The notion of informed consent to medical treatment is a fundamental precept in law. It recognizes autonomy and the right to personal inviolability, irrespective of nationality, socio-economic situation and ideological orientation. A full realization of autonomy in the Nigerian legal system is severely constricted by sociological and cultural factors. Of particular concern is the impact of oppression which may arise from socialization, arbitrary disclosure practice by physicians, or as a result of legislative enactment. To remedy the elemental defects in the Nigerian Code of Medical Ethics, without addressing the impediments posed by the social environment from which a patient operates, will nuance informed consent in Nigerian health care but may not fully realize patient autonomy. A serious commitment to respecting patient autonomy may be realized through a collective effort of the State, the medical profession, the community, and patients in order to remove the impediments to full exercise of autonomy. / The thesis is the first part of a two part plan for operationalizing patient right in Nigeria

This study discusses the performance and prospects of the Nigerian economy in the wake of the oil euphoria. It produces some empirical evidence for the rapid destruction of Nigerian agriculture in the past ten years or more and it demonstrates that the plight of the Nigerian economy in general and the rural sector in particular was in part a direct consequence of the increase in oil revenue which pushed up the exchange rate and made it unprofitable to grow crops for export. It concludes that unless a radical change in government policy is effected to revive the agricultural sector, Nigeria will experience a depletion of both her oil and her agricultural resources to the extent that the economy could eventually face a food crisis like those recently experienced in Ethiopia, Sudan, Mali or Chad, and without an industrial base. The study argues that contrary to the view commonly held in Nigeria, the benefits in the medium and long term of devaluing the Nigerian currency(naira) will greatly outweigh the costs which are likely to be only temporary. We use the term "Dutch disease", as it was in the Netherlands, that the phenomenon of the adverse effects on the rest of the economy of a rise in the exchange rate, brought about by the discovery of natural gas, was first observed.

The aim of this research is to investigate the claim made for small enterprises with specific reference to their ability to reduce poverty and unemployment in the countries of the developing world. According to World Bank estimates, about 1,115 million people in the developing world lived in poverty in 1985. This represented a third of the total population of the developing world, of which 630 million were extremely poor with annual consumption less than US$275. Evidence from Nigeria indicated that during the 1980's consumption plummeted by 7 per cent a year and the standard of living became lower in the mid-1980's than in the 1950's. With few notable exceptions, the overall evidence is that poverty and income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa is severe and has seriously limited the ability of the poor to have access to adequate work, water, clean air, habitable land and sanitation. Since there are no social security and unemployment benefits in the majority of African countries, development experts have been forced to respond to the reality of an ever increasing number of unskilled, unqualified and untrained urban population who enter the labour market and fail to find work. It is argued that reduced investment due to capital scarcity and shifting demand for labour has resulted in higher unemployment and larger numbers of day labourers than long-term employed workers. As a result, the majority of the urban poor and the unemployed have been forced to compete for basically unskilled jobs in order to survive. Since the long-term consequences of the unskilled unemployed people are socially and politically undesirable and must therefore not be ignored, a consensus has been formed within international development establishments in favour of a strategy of development that would result in higher demand for the labour of the urban poor. In response, the World Bank and other development experts have tried to examine the potential for job creation and other benefits from enterprises of different sizes and degrees of capital intensity, and to look for ways to assist financially and by other means manufacturing enterprises. Against this backdrop, it has been argued that small enterprises can create more jobs per unit of capital invested and have more intimate contact with the poor. Based on these arguments developing countries have been encouraged to change their national policies and procedures in favour of the development of small enterprises. Unless the limited supply of investment capital is spread more widely than in the past, it is argued, the vicious circle of poverty will persist. Since most claims made for small enterprises are political and moral and often not based on scientific inquiries, this research sets out to examine whether small enterprises under the forces of free market are more demanding of the labour of the urban poor in the Nigerian circumstance of the 1980's. This is made possible by examining, within a historical framework, the various models of development and the structure of employment and income in Nigeria. A model of development based on small enterprises, the evolution and changing roles of small enterprises in Nigeria arc also examined. This is, however, supplemented by a survey of 96 manufacturing enterprises of different sizes in some cities of Northern Nigeria. The field work which was spread between 1988 and 1990 involved in-depth data collection, observations and questionnaire administration. The findings of this research differ significantly from those offered by sponsored projects, and have therefore policy implications on the existing anti-poverty strategies.

The implementation of new Capital City projects faces various uncertainties. Some of these uncertainties are understood and acted upon, but some are not. Existing social relationships in which Capital City projects are planned and implemented are less regarded as a factor underlying uncertainties of achieving plans' objectives and assumptions. These turned out to be a principal factor constituting the uncertainty of realising Abuja and the FCT plans. We believe, however, that institutional context both as a damaging and enabling factor is too important to be discounted in capital city plans. It is traced from the Nigerian urbanisation experience to traditional societies, previous policies and the administrative structure of the Federal Capital Development Authority. The review of other capital city programmes has only confirmed the need to understand the institutional framework in capital city plans. The research identified that uncertainties tend to increase with monopoly of dec ision-making by individuals in authority, lack of knowledge, failure to involve groups or bodies who should be involved, poor management, scale of projects, the time dimension and political instability. The research has itemised uncertainties which could be deduced from major planning projects, and an anlysis of which helps in policy formulation. Principal conclusions included that pluralism compounded the problems of the implementation of Capital Plans and the capital cities have to adapt and modify the institutional framework. A diversified resource base is essential in capital city development. Institutions and organisations could be employed positively to reduce uncertainties of funding and housing. Common to capital city programmes is that uncertainties have not been faced seriously by planners and decision makers as they have been in the study of psychology or in business deals. A simultaneous consideration of methods of assessing uncertainties in planning is essential in a new urban development.

The impacts which computerisation might have on the psychology and physiology of users have exercised the minds of scholars for many years. There has also been growing concern in trade unionism about the same subject and this has forced some governments to be involved in the debate. This study was conducted, not as an attempt to join a debate, rather it was an attempt to shed light on that debate through an investigation of computer workstations in an African developing country. It started by tracing the evolving nature of the issues which surround work-related diseases and how over a period of time an attempt was made to link computers with these diseases. The debate which erupted over this link has been inconclusive. Having been familiar with this debate in the developed world, the questions of health and safety of computer users in the developing countries became a major concern. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the ergonomic issues involved in the process of computerisation in the developing world. However, because computerisation process is a broad venture comprising many elements and phases, the study was devoted to computer workstation designs. Also, because of natural limitations it was impossible to investigate each African country in turn. Consequently, Nigeria was chosen as an example of these developing countries. To conduct such a study, there must be real evidence of computerisation in the chosen country. Thus, efforts were mäde to look for that aspect of the Nigerian economy which has made the most advancement in implementing computing. As in other developed countries, the banking sector in Nigeria has shown commitment to computer application. Hence, a decision was made to select it as the basis for an ergonomic research. The rate of computerisation in the Nigerian banks has been sufficiently rapid that by 1990, some banks were already experimenting with Automated Teller Machine (cash point systems). The results demonstrated that the standards and methods used in the developed countries are equally applicable to Nigeria and that most computer workstations in Nigeria failed to match the requirements of the standards

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Justin Schorr. Dissertation Committee: William C. Sayres. Bibliography: leaves 156-163.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the system of personal income taxation in Nigeria, especially with respect to its administration, equity, and effects on efficient resource usage. There have, in the past, been numerous complaints that the personal income tax in Nigeria does not yield enough revenue for the state governments, primarily because of widespread avoidance and evasion of the tax, especially by persons who do not derive income from wages and salaries. This study examines this problem in light of questions as to how the tax evolved, how important it is to state governments, how efficient and equitable it is, what administrative problems it faces, and what reforms can be implemented to best solve existing problems.