THE ROLE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN PROMOTING HEALTHY SOCIETY

 

THE ROLE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN PROMOTING HEALTHY SOCIETY IN DEVELOPING SOCIETY

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Education in its broadest perspective is the lifelong learning, both formal and informal, which aims at equipping the individual effectively with acceptable skills, knowledge, attitudes and competences that will enable him/her to cope favorably with the problems of the society. It is one of the main keys to economic development and improvements in human welfare. As global economic competition grows deeper, education becomes an important source of competitive advantage, closely linked to economic growth, and a way for countries to attract jobs and investment. In addition, education appears to be one of the key determinants of lifetime earnings. Countries therefore, frequently see raising educational attainment as a way of tackling poverty and deprivation.

In developing countries, education is also linked to a whole batch of indicators of human development. Unfortunately, the potential contribution of women in education is undervalued and underutilized (Onyishi, 2007). In Nigeria, there had been several developmental initiatives in the sector since 1960; however, the standard has been degrading instead of getting better (Norah & Ihensekhien,

2009). In view of the crucial role of women in molding individuals from birth and throughout human lifecycle, there is no way a country can achieve development without the participation of women in government. It is not just the participation of women in government that is the necessary solution, but having women in decision making positions. In many countries of the world, the contributions of women were not being recognized until when the United Nations (UN) declared the Decade of Women (1976-1985), making it mandatory on governments to focus on issues of women as an integral component of national development (Lawson, 2008).

Women's education can be regarded as a kind of knowledge given to women for enhancing their self-respect and self-dignity. This knowledge can be in form of formal, non-formal and informal education, it can also be in form of adult education, community development, workshops, seminars, conferences and training. Women's education is for making women to become economically independent and self-reliant (Lawson, 2008). Women as mothers, are educators within their families, what they learn, they pass on to their children and their future generations (Lawson, 2008).

Education for women is a development priority due to the dynamic potential of educated women. Therefore, the main objectives for women's education are as follows:

•      To enable women to improve their family's health and diet.

•      To increase women's productive ability, thus raising their families' standard of living.

•      To give women access to appropriate technologies, management of

cooperatives and the use of loan facilities.

•      To improve women's social and culture status.

•      To enable women to discharge their responsibilities more effectively

•      Helping women to fight their own fears and feelings of inadequacy or

inferiority.

•      Educating women in all round development. That is mentally, socially, physically, psychologically, religiously and economically.

•      To make women participate fully in all the affairs of their nation and to be at centre of sustainable development.

•      To make women able to acquire their own basic needs of the society, like food, shelter, fuel, clothes and nurturing. 

•      To enhance nation building in terms of economic and human development.

Since Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to allow women to participate fully in the society; from going to school to doing formal jobs, she has witnessed a remarkable improvement in educational sector and the workplace (Anugwom,

2009). The Federal Government of Nigeria has also fully embraced some of the resolutions of these conferences and has in the past ten years or so appointed women generally into some decision making positions such as Ministers, Special Advisers, Director Generals, etc. To this effect, this study is set to investigate the role of women of education in the development of Igbo-Eze North local government area of Enugu state.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:   The Role Of Women Education In Promoting Healthy Society In Developing Society

 

SATISFACTION AND RETENTION: A KEY TO BUSINESS SURVIVAL

 

SATISFACTION AND RETENTION: A KEY TO BUSINESS SURVIVAL (A CASE STUDY OF BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC)

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

It's difficult to over-stress the importance of customer satisfaction. Sustained profitability is only possible through building customer value and satisfaction. Profit comes as a consequence of building customer value.

As Henry Ford said:

"Business must be run at a profit... else it will die. But when anyone tries to run a business solely for profit, then also the business must die, for it no longer has a reason for existence."

Value Defined

Something that satisfies a consumer's need or want has value in the eyes of the consumer. Whether or not a consumer will buy a product offering depends on whether what it costs them is greater or less than the product's perceived value. Furthermore, when choosing between similar offers, a consumer will choose the product that offers the biggest difference between value and cost. Costs to the customer include not only monetary costs, but everything associated to acquiring it, such as time and hassle. For example, having to go and pick up concert tickets you've already paid for online adds an additional cost. Therefore, even if your product is more expensive, it will nevertheless be chosen if it carries more value in the eyes of the customer.

The difference between what the consumer perceives as the value of the product offering and its costs, are known by marketers as the delivered value. The goal is to ensure that the delivered value for your product is greater than the delivered value of the customer's alternatives.

Customer Satisfaction Defined

Customer satisfaction is closely related to customer expectations. Once acquiring a product, the customer will compare the actual performance of the product with what was expected. The customer will have feelings of pleasure if product performance meets expectations, and feelings of disappointment if it doesn't. If actual performance exceeds expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted.

Customers form their expectations from a variety of sources such as friends, past experiences, competitors as well as the marketer's messages and promises. A balancing act must be made here. If you set expectations too high with your messages, your customers are more likely to be disappointed. If you set them too low, fewer will buy. The most successful firms set expectations high and then are able to deliver performance to match – at a profit.

Creating Customer Value

Given the importance of customer value, it's useful to use what Micheal Porter of Harvard calls the value chain as a tool to find ways to create more customer value. The value chain consists of company activities that create value and add costs in an organization. The primary activities in the value chain are:

• Bringing materials into the company (inbound logistics)
• Converting materials into finished products (operations)
• Shipping out finished products (outbound logistics)
• Marketing the products (sales and other marketing activities)
• Servicing the products (customer service)

Primary activities have secondary support activities which include procurement (or purchasing), technology development, human resource management and firm infrastructure. These support activities may be handled by specialized departments or by multiple departments.

Your job as a marketer is to examine the costs and performance of each value-creating activity, and find ways to improve in each area. It's helpful to compare competitors costs and performance in the value chain as a benchmark. If you can outperform your competitors you can gain a competitive advantage.

It's important to note that internal departments sometimes act in ways to maximize their interests rather than those of the company or customers. For example, a credit department may take too long ensuring the credit worthiness of a customer to avoid the possibility of a bad debt. During this time, the customer is waits and waits, and the sales person becomes frustrated.

The solution to this problem, is to ensure the core business processes are managed smoothly, by using cross disciplinary teams to manage core processes.

It's important to look beyond your own operations as well. Finding competitive advantages beyond your own operations will increase your chances of success. For example, Walmart's suppliers are plugged directly into its inventory system so that they can track sales and replenish items as needed. This reduces the chances of stock outages.

The importance of customer retention

Often, organizations focus a lot or their marketing efforts on attracting new customers and far less attention retaining customers. Satisfied customers are loyal customers. Here are some interesting statistics from the Harvard Business Review (The Loyalty Effect by Frederick F. Reichheld and Thomas Teal):

• It can cost 5 times more to get a new customer than to satisfy and retain a current customer
• In a typical company, customers are defecting at the rate of 10-30% per year
• The profitability of a customer tends to increase the longer the customer is retained

A 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 25% - 80%, depending on the industry

The consumer is faced with an infinite number of choices in his buying behavior. He makes a decision on whether to spend his money or save it. If he chooses to spend it, he has a wide range of product choices available to him. Even within the relatively narrow field of paint industries the consumer has, from five to ten different brands of paints from which to choose in the average paint shop or depot, obviously, no one brand is going to be sold for long if it stops giving the customer what he wants. Hence, it is a total error for a marketing manager to believe that the consumer must buy his product.

The consumer bestows his favor on those who give him what he wants in product, price, promotion and convenience. The penalty for disobeying his mandate is almost certain failure. There are numerous illustrations of firms that refused to obey “Key consumer”, thereby incurring his wrath. At one time, the Waltham Watch Company was held in high esteem by watch buyers decided that the wrist watch was preferable to the pocket watch and subsequently, the consumers changed their buying habit, Waltham was a stubborn until the consumer forced it to do so by refusing to buy pocket watches. Meanwhile, key consumer decided that he wishes his wrist watch to do more than ten times, he wanted a fashionably styled time piece. The majority of firm in that country immediately entered a competitive race on a fashion basis, but not Waltham. His refusal to produce a properly style watch eventually caused its failure.

Obviously, the consumer seldom directly commands a manufacturer.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:   Satisfaction And Retention:  A Key To Business Survival (A Case Study Of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc)

 

ENRICHING NIGERIA MENU WITH THE USE OF SOYA BEANS

 ENRICHING NIGERIA MENU WITH THE USE OF SOYA BEANS

 

INTRODUCTION

Soya beans have come to play a prominent role in our daily diet because of the nutritional value it contributes to various dishes.

Soya beans can be processed into many products such as milk, cheese which comes as an extract from soya milk and can also be used in making soya moin moin, soya beans Amala with soya Egusi/Ugwu soup.

Soya beans belong to the family edible seeds of the leguminous plants and the word is derived from the Latin word (legumes). It has been found that the biological value of its protein is known to be very high and much higher than those of other vegetable protein and from animal origin because it contains practically all the essential amino acids in fairly good amount for body needs.

Cereal proteins which constitute the major protein source for people in many developing countries are generally of a relatively low quality because they lack-adequate amounts of the essential amino acid especially lysine. How ever, they contain relatively low protein, and other sulphur amino acids.

Therefore, consuming a mixture of soya beans protein the nutritional quality of the protein from either source can upgrade the nutrition of the people who now subsist on protein deficient diets especially in Nigeria.

Realizing the importance of adequate consumption of high quality protein food is the maintenance of good health; effort should be made to utilize potentially good and cheap sources of proteins.

It is therefore necessary to investigate how soya beans could be put to use to complement the deficiency in the protein of our staple food like yam, cassava, maize e.t.c further more, with the difficult of obtaining imported food these days, the use of soya beans in enriching meal can break Nigerian menu monopoly and go a long way in saving substantial foreign exchange for Nigeria.

However, protein content is only one of the factors that make soyabeans a potential answer to inadequate nutrition. As with many food, soyabeans should not be considered as a  sole sources of nutrition, but when  combined with other  foods, soyabeans especially as a protein sources can go a  long way in upgrading the nutrition of million of people throughout the world.

Management of the hotel and catering industry can not deny that sales of food and beverages, which accounts for some percentage of income to the hotel has been declining due to exorbitant price which accounts from the meat prepared. Soyabeans products which are equally good nutritionally as those from animal origin  and  cheaper will go along  way  in  reducing  the cost  of the food thereby  increasing the patronage and profit  margin  of hotel  industry.

v    To show the quickest method of producing dishes   from soyabeans.

v    To promote the acceptability of soybeans supplement in strict vegetarian diet.

v    To make Nigeria be aware of the improved recipe made from maize 

v    To document and update the new products obtained from soya beans.

v    To produce cheap protein to the low income earner.

v    To increase sufficient food of protein origin to the masses

ABSTRACT

The aim of this project is to enrich Nigerian menu with the use of soyabeans. Using semovita as control for soyabeans flour for the production of Amala, and using corn flour as control for soyabeans flour for the production of moinmoin. It is hoped that the findings would make these dishes from the above food materials known, accepted and included in the Nigerian menu in such a place like homes.

Attempts were made to review relevant literatures to provide information in all areas covered by this work. Different measures that were used are 50/50, 100%. The taste panels were requested to evaluate such qualities which include appearance, taste, colour, flavour, texture.

It was discovered that the dishes made from taste, colour, flavour, texture. It was discovered that the dishes made from these food commodities had flavour, looked colourful, palatable and presentable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE:  Enriching Nigeria Menu With The Use Of Soya Beans

 

THE ROLE OF STOCK EXCHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITAL MARKET

 

INTRODUCTION

The capital market is a market which  deals in long – term loans. It supplies industry with fixed  and working capital  and finances medium- term  and long term  borrowing  of the federal, state and local governments.

          The capital  market deals in ordinary  stocks and shares and debentures of corporations and bond and securities  of government and it should  be noted that the fund which flow into the capital market come from individuals  who have savings to invest.

          In another  sense the stock exchange plays an important  role in the economy, it determine the economic health of the country  and has a pivotal  role  in mobilizing  resources for the  development of capital market. It is  patient to know that the capital market functions through stock exchange market under the stock  exchange of every country.

           A case study of  Nigerian stock exchange, the contribution  of stock exchange in the banking sector  and in the economic will being  of the public

          In a nut shell, the tock exchange aims to provide an atmosphere when buyer and seller of securities must to buy and sell shoves (securities) the study on the role of stock exchange in the development of capital market will focus on:

(a)   the role  of stock  exchange  in Nigeria and the capital  market

(b)  history  of Nigeria stock exchange and it past operations

(c)    Effect and important of stock exchange as a unit of capital market on the industrial development.

(d)  Impact on the  investor and issues of the securities

(e)   Nature of the capital market and exchange in the capital market operations.

(f)     Participant in the capital market

(g)  Problem  of Nigeria stock  exchange in the capital  market operations

 

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

A case study of Nigeria, the contribution of stock  exchange  in the banking  sector and in economic  well being of the general public.

          In a nutshell, the stock exchange aims to provide an atmosphere where buyer and sellers of securities meet to buy and sells shares (securities)

          The importance of stock exchange  cannot  be over emphasized  in the banking  sector and even it performs prominent roles in Nigeria  economy at large. In developing our economy  in Nigeria in Banking sector, with  stock exchange  had came into being so as to perform this active part in  banking  and Nigeria  as well, in view of the above, the stock exchange  market aimed at motivating and encourage the Investor, Brokers as well  as the general public  to have improvement in their aims of buying and selling securities, through  proper usage of the instrument  used in the stock exchange market.          

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE;    The Role Of Stock Exchange In The Development Of Capital Market (A Case Study Of Nigeria Stock Exchange)

PROBLEMS OF EDUCATING AND TRAINING LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCES STUDENTS

 

PROBLEMS OF EDUCATING AND TRAINING LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCES STUDENTS

 

 

Library and information science (LIS) training and education play a significant role in the production of high quality LIS students who occupy a unique position in national development. LIS students are gatekeepers and brokers of information which is essential for knowledge acquisition, decision-making and national development. The success of library, archives and information centre? in effectively meeting their obligation of information provision is hinged, in part, on the development of skilled manpower.
Trained personnel, according to Korsah (1996) are a key requirement in library and information work. In this respect, LIS education plays a vital role (Edegbo, 2011). Although early LIS students, particularly librarians did not undergo any formal training (Wikipedia, nd.), the modern day challenges of library and information work require that personnel should be well-trained and educated to make for effectiveness.

Melvin Dewey, the famous proponent of the Dewey Decimal Classification System was said to have established the first library school in the United States in 1887 at Columbia University (Wikipedia, n.d.). In Europe, the library School established in Barcelona in 1915 is reputed to be the oldest library school in that continent. Many other library schools were said to have been established during the Second World War. In Africa, however, South Africa is credited with the longest history of LIS in the continent dating from 1938 (Ocholla, 2007).

In West Africa, the earliest formal training in librarianship consisted of short courses organized by practicing librarians and these were aimed solely at preparing the participants for the British Library Association examinations (Ojo-Igbinoba, 1995) which then constituted the only gateway for aspiring librarians (Aguolu and Aguolu, 2002). One of such courses took place in Achimota College, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1944 and it drew participants from various West African countries including Nigeria. This appears to be the earliest evidence of the strong historical link between Ghana and Nigeria in the education and training of LIS students. Hence this study tends to study the challenges in the training and education of library and information science students.

 

 

ABSTRACT
The study of the challenges in the training and education of library and information science students is psychological. It is against this that the researcher sees the subject matter worthy of investigation to examine how the challenges pose a threat on the effective training of students of library and information science.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE: Problems Of Educating And Training Library And Information Sciences Students In Nigeria (A Case Study Of The University Of Calabar)

IMPACT OF IFRS DISCLOSURES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

 

IMPACT OF IFRS DISCLOSURES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

 

 

 

As the business world becomes closer in its financial and trade ties, many countries are moving towards International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), common accounting rules that define how transactions should be reported and what information should be disclosed in financial statements (IASB, 2007). This unitary set of standards has solved many problems while creating others. However, this study is examining the impact of IFRS disclosures on the organizational performance.

It is important to look at the big picture and the overarching aim of IFRS. In an increasingly global market place, international comparability is critical to enable the effective allocation of scarce resources. To achieve international comparability the key nations around the world need to commit to one global set of accounting standards.  While over 100 countries have already adopted IFRS, key countries like the United States, Japan and India are yet to require IFRS for listed companies (Bradshaw et al, 2012).

It is important to note that companies that use the same standards to prepare their financial statements can be compared to each other more accurately. This is especially important when comparing companies located in different countries, as they might otherwise be using different rules and methodologies to prepare their statements. This increase in comparability has helped investors better determine where their investment dollars should go thereby enhancing organizational performance as there will be more investors to invest in the company. Though, the United States has not yet adopted International Financial Reporting Standards and other countries continue to hold out as well (Bradshaw et al, 2012). This makes accounting by foreign-based companies that do business in America difficult as they often have to prepare financial statements using IFRS and another set using American Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Bradshaw et al, 2012).

IFRS disclosures use a principles-based, rather than rules-based, philosophy. A principles-based philosophy means that the goal of each standard is to arrive at a reasonable valuation and that there are many ways to get there. This gives companies the freedom to adapt IFRS disclosures to their particular situation, which leads to more easily read and useful statements. There is a downside to the flexibility that IFRS disclosure allows organizations to utilize only the methods they wish to, allowing the financial statements to show only desired results. This can lead to revenue or profit manipulation, can be used to hide financial problems in the company and can even encourage fraud. For example, changing the method of inventory valuation can bring more income into the current year's profit and loss statement, making the company appear more profitable than it really is. While IFRS requires that changes to the application of the rules must be justifiable, it is often possible for companies to "invent" reasons for making the changes. Stricter rules would ensure that all companies are valuing their statements the same way.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE: Impact Of IFRS Disclosures On Organizational Performance

 

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF BOKO HARAM

The magnitude of terror disasters over the years shows that terrorism and insecurity is a global problem that requires immediate attention.

          The response was a fight against such defined groups that perpetrate oppressive, violent and murderous act on the general populate. Islamic radicalism is fingered as responsible for the attacks and seen as a threat to peace, security and prosperity of global community (Faith, 2013). The world view about insecurity and terrorism was shattered by September 11, 2001 attack and the subsequent declaration of “War against Terror” by the US; the issue of terrorism was pursued to the forefront of international political discourse.

          Nigeria in recent times has witnessed an unpresented level of insecurity. This made national security threat to be a major issue for the government and this has prompted huge allocation of national budget to security. In order to ameliorate the incident of crime, the federal government has embarked on the criminalization of terrorism and other related matter by passing the anti terrorism Act in 2011, with the lingering security challenge and the inability of the security apparatus of the government to guarantee safety and the security country, peace and security of the nation will be in jeopardy if not checked. Adugu (2012) and Alufera (2011) are of the view that the effort of the government has not yielded enough positive result in the fight against insecurity. With the recent happening, the government has double its effort towards the fight and the result has been positive.

          Book Haram as a terror group has behind a lot of attacks in Nigeria. from onset, the attacks have been on government properties, institutions and agencies. Book Haram activities emerged from mere attacks on government institution, agencies to seceding of parts of north east Nigeria and declaring it an Islamic caliphate. This led to the government to declared state of emergency in north east states particularly Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa states to curb their activities and to exterminate Boko Haram insurgency.

 

ABSTRACT

This study was embarked upon to ascertain the threat of Boko Haram insurgency to the peace and stability of Nigeria. Boko Haram has committed a lot of atrocities particularly to the north eastern part of Nigeria. So many lives have been lost and properties worth millions of naira destroyed. The fight against Boko Haram insurgency by government has taken different dimensions ranging from declaration of state of emergency in the most affected state, forming of civilian joint task force along with military men to tackle book Haram. This effort by the government has been yielding positive results in the fight against insurgency. Book Haram threatens the peace, stability and the nationhood of Nigeria by ceding part and declaring it a caliphate. This declaration prompted the government to move in with full in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. The study cover north eastern part of Nigeria which has been the focal point of Boko Haram activities. This study adopts the survey method. Data was collected using the questionnaire and analysed with Pearson Product Movement Correlation (PPMC). It was found that Boko Haram has a positive relationship with poverty and illiteracy. Also the threat pose by Boko Haram to the peace and stability of Nigeria is significant. Bases of these findings, it is recommended that the government should continue its onslaught against Boko Haram, sponsors and sources of funding of Boko Haram should be traced within a view to bringing the culprit to book. Government should adopt an effective measure to ensure local police force and home security guard. This arrangement must evolve from the local communities, believing that every village or town is secured, the nation in turn be secured.

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE: Empirical Analysis Of The Activities Of Boko Haram In The Northeastern Part Of Nigeria

 

PRODUCTION OF MOSQUITOES REPELLANTS INSECTICIDES USING ORANGE PEELS

 PRODUCTION OF MOSQUITOES REPELLANTS INSECTICIDES USING ORANGE PEELS

          Insecticide is a substance or a mixture of substances used for killing insects[1]. It is well known fact that many protozoal bacteria diseases are transmitted from man to man by insects. One may combat these diseases not only by means of prohylactic drugs but also by the destruction of the insects carriers.

          Insecticide is a chemical compound that is lethally toxic to insects either by ingestion or by body contact. It is applied to vegetation, crops and insect breeding areas either as liquid spray or as dry powder[2].

          They are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the increase in agricultural productivity in 20^th century.

          Nearly, all insecticides have the potential to significantly after ecosystem, many are toxic to human and others are concentrated in food chain. It is necessary to balance agricultural needs with environmental and health issues when using insecticides. It is crucially important that all the rural areas in Nigeria are being educated on the need to eradicate insects especially mosquitoes that might breed around the environment and transmit malaria to people living within the enclave.

          Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the home being with restricting the availability of insects of three vital commodities; shelter, water and food. If insects become a problem despite such measures, IPM seeks to control them using the safest possible methods targeting the approach to the particular pest[1].

          Years now, efforts are geared towards controlling malaria infestation both in urban and rural areas. A lot of measures are being taken to reduce the number of death as a result of malaria.

          We hear now and then that numbers being quoted by the analyst that died of malaria attack. Thus, free mosquitoes treated nets are always distributed to families and individuals all in a bid to reduce malaria attack from mosquito bite.

          In the light of this, it is necessary to study God-given substances in this case, plant that has embedded substances that will help man combat mosquitoes or at least reduce infestation to the barest minimum.

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY/WORK

The purpose of this work is to produce mosquito repellants using orange peels (cestrum) wastes perse, which will save the cost of production and purchase, thereby increasing its availability especially in the rural areas. If the work is successful, production of mosquitoes repellants using orange peels will provide source of employment to our teaming youths and also make mosquito repellant within the reach of everybody, thereby reducing the number of death due to malaria caused by mosquito bite.

1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Orange peels (cestrum) will be prepared and used for the production of mosquito coil, which ignited, will repel mosquitoes within the limit of the smoke. The produced coil will be tested for the effectiveness performance. Cost analysis should also be taken to know weather mass production will be more effective or not.

1. LITERATURE REVIEWHISTORY ASPECT OF MOSQUITO REPELLENT

Traditionally, various types of substances have been used to repel mosquitoes. These include such things as smoke, plant extracts, oil, tars, muds, etc.

As insects repellants technology became more sophisticated, individual compounds were discovered and isolated. This allows the formulation of new and more efficient forms of mosquito repellants.

The first truly effective active ingredient used in mosquito repellants was citronella oil[3]. This material is a herbal extract derived from the citronella plant, an Asian grass. While citronella has been used for centuries for medical purposes, its repellence was only accidentally discovered in 1901, when it was used as a hairdressing fragrance. Since citronella oil is a fragrant material, it is thought that the chemical terpenes of which it is composed are responsible for its repellant activity.

Citronella oil does repel mosquitoes, but it has certain characteristics which limit its effectiveness. For example, it is very volatile and evaporates so quickly from the surface to which it is applied. Also, large amount are needed to be effective. The disadvantages of using citronella oil prompted researchers to study alternative synthetic compounds many of the early attempt at creating synthetic insect repellants were initiated by the Unites State military. Out of this research, the discovery of the repellant dimethylphthalate in 1929. This material showed a good level of effectiveness against certain insect species, but it was ineffective against others. Indalone was found to repel insect in 1937 and Rutgers 6₁₂ (2-ethyl-1,3-hexane diol) was synthesized soon after. Like dimethylpthalate, these materials had certain limitations which prevented their widespread use[3].

Since none of the available materials were ideal repellents, research into new synthetic materials continued. In 1955, scientists synthesized DEET (n-n-diethyl-netatoluamide) currently the most widely used active ingredient for mosquito repellents.

After its discovery, repellent manufacturers developed many different forms in which to deliver DEET, such as creams, lotions and aerosols[4].

1. CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTICIDE

Insecticides are usually classified into the following three classes.

STOMACH OR INTERNAL INSECTICIDES

          These insecticides which are taken up by the insects are called stomach poisons or insecticides. Example, Boric acid.

CONTACT OR EXTERNAL INSECTICIDES

          These insecticides destroy the insect simply by external bodily contact. Example Rotenone.

FUMIGANTS

          These insecticides act on the insects through the respiratory system. Example hydrogen cyanide, carbon disulphide, nicotine, p-dichlorobenzene, etc. [5].

          Insecticides may be applied as a spray, liquid or in suspension, as a dust or as a gas.

1. CHEMICAL INSECTICIDES MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS INORGANIC, NATURAL AND ORGANIC INSECTICIDES.

INORGANIC INSECTICIDES

          Before world war II nearly all the insecticides were inorganic compounds of which arsenic, fluorine, sulphur and cyanide compounds were the most important. In recent years, inorganic insecticides have been greatly displaced by organic compounds in many applications.

          The major disadvantage of inorganic insecticides is their comparable toxicity to man and other warm blooded animals. Upon handling and so as residues on food products[6].

SOME INORGANIC INSECTICIDES ARE;

• Lead Arsenate
• Calcium Arsenate
• Paris green
• Flourine compounds
• Sulphur and sulphur compounds
• Hydrocyanide acid[6]

NATURAL OR PLANT INSECTICIDES

          Plant materials yield some of the most widely used insecticides and many of them are being supplemented by the synthetic organic insecticides. The roots stem, leaves or flowers may be finely grounded and used as such or active parts may be extracted and used either alone or with other toxicants and auxiliary materials.

SOME NATURAL INSECTICIDES ARE

• Nicotine
• Rotenone
• Allethrin
• Pyrethrins[6]

ORGANIC INSECTICIDES

        A typical organic insecticide is DDT (Dichlor-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane) with IUPAC name 4,4-(2,2,2-trichloroethane-1,1-diyl)bis chlorobenzene.        

ABSTRACT
Mosquito repellents are substances that can be used to repel mosquitoes which is a vector that transmits malaria. A typical example of a mosquito repellent is mosquito coil which drives away mosquito when it is ignited. The smoke that is emitted from burning a mosquito coil contains active ingredients used to prevent mosquito from biting particularly during the hour of sleep having been designed to burn for hours. These active ingredients have known to act as repellent agent which cause a distasteful environment for the mosquito and act as agents of immobilization which disturbs the food searching mechanism of the mosquito. Orange peels (Cestrum) contains oil known as Limonene oil which has a  lethal effect on mosquitoes and some other insects. It can be used as active ingredient to produce mosquito coil, which when ignited, will repel mosquitoes within the limits of the smoke.

EDITOR SOURCE: Production Of Mosquito Repellents Insecticides (Mosquito Coil) Using Orange Peels (Cestrum)

 

THE EFFECT OF CARD READERS ON ELECTION CREDIBILITY

 

THE EFFECT OF CARD READERS ON ELECTION CREDIBILITY

 

The use of card readers at the 2015 general election in Nigeria has infused some level of transparency and credibility into Nigeria's electoral process (Okonji, 2015). It was observed that when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) first announced its plan to introduce card reader machine for the March 28 and April 11 2015 general elections, many Nigerians, especially politicians, vehemently opposed to it. They felt the country has not developed to a level where such technology can be employed for elections. Besides, they felt the uses of card reader would disrupt the entire electoral processes.

The public outcry that greeted the planned introduction of card reader machines was enough to discourage INEC from introducing it. However, because of   INEC confidence in the efficacy of modern technologies in achieving quick results, coupled with its vision to transform the country's electoral process from its old norms that was characterized by ballot box snatching and multiplicity of ballot tomb-printing, INEC went ahead and introduced the technology against all odds (Vanguard, 2015). However, many technology experts in Nigeria and outside, who monitored the elections are full of praises for INEC for insisting on the use of card reader machines, saying it is the best thing that has ever happened to the Nigerian electoral process in the area of election transparency. They have called on the electoral umpire to introduce card reader machines in subsequent elections, believing it is a sure way to achieve transparency and credibility in every election.

Election is the process of choosing a candidate for public office. Election is a critical component of any democratic society. As such, Nigeria’s returned to democratic rule and engagement with the democratic process led to the conduct of its general elections in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. General elections are elections conducted in the federation at large for federal and state elective positions (The Electoral Institute, 2015). The 2015 presidential election appears to be the most keenly contested in the history of elections in Nigeria because it was the first time about four major opposition parties came together to form a very strong party, All Progressive Congress (APC) in order to challenge the dominance of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the polity. Indeed, according to Omotola (2013), the election became the only game in town, shaping and reshaping public discourse and political actions.

Prior to the 2015 general elections, a number of technologically based reforms (e.g. biometric Register of Voters, Advanced Fingerprints Identification System) were embarked upon by the new leadership (headed by Prof Attairu Jega) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the election management body empowered by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to organize, undertake and supervise all elections in Nigeria.

However, despite the confidence of INEC in the use of card reader in the 2015 general elections, the machines came with some challenges, even though the elections have been widely adjudged as being successful. For instance, during the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections across the country, the card readers malfunctioned in several polling units, a situation that caused undue delay in the accreditation process. It, however, worked perfectly in other polling units. The challenges ranged from rejection of permanent voter's card (PVC) by the card readers, inability to capture the biometrics from finger tips, to irregular capturing and fast battery drainage. INEC officials have to abandon their polling units and took the card readers back to their office for proper configuration. In order to salvage the situation, which was almost becoming frustrating, INEC ordered the use of manual process for accreditation, But before the order could go round the states and local government areas, it was already late to conduct accreditation and actual voting in some areas, a situation that forced INEC to extend the exercise to the next day in all affected areas.

Concerned about the massive electoral fraud witnessed in the past general elections in Nigeria, INEC deployment of the card reader in 2015 general elections was to ensure a credible, transparent, free and fair election in order to deepen Nigeria’s electoral democracy. However, the used of the electronic device in the 2015 general elections generated debate among election stakeholders before, during and after the elections.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The 2015 presidential election was the closest electoral contest since the country’s post-1999 transition to multi-party democracy (International Republican Institute, 2015). The election is the most politically engaged in the history of electoral democracy in Nigeria. Huge resources were used for the elections including 120 billion naira expended by INEC, 750,000 ad-hoc election staff with over 360,000 security personnel including the use of card readers to ensure credibility and transparency. The presidential election was contested by fourteen candidates from different political parties. However, the candidates of the PDP (Dr Goodluck Jonathan) and APC (General Muhammadu Buhari) were the major contenders in the election. However, the researcher is out to examine the effect of card readers on the election credibility in Nigeria.

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of this study:

1.  To examine the effect of card readers on the election credibility in Nigeria.

2.  To examine the reliability of the card reader during the electoral process.

3.  To identify the limitations in the use of the card reader for elections in Nigeria.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.  What is the effect of card readers on the election credibility in Nigeria?

2.  What is the reliability of the card reader during the electoral process?

3.  What are the limitations in the use of the card reader for elections in Nigeria?

1.5   HYPOTHESIS

HO: There is no significant relationship between card readers and 2015 presidential election credibility in Nigeria

HA: There is significant relationship between card readers and 2015 presidential election credibility in Nigeria

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The following are the significance of this study:

1.  The outcome of this study will educate the general public on the benefits of the use of card reader for elections.

2.  This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.

1.7   SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study on the effect of card readers on the election credibility in Nigeria will cover the processes involved in the conduct of 2015 presidential election with special focus on the influence of the card reader on the outcome of the election.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

 Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

 

ABSTRACT:        

The real issue in the 2015, presidential election bore down to the use of the card reader machine, as a novel to the electoral System in Nigeria. The card reader was a critical component that distinguished the 2015 presidential election from other presidential elections so far conducted in Nigeria. It was the first time in the history of Nigeria that card reader was used in the electoral process and it remains one of the greatest technological device setup to authenticate and verify electorates. The permanent voter card (PVC) issued by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was verified with the aforementioned machine to ensure credibility and authenticity, transparency, and free and fair election in order to deepen democracy in Nigeria. Meanwhile, one of the unsolved puzzles in the last general election was the failure of card readers in some pulling units to capture the biometric data of some electorates. The objective of the study: to examine the effect of card readers on the election credibility; ascertain the reliability of card readers during the electoral process; look at the debate on the legality or illegality of card readers and identify the challenges inherent in the use of card readers. The method adopted was constant undertaking of trips to relevant offices for data collection and through internet. The design was ex-post facto design and data collected were analyzed through expository mechanism using data reduction, display and conclusion. The study use Decision Making Theory as the Theoretical Framework to establish the relationship existing among the variables. Findings: the essence of card reader was to enhance hitch free election; minimize electoral malpractice and improve Nigeria electoral system. Base on our findings, we recommend for massive enlightenment and sensitization of the public; extensive and intensive training of man power personnel and dealing with the irregularities identified during the last general election such as rejection of finger tips and fast battery drainage among others.

 

 

 

EDITOR SOURCE: The Effect Of Card Readers On Election Credibility (A Case Study Of 2015 Presidential Election In Nigeria)