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Introduction: Research is essential for the University system as citadel of tertiary education. As Think Tank, the
university is a stakeholder in policy process of nations aimed at solving problems. This paper aimed at
identifying the role universities in Africa should play in relating this independent variable, Research, to
the dependent variable, Policy development considering status of Africa as continent of developing states.
African states, universities and citizens will find results of this study useful in refocusing nations towards
achieving developmental goals. A combined qualitative and quantitative methodology was adopted using
secondary data provided by African Development Bank (AFDB). It was discovered that universities?
involvement in policy process of African countries has not yielded desired results due to limitation in
scope (policy formulation stage) and limited funding. Statistics on Total population of African states have
not shown commensurate enhancement in Income per capita; rather, they indicate negative impact
portrayed in Debt profile and Infant mortality rate. This could be due to non-qualitative partnership of
government and other stakeholders. The study recommended that tripartite relationship of government,
private sector and universities should exist through policy Formulation, Adoption to Implementation
stages noting adequate funding and regional cooperation of tertiary institutions.
Keywords: Research, Think Tank, Policy Development, Independent Variable and Dependent Variable
Introduction: This article describes how the new democracy in Nigeria has existed for eighteen uninterrupted years and many scholars believe that it has been an improvement over past regimes. The acid test of this claim is to find out if the new democracy has indeed caused a shift in the consumption pattern and a change in the consumption habit of Nigerians. The total differential modeling approach was applied to test the null hypothesis that the new democracy has not impacted the standard of living of the average Nigerian. The results indicated that the new democracy did cause a shift of N6.61E+06 and N9.27E+08 on consumption and income, respectively, in 1999 as well as caused a change in consumption habit of N32.9 million annually. Nominal income also changed by N46.13 million annually as a result of the new democracy. The growth in consumption and nominal income were N22708022 million and N31832692 million, respectively. In addition, the new democracy induced a change of N0.995 mill/annum in real income. Therefore, it will seem that the new democracy has positively impacted the Nigerian economy. However, while the growth rate associated with past administrations is 0.6634%, in terms of real growth, it will seem that there is no significant growth in the economy associated with the current democracy. This article also shares some recommendations that will make this impact manifest on the economy.
Introduction: Government or public policies are outputs from political systems in forms of authoritative
decisions arising from the processing of identified demands or problems in society. The aim
is to make government responsive to the people within a given milieu. This is a major task in
governance worldwide. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme is one of
government’s policies to foster the identified integration problem in Nigeria as a result of its
heterogeneous nature. This paper was to evaluate the NYSC Scheme against the template of
achieving this principal purpose of Nigeria’s integration after over four decades of its
operation. This study will be of use to government as well as the organization itself in taking
future actions of development. Part of the primary data generated by this writer in his PhD
research work which adopted a survey research methodology, was used in the analysis of this
work. Two hypotheses were tested using the Independent t-test statistic to assess the impact of
the scheme on its principal aim, integration. While the two hypotheses were rejected showing
there was no statistically significant impact of NYSC on integration, it did not vitiate the fact
that the scheme has performed well as a government policy but only needs to be revitalized.
This paper recommended that the NYSC should be empowered by government and the
organization should conduct pre-service sensitization as well as post-service evaluation
programmes to enhance its performance.
Introduction: Nematode Research in Nigeria started strictly as plant nematology
with research focused on plant-parasitic nematodes. The curriculum
at undergraduate levels in all Nigerian Universities bear this out. At
postgraduate level, the concept of nematodes as invisible enemies
of man is further strengthened although efforts are made to show
the relationship of nematodes with other soil organisms at which
point there seem to be a mitigation of the enemy concept.