Keneth Mela

It is no news that Nigeria, which is arguably the giant of Africa, is known for human rights violations. From its years of military authoritarianism which witnessed the killing of several human rights activists, and since the return to democratic rule, the country’s human rights narrative has not changed. Government  authorities  and  law  enforcement  agents  (the  police)  frequently engage in various human rights violations, notably unlawful killings, torture, ill- treatment of no crime suspects, forced evictions, interference with the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association, and violence against women and children are widespread across the country. This has created worrisome threats to lives and government seems to be grappling with the situation, hence there is some measure of friction between the activities of security agencies and human right in Nigeria. It is against this backdrop that pertinent questions are asked on how well security agencies could be operated without infringement on fundamental human rights and what are the probable mechanisms that could be adopted by security agencies without abuse of human rights in Nigeria. Answers to these questions instigated this research work. This study exemplified the extent of human rights abuses in Nigerian democratic governance. It equally highlighted causes and the effects of human rights abuses in Nigeria and made recommendations on how to prevent its occurrences in the future. Secondary sources of data thus become the hub of its methodology. The study adopted system theory by Gabriel Almond as its theoretical framework.

Community participation has long been associated with community development. The success of every project depends on the active participation of the community in designing, implementing and sustaining the projects that affect their condition of living. The paper examines rural or community development in Nigeria with emphasis on the institutions, agencies, policies and strategies employed to bring about the much-needed rural development in the country. It goes further to assess the impacts of the various efforts made by both the domestic and foreign governments and international organizations, institutions, agencies and non-governmental organizations to bring about real development at the grassroots level. In an attempt to do this, clarification of concepts like community, development, rural areas, and rural development was carried out, which formed the theoretical basis of the analysis. The study employs the use of content analysis as a methodology and Participatory Theory is used as a theoretical framework of the study. The data for the study was generated from secondary sources. The paper reveals that top bottom approach, political deprivation, lack of enlightenment and awareness campaign and lack of proper educational empowerment constitutes the major challenges of community participation in rural development. The paper therefore, recommended that for rapid and sustained community development to take place, change of attitudes and orientation by all and sundry, realistic and enduring measures should be given priority attention, especially at the implementation stages.

This study investigated the impact of in-service training and staff development on workers job performance and optimal productivity in Federal University Gashua, Yobe State, Nigeria. The study used survey research design. Three research questions and three hypotheses were generated and tested using questionnaire items adapted from Raja, et al (2014) but subjected to manipulation by the researchers which contained closed-ended type of questionnaire based on the research questions and hypotheses and was structured on a four point Likert scale. The instrument was administered using a simple random sampling to draw a sample size of 152 respondents from a population of 244 while 134 questionnaires were returned. Data generated were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multiple Regression Analysis to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the findings showed that in-service and off-the-job training had nonsignificant combined effects but significant relative effects on workers' optimal job productivity. The study therefore recommended that Federal University Gashua should design proper and functioning in-service and off-the-job training of staff development programmes for their workers to boost their morale, enhance their performance and in addition ensure that workers' training are conducted frequently to ensure they cope with changing technological environment and organizational climate in the University and the entire society at large.

Research outcomes or findings are regarded in developed nations as important in expanding existing knowledge on any phenomenon in the society. This is because it fosters growth of logical reasoning and it is crucial for socioeconomic progress of the society. Findings from the study showed that the Nigerian government does not appreciate the importance of research outcomes or finding that is why the public sector is backward in terms of socioeconomic development due to neglect of the research component in the economy; some of the importance of research findings include: The current status of research in the country is not encouraging to foster socioeconomic development because Research and its findings as a tool for socioeconomic development has not been properly put into use or applied appropriately; among the challenges besetting utilization and application of research findings are: lack of implementation of research findings, lack of reliable and valid data, secrecy and inadequate funding from both government and nongovernmental organizations. A content analysis and a descriptive research technique was employed for obtaining data through the use of secondary sources; e.g. reviewing of existing literature on the topic under investigation; the paper recommends that research should be adequately funded by the government with the support of the private sector, Research findings should be given priority and must be fully utilized and applied in policy formulation and implementation to achieve desired socioeconomic growth and development and that: Research findings should be made available to the public for use in solving the human problems.