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As this Idea being applied to Frost's writing career, Frost Is being drawn to wildness and darkness In life and forgets about his responsibilities of writing poems. In ‘Gathering Leaves', â€Å"but a crop is a crop† (ALL) has two levels of interpretation. The first â€Å"crop† refers to the gathered leaves and harvested crops while the second â€Å"crop† refers to reward and value. This suggests that the value lies in the effort of gathering leaves. As for Frost's poetic creations, the effort in gathering ideas is its own value.He confirms his value in poetic creations and finds his motivations to carry on. Moreover, the two poems have stated that Frost has to go on with his life and work hard to fulfill his responsibilities in life and work. In Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening', â€Å"l have promises to keep† (L 14) refers to Frost who has to keep his promises to fulfill responsibilities in real life. Also, â€Å"miles to go before I sleep† (ALL-LA 6) has two levels of meaning. On the surface, it means that Frost still has a long way to cross the woods before he can rest.Frost deep down wants to express that he has a long Journey before his death. In ‘Gathering Leaves', â€Å"and whiffs to say where the harvest shall stop? (LOLL) Is a rhetorical question which Is used to show that the harvest shouldn't stop. It symbolizes Frost's work as a poet. It tells that Frost should not stop but get on with his Job and collect ideas for his writing instead to fulfill his responsibilities as a poet. Next, I'm going to discuss about the three differences In content between the two poems by Robert Frost.Firstly, the durations of the two actions, stopping by woods and harvesting, are different. For Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening', Frost is Just attracted by the nature and stop by the woods to observe the beauty of the nature. He will soon leave and continue his Journey in life to fulfill his responsibilities of writin g. However, for ‘Gathering Leaves', it Is a continuous working routine. It symbolizes the repeating routine of writing, Including gathering Ideas and poetic creations. Frost won't stop because he knows that he has to get on with his life as a poet.Secondly, the reasons to go on are different in the two poems. In ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening', it is said that Frost has miles to go before he sleeps (Al 5-ALL) which indicates that he has to continue his Journey in life to fulfill his responsibilities. Is hard work in L 16. â€Å"But a crop is a crop† (ALL) suggests the value of gathering leaves lies in the effort itself. Therefore Frost carries on with his Journey because he finds it rewarding. Thirdly, the emotions throughout the two poems differ.In ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, the repetition of â€Å"and miles to go before I sleep† in L 15 and L 16 suggests a tired tone of the speaker. However, Frost has to go on to fulfill his respo nsibilities and resist the attraction from the darkness. As in ‘Gathering Leaves', â€Å"but a crop is a crop† (ALL) suggests a determined tone of the speaker since he knows he he can get the reward by putting effort in gathering ideas for writing. To discuss about the similarities in form between the two poems, there are two. To begin with, the two poems are quatrains.They have regular patterns which suggest that Frost has to take regular steps to move on the Journey. Also this indicates the routine tasks of the writer as a poet. Besides, the two poems used the poetic device of enjambment. In ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, the use of enjambment suggests that Frost goes on with his journey as a poet. While in ‘Gathering Leaves', it suggests the continuous routine asks of gathering ideas as a poet and also the movements of light leaves when they try to escape from the catch of Frost.The last word on the second line rhymes with the last word on the fou rth line in each stanza. This suggests the continuous routine tasks of a poet again. In addition, the lengths of line and rhythms are different. ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening' has longer lines and the rhythm is comparatively slower. It is because Frost enjoys admiring nature and he is not rushing through his Journey. For ‘Gathering Leaves', it has a faster rhythm and the lines are shorter. It is use to mimic the movements of leaves. The leaves are very light in weight. Hey keep escaping and running away fast.

Notes on Society

Chapter 10 Social Stratification: a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, it is a trait of society, found in all society's, carries over from generation to generation and creates systems and class Social Mobility: a change in position within the social hierarchy Caste System: Closed system based on ascription, or birth, little or no mobility, shapes a persons entire life, occupation and marriage. Found in traditional Agrarian societies. Class System: social stratification based on both birth, ascription and individual achievement, meritocracy.Meritocracy: Social stratification based on personal merit Status Consistency: the degree of uniformity in a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. Example: A college professor with advanced degrees enjoys high prestige but only earns a modest wage. Structural Social Mobility: a shift in the social position of large numbers of people due more to changes in society itself than to in dividual efforts Ideology: cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequalityDavis Moore thesis: A system of unequal rewards is necessary to place talented people in the right jobs and to motivate them to work hard. the functional analysis claiming that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society Blue Collar occupations: lower prestige jobs that involve mostly manual labor White Collar occupations: Higher-prestige jobs that involve mostly mental activity Socioeconomic Status, SES: a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequalityConspicuous Consumption: Buying and using products because of the â€Å"statement† they make about social position Chapter 11 Income: earnings from work or investments Wealth: The total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts Intragenerational Social Mobility: a change in social position occurring during a person's lifetime. Intergenerati onal Social Mobility: upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents Feminization of Poverty: the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor Chapter 12Global Stratification: Patterns of social inequality in the world as a whole High Income Country: nations with the highest overall standards of living Middle Income Country: nations with the standard of living that is about the average for the world Low Income Country: nations with low standard of living in which most people are poor Modernization Theory: is a model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of technological and cultural differences among nations Dependency Theory: explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor societies by rich ones

Identify and discuss one emerging ethical issue in health care Essay

Identify and discuss one emerging ethical issue in health care - Essay Example Thus they have the chance to clear all their doubts in regard to the complete procedure of treatment. In case of developing countries in particular, it has been observed that obtaining this informed consent is difficult. This is primarily because the forms for consent are mostly prepared for the benefits of researchers and their sponsors. Thus the patient or the families are not always allowed to know clearly about the disease or the procedure of the treatment that would be followed. Illiteracy is also a major reason that hinders such understanding. Often, use of different languages creates problems and the subject does not understand the process of informed consent, nor understands the treatment methods (Igoumenidis & Zyga, 2011, p.247). From the above study it may be concluded that informed consent is one of the major ethical concerns in healthcare and needs to be given sincere concern particularly in developing countries where individuals lack knowledge and understanding of medical factors. Igoumenidis, M. & S. Zyga (2011) Healthcare Research in Developing Countries: Ethical Issues, Health Science Journal, 5(4), pp.243-250, Retrieved on February 23, 2013 from:

Talk about my quality and school life time Personal Statement

Talk about my quality and school life time - Personal Statement Example Throughout my educational background I have worked hard to prove my capability. Mathematics had always been a strong subject of mine. During my middle school in Taiwan, I have been honored with an award of Mathematics excellence in the 7th grade. Later on while completing my high school in America I was presented the Academic Awards Of excellence in Mathematics in the freshman year. My hard work has always proved to be fruitful and the encouragement in the form of these awards had always motivated me to thrive and flourish in the career I had always desired for. Moreover, I have been actively taking part in Mahjong competitions since I was sixteen. Mahjong is game of strategy, skill and calculation that involve a certain level of luck. As I have played many Mahjong games, I have gained experience in tackling complicated problems with ease and fortunately have always managed to rank between the first five positions. Mahjong has sharpened my skill to think logically and since my childhood it had always been my area of expertise. Being a practical person I believe in what I see and observe around me. This trait in my personality has led me to analyze the never-ending use of computers and my increasing awareness of their use in every occupation and profession have led me to opt for a career that involves the extensive application of computers. My fascination with computers have grown to be more profound and passionate since I had the fortunate chance of being exposed to this most modern equipment that science has put into the hands of the manki nd. Mathematics and computer science had always been interlinked as I came to realize that different concepts of mathematics such as vectors, logarithms and algebra are extensively used in computing. With the fine blend of computing and mathematics, I believe I can discover the unfamiliar for the betterment of the mankind. As Gail Devers said â€Å"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything

Sustainability Written Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sustainability Written Report - Essay Example Originally, geothermal energy was used in hot springs as early as Paleolithic times according to a study made by Cataldi (1993) about the history of hot springs before the Modern Period. Technically, the first geothermal energy harnessed lighted a few light bulbs. The following accounts relate how the world recognized geothermal energy: On July 4, 1904, Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the world’s first geothermal generator at the Larderello dry steam field in Italy. Merely a couple of years later, this invention was deployed commercially and used to operate drilling equipment. Soon the small town of Larderello was using geothermal power for all its electricity requirements. (History of Geothermal Energy, http://www.economywatch.com) Because of the said event, it is no wonder that Italy maintained the position as being a top producer of geothermal energy for many decades. New Zealand followed suit only fifty-years later. The United States took the risk and invested in the Geys ers Geothermal Field in California which is currently the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world. This location has five power plants and Chevron Corporation spearheads in providing geothermal energy to millions of American homes. Uses of Geothermal Energy Geothermal energy has many useful purposes, with electricity generation as its most widely-known use. Bioeconomicfuel.com cites the 5 different uses of geothermal energy (Stern, 2009): 1. Industrial and Agricultural Uses A good example of which is the role of geothermal energy in drying up timber. In New Zealand, the â€Å"Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill uses geothermal steam in heat exchangers to heat kiln air to 140?C for timber drying†( Stewart, 2009). Aside from timber, crops can also be dehydrated using geothermal energy which makes this type of energy very useful for agriculture. 2. Food Processing The food processing industry can harness the heat from geothermal energy for sterilization process as well as dryi ng. In India, Chandrasekharam (2001) published a paper that advocated the use of geothermal energy in food processing since India’s topography is viable for this type of food processing. However, the United States had already applied that concept way back in 1978 when it opened the geothermal food processing plant in Brady Hot Springs, Nevada. In fact, â€Å"More than 25 million pounds of dehydrated onion and garlic are now being processed annually in Nevada â€Å"(nrel.gov, Oct 2001). This fact just attests to the huge capacity of geothermal energy in providing clean energy at a lesser cost. 3. Electricity Generation The Geothermal Energy Market Report shows that in 2005 alone, the top ten countries used 97% of geothermal energy for electricity generation purpose (refer to Appendix A). According to the International Energy Agency, â€Å"geothermal energy currently supplies less than 1% of the world's total energy demand†. Nevertheless, it has an enormous potential t o mitigate climate changes by reducing the use of carbon fossil fuels. It is a considerable source of renewable energy. In the case of Philippines, (which is second to the United States in using geothermal energy), it has a potential to become one of the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy. Currently, geothermal energy supplies 27% of the country’s electricity (www.philippines. hvu.nl). During the World Geothermal Congress in 2000, it was declared that the â€Å"

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Thinking - Essay Example Only a few databases can offer these services (ERIC, 2012). ERIC, however, has its own disadvantages. At times, research through ERIC can be time consuming. This is due to the large library of information that ERIC has to offer (ERIC, 2012). Hence, locating information can be tiresome. Another disadvantage of using ERIC is that there is a cost incurred in accessing the database. Even though, one pays for using ERIC, it still has a broad variety of data that cannot be accessed anywhere else. Locating and reading original articles rather than just using the abstract source is vital due to a number of reasons. The reasons are that: the original article has the original and full information. The original article is of higher standards than the abstract, and is up-to-date and complete. The original article represents the original information of what the article is about (ERIC, 2012). Unlike the information found on abstracts, which might just describe the original study, the original arti cle has full information of the topic matter without biasness. Also, in most cases, people find that original articles are of higher standards than the abstract. This is because the original article is examined for quality before it is published, unlike abstracts. Finally, original articles are always up-to-date. They comprise of the most recent information, unlike abstracts (ERIC, 2012). It is advantageous to start with secondary sources of information since these secondary sources are produced by individuals who have examined the primary source and enhanced its information. Secondary sources give assurance that the primary source is viable (ERIC, 2012). They also summarize the primary source so that on could know what is contained in the primary source. Some of the valuable traits of secondary sources are: secondary sources are gathered from diverse databases. They also provide a summary of primary sources (ERIC, 2012). Gathering information for secondary sources takes less time t han a primary source, and secondary sources provide a greater database of information. Secondary sources have quite a number of limitations as compared to primary sources. Some of these limitations are that the quality of the information is low, and information may be incomplete. Library holdings that are considered as primary sources are articles that offer first-hand testimonies, as well as direct evidence regarding a topic that is being investigated. These holdings are created by recorders or witnesses who experienced the event itself (ERIC, 2012). Library holdings that are primary sources refer to the sources that were created at the period of the event. They can, however, comprise of memoirs, autobiographies, or oral histories that were recorded later. Library holdings that are primary sources are distinguished by content, irrespective of whether they are available in original format, in digital format, in microfilm or published format. They can also be found in many libraries across the United States (ERIC, 2012). Articles differ in format, but in general have a reasonably similar scheme. They begin with a segment that looks at the background of the research, and a clarification of why the authors chose to do the research. It is followed by enlightenment of how the researchers did the experiment, and their results, plus conclusions. However, in order to assess a report and determine whether it is viable for the research, there are three ways of assessing an article to

European Human Rights Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

European Human Rights Law - Essay Example Thus, under Articles 1, the Member Nations are accountable for the infringement of the safeguarded freedom and rights of any individual within their jurisdiction or competence –particularly at the juncture of the infringement. In Assanidze v Georgia1 case, the pivotal issue before the court was whether the jurisdiction can be exercised by the Central government of Georgia in the â€Å"Ajarian Autonomous Republic† as the Georgia encountered some intricacies in inflicting its authority over the local authority of the autonomous republic. The view of the court was that the â€Å" Ajarian Autonomous Republic â€Å" is without any doubt an integral province of the Georgia and subject to its control and competence . Thus, in this case, no debate concerning the â€Å"effective control† was thrown up2. Though a state is having jurisdiction throughout its territory, there could be some extraordinary scenarios where a State could not exercise its authority in some region s in its territory. So as to corroborate whether such scenario is existing , the Court will be looking into not only the objective facts but also the State’s demeanour as the State has the positive duty to initiate apt steps to make sure that there exists a respect for human rights within its whole of its region. The court will also look into in an extraordinary scenario the acts of a State which created impacts or happened outside its jurisdiction or territory, which could be regarded as exercise of its jurisdiction. Further, if in the outside territory of a State, if a State is exercising its control over its local administration, mainly through its military and fiscal support, then it could be conceived as the State is having jurisdiction in such territories3. Only under exceptional scenarios , jurisdiction is supposed on the footing of non-territorial issues like – the criminal activities by any individuals in abroad against the interest of the its nationals or aga inst the country ; actions by public officials carried out in abroad by consular and diplomatic representatives of the State ; certain acts carried out on the board of vessels flying the State flag or spacecraft or aircraft registered in such a nation ; and especially in relation to grave international crimes. In Gentilhomme and Others v France,4 it was held that the concept of â€Å" jurisdiction† within the meaning of Article 1 of the convention must be regarded as mirroring the status under public international law. In Bankovic and Others v Belgium and other Contracting States5, it was held that the concept â€Å"jurisdiction† is essentially or primarily territorial. In Lozidou v Turkey6 , the territorial jurisdiction covers any area which, at the time of the said infringement, is under the â€Å"overall control of ‘of the state concerned, which is in addition to the State territory proper. In Cyprus v Turkey [GC]7 , the term jurisdiction refers notably to oc cupied regions except the areas which fall outside such control8. In Illascu v Moldova and Russia9 case, the court substitutes the â€Å" effective control† test by appending two more new components; the â€Å"survival through support† test and the â€Å" decisive influence â€Å" test. In this case, the court has not given any significance to the â€Å"effective control† but substituted the same with the concept â€Å"effective authority.† In Moldova’

Diary Entry of a Diverse Student Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Diary Entry of a Diverse Student - Essay Example Hispanic parents make tremendous sacrifices for their children’s future. The student will also view me as approachable. This is because I will greet the students as they come to class. I will also be on time. This will give the student an impression of orderliness. In addition, I will require the class chairs be arranged in an informal way, for example, in circles. This will indicate an atmosphere that is informal (Goodman, 2001). The impression will be that the students will be required to participate frequently and actively. I represent a dominant group in the community. This will impact on my relationship with the student. The group I represent emphasizes and sets expectations that are high to each and every member. This will be translated to the students I teach. This will in turn affect the relationship between the students and I (Goodman, 2001). The self esteem and academic performance of the student will be highly enhanced. This is when I set high expectations for the whole class and hold the students to the set expectations. The expectations will be high but realistic. This means that the expectations will motivate the student to work hard and promote cooperation between the student and I. The student will also believe that he will succeed due to the high expectations associated with my group. This will also make the student relate to me in whatever he does. Moreover, I will communicate my attitudes and expectation to the student through speech and action. The student’s perceptions of my attitudes and expectations will affect his self concept and motivation (Goodman, 2001). The student is a kinesthetic learner. He learns efficiently through movement. I address and interact with him through hands on activities. I move around to ensure that he remains engaged. In addition, I have also posted academic materials in every area of the class. This will permit the student to move around, view, and respond to

Who is the stronger feminist Essay Example for Free

Who is the stronger feminist Essay What is feminism? Does it still exist? Who do you think will be the winner of this title? Lady Macbeth, the psychotic, patronising, devil woman of the Shakespearean era? Or will it be the modern woman, Susan B Anthony the courageous woman who voted for the president election illegally and who is the hero of women’s rights. Who wins in this tournament? In Elizabethan England women were known as sweet, innocent, modest, polite, charming, obedient, and respectful and the inferior sex. Although in today society it is quite the opposite, ideal women in today’s society are known for confidence, outgoing, smart, beautiful, humorous and fun to be around with. Are these the quality of the two women, Lady Macbeth and Susan B Anthony, we are contrasting today? Feminism means to me the representation of women in society. Do you think feminism should exist? Yes, I believe it should exist because every person on this planet should have equal rights. If there were no feminists and feminism who are we as women? Would we still be able to vote? Will we still be trapped in between those walls cooking and cleaning? Both feminists have strong ambitions, however Lady Macbeth’s ambitions are purely selfish and desires power and position, on the other hand Susan B Anthony’s ambition were not selfish but was driven to fight for women’s rights. Announcer: from Shakespeare’s play the evil and ruthless Lady†¦.. Macbeth! And from the opposite corner Susan B Anthony the fierce woman who changed history! Round One: Ding! Ding! When we first see Lady Macbeth, she is plotting her evil scheme to Duncan’s murder. We quickly realise Lady Macbeth’s personality is portrayed as frightening and murderous. This is seen in the play when Lady Macbeth says ‘that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan’. In this quote Lady Macbeth uses allusion to murder this allusion to murder is recognised by the word â€Å"croak† referring to a crow which is a symbol of death. Lady Macbeth says this because she is thinking of how she will kill Duncan. Susan B Anthony was a woman who fought for women’s equal rights. She was a strong and fearless woman who believed in equality in society this is shown in the quote â€Å"Women, we might as well be dog baying the moon as petitioners without the right to vote! In this quote Susan B Anthony uses personification to compare if women are not allowed to vote they would be useful as dogs looking at the moon. Announcer: This round goes to Susan B Anthony. Round two: Ding! Ding! In 1872 Susan B Anthony was arrested for voting in a president election, she was fined $100 but never paid it. Announcer: Ouch! What a cunning strike from Anthony. Ho w will Lady Macbeth recover? Lady Macbeth shows masculinity and determination with questions towards her husband when he hesitates to murder. Lady Macbeth uses the quote ‘I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done this’ Lady Macbeth uses violent language to persuade and show Macbeth how important to her a promise is. Announcer: A quick and hard upper cut from Macbeth, she wins the round! Announcer: Macbeth and Anthony are strong and determined women, they don’t give up until they achieve what they set to achieve. Round three: ding! Ding! Lady Macbeth is persistent and achieves her goal into becoming queen. Lady Macbeth uses this quote to describe her â€Å"†¦nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry â€Å"Hold, hold! † Lady Macbeth uses the theme of good/light to contrast on her evil deed and let nothing good/heavenly stop her from what she is doing. Many men and women disliked and despised Susan B Anthony and said that she was outspoken on her views in politics and society because Anthony illegally voted in politics as a woman. In this quote ‘The only chance women have for justice in this country is to violate the law, as I have done, and as I shall continue to do’ Susan B Anthony shows dominance and authority for what she is fighting for. Announcer: it was a close round but the winner of this round is Susan B Anthony. Round 4: Ding! Ding! Lady Macbeth is like the devil burning with evil intentions we can see this in her quote ‘Shall sun that morrow see! ’ is her intentions for Duncan. Lady Macbeth uses allusion to murder to show that Duncan will die tonight. Susan B Anthony is the opposite this is shown in the quote ‘it was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens, but we, the whole people, who formed the union’ repetition is used in this quote to remind and make them realise what she is saying. Susan B Anthony is trying to get across her audience. Announcer: These two women never give up don’t they? Round 4 goes to Lady Macbeth by her intentions. Announcer: Both women are held down by society Round 5: ding! Ding! Even though Lady Macbeth seems strong and dominating in the relationship she works through by her husband shown in the quote ‘‘Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’ Lady Macbeth uses simile and metaphor to manipulate her husband to do what she wants opposed to Susan B Anthony who is standing for herself as seen in the quote ‘I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand’ Susan B Anthony explains that women do not need a man to guide a woman because women are strong with or without a man. Emotive language is used to move her audience. Announcer: Lady Macbeth too slow and Susan B Anthony swings a superman. Announcer: Ladies especially and gentlemen our winner of this tournament is Susan B Anthony. She wins the golden belt and the name and crown of THE SRONGER FEMMINIST tournament. This leaves us to the conclusion ladies and gentlemen. As we can see feminism still exists and the fact that a long time ago the relationship between the sexes is both unequal and oppressive to women. Lady Macbeth is a feminist because she was against her society and that in her quote ‘Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here; and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! ’ Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits to remove her gender and her female characteristics and be equal to a male. Susan B Anthony is the ultimate feminist because she stood up for women and their rights and tried to change society’s views on women by illegally voting to encourage women, around the country to give speeches and give faith to people for women’s rights. Thank you folks! And I will see you next time.

Race and Ethnicity Essay Example for Free

Race and Ethnicity Essay Pretend you are driving along on the highway. You see a person on the side of the road having car problems. This is person is wearing an Armani suit and driving a Porsche. The next day, you encounter the same incident but, this time, it is a man wearing baggy jeans with holes in them, a dirty shirt and he looks very unclean. Would you be more likely to stop for the man in the Armani suit, or the the second man? I know that I would stop for man #1. The reason I and most of our society would do so, is because we have a horrible habit. The habit is unintentional and we do it not meaning to hurt anybody This habit is stereotyping people by the way they look or talk based on what society considers normal. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, Atticus and Tom Robinson are victims of being stereotyped by others. Each has to cope with being stereotyped. Scout and Atticus have the ability to change their ways in order for people to respect them, unlike Tom Robinson, who is stereotyped as a mutant to the town of Mayberry simply because he is black. For example people are preaching to Scout that she should act like a typical girl. Atticus is stereotyped as a traitor to his people, the white race, because he stands up for a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a young woman. Last but not least, Tom Robinson is stereotyped as being a flaw in the human race because he is black. When he is accused of committing a rape, he is not given a fair trial, due to the fact that he is an African-American. During a Sunday brunch, Scout’s aunt, Alexandra, forces Scout to wear a skirt and help her to cook. Being a proper lady, Aunt Alexandra does not want the town ladies to think that she was raising her niece to be a tomboy. Therefore, she has Scout put on a facade. Against her will, Scout does everything a typical polite girl would do. She serves the ladies, wears a skirt, and brushes her hair. Scout goes through this tremendous effort because she does not want to be known as a tomboy simply because she would choose to climb a tree rather than bake a pie. Scout is able to make a deception. Should she change her ways to prevent getting a bad name or should she stick to her beliefs and deal with being called a tomboy. Unfortunately, Scout ignores her morals and changes her ways. Scout is not the only character having to rise above stereotypes. Her father, Atticus, must do so as well. Atticus, a white man, is asked to be a lawyer for Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell.. After carefully examining evidence, Atticus realizes that Tom Robinson is 100% innocent. Therefore, Atticus goes to court, where he stands up for a black man in front of a white jury. Atticus gives sure proof arguments and evidence to prove that Robinson is innocent. Unfortunately, after a long recess, Robinson is found guilty of rape. Because Atticus stood up for the truth, and went against his own race, he is stereotyped as a traitor and a blacks lover by the Ewells.. It is truly unfortunate that both Atticus and his daughter, Scout, are cast aside by the population of their town because they go against majorities beliefs and do what they believe is decent. Although, there is one factor that separates Scout from Atticus in this situation. Both Scout and Atticus are able to control what people think of them in these particular situations. Scout becomes a conformist, while Atticus continues to stand up for his beliefs and does not change despite the fact that he will get a bad reputation. Unlike Atticus and Scout, Tom Robinson does not have the ability change his ways in order for him to be seen as an equal because Tom’s fault was that he was born black. This was not his choice or decision. When Tom Robinson was accused of committing a rape, every person knew that no matter how good Atticus’s arguments were, Robinson would be found guilty simply because he was black. Blacks were considered as flaws in a wannabe-utopian society. They were treated as if they were rodents, some inferior animals that were not human because they had a dark skin tone. Being a black man, Robinson lived with this stereotype his entire life. Even though people treated Robinson worse than they would treat an animal, Robinson felt no hate towards these people. He was very polite towards them; he was always willing to lend a helping hand. Unfortunately, Tom Robinson could not change the outlook of the people. It is obvious that Scout, Atticus, and Tom Robinson had to face the world knowing that nobody looked at their character but they looked at the title, an ignorant stereotype, given to them by society. Scout preferred to be comfortable and not wear skirts, therefore, she was a â€Å"tomboy. † Atticus defended an innocent man that was of color, therefore, Atticus was a â€Å"black lover. † Lastly, Tom Robinson was marked guilty in the minds of the people before they even knew what he was accused of because he was born black. Unfortunately, only Scout and Atticus had the ability to change their ways to lose their bad name. Scout, Atticus, and Tom Robinson are only three examples of how society handles issues that contrast the primitive belief of normalcy. We label the object and teach our offspring’s to stay away from this object. Unfortunately, in the process of stereotyping, we ourselves are becoming a stereotype.

The Importance Of Capital Gearing Finance Essay

The Importance Of Capital Gearing Finance Essay Financing and investment are two major decision areas for a company. In the financial decision, the company concerns with determining the best capital structure. There are only two ways that a business can raise money debt or equity. With the right option, the business can minimize its cost and maximize company value. Bos and Fetherston (1993) described that determining debt and equity is an important financial decision faced by companies. The relationship between debt and equity is considered as capital gearing. Hence, in this report, the gearing ratio and its influence to WACC, company value and shareholder wealth will be assessed through the two major theories. Capital Gearing Capital gearing is a term describing the relationship between debt funding and equity funding in a company (Financial Management, 2007). The simplest formula for gearing ratio = (%) For example, ABC Ltd has  £1,000 of debt and  £2,500 of total assets. Thus, capital gearing of this company is: = 40% According to NGFL Wales Business Studies (2009), a company with high gearing is the one who has most of the funding coming from borrowing. It leads to reduced profits available to shareholders because of the increase in interest rate. Moreover, if interest rate increases, the financial costs of business will also go up, thereby total costs of business will rise. However, if a company has a high gearing, it is not really a bad thing. The company may need more money for their expansion activities, taking the opportunity to invest by borrowing at low rates. By using capital from borrowing, the company can take advantage of tax shields. A company with low gearing is the one who has most of the funding coming from investment of shareholders. It proves that the company is developing through reinvestment of profits, minimizing risk (NGFL Wales Business Studies, 2009). For example, in 2009, Apple Inc had Total debt/equity also known as gearing ratio at 0% (ADVFN, 2010). However, low gearing may indicate that the company is not aggressive enough to survive, and may not be seeking opportunities for growth (Pham, 2009). Thus, according to Accounting for Management (n.d.), the importance level of capital gearing is subject to various views. Effects upon WACC, company value and shareholder wealth Debt and equity Debt and equity are the two major sources of funds for a company. So, using of debt and equity proportions are the measurement tools for capital structure. (Glen and Pinto, 1998) In fact, cost of debt is generally less expensive than cost of equity. Nemethy (2010) provided two major reasons for that. Firstly, debt is a secured loan, which may be seized by the lender when the borrower cannot payment their loans. Meanwhile, equity is an unsecured loan because the shareholder cannot seize anything, they only have the right to vote at a shareholders meeting. Thus, an unsecured loan has to a higher interest rate than a secured loan. In other words, cost of equity is expensive than cost of debt. Secondly, Nemethy (2010) said that when the company issues debt in the form of bonds, they pay interest out to their investors, this interest has to be deducted by taxation. It is also called the debt tax shield. Conversely, when the company issues equity, they pay out dividends. These dividends represent corporate income, and they are subject to double taxation: one time by corporation and another time by shareholders. Thereby, the cost of debt is less than the cost of equity. With the two major reasons above, virtually all companies prefer to use debt than equity. However, the increase of debt leads to the increase of risks because when the company borrows money, they would be dependent on the lenders. UoS (2007) stated that a highly geared company may also experience difficulties in attracting fund from investors, who are not attracted by the risks involved in a high-geared company. At that time, the market price of the companys shares will fall. So, the company should choose debt or equity, and the influence of capital gearing to WACC, company value and shareholder wealth. We will assess this problem based on the two theories. The traditional view Modigliani and Miller The traditional view The traditional view of capital structure theory, based on observation and intuition, suggests that an optimum capital structure exists (Cornelius, 2002). In other words, the capital structure of a company has effected on the cost of capital. The more debt in the capital structure of a company, the lower of WACC is. The weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) represents the overall cost of capital for a company, incorporating the costs of equity, debt and preference share capital, weighted according to the proportion of each source of finance within the business (Cornelius, 2002). The formula to calculate WACC: WACC = [ x ] + [ x ] For example, a company has an issued share capital of 1,000 ordinary  £1 shares. The company wants to buy two machines with the price of a machine as  £1,000. As mentioned above, cost of debt is generally less expensive than cost of equity, so, we can assume that cost of debt = 15% and cost of equity = 20%. To buy two machines, the company needs to have  £1,000 for the second machine. There are two options for the company. Option 1: Issuing share (ungeared company) It means that the company will have 2,000 shares in total with  £1 per share. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total equity = 2,000 x  £1 =  £2,000 = Total assets = 0% = 20% x = 20% Option 2: Borrowing (geared company) In this option, the company has  £1,000 from initial issuing shares and  £1,000 from borrowing with 15% of interest. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total debt = Total equity =  £1,000 Total assets = Total debt + Total equity = 1,000 + 1,000 =  £2,000 = = 0.5 or 50% = [15% x ] + [20% x ] = 0.075 + 0.1 = 0.175 or 17.5% It is clear that when the gearing capital of a company increases, its WACC will decrease. According to Watson and Head (2006), the market value of a company is equal to the present value of its future cash flows discounted by its WACC. Market value of a company = Thus, when WACC of the company decreases, assuming that other factors are constant, the market value of the company increases, in other words, the company value and shareholder wealth increase. The traditional view is usually represented as follows. According to UoS (2007), from all equity financing, WACC first declines because debt financing is cheaper. At higher level of debt (beyond X), cost of equity increases because of higher risks out weights the advantage of cheaper debt financing. Hence after X, the WACC will rise. X will be the optimal debt ratio, where the company will minimize its cost of capital and the company value is maximized. In conclusion, gearing capital is very important because it effects to WACC, company value and shareholder wealth of a company. Modigliani and Miller view In 1958, American academics France Modigliani and Merton Miller (MM), presented a radically different view of capital structure theory. They demonstrated that two companies with identical investments would have the same value, regardless of their gearing capital (Cornelius, 2002). As a result, there is no optimal capital structure for a company. MMs propositions can be presented as follows. MMs proposition (without tax) UoS (2007, p.274) argued that with the same size and the same level of business risks of two companies: one company was ungeared company, another one was geared company. The value of an ungeared company equals value of equity in an identical geared company plus value of borrowings in an identical geared company. Therefore, the only factors that influence the value of a company are risk and return. Returns required by shareholders as reward for risk, , will increase at a constant rate as gearing increases due to the perceived increased financial risk. The rising would exactly offset the benefit of the additional cheaper debt in order for the WACC to remain constant. Lenders have security for their debt so they will not feel at risk whatever the level of gearing; therefore, is constant (ACCA F9 Financial Management: Study Text, 2009). This can be shown as a graph. The WACC, the total value of the company and shareholder wealth are constant and unaffected by gearing levels. No optimal capital structure exists. For instance, there are two companies with the same size and the same level of business risk: one company was ungeared company, another one was geared company. One machine got back  £200 profit yearly. The data of the two companies as follows. Ungeared Company Geared Company Share capital  £1,000  £1,000 Debt  £1,000 Machines 1 2 EPS at  £200 profit level 0.20p 0.25p If the investor in an ungeared company borrows  £1,000 at 15% interest, after buying the second machine, that company has the profit =  £200 x 2 =  £400. â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢ EPS = = 0.4 p After receiving dividends from ungeared company, that investor has to pay interest for the lender with 15% interest per  £1. Hence, the actual return that investor can receive = 0.4 [15% x 1] = 0.25 p. This is the same return as that expected by shareholder in geared company and it had been created entirely by the ungeared shareholder. Therefore, in this proposition, capital gearing does not effect to the WACC, company value and shareholder wealth. MMs proposition (with tax) Because interest is tax-deductible, the use of debt finance gives rise to a tax saving (Cornelius, 2002). In 1963, MM developed a second version to take account of taxation. MM argued that the value of a geared company was the value of ungeared company plus the present value of any tax shield generated by using debt finance. = + T With:: The value of geared company : The value of ungeared company : The market value of debt T: Corporate tax rate With tax, MM view can be represented as below. According to ACCA F9FM (2009, p.1111), remains constant whatever the level of gearing. Likely as MMs proposition without tax, increases as gearing levels increase to reflect additional perceived financial risk. Because interest on debt is tax-deductible, WACC will fall when gearing increases. And: = x [1 ] = + (1 T) ( ) : cost of equity in an ungeared company : cost of equity in a geared company : cost of debt , : market value of debt and equity in the geared company T: corporate tax rate For example, considering two companies, one ungeared and another geared, both of the same size and level of business risk. Ungeared Company Geared Company  £  £ EBIT 1,000 1,000 Interest (200) PBT 1,000 800 Corporation Tax @25% (250) (200) Dividends 750 600 Returns to the investors Equity 750 600 Debt 200 750 800 Suppose that the business risk of the two companies requires a return of 10% and the return required by the debt holders in geared company is 5%, locking at the table above, tax relief on debt interest (also known as tax shield) in geared company = 800 750 =  £50 For ungeared company Market value of ungeared company will be the market value of equity. It will be the dividend capitalized at the equity holders required rate of return. = 750/0.1 =  £7,500 = 10% For geared company Market value of the equity of geared company is determined by the equity shareholders analysis of their net operating income into its constituent parts and the capitalization of those elements at appropriate rates = [ ] = ] =  £4,500 Market value of debt is determined by the debt holders capitalizing their interest at their required rate of return. = =  £4,000 â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total market value of geared company = 4,500 + 4,000 =  £8,500 According to MMs proposition with tax, it has: = + T = 7,500 + (4,000 x 25%) =  £8,500 Cost of equity in a geared company: = = = 13.33% = 5% x (1 25%) = 3.75% â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢ = 13.33% x + 3.75% x = 8.82% According to MMs proposition: = x [1 ] = 10% x [1 ] = 8.82% And = + (1 T) ( ) = 10% + (1 25%) (10% 5%) (4,000/4,500) = 13.33% as per the dividend valuation model above. Thus, under MM theory with tax, there is an optimal gearing level at 100% debt in the capital structure. This is not true in practice because companies do not gear up to 100%. In his research, Cornelius (2002) argued that, in the real world, companies do not raise their gearing ratios to such extreme levels because the high levels of gearing may lead to higher risk of liquidation. Hence, for this proposition, there is no optimal gearing structure, in other words, WACC, company value and shareholder wealth do not depend on the level of capital gearing. The drawback of the two theories According to UoS (2007), both of the two theories may seem to be based on unrealistic assumptions. For traditional view, they ignored taxation, companies have complete choice between debt equity finance, and can change this decision quickly and without cost. It is impossible in the real world. The company could change their decision but it has cost and not quickly. For MM, it was built with assumptions that no transaction costs and individuals or corporations can borrow money at the same rate. In fact, individuals and companies cannot borrow at the same rate, since companies usually have a higher credit rating. Therefore, personal debt usually costs more than corporate debt and is riskier. Moreover, the theory does not mention the issue of bankruptcy costs and other agency costs, as well as personal income tax. Conclusion In conclusion, according to traditional view, gearing capital is very important because the changing of gear may lead to changes of WACC as well as company value and shareholder wealth. If gearing capital increases, WACC will fall. It leads to the increase of profits, in other words, company value will increases. Theoretically, there is an optimal capital structure, in which, the company will minimize its cost of capital and the company value is maximized. In fact, it hasnt found an optimal capital structure yet. Conversely, based on MM theory, it argued that the two companies with the same size and the same level of business risk would have the same value. It does not depend on their gearing. In other words, the level of capital gearing is not quite important for WACC, company value and shareholder wealth. Part B: Explain then critically compare and contrast two investment appraisal techniques indicating their merits and limitations in aiding the sound financial management of a company Introduction Nowadays, investing is very important for a company to survive. According to UoS (2007, p.63) an investment involves the outflow of cash at a point in time in order to obtain benefits in the future. Companies make these investment decisions in order to increase the value of the firm and maximizing shareholders wealth. However, funds are limited, thereby, companies cannot invest in all projects, they must choose between alternative investments. There are four commonly techniques for appraising capital investment projects. Payback Accounting rate of return (ARR) Net present value (NPV) also known as Discounted Cash Flow or DCF Internal rate of return (IRR) also known as Discounted Cash Flow technique In this report, we will look at payback and NPV as two investment appraisal techniques to find out how they can inform future projects, their merits and limitations, and which technique the company would prefer. Explanation of two investment appraisal techniques Payback Payback is the number of years required to recover the original cash flow outlay investment in a project (Brealey, Myers and Marcus, 2001). If the cash flows are constant, the formula is: Payback period = If the cash flows are not constant, the calculation must be in cumulative form. The payback is a commonly used method of evaluating investment proposals. Among alternative investments, the company should decide to invest in the project which payback period is shorter, in other words, this is a project which can recover the initial investment quicker (Ross et al., 2007). For example, ABC Ltd has two projects A and B which cash flows as follows. Year Cash flows from Project A ( £) Cash flows from Project B ( £) 0 (100,000) (100,000) 1 10,000 20,000 2 30,000 20,000 3 40,000 30,000 4 20,000 20,000 5 30,000 50,000 Using cumulative form, we have: Year Cash flows from Project A ( £) Cumulative ( £) Cash flows from Project B ( £) Cumulative ( £) 0 (100,000) (100,000) 1 10,000 (90,000) 20,000 (80,000) 2 30,000 (60,000) 20,000 (60,000) 3 40,000 (20,000) 30,000 (30,000) 4 20,000 0 20,000 (10,000) 5 30,000 30,000 50,000 40,000 It is clearly that after 4 years, project A has recovered all original investment and it will begin making the profit for the company from the firth year, so payback period of project A is 4 years. As for project B, after 5 years, the original investment has recovered and it also generates  £40,000 of profits, so the payback period of this project is: Payback period of project B = 4 + = 4.2 years Thus, following the rule of payback period method, ABC Ltd should invest into project A because payback period of project A is shorter than project B. It means that the company can recover the original investment quicker if they decide to invest into project A. Net present value (NPV) Based on Professional Management Education (2010), The net present value (NPV) method is the classic economic method of evaluating the investment proposals. It is discounted cash flow technique that explicitly recognizes the time value of money. It correctly postulates that cash flows arising at different time periods differ in value and are comparable only when their equivalents present values are found out. The formula to calculate NPV is: NPV = Initial Investment + = Initial Investment + With r is the rate of interest It should be made clear that the acceptance rule using the net present value (NPV) method is to accept the investment project if NPV is positive, to reject it if NPV is negative and consider accepting the project when NPV is zero. For instance, using the same data with example above, in additional, the original proposal of ABC Ltd uses a discount rate of 10%. Using discounted cash flow technique to the present value, we have: Year Cash flows from Project A ( £) Present value ( £) Cash flows from Project B ( £) Present value ( £) 0 (100,000) (100,000) (100,000) (100,000) 1 10,000 9,091 20,000 18,182 2 30,000 24,793 20,000 16,529 3 40,000 30,052 30,000 22,539 4 20,000 13,660 20,000 13,660 5 30,000 18,628 50,000 31,046 NPV NPV (A) = -3,776 NPV (B) = 1,956 > 0 Because NPV of project A is negative and that of project B is positive, in accordance with the acceptance rule, ABC Ltd should choose project B to invest because this project will bring more profits. Analyzing of two investment appraisal techniques Compare and contrast In every company, payback period and NPV are very important to evaluate the value of a proposed project before investing on it. Both of two investment appraisal techniques can measure the sustainability and value of long-term projects. From that, the company can make sound financial decisions. (DifferenceBetween.net, 2010) Regarding calculate technique, payback period is used to calculate a period within which the initial investment of a project is recovered (UoS, 2007). It is equal to the initial net investment divided by annual expected cash flows. For example, a company wants to invest  £10,000 in a new project and they expect to have annual cash flows of  £2,000, so the payback period of this project will be = 10,000/2,000 = 5 years. The shorter the payback period, the better investment is. A long payback period means that the investment will be locked up for a long time, thereby this project is relatively ineffective. Meanwhile, net present value (NPV) uses the time value of money to appraise long-term projects. According to UoS (2007), NPV uses the opportunity cost of capital to discount the flows of cash in and out, over the life of a project to give their value at the present day. NPV method focuses on the present value (PV) because NPV equates to the sum of present values of individual cash flows. For example, a project invests  £1,000 and it will bring cash flows of  £2,000 in the next year, so PV of  £2,000 = 2000/(1+0.1) =  £1,818 with discount rate of 10%. Thus, the NPV of this project = -1000 + 1,818 =  £818. When choosing between alternative investments, NPV can help to define the project with highest present value, and also apply the acceptance rule of NPV, if NPV>0 accept the investment, if NPV Ross et al. (2007) stated that NPV method removes the time element in weighing alternative investment, while payback period focuses on the time required to recover the initial investment. From that, payback period method does not assess the time value of cash, inflation, financial risks, etc. as opposed to NPV, which measures the investments profitability. In addition, although payback period method indicates the acceptable period of investment, it does not take into account what will happen after the payback period and their impact on total incomes of this project. But it is contrary to NPV. Thereby, NPV will provide better decisions than payback when the company makes capital investments. In fact, companies use more often NPV than payback period method. Merits and limitations Merits The most significant merit of payback period is that it is simple to understand and easy to calculate than other appraisal investment techniques (UoS, 2007). Comparing with NPV method, payback method uses fewer costs and less analysts time than NPV. For this method, an investor can have more favorable short term effects on earnings per share by setting up a shorter standard payback period. Professional Management Education (2010) believed that payback period can control investment risks because the longer it takes to recover the initial investment, the more uncertainties there will be during the recovery period. In addition, payback method focuses on the time to recover of the initial investment, so it gives an insight into the liquidity of the project. The shorter payback period, the higher liquidity is. On the other hand, Brealey et al. (2001) stated that NPV is more accurate and efficient as it uses cash flow, not earnings and results in investment decisions that add value. By discounting the flows, NPV can create the comparison between alternative investments, and then, making right capital decisions. NPV method is always consistent with the long-term objective of the shareholder value maximization. We can say that this is the greatest merit of this method. Limitations Payback Consider XYZ Ltd with two projects A and B. It has the same three years payback period, whose flows are as follows. Year Cash flows from Project A ( £) Cumulative ( £) Cash flows from Project B ( £) Cumulative ( £) 0 (100,000) (100,000) (100,000) (100,000) 1 20,000 (80,000) 50,000 (50,000) 2 30,000 (50,000) 30,000 (20,000) 3 50,000 0 20,000 0 4 30,000 30,000 100,000 100,000 Payback Period (Year) 3 3 Ross et al. (2007) stated that the first limitation of payback method is the timing of cash flows within the payback period. Looking at the table above, from year 1 to year 3, the cash flows of project A increase from  £20,000 to  £50,000, while the cash flows of project B decrease from  £50,000 to  £20,000. Because the large cash flow of  £50,000 comes earlier with project B, its NPV must be higher. However, as mentioned above, the payback periods of the two projects are identical. Thus, the problem with the payback period is that it does not consider the timing of the cash flows within payback period. It also shows that the payback method is inferior to NPV because NPV method discounts the cash flows properly. The second limitation is payment after the payback period (Ross et al., 2007). Lets consider projects A and B in the same three years payback period, project B is clearly preferred because it has a cash flow of  £100,000 in the fourth year. Thus, a problem here is that payback method ignores all cash flows occurring after the payback period. For the short-term orientation of the payback method, some valuable long-term projects may be rejected. NPV method does not encounter this problem because this method uses all the cash flows of the project. Because of the first two limitations, the payback method cannot maximize shareholders wealth. According to UoS (2007), the payback period method ignores inflation and discriminates against large capital-intensive infrastructure projects with long times, because it only focuses on the earliest time to recover the initial investment. Net present value (NPV) NPV is the true measure of an investments profitability. But, in practice, it still has some problems. The first limitation of NPV method is cash flow estimation (Professional Management Education, 2010). The NPV method is easy to use if forecasted cash flows are known. However, it is quite difficult to obtain the estimates of cash flows due to uncertainty. The second limitation of NPV is unrealistic assumptions (UoS, 2007). Under NPV method, there is a single market rate of interest for both borrowing lending and an individual can borrow or lend any amount of money at that rate. It is unrealistic, in practice, the interest rate for borrowing and lending is different and everyone has to follow the interest rate for each kind. For example, for Vietnam market in 2011, the interest rate for borrowing at 9% and for lending at 17% per year (Trading Economics, 2012). NPV also ignores transaction costs or taxes. Conclusion In a survey carried out by Graham and Harvey (2001), it was found that 74.9% of respondent companies use net present value (NPV) and 56.7% use payback period method when they appraise the investment projects. It means that in fact, NPV method is used more than payback period method. Techniques % Always or Almost Always Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 75.6 Net present value (NPV) 74.9 Payback period 56.7 Accounting rate of return 30.3 Source: Graham and Harvey, The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics 60 (2001), based on a survey of 392 CFOs According to the survey of Graham Harvey (2001) and Sandahl (2003), payback period method is often used in small size companies. The major reason for this can be that payback period method is more simple, cheaper and easier to calculate. Small companies are only interested in the shortest time to recover initial investment because they often lack the source for fund. Moreover, the complexity of the other investment appraisal methods is always a barrier for the small company. However, net present value (NPV) is often used in medium and large size companies (Graham and Harvey, 2001). The major reason for this can be that these companies are interested in the profitability and time value of money than the payback period. They have the source of funds and consider maximizing shareholders wealth as their long-term objective.

A Tale Of Two Cities and The Dark Knight Rises Essay -- innocents, bad

â€Å"It was the worst of times it was the best of times.†(book). In the book A Tale Of Two Cities innocents were killed, abused and imprisoned. This book had a hero and a bad guy. The hero was Sydney Carton and the bad people were probably the revolutionaries, Madame Defarge and Monsieur Defarge. In the movie The Dark Knight Rises innocents, were also killed but in several different ways. In this movie, the bad guy was Bane and his accomplices, and the hero was Batman. In the book A Tale Of Two Cities the ways that they would kill people were that they would behead them and they would hang them or they would let them rot in prison. Most of the people that were killed were innocents or they were people that were in the way of them trying to take down the city. In the book the main character, Charles Darnay was arrested and was falsely accused of treason and being an illegal alien. Madame Defarge was taking out her anger on the whole family in which she thought had killed her sister. So Madame Defarge was going after all of the Marquis no matter if they had anything to do with t...

The Unforgetable A Rose for Emily :: A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner

The Unforgetable A Rose for Emily In "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, we see how past events effect the main character Miss Emily, especially her mental state. She seems to live in a sort of fantasy world where death has no real meaning. Miss Emily refuses to accept or even recognize, the death of her father or that of Colonel Satoris. She does not want to acknowledge the fact that the world around her was changing therefore Miss Emily surrounds herself with death. What Faulkner tries to state in this story is that you should not let death overpower your life. A person should try and let go of their beloved ones after they have passed away. He also tries to state is to always expect the unexpected, like when Miss Emily killed Homer. Faulkner chooses to use third person narration in this particular story for a couple of reasons. He tries to show Emily's world to us as seen through the eyes of a respectable resident, so we can understand the town life as if we lived there. This way we were able to understand how the people of Jefferson thought of her. If the story would have been told in first person we would not have been able to relate to Miss Emily. The reason for that would be, if she would have been the narrator we would have understood the story in a hole different manner. Faulkner used third person narration and from that we were able to find out many things about Miss Emily's past. For instance the death of her father, the love she had for Homer, and how she felt the need for affection. Those ideas she would have kept to herself, if she were to have told the story. The language and dialogue that Faulkner provides Miss Emily with enables the readers to understand how she feels about the town. She is not very pleased with the changes that have occurred therefore she lets everyone that she comes in contact with know how she views those specific changes. For example when the new Mayor tells her that she owes taxes in Jefferson, she just keeps on insisting that she does not owe any money.

Personal Framework Essay

In spite of the variety of approaches and therapeutic paradigms, available to professional psychologists and counselors, they often tend to prioritize one or two frameworks as â€Å"personal† ones. The present paper discusses the case of 67-year-old widow, suffering from grief and struggling with the challenges of solitude. For instance, if the professional, responsible for administering and planning therapies relies mainly on psychodynamic psychotherapy, is likely to focus on the woman’s unconscious motivations and attitudes. The recently widowed woman will attend sessions once or twice a week in case she is relatively stable emotionally and discuss her dreams, spontaneous thoughts and cognitions. Given that psychodynamic approach is based heavily upon Freudian personality structure, the specialist is more likely to focus on the woman’s relationship with her husband so that she can resolve the inner conflict and eliminate her survivor’s guilt (Boylan, Mally & Reilly, 2001, p. 68). Psychodynamic therapist will also discuss the woman’s early years in order to find out the actual destructive patterns in her attitudes and behavior and gradually remove them by explaining and elucidating the causes of her current state. If the woman suffers from acute and pervasive emotional states, the follower of schema therapy will search for the negative maladaptive pattern, which creates obstructions to accepting the loss of the spouse (Young, Klosko & Weishaar, 2003, p. 11). Schemas are â€Å"comprised of memories, emotions, cognitions, and bodily sensations regarding oneself and one’s relationships with others and are developed during childhood or adolescence† (Young, Klosko & Weishaar, 2003, p. 7). After learning the patient’s history, the therapist is likely to find a pattern of strong fear of loneliness or a similar destructive schema. Taking into consideration the woman’s temperament, the specialist will restructure this fear by teaching self-sufficiency and focusing her attention on the positive psychoemotional and sensational patterns, associated with the content with life (e. . pleasure of breathing fresh air, eating, playing with grandchildren and so forth). The follower of solution-focused perspective is likely to begin with the so-called miracle question in order to determine the aspects of life (emotions, experiences) the woman lacks (Boylan, Mally & Reilly, 2001, p. 34). The woman will need to imagine her spouse h as returned and define the first signs of the miracle, her actions, intents and feelings. Furthermore, the counselor asks questions to identify the patient’s strengths, skills, talents and abilities and begins to encourage her by phrases like â€Å"I understand your hardships, but I am really amazed by the fact that you are act as an assertive person and manage to put all your decisions to practice†. Session by session, the specialist gradually orients the patient to using her strongest points and abilities like critical thinking, determination or proficiency in certain activities and areas. Cognitive behavioral therapist is likely to employ the ABC model of psychological change and establish the relationship between the activating event (the loss of the husband), wrongful and faulty beliefs and consequences (Boylan, Mally & Reilly, 2001, p. 38). For instance, the woman might believe she is helpless without her husband or that nobody needs her any longer as she has lost her spouse. Further, the therapist is likely to challenge her wrongful beliefs for the purpose of cognitive restructuring, so the patient will soon conclude that her life continues and act more constructively. This treatment approach implies a number of assignments including behavior change plans, emotions and cognition diaries, so the patient will also develop greater self-awareness and much better understand her thoughts, expectations, beliefs and intents. As one can conclude, although different treatment perspectives imply dissimilar methods of influence, they actually pursue similar goals, which necessarily include normalization of the person’s physical and spiritual well-being as well as social functioning.

The Speckled Band Essay

One character that is physically strong and commanding, also with some knowledge, is Dr. Grimesby Roylett, who appears in the story â€Å"The Speckled Band†. Unlike Irene Adler, he doesn’t outwit Sherlock Holmes in the end, but he does make life difficult for him to actually solve the case. For one, he has some strange pets that he keeps, and he is made out to be the bully. For another, he makes Holmes go to the extremes to solve the case. The characters that are introduced in these stories have different characteristics, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses, but deciding if they appeal to the modern day reader could be down to a matter of opinion. I think that if somebody who was interested in all the high-tech gadgets and latest technology would not find the characters in this very appealing and attention-grabbing, as they, especially Holmes, do not use any gadgets to do things or solve the case. Likewise, the characters may also not appeal to a modern audience because they would not be considered â€Å"cool† by the public. This may be the case, but I believe that a great deal of people would find these characters appealing; because of the way they do things. For example Sherlock Holmes would definitely be appealing because he doesn’t use any gadgets to solve his cases, he uses his brain power. London at the time of Sherlock Holmes was made out to be a rough, crime riddled place, where men where more superior than women. The description of London that is anticipated by the reader makes Sherlock Holmes stands out, as he is a successful person who doesn’t resort to crime; he fights against it. This was unlike any other detective in those days, as they were known to be unintelligent and ineffective with cases, most predominant being the police force. Detectives in the past didn’t have any technology to solve crime, so they had to rely on two main concepts: The brain power and the will power. In the time many considered that the police force were failing because they didn’t have either. Sherlock Holmes used both to solve his crimes, and he always prevailed, excluding â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia†.  These factors may have an impact on today’s reader, because as people are becoming consumed with the usage of modern technology, I believe that many people would adore somebody who does not need such equipment; only his brain. In conclusion, to the question â€Å"Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories were written over a hundred years ago. They are antiquated and out dated and have nothing to offer a modern day reader.† I think that for some aspects of the story it is true, but for some aspects it isn’t true. The stereotypes that are used in the stories have changed as time has gone by so the same effect cannot be created, and also because of the lack of technology a modern day reader may not be interested. Despite of all this, many still believe, including myself, that the Sherlock Holmes stories can still be relevant to a modern day audience. The techniques that are really the foundations of the techniques that are used in today’s detective stories, arguably even better. One thing that many people ask to themselves is† would a modern Sherlock Holmes story be better than the original one?† My answer to that: No.

Private Sector Participation in Maritime Industry

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. Background of the Study Today's highly fierce and dynamic global economy requires nations of the world to thoroughly harness their human and natural resources so as to remain competitive within the scheme of things. The proper identification of available resources (both human and material), exploration, efficient utilization and proper maximization of such resources through competent modes are critical success factors in the quest for relevance in the new millennium. Beside human population which readily provides seemingly cheap labour for effective productivity in a given space and time, other factors of production such as capital and land (water and coaster resources inclusive) represent veritable platforms for achieving national growth and socio-economic development. Nigeria, with an estimated population of over 140 million (NPC, 2000) and no doubt the most populous country in Africa, occupies a strategic location within the West and Central African sub-region. The country has a coastline of over 850km and four major port zones of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri (NIMASA, 2008). This vantage position enables her easy access to the neighboring countries hence goods meant for other ports of the sub-region are being transshipped from Nigerian major seaports. Also, a larger part of goods meant for Nigeria's land locked neighbors are being freighted through Nigerian seaports. Even historically, Nigerian coastal and riverine communities were engaged in shipping and fishing using dugout canoes. They were quite versed in the art of shipping to the extent that regattas and other traditional maritime rituals were developed. The importance of the maritime industry to Nigerian's socio-economic wellbeing cannot be overemphasized as cargo throughput to and from Nigeria accounts for more than 65% of the total volume of cargo generated by the entire West African Sub-Region. The sector remains critical to the realization of the projections of the oil and gas sector, which accounted for 40 percent of the GDP, 90 percent of export as well as 80 percent of total government revenue in 2008 (Dosunmu, 2009). The industry is projected to provide well over 10,000 jobs for Nigerian on yearly basis including seafarers, terminal managers etc. Though Nigeria is richly endowed with great petroleum and maritime resources, the country has over the years not been able to tap these great potentials to the benefit of the people of the country. According to Abulsallam (2004), with an average daily crude oil production estimated at two million barrels per day at an average freight rate of $2. per barrel per day, Nigeria generates in excess of $5 million per day, most of which go to foreign operators and therefore spent outside the nation's economy. Experience has further shown that over the years, before an investment decision is made, the prospective investor considers the regime of laws and efficiency of the courts in terms of resolving disputes, safety of such investments, return on investment, which is quite high and the availability of infrastructure. The rating by the International Maritime Bure au (IMB) of Nigeria as a high risk area in terms of pirate attacks does not engender investment inflow. At the dawn the new democratic dispensation in 1999, the Government hosted the Port Restructuring and Concessioning Team from the World Bank and started championing port reforms. Before this time, the Nigerian Ports Authority regulates all major ports in Nigeria, including the Apapa Port. The privatization of the agency and subsequent concessioning of the ports to private sector organizations willing to develop and manage their own ports and those wishing to contribute to the up-grading and standardization of existing equipment and facilities at the ports and the country's extensive onshore and off-shore terminals and jetties. This approach became necessary in order to reposition the entire maritime industry to contribute to national economy and well-being through efficient management of port operations, optimal allocation and use of resources, diversification of revenue sources, and maintaining adequate returns on investments. Thus, foreign and local private companies took advantage of the ample opportunities in the nation's maritime industry and concessioning of the ports including the Port of Apapa that contains an important container terminal owned and operated by the Nigerian Government until sold to a Danish firm, AP Moller-Maersk Group in 2005. APM Terminals commenced operations in Nigeria in March, 2006 at Nigeria's largest port located in Apapa. APM Terminals has been a major part of the development of the container shipping industry. APM Terminals is one of the largest container terminal operators in the world. Its diverse portfolio includes substantial interests in more than 40 ports around the globe. Originating as Maersk Line's terminal operating arm, APM Terminals was established as an independent division within the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group in 2001, moving its corporate offices from Copenhagen to The Hague in 2004. The Port of Apapa is the port for the City of Lagos in the Rivers Province of Nigeria and is located west of Lagos Island across the harbor from the city. The Port of Apapa Quay is the primary outlet for the country's exports. The Port of Apapa is the country's biggest port, handling a wide range of commodities. Apapa port contains facilities specialized in handling wheat, oil, cement, fish, dry cargo, and containers. The Port of Apapa Container Terminal covers 44 hectares and can handle up to 22 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo. With six berths alongside depth of 10. 5 meters and total quay length of 950 meters, the Port of Apapa Container Terminal also contains 6. 4 thousand square meters of covered storage. The container yard has capacity for 19. 5 thousand TEUs, and it contains 298 reefer plugs. And in line with the objectives of the privatization and port reforms, this study thus aptly evaluates the operational impact of APM Terminal on activities at Apapa Port, Lagos and by extension, the nation's maritime Industry. 1. 2Statement of Problems That the country is a major player in the sub-Saharan African economy remains undisputed fact as the nation accounts for more than 60 percent of total seaborne traffic in volume and value for the entire West African sub-region. This development makes the Nigerian maritime sector exact significant impact on the entire sub-region. Through the port operations – a sub-sector of the industry – the Nigerian economy is a paramount gateway to the global markets. However, the Nigerian maritime industry for upward of three decades depicts a dichotomy of disastrous downturn and development. The failure of the industry in attracting the required local and foreign investment inflow that is proportionate to its contribution both to the Nigerian and West African economies despite its great potential and enormous investment opportunities remain a sorry case. To upturn this trend, government decided to technically hands off the direct management of the ports and resorted to port reforms which saw the coming on stream of private terminal operators to facilitate efficient cargo handling and release, reduction in cost of operation as well as increment in cargo tonnage. Today, government concessioning programme of the ports that allowed for private sector participation in the management of the ports is under serious scrutiny in terms of the operational efficiency, revenue generation, capacity development and participation in international maritime operations. With this concern, will the country's goal of becoming one of the twenty virile economies in the world as articulated in Vision20: 2020 a reality in view of the dwindling fortune of the maritime industry which is supposed to leapfrog the nation into the league of wealthiest nations going by its vast potentials. 1. 3 Aim and Objectives of the Study The aim of this dissertation is to undertake a thorough assessment of the contributions of the private sector participation in the nation's maritime industry adjudged the second largest revenue earner after the petroleum industry. With special focus on the operational activities of APM Terminal Limited on the efficiency and productivity of Apapa Port, Lagos, this study intends to achieve the following objectives: ? Provide an overview of the Nigerian maritime potentials and resources vis-a-vis the challenges that have over the years militated against the industry from achieving its full potentials for economic growth. Determine various strategies and approaches taken by the government and other relevant stakeholders in fully harnessing the nation's maritime potentials and industry with emphasis on the ports. ? Identify private sector companies involved in ports management and assess their operational performances on the nation's maritime industry with emphasis on port efficiency, emp loyment generation, contribution to national treasury, national security/safety and integration into the global market. 1. Scope of the Study (Delimitation) In view of the vastness of the maritime industry which obviously has many sub-sectors in any economy within a particular geographical space, this study will be limited to port operations in Nigeria with special focus on the activities of APMT APAPA LTD at Apapa Port, Lagos. This will be considered in line with the federal government concessioning programmes embarked upon in 2004 when the government technically transferred the management of the nation's ports to private companies. It is instructive to note that the need to have holistic and thorough assessment of the research study for better generalization of research findings and implementation of recommendations informed this delimitation. The choice of APMT and Apapa Port are both strategic and well informed. The seeming and self-acclaimed business profile of APMT in the management of ports across global boundaries as garnered over the years will be the subject of evaluation with respect to its operations in Nigeria. Also, Apapa Port remains the biggest port in the country and unarguably wedging enormous maritime activities in the West Africa Coast. Hence any critical evaluation at determining its operational efficiency will serve as baseline for other ports in the country. 1. 5Significance of the Study Public shelves and school libraries are obviously lined up with books, journals and research thesis describing various issues in the Nigerian maritime industry and port management in broader and specific contexts. But very few access the operational performance and overall contributions of private sector involvement in the local maritime industry with special focus on emerging business environment such as Nigeria. Given the significance and contribution of the shipping sector to the viability and competitiveness of the nation's economy within the global marketplace, it is surprising however, how little attention has been paid to the assessment of the operational performance of private companies saddled with the responsibility f managing the Nigeria ports. This study is thus highly relevant in that it will dissects the managerial dispositions of APM Terminal – operator of the nation's largest port in terms of port productivity, contribution to national treasury, employment creation and the overall efficiency of government concessioning programmes/port reforms. In comprehensible and unambiguous terms, necessary precautionary measures and/or approaches to checkmate the ugly consequences of APMT managerial capability on the operational efficiency of the Apapa port and the entire maritime industry will be outlined. Thus, this study will benefit the management of APMT as they would be better informed on the strategies needed to manage a viable organization in the fierce business environment and innovative global marketplace as this would go a long way in enhancing public confidence in the company, government policy and the industry. Government, policymakers and regulatory bodies will also benefit from this study as necessary frameworks on sustainable development of the maritime industry will be articulated for proper implementation and monitoring to checkmate industrial collapse. The field of academia can leverage on the information contained in this write up to avail itself of the useful information and spur further study and research endeavors in the topic area. 1. 6 Research Questions To have holistic view of this study, the following research questions are put forward to guide study: Ql: What are the remote and immediate factors responsible for the advocacy and eventual involvement of private sector participation in the Nigeria Maritime Industry? Q2: How has the existing regulatory frameworks and existing infrastructure impacted on the operational efficiency and performances of the private sector organizations in the Nigerian's business environment, especially the maritime sector of the economy? Q3: Since its practical engagement, has the private sector, especially, operators of Apapa Port Terminal justify its involvement in the nation's maritime industry in terms of revenue generation, employment creation, capacity development and overall competitiveness of the local economy in the world global marketplace? Q4: Using the performance of APMT, can it be inferred that the involvement of the private sector in the running of the nation's maritime sector and overall management of the country's vast human and capital resources a veritable model and platform towards the quest of achieving Vision2020:20? . 7Research Hypothesis The following hypothetical constructs are tested and validated: H1: Federal government initiative at engaging the private sector companies in the management of the country's ports has positive impact on revenue generation for socio-economic development. H2: Private sector participation in the maritime industry has positively enhanced human capacity and infrast ructural development of the nation's ports and the entire maritime industry. H3: The involvement of private sector in the management of the county's ports and associated sector has boost employment creation with attendant positive impact on the livelihood of an average Nigerian. 1. 8Research Methodology The method adopted is random sampling technique which is a probabilistic sampling method and is believed to be adequate in carrying out this study. During the course of the study, data were collected and categorized as Primary data and Secondary data. Primary data comprised of freshly generated information through administration of structured questionnaires to the respondents who expressed their opinions in a free manner within the framework of the research aim, objectives and questions. Where possible, interviews were conducted using midgets/camcorders to record sessions and personal observation. Secondary (historic) data were generated through published and unpublished works and these included relevant textbooks, academic journals, thesis, relevant term papers, seminar presentation and web-based publications. Historic data covered from 1999-2010 and 5-year forecasts to end-2013 for key industry and macroeconomic indicators, supported by analysis including: major port freight throughput (tonnes/teu); overall freight throughput (teu); Freight value (US$bn); Contribution to GDP (%); Sector employment (‘000); Nominal GDP (US$bn); Real GDP growth (%); Total imports (US$bn) and exports (US$bn); real import and export growth (%); Current account (US$bn). 1. 9Definitions of Terms Maritime Industry: |The aggregate of businesses, investments, goods and services, regulators, academia, professionals of | | |varying degrees and social status involved in the formal and informal operations and programmes | | |derivable from the sea and associated (physical) water bodies and resources including shipping, | | |coastal trade, marine transport, fishery and other sundry activities. |Port Reforms: |The changing institutional structure of the port business that allows for much greater involvement of | | |the private sector in the exploitation and financing of port facilities, terminals and/or services | | |(Sarumi, 2006). | |Concessioning: |A business practice that allows for the strategic transfer of operational and investment costs from | | |the concessioner (government) to the concessionaire (private sector). |Private Sector: |A segment of the (local) economy that is largely operated, managed and controlled by individuals | | |(entrepreneurs) and/or group of individuals (corporate bodies) undertaking production and/or business | | |transaction with the prime purpose of making profits. | CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Overview of the World Shipping Industry and Maritime Sector The shipping industry is a truly global community. It is intrinsically international; indeed it was the very first global industry. The world shipping industry is transporting 90% of the world's trade. Most ships move from country to country as part of their normal trading pattern. The safety record of shipping is the envy of shore-based transport sectors, and shipping is the most environmentally friendly form of transport. The 50,000 ships that make up the international trading fleet are technically sophisticated, high value assets. The cost of a new ship can easily exceed US $100 million. Merchant ships generate an estimated annual income of over US $200 billion in freight rates within the global economy. It goes therefore to say that, the harnessing of available maritime resources and facilities such as the sea and ports remain the lifeblood of any country – and indeed of any continent. The importance, for example, of maritime trade to the economies of African states and its potential contribution to economic development through the potential for employment opportunities, can be demonstrated by the simple statistic that almost 91 per cent of continental trade by volume went by sea in 2008 (TBF, 2010). Of the fifty-four countries of Africa, thirty-nine are either littoral states or islands; therefore it is confidently expected that the continent is acutely aware of the impact of the maritime domain. After Asia, Africa is the second largest landmass on earth; it is also the largest island on the planet, with the Suez Canal separating Africa from the Middle East. In excess of 90 per cent of Africa’s imports go through ports before being forwarded to their final destinations via air, road and rail networks. Apart from being the provider of trade routes, the sea provides food, commodities, income from tourism and even moderates the climate. Africa’s fisheries play vital roles in trade, economic development and food security across the continent. Nor is Africa’s sustainable development and security purely dependent on the continent’s maritime waterways; inland waterways – lakes, dams and rivers – are equally important in providing for the livelihood of the continent’s 700 million-plus people. Protecting Africa’s water resources, waterborne trade and citizenry is vital, but it is clear that limited resources and perhaps a lack of recognition of the importance of this sector, have constrained the continent’s ability to effectively protect its waterways from a variety of threats. The cost of meeting the required responsibilities is the reason most regularly used to argue against doing what needs to be done. Any investment, however small, can be justified if compared to the cost of resource losses that Africa is experiencing; when the cost of reversing the continuous damage inflicted on the marine environment is determined, and the challenge of providing alternative food resources for those who depend on their food from the sea and inland waters is considered. Once these resources are protected and exploited in a sustainable manner, downstream savings will justify any upstream investment (TBF, 2010). By geographical location and size of the market, Nigeria – formally established under British colonial rule which lasted from 1861 to 1960 – is a natural hub of the West and Central African sub-region and the second largest economy in Africa. Twice the size of California with a population equal to that of Russia, where one in five Africans is a Nigeria (NPC, 2006), possessing the second largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $0 billion in sub Saharan Africa and touted as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, Nigeria offers a stark dichotomy of wealth and poverty. Nigeria is the one of the largest oil producers in the world, with 32 billion barrels of oil reserves (sufficient for 37years) and gas reserves that is expected to last 110years at current rates of usage. Nigeria’s oil and gas combined, according to United Kingdom Government Development Magazine, is worth about 50cents (about N65) per person a day. Suffice to note that the maritime sector of any economy is the orbit around which the country’s wellbeing revolves. Even land locked countries cannot progress too far in their developmental programmes without collaborative understanding with countries having seaport access. Latest estimates posit that Nigeria accounts for about 65% of the sub-region’s maritime trade (NSC, 2010). The country is blessed with vast coastline of about 850kilometers and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of well over 300,000 square kilometer with a navigable inland waterways of 3,000kilometer; eight (8) major seaports; 11 oil terminal; and over 170 private jetties as well as four (4) Inland Container Deports (ICDs) including two (2) Inland Freight Stations (IFS). A larger part of goods meant for the country’s land locked neighbours are being freighted through Nigerian seaports. The foregoing potentials have opened up various professional, commercial and investment opportunities for the citizenry and foreigners as well. Unfortunately, Nigerian maritime industry contributes a meager 0. 05per cent of the nation’s GDP, whereas countries like Greece enjoys a significant contribution of about 4. 5 per cent to their economy from their respective maritime sectors, employing 4 per cent of the workforce. Notable, the maritime industry contribute about ? 5 billion to the UK’s GDP, providing 40,000 direct employments with a little less than one per cent contribution to that country’s GDP. It is now generally recognised that the maritime sector could, if properly harnessed, play a critical role in the development of regional, national and global economies. This is in view of the growth-pole potentials of ports and ancillary industries (Hanappe and Savy, 1980). Thus, there is a desire for ‘good order at sea’; this ‘good order’, which requires the creation of collaborative maritime architecture, would allow the conduct of free trade, i. e. in a safe and secure environment. It will require the enforcement of maritime legislation to remove those factors that would negatively affect the free flow of goods. Maritime legislation would, in turn, strengthen the maritime institutions which are crucial for a maritime strategy. The combination of strengthened and coherent legislation and institutions would better regulate the maritime industry; it would enhance the policing of, and prosecution for, illegal acts, e. g. piracy, and the dumping of waste materials; pollution will be policed; smuggling and illicit trade could be countered; transnational or cross-border crime would be better monitored and reduced; and the safe navigation of shipping guaranteed. In the past, governments have intervened, often massively, in the maritime sector to fulfill different goals such as economic development, national defense, prestige, balance of payments, and the protection of the national industry. To reach those goals, governments relied on methods such as regulations, subsidies, national fleets, preference of cargo and ports of entry. Cabotage regulations have been one of the privileged measures to protect the national maritime transportation industry. 2. 2Maritime Development and Port Administration in Nigeria Maritime economies and societies are closely associated with the sea. In this connection, the length and nature of a nation’s coastline, the magnitude of its mercantile marine and port-related industries, the level of development of internal communications and the political and economic framework in which these developments take place determine to a large extent the growth and development of its maritime sector. But truly speaking, the challenges facing shipping and the world's ports today are not only related to the quantity but also the quality of services. The continuous progress of globalization of shipping and trade business is resulting in increasing pressures on ports cost and improve operational efficiency. Seaports constitute the hub of the maritime sector of a nation’s economy. For one thing, they are generally regarded as gateways between their hinterlands and forelands—the overseas territories to which they are linked by commerce and other elements. They thus serve as conduits in the exchange of merchandise between opposite ends of the intervening oceans. Moreover, without them, shipping and shipbuilding cannot exist and it is the capacity of a port that determines the volume and regularity of its shipping. The development of the maritime sector and, indeed, of the wider economy, reflects the degree of the harnessing together of technological, political, economic, physical and other factors. However, what can hardly be controverted is that human agency can reverse or ameliorate the natural disadvantages of a port or initiate developments in its hinterland or foreland to the advantage or disadvantage of the port (Olukoju, 1996). This is most clearly manifest in the formulation and implementation of policies which achieve port (re)development and foster shipping and industrial growth. Government is more suited to this sort of intervention because it has the capital that such large-scale works entail and it also has the capacity to absorb the impact of the long gestation of such low-return investments. It is capable of formulating policies reversing the natural disadvantages suffered by certain ports and regions. The beginning of modern port development in Nigeria may be traced to the British occupation of Lagos, a notorious centre of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, in 1861, and the subsequent colonisation of the Nigerian hinterland. Lagos and Port Harcourt eventually emerged as the leading ports following extensive and expensive harbour works. At Lagos, the most extensive works carried out during the colonial period (1861-1960) took place before the Second World War, while Port Harcourt was created from scratch in the immediate aftermath of the First World War (Olukoju, 1996). Port development policy oscillated during this period from concentration to diffusion (Ogundana 1970, 1972). The former refers to a policy of concentrating investment in, and developing, a few ports, at the expense of the rest while the latter involved developing a multiplicity of seaport outlets. Such contraction and expansion reflected the prevailing global and local economic conditions which dictated the demand for shipping and port facilities. In terms of the administration of Nigerian ports, policy was characterised, up to the mid-1950s, by a combination of duality of control and multiplicity of authorities. First, the duality of control meant that private interests such as the United African Company and the foreign shipping lines, specifically, Elder Dempster Shipping Line, controlled certain activities such as lighterage and controlled certain ports such as Burutu (Olukoju, 2002). Second, there was a multiplicity of authorities in the ports, especially the major ones like Lagos and Port Harcourt. Among these were the Railways, Customs, Port Engineering and Marine, each handling specific aspects of port operations, such as tariff collection, transport, pilotage and harbour works. These government departments were embroiled in an acrimonious inter-departmental rivalry which impeded the effective coordination of services and port operations (Olukoju, 1992). The management of the crisis entailed a series of investigations and administrative reorganisation but it was not until the Nigerian Ports Authority was established in the mid-1950s that a semblance of order was established. Paradoxically, maritime administration in Nigeria has since degenerated into a jungle of competing authorities hindering and meddling with the efficient operation and administration of the ports. By virtue of the Ports Act 1954 (Cap 55) of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, the Nigerian Ports Authority was established as the sole authority in control of Nigeria’s ports in place of eight government departments. The NPA came into being with jurisdiction over the operation of cargo-handling; maintenance, improvement and regulation of harbours and approaches; dredging, pilotage services, lighting and navigational aids, and related services. The NPA embarked on indigenisation (‘Nigerianisation’) of its staff and the construction of a wharf extension at Apapa and harbour works at Port Harcourt. Yet, within a decade, its activities had come under the scrutiny of a commission of inquiry. The Justice Beckley Tribunal found out that the NPA had engaged in redundancy and jobbery in its appointments, and its operations had been bedevilled by ethnicity, corruption and inefficiency. The civil war caused the enforced contraction of Nigerian maritime operations following the closure of eastern Nigerian ports such as Port Harcourt and Lagos became the only functional seaport. In 1969, the military government formally placed the ports of Warri, Burutu and Calabar, hitherto under private control, under the control of the NPA. The civil war was followed by the requirements of reconstruction and the oil boom in the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Massive imports engendered by these developments resulted in unprecedented port congestion, characterised by the infamous cement armada whereby ships carrying cement stayed outside the ports in a long queue of vessels waiting to berth and offload their cargo. The country incurred huge losses in demurrage and damaged cargo, in addition to the unscrupulous dealings of some Nigerians and foreigners. The government then embarked on massive port development not only to cope with that exigency but in anticipation of increasing demand. But the slump of the 1980s forestalled the latter and left the country with under-utilised facilities. Meanwhile, port administration was undergoing certain changes which worked against efficiency and motivation of staff. First, the appointment of a military Port Commandant in the face of the port congestion of the 1970s eroded the influence and efficiency of the NPA Board, and breached the norms of due process and accountability. Second, the public sector reforms of the 1970s dampened the morale of NPA staff, who were now made to work under civil service conditions of service, especially pay. Third, certain powers of the NPA were transferred to the Minister of Transport, who became the supervisory authority for the Authority. The consequence of these developments was that the NPA ‘moved from an autonomous status to that of a department of the Federal Ministry of Transport with its centralised control, no user representation advisory board and all the trappings of civil service bureaucracy (Ovbude, 1991). A related policy thrust was the ‘commercialisation’ of port administration in Nigeria in the late 1980s. By Decree 25 of 1988, the NPA was listed among thirty-five state-owned enterprises slated for commercialisation. Ninety-two others were to be privatised. The aim was to make the NPA make profits on its operations. Such a policy implied that the government would give the operators a free hand not only in day-to-day administration but in the setting of port charges and the collection of revenue. Unfortunately, the professed aim was never achieved, although the NPA (then renamed Ports PLC) was finally weaned off its dependence on state subventions as it succeeded in earning enough and making profits from its services to shipping and other port-users. However, the government never gave its officials a free hand at least to the extent of appointing the Authority’s Board of Directors and interfering in other ways. In all, port development in Nigeria has had a measurable impact on city and regional development though the extent varies with each port. To be sure, the export processing zone developed around Calabar port in eastern Nigeria has yet to make the expected impact. A recurring factor in the decline of the port is that its natural hinterland is in the Republic of Cameroon. This has robbed it of a critical factor in its development, unlike the case at Lagos and Port Harcourt. That said, the most profound case of port-induced urban and regional development has been that of Lagos, which generated a huge population concentration in an adjoining metropolitan area that extends inland up to Ota, some forty-five kilometres to the north. Major developments at Apapa have also fostered an industrial zone that has grown in depth since the 1960s. Industrial zones have also sprouted at Ilupeju, Yaba and Ikeja as the port exerts its direct and indirect impact on its immediate hinterland. By 1971, the Lagos metropolitan area was dotted with six industrial estates. By 2000, functional estates included those at Apapa, Agidingbi, Amuwo Odofin, Gbagada, Iganmu, Ijora, Ikeja CBD, Ilupeju, Kirikiri, Matori, Ogba, Oregun, Oshodi/Isolo/Ilasamaja and Surulere (Light Industrial) (Akintola-Arikawe, 1987). The industrial estates at Ikeja and Mushin had owed their existence to the ndustrial policies of the Western Region government since the late 1950s but others too had developed since the 1970s. The extent of the impact of port development at Lagos may be judged by the rise and development of the Agbara and Ota-Ifo industrial estates in the ‘metropolitan shadow’ some twenty to forty kilometres away (Akintola-Arikawe, 1987 ). As well, the western railway linking Lagos with Ibadan and Kano, major urban, commercial and industrial centres, has also spread the impact of the port several hundred kilometres into the Nigerian hinterland. The same process has been replicated, though on a smaller scale, at Port Harcourt, the terminus of the eastern railway. The port literally created the city following its development in the inter-war years (Anyanwu 1971; Olukoju 1996). There, as in Lagos, the port serves as an industrial and commercial hub, and its hinterland extends to the administrative and commercial centres on the railway, like Aba and Umuahia. 2. 3Port Reforms, Concessioning and Privatization in Nigeria The growing trends in trade liberalization and global economic restructuring have led to initiative for private sector participation in the ports operations. Ports as a gateway to economies have become more competitive as port charges can hamper international trade if significant in product cost line. The manufacturers now seek the least cost-input ratio worldwide where they can produce and assemble products at biggest advantages in terms of labour capacity and access to market. This explains why states world over are very particular in port productivity and efficiency as it directly affects import and export trade. Succinctly put, globalization phenomenon has come with some which include the emergence of very large vessels with greater cost effectiveness, speed, improved cargo-handling technology and reduced unit freight cost. Also, emergency of international terminal operators with specialized technical efficiency in cargo handling; high mobility of factors of production; fluid movement of goods across international boarders; off-shore manufacturing, and electronic business transactions are some of the value proposition for private-partnership model being championed and entrenched within the local maritime sector of emerging and even developed nations. To play meaningful role in the global economy, nations have to aggregate the impacts of all these developments as they affect their links with international supply chain. It is with this understanding that the federal government of Nigeria, at the inception of the new democratic dispensation of the Olusegun Obasanjo led- administration between 1999 and 2003, inaugurated the National Council on Privatization (NCP) in demonstration of the commitment to institutional reforms. Government believes that there is a linkage between efficient functioning of utilities and propensity to attract foreign investment to the country. In this respect, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) was identified and selected, as a prime candidate for an in-depth reform as contained in governments’ privatization programme implemented by the Nigeria Council for Privatization (NCP) and its implementing agency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and concessioning is one of the reform options that are needed to make ports internationally competitive and to integrate the economy to the mainstream of world economic order. Consequently, the concessioning of the port was an issue, which agitated the mind of workers and dominated several discussions. The Management, Officers and staff of NPA being conscious of their responsibilities and aware of the need for successful implementation of the ports reform initiatives of the Federal Government held a retreat at Calabar from 14th – 16th August, 2003. After widespread consensus-building and consultations with various stakeholders, government came up with the option of Concessioning and Landlord Port model as a tool for process of institutional reform. Put succinctly, a Port Concession agreement is a contract in which a government transfers operating rights to private enterprise, which then engages in an activity contingent on government approval and subject to the terms of the contract. The Landlord port model in port sector reform is identified by a clear separation of the roles of public and private sector in two parts namely: Public sector is responsible for port planning and development, regulatory tasks related to safety, security and environment, owner of port land and nautical management. Also the granting and administration of concessions for the use of land and infrastructure to the private sector, and Private sector is responsible for terminal operations including investment in the provision and maintenance of superstructure and equipment. Essentially, the term â€Å"port reform† connotes the changing institutional structure of the port business and much greater involvement of the private sector in the exploitation and financing of port facilities, terminals and/or services (Sarumi, 2006). Port reform therefore sets to re-define relationship between public and private sectors. More often than not, the concept of Privatization is often used interchangeably in error to port reform. It should be made clear at this juncture that privatization only refers to one aspect of port reform tools. Other spectrum of port reform tools include: Management Contract, Outsourcing and Concessioning etc. The proponents of port reforms and concessioning programmes noted that the benefits accruable to the country include better and more efficient port management especially operations as handled by Terminal Operators; the application of private capital to socially and economically desirable projects, freeing up government funds for other priority projects; creation of new revenue streams for government; the attraction and use of foreign investment and technology, and increase in private sector participation in the regional or national economy. The review of the major milestones in NPA concession programme revealed the following procedures, guidelines and timelines which included the Appointment of Concession Advisers, CPCS Transcom of Canada (3rd December, 20030; Advertisement for Expression of Interest – EOIs (5th December, 2003); Evaluation of Expression of Interests carried out on 24th February to 3rd March, 2004; Request for Proposals (RFP) and other bidding documents sent to prequalified bidders; Pre-bid conference and commencement of Physical Due Diligence and Data – Room visit for Apapa Terminals (19th October, 2004); inauguration of Presidential Task Force on Port Reforms (1st December, 2004); Opening of Technical Bids for Apapa Terminals (26th January to 3rd February, 2005); Pre-bid conference for Port-Harcourt Terminal and commencement of Due Diligence and Data Room Visitation (7th February to 22nd February, 2005), and the Opening of Financial Bids for Apapa and selection of preferred bidders, 10th March, 2005. The primary objective of concession agreement is to transfer investment costs from the government to the private sector. It is further envisaged to inject private sector efficiency, independence and discipline into the loading and off – loading of ships at our terminals, while ports perform marine and technical oversight functions. The ultimate goal is to make the port system extremely efficient and cost effective. These led to the invitation of bidders in December 2003 and 110 applications were received while 94 of the applicants were pre -qualified and issued bid documents. Most of the terminals were handed over in 2006 with NPA expectedly playing the following roles: port planning, licensing and control, port development, technical regulations, marine services and channel management. Within the context of concessioning is the role of Terminal Operator defined as port operations and services (carrying out terminal operations and marine services as agreed except pilotage), port labour (employing and paying port labour, providing training, clothing, Medicare and social security, safety and pension) and investment and maintenance in superstructure and equipment. The Terminal Operators are large independent companies with concessions from the Port Authority for a period sufficient to pay back the investments (at least 10 yrs). Terminal Operators are selected on the basis of transparent international bidders. The Terminal Operators pay a concession fee to the Port Authority based on the use of the land and infrastructure and the volume of operations. The Concessionaires are responsible for all terminal operations such as; stevedoring, shore handling etc. They maintain direct contacts with the shipping lines without interference from the Port Authority, but operate within the ambit of extant registration. They are equally responsible for the security, liability, insurance and safety in the concessioned area. TABLE 1:LIST OF TERMINAL OPERATORS S/N |Company’s Name (Operator) |Location | |1 |APM Terminal Limited, |Apapa, Lagos | |2 |ENL |Lagos | |3 |Five Star |Lagos | |4 |TICT |Lagos | |5 |J/DAM |Lagos | |6 |PTML |Lagos | |7 |ABTL |Lagos | |8 |P. CARGO |Lagos | |9 |GDNL |Lagos | |10 |BOP |Lagos | |11 |IBAFON |Lagos | |12 |LISTER |Lagos | |13 |F/W |Lagos | |14 |CAPITAL |Lagos | |15 |FATGBEM |Lagos | |16 |RAJ |Lagos | |17 |EKO SUP |Lagos | |18 |NOJ |Lagos | |19 |IJORA |Lagos | |20 |EML |Lagos | |21** |Including 15 other companies operating outside Lagos namely Calabar, Port-Harcourt, Warri, Onne etc. | Source: NPA 2009 2. 4Performance Evaluation of Private Sector Participation in Maritime Industry However, ports do not exist for their own sake or as mere conduits of trade, but are expected to exert a developmental impact especially on their hinterlands. To be sure, a port has several hinterlands stretching from the port itself to as far as transport links and competing outlets permit. While the proximate hinterlands are likely to be captive to it, other areas may be contested by other ports depending on their differential access to transport facilities. Specifically, port and regional development has been pursued through ‘developer ports’, created in depressed regions as a catalyst of industrial and urban development (Olukoju, 2004). A critical issue that is germane to this study is the potential of ports as growth poles. Do ports really generate development in their immediate or remote hinterlands? If so, what accounts for this or under what conditions can this it achieved? If such condition(s) is/are known, how can the developmental impact be optimised? In any case, what criteria should be employed to measure the developmental impact of ports and how reliable are they? With regard to the measurement of the economic impact of ports, the Canada Ports Corporation once developed a computerised Economic Impact Model, which supposedly ‘measures the economic benefits of the freight handling activities of Canadian ports on the local, provincial and national economies and provides a realistic and defensible assessment of the economic contributions of the ports’ (Tessier, 1991). This assertion was based on certain observable results. Canadian ports were reported to have generated jobs (direct and indirect), revenue, and personal income quantified in billions of dollars, which derived from port and related activities. Barely four years and some months, perhaps to all believers’ dismay of the port reforms and concessioning programmes, the ports are in chaos, throwing up a nightmarish pains, losses as well as rip-off that is crippling the national economy. Today, the concessionaires are in quandary as the raised issues of hope and prospects are nowhere near. Congestion, high cost inefficiency and chaos are now the order of the day which constitutes a great setback. There is a heavy problem of discharge of container while cargo diversion to neighbouring ports in West Africa region has taken the shine off Nigerian ports, which its supposedly aim of being the hub for international trade and freight is yet to materialised. Investigation shows that many factors are responsible for the debacle which is most noticed in Lagos ports which account for over 65 per cent of total imports into Nigeria and others in the eastern part of the country especially the Onne base ports mostly under the management of Intels Nigeria Limited. Apart from poor and ill-equipped cargo handling plants, the much desired quick release of cargoes at the private terminals is yet to be actualised dream to operators and port users, the problems are too much that Nigerians on the street have started questioning the rationale for concessioning or dashing of the ports to the private operators or monopolists. Since the year of independence in 1960, there has always been a tug-of-war between policy of pre-shipment inspection and that of destination. As at January 2006 and the time the concessionaires took over the management of port operations as private terminal operators destination inspection as a policy was re-introduced for the third time. Following agitations and complaints by the freight forwarders about operational lapses, inefficiency and unfair business practices which grew to the point of an ultimatum of withdrawal of services at the ports, the Ministry of Transport was forced to set up a committee to address the grievances and operational challenges. The committee or task force was given six point terms of reference that include: to ascertain the inadequacies and availability of plant and equipment at the terminals, examine the clearing and port documentation process, identify and abrogate excessive/duplicated charges. Others are to ensure the suitability of the working environment; ensure the implementation of world best practices in the Nigerian ports and tackle any other issues that may arise in the course of the sub-committee assignment. The committee in its interim report observed that there are many port operational constraints that exist in many facilities and at different levels. The issue of stacking pattern for containers was observed not to be done in accordance with internationally accepted standards for ease of operation. Putting APMT on the spotlight of performance evaluation, study shows that there are too many empty containers found to be stacked at the quay apron for more than eight (8) days and that the terminal operator have a weekly stacks of up to 4,800teus and weekly evacuation of about 1800teus. This is wholly responsible for the long queue of trailers that caused traffic jams in Apapa and to the port entry point. The on and off stories of congestion which have characterised the concessioned ports since inception are observed to be caused by the greed of the concessionaires as it alleged that they make more money when cargoes are delayed in their terminals. According to the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), many Nigerian importers and manufacturers are closing shop in protest against the country’s port system, as they cannot continue to import wares through the ports with debts overtaken their business, they therefore have sought relief, time and cost saving opportunities offered at the ports in the other west African countries of Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Study reveals that rather than saving $2. 5 billion from mere coming on stream of the port concession arrangements as well as experiencing an operating cost cut down of between $65 million to $80 million and port users saving some $70 million to $100 million yearly, Nigeria as at today lost quantifiable billions of dollar which translates to over N20 trillion (Chigbue Irene, 2010). Though the industry is projected to provide well over 10,000 jobs yearly with the capacity of employing 50,000 Nigerians (Omatseye, 2010), the promised job opportunities have turned to job doom as many importer and agents as well as dockworkers have lost their jobs and businesses as the case maybe. These loads of problems as being experienced within the concessioned port sector hinged on lack of legal frameworks backing the port concession exercise which regrettably made the concessionaires to take advantage of implementing the illegality of exploiting importers. The era of port concessioning has further thrown security issues capable of threatening national defense and safety of lives (Abati, 2010). In the Apapa port, it has been made clear that the arms cargo arrived at the port in July 2010. The frequency with which suspicious materials are now being reported along Nigerian routes and in many of the cities is frightening. Given Nigeria’s weak national security infrastructure the situation could be worse and the evidence is writ large in spread of criminality and violence in the country and the seeming ineffectiveness of the concerned state agencies. Granted that the administration has often tried to address the challenge but what is exposed in every instance is the absence of a well thought-out and managed national security framework, unfortunately, security is one of the original concerns of government, and where this fails, there are serious implications for national stability. CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1Introduction This section is directed at defining the research design, characteristics of the population, sample size and sampling techniques, sources of data, design and administration of questionnaires, techniques for data analysis, and limitation of the research methodology. The research method used in this study is as relevant as the research work because it forms the basis upon which the research is written. This chapter goes together to describe the method used in the data collection and classification of questions for data analysis. 3. 2Re-Statement of Research Hypotheses For emphasis, and to have holistic view of the research’s objectives vis-a-vis the methods and techniques used in analyzing acquired data, the research hypotheses earlier set are herewith restated: H1: Federal government initiative at engaging the private sector companies in the management of the country's ports has positive impact on revenue generation for socio-economic development. H2: Private sector participation in the maritime industry has positively enhanced human capacity and infrastructural development of the nation's ports and the entire maritime industry. H3: The involvement of private sector in the management of the county's ports and associated sector has boost employment creation with attendant positive impact on the livelihood of an average Nigerian. 3. 3Research Design The research design chosen for this study is the non-experimental (personal) survey and correlation design because the study focuses on the respondents’ attitudes to the research problem while attempting to establish the degree of relationships between independent variable in this case maritime industry performance and the dependent variables operational efficiency of the terminal operators. 3. 4Population of Study and Sample Size The population for this research study comprises of various but carefully selected practitioners/operators in the industry. The core practitioners include officials/staff (civil servants) working in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies/Parastatals (MDAs) of government overseeing and regulating the activities of the terminal operators and the ports in general. These include; NIMASA, Nigeria Port Authority, Nigeria Shippers’ Council, Nigeria Custom Service and Nigeria Navy. Thereto, independent (private) sector operators such as freight forwarders, ship owning firms, legal practitioners (maritime lawyers), journalists, and importers/exported drawn from different associations and corporate organizations viz: Nigerian Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS), Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), Maritime Lawyers and Arbitrators of Nigeria (MLAN). In view of the vastness of the population for this study, a sample size of 150 respondents consisting of people that were randomly selected from the above organizations/bodies was served questionnaires. Only 100 returned questionnaires were considered valid for use/analysis as fifty (50) were either badly filled or not returned. However, the size represented and the returned questionnaires represent fair percentage of the total population of the study to whom questionnaires were distributed for the purpose of data collection which could allow for better generalization of results after necessary analysis. 3. 5Sampling Techniques The sampling technique used for this research work was random sampling for different respondents of the selected organizations/bodies in the study area. This technique prevented any form of biases, and provided for fair and equal opportunity to all respondents identified for this research study to freely express their views of the foregoing subject matter. The survey research design was used to investigate the respondents’ opinions on the research problem. 3. 6Sources of Data Collection The information required for the successful execution of this project was obtained from two sources viz: primary and secondary sources. The primary sources included the use of structured questionnaires and oral interviews/personal observations as made by the researcher while secondary sources included data and information collected from textbooks, journals, magazines, newspapers, white papers, the Internet and unpublished works. 3. 7Questionnaire Design This research employed the use of structured questionnaire to gather primary data from respondents. The questionnaires consist of two (2) sections. Section A contained six (6) items which emphasized on the characteristics of the respondents (‘bio-data’ or ‘personal profile’). Section B of the research instrument has twelve (12) items which were designed to provide answers to the questions raised in the study and to test the formulated hypotheses. And consistent with Hamilton (1997) and Patry et al. (1999), a 5-point Likert scale, was used to measure the extent to which each respondent agrees and/or disagrees with any statement as contained in the questionnaire. The statements were concise and comprehensive enough to drive home the points of the research aim and objectives in simple and understandable language and also allowed for good responses from the respondents with the view of capturing the essence of the topic. 3. 8Standardization of Research Instrument The research instrument was tested for content validity to determine if it could measure what it was intended to test. In order to achieve this procedure, the questionnaire was reviewed by the an independent research outfit with bias in maritime policy development and operations, and other seasoned professionals in industry to assess technical terms, clarify ambiguous statement and comment on the obvious validity of each item. The internal consistency of the items as contained in Section B of the questionnaire was tested for reliability using Croncbach Alpha method with other available functionalities of the SSPS software package. The overall result of the 12 items on the research instrument clearly shows that the designed questionnaire was valid for the conduct of this study as the reliability coefficient of 0. 8636 was obtains which tends to 1. 3. 9Questionnaire Administration The questionnaires were distributed to all the respondents identified for this study in all the selected organizations who expectedly conveyed their opinions by providing fair and unbiased responses to the statement. A total of 150 questionnaires were administered through personal efforts by hand delivery of hard copies and through the internet as attached file sent to the recipients/respondents’ e-mail addresses followed by phone calls to confirm receipt of same. The cost of mailing was financially irrational as retrieving answered questionnaires may be difficult to achieve while the needed thoroughness in the analysis and presentation of data may be compromised and jeopardized. Of the total 150 questionnaires distributed, 124 were returned filled while 26 were not returned by the respondents. Upon careful examination of the returned questionnaires, only 100 were considered useful and adequate for thorough analysis as 24 were either badly filled as represented in the following graphical (pie chart) illustration. [pic] 3. 10Techniques for Data Analysis For the purpose of thorough analysis of the data collected for this study a conventional reliability rate of 95. 0% with a sample error of 5. 0% was allowed using version 10. 0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program and Microsoft Excel in processing the data. Inferential statistical method was used to present data in Frequency Table and Simple Percentage. The used of chi-square (x2) was adopted to test formulated hypotheses. 3. 11Limitations of Research Methodology The research of this scope cannot be carried out without facing one or two constraints. Time posed a serious challenge as research appointments in most case coincided with academic lectures and work demands at office. The seemingly reluctance of some respondents in filling the research instrument designed to collate data posed yet another challenge especially among top-ranking officers of NIMASA, NPA, Customs and APMT staff. Resource materials needed for necessary deskwork were not readily available. Handling the SPSS package posed yet a great challenge in terms of analyzing and interpreting the data as there was no firsthand experience of its usage. Financing this project in term of logistics associated with this research work almost marred this academic pursuit. However, efforts were made to put these challenges under control through effective and prudent use of available, nay limited fund, thus the emergence of this work in its present form. As regards the intellectual and theoretical arguments, critics have expressed doubts about the reliability and propriety of this kind of performance evaluation. Some contend that ‘port impact’ studies of this kind were designed by port authorities to justify or attract port investment. Others argue that it is misleading to attribute regional development to the ports, which are ‘only one element in a large number of producing and distributing systems’ which generate economic changes in a given region (Goss, 1990). It may also be noted that accurate quantification of the regional impact of ports is difficult to achieve in the face of the diffusion (that is, of origins and destinations) of port traffic beyond the narrow confines of a region or nation (ibid: 216). Whatever reservations that one may have about the reliability of the quantification of the social and economic impact of ports and their allied industries on the adjoining cities and regions, it is hardly debatable that port activities and shipping generate employment, and induce industrialisation and overall economic growth. The striking example of Maritime Industrial Developments Areas (MIDAs) in post-Second World War Europe aptly illustrates the immense growth-pole potentials of ports. Even so, it must be conceded that there is a symbiotic relationship between the port itself, on the one hand, and the port-city and port-induced industries, on the other. Economic boom or depression in either a port’s forelands or hinterlands immediately affects the port and the silting of the port or the loss of its comparative advantage to rival ports would be reflected in the fortunes of its hinterlands, particularly those that are dependent on it. CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4. 1INTRODUCTION This section is designed to present and analyze data used for this research study. With the aid of computer based application software packages – Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 10. 0 and Microsoft Excel (2007), data generated through the administered research instrument (questionnaire) were analyzed at the conventional 95% level of confidence. To further validat