Quality assurances practices, training needs and international students mobility: analysing the nexuses

The role of education’s quality in determining international students’ choice of study destination was discussed by several studies. However, it only seems to have gained a huge prominence recently by constituting a theme in the quality management field involving empirical studies.In spite of such prominence the theme does not seems to provide sufficient empirical evidence forging a nexus between quality assurance practices, training needs and international student’s mobility.This research work therefore attempts to fill this gap by examining how the search for quality education and training needs satisfaction play role in international student’s mobility. Six dimensions of quality assurance in education were identified through extensive literature reviewed, three dimensions of training needs were equally revealed by the literature. Nine hypotheses were thus developed using these dimensions with the view to explain the relationship among the variables involved. The primary data for this study was obtained through a cross-sectional survey of International students in University Utara Malaysia with the aid of questionnaires, where a total of 150 respondents were selected randomly.Partial Least Squares (PLS) method was adopted in analysing the collected data with smartPLS 2.0 to determine the relationship involved.The result supported the relationship between organizational needs, Tangibility of facilities, Nature of service delivery and international student’s mobility, while the other six relationships were not supported

The Mitigating Role of Governance in conflict and State fragility: A study of Nigeria and Iraq

Drawing from the centrality of the quality of Governance in promoting and sustaining nationhood and by virtue of the fact that most drivers of conflicts in society, such as greed and grievances are discovered to be anchored on the nature of the relationship between the state and society., This paper therefore, adopt the social identity theory to analyses the socio-political factors which pave the way for the emergence of Boko Haram and ISIS in Nigeria and Iraq respectively. The paper adopt a content analysis by extensively reviewing the findings of previous studies which have identified the drivers of conflicts in several context, as well as carrying an in-depth analysis of several researches on Governance reform with the view to strike a balance between the two. The article thus, conclude by arguing that only structural transformation of local Governance by emphasizing and entrenching inclusiveness, integration and effective local democracy can guarantee success in the fight against insurgence and domestic terrorism  in both countries. This is because all the models of radicalization into political violence implicitly acknowledged that crisis of legitimacy is the beginning of civil strife. Keywords: Governance, Conflict, Fragility, Nigeria, Ira

Effect of fiscal decentralization and revenue allocation on local government performance: The Nigerian experience

In federalism, fiscal decentralization becomes an important precondition upon which the practice of good governance revolves, because it is anchored on efficient resource mobilization and utilization to ensure widespread participation and adequate representation.To facilitate good governance, the Nigerian state is politically structured into three governmental tiers: the federal, the state and the local government. However, evaluation of the performance of Nigerian local governments in terms of social service delivery depicts a massive failure.This paper therefore seeks to examine whether there is a nexus between local government failure and the nature of fiscal decentralization and revenue allocation in Nigeria.The paper present key issues, trend and challenges in the operation of fiscal decentralization in Nigeria. For instance, all decisions on revenue generation are controlled by the center and the vertical revenue allocation is structurally inclined toward the federal government, which negates the tenets of federalism and hence; grossly affects the capability of both the state and the local government to exercise financial autonomy.In conclusion, the paper offers some important suggestions which can galvanize the fiscal capacity of the local government, thereby transforming them into viable machineries of social service delivery at the grassroots

Examining the relationships between quality assurance, training need and choice of study destination: a study of Nigerian students in UUM

Several studies identified quality of education as a major criteria influencing international student’s choice of study destination. But only recently has it seems to have gain a huge momentum by emerging as a theme which involves empirical studies.However, despite such momentum previous studies do not provide sufficient evidence linking quality assurance and international student’s choice of study destination.This paper therefore presents a study of international student’s perception of higher education quality assurance practices, as well as how it affects their choice of study destination.The paper tries to examine how training needs play a role in influencing such choice also. The paper through descriptive analysis identified six dimensions of quality assurance in education: “Tangibles” “competence” “attitude contends;” “delivery;” and “reliability” as well as three dimensions of training needs such “occupational” “organizational” and “individual” needs. Hence it present the inter-relationship between quality assurance, training needs and choice of study destination using the above nine dimension; it concludes with Implications and recommendations to stimulate further studies on study destination choice by the international students from other countries especially from the Arabian and the middle-east

Parochial political culture and the squabbles for national agenda setting in Nigeria: A theoretical overview

The setting of agenda is the first and critical step in the policy cycle, outlining key issues that attract government attention. Which has a vital impact on their policy process 's entire trajectory. Activities in this initial phase will decide if the government can fix a problem or abandon it at a later point. However, in Nigeria the type of political culture practiced has invariably accounted for lack of interest and commitment on the part of the people to setting national agenda. This is because Nigeria is one of the world's most divided nations, with a very sharp dichotomy primarily along religious and ethnic lines that overlap. These lines of demarcations continue to form and influence political action in the country where most Nigerians think of themselves as Nigerians in some way, but their ethnic identity matters more as a source of pride and more importantly as a source of government policy likes and dislikes. This paper argued that Nigerians' lack of emotional attachment to the national agenda has denied the country a sustainable national development. The leaders capitalize on the parochial attitudes of the citizen toward national agenda to deny the country a systemic and sustainable development where instead of pursuing development policy goals they are busy amassing wealth for their personal benefit, and this accounts for the high level of corruption, ineptitude and lack of political direction that has hindered the growth and development of the country. With over reliance on secondary data obtained through content analysis the paper argues that in order to achieve Nigeria’s developmental objectives there is a strong need for a deep mental change among the citizens so as to do away with vices such as ethnicity and regionalism that are currently taken a toll on the country’s drive toward maturity

Masjid as an Institution of Reforming Almajiri Education System: A Policy Option for State Governments in Northern Nigeria

One of the critical issues bedeviling the Muslim community in Northern Nigeria is the current trend of the Almajiri system of education where children at tender age are made to excruciatingly fend for themselves in the name of search of Islamic knowledge. This has become a source of concern as the children are not only deprived of their basic rights of healthy and decent living, but are also prone to many misdemeanors. Numerous governmental and (non-) faith-based organizations have been struggling to transform the system. This paper highlights the crucial role of Masaajid as a rallying point for Muslims; for prayers, study cycles, holding meetings, conflict resolution, contracting marriages, offering charity, provision of shelter to the destitute, among others. Hence, the paper brings into limelight ways in which Masaajid in Northern Nigeria can be used through zakah and waqf, contribution of philanthropists and other stakeholders in reforming the Almajri system of education through the use of masaajid as alternative school system thereby implementing better ways of eradicating the scourge. The paper concludes that masaajid provide veritable alternatives for result-oriented learning in serene and descent atmosphere devoid of inhumane treatment and in conformity with the pristine teachings of Islam

Examining Youth’s Propensity to Political Violence in Northern Nigeria: a Pilot Study Report

The Northern Nigeria has been experiencing violent conflict ever since the returned of civil rule in 199 ranging from ethno-religious crisis to domestic terrorism. Several studies were conducted in an effort to come to terms with the realities behind this persistence incidence of violence, where factors such as poverty, state failure, unemployment and frustration. However, despite all these studies very little is known about the peculiar environmental factors that makes the Northern Youth particularly more prone to political violence. This is therefore a pilot study which was conducted to explore the socio-cultural and political factors shaping and molding youth’s attitude toward violence in a political context. The findings are intended to inform a wider research project which shall assesses the causes of radicalization of the Almajirai demographic cohort into violent extremism in the North-eastern Nigeria. The study generate the data through a cross-sectional survey, the data was collected from 90 respondents who were randomly selected among the Nigerian students in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The data was analyzed and interpreted using Partial Least Square techniques (PLS), with the aid of smartPLS 2.0. Eight research hypotheses were formulated in which 4 were supported 4 were not supported from the result of the pilot study. Keywords: Youth, Political violence, Terrorism, Insurgency, Nigeri

Political violence and radicalization in the north-eastern Nigeria: analyzing the youth bulge phenomenon

Political Violence has recently become a recurring decimal in Northern Nigeria especially in the North-Eastern part of the country where peace seems to have eluded the region since 2009. Several scholarly inputs were propounded in an attempt to address and find a lasting solution to the persistent incidence of violence ravaging the region. This article is another attempt geared toward addressing the problem by looking at it from a different perspective that is the youth Bulge Phenomenon. It is the conception of this paper that, the genesis, the life span and the demise of political violence is greatly influence by the socio-cultural and political environment surrounding it. To understand political violence and the factors that breed it, one has to understand the environment that actually nurtured it. In other words, without understanding the socio-political attributes of a given population, one will not understand the causes of insurgency within it. This paper views environment as a key factor in understanding the political violence within the context of the North-Eastern Nigeria. It examines environment from a demographic parlance and adopts the youth Bulge theory and the social identity theory to conceptually analyse the key elements that continue to shape and mould the growth of political violence in the North-Eastern Nigeria, where institutional weakness due to poor governance, social categorization and the formation of social network were discovered to be the contributing factors to the menace

Democracy, violence and insecurity: Perversion and implications on the youth in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria as it is constituted today depict a picture typical of a semi-democratic entity that is undergoing a demographic transition process, where the large fraction of the total population is represented by youth with high propensity for violence. Achieving political stability in the country, therefore revolve around the existence of a workable democracy which can improve government performance and thus reduce the sources of grievances capable of generating anti-government violence by the youth. However, it is the conception of this paper that, in Nigeria the political and the socio-economic principles associated with the liberal democracy are either weakly internalized or remained largely not internalized across the body polity thereby creating room for grievance hence the persistent incidence of violence, as democracy fails to deliver its promises of good governance and economic stability. Such violence therefore interacts perversely with democratic institutions, eroding their legitimacy and effectiveness thereby engendering insecurity. Living in the midst of violence and insecurity thus transforms the youth’s perceptions of their physical and political environments which invariably weaken their commitment to democracy and encourage them to support forms of authority from nonstate actors such as Boko Haram in the North-Eastern geo-political zone and bodies of organized crime perpetrators who specialized in cattle rustling, kidnapping and banditry in the North-West geo-political zone

Information-energy conversion process and the ecological bane of public administration in Nigeria

The generic interaction between Administrative institution and ecological variables is a topic which has generated a considerable amount of empirical inquiries and theoretical speculations within the field of Comparative Public Administration, where number of models and frameworks were advanced by scholars in attempt to established a sound theoretical footing to that aspect of Public Administration. One of such models is the Dorsey’s Information-Energy-Conversion which describes an Administrative system as developed to the extent that it possesses information and energy as well the capacity for its processing and the means for its conversion. The information-energy model focuses on the interaction of three ecological variables which are energy, information, and energy conversion and their relationship with Administrative system. This paper attempt to test the conceptual relevance of the Information-Energy Model in explaining the ecological predicaments of the Nigerian Public Administration. The paper developed and discussed a contextually driven schema where Information is configured to involve the societal attributes such as norms and values, sectionalism, ethnicity and sectarian sentiments prevailing within the Nigerian environment, Energy is constructed to indicate the labor force in the Nigerian Public Administrative institutions while Energy conversion is defined as the manpower training and development programmes within the Nigerian Public Administrative system. The paper argued that the predicaments of Public Administration in Nigeria is premised on the fact that the forces emanating from the ecological variables such as norms, values, sectarianism, ethnicity and schism (i.e. the information) plays greater role on its labor force (i.e. the energy) than the Administrative energy conversion process (manpower training and development), therefore administrative behaviour in Nigeria is a product of the Public official’s environment not the school or training he/she received