Socioeconomic Development Inequalities among Geographic Units in Akwa Ibon State, Nigeria

Socio-economic development inequality among geographic units is a phenomenon common in both the developed and developing countries. Regional inequality may result in dissension among geographic units of the same state due to the imbalance in socio-economic development. This study examines the inequality and the pattern in socio-economic development in Akwa Ibom State. Data on socio-economic development indicators was collected using field survey, questionnaire and data from relevant agencies across the 24 areas or nodes selected out of the 31 areas or nodes. The factor analysis technique was applied to the 26 variables to achieve a parsimonious description and identify the major factors to indicate the socio-economic dimensions. From the analysis seven major factors were identified. Factor 1 identified and named as education/communication factor, factor 2 identified and named Healthinstitution/small scale industry factor, factor 3 identified and named as means of transport factor, factor 4 identified and named as land area factor, factor 5 identified and named as distance factor, factor 6 identified and named as income/household size factor and factor 7 identified and named as car ownership factor. The total variance for the factors is 82%. The study revealed that there exist variation and patterns in the socio-economic development in the study area.The pattern shows factor 1 has Essien Udium and Onna indicating high performance .Factor 2 , has 3 areas that indicate high performance Okobo, Ibeno, and Oruk Anam.Factor 3 has 3 areas that indicate high performance Ibesikpo Asutan, Abak and Etinan. Factor 4 has 4 areas Ibiono Ibom, Itu, Mkpat Enin and Ikot Abasi which indicate high performance. Factor 5 has 3 areas Nsit Ubium, Ini and Ikot Abasi.Factor 6 has 5 areas which indicate high performance Ikono, Eket, Mbo, Esit Eket and Udung Uko. Finally factors 7 has 4 areas which indicate high performance Eastern Obolo, Nsit Ibom, Ukanafun and Uruan. Efforts should be made to increase the number of socio-economic indicators in the disadvantages areas.Key words: Socio-economic, Development, Inequalities, Geographic Units, Nigeria

It’s only leftist women who talk that damn nonsense about women being at a disadvantage: Eugenia Charles’s gender politics in Dominica

Born in 1919 in Dominica and educated in Grenada, Canada and Britain, Eugenia Charles became the islands first female barrister, head of a political party and in 1980, Prime Minister. With political views on the right of the spectrum, her close alliances and friendships with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as well as her own defiant personality, Charles gained the title of ‘Iron Lady of the Caribbean’. This moniker, however, obscures more than it reveals, especially when it relates to Charles's gender politics. This article examines her speeches, interviews and policies and argues that a politics of contradiction and ambivalence characterised Charles's gender politics. This ambivalence partly explains the resilience of andocentric masculinist ideologies present in Caribbean political structures. Moreover, it demonstrates the continuity of ‘first-wave’ Caribbean feminism in the late twentieth century and the pragmatism of women in politics

Confronting the Challenges to Development in Nigeria with Lessons from Old Testament Prophecy

The concern for development is the plight of any patriotic citizen anywhere. However, in Nigeria, in spite of recurrent claims and efforts, very disturbingly, national development has continued to be elusive. Today, the importance of national development calls for renewed efforts to address its main challenges. In response to this need, the ongoing debate on the role of different disciplines in combatting the challenges of national development is timely. While religion generally would offer useful contributions to national development, the content of the prophetic corpus of the Old Testament, which revolves around the religio-civic development of Israel, proposes to offer more useful hints towards the development of Nigeria. This paper is therefore a specific response to the ongoing search for answers to the national development question. Following a traditionally expository method, this paper first seeks to discover the main challenges to development in Nigeria and then, exegetically drawing relevant lessons from the prophetic corpus of the Old Testament, desires to confront such growing challenge. The hope is that, the application of such Biblical wisdom to confront political issues would not only result in a more responsible civic arrangement towards the desired national development, but will also generate further scholarship in this area. Keywords: Development; Nigeria; Old Testament; Prophecy; Corruption.

Farmer-Pastor Affinity in the Old Testament: Lessons for Pastoral Ministry Today

In most real life situations, everything produces its kind. In the same vein, most things also generate their nature. This is also Biblically founded as God even had to create man in His own image. Biblical history confirms the existence of different classes of people, by nature, functions and role for example the priests, kings, and prophets of the Old Testament. Most of these roles were prerogative of certain groups. Most priests came from the priestly family of Levi. Most kings came from the house of David. Most prophets were drawn from among the sons of prophet. One situation that is glaringly different and calls for study, is the few instances where the appointment of some people into pastoral office tends to depart from that pattern. It is of note that many Old Testament pastoral agents were originally farmers. The correlation between farming and pastoral care calls for examination. This research, Farmer-Pastor affinity in the Old Testament, is a response to the need to examine and explore the meaning, nature, implications and import of the ‘farmer to pastor graduation.’ Using exegetical and expository methods to study selected Biblical personages reflecting this affinity, Descriptive and Analytical methods will also be employed to fully uncover and critically situate the import of this farmer-pastor affinity. By analyzing the Farmer-pastor affinity in some passages of the Old Testament, it will be possible to determine and comprehend the theological direction of this affinity towards some objective application. The findings, conclusions and recommendations will not only add to scholarship but they definitely promise to benefit pastoral care attitude today

Vincentian Formation in Africa for Missionary Preaching in the Footsteps of Saint Vincent de Paul

Vincent de Paul was deeply concerned with the proper preparation of the clergy so that the poor could be evangelized. Linus Umoren outlines Vincent\u27s method of preaching and the challenges the Church faced in reforming the clergy during the Counter-Reformation. Many of today’s new priests, including Vincentians, are coming from Africa. It is therefore necessary to develop a formation program that is uniquely suited to the African cultural context. Because of colonialism, the Church in Africa still needs to develop its own theological perspective instead of the one that had been brought to it by Europeans. It also faces several crises, some that are common to the worldwide Church and some that are unique to Africa. Formation programs in African countries must take these complexities into account. Umoren suggests some ways in which the traditional Vincentian approach to preaching can help meet the pastoral demands of modern African life

Energy – Momentum of the Armenian Special Relativity Theory

In this paper, the energy and momentum of the Armenians Special Relativity Theory (ASRT) and Special Relativity Theory (SRT) are obtained and their comparison is also carried out. SRT through the Muhelson-Morlay experiment proved that aether does not exist in space, but ASRT reincarnates the aether as a universal reference medium. The mathematical existence of aether has already been proven. In his work, by comparing energy and momentum of both SRT and ASRT, the results obtained indicate that difference is  in the time-space or subatomic aether medium which is represented by space coefficient  and geometrical space . The theory brings together followers of absolute aether theory, relativistic aether theory and the dark matter theory. The energy and momentum in SRT can be deduced from ASRT by substituting  and . This implies that, SRT is a limiting case of ASRT. Keywords: Relativistic theory, Rest Particle, Dark Energy, Armenian Theor

Relationship of Students' Academic Achievement in Secondary Mathematics, Science, English and Academic Achievements in Geology Technology at the College of Science and Technology Calabar, Nigeria

Technical Educatio