadequate grading and standardization (mean=2.9) were some of the major constraints. The study therefore recommends that efficient storage facilities  should be made available to mango marketers in order to encourage large purchase of the produce and decrease postharvest losses government should rehabilitate the bad roads and create good road networks to solve the transportation problems of marketers, lastly, there should be  provision of processing plant in strategic locations by the governments or non-governmental organization which will help to reduce postharvest losses. Keywords: Mango, Post harvest loss, Markudi LG