STEPPING OUT OF THE SHADOWS: ACHIEVING INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF INSECURITY IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian state has been drawn into a mano a mano with formidable criminal gangs, rogue groups, horrific terror death angels and vicious sociopaths who have committed themselves to the obnoxious agenda of causing mayhem, misery, deaths and bringing incalculable destruction to the Nigerian state and people. The shadow of insecurity has pervaded Nigeria like ominous clouds striking fear in the hearts of citizens and residents. The nation seems to be under a siege and the police and other security agencies appear to be overwhelmed and are stretched to their limits in dealing with the insecurity in the country. Nevertheless, the recrudescence of violent crimes in Nigeria is not an exclusive situation peculiar to the country. Several countries of the world are capitals for rape, murders, other violent crimes and evil contrivances and yet have been able to choreograph industrial development and social advancement in their countries. This chapter aims to peruse how Nigeria can achieve industrial development in spite of its security challenges. Credible suggestions have been mooted to make industrial development a reality in Nigeria in spite of the patent byzantine insecurity in the countr

Awareness and Use of Open Educational Resources and its Benefits to University Students

The study is descriptive survey research designed to investigate awareness and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and its benefits to university students. The study area is Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The study population was 424 postgraduate students in the Faculty of Education, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. A sample of 178 students was involved in the study. A simple random sampling technique was applied in the selection process. The instrument used for the study to collect data from respondents is a structured questionnaire titled awareness and use of open educational resources and its benefits to university students (AUEORBU) with 40-item questions. The designed instrument by the researcher was given to experts in the field of educational technology. The instrument reliability determined by test-re-test was applied and the responses were correlated to obtain the reliability coefficient of .67. mean was the statistical tool used for the study. The study found that students can access open educational resources anywhere in the world, at any time and open educational resources provide an excellent way for alumni to stay connected to the institution and continue with a program of lifelong. Based on the conclusion, the researchers recommended that students and stakeholders participate fully in open educational resources to stay connected to their institutions

Perception of Students on the Use of Google Classroom for Educational Purposes

This study investigated the Perception of students on the use of Google Classroom for educational purposes. Four research objectives, four research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study used all education students in the Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt. A sample of 300 students was used for the study. Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques were used for the study and the instrument used to collect data was a structured questionnaire titled Perception of students on the use of Google Classroom in Tertiary Institutions (PSGCTI) with 40 items. A reliability coefficient of .74 was obtained for the structured questionnaire administered to students. Mean scores, Z-test and Anova, were used as the statistical tools for the study. It was found that the Google classroom platform helps students organize their assignments and it fosters better communication between teachers and students. It was also found that Google classroom makes online learning exciting and it creates creativity and critical thinking and makes students highly motivated. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Google classroom is a useful tool that every educator should use for teaching online. Furthermore, it was also recommended that teachers should use the Google classroom tool to bring about paperless communication in the classroom

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CITIZENS MEDIATION CENTRE IN LANDLORD-TENANT ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN LAGOS STATE

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been recognised as an effective way of resolving landlord-tenant disputes, among other civil disputes, all over the world. In Lagos, the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) was established in 1999 to use mediation, an ADR technique, in addressing landlord-tenant disputes which had become violent and an existential threat to the parties in the tenancy relationship, among other forms of dispute the Centre was founded to resolve. The CMC was expected to bring peace and preserve the tenancy relationship in Lagos State, while eliminating the potential of violence, injury and deaths that could arise out of self-help actions by parties. This study was initiated therefore to investigate the effectiveness of the Citizens Mediation Centre in landlord-tenant dispute resolution in Lagos State with the main objective to examine the effectiveness of the Citizens Mediation Centre in Landlord-Tenant Dispute resolution in Lagos State. The area of study comprised the six catchment areas of the CMC in Alimosho, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Onikan and Yaba in Lagos State. The study adopted a triangulation of method: a survey method, supported by in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The study further adopted the Social Conflict Theory and the Human Needs Theory as the theoretical framework. Findings showed that while the CMC enabled landlord-tenant dispute resolution in Lagos State, the weaknesses embedded in mediation were visible. Notable among them is that mediation is prone to corruption and is weak at addressing power imbalances immanent in the tenancy relationship. Other findings showed that CMC mediation process favoured richer parties in the tenancy relationship in Lagos State and that a major cause of landlord or landlady-tenant dispute is late or default in rent payment, among others. While the study affirms that the landlord-tenant relationship is dispute laden, and that the CMC has justified to a reasonable extent the fulfilment of its mandate by the success it has recorded so far, the process of giving justice to parties in the tenancy relationship remains a work in progress. Conscious effort should be made to correct the weaknesses facing the CMC mediation process in the areas of power imbalances, biased or unfair resolution process and the allegation of corruption that was levelled against some of its mediators by some respondents. Therefore, the Lagos Government and CMC should work together to remove dishonest mediators from its workforce. The government should invest more in the expansion of the Centre and the weaknesses in the CMC mediation process should be addressed. These will engender a rejuvenated CMC able to withstand the request of justice made on it by disputants in the rental housing sector in Lagos State

Schoology As A Learning Management System For Teaching And Learning In Rivers State Tertiary Institutions

Schoology's potential as a learning management system for teaching and learning at Rivers State Tertiary Institutions was examined in this study. To direct the investigation, three research questions and three hypotheses were developed and tested. Descriptive survey design was the method used for the investigation. The population of the study consisted of 215 year two students from the department of curriculum studies and instructional technology at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and 170 year two students from the department of computer science at Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic. 150 respondents were selected as a sample from two tertiary institutions in Rivers State. To obtain the respondents' responses, the researchers used a questionnaire as their instrument. For the study, face and content validity were applied, and a reliability coefficient of 0.67 was found. The mean, standard deviation, and z test statistics were used to present, evaluate, and interpret the data obtained from the respondents, with an alpha level of 0.05. The study's findings showed that schoology promotes instructional activities both in traditional classroom settings and in online learning environments. It also improves students' learning options and gives them more flexibility over when and how they learn. The study suggested, among other things, that teachers adapt the platform to their students' needs and create engaging projects to add variation to online learning. It was also recommended that teachers can upload resources, start group projects and conversations, annotate and evaluate, and create relevant tests with a fair amount of ease also teachers and school officials can keep crucial materials in group folders that anybody can access for assistance

Dehexing Women Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Turning Possibilities into Realities

If women make up half the population of Nigeria, harnessing the potentials of this huge community, especially with regards to promoting entrepreneurship among them, promises numerous benefits at multiple levels including at the individual, family and national levels. As more women take the centre-stage in the global economy with many of them running successful enterprises, Nigerian women with education, management training, access to funding and the right environment can also excel. Dehexing women entrepreneurship in Nigeria will necessitate the expunction of existing obstacles and the conversion of possibilities to realities. Doing this will make women become greater contributors to the economic development of the country and engender the much anticipated social change. This paper asserts that women entrepreneurs in Nigeria can succeed if given the opportunity like their male counterparts

Parameter Estimation of a Class of Hidden Markov Model with Diagnostics

A stochastic volatility (SV) problem is formulated as a state space form of a Hidden Markov model (HMM). The SV model assumes that the distribution of asset returns conditional on the latent volatility is normal. This article analyzes the SV model with the student-t distribution and the generalized error distribution (GED) and compares these distributions with a mixture of normal distributions from Kim and Stoffer (2008). A Sequential Monte Carlo with Expectation Maximization (SMCEM) algorithm technique was used to estimate parameters for the extended volatility model; the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and forecast statistics were calculated to compare distribution fit. Distribution performance was assessed using simulation study and real data. Results show that, although comparable to the normal mixture SV model, the Student-t and GED were empirically more successful

AN APPRAISAL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AS NEW MEDIA TOOLS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Today, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have redefined the way communication is carried out and further pushed the envelope with regard to the way information is disseminated, creating more channels of interaction between stakeholders in the society. Studies are ongoing on how ICTs can be useful in language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions today. The impact ICTs have had in improving governance, agriculture, medicine, banking and commerce, education, inter alia, so far, is being predicted to have the same impact when utilised for language teaching and learning. Thus, ICT tools like PowerPoint, e-conferencing, compact disks (CDs, VCDs and DVDs), technology-aided distance learning, among others, are instruments that can facilitate knowledge acquisition, language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. Through ICTs, the teacher-student interaction in the learning process is situated within a dynamic pedagogical context that could go beyond the four walls of a traditional classroom. This situation forebodes better days for teachers and students alike as more channels of interaction are created, thus enhancing language teaching and learning. It now behoves teachers and students to take advantage of these technologies in furthering knowledge acquisition with regard to language teaching and learning. Among other things, in this paper, the authors have critically appraised the use of ICTs in language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, identified the various limitations to this process and made recommendations that can be useful to policy makers and stakeholders involved in tertiary educatio

THE POLITICS OF CHANGE, PRECARIATISED YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR MARKET POLICIES IN NIGERIA

The insecurities suffered by the youth precariat class in Nigeria derive from labour market insecurity, employment insecurity, skill reproduction insecurity, income insecurity and representation insecurity, all of which point to largely steep economic, social and political insecurities. This labyrinth of insecurities, particularly as it manifests in bulging youth unemployment, further marginalises this class, and exacerbates its precarity. Since members of this class respond in the most vicious way by pulling at the fabric of social cohesion and peace or in the least by running a criminal economy aimed at achieving economic assuagement, serious commitment must be made by the political and economic managers of the state to address youth unemployment crisis in Nigeria. Particularly, a lot is expected from President Muhammadu Buhari whose anti-corruption and people-oriented policy disposition is expected to sire a democratic regime that will address the contradictions in the body polity and economy, paving way for greater youth employment in the country. This study adopts the Political Economy paradigm for its analysis and a qualitative approach in its collection of data to investigate how President Muhammadu Buhari’s Politics of Change can be combined with relevant labour market programmes in giving hope and a sense of belonging to the precariatised youth class in Nigeria. These disenchanted and precarious young Nigerians must be provided with decent livelihoods that can wean them off their resort to criminality and antisocial behaviours which some have adopted as survivalist measures to escape the hard social and economic realities in the countr

Archival Review of The Role of the Citizens Mediation Centre in Landlord-Tenant Dispute Resolution in Lagos State, Nigeria

Millions of people in developing and developed countries use rental housing to meet their housing or business needs or as a source of income. While peaceful co-existence between landlords and tenants is the norm in some places, elsewhere, landlord-tenant relations are characterised by suspicion, mistrust, power tussle, and the struggle by each group to get the best out of the relationship at the expense of the other. This situation most times leads to disputes, which if not amicably resolved, could sour the relationship between the two parties and may degenerate into violence and breach of public peace. Although indigenous channels for resolving landlord and tenant disputes exist, lack of fairness of the mechanisms coupled with the cost, prolonged hearing and lack of privacy of the judicial forum led to the establishment of the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) in 1999. However, it has been observed that the CMC faces many operational challenges which have hampered its functions. These include inadequate coverage of all the local government areas in Lagos State, lack of adequate funding, inability of the Centre to engage with its target audiences, and inability of the Centre in sharing its success stories with prospective disputants. Using the Human Needs Theory, this paper argues that resolving landlord-tenant disputes in Lagos State will require parties recognising the needs of each other and striving to meet them, while at the same time, parties should recognise, respect, accept, listen to or accommodate the other party’s diversities such as culture, language, values, needs and interests. The paper recommends that for a more vibrant CMC to be realised, there is need for greater funding, greater publicity of its activities, and continuous engagement with its target population