Traditional Governance System in Nigeria: Lessons for Neoliberal Democracies

The pre-colonial Nigerian state had a well-organized system of administration where law and social order were provided and maintained respectively. Despite the country’s independence, Nigeria had been unable to install rights-based political and economic systems of governance that would encouragestate-building and development. The attendant societal woes paved way for neoliberalism; an economic ideology that licensed the Bretton Woods institutions to limit the political powers of the state and promote the ideas of the free market economic system.This paper examined neoliberal governance system with the aim of identifying the lessons for a “democratic”state like Nigeria. The theoretical assumptions of the World Systems theory were used to explain issues of interest. As a desk study, this paper found, amongst others, that “every foreign favour comes with a price tag.” This was because the aidprovided bythe Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank and IMF to the then government has subjected Nigeria to the dictates of the aforementioned donors, which the country is dearly paying for till date. Also, the adoption of neoliberal policies denied the indigenous people of Nigeria the right to freedom from discrimination and the right to dignity of human person. Therefore, it was recommended that the Nigerian government embraces an autarkic form of governance. This is highly possible by first de-westernizing the mind of Nigerians and her leaders to begin to see the need to stick to a self-sufficient and a truly democratic form of government

Remuneration of Casual Workers in Selected foreign-owned Manufacturing Industries in Southwest, Nigeria

As many African countries takes steps into becoming self-sufficient economically viable entities, the Nigerian governments have taken steps to ensure attractive, investor-friendly policies which to a large extent has yielded Foreign Direct Investment thus, revenue for the country. As unemployment looms large in Nigeria, it is not surprising that employers of labour have brought a new twist to employment in the name of casualization of labour. Evidences have showed that casual workers perform many of the same technical and professional duties as regulars, but are not receiving the welfare benefits expected of them. The paper examined the category and remuneration of casual workers in manufacturing industries vis-à-vis the Nigerian Labour Laws. The Police theory of welfare was adopted to explain issues raised in the study. The research was descriptive in nature. It adopted survey and qualitative research designs. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Questionnaire and In-depth interviews were used to gather relevant data. While SPSS 20.0 was used to analyze the former, Nvivo 8 software was used to analyze the latter. 225 questionnaires were completely filled by casual workers from three foreign-owned manufacturing industries, thus valid for data analysis. The study revealed that aside the mode of recruiting casual and permanent staffs is similar, casual workers remuneration was against the Nigerian Labour law. This outright disobedience prevailed mostly in Indian and Chinese owned industries, as British employers have better remuneration for casual workers. The study concludes that workers dignity has come under heavy attack by foreign industrialists even at the face of the local and international norms. The study recommends that all foreign employers must regularize the status of casual worker within an agreed time frame or as spelled out by the Nigerian Labour Act. Casual workers are to acquire more education as it might determine the remuneration that would accrue to them. Lastly, government and other policy makers should ensure that labour laws are carefully implemented and evaluated to protect, casual workers from the exploitation of foreign employers. Keywords: Casual Workers, Foreign employers, Law, Manufacturing industries, Remuneration

Development of Customers Satisfaction Model in Banking Sector Using Fuzzy Cognitive Map

Customer satisfaction is one of the key factors in modern marketing and customer’s behavior analysis. Banking industry is one of the numerous services in which the customer satisfaction has had an ever increasing importance in the corresponding research areas. The problem here is the complexity of dealing with customer satisfaction due to super abundant factors engaged in it. In this paper the applications of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM’s), as a decision making tool, in banking industry, a very vital part of a country’s economy, has been discussed. The paper focuses on the development of customers' satisfaction model in banking sector using fuzzy cognitive map. A questionnaire assessing customer’s opinions to give a clear perception of factors affecting customer satisfaction in banks was designed based on Complaint handling, Service quality, Service feature, Competiveness and Convenience, which are the five major factors considered. The questionnaire was administered to bank managers, other bank staff and the customers within selected banks (First bank, Polaris bank and Wema bank) in Ogbomosho environ, Oyo state South-West Nigeria. The opinions from the administered questionnaires were quantitatively analysed using descriptive statistic in Statistical Package of Social Sciences. The analysis on five factors considered which are: Complaint handling, Service quality, Service feature, Competiveness and Convenience and defining the relationship between the factors were then used to develop the FCM model with the use of mental modeler software. The nodes of the FCM model represent the main factors affecting customer satisfaction in banking sector and running of ‘what if’ scenario to determine how the model might react under possible change. The simulated results show that Service quality and Complain handling has a degree of effect on Customer satisfaction while other factors has no effect on customer satisfaction which could be positive and negative impact on customer satisfaction in banking sector. This implies that Service quality and Complain handling are important factors in predicting the customer satisfaction in banking sector. Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM), Model, Banks and Decision. DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/10-4-06 Publication date:September 30th 202

Les forfaits de services verts, une ouverture aux pratiques climatointelligentes

En matière d'agriculture intelligence face au climat (AIC), l'expérience nous a appris une chose : les services verts, lorsqu'ils sont fournis de manière isolée, sont inefficaces et produisent des résultats très décevants. En revanche, quand ils sont reg

Human Capital Investment, Consumption and Growth Nexus in Nigeria: Long-Run Path

Human capital investment has been seen as an impetus to sustainable economic growth and this has necessitated the increase in government spending by major economies including Nigeria in order to achieve a steady long-run growth path. On this basis, the effect of human capital investment on economic growth in Nigeria between a decade after independence 1970 and 2009 is examined based on the endogenous growth theory framework. Following the underlying assumptions of the endogenous growth model, real output is regressed on private capital investment, government human capital investment, human capital consumption, and openness to trade. The time series of the variables were examined using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test and all of the series were found non-stationary at levels excluding population growth of economic active. Engle-Granger co-integration test result revealed that there is long-run growth path between human capital investment and economic growth in Nigeria. However, the result of the co integrating regression indicated that capital investment from the private and public sector, and human capital consumption tends to be important factors that enhance real economic growth in Nigeria, while, growth of economic active population and economic openness exert negative influence on economic growth in Nigeria. Keywords: Human Resource Investment, Human Capital Consumption, Private Capital investment, Government spending, Economic Growth

Bundled green services drive farmer adoption of climate-smart agriculture

Experience with climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives increasingly shows that delivering green services in isolation is an ineffective approach that produces disappointing outcomes. The provision of ‘bundled' products which are suited to farmers' r

Mapping of Traffic-Related Air Pollution Using GIS Techniques in Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria

Spatial and temporal characteristics of traffic related air pollutants (CO, NO, NO2 and SO2) in Ijebu-ode, Nigeria were determined using replicate portable gas detectors (Land Duo Multi Gas Monitor) at selected road junctions, motor garages and markets. Mapping of different concentration of air pollutants was carried out using kriging type of interpolation method in GIS environment. Concentration of CO ranges from 4.8 ppm at Erinlu/Molipa Roundabout to 137ppm on Sagamu/Ore Expressway. Concentrations of NO2  range from 100-662 ppb with overall average value (OAV) of 299.8 ppb, while concentration of nitrogen oxide (NO) ranges between 67-302 ppb and OAV of 166.23 ppb. SO2 had concentration ranging between 38-245 ppb and an OAV of 139.07 ppb all of which are above standard ambient air quality standards. AQI indicated very unhealthy air quality in most areas which calls for the need to establish and strengthen the health-based standard for air pollutants

Correlation between dry density and shrinkage in eight tropical hardwood species

Eight tropical hardwood species were assessed for their density and radial, tangential and volumetric shrinkage, after which the relation between the density and different shrinkages was checked through correlation and regression. The results showed that the highest mean density was observed in Milicia excelsa with 900.63±50.13 kg/m³, followed by Afzelia africana, Nesogordonia kabingaensis and Nauclea diderichii with 831.25±41.67 kg/m³, 808.75±20.88 kg/m³ and 801.88±46.40 kg/m³, respectively. The mean density for Cassia simea was 781.88±27.71 kg/m³, Mansonia altissima 593.13±65.98 kg/m³, and Sterculia tragacantha 481.25±111.73 kg/m³, while the least density was observed in Treculia africana with 463.75±67.88 kg/m³. The highest volumetric shrinkage was observed in Nesogordonia kabingaensis with 14.71±2.28%, and the least in Cassia simea with 5.11±2.65%. It is concluded that there exists positive but weak correlation between density and the shrinkages in the eight tropical hardwood species

Associer les jeunes aux processus politiques en faveur de l’agriculture et l’agrobusiness

Ce document insiste sur le fait que les décideurs politiques des pays ACP doivent impliquer les jeunes pour que l’environnement politique tienne compte de leurs intérêts et les attire vers le secteur agroalimentaire. La jeunesse pourra ainsi insuffler au secteur son dynamisme, assurer sa croissance et stimuler sa transformation. Les mesures et interventions pour atteindre cet objectif comprennent : la mise en place de plateformes et mécanismes associant les jeunes à l’élaboration des politiques et facilitant leur accès à l’emploi ; l’élargissement aux zones rurales des processus de consultation et leur amélioration ; l’examen des politiques existantes avec les jeunes ; la promotion de la participation des jeunes femmes aux organisations et institutions rurales ; et le renforcement des capacités des organisations de jeunes afin que ceux-ci puissent faire entendre leur voix

Un indice pour l'accès des femmes à l'agrobusiness

Ce document, qui a été rédigé par Oluwaseun Adedeji, Michael Sudarkasa, Dorienne Rowan-Campbell et Aurélie Reynier, explique pourquoi nous avons besoin d’un indice pour mesurer et évaluer l’accès des femmes aux services, aux marchés, aux politiques et à d’autres éléments qui entravent encore leur capacité à contribuer aux opportunités dans le secteur de l’agriculture et de l’agrobusiness et à en bénéficier, en particulier dans les pays en développement. Un tel indice permettrait aux décideurs, aux défenseurs de la cause féminine et aux partenaires du développement de mieux cibler leurs efforts afin que les femmes puissent tirer profit de l’agriculture