Economics And Development Studies

Overview

The Department of Economics and Development studies was established at the inception of the University in 2002. Four years later, in 2006, she graduated her first set of 124 students. In 2005 the Department had an interim accreditation and this became a full-fledged accreditation in 2007.

Economics as a programme started in the Department of Strategic Studies, in 2002. The programme had initial staff strength of 5 academic staff with 153 students. Then and now, the Department provides services for her students of this programme, as well as students of other Departments in the University.

In September 2004, the programme became an autonomous department. It became known as the Department of Economics and Development Studies housing two programmes: (1) Economics (2) Demography and Social Statistics. As at 2009/2010, the Economics programme of the Department has 431 students made up of 114, 111, 100 and 106 students in 100, 200, 300 and 400 levels respectively. The Demography and Social Statistics Programme similarly has a total number of 97 students made up of 32, 31, 19, and 15 in 100, 200, 300, and 400 levels respectively. This gives a total student’s population of 528. The Department has total academic staff strength of 22 made up of 3 Professors, 1 Associate Professor, 2 Senior Lecturers, 2 Lecturers, 11 Assistant Lecturers and 3 Graduate Assistants. In addition to the in-house academic staff, the programme has 6 Associate Lecturers made up of 2 Professors, 2 Associate Professors, 1 Senior Lecturer and 1 lecturer I.

As a department that is involved in development studies, issues relating to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the Vision 20:2020 are covered in many of the Departmental taught courses while research students at all levels are encouraged to choose topics relating to these issues in their research works. In addition to these, research clusters that focus on MDG- related issues exist in the Department. Examples of some of these are the University sponsored research clusters in Poverty Reduction Strategy being carried out in Ota and its environs; the Street Trading and Poverty reduction research; as well as the research on Maternal Mortality issues in Ota. An AERC – sponsored research on HIV-AIDS is also in progress in the department.

It is our sincere conviction that at the end of your career in the department, you will be well equipped to contribute to the attainment of both the MDGs and Vision 20: 2020.

Philosophy and Objectives

Vision and Philosophy

The philosophy of the Department hinged on the philosophy of the University, which is geared toward the development of the Total Man. The vision of the Department is to train a new generation of leaders who will be highly skilled in their chosen areas of specialization, and who will, through active participation in courses based on the Total Man Concept and Entrepreneurial Development Studies, be fully prepared spiritually and academically to take practical dominion over their environment.

The Philosophy underlying the Courses offered in the department of Economics and Development Studies is to produce graduates who are capable of making informed contributions to economic and social issues in a globalized environment such as the attainment of the Vision 20-2020 and the Millennium Development goals (MDGs). They are to be graduates who can discuss, explain and predict economic phenomena with the tools of economic analysis they have learnt during their study periods.

Given the skill acquired during their training process, graduates of the Department should be able to critically appraise economic, social and demographic issues using simplified models (quantitative or qualitative) to explain and/or predict alternative courses of action within a broad socio-economic context. Furthermore, the various research clusters in the department are involved in researches geared toward the attainment of both Vision 20-2020 and the MDGs.

Objectives and Aims

The specific objectives of the Department of Economics are as follows:

To train students to become expert thinkers and managers, who would through their exposure to economic principles and application techniques come up with policy prescription adequate for the problems under investigation.
To develop in students the ability to apply analytical tools, knowledge and skills acquired to the solution of societies problems.
To prepare students for both the world of work in firms, factories and farms, as well as in self-employment through the study of Entrepreneurial Studies along side the courses in the Department.
To provide students with knowledge and skill base required for graduate studies either in the Covenant University or in any other University throughout the world.
To train students to think analytically through exposure to all areas of economic analysis (verbal, graphical and mathematical) in order to be able to contribute meaningfully to economic policy formulation and implementation guides.
To train God-fearing and visionary leaders through the combination of relevant theories and application techniques, spiritual development and entrepreneurial training which are emphasized at every level of courses in Economics Department of Covenant University.
To train students to be highly knowledgeable in the economic structure and history of Nigeria and to its relation to the international economic environment.

S/N	NAME OF CLUSTER	AREA OF FOCUS	MEMBERS	ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1	*Street Trading Research Cluster*	To examine the socio-demographic characteristics of mobile and roaming street vendors in Nigeria.	Dr. Ogunrinola, I.O Miss Sodipe O; Mr. Amoo E. O	Ongoing
2	TAGCAPRIN (Town and Gown Consultative Approach to Poverty Reduction in Nigeria )	To undertake Ota poverty reduction programme by carrying out an exploratory study of the poverty profile, to determine the extent and nature of poverty in Ota Community.	Dr. Olayiwola W.K (Coordinator) Dr. Ogunrinola I. O Dr. Alege P. O Miss Adeoye T. A Mr. Amoo E. O Mr. Okodua H Mrs. Mathew O.	Development of research reports on: a) Poverty profile in ota b) Nativity setting in ota community c) Developmental Challenges in Ota community
3	AERC sponsored research on service delivery in Africa.	To examine the impact of institutional factors on service delivery of public primary education in Nigeria	Dr. Olayiwola W.K Mr. Adewole Osabuohien E. S	Ongoing
4	Maternal Mortality	To examine Maternal Mortality and its Non-Medical Determinants in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area Ogun State Nigeria	Dr Dominic Azuh Mr Amoo E. O. Mr Akanbi M. Mr Fasina	a) Conclusion of Pilot Study. b) Sensitization of the Community Leaders. c) Identification of in-depth interview respondents. d) Mobilization of various groups for focus group discussion (FGD).

Economics And Development Studies