The impact of mobile devices for learning in higher education institutions : Nigerian universities case study

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are becoming increasing popular among students, setting out a new way to communicate, collaborate and learn. The use of portable devices has the capability to inspire new approaches to learning. It is therefore important to examine the students’ viewpoints about the educational use of mobile technology in supporting the learning process. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of mobile devices for learning purposes by exploring the kinds of interactions that students in Nigerian universities have with their portable gadgets. A sample of 240 higher education students participated in the study by completing the researchers’ questionnaire. The results of the study indicate the students use their portable devices to exchange education-related messages and academic files with classmates, search the internet and library databases for academic materials, practice online quizzes or tests and hold discussions with classmates among others. The statistical analyses result show that there is no significant difference in the students’ use of mobile devices based on gender

Discovering students mobile learning experiences in higher education in Nigeria

M-learning plays a progressively significant role in the advancement of teaching and learning in higher education. However, the effective implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users’ experiences and motivation to use this technology. Though m-learning has become global, developing countries such as Nigeria are yet to enjoy the full potential offered by m-learning. This study is focused on ascertaining students’ experiences with m-learning, determining the influence of m-learning on students’ motivations and interests, and identifying factors that are limiting m-learning adoption in Nigeria. We investigated these experiences by analysing questionnaires collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students of six universities in Nigeria. The results from our study show that the students own and use diverse mobile devices to engage in educational activities and other social networking purposes. Some of these learning activities are sending SMS messages, playing educational games, social learning, reading e-books/pdfs, and completing assignments and quizzes. Students expressed their satisfaction with m-learning especially for supporting them to learn anywhere, anytime. They further confirmed that m-learning motivates, interests, and inspires every aspect of learning. Furthermore, the students acknowledges that the interactivity, flexibility, convenience and engagement of m-learning were authentic learning experiences

ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE - SECTORS PARTNERSHIP (PPP) IN HOUSING DELIVERY IN, NIGER STATE. NIGERIA

Abstract: One of the greatest challenge confronting both rural and urban residents in Niger State is the need to provide adequate shelter. This study examined the individual significant contribution of the public and private sector in public-private partnerships (PPP) in housing contracts in Niger State, Nigeria. The study review that PPP has so far achieved little success in providing decent and unaffordable housing accommodation to Nigerlites. Accordingly to Niger State housing corporation 2 bedrooms flat worth N3,500,000.00 and 3 bedrooms flat worth N4,500,000.00 so it’s clear that the houses are unaffordable to low and medium incomes earners. The researcher finding that the private sector in Niger State can be said to have contributed very little to the development of an urban project in the state, however, even this insignificant level of participation has been serious challenges by poor funding and lack of policy framework to regulate it activities. Therefore, it is paramount importance that the state should develop a regulatory framework and partner with the private sector in this regard so as to ensure that the resident of Niger State has access to this important component of the human environment. Researcher concluded that to ensure the effective participation of the private sector in housing delivery in Niger State in general and Minna in particular, the following recommendation has been put forward (1) Aside from providing enabling environment for the private sector to develop real estate, government should also invest more in provision of site and services scheme this will hasten the development of estate sector.  (2) The establishment a power federal mortgage bank (FMB) and  urban development bank would guarantee investors access to loan and other facilities needed for mass housing development.(3) strengthening the activities of the Niger State Ministry of land and housing in order to ensure that both the formal and informal neighborhood save provided with sanction and neighborhood facilities and (4) The establishment of a PPP steering committee in the Niger State that would be responsible for the general oversight of state’s PPP arrangement. (5) Finally, the study recommends that to ensure the success of public and private partnership in housing delivering, all tiers of government must strive to complement the weakness of the public sector with the strength of the private sector.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Awareness and Choice of Indigenous Practices in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability in Northern Ghana

Farmers in Northern Ghana adapt to the adverse effects of climate change using traditionalpractices. However, farmers’ awareness of these practices is a spring-board to their choicesof available indigenous climate related adaptation strategies. This study examined farmers’awareness and usage of indigenous adaptation strategies using the Heckman Two-Stage Sample Selection Model. Questionnaire was administered to 285 randomly selected households to determine the factors influencing farmers’ awareness and choice of indigenous adaptation strategies. The empirical results showed that majority of farmers are aware of and employed soil related indigenous adaptation strategies. Education, membership of farmer-based organisation, farmer-farmer extension contacts and farming experience significantly determine farmers’ awareness of indigenous adaptation strategies. Farmers’ level of education, farming experience, farmer-farmer extension contacts, membership of farmer group, labour hours and age significantly influenced farmers’ choice of indigenous climate related adaptation strategies.Based on these findings, it is recommended that farmers should endeavour to form groups toserve as a platform to share knowledge on indigenous farming practices for effective climatechange adaptation

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of copper(II) Schiff base adducts of some p-substituted aniline Schiff bases

The synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of Cu(II) complexes of some p-substituted aniline Schiff base ligands have been carried out. The Schiff bases were obtained from salicylaldehyde and o-vanillin. The Cu(II) complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurement, infrared and electronic spectral data. The complexes were obtained either as metal chelates [Cu(L)2] or Schiff base adducts (CuCl2.2LH).xH2O. The metal chelates were non-electrolytes while the Schiff base adducts exhibited 1:1 or 2:1 electrolytes in methanol. The Cu(II) complexes exhibited slight antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC® 8739™*, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC® 6538™*, Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii ATCC® 6633™* and Candida albicans ATCC® 2091™*. The complexes exhibited significant antifungal activity.                     KEY WORDS: Metal Chelates, Schiff bases, Adducts, Cu(II) complexes, Salicylaldimines   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(1), 33-42. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i1.

An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could restimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts

Effect of HIV/AIDS Prevalence on Farm Income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria

The study was on effect of HIV/AIDS prevalence on farm income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of PLWHA who are small scale farmers, determined the factors affecting the farm income of PLWHA, and identified the major problems encountered by PLWHA in the study area. A simple random sampling method was used. Three health care facilities and one community based organization were selected. Thirty (30) PLWHA-small scale farmers were randomly selected from each of the facilities making a total of 120 respondents. Data were gathered through questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and mean score were used for data analysis. The results showed that 45.8% of the respondents were widow with non-formal education and a household size of 6-10. 60% of the respondents were full time farmers with farming experience of 11-15 years. Age, technology adoption and labour lost as a result of HIV/AIDS were significant variables affecting the farm income of PLWHA. Labour lost had a negative coefficient while age and technology adoption were positively related to farm income. The major problems encountered by PLWHA who are small scale farmers include low earnings, stigmatization, discrimination, inadequate capital, and lack of credit facilities. The study recommends that government should take necessary measures to control the spread of the disease. Also, soft loan should be made available and accessible to PLWHA who are small scale farmers

The Scramble for Lugard House: Ethnic Identity Politics and Recurring Tensions in Kogi State, Nigeria

Successive Nigerian constitutions have always sought to legally prevent identities such as ethnic, religion, and regionalism from being the basis of political organisation and contest for state power. In Kogi state, Nigeria, the reality of the situation has been, however, far from its outward appearance. This is because, ethnic identity politics have not only proved to be resilient, but a in a wave of resurgence, have fast become a common feature in its body politics leading to incessant ethno-factionalism and tension in the state. This article explores the linkage between the nature of Nigerian democracy, ethnic identity politics, and escalating ethnic tensions in Kogi State. The central argument of this article is that, the political elites’ notion of democracy, and the prevailing political culture of winner-takes-all, combined to exacerbate ethnic identity politics and the ethnic tensions in Kogi state. The article concludes that, ethno-identity politics and tensions are not particular to Kogi state, but a culture that is inherently in Nigerian body politics.Key words: Ethnic; identity; Politic; Tension; Statebuilding; Ebira; Igala; Okun; Kogi State; NigeriaRésumé Les constitutions successives nigérianes ont toujours cherché à empêcher légalement les identités comme ethnique, la religion, et le régionalisme d'être la base de l'organisation politique et lutte pour le pouvoir d'Etat. Dans l'Etat de Kogi, au Nigéria, la réalité de la situation a été, cependant, loin de son apparence extérieure. Ceci est parce que, la politique d'identité ethniques ont non seulement prouvé pour être résilients, mais une par une vague de résurgence, ont rapidement devenu une caractéristique commune dans sa politique du corps conduisant à l'ethno-factions incessante et la tension dans l'état. Cet article explore le lien entre la nature de la démocratie nigériane, la politique d'identité ethnique, et l'escalade des tensions ethniques dans l'Etat de Kogi. L'argument central de cet article est que, la notion des élites politiques de la démocratie, et la culture politique dominante du winner-take-all, combinée à exacerber la politique d'identité ethniques et les tensions ethniques dans l'Etat de Kogi. L'article conclut que, ethno-politique identitaire et les tensions ne sont pas particulière à l'Etat de Kogi, mais une culture qui est intrinsèquement dans le corps politique du Nigeria.Mots-clés: Ethnique; Identité; Politique; Tension; Construction de l'État; Ebira; Igala; Okun; l'Etat de Kogi; Nigéri