Assessing Organizational Capacity in Housing Provision: a Survey of Public Housing Agencies in Ogun State, Nigeria

Organizational capacity is essential for effective implementation of policies and programmes. Consequently, assessment of organizational capacity helps organizations to identify their strength and weakness in order to make informed decisions about how best to address challenges they face. The goal of this study was to assess the status of organizational capacity of public housing agencies in housing provision in Ogun State Southwest Nigeria. It was motivated by a gap in literature on the specific areas that contribute most to organizational capacity of public agencies in housing provision in Nigeria. Using questionnaire as the principal data collection instrument, primary data were collected from randomly selected 90 staff members involved in the design, planning, implementation and management of public housing projects in four public housing agencies in the study area. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and the result showed that most respondents felt that the overall organizational capacity of the agencies in housing provision was adequate. Management capacity was found to be slightly higher than resource capacity with the agencies having most strength in leadership style and weakness in the methods of administration of funds for housing projects. Substantial need and capacity building was found in critical areas such as funding, staff motivation and methods of dispensing of funds for housing projects. The paper suggests that partnerships with private sector organizations, robust staff well-fare schemes and re-training of staff can enhance organizational capacity of public agencies in public housing provision in Nigeria and other developing countries

Biblical Women’s Involvement in Ancient Israel’s National Security and its Implications on Nigerian Society

Women are prone to more dangers than men This may be as a result of their natural structure endowment cultural and social constructs Women in the same manner exempt themselves from major societal obligations and are solely concerned with household affairs and domestic duties Female mentality accompanies society s definition about them obstruct them from participating in security activities They rely on the security of men But in contrast men figure their roles as more complex and demanding than that of women The book of Genesis portrays woman as equal to man in that both are together in the Image of God Jewett comments that Man s creation in the divine image is so related to his creation as male and female that the latter may be looked upon as an exposition of the former Sexuality then is not just procreative but is a part of what it means to be like the Creator Jewett 1975 68-94 It can even be argued that since the woman was created last Gen 2 21-25 she is to be considered the crowning act of creatio

Science and Culture - Inalienable Co-determinants of Human Progress: Implications for Science Education and Administration

Science is a process of establishing the knowledge and understandings of the principles and dynamics shaping the interaction of people among themselves and with the natural world. Culture is an integrated system of shared beliefs, norms, values, and understandings that shape the way people live and interact with each other and with the natural world. These beliefs, norms, values, and understandings are in turn shaped by people’s perception of their natural world. Philosophically therefore, both science and culture, presently and potentially, have the power to shape how people interact with each other and with nature. In this paper, the author explores the components of the common boundaries of science and culture as tools for human interaction among themselves and with their life-world. The author then makes a case for the inalienable mutual influences of science and culture, as co-determinants and co-drivers of human progress. Implications of this co-determinism for science education and administration are also explored

Development of e-SIWES Portal: A Web based Platform for Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) Management

We developed the e-SIWES portal in order to enhance the manual task of carrying out SIWES activities such as registration, dissemination of information, filling of log book for students’ day-to-day activities and supervision/assessment by lecturers and industry based supervisors. The portal is web-based and allows all tasks to be carried out using the personal computer and the Internet. We digitized the SIWES logbook and assessment forms for filling by students and grading by the supervisors electronically. This will allow supervisors to be assigned immediately the students commence their industrial training and facilitate their monitoring in real-time. With the e-SIWES portal, important messages can be broadcast to all students at once and on a prompt and regular basis

Employees’ attitudes and efficiency of Human Resource Management practices: Evidence from Nigeria

Available evidence shows that employee attitudes are increasingly important for organizational success and competitiveness. This study examines how employee attitudes are related to efficiency of human resource management practices. Using structured questionnaire, a survey of 1,940 ?rms operating in the industries in Nigeria was randomly sampled. The findings of this study indicated that attitudinal dimensions such as commitment Trust, employment relations and self motivation are significantly related to efficiency of HRM practices. Keywords: human resource management practices, employees, attitude,

Evaluation of CD4+ T Cells in HIV Patients Presenting with Malaria at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Nigeria

CD4 count is an important immunological marker of disease progression in HIV seropositive patients. This study was carried out to determine the effect of malaria or fever of unknown origin on the population of CD4+ T lymphocytes of HIV seropositive patients attending the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. 36 subjects were selected for this study. Ongoing history of fever was used as a case definition for malaria and malaria was confirmed from microscopic examination of thick and thin film of blood sample obtained from the patients during presentation with fever. The CD4 count was evaluated during presentation of fever and post-fever using flow cytometry. There was significant decrease in CD4 count of the patients. However, upon classifying the patients into 2 groups - those that returned to the clinic after a week and those that returned after a month - a significant increase in CD4 count was noticed in the group that returned after a week, while a significant decrease was noticed in the group that returned after a month (at p value of 95%). Further classification of the patients based on presence of malaria parasite, and body temperature resulted in varying effects on CD4 count post-fever (in the general group, 27 were positive for malaria parasites. Of these 27, there was an increase in CD4 count in 9 (33.3%). However in the group that returned after a week, all 6 (100%) that were positive for malaria parasites showed increase in CD4 count. Five (26.3%) of the 19 patients that had body temperature within the range of 35.5-37.4^o^C showed an increase in CD4 count, while 7 (41.2%) the 17 patients that had body temperature of 37.5^o^C and above showed an increase in CD4 count. The results led to the conclusion that while some components of the immune response to malaria could strengthen the immune system of HIV seropositive patients by increasing their CD4 count, other components will suppress their immunity by decreasing their CD4 count, accelerating the progression to AIDS

Challenges of Surgical Repair of Hypospadias in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Objective: To document the presentation, outcome and challenges of management of hypospadias in a resource-limited setting.Patients and Methods: For this retrospective study we analyzed the files of  all patients with hypospadias managed at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria between 1996 and 2006. The parameters studied were the patients’ bio-data, clinical presentation,treatment and outcome. Results: During the 10-year period under review 51 cases of hypospadias were managed. The majority of the patients (n=39, 76.5%) presented within the first year of life with a mean age atpresentation of 1 year and 8 months, though most of the repairs were done in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of life. Of the 51 patients 46 (90.2%) came from rural and semi-urban areas and 18 (35.3%) had been circumcised before presentation. Surgical repair consisted of preputial island flap in 22 patients (43.1%) followed by a peri-meatal based flap (Mathieu procedure) in 16 patients (31.4%). The MAGPI procedure was used in 5 patients (9.8%) and the Snodgrass procedure in 1 (2%).Staged repair was necessary in 7 patients (13.7%). Post-operative complications were encountered in 15 patients with urethrocutaneous fistula being the commonest one (11 patients, 21.6%). Conclusion: Our results show that hypospadias can be successfully managed in a low- resource setting

Ecological Survey of Valuable Non-Timber Plant Resources in Two Rain forest Reserves in Southeastern, Nigeria

The density and diversity of plant species producing valued non-timber products in two moist rainforests in Southeastern Nigeria were studied. The two forests are Cross-River North Forest Reserve, Cross River State and Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, Akwa Ibom State. Twenty- three plant species with the distribution as Trees (7), Palms (1), Shrubs (6), Climber (5), and Herbs (4), were assessed in the Cross River North Forest Reserve, while twelve species with the distribution as trees (2), Palms (2), Shrubs (2), Climbers (3), and herbs (3) were assessed in the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve. Shannon-Wiener's diversity indices result (D) in the Cross River North Forest Reserve, showed D of 2.12, 0.30, 1.50, 1.20 and 1.51 respectively for trees, palms, shrubs, herbs and climber while in the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve D result of 0.60,0.60,0.60, 0.90 and 0.91 respectively were recorded for trees, palms, shrubs, herbs and climbers. Keywords: Rainforests, Non-Timber Products, Diversity- Indices, Sustainable ManagementEthiopian Journal of Environmental Studies of Management Vol. 1 (2) 2008: pp. 93-9

Life-form and Density of Valuable Non-timber Plants in Ukpom Community Forest, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Ukpom Community Forest in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was assessed for the abundance of plant species producing economically valuable non-timber forest products. Forty-six plant species comprising 16 tree species, 17 shrub species, 8 herb species and 5 climber species were encountered. Apart from Baphia nitida, Pentatethra macrophylla and Brachystegia eurycoma with densities of 6,4 and 3/ha respectively, all the other tree species had a density of 1/ha each. In the shrub category, Lasianthera africana had the highest density of 255/ha and Alchornea cordifolia, the least of 1/ha. Palisota hirsuta had the highest density of 136/ha in the herb life-form, and Urena lobata the least of one/ha. Among the climbers, Ancistrophyllum secundiflorum had the highest density of 51/ha and Plukentia conophora, the least of 1/ha. The implications of the results for sustainable management of the forest are discussed.Key words: Rainforest, Plants, Density, Non-Timber Products, Exploitation