Gabriel Akeh | Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri (original) (raw)

Papers by Gabriel Akeh

Household energy consumption dynamics in developing countries is often conceptualized through the... more Household energy consumption dynamics in developing countries is often conceptualized through the Energy ladder model and assumes that with increasing income, householders will have a preference to cleaner energy. This paper reviewed various energy sources for household consumption and examines the implications of their dependence on traditional energy sources as well as the energy ladder model as a concept widely used by scholars in describing the role of income in determining energy use and choices. It further explains the consumption behaviour of households in relation to the major assumptions of the model. The paper posits that the dependence on energy sources at the lowest rung of the energy ladder by most households in Nigeria is accentuated by rising poverty level consistent with the energy ladder hypothesis but disagrees with the notion of complete fuel substitution given that most households tend to have a mix of energy sources for their activities It recommends that govern...

The study was a survey meant to evaluate the attitudinal factors responsible for neglect of maint... more The study was a survey meant to evaluate the attitudinal factors responsible for neglect of maintenance in rented residential properties in Ngomari ward of Maiduguri metropolis, Borno State. A survey questionnaire was used to generate data from a sample of eighty (80) respondents who were carefully selected through systematic sampling technique. The data collected were analyzed using tables and percentages. The results obtained showed there is a general absence of maintenance management in the study area. Obligations of landlords and tenants with regards to maintenance are not discussed prior to creating tenancies. Regular inspections are not done by landlords to identify maintenance cases at early stages. In some cases, tenants are made to carry out maintenance work and the amount expended is then reflected during rent renewal. Most tenants only see their landlords when their rents are due and are to be collected. There is a general dissatisfaction by tenants on the state of disrepairs of their properties in the study area. Rented residential properties in the study area are affected by one form of defect to the other. The study recommended among others that landlords and tenants should insist on drawing tenancy/lease agreements and obligation for maintenance and repairs should be clearly spelt out in such agreements

Housing all over the world is considered a basic necessity of man and an indispensable element of... more Housing all over the world is considered a basic necessity of man and an indispensable element of man's civilization. The housing sector represents a significant proportion of a country's wealth and an acceptable index of the level and standard of living of a country. Its linkage with building materials, the labour market and the financial sector makes the provision of housing a major component of economic growth and an instrument for wealth creation. The objective of this paper therefore is to examine how mass housing provision in Nigeria can contribute to economic empowerment, employment opportunities and provide sustainable living conditions for the population. It reviews the current housing scenario in Nigeria and further discusses the place of mass housing in wealth creation and sustainable development. The paper concludes that government at all levels should give priority to productivity-driven initiatives such as mass housing development rather than the conventional consumer-driven measures of tackling poverty in Nigeria.

Land is one of the most indispensable resources available to man. It is a store of wealth and a v... more Land is one of the most indispensable resources available to man. It is a store of wealth and a vital element in the socioeconomic development of any country. To ensure its accessibility and prudent use, various legislations have been enacted by governments all over the world. In Nigeria, the principal legislation governing the control and management of land is the Land Use Act of 1978, which abolished the existing freehold title to land and limits the title that can be granted under it to leasehold interests not exceeding 99years. This makes all allottees of state land and owners of properties covered by Certificates of Occupancy to be tenants of the state. This paper examines some salient issues relating to the administration of land as stipulated in the Land use Act and their implications for growth and development. It posits that unless urgent steps are taken to review the Act and bring about reform in the system of land administration, Nigeria's quest for sustainable national development will remain elusive.

Climate change, which is the result of global warming relates to seasonal changes occurring in a ... more Climate change, which is the result of global warming relates to seasonal changes occurring in a given geographical area over a long period of time. Issues of climate change have in recent times dominated discussions in many local and international fora in view of its perceived devastating consequences affecting rainfall patterns, storms and droughts, growing seasons, humidity and sea levels. The inundation of land due to changes in local climate can pose a serious challenge. This paper therefore looks at urban flooding as one of the environmental problems associated with extreme weather events arising from climate change and discusses its impact on the built environment. It highlights appropriate risk management initiatives that can be implemented to mitigate the general impacts of flooding in Nigeria's built environment.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data sp... more Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data specifically designed to capture, store, analyze, manipulate, edit, retrieve and display spatially referenced data. Being a computer-based system, GIS is a robust, reliable and versatile technology that can be adopted in managing both spatial and attribute data in text and graphic form thereby making it most suitable for land administration purposes. This paper posits that the current manual system of filing, recording, storing and retrieval of information relating to land can no longer be sustained in the face of the rising growth of information technology. It asserts that the adoption of GIS technology in land administration will facilitate timely title registration, provide tenure security, ease land application processes and information sharing, facilitate land transactions, reduce corruption associated with land dealings, create efficient land markets and serve as a decision support system to government at all levels in formulating policies relating to land. The paper therefore advocates for the immediate computerization of all land records using GIS technology as an imperative for efficient and effective urban land administration in Nigeria.

Given the acute shortage of housing in Nigeria, most states governments' have been making attempt... more Given the acute shortage of housing in Nigeria, most states governments' have been making attempts to reduce the housing deficit through direct public housing construction. The 777 Housing Estate is one of such estates currently under the control and management of Borno State Housing Corporation. The efficient management of these housing estates is dependent on the availability of good, reliable and timely information, which is not feasible under the current manual method of record keeping by the Borno State Housing Corporation. This study essentially developed a Property Information System using GIS techniques. It involved the scanning of the layout plan of the study area and then geo-referencing in ArcGIS 10.2 using GPS coordinates of reference points obtained from prominent positions within the Housing Estate. All housing units and other features within the Housing Estate were digitally delineated (digitized). Records of tenancy of house owners were extracted from their personal files domiciled at the Borno State Housing Corporation to create an attribute database, which was later, integrated with the digitized house parcels. In addition, a digital camera was used to capture the passport photograph of each house owner and hyperlinked to the digitized house parcels to create a robust and reliable GIS-based property information system. Since the system is comprised of both spatial and attributes data for each housing unit in digital form, it is possible to edit, maintain, rectify and keep property records up-to-date with minimum efforts. The system created was able to support query analysis to aid the effective and efficient management of the 777 Housing Estate by the Borno State Housing Corporation. It is recommended that the Borno State Housing Corporation (BSHC) should establish a GIS unit that would see to the computerization of all its analogue data into digital formats.

The study was a survey meant to assess the impact of floods on rental values of residential prope... more The study was a survey meant to assess the impact of floods on rental values of residential property in Wulari Ward of Maiduguri metropolis, Borno state, Nigeria. A set of questionnaire was administered on two hundred and five respondents who were randomly chosen within the study area. The data collected were analyzed using tables and percentages. The results obtained showed that heavy rainfall (96.57%), lack of drainage channels (86.05%), blockage of drainage channels(84.88%),encroachment of flood plains (62.93%),violation of planning regulations (94.15%) and illegal structures on drainage channels (85.85%) were the major causes of floods in the study area. The study also revealed some of the effects of floods to include hindrance to human and vehicular movements (98.04%), disruption of business activities (95.61%), damage to building structures (89.76%), attraction of dirt and filthiness of surrounding (93.66%), lateness to place of work (91.71%), adverse effect on rental values (97.07%) and reduction in demand of properties (83.90%). The results of the study further revealed some of the reasons given for the low patronage of residential properties in the study area to include delay to workplaces (90.73%), reduced accessibility to buildings during flood events (93.17%), constant dampness in buildings (79.02%), destruction of personal belongings during flood events (88.78%), fear of abandonment of properties during flood events (77.07%), inconveniences associated with movement of household properties (96.59%), cost of renovation due physical destruction of buildings arising from flood events (69.27%), loss of personal belongings during flood events (72.20%), filthiness associated with flooded areas (80.98%) and psychological effects of living in flood prone areas(77.07%). Areas susceptible to floods had relatively lower rental property values than those not prone to floods. The study recommended among others that the Borno State government should hasten the construction of culverts and drainage channels in the area to allow for the smooth flow of surface water and that development control measures should be enforced to discourage unplanned developments in the study area.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data sp... more Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data specifically designed to capture, store, analyze, manipulate, edit, retrieve and display spatially referenced data. Being a computer-based system, GIS is a robust, reliable and versatile technology that can be adopted in managing both spatial and attribute data in text and graphic form thereby making it most suitable for land administration purposes. This paper posits that the current manual system of filing, recording, storing and retrieval of information relating to land can no longer be sustained in the face of the rising growth of information technology. It asserts that the adoption of GIS technology in land administration will facilitate timely title registration, provide tenure security, ease land application processes and information sharing, facilitate land transactions, reduce corruption associated with land dealings, create efficient land markets and serve as a decision support system to government at all levels in formulating policies relating to land. The paper therefore advocates for the immediate computerization of all land records using the GIS technology as an imperative for efficient and effective land administration in Nigeria.

Conference Presentations by Gabriel Akeh

The ability of local farmers to accurately forecast and use impending weather information is impe... more The ability of local farmers to accurately forecast and use impending weather information is imperative for ensuring sustainability of livelihoods under increasingly variable weather and a changing climate. The agricultural sector is one that is hugely dependent on weather and climate and thus severely affected by weather-related disasters. Monitoring and forecasting of certain environmental parameters can be a potent strategy in providing early warning signals necessary in dealing with extreme weather events and other natural disasters in the agricultural sector. Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) can provide a very rich resource base for predicting climatic and weather events through phenological observation of animals, plants and other celestial bodies. This paper therefore attempts to explore the potential of IKS as a tool for reducing risks associated with climate variability in the agricultural sector of Nigeria. The paper posits that although indigenous knowledge has long been used in some African communities in predicting seasonal changes in weather as well as dealing with some environmental disasters, its practice in Nigeria remains largely undocumented and not integrated in conventional environmental management practices. It is therefore imperative that a systematic documentation of IKS be made and integrated into conventional environmental management strategies as an effective tool for agricultural disaster early warning in Nigeria.

Records are considered crucial in any organization as they constitute the raw materials for decis... more Records are considered crucial in any organization as they constitute the raw materials for decision making. Since these records contain vital information, their management becomes very imperative if an organization is to achieve its objectives. This study therefore attempts to evaluate the effects of the manual system of handling property records as well as the factors responsible for the nonadoption of Geographic Information System for information management in Borno State Housing Corporation, Maiduguri. A questionnaire was used to elicit data from a sample of thirty (30) respondents who were selected through a random sampling technique. The data were analyzed descriptively. The results of the study revealed among others that the manual method being used was prone to constant wear and tear (76.7%), vulnerable to termites, fire and weather elements (83.3%), slow information retrieval (70%), difficulty in sharing information (53.3%), delay in updating property records in analogue formats (63.3%), difficulty in performing spatial analysis (80%), required more storage space (86.7%), high paper work (93.3%),double allocation of houses (56.7%) and cumbersome process in quantifying undeveloped parcels in all housing estates(76.7%). The study further identified some of the factors responsible for the non-adoption of GIS-based record management to include lack of awareness, non-availability of the required technical staff, inadequate finance, the fear of change and lack of political will. The study recommends the immediate conversion of all analogue property records into digital formats in order to overcome the current challenges associated with the manual practice used by the Borno State Housing Corporation.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data sp... more Geographic Information System (GIS) is a configuration of computer hardware, software and data specifically designed to capture, store, analyze, manipulate, edit, retrieve and display spatially referenced data. Being a computer-based system, GIS is a robust, reliable and versatile technology that can be adopted in managing both spatial and attribute data in text and graphic form thereby making it most suitable for land administration purposes. This paper posits that the current manual system of filing, recording, storing and retrieval of information relating to land can no longer be sustained in the face of the rising growth of information technology. It asserts that the adoption of GIS technology in land administration will facilitate timely title registration, provide tenure security, ease land application processes and information sharing, facilitate land transactions, reduce corruption associated with land dealings, create efficient land markets and serve as a decision support system to government at all levels in formulating policies relating to land. The paper therefore advocates for the immediate computerization of all land records using the GIS technology as an imperative for efficient and effective land administration in Nigeria.