Customer Perception of the Effectiveness of Service Quality Delivery of Islamic Banks in Nigeria: An Evaluation of Jaiz Bank

Purpose: This study attempts to identify the factors that motivate customers to deal with an Islamic bank as well as measuring customers’ perception of the service quality delivery of Jaiz bank in Kano State of Nigeria. It also seeks to assess customers’ satisfaction with the performance of Ja’iz bank Design/methodoly: This study is primarily an exploratory work that uses survey design to examine customers’ perceptions of the quality of service delivery by Jaiz bank in Nigeria. The population of the study consists of the customers of Jaiz bank in Kano State of Nigeria. Customers' responses regarding service quality were collected using the CARTER instruments through a self-administered questionnaire. Both purposive and convenience sampling techniques are used in the study. In addition, descriptive statistical methods are utilized to calculate the means, frequency, percentage and standard deviation of responses in order to summarize and interpret the data as well as to measure the perception of bank customers based on the CARTER constructs. Findings: The study reveals that the non-interest nature of Islamic banks is main motivating factor that attracts customers to Ja’iz bank. Also, customers perceive the six CARTER dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, empathy, tangibles, assurance and compliance with Islamic law to be very effective even as they are generally satisfied with the performance of the bank. Another important finding of the study is that it has empirically proved that Islamic banking services are not limited to muslim alone, rather, it can be enjoyed by any person irrespective of his/her ethnic or religious affiliation. Research Limitations/Implications: There are some limitations that need to be acknowledged. The data were collected in a one but important location for Islamic banking operation in Nigeria. Thus, the results’ interpretation should be limited to this group of customers. Also, the measurement of customers’ perceptions was limited to 25 attributes. Even though these attributes were included in other studies as well, there could be other relevant attributes that are likely to influence bank customers’ perceptions. So, in order to be able to generalize the findings, it is suggested that similar studies be conducted in other Nigerian cities where Jaiz bank operates as well. Originality/Value: The study is undoubtedly valuable in the Nigerian context as it will provide empirical facts to the current debate on the viability of Islamic banking services in the country. Being one of the few studies conducted after Ja’iz bank started its operation as the first full-pledge Islamic bank in the country; it will help to refute the wrong notion on Islamic banking in the country. It will equally provide factual reasons to the arguments for the establishment for more Islamic banks in Nigeria. Keywords: Customer perception, Islamic banking, Service Quality, performanc

Building a Multimodal, Trust-Based E-Voting System

This paper addresses the issue of voter identification and authentication, voter participation and trust in the electoral system. A multimodal/hybrid identification and authentication scheme is proposed which captures what a voter knows – PIN, what he has – smartcard and what he is – biometrics. Massive participation of voters in and out of the country of origin was enhanced through an integrated channel (kiosk and internet voting). A multi-trust voting system is built based on service oriented architecture. Microsoft Visual C#.Net, ASP.Net and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition components of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 was used to realize the Windows and Web-based solutions for the electronic voting system

Antifungal Activity of Hyptis spicigera Methanol Leaf Extract and Flavonoid Fraction

Control of plant fungal diseases using synthetic fungicides continue to cause major problems to human health and the entire ecosystem. The aim of this research was to investigate the phytochemical and antifungal properties of Hyptis spicigera methanol leaf extract and flavonoid fraction on Aspergillus and Fusarium species, with a view to uncovering effective bio-fungicides for development as substitutes to chemical fungicides. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of sterols and triterpenes, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids. The quantitative analysis showed that saponin (690 mg/g GAE), phenolics (220 mg/g GAE) and flavonoids (140 mg/g GAE) were found to be in high concentration. The antifungal effects of H. spicigera methanol extract on F. graminearum (21 mm) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the control fungicide (Mancozeb). Similarly, the flavonoid fraction was more effective on A. parasitic (18 mm) than the control fungicide used. The extract and fraction exhibited MIC with range 3.13-12.5 mg/mL and MFC 6.25-12.5 mg/mL, indicating promising antifungal efficacies against A. flavus and F. graminearum. Our findings have revealed that H. spicigera flavonoid rich fraction has potential for development as effective bio-fungicide to control plant fungal diseases of the Aspergillus and Fusarium species

Knowledge Discovery in Online Repositories: A Text Mining Approach

Before the advent of the Internet, the newspapers were the prominent instrument of mobilization for independence and political struggles. Since independence in Nigeria, the political class has adopted newspapers as a medium of Political Competition and Communication. Consequently, most political information exists in unstructured form and hence the need to tap into it using text mining algorithm. This paper implements a text mining algorithm on some unstructured data format in some newspapers. The algorithm involves the following natural language processing techniques: tokenization, text filtering and refinement. As a follow-up to the natural language techniques, association rule mining technique of data mining is used to extract knowledge using the Modified Generating Association Rules based on Weighting scheme (GARW). The main contributions of the technique are that it integrates information retrieval scheme (Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency) (for keyword/feature selection that automatically selects the most discriminative keywords for use in association rules generation) with Data Mining technique for association rules discovery. The program is applied to Pre-Election information gotten from the website of the Nigerian Guardian newspaper. The extracted association rules contained important features and described the informative news included in the documents collection when related to the concluded 2007 presidential election. The system presented useful information that could help sanitize the polity as well as protect the nascent democracy

Who Watches this Stuff?: Videos Depicting Actual Murder and the Need for a Federal Criminal Murder-Video Statute

Murder videos are video recordings that depict the intentional, unlawful killing of one human being by another. Generally, due to their obscene nature, murder videos are absent from mainstream media. However, in the wake of Vester Lee Flanagan II\u27s filmed murders of reporter Allison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward on live television, it is perhaps only a matter of time before murder videos become an acceptable form of entertainment. Further, Americans should be wary of potential copycat perpetrators and their thirst for infamy via immortalization on the Internet, as the free dissemination of murder videos provide extra incentive to commit heinous acts for the sake of shock value. Both the societal acceptance of murder videos as entertainment and the emergence of copycat perpetrators pose risks to society that outweigh any benefits viewing murder videos could possibly have. Thus, it is necessary to prevent murder videos from being infinitely viewed on websites hungry for hits. This Note explores the world of murder videos and why Congress should legally address them immediately. This Note argues that murder videos are obscene content and thus are unprotected by the First Amendment. This Note further argues that a federal statute is necessary to combat murder videos and that a narrowly tailored federal statute can pass constitutional muster. In addition, this Note proposes a model federal statute that can serve as a basis to regulate murder videos. In brief, this Note exposes the current and prospective harms of murder videos and urges that a narrowly tailored federal criminal statute is the proper solution to counter the negative impact murder videos have on society

Effects of density and hunger on the spatial distribution and pit construction behaviour of the antlion larvae (Myrmeleon spp.)

The antlion larvae are sessile predaceous larvae, which depend on active prey for their food. They dig conical pit in loose fine sand and remain at the bottom of their pits with their long piercing jaws from where they seize and remove the body fluids of the ant and other arthropods that slide into their trap. The effects of hunger and density on the spatial distribution and pit construction by the larvae were studied for the three instar stages in fine and coarse sand textures of particles size of <540 μm and <1200 μm respectively.Twenty four (24) Iron trays of 25cm2 each filled with sand to the depth of 20cm were used in the study.The result of the findings reveals that with the increase in density, there was an increased in spatial uniformity and the pits became uniformly distributed. The diameters of the pit were not statistically affected by the changes in the larval density. There was difference between the total number of pits constructed between sand textures and not between the larval instars, in addition, nearest neighbor distance decreases with increase in density and with no effect on pit diameter. Pit diameter increases with hunger level and Antlion move pit to reducedisturbances and to improve food supply. The result analysis showed significant differences in the mean number of pits constructed between densities, sand texture and larval instars at P< 0.01 but none between fed and larval instar.Keywords: Antlion, Construction, Density, Distribution, Hunger, Larvae, Pit

Appraisal of the Performance of Contingency Cost Provision for Building Projects in Nigeria

The paper appraised performance of contingency allowance in addressing projects’ cost risk. To achieve this aim, impact of contingency provision in some selected building projects were evaluated. Data for the study was collected by means of checklist from 40 completed projects’ files. Furthermore, 100 questionnaires on project cost contingency were randomly distributed to quantity Surveyors out of whom 67 completed responses were returned. The results showed that there is significant difference between projects with and without contingency with respect to the accuracy of cost estimates. The study revealed that although the inclusion of contingency allowance reduces the incidence of project cost overrun, majority of the projects under study (55%) had cost overrun. It was also found that the projects exceeded their initial estimate by an average value of 5.07% where contingency was included and by an average value of 9.52% where contingency was not included. The study showed that there is a lack of application of quantitative risks analysis in the determination of contingency fund. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of cost contingency allowance, application of quantitative risks analysis in its determination has been recommended.Keywords: Contingency, Risks, performance, Building

Leading Teaching and Learning in the Era of Education 4.0: The Relationship between Perceived Teacher Competencies and Teacher Attitudes toward Change

Abstract: The objective of the survey was to examine the relationship between perceived teacher competencies in the era of Education 4.0 (TCEdu4.0) and teacher attitudes toward change (TATC) in Malaysian secondary schools. A total of 1,293 teachers from 80 secondary schools that were chosen using disproportionate stratified sampling method completed the questionnaires with valid data. The results demonstrated that, i) there was a significant, positive and strong correlation between TCEdu4.0 and TATC; and ii) except Functional and Research Competency, Self-Management and Interactive Competency, Leading Learning and Mentoring, Problem Solving, Technological and Digital Competency, and Pedagogical Psychology and Assessment were the five predictors of TATC that contributed 49.20% to the total variation. The study re-affirms the practicality of the competency and planned behavioural theories, provides evidence that teacher’s individual factor is a major determinant of attitudes toward change. Moreover, it expands the understanding among educational practitioners regarding the interplay between these two variables and is a significant resource for Institut Aminuddin Baki in developing future training programmes for school leaders in enhancing TCEdu4.0 and TATC. In summary, the study offers valuable insights for driving school change effectively that sustainable school change is correlated to individual factors

Knowledge Sharing in Organisations: Finding a Best-fit Model for a Regulatory Authority in East Africa

Knowledge is an essential organisational asset that contributes to organisational effectiveness when carefully managed. Knowledge sharing (KS) is a vital component of knowledge management that allows individuals to engage in new knowledge creation. Until it’s shared, knowledge is considered useless since it resides within the human brain. Public organisations specifically, are more involved in providing and developing knowledge and hence can be classified as knowledge-intensive organisations. Scholarly research conducted on KS has proposed a number of models to help understand the KS process between individuals but none of these models is specifically for a public organisation. Moreover, to really reap the benefits that KS brings to an organization, it’s imperative to apply a model that is attributable to the unique characteristics of that organisation. This study reviews literature from electronic databases that discuss models of KS between individuals. Factors that influence KS under each model were isolated and the extent of each of their influence on KS in a public organization context, were critically analysed. The result of this analysis gave rise to factors that were thought to be most critical in understanding KS process in a public sector setting. These factors were then used to develop a KS model by categorizing them into themes including organisational culture, motivation to share and opportunity to share. From these themes, a KS model was developed and proposed for KS in a medicines regulatory authority in East Africa. The project recommends that an empirical study be conducted to validate the applicability of the proposed KS model at a medicines regulatory authority in East Africa