PEMBANGUNAN INFRASTRUKTUR BERBASIS PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT

ABSTRAKArtikel ini akan mengkaji strategi dari pemerintah dalam melakukan pembangunan infrastruktur jalan berbasis pemberdayaan masyarakat di Desa Arujaya Kecamatan Tabaru Kabupaten Halmahera Barat. Dalam mengkaji teori yang digunakan untuk melihat  permasalahan terkait pembangunan infrastruktur jalan berbasis pemberdayaan masyarakat yaitu teori dari Aprillia Theresia, yang mengatakan bahwa, pembangunan adalah suatu usaha atau proses perubahan, demi tercapainya tingkat kesejahteraan atau mutu hidup suatu masyarakat (dan individu-individu didalamnya) yang berkehendak dan melaksanakan pembangunan itu. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian kualitatif dengan cara pengumpulan data melalui wawancara langsung, observasi dilapangan serta melalui kajian dokumen. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ditemukan bahwa pemerintah desa belum makasimal atau belum berhasil dalam melakukan kegiatan pembangunan infrastruktur jalan berbasis pemberdayaan masuarakat di Desa Arujaya Kecamatan Tabaru Kabupaten Halmahera Barat. Hal ini disebabkan karena pembangunan yang dilakukan masih bersifat dari atas kebawah yang pada gilirannya menimbulkan dominasi pemerintah dalam proses pelaksanaan pembangunan, sehingga kegiatan lain seperti pemberdayaan masyarakat terabaikan yang secara tidak langsung hal tersebut berdampak pada minimnya partisipasi masyarakat dalam proses pelaksanaan pembangunan yang ada di desa. Kata Kunci: Pembangunan; Infrastruktur; Pemberdayaan Masyarakat   ABSTRACTThis article will examine the strategy of the government in carrying out road infrastructure development based on community empowerment in Arujaya Village, Tabaru District, West Halmahera Regency. In examining the theory used to look at problems related to community empowerment-based road infrastructure development, namely the theory from Aprillia Theresia, which says that development is an effort or process of change, in order to achieve a level of welfare or quality of life of a community (and the individuals in it). will and carry out that development. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method by collecting data through direct interviews, field observations and through document review. Based on the results of the study, it was found that the village government had not been maximized or had not succeeded in carrying out road infrastructure development activities based on community empowerment in Arujaya Village, Tabaru District, West Halmahera Regency. This is because the development carried out is still from the top down which in turn leads to government domination in the development process, so that other activities such as community empowerment are neglected which indirectly has an impact on the lack of community participation in the development process in the village. Keywords: Development; Infrastructure; Community developmen

Perceived Manpower Development Influence on Organisational Effectiveness in Akwa Ibom Agricultural Development Programme (Akadep):2009-2013

This study examined the relationship between manpower development and organisational effectiveness in AKADEP It was necessary to carry out this research because despite AKADEP s decades of existence and sustained funding by Akwa Ibom State Government the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as International Donor Organisations The World Bank UNDP and IFAD there is still manpower gap in AKADEP basic food items consumed in Akwa Ibom State are sourced externally prices of food stuffs are on the increase the poorly trained farmers are hungry and poor which raises concern on the effectiveness of AKADEP agency established exclusively to provide extension services to farmers Survey data were collected through simple random sampling of 237 respondents drawn from the eight subprogrammes of AKADEP Measures of the study were of good quality after assuring reliability and validity Hypotheses were tested using Pearson s Product Moment on SPSS The result of the analysis showed that manpower development in AKADEP is related positively to effectiveness of the organisation A dependency relationship was also established between adoption of modern farming techniques by small scale farmers and increased farm yield in the study area Impact of internally arranged training programmes was significant Farmers and the Local Governments were encouraged to support AKADEP extension officers through provision of transport allowance mobility or even phone calls to sustain agent s interest bridge the missed cycle and guarantee food sufficiency The study also recommended the immediate establishment of Resident Extension Officers to reside in each clan within the study area They are expected to provide on the spot and on-going training to small scale farmer

Childhood colostomy and its complications in Lagos

Childhood colostomy is often indicated for obstructive congenital lesions of the  colon and anorectum as well as a few acquired ones. In a prospective 3-year study of 66 childhood colostomies performed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, 33 (50%) were fashioned for Hirschsprung's disease while 28(42.50/0) stomas were fashioned for anorectal anomalies. Eighty  complications were recorded in 27 (40.9%) of the 66 colostomies. There were 13 (19.7%) early complications comprising of 3 (4.5%) cases each of hemorrhage and septicaemia and 2 (300) each of colostomy retraction, non-function and stoma1 necrosis. One patient  developed necrotising fasciitis. Skin excoriation was the commonest complication, and was seen in 22 (33.3%) of the patients. Colostomy diarrhoea occurred in 20 patients and was responsible for almost all the excoriations. Prolapse was seen in 12 (18.200) colostomies. Failure to thrive accompanying frequent colostomy diarrhoeas was seen in 8 (12%). One case each of parastomal fistula was recorded. Of the 54 colostomies closed by the end of the study period, 10 (18.5%) developed complications. Wound infection was observed in 4 (7%) and intestinal obstruction was seen in 3 (5.5%). Two of the latter were from stenosis at the closed colostomy site while one resulted from adhesive bowel obstruction. Faecal fistula developed in 2 (3.700) other cases while one case of incisional hernia was recorded. Although 4 (60/0) of the children died within the study period, only one (1.5O0) was attributable to the colostomy. The presence of a colostomy is associated with significant morbidity in children. To minimize these problems, the paediatric surgeon must pay close attention to the fashioning, management and closure of a colostomy. The dearth of stoma care nurses for home visits and supervision of stoma care remains a big challenge in our setting

Transition and Civic Engagements in Nigeria: What does 2015 Portend?

Nigeria as a country returned to civilian rule in 1999 after marathon years of military dictatorship. Since then, the country had conducted four general elections which have all been disputed as being below democratic standards. The quality and efficacy of these elections have progressively declined, thus begging the question of democratic transition and citizens’ role in the electoral process. Independent international and domestic observers however noted that despite numerous challenges like violence, disenfranchisement, poor organization of the elections, etc., the 2011 general elections witnessed a slight improvement from the past elections, as results in certain parts of the country reflected the citizen’s choice at the polls. However, Nigeria’s general elections scheduled for March and April, 2015 will be more contentious than previous ones. There exist tensions within and between the major competing parties, claims and counter-claims between northern and Niger Delta politicians, religious/ethnic politics, the escalating attacks of Boko Haram Islamic sect and the increasing political tension in many northern and southern states, coupled with the poor preparations of the electoral commission and the likely bias nature of the security services,  all allude to the fact that the country is moving toward a “grave and volatile political contest”. The paper, therefore examined the causes and implications of rising tension in the nation’s political system and how the current situation can be handled to avert full blown political crises during and after the elections. This study adopted archival analysis. Data for the analysis were drawn from newspapers publications, journals, workshop papers, books, as well as publications of non-governmental organizations. The primary significance of this study is that it will awaken the consciousness of the electorate on why they should play major role in the electoral process and avert the political crises that have characterized majority of the elections conducted in Nigeria. Analysis made in this paper will serve as a useful political literature for policy makers, political leaders and the reading public seeking lucid information on the subject issue. This paper thus argued that as Nigerians prepare for the 2015 general elections, serious attention should be paid to the role the electorates play in transition processes through their civic engagements. The paper therefore recommended, among others, that the electorates should be seen as the “transitory agents” as well as the electoral body conducting transparent and credible elections to increase citizens’ confidence in the electoral process. The paper, however, concluded that transition and civil engagements will be meaningless in Nigeria, if the citizens’ whose duty it is to accelerate the process are not fully integrated into the democratic process. Keywords: Civic Engagements; Disenfranchisement; Elections; Electoral Violence; Transitio

Compressive Strength of Fiber Reinforced Fly- Ash Concrete using Regression Model

In construction industry, strength is a primary criterion in selecting a concrete for a particular application. Concrete used for construction gains strength over a long period of time after pouring the concrete. The characteristic strength of concrete is defined as the compressive strength of a sample that has been aged for 28 days. Neither waiting 28 days for such a test would not serve the rapidity of construction, nor would neglecting it serve the quality control process on concrete in large construction sites. Therefore, rapid and reliable prediction of the strength of concrete would be of great significance. On this backdrop, the method is proposed to establish a predictive relationship between properties and proportions of ingredients of concrete, compaction factor, weight of concrete cubes and strength of concrete whereby the strength of concrete can be predicted at early age. A mathematical model for the prediction of compressive strength of fiber reinforced concrete containing fly ash was performed using statistical analysis for the concrete data obtained from the experimental work done in this study. The multiple linear regression model yielded fairly good correlation coefficient for the prediction of compressive strength for 3 days curing

Changes in expression and activity of the secretory pathway Ca2+ATPase 1 (SPCA1) in A7r5 vascular smooth muscle cells cultured at different glucose concentrations

Diabetes mellitus-related vascular disease is often associated with both a dysregulation of Ca$^{2+}$ homoeostasis and enhanced secretory activity in VSMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells). Here, we employ a commonly used rat cell line for VSMCs (A7r5 cells) to investigate the effects of glucose on the expression and activity of the SPCA1 (secretory pathway Ca$^{2+}$-ATPase 1; also known as ATP2C1), which is a P-type Ca$^{2+}$ pump located in the Golgi apparatus that plays a key role in the secretory pathway. Our results show that mRNA expression levels of SPCA1 are significantly increased in A7r5 cells cultured in high glucose (25.0 mM)-supplemented medium compared with normal glucose (5.55 mM)-supplemented medium. SPCA1 protein expression levels and thapsigargin-insensitive Ca$^{2+}$-dependent ATPase activity were also consistent with a higher than normal expression level of SPCA1 in high-glucose-cultured A7r5 cells. Analysis of AVP (arginine-vasopressin)-induced cytosolic Ca$^{2+}$ transients in A7r5 cells (after pre-treatment with thapsigargin) showed faster rise and decay phases in cells grown in high glucose medium compared with cells grown in normal glucose medium, supporting the observation of increased SPCA expression/activity. The significant levels of both Ca$^{2+}$-ATPase activity and AVP-induced Ca$^{2+}$ transients, in the presence of thapsigargin, indicate that SPCA must play a significant role in Ca$^{2+}$ uptake within VSMCs. We therefore propose that, if such increases in SPCA expression and activity also occur in primary VSMCs, this may play a substantial role in the aetiology of diabetes mellitus-associated vascular disease, due to alterations in Ca$^{2+}$ homoeostasis within the Golgi apparatus

An econo-physics view on the historical dynamics of the Albanian currency vs. Euro exchange rates

The descriptive analysis for the very long-term behavior of the Euro/ALL exchange rates has identified a near to average .revert behavior which contradict some econometric arguments and economical level of the country. Apparent anxious regimes have continuously ended up without crashing and generally the national currency of the not competitive economy has shown a nearly stabilized dynamics toward EU currency. Some of those properties have been explained herein by employing the analysis of the system from complexity and econo-physics point of view. So, by approaching the trend we obtained that the time precursor is characterized by local self-organization regimes that never organized in long scale to produce dangerous move. Thermodynamic–like processes have acted constantly as stabilizer of the national currency value. More details and features have been considered by analyzing the distributions and multifractal structure of the series in the framework of the non-equilibrium statistical mechanics approach. Gathering the information about the stationarity of the states, presences of regimes and their properties, we realized to identify the optimal condition for measurement, modeling and steadfast descriptive statistics. Finally, by using neural network we have realized a forecasting example for one month time interval. The work aims to reveal the importance of interdisciplinary consideration for better results in the study of complex socioeconomic systems

The 2011 General Elections and Current Development Trends in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

One major challenge that confronts the democratic regimes in Nigeria over the years has been the conduct of free, fair and credible elections which result can be attested to by a majority of the electorate and thus lead to generally acceptable results.  Such a generally acceptable mandate can in turn give way to national development. This work set out to identify the relationship between elections and socio-economic and political developments in Akwa Ibom State, especially after the 2011 general elections. It is expected that with the forthcoming elections in 2015, some lessons may have been learnt by the political gladiators and others in the transition category. The study was a combination of descriptive, ethnographic and survey research, with data drawn from existing sources (desk research) and the field (observation and interviews). The research work which was largely empirical in nature unearthed a number of political challenges in the state. Some of these include: refusal on the part of Nigerian policy makers to adopt on a comprehensive basis, the report of the electoral reforms panel (chaired by Justice Uwais) that would have aided the EMB to conduct credible elections. Since the reward system is unprecedented in the world, Nigerian politicians do everything possible to win elections at all costs and by every available means. Apart from the ruling political parties, most of the other parties are not very much on ground to make the electoral contest a worthwhile activity. It is a reality that INEC still has the challenge of inadequate finance to contend with. Consequently, refusal by the policy makers to introduce the e-voting system gives enough room for the “business as usual” pattern of electoral malpractices, which has remained a major wound in the democratic history of Nigeria. Among others, the paper recommended a full implementation of the Uwais Panel report and a drastic slash or cut in the take home pay of political office holders across board. Keywords: Campaign, Development trends, Elections, Marginalization, Party primarie