Assessment of Physio-chemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water Supply for Domestic Use in Student Hostels in Nigerian University

The study examined the consistency in quality of water supply within the student halls of residence in a Nigerian University. The water samples were collected at four different points along the supply chain for three months and both physico-chemical and bacteriological tests were conducted on the samples based on World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water (NSDW) standards concurrently. The results of the physico-chemical test showed that all the samples were within the WHO and NSDW specified permissible range except their pH (4.57-6.00). However, the bacteriological results revealed that the Escherichia Coli (E. coli) of all samples (2, 2, 4 and 28cfu/100ml) were not acceptable. In addition, the fecal coliform results of two samples (0cfu/100ml) were within WHO and NSDW permissible limit values while other samples (1,2 cfu/100ml) were contaminated by some measure of fecal element. Nevertheless, the results of Total Coliform samples of two points were 0&3cfu/100ml therefore within the acceptable limit range but, the remaining two samples points (TNTC) were not acceptable. One of the influences on the result of the bacteriological is the closeness of the water supply pipes to the sewage pipes. In conclusion, bacteriological standard required by both WHO and NSDW was not satisfied in the water supply to the halls of residents. Therefore there is urgent need for the treatment of water supply against the presence of fecal elements to forestall liable diseases for sustainable health

CHALLENGES CONFRONTING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: PROFESSIONALS PERSPECTIVES (A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA)

The success of the Nigerian construction industry can be aligned with the use of construction project management systems, although, the industry has been maligned by issues such as building collapse, incessant delays, abandonment and cost overrun. It is therefore imperative to examine the challenges confronting construction project management system in Nigeria. In this study the descriptive survey method was adopted and data were obtained by means of inquiries using questionnaires. A sample size of fifty nine (59) construction professionals was used for the study. The study reveals that location of a project majorly influences Project Manager’s decision making on project planning. It asserted the crucial importance of Management skills required in practicing construction project management. In conclusion, the result identified that passive participation from Project Manager, lack of client involvement in making decisions, provision of substandard materials, design error, lack of effective communication and poor treatment of workforce are challenges hampering the use of construction project management. The study recommends the institutionalization of construction project management practice, compulsion of adequate training and skill modification programs for construction professionals to aid the sustainability of construction project management systems in Nigeria

DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB-BASED TENDERING PROTOCOL FOR PROCUREMENT OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS IN A TERTIARY INSTITUTION.

There are myriads of ICT tools in the construction industry but many construction procurement organizations are yet to harness the benefits. Tertiary institutions that are at the forefront of accountability, transparency and openness, engage in a lot of construction works but majority of them do not have eprocurement sites. The aim of the study was to develop a web-based tendering protocol for procurement of construction works in a tertiary institution. The development of a web app and a survey research design was carried out for the study. For the latter, a questionnaire instrument distributed to the client representatives and contracting firms operating within a renowned tertiary institution through a convenience sampling method was utilized. A total of 58 questionnaires were returned between the two groups. The study tested hypotheses using Mann Whitney-U and T-test. The result revealed that there are no significant differences between client representatives and contractors on e-readiness and importance of implementing e-tendering in the procurement of construction works. The study developed a web-based tendering system for procurement of construction works in a tertiary institution using PHP, MYSQL, CSS and HTML. The study recommended the increase in awareness of e-tendering platforms through trainings and implementation and stakeholders should take hold of the benefits of ICT in the construction industry. There is need to create official e-tendering sites for both public and private institutions for the purpose of procurement of construction works to encourage competitiveness among different classes of contractors, enhancing transparency, accountability and proper documentation

Survey dataset on the impact of stakeholder's relationship on the academic performance of engineering students

In order to produce seasoned graduates from tertiary institutions,academic performance of students should be paramount in the minds of stakeholders. The dataset presented the perception ofengineering students and lecturers in two private universities in Ogun state, namely,Bells University of Technology and Covenant University.Purposive quota sampling was used to elicit data from students and lecturers in the institutions through a closed ended structured questionnaire. Inferential statistics such as component principal analysis, regression analysis and Kruskall Wallistest were used top resent the data.The engineering students are in their fourth year. The data collected focused on stakeholder's relation-ship on students’ academic performance.It also provided infor-mation on the significant factors affecting stakeholder's relation- ship in tertiary educational institution as well as the effect of the age of the students in lecturer–student relationship.The survey data when analysed can be a pointer in identifying the unique stakeholders’ characteristics that could engender best academic performance from the student

Assessing the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs in the Paint Manufacturing Sector

The roles of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies can be seen from the perspective of their ability to engender economic and equitable growth. However, many entrepreneurs in the paint industry’s micro, small, and medium enterprises struggle to survive, leading to their failure. This study aims to assess the performance of small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in the paint manufacturing sector to enhance their prospects. The study utilized a cross-sectional survey and an experimental research approach. The study was carried in Lagos and Ogun states, in Southwest Nigeria. The study revealed the challenges faced by small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in the production of paint. However, some drivers can assist these SMEs in producing paint products. By self-mixing the paint, the researchers understood the rigor in obtaining constituent materials and the facilities needed in the production process. Recommendations were made to entrepreneurs, policymakers, and the government to ensure sustainable economic growth fir SMEs in the paint industry

Repositioning Technical Education a Panacea to Solving Globalization Challenges in Construction Sector

Globalization has created a wind of change that has eroded landscapes of economy of nations of the world. Globalization era has led to emergence of new engineering ideology, concepts, tools, machines as well as systems and procedure. In some places, private economy drive has been left to private sector while government provides policy and ideology formulation interphase. Technical education is one of the areas affected by this phenomenon and in turn, the construction sector, thus the need for its repositioning towards quality delivery. Technology education is at the forefront of providing landscape training towards individuals being produced by the sector having thorough understanding of their place in contributing to the economic growth of construction sector. Thus, technical education need to be repositioned further to enable more relevance of its products to their environment. Therefore, the study considered repositioning technical education towards solving globalization challenges in building sector. In order to achieve this, sampling technique was used in this study, 120 structured questionnaire, designed in Likert scale form, on scale 1 to 5, was used for the study. It was discovered that repositioning the technical education in developing economy like Nigeria would involve taking the following position; overviewing of the current curriculum, running technical-based education, introducing cutting edge equipment and tools, technology transfer, technical symbiotic relations among economic drivers, adjustment of government policy, training and retraining issue, preventing discriminatory tendencies between technical based vocations and non-technical based jobs, emphasizing technical competence and partnership between education institutions and industry. The study concluded by recommending the following as a solution: infrastructure, research, adequate funding, technology incubation center and training/retraining for the practitioner

Gender-Based Competitive Performance In Built Environment Technical Related Courses In A Tertiary Institutionː Covenant University Case Study

Technical Education in recent times has witnessed high patronage in term of subscription from male and female candidates; this is against the school of thought that believes that technical-based disciplines are cut out for men. However in recent times, female candidates seem to be outperforming their male counterpart breaking the norms which tends to have defied reasonable logic. It is against this background that this study carried out comparative analysis of academic performances of male and female students studying technical-based disciplines in selected tertiary institution. Covenant University in Nigeria was chosen as a location of the study. Random sampling method was used in the study, with a sample of 80 students. A structured questionnaire in Likert scale was administered on student of technical based discipline, Eighty (80) questionnaires was administered on the students to harvest their perspective. The responses were further collated, analyzed with SPSS software, processed with Mean Item Score method and presented in tables and charts. Some factors were identified as being responsible for the trend, which includes: Age diference, emotional maturity, intelligence quotient, educational background, external interference, famiy problem, teachers challenge, complex curriculum, psychological problem, family problem, mode of subject delivery, attention to detail among others. Model was presented of an ideal metrics that influences higher performance of female students over their counterpart and what could be done to improve performance of all gender components

INDICATORS OF WORKERS’ SATISFACTION WITH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES IN CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is gradually becoming a universal phenomenon among industrialists in developing countries. Industrialists are progressively accepting it as a way of life in organizational development. Therefore, this research aimed at carrying out an exploratory study of the phenomenon, pointing out the relationship between CSR and employee job satisfaction. The study draws strength from fundamental underlying theories and relevant past work. Cohran’s and Slovin’s formulas were utilized to derive a population frame of 400. The authors used a sample size of 200 respondents. The essence of data collection guarantees that the research objectives can be appropriately organized and successfully achieved. A structured questionnaire calibrated in Likert Scale 1-5 was used as the data collection instrument. Content analysis was applied to process the collated questionnaires for consistency. The data were processed with the SPSS statistical tool using the descriptive statistics component. The scope of application of the research results includes Human resources management, Environmental policymaker, Industrial production management, industrial relation, and personnel management

Vocational Skill Mobility and Its Effect on Occupational Engagement Among Tradesmen and Craftsmen in Building Sector

Building sector in Nigeria has suffered skill erosion overtime. Foreigners with special skill has mobilized their skill into the sector and there had been mass exodus of imported skills into the sector thereby forcing citizens to jettison idea of engaging indigenous artisans in the face of superior skills and knowledge. The aim of the study is to appraise the vocational skills and competence of the indigenous and foreign artisans, vocational mobility in building sector, job mobility pattern among artisans, sectors involved, attendant effects, both favorable and unfavorable, and possible ways of addressing identified threat. The study engaged 120 questionnaire using random sampling technique. The questionnaire was designed in Likert scale, structured on sematic rating scale 1 to 5. The study identified the following reasons among others reasons behind the disparity in occupational engagement among artisans in Nigeria building sector, the reasons include: inadequate skill and knowledge by indigenous artisans, no vocational focus, half -baked knowledge of the work, poor workmanship and poor finishing and poor education background or lack of former education among others. The study recommended the following factors as panacea to the problem; reinvigoration of artisans competence, continuous training of the artisans, value reorientation of artisans, promoting technology transfer among indigenous artisans and foreign artisans

Quality of care in integrated community case management services in Bugoye, Uganda: a retrospective observational study

Abstract Background Village health workers (VHWs) in five villages in Bugoye subcounty (Kasese District, Uganda) provide integrated community case management (iCCM) services, in which VHWs evaluate and treat malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age. VHWs use a “Sick Child Job Aid” that guides them through the evaluation and treatment of these illnesses. A retrospective observational study was conducted to measure the quality of iCCM care provided by 23 VHWs in 5 villages in Bugoye subcounty over a 2-year period. Methods Patient characteristics and clinical services were summarized using existing aggregate programme data. Lot quality assurance sampling of individual patient records was used to estimate adherence to the iCCM algorithm, VHW-level quality (based on adherence to the iCCM protocol), and change over time in quality of care (using generalized estimating equations regression modelling). Results For each of 23 VHWs, 25 patient visits were randomly selected from a 2-year period after iCCM care initiation. In these visits, 97% (150) of patients with diarrhoea were treated with oral rehydration and zinc, 95% (216) of patients with pneumonia were treated with amoxicillin, and 94% (240) of patients with malaria were treated with artemisinin-based combination therapy or rectal artesunate. However, only 44% (44) of patients with a negative rapid test for malaria were appropriately referred to a health facility. Overall, 75% (434) of patients received all the correct evaluation and management steps. Only 9 (39%) of the 23 VHWs met the pre-determined LQAS threshold for high-quality care over the 2-year observation period. Quality of care increased significantly in the first 6 months after initiation of iCCM services (p = 0.003), and then plateaued during months 7–24. Conclusions Quality of care was high for uncomplicated malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Overall quality of care was lower, in part because VHWs often did not follow the guidelines to refer patients with fever who tested negative for malaria. Quality of care appears to improve in the initial months after iCCM implementation, as VHWs gain initial experience in iCCM care