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Social workers, especially in the Global North/developed countries such as the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have been actively involved in implementing social programs to improve the psychosocial, health, and wellbeing of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is not the case in the Global South/developing countries like Nigeria, Ghana, etc. This concept paper aims to describe the current state of Nigerian social workers' role in developing and implementing social programs for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify action plans for further strengthening their involvement. We systematically reviewed the literature to identify Nigerian social workers' role in developing and implementing social programs for older adults during COVID-19. Our review reflected that social workers are rarely involved in developing and implementing social programs; when involved, their involvement is on a consultation basis, which limits their active involvement in multidisciplinary team of COVID-19 prevention and vaccination ad hoc committees in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the first meta-analysis of yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) production studies in Nigeria, with a special emphasis on technical efficiency. The focus was on published studies in journal papers and conferences. For the meta-analysis of production function, a total of 40 studies were included for ware yam and 3 for seed yam, for technical efficiency a total of 23 ware yam and 3 seed yam studies were included and for the farm budget meta-analysis, a total of 22 ware yam and 6 seed yam studies were included. The "peak" years of publication of the ware yam studies were from 2012 to 2014. The bulk of the studies took place in the major yam-growing states, such as Ekiti, Benue, and Kogi. Technical efficiency of yam production varied between and within each of the studies, with an average technical efficiency across studies of between 0.6 and 0.8. The studies highlight the importance of knowledge; it is not just about the quantity of inputs applied but how they are used that matters. The paper notes that meta-analyses of studies designed to explore the factors influencing production of agricultural crops in Nigeria are relatively sparse in number, yet given the importance of agriculture in the country, both for the livelihoods of millions of people, and export, then more such analyses are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, development projects faced severe problems because of various forms of corruption issues in the construction industry. Studies showed that anti-corruption agencies help to mitigate corrupt practices. However, there is a scarcity of studies regarding agencies' role on construction projects. Therefore, this paper investigated the moderating effect of the role of anti-corruption agencies as the moderating effect on the relationship between construction corruption forms and public projects delivery in Nigeria. SmartPLS was employed to analyse the collated data from the 450 respondents across Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. Findings show that anti-corruption agencies role would enhance cost value, better performance, and quality of public projects delivery in Nigeria. This paper recommends a further empirical study to test and validate the developed framework across the country. As part of the practical implications, this paper suggests that the government should encourage non-interference in the constitutional duties of anti-corruption agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes data from 1999–2019, evidencing strategies utilized by Nigerian Subnational Governments (SNGs) for attracting inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). These strategies are unique for several reasons, including the fact that they highlight the evidence of paradiplomacy in Nigeria, a case study that is understudied in the paradiplomacy literature. These strategies are also a deviation from the conventional protocols for FDI mobilization in Nigeria. Drawing on Duchacek's conceptualization of these strategies as a percolation of sovereign boundaries, i.e. the idea that SNGs are permeating inter-sovereign 'sieves' designed to restrict their forays into the international plane, this paper conceptually maps and empirically assesses the varied expressions and prevalence of these strategies. Although these strategies are yet to be constitutionally challenged by the central government, they reveal a growing porosity of Nigeria's sovereign boundaries and necessitate a critical reassessment of the extant intergovernmental frameworks that govern FDI mobilization in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the neglected subject of the beginnings of civil aviation in Nigeria in the aftermath of World War I. Until now, the literature on civil aviation in British colonial Africa had focused largely on Kenya, Central and South Africa and on post-World War II West Africa. This paper, relying on previously unexploited archival material, examines policy debates and options considered by the Colonial Office, the Air Ministry and the Nigerian colonial government. The unique, pioneering aviation drive of Nigeria's Governor Hugh Clifford took place in the context of immediate post-World War I dynamics: economic vicissitudes, Anglo-French rivalry in West Africa and the policy interface between London and the colonies. This paper demonstrates that aviation development in Nigeria had roots in the early 1920s, and that the initiative was not a metropolitan monopoly, thereby illustrating the extent of colonial gubernatorial autonomy vis-à-vis London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the cultural imperatives to determining democratic survival in Nigeria. It observes that the general notion that cultural inequality may systematically obstruct democratic participation by the members of subordinated groups is trite. It argues rather that the current crisis faced by democracy is linked essentially to the lack of a space capable of dealing with both social complexity and cultural pluralism. The paper is a desk study borrowing heavily from secondary sources of data and review of extant literature. While not pretending about the potential for ethno-cultural and religious violence imminent in Nigeria's attempt at democratic consolidation, findings, however suggest that in a multicultural society like Nigeria, democracy has the potential to flourish if the different cultural groups understand and tolerate one another by enlarging the space for public participation and debates naturally encapsulated in the principle of popular rule. It recommends that a practical engagement with federal democracy, rooted in the principle of federalism, remains an attractive model for the survival of Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the lived experiences and roles of children under Boko Haram's two factions. Unlike case studies of Islamic State "cubs," children in Boko Haram have been neglected in the literature. Filling that gap, this article analyzes more than thirty videos and photograph sets from the two factions. Visual ethnography is utilized to examine material depicting children in both "staged" and "unstaged" roles in Boko Haram, and in ways to maximize impacts on viewers. The four main activities of the children in videos and photographs include combat and training with weapons as well as participating in Islamic education; gathering for prayer; using technology to create media content, including filming battles; and, in the case of the Chibok schoolgirls, being filmed as hostages or, eventually, as loyal members. The videos of the Chibok girls also reveal how children are gendered in Boko Haram. Child soldiers is an issue at the forefront of the paper's framing. Given the depictions of children in our data, we move beyond labeling child soldiers as all those under eighteen and differentiate between those under fifteen and those between fifteen and eighteen years old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the post-9/11 event has animated how state actors frame terrorism, contemporary studies have failed to address the politics inherent in proscribing, repressing, and labeling separatist movements as terrorists. This paper explores the politics of framing terrorism using the contemporary self-determination struggles advanced by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Yoruba Nation's freedom frontiers. The study proposes a United Nations-coordinated global framework for regulating and evaluating states' activities in identifying specific groups as terrorists. Taking such a stance would prevent aggrieved agitators from being persecuted by the state in the name of terror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novelty claims in carbon forestry often obscure the complex histories and the colonial entanglements of carbon forest socioecologies. This paper argues that the conditions of possibility of carbon forestry in ‘Nigeria’s last rainforest’ are tightly linked to the uneven colonial production of forests across Southern Nigeria. Drawing on archival research, ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of program documents and academic literature, the paper unsettles claims of novelty in Nigeria’s carbon forestry by demonstrating the material continuity between colonial forestry and carbon forestry. Focusing on the development of colonial forestry in Southern Nigeria under British colonial rule, the paper traces the coloniality of scientific forestry as a form of environmental rule, and its entanglements with imperial capitalism and presumptions of racial hierarchy. If the success of scientific forestry in Southern Nigeria meant the draining of Nigeria’s forests as timber export, its failure in Cross River paradoxically produced ‘Nigeria’s last rainforest,’ a literal ‘colonial residue’ . In colonial forestry, as in contemporary carbon forestry, a reductionist knowledge of forests, capitalist interests and a racialized global division of labor all interact in consequential ways. The paper concludes that decolonizing Nigeria’s forestry is a precondition for saving its ‘last rainforest.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of multinational oil companies (MOCs) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on enhancing rural women's financial inclusion in the areas of access to credit, insurance, propensity of women to save and the widening of economic opportunities in the Niger Delta. A total of 800 rural women were sampled across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model has made significant impact on closing the gaps in financial services, thereby removing women's constraints on their efforts to enhance their financial literacy. The results also confirm that innovative delivery channels and social networks of the GMoUs have reduced some costs in the areas of access to credit, insurance, propensity to save and the widening of economic opportunities of rural women in the oil host communities. However, a further look at the rural women's participation in the CSR activities using SCOTDI shows that even though the involvement of the women is appreciable, it is insignificant when compared with their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to highlight the role that perceived cost, computer self-efficacy and the technology acceptance model (TAM) constructs have in e-training adoption in the Nigerian civil service. With the use of the SmartPLS 2.0 M3 software, a framework that included perceived cost, computer self-efficacy and TAM constructs (perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU)) was tested on 450 heads of departments. Scales on perceived cost, computer self-efficacy, PU and PEOU developed by previous studies were modified accordingly and used. This paper found perceived cost to have a significant effect on e-training adoption. Computer self-efficacy was statistically insignificant through PEOU. In addition, PEOU had an indirect effect through PU. Therefore, only PU of the TAM constructs indicated strong predictive strength in e-training adoption. This paper showed that with e-training adoption, facilities such as computers can be put in place, which can improve the outlook of the civil service. In addition, the cost that is usually associated with traditional training can be reduced, increasing the opportunity to invest in other aspects of the civil service which can help in adding to the overall performance. Relationships were examined in this paper, which were shown to be favourable to e-training adoption in the Nigerian civil service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Do intergovernmental transfers affect the multidimensional well-being of households? This paper investigates the relationship between intergovernmental transfers and household multidimensional well-being, using the revenue allocation by the federal government to sub-national or state governments in Nigeria. We follow Alkire & Foster to compute a multidimensional poverty index (MPI), which is the weighted sum of three broad dimensions of poverty – health, education, and living standards. We adopt an instrumental variable (IV) approach by using exogenous variation in oil windfalls as an instrument to mitigate the endogeneity concerns associated with using intergovernmental transfers in our analysis. We find that an increase in intergovernmental transfers leads to an improvement in household multidimensional well-being or a decline in the multidimensional poverty index. We identify recurrent and capital expenditures as some of the potential channels through which intergovernmental transfers affect the multidimensional well-being of households in Nigeria. The findings of this paper reinforce the growing evidence of the developmental impacts of intergovernmental transfers, especially in the context of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools in migrant-sending contexts often educate many children whose parents live abroad and decide to 'leave' or 'send' their children to be raised 'back home'. Yet there has been little attention to how transnational child-raising is enacted by non-kin actors within educational institutions. This paper addresses this absence, exploring Lagos private schools as crucial sites of care for children with parents in the diaspora. Examining educators' perspectives on schooling children 'sent back' to Nigeria from the UK and USA, the paper argues that they undertake intensive and strategic projects of transnational child-raising. They act as defacto guardians and position their educational offerings as highly moral in ways that draw on endogenous notions of 'training' good character, but are not driven by reproducing tradition. Rather, they play intermediary roles in transnational families: they aim to realise parents' desires for respectful, disciplined children who excel academically, yet are also attuned to young people's struggles. They are conscious of diaspora realities and understand their schools' roles as portals facing both ways in the transnational social field, preparing young people for multiple possible futures. The paper demonstrates that exploring education as a site of social reproduction can be richly revealing of the dynamics of transnationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the various labels ascribed to males in the heterosexual discourse among female undergraduates in Nigeria. Insights from Community of Practice and Sexual Script Theory were used to demonstrate the use of situated linguistic choices to establish the differentials in male sexual behaviours. Data for the study were generated through participant observation and unstructured interviews with the aid of audiotape recordings and field notes. The study involves a representative sample of 22 female undergraduates who served as participants and research assistants. The findings reveal that situated language practices stimulate heterosexual discourses where female undergraduates creatively ascribe labels to the different males' sexual scripts. The labels include those related to male sexual performance, body size and size of sex organs, financial and marital status, familial and gatekeeping roles, and other routine sexual behaviours shown by men in sexual phases such as advances, arousal and intercourse. The scripts are also combined to re-enact the peculiar sexual narratives by the female students that show emerging sexual orientations. It is believed that the categorisation of such males' sexual behaviours in the University social contexts, would provide a basis for comparison with the sexual practices of other young adults' social groups across the globe. The paper discusses the various strands of sexual scripts shown by men in their heterosexual relationships with female undergraduates in a Nigerian University. The students ascribed labels based on the sexual performance, economic and marital status, and other routine behaviours that have an impact on the male sexual lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastic research in Nigeria is progressing slowly. Within 2019–2020, only10research papers have been published on microplastic in Nigeria. Microplastics have been detected in lagoons and rivers water systems. This paper reviews the progress in microplastics research in Nigeria, providing information analytical methods and also giving consideration for quality control and assurance (QA/QC) measures. This paper further discusses the distribution of microplastics in surface water, sediment and marine organisms as well as recent progress in risk assessments.Finally, this paper provides suggestions for future studies to provide baseline information for better research and risk assessment of microplastics in the Nigerian environment such as focusing on air, drinking water, plants and other consumables.These will surely help us to understand the distribution and how much exposure inhabitants are to microplastic pollution and may necessitate the need to mitigate plastic pollution in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that emitted electromagnetic field from telecommunication tower is possibly a threat to residents' health within the mast location. However, Nigerian residents' perception to live in mast location is yet to be researched in detail. This study examined the factors that influence residents' perception and willingness to live in telecommunication mast locations and proffer possible solutions to mitigate residents' concerns regarding likely health hazards. This was achieved consecutively. First, the developed questionnaire survey was conducted with 420 respondents, drawn from the six south-south states in Nigeria. This includes residents, academicians, environmentalists, government agencies, and medical experts. Second, results from the quantitative phase were further analyzed via face-to-face interviews in conjunction with observation in selected 40 mast stations across the research area. Factors that influence resident's willingness to live near the telecommunication masts were identified and grouped into three (physical, health, and environmental factors). As part of the study's implications, findings from this paper will enhance policymakers and other stakeholders in decision-making concerning resident's perception to live in mast locations. The government should set up a regulatory agency for non-ionizing radiation protection with a mandate, among others were proffered to mitigate possible health threats and concerns of the residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide an alternative reading to one of the most fundamental claims of the exhibitionary complex, which argues that museums are symbols of power, greatness, wealth, and progress. On the contrary, we adopt Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's (1996) concept of social constructionism and Star & Griesemer's concept of the border object and infrastructure to deconstruct the possibility of the fixity of meaning in Bennett's argument about the exhibitionary complex. We therefore argue that the many museums in Africa are slightly different. Rather than being a symbol of the people's power, wealth, and greatness, they reflect powerlessness and pain, which characterise their history. With histories such as the Transatlantic slave trade and British imperialism, which lasted through the 17th and 19th centuries, we discuss the Badagry Black Heritage Museum as a site not exclusively about power and greatness. The paper concludes that the defining characteristic of museums is their diversity, which offers multiple perspectives on their functionality, significance, and theoretical underpinnings. While Bennett's idea is laudable, there is a need to open up the concept of accommodating the specific features of museums across the world and develop new concepts or ideologies that reflect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does a legal reform with patriarchal interpretations of the religious law codes affect the wellbeing of the children? In this study, we show that reforming the legal system by adopting a religious law, with high enforcement in some Nigerian states, affects a woman's bargaining power and utility outside marriage, which could adversely affect a child's wellbeing. We find empirical support for this framework by using a difference-in-differences design that exploits variation in the women's religion, the state of residence, and the period of reform enforcement in Nigeria. The findings of this paper reveal that women exposed to the reforms are likely to report poor health investment and poor health outcomes in their children. The potential pathways through which the reform affects child wellbeing include early marriage entry and a decline in a woman's intra-household bargaining power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rapidly growing cities of the Global South, and Africa in particular, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is increasingly recognized as a survival strategy both by researchers and international development organizations. While UPA is well researched, direct links to economic crisis and class variations in participation have only received limited attention in the Nigerian context. This study focuses on Benin City, the second largest city in Nigeria's southern oil producing region, where repeated and unpredictable fluctuations in oil prices have significant implications for livelihoods. The paper discusses the results of field-based data collected using qualitative research methods (observation, in-depth interviews and questionnaire surveys) in Benin City, Southern Nigeria, where there is a dearth of published material on the practice of UPA. The paper reveals that in the context of unpredictable and frequent exposures to economic shocks, households at all socio-economic levels depend significantly on food production activities, not only for their immediate survival, but as a means of reducing household vulnerability and building resilience against future shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predatory publishing is an emerging but worrisome trend among academics, including librarians, in Nigeria. It is in line with this that the paper investigated the awareness and knowledge of predatory journals among academic librarians in five selected Nigerian universities. The study is a survey design that is based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The population of the study comprised 50 academic staff that were purposively selected for the questionnaire distribution. In addition, five principal librarians, one from each of the universities, were purposively selected for the interview session. The findings of the study revealed that academic librarians are aware of the existence of predatory journals and are also aware of the negative implications of publishing in predatory journals. The study recommended an effective mentoring programme for academic librarians on how to publish their research works in accredited journals. The study contributes to knowledge by providing fresh data for policy-makers, library management and university management on ways to eradicate publishing in predatory journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrupt acts are possibly on the increase and have hindered infrastructural development across Nigeria. This paper attempts to investigate the impact of the All Progressive Congress (ruling party) led government in the fight against corruption with emphasis on the construction sector and proffer possible policy to mitigate via unexplored dimension. Hence, phenomenology type of qualitative research was adopted to address the issues from the underlying. A connecting framework was developed from the identified root causes of the forms of corrupt acts, for better understanding as it relates to mitigating corruption in the Nigerian construction sector. From the findings, there is a need to develop a control system to evaluate corruption performance of public construction project and publish the report annually or quarterly among others is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the influence of subcontracting on innovation and its impact on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Onitsha, Nigeria. The paper adopted a number of methods comprising of field observations, reference to relevant literature, and a questionnaire survey of 113 SMEs. Regression, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data. In line with the literature, this paper identified seven (7) dimensions of subcontracting assistance from large scale industries to small business firms. The paper found that subcontracting relationship between large scale industries and SMEs is inclined to production and product-related cooperation where the contractors are concerned with meeting fluctuation in demand and shortening long delivery times. This paper concluded by suggesting that subcontracting relationship between SMEs and large scale industries should not be restricted to production, purchase, finance and marketing assistance. It should also be extended to human resource development and organisational-know-how. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on qualitative approach comprising interviews and relevant archival materials to examine how oil theft in Nigeria's Niger Delta has degraded the environment with dire consequences on environmental and socio-economic sustainability as well as human security. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the unexplored dimensions of the linkage between oil theft, environmental degradation and human insecurity in the face of apparent state nonchalance and weakness. Specifically, the primary data were generated from the interview of twenty-six key informants, who were purposively selected as well as four focus group discussions (FGDs). The complementary secondary data were extracted from journals, books, government documents and web-based materials. The paper finds that the operations of oil thieves and artisanal refiners have worsened environmental challenges and aggravated human insecurity in the region. The implications include among others, the emasculation of the local economy due to the destruction of traditional means of livelihoods, deepening impoverishment, and heightened prospects of restiveness with negative impacts on Nigerian economy. This paper recommends strengthening the surveillance and response capacity of relevant state institutions, legitimising artisanal refining, and developing sustainable welfare packages to cushion socio-economic deprivations being suffered by oil-bearing communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging economies are experiencing dramatic rises in internet penetration, along with an expansion of cyber-dependent critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, in many countries and regions, critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) efforts remain at a relatively nascent stage. Early and widespread approaches to critical information infrastructure protection are informed by higher income, early digitising nations, which may not reflect the priorities, needs, or challenges faced by late-digitising emerging economies. This paper analyses CIIP efforts and processes in Nigeria and Egypt, considering the degree to which the standards and approaches to CIIP adopted by early digitising countries apply to each county's experience. Evidence from both countries suggests that emerging economies will not follow the same trajectory or benefit from the same lessons learned in CIIP as early digitising regions of the world. Both countries face a different mix of CII and CII-vulnerabilities, a greater emphasis on internal cyberthreats, and significant resource and capacity constraints in comparison to early digitising nations. This suggests that 'leap-frogging' may not always be possible, and innovative, context-specific CIIP policies and strategies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deadly Coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the world, with dire consequences in virtually all sectors, and across all categories of people. However, vulnerable groups such as the homeless are likely to suffer more devastating effects. Owing to the impracticability of recommended preventive measures among the homeless, they are susceptible to get infected, and possibly die of the virus. The objective of this paper is to examine the vulnerability of the homeless to coronavirus infection and how the circumstances surrounding homelessness could exacerbate the plight of this category of people. The paper relies on secondary data and adopts critical analysis in examining the plight of the homeless regarding the pandemic. It concludes that thousands of the homeless could get infected with Covid-19, and possibly die as a result of the pandemic owing to their vulnerability, occasioned by the condition of homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper principally explores the determinants of successful information technology entrepreneurship in Nigeria's IT sector. It further examines the moderating effect of mentorship (either by an IT practitioner or a non-IT practitioner) in the correlation between the independent variables of interest and dependent variable. Literature from the developed markets underscores a positive relationship between training and successful entrepreneurship. However, such relationship is seldom explored within the context of developing markets such as Nigeria. Thus, this paper explores the impact of specific factors such as IT-focused entrepreneurial training, being born by entrepreneur parents, business school training, faith in a supernatural and mentorship on IT entrepreneurial success A quantitative research design involving a web-based survey was used to collect data among 297 participants. All collected data were screened and analyzed using binary logistic regression and Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results showed that IT entrepreneurs who are born by entrepreneur parents are more likely to succeed than those without such family backgrounds. Also, the attendance of a business school is a significant predictive factor for IT entrepreneurial success in Nigeria. Surprisingly, no significant correlation exists between formal education in the IT field and IT entrepreneurial success. Further, no significant moderating effect of mentorship was present. This implies that IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria need to harness the benefits of entrepreneurial family background and business school education to sustainably grow their businesses and become successful. Also, committed federal government backing is needed to introduce innovative entrepreneurial initiatives to improve competence among IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria. General business/management training is needed besides conventional IT training as the former is a better predictor of success among IT entrepreneurs. Finally, trainings need to focus on building competencies for relationship management to aid access to resources for innovation and growth. Future studies should consider a qualitative approach to investigating the mediating impact of mentorship on IT entrepreneurship success in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor uptake of agricultural innovations on weed management practices is a major factor responsible for low productivity. This paper examines how communication media can help improve farmers' adoption behaviour. A sample of 725 Nigerian cassava farmers, exposed to agricultural innovation on weed management practices from varying sources, were asked, through a structured questionnaire, to indicate their knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cassava weed management. The responses were compared with a sample of 190 cassava farmers who were not exposed to the information (control group). The data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, analysis of variance, and multivariate probit regression. Farmers exposed to the agricultural innovation in weed management practices indicated more positive behaviour (57.7%) towards improved weed management practices than the control group (26.8%). The mean knowledge, attitude, practice, and behaviour of the farmers exposed to the innovation through demonstration was significantly higher than for other sources. On-farm demonstrations as a means of communication will enhance the uptake and effectiveness of agricultural innovation on weed management practices. Findings on the influence of communication media on improved weed control and agronomy are significant, given that there is little well-documented data on how communication media enhances technology and innovation adoption in arable crop farming. This study generates important data that reinforces the imperatives of communication and media choices, and further underpins the debate that technology alone cannot lead to uptake by farmers but needs to be communicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediatization has often been viewed as a western phenomenon with scholars focusing largely on the relationship between the media and politics, especially in the United States and Europe where the concept originated. However, globalization and its attendant impacts have allowed for the intercourse of ideas and disciplines across borders. The concept of mediatization is not an exception in this regard. The rise of television news, increased media influence, and dependence on media logic have arguably become a global trend. Mediatization is a perspective that can be used to understand the roles of the media in society and politics, especially electoral campaigns and their dynamics across the world. This paper attempts a review of mediatization and politics in Nigeria. It examines the nature of political news journalism in the country; the character and structure of media ownership; the influence that the media wields on the Nigerian society among other key features that reflect meditatization of politics in the country. The paper argues that indeed, the Nigerian media reveals different dimensions of the mediatization of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A region-adaptive hierarchical framework for realizing Sustainable Development Goal 7.3 is proposed in this paper, using Nigeria as a case study for strategy adoption and adaptation. In 2013, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rolled out strategic plans to phase out incandescent lamps by 2020, as a critical component essential to realizing the SDG 7 by 2030. However, at the expiration of the 2020 deadline, this ambition has not materialized. Current regulatory indicators for sustainable energy shared by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated poor-to-average performances among member states, which suggests the need to adopt ingenious strategies to increase electricity access and accelerate energy efficiency by 2030. In this paper, we systematically reviewed literatures on past campaigns in ECOWAS member states and inferentially call for a revisit of the campaign to phase out incandescent bulbs as a critical component for achieving energy efficiency. The paper also pinpoints some domain factors that are militating against the realization of SDG 7 in Nigeria. We proposed an all-inclusive top-down hierarchical framework which involve all relevant stakeholders (national, state and local governments, delineated wards in local governments, street representatives and household heads), civil society organizations, and educational institutions, for convergence, efficient collaboration, synergy and achievement of goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines China's engagement with Nigeria in the area of petroleum production and the need for harnessing local initiatives for petroleum refining. This is important because even though Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil it remains an importer of refined petroleum products to meet domestic needs. With the aid of secondary data sourced from journal articles, books and reports of local and international organisations, this paper examines how China–Nigeria relations contribute to meeting the need for refined petroleum in Nigeria and how harnessing local initiatives can improve the situation in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On whether governments should grant state forgiveness to insurgents amid the popularity of amnesty, justice advocates have cautioned that amnesties could be instrumentalised to muddle accountability. This paper demonstrates how domestic peace processes could mimic existing power inequalities, thereby including some groups and excluding others from state forgiveness. By examining the differential treatment of insurgent groups in Nigeria, this paper unpacks how ethnic politics and resource dependence led to amnesties for Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militants, and how the absence of oil and political connections leave Biafra agitators with nothing to exchange for state amnesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of employee voice in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across national contexts remains under-theorised and under-studied. This paper uses Kaufman's integrative model of employee voice, and an exploratory study of 30 interviews with employees in non-unionised SMEs in the United Kingdom, Thailand and Nigeria, to compare the employee experience with voice, and the impact of this experience on voice behaviour at work. Findings show that the interaction between the external institutional context and internal SME context (organisational configuration, governance structure and internal contingencies in the employment relationship) impacts employee voice agency, the perceived levels of voice and, ultimately, employee voice behaviour. The paper contributes to employee voice theory by offering an analysis of voice determinants on voice behaviour specific to non-unionised SMEs from an international comparative employee perspective, presents these in an initial framework and explains how employees experience voice in small workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how displacement has exacerbated poverty among internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria. While there has been significant research on IDPs in Nigeria, studies specifically addressing the relationship between displacement and poverty are scarce. This survey was conducted in five locations: Tse Yandev in Benue State, Durumi Area One in Abuja, Rann in Borno State, Nbyiro in Adamawa State, and Government Lodge in Yobe State. Twenty five informants were purposively selected for the study, and thematic analysis was employed. The findings reveal a high incidence of poverty among IDPs due to their lack of access to basic necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing. It was gathered that people become dislocated when they are internally displaced. This condition has heightened the poverty situation that many in Nigeria find themselves in. It was also established that dislocation never left anyone the same. Rather, it either makes them poorer or simply makes their condition worse. Recommendations are also provided for addressing these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child marriage is a problem that has continued to attract global attention. The media have been identified as critical to the fight against the scourge as it discusses the capacity to raise awareness of the issue as well as trigger action in solving the problem. The report of the alleged abduction of a minor, Ese Oruru by one Yunusa Dahiru for marriage jolted the nation and sparked public outcry for her release. This study explored newspaper framing of the incident. Drawing from qualitative frame analysis, it examined how Punch and Daily Trust newspapers framed the alleged abduction saga. The study found that there was contrastive framing of the incident with Punch newspaper portraying the issue as abduction while Daily Trust newspaper depicted it as elopement. The influence of socio-cultural leanings of these papers on the contrastive framing is discussed. The implication of the divergent framing of the saga on the fight against child marriage is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of social capital on livelihood outcomes of households forcibly displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria. Drawing from in-depth interviews of 21 respondents and a cross-sectional survey of 810 household heads across 12 locations in Northeast Nigeria, the study finds that social capital provides a channel of critical psycho-social support for households. Further, the results of the structural-equation modelling indicate that bridging-linking social capital has a strong positive impact on livelihood outcomes, while the impact of bonding social capital on livelihood outcomes is partially mediated by resilience. The study contributes to recent conversations on the imperative of a triple-nexus strategy by highlighting the unique roles that social capital can play in complementary humanitarian, developmental and peace-building programming, especially in protracted crises and contexts of forced displacement where short-term material and financial interventions may not be adequate. The paper also offers practical and policy recommendations and suggestions for future research on operationalisation of social capital in protracted crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illuminates the interconnections between the Nigerian government's failure to satisfactorily address the ever-rising violence linked to herder-farmer conflicts and the emergence of vigilante security measures at the geo-regional level. It also examines the overall implications of vigilante security measures vis-à-vis security challenges in Nigeria. The paper finds that the predisposition to, and adoption of vigilante security strategies is indicative of the failure of formal security apparatuses to live up to their constitutional mandates. The paper recommends preventive and inclusive policing as well as strict adherence to the tenets of justice in line with the rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current heightened sensitivity around history, colonisation and the aftermath of the socio-political and cultural ethos of the world can create in many people the fear of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation. This fear can affect the ability to imagine and play in certain learning settings, especially in devising performances, socially engaged theatre, and other arts-based explorations. However, what happens when participants choose not to engage due to the abovementioned fears? This paper considers the differing ways in which fear of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation deterred students from learning while teaching in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys flood mapping and modelling in Nigeria in regard to frequency and impact of floods in the last decade. The aim is to understand the frequency and patterns of flooding and approaches to its modelling in relation to current practices globally. The northern part of Nigeria is affected more by flooding than the south, so should be prioritised for flood management. The use of remote sensing data with GIS techniques is the most common approach to flood modelling in Nigeria. Bayesian and machine learning approaches should be used, in preference to process-based models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target 16.9 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the provision of legal identity for all, including birth registration by 2030. Approximately 1 billion people globally do not have basic ID credentials. To close this gap, governments in developing countries, including Nigeria, with the backing of international agencies like the World Bank, have launched digital identity schemes for residents. These schemes typically include smart cards which are required to access public and private services. The speed of implementation of these projects has come at the expense of a thorough consideration of cybersecurity and privacy. This is set against the backdrop of the rising threat of cybersecurity breaches in the world against targets such as national identity databases. This paper seeks to provide an overview of digital identity in Nigeria and use the Oxford Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Report 2019 for Nigeria to illustrate how, although progress has been made in key sectors, the implementation of the Nigeria's digital identity programme has progressed faster than cybersecurity maturity in the country. This increases the risk of cyberattacks and opens both the national identity database and users of the digital identity to security vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes of [maritime] security issues have long focused on threats to the nation-state, thereby promulgating traditional state-centric security policies and practices. The preceding claim is valid for maritime security responses on the African continent, where piracy/armed robbery at sea has been met with robust regional and international interventions, and resulted in two UN resolutions and regional policies. Focusing primarily on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, this paper seeks to highlight the centrality of human security issues to national security by providing evidence of the cyclical relationship between the two; anything that undermines human security, explicitly threatens national security. Utilizing evidence from Nigeria, the paper critiques the tendency to ignore the individual as the referent object of security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting research on sensitive subjects such as terrorism in sensitive places has the potential to cause both participants and researchers discomfort and distress. Therefore, identifying ways through which experiencing difficult emotions and researcher burnout can be prevented is imperative to the integrity of the research. This paper explores the challenges of interviewing people about terrorism in sensitive situations. It draws on existing literature regarding sensitive topics and the first author's field experience in Nigeria when collecting data about tourism and terrorism. It also highlights solutions employed and strategies that can assist during the data collection process. This paper is based on the study of fifty-two Nigerians who took part in semi-structured, personal interviews on domestic travel risks associated with terrorism. It is clear that participants may find discussing terrorism distressing due to its complex interaction with religion, politics, and ethnicity as well as personal experiences. This paper contributes to the literature by explaining the strategies that were employed and their implications for researcher and participant wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional repositories (IRs) are gaining popularity globally. This paper examined the trend in a developing country—Nigeria. It reviewed and outlined the historical development of IRs and noted their low level implementation in the country. It also reviewed the role of faculty (authors) in IRs implementation. The paper identified faculty unwillingness to archive their publications in their IRs as a major inhibition to the growth of IRs in Nigeria. It therefore examined factors that influence faculty acceptance to archive in IRs with a view of ameliorating the challenge and encouraging IRs growth in the country. The paper also recommended awareness creation, advocacy programs, training on copyrights and correct referencing and citation formats, as well introduction of incentives geared towards motivating faculty to archive their publications in IRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies showed that physical distancing and proper hygiene measures mitigate the fast spread of COVID-19. But how far the informal urban settlements residents can adhere to these and other measures are yet to receive in-depth studies in Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated the level of residents' compliance and proffer possible solutions that will mitigate the pandemic spread. Five cities across Nigeria were engaged as the case study via a phenomenology type of qualitative research. The study combined MAXQDA 2020 with thematic analysis to describe the data. Findings show that majority of the informal urban settlements in Nigeria can enhance the spread of COVID-19. As part of this paper's implications, findings will strengthen collaboration with relevant stakeholders regarding effective control measures and propose measures possibly to be adopted by other developing countries with similar attributes in the informal urban settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria's external and domestic debt have been rising very rapidly in recent years despite the crushing weight of debt burden that almost crippled its economy in previous decades. This study examines the likely determinants of public debt in Nigeria over the period 1970–2020 with a focus on the effects of armed conflict, arms imports, and military spending. Unlike most previous studies that focus only on external debt, this study employs the three separate measures of public debt, namely, government gross debt, external debt, and domestic debt. In addition to being more applicable to the case of Nigeria, this also allows us to investigate whether the drivers of public debt vary with the measure of debt used. Employing the ARDL approach to cointegration and a number of robustness checks, findings suggest that whereas conflict, arms imports, and military spending have statistically positive effects on external debt, they do not have a significant effect on domestic debt. Conflict and arms import have positive effects on gross government debt which is unsurprising given that gross debt includes foreign currency denominated debt. Policy recommendations based upon these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the research output of female staff and the factors that affect their research productivity in the Nigerian university system. The study was carried out with a view to promoting strategies that will enhance productivity and increase the research output of female staff in Nigerian universities. The study adopted a survey research design. The purposive sampling method was used in administering questionnaires to 381 female academic staff from twelve randomly selected universities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The study revealed that female research output was generally low: 59.5 per cent of female academics published one paper annually; 23.6 per cent published up to two papers; 1.1 per cent published three papers; and 15.8 per cent did not publish on an annual basis. Although most female academic staff published annually, most wished to increase their publication rate. The study's results found that marital status, religion, academic position and number of hours of lectures per week had an impact on their ability to carry out research and publish the results. The study concluded that female academics made contributions that are more significant to teaching than research and that the Nigerian university system needs to develop strategies to enhance female research output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a first-time study on identifying the causes and remedies to Nigeria's low contribution to globally recognized research literature. A mixed research approach involving 300 academic staff from several areas of specialization in southern Nigeria was adopted, using structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic technique. Furthermore, 43.7%, 28.6%, and 27.7% of the respondents were from the university, polytechnic, and college of education system, respectively. While 78.4% of the respondents agreed that the high cost of open access publication in top journals influenced Nigeria's low contribution to research literature, over 75% reported that the low contribution was due to high cost of attending international conferences. Other factors identified were stringent conditions for paper acceptance (89.7%), scarcity of relevant information about Africa (85.4%), and paucity of high-impact journals in the libraries of Nigerian tertiary institutions (6.7%). Others were poor funding, non-usage of research findings by policymakers, lack of adequate facilities, and high penchant for publication in predatory journals, informed by promotion criteria not supportive of quality. Participants advocated for increased funding, reduced conference fees, and entrenchment of collaboration between reputable publishers abroad and African publishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective use of information resources by lecturers is one of the determinants of university education outcomes. To function optimally, lecturers utilise digitised information resources in their duties. University libraries are saddled with the responsibility of organising and providing lecturers' needed information resources. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of digitised library information resources availability on the use of information resources by lecturers in six federal universities in Southern Nigeria. Instruments used for data collection were the DLIRA (r = 0.73) and UIR (r = 0.64) scales. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Pearson product moment correlation, and multiple regressions at.05 level of significance. The results showed that digitised library information resources availability on the use of information resources influenced the use of information resources by lecturers in the federal universities in Southern Nigeria. Thus, there is a need for the management of university libraries to intensify efforts at converting most of the paper-based resources to digitised formats for increased use of library resources by lecturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerted efforts to transform gender cultures within Nigerian universities have introduced formal strategies aimed at reinforcing gender equity principles and practice. This is evidenced through the creation of gender centres and the adoption of gender equity policies in some Nigerian universities. However, existing literature reveals that despite these formal measures, gender imbalance in academic leadership is still prevalent. This paper seeks to investigate why gender equity policies in Nigerian universities have failed to gain traction, especially for advancing women to academic leadership positions. Using documentary data gathered from purposively selected universities in Nigeria, this paper unveils the various ways in which the content and enactment of institutional gender policies are gendered and potentially reinforce systems of inequality. Informed by a Feminist Institutionalism and Feminist Policy Analysis framework, I analyse gender policy documents and identify areas of silence, women's exclusion, and how male dominance is perpetuated in the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) are a prominent phenomenon in the discourse on security in Africa. They serve as either anti-state agents orchestrating violence or fill security void by complementing state security. This paper analyzes the activities of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) as a variant of non-state armed groups within the context of community-based counterterrorism initiative in Borno State, Nigeria. Data were collected through interviews and focus group discussion in selected communities affected by Boko Haram. The findings revealed that the use of the CJTF yielded positive results as they helped the military in intelligence gathering, knowledge of the landscape, translation of the local language, and identification of Boko Haram members within the community and in combat operations. Challenges, such as the highhandedness and deceitful nature of some members, hampered the utility of the CJTF. The paper concludes that the CJTF as a community-based response to security underscores citizens as active agents, not mere passive victims in the fight against terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the relevance of the Vulnerability to Food Insecurity Index (VFII) in practice for households in South-South region of Nigeria. The main objectives were to verify the result of the VFII with real life experience and to understand why households are vulnerable to food insecurity using qualitative insight. The paper applied both quantitative and qualitative methods. The main findings reveal that the indictors of the index were able to reflect real-life experiences on the ground. However, applying the index to local community requires greater consideration of the heterogeneous population and relative importance of indicators. Thus flexible weight system is recommended when the index depends on local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]