How Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election outcome was forecasted with geodemographics and public sentiment analytics

In 2015, Nigeria held one of the most fiercely contested presidential elections in the nation’s recent democratic history. The outcome of the election was expected to exert significant influence on democratic practices on the African continent. The stiffness of the contest also meant that it was difficult to predict the likely winner of the election. This paper summarizes how an empirical approach was used to forecast the outcome of the election by modeling public sentiment data-set using a geodemographic framework. Results indicate that the main electorates that determined the outcome of the election were situated in thirteen battleground states. Additionally, results showed that two years before the presidential election, Goodluck Jonathan’s public approval ratings on corruption, insecurity, and the economy (the main drivers of the 2015 election) had nose-dived across many of the battleground states. This eventually contributed toward his loss

The impact of a supportive supervision intervention on health workers in Niassa, Mozambique: a cluster-controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Regular supportive supervision is critical to retaining and motivating staff in resource-constrained settings. Previous studies have shown the particular contribution that supportive supervision can make to improving job satisfaction amongst over-stretched health workers in such settings. METHODS: The Support, Train and Empower Managers (STEM) study designed and implemented a supportive supervision intervention and measured its' impact on health workers using a controlled trial design with a three-arm pre- and post-study in Niassa Province in Mozambique. Post-intervention interviews with a small sample of health workers were also conducted. RESULTS: The quantitative measurements of job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and work engagement showed no statistically significant differences between end-line and baseline. The qualitative data collected from health workers post the intervention showed many positive impacts on health workers not captured by this quantitative survey. CONCLUSIONS: Health workers perceived an improvement in their performance and attributed this to the supportive supervision they had received from their supervisors following the intervention. Reports of increased motivation were also common. An unexpected, yet important consequence of the intervention, which participants directly attributed to the supervision intervention, was the increase in participation and voice amongst health workers in intervention facilities

Hyperostosis frontalis interna, an incidentaloma on skull computed tomograms in a Sub-Saharan African tertiary hospital

Background: Hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) is bony accretion of the inner table of the frontal calvarium. It is an incidental, asymptomatic and benign lesion seen mostly in postmenopausal females.Aims: To determine the epidemiology of hyperostosis frontalis interna in Uyo using computed tomograms of the skull.Methodology: Retrospective study of patients who underwent skull computed tomograms (CT) in University of Uyo teaching hospital (UUTH), Uyo, Nigeria from 13th November, 2013 to 31st May, 2019 was done. Data were acquired from archived medical records in Radiology Department and analyzed for thickening of the inner table of the frontal calvarium. Analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS ) version 13.0 Results: 587 skull CT were studied with age range of 6months to 86 years. Males were predominant with 341 males and 246 females, giving a male to female ratio of 1.39 : 1. 3.41% (n-20) of the studied population had hyperostosis frontalis interna. They were all females with age of onset at 5th decade and peaking at 8th decade of life. 6.25% of female patients aged 50-59 had HFI, 16.67% of females aged 60-69 had HFI, 36.36% of femalesaged 70-79 had HFI. While 50.00% of females aged 80-89 years had HFI. 60.00% and 20.00% of cases characterized had type A and B HFI  respectively.Conclusion: Hyperostosis frontalis interna in Uyo is age and gender related, being restricted to females above 50years of life. &nbsp