Local Government and Primary Education in Nigeria: An Overview

Local government in Nigeria has constitutional responsibility in primary education; also, the state and federal government attend to all levels of education, including the primary education. Over the years, local and state governments have constituted the real actors in Nigeria primary education sector through the instrumentality of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and Local Government Education Authority (LGEA). Constitutionally and financially, local governments remain major actors in primary education, but practically, it is SUBEB who manage schools through LGEA with little or no consultation to local government council, regardless of their huge contributions. The paper intends to look at these challenges and reemphasis the contribution of Local government to Primary Education. Using the secondary method of data collection in form of content analysis, the paper revealed that Local government has contributed immensely to the functioning of primary education, both in mandatory and concurrent capacities with the state government especially in payments of teacher’s salary and allowances, provision of instructional materials, provision of classrooms and other infrastructures needed for the smooth running of primary education in Nigeria. The paper concluded that local governments remain the major actor and provider of primary education in Nigeria.Key Words: Primary Education, Local Government, UBEC, SUBEB, LGE

Regionalization of Non-State Security Agencies in Southwest Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges of “Amotekun”

The necessity of policing by all actors, both the state and non-state, becomes more expedient in Nigeria societies characterized by diver’s insecurities vices range from book-haram insurgency, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, herdsmen/ farmer clash, and ritual killing. The process of localizing security architecture is essential in Nigeria federation, so as tackled this menace of insecurities that have been threating the unity of Nigeria nation. This paper examines the modalities and theoretical insights of the operation Amotekun initiative in the Southwest Nigeria with a view to providing information on the prospects and challenges of the regional security network. Data was garnered basically from secondary sources. It is assumed that the criminality that have pervaded southwest Nigeria could be reduced to minimal, if the initiative is well managed, and in extension, to the entire federation. The paper identified some challenges that may confront the initiative, which range from; unnecessary suspicion among the nations in Nigeria federation, conflict with other statutory security agencies, and using the initiative to settle personal discord among others. It recommends the need for legal framework from each state of the region for its establishment, operations, and finance and appropriate synergy among all the tiers of government and agencies of government in security sector so as to achieve the ultimate goal of securing lives and properties. The paper concluded that operation Amotekun should be nurtured because there is nothing too big in securing the lives and properties of the citizen, which is the primary function of any government

The Efficiency Level of Political Leadership in Local Governments Areas of Osun State, Nigeria (2007-2015)

This paper examines the level of efficiency of political leadership in social service delivery in Osun State Local Governments. It reviews the related concepts. The study utilized both primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected through administration of questionnaire and conduct of in-depth interviews.The results revealed that the level of efficiency of political leadership in social services delivery appears laudable between the two identified political structures. Elected political leaders performed significantly well with (67%) while appointed political leaders performed with (33%). The paper highlighted some recommendations and concluded that elected political leaders performed better and more efficient than the appointed political leaders in social service delivery in Osun State Local Governments from 2007 to 2015. Keywords: Leadership, Political Leadership, Efficiency, Local Government, Osun State and Nigeria

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Educational Activities in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife Nigeria

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational activities in the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) community during and after the lockdown era. The pandemic affected almost all the facets of life including the educational sector. Though, the school closure during the lockdown is intended to control the spread of the virus but had widespread socio-economic impacts. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. The study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic is a major factor of disruption in academic calendar this was as a result of the world being faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has held the economy at ransom not exempting the educational sector. Hence, the study conclude that the during COVID-19, educational activities in OAU was faced with many challenges as in other higher institution in Nigeria, such as school closure, loss of academic session, poor learning and limited social ties. The study recommended among others; government and the institution`s management should be proactive in ameliorating the negative impact identified in this study and develop measure to improve educational activities. &nbsp

Personnel Utilization: A Major Challenge in Nigeria Local Government System

The success of any organization rely more in ability to utilize its human and material resources to achieve the desired objectives. Local government in Nigeria has a mandate of proper utilization of her personnel in an efficient and effective manner in order to meet the developmental demands at the local level. This particular objective has suffered a setback particularly in a result-oriented manner. The paper adopted secondary and primary source of data. The paper revealed some issues that have been major clogs to effective utilization of personnel in Nigeria local government, which range from lack of: adequate policies; proper job description; proper developmental orientation; and proper innovation among others. It recommends a re-adjustment of policies, proper job descriptions, in terms of task and responsibility to each employee, and that the state government should allow local government to strive more in order to effectively maximizes their personnel utilization.  The paper concluded that the personnel utilization rate in Nigeria local government is at low ebb

Glocalization Nature of Covid-19 Pandemic: The Nigerian Experience

COVID-19 has come as a global phenomenon with some globally agreed guidelines to curtail the pandemic, yet the approaches in each nation, localities, and communities differ, in order to embrace the peculiarities of local needs, which lead to the essentiality of the concept of glocalization. Although, the pandemic is global phenomenon, but the ideal approach and application is glocalized in nature. Nigeria nation adopts different measures to cushion the effect of the pandemic in accordance with WHO guidelines. The paper looks at the Nigerian experience and peculiarities as regards to the global standard. Primary and secondary source of data were utilized. The paper reveals some peculiarities in Nigerian localities in respect to face masking, lockdown order, hand washing, social distancing, palliative measures and other local innovations. The paper concluded that though, the vaccine for the pandemic has been detected globally but it has not been administered in Nigeria as of now, the citizens must continue to obey the WHO guidelines as they embrace the peculiarities of their local need

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Local Government and Road Infrastructure Delivery: Nigeria Experience

The provision of essential and basic infrastructure, especially at the Local Government level in Nigeria constitutes a major role in socio-economic and political development, and in improving the standard of living at the grassroots. Sadly, the road infrastructures are in a state of dilemma particularly the Local government roads due to so many constraints. The paper intends to look at these constraints and proffer possible solutions. Both primary and secondary methods were employed. The paper discovered that local government roads constitute the highest trunks of roads, and which got increasing day-by-day due to its proximity to the populace, and yet, the most negligible trunk of road in Nigeria. Finally, some recommendations were articulated