Papers by Patience Akpan-obong
Education remains the bedrock of development in any nation. According to Nelson Mandela, educatio... more Education remains the bedrock of development in any nation. According to Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. It is however pertinent to know that education is limited to time and space. As such, the world is changing and the environment is equally changing with it every day through education. Many developed countries have attained to the level of development through investing in education and encouraging e-learning in schools. E-path to improving legal education is an act of Information Communication Technology (ICT), which can be used to enhance learning in law schools and individually. In Nigeria, e-learning in law faculties is still under-utilized, many are not even aware of what is called e-learning when other developed nations are well advanced in education through ICT. This could be a pitfall towards developing legal education in Nigeria. Even though mobile phone(s) and computer are means of sharing and accessing information, and a good number of Nigerians have it, yet, many do not use it for the right purpose. The paper will then explore on the right use and benefits of improving the legal education standard in Nigeria through ICT devices, discuss the imminent barriers to the optimal use of ICT and conclude with practical steps that can be taken to overcome the barriers in enhancing legal education standard in the country. The author adopts a non-empirical research methodology, by focusing on literature reviews and extensive research on how to enhance legal education through ICT in Nigeria.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 16, 2023
International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology
This research adopts a feminist content analytic framework to examine the portrayal of Nigerian w... more This research adopts a feminist content analytic framework to examine the portrayal of Nigerian women in the work of Uko Akpan Cultural Group, iconic champions of folk music in southeastern Nigeria. The purpose of this research is to understand if folk music reinforces gender stereotypes or empowers women by providing them with a legitimate platform to utilize their talents as a source of income and livelihood. To achieve the goal of the research, ten hours of digital content were examined for mentions, images, and the presence of girls and women and the contexts in which they occur in the work of the Uko Akpan Cultural Group. The content included songs, choreography, costume, instrumentation, and public performances spanning several decades and addressing key socio-political and cultural issues. The research demonstrates that while folk music provides a legitimate platform for women to showcase their talents as artists against the backdrop of patriarchal structures, it also reinforces gender stereotypes and narratives of women as subordinate and subservient beings. Folk music can be a viable vehicle for the advancement of women, especially those on the socioeconomic and geographic margins of society if new narratives about women are integrated into the artifacts of folk music.
Journal of Information Policy
ABSTRACTThis qualitative research examines how Nigeria, Seychelles, and South Africa applied tech... more ABSTRACTThis qualitative research examines how Nigeria, Seychelles, and South Africa applied technologies to mediate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on their education systems. The research demonstrates that sociocultural and institutional factors, and attitudes of stakeholders, rather than technological access, significantly determined the countries’ capacity to transition tertiary institutions online at the height of the pandemic. It expands the understanding of the role of institutions and policies in the adoption of education technologies. The research findings are expected to inform the articulation of relevant policies and system-wide strategies for resilience and antifragility in case of future societal disruptions.
Information Technology for Development
Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2022
The underrepresentation of women in politics and factors that constrain their participation are c... more The underrepresentation of women in politics and factors that constrain their participation are core concerns for many scholars. This qualitative research goes beyond that to examine how women politicians negotiate those constraints in Nigeria. It provides a platform for women to articulate their experiences in a society where politics is masculinized and women’s subordination to male authority is considered a virtue. The study outlines how women have strategized pathways through patriarchal structures by deploying their femininity. It makes valuable contributions to the literature by accentuating the resilience of women in contexts where electoral dynamics undermine their participation and make access to the political space a privilege.
In recent years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been linked with socioeco... more In recent years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been linked with socioeconomic development with the assumption that they can be harnessed for economic growth in developing countries and facilitate integration into the global information society. However, very few studies in the ICT-for-development field examine the direct connections between ICTs and socioeconomic growth. Information and Communication Technologies in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges for Development is a compelling account of the development of ICTs in Nigeria. It examines the ICT policy framework and the societal context within which application of the technologies emerged and highlights the potentials of ICTs in socioeconomic development. However, this book also demonstrates, through interviews and case studies, that ICTs are not the panacea to underdevelopment; constraining factors in different countries can limit their capacity to succeed. The author employs a rare multidisciplinary appro...
... The questions raised in this chapter are structured by the assumption that Nigeria&am... more ... The questions raised in this chapter are structured by the assumption that Nigeria's prospects for socio-economic development (through the use of ICTs) will largely depend on the presence of a people-centerd ICT policy that addresses these issues. ...
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) sponsors a survey of countr... more The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) sponsors a survey of countries to generate the e-government development index (EGDI). The goal is to provide “relevant information to support policy makers in shaping their e-government programs for development” (United Nations E-Government Survey, 2014: 185). The EGDI is a composite of three indicators: the Online Service Index (OSI), the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII) and the Human Capital Index (HCI). The UNDESA instrument was adapted, with the necessary modification (given the difference in the units of analysis), to examine the status of e-government in Nigeria through a study of 36 federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and 12 state governments across the country's six geopolitical zones to achieve goals similar to that of the EGDI. It is also expected to contribute to the general understanding of e-government adoption in Nigeria. Specifically, the research, conducted between 2...
Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations (Years 1-3), 2009
The Internet story in Uganda dates back to April 1993 with associations to a Fidonet node at Make... more The Internet story in Uganda dates back to April 1993 with associations to a Fidonet node at Makerere University, the largest institution of higher education in the country. E-mail services in private companies became accessible in August 1994, making Uganda one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to gain full Internet connection. This paper presents an overview of developments in the Internet sector since then. The Global diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework is used to assess the country's Internet diffusion. The framework provides an overview of the state of the Internet while identifying specific ways in which the Internet has been used in the war-torn northern region of Uganda. A case study of the efforts of two nongovernmental organizations to provide Internet connectivity in Internally Displaced Persons camps demonstrates the point that the Internet can serve as a useful tool for giving a "voice" to people in war zones in a process that can potentially reduce internal conflicts.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014
Background: On March 15, 2014, some 700,000 unemployed Nigerians gathered in sports arenas in var... more Background: On March 15, 2014, some 700,000 unemployed Nigerians gathered in sports arenas in various cities for a 0.07% chance of recruitment to one of 5,000 positions in the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The candidates arrived with pens and papers to write tests in crowded venues. In one city, 100,000 candidates squeezed into a 60,000-capacity arena. By the end of the day, 20 of them, including a pregnant woman, had been trampled to death in a struggle for space (in its many dimensions). Hundreds of candidates sustained injuries. The tragedy generated heated debates in the country, much of which centered on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in government. This focus was inevitable given that the NIS boasts extensive utilization of ICTs in its functions. Many then wondered why the agency did not perform online testing that would have reduced the number of candidates invited for face-to-face interviews.Research: Besides the public discourse, the incident generates scholarly interest on the conceptualization and status of e-government/e-governance in Nigeria with comparative application to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It compels an examination of the relationship between policymakers’ definitions of e-government/e-governance and practice. This research is therefore framed by the following questions: a) What does e-government/e-governance mean for Nigerian policymakers and public officials? b) To what degree are assumptions about ICTs as tools to bridge the gap between the state and citizens consistent with practice? c) What is the status of e-government/e-governance in key government agencies and departments in the country? d) Who benefits from the integration of ICTs in government practices? e) Are there lessons in the Nigerian experience for other Sub-Saharan African countries?Data: The research is based on primary and secondary data generated from: a) Examination of online services provided by six Nigerian government ministries and agencies: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communication Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the NIS and the Presidency. These agencies are strategically selected either because their services have immediate and direct impact on the citizens, or their role is central to the diffusion of ICTs in the country. b) Review of the websites of the selected ministries and agencies to rate their currency (in content), interactivity and ease of use.c) Interviews with staff of the E-government Department at NITDA, the agency created to provide oversight to the development and utilization of ICTs in Nigeria. Contribution to the field: Early research on ICTs in African development focused on the socioeconomic dimension. However, policy and research interest has, in recent years, shifted to the integration of ICTs in governance with emphasis on the capacity to bridge the chasm between the state and citizens. However, it appears that for many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, e-governance/e-government is understood simply as the creation of information websites for government departments and agencies. Traditional methods of non-interactive and one-way communication are often ‘uploaded’ to the online environment without any transformative impact on state-citizen relational dynamics. An understanding of these practices as well as the political dimension of ICTs is therefore critical to policy and research. This research contributes to this understanding.
Development Policy Review, 2016
The African Union has declared 2010-2020 as the African Women's Decade to accelerate African wome... more The African Union has declared 2010-2020 as the African Women's Decade to accelerate African women's development. However, to achieve the decade's goals, African countries must acknowledge the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in consolidating human capital. This research investigates gender disparities in access and use of ICTs in sub-Saharan Africa and finds that men are more likely to own and use the technologies. Education, socioeconomic status, domesticity and traditionalism are all linked to ICT use. However, the gender gap does not arise as a result of differential returns to these factors for men and women. Rather, it materializes when fewer women have the resources, or are more disadvantaged in accessing and using ICTs. Implications are discussed.
The Social Science Journal, 2017
Abstract We are trapped in two divergent worlds when it comes to global views on homosexuality. T... more Abstract We are trapped in two divergent worlds when it comes to global views on homosexuality. There is the liberal world epitomized by Spain and other nations, where homosexuality is increasingly accepted; gays and lesbians are claiming their human rights; and laws are changing to codify that transformation. The second is the extremely anti-gay world symbolized by Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, where attitudes are favorable to criminalization. This research explains the “African Gap” in attitudes toward homosexuality in a comparative analysis of six African nations and Argentina and Canada, South and North America's most liberal nations on gay rights. Using Pew's 2015 Spring Global Attitudes Survey data, we find that the major variables have essentially similar effects on opinion in any context. Africa's distinction is explained by its comparatively higher levels of factors such as religion, morality dogma, and low socioeconomic status that generally retard support for homosexuality, at the same time of lower levels of factors such as education, urbanization, and personal liberty that increase gay support. Africa's extreme anti-gay outlook is mutable. Two social forces will facilitate this softening: expansion of liberalizing agents such as education and urbanization, and repositioning away from “traditionalism” toward modernism emphasizing individualism, civil rights, and personal liberties.
The Rise of Technological Power in the South, 2010
Various factors compel different countries and regions to engage in bilateral or multilateral rel... more Various factors compel different countries and regions to engage in bilateral or multilateral relations and cooperation. These interactions often require a forfeiture of both sovereignty and national autonomy in varying degrees. For some countries, such relationships have not been equal or bilateral in any real sense of the word. Historically, countries in the developing world were structurally connected with Western countries in a colonial or neo/post-colonial relationship of exploitation and dependence. However, in recent decades, there has been considerable push by contiguous countries to interact more systematically with each other through formal and informal structures of cooperation and horizontal integration. A significant motivation for interactions among many regions in the developing world is the need to reduce their dependency on primary commodity exports to global markets. There is an additional imperative for such regions to reduce their technological dependency on former colonial powers. Thus, information and communication technologies (ICTs) for integration and internal development should, logically, be mutually reinforcing. However, do policies in these areas share the same goals? Development can have multiple meanings, and it is possible that policy goals are not always the same. For instance, the adoption of ICTs to enhance national competitiveness in the global market might assume economic growth rates as the prime indicator of development.
International Journal of Management & Information Systems (IJMIS), 2013
This paper examines the rise of low-skilled, low-paying, female dominated jobs in Cameroons infor... more This paper examines the rise of low-skilled, low-paying, female dominated jobs in Cameroons information and communication technology (ICT) sector. It seeks to understand why and how women (mostly between the ages of 18 and 35) seem to be naturally drawn to these jobs, described in the literature as pink-collar jobs. Through interviews with ICT workers and observations at ICT training centers and call centers in Buea, a major city in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, the paper explores the factors that hinder womens entry into more technical ICT jobs in Cameroon. It concludes that some of these factors, such as the prior income level of female ICT workers and the absence of female instructors at ICT training centers, further reinforce gender-based job classifications and the rise of ghettoization in Cameroons ICT sector.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012
The cellular phone has been described as God’s gift to Africa, previously the least connected con... more The cellular phone has been described as God’s gift to Africa, previously the least connected continent in the world. The euphoria about the capability of the technology for connection, scalability, affordability and ubiquity has been greatest in the context of the cellular phone. Photos abound of people of all walks of life – from cattlemen in Uganda to Somali pirates on a boat on the Indian Ocean – holding mobile phones in stark contrasts with their surroundings. The stories and photos are so common that it would appear as if the estimated 1.2 billion people in African all have cell phones. This is not so, though at 65% penetration rate, the statistics are impressive in a continent where many countries had no reliable public switched telephone networks as recently as ten years ago. Also, the euphoria is not without foundation as studies have shown a positive relationship between the cellular phone and socioeconomic and political development in Africa. There is also evidence that the technology can stimulate economic growth across socioeconomic sectors from the basic micro level to large scale businesses. For instance, unemployed youths, without much investment capital, in many African countries have started businesses with just a cell phone. While these cases are undoubtedly prevalent on the continent, this paper moves beyond the anecdotes to examine the connections between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is rooted in the assumption that access to the technologies are strategic to the achievement of the MDGs, though many countries are lagging behind in many of the targets. Indeed, it is unlikely that many African countries will achieve these goals by the target date of 2015 as evidence from Nigeria and Ghana indicates. This then raises critical questions concerning policies deliberately aimed at expanding universal access to ICTs as an approach to achieving the MDGs. We address these questions and conclude with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges in the process, as well as policy recommendations.
Review of Policy Research, 2009
This article examines the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) ... more This article examines the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and regional integration as a pathway to socioeconomic development in Africa and South America. Both regions share a colonial legacy often characterized by stronger economic ties to the developed world than within the regions. In recent decades, regional organizations have been involved in efforts to strengthen the infrastructure for ICTs, as well as the enhancement of economic and political integration as strategies to achieve development. However, the literature continues to show distinct research agendas that unwittingly overlook the connections between these areas. This article proposes a theoretical framework combining research on integration, ICTs, and development. It provides a brief analysis of each region and its ICT initiatives, the potential impact on regional integration, and how this relates to development. We suggest possible applications of the framework to identify and research the processes of integration and expected outcomes of development.
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Papers by Patience Akpan-obong