It’s only leftist women who talk that damn nonsense about women being at a disadvantage: Eugenia Charles’s gender politics in Dominica

Born in 1919 in Dominica and educated in Grenada, Canada and Britain, Eugenia Charles became the islands first female barrister, head of a political party and in 1980, Prime Minister. With political views on the right of the spectrum, her close alliances and friendships with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as well as her own defiant personality, Charles gained the title of ‘Iron Lady of the Caribbean’. This moniker, however, obscures more than it reveals, especially when it relates to Charles's gender politics. This article examines her speeches, interviews and policies and argues that a politics of contradiction and ambivalence characterised Charles's gender politics. This ambivalence partly explains the resilience of andocentric masculinist ideologies present in Caribbean political structures. Moreover, it demonstrates the continuity of ‘first-wave’ Caribbean feminism in the late twentieth century and the pragmatism of women in politics

Social capital and engagement in Nigerian small business marketing.

This study explores social capital and engagement in Nigerian small business marketing. It examines how Nigerian small business owner-managers develop and use social capital in the network of relationships to overcome marketing constraints. Social capital can be viewed as a marketing asset available in network relationships. The process perspective of social capital enables understanding of the formation and use of social resources in networks. Social resources in networks are accessed through relationships built on trust and commitment over time. Although small businesses in Nigeria contribute to the nation's economic and social development, they operate under severe resource constraints. These constraints are mainly due to business size and limited resources, such as limited market impact, limited marketing skills and expertise, and limited access to resources. However, small business' inherent advantages, such as strong drive and enthusiasm, enable social connections with networks. This study builds on and develops engagement as an advanced form of relationship marketing in Nigerian small businesses. The concepts fit the context of a developing country with low resource availability and limited access to marketing resources. However, despite the increasing use of the concept "engagement", empirical-based understanding of processes underpinning engagement in small business context remains underexplored. A qualitative research approach is adopted to investigate the processes and dynamics of Nigerian small business owner-managers' engagement with various networks for marketing. The complex nature of the phenomenon requires a range of qualitative techniques for data collection and analysis to understand the meaning of small business owner-managers' actions during networking. Qualitative data were obtained through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with small business owner-managers in Nigeria. The thematic data analysis approach was adopted using the constant comparative analysis method to compare emerging themes and categories. This approach provides a description and understanding of data interpretations. It explains how Nigerian small business owner-managers engage with multiple networks in a long-term relational exchange relationship for marketing. The research findings identify engagement as a dynamic and iterative process resulting from network interactions, the strength of network ties, network interdependence and stability. This study's novelty lies in explaining the formation and use of social capital by engaging various networks in small business marketing. It further explores and develops the concept of engagement as a much stronger network relationship to involve networks in marketing. This study proposes a research model that explains the social capital formation and engagement processes of various networks in small business marketing. It develops and demonstrates small business marketing beyond transactions and offers theoretical contributions to the concept of social capital formation and use in small business engagement marketing. Finally, this study proposes recommendations for practice, theory and suggestions for further research

Ornamental Fish Species Potentials of Ikpa River in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Fish species were investigated for 12 calendar months from March 2009 – February 2010 forthnightly using traps, gillnets and cast nets from three sampling stations in Ikpa River. Ornamental fish species were sorted out from the pooled samples. The findings revealed that of the 2307 fish specimens sampled, 1074 specimens made up of 38 species and 19 families were of indigenous ornamental fish. The highest contributing family in terms of number of species is Cichlidae (10 species) whereas Schilbeidae (593 specimens; 55.21%) is the highest contributor in terms of total number of specimens sampled. This is followed by Mochokidae and Mormyridae with 4 species each and Cichlidae with 158 specimens (14.70%). At the species level, the highest contributor is Physalia pellucida (577 specimens; 53.72%) and is followed by Erpetoichthys calabaricus (60 specimens; 5.59%). The least contributors were Heterobranchus bidorsalis, Periophthalmus barbarus and Pelvicachromis pulcher (1 specimen; 0.09%). Twelve families recorded only one species each. These great potentials of ornamental fish have been left unexploited and hence, undeveloped. Several species of ornamental fish have been imported into and exported from Nigeria by businessmen. This paper, therefore, highlights the constraints and also makes recommendations for the exploitation and development of ornamental fishery in Akwa Ibom State and its environs. Keywords: Exotic, Ornamental, Indigenous, Fish species, Ikpa River

Concentrations of Selected Trace Metals in Groundwater from a Legacy oil-spill location in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to assess the concentrations of some selected trace metals in borehole water from a legacy oil spill location in Rivers State, Nigeria. Water samples were collected from ten (10) functional boreholes using standard techniques. The levels of the trace metals in the study area were found to be in the order of: cadmium (0.361±0.381 mg/L), > lead (0.117±0.056 mg/L) > nickel (0.042±0.0281 mg/L) > cobalt (0.010±0.009 mg/L) in the water samples. These values were above the WHO and NIS limits. The water quality parameters varied across the sampling periods (June and August); apart from Cd whose mean value was higher during the month of June, but lower during the second month. The groundwater from the community is therefore, unsafe for drinking purpose due to elevated levels of toxic metals. These findings give cause of concern, particularly as trace metals are bio accumulative in the human system and portends a serious health risk to man. In light of these findings, periodic analysis of samples from boreholes is inevitable so as to reveal contamination or pollution status of groundwater in this area and to determine the best method for water treatment. It will help in safeguarding the health of water consumers against the subsequent impact that may arise from drinking trace metals contaminated wate

The Ballpark podcast Extra Innings: African Americans in a White house: an event with Professor Leah Wright Rigueur

On the 5th of March 2020, Professor Leah Wright Rigueur joined the LSE US Centre for the event “African Americans in a ‘White’ House: Presidential Politics, Race, and The Pursuit of Power.” At the event, using one of the most outrageous scandals in modern American political history as a case study – the Housing and Urban Development Scandal (HUD) of the 1980s and 1990s which saw political officials steal billions in federal funding set aside for low-income housing residents – Professor Leah Wright Rigueur told the complex story of the transformation of Black politics and the astonishing racial politics of presidential administrations that have paved the way for patterns of political misconduct that have continued into the present. This seminar was chaired by Professor Imaobong Umoren, Assistant Professor at the Department of International History at LSE. The event was part of the ‘Race and Gender in US Politics in Historical and Contemporary Perspective’ seminar series organized by the LSE United States Centre. Professor Leah Wright Rigueur is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harry S. Truman Associate Professor of American History at Brandeis University. She is the author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power and is currently working on the book manuscript Mourning in America: Black Men in a White House

Assessment of Surface and Ground Water Quality of Uruan in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria

The water quality status of rivers, streams, and underground water in Uruan Local Government Area, Nigeria was investigated in this study. Inhabitants of this region depend on these water resources for drinking and other purposes. Water samples were collected from four rivers, nine streams, six boreholes and a well from various points across three study zones in the local government. Standard analytical methods were employed for all analyses and the results are compared with water quality standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). Most quality determinands are within WHO guidelines except pH, EC, turbidity, TDS, total coliform, and Fe. The overall ionic dominance pattern for the river, stream, borehole and well follow the same trend Fe>Na>Mn>K and Cl->NO3->NO2-. The hygienic condition of the water bodies is found to be poor. High BOD5, coliform count and BOD5:NO3 ratio of river, stream and ground water samples are indicative of organic pollution due to faecal contamination. Multivariate statistical approach [correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA)] was used to identify interrelationships among physicochemical parameters and the pollution source. PCA reveals 3 extracted principal components (PCs) by river water, 6 PCs each by both stream and ground water; with the sources of pollution either from natural hydro-geochemical processes or anthropogenic pollution, or a combination of both. Based on cluster analysis results, water sample stations are classified into 6 clusters, a pointer to the fact that the clusters are peculiar and different from one another. The results imply that water bodies in Uruan are polluted and pose potential risk to humans. Institution of intervention measures including public awareness campaigns in Uruan local government area is desirable to protect the inhabitants from water-related illnesses and their consequences. Keywords: River; Stream; Groundwater; Water quality; Organic pollution index; Multivariate analysi

‘This is the Age of Woman’: Black Feminism and Black Internationalism in the Works of Una Marson, 1928-1938

Una Marson (1905-1965) was an Afro-Jamaican intellectual who in the 1930s became an internationally famous feminist, Pan-Africanist, poet, playwright, journalist and social activist. Between 1932 and 1936 Marson lived in London and became involved in the burgeoning Pan-African movement and a number of British and international women’s and feminist organisations. In 1936, she briefly returned to Jamaica amidst the nationalist movements of the time before journeying back to Britain in 1938, where she remained until 1946. This article builds on and differs from previous scholarship on Marson through its exploration of the changes that took place in her black feminist ideas relating to race, gender and class between 1928 and 1938, and how these influenced her intellectual view concerning black internationalism. This article puts two arguments forward. First, Marson’s engagement with Pan-Africanism and her experiences of racism and sexism in London changed her vision of black feminism. Second, this change contributed to her bringing black feminism into the male-dominated sphere of black internationalism. Thus, it calls for more recognition of Una Marson both as a black feminist and a black internationalis

Physico-Chemical Factors Influencing Zooplankton Community Structure of a Tropical River, Niger Delta, Nigeria

The Physical and chemical factors influencing the abundance, diversity and species richness of zooplankton in Mbo River, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria were studied for twelve months (December, 2009- November, 2010) using standard analytical methods. The aim was to study the environmental factors determining zooplankton structure as reference point for the sustainable management of the river in view of the proposed development plans for the river basin. The result showed that Crustacea was highest and constituted 48% in Station I, and 30.8% and 33.3% in Stations II and III respectively. Other taxanomic groups present in this study include Rotifera which contributed to 20.0%, 50.0% and 55.6% in Stations I, II and III, respectively. Mollusc in Station I contributed to 8.0% of the species composition in this Station but was absent in Stations II and III. Protozoa which contributed to 9.1% of the total zooplankton composition in Station I was not recorded in the other two stations. The maximum diversity (Shannon-Weiner Index) per station/month (2.79) was calculated in Station I in September, 2010 and the minimum per station/month (0.93) was observed in Station III in July. Seasonally, the wet season recorded the maximum Shannon-Weiner Index value of 3.02 while the dry season recorded lower values. The significant seasonal variation in zooplankton density (cells/l), diversity and richness was regulated by rainfall, which also modulated the impact of the physico-chemical variables of the river surface water. Keywords: Community structure, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Physico-chemical factors,  Zooplankton

A Framework for Intelligent Inventory Prediction in Small and Medium- Scale Enterprise

The aim of this research is to apply an intelligent technique to predict optimal inventory quantity in small and medium-scale enterprise. This is in view of the fact that the conventional models such as the EOQ model use only deterministic while some decision variables are non- deterministic in nature. Forecasted average demand of items for ten months in a small-scale retail outlet was collected and trained using an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) of 5 neurons in the input layer with eight neurons in the first hidden layer and four neurons in the second hidden layer. Two feed-forward training algorithms of quasi-newton and quick propagation were employed in the training with the results of fuzzy logic technology found in the literature as the target output. Results obtained show that the quasi-newton algorithm covaries stronger with the fuzzy logic results than the quick propagation results. The objective and subjective feelings of the inventory manager were also captured to optimise the results of the training. The study is at a framework stage and will proceed to implementation level when more datasets are collected. Data collection in a small-scale outlet is a daunting task as record keeping is hardly done. The inclusion of non-deterministic circumstances such as emotional and objective feelings of the inventory manager to predict inventory is novel considering the fact that studies in the available intelligent inventory prediction have not employed such variables in their predictions. Keywords: Artificial Neural networks, Fuzzy logic, Quasi newton, Quick propagation, EOQ, Inventory, Forecast. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-2-03 Publication date: January 31st 202