Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction Of Rangers In Yankari Game Reserve, Bauchi, Nigeria

The study was conducted to identify the various factors affecting the job satisfaction level of rangers in Yankari Game Reserve, Bauchi, Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaire comprising four facets: personal characteristics of the rangers, job satisfaction, motivation, and work environment. Data were analysed by using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics such as Chi-Square and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The result showed that 77.5% of the rangers fell within the age range of 40 and below, 93.8% were male, and 86.2% were married. The study further revealed that 87.5% of the rangers were very dissatisfied with their job. In addition, 92.5% of them agreed that they were poorly motivated and they were not satisfied with the various facets of work environment. Chi-Square test results indicated that there were no significant relationships between the gender, marital status, religion and education of the rangers and their job satisfaction (P>0.05). However, PPMC results showed that there were significant relationships between their age, number of wife(ves), family size, monthly income and work experience and their job satisfaction (

Relationship between destination service quality and tourists\u27 satisfaction in Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, Nigeria

Service quality is one of the important elements to the achievement of customers\u27 satisfaction. This paper examines the relationship between tourists\u27 perceived destination service quality and tourists\u27 satisfaction in Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, Ikogosi-Ekiti, Nigeria. The study was a self-administered questionnaire survey involving 383 randomly selected tourists at the Resort between January and July, 2016. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics, T-test, Pearson\u27s correlations, and Chi-square. The total mean score for the perceived service quality (Mean = 4.00) was higher than the total mean score for tourists\u27 satisfaction (3.23). Among service quality dimensions, responsiveness had the highest mean (Mean = 4.05) while for dimensions of customers\u27 satisfaction, premises had the highest mean (Mean = 3.35). The findings of the study indicate that perceived service quality factors are highly significant for the tourists\u27 satisfaction towards the destination. Findings also reveal that there are high correlations between service quality and satisfaction and their dimensions. The study concludes that satisfaction with tourism experiences that the tourists have towards the destination is modified by their perceptions of service quality during their visit. It is fundamental to improve the overall quality of the tourists\u27 experiences, especially focusing on those attributes that report lower levels of satisfaction such as guestroom, personnel attitude and competence and restaurant and bar, and service quality attributes such as assurance, tangibles, and empathy

Technical Efficiency and Constraints among Medium Scale Maize Production in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study presents the empirical analysis of the constraints and determinants of technical efficiency in medium – scale maize production in Oyo state, Nigeria. Primary data were collected on 76 medium scale maize farmers selected from some major maize producing agricultural area Afijio L. G. A. in Oyo state Nigeria. The selection of respondents was multi – staged and involved random sampling as well as purposive sampling methods. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the constraints on maize production while translog stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the determinants of technical efficiency of the farmers. The major constraints on maize production as perceived by medium – scale farmers among others was inadequate processing facilities (39.5%) and lack of mechanical services (25.0%). The average technical efficiency about 75%. The determinants of technical efficiency which were statistically significant were sex, age and experience, sex and age had an inverse relationship with technical inefficiencies of farmers while experience had a direct relationship. Hence, Nigeria, public and private policies that would improve the farmers’ experience in maize production especially in handing the available technologies would lead to significant increase in the level of technical efficiency in medium – scale maize production. Keywords: Technical Efficiency, Constraints, Stochastic Frontier, Maize production, Nigeri

DEMOGRAPHIC AND PROFESSIONAL FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION AMONG NIGERIA NATIONAL PARKS’ EMPLOYEES

The study was on demographic and professional factors as predictors of communication satisfaction of Nigeria National Parks’ employees. It was conducted in the seven national parks in Nigeria. Data collection was through questionnaire administration. The questionnaire consisted of demographic factors of gender, age, and educational qualification; professional information such as work location, department, and work experience; and communication satisfaction items. Data was collected from 231 employees randomly selected from the estimated total number of employees (2000) in all the parks representing 11.6% of the total population. Data were presented descriptively and analysed with Pearson’s correlation and multiple linear regression. Results indicated that the employees were satisfied with 4 items of communication satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ). There was significant relationship between education, department and work experience of the employees with communication satisfaction. Furthermore, education and department had the most significant relationships with communication satisfaction facets. Gender and education were the predictors of communication satisfaction with education being the strongest predictor. Efforts are required in improving communication satisfaction of the employees for enhancing operational and management efficiency of the organization since every individual within the organization is important to the fulfillment of organizational goals and objectives

Gender differentials in the determinants of usage of climate change adaptation strategies in farming communities of Ekiti and Ogun States, Southwest Nigeria

The use of adaptation strategies remains the only approach to reduce and combat the effects posed by climate change all over the world. We explored the extent of usage of adaptation strategies by farmers in Ekiti and Ogun States. 358 men and 222 women farmers were surveyed using multi-stage procedure. We employed semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions to collect data from the respondents. The data were analysed descriptively and presented in percentages and frequency counts. The data were further subjected to Chisquare, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation, t-test, multiple linear regression analysis and Explorative Factor Analysis (EFA). The findings revealed that the majority of men (99.7%) and women farmers (96.8%) perceived to adapt to climate change. Men (= 2.29) relative to women (= 2.33) used more on-farm adaptation strategies. The strongest determinant of usage of climate change adaptation strategies by men farmers was climate change adaptation barriers (t = 5.13, p < 0.01), while for women farmers, climate change experience (t = 7.42, p < 0.01) was the strongest determinant. The promotion of gender-sensitive approaches to climate change adaptation that cater for the needs of men and women farmers is highly essential to enhance adaptation among them

Influence of Social Media Networking on Usage of Electronic Information Resources in Academic Libraries in Nigeria

This study adopted the descriptive research design of the correlational type because it is used to show the relationship between two variables and also to obtain current information on the phenomena. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the information regarding the types of social media networking tools, frequency of use of electronic information resources, electronic resources available, the influence of social media networking tools and challenges of social media networking tools while using electronic information resources in academic libraries. The population of this study consisted of One hundred and three (103) library users in two universities in South-west, Nigeria which is the University of Ibadan (63 library users) being a Federal University; and Lead City University (40 library users) being a Private University. One hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires were distributed to collect the data. One hundred and three (103) responded, representing 68.7% of the sample size. Questionnaires were distributed randomly to the users at the main libraries and departmental libraries of the two universities. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical technique made up of table, charts and percentages. The study found out that social networking tool such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were available for the use of students in both Universities. The result showed that the use of electronic information resources is still very low in the Universities studied. This is due to lack of adequate knowledge about electronic information resources and relationship with social media networking tools, slow internet speed, inadequate provision of key electronic information resources and facilities in the library amongst others

Socio-demographic determinants of travel motivation and behaviour of visitors in nature-based destinations in northern Nigeria

This study aimed to assess socio-demographic determinants of travel motivation and behavior of visitors in nature-based destinations in Northern Nigeria. Structured questionnaire was administered to 575 respondents at Chad Basin National Park; CBNP (69), Gashaka Gumti National Park; GGNP (165) and Yankari Game Reserve; YGR (341). Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Results revealed that majority of the respondents at CBNP were males (72.5%), majority of the respondents at GGNP were females (77.6%) and majority of the respondents at YGR were males (53.1%). Visitors were majorly motivated to come to CBNP for enjoyment of nature (27.5%) while source of information about the parks revealed previous trip as the highest in CBNP (29%) and YGR (36.1%) while GGNP recorded friends and relatives as the highest (45.5%). They were majorly motivated to visit GGNP because they wanted to be away from hustle and bustle of cities (33.3%) and they were motivated to visit YGR for game viewing (33.4%). Furthermore, there is significant relationship between travel motivations and sex, marital status, education, occupation, nationality (P<0.01). The determinants of travel motivations were monthly income, occupation and nationality while the determinants of travel behaviours were the socio-demographic factors except age. Game viewing and nature attributes of nature-based destinations should be developed more as these attributes motivate people to visit the sites

Effect of antiandrogens on the tropism of seasonal human coronaviruses

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses. The HCoVs: OC43 and 229E, HKU1 and NL63 cause 10-30% of common colds with mild respiratory symptoms and more severe disease in immunocompromised patients or the elderly. The emergence and severity of COVID-19 has heightened the need to study the seasonal HCoVs (sHCoVs) to comprehend the pathogenicity mechanisms of coronaviruses. Cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2 is largely dependent on the viral spike (S) protein which binds to the cell surface receptor Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and is proteolytically cleaved by Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2) into two subunits. Studies have shown that TMPRSS2 can also facilitate entry of the HCoV-229E and -NL63. Hence, TMPRSS2 is an attractive therapeutic target as knockout of this protein causes no overly detrimental phenotype unlike ACE2 which is critical to regulating processes such as blood pressure. The sequence alignment analysis shows that the TMPRSS2 cleavage site is well conserved across all sHCoVs therefore TMPRSS2 can potentially cleave the S protein of the sHCoVs. This work further demonstrates that TMPRSS2 at least partially facilitates cell entry of HCoV-229E and NL63. TMPRSS2 targets the androgen receptor and drugs antiandrogens, e.g. enzalutamide that target this transcription factor have been have been found to reduce TMPRSS2 expression and prevent viral entry. Hence, it is hypothesised that similar to SARS-CoV-2, antiandrogens can be used against sHCoVs. Importantly enzalutamide successfully reduced entry of HCoV: 229E and NL63 pseudotype virus, which are enveloped viral particles comprised of a viral capsid surrounded by a cell derived membrane bearing the desired viral envelope protein. Therefore highlighting TMPRSS2 as a potential therapeutic target and antiandrogens as a potential therapy for sHCoVs. In addition, using an androgen response element driven reporter, HCoV-229E infection was found to induce androgen receptor activity and differential expression of androgen regulated genes, indicating a crosstalk between infection and AR signallin

The Role of Trade Policy in the Performance of Nigerian Agricultural Sector: A Time Series Analysis

There has been an increasing interest in understanding the role of trade policy in agricultural performance over the years. This time-series study investigates the impact of trade openness and domestic currency rate on agricultural performance in Nigeria within the period, 1981-2019. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, the study confirmed that there exists a long-run relationship between trade policy and agricultural performance in Nigeria. The result showed that trade openness has a significant and positive effect on agricultural performance in Nigeria. Further, the study confirmed that trade openness contributes more to agricultural performance in the long-run than in the short-run. However, exchange rate impacted negatively and significantly on agricultural performance in the long-run. Meanwhile, the short-run estimates showed that exchange rate has a significant and positive effect on agricultural performance. More so, it was gathered that interest rate affects agricultural performance negatively in Nigeria. There is need for government to embark on outward looking trade policy that supports the agricultural industry in terms of its exportation of indigenous commodities and stimulation of output growth. Keywords: Agricultural output, trade openness, exchange rate, interest rates, ARDL. JEL Classification: Q19, F13, E52. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-16-08 Publication date:August 31st 202

Assessment of Interpretive Facilities and the Delivery of Interpretive Services in Nigeria National Parks

Assessment of interpretive facilities and the delivery of interpretive services in Chad Basin National Park (CBNP), Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP), Okomu National Park (OKNP), and Yankari National Park (YNP) were conducted. The parks were selected to represent the major ecological zones where National Parks are located in Nigeria. There methods of data collection were utilized in this study. The first was the use of interview guide adapted from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (1999) to obtain information from the management of the four national parks; the second was on-site assessment of interpretive facilities and services available in the parks. Finally, data were obtained through questionnaire from the visitors to the parks on the interpretive facilities and services provided to Data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics. The results indicated the presence of interpretive brochures and leaflets, interpretive signs, park publications, museum/interpretive exhibits, interpretive talks, school group activities, children activities, guided tours, video, visitor centre and audio/video viewing at visitor centre in these parks. None of these Parks provided internet site, night walks, self-guided activities and trailside exhibits. The study also showed that between 2.7% and 6.3% of the total number of full-time staff in these parks were available for the delivery of interpretive services. Also, between N100,000 and N1,000,000 were budgeted annually for interpretive services out of between N5,000,000 and N100,000,000 annual operating budget for the parks.Key Words: Interpretive facilities, interpretive services, delivery, visitors, Nigeria National Park