4 research outputs found
Awareness and availability of TISHIP information sources by undergraduate students for accessing healthcare services in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Get PDFThis study assessed the awareness and availability of Tertiary Institutions Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) Information Sources by Undergraduate Students for Accessing Healthcare Services in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. the objectives of the study is to identify the types of Healthcare Services covered by TISHIP are accessible to Undergraduate Students in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, identify the types of TISHIP Information Sources are available to Undergraduate Students for accessing Healthcare Services in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and to find out the extent Undergraduate Students aware of TISHIP Information Sources available for accessing Healthcare in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Three research questions were formulated in line with the research objectives. The study adopted descriptive survey design. 381 students were sampled using cluster proportionate random sampling out of the entire 42,779 for the study. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection which were collected, analysed and presented in tables using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Findings of the study revealed that the types of healthcare services covered by TISHIP accessible by the Undergraduate Students were Routine Immunisations, Health Education, Essential Drugs, Accident and Emergency Care, Dental Health Services and Periodic Medical Check-ups. Also, the types of TISHIP information sources available to the Undergraduate Students for accessing healthcare were Orientation and Matriculation, Friends, Notice Boards, Lecturers and Staff, Campus Bulletin, Social Media, Internet, and Religious and Association Leaders. Hence, it was recommended that information services aimed at providing information to the student be provided and the university management should provide more TISHIP information sources and healthcare services that will enhance access for the Undergraduate Students thereby saving their time in accessing information sources.
Keyword: Information Sources, Awareness, Availability, Undergraduate Students, TISHI
Understanding institutional and facility related challenges affecting the application of ICT skills to academic activities by faculty staff in sampled Nigerian Universities
Get PDFThe study aimed at understanding institutional and facility-related challenges affecting the application of ICT skills to academic activities by faculty staff. The three full-time universities in Benue state were purposively selected to form the population of the study; namely, University of Agriculture, Makurdi; Benue State University, Makurdi; and University of Mkar, Mkar. The descriptive survey design was adopted with a total population of 1, 537 faculty staff. Out of this population, 306 faculty staff were drawn as a sample for the study, using the simple random sampling procedure. A validated questionnaire was deployed for data collection; while charts, frequency tables and simple percentages were used for data analysis. The study revealed that institutional and facility-related challenges affecting faculty staff’ ICT skills application to academic activities in the universities in Benue State include: inadequate funding of ICT ventures, lack of sponsorship for ICT training, inadequate ICT facilities, unstable power supply and poor internet connectivity. Based on this, it was recommended that the government should annually provide ICT development fund to universities for bankrolling of ICT projects, and the management of respective universities should ensure more spending on providing ICT facilities, stable power supply, and sound Internet connectivity as this would greatly enhance academic activities in the universities.
Keywords: ICT Skills, Faculty staff, Nigeria, Universities, Challenges, Applicatio
The Justice of Balance: Understanding Intellectual Property from Chinese Historical and Philosophical Perspectives
No full textPhDIn today's world, intellectual property is widely viewed as a threat to the public interest in
using knowledge. As many scholars have argued, a theoretical reason accounting for this
phenomenon is that traditional understanding of intellectual property emphasizes strong
property rights rather than the public interest. As historical studies have shown, this
understanding is fundamentally influenced by the practice of printing monopoly of
sixteenth-seventeenth century England, which gave overwhelming attention to
appropriation.
This thesis tries to join the above debates by examining the intellectual property history
of pre-modern China. Based on the historical inquiry, it further makes several theoretical
suggestions to the ongoing development of intellectual property theories.
This thesis argues that intellectual property practice as a tool of stimulating creativity
emerged in China when the commercialization of knowledge products made the
intellectual property protection a must. A more important finding is that, in a relatively
non-monopolistic atmosphere, tremendous efforts were made to effectively disseminate
knowledge to enhance the public interest; there existed no obvious conflict between
stimulating knowledge creativity and promoting knowledge use.
This thesis then suggests that knowledge creativity and knowledge use are inherently
inter-nutritional and inter-conflicting. To promote their reciprocity, it is crucial to keep
balance between maximizing knowledge use and stimulating robust knowledge creativity.
This thesis further proposes a system containing `the right of accessing knowledge' and
`the right of deserving reward', in which intellectual property is only a mean to the end
and coexists with various alternative models.
This thesis provides a firm theoretical support to the public interest but does not
necessarily devalue the importance of knowledge creativity and intellectual property. In
many fields, well-designed intellectual property laws must continue to prevail
A New Form of Authoritarianism? Rethinking Military Politics in Post-1999 Nigeria
No full textDespite the vast research that has been done on the Nigerian military, virtually all of these studies have failed to critically examine the accepted role of the military in the democratising phase. This is important because the relationship between the political elite and the military in post-military authoritarian states guarantees either democratic consolidation, or its reversal. In Nigeria, despite an appearance of significant progress in subordinating the military institution to democratic civilian authority, the military remains a crucial political actor in the polity. It appears that the military has yet to accept the core democratic principles of civilian oversight of the institution. This thesis, therefore, explores whether a new form of military authoritarianism is emerging in Nigeria, with the aim of understanding Nigeria’s military behaviour in a transitional phase, from prolonged military authoritarianism to democratisation. To examine this military behaviour, Alfred Stepan’s concept of military prerogatives that was used to understand the military’s behaviour in a transitional phase in Latin America is applied to Nigeria.
A crucial understanding of authoritarianism in Nigeria is initially discussed in this study using mainly document analysis strategy to examine whether multi-ethnic states, such as Nigeria, tend to have authoritarian systems. Six hypotheses form the core analysis of this thesis: first, that the military has retained significant military prerogatives; second, that retired military officers are gaining influential political and economic positions; third, autonomous military involvement in human rights abuses since 1999; and fourth, that civilian government oversight remains weak, and facilitates military authoritarianism. These hypotheses are primarily analysed using the elite interview technique. During the first half of 2011, the author conducted field research where serving and retired military officers were interviewed. The fifth hypothesis is that the military has intervened in politics post-1999. The examination of this hypothesis relies primarily on key security-related media reports (mostly newspaper editorials) on the military after 1999. The examination of the final hypothesis, that increases in military expenditures might facilitate a new form of military authoritarianism, relies primarily on descriptive statistical analysis. In addition, this study collated relevant historical materials that relate to the military, utilising national archival collections.
The empirical findings of this research did not identify a new form of military authoritarianism in Nigeria. The study, however, argues that the unrestricted institutional framework accorded the military has contributed significantly to authoritarian practices in the post-military era in Nigeria. This study discovered that there were similarities between the Brazilian and Nigerian militaries in regard to their military spending during their period in power. Both countries had lower defence budgets. Just as in Brazil, it appears that part of the reason the Nigerian military decided to relinquish power in 1999 had to do with its desire to gain a higher budget, something that was precluded in a military government struggling to retain a sense of legitimacy. The military needed a higher budget to modernise and re-professionalise its institution after more than a decade in power. This feature, which the Nigerian military shares with the Brazilian military, appears to justify the application to Nigeria of Alfred Stepan’s concept of military prerogatives.
