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The fact that Africa is one of the worst performing regions in global audits about long-term development trends is longer news. The continent has repeatedly missed targets set by the United Nations and there are concerns it might just be left behind in the attainment of the latest 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development set by world leaders in 2015. With a view to complementing states' responsibilities towards the provision of public goods and social services useful to actualize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa, this article interrogates the nature of multinational corporations (MNCs) and juxtaposing the non-state actor responsibilities within wider societal contexts with state duties in advancing the SDGs. The article not only sets the tone for a "new corporate social responsibility" in terms of improved pursuit of sustainability within business communities in corporate Africa, it also recommends workable measures, integrating progressive roles for both the state and MNCs towards the realization of the SDGs on the continent.
Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; MNCs; SDGs in Africa; New CSR Roles; Regional Integration.

There is a widely held belief that a borderless global economy brings numerous advantages including economic growth, development and welfare maximization. Globalization equally drives (and is driven by the activities of) large corporations involved in cross border operations. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a tool with which integrated developed economies ensure corporate behaviours remain within public interest confines, the regional integration agenda in Africa appears focused on liberalization of trade and investment at all costs. This article examines CSR in regional integration discourse, especially within the European Union, extracting important lessons for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It unifies the ultimate agenda of both CSR and African regionalism in achieving sustainable development. Advising against misconstruing CSR as an unnecessary trade barrier, the article demonstrates why and how CSR values can be mainstreamed into AfCFTA discourse towards ensuring inclusive growth in Africa and improving the global competitiveness of domestic businesses.
AfCFTA, Africa, CSR, Corporate Responsibility, Regional Integration, Sustainable Development Goals, Trade Liberalization.

Global economy today is full of sophistication. All over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in this study.

The study; The Primacy of Social Networks in Entrepreneurship: A Study of Social Networking Ability and Innovativeness among University Students in North Central Nigeria, ascertained the relationship between networking ability and innovativeness. To achieve this, a correlational survey of 402 respondents being the students of the five selected universities was conducted. The study used primary data that were generated using structured questionnaires that were administered on the selected respondents. Descriptive statistics, correlation and other diagnostics were used to analyse the data and to test the hypothesis. The study found a strong correlation between networking ability and innovativeness (r=0.336, p{0.05, n=402). Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that students' networking ability should be encouraged by the universities, governments, patrons, role models and policy makers, especially now that there is an increased need for entrepreneurship the world over in the quest to curb youth unemployment. It is also suggested that networking ability and activities should be incorporated into the curricular of higher institutions as it has been discovered to facilitate innovativeness among members of NASE (Network of African Student Entrepreneurs). Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2017.33.644657 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

A major concern in focus group research is how transcripts are analyzed. One way of resolving the issues involved is the use of images, in the place of words or numbers, to capture discussion outcomes. This work upgrades the visual perspective and uses colors to represent discussants' opinions about leadership while the strength of those opinions is illustrated by some levels of transparency of those same colors. This model simplifies the expertise needed by enabling speedy determination of discussants' submissions even as the transparencies, in the form of shades or tints, reveal the gravity of those submissions.

This study examined how community relations activities were used by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to manage oil spillage in Ogoni land. Oil spillage in Ogoni has led to the contamination of water and destruction of farm lands, thereby causing a strain in the relationship between Ogoni indigenes and SPDC. Three research objectives were raised for this study with the aim to determine the extent to which Ogoni community had been exposed to oil spillage, to find out SPDC's community relations activities towards managing the aftermath of the oil spillage and to investigate the community's perception of the oil producing company's community relations activities in response to oil spillage. Survey and key informant interview designs were adopted for the study. For the survey, 399 respondents were drawn from two local government areas (LGA), Khana and Gokhana, which were randomly selected, while a representative of SPDC participated in the key informant interview. The findings revealed that oil spillage is still on-going in Ogoni and it constitutes a major cause of conflicts with the oil company. The community is also irk with SPDC's community relations activities in dealing with the spillages. Keywords: Oil spillage, Community relations, Environment, Perception, Ogoni,Nigeria.

This study examined how Nigerian newspapers reported the herdsmen and farmers' conflict in Nigeria. It analyzed the contents of six newspapers to explore the primary sources, the prominence accorded the conflict reports, and the themes focused on their reportage. Findings show that out of the 159 stories considered for the study, newspapers relied mostly on their correspondents and herdsmen representatives as primary news sources. Public condemnation/protests and government/public intervention were the dominant thematic focus. The north-south media axis phenomenon in Nigeria resonated in the coverage as the frame of 'herdsmen-against-farmers' is indicated more in the southern-based newspapers consistent with the prevailing public notion. The study suggests that the media in Nigeria relied mainly on third party sources with the consequence their reports on the issue could be subject to source credibility deficiency. In addition to addressing the general theme of reportage of the herdsmen conflict, this study explicitly addresses how the newspapers covered the conflict in Benue and Enugu states.