A Survey of the Perception of the Services of Micro Finance Institutions by the Female Service Users in Benin City, South-South, Nigeria

The study examines the perceptions of the services of the micro finance Institutions by the women service users, and how the services of micro Institutions affect businesses of the beneficiaries of the micro credit loans. The research design for the study was the survey method. The instruments of data collection were structured questionnaires and in-depth interview. A total of 450 questionnaires were administered to the female participants, and senior management personnel of the micro credit institutions were interviewed. The cluster and simple random sampling were used to select the participants for the study. The leaders of registered unions were the informants.  The result reveals that the poor services and attitude of officials of micro finance institutions and other problems like the regressive tax regimes, harsh economic climate and patriarchy are negatively affecting the business ventures of the loan beneficiaries and by implication the goals of poverty reduction via micro credit scheme . The women beneficiaries are groaning under the burden of loan repayment and meeting other obligations as mothers and wives. This study is applicable in the context of social policy development at this time when social services delivery is not only poor but at dismal level. The need for gender sensitive and social development becomes imperative. It is critical to social work practice in the context of advocacy, empowerment programs, facilitating and initiating service delivery and Community organizing by social workers that will enhance the war against Poverty and other social impediments against women empowerment in Nigeria

Преодоление парадигм евроцентричного развития в Нигерии: традиционные возрастные категории

The quest for sustainable grassroots’ development by Nigerian government calls for the need to look inwards and re-examine and evaluates our indigenous cultural practices in an attempts to attain the desired development goal. This paper evaluates the indigenous age grade systems in Nigerian societies, and how the traits of the age grades can be harnessed for the attainment of the much desired sustainable development in Nigeria. It argues that the cultural bond and unity of purpose between the members of the age grades a priori make them a veritable tool for transformation of the rural areas. This is because the age grades know their communities more than out-siders and the so-called developers, hence what needs to be done is to empower the various age grades and give them the necessary tools and technical know-how. The development of the rural areas will gradually but surely become a reality in the near futureПравительство Нигерии находится в поиске устойчивого развития общества, что предполагает необходимость заглянуть внутрь общественного строя и заново исследовать и оценить наши коренные культурные практики для достижения желаемых результатов. В статье дана оценка возрастным категориям коренного населения Нигерии, а также анализ возможного использования особенностей возрастных групп для достижения желаемого устойчивого развития. Благодаря культурным связям и общей цели, члены возрастных групп априори становятся инструментом для реализации трансформаций в отдаленных районах. Это связано с тем, что возрастные группы лучше знакомы с особенностями своих общин в отличие от посторонних людей и так называемых специалистов по развитию, поэтому необходимо задействовать разные возрастные группы и оснастить их необходимыми инструментами и техническими ноу-хау. Развитие отдаленных районов постепенно, но неумолимо станет реальностью ближайшего будущег

Assessment of I.C.T. Driven In Emerging Social Work Education and Practice in Nigeria: Implication for Policy Development

This study explores the need to develop information technology by the students of social work in Nigeria in tandem with technological change. The survey design was adopted for the study. The population of study was the students of the Department of Social Work. The questionnaires were administered to a total of 250 undergraduates’ participants. The primary data collected was analysed and results presented in tables, frequency distribution and simple percentage. The variables were cross-tabulated and tested with chi square. The results of the analyses show that the students are very abreast of information technology and internet based knowledge, but the underdevelopment status of Nigerian society permeates every facet of human endeavours and hence is negatively impeding the full utilization of internet and computer services for their studies.Keywords: Information technology, social work education, Internet services, Knowledge, communication

Преодоление парадигм евроцентричного развития в Нигерии: традиционные возрастные категории

The quest for sustainable grassroots’ development by Nigerian government calls for the need to look inwards and re-examine and evaluates our indigenous cultural practices in an attempts to attain the desired development goal. This paper evaluates the indigenous age grade systems in Nigerian societies, and how the traits of the age grades can be harnessed for the attainment of the much desired sustainable development in Nigeria. It argues that the cultural bond and unity of purpose between the members of the age grades a priori make them a veritable tool for transformation of the rural areas. This is because the age grades know their communities more than out-siders and the so-called developers, hence what needs to be done is to empower the various age grades and give them the necessary tools and technical know-how. The development of the rural areas will gradually but surely become a reality in the near futureПравительство Нигерии находится в поиске устойчивого развития общества, что предполагает необходимость заглянуть внутрь общественного строя и заново исследовать и оценить наши коренные культурные практики для достижения желаемых результатов. В статье дана оценка возрастным категориям коренного населения Нигерии, а также анализ возможного использования особенностей возрастных групп для достижения желаемого устойчивого развития. Благодаря культурным связям и общей цели, члены возрастных групп априори становятся инструментом для реализации трансформаций в отдаленных районах. Это связано с тем, что возрастные группы лучше знакомы с особенностями своих общин в отличие от посторонних людей и так называемых специалистов по развитию, поэтому необходимо задействовать разные возрастные группы и оснастить их необходимыми инструментами и техническими ноу-хау. Развитие отдаленных районов постепенно, но неумолимо станет реальностью ближайшего будущег