Archives-October 2019

Credible disclosure and openness of information is a symbol of good corporate governance which is important in allocation of scarcely available resources. Transparency and accountability creates and sustains confidence of investors and other stakeholders in organizations and the wider society, by providing opportunities to stakeholders to receive necessary information. Organizations may have good policies on transparency and accountability but the extent to which it is successfully implemented influences service delivery. Studies have been conducted on policies and procedures on transparency and accountability in organizations, however there is inadequate empirical literature on influence of transparency and accountability as a practice on service delivery among county owned water organizations in Western Kenya. The study sought to establish the influence of transparency and accountability practice on service delivery among county owned water organizations in Western Kenya. In order to achieve the purpose, the study hypothesized that transparency and accountability practice has no influence on service delivery among county owned water organizations in Western Kenya. The study was guided by Stakeholder Theory. The study employed descriptive survey and correlational design. Data was collected from directors, managers, employees and customers of county-owned water organizations in Western Kenya. The sample size for directors, managers and customers were determined using purposive, stratified, simple random sampling technique. The study collected both qualitative and quantitative types of data using self-administered semi structured questionnaires and interview guides. The overall value of Cronbach’s reliability was high enough while Validity was checked by University experts and content validity index met the threshold. Normality test was conducted using Shapiro Wilk test. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics of inferential statistics such as Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Simple Linear Regression. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. Data is presented in form of tables. The values of Pearson correlation coefficients established that there existed a relationship between transparency and accountability and service delivery. The results of simple regression analysis established that transparency and accountability was statistically significant on service delivery among county owned water organizations in Western Kenya. It is hoped that the findings will benefit various stakeholders such as customers, in the water sector in Kenya, and academic researchers. The study recommended that organizations should embrace dissemination of necessary information to stakeholders in order to ensure that there is improved service delivery.

The history of cannabis in Morocco goes back several centuries. Its consumption was subject to social norms limiting its market as well as its impact on society. The advent of the protectorate (1912-1956) made cannabis an economic product of great value through a monopoly of its cultivation and marketing despite the undeniable impact on public health. This article traces the history of cannabis in Morocco from its earliest origins, passing through multiple historical events that marked the place of this product in Moroccan society and finally pausing on the great change that will experience the cultivation and consumption of cannabis under the protectorate.

This paper takes an apriori look at media convergence through the eyes and recommends that apostoriorily these convergences must continue to avert the death of some media even in our modern challenges of not only mass communication as a whole but broadcasting in particular with a focus on Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

Bas C. van Fraassen holds an anti-realist position that directs a damaging attack against entity realism. As it stands, the question of limits of experience is crucial to van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism and has an intricate link with his negation of the ontological status of unobservable entities. This paper essentially rebuts van Fraassen’s position with the case of drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It queries the sort of experiential limits placed on science by van Fraassen and argues that his epistemological or constructive empiricist dimension of discourse does not fit or tie-in properly with the question of existence of unobservable entities. Most of his critics somewhat fail to recognize differences in dimensions of discourse. To be sure, this un-appreciated difference in discourse dimension is what brings a shimmering freshness to this paper. Now, using the qualitative tool of critical analysis, the paper fronts the pragmatic and ontological dimensions as much better thresholds of argumentation in the realm of existence of unobservable entities.

The conventional solar still is modified by thermal energy storage material (Fly ash particles) to absorb the maximum amount of solar energy during shiny hours to increase the evaporation rate. In this work, fly ash is used effectively to store the thermal energy and also support the still to minimize the heat loss through bottom and side wall of the solar still. The fly ash is effectively used in the solar still to maintain the greater temperature difference between the glass inner surface and water by absorbing the excess amount solar energy during shiny hours. So, evaporation rate increases in the solar still. The quantity of the fly ash in the basin will influence the productivity of the still and other parameters like water temperature‚ glass surface temperature and vapour temperature etc. In this work, the experimental work has been conducted for various quantity of water and various depth of fly ash to find the optimum quantity of water and depth of fly ash in the basin. Finally, the performance of the modified solar still is compared with the conventional solar still under the same climate conditions. The productivity of the modified still is improved by 71 %.

Patriarchal Societies like the Igbos of south East Nigeria is characteristed by unequal positioning of male and female off springs to inheritance. The males are regarded as heirs and apparent successors to economic and social powers, the right of females in this regard has been relegated to the background. The condition follows that economic situation or poverty level of a male child could be changed for better through inheritance. The basic assumption behind this discourse then is that the inheritance rights and access to property rules among the Igbos further deepens the already poverty situation of women in the society. It is against this background that this paper focuses on examining the interface between the inheritance rights and poverty situation among women in Igboland. This paper however substantiates that with the continued practice of the customary inheritance Igbo in society. The paper proffers suggestions on possible ways to improve the lives of the women through integration of the English and Customary laws as they relate to inheritance.

Macro-benthos communities are often threatened by environmental changes which are associated with pollution, erosion and siltation. Since paucity of information was available on Itapaji Reservoir benthic macro-invertebrates composition, a pertinent study to ascertain the quality of the water for its sustainable management becomes crucial. The reservoir was monthly sampled for benthic macro-invertebrates (BMI) from April, 2013 to March, 2015 at five purposively selected stations. Samples were collected using Van-Veen grab (surface area, 0.6m2), sieved (mesh size, 0.5 mm), sorted, identified using standard identification keys, and counted macroscopically. Species diversity was determined with Shannon Weiner’s Index (H). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, student’s t-test, and ANOVA at ?0.05. Two phyla comprise of seventeen species of BMI were recorded with moderately intolerant benthic macro-invertebrates dominating. Higher macro-benthos organisms were recorded in the rainy season with Chaoborus larvae dominated the assemblages in both seasons. All the encountered benthos differed significantly at p<0.05 across the sampling stations, while sampling station 3 recorded the highest abundance. The order of dominance coupled with Shannon Weiner’s diversity index of less than 3.0 revealed that the habitat is unstable, and perturbed due to run-off of anthropogenic material from the adjourning land.

This study investigated the effect of activity-based learning strategies on secondary school Physics students’ performance in Yenagoa metropolis, Bayelsa State. Quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design was adopted for the work. The study sample consists of 150 senior secondary school Physics (SS2) students drawn from a population of 926 Physics students using purposive sampling technique. Two schools were assigned to the experimental group, while one class was used as the control group. A 20-item multiple choice achievement test on Heat Energy titled PATHE was used to gather data for the study. The reliability of the instrument PATHE was obtained using Kudder-Richardson formula 21 ( KR21 ) and a value of 0.82 was obtained. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided this work. Research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA at 0.05 level of significance. Major findings of this study showed that students taught using the activity-based learning strategies (cooperative, and practical work) performed significantly better than their counterparts taught using the demonstration method. Practical work method was more effective than cooperative method while cooperative method proves to be more effective than the demonstration method. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that The use of activity based learning strategies in the teaching and learning of Physics should be made compulsory for all Physics teachers, especially at the secondary school level and that Government at all levels should show commitment and support in promoting innovative teaching in Physics and other science subjects at the secondary school level by providing an enabling environment and the required facilities in secondary schools so as to make students’ centered learning activities a reality

This paper takes a look at Campus Radio Presentation World from analytical secondary data and observers discovery over a span of many years of professional radio broadcasting practice and offered different perspectives with recommendations for excellent presentations on Campus Radio.

The inability of the pupils to read and comprehend in English language effectively remains a challenge to learners of English as a second language particularly at primary school level. This calls for early intervention in teaching through use of instructional materials that enhance high levels of retention. The purpose of this paper therefore was to establish the extent to which the instructional materials are available for use in the teaching of English reading comprehension skills in public primary schools. The Research Design used was descriptive survey design. 8 public primary schools were selected through purposive sampling. A total 16 teachers participated in the study. Information was collected using questionnaires and classroom observation checklist. Findings reveal that English language course books were the main resources available in the classroom in most schools with 14 out of 16 teachers indicating that they were available and adequate. This study suggests that the government should increase Free Primary Education Funding allocations to allow schools purchase a variety of teaching resources other than course books.