Corruption and Economic Growth in Nigeria: 1986 -2007

Abstract The World Bank (2000) asserts that corruption is the single greatest impediment to economic growth in third world countries. This study was set out to investigate the impact of corruption on economic growth in Nigeria from 1986 to 2007. A Barro-type endogenous growth model was adopted and reconditioned to suit the purpose of the paper. The Engle-Granger (1987) cointegration and error correction mechanism (ECM) techniques were employed to unit root properties of the variables, their long run relationship and to determine values of long run parameters. The results show that corruption exerts significant direct effect on economic growth and indirectly via some critical variables examined by the paper which include Government Capital Expenditure, Human Capital Development and Total employment. The paper discovers that about 20% of the increase in government capital expenditure ends up in private pockets. It is, therefore, recommended that the government should consolidate on its efforts to fight corruption to a standstill in the country.corruption; economic growth; cointegration

Women’s perceptions and reflections of male partners and couple dynamics in family planning adoption in selected urban slums in Nigeria: a qualitative exploration

BACKGROUND: Nigeria is one of the countries where significant progress has not been recorded in contraceptive uptake despite decades of family planning programs while there are indications that slum dwellers may differ significantly from other urban dwellers in their sexual and reproductive behavior, including family planning uptake. This study therefore examined local notions regarding male partners’ involvement in family planning (FP) adoption by women in two selected urban slums areas in Nigeria – Ibadan (Southwest region) and Kaduna (Northwest region). Specifically, the study investigated women’s narratives about FP, perceived barriers from male partners regarding FP adoption by the women and how women negotiate male partners' cooperation for FP use. METHODS: Sixteen FGD sessions were conducted with selected groups of men and women, stratified by sex, age group, and FP experience using a vignette to generate discussions. Sessions were facilitated by experienced social scientists and audio-taped, with note-taker also present. The transcribed data were analyzed with Atlas.ti software version 7. Inductive approach was employed to analyze the data. Reasons given for FP attitudes and use are presented in a network format while critical discourse analysis was also used in generating relevant tables. RESULTS: The finding shows that women in the selected communities expressed desire for FP adoption. Three main reasons largely accounted for the desire to use FP: perceived need to space childbirth, family’s financial condition and the potential adverse effect of high fertility on the woman’s health. Male partners’ support for the use of FP by women was perceived to be low, which is due to misconceptions about FP and traditional pro-natalistic beliefs and tendencies. Mechanisms by which women negotiate their male-partner’s cooperation for FP adoption include seeking the support of the partner’s significant others and advice from older women. CONCLUSION: To significantly improve family planning adoption rates among urban slum dwellers in Nigeria, there is the need to specifically and specially target men alongside their female partners as well as other stakeholders who have significant influences at family and community level. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-869) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Control of rotorcraft retreating blade stall using air-jet vortex generators

A series of low-speed wind tunnel tests were carried out on an oscillating airfoil fitted with two rows of air-jet vortex generators (AJVGs). The airfoil used had an RAE 9645 section and the two spanwise arrays of AJVGs were located at x/c=0.12 and 0.62. The devices and their distribution were chosen to assess their ability to modify/control dynamic stall; the goal being to enhance the aerodynamic performance of helicopter rotors on the retreating blade side of the disc. The model was pitched about the quarter chord with a reduced frequency (k) of 0.1 in a sinusoidal motion defined by a=15o+10sin_ t. The measured data indicate that, for continuous blowing from the front row of AJVGs with a momentum blowing coefficient (C μ) greater than 0.008, modifications to the stalling process are encouraging. In particular, the pitching moment behavior exhibits delayed stall and there is a marked reduction in the normal force hysteresis

Developing and applying supertree methods in Phylogenomics and Macroevolution

Supertrees can be used to combine partially overalapping trees and generate more inclusive phylogenies. It has been proposed that Maximum Likelihood (ML) supertrees method (SM) could be developed using an exponential probability distribution to model errors in the input trees (given a proposed supertree). When the tree-­‐to-­‐tree distances used in the ML computation are symmetric differences, the ML SM has been shown to be equivalent to a Majority-­‐Rule consensus SM, and hence, exactly as the latter, it has the desirable property of being a median tree (with reference to the set of input trees). The ability to estimate the likelihood of supertrees, allows implementing Bayesian (MCMC) approaches, which have the advantage to allow the support for the clades in a supertree to be properly estimated. I present here the L.U.St software package; it contains the first implementation of a ML SM and allows for the first time statistical tests on supertrees. I also characterized the first implementation of the Bayesian (MCMC) SM. Both the ML and the Bayesian (MCMC) SMs have been tested for and found to be immune to biases. The Bayesian (MCMC) SM is applied to the reanalyses of a variety of datasets (i.e. the datasets for the Metazoa and the Carnivora), and I have also recovered the first Bayesian supertree-­‐based phylogeny of the Eubacteria and the Archaebacteria. These new SMs are discussed, with reference to other, well-­‐ known SMs like Matrix Representation with Parsimony. Both the ML and Bayesian SM offer multiple attractive advantages over current alternatives

EVALUATING CLIMATE MIGRATION THROUGH DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK AND “EL PROGRESO” COMMUNITY BLOG

ABSTRACT Environmental changes are driven by global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice, and increased natural disasters which directly affect the living conditions of huma thereby driving migration. This study highlights the inadequacies of current migration management policies as the United States is seeing a significant influx of migrants from Central America. The focus of this discourse analysis is on the role of inadequate policies and the failure of international efforts like the Paris Climate Agreement in addressing the issue of climate-induced migration effectively. Despite the goals set by such international agreements to mitigate the effects of climate change and limit global warming, the El Progreso Blog post exposes the effect of climate change and how it causes forced displacement with thousands displaced annually from Honduras. Qualitative analysis was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Paris Climate Agreement and other related policies in managing climate migration with the lens of the Environmental Migration Theory and the Political Ecology Theory. Focusing on Honduras, the research scrutinizes the impact of these international policies on Central American migration patterns, assessing their success and shortcomings. The findings underscore the glaring omission of Climate migrants and migration in the Paris Agreement, and this speaks to the non-recognition of climate migrants as refugees. It is therefore important to have comprehensive policy reform to better manage climate-induced migration. Conclusively, the study adds to the much needed academic discourse on climate migration, providing detailed insights into policy failures and recommending improvements. It aims to foster international cooperation among policymakers and stakeholders involved in migration management and robust policy frameworks to tackle the increasing challenges of climate-induced migration effectively

United Nations’ Concept of Justice and Fairness in The Context of Islamic Principles: A Reflection

Perhaps the inability of the United Nations to manage some international conflicts successfully coupled with its passivity on matters that involve some powerful nations on may be responsible for its criticism by some analysts. These critics, in turn, may not have considered holistically, the UN  programmes which have recorded successes in conflict intervention. They thus doubt the ability and sincerity of the UN to do justice and fairness in its conflict intervention programmes. Thus, in this write-up an attempt is made to reflect critically the United Nations. concept of justice and fairness in the context of Islamic principles. This is achieved using as a case study, the UN interventions in some African and Middle-Eastern conflicts.Keywords: Justice, fairness, Islamic principles, United Nations, Conflict Interventio

Developing and applying supertree methods in Phylogenomics and Macroevolution

Supertrees can be used to combine partially overalapping trees and generate more inclusive phylogenies. It has been proposed that Maximum Likelihood (ML) supertrees method (SM) could be developed using an exponential probability distribution to model errors in the input trees (given a proposed supertree). When the tree-­‐to-­‐tree distances used in the ML computation are symmetric differences, the ML SM has been shown to be equivalent to a Majority-­‐Rule consensus SM, and hence, exactly as the latter, it has the desirable property of being a median tree (with reference to the set of input trees). The ability to estimate the likelihood of supertrees, allows implementing Bayesian (MCMC) approaches, which have the advantage to allow the support for the clades in a supertree to be properly estimated. I present here the L.U.St software package; it contains the first implementation of a ML SM and allows for the first time statistical tests on supertrees. I also characterized the first implementation of the Bayesian (MCMC) SM. Both the ML and the Bayesian (MCMC) SMs have been tested for and found to be immune to biases. The Bayesian (MCMC) SM is applied to the reanalyses of a variety of datasets (i.e. the datasets for the Metazoa and the Carnivora), and I have also recovered the first Bayesian supertree-­‐based phylogeny of the Eubacteria and the Archaebacteria. These new SMs are discussed, with reference to other, well-­‐ known SMs like Matrix Representation with Parsimony. Both the ML and Bayesian SM offer multiple attractive advantages over current alternatives