The Effectiveness of HRM Policies and Practices

GSM companies need strategic HRM in order to engage and allow employees to adhere to policies and practices. HRM though regarding policies and practices revolve around recruitment, selection, job placement, the environment of work, performance, productivity and satisfaction issues. GSM companies must emphasize the cordial relationship between employer and employees. The organizational policy spells out the ethics code of conduct, the dos, don\u27ts and constitution of the GSM companies. This policy guideline determines employees\u27 practices in terms of behavior, job placement, actions, and job execution. Cooperation between firm and employees is determined by the amount of respect both have for each other. HRM policy emphasizes that employees must keep to prescribed rules and regulations while the employer (GSM Companies) must satisfy their own end of the bargain by paying salaries promptly, making the job environment conducive, emphasizing on training and development of her staff. The result of this union between employees and employer brings about the achievement of organizational goals and objectives such as growth, productivity, performance, profit, etc

Analgesic Profile of the Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of Alchornea Laxiflora in Albino Mice

The study investigated the median lethal dose and the effects of the aqueous and methanol extracts of Alchornea laxiflora in three mouse models of central and peripheral analgesia, the hot plate, acetic acid-induced abdominal writhes and the tail immersion tests. This was with a view to providing information on the acute toxicity, analgesic effects and the possible mechanism of analgesia. The LD50 for the aqueous and methanol extracts of A. laxiflora in the oral route was > 1600 mg/kg respectively, and found to be safe in animals. However, the LD50 (i.p.), was found to be 400 mg/kg for the methanol extract, which was relatively toxic and > 1600 mg/kg for the aqueous extract. Mice of both sexes (n=6) weighing 18 – 22 g were used for the study, which were randomised into control and test, which summed up to eight (VIII) groups. The control group (I) received 10 % Tween 80 (vehicle), 0.1 ml/10 g mouse while the test groups (II,III,IV,V,VI) were administered graded doses (100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 mg/kg, p.o.) of the extracts. The reference groups (VII,VIII) received standard drugs, Acetyl salicylic acid (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and Pethidine (10 mg/kg, i.p.). The animals were observed for their reaction to pain using different noxious stimuli (thermal and chemical). They were appropriately scored individually after observation 30 and 60 min post intraperitoneal and oral administrations of vehicle, extracts or drugs respectively. The results showed that A. laxiflora produced significant (P < 0.05) increase in the mean reaction time to pain in the hot plate and the tail immersion tests. It also produced a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in the number of abdominal writhes. The study concluded that A. laxiflora possesses analgesic activity. The mechanism of the analgesic effect was not through the opioidergic syste

Nigeria and Child Marriage: Legal Issues, Complications, Implications, Prospects and Solutions

Child marriage is often deployed as a response to crisis, considered by families and communities to be the best possible means of protecting children. Fear of rape and sexual violence, of unwanted pregnancies outside marriage, of family shame and dishonour, of homelessness and hunger or starvation were all reported by parents and children as legitimate reasons for child marriage in some localities.Poverty, weak legislative frameworks and enforcement, harmful traditional practices, gender discrimination and lack of alternative opportunities for girls (especially education) are all major drivers of child marriage. However this researchers finds in addition to the above mentioned that lack of political will coupled with multiplicities of laws accounts for non-apprehension and prosecution of offenders thereby allowing them to hide under religion and continue to perpetrate crime against humanity. This study is an attempt to fill the void and chart the way out into a brighter and not bleak future for the girl child using data in our content analysis. We hope that stakeholders most especially government and the National Assembly can rise to the challenge and harmonise all laws necessary to deter child marriage in Nigeria. Keyword: Child Marriage, Law

Investigation of shear strength parameters and effect of different compactive effort on lateritic soil stabilized with coconut husk ash and lime

This paper presented the results of the shear strength parameters and compaction characteristics of lateritic soil stabilized with a combination of Lime and Coconut husk ash (CHA) in various percentages using two compaction methods namely; British standard heavy (BSH) and British standard light (BSL). Undrained triaxial test was conducted to determine shear strength parameters of the stabilized soil with confining pressures of 69kN/m2, 138kN/m2 and 276kN/m2, after preliminary tests had been carried out to determine index properties of the soil. The test was conducted on a mixture of natural soil with 4%lime, which gave least plasticity index and percentages of CHA from 0-12% by dry weight of soil. The BSL and BSH were applied on mixture of soil + 4% lime + percentages of CHA ranging from 4-20% by dry weight of soil. The most plausible improvement in maximum dry density was obtained by adding 4% lime + 12% CHA and 4% lime + 16% CHA using BSH and BSL respectively. The results also show significant improvement in angle of internal friction and cohesion of the soil at 6% and 8%CHA addition respectively.Keywords: Coconut husk ash; Compaction; Lateritic soil; Lime; Shear strength; Stabilizatio

Appraisal of Youths’ Involvement in Social Conflicts and the Implications on Nigeria’s Image and Tourism Development

This study undertook a critical appraisal of the correlation between the intractable social conflicts like the Boko-Haram and the Niger Delta crises, where youths are the key players, on the international image of Nigeria and tourism development in the country. It is motivated by the avalanche of media reports that the country’s image is being seriously battered abroad by these internal social problems. The specific objectives sought were to: ascertain the correlation between the Boko-Haram crisis and the nation’s image ratings abroad; the Niger Delta crisis and the nation’s image ratings abroad and their impacts on tourism development in the country. Survey design was adopted in the study, where electronic questionnaires (E-questionnaire) via the Internet were used to gather the primary data. The data so sourced were statistically presented/analyzed with Likert’s 5-points scale, Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Friedman chi-square. Results obtained show that both the Boko Haram crisis and the Niger Delta crisis have adverse impact on the country’s international image and tourism development, consequently on youths’ unemployment rate. It was then recommended that proactive public relations crisis management strategies should be used in nipping such crisis in their buds in future. Keywords: Boko Haram crisis, Niger Delta crisis, National Image, Tourism Development

The effect of graded levels of bovine blood meal on growth performance, haematology and cost benefit of broiler chickens

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of graded levels of bovine blood meal diets on the growth performance, haematology and cost-benefit of broiler chickens production. A total of sixty broiler chickens of 4 weeks old were used in a 28 days feeding trial. The birds were randomly allotted to four treatments (T1, T2, T3 and T4) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each treatment was replicated three times and each replicate had five birds. T1 (Control) contained 0% bovine blood meal. T2, T3 and T4 contained 5%, 10% and 15% bovine blood meal, respectively. The data such as feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, daily protein intake and protein efficiency ratio were generated. The haematological indices such as haemoglobin counts, packed cell volume, red blood cell, white blood cell, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocyte and eosinophil were evaluated. The feed cost - benefit analysis was performed on the following: feed cost/kg weight gain, total cost of production and net returns. All the data generated were subjected to statistical analysis using One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Mean values were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD). Results showed that there were no significant (P>0.05) differences in all the growth performance parameters except the total feed intake and average daily weight gain. There were no significant differences observed among the haematological parameters studied. The result of the feed cost analysis showed that feed cost/kg weight gain and total cost of production decreased as the levels of inclusion of bovine blood meal increased. The total revenue and net returns increased with the increasing levels of dietary inclusion of bovine blood meal. It was therefore observed that 15% inclusion level of bovine blood meal is adequate for finisher broiler chickens without adverse effect on their normal growth and development. It was also observed that it is relatively cheaper to feed broiler chickens with bovine blood meal based diets rather than the diet containing fish meal as protein source ingredient alone. &nbsp

Analysis of selected medicinal plants used in the treatment of malaria and typhoid fever in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study was aimed at evaluating selected medicinal plants used in the treatment of malaria and typhoid fever. Materials used include medicinal plants used locally in treating malaria and typhoid fever sourced from different villages in Ebonyi State. The analysis of the medicinal plants was conducted using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and NTSYSpc software version 2.02. Different RAPD markers including OPB-1, OPB-2, OPB-3, OPB-5, OPB-12 and OPH-12 were used to amplify the DNA of these plants. These markers were found to be polymorphic except OPB-3 which did not produce any band. It was observed that RAPD markers can effectively amplify DNA sequences of different medicinal plants. The data matrix of RAPD profiles obtained from fragments of each amplicon were scored as 1 (presence of alleles) or 0 (absence of alleles). A dendrogram of the plants using unweighted pair group mean (UPGMA) clustered the genotypes into groups. The dissimilarity values were 0.26 and 1 as minimum and maximum with an edge length of 1.32. Principal component analysis of the generated amplicons resulted to clusters with unique genetic identity. The polymorphism detected among the plants genotypes will be useful in selecting genetically diverse species in future breeding programme.Keywords: Medicinal plants, Malaria/Typhoid, RAPD, Ebonyi State, Nigeri

Impact of Fiscal Policy Instability on Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria

Fiscal policy is the planning of revenue and expenditure levels and pattern by government to influence the circular flow, or specifically to promote full employment production, price stability and national welfare. The need for a more stable macro-economic environment in Nigeria through sound fiscal and monetary actions is still paramount. This study investigated the impact of fiscal policy instability on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The objective of this study was to find out if measures of fiscal policy a significant effect on the FDI instability. The data used for this study was obtained through secondary source. This data included Nigeria’s gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, government revenue, government expenditure, balance of payment and government total debt from 2000-2014. Data showing the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from 2000-2014 was also obtained. The regression analysis technique was used to test the hypotheses. The study founded that coefficient of determination R2 explained a total variation of 93% (percent) of the dependent variable (FDI) which means that measures of fiscal policy instability are important predictor of FDI. The study revealed that fiscal policy measures of the federal government have not significantly improved FDI. The study concluded that Fiscal Policy instability on FDI could be as a result of the insufficient domestic investment to accelerate growth, hence, recommended that there should be improvement in the overall fiscal operations of the Federal Government to ensure sound and stable macroeconomic environment that will attract investors. Keywords: Fiscal Policy, FDI and Macroeconomic Environmen

The Effectiveness of Strategy Execution in the Regulatory Management of the Nigerian Downstream Petroleum Industry.

AbstractNigeria is Africa’s largest oil and gas producer; however, its petroleum industry has experienced mismanagement and a lack of coherent regulations. The general problem addressed in this study was that leaders and managers of Nigeria’s public sector did not have a strong system in place to create and implement regulatory strategies that effectively controlled the management of the petroleum sector. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of managers in developing petroleum regulatory strategies defined by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, FMPR, in Abuja, Nigeria. The realization concept was applied as a conceptual framework for this study, which focused the investigation on the specific features, functioning, and lived experiences of managers when advancing and executing regulatory agency strategies affecting the Nigeria Downstream Petroleum Industry (NDPI.) A qualitative phenomenological research design was used to obtain data from the senior and middle managers of regulatory agencies under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, including data obtained from an interview questionnaire, existing literature, and a set of semi-structured interviews from a sample of 20 participants. Key findings indicated that while all participants were in agreement that self-interest, corruption, mismanagement, and political interference were overwhelming and led to a weak overall regulatory framework, they all agreed that there is a pressing need to improve the process of strategy in the regulatory management of the NDPI .The study may lead to positive social change because it may offer knowledge and best management practices that both private and public institutions could emulate, and improve the operations of the NDPI

An Educational Case for Applying the Alveolar- Arterial Gradient in Hypoxemia: An Underutilized and Underappreciated Clinical Tool

The Alveolar-arterial gradient, commonly known as the A-a gradient, measures the difference in the oxygen concentration in the alveoli and the arteries across the capillary membrane in the lung. In an ideal system, the A-a gradient would be zero because there would be perfect equilibrium as oxygen diffuses and equalizes across the alveolar and arterial sides of the capillary membrane. However, there is a physiologic A-a gradient because of the differences in perfusion and ventilation in the apical and basilar regions of the lungs. Because this relationship exists, the changes in the A-a gradient have clinical utility in guiding the differential diagnosis of hypoxemia