Volume 1, Issue 1 , 2013

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https://ir.unilag.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3757

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    Open Access
    University of Lagos Pre-service STM Teachers: Would They Function More as Entrepreneurs or as Intrapreneurs?
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2013) Odogwu, H.N; Yewande, R.O; Fakorede, S.O
    The study investigated whether pre-service STM teachers would function more as entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs using determinants such as personal characteristics, interpersonal skills, critical and creativity thinking skills, business skills as well as their choice of course. Three research questions were raised and answered using a mix method design. A questionnaire entitled “Entrepreneurship Ability Scale Questionnaire” was the self-validated instrument used to collect data. A random sample of 220 students comprising 114 males and 106 females was used. Data collected was analysed using logistic regression, multivariate analysis of variance as well as qualitative narrative analysis. Results showed that University of Lagos pre-service STM teachers are more likely to act as entrepreneurs rather than intrapreneurs. Personal characteristics, interpersonal skills, critical and creativity thinking skills as well as business skills were effective in reliably predicting their entrepreneurship abilities. Course of choice was not effective in reliably predicting entrepreneurship abilities of the teachers. Entrepreneurship abilities of pre-service teachers are not a function of their gender. Business skills top the list of skills acquired by the STM pre-service teachers as a result of their exposure to the course GST307: Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance. Practical activities including field trips were the suggestion of many participants as a way of enhancing the teaching and learning of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance. It is recommended that practical activities including field trips be incorporated into GST307. A tracer study monitoring whether pre-service STM teachers are into intrapreneurship or entrepreneurship in the next five years is suggested.
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    Open Access
    An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Capital Adequacy in the Insurance Sub-sector of the Nigerian Economy
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2013) Ogege, S; Mojekwu, J.N
    The paper examines the impact of capital adequacy in the Insurance sub-sector and the growth of the Nigeria economy. It specifically seeks to ascertain the effect of insurance companies’ capital base and macroeconomic variables on the economy. Data used for the study were extracted from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s statistical Bulletin (2009). It employed the error correction framework and co-integration techniques to test the relationship between the insurance capital base and macroeconomics variables, also the adopted Granger causality test. Results reveal that political stability may reduce financial distress and bankruptcy while the total investment for the industry will affect insurance companies’ capital in most developing economies in the period of financial crisis. However, the study also establishes that there is a negative relationship between inflation and insurance companies’ capital base. The results suggest that the Nigerian government should regulate investment policy while insurance companies’ regulators should strive to keep inflation at a minimum level, if possible below 5% for them to be more efficient to be globally competitive.
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    Open Access
    Avoid the Bait; Miss No Underlying Meaning: A Concise Textual Deconstruction of Achebe’s A Man of the People
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2013) Onyemelukwe, N.H; Ibeanna, W.E; Ogbechie, C.O
    From the perspective of Stylistics as a subfield of Instrumental Linguistics, texts may be writerly or readerly. Writerly texts are crafted such that they create room for multfaceted deconstruction, whereas readerly texts only allow for restricted or determinate deconstruction. Literary texts, especially those with high academic or scholarly (intellectual) value such as A Man of the People (AMOP), are certainly writerly in nature. For t his reason, AMOP is the reference text for the study. The objective of the study is to show that texts embody weighty textual messages more as underlying than as explicit meanings. The major theoretical framework of this study is Van Djik’s model of Critic al Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA is ‘criticalized’ Discourse Analysis (DA). In other words, CDA is DA done following the criticalist tradition. This tradition integrates DA with radical social and cultural theories for the purpose of unearthing implicit me anings and underlying ideologies. The data analyses and discussion in the study have evinced that a sentence or any stretch of utterance means much more than its literal significance (denotation). That is, a text especially a literary one like AMOP, embeds multiples of underlying meaning once it is deconstructed from proper contextual perspectives, which could be intratextual and/or extratextual. The underlying ideologies, together with other implicit meanings in a text, need to be captured, because they could represent the bait in the text that conspires against the interest of the reader. Hence, whoever reads a text is urged to miss no underlying meaning.
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    Open Access
    Geographic Information for Disaster Management in Nigeria: Case Study of the Mud-beach Coast of Southwestern Nigeria
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2013) Fasona, M; Omojola, A; Soneye, A; Akintuyi, A; Abbas, I
    This paper demonstrates the importance of geographic information in disaster management. It examines the state of disaster management in Nigeria and presents a local area case study of the use of geographic information to establish the vulnerability to composite environmental threat and hazard of 605 communities around the mud-beach coast of southwestern Nigeria. Environmental threat and hazard factors interpreted from remote sensing imageries were integrated within geographic information systems with data that characterized the communities. The integrated data was further analyzed for indices of exposure (stressors which define damage potentials) and management (likely coping ability which defines severity) for each community. Vulnerability index for each community was evaluated by comparing the difference between the degree of exposure and management. In terms of exposure, the results suggest that 18 communities fall under high exposure, 129 under medium exposure and 458 under low exposure categories. For management, 41 communities fall under the high management-low severity, 131 under average management-average severity and 433 under the low management-high severity categories. In all, 70 communities, most of which are first-line settlements, are highly vulnerability to composite environmental hazard. 80% of the highly vulnerable communities are found around degraded ecosystems including permanently inundated lands and areas where active devegetation is being experienced, which confirms the connection between creeping environmental change process and vulnerability to disasters especially at local levels.
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    Open Access
    Human Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2013) Shittu, A.I; Peng, X.A; Matthew, B.O
    This article examines the relationship between human capital accumulation and economic growth in Nigeria. The OLS method of estimation was used for the purpose of estimating the required parameters. Interestingly, the findings reveal that human capital accumulation has a significant and positive impact on economic growth in Nigeria. This study makes an important contribution to the literature on economic growth, particularly those that focus on African countries. We tested for the role of both structural and political institutions. While the estimate of the structural institution exhibits a significant and positive effect on economic growth, the estimate of the political institution exhibits an insignificant and negative effect on economic growth in Nigeria.