A sustainable infrastructure delivery model: value added strategy in the Nigerian construction industry

The current economy reforms strategy by the Nigerian government promotes competition among private contractors, which are comprised of local and foreign contractors, in order to achieve value added infrastructure delivery. Resulting competitive bidding processes between multinational construction corporations (MCC) and local construction contractors (LCC) has had mixed comments among stakeholders, with a need for a more sustainable and holistic value approach identified. The aim of this research is to develop a sustainable infrastructure delivery model (SID). The key research methodology is based on extensive literature review and questionnaire survey. SID is developed on the principles and philosophy of soft system methodology (SSM) and analytic network process (ANP). In order to evaluate the significance of MCC and LCC through SID model, questionnaire surveys were conducted. Feedback was collected from experts in the Nigerian construction sector who assessed the relative importance of formulated decision criteria, which were sought under 7 key factors. Data simulation revealed that, through competitive bidding, significant achievements have been made in the delivery of constructed facilities. It was also found that the policy lacked holistic value principles that integrated ethical stance and monetary returns on investment. In this study, SID framework has been presented, clearly showing needs for integration of economic and ethical stances in order to achieve a sustainable infrastructure delivery

Construction costs and value management: study of multinational practices in Nigeria

The practice of multinational construction corporations (MCC) in Nigeria construction industry has been viewed as a value for money approach through construction cost management. Assessment of the opportunity cost of the initiatives is equally important in order to gauge the progress of millennium development goals (MDGs), set up by the United Nations in 2000 on human development in developing countries. The study is aimed at the evaluation of current infrastructure procurement framework, introducing novel sustainable infrastructure delivery (SID) model as a holistic value management methodology and a decision making technique. Key components of the model are Checkland’s soft system methodology (SSM) and analytic network process (ANP) by Saaty. SID input data is collected from the pilot questionnaire with the professionals in Nigeria’s construction industry, reinforced by a thorough literature review. Questions sought paired comparison judgements on key aspects of project management and implications on sustainable infrastructure procurement. The concept is discussed in the methodology section. Preliminary findings reveal that current practice lacks a holistic decision making technique, reflected in divergent value interests among stakeholders on infrastructure procurement through different views on the constitution of values. Though there is practical evidence regarding the growth in the construction sector, quantification of the implications on local economy and human development are less visible and require further investigations

Evaluation of Proximate Composition and Mineral Contents of Selected Locally Produced Beverages in Southwest Nigeria

The study evaluates the proximate composition and mineral contents of selected locally produced beverages in southwest Nigeria.Four locally produced beverages namely; Tigernuts, Kunu Zobo, and Coconut milk drinks were prepared and subjected to laboratory analysis for their nutritional and mineral contents using the standard method. The result showed that the four beverages are rich in moisture content and contained other nutrients to varying degrees. The study also discovered that the mineral content of the drinkis also appreciably high which makes them better alternatives to carbonated soft drinks that have been widely attributed to many health challenges. The study however discovered a wide variation in terms of the nutritional and mineral contents of the drinks as indicated by the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests with a p-value less than 5% level (p < 0.05). It is believed that moderate consumption of these local drinks by people of different categories and especially tourists will no doubt contribute to the overall health and welfare of the populace. Furthermore, it is also believed that the production and distribution of these local beverages can engender economic prosperity, especially for the unemployed. These local drinks could provide many benefits, especially in developing countries by playing important roles in ensuring food security, enhancing livelihoods, improvement of nutritional status and social well-being of the vulnerable groups

Women Empowerment Perspective of Tourism Development at Idanre Hills, Ondo State, Nigeria

Tourism has established new opportunities for the female gender through generating and propagating independence and income, particularly in developing countries and rural communities. This study identifies socio-demographic characteristics, employment status and women empowerment initiatives at Idanre Hills, Ondo State, Nigeria. The study employed the use of structured questionnaire targeted randomly at 120 women residents of Idanre community. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 21 and results were presented descriptively; through charts, percentage tables and inferentially; through chi square. Results indicated that majority of the women are within age group of 36-45 years (36.7%) and have secondary education (50.8%). Also, highest percentage of the women are not employed by the ministry of tourism (89.2%) while majority of the women employed are cleaners (46.67%). The women are majorly basic food sellers (38.3%) at the tourism destination and this forms their role in tourism activities there. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between employment status and socio-demographic characteristics of the women (p&lt;0.05). Women are presently under-utilized and under-empowered and should be involved more in core tourism activities at Idanre Hills

Optimization of Nutritional and Pasting Properties of Rice-Sweet Potato Based Composite Flour for Biscuit Production

Rice-sweet potato based biscuit was produced from optimization of the composite flour. The composite flour consisted rice, sweet potato and soybean flours with carboxyl methylcellulose as binder. Experimental design and statistical analysis were carried out using optimal mixture design of response surface methodology. The proximate compositions were optimized while the pasting characteristics and amino acid profile of the optimum blends were evaluated. The sensory evaluation and mechanical properties of the biscuit produced were also determined. The result showed that 15 of the 16 samples had protein content above 10 g/100g. This value is considerable if compared with 100% wheat flour. Samples 6 (85.694% rice flour, 11.806% sweet potato and 2.5% CMC) and 7 (95% rice flour, 2.5% sweet potato flour and 6.765% CMC), specifically, had high levels of ash, fibre and protein contents. In addition, all the samples had carbohydrate content above 70 g/100g. The result of the pasting characteristics showed that the composite flour had good flour quality. The addition of the binder (carboxyl methyl cellulose) enhanced the pasting properties. In addition, the amino acid profile showed that the composite flour had all the nine essential amino acids. The biscuit produced had good mechanical and sensory properties

Cassava recipes for household food security

Purpose: It is assumed that case-based questions require higher-order cognitive processing, whereas questions that are not case-based require lower-order cognitive processing. In this study, we investigated to what extent case-based and non-case-based questions followed this assumption based on Bloom's taxonomy. Methods: In this article, 4,800 questions from the Interuniversity Progress Test of Medicine were classified based on whether they were case-based and on the level of Bloom's taxonomy that they involved. Lower-order questions require students to remember or/and have a basic understanding of knowledge. Higher-order questions require students to apply, analyze, or/and evaluate. The phi coefficient was calculated to investigate the relationship between whether questions were case-based and the required level of cognitive processing. Results: Our results demonstrated that 98.1% of case-based questions required higher-level cognitive processing. Of the non-case-based questions, 33.7% required higher-level cognitive processing. The phi coefficient demonstrated a significant, but moderate correlation between the presence of a patient case in a question and its required level of cognitive processing (phi coefficient = 0.55, P <0.001). Conclusion: Medical instructors should be aware of the association between item format (case-based versus non-case-based) and the cognitive processes they elicit in order to meet the desired balance in a test, taking the learning objectives and the test difficulty into account