Parental Involvement: A Response to Children with Disability’s Education

Drawing on the fact that education of children is a human right issue, the study explored parent’s involvement in the education of their children with disabilities. Using quantitative research methodology, 166 respondents were sampled from two selected basic schools in Koforidua, Ghana. Results indicated that, often the demand on parents such as time, work, house chores, and many other commitments impede their preference to be involved in their children’s education. The school activities most parents involved themselves in are the Parent Teachers Association’s (P.T.A.) meetings. This is because parents do not see themselves as having interest in many of the other activities children in school are involved in. Equally, though some parents from poor background may want to educate their child with disability, the cost involved in educating the child is high. Evidence showed that there was a moderate level of parents’ involvement in the education of their children with disability and that the level of involvement is associated with the socio-economic status of such parents. The study concluded that parental involvement in their children with disabilities education leads to positive learning outcomes and academic achievements. It was recommended among others that parents should get involved in decisions concerning the education of their children with disability; parents must honour invitations from schools and speak with school staff and teachers. Again, parents should disabuse their minds of the perceptions that taking their child with disability to school is of no benefit and a waste of resources. Key Words: Parents, children with disabilities, education

The Moving Image as a Panacea for Concise Analysis and Means of Ensuring Good Governance and Ameliorating Youth Restiveness in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

The world is plagued with plethora of social issues generated from the complexity of modern existence. The control of sources of raw materials, exploitation, production, and trade has polarised our world. This paper looked at the Niger Delta situation from an audio-visual angle as reflected in the film ‘Krakraye’ by Gentle Jack. The Niger Delta region and her people have been neglected in terms of developmental needs in the Nigerian state, hence, the youths resort to self-identification and resource control which is the problem being stated. The aim of this paper is to present this issue bare in an audio-visual manner. The objectives are to concisely chronicle the real situation from the emergence of the military in the Nigerian scene to the present. Theoretical framework was the analytical approach to cultural studies, while the research methodology would entail the qualitative approach enmeshed with visual impressions, still photographs from the film ‘Krakraye’, and from other graphic and audio-visual sources. Findings of this study show that it is deliberate to underdevelop the Niger Delta region, keep the people poor so they will be loyal and could easily be overcome by the majority tribes, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo who have never spoken against injustice meted to the Niger Delta communities. Contributions to knowledge is that visual presentation has shown the true plight of the Niger Delta people in visual images. Recommendations are that a naturally endowed, rich industrial environment should not be neglected for peace and development to thrive; stealing of the people’s commonwealth brings about capital flight as those in government are afraid to show their wealth in Nigeria rather, they launder and invest these monies abroad. This paper critically assessed the reach of film in exposing social anomaly as the case of the Niger Delta people, allegorically. Key Words: Film, Niger Delta, youth, democracy, development

On Polar Question in Echie and English: A Transformational Approach

The formation of polar question also called a Yes-No question, appears to be language-specific, a situation which makes Echie speakers to find it difficult to accommodate the system of the English language, vice versa. This paper, using the qualitative design and the transformation approach, investigated the structural forms of both languages. The analysis showed great structural differences in both languages: while there is a swop in the position of the subject and the auxiliary in English, there is no such in Echie. In Echie, there are two forms of polar question realization: the resumptive pronoun type and the emphatic construction type. The paper noted that, although, the structural and derivational forms parametrically differ, polar questions exist in both languages and also perform the same syntactic and functional communicative roles. Key Words: Polar, resumptive, inversion, emphatic, transformation

Feminism in Africa and African Women’s Writing

Feminism developed out of the discontents of women in the West. Although African women, over the ages, have always been sensitive to all forms of discrimination within the African society, the emergence of feminism and feminist consciousness-raising awakened in them a new awareness of their oppression through the inequalities in society, reinforced by patriarchal tradition and culture. Many African women have aligned themselves with feminism and the feminist cause and, despite all odds have made remarkable progress in their lives and society and gained respectable acceptance and recognition from even the most stubborn reluctance of male domination. This trend has been captured by African women writers in their literary works which reflect the progress African women have made in transitioning from the margin to the centre and their contributions to social change. Key Words: Feminism, Africa, patriarchy, African women, consciousness-raising, change

Effect of Electronic-Learning on the Academic Achievement of Basic Science Students in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The study investigated the effect of electronic-learning on the academic achievement of basic science students in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A pretest, posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design was adopted. One hundred and four (104) JS.2 students from two government owned junior secondary schools in Yenagoa Local Government Area were purposely selected for the study. The schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The study lasted for five weeks. Three instruments IGELS, IGMLM and BSAT were used for the study. One research question was posed and answered using mean and deviation standard and one null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings revealed that those taught with e-learning had a higher mean (72,33) than those taught with modified lecture method (50.59) with a mean difference of 21.74. E-learning had significant effect on student’s academic achievement in basic science. (f1,101=76.392; p<0.05 partial eta squared=0.558), with an effect size of 55.8%. Finding showed that there was a significant difference in students’ achievement in basic science when taught with e-learning and modified lecture method; the e –learning students performing better. It was recommended that government should provide e-learning materials for schools and train the teachers to acquire the basic skills. Key Words: Electronic learning, IGELS, IGMLM and BSAT

Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility by Oil Companies in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Myth or Reality

Niger Delta region of Nigeria is a home to many multinational oil companies with different packages of corporate social responsibility (CSR) because of its huge natural resource reserve especially of oil and gas. The CSR packages are designed to address social, economic and environmental concerns of the indigenes of the Niger Delta region, arising from the oil and gas operations of the multinational oil companies. The operational activities of the oil companies over the years have led to the degradation of the Niger Delta environment with consequent loss of livelihood sources, thereby triggering protests and other violent activities in the region. The paper identified and analysed the indices of the components of the CSR (social, economic and environmental components) packages using results-based management framework to determine the impacts of the CSR projects and programmes on the people. The analysis revealed that multinational oil companies release funds from a philanthropic perspective for the execution of some social development projects/programmes, but these projects/programmes do not address the welfare and livelihood needs of the people. This means that the multinational oil companies operating in the region create an illusion of compliance with social development and responsibility rules. The paper linked these unfortunate situations (environmental degradation, insecurity, poverty, unemployment, etc) found in the region today to failure of CSR implementation due to corruption, insincerity and philanthropic approach of the oil companies and regard it as injustice to the people of Niger Delta. It therefore concluded that CSR implementation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is a myth and as a result recommended that Multinational oil companies should therefore incorporate the people of the Niger Delta into the oil economy by enlisting household heads into the payroll system of the multinational oil companies as well as engage sincerely in projects that will lead to the development of the region, if protests and other violent activities in the region must stop. Key Words: Implementation, Corporate social responsibility, Environmental Resources, Niger Delta, Multinational Oil Companies

The Effect of Agricultural Training on Youth Farm Entrepreneurial Attitudes: Evidence from Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania

Given the paucity of youth employment opportunities in the non-agricultural formal sector in developing countries much more needs to be done to attract youth into the agricultural sector. The main objective of this paper was to assess the influence of the agricultural training on youth farm entrepreneurial attitudes. A cross-sectional design was employed and 300 respondents were randomly selected from three Folk Development Colleges (FDCs). The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings show that youth have favourable attitudes towards farm entrepreneurship. Furthermore, a significant difference was found in terms of farm entrepreneurial attitude across sex, age groups, college and programme studied. It is concluded that training in colleges where agricultural courses are blended with an entrepreneurship course have positive influence on youth attitude towards farm entrepreneurship. It is generally recommended that more theoretical components on the socio-economic benefits of farm entrepreneurship need to be added to the existing curriculum. Key Words: Courses, entrepreneurial attitude, intention, unemployment

Democracy and Perceived Public Confidence in The Judiciary: Roles of Socio-Economy and Gender

The study investigated public perception of the judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria democracy based on an analysis of the Enugu State Judiciary. Two hundred and sixteen (216) residents of Enugu State from 9 local government areas participated in the study. Participants comprised males and females categorized into 5 social groups - top civil servants above grade level 12, political office holders in the local government and the capital city; petti traders, the unemployed and the underemployed youths. Participants’ age ranged between 25 and 55 years with a mean age of 33.72 years. Data collection was aided by use of Judicial Perception Questionnaire (JPQ) developed by the researchers.Data analysis using two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicate significant influence of political class on perception of judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria, F(1,212) = 8.15, p<.05. The study revealed non-significant influence of gender and non-significant interaction of political class and gender on the perception of the judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria.The results were discussed in terms of their implications for citizen’s attitude change and unbiased judicial reform in Enugu State and Nigeria in general. Key words: Judiciary; Democracy; Public perception; corruption; Enugu State

The Determinants of People’s Preference of Night Entertainment Outfits in Abuja, Nigeria

Night entertainment as a form of leisure and relaxation is not a strange phenomenon globally, it is also gaining prominence in Nigeria particularly in urban centre. Scholars have discussed the prospects of this brand of entertainment in terms of its economic and social rewards, but most of these efforts are foreign based. This study studied the situation in Abuja in Nigeria. The study was quantitative in approach and has questionnaire as its main tool of data collection. A total 100 respondents were involved in the study. The data collected were analyzed, interpreted and presented in simple percentage. Night entertainment was preferred because the period is unique, devoid of hustle and bustle commonly found in the day time (17%) and has power to enhance total wellbeing, opportunity to make business contacts (19%). Live Musical band (42%), wining and dining (34%), indoor game (14%) and comedy corner (10%) were the preferred activities. Challenges encountered in night entertainment include harassment by the law enforcement agents (36%), stigmatization on the part of the general populace (22%) and occasional disturbance due to unruly behaviour of some patrons (30%). Coping measures adopted to mitigate these challenges include moving in group with other patrons to prevent or minimise embarrassment (43%), possession of official identity card to prevent harassment from security agents (36%) and enlightenment of service of security agents to curtail unruly behaviour from patrons (21%).