A Method of Assessing Leadership Effectiveness

Assessing the effectiveness of a leader is often a difficult exercise for many organizations. This is usually because most assessment procedures are influenced by organizational politics, they are not standard based, and the items on which a leader is assessed are undefined or poorly defined. This study presents the Essential Behavioral Leadership Qualities (EBLQ) approach for assessing leadership effectiveness as an alternative method to commonly used assessment procedures. Among other assumptions, the EBLQ method is built on the assumptions that a leader should be evaluated on clearly defined behavioral qualities and his/her effectiveness rating should be standard based. Hence, the EBLQ method measures the effectiveness of a leader against the essentiality levels of behaviors deemed necessary for effective leadership. Leadership effectiveness is determined for each leadership behavior and for overall leadership performance. The EBLQ method was demonstrated in the assessment of the leadership effectiveness of the principals of schools for students who are blind or visually impaired.     

Hermite–Pade´ approach to thermal stability of reacting masses in a slab with asymmetric convective cooling

In this paper, the thermal stability of combustible materials uniformly distributed in a slab under Bimolecular, Arrhenius and Sensitised exothermic reactions is investigated. The slab surfaces are assumed to exchange heat asymmetrically with the ambient following Newton's cooling law. Using a perturbation method coupled with a special type of Hermite–Pade´ approximation technique, the governing non-linear differential equation is tackled analytically. The important properties of the temperature field including thermal criticality conditions are obtained. These critical constants for thermal stability of the slab are represented by turning point on the bifurcation diagram and may be significant to the service-worthiness of industrial products, to the life span of structures, as well as to public safety.     

Indigenous counselling techniques among the Yoruba and Igala people of Nigeria

Guidance and counselling are now making a good beginning in Africa. This paper attempts to trace the historical foundations of Yoruba and Igala counselling in Africa and examines what makes for success in traditional therapy—the words, phrases and aphorisms used, the climate set and the personality of the professional. Furthermore, since recent studies show that the training and methods of indigenous practitioners are sound and that their philosophy and practice have much in common with Western approaches, the paper also attempts to introduce their skills for fusion with Western mental health.Paper presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki (Greece), April 1980.     

Perceptions of leadership effectiveness in schools for children who are blind or have low vision in Nigeria

This study used the standard-based essential behavioural leadership qualities (EBLQ) method of leadership assessment, to determine leadership effectiveness of the principals of the schools for children who are blind and have low vision in Nigeria, from the perspective of the teachers of these schools. The four-stage method of leadership assessment of the EBLQ method was used to analyze data (N = 271) collected through availability sampling, to determine leadership effectiveness of the principals relative to levels of essentiality of EBLQ items. Findings show a pattern of incongruence between rankings of essentialities and effectiveness of the principals on the EBLQ items. The principals were perceived most effective in having ‘excellent educational qualifications’ which was ranked fourth as essential for leadership effectiveness. The principals were also rated twentieth on ‘timely payment of salary’, which was ranked most essential for leadership effectiveness. Overall effectiveness of the principals, however, was described as exemplary. This study is expected to contribute to much-needed studies on leadership in the schools for the blind in Nigeria, as well as provide a coaching effect for the principals of these schools.     

The Definitions and Onset of an Old Person in South-Western Nigeria

This paper investigates the definitions and onset of an old person in South-Western Nigeria. Conventionally, anyone who has reached the age of 60 or 65 years is regarded as the onset of an old person. But on contrary, this recent study is strongly emphasizing that 50 years and above is the onset of an old person in South-Western Nigeria. Obviously, the definitions and onset of an old person are controversial, yet, revealing in this paper. The study captured 13 Local Government Areas in Lagos state while 11 Local Government Areas were covered in Oyo state. The study employed focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs). However, 938 old persons were interviewed through questionnaire administration in Lagos and Oyo states of South-Western Nigeria. The univariate, FGDs, and IDIs were employed in the analyses of this research. The major findings of this study are the following: firstly, that there are different dimensions of the definitions of an old person that include frailty, inactivity, loss of strength, respect, blessedness, sickness, growing old, and inability to do hard work. Secondly, that someone who has reached the age of 50 years and above can be regarded as an old person, which is the onset of an old person in South-Western Nigeria society. On the basis of earlier findings, the study hereby recommends that anyone who has attained the age of 50 years and above should be recognized, regarded, and honored as an Elder by the State Government of South-Western Nigeria society where they are presently residing.