Research
Perceived Manpower Development Influence on Organisational Effectiveness in Akwa Ibom Agricultural Development Programme (Akadep):2009-2013
This study examined the relationship between manpower development and organisational effectiveness in AKADEP. It was necessary to carry out this research because despite AKADEP’s decades of existence and sustained funding by Akwa Ibom State Government, the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as International Donor Organisations (The World Bank, UNDP, and IFAD), there is still manpower gap in AKADEP, basic food items consumed in Akwa Ibom State are sourced externally, prices of food stuffs are on the increase, the poorly trained farmers are hungry and poor which raises concern on the effectiveness of AKADEP – agency established exclusively to provide extension services to farmers. Survey data were collected through simple random sampling of 237 respondents drawn from the eight subprogrammes of AKADEP. Measures of the study were of good quality after assuring reliability and validity. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment on SPSS. The result of the analysis showed that manpower development in AKADEP is related positively to effectiveness of the organisation. A dependency relationship was also established between adoption of modern farming techniques by small scale farmers and increased farm yield in the study area. Impact of internally arranged training programmes was significant. Farmers and the Local Governments were encouraged to support AKADEP extension officers through provision of transport allowance, mobility or even phone calls to sustain agent’s interest, bridge the missed cycle, and guarantee food sufficiency. The study also recommended the immediate establishment of Resident Extension Officers to reside in each clan within the study area. They are expected to provide on the spot and on-going training to small scale farmers.
Nigeria, Mono-Product Economy and the Global Economic Recession: Problems and Prospects
Nigeria, an ex-British colony had an independence date that was heralded by the discovery and gradual exploitation of oil in commercial quantity in 1956 and 1958 respectively at Oloibiri. The discovery of this product (black gold) in a number of other nations like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya among others has contributed immensely to the social, political and economic growth of those nations. For Nigeria, available daily production data shows that the nation has equally earned over $760 billion from the export and sales of crude oil. Paradoxically, this huge revenue profile has not positively impacted upon the lives and environment of majority of Nigerians as is the case in Kuwait, Libya and others, rather most of it have been siphoned into foreign accounts by corrupt government officials. To worsen matters, for more than forty years now, all other sources of revenue earnings have been virtually a bandoned. The political class has constantly fallen on one another, fighting over how the foreign revenue accruing from the sales of crude oil should be shared.
