Hegemonic Rivalry in a Peripheral Region: An Assessment of Nigeria–South Africa’s Role in African Politics

Nigeria’s claim as the giant of Africa is evident in her foreign policy articulation of African Centre Piece. From 1960, Nigeria has championed the project of Africa through different diplomatic engagements across the continent of Africa most especially under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian administration. Nigeria’s unwavering support against the apartheid regime in South Africa led to the termination of apartheid government in 1994. However, the post- apartheid politics in Africa as well as the post-Cold War politics changed the dynamics of African politics. Nigeria’s claim as the giant of Africa became more contested and hypothetical with the emergence of notable countries such as Ethiopia and South Africa posing serious challenges to Nigeria’s hegemony in the continent. The most viable and notable threats came from South Africa following the end of apartheid regime in South Africa and coupled with its good governance rating, which had heightened the status of the country as a notable continental leader. This article attempts to explain the leadership roles of Nigeria and South Africa in a peripheral region of Africa with the view of analysing who has the sway to lead the affairs of Africa to the path of prosperity. Through the secondary method of data collection and qualitative method of data analysis (discourse analysis), the study concludes that Nigeria and South Africa roles in Africa were motivated by realist considerations. The study, however, recommends concerted efforts between Nigeria and South Africa in addressing socio-economic challenges in the African continent.

2.K. Round table: Everything you always wanted to know about (COVID-19 and) EU-health policy

Objective There is no European Union (EU) health system but there is an EU health policy and this health policy is rapidly changing due to the COVID-19 responses of the EU and Member States. The aim of this panel discussion is to analyze and put into context the rapid evolvement of EU health policy during the pandemic. This panel discussion will therefore focus on 1) EU public health policy 2) EU action for health 3) the EU Market shaping health 4) the fiscal governance 5) the institutions, processes and powers. Background EU health policy has often been overlooked and was never on the political agenda. COVID-19 and the pandemic response, however, changed this dramatically. EU-health policy has become centre stage followed by bold investments and new regulatory initiatives. Obvious examples are the EU4Heatlth programme, the Recovery and Resilience fund, the new agency HERA, the new remit for the European Medicines Agency and the European Center for Disease Control. There are also new European Commission mechanisms with regards to the purchase of personal protective equipment, supplies, medicines including vaccines and medical technologies. But will the new EU health policy strengthen health systems of Member States or just focus on stronger emergency responses? Will the constitutional asymmetry between health and internal market be addressed? Will EU-health policy remain after the crisis a centre-piece of European Integration? This panel is based on the COVID-19 update of the EU-health policy handbook ‘Everything you always wanted to know about European Union health policies but were afraid to ask' Interactivity There will be a high level of interactivity. After an introductory presentation, attendees can use the chat-box to choose specific topics from the aforementioned five themes. These topics will be presented in a table. The chair will then pass the questions and topics to the panelists. Speakers/Panelists Sarah Rozenblum University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Holly Jarman University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Nick Fahy University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Anniek de Ruijter University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Eleanore Brooks University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Key messages The European Health Union will be one of the most important constitutional and policy outcomes of the pandemic. It is essential that the European Health Union is not only strengthening emergency planning and response but also accessibility, equity and resilience of health systems.

771FUCS National Meeting of Colombian Health Research Seedbeds: our history 2004-2019

Background Comparative history applied to health education may be a tool to understand institutional key processes within our national health research evolution. In Colombia, first groups of undergraduates interested in research emerged in 1996, being called seedbeds. Universitary Foundation of Health Sciences (FUCS) developed its own seedbeds and created a National Meeting (NM) to join others as network. Objective here is to describe its evolution and perspectives along a 15-year timespan (2004-2019). Methods Ethically approved qualitative hermeneutic-interpretative research using content analysis, compared history and interviews to key figures. Data came from digital files with FUCS policies (statutes, education plans and rules), FUCS High Council meetings acts and audiovisual material directly pertaining the NM; files were condensed using Endnote X9 and NVivo 12 to generate categories, benchmarks and timeline. Results Three stages emerged: a) conception (2004-2009), seedbed was an external construct adopted by FUCS since formative research was embedded in its teaching activities; b) blooming (2010-2014), FUCS offices and areas participated in developing regulations and giving administrative/financial support, 19 seedbeds in 4 faculties were created, and first two NMs were advertised and executed, c) growth (2015-onwards) devoted to “maintenance & consolidation”, with three events, country-wide participants from 57 universities and 370 research projects exhibited (2019). Conclusions The NM reflect FUCS institutional development and progress in teaching and promoting research through organized, dynamic and productive undergraduate research seedbeds. Key messages In Colombia, undergraduate seedbeds are promoted as paramount educational activity; in this endeavour, FUCS national meetings have become centre-piece after 15 years.

The Digital Laocoön: Replication, Narrative and Authenticity

This paper examines what qualities and affordances of a digital object allow it to emerge as a new cultural object in its own right. Due to the relationship between authenticity and replication, this is particularly important for digital objects derived from real world objects, such as digital ‘replicas’. Such objects are not an inauthentic or surrogate form of an ‘authentic’ object, but a new object with a complex relationship to the original and its own uses and affordances. The Digital Laocoön Immersive (VR exhibit), part of an AHRC funded project, was a response to the tragic fires at the Mackintosh Building of the Glasgow School of Art in 2014 and 2018. In this project a digital replica of a plaster cast of Laocoön, with a long history of use within the school, was chosen as the centre piece for the proposed immersive. As a consequence of both the immersive’s design methodology and the lessons learnt in its production, the Laocoön proved to be an ideal subject through which to critically assess the question of the status of the replica. This paper will explore not only how the material infrastructure, form and content of digital representations have an impact on its broader set relationships, but how the concept of an extended object, its production processes, and the way that these are explicitly acknowledged (or not), operate on its relationship to the original.

Design, Simulation & Fabrication of 5G Antenna using Multiband Micro Strip Patch Antenna

This article describes the construction of a single patch antenna array for 5G applications with frequency of 26 GHz. A rectangular patch antenna built on the FR-4 substrate that has been simulated and tuned using widely available electromagnetic simulation tools is the centre piece of this configuration.

Human capital interaction on foreign aid-growth nexus: evidence from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the interactive role of human capital development (HCD) in foreign aid-growth relations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa countries from 1985–2019. Design/methodology/approach The study used panel data that cut across all countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa collected from The World Bank’s Development Indicators. The data were analysed using Bai and Ng panel unit root idiosyncratic cross-sectional tests and the system generalised method of moments (SGMM). Findings The study found that foreign aid and HCD have negative impacts on economic growth. Fortunately, the interaction of human capital with foreign aid reduces the extent to which foreign aid impedes economic growth. The presumption is that South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa economies had not reaped the potential growth effect of foreign aid inflows due to high illiteracy rates and weak social capacities. The peculiarity of these regions hinders the absorptive capacity to transform positive externality associated with foreign aid into sizeable economic prosperity. Practical implications It is imperative for South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa countries to not depend on foreign aid; instead, the strategic action by policymakers should be to developing sustainable social capacities with HCD as the centre-piece. Originality/value The highpoint of this study is its inter-regional approach and the interplay between human capital and foreign aid using the second generation panel unit root estimator and the SGMM approaches.

Energy Efficient Smart Home Automation Adoption- A Research

The home appliance usage and application of the infotainment, entertainment and communication has increased alarmingly with the advent of technology. However, the energy consumed by these equipment’s has also gone high. Therefore, there is an inert need for studying and planning for the energy management and exercise check and control on the energy waste at the domestic environment that occurs due to the inefficient management of the home appliance and Home automation devices. Technology has become a centre-piece of everyone’s lives and is evolving in unimaginable ways. With the advancements in Internet of Things(IoT) space and ease of availability of the technology, innumerable applications of IoT are now possible beyond industries and organisations. One such application of the IoT technology is in a “Smart Home Automation System”. Home Automation also referred to as “domotics” is the process in mechanizing homes using IoT that would allow owners to control lighting, temperature, music systems and other electrical appliances via use of computers or handheld devices such as smart phones or tablets. Apart from the obvious benefit of the ability to remotely control, a home automation system offers multiple benefits such as enhanced security, energy efficiency, monetary savings, comfort & convenience and peace mind to a household that would adopt it. In line with these advantages, this paper will attempt to identify which of these factors are most relevant and important to a consumer and would lead to the adoption of home automation system and what are the factors which are of paramount importance when it comes to energy efficient home automation.

Buhari’s Administration and Review of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy: A Realist Approach

There is no doubt that Nigeria’s foreign policy is indeed outdated. This is evidenced in the fact that we now live in different times. Though Nigeria’s role in Africa still remains significant, however, the time “Africa” was made the centre piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy, was a time when many countries in the continent were struggling to throw off the yolk of colonialism. And the adoption of such a policy was to stand in solidarity with those nations that were struggling to achieve or gain independence. And today, no single country in the continent is under foreign rule or direct control, and the times now call for a review of Nigeria’s foreign policy to reflect the nations current circumstances and realities among the committee of states across the globe. And there is no time than under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Buhari administration must look critically and make an assessment of how and which way to direct Nigeria’s foreign policy. The responsibility appears to be binding on President Buhari’s administration having been neglected or not given the required attention by many previous regimes and administrations. The confidence of Nigerians in President Buhari’s vision, promises and commitment to change and general progress/ greatness of Nigeria seems to justify such expectations in the area of foreign relations and policy. There is need for Nigeria to be more involved in world affairs and to seek observer status in certain supranational institutions including the E.U, NATO and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) in this era of globalisation, and the accompanying system of interdependence. This paper tries to provide a guide with regards to the review of the foreign policy of Nigeria by President Buhari to reflect the realities and challenges of the times in which we are living. The paper argues that Nigeria must be a global player despite being a regional power in consideration of its pottentials and position in the scheme of things, drawing lessons based on Realist theories in international affairs and conduct as well as the experiences of certain states like Japan as models for foreign policy development.

Judicial Responses to Alcohol-Fuelled Public Violence: The Loveridge Effect

After the death of Thomas Kelly (2012) and Daniel Christie (2013) in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), there was widespread discussion and concern over the problem of so-called one punch alcohol-fuelled violence. A ‘centre-piece’ of the NSW Government’s response was the enactment, in January 2014, of what is known colloquially as the ‘One Punch Law’: the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Act 2014 (NSW), which includes a mandatory minimum sentence for assault causing death whilst intoxicated. This paper analyses the judicial response to one punch alcohol-fuelled violence, with a focus on the effect of the decision in R v Loveridge [2014] NSWCCA 120. I show that the judiciary has rejected the existence of a discrete category of ‘one punch’ manslaughters and, instead, has defined a category of alcohol-fuelled public violence for which there is a strong need for general deterrence. Based on an analysis of cases handed down since the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal’s 2014 decision, I show that the ‘Loveridge effect’ has been to significantly increase sentences in such matters.

Delivering Major Infrastructure Projects with Predictable Success

The inconvenient truth is that metro development, that is the focus of this paper, with some notable exceptions, fails to deliver the outcomes promised when implementation was committed. This fact undermines the confidence city leaders and national treasuries have in supporting metro development in furtherance of public policy. This matters because metros can become the catalytic centre-piece of sustainable development for some cities, and because the cost of failure is so large. There are exemplars of good practice worldwide and a strong evidence base on which to determine what is needed to improve success. This paper reviews the evidence and presents new research findings to recommend an Agenda for Change. This can practically be implemented and lead to progressive improvement.