Skill Transfer in Sino-Nigerian Rail Transportation Partnership: A Quest for Sustainability of the Rail Sub-Sector in Nigeria

The moribund nature of railway system in Nigeria due to lack of indigenous engineering and funding facilitated the renewed interest in Sino-Nigerian partnership largely framed by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC) process, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop Nigeria infrastructure. Consequently, despite the cooperation from China, through Sino-Nigerian partnership, there is uncertainty surrounding the Chinese skills transfer to Nigerian rail workers towards sustainable maintenance of Nigerian railway system. The paper explores the nature and level of skills transfer in Sino-Nigerian rail transportation partnership, and ascertained the employment considerations vis-à-vis skills transfer in the rail transportation partnership. It also examined the challenges and hindrance of skill transfer in Sino-Nigerian rail transportation partnership in Nigeria. Descriptive research design was engaged through qualitative approach. The approach relied on interviews as a form of primary data in sourcing for relevant information from participants. Quota and purposive (with snowball) sampling technique were engaged to select participants for the study. Content analysis was engaged for data analysis. The findings showed that non-technical workers were the major beneficiaries of Sino-Nigerian skill transfer through on-the-job training. Thus, the knowledge transfer was slower than expected and the Nigerian engineers who were supposed to acquire the most important skills in SGR project were not given the opportunity by the Chinese. The study concluded that there is an apt need for Nigeria to develop her own indigenous technology that will be viable for long-term usage of railway sub-sector without relying on external technology

In Their Husbands\u27 Shoes: Feminism and Political Economy of Women Breadwinners in Ile-Ife, Southwestern Nigeria

In a significant number of societies worldwide, the primary role of men is to serve as breadwinners in their households. However, in Nigeria, since the mid-1980s there has been a steady rise in the number of women breadwinners in many households. In spite of this, not enough studies have been conducted on this emerging phenomenon. Using feminist and political economy theories as explanatory tools, the study examined women breadwinners in Nigeria using Ile-Ife of Southwestern Nigeria as a case study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were utilized to explore the circumstances leading to the rise of women breadwinners in the study area. The study showed that the increase in the number of women breadwinners was as a result of Nigeria’s economic downturn, husbands’ uncaring attitude and the need of women to properly bring up their children in line with societal norms. Breadwinning role was found to have impacted negatively on the women, a situation traceable to their socio-economic profiles such as low educational status, occupation and income which have made sustenance of the family very difficult. The paper concludes that the phenomenon of women breadwinners and the problems they encounter are due to economic recession and patriarchy in Nigeria. Governmental interventions that would primarily contribute to well-being of women breadwinners were suggested as a long term measure to ameliorate their peculiar problems

Leadership and Crises in Nigerian Universities: Can Women Make a Difference?

This book was inspired by the incessant crises in Nigerian universities and the fact that these universities are led mainly by men. The author believes that the gender imbalance in the leadership of these universities is a factor in the incessant crises which have become a barrier to the universities achieving their goals, thereby militating against Nigeria’s effort towards achieving sustainable development. The absence of women in higher education management has been documented throughout the world in both the global North and South; an indication that it is a global phenomenon. Importantly, this phenomenon has been recognized as a loss of a vital part of human resource. Emeka Anyaoku (former General Secretary of the Commonwealth) noted that “the under representation of women in higher education management is well documented and serve to demonstrate that the pool of managerial talent within each country is not optimally utilized’’. This realization has pushed many scholars to focus on women’s representation in higher education management, including their barriers and challenges, while also highlighting women’s qualities that can make a difference. The under representation of women in higher education in Nigerian Universities inspired the research proposal and project that ultimately resulted in this book. The book argues that it is men’s autocratic leadership that causes crises in universities and that including women in leadership positions will facilitate a peaceful academic environment in Nigerian Universities

The Career Woman and Reproductive Health Behaviour in Nigeria. A Case Study of Ile-Ife and Lagos

The maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is still very high and as such has been topical. This problem is partly a result of patriarchy and therefore has been of great interest to many scholars. This study was aimed at creating knowledge on reproductive behaviour of career women and the role of men in such behaviour. The study was carried out in Ile-Ife and Lagos. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used. Quantitative method was used to get a larger sample and qualitative was used so as to bring out those things that can not be elicited from the questionnaires. The research instruments were in-depth interview schedule and questionnaires. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 200 respondents. Only 133 respondents completed the questionnaires and 10 respondents were interviewed in-depth. The respondents were selected from 10 different professions-medicine, law, teaching, police, banking, accountancy, nursing, pharmacy and administration. The findings were that professional women got married and had their first babies slightly later than their illiterate sisters, patronize good hospitals for antenatal care and delivery of their babies and use mainly orthodox family planning methods. It was equally found that men play a major role in the reproductive health behaviour of professional women. It was concluded that the knowledge perception and attitudes of men towards the reproductive health of women have a lot of implication for women's health, survival and that of their children. It was therefore recommended that any intervention programme towards change of women's reproductive behaviour should also target men if it is to be successful. Gender & Behaviour Vol.3 2005: 406-42