The Performance of Traditional contract procurement on Housing projects in Nigeria.

The traditional contract procurement has been widely criticized as an ineffective procurement method because it often involves time and cost overrun on construction projects. Yet the method is still being widely used in Nigeria most especially for the procurement of housing projects. It is suspected that this procurement method may not be ineffective in all cost categories of housing projects. Therefore time and cost performances of the procurement method on 57 housing projects of varying cost categories initiated by the Nigerian government between 1993 and 1999 were studied. The category of one to five million naira (US$1.00 ≈ 92 Nigerian Naira in 1999) showed the least time overrun of 18.98% while the highest time overrun of 99.64 % was shown in the five to ten million naira. The over ten million naira category had the least cost overrun of 9.13% while the highest cost overrun of 34.55 % was shown in the less than one million naira. The one to five million naira cost category exhibited weak correlation between time and cost overruns but the five million naira and above categories showed strong correlation. It was concluded that one to five million naira cost category is quite suitable for traditional contract procurement on housing projects in Nigeria

Population dynamics of Mormyrus rume (Valenciennes, 1847; Osteoglossiformes; Mormyridae) Of Ikere-Gorge, Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria

The structure of a fish population is determined by the equilibrium between growth, recruitment and total mortality. But, there is paucity of information on the growth and mortality of Mormyrus rume in Nigeria. Therefore this study is needful to determine its population parameters, with a view of evolving management strategies for its sustainable exploitation. Estimates of population parameters of Mormyrus rume were obtained from length-frequency data of 836 individuals collected monthly for a period of 24 months from January 2017 to December 2018. The estimated growth parameters were: asymptotic length (L∞) was 100.8cm; growth coefficient (K) was 0.62/year; growth performance (Ɵ) was 3.8; length at maturity (Lm) was 52.57cm; reproductive load (Lm/L∞) was 0.52 and optimum length (Lopt) was 65.10cm. Likewise, natural, fishing and total mortalities were 0.93, 1.46 and 2.39 respectively. The values of exploitation rate (0.61) and ratio of total mortality and growth coefficient (3.85) showed that Mormyrus rume is most exploited in Ikere-gorge. Therefore, appropriate fishing regulations should be enforced to regulate fishing gears and mesh size that will fish Mormyrus rume at sustainable level. Keywords: Recruitment, mortality, growth, exploitation, lengt

Impact of Thrift and Loan Associations in Reducing Poverty for Economic Development of Farmers in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

In rural areas, low level people hardly ever get access to credit facilities and farm inputs due to their socio economic status, thus the poverty level of people in rural areas continue to worsen. This study was carried out to examine the impact of thrift and loan associations in reducing poverty for economic development of farmers in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents. Data were collected through questionnaire and interview schedule. Tools for analyses were descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. Findings revealed that household size, farm income, non-farm income, educational level and interest rate charged on credit were the significant factors that influenced the level of participation of members in thrift and loan associations. The study concludes that Micro-lending through thrift and loans associations has been considered as the solution for poverty reduction. It was therefore recommended that thrift and loan association should be supported to grow their wealth sufficiently through accumulation of enough  institutional  capital  to  finance funded  assets,  provide  cushion  to  absorb  losses, link up farmers with sources of input production thereby reducing poverty among members. Keywords: impact, thrift and loans, association, poverty, economic, developmen

An Evaluation of Traditional Contract Method on Residential Building Projects

In order of priority of basic human needs, housing is recognized worldwide as second ·to food and comes before clothing. This high priority coupled with United Nations aggressive campaign for adequate shelter for all citizenry has forced governments of nations to embark on direct construction of housing units for their people. In Nigeria, government direct intervention in housing delivery to the masses took the form of traditional contract procurement. This paper reports the result of a survey carried out to know the performance of this procurement method in relation to time and cost overrun. Valid data from fifty-seven residential projects ranging from one million to one hundred million Naira in itiated by government between 1993 and 1999 couple with questionnaires administered on Clients, consultants and contractors were used for the analysis was to establish whether there is significant difference between the mean time overruns and the mean cost overruns of traditional contract on residential projects of different cost categories. The result showed that the traditional contract performs better in terms of time overruns (18.98%) when used to procure residential building projects of five million Naira and below. However the procurement method performs better in terms of cost overrun(9.13%) for projects above ten million Naira. Attempts were also made to know if a relationship exists between time and cost in each category

Impact of Thrift and Loan Associations in Reducing Poverty for Economic Development of Farmers in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

In rural areas, low level people hardly ever get access to credit facilities and farm inputs due to their socio economic status, thus the poverty level of people in rural areas continue to worsen. This study was carried out to examine the impact of thrift and loan associations in reducing poverty for economic development of farmers in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents. Data were collected through questionnaire and interview schedule. Tools for analyses were descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. Findings revealed that household size, farm income, non-farm income, educational level and interest rate charged on credit were the significant factors that influenced the level of participation of members in thrift and loan associations. The study concludes that Micro-lending through thrift and loans associations has been considered as the solution for poverty reduction. It was therefore recommended that thrift and loan association should be supported to grow their wealth sufficiently through accumulation of enough  institutional  capital  to  finance funded  assets,  provide  cushion  to  absorb  losses, link up farmers with sources of input production thereby reducing poverty among members. Keywords: impact, thrift and loans, association, poverty, economic, developmen

Double asymmetric synthesis: faster reactions are more selective and a model to estimate relative rate

The catalysed reaction of an enantiopure substrate with formation of a new chirality element may result in higher diastereoselectivity with one enantiomer of a catalyst (matched pair) than with the other (mismatched pair). The hypothesis that the matched reaction is faster was investigated using literature examples of kinetic resolution procedures that result in the formation of a new stereogenic centre. With one exception from fifteen examples, the selectivity factor (s = kfast/kslow) = kmatched/kmismatched. A model to estimate the relative rate of a fast-matched reaction vs. the corresponding slow-mismatched reaction is proposed. This model also provides insight into the basis of the selectivity displayed in the kinetic resolution procedures studied

An Evaluation of the Cost Effectiveness of Direct Labour System on Housing Project Execution in Lagos State, Nigeria

At the peak of economic recession in 1985. the Federal Government of Nigeria started to advocate for a revisit of the direct labour system typified of project execution during the colonial era through the 1960s. This method was completely abandoned for traditional contract method at the instance of oil boom in early 1970s. At the dawn of recession. the traditional contract method was faulted as being replete with cost overrun and hence the need to go back to the direct labour system to salvage the situation. Lagos State with an estimated population of about 10 million people and insatiable need for housing and social infrastructures launched large scale direct labour construction projects ~n 1996. Since then the Lagos State Direct Labour Agency (LSDLA) has executed 2.772 housing units spread over 21 housing estates in Lagos metropoly. The object of this paper was to determine whether the direct labour system was significantly more cost effective than the traditional contract method on these housing units. Cost comparison between the two procurement methods showed a saving of 26.86% when direct labour was used in preference to the traditional contract method. Chi-square analysis also show~d that there was significant difference in cost between these two procurement methods

Investigating Digital Distraction among Pre-service Science, Technology, and Mathematics Teachers in Nigeria

Internationally, proliferation of digital technologies in classrooms has produced digital distractions among digital natives in this 21st century. Thus, it is highly imperative to develop a suitable instrument for assessing and measuring digital distraction among higher education students to enable continuing research and practice. While previous studies had treated and measured digital distraction as a sub-component of a multi-dimensional construct and as a test, the present study through instrumentation survey research, developed and authenticated a standalone digital distraction scale among pre-service science, technology and mathematics (STM) teachers in Nigeria. The instrument is constructed by adopting a multidimensional standpoint of digital distraction around a higher-order modelling method. The pre-service STM teachers were recruited from a culturally varied university student population in Nigeria. The results showed a high level of digital distraction among the pre-service STM teachers in Nigeria and the digital distraction is composed of several connected yet distinctive factors (emotional distraction, digital addiction, and distraction by procrastination), with proof backing up a higher-order structural archetypal. More so, empirical evidence confirmed the measurement invariance of the scale with regards to gender and the consistency of the psychometric properties of the digital distraction scale. Finally, a test-retest reliability of the digital distraction scale showed that the scores are not variable over time and that the scale is not sensitive to alterations in the learning milieu. Finally, it is hoped that this tool will be handy for educators interested in isolating pre-service STM teachers at risk of high digital distraction which may cause lack of respect and privation of courtesy for instructors and personal distraction in the classroom

Isothiourea-catalysed acylative kinetic resolution of aryl-alkenyl (sp2 vs. sp2) substituted secondary alcohols

We would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and CRITICAT Centre for Doctoral Training [Ph.D. studentship to S.F.M.; Grant code: EP/L016419/1 and EP/J018139/1] and The Leverhulme Trust [Early Career Fellowship to J.E.T.; ECF-2014-005] for financial support. A.D.S. thanks the Royal Society for a Wolfson Merit Award.The non-enzymatic acylative kinetic resolution of challenging aryl–alkenyl (sp2 vs. sp2) substituted secondary alcohols is described, with effective enantiodiscrimination achieved using the isothiourea organocatalyst HyperBTM (1 mol %) and isobutyric anhydride. The kinetic resolution of a wide range of aryl–alkenyl substituted alcohols has been evaluated, with either electron-rich or naphthyl aryl substituents in combination with an unsubstituted vinyl substituent providing the highest selectivity (S=2–1980). The use of this protocol for the gram-scale (2.5 g) kinetic resolution of a model aryl–vinyl (sp2 vs. sp2) substituted secondary alcohol is demonstrated, giving access to >1 g of each of the product enantiomers both in 99:1 e.r.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

GC-MS Analysis, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Extracts of the Aerial Parts of Conyza sumatrensis

Phytochemical analyses as well as antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the extracts of C. sumatrensis aerial parts were investigated in this study. METHODS: The aerial parts of C. sumatrensis were air dried, weighed and exhaustively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol successively. The crude extracts were screened for metabolites.  These extracts of the plant were evaluated for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities using agar  diffusion and DPPH method respectively. The extracts were also analysed using Gas chromatography – Mass spectrometry, and the chromatogram coupled with mass spectra of the compounds were matched with a standard library. RESULTS: Preliminary phytochemical investigation of  rude n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the aerial parts of Conyza sumatrensis revealed the presence of anthraquinones, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolics, tannin, glycosides and carbohydrate. All the crude  extracts gave a clear zone of inhibition against the growth of the test bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomona aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiellae pneumonae) at moderate to high  concentrations, as well as test fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, penicillium notatum and  Rhizopus stolonifer) at high concentration. Methanolic extract exhibited significant radical scavenging  property with IC50 of 17.08 μg/mL while n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts showed no significant antioxidant activity. GC-MS of N-hexane extract showed a total number of eleven chemical constituents with α-Farnesene and spathulenol being the most abundance compounds constituting 20.27 and 22.28% of the extract respectively. Ethyl acetate extract revealed thirteen  compounds with two most abundant compounds, cis-β-farnesene (16.64 %) and cis-pinane (21.09 %). While  methanolic extract affords seventeen compounds with Ephytol being the most abundant compound  (19.36 %). © JASEMKeywords: Antimicrobial activity, Antioxidant, GC-MS analysis, Phytochemicals, Conyza sumatrensi