THE ROLE OF INTER ETHNIC MARRIAGE TOWARD NATIONAL INTEGRATION

INTRODUCTION Over the past decades, there is no doubt that one of the factors militating against progress and development of this country is tribalism and ethnicity. Right from the time of independence to this period, our problem as a nation has been that of tribal and ethnic considerations in our everyday life. Many have preached on the need to break the ethnic problem in Nigeria; different programmes have been initiated but they ended as theoretical exercises. Genuine democratic culture has been difficult to entrench in this country because of ethnicity and tribalism. What every Nigerian is extremely conscious of is the importance of tribalism in politics. This consciousness is pervasive because administrative units, such as “states’’ and local government areas, are mapped out according to tribes. Admission into institutions of learning and distribution of national wealth, are conducted by ethnic considerations. This conduct of national affairs along lines of ethnic ideology caused riots, violence and war in the past. The Jos riots of 1945, the Kano riots (1953), the Tiv eruptions (1960 to 1964) and the civil disturbances in Western Nigeria (1965) are indications of the pathological character of ethnicity. The January 1966 coup, the May 1966 massacres in the North, the reactionary counter-coup of July 29, 1966, the wave of anti-Igbo violence in September 1966 and Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970 are other negative consequences of the ethnic force in the Nigerian nation. Marriage is the basic social institution, which is crucial and fundamental to the formation of the family, hence its universality (Fox, 1967). Within the Tiv/Igede societies, the family is conceptualized as an Organic Unified entity; it is seen as the basic unit of the community (Wegh, 1998). Based on such understanding, marriage among the Tiv is perceived as an activity involving not just the individual but the entire village likewise the Igedes. According to Murdock (1949:33) he argues that marriage confers the right of inheritance of children and offspring in the marriage. He argues that only children from societal recognized wedlock posses the right of inheritance to wealth and properties. He explains that in most African societies children born outside wedlock are considered bastards and would attract no right of inheritance though they may be biologically traced to a father. Also, he views such as irresponsibility as African societies label such families irresponsible, but on the other hand, maturity and prestige is conferred on families which bears children through the legitimate act of marriage. Inter-tribal marriages can help solve our ethnic problem and strengthen our nascent democracy and bring about the needed development. The Pointer (2004) maintained that inter- tribal marriage encourages growth and social interaction and reduces tribal and ethnic conflicts which is one of the problems facing the nation. Also, that inter-tribal marriage would bring about brotherly love among the different tribes in the country, adding that the need for cultural blend cannot be over stressed. Observers say that inter-tribal marriages will promote and strengthen efforts to promote the country’s unity because families are the smallest units of any society. INTER-TRIBAL MARRIAGES WILL FOSTER UNITY AMONG THE PEOPLE AND A VERITABLE TOOL FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION. The residents, who spoke the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said that inter-tribal marriages would foster brotherly love and peace among the different tribes as different people come together. Mr Uchena Jesse, the Manager of Protex Ltd., located at Wuse 2, said that with increasing urbanisation, towns and cities were becoming more cosmopolitan. ``As private and public institutions are manned and utilised by people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, they are drawn into close interactions in schools, the workplace and some public utilities like airport, post office, libraries. ``This coming together of people from different backgrounds often leads to cross-cultural marriages. “Inter-tribal marriage has benefited us more than it disadvantages, three of my friends are in cross-cultural marriages right now and it’s as if they understand each other’s languages so well. ``Their marriages have brought different families together and they now stand as one no matter what, because children will be involved which will lead to raising a generation. ``And with the growth in the society now, inter-cultural marriage will continue to be on the increase, ” Jesse said. Another resident, Mr Omotola Ilugbuhi, an officer of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who lent his voice in support of inter-tribal marriage, said ``it fosters unity among the people and a veritable tool for National integration.’’ ``Those who are married to people from different tribes tend to be more open, appreciative and tolerant than those who are from the same tribes.``Differences in culture and ethnicity are often a plus in some marriages, if well managed they can forge strong bonds in a loving relationship,’’ he said.``I am from Kogi State but am married to an Idoma woman for more than four years and we are blessed with two lovely children.``Our children will profit from two different cultures, they are multi-lingua. The first son speaks Okun and Idoma fluently aside from speaking foreign languages,’’ he said.Mr Samuel Iyang, a Police Officer also supported inter-tribal marriage, saying ``it is for those aspiring for a career in business or politics.’’He said that cross cultural marriage could afford one the opportunity to forge strong alliance across cultural and regional divides.``Intertribal marriage has helped businessmen and women including, politicians to achieve a lot of success. DEFINITION OF TERMS National integration National integration is the awareness of a common identity amongst the citizens of a country. It means that though we belong to different castes, religions and regions and speak different languages we recognize the fact that we are all one. This kind of integration is very important in the building of a strong and prosperous nation. Unity Unity is a positive, practical, progressive approach to Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus and the power of prayer. Unity honors the universal truths in all religions and respects each individual's right to choose a spiritual path. THE ROLES OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION The nation is a cultural entity that binds people together on the basis of culturally homogenous ties common or related blood, a common language, a common historical tradition, common customs and habits (Rodee et al, 1976). A nation is thus an exclusive group, and its essential features include: a homogenous cultural unit; specific and shared identity among members; deep attachment to a specific territory – the earthly home; membership is limited by ties of blood, intermarriage, kinship and common descent; members have a shared understanding of who they are, how they originated and have developed over time, as well as collective belonging (Parekin, cited by Nna, 2005). It is clear that individuals are the units of integration, and members of a nation are integrated as they share a common identity. Thus, the term national integration is not applicable to a single nation, but involves two or more nations. A state is a political entity that is in many cases made of more than one nationality group. Thus, for example Nigeria is made of about 250 ethnic groups (Enegwea & Umoden, 1993, Coleman, 1986). The plurality of groups many times throw up centrifugal forces that tend to tear countries apart. This reality imposes the need to integrate the distinct ethnic groups to become a monolithic whole that shares a common identity and destiny. Essentially therefore, national integration is a process that attempts to erode the presence of micro-nationalities in place of a spirit of nationhood (Alapiki, 2000). This is achieved through the breakdown of ethnic barriers, the elimination of primordial ethnic loyalties, and the development of a sense of common identity. Integration can be categorized as a three-phased activity – as a project, process and product. Integration as a project is the desire for unity and the efforts directed towards it. The processes of integration are the practical actions that are taken to transform distinct nationality groups into a single nation. The product of integration deals with the outcome of integration process (Morgan, 2002). Enegwea and Umoden (1993) have noted two integration processes that can tackle the centrifugal forces associated with inter-ethnic diversity. First, is the use of state policy to prevent the dominance of one group at the expense of other groups. Examples are federal character and quota system. The second is the use of policies and programmes to de-emphasize differences among nationality groups, and the promotion of harmony and understanding among the ethnic groups. An example is the National Youth Service Corps Scheme in Nigeria. The success of such policies in enhancing national integration is largely predicated on education, in terms of its content and access. CONCLUSION In this research study, and based on the analysis of data collected, the following conclusions are drawn by the researcher. The high rate of inter-tribal marriage, which has steadily risen within the last few decades contributed significantly to the dissolution of ethnocentrism in Nigeria. REFERENCES Ake, C. (1996), Is Africa democratizing?, Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited. Alapiki, H.E. (2000), Politics and governance in Nigeria, Owerri: Corporate Impressions Alapiki, H.E. (2005), ‘State creation in Nigeria’, failed approaches to national integration and local autonomy, African Studies Review, Vol.48, No.3, pp.49-65. Alapiki, H. (1998), Political parties and political integration in Nigeria, Owerri: Springfield Publishers. Alapiki, H. and Barikor, I. B. (2002), ‘The politics of ethnicity and political integration in Africa, in Efemini, A.O. (eds), Ake and African development: selected issues, Port Harcourt: Paragraphics, PP.127-140. Gotep, M. G. (2000). The contribution of social studies education towards nation-building. Social Studies Quarterly 3(1): 116-119. Igbo, E. U. M. (2000). Nigerian youth rejection of traditional values in the name of development. UNIZIK. Journal of Sociology 1(1): 10 - 14.

THE ROLE OF ETHNIC MARRIAGE TOWARDS NATIONAL INTEGRATION

REFERENCES Ake, C. (1996), Is Africa democratizing?, Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited. Alapiki, H.E. (2000), Politics and governance in Nigeria, Owerri: Corporate Impressions Alapiki, H.E. (2005), ‘State creation in Nigeria’, failed approaches to national integration and local autonomy, African Studies Review, Vol.48, No.3, pp.49-65. Alapiki, H. (1998), Political parties and political integration in Nigeria, Owerri: Springfield Publishers. Alapiki, H. and Barikor, I. B. (2002), ‘The politics of ethnicity and political integration in Africa, in Efemini, A.O. (eds), Ake and African development: selected issues, Port Harcourt: Paragraphics, PP.127-140. Gotep, M. G. (2000). The contribution of social studies education towards nation-building. Social Studies Quarterly 3(1): 116-119. Igbo, E. U. M. (2000). Nigerian youth rejection of traditional values in the name of development. UNIZIK. Journal of Sociology 1(1): 10 - 14.

The Ten Fundamental Reasons

What Is ICT Education and Why Is It Important? Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) education is basically our society’s efforts to teach its current and emerging citizens valuable knowledge and skills around computing and communications devices, software that operates them, applications that run on them and systems that are built with them. What are these things? How do they work? How do you use them productively? How are they deployed, assembled, managed and maintained to create productive systems? How they are used in specific business and industry settings? What are the underlying science and technologies behind them and how might those be developed to advance ICT fields? ICT is complex and quickly changing, and it is confusing for many people. It is so pervasive in the modern world that everyone has some understanding of it, but those understandings are often wildly divergent. There are many important dimensions to ICT education, including: • ICT/Digital Literacy – Today, everyone needs a basic understanding of ICT and how to make productive use of it, just to be good students, workers and citizens. Teaching people how to be competent basic users of ICT technologies is an important role of ICT education, so they will be successful in their academic and work careers, and so they can efficiently participate in modern technical society. As part of its study validating U.S. Department of Labor IT Competency model content in California, MPICT determined with 99% confidence California employer agreement with the following statements regarding Digital Literacy: o “Information and communication technologies (ICT) competencies are increasingly important for most of our employers, regardless of role. If there was an agreed-upon standard for "digital literacy", or ICT competencies expected of all workers, regardless of workplace role, my organization would value a credential based on that standard as a way of validating ICT skills for non-ICT workers.” (70.5% agree or very much agree) o “In the 21st century, an ability to work with information and communication technologies is becoming as essential to education, life and workplace success as "reading, writing and arithmetic".” ICT Digital Literacy should be considered a basic skill by educational systems, something taught to and assessed for all students. (85.2% agree or very much agree) o This study details 49 competencies for ICT User level knowledge and skills, as an actionable, teachable and assessable definition of what people need to know and be able to do to be “digitally literate.” • ICT Infrastructure and Support Applied Technologists – Beyond a basic user competency, our society also needs more knowledgeable and capable technical people to deploy, manage and maintain ICT equipment, software and systems, so they work well for users. In all industries, these people manage computer and communications hardware, software and applications; networked systems; online information sharing, communication and commerce systems; business processes making use of these systems; and user support. • Specialized Business and Industry Uses of ICT – As enabling technologies, ICT is used strategically in almost all businesses and industries. Many have developed specialized systems and uses of ICT, and many have specialized legal and regulatory requirements; quality control systems; integrations with production and research equipment and systems; security requirements; and software applications. For example: o Bioscience industries rely on specialized ICT systems and applications to conduct research, analyze organic materials, produce biotech products and do required reporting; o Financial services industries rely on ICT to maintain customer records, do business, conduct trades, do financial reporting, secure proprietary information and comply with regulations; o Manufacturing industries use specialized computer controlled systems and robotics to design, produce and test products. o Property management operations use ICT to network and control heating and cooling, lighting and building access systems. o Electric utilities use ICT to monitor and manage electricity distribution, customer billing and smart metering systems. o Telecommunications, cable TV and other entertainment industries use ICT to store content, manage customers and deliver their services. We need to develop a competent workforce that understands not only relevant technologies, but also specialized business and industry environments and operations, to meet these specialized needs. • ICT Research and Development Scientists – ICT fields themselves are under constant pressure to evolve and improve. We need people who deeply understand the science and technologies underlying ICT and who can work to advance the fields. In virtually all modern businesses and industries, and in modern society in general, ICT has key strategic roles. It is strategically important to develop citizens and workers who can competently and efficiently operate and add value in these systems and environments. IN THIS SECTION: Introduction to ICT Education What ICT Education Is and Why It Is Important? ICT Education in K-12 Schools ICT Education in Community Colleges ICT Education in Public 4 Year Colleges and Universities ICT Education at Private Colleges and Universities ICT Educator Resources | MPICT Issues | News & Events | Contact Us | Site Map | Website by OM The Importance of Technology Technology refers to the collection of tools that make it easier to use, create, manage and exchange information. In the earlier times, the use of tools by human beings was for the process of discovery and evolution. Tools remained the same for a long time in the earlier part of the history of mankind but it was also the complex human behaviors and tools of this era that modern language began as believed by many archeologists. Technology refers the knowledge and utilization of tools, techniques and systems in order to serve a bigger purpose like solving problems or making life easier and better. Its significance on humans is tremendous because technology helps them adapt to the environment. The development of high technology including computer technology’s Internet and the telephone has helped conquer communication barriers and bridge the gap between people all over the world. While there are advantages to constant evolution of technology, their evolution has also seen the increase of its destructive power as apparent in the creation of weapons of all kinds. In a broader sense, technology affects societies in the development of advanced economies, making life more convenient to more people that have access to such technology. But while it continues to offer better means to man’s day to day living, it also has unwanted results such as pollution, depletion of natural resources to the great disadvantage of the planet. Its influence on society can also be seen in how people use technology and its ethical significance in the society. Debates on the advantages and disadvantages of technology constantly arise questioning the impact of technology on the improvement or worsening of human condition. Some movements have even risen to criticize its harmful effects on the environment and its ways of alienating people. Still, there are others that view technology as beneficial to progress and the human condition. In fact, technology has evolved to serve not just human beings but also other members of the animal species as well. Technology is often seen as a consequence of science and engineering. Through the years, new technologies and methods have been developed through research and development. The advancements of both science and technology have resulted to incremental development and disruptive technology. An example of incremental development is the gradual replacement of compact discs with DVD. While disruptive developments are automobiles replacing horse carriages. The evolution of technologies marks the significant development of other technologies in different fields, like nano technology, biotechnology, robotics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and information technology. The rise of technologies is a result of present day innovations in the varied fields of technology. Some of these technologies combine power to achieve the same goals. This is referred to as converging technologies. Convergence is the process of combining separate technologies and merging resources to be more interactive and user friendly. An example of this would be high technology with telephony features as well as data productivity and video combined features. Today technical innovations representing progressive developments are emerging to make use of technology’s competitive advantage. Through convergence of technologies, different fields combine together to produce similar goals. Math Open Reference Home Find out more About the Author Terms of use Table of Contents Citing content Technical support Using the site offline Contact us What users are saying Articles: The Ten Reasons why technology is vital to education Why Math Open Reference exists Teaching Geometric Constructions using Math Open Reference [Note: This article first appeared in Tech Learning e-magazine March 2007] Updated Nov 2007 to add reason #10, other minor edits The Ten Fundamental Reasons for technology in education Two events prodded me into writing this. The first was my involvement in formulating a technology plan for a local school. During this process I became increasingly concerned that while the school leaders were keen to bring in technology, and intuitively knew they should, they did not really know why. It was a kind of gut instinct. The second event was an email I got from a teacher concerning my web site Math Open Reference. She wrote (I paraphrase): "Thank you so much! Now I have something to do with those laptops they gave me!". You can visualize the scene: a school decided to move technology into the classroom so it gave the teacher the computers. Again I wondered if this school really knew why they wanted the technology. In what way, precisely, would the education be better? So here they are. Ten fundamental reasons why I think technology is important in education. Hopefully, they can act as the rationale for technology plans in schools. If you disagree, or find things missing, my contact information is at the end. Reason 1. Expansion of time and place In a typical high school a student has access to a teacher 40 minutes per day. That means she has access to that teacher 5% of her waking day, and even that time is shared with 25 classmates. She has access to the Internet 100% of the time. That's 20X better. Technology is no substitute for an inspiring teacher. However, on-line materials are far more available. Twenty times more. Using the "textbook plus classroom" approach, the places where learning can occur are limited. On the other hand, a wireless laptop has access to the teacher's course material and the entire Internet almost anywhere. This is also a vastly larger resource than can be practically carried on paper in a backpack. Bottom line: information technology allows learning anywhere, anytime; not just in one particular classroom for forty minutes a day. Reason 2. Depth of Understanding Interactive simulations and illustrations can produce a much greater depth of understanding of a concept. When virtual manipulatives are used in a classroom setting they can go far beyond chalk and talk. Using a projector, the teacher can conduct onscreen investigations and demonstrate concepts far more easily than with just words and arm-waving. For example see Subtended Angles. Because the students have access to the same tools over the web, they can reinforce the ideas by experimenting with the simulations themselves, any time, any where. Reason 3. Learning vs. Teaching Technology allows the tables to be turned. Instead of teaching (push), students can be given projects that require them to learn (pull) the necessary material themselves. Key to this is the ability to get the information they need any time anywhere, without being in the physical presence of a teacher. This project-based pull approach makes learning far more interesting for the student. I have seen firsthand how students cannot wait to get out of regular classes to go to the after-school robotics project. Reason 4. New media for self-expression In the old days, students could write in a notebook, and what they wrote was seen only by the teacher. Using modern technology they can: Make a PowerPoint presentation, record/edit spoken word, do digital photography, make a video, run a class newspaper, run a web based school radio or TV station, do claymation, compose digital music on a synthesizer, make a website, create a blog. Reason 5. Collaboration A vital skill in the new digital world is the ability to work collaboratively on projects with others who may not be physically close. This can best be done using modern computer tools such as the web, email, instant messaging and cell phone. Rather than laboring alone on homework, students can work in small groups wherever they happen to be and at any time. They are doing this already (it used to be called cheating) - it can now be formalized and taught as a vital skill. Many university projects are undertaken by teams spread around the world. Students need to be prepared for this. Reason 6. Going Global The worldview of the student can be expanded because of the zero cost of communicating with other people around the globe. The Internet permits free video conferencing which permits interaction in real time with sister schools in other countries. From an educational viewpoint, what could be more important than understanding other cultures through direct dialog and collaboration? Reason 7. Individual pacing and sequence Students are, of course, all different. Information technologies can permit them to break step with the class and go at a pace and order that suits that student better. Without disrupting the class, they can repeat difficult lessons and explore what they find interesting. With time, it will become more like having a private tutor rather than being lost in a large class. Reason 8. Weight Three textbooks and three binders easily weigh over 25lb. A laptop computer weighs about 5lb and provides access to infinitely more material via its own storage and the Internet. A 40Gb hard drive can hold 2 million pages with illustrations; the web is unfathomably large. Right now, students are getting back injuries lugging around a tiny subset of what they need in the form of black marks on slices of dead trees. And it's just static, boring text. Reason 9. Personal Productivity Students need productivity tools for the same reasons you do. They need to write, read, communicate, organize and schedule. A student's life is not much different from any knowledge worker, and they need similar tools. Even if they are never used in the classroom, portable personal computers will make a student's (and teacher's) life more effective. To cash in this benefit, schools need to go paperless. Reason 10. Lower Cost It is not unusual for a textbook to cost over $120, and in community colleges, where they are purchased by the student, they can cost more than the tuition itself. Through the use of open, free educational tools on the web, the dependence on expensive paper textbooks can be reduced. There is a growing movement to create and publish this type of material through organizations such as OER Commons. OER stands for Open Educational Resources and the idea is to follow the open source model made popular by software projects such as Linux. Material is created by the educational community itself then freely shared. Today (Nov 2007) a decent laptop can be bought for $399, the price of a few textbooks. Right now we need both the paper books and the computer, but that is simply a transitional phase. In summary, if education is about knowledge and intellectual skills, then information technology lies at the heart of it all. We have only just begun this transition. School will eventually look very different. Get ready. John Page is a software designer living in California's Silicon Valley. He is the author of the free online geometry textbook Math Open Reference. Send a message to John Page (C) Copyright John Page 2007

NGOs for micro-finance cooperative

BRAC Founded 1972 Type Non-profit Location • Dhaka, Bangladesh Key people Sir Fazlé Hasan Abed, founder Revenue 30,816,176,848 Taka (2011) (US$422,139,409) [1] Employees 102,281 (2012) [2] Website http://www.brac.net Objectives BRAC has done what few others have – they have achieved success on a massive scale, bringing life-saving health programs to millions of the world's poorest people. They remind us that even the most intractable health problems are solvable, and inspire us to match their success throughout the developing world. Bill Gates, Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Award, 2004 Economic development BRAC’s Economic Development programme includes microcredit. It provides collateral-free credit using a solidarity lending methodology, as well as obligatory savings schemes through its Village Organisations Grameen Bank Type Body Corporate (Bank Law)[1] Industry Financial services Founded 1983 Founder Muhammad Yunus Headquarters Dhaka, Bangladesh Number of locations 2,565 (July 2010)[2] Area served Bangladesh Key people Mohammad Shahjahan, Acting Managing Director (CEO) Products Microfinance Revenue 12,435,830,045 Taka (176.67 million USD) (2010)[3] Operating income 8,513,832,110 Taka (120.95 million USD) (2010)[3] Net income 757,241,322 Taka (10.76 million USD) (2010)[3] Total assets 125,396,957,972 Taka (2010)[4] Number of employees 22,149 (July 2011)[2] Website grameen.com The bank is founded on the belief that people have endless potential, and unleashing their creativity and initiative helps them end poverty.[18] Grameen has offered credit to classes of people formerly underserved: the poor, women, illiterate, and unemployed people. Access to credit is based on reasonable terms, such as the group lending system and weekly-installment payments, with reasonably long terms of loans, enabling the poor to build on their existing skills to earn better income in each cycle of loans.[18] Grameen's objective has been to promote financial independence among the poor. Yunus encourages all borrowers to become savers, so that their local capital can be converted into new loans to others. Since 1995, Grameen has funded 90 percent of its loans with interest income and deposits collected, aligning the interests of its new borrowers and depositor-shareholders. Grameen converts deposits made in villages into loans for the more needy in the villages (Yunus and Jolis 1998) FINCA International Type Nonprofit Organization Founded 1984 Headquarters Washington, DC, United States Key people John Hatch, founder, and Rupert Scofield, President and CEO Products Financial Services Microfinance Revenue $105,157,764 (Dec 31, 2007)[1] Total assets $367,153,860 (Dec 31, 2007)[1] Number of employees approximately 7,000 (Mar 31, 2009)[1] Website www.FINCA.org Gamelan Council – Asia-Pacific Microfinance, Public Health & Development Centre Countries where the Gamelan Council largely works shown in blue Headquarters Sydney, Australia Type Non-profit, non-governmental organization Key jurisdictions addressed 73 Leaders - Director C. Scott López-Gelormino Establishment 2005 Website http://www.gamelancouncil.org/

financial scheme established by fed.gov. to assist small business

he Scheme requires all banks in Nigeria to set aside ten (10) percent of their Profit After Tax (PAT) for equity investment and promotion of small and medium enterprises. The 10% of the Profit After Tax (PAT) to be set aside annually shall be invested in small and medium enterprises as the banking industry’s contribution to the Federal Government’s efforts towards stimulating economic growth, developing local technology and generating employment. The funding to be provided under the scheme shall be in the form of equity investment in eligible enterprises and or loans at single digit interest rate in order to reduce the burden of interest and other financial charges under normal bank lending, as well as provide financial, advisory, technical and managerial support from the banking industry. Every legal business activity is covered under the Scheme with the exception of trading/merchandising and financial services. Ten percent (10%) of the funds set aside has been earmarked for lending to microfinance enterprises. For details check the In terms of monetary authority support, the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced credit guidelines requiring commercial and merchant banks to allocate a portion of their loanable funds to small enterprises. A number of developmental financial institutions and schemes were also established to aid the development of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country. These included the 1. Nigeria Bank for Commerce and Industry (NCBI), Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), the so-called Peoples Bank, the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUN), and the World bank SME I and SME II loan schemes. There were also export incentives from the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to stimulate export loan facilities to SMEs, and export duty draw-back schemes administered by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC). 2. Other incentive programs were technical in nature, such as the provision of manpower training, appropriate machinery selection and installation, machine repairs and maintenance, and extension services. These services were provided by institutions such as the Industrial Development Centers (IDCs) the Center for Industrial Research and Development (GIRD), the Center for Management Development (CMD), Project Development Agency (PRODA) and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC). 2. Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) This body was established to promote the development of micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSME). Its mission is to facilitate the access of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs/investors to all resources required for their development. Its vision is to establish a structured and efficient micro, small and medium enterprises sector that will enhance sustainable development of Nigeria. If SMEDAN functions optimally it will be one of the most veritable channels to combat poverty. Like any other agency of its kind, harsh economic condition couple with week government institutions does not help its performance. Summary of SMEDAN functions • Stimulating, Monitoring and Coordinating the development of the MSMEs sector, • Initiating and articulating policy ideas for micro, small and medium enterprises growth and development, • Promoting and facilitating development programmes, instruments and support services to accelerate the development and modernization of MSME operation. • Serving as vanguard for rural industrialization, poverty reduction, job creatioin and enhance sustainable livelihoods. • Linking SMEs to internal and external sources of finance, appropriate technology, technical skills as well as to large enterprises. • promoting information and providing access to industrial infrastructure such as layouts, incubators, industrial parks. • Intermediating between MSMEs and the Government. SMEDAN is the voice of the MSMEs. • Working in concert with other institutions in both public and private sectors to create a good enabling environment of businesses in general, and MSME activities in particular 3. National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) This programme aimed at poverty eradication and empowerment. There are four major intervention schemes in Nigeria’s current poverty eradication programme. One is Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), it is targeted at youth. YES is more than employment scheme as it is aimed at the provision of training opportunities, skills acquisition, employment opportunities, wealth creation through enhanced income generation, improved social status and rural development. It is primarily aimed at the economic empowerment of Nigerian youths. Its impact is still below expectation. 4. Micro Finance Institutions (MFIS) These financial institutions are set up to meet the credit needs of the rural and urban poor, artisans, farmers, petty traders, vulcaniser, etc. CBN gave a directive to all erstwhile community Banks to convert to MFls by recapitalizing to meet the new guidelines for the setting up of MFls. One of the challenges microfinance face in Nigeria is that they do not reach to great number of poor Nigerians. The effect of not appropriately addressing this situation would further accentuate poverty and slow down economic growth and development. 5. Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment Scheme (SMIEIS) The Scheme requires all banks in Nigeria to set aside ten (10) percent of their Profit After Tax (PAT) for equity investment and promotion of small and medium enterprises. The 10% of the profit After Tax (PAT) to be set aside annually shall be invested in small and medium enterprises as the banking industry’s contribution to the federal governments efforts towards stimulating economic growth, developing local technology and generating employment. Activities covered by the scheme include all legal business activity with the exception of trading/merchandising and financial services. Beneficiaries are expected to comply with guidelines of the scheme and ensure prudent utilization of fund. Like its other counterparts its performance is still below expectation. Such support programs and initiatives have had varied levels of success in different countries around the world. In Korea for instance, public policies were found to be instrumental in the development of the SME sector and the industrialization of the country. But in Singapore this was not found to be the case (Regnier, 1998). In light of the difficult economic conditions and business climate in Nigeria, and the fact that the support initiatives were principally a response to such conditions, it would seem reasonable to expect the intended recipients would patronize these initiatives. Correspondingly, one would expect a positive effect on the performance of supported firms. The effectiveness of the enterprise support programs and initiatives in Nigeria over the period of economic decline remains unclear. Accordingly, the present study will explore three hypotheses concerning whether support is received, how much support is received, and the form of the support that is received:

THE MEANING OF TELECOMMUNICATION

1. THE MEANING OF TELECOMMUNICATION Telecommunication is the exchange of information over a significant distance by electronic means. A complete, single telecommunication circuit consists of two stations, each equipped with a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter and receiver at any station may be combined into a single device called the transceiver. The medium of signal transmission can be electrical wire or cable (also known as copper) optical fiber or electromagnetic field. The free space transmission and reception of data by means of electromagnetic field is called wireless. The term “Telephone Service within an estate” shall be deemed to mean any communication service for the transmission or reception of voice, data, sound, signals, pictures, writing, or signs of all kinds by wire, fiber, radio, light, or other visual or electromagnetic means, and shall include all telephone lines, facilities, or system used in the rendition of such service; but shall not be deemed to mean message telegram service or community antenna television system services or facilities other than those intended exclusively for educational purposes, or radio broadcasting services or facilities within the meaning of section 153 (0) of title 47. 2. IDENTIFY THE AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION IN NIGERIA? a. The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunication industry in Nigeria, established by degree number 75 by the Federal military Government of Nigeria on 24th November 1992. b. The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, established in 1992 (NBC) ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬3, SUBSCRIBERS OF TELEPHONE EXCHANGE IN REAL ESTATE. A telephone exchange is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network or in large enterprises. An exchange consists of electronic components and in older systems also human operators that interconnect (switch) telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital systems to establish telephone calls between subscribers. 1 In the public telecommunication networks a telephone exchange is located in a central office (CO), typically a building used to house the inside plant equipment of potentially several telephone exchanges, each serving a certain geographical exchange area. Central office locations are often identified in North America as wire centers, designating a facility from which a telephone obtains dial tone.[1] For business and billing purposes, telephony carriers also define rate centers, which in larger cities may be clusters of central offices, to define specified geographical locations for determining distance measurements. In the United States and Canada, the Bell System established in the 1940s a uniform system of identifying each telephone exchange with a three-digit exchange code, or central office code, that was used as a prefix to subscriber telephone numbers. All exchanges within a larger region, typically aggregated by state, were assigned a common area code. With the development of international and transoceanic telephone trunks, especially driven by direct customer dialing, similar efforts of systematic organization of the telephone networks occurred in many countries in the mid-20th century. For corporate or enterprise use, a private telephone exchange is often referred to as a private branch exchange (PBX), when it has connections to the public switched telephone network. A PBX is installed in enterprise facilities, typically collocated with large office spaces or within an organizational campus to serve the local private telephone system and any private leased line circuits. Smaller installations might deploy a PBX or key telephone system in the office of a receptionist. 4. TELEPHONE LOCAL LINE NETWORK Depending on their structure and function, telephone networks in the USSR, as in many other countries, are subdivided into local (rural and urban), area, interarea, long-distance, and international networks. With rural telephone networks, each local central office serves between 50 and 200 subscribers. The local offices are interconnected through a tandem office, and the tandem offices are linked through a central tandem office to a toll office (Figure 1). Urban networks having more than one central office are divided into districts. When the districts are fairly small, that is, serving only tens of thousands of subscribers, the district central offices are interconnected, and each one is linked to a 2. toll office. In larger systems, where each district serves hundreds of thousands of subscribers, lines are used more efficiently and multiplexing is more effective when the district offices are linked to the toll office through a tandem office. Usually, the territory of a country is divided into areas according to a numbering plan. The number of areas ranges between 50 and 200, with the USSR having (1975) 160. Each area will have one or two toll offices to handle the incoming and outgoing calls of that area’s local central offices. The toll office or offices, together with the communications lines interconnecting the toll office or offices with the local central offices, constitute an area telephone network. Together, a country’s area telephone networks constitute an interarea telephone network. A long-distance telephone network is formed by a country’s toll offices, control switching points, and interconnecting communications lines. The control switching points are designed to make indirect connections and to map out alternate routes. In telephone networks where central offices are connected to offices of higher rank, direct interoffice trunks can be used to link any two offices when warranted by the volume of traffic. The introduction of control switching points and tandem offices has made possible a substantial reduction in the number of direct interoffice trunks needed to handle all calls in a given direction with a specified quality of service. A quality of service can be maintained wherein no more than 1 percent of the calls are blocked by busy circuits. An international telephone network is farmed by all international offices, transit centers for international, including intercontinental calls,and interconnecting communications lines. Development work on telephone networks is geared toward increasing the level of automation in setting up connections at central offices and switching points and introducing automatic central offices and control switching points that do not need constant maintenance. These offices and switching points will be either electronic or quasi-electronic. With the latter, the control apparatus is made up of electronic components, and the switching of communications lines is done by small, high-speed telephone relays, such as hermetic contacts. Work is also being done on developing adaptive automatic control systems for telephone networks. These systems include devices for representing, monitoring, and correcting the condition of a network; the devices, acting upon information (the dialed number) received from the caller, search the network for the optimum route of setting up the connection. Microelectronics and electronic control computers are being used in 3. telephone equipment. The telephone network in the USSR is being developed as part of the Integrated Automatic Communications System. 5. DESCRIPTION OF TRUNK NETWORK This article is about the network-design strategies. For riding in auto cargo space, see Trunk (automobile)Trunking. For the UK term for electrical wireways, see Electrical conduit#Trunking. A diagram of a hierarchical communications network. Blue: main lines; red: feeder lines. In telecommunications, trunking is a method for a system to provide network access to many clients by sharing a set of lines or frequencies instead of providing them individually. This is analogous to the structure of a tree with one trunk and many branches. Examples of this include telephone systems and the VHF radios commonly used by police agencies. More recently port trunking has been applied in computer networking as well. A trunk is a single transmission channel between two points, each point being either the switching center or the node. There are several apparent influences on the use of the "trunking" term in communication networks. The most elemental ones are the natural models of a tree trunk and its branches; tributary streams' confluence with rivers; and river deltas' branching of channels. The term's previous use in railway track terminology (e.g., India's Grand Trunk Road, Canada's Grand Trunk Railway), which came from the natural models mentioned above, is another likely influence. Railway networks, with trunks, branches, and switches, were a contemporary model for many decades of the development of telegraph and telephone networks. In fact, turnover of employment among engineers in the railroading and telecommunications industries was not unusual during these decades, which makes the use of these analogies unsurprising. For example, Theodore Newton Vail had been a manager of railroad networks before he became an architect of telephone networks. 4. Another possible explanation is that, from an early stage in the development of telephony, the (up to around 10 cm diameter) containing many pairs of wires. These were usually sheathed in lead. Thus, both in colour and size they resembled an elephant's trunk. The elephant's-trunk hypothesis may be a false etymology. 6. PREPARE A LAYOUT PLAN FOR TELEPHONE EXCHANGE A modern exchange, equipped not just for voice communication but also for broadband data. A telephone exchange is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network or in large enterprises. An exchange consists of electronic components and in older systems also human operators that interconnect (switch) telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital systems to establish telephone calls between subscribers. In the public telecommunication networks a telephone exchange is located in a central office (CO), typically a building used to house the inside plant equipment of potentially several telephone exchanges, each serving a certain geographical exchange area. Central office locations are often identified in North America as wire centers, designating a facility from which a telephone obtains dial tone.[1] For business and billing purposes, telephony carriers also define rate centers, which in larger cities may be clusters of central offices, to define specified geographical locations for determining distance measurements. In the United States and Canada, the Bell System established in the 1940s a uniform system of identifying each telephone exchange with a three-digit exchange code, or central office code, that was used as a prefix to subscriber telephone numbers. All exchanges within a larger region, typically aggregated by state, were assigned a common area code. With the development of international and transoceanic telephone trunks, especially driven by direct customer dialing, similar efforts of systematic organization of the telephone networks occurred in many countries in the mid-20th century. For corporate or enterprise use, a private telephone exchange is often referred to as a private branch exchange (PBX), when it has connections to the public switched telephone network. A PBX is installed in enterprise facilities, typically collocated with large office spaces or within an organizational campus to serve the local private telephone system and any private leased line circuits. Smaller installations might deploy a PBX or key telephone system in the office of a receptionist. 5. Exchange in Miskolc, Hungary In the era of the electrical telegraph, post offices, railway stations, the more important governmental centers (ministries), stock exchanges, very few nationally distributed newspapers, the largest internationally important corporations and wealthy individuals were the principal users of such telegraphs.[2] Despite the fact that telephone devices existed before the invention of the telephone exchange, their success and economical operation would have been impossible on the same schema and structure of the contemporary telegraph, as prior to the invention of the telephone exchange switchboard, early telephones were hardwired to and communicated with only a single other telephone (such as from an individual's home to the person's business). A telephone exchange is a telephone system located at service centers (central offices) responsible for a small geographic area that provided the switching or interconnection of two or more individual subscriber lines for calls made between them, rather than requiring direct lines between subscriber stations. This made it possible for subscribers to call each other at homes, businesses, or public spaces. These made telephony an available and comfortable communication tool for everyday use, and it gave the impetus for the creation of a whole new industrial sector. One of the first people to build a telephone exchange was Hungarian Tivadar Puskás in 1877 while he was working for Thomas Edison.The first experimental telephone exchange was based on the ideas of Puskás, and it was built by the Bell Telephone Company in Boston in 1877.[7] The world's first commercial telephone exchange opened on November 12, 1877 in Friedrichsberg close to Berlin.[8] George W. Coy designed and built the first commercial US telephone exchange which opened in New Haven, Connecticut in January, 1878. The switchboard was built from "carriage bolts, handles from teapot lids and bustle wire" and could handle two simultaneous conversations.[9] Charles Glidden is also credited with establishing an exchange in Lowell, MA. with 50 subscribers in 1878. In Europe other early telephone exchanges were based in London and Manchester, both of which opened under Bell patents in 1879.[10] Belgium had its first International Bell exchange (in Antwerp) a year later. In 1887 Puskás introduced the multiplex switchboard, that had an epochal significance in the further development of telephone exchange.[11] Later exchanges consisted of one to several hundred plug boards staffed by switchboard operators. Each operator sat in front of a vertical panel containing 6 banks of ¼-inch tip-ring-sleeve (3-conductor) jacks, each of which was the local termination of a subscriber's telephone line. In front of the jack panel lay a horizontal panel containing two rows of patch cords, each pair connected to a cord circuit. When a calling party lifted the receiver, the local loop current lit a signal lamp near the jack.[12] The operator responded by inserting the rear cord (answering cord) into the subscriber's jack and switched her headset into the circuit to ask, "Number, please?" For a local call, the operator inserted the front cord of the pair (ringing cord) into the called party's local jack and started the ringing cycle. For a long distance call, she plugged into a trunk circuit to connect to another operator in another bank of boards or at a remote central office. In 1918, the average time to complete the connection for a long-distance call was 15 minutes. Early manual switchboards required the operator to operate listening keys and ringing keys, but by the late 1910s and 1920s, advances in switchboard technology led to features which allowed the call to be automatically answered immediately as the operator inserted the answering cord, and ringing would automatically begin as soon as the operator inserted the ringing cord into the called party’s jack. The operator would be disconnected from the circuit, allowing her to handle another call, while the caller heard an audible ringback signal, so that that operator would not have to periodically report that she was continuing to ring the line. In the ringdown method, the originating operator called another intermediate operator who would call the called subscriber, or passed it on to another intermediate operator.[14] This chain of intermediate operators could complete the call only if intermediate trunk lines were available between all the centers at the same time. In 1943 when military calls had priority, a cross-country US call might take as long as 2 hours to request and schedule in cities that used manual switchboards for toll calls. On March 10, 1891, Almon Brown Strowger, an undertaker in Kansas City, Missouri, patented the stepping switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching. While there were many extensions and adaptations of this initial patent, the one best known consists of 10 levels or banks, each having 10 contacts arranged in a semicircle. When used with a rotary telephone dial, each pair of digits caused the shaft of the central contact "hand" of the stepping switch to first step (ratchet) up one level for each pulse in the first digit and then to swing horizontally in a contact row with one small rotation for each pulse in the next digit. 7. Later stepping switches were arranged in banks, the first stage of which was a linefinder. If one of up to a hundred subscriber lines had the receiver lifted "off hook", a linefinder connected the subscriber's line to a free first selector, which returned the subscriber a dial tone to show that it was ready to receive dialed digits. The subscriber's dial pulsed at about 10 pulses per second, although the speed depended on the standard of the particular telephone administration. 7. IDENTIFY THE AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERATION OF POWER The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (abbreviated PHC or PHCN), formerly the National Electric Power Authority (abbreviated NEPA) was an organization governing the use of electricity in Nigeria. The company runs a football team, NEPA Lagos. It represents Nigeria in the West African Power Pool. The history of electricity development in Nigeria can be traced back to the end of the 19th century when the first generating power plant was installed in the city of Lagos in 1898. From then until 1950, the pattern of electricity development was in the form of individual electricity power undertaking scattered all over the towns. Some of the few undertaking were Federal Government bodies under the Public Works Dept, some by the Native Authorities and others by the Municipal Authorities. Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) By 1950, in order to integrate electricity power development and make it effective, the then-colonial government passed the ECN ordinance No. 15 of 1950. With this ordinance in place, the electricity department and all those undertakings which were controlled came under one body. The ECN and the Niger Dam Authority (NDA) were merged to become the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) with effect from 1 April 1972. The actual merger did not take place until 6 January 1973 when the first general manager was appointed. Despite the problems faced by NEPA, the authority has played an effective role in the nation's socio-economic development thereby steering Nigeria into a greater industrial society. The success story is a result of careful planning and hard work. The statutory function of the authority is to develop and maintain an efficient co-ordinate and economical system of electricity supply throughout the Federation. The decree further states that the 8. monopoly of all commercial electric supply shall be enjoyed by NEPA to the exclusion of all other organisations. This however, does not prevent privy individuals who wish to buy and run thermal plants for domestic use from doing so. NEPA, from 1989, has since gained another status-that of quasi-commercialization. By this, NEPA has been granted partial autonomy and by implication, it is to feed itself. The total generating capacity of the six major power stations is 3,450 megawatts. In spite of considerable achievements of recent times with regards to its generating capability, additional power plants would need to be committed to cover expected future loads. At present, efforts would be made to complete the on-going power plant projects. Plans are already nearing completion for the extension and reinforcement of the existing transmission system to ensure adequate and reliable power supply to all parts of the country. By 1970, the military government appointed a Canadian Consultant firm "Showment Ltd" to look into the technical details of the merger. The report was submitted to the government in November 1971. By Decree No. 24 the ECN were merged to become the NEPA with effect from 1 April 1972. The actual merger did not take place until 6 January 1973 when the first general manager was appointed. The day-to-day running of the authority is the responsibility of the managing director. In the early 1960s, the Niger Dam Authorities (NDA) and Electricity Corporation amalgamated to form the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN). Then, immediately after the Nigerian civil war, the management of ECN changed its nomenclature to NEPA. What is currently referred to as the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was formally known as National Electric Power Authority. For several years, despite consistent perceived cash investment by the federal government, power outages have been the standard for the Nigerian populace, however citizens of the country still do not see this as normal. Because of such outages, NEPA has been humorously nicknamed "Never Expect Power Always".[1] Generally, the tariff has been criticised as being too low compared to the cost of generating power. The federal government of Nigeria has 9. increased the tariff to attract foreign investors since 1 July 2010 in order to meet the growing concern for foreign investors into the electricity sector. LOCAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES The government has divided the current PHCN distribution sector into separate companies or entities that will be called Local Electric Distribution Companies or Local Distribution Companies (LDC) among the regions. As of April-2014 there are 11 Distribution Companies: • Abuja Distribution Company • Benin Distribution Company • Eko Distribution Company • Enugu Distribution Company • Ibadan Distribution Company • Ikeja Distribution Company • Jos Distribution Company • Kaduna Distribution Company • Kano Distribution Company • Port Harcourt Distribution Company • Yola Distribution Company 8. POWER SUPPLY DESIGN AND DISTRIBUTION I think about system concerns and interactions when designing instrumentation. One issue often overlooked is power regulation and distribution. I discuss some of the concepts involved in designing power systems for instrumentation. At the end of the column, I present a case study for powering a data acquisition system on a submarine. Methodology Early in the development of an instrument, you should consider the power regulation and distribution. Too often, the project team pushes off the design until it is too late. Then you are stuck with trying to "shoe-horn" the power subsystem into a tiny space with little time to do it. The power design affects many things including electromagnetic compliance, weight, size, and heat dissipation. 10. A proper approach considers the instrument as a system with many interacting components and constraints. The power subsystem is just one of the components. Here are the major steps in designing the power regulation and distribution: • Define the source of power and understand its actual condition • Determine the needs and constraints of the system • Understand the types of converters • Select the method of distribution If you use the AC mains for input power in your instrument, you need to know the reliability of service. Many AC lines suffer from dropout, surge, over voltage, spiking, and low voltage. You should filter the input power to survive some of these anomalous conditions. Governmental regulations may require power factor correction and electromagnetic compliance. Moreover, you may want to provide battery backup, such as an uninterruptible power supply, to maintain robust operation. If your power source is DC, such as batteries or solar panels, you have another set of constraints and environmental conditions. As John Witzel points out in this issue of My Favorite Experiment column, batteries require special consideration in charging and discharging. (Honestly, John and I did not collude in preparing our columns!) Power conversion Once you establish the input power, select the type of power regulation and distribution that is most suitable. In general, power supplies have four major components or subsystems: AC-to-DC conversion, filtering, regulator, and output filtering. Figure 1 illustrates the general configuration for power regulation. Distribution of power usually occurs at one of three points in Figure 1, at the front end with AC power, immediately after the AC-to-DC conversion with raw DC power, or after the output filter stage with filtered DC power. 11. Fig. 1. The general configuration for power conversion. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) Once you understand the basics of regulation, select the regulator. The types of regulator that can be used are: • Linear regulation where a pass transistor controls voltage and reduces ripple • Switching regulation that uses transistors as switches to generate high frequency modulation • Ferro resonant regulation where a constant voltage transformer controls voltage and reduces ripple The constant voltage transformer in ferro resonant regulation is large and heavy and usually constrains it to ground installations for uninterruptible power supplies. Typically, most applications incorporate either a linear regulator or a switching power supply. Linear converters Linear regulation uses a pass transistor as the control element to remove or reduce ripple in the output DC power. Figure 2 shows the general configuration for a linear power supply. 12. Fig. 2. (a) The general configuration for a linear power converter. It uses a pass transistor as a variable resistor to reduce or remove ripples in the filter output. (b) The regulator, in more detail, that controls the pass transistor. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) Linear power supplies are simple and inexpensive. They provide excellent line regulation and transient response to changes in load. They tend, however, to be bulky and heavy because poor efficiency (< 40%) limits their power density (< 0.12 W/cm3 or 2 W/in3). Linear regulation and power supplies fit best in low-power situations that demand very "clean" power. Switching converters Switching regulation generates high frequency modulation to transform the voltage and filter the ripple in the output DC power. Figure 3 shows some general configurations for switching power supplies. 13. Fig. 3. Some general configurations for switching power converters. They use switching transistors to modulate the input to the transformer and output filter to reduce ripples in the filter output. (a) Flyback-mode regulation. (b) Forward-mode regulation. (c) Half-bridge regulation. (d) Full-bridge regulation. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) Switching power supplies can have excellent efficiency (> 95%) and high power density (> 6 W/cm3 or 100 W/in3). They can accept wide variation of input voltage (> 100%) and frequency (> 100%) and generally have good line regulation and transient response. They can be very small and light. Switching power supplies tend, however, to be more complex and expensive than linear supplies and power factor correction must be added in many applications. Switching power supplies fit best in situations that require efficient power conversion. 9. IDENTIFY CUNSUMER OF ELECTRICITY  Industrial and commercial consumers As a large energy user you want to reduce overall energy costs, by being more efficient and obtaining the best possible long run price. You can go to a provider who owns both electricity generation and retail companies – and whose goal is to sell their electricity to you at the highest price. Or you can work with Simply Energy – an independent electricity retailer with full Electricity Authority 14. registration and the ability to buy electricity on the wholesale market.We are experienced in designing end to end energy efficiency solutions for large industrial sites, from installing plant and control systems to managing compliance, billing and hedging against the spot position. As we do not own any generation assets ourselves, but have full access to the wholesale generation market, we will recommend and implement the best solution for your business. By working with us, you gain greater insights into the market and experience real value gains. We will only work with you if we can prove that we can achieve measurable benefits over the medium-to-long term. Our clients report greater than 10% savings over the medium term through our wholesale electricity supply solutions. Identifying The Best Purchasing Options We start by assessing your electricity load requirements and risk profile, then consider a range of beneficial structures for the medium-to-long term. These might include: • Becoming your retailer, accessing direct wholesale electricity supply on your behalf • Arranging spot supply and fixed price hedges • Implementing tailor-made supply solutions, including fixed price variable volume tariffs • Buying electricity directly from an independent generator. For example, a generator that uses a sustainable resource, like small scale hydro or wind to generate electricity. If you have a small number of large sites, Direct Market Participation (DMP) could also be an option. This allows you to bypass the retailers and buy electricity directly from the wholesale market. We set you up as a DMP and manage the process to secure the benefits without the management hassle. Regardless of who you buy your electricity from, your security of supply remains the same. Transpower, operator of the national grid, 15. and the local distribution companies continue to be responsible for delivering the electricity to your door. Optimising The Value of Your Resources While Minimizing Costs We can evaluate on-site cogeneration alternatives such as waste heat, gas cogeneration or small scale renewable generation, options which may present further cost saving opportunities. In these cases we have the necessary licences to structure appropriate self-supply arrangements or can provide direct market access for you to sell the electricity. We can also help you to: • Identify, implement and measure energy-related initiatives to help you reduce overall costs and optimise your assets • Understand carbon market implications • Review your network charges and tariffs to ensure you are paying the correct regulated charges. POWER DISTRIBUTION Power may be distributed in several ways. One configuration is the centralized supply that delivers filtered DC power via power conductors and power planes to circuits, sensors, and actuators. Another configuration is the distributed supply that delivers raw, unfiltered DC power to local regulation units. Figure 4 illustrates a centralized supply; Figure 5 shows a distributed supply. Fig. 4. Power distribution from centralized power regulation. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) 16. Fig. 5. Power distribution with distributed regulation. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) Centralized distribution may use either a linear or switching power supply. Typically, it delivers low voltage, sometimes at moderate amounts of current. It is simple in concept and relies on low-impedance conductors to distribute the current the circuits and components. Centralized distribution is best suited for small, localized systems; these range from small handheld devices and personal computers to 21-slot backplanes in equipment chassis. Distributed systems have multiple points of power conversion. They distribute higher voltages at lower currents, than centralized supplies, to local power converters, which usually are switching power supplies. They do not need heavy, expensive conductors. Distributed systems are best suited for big systems such as large equipment racks, aircraft, and ships. Distributed systems tend to be more robust than centralized supplies because they can isolate failure. If designed carefully, they can be simpler to maintain and repair, as well. "Telecom applications demand high reliability with N+1 redundant power supplies that are hot swappable for fast replacement in the event of a power-supply failure." [1] Table 1 gives a comparison of distributed and centralized supplies. Table 1. Centralized versus distributed power regulation. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) 17. Buy vs. build This usually is not even a question - buy the power supply. Only in the extreme situations, where either you are squeezing pennies from the mass-production of thousands or millions of units or the application has incredibly harsh requirements (e.g. a satellite), do you design the power supply. Even then, you should have a specialist, such as a consultant or an applications engineer from a qualified power supply vendor, onboard to help you. A friend of mine, whose company manufactures equipment chassis, has an ongoing headache with power supplies. First, the custom-designed unit failed miserably, then the purchased unit from a reputable vendor demonstrated poor reliability. Only by working with the vendor on each application has he been able to avert problems. Commercial power supplies tend to be more reliable, robust, and smaller than custom designs. The commercial vendors can build on economy of scale in manufacturing and years of experience and 18. expertise to build better supplies. In the telecom example, equipment designers are using commercial supplies, ". . . today's trend is toward plug-in power-supply modules, which are easily accessible and serviceable . . ." [2] In the early 1980s, the U.S. Navy found that power supplies caused a disproportionate number of equipment failures. Most of these were custom-designed supplies. In later years, reliable supplies built to military standards by commercial vendors have greatly reduce the failure rate. This example does not mean that commercial supplies are a panacea, but rather that you should find a reputable source of both power supplies and help to use them. Submarine data acquisition system Years ago, I designed a data acquisition system for an experiment onboard a submarine. It had sensors spread out along the outer hull (Figure 6). [3] The sensors each had high-speed analog circuitry and a high-resolution, analog-to-digital converter (ADC). These circuits needed ripple-free DC power. Furthermore, project management mandated that power distribution to the sensors would be low-voltage DC power. The power supply and distribution required careful consideration during design and manufacturing. Fig. 6. Power distribution for a submarine data acquisition system. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) The cables that connected the sensors had a fixed number of conductors. Most of the conductors were devoted to data transmission, leaving only four wires for power supply. The wires were 22-gauge copper, which have considerable resistance (16 W/1000 ft or 52 W/1000 m). For a cable run of 50 m each wire had a resistance of 2.6 W; summing the + and return lines, this resistance totaled 5.2 W. By 19. doubling up the wire pairs, the total resistance was cut in half to 2.6 W. One amp of current passing through the wires would then reduce the voltage by 2.6 V at the sensor. I had to decide between linear and switching regulation in each sensor by considering that the16-bit ADCs had a resolution of 610 microvolts. A linear regulator could achieve this kind of noise floor easily, but, with less than 40 % efficiency, it would more than double both the current and voltage drop in each cable. This would seriously affect the low-voltage DC power supply sourcing the current. Therefore, I chose a switching power module for efficient, local regulation in each sensor to maintain adequate power margins. The tradeoff was that a custom filter had to be added to the output of the switching regulator to reduce noise and ripple. Unfortunately, switching power supplies have nonlinear transfer functions (Figure 7). As current demand varied in each sensor, it changed the voltage drop in the cables. This would change its efficiency, which directly affected power consumption and heat dissipation. Consequently, I had to simulate the various possible operations extensively to estimate sufficient margin for operating the system. Then we had to test the actual hardware for the entire system to verify the results of the simulations. 20. Fig. 7. Efficiency varies with both input voltage and output power. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) Fig. 8. Actual, measured power consumption is shown to be a nonlinear function of voltage and current variations within the distributed power system. (© 1996, Oxford University Press, Inc. Used with permission.) The upshot is that whenever you develop a system be sure to conceive, design, and test it carefully. Plan for each of these phases early in development. 21.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN AUDIO AMPLIFIER TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN AUDIO AMPLIFIER TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Dedication Acknowledgement Approval page Abstract List of tables, graph and figures Table of contents CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Introduction CHAPTER TWO: DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUIT ELEMENT 2.1 Resistors 2.2 Capacitors 2.3 Diodes 2.4 Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) 2.5 Integrated Circuits (ICs) CHAPTER THREE: PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION 3.1 Power supply 3.2 Pre-amplifier 3.3 Tone control 3.4 Power amplifier CHAPTER FOUR: CONSTRUCTION AND TESTING 4.1 Breadboard/Prototyping 4.2 Circuit layout 4.3 Construction 4.4 Testing and Result 4.5 Packaging 4.6 Costing CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION References TITLE The project is on the "Design and Construction of a High Fidelity Audio Amplifier" The method used in the design of this project is the modular approach, whereby the design is sub-divided into different modules, each of the modules co-operating with other to achieve the objective of the project. The working principles of various models such as the power supply unit, pre-amplification/driver unit, audio tone control and the power bplifier gives the desired harmonic in the output audio CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Many centuries back people found it difficult to be heard over a few metres away from them while addressing their audience. This motivated the need for man to pursue new technologies which will increase his reliability and efficiency. Man in search of the audio boosting instrument developed an aspect of communication called “Public Address System (PAS)”, which helps an individual to address or communicate to a large group of people. Through this system for instance, a clergyman can address his congregation, an entertainer can communicate to his audience, a politician can address his supporters and so on. The Public Address System (PAS) comprises of a microphone which converts sound energy to electrical energy, an amplifier which increases the strength of the electrical signals and a loudspeaker which reconverts the electrical energy of the signals to sound energy. In the PAS, the sound energy at the loudspeaker has greater power than that at the microphone hence, the sound is more louder. This reduces the stress of the individual using the microphone from shouting. The power output of the speaker depends on the power rating of the loudspeaker and that of the amplifier. 1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW Moreover, an amplifier may be defined as a system or an electronic circuit which accepts signals at its input and gives out signals at its output grater than the signal at its input in amplitude or power or current. The output signal is similar to the input signal in shape, form and frequency An audio amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power audio signals (signals composed primarily of frequencies between 20 - 20 000 Hz, the human range of hearing) to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage in a typical audio playback chain. The preceding stages in such a chain are low power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification, equalization, tone control, mixing/effects, or audio sources like record players, CD players, and cassette players. Most audio amplifiers require these low-level inputs to adhere to line levels. While the input signal to an audio amplifier may measure only a few hundred microwatts, its output may be tens, hundreds, or thousands of watts. 1.2 History The audio amplifier was invented in 1909 by Lee De Forest when he invented the triode vacuum tube. The triode was a three terminal device with a control grid that can modulate the flow of electrons from the filament to the plate. The triode vacuum amplifier was used to make the first AM radio. Early audio amplifiers were based on vacuum tubes (also known as valves), and some of these achieved notably high quality (e.g., the Williamson amplifier of 1947-9). Most modern audio amplifiers are based on solid state devices (transistors such as BJTs, FETs and MOSFETs), but there are still some who prefer tube-based amplifiers, and the valve sound. Audio amplifiers based on transistors became practical with the wide availability of inexpensive transistors in the late 1960s. 1.3 Design Parameters Key design parameters for audio amplifiers are frequency response, gain, noise, and distortion. These are interdependent; increasing gain often leads to undesirable increases in noise and distortion. While negative feedback actually reduces the gain, it also reduces distortion. Most audio amplifiers are linear amplifiers operating in class AB. Filters and Preamplifiers Since modern digital devices, including CD and DVD players, radio receivers and tape decks already provide a "flat" signal at line level, the preamp is not needed other than as a volume control and source selector. One alternative to a separate preamp is to simply use passive volume and switching controls, sometimes integrated into a power amplifier to form an integrated amplifier. 1.5 Further Developments in Amplifier Design For some years following the introduction of solid state amplifiers, their perceived sound did not have the excellent audio quality of the best valve amplifiers. This led audiophiles to believe that valve sound had an intrinsic quality due to the vacuum tube technology itself. In 1972, Matti Otala demonstrated the origin of a previously unobserved form of distortion: Transient Intermodulation Distortion (TIM), also called Slew Rate Distortion. TIM distortion was found to occur during very rapid increases in amplifier output voltage. TIM did not appear at steady state sine tone measurements, helping to hide it from design engineers prior to 1972. Problems with TIM distortion stem from reduced open loop frequency response of solid state amplifiers. Further works of Otala and other authors found the solution for TIM distortion, including increasing slew rate, decreasing preamp frequency bandwidth, and the insertion of a lag compensation circuit in the input stage of the amplifier. In high quality modern amplifiers the open loop response is at least 20 kHz, canceling TIM distortion. However, TIM distortion is still present in most low price home quality amplifiers. The next step in advanced design was the Baxandall Theorem, created by Peter Baxandall in England. This theorem introduced the concept of comparing the ratio between the input distortion and the output distortion of an audio amplifier. This new idea helped audio design engineers to better evaluate the distortion processes within an audio amplifier. Aim The aim of the project is to design a system that will receive wireless stereo audio from a source and give an output useful for both indoor and outdoor purposes. Objectives The objectives of the project are as follow: • To design and construct a low power transmitter so that it can be powered with 9V battery or PSU and be small and portable. • To produce enough power to speakers to have “loud” music while limiting noise and distortion. 1.6 RESEARCH QUESTION The research questions for the project work are as follows: • What are the wireless technologies available for the transmission of audio signal? • What audio signal output will be appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use? METHODS Many different methods of connecting components have been used over the years. For instance, early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such as FR4, or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper (SRBP, also known as Paxoline/Paxolin (trade marks) and FR2) - characterised by its brown colour. PROJECT This project was deemed a success. My amplifier was designed, constructed and tested that met all of the project goals. The first project goal to mention is the fact that amplifier is capable of reaching 95% efficiency. Theoretical power efficiency of class D amplifiers is 100%. That is to say, all of the power supplied to it is delivered to the load, none is turned to heat. This is because an ideal switch in its on state will conduct all current but has no voltage across it, hence no heat is dissipated. And when it is off, it will have the full supply voltage standing across it, but no current flows through it. Again, no heat is dissipated. Real-life power MOSFETs are not ideal switches, but practical efficiencies well over 90% are common. By contrast, linear AB-class amplifiers are always operated with both current flowing through and voltage standing across the power devices. An ideal class B amplifier has a theoretical maximum efficiency of 78%. Highly efficient Class D amplifiers now provide similar performances to conventional Class AB amplifier if key components are carefully selected and the layout takes into account the subtle, yet significant impact of parasitic components. Constant innovations in semiconductor technologies are increasing the use of Class D amplifiers usage due to improvements in higher efficiency, increased power density and better audio performance. Most audio amplifiers amplify at low-level inputs to adhere to line levels since signals composed primarily of frequencies between 20 - 20 000 Hz, the human range of hearing to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage in a typical audio playback chain. In the audio world, there is no point in making an amplifier unless the output is an amplified version of the input. Our amplifier was capable of driving a 4Ω speaker with a mini power of 100Watts and an RMS power of 50 Watts. At low volumes, the noise coming from the speaker was apparent but as the volume increased the noise became less and less noticeable. The noise is largely due to the trade off that is made with the "dead-zone" voltage. With a dead-zone voltage too high, acoustic clarity gets lost but efficiency goes up. For the opposite case, with a really small dead-zone voltage, acoustic clarity improves but the efficiency suffers. The dead-zone voltage that suited the amplifier's purposes the best was 50 mVolts. Lastly, if more time was allowed to be spent on the design of an EMI shield that would double as a heatsink for the amplifier, the amplifier could be located anywhere in an automobile regardless of a vehicle’s central computer location. This would also make the amplifier very marketable. 6.3 RECOMMENDATION Now that the project is completed, I recognized that there are some things that could have been done differently. There are areas for improvement in all stages of the design. This section will focus on ideas that could be implemented into the amplifier to improve upon the existing design. Firstly, DSP chip should be used to control the signal processing. There are several reasons for this. DSP technology has been a fiercely growing application in audio. Many home entertainment units and even car audio amplifiers now use this technology. Secondly, potentiometers could be used instead of resistors from the input signal to control the volume of the amplifier or to add a high or low-pass crossover. Typically, Class-D amplifiers are not used for full-range audio applications, but if the application requires a small frequency bandwidth, there is no reasons to make the amplifier do more work than it has to. My amplifier was designed to reproduce the full audible bandwidth of 20-20 kHz. If this was not such a stringent requirement, a lower switching speed could be used to further push the efficiency limitations. Lastly, all the components in the amplifier were designed for a 50 Amps maximum current draw. By reducing the impedance of the load, the amplifier may be tested at these more extreme levels. Lastly, many basic components used in the signal processing portion of the amplifier could be replaced with more finely tuned values. These include both resistor and capacitor values and ratings. REFERENCE Audio amplifier, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Mission Cyrus 1 Hi Fi Integrated Audio Amplifier (1984) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/audio_amplifier Candace Horgan, Types of Audio Amplifiers. An eHow Contributing Writer, www.ehow.com/m/about_5514653_types-audio-amplifiers.html Palmer, Richard. Audio power amplifier measurements, Application Specialist, Audio Amplifiers, Texas Instruments Inc, amplifier.ti.com Jun Honda & Jonathan Adams. Class D Audio Amplifier Basics, Application Note AN-1071 www.irf.com/an-1071.pdf Boylestad, L. Nashelsky. Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992 www.filestube.com/e/electronic+devices+and+circuit+theory+boylestad Mohan, Ned. Power Electronics and Drives. Minnesota: MNPERE, 2003. www.2shared.com/document/v_t8RePk/First_Courses_On_Power_Electro.html

Semiconductor quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dots Abstract: Photovoltaic cells use semiconductors to convert sunlight into electrical current and are regarded as a key technology for a sustainable energy supply. Quantum dot-based solar cells have shown great potential as next generation, high performance, low-cost photovoltaics due to the outstanding optoelectronic properties of quantum dots and their multiple exciton generation (MEG) capability. This review focuses on QDs as light harvesters in solar cells, including different structures of QD-based solar cells, such as QD heterojunction solar cells, QD-Schottky solar cells, QD-sensitized solar cells and the recent development in organic-inorganic perovskite heterojunction solar cells. Mechanisms, procedures, advantages, disadvantages and the latest results obtained in the field are described. To summarize, a future perspective is offered. A photovoltaic cell is fabricated from an active medium comprising an organic semiconductor in a gel. When a film of such material is sandwiched between transparent conducting electrodes a solar cell is obtained. The electrical output is greatly in excess of that obtained from prior art organic semiconductor solar cells of the same area. Keywords: quantum dots; heterojuction; Schottky; QD sensitized solar cell; organic-inorganic solar cell; photovoltaic Abstract Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have been drawing great attention recently as a material for solar energy conversion due to their versatile optical and electrical properties. The QD-sensitized solar cell (QDSC) is one of the burgeoning semiconductor QD solar cells that shows promising developments for the next generation of solar cells. This article focuses on recent developments in QDSCs, including 1) the effect of quantum confinement on QDSCs, 2) the multiple exciton generation (MEG) of QDs, 3) fabrication methods of QDs, and 4) nanocrystalline photoelectrodes for solar cells. We also make suggestions for future research on QDSCs. Although the efficiency of QDSCs is still low, we think there will be major breakthroughs in developing QDSCs in the future. Keywords: quantum dot, solar cell, quantum dot–sensitized solar cell (QDSC), quantum confinement, multiple exciton generation (MEG), photoelectrode

DISCUSS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCE OF DRUG TRAFFIKING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

DISCUSS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCE OF DRUG TRAFFIKING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA ABSTRACT This study was a critical analysis of the international image implications of the involvement of some Nigerian youths in hard drug trafficking and the public relations panacea for the problem. However, trafficking of heroin and cocaine has become a serious social problem in Nigeria in the last decade and is second only to politics as the country's most serious social problem. During this period, a whole new market involving supplies of raw materials and a distribution network for the finished product has developed to serve the drug industry. The consequences have been severe; Nigerians traveling abroad are suspected as possible drug couriers, and the United States has put Nigeria on its list of decertified countries.. Results obtained show that the use of force, law and imprisonment would not significantly discourage Nigerian youths from hard drug trafficking. But the use of public relations persuasive communication strategies and a combination of force and law would do it. The use of or a media, social media, mass media, interpersonal communications, religious institutions, educational institutions, opinion leaders, town unions/associations were then recommended for the anti-drug campaign. Keywords:Hard drugs, image, drug trafficking, public relations. INTRODUCTION One of the major issues dampening the image of Nigeria abroad is its citizens’ involvement in hard drug trafficking. According to Chiakwelu(2010:1), the image of a nation to a large extent determines the destiny of the nation. Nigeria’s disfigured image in the global village has become an insignia of dishonesty, dishonor and disrespect, leading to outright humiliation of its citizens abroad. Majority of Nigerians are industrious, God-fearing and law abiding people, but a tiny minorityis destroying the image of the country and its destiny as a great nation. Consequentially, Nigeria is in self-doubt, bedeviled with nihilis m, lethargy and encompassing corruption (Chiakwelu, 2010:2). According to the United Nations Organisation for Drug Control (UNODC, 2002:1), drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws . A hard drug could be defined as any chemical substance which when introduced into the body affects the functioning and/or behaviour of the individual concerned, making him unusually "high" (Wikipedia, 2012). They either stimulate or depress the central nervous system and produce sedative, stimulative, hallucinogenic, exhilarative, brain dysfunctional physical and psychological disorders on an individual (Businessdictionary.com, 2011; Havocscope, 2010) and the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP, 2011). Some of the popularly known and most commonly abused hard drugs reported the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Drug Eradication Agency (2010), include cocaine, heroine, marijuana, methamphetamine and hallucinogens (see table 1 in the appendix). Nigerians are said to be heavily involved in drug trafficking, shipping heroin from Asian countries to Europe and America; and cocaine from South America to Europe and South Africa. The large numbers of ethnic Nigerians in India, Pakistan, and Thailand give their gangs ready access to around 90% of the world's heroin (FBI, 2008). In the United States, Nigerian drug traffickers are important distributors of heroin, from importing it into the country to distribution level and selling it to lower-lever street gangs, (USDOJ.gov, 2006). Drug Trafficking and Governance Since the 1980s when drug trafficking began gradually to occupy the attention of policy makers and the wider public, debates have raged on its effects on politics, the economy, and society in West Africa. Early public evidence of the significance of the trafficking problem was revealed by the acceleration in the number of West Africans arrested within the sub-region and overseas for drug offences, and the growing quantity of drug seizures connected to the traffickers originating from the sub-region. No part of the world was exempt in this regard as West African nationals trafficking as mules for barons at home and abroad were caught in growing numbers in Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Latin America itself. Subsequent evidence was to point to a growing domestic market in West Africa itself for drugs. Today, every indication suggests that the sub-region is a source of production of drugs, a site for their global re-distribution, and an emerging market for their consumption. The relative ease and speed with which drug cartels were able to establish a foothold in West Africa is connected to the aforementioned governance and socio-economic conditions and chronic political instability, factors which served the cartels well. Once established in the sub-region, the presence and activities of the drug cartels were also to carry far-reaching governance implications.Unpacking the governance implications of drug trafficking in West Africa, as elsewhere in the world, i s fraught with methodological challenges. These challenges centre on the type and quality of the evidenc e that is available as to permit a meaningful quantification and measurement of the problem and its impact. Precisely because of the illegal nature of the drug business and the secrecy that surrounds it, most of the evidence that has been marshalled can only be partial, frequently comprising an admixture of publicly available/published information, security intelligence material – which is not readily available in the public domain – and the best guesses and extrapolations that the circumstances permit. Also, questions of causation emerge: it is not always possible to separate and pinpoint the particular shareof drug trafficking in West African governance challenges considering the other factors that are Image Concept in Public Relations Image is the mental picture, idea, impression or the perceptions of a person’s, organisation’s, institution's or government's publics regarding them (Kotler, 1994:607; Olujimi, 1998:74; Haywood, 1998:37; Salu, 1994:147). People's attitudes and actions towards a person or nation are highly conditioned by that person’s or nation’s image. The things that a country and its citizens do, therefore, affect their international image. Countries that their citizens are involved in terrorism are usually seen and blacklisted as terrorist States, while countries that their citizens are heavily involved in illicit hard drugs cultivation or trades are also often stigmatized by other nations. These, consequently affects the country’s and its citizens’ image quite negatively. National image is therefore an aggregate of all the beliefs, ideas, impressions, perceptions or mental picture which other citizens have of a nation and its citizens. It is usually borne out of a sum total of all their actions, inactions and reputations. This is why image management is a major focus of public relations activities for any organization or nation, because without a positive image, most public relations campaigns are bound to fail. Obstacles to the Drug War in Nigeria Efforts by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been hindered by widespread corruption International Image Implications on Nigeria The involvement of Nigerians in hard drug trafficking has a lot of negative international image implications on the nation and its citizens. These include: (1)Possible economic sanctions by leading Western nations like the USA, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, France and others, which are usually the major trading grounds or receiving markets for a greater percentage of hard drugs in the world. (2)Possible sanctions by the United Nation, whom one of its agencies, the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) is at the fore front of the war for the eradication of narcotic drugs in the world. (3)Loss of vital foreign investments by the world leading economies, whose citizens and government actually have the funds for investment. (4)Possible denial of aids, grants and other financial assistance both from the United Nation’s agencies and foreign international organisaitons, most of which are from the leading European and North-American countries, that suffer most from the drug trade. (5)The chances of being treated as a pariah nation by the international community. (6)The continued isolation and treatment of Nigerians as crooks and without any atom of respect at most international airports in the world. (7)A continued mistreatment and maltreatment of Nigerians living abroad or in other nations of the world. (8)The continued execution ofNigerian youths involved in illicit narcotic trades in some strict Asian and Moslem countries of the world. (9)A continued erosion of the nation’s corporate international image and the image of its citizens. (10)The consequent psychological depression of Nigerian’s of high social, economic and political classes including other innocent citizens, who are mistreated, maltreated and dehumanized at other country’s international airports, due to the ‘sins’ of a few of her citizens involved in drug trafficking. Conclusion Apart from the fact that hard drugs destroy the lives of youths, families and the society, it also dents the international image of countries whose citizens are significantly involved in the illicit trade. Nigeria happens to find itself in this unfortunate situation, but the government is not resting on its oars to reverse the ugly trend. Millions of innocent citizens of the great country, Nigeria, should not suffer ignoble treatment overseas, due to the ‘sins’ of a few of its misguided citizens. As this study reveals, a combination of public relations traditional communication media (oramedia), mass media, social media networks and interpersonal communications media should be employed to enlighten the youths on the social and spiritual dangers of the illic it narcotics trades on themselves and their families, the negative image and consequent negative international relations on the nation and its citizens. However, in any human society, there are people who hear only the hard way. For such people, a combination of the above stated public relations persuasive communications strategies and the use of force and law will do the magic. It is expected that these strategies would be effective in restraining Nigerian youths from involvement in hard drug crimes as well as reverse the consequent negative image on the country. REFERENCE The Chronicle Newspaper, Accra, Ghana, 21 May, 2013; www.Ghanaweb.com, 16 April, 2013; Kwesi Aning (2007; 2010); Gernot Klantsching and Obi N.I. Ebbe, 1999. U.S. Department of State (2012); Mark Shaw (2012);Kwesi Aning (2010); UNODC (2009); The Street Journal Magazine (2008) at www.Nigeriabusinesscommunities.com. Al-khalifa, Naser Bin Hamad (1999), “How Illicit Drugs Affect your Life," Awake!, November 8, p5. Anan, Kofi (1999), “Are Drugs Taking Over the World?" Awake!, November 8, p.7. Awake! (1999), "Drugs and Crime: Lives Ruined, Lives Lost" November 8, p.8 Black, Sa m ( 1989) , Introduction to Public Relations,London: Modino Press Ltd., p. 15. Businessdictionary.com (2011), Hard Drugs, http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/hard-drug.htmlChia kwe lu, Emeka ( 2010), Nigeria: Re-branding and the Image of a nation in 21st century, www.afripol.org/N iger ia_R-Branding Cutlip, Center and Broom (1985), Effective Public Relations, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. Edeani, David O. (1993), “Marketing as an Intrinsic Part of Public Relations,” Public Relations for Local Government in Nigeria, Ike Nwosu and Uchenna Ekwo (eds.),Lagos: Talkback Publishers Ltd., p. 106.