Development Aid and Human Capital Development in Nigeria: A Sector Level-Analysis

Developing countries are generally faced with financial gap and budget constraints, and as such are dependent on aids to meet basic social and economic responsibilities. However, there are increasing concerns regarding the effectiveness of aid in developing countries, owing to worsening social and economic outcomes despite the huge amount of aid received from donor countries and institutions. This study therefore examines the effects of sector specific aid such as: health aid and education aid on life expectancy and primary school enrolment rate respectively in Nigeria, controlling for the influence of government expenditures on health and education. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was adopted with annual data from 1981 to 2017. Findings revealed that health aid is beneficial as it significantly increases life expectancy by about 0.03%. Recurrent expenditure complemented health aid by increasing life expectancy by 0.03%. However, education aid is detrimental to primary school enrolment as it reduces the rate by 0.07%. Thus, it is concluded that education aid have not had the desired impact on education in Nigeria

THE SOUTH SUDAN WAR: CAUSES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION

The cumulative effects of marginalization, the burden of Sharia Law, and · rejection of the right to self-government, basically an overall feeling of being second class citizens drove South Sudan to push for selfdetermination through secession. This strong desire for self-determination saw them through three decades of virulent struggle which finally paid off in 2011 when South Sudan officially gained her independence via a referendum, making her Africa's newest state. However, the peace and joy of freedom did not last long for South Sudan as three years after, a civil war broke out: The new country; South Sudan has been embroiled in conflicts · orchestrated by ethnicity and power struggles and these has implications for national integration. The study examined the ethnic undertones in Southern Sudan's conflicts and also considered other factors that are responsible, and then investigates the implications thereof for National Integration. The study adopted a qualitative research design. Greed and grievance theories enunciated by Collier and Hoeffler serve as explanatory tool for the study. The study interrogated the historical background for the . purpose of providing a narrative and descriptive analysis of events. It was discovered that the war in South Sudan does · not only have ethnic undertones but also economic, political and historical issues appear to be fanning the embers of the war. It was therefore recommended that the leaders of the country at various levels should look beyond their ethnic differences and instead, see the entire country as their constituency irrespective of their ethnic extraction. They should focus on things that unite them rather than things that divide them

Accountability for Sustainable Development and the Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, 1999-2015

Development of any society is meant to enhance the living standard of citizens. However, where there are challenges of accountability, development is more likely to be a mirage. Past studies in Nigeria on the challenges of leadership and sustainable development identified corruption and lack of required skills on the part of public officials to perform in terms of proper policy formulation and implementation among others. The main goal of this article is to explore the relationship between accountability for the sustainable development and the challenges of leadership in Nigeria. With the analysis of data obtained from secondary sources, this present study identified lack of accountability for sustainable development to include the challenges leadership, unethical behavior, poor maintenance culture, poor management of resources, corruption on the part of public officials, and inadequate funds to execute projects in Nigeria. This article therefore recommends, among others, the need for government to adopt a more practical approach to the promotion of accountability, a determined fight against corruption and unethical behavior, proper management of resources, and devotion of more funds to the execution of capital projects that could positively affect the lives of the people for improved standard of living

Awareness of Vocational and Technical Education Lecturers in Utilising the Emerging Technology Posed by Covid-19 Pandemic

The study was carried out to examine the awareness of vocational and technical eduation lecturers in utilizing the emerging technology posed by Covid-19 pandemic in Oyo State Colleges of Education.  To achieve the objectives of the study, three research questions were developed and answered while two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.  The study adopted survey research design.  The population for the study consisted of 150 lecturers.  Total enumeration sampling technique was used for this research work.  The questionnaire was faced and content validated by two experts from the Department of Business Education and one expert from Industrial Technical Education Department, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-ode.  Cronbach Alpha method was adopted to ensure reliability of the instrument with the coefficient of r=0.96.  This shows that the instrument is highly reliable.  The questionnaire was administered on 150 respondents and all were successfully retrieved.  Mean and Standard deviation were used to answer data related to research questions while t-test and ANOVA analysis were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.  The findings of the study revealed that awareness level of the Vocational and Technical Education lecturers on the use of available technological tools for teaching and learning is moderately high. The extent of usage of modern technological tools for teaching and learning is low compare to their awareness.  Challenges faced by Vocational and Technical Education lecturers in using modern technological tools is moderately high.  The study revealed that there is significant relationship between male and female Vocational and Technical Education lecturers on the extent of lecturers` awareness on the use of modern technological tools.  The study as well revealed that there is significant relationship between the respondents on the challenges faced by Vocational and Technical Education lecturers in using modern technological tools for teaching and learning with respect to their years of experience.  Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that government through a relevant agencies like Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) should assist in providing some adequate modern technological tools for Colleges of Education, school management should provide modern technological tools for the smooth running of teaching and learning, Seminars and Conferences on the use of modern technological tools be attended at an interval

First record of Foulassi Screeching Frog, Arthroleptis adelphus (Perret, 1966) (Anura, Arthroleptidae, Arthroleptinae), from Nigeria, with notes on its phylogenetic position

We report the first known occurrence of the Foulassi Screeching Frog, Arthroleptis adelphus (Perret, 1966), from Nigeria. A specimen of A. adelphus was collected during herpetological survey work conducted in Cross River National Park, south-eastern Nigeria. Morphometrics and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene confirm identity of the specimen. Matrilineal genealogy reveals a sister relationship of A. adelphus from Nigeria with individuals from south-western Cameroon. Genetic analysis further shows geographic structuring and divergence among populations of A. adelphus from the Guineo–Congolian forest region. We offer updates to the IUCN geographic range of A. adelphus

Risk factors associated with Amblyopia among primary school pupils in Kosofe Town, Lagos State, Nigeria

Aim: To investigate the risk factors associated with amblyopia among primary school pupils in Kosofe town, Lagos State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, school-based study was conducted, in which a multistage random sampling technique was employed for recruiting the children. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires by the parents or caregivers and from detailed ocular examinations performed by the investigators. Data analysis was performed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 20.0.Results: A total of 1702 children participated in the study, with over 90% of the children being aged 4–10 years. Most (78.5%) of the mothers were aged 20–39 years at childbirth, and the mean age was 30.5 ± 7.8 years. Amblyopia was detected in 24 (1.41%) children. Following multivariate logistic regression analysis, children whose mothers had no formal education at childbirth had an 11-fold greater risk of having amblyopia [odds ratios (OR)=11.25, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)=1.25–1.49], while those with birth weight <2500 g were 10 times more likely to have amblyopia at the time of examination (OR=10.15, 95% CI=0.70–0.90). In addition, children with a positive family history of crossed eyes had an eightfold greater risk of having amblyopia (OR= 8.14, 95% CI =0.24–0.46).Conclusion: Mother’s educational qualification at childbirth, low birth weight, and a positive family history of crossed eye were found to be strongly associated with the development of amblyopia.Keywords: Amblyopia, primary school pupils, risk factor

Competitiveness and Comparative Advantage of Rice Production in Katsina State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to analyze the competitiveness and comparative advantage of rice production in Katsina state. A total of 196 farmers were sampled using a multi-stage sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data were utilized in the study. The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire by trained enumerators, while the secondary data on international market prices were collected from various government and non-governmental agencies. Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM), Profit share analysis and farm budgeting techniques were used for data analysis. The result of the financial profitability analysis revealed that a typical rice farmer earned an average revenue and profit of ₦663,799.25/ha and ₦322,356/ha, respectively. The result of the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) indicator (Domestic Resource Cost) showed that the farmers had a comparative advantage in rice production by having a ratio of less than one (0.46). Similarly, the percentage of the Unit Cost Domestic index (UCD) and Unit Cost Export index (UCX) for the farmers were less than 0.51 and 0.57, respectively, showing that the farmers were competitive in domestic and international markets. The Effective Protection Coefficient (EPC) ratio of greater than one showed that the farmers were positively affected by the government's agricultural policies. It was recommended that the current combined trade policies in the rice sector should be sustained to strengthen the comparative advantage and increase the competitiveness of the local rice

Determinants of food insecurity among farming households in Katsina State, north western Nigeria: An ordinal logit regression approach

The study identified the determinants of food insecurity among farming households in Katsina State, north western Nigeria. A cross sectional sample survey design was used to select a total of 150 small-holder farmers from 15 communities across 10 Local Government Areas of the state. A structured questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion and Key Informant Interview were used for data collection. The coping strategy index was used to determine the food security status of the household and the ordered logit regression was used to identify the determinants of food insecurity among the households. The majority (73%) were found to be food insecure. In terms of food insecurity status, 44% of the respondents were less food insecure, while 17% and 12% were moderately food insecure and severely food insecure respectively. Eating the less preferred meal, purchasing food on credit and reducing the quantity of food consumed were the major coping strategies adopted by the food insecure households. The result of the ordered logit model shows that the total quantity of cereal saved, number of income sources and dependency ratio were significant for both the moderately and severely food insecure groups at p<0.05 while access to credit was also significant for the two groups but at p<0.01. The output of other crops was significant at p=0.10 but only for the severely food insecure group. The study concluded that food insecurity was high in the study area and therefore recommended that the farming households be provided with opportunities to diversify their livelihood activities