Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences

The aim of this study was predicated on the need to ascertain the extent to which Nigerian Journalists, especially those in the state capital of Ekiti state; have integrated the use of information communication technology (ICT) tools in their journalism practice which includes, but not limited to; news gathering, dissemination etc. The objectives among others is to decipher the extent of use and the adoption of new information communication technologies in journalism practise. A total of thirty four (34) TV and radio  journalists were sampled with a view to ascertain their use and types ICT tools employed for the achievement of communication efficiency. Despite the perceived importance of the role of ICT in improving communication efficiency (as opined by 97% of the respondents), findings from this study revealed that the use of modern ICT tools were not fully employed for their day to day task execution. Also, only 24% of the respondents agreed to the availability and free access to internet facility in their day to day operations while 64.7% own or have personal access through their owned devices. The challenges enumerated by journalists includes lack of corporate internet access and information, technology hardware and software configurations that are crucial to journalism in new media practice. Hence, it is recommended  media proprietors should provide as part of the work environment, modern facilities to enable journalists discharge their duties in line with international best practices.

This study discusses the semantic structures of the verbs “touch” in Indonesian and Batak Toba Language. This study applied the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory by Wierzbicka. The data were collected through observation and interview methods. The findings are four parts of the verbs “touch” found in Indonesian and Batak Toba Language, they are: a) touch – feel; b) touch – press; c) touch – beat; d) touch – rub. The semantic structures of the verbs “touch” in Indonesian and BTL are mostly similar. However, there are three verbs which are different in the semantic structures, they are: meremas (mamisat) ‘squeeze’, menepuk (manompuk) ‘pat’ and mencubit (manggotil) ‘pinch’. The semantic structure differences in Indonesian and BTL occur because the two societies are distinctive and the different use of the language is diverse.

Conducts of by-elections in recent times have been fraught with a lot of security challenges. This has been as a result of the violence that characterized the conduct of by-elections in recent times in Ghana. Violence during by-elections in Ghana plays a vital role in securing election victories for political parties. In all the by-elections characterized by violence in Ghana, they were won by parties that were accused of inciting the violence. The main tenets of election violence as identified by the paper included, actors, motives, timing, consequences, and patterns. The paper adopted the content analysis method in its investigation of the two violent by-elections in Ghana.

The paper revealed that there was a correlation between violence during by-elections and victories of incumbent parties. This was because, in the two by-elections understudy, those accused of starting the violence and using national security operatives won the elections. The paper also found out that by-election violence impacted negatively on Ghana’s democratic maturity in several ways, such as; low voter turnout, weakening of democratic foundation and breeding an atmosphere of insecurity. Finally, the paper also revealed that political parties especially those in government resort to violence during by-elections in Ghana because they fear losing it will mean the government was underperforming as argued out by Feigert and Norris and also because they want to add to their tally in parliament.

This study seeks to investigate the livelihood patterns of the climate-induced people migrated by the flood in 2017 in the char areas. At the same time, examines a number of outcomes i.e. causes of displacement, demographic and socio-economic conditions of the affected people and the opportunities to obtain the local public services. A triangulation approach has been employed, where respectably qualitative and quantitative data have been obtained through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and a household questionnaire survey.  The data have been collected from three unions of two Upazila (sub-district) in the Gaibandha district. The results reveal that the flood-affected displaced people were migrated to the close at hand places owing to their economic vulnerability, damage of physical properties. And they were suffering adequately for their joblessness, scarcity of housing, health issues, and lower opportunities to the local civic amenities. The exploratory findings would be a crucial thoughtfulness for the disaster policymakers, managers, and civil societies.

“A nation which refuses to learn from foreign cultures is nothing but a nation of idiots and lunatics. Mankind could not progress at all if we all refused to learn from each other. But [this] …does not mean we should abandon our own [to embrace others.] The sort of learning from which we can benefit is the kind which can help us to perfect and broaden our own culture” [43]. The question, “Is there a Global International Relations (IR) theory?” remains an important discourse in the world today especially, when ideas have no boundaries and societies are not static. Several scholars, Acharya and Buzan in contemporary literature have argued for the broadening and departure from western centric construction of the world to give the discipline of IR a global perspective. Thus, the paper argued that Nyerere’s Ujamaa holds in it, insights that can better the theorising process in the IR discipline. These insights exude the principles and values of African Communitarianism, African re-conceptualization of sovereignty, the concept of developmental state model, national unity and cohesion, and the contribution to pedagogical discourse of liberation which are often shallowly constructed by dominant western ideas. On this account, the paper relies predominantly on secondary data in a semblance of systematic literature review present what is out there, and to situate the discussion in ongoing debate. The paper concludes that there should be a multiple but overlapping discussions on global IR theorising, such that various theoretical and epistemological strands of knowledge and inquiry are appreciated (Ujamaa in this case).