Perception and Attitudes of Christian Youths towards Condom Use (Implications for HIV/AIDs in Nigeria)

The study examined religiousity, perception and attitude towards condom use among Christian youths in Ile Ife, Nigeria with the aim of examining the implications on HIV/AIDs. A structured questionnaire based on Likert-type scales was employed to rate respondents’ attitudes. A total of 260 youths were interviewed, but 210 (80.8%) were found to be sexually active as at the time of the survey. Those who had sexual initiation before the age of 20 years were 42.9%, while less than 5% had ever gone for HIV test. Gender and level of religiousity were not significant predictors of age at first sex (p>0.05), but gender was a significant predictor of attitude towards sexual activeness(

Identity construction and gender involvement in online social networks among undergraduates in two universities, Southwest Nigeria

In this paper, we explore identity construction and gender involvement of Nigerian undergraduates in online social networks. This paper presents the qualitative findings on identity construction and gender involvement of Nigerian undergraduates in online social networks. This was with a view to investigating the reasons for the increasing participation of young people in online social networks. The study examines their views on what constitutes an identity and the rationale for adopting a particular identity in online social networks. Qualitative data were collected through four focus Group Discussions and twenty in-depth interviews (IDI) among undergraduate students from two universities in Southwest Nigeria. The findings reveal identity construction in online social interactions as a frequent occurrence and an extension of real life. Trust in online relationships develops overtime depending on frequency and nature of interactions. However, gender influences young people’s online activities, as more females than males tend to construct their online social identities using photographs in particular with symbolic interpretations. In addition, there are perceived risks of involvement, especially those relating to privacy in online social networks. Hence, the findings call for diverse interrogations of the contexts and dimensions of involvement in online social networks among youths and how such interactions could influence further positive outcomes.Keywords: Gender, identity, online and offline interactions, social networks, university students, Nigeri

An Assessment of the Emerging Networks of Support for Street Children in Nigeria

Nigeria, being asignatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child(UNCRC, 1989) promulgated the Child Rights Act 2003, which aimed atameliorating the condition of street children in Nigeria. In line with this,there are emerging networks of support for street children. The extent towhich these support networks are fulfilling their mission mandates is not yet known. Hence, this paper attempts to bridge this gap by focusing on the available networks of support for these children, who were mainly on their own, and often left to face the horrors of street life without recourse to their significant others. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed to collect primary data for the study. Study findings showed that Children ‘of’ the street enjoyed more supports from community members in Kaduna (56.6%) and Port Harcourt (59.0%) than in Lagos (19.0%). Although, few NGOs now work with the street children, their impacts are yet to be felt because of lack of requisite resources. The government through the Social Welfare Department also provides some assistance to street children; their programmes were not attractive enough to the children. On the whole, the children’s ranking of the ‘support providers’ shows that the support provided by the homeless adults on the street is most preferred (μ=3.26) while the government agencies were least on this ranking scale (μ=1.78).The study concluded that, despite the global shift from eradication of street children to providing support for them right on the streets, this paradigm shift has very weak roots in Nigeria. Hence, children ‘of’ the street are still socially excluded in Nigeria. This has serious implication for the future of the country since it could lead to the proliferation of street gangs who are often involved in various crimes and ready instruments of violence. Increase in the population of street children and possibly street gangs could become serious economic burden to the nation. It is therefore important to attract support to the children ‘of’ the street in order to reverse this problem