Impact Appraisal of Classroom Management (Attendance and Participation) on Performance of Business Education Students in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria

The study investigated the impact of class attendance and participation on their academic achievement of business education students in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. The study has five objectives and five null hypotheses were raised. Descriptive design method was adopted for the study. Two hundred and ninety (290) undergraduate students that registered and sat for Business mathematics, Principles of Business Education and Economics Analysis examinations in 2011/2012 calendar year were used for the study. Self design registers were use for marking students attendance and participations in the classroom activities while performance in the three examinations for the academic year  were used to determined students’ academic achievement. To ensure validity of the instruments, the researchers personally record and handled the two registers while board of examiners in department of vocational and technical education in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria vetted the final copy of the examination questions and the marking schemes. Staff from in the department assisted the researchers in administering the examinations, supervision and collections of the scripts. Collected scripts were marked by the researchers using the drawn marking schemes. Scores obtained in attendance, classroom participation and examinations were recorded and subjected to statistical analysis using regression for test of null hypotheses one and two while independent samples t-tests were used to test null hypotheses three, four and five. All the hypotheses were tested at significant level of 0.05. The study showed a positive significant relationship between attendance and classroom participation on academic achievement of business education students. It was recommended among others that, teachers should try to reduce boredom among students by motivating them to attend and participate in classroom activities. Keywords:  Classroom, Attendance, Participation, Performance, Business Education, Student

Analysis of Mind-Set (Intention and Constraints) of Nigerian Students towards Entrepreneurship in the Country

The study examined the mind-set (intention and constraints) of Nigerian students towards entrepreneurship in the country. The study had six objectives and six null hypotheses. The researchers used descriptive design method. The population of the study was six hundred and fourty five (645). Four rating scale structured questionnaires titled Entrepreneurial intention and its constraint in Nigeria (EICN) was used to gather information for this study. Six hundred and fourty five (645) copies of the questionnaires were administered out of which six hundred and two (602) copies representing (93%) were retrieved and  subjected to statistical using SPSS on the basis of which informed conclusions were drawn. Two different statistical methods were employed to analyze data collected. The tools are logistic regression for null hypotheses one and two, while chi-square (X2) was employed to determine null hypotheses three to six. One of the findings of the study shows that the environment in Nigeria is not encouraging students to put into practice their entrepreneurial intention upon graduation. Based on this, it was recommended among others that, government should try and improve on power supply, access roads, markets, security among others. This will help to improve the present enabling environment. Keywords: Skills, Entrepreneurial, Interest, Challenges

Partnership between the Police and the Community in Borno State, Nigeria: Problems and Prospects

This paper examined the police in its partnership with the community. The method adopted was documentary, through which papers and relevant books were pulled together in order for this paper to have arrived at advisory position on how to improve the partnership between police and the community. This will go a long way in improving the image of police, and at the same time improve the confidence of the community towards the police

Diffusion and use of information about Ebola salt water therapy by students in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria during 2014 Ebola epidemic in Nigeria

This study is aimed at determining the diffusion and use of Ebola salt water therapy information by students in Ahmadu Bello  University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria. Using qualitative case study approach, the researcher adopted Electronic  Word-of-Mouth communication (eWOM) model as a guide. The researcher used 58 electronic narratives from Short Messaging Services (SMS), Twitter, and Facebook used in the diffusion of Ebola salt water therapy information by the ABU students during the 2014 Ebola epidemic and conducted one-on-one interviews with 19 participants that have discussed in social media, received the call, or massage on and practiced Ebola salt water therapy. The study found that the information about Ebola salt water therapy diffused among ABU students through electronic and  interpersonal means of communication by their close relations and opinion leaders, also the students used the information because of fear and the repeated number of calls and messages they received. The research recommended that the University Health Services Unit of ABU should have official online social platform for diffusion and discussion of health related matters where  professionals will respond and attend to students’ questions and complaints

An Investigative Study on Impact of Frequency Dynamics in Load Modeling

Load modeling plays a significant impact in assessing power system stability margin, control, and protection. Frequency in the power system is desired to be kept constant, but in a real sense, it is not constant as loads continually change with time. In much literature, frequency dynamics are ignored in the formulation of load models for the basic assumption that it does not affect the models.  In this paper, the composite load model was formulated with Voltage-Frequency Dependency (V-FD) on real and reactive powers and applied to estimate the load model. 2- Area network 4- machines Kundur test network was used for testing the developed model.  The model was trained with measurements from a low voltage distribution network supplying the Electrical Engineering department at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Both training and testing data were captured under normal system operation (dynamics). To evaluate the V-FD model performance, Voltage-Dependent (VD) model was examined on the same measured data. The work makes use of the Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN) as a nonlinear estimator. Results obtained indicate that including frequency dynamics in modeling active power reduces the accuracy of the model. While in modeling reactive power the model performance improves. Hence, it can be said that including frequency dynamics in load modeling depends on the intended application of the model

Centralized birth registration and citizen information system - a study of Kaduna North Local Government

Birth registration is a fundamental step towards good governance and a vital element in the fostering of democratic processes. Not only does the process of registration allow effective administration and bring children to the notice of decision-makers, it is the official and positive recognition of a new member of society, who is entitled to all the rights and responsibilities of a valued citizen. The present method of processing and issuance of birth certificate has over the years in Kaduna North local government(LG) and medical centers been associated with certain weakness which may include wrong entry of child’s data, misplacement of entries record, time wastage and also open door for people to forge certificate and claim to be members of another society. However, with the emergence of digital identity as the preferred method of providing citizens with access to officially-recognized identification, this study will exploits the functionality of computer system, software applications and the internet technology to proposed a system for centralizing, capturing of child data, processing, securing as well as speeding-up the issuance of birth certificate in Kaduna North (LG). Consequently, the proposed system provides an accurate digital platform for entering and saving of child’s data in a secure database as well as the timely issuance of birth certificate

Assessing the Role of Information Gatekeepers in Conflict Prevention in Nasarawa State

This study explores the role of gatekeepers in conflict prevention in Nasarawa State.  To achieve this, the study raised two main objectives: identification of how gatekeepers help in the prevention of conflicts in Nasarawa state, ascertaining the perception of community members on their gatekeepers. The research used the network gatekeeping theory and a qualitative approach, a case study method was used to investigate the phenomena, with the study purposively selecting five (5) gatekeepers (community/opinion leaders) from each of the five communities and two (2) gated (community members) from each of the five communities. Data was collected with the help of a semi semi-structured and coded using qualitative research software Nvivo. The findings of the study reveal that: Time and immediacy of actions were considered by gatekeepers as paramount in conflicts prevention. It also shows that some community members view their leaders as prejudiced, selfish and not having their concerns at heart. it was concluded that Government should de-emphasize the over-dependence on gatekeepers, and reach out to these newly empowered gatekeepers (gated) also leaders (gatekeepers) should endeavor to accept technology and learn to use it in the information production and dissemination process, with active interactions with the members of their community particularly the youth. Free flow of accurate and timely information within the community should be encouraged as this curtails and reduces false information and rumors which has been identified as a source of conflict within the community.

Influence of Building Contractors’ Performance on Construction Process in Nigeria: A Review of Emerging Literature

Building construction is a process that involves the interplay of many actors in the building industry. One of the actors that play a significant role, from inception to completion of a building project, is the building contractor. However, his performance is greatly influenced by some factors. Such factors include labour, building material, construction methods, equipment, site management and the likes. The study attempts to extensively review such factors that affect the building contractor’s performance and productivity during the construction process. The findings of the extensive review of related literature are cross-sectional in nature. It was discovered that such factors varies from location to location and based on the settlement pattern, culture and social cohesion of people. The study concludes that, for a proper measurement of building contractor’s performance to be achieved, all such factors should be incorporated and earnestly observed. Keywords: Building Contractor, Building Performance Indicator, Construction Process, Contractor’s Performance and Performance Measurement

Evaluation of heavy metals in agricultural soils from Katsina state Nigeria

This work contributes to the monitoring of Agricultural soil pollution in Katsina State, North western Nigeria by assessing the degree of heavy metal pollution in Agricultural soil samples. The study was conducted in the year 2017 within some catchment areas located within the 3 senatorial zones that constitute to make up the state (Katsina senatorial zone: Birchi, Dutsinma and Katsina; Daura senatorial zone: Daura, Ingawa and Zango; Funtua senatorial zone: Dabai, Funtua, Kafur, Malunfashi and Matazu).  Analysis for the concentration of these heavy metals; Cr, Cd, Fe, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn was conducted by the use of AAS (by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry) method. . Several indices were used to assess the metal contamination levels in the Agricultural soil samples, namely; Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), Enrichment Factor (EF), Contamination Factor (CF), Degree of Contamination (Cd) and Pollution Load Index (PLI). The result of this study has shown that generally among the heavy metals evaluated, the highest concentration was observed for Fe (range: 20.195-38.347 ppm), followed by Zn (range: 0.528-1.134 ppm), Pb (range: 0.256-0.627 ppm), Mn (range: 0.261-0.572 ppm) and Cr (range: 0.093-0.344 ppm). While Cd has the lowest concentration (range: 0.022-0.043 ppm). For all the site sampled the heavy metal Ni was below detection level (BDL). From the results of heavy metals I-geo values, according to Muller’s classification,  soil samples from Birchi, Daura, Dutsinma, Kafur and Zango were unpolluted (class 0) while soil samples from Dabai, Funtua, Ingawa, Katsina, Malunfashi and Matazu are moderately polluted (class 1). The result for the enrichment factor has shown that with the exception of the heavy metal Fe, which shows significant enrichment for all the sites sampled all the other heavy metals show deficiency to minimal enrichment. Also based on the contamination factors for all soil samples the heavy metal Fe has a CF values range of 1.2861-2.3240, indicating that the Agricultural soil samples are moderately contaminated with Fe. In contrast, the rest of the heavy metals exhibit low contamination in general. The value of PLI ranges from 0.2408 to 0.4935, indicating unpolluted to moderate pollution, with the sampling site for Katsina displaying the highest PLI value while the sampling site of Ingawa has the lowest PLI. The Eri values for all samples are all < 40, presenting low ecological risk.  The results suggest that the Agricultural soils samples from Katsina state has low contamination by the heavy metals evaluated.Key words: Agricultural soils, Heavy metals, Katsina state, Pollution load index, Contamination factor