Democracy, political participation and good governance in Nigeria

The practice of democracy in Nigeria over a decade ago has not yielded much needed good governance. This is because democracy is practiced in such a way that responsible and competent people are scared away. Scholars and keen observers have attempted at unraveling the factors militating against translating democracy into good governance. The paper revealed that democratisation in Nigeria is pervaded by electoral violence, manipulation of election results and political participation constraints. These identified challenges have made it impossible to attain consolidated democracy that can, in turn, facilitate good governance. Democracy is a catalyst for accountability, transparency and responsive government which brings about good governance. The paper insisted that governance collapse in Nigeria is reflexive of the perfunctory role of the political actors and it adopted elite theory to reinforce this argument. The paper adopted content analysis as a means of data gathering. It dwelt extensively on the synergy between democracy, political participation and good governance but queried the artificial gulf between them in Nigeria. It concluded by putting forth viable and pragmatic way forward

Tunable morphological properties of silver enriched platinum allied nanoparticles and their catalysed reduction of p-nitrophenol

A robust polymer based and polyol mediated procedure to synthesize nanobimetallic particles has been modified to produce core–shell and alloy Ag/Pt nanoparticles with tunable properties. Novel three-dimensional (3D) quasi nanocubes entangled in nanowebs were produced by rapid solution phase transformation with hot addition of absolute ethanol. The optical characterization showed extinction of plasmon resonance band occurring with incremental feeding ratio of Pt source in all cases. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images revealed that the shape, size and size distribution of asprepared silver platinum nanoparticles depended on the stabilizer or capping agent, mole ratio of metal ion sources, temperature and time of reaction. Meanwhile, catalytic activity was highest in the reduction of p-nitrophenol in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone/diethylene glycol stabilized Ag/Pt nanoparticles

The Designers’ Task, Dynamics and Integration of Solar Energy in Buildings

Architectural design studio project experience result in a charade of events that take place within and outside the intellectual domains of the students’ designers; both the design studio teachers and practitioners in the field are not unconnected with these realities of knowledge construction in Renewable Energy options. This happens especially when design problems occur to a building and major influences may impinge on the space organization as affected by heat, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting. Such operationalization may result to dysfunction when the knowledge construction of sustainability indices by architectural designers were not properly utilized and integrated in design projects.This study examined a review of Solar Energy systems with respect to designers’ tasks, strategies of integration in Architectural design. A review of design studio works of some selected students as assessed by the jurors and interviews were used to gather the data for the study. The results obtained suggest that although the students were taught aspects of sustainability relevant to the integration of Solar Energy as alternative energy source in buildings, but they may not have utilized and internalized them properly. This is because the responses of the students on sustainability performance of their studio work were skewed and some students indicated little knowledge of some sustainable principles, which had already been incorporated into the curriculum. The study concludes with advocating for Experiential learning in architectural education with the sense of empathy as the user, client and architect-designer of spaces, which portray the principles that are taught in the curriculum of schools

Economic Appraisal Of Industrial Solar Drying (Part I)

Major goals of industrialization include but not limited to provision of employment, establishing a platform for overall national development and improving the monetary income of whoever is involved which invariably improves the standard of living. A better pre-visibility study must encompass a well analysed economic appraisal of the plan. Computer programme was generated to analyse the economic aspect of industrial solar drying. The appraisal was carried out with the software using the Life Cycle Savings (LCS) technique. Three locations in Nigeria (i.e. Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt) were selected and their respective economic appraisal simulated. Sample simulations reveal that at a realistic initial moisture content of 30% (% wet basis) of the agricultural produce, economic analysis of over 20 years reveal that recommended solar collector area of 85.46m2, 80.71m2 and 75.96m2 supplied about 67%, 88% and 55.8% of the annual energy needed for Ibadan, Kano and Port-harcourt respectively which are the specific sizes at which life cycle solar savings are optima

Modeling of Solar Drying Economics Using Life Cycle Savings (L.C.S) Method

Major goals of industrialization include but are not limited to provision of employment, establishing a platform for overall national development and improving the capital income of whoever is involved, which invariably improve the overall standard of living. A better pre-visibility study must encompass a well analyzed economic appraisal of the plan. The law of mass conservation was applied to develop computer software with a view to analyzing the major preliminary economic indexes of industrial solar drying in both developed and rapidly developing economy. The present work used the life cycle cost method to investigate the solar process economics. In the paper three major geographical locations in Nigeria (i.e. Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt) were selected and their respective economic appraisal was investigated. Sample simulations revealed that, at a realistic initial moisture content of 30 (% wet basis) of the agricultural produce, economic analysis of over 20 years shows that recommended solar collector area of 85.46 m2, 80.71 m2 and 75.96 m2 supplied about 67%, 88% and 55.8% of the annual energy needed for Ibadan, Kano and Port-Harcourt respectivel

The Influence of Personality Characteristics on Teachers and Students in Architectural Design Studio Projects in Some Selected Nigerian Universities

This study reviewed and analyzed the extroversion-introversion characteristics of teachers and students as well as the implications of interface issues on architectural design studio outcomes. The study engaged a structured questionnaire to collect information from a sample of 546 respondents (both students and staff-teachers/mentors). The study found a difference in design approach of students who preferred acting first before thinking and reflection across selected schools of architecture. It also found a difference in the design outcomes of students who are usually open and motivated by outside world in the selected schools. Moreover, the study discovered a difference in design approach of students who enjoy wide variety and changing relationship in the selected schools. It recommended that the synergy of polar characteristic differences of the students be better engaged by the design 32 studio teachers during training in school to prepare for professional competency in practice. Keywords: Architecture, characteristics, extraversion-introversion, influence, teachers, student

Pathways to Architectural Education and Practice Success in Nigeria

Architectural practice and education has always been seen by architects and students of the discipline as a tough and demanding terrain. This may be connected to the obvious demands of the training of architects, characterized by long hours of design, drafting, and modelling. This does not end at the schools of architecture but continues through the practice journey. However, some veterans of the profession argue that this is the sure pathway towards success in architecture. This paper aims at providing pathways towards the preservation and sustenance of the relevance of the profession and architectural practice in Nigeria. The paper adopts a qualitative research approach while presenting findings from in-depth interviews of sixteen leading principals of architectural firms drawn from Lagos, Abuja, Benin-city, Enugu and Port Harcourt. The study explores the challenges of the practice environment, the shortcomings of the products from the schools; practice demands and the pathways to being a desirable graduate and architect in practice. The paper concludes with the recommendations that certain areas of study of architecture such as detailing, understanding of planning laws, regulations and entrepreneurship studies in architecture should be given intensified attention in the training institutions. The need for architects to reach out socially through all available media within the ambits of the law to promote commissions while being actively involved in the activities of their professional bodies was found to be a crucial path to practice success. Finally, partnerships and collaborations between architects and firms is assuredly a path towards promoting stronger, healthier and enduring architectural businesses