Ethnicity and national integration in Nigeria: A study of Nigerian students in neutral setting

Ethnicity is a divisive force in Nigeria’s socio-political development. It tends to distort and strain relations between individuals and groups in the country. It has resulted in the emergence of an ethnic psyche which promotes ethnic consciousness and separatism instead of national identity and ethos. The root of ethnicity is arguably linked to the country’s colonial history, the colonial masters employed ethnic cleavages as a means of divide and rule thus strengthening their dominance of Nigerians at the expense of nation-building. The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of Nigerian students of the country’s socio-political problems associated with ethnicity and their interactive relationships in a neutral setting as a way of understanding Nigeria’s ethnic problematic from their perspective. In the course of the study data was collected principally through observations and in-depth interview with forty students of different ethnic origin from the country’s six geopolitical zones. The data was analysed within the qualitative frame of analysis. The study found out that religion, prejudice, and poverty are critical variables that have been used as a tool by the political status quo to nurture mistrust among Nigerians. The study also unravelled the role of positive interpersonal relations in fostering unity of purpose and reducing ethno-religious discriminations and tensions among Nigerian students. Educational pursuit is seen as an integrative mechanism that helps bind Nigerian students and facilitate attitudinal changes by imbibing new values that promote brotherhood in a foreign land. The study recommends sensitisation and reorientation in order to promote tolerance and understanding among Nigerians. As well as alleviating poverty through employment creation as a basis of fairness and social justice. In essence, good governance practices that promote transparency and accountability will also help in dousing intergroup conflicts

Somali Parents\u27 Involvement in the Education of Their Children in American Middle Schools: a Case Study in Portland, Maine

Across the nation, language minority students comprise one of the largest minority groups in U.S. public schools. The increase of linguistically diverse students, especially Somalis, brings unique challenges to Portland, Maine public schools. Different subgroups have their unique characteristics, yet the U.S. education system treats immigrants and English Language Learners (ELL) as somewhat the same (Barrera, 2006; Hosp & Reschly, 2004). Although there are many reasons for the underachievement of minority students in public schools, one way to mitigate low performance of students is engaging parents by creating mutual relationships between parents and schools and involving all families in the education of children of all ages (Christen & Sheridan, 2001; Crespo-Jimenez, 2010; Cutler, 2000). This case study examines the views of one subgroup, Somalis, on education and schooling as well as their involvement in their children’s middle schools. The study employed a mixed method design using interviews and surveys. The data were analyzed and findings were presented and discussed using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a framework. The findings of the study corroborate research on language minority subgroups who are not aware the expectation of educators and whose understanding of parental involvement is different from what it means to U.S. educators (Crespo-Jimenez, 2010). Somali parents in the study value education and consider themselves involved in their children’s education and schools; however, their notion of involvement is primarily to provide the resources and supports for their children’s learning. They view the role of teachers, when it comes to schooling, as that of parent—such that parents should not be called to provide discipline or motivation for students. The study indicates parents are willing to collaborate with schools and teachers and to become involved more in their children’s school. Since these parents expressed that they do not understand how teachers and schools want them to participate, and at times, they feel rejected and unwanted in the schools of their children, it behooves educators to explain more directly their expectations and to offer more explicit directions about how Somali parents can be involved

Inflation expectations formation and financial stability in Indonesia

This paper examines the role of expectations in explaining the dynamics of inflation, interest rates and other key financial variables in Indonesia using VAR and error correction analyses. It is found that deposit interest rates, exchange rates and oil prices have significant impact on the expectations formation. We also found that administered prices are important, but their role decreases with time, while exogenous shocks remain a major source of movements in the expectations. The latter has long lasting effects and still accounts for more than 10 per cent of the variability of inflation expectations after the period of one year. This evidence shows the importance of inflation expectations formation, particularly on domestic financial stability.Inflation expectations; Formation; Financial Stability; Indonesia

Comparative Analysis of Forecasting Performance : Crude Palm Oil Futures (CPO) Prices vs Expert Opinions

The main economic functions of the futures market are to provide price discovery and risk management facilities. It is well known that the futures market can function well only when the futures prices provide accurate price forecast to subsequent cash prices. The greater the degree of price forecast accuracy, the greater the effectiveness of the futures market in terms of performing its economic functions. If the market is not efficient, effective transmission of information from one market to another will be impaired, thus the value of the futures market in price discovery and hedging. The creation of the crude palm oil (CPO) futures market in Malaysia was to fulfil the need for an efficient pricing and hedging mechanism for Malaysia's palm oil. Therefore, the extent to which CPO futures market has served as an efficient center of price discovery and risk management, has been the focus of considerable research. In general, debate has centered around the extent of which futures market provide price leadership to cash market and the ability of futures market to predict subsequent spot debate has centered around the extent of which futures market provide price leadership to cash market and the ability of futures market to predict subsequent spot price in accurate way. Empirical evidence has shown that CPO futures prices performed relatively better compared to other forecasting models. However, no comparison is made in forecast accuracy of CPO futures with expert opinion. This approach is unique in the sense that it examines the relative efficiency of ex ante forecasts rather then ex post. The objectives of this study are: firstly, to evaluate the forecast accuracy of the CPO futures market relative to expert prediction. Secondly, to test the relationship between the futures, forward and cash prices, to examine whether these price series have the same properties and relationship in the long-run. AGS and the Johansen's cointegrations techniques were used to analyze the forecast accuracy and log-run relationship over, 1st, tld, 3rd and 4th month spreads offutures and forward prices. The analyzed sample data consists of the daily end-of-month trading prices of the futures, cash, and forward prices for the period from January 1 989 to December 1 999. The findings of this study suggested that the forward forecast accuracy price was superior to the futures. It implies that the forward prices which represent expert prediction of cash price, contain more information for price discovery than CPO futures prices in the one month and two months horizons. This finding indicated that the CPO of futures market is relatively less efficient. Hence, the use of futures prices for short-term price forecasting may be more biased than relying on expert forecasts

CT Pulmonary Angiogram with Reduced Radiation Exposure at Low Tube Kilovoltage

This study's primary goal is to assess the image quality and radiation dose of the low-dose 80kV computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) protocol compared to the standard 100kV CTPA protocol for the assessment of pulmonary embolism (PE). The study consisted of 100 patients who had clinically suspected pulmonary embolism and required a CTPA. Patients underwent imaging with a 320-row multi-detector Toshiba Aquilion One Genesis Edition in the absence of the proprietary radiation reduction software known as forward projected model-based Iterative Reconstruction Solution (commercial acronym 'FIRST'). Participants were divided into two groups: A and B.  Group A was composed of 50 patients who were allocated to standard CT protocol using a 100 kV exposure setting and all other settings set as a standard by the manufacturer.  Group B was composed of 50 patients who were allocated to a CTPA with a low-dose 80kV protocol, standard deviation level 8, an effective mAs of 258, reconstruction algorithm-kernel FC 51 within the lung window, and tube current modulation. A considerable decrease in radiation dose was observed with the low-dose CTPA protocol. The mean radiation dose was also decreased by 66% while using the 80kV protocol than when utilising a standard 100kV technique; this was achieved without compromising this study's diagnostic value. Furthermore, the contrast enhancement was considerably more significant, up to 40% higher when using 80kV. The study found that a low tube voltage of 80kV CTPA protocol resulted in a considerable decrease in radiation dose and improved contrast enhancement without sacrificing the examinations' diagnostic utility

Silver (I) complexes of methylene bridged quinoline functionalised Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands

This paper describes the synthesis of Silver (I) complexes of methylene bridged quinoline functionalized Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands, by stirring imidazolium salts with silver oxide to obtain the complexes in good yield. The complexes were structurally characterized by 1H NMR, 13 NMR, microanalysis and X-ray crystallography. The geometry of the complexes as revealed by the crystal structure showed that the complexes have linear structures. All reactions involving silver were conducted under the exclusion of light. Keywords: NHC, Imidazolium salt, ligand, silve

Level of Preparedness of Nigeria on Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 13

This study examines Nigeria's level of preparedness in achieving SDG 13 on climate action before the 2030 deadline. The study adopted a qualitative approach using a case study of twoinstitutions responsible for the implementation of SDG 13 in Nigeria. Two national policies  were appraised; these include National Policy on the Environment (NPE) of 2016 and the National Climate Change Policy Response and Strategy (NCCPRS), 2012. The study used the baseline finding and the interview conducted with the institutions to determine Nigeria's Government level of preparedness in achieving SDG 13 on Climate action. The findings showed that Nigeria has the right set of policies to enable the achievement of the SDG 13 and its targets since the 2016 revised NPE and the 2012 NCCPRS have captured all the targets of SDG 13. Hence, it is possible to meet the targets before the deadline of 2030. However, the findings also revealed, despite having the right policies, the two main institutions responsible for the goal implementation are not well-prepared due to lack of structures at the local government level and insufficient funding as well as inadequate personnel. The study recommends that the government should ensure the provision of adequate funding and the establishment of structures at the Local government level to enable them to implement the policies.  Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Change, Climate Action, Environmental Policies, Nigeria