Purchase Decisions in Urban Homes among Middle Aged Consumers with Grown Children in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The study evaluated purchase decisions in urban homes among middle aged consumers with grown children in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The objectives were to evaluate the level of participation of children in family purchases and identify the factors that contributed to children purchase participation. There averagely four children per household. The various products purchased by households for investigation were foodstuff, household items, automobile, and accommodation. The factors responsible for children participation in purchases were leisure time (81.13%), age (71.96%), gender (63.09%), family income (60.65%), class of commodity (54.18%), education of children (64.67%) as well as stage of life of children (66.03%). Despite children participation in purchase decision, the result revealed that most purchases for home makersrsquo responsibility were done by female children while the most of investment related purchases and high involving purchases were carried out by male children.nbsp Upon the significance of children in household purchase decision, the result still portends that a limit exists into the level of participation because some products are user sensitive and thus purchase sensitive. Lastly, the study also points to the fact that a limit exists to the level of participation of children in high involving purchases. Criteria that may step up children (male) in involving purchases may be by way of supervisory role as it is expected in building construction through input use supervision and intermittent purchases

Counselling Therapy and Determinants of Organizational Performance

A holistic integrative and synergistic performance model is defined by inter-firm variables represented as economic rates of returns for both economic and organizational factors. These are used to examine performance variance and their economic contribution to firm probability. An extensive literature review has been conducted to discover the commonality of underlying constructs and themes within the research stream on organizational performance. An analysis of the data suggests that there exists a set of common variables to explain organizational performance variance. Organizational factors explain almost twice as much variance in profit rates as to economic factor. Counselling therapy is admired as an aspect of technicality used for treating economic mishaps. It was counseling therapy that proposes a systemic framework on which to partition the economic contribution of these interdependent factors of organizational performance. Through counselling therapy the strategic management research stream would be identified to discover underlying constructs that frame performance model of the organizational and economic determinants. Keywords: Organisational behavior, counseling, organizational performanc

Integrated solutions for urban sustainability in Lagos, Nigeria: enhancing housing accessibility and transportation efficiency

In this paper, we focus on the sustainability of housing and transport in Lagos, Nigeria. The study's goal is to give a complete assessment of Lagos' existing housing condition and to identify urban priority areas that need immediate intervention. The paper also suggests building large public housing developments that do not become exclusive estates for the wealthy, as well as implementing flexible layout plans that prioritise locations above automotive traffic and movement. According to the research, the Lagos metropolis government should address transport concerns immediately and then address other sustainability challenges affecting the city. The paper suggests that geographic information systems and remote sensing technology be used to track rapidly increasing areas and aid in better policy decisions, spatial planning, land management, and infrastructure development. The paper also recommends the development of integrated, pedestrian-friendly mass transit networks, as well as a shift in social and cultural values to emphasise the benefits of non-motorized modes of transportation. Finally, the report emphasises the importance of policies that promote multi-story residential construction, participatory slum upgrading initiatives, mortgage-based homeownership plans, site and service programmes, private sector estate development, and phased urban neighbourhood regeneration. Future work will include analysing the implications of other SDGs relating to sustainable cities

Physicochemical Analysis of a Soil near Microbiology Laboratory at The University of Ilorin, Main Campus

In this study the physico-chemical analysis of a soil near microbiology laboratory at the University of Ilorin, main campus was carried out. The objectives of the study were to determine the soil parameters such as pH, moisture content, organic matter content, water holding capacity, temperature and soil texture in consideration of the soil’s suitability for microbial growth and plant development. Six soil samples were collected with interval of two weeks between two samples. pH range value was 7.10 to 7.82, the range of water holding capacity was from 0.28 ml per gram to 0.53 ml per gram of soil. The organic matter content of the soil samples ranged from 3.42% to 4.70%. The moisture content was discovered to range from 2.10% to 5.23%. The texture was discovered to be loamy sand with average composition of 89% sand, 7% silt and 4% clay. Keywords: soil texture, Organic Matter Content, Water Holding Capacity, Moisture content, Sand, Silt, Cla

BACTERIAL QUALITY AND CYTOTOXICITY SCREENING OF FRESH VEGETABLES IRRIGATED WITH POLLUTED WATERS

The mutagenic effects of raw vegetables irrigated with polluted water and their bacterial quality were studied. Two vegetables, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and fluted pumpkin (Telfaria occidentalis) were planted in sterile soil and irrigated with sewage-polluted stream, rain, tap and well waters, and harvested. The presence of pathogenic bacteria on the vegetable leaf surfaces was determined. The Allium cepa assay was then used to evaluate the genetic and acute effects of the vegetable leaf extracts. The heavy metal concentrations of the vegetables were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Pathogenic bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella paratyphii, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Aeromonas hydrophila and Enterobacter aerogenes. In A. cepa assay, none of the treatments induced chromosome aberration at the tested concentrations, but retardation of growth and suppression of mitotic activity occurred. The concentrations of heavy metals in the vegetables were lead (0.261-0.531mg/kg), zinc (0.142-1.618mg/kg), cadmium (0.00-0.13mg/kg), copper (0.021-0.057mg/kg), iron (0.711-1.122mg/kg) and chromium (0.00-0.14mg/kg). This study shows that irrigation waters could have effects on the quality of edible vegetables.Â

Staff Performance Management in the Nigerian Banking Industry: Focusing onEmployees’ Appraisal System

2014 dissertation for MA in International Human Resources Management. Selected by academic staff as a good example of a masters level dissertation.The study is based on employee performance management in the Nigerian banking industry, especially focusing on performance appraisal. The main objective of the research is to review the process of performance appraisal in Nigerian banks. Through the finding, it was revealed that performance management and appraisal is perceived as a process of significant importance but it is coordinated for its evaluative form rather than its purpose for promotion of organisational growth and development through feedback, training, coaching and counselling.The design of the research was qualitative and a bit of quantitative and the questionnaire contained both open and close ended questions which were used in gathering the primary information. The investigation technique was applied for bank employees in Abeokuta Ogun state which includes; subordinates (bank officers, cashier, marketers), managers (branch managers, operations manager or head of operation), and also bank HR consultants. One hundred and eighty (120) questionnaires were administered to all intended participants and a relatively high response rate of 83.3% was obtained.The crucial findings showed that participation of bankers in Nigeria in performance management and appraisal is relatively high and, it was revealed that subordinate employees most times feel managers are usually not objective because their superiors maintain a warm relationship which can render the appraisal a bit partial or probably boost performance of employees. At the end of the research, suggestions were made on how performance management and appraisal could be more effective and beneficial to both employees and the organisation as whole

Host Suitability of Crops under Yam Intercrop to Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne incognita Race 2) in South-Western Nigeria

Twelve crops commonly grown in association with yam in South-Western Nigeria were evaluated for resistance to root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White 1919) Chitwood 1949, race 2 infection using the quantitative modification by Sasser et al. (1984) of host suitability designations of Canto-Saenz (1983) for plants infected with root-knot nematode in 1998 and 1999 planting seasons. Observations, based on gall indices and recovery of the juvenile larvae from the roots and soil indicated that Abelmoschus esculentus, Corchorus olitoris cv Angbadu and Sphenostylis stenocarpa cv Nsukka Brown were highly susceptible, while Arachis hypogaea cv UGA 4, Cajanus cajan cv Cita-2, Cucumis melo cv Bara To139, Manihot esculenta cv TMS 30572, Sorghum bicolor and Zea mays cv DMR-LSR-Y were hyper-susceptible to Meloidogyne incognita race 2 with reproductive factor and gall index of ≤1 and ≥2 respectively. Crotalaria juncea, Mucuna cochinchinensis and Stylosanthes gracilis were resistant to Meloidogyne incognita race 2 with reproductive factor and gall index of ≤1, ≤2 and ≥2 respectively. These intercrops if planted on yam mounds will play a prominent role in altering the populations of root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita race 2

Normal Aerobic Vaginal Bacterial Flora of The African Giant Rats (AGR) Captured from Their Natural Habitat in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

The genital tract of female animals, especially the caudal region, is known to habour non specific bacteria that are sometimes called the normal bacterial flora. In this study, we examined 12 apparently healthy female African giant rats (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse) (AGR) to determine their vaginal bacterial flora. Swab collected from the vagina of each rat after previous chloroform anaesthesia was seeded onto blood and MacConkey agar plates and incubated aerobically at 370C for up to 48hours. Isolates were then characterized using various character parameters. The results indicated that 7 bacterial genera inhabit the vagina of the 12 African giant rats that were studied. The distribution of the bacteria species in the AGR were highlighted in the text. It is inferred from the results that under stress condition, these bacteria could cause disease in the African giant rats