On women, cyber-feminism and information security : assessing security threats by gender

Abstract: The continued rise in information security threats has created a sustained risk to the competitiveness of businesses using computerised technology, particularly in Africa. It is posited that employees are the weakest link to the security of information systems across African businesses. The persistent affirmative campaigns in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has seen a steady rise of women employees entering the Information Technology (IT) industry. On one hand, this has presented new opportunities for women to play a more meaningful and significant contribution to IT in the advent of cyberfeminism. On the other hand, women now constitute great risk to the security of information systems. This emergent trend in Africa challenges the traditional paradigms where men accounted for higher percentages of sophisticated use of and threat to IT systems. The study applied the descriptive research design to describe the level of efficacy presented by women working in South African organisations. The intention was neither to formulate nor to test any hypothesis, but to use descriptive statistics to understand women’s efficacy, and the potential insider threat women could pose. A total number of 155 closed-ended questionnaires were distributed to women and men working in businesses operating in South Africa. 150 responses were obtained. A computerised statistical analysis software was used to analyse data. Results show that while both women and men had a reasonable understanding of information security tenets, women were perceived to be more cautious regarding how they expressed this understanding. The work is of significance to those in business practice in Africa because of the understanding that men will no longer be seen as the primary malefactors for information security threats. The implication for this study is that as more women are encouraged to pursue STEM disciplines, they will equally become weak links to the security of information systems. It is theorised that gender will no longer be a factor in determining security threat

Civil Society Index-Rapid Assessment: Nigeria

The CIVICUS Civil Society Index-Rapid Assessment (CSI-RA) was implemented in six West African countries in 2013. As well as Nigeria, the other countries were Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. CIVICUS worked with WACSI to implement the project. In each country WACSI identified active CSO networks and facilitated the signing of agreements between these organisations and CIVICUS. NNNGO was identified to lead the assessment in Nigeria. Six areas were assessed in Nigeria:Enabling environmentImpactLevel of institutionalisationNetworks and connectionsPractice of valuesResourcin

Antecedents of Business Level Strategies in Nigerian Agro-Based Firms

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of antecedent factors on business level strategies of Nigerian agro-based firms. The study made use of survey method over one hundred and ninety-three respondents. Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. The existing relationship stemming from the results revealed that top management factor, organizational system, and departmental connectivity are important antecedent factors that determine the success or otherwise of strategic orientation dimensions. The study recommends that the calibre of the top management personnel and the internal cohesion between departments should be considered a critical variable in the adoption of particular orientation

Environmental scanning strategy of manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria

In this paper, we examine the environmental scanning strategy of manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria against the background that manufacturing companies in Nigeria exist in a challenging environment characterised by high import dependency, inappropriate policies, lack of transparent governance and weak industrial capabilities. Empirical data was collected with a questionnaire from a sample of 84 manufacturing firms in Southwestern Nigeria. We found that generally, companies in the industry actively engage in systematic gathering, analyses and assimilation of information about the business environment as strategic input into planning. The main objective of search was to obtain information required to initiate or support strategies for competing in the domestic market. Central among the factors determining the companies' level of intrusiveness into the environment are companies' capacity to interpret changes in the environment, available channels of information and quality of information.business environment; environmental scanning; environmental analysability; environmental uncertainty; manufacturing, strategy; technology; capabilities

The effects of plantail peel ash on biogas production from cow dung

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of pretreatment with plantain peel ash on biogas production from cow dung. Two portable floating drum digesters of the same capacity were used for the experiment. One was filled with substrate prepared from cow dung and the second was also filled with substrate prepared from cow dung but pretreated with plantain peel ash. Results showed that 11,998 cm3 of biogas was produced from the digester that contained substrate of cow dung only while 20,493 cm3 was produced from the digester that contained substrate pretreated with plantain peel ash. This showed that the increase in the volume of biogas producedas a result of plantain peel ash addition is 8,495 cm3 which is equivalent to 70.8%

Factors associated with choosing Nephrology as a subspecialty by Internal Medicine Residents in Nigeria

Background: There is a projected shortage of kidney specialists in Nigeria and there is need to train more residents in nephrology to meet the need of the teaming population of patients with chronic kidney Disease. The study identify factors affecting the choice of Nephrology among resident doctors in selected training institutions in Nigeria. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among the resident doctors in Internal Medicine in four randomly selected training institutions across the northern and southern parts of Nigeria. We developed a self-administered questionnaire in the English language after a thorough review of relevant literature. Data were gathered through the two-part questionnaire. In the first part, demography, gender, age, marital status, and level of training were documented and the second section included 24 questions about factors that influence the residents' choice of subspecialty. Results:Atotal of 78 respondents were interviewed. The mean age of the respondent was 33.52 ± 3.52. A higher proportion of the respondents were males (70.5%), 56.4% were senior registrars with the mean residency year of 3.46 ± 2.00. Atotal of 52.6% never had interested in nephrology as a career choice while of 47.4% that showed interest in nephrology, only 11.5% are currently in Nephrology. Most of those who had interest in Nephrology changed their mind along the line and are now registrars or senior registrars in other subspecialty. The most common factors identified were advice from other mentors or senior consultants (80.8%), outcome of most patients with renal condition (79.5%) and positive role model in nephrology medicine (76.9%). The least identified factors were prestige and respect accorded a nephrologist (35.9%) and societal expectation, peer encouragement and family's expectations (42.3%). Conclusion: There is an urgent need to address factors that affects the choice of Nephrology. Effective steps towards addressing these factors may go a long way in improving the internal medicine residents' choice of Nephrology as a career in the near future. Key words: career decisions, education, nephrology, training, Nigeri

Entrepreneurship, Unemployment and Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examined the trend between entrepreneurship, unemployment and economic growth over the period 1981-2011. The study adopts secondary data as a source of data. Data for the purpose of this study was gleened from CBN Statistical Bulletin and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Nigeria. This study made use of descriptive and econometric method of analysis. For the descriptive method, tables and/or graphs were used to achieve objective one while for the econometric method, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method and Error Correction Model (ECM) was used to achieve objective two. The trend analysis showed that the variables are positively sloped which indicates that the stationary of the data. The econometric technique adopted showed that entrepreneurial activities, investment, and unemployment are statistically significant and positively related to economic growth. The result from this study also showed that there is a positive relationship between unemployment and economic growth. This study therefore recommended that developing countries such as Nigeria should create enabling environments for entrepreneurial activities which will consequently reduce unemployment while increasing both growth and standard of living

IFRS Adoption and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Nigerian Quoted Firms

This study examines whether International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption has impacted significantly on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Nigeria. The study specifically investigates the views of the preparers and users of annual reports based on the impact of foreign investors on quoted companies that adopted IFRS in Nigeria. The primary method of data collection was adopted with 165 questionnaires administered while Regression method was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that the adoption of IFRS is positively and significantly related to FDI. The result also showed a significant impact of foreign investors on quoted firms that have adopted IFRS in Nigeria. The study recommends that the government should create an enabling environment to encourage investors, so as to attract foreign direct investments for the enhancement of economy status of Nigeri