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Pension Management, Risks and Investment Strategies: A Study of Defined Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria
Get PDFThe decline in defined benefit schemes is necessitated by the perception that defined contribution shifts investment and longevity risks to workers. The plan offers a flexible mechanism for saving for retirement, enabling the enrollees in share of investment returns. The idea of managing risk and establishing dynamic investment strategies in the pension industry cuts across every region of the world as it is critical to the survival and operation of a defined contributory scheme since unprecedented occurrence may exist. The identification and evaluation of actual and potential risk areas as they pertain to pension administration are essential for the termination, transfer, acceptance, or mitigation of each risk. The paper also examines and evaluates whether the relative performance of different investment strategies adopted in the pension scheme is panacea for sustaining it in Nigeria. The methodology applied here is exploratory in nature due to the doubt established by retirees on the adoption of new Contributory Pension Scheme (CPU) in Nigeria as an approach to resolving pension management problems. The paper recommended that a proper institutional design of the pension fund industry and intensive use of market surveillance are efficient tools for dealing with most of the operational risks of funded pension fund schemes in emerging economies.
Keywords
Risk management, investment strategies, defined contributory pension scheme, sustainability, Nigeri
Implementation of Zakat Collection and Distribution System in Ibadan Metropolis Using WordPress Core Architecture and Architectonics
Get PDFZakat and Sadaqah are primary forms of charity in Islam meant to help the poor and needy. However, the collection and distribution of these forms of charity can be beset by challenges. The challenges include inadequate infrastructure for collecting and disbursing funds, a lack of transparency and accountability, corruption, and cultural and social barriers to giving. The study argues that addressing these challenges requires a technological approach that involves implementing forms for collecting and distributing Zakat and Sadaqah using WordPress core files. The study\u27s key objective is to ensure transparency, accountability and avoid the corrupt practice of multi-collection of Zakat and Sadaqah funds using digital platforms to collect, manage, and distribute zakat, which is very useful because it provides much convenience for its users. Therefore, the study presents a technological (software) solution to some challenges that Zakat and Sadaqah institutions face while collecting and distributing Zakat and Sadaqah using an existing content management system (WordPress) core architecture. In achieving this, we used the Design Thinking method. The design process adopted the Agile software design steps in the implementation of the system. The study resulted to revolutionized management of zakat funds and created a more efficient and accountable ecosystem for the collection and distribution of Zakat in Ibadan.
Keywords: Zakat and Sadaqah, Islam, WordPress, Charity, Poverty alleviation
Factors Influencing Utilization of Traditional Birth Attendants’ Services by Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers in Kaduna State, Nigeria: A Qualitative study
Get PDFStudies have shown that unskilled birth attendants during pregnancy and childbirth are one of the major causes of maternal death especially in developing countries. This study aims to examine the reasons for the patronage of traditional birth attendants\u27 services among pregnant women and nursing mothers in Kaduna State, Nigeria. A descriptive exploratory study design was used and Qualitative data was collected through the use of a pre-tested interview guide. Ten healthcare providers participated in the study in urban and rural communities of Kaduna State, Nigeria. They included seven officers in charge of primary health centers, one Chief Nursing Officer of a tertiary health institution and one Medical Officer-in-charge of a General hospital. QDA Miner Lite v2.0.6 was used in the analysis of the data. The findings revealed that use of health facilities for antenatal care is higher than that of delivery services in the study area which is attributed to poor health seeking behaviour among women in the study area as a result of ignorance. It is recommended that the government should give public enlightenment on need to utilise healthcare facilities for antenatal care and delivery services.
Keywords
Unskilled birth attendants, maternal death, Kaduna State, pregnancy and childbirth, utilisation of traditional birth attendants
Governance and Security Challenges in Nigeria 2015-2019
Get PDFThe internal security challenges troubling the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria in the 21st century derive from within Nigerians. This paper examines the effect of governance on security challenges in Nigeria between 2015 and 2019. The paper adopts content analysis to investigate the nexus between governance and the security challenges confronting Nigeria. The paper is anchored on Prebendalism and Frustration Aggression Theories to provide theoretical orientation for the paper. The paper concludes that corruption and inadequacies in internal security policies are the major factors behind the security challenges in Nigeria in the period under review. The paper recommends that government at all level should truly fight against corruption, poverty, nepotism, favouritism and unemployment. If the country is to regain its peaceful coexistence that is being gradually eroded
Antibiotic and Gene Profiles of Enterobacteriaceae from Selected Fish Ponds in Southwest, Nigeria
Get PDFFish is a significant part of human diet globally including Nigeria because of its economic and nutritional value. However, fish-associated infections caused by Gram negative bacteria of Enterobacteriaceae family have become a serious challenge with significant mortality in both aquaculture and healthcare institutions. With the increasing burden of antibiotics resistance in in this group of bacteria globally, the investigation of its resistance determinants and antibiotic profile was undertaken. A total of 64 fish pond water samples were collected from Lagos (16), Ogun (16), Oyo (16) and Osun (16). Enterobacteria were isolated by standard microbiological procedures and identified by 16S rRNA partial sequencing, after which antibiotic susceptibility test was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Resistance determinants were assayed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The family Enterobacteriaceae obtained were Enterobacter kobei (7), Enterobacter mori (9), Enterobacter asburiae (2), Enterobacter tabaci (2), Enterobacter sp. (27), and Plesiomonas shigelloides (5). Antibiotic susceptibility patterns revealed that all the (50) 100% isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, cefuroxime, cefixime and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, while 28 (56%), 27 (54%) 17 (34%) and 15 (30%) were resistant to ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, gentamicin and ofloxacin respectively. The resistance determinants; SHV (14), the integrons class 1 (14), QNRA (10), QNRS (9), TETB (9), QNRB (8) and TETA (7) were detected. The results revealed multidrug resistance among the isolates. This poses a serious health challenge to the consumers of fish. Therefore, proper monitoring of pond management system is important to prevent infections caused by these opportunistic pathogens.
Keywords: Aquaculture, Antibiotic resistance, Enterobacteriaceae, Fish, Infection, Resistancedeterminan
Influence of Internal Corporate Communication on Employee’s Job Performance Improvement
Get PDFEffective communication has been linked to positive outcomes in organizational success and employee’s job output. However, the inability of managers to effectively communicate with their employees leads to employee job dissatisfaction and poor performance. Hence, this study examines how internal corporate communication influences employees’ job output in selected organizations. The quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted to gather data. Two ninety-six (296) copies of questionnaire were administered to junior and senior personnel of the selected organizations while in-depth interview was conducted with selected management level personnel. Quantitative data were analyzed using simple frequency percentages while qualitative data were coded along thematic lines. The majority of the employees agreed that the internal corporate communication in their organizations influenced their job output. Also, the majority of the employees agreed that management communication style influences employee job satisfaction towards performance. The organizations are faced with diverse internal communication challenges such as distorted feedback, matching message content with appropriate packaging, inadequate information, uneven flow of information etc. These challenges, when not properly tackled, can hinder many organizational processes, especially its efforts at achieving employee job satisfaction/performance.
Keywords
Internal corporate communication, employees’ job output, management communication styl
Public Policy and Change Reactions from Citizens in Nigeria
Get PDFPublic Policy usually attracts reactions from the people in the society which may be positive or negative depending on the way such a policy is viewed by individuals, groups and society in general. The paper focused on change reactions from the citizens arising from some government policies. It was against this backdrop that the paper examined some policies embarked upon by government and the various change reactions arising therefrom. Using secondary data analysis, the paper examined some policy changes that have been embarked upon by successive administrations since 1999, and the reactions to these changes, with particular focus on President Jonathan’s Administration as well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration and his Party, All Progressive Congress (APC), whose slogan is “Change”. The three policies examined revealed that most of the reactions were negative. The paper, therefore, concluded that the citizens’ negative reactions were a result of government’s failure to interact with the people that the policies would affect before coming up with them. It was suggested that policy process should not be mutually exclusive to the formulators and implementers of public policy alone. Rather, the beneficiaries of public policies should be carried along through thorough enlightenment and accommodation of inputs and contributions from them.
Keywords
Policy, change, citizens, governanc
Employee Relation Practices and Organisational Performance in Nigeria
Get PDFThe study seeks to determine the effect of employees’ relation practices on organizational performance, at Guaranty Trust Bank, Ilorin. A sample size of 91 respondents comprising of the Bank staff in Ilorin metropolis was chosen. The sampling technique employed in the study was simple random sampling technique. Multiple regression was used for data analysis. The results revealed that both recruitment & selection and promotion are relevant for organizational performance. The hypotheses tested showed that all the variables tested are significant. It was concluded that recruitment & selection and promotion had significant effect on organizational performance. The study therefore recommends that certain practices need to be adopted and improved upon regularly to maintain a cordial relationship with employees and also increase organizational performance.
Keywords
Employees, organisation, performance, Ilorin
 
Evaluation of the Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Aqueous Stem Bark Extract of Terminalia catappa in Castor oil-induced Diarrhoeal Albino Rats
Get PDFDiarrhoeal illness remains a key global health problem causing 15% of deaths among children under five years of age. This study evaluated the antidiarrhoeal activity of Terminalia catappa aqueous stem bark extract on albino rats. Antidiarrhoeal activity of T. catappa was assessed by measuring the stool inhibition, gastrointestinal motility and castor oil-induced enteropooling. Thirty (30) albino rats were divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each, where groups I and II remained the normal and negative control groups respectively; group III was treated with standard drug, groups IV, V and VI were treated with 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg b. wt. of aqueous stem bark extract of T. catappa, respectively. Percentage stool inhibition of treated groups was significantly greater than that of the negative control. However, group II treated with standard drug (loperamide) showed higher percentage inhibition. The volume of intestinal fluid decreased with increase in dose of the extract. The volume of intestinal fluid of the group treated with standard drug significantly decreased when compared to group treated with extract. Distance travelled by the charcoal significantly decreased at higher dose of extract. Aqueous stem bark extract of T. catappa has a dose-dependent antidiarrhoeal activity.
Keywords: Stool inhibition, diarrhoea, enteropooling, gastrointestinal motility, Terminalia catapp
Newspaper Management Problems in Nigeria: A Study of Defunct Compass Newspaper
Get PDFThis paper explored certain problems of newspaper management that confront newspapers in Nigeria and particularly Compass Newspaper. This paper particularly analysed the characteristics of the newspapers as it relates to departmental, structures, and management problems associated with the defunct Compass Newspaper. Different levels of management problems and types based on human or material and also internal and external challenges are identified. The study has a singular objective of unravelling the mystery behind the death of Compass Newspaper as the paper entered the market with lots of promise. In-depth interview was the method used to collect data from the purposely selected management staff, circulation, and account unit staff respectively. The findings showed that the newspaper’s demise was a result of its political partisanship, corruption, and disloyalty among the staff. Therefore, the paper concludes that the type and level of management problems hinder the growth and development of newspapers in the country. The process of founding, managing, and sustaining newspaper from the initial ‘new-to-the-market’ status, to competing with the already known and acceptable ones and other newcomers pose a serious challenge to the industry. The paper concluded that newspaper companies that are building up their first core capabilities still have problems related to a lack of knowledge of management workings. This sets up specific issues for knowledge management in newspaper firms. This research is based on a detailed case study about the major management problems associated with, but not limited to, Nigerian newspapers.
Keywords
Newspaper management, survival, challenges, newspaper mortality