Colonial Impact on the Socio-Communicative Functions of Arabic Language in Nigeria: An Overview

Before the advent of the colonialist in Nigeria, Arabic language was used as the official language of communication and of daily intercourse. Historical records also confirmed that for about three centuries between 17th and 19th centuries Arabic documents remained the only source of information for European writers on western and central Sudan. A large number of these scholarly works were written by native West African authors in Arabic language, or in their native languages using Arabic scripts. However, the scramble for West African countries by the Europeans in the 19th century brought about the occupation of the areas by the imperialists. This led to change in socio –cultural life of the people of the regions including the Muslims, which in turn has a spillover effect on the communicative functions of Arabic language. Thus, this paper intends to trace a brief history of Arabic in Nigeria, its functions as the language of communication and its subsequent subversion by the European colonialist. Special attention is giving to the present status of Arabic language in Nigeria and the subsequent implications

Perception of Female Undergraduates on Drug Abuse in Kano State, Nigeria: Implications for Counselling

The abuse of drugs by female undergraduate students is becoming alarming, posing serious repercussions for society in general. This study examined the perception of female undergraduates on drug abuse by female university students as perceived by female undergraduate students in Kano State. The study used a sample size of 306 female undergraduate students (selected using proportionate sampling technique) from Faculty of Education in BUK1, KUST2 and YUMSUK3. A validated instrument, DAI4 was used to collect relevant data. The reliability of DAI was established using the test-retest method. PPMC was used to compute the correlation coefficient of the instrument and reliability index of 0.79 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, while t-test for independent sample and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the three null hypotheses of the study. The findings of the study indicated that Benylin is the most commonly abused drug among female university students in Kano State, there is a difference in the perception of female undergraduates on drug abuse prevalence among female university students in Kano State based on university, in favour of BUK with the highest mean score of 8.04. Based on the findings, it is recommended among others that: the sales of benylin and other commonly abused drug within university campuses should be controlled by university authorities

The Impact of ICT Towards Saudi EFL Students’ Writing Skills: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study aimed to investigate the impact of using the word processor application on the writing achievement of Saudi EFL learners at Jubail Technical Institute. It used embedded-experimental mixed methods research design in which the qualitative data set provides an auxiliary role in a study that is primarily quantitative. Nested sampling technique was used to select participants for both the dominant quantitative and the auxiliary qualitative phases of the study. The participants were divided into two groups: the experimental group, which studied writing using the word processor, and the control group, which learnt writing using the traditional method. It was hypothesized that the experimental group participants would have a higher achievement in a writing performance test than those of the control group. After establishing that the two groups had homogenous writing abilities before the treatment, post-test results showed that the experimental group participants had a statistically significantly higher achievement in the writing performance test (t(67) = 6.21, p < .001) than the control group. The study recommended introducing computer-assisted writing programs in composition classes and training teachers on how to use such programs to help students develop their writing skills

Criminal and Unethical Behaviours in Organisations: Misuse of Assets and False or Misleading Advertising

Behaviours in organizations can either be adjudged to be unethical and even criminal or being above board Criminal and unethical issues are one of the most difficult to handle in organizations and they pervade all levels and activities in the organisation Specifically however this article examines and discusses the following critical criminal and unethical concerns which include corruption misuse of organizational assets and false or misleading advertizing in organizations The data were collected through secondary sources The article concludes that human resource manager s and or organisation s ability to tackle and control these ethical concerns is very important in keeping the organizations healthy and competitive otherwise the organizations will suffer enormous setback sometimes risk failure and even attract criminal actio

Drama and Society—A New Trend for Arabic Playwrights in Nigeria: Barihi’s Baqaun Muqadarun (Born to Survive) as Paradigm

Drama has been widely acclaimed as a positive medium for mirroring the society. Drama is a representation of life. So while drama entertains, it also educates and informs. This role of drama has been employed by playwrights over the years to make constructive commentaries on the issues and happenings in society and thus suggests and recommends for positive changes in man and his environment. The Nigerian Arabic playwrights are not left out in this direction of literary activities. This paper attempts an analysis of how Nigerian Arabic playwrights are also using drama to make comments on society as well educating the society using Barihi’s Baqaun Muqadrun (Destined to survive) as a paradigm. We shall also look at the art of Arabic play writing in Nigeria in brief, synopsis of the play, play analysis and conclusion

Impact of Accounting Record-Keeping on the Sustainability of Small-Scale Enterprises in Kano Metropolis

This study examined the impact of accounting record keeping on sustainability of small-scale enterprises (SSEs) in Kano metropolis. The population of this study comprised of all SSEs operating in the eight local government areas that constitute Kano metropolis. Four hundred and thirty-nine (439) questionnaires, using 5-point Likert scale, were administered on the sampled owners of SSEs across the eight local government areas in Kano metropolis. Out of this, four hundred and thirty-seven (437) questionnaires were completed and returned, while two respondents did not return their questionnaires.  The statement on the questionnaire covers accounting record keeping, business performance, environmental attitude and community attitude. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis using Partial Least Square (PLS) was employed to analyze the data generated for the study. The finding of study shows that record keeping has a significant positive relationship with sustainability. This indicates that an increase in the record keeping behavior will lead to an increase in the sustainability of a business entity. The study, therefore, recommends that SMEs owners should learn basic record keeping knowledge or engage the service of bookkeepers to enable them to keep proper books of accounts which will in turn increase the sustainability of their businesses

Artificial Intelligence Approaches in Student Modeling: Half Decade Review (2010-2015)

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are special classes of E-learning systems designed using Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches to provide adaptive and personalized tutoring based on the individuality of students. The student model is an important component of an ITS that provides the base for this personalization. During the course of interaction between student and the ITS, the system observe student’s actions and other behavioral properties, create a quantitative representation of these student’s attributes called a student model

Prevalence of Mosquitoes in Gidan Yunfa Community of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria

Different species of mosquito serves as a vector for transmitting malaria. Malaria is still a serious public health problem in Nigeria. Knowledge of the mosquito species, their diversity, and their composition would help immensely toward proper implementation of the different control strategies. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of mosquitoes and feeding or biting period in Gidan Yunfa community of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. The Larvae and Pupae were collected from breeding sites. Adult mosquitoes were sampled using CDC light traps (situated indoor and outdoor) and Pyrethrum Spray Catch methods. Mosquitoes were identified morphologically. A total of 6,410 adult mosquitoes with 2,142 (33.42 %) obtained from CDC light traps and 4,268 (66.58%) from the larval collections were identified belonging to 3 genera Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex. A maximum number of mosquitoes were caught with CDC traps. The abundance of the different genera varied significantly (P<0.05) with Anopheles having the highest occurrence (54.75%) followed by Culex mosquitoes with 40.42%. Aedes has the least abundance with 8.05%. The indoor and outdoor feeding habits of the different species varied significantly (P<0.05). Nature of the houses and tethering of animal in residential houses and abundance of breeding places may explain the reason behind the higher prevalence of the mosquito in this community

Effects of Demographic Characteristics for Farmers’ to Climate Change in Bunkure, Nigeria

This study examine the effects of demographic characteristics on farmers’ level of awareness to climate change in Bunkure, Nigeria. The study hypothesized that, there is no significant relationship between farmers’ demographic characteristics and level of awareness to climate change. Survey design approach was adopted using primary data source. A total of three hundred and fourty-seven (347) farmers were selected purposively. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistic and ANOVA. The study revealed that majority of the farmers in the area are males that fall within the active age bracket due. However, the study concluded that the greater the size of the household the greater the chances of being engaged in farming and more aware on climate change effects. It was revealed that those that attend tertiary education do not participate in farming activities. Also large number of the respondents were aware that climate is changing through the educative programmes of mass media. The study recommended that, adequate support should be given to female to participate in all agricultural activities. Educated persons should be encourage to participate more on agriculture. More emphasis on dissemination of climate change issues on adaptation strategies through the mass media is also highly needed

Impediments to e-governance and service delivery in the Nigerian public sector

In the present globalised world, E-Governance is increasingly becoming citizens - centred particularly in the delivery of government services to its public.In classical traditions and as accepted norm both government and Non -Governmental Organizations exist to offer citizens the means to directly or indirectly participate with a view to improving the quality of governance through service delivery.In Nigeria the attempt in the experience to make this possible has been characterized by obstacles.Hence such efforts have met certain critical impediments so that despite efforts towards realising the desired objectives of e-government as a tool for service delivery to the public sector such seems not to have been achieved, apparently, because of the fact that adult literacy level is low and issues of poor power supply are prevalent among others.The objective of the paper is to examine the impediments to e – governance and service delivery in the public sector in Nigeria.The paper recommends that the government should initiate and implement a pilot programme to explore the effectiveness of e-government in service delivery in the Public sector in Nigeria