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Patrons and Clients Godfathers and the Democratization Process in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
Godfatherism as a phenomenon has been in existence since time immemorial and continues to feature in many human endeavors. It is a sui gener is practice that depicts political might, political survival and power sustenance. In Nigeria, it indicates political relevance and significance that guarantees meteoric rise in political careers. This dominant political culture has been sustained by a privileged few that have held sway over the political directions and fortunes within Nigeria’s polity. Drawing case studies from Northern and Southern Nigeria, this study explores the characteristics of presumed godfathers in Nigeria’s political sphere. It details the basic information about godfathers, their ideology, the goals that inform their kind of politics and their primor¬dial engagements with the phenomenon. The study has major policy implications for the seemingly uneven gradation that party politics has assumed in Nigeria
Phytosociology of the herbaceous flora of university of ibadan oil palm plantation, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Southwest, Nigeria
Plantation agriculture perturbs native flora of ecosystems. This impacts vegetation biodiversity, through species invasion and shift in weeds population dynamics. Oil palm plantations are common in tropical landscapes, and can cause long-term floristic changes. There is paucity of knowledge on inventory and potential impacts of the plantation on community structure of plants. This study investigated herbaceous flora diversity and phytosociology as indicators of appropriateness of management strategy in the University of Ibadan oil palm plantation. The study site is located in a lowland rainforest at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria on 07°27`253`N latitude and longitude 03°53`427`E. A systematic sampling was employed to enumerate herbaceous flora of a hectare mega plot. The hectare was laid along 100 m transects at 10 m intervals, with 10 m separating each transect. Each transect was laid to cut across middle of 9 m x 9 m x 9 m plant spacing for oil palm. Data were collected on species composition, frequency and density for determination of relative importance value (RIV), species diversity, ordination and classification. The plantation consisted of 32 herbaceous species in 15 plant families. Commelina erecta had the highest RIV (12.621) while Alchornea cordifolia had the least (RIV=0.288). Diversity indices indicated high species richness (Simpson Index = 0.909) among enumerated species and species co-dominance (D = 0.091) Ordination biplots indicated three distinct vegetation structures (Secondary, wetland, dryland/fallow). Classification model showed Commelina erecta had widest coverage of 92% in distribution at the site followed by Commelina benghalensis at 88%. The Oil palm plantation is heterogeneous in species composition, and was not detrimentally invaded. Weeding regimes and other agronomic practices in the plantation should be ecologically integrated to conserve its native vegetation
Potentials of binderless boards production for sustainable building development in nigeria: a review
Nigeria, a developing nation with a population of about 200 million people, is currently experiencing a national housing deficit of approximately 17 million units. With an expected annual national population growth rate of about 3% and an annual urban population growth rate of about 4%, Nigeria's population is becoming more and more concentrated in metropolitan regions, towns, and cities where housing deficits are more pronounced. The high cost of construction materials contributes majorly to Nigeria's housing problems, prompting several researches into the use of local materials as alternative building materials. In Nigeria, lignocellulosic biomass resources such as forestry residues, agricultural wastes, and industrial remnants are available in large quantities and are being investigated for use in the production of wood-based panel boards. However, the formaldehyde-based adhesives used in their manufacture emit emissions that pollute the environment and harm human health. The goal is to create cheap, environmentally friendly binder-less boards from waste lignocellulosic materials. In pursuit of a sustainable built environment in Nigeria, this review investigates the potentials of binder-less board production from lignocellulosic biomass
Effects of bullying on the psychological and mental wellbeing of adolescents in selected secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Bullying is a complex and stressful experience that significantly impacts the psychological and mental well-being of adolescents. While its effects were often overlooked, recent attention from researchers, mental health professionals, social workers, and policymakers has focused on understanding how bullying influences adolescent mental health. This study used a descriptive survey design with a correlation approach to examine the impact of bullying on the psychological and mental well-being of adolescents. A sample of 280 students from tour secondary schools in Ibadan Metropolis (two public, two private) was selected using simple random sampling. Data collection utilized a mix of standardized and self-developed 'Instruments, focusing on bullying experiences and both short- and long-term psychological effects. Statistical analysis, including frequency counts and percentages for demographic data, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) for testing hypotheses at a 0.05 alpha level, was employed. The study revealed that all six short-term psychological variables—anxiety and fear (r = .114), anger and rage (r = .377), humiliation and shame (r = .308), sadness and loneliness (r = .499), self-harm/harm to others (r = .159), and school avoidance/absenteeism (r = .184)—showed significant correlations with bullying. Long-term effects such as erosion of self-esteem and confidence (r= .368). Post-traumatic stress disorder (r = .716), anxiety and depression (r= .278), self- destruction (r = .420), schizophrenia (r = .270), substance abuse (r = .255), and agoraphobia (r - .299) also had significant relationships with bullying among victims in these schools. The findings indicate a significant correlation between bullying and the mental well-being of adolescents, with r(298) = .372, p < 0.05. Additionally, psychological effects (r = .290, p < 0.05) were significantly related to mental well-being. The study concludes that bullying has both short-term and long-term adverse effects on the psychological and mental well-being of adolescents in selected secondary schools in Ibadan. It suggests that parents, teachers, school administrators, counselors, and social workers should be vigilant in identifying these effects to mitigate their impact on the mental health of adolescents
A Thesis in the Department of Sociology,Submitted to the Faculty of the Social Sciencesin Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYof theUNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
Globally, corruption threatens good governance, service delivery and the rule of law. In Nigeria, it undermines efficiency in organisations and institutions. Existing studies on corruption examined causes, measurement, consequences, prevalence and strategies for fighting corruption. However, scant attention has been paid to the social construction of corruption. This study was, therefore, designed to identify behaviours defined as corrupt activities; predisposing factors; strategies used to execute corrupt practices; factors that determine people’s receptivity to corruption; the role of the media in its construction; and how power relations moderate corrupt practices in Abuja.The social construction theory provided the framework, while a cross-sectional design was employed. Abuja was purposively selected based on the high concentration of federal ministries, departments and agencies. Three Area Councils (Abuja Municipal, Bwari and Gwagwalada) were randomly selected. Using Yamane’s (1967) sample size determination formula, 1300 respondents were sampled. Systematic sampling was used to proportionately administer a structured questionnaire to respondents (aged ≥18 years) in Abuja Municipal (438), Bwari (433) and Gwagwalada (429) councils. Twenty-one key informant interviews were conducted with two judges, six lawyers, six civil society groups’ officials, and seven community leaders. Thirty in-depth interviews (six with each group) were conducted with lecturers, politicians, contractors, procurement officers and commercial drivers. Nine focus group discussion sessions (three in each) were held with students, journalists and anti-graft agencies’ officials to examine the social construction of corruption. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square at p≤0.05 while the qualitative data were content-analysed.The respondents’ ages were 34.87±10.82 years, with 47.8% working in the public sector. The majority of the respondents (92.2%) defined certain behaviour – nepotism, conversion of public property to private use, diversion of public funds to unbudgeted projects – as highly corrupt activities. This was significantly related to age (x2=47.12), education (x2=29.86), occupation (x2=65.11) and income (x2=34.82). Greed (66.4%), poverty (22.5%) and weak laws (11.1%) predisposed people to corrupt behaviour. Ineffective law enforcement (48.6%) and loopholes in government financial systems (14.9%) made public office holders vulnerable to corruption. Distortion of financial records (98.5%), payment of ghost workers (98.5%) and charging unauthorised fees (97.9%) were strategies reported to be used to execute corruption. Gift-giving culture (86.8%) and payment of fines in lieu of a jail term by corrupt officials (93.6%) strongly determined people’s receptivity to corruption. Trivialisation of corrupt cases and biased reportage by the media during trials, due to fear of persecution of reporters, affected how society constructed corruption. When seeking public service, the person with less power was more inclined to offer a bribe than the one in a position of authority.Greed, poverty and shabby implementation of anti-corruption laws predisposed people to corrupt behaviour and influenced how they construct corruption. There is a need for relevant authorities to sensitise the public against patronising the culture of corruption
From historical fiction to historiographic metafiction: Lawrence Hill’s the book of negroes as deviant Literature
Scholars have debated the classification of the African American literature as a plain historic text, which further stimulates the controversy between history and literature. It is on this presumption that this paper critically explored Lawrence Hills’ The Book of Negroes, more as a subversive text, which is constructively predisposed to certain postmodern stylistic techniques. While amplifying obtrusive matters that still affect the black race in contemporary American society, it is observed that Hill employs Historiographic Metafiction to creatively reconceptualise the narrative of African American slave history. By implication, the fictional mode in The Book of Negroes deconstructs a fixed categorisation of historical hermeneutics of African American slave narratives, as limited to the issues of slavery, captivity, racism, oppression, and so on. While using qualitative approach as methodology, Jacques Derrida’s Deconstruction served as theoretical framework, complemented by Linda Hutcheon’s conception of historiographic metafiction. As a stylistic import, this paper submits that historiographic metafiction is substantiated as a counterdiscourse against the lopsided criticism that deprecates black history and literary artistry as immaterial. With reference to its literary originality, The Book of Negroes is therefore categorised as a deviant form of black writing in contemporary times
Victims or complicit traffickers? examining the status of victims of organ trafficking in Nigeria
Organ trafficking is one of the fast-booming offences with transnational dimensions. Often, organ trafficking is linked with human trafficking and punished along the same lines as the crime of trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal. Traffickers are often punished as the offenders while subjects of the harvested and trafficked organs are regarded as victims who are protected by the law rather than punished. However, with regard to the crime of organ trafficking, it is difficult to conceive some so-called victims of organ trafficking as victims without the tainted lens of complicity in the offence. With respect to victims, organ trafficking is largely touted as an offence driven by poverty and economic difficulty as against greed and sheer criminal tendencies. International legal provisions on organ trafficking do not exactly conceptualise a victim in the context of plain organ trafficking, state parties may exercise their discretion within their domestic legal context. This paper examines the subject of victims and the offence of organ trafficking in Nigeria. This paper adopts a purely doctrinal approach in examining the status of victims in organ trafficking. It makes use of data from primary sources from both domestic and international laws and secondary sources of data on organ trafficking in assessing the status of victims of organ trafficking. The paper argues that the recent cases of organ trafficking reveal that many victims are consenting perpetrators and drivers of organ trafficking rather than being innocent, vulnerable and exploited victims. The law ought not to shield those against whom it must wield its sword of correction and punishment. Hence, the status of victims in cases of organ trafficking should be reviewed differently from victims of trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal