A comprehensive approach to addressing drought and desertification in Nigeria

In the 1970s, the United Nations identified desertification as a global threat to environmental sustainability. While the concept of dryland degradation has long and always existed, desertification on the other hand implies the rapid spread of the degradation of vast land and its productivity throughout the world, notably in Africa and Asia. Modern desertification, as the case is in Nigeria, often arises from the demands of increased populations that settle on the land in order to grow crops and graze animals. The extent and severity of desertification in Nigeria has not been fully established neither has the rate of its progression been properly recognized. However, it is estimated that the country is currently losing about 351,000 hectares of its landmass to desert conditions annually, and such conditions are estimated to be advancing southwards at the rate of about 0.6km per year. Desertification, which is affecting the 11 northern states, is considered the most pressing environmental problem. The purpose of this study is to evaluate current government policies in addressing desertification and to offer new measures based on the findings of the study. The study has found out that the reasons for the failure of current government policies are numerous including the government’s top-down approach, inconsistency of government policies, neglect of indigenous knowledge, use of inappropriate technology, sectoral approach, inadequate funding, inadequate awareness, etc. Having identified the causes of the problem, this study proposes new measures to combat desertification and mitigate the effect of drought in Nigeria

Toda-Yamamoto Granger No-causality Analysis of Stock Market Growth and Economic Growth in Ghana

The paper aims at examining the causal nexus between stock market growth and economic growth in the context of Ghana for a sample period covering 1990 to 2016. Toda-Yamamoto (1995) Granger no-causality test which permits Granger causality test irrespective of the order of integration of the variables involved is employed in this study. Data used for the study is annual time series data covering the sample period. The study finds that GDP growth Granger causes stock price index (SPI) and stock value traded (SVT) but does not granger causes market capitalisation (MC). However, none of the stock market growth indicators (MC, STV, and SPI) Granger causes economic growth. Thus the findings of this study support economic growth-driven stock market growth. It is recommended that, in other to enhance the effect of stock market growth on economy, firms in the sectors of the economy that contribute significantly to GDP growth in the stock market should be encouraged, motivated and supported to participate in the stock market by listing on the stock market. Also, government should ensure stable macroeconomic and microeconomic environment for businesses that are listed on the stock market to flourish since stock market growth is found to be economy-driven

Pore-Scale Modeling: Stochastic Network Generation and Modeling of Rate Effects in Waterflooding

Pore scale network modeling has been used to predict transport flow properties for multiphase flow successfully. The prediction is based on having geologically realistic networks that are computationally expensive to generate and normally represent only a very small section of the rock sample. We present a new method to generate stochastic random networks representing the pore space of different rocks with given input pore and throat size distributions and connectivity – these distributions can be obtained from an analysis of pore-space images. The stochastic networks can be arbitrarily large and hence are not limited by the size of the original image. The basic assumption made in the prediction of transport flow properties using most pore-scale models is that the flow is capillary dominated. This implies that the viscous pressure drop is insignificant compared to the capillary pressure. However, at the field scale, gravity and viscous forces dominate displacement processes. We develop a rate-dependent network model that accounts for viscous forces by solving for the wetting and non-wetting phase pressure and which allows wetting layer swelling near an advancing flood front. We propose a new time-dependent algorithm by accounting for partial filling of elements. We use the model to study the effects of capillary number and mobility ratio on imbibition displacement patterns, saturation and velocity profiles. We also investigate the effects of capillary number and mobility ratio on the water fractional flow curve, cumulative oil production and residual oil saturation for water-wet and mixed-wet systems. By using large networks we reproduce Buckley-Leverett profiles directly from pore-scale modeling thereby providing a bridge between pore-scale and macroscale transport

Drought and desertification management in arid and semi-arid zones of Northern Nigeria

Purpose: This paper seeks to review the state of desertification in Nigeria, historical trends and past national efforts as well as ongoing programs for combating the fast-spreading desert conditions in the arid zones of the country. Design/methodology/approach: The approach has been carried out through a comprehensive review analysis and detailed assessment on several methods of approach which includes archival materials as well as published government documents, field observation and learned background information of the working and funding dynamics of the program to combat desertification. Findings: The findings of this paper reveal that the failure of the past government effort in combating desertification in Nigeria is a result of the policies and the programs not having been designed to adequately tackle the problem of drought and desertification and of the phenomena being treated as sectoral issues rather than an integrated whole. Practical implications: This paper has practical implication for anyone interested in sustainable management of drought and desertification in the arid and semi arid zones of the world. Originality/value: The paper has articulated success and failure of the government programs in combating the twin environmental problems of drought and desertification in Nigeria and also shows that government could significantly combat desertification through sustainable management of its projects/programs if adequate resources are employed

The relationship between perceived effective entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention: the role of perception of university support, perceived creativity disposition and entrepreneurial passion

Entrepreneurship has led to the ever increasing and continuous growing field of entrepreneurship education. However, there are growing concerns about the effectiveness of the programme in forming entrepreneurial intention and the ultimate advancement of enterprising behaviour. Hence, this study investigated the relationship between perceived effective entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention, while considering the role of perception of university support, perceived creativity disposition, entrepreneurial passion for inventing, and entrepreneurial passion for founding a business venture. To validate the model, data from 595 university students were analysed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings showed that all the hypothesised direct relationships were supported except for the relationship between perceived effective entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Similarly, the hypothesized mediating relationships were supported. In addition, only two hypothesized moderating relationships were supported, but not the moderating effect of perception of university support on perceived effective entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial passion for founding. Based on the findings, this study contributes theoretically by extending the use of both the theory of planned behaviour and Shapero’s entrepreneurial event model framework to increase the understanding of the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Methodologically, this study contributes by employing the hierarchical modelling using PLS-SEM to explain the relationships developed. In practical terms, the findings provide the stakeholders responsible for entrepreneurship development a better picture of the formation of entrepreneurial intentions, as well as the impact of potential venture initiators’ beliefs and perceptions on their intention to commence a business. Overall, it enables the government and the policy-makers to direct thoughts and resources on young adults who are likely to form entrepreneurial intentions, and consequently, create business venture

Counteracting innovative constraints: insights from four case studies of African knowledge-intensive metalworking and automotive clusters – ‘the Akimacs’

We respond to repeated calls over the years to further develop cluster theory specifically in an African context. Our contribution is to construct a framework which integrates theories focusing on path dependency, transaction cost economics (efficiency and systemic interdependency models) and regional development (lock in models). Our focus is on the innovativeness of African clusters and constraints on such innovation. Thus, drawing on cluster literature on constraints to innovation coupled with insights from current empirical work within African automotive clusters, we examine the challenges of counteracting the multilevel constraints which hinder innovation in African clusters. We develop a model for counteracting cluster constraints focusing on the impact of variations in innovative frequency, diffusion of innovations, innovative speed and protection of innovation. The model emphasizes the opportunities that arise when new entrant and incumbent firms interact to neutralize constraints at transactional, social, ecological and knowledge levels

Rising Insecurity in Nigeria: Causes and Solution

Nigeria is currently inflated in security crisis which has turn into an unending challenge, not only by defying security procedures but making scorn of the efforts of the law enforcement agents and the millions of naira annually budgeted by the government as security votes. This study, therefore, examines the rising insecurity in Nigeria with causes and solutions to it. The finding revealed that the causes of insecurity are the menace of unemployment and poverty, elite exploitation of ethnicity and religious differences, corruption, weak security apparatus, porous border, marginalization and inequality in the country, and bad governance and poor leadership. The solution range from opposing the aforementioned causes of insecurity in this paper

Factors influencing customers' satisfaction towards Subaidah restaurant in UUM

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors of customer satisfaction in restaurant industry, Since the restaurant sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in malaysia, it is a paramount important to investigate the customers’ perception on restaurant factors influencing customers satisfaction. A total of 327 questionnaires were collected from the customers of Subaidah restaurant in UUM. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the study hypotheses. The findings of this study show that Service quality, Food quality, Physical environment, Restaurant facility and Halal elements are positively and significantly influence overall customer’s satisfaction. While Food price influence on overall customer’s satisfaction was not supported by the result of the hypotheses. Findings of this study provide more insight to managers of hospitality industry especially in the development of restaurant industry that will give some managerial implication and useful direction for restaurateurs. Moreover the findings of this research can also be extremely important in the basis of providing solutions and information for restaurants managers and scholars in the area of customer satisfaction with the specific interest in catering and hospitality industry

ANOTHER WEIGHTED WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION FROM AZZALINI’S FAMILY

A new weighted Weibull distribution has been defined and studied. Some mathematical properties of the distribution have been studied and the method of maximum likelihood was proposed for estimating the parameters of the distribution. The usefulness of the new distribution was demonstrated by applying it to a real lifetime dataset

An Analysis of Public Perception on the Menace of Corruption among Judicial Workers in Dutse Metropolis, Jigawa State-Nigeria

The most important issues facing the judiciary today predominantly the court emanate from the court s primary mission to secure justice for all Justice is an empty promise if it denies an individual or group achievable equal access to the courts Economic political social and cultural and ethnic barriers to the justice system unfortunately still exist as a result of corruption Misuse of judicial power by the courts for private gain is no longer an aberration or isolated behavior It is disturbingly a dominant and recurrent feature of the Nigerian system Judicial corruption often involves a vicious dynamic in which judges trade injustice for favors and personal gains However this study assesses the public perception of the menace of corruption among judicial workers in Dutse metropolis Jigawa Stat