Continental J.

Information Technology 2: 1 - 8, 2008

© Wilolud Online Journals, 2008.

DETECTION AND COLLECTION OF HOST CONFIGURATION INFORMATION USING MOBILE

AGENTS

O. Osunade, Adenike O. Osofisan and O. O. Omoni,

Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The job of the network administrator becomes difficult as the number of hosts in a
computer network increase. Network management requires the network administrator
to have vital configuration information about hosts so as to provide viable solutions. In
situations where the hosts span a large area or in several buildings as in tertiary
institutions the task is daunting and susceptible to errors. Access to remote and large
numbers of hosts can be facilitated using mobile agents. Mobile agents are software
that are intelligent, autonomous and mobile. This paper highlights the successful
implementation of a mobile agent system for the detection and collection of
configuration information of hosts in such a campus-wide network. The mobile agent
system was developed and implemented using the Java Development Kit coupled with
Visual Basic. The implementation was successful when tested on a local area network
of ten computer systems.

KEYWORDS: network administration, information, configuration, Java, mobile agents

INTRODUCTION
There has been tremendous expansion in the area of network deployment in Africa as companies realized the
cost benefits and productivity gains created by computer network technology. The technology allowed
access to company data, resource sharing, faster communication and ease of document duplication. During
the deployment process many hosts were added to the networks and new network technologies and products
were introduced.

As the network expanded and grew management of the hosts and the network became increasingly difficult.
The management of a network incorporates many tasks such as fault, configuration, accounting, performance
and security. The configuration task of network management involves the process of obtaining data from the
network and using the data to manage the setup of all network devices. Ensuring that all network devices,
such as hosts, and routers, with different rules, are setup and configured properly is a daunting task. Network
engineers strive to meet this task by developing a set of operating procedures and policies that meet the
needs of their users. To meet users’ needs presents an enormous challenge in the face of unprecedented
traffic growth, many installed devices, cut-throat competition, vendor hardware and software upgrades,
outside attacks by hackers, viruses and an insufficient tool set for configuring large numbers of devices.

The configuration of devices on most networks have been done manually by network engineers (Wolf, 2001)
leading to a broad range of operational problems and issues, such as unknown network configurations,
security loopholes, lost passwords, absence of audit trails, postponed or irreversible software upgrades, and
so on. Also to obtain configuration information from the network requires manual effort as the network
administrator may have to physically or remotely login to reach each device on the network and then record
the required information about the device e.g. serial number, address. The obtained result is then stored in a
flat ASCII file, spreadsheet or database as the case may be.

The pitfalls of the manual approach can be avoided when an automated tool is used for obtaining
configuration information of devices connected to the network. This paper therefore focuses on the use of
mobile agents for centrally maintaining configuration information about devices such as hosts and routers,
on a network. Using mobile agent technology, detailed configuration information about device drivers, disk
configuration and application data on a device can be collected and transmitted to a central management
repository for administrative and technical uses.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Network management is a service that employs a variety of tools, applications, and devices to assist human
network managers in monitoring and maintaining networks (Leinward and Conroy, 1998). Network
managers stay in control using these tools to track and monitor all activity that has the potential to affect the
network's performance. Network management helps to determine faults, performance, and configuration
changes in a data network.

Most network management architectures use the same basic structure and set of relationships. End stations
such as computer systems and other network devices, run software that enables them to send alerts when
they recognize problems. Upon receiving these alerts, management entities are programmed to react by
executing one, several, or a group of actions, including operator notification, event logging, system
shutdown, and automatic attempts at system repair. Management proxies are entities that provide
management information on behalf of other entities.

Management entities also can poll end stations to check the values of certain variables. Polling can be
automatic or user-initiated, but agents in the end stations respond to all polls. Agents are software modules
that first compile information about the managed devices in which they reside, then store this information in
a management database, and finally provide it to management entities within network management systems
(NMSs) via a network management protocol (Raibulet and Demartini, 1999). Well-known network
management protocols include the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Common
Management Information Protocol (CMIP). Fig. 1 depicts a typical network management architecture.

Fig.1: A typical Network Management Architecture maintains many Relationships (Source: Plakosh, 2001)

Configuration management is the process of gathering information from the network and using that data to
manage and optimize network devices. Common configuration management tasks include the assignment of
network addresses to network devices and maintaining an up-to-date inventory of equipment installed on the
network. Configuration management is a prerequisite function to performance management. The goal of
configuration management is to monitor network and system configuration information so that the effects on
network operation of various versions of hardware and software elements can be tracked and managed.

Configuration management subsystems store this information in a database for easy access. When a problem
occurs, this database can be searched for clues that may help solve the problem. To get access to the database
would require the network manager to adopt either the client-server method or to manually access the
database on each system. However if mobile agents are used the management process is simplified and
productivity enhanced. Chess et al (1997) and Lange and Oshima (1999) gave reasons why mobile agents
are suitable for use in network management.

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The giant leap of computer communication technology from a few communicating systems to millions of
systems geographically dispersed have forced the re-evaluation of distributed systems by extending the
applications available. The client-server communication method which had hitherto being used proved
inadequate. This necessitated the use of mobile code systems, of which the mobile agent paradigm has been
the one with most promise. A complicated task can be decomposed and performed through the cooperation
of several distributed agents on separate interconnecting systems each of which may have access to different
tools and data, so that it is more efficient.

The mobile agent paradigm is a product of research from two fields of computing: artificial intelligence (AI)
and distributed computing. AI uses intelligent computing entities to take over work from human beings and
simplify human operations. In AI, this is done by a computer program, called a software agent that helps a
user perform some task or a set of tasks (Lingnau et al, 1995). An agent is expected to have AI properties to
perform its tasks such as act on behalf of, interact with a user, take initiative and reason about activities,
communicate with and learn from the environment, and to react to environmental changes (Freeman, 2001).

A software agent is a program that is autonomous enough to act independently, even when the user or
application that launched it is not available to provide guidance and handle errors (Kotz et al, 1996). All
software agents are programs, but not all programs are agents (Feldman and Yu, 1999). A software agent
with mobility is called a mobile agent.

According to Gilbert et al (1995), software agents can be classified in terms of the three dimensions of
intelligence, agency and mobility as shown in Table 1. These dimensions offer different levels of operation
to users, with higher levels being in the direction of the arrow.

Table 1. The three dimensions of software agents

Intelligence Agency Mobility
Preferences Asynchrocity Message passing
Reasoning Representation of user Remote procedure call
Planning Data interactivity Remote execution
Learning Application Interactivity Weak migration
Service Interactivity Strong migration
Adapted from Rothermel & Schwehm (1998).

Intelligence in software agents is based on artificial intelligence research which dates back to the fifties,
where the term agent was coined by Selfridge for a ‘soft robot’ living and acting within a computer
(Rothermel & Schwehm, 1998).The goal of intelligence for software agents was to apply techniques of
symbolic artificial intelligence in order to perform a given task or to recover when it was stuck. Intelligent
agents can be classified according to their capabilities to express preferences, beliefs and emotions and
according to their ability to perform a task by reasoning, planning and learning techniques.

Agency is the degree of autonomy and authority vested in a software agent. This can be measured
quantitatively by the nature of interaction between the agent and other entities of the system (Agentbuilder,
2001). The degree of agency is enhanced if an agent represents a user in some way.

The third feature of software agents is mobility. The goal of software agents with mobility is remote action
and mobility of data and computation. Mobile agents can be classified according to the scope of their
mobility that is desktop or static agents, Intranet agents, Internet agents or network agents.

Network management architectures require configuration information to be stored in databases which can be
accessed by mobile agents launched from the network managers system. Thus our paper presents the design
and implementation of mobile agents accessing configuration management information.

OUR DESIGN
The network configuration detection and collection system developed incorporates four major components.
The Home Agent

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The Probe Agent

The Roaming Agent
The Reporter Module

The Home Agent: This is a back-end static agent that is responsible for creating an environment for the other
agents to operate in. This agent resides on every host in the network the mobile agent would migrate to. The
home agent has an initial graphical user interface and is responsible for hosting the other agents and
instantiating the arriving agents. The home agent is initiated by entering the address (127.0.0.1) into the
Internet Protocol (IP) field of the agent launch form.

The Probe Agent: This agent is the major means through which the system gathers and stores the
configuration information. It resides in the roaming agent so as to utilize its’ mobility. This agent has no
graphical user interface. However, it gathers and logs configuration data to be reported in the roaming agent.
The probe agent was developed in Visual Basic.

The Roaming Agent: This agent provides mobility within the network. The task it performs is to migrate
from one host to the next depending on the host address specified on the server end. It also serves as the
vehicle through which the probe agent achieves migration. After a roaming session, the roaming agent
returns to the initial host on which it was created to allow the reporter module to make use of the information
gathered for reporting purposes.

The Reporter Module: This agent is also a static agent that resides on one of the host on the network. This
host serves as the home for the roaming agent i.e. the agent starts out from this host and also reports back
after visiting available hosts. This agent provides the system with a graphical user interface for viewing data
collected and using the data for reporting purposes. This agent was also developed in Visual Basic.

METHODOLOGY
The design above was implemented for use on a campus-wide local area network. It was simulated on a local
area network of ten computer systems in the Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria. All the computers used had the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed or the JDK (Java
Development Kit).

The programming languages used for this project work were Java and Microsoft Visual Basic. Java was used
to implement mobility in the system i.e. the home agent and the roaming agent were developed using Java.
The choice of Java for this part of the system was because of the ability of Java to implement socket
operations and object serialization (Jackson and McClellan, 1997). Another major consideration was the
platform independence nature of Java. Since the application is designed to run on computer networks, the
demand for security must also be met. Java’s security architecture therefore makes Java a more suitable
development platform for mobile agent development

The implementation of the probe agent and the reporter module was in Visual Basic. This language was
chosen because of the ability of the programming language to communicate with the computer system to
extract system information which is a feature lacking in Java due to its platform independence nature.
Another reason for the selection of Visual Basic was because of its ability to report data using custom tools
providing a versatile reporting system that can be used by system administrators.

IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The welcome screen in Fig. 2 presents the opportunity for the actual launching of the roaming agent by
clicking the launch agent button on the graphical interface. The agent launcher screen shown in Fig. 3, then
allows the user to specify the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the host to send the roaming agent to. The
specified host must have the home agent running and ready before this connection can be made.

The default IP supplied in this dialog is to initiate the server to act as a host in special cases when the server
is required to serve in such a capacity. To initiate the system to deploy the roaming agent the default IP is
changed to that of the host to visit. The Launch Agent button is then clicked and the Roaming agent attempts
to migrate to the specified host. At its arrival at the destination the agent proceeds to execute on the host to

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Fig. 2. Welcome and menu screen for the Roaming Agent

Fig 3. Agent Launcher screen

which it migrates and after finishing its defined functions it reconnects with the server from which it
originated and migrates back to this server computer to report the result gathered from the just concluded

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tour. The progress of the agent is also shown on a command prompt console as this proceeds.

Fig 4. The Roaming Agent Progress Screen

When the home agent is initialized on a host it waits for the roaming agent from the server to migrate into
the domain. On arrival the home agent initializes the incoming agent object and ensures that the roaming
agent completes its operation. The probe agent runs as a subsystem of the roaming agent and does not have
any interface. On arrival at the host, the probe agent is decoupled and executed to detect configuration
information after which it terminates.

After the roaming agent has gathered the required information via the probe agent, the home agent provides
the ability for the roaming agent and the data detected and collected to return back to the server from which
it was launched. The activities of the home agent and probe agent are indicated through the command
prompt screen as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig 5. Home Agent Screen

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Fig 6. Reporter Module Screen

The reporter module scans the log file for host names and allows the user to select a host for which a report
is generated. Upon selection the lower pane of the report screen, Fig. 5, shows the information gathered
from the log file for the host e.g. WENDYMAJEKS, selected by the user. The user or Network
Administrator can then use the detected configuration (system or network) for administration and planning
purposes.

CONCLUSION
Mobile agent technology is a promising communication paradigm that allows tasks such as network
management to be carried out autonomously, easily and with minimal physical or technical resources. The
detection and collection of configuration information about hosts on a network is useful to the network
administrator who usually has many hosts to manage. The implementation of the mobile agent system using
Java and Visual Basic provided the ability to obtain the required system information.

REFERENCES
Agentbuilder (2001): Why, When, and Where to Use Software Agents. Retrieved October 24, 2007 from
http://agentbuilder.com/Documentation/whyAgents.html

Chess, D.; Harrison, C. and Kershenbaum, A. 1997. Mobile agents: are they a good idea? Mobile Object
Systems: Towards the Programmable Internet, (MOS’96), Australia. J. Vitek and C. Tschudin, eds. Lecture
Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag, 1222:25-45.

Feldman, S. and Yu, E. 1999. Intelligent agents: a primer. Searcher, 7.9. Retrieved July 20, 2005 from
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct99/feldman+yu.htm

Freeman, Y.F. 2001. The spider model of agents. M.Sc.Thesis. Dept. of Computing and Information Science,
Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada. vi+84.

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Gilbert, D.; Aparicio, M.; Atkinson, B.; Brady, S.; Ciccarino, J.; O’Connor, P.; Osisek, D.; Pritko, S.;
Spagna, R. and Wilson, L. 1995. IBM intelligent agent strategy. IBM Corporation.

Jackson, J.R. and McClellan, A.L. (1997): Java by example. 2nd Edition, SunSoft Press, U.S.A.

Kotz, D., Gray, R., Rus, D., Nog, S. and Cybenko, G. 1996. Mobile agents for mobile computing. Technical
Report PCS-TR96-285. Retrieved July 20, 2005 from
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~rus/papers/agents/mobile.ps.Z

Lange, D.B. and Oshima, M. 1999. Seven good reasons for mobile agents. Communications of the ACM,
42.3:88-89.

Leinwand, A. and Conroy, K. F. (1998): Network Management: A practical perspective. 2nd Edition,
Addison Wesley Longman Inc, Harlow, England.

Lingnau, A.; Drobnik, O. and Domel, P. 1995. An HTTP-based infrastructure for mobile agents.
Proceedings of the 4th International WWW Conference, USA. O’Reilly and Associates, 461-471.

Plakosh, D. (2001): Network Management – An Overview. Retrieved October 24, 2007 from
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/str/descriptions/network_body.html

Raibulet, C. and Demartini, C. (1999): Mobile Agent Technology for the Management of Distributed System-
a case study. Retrieved October 24, 2007 from http://www.terena.nl/tnc2000/proceedings/1A/1a2.html

Rothermel, K. and Schwehm, M. 1998. Mobile agents. Encyclopedia for Computer Science and Technology.
A. Kent and J.G. Williams, eds. M. Dekker Inc.

Wolf, J. (2001): Configuration management: Automating deployment of services throughout network.

Retrieved October 24, 2007 from http://www.unisysworld.com/monthly/2001/06/configmgmt.shtml

Received for Publication: 21/12 /2007

Accepted for Publication: 02/02 /2007

Corresponding Author:
O. Osunade,
Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Email: o.osunade@mail.ui.edu.ng

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© Wilolud Online Journals, 2008.

ASSESSMENT OF MASS MEDIA USAGE FOR FARM INFORMATION BY FARMERS IN AFIKPO

LGA OF EBONYI STATE: IMPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY (ICT) APPLICATION TO AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Umeh, G.N.
Department of Agricultural Economics, Management and Extension, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki,
Nigeria.
E-Mail: Gibsonumeh@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
The overall objective of this study is to assess the use of mass media for farm
information by farmers in Afikpo North LGA and implication for ICT application to
agricultural technology transfer. Multi-stage random sampling was used to draw the
farmers involved in the study. Primary data were obtained by means of interview
schedule and analyzed with frequency distribution, percentages and 4-point Likert-type
scale. Results of the study showed that radio is the most used mass media source for
farm information (66.7%) by the farmers relative to television (20.8%), print (12.5%)
and telephone (0%). On the other hand, it was revealed that information on crop
production was favoured by mass media (70.8%) against other aspects of agriculture.
The major constraints to use of mass media for farm information were indicated to
include; lack and inconsistent supply of power (3.5), financial constraints (3.8),
language barrier (3.0) and time of programme presentation (3.1). The outcome of this
study implies that the use of ICT for farm information is extremely low as it is
basically limited to radio broadcast. Sustainable, application of ICT to agricultural
technology transfer in Nigeria can be realized when such issues as erratic and
inconsistent power supply, enhancement of farmers’ knowledge of and access to
telephone and internet facilities, sponsorship of agriculture radio and television
programmes in the peoples’ local languages by NGOs and others, and adequate funding
of extension organizations to enable them acquire ICT components, are sufficiently
addressed.

KEYWORDS: Mass-media, Farm Information, Information and Communication

Technology (ICT), Technology Transfer, Farmers.

INTRODUCTION
At all levels of human society, good communication is absolutely imperative. A well-informed society is a
mobilized society because it is information literate, more responsive to government policies and eager to
participate in the nation’s development programmes (Folorunso, 1987). Therefore, the primary means of
sustaining agricultural development is through generating and disseminating relevant information to farmers
(Oboti, 2005). Mass media are channels of communication which can expose large numbers of people to the
same information at the same time and within a short space of time. They may include media which pass on
information through the use of sound, moving pictures or print. Ani (2007) stated that extension services use
mass media because of the high speed and low cost with which information can be communicated over a
wide area.

We are in the middle of information technology revolution. The fast advances in this field are rapidly
changing the way people have been living on this planet. This development has virtually shrunk the world
and has affected almost every walk of life. The information technology is tremendous power that could be
harnessed by organizations for the benefit of mankind. Agricultural extension services can exploit this
potential to strengthen their own capacities and to educate the rural populations who have access to media.
The extension organisations in developing countries have two major problems when it comes to having face-
to-face contacts with the farmers and researchers: first, physical distances and second, lack of transportation
facilities (Qamar, 2002). This development, therefore, underscores the need for enhanced mass media use in

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agricultural information dissemination in Nigerian rural societies.

Over the years, policies and implementation strategies have been formulated and projects and institutions
established by the Federal and various state governments to enhance farmers’ agricultural production and
improve rural life. In spite of all these efforts, attainment of self-sufficiency in food production has
remained a mirage in Nigeria. It was observed that farmers were neither adequately nor properly informed
about innovations and programmes to be applied by them to achieve improved productivity and enhance
their standard of living (Aboyade, 1987). Holistically, it seems that mass media has not been adequately and
properly utilized to complement face-to-face contact with extension agents in farm information
dissemination for farmers.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objective of this study is to assess the use of mass media for farm information by farmers in Afikpo
North LGA of Ebonyi State and implication for ICT application to agricultural technology transfer. The
specific objectives of the study are to:
(i) determine the level of use of available mass media for farm information by the farmers;
(ii) determine aspects of agricultural production that information are sourced through mass media;
(iii) identify constraints to use of mass media for farm information by the farmers.

METHODOLOGY
The study was carried out in Afikpo North LGA of Ebonyi State. It is comprised of five main autonomous
communities, namely; Akpoha, Amasiri, Afikpo, Ibii/Oziza and Unwana. Three-step multi-stage sampling
technique was used to select the respondents for the study. In the first stage, four communities were
randomly selected from the five communities that make up the local government area. This was followed by
random selection of three villages from each of the selected communities to sum up to twelve villages.
Finally, out of each of the twelve villages ten farm households were randomly selected to give a sample size
of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents for the study. Interview schedule was used to elicit
information from the farmers while frequency distribution, percentages and 4-point Likert-type scale were
used for the analysis of generated data.

RESULTS
The results are presented according to the objectives of the study.

Level of Use of Available Mass Media for Farm Information

Data on major mass media sources for farm information were elicited from respondents and analyzed in
Table 1.

Table 1: Respondents’ Distribution on Mass Media Use for Farm Information

Mass Media Frequency of Response Percentage
Radio 80 66.7
Television 25 20.8
Print (journals and bulletins) 15 12.5
Telephone - -
Total 120 100
Source: Field Survey, 2007.

Data analysis in Table 1 indicates that most of the farmers (66.7%) utilized the radio programmes as main
mass media source of farm information. This is ranked next by television (20.8%). The print media
constituted only 12.5% of the mass media used for farm information by the respondents while none of them
source farm information through telephone calls. This result suggests that electronic sources are better mass
media alternative for farm information possibly due to their appeal to more sensory organs than the print,
relative cost advantage over other sources and less dependence on users’ literacy level.

Aspects of Agricultural Production Covered by Mass Media

Data were analyzed to determine main aspects of agricultural production covered by mass media.

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Table 2: Respondents’ Distribution on Aspects of agricultural Production Covered by Mass Media

Aspects of Agriculture Frequency of Response Percentage
Crop Production 85 70.8
Animal Production/Fishery 5 4.2
Crop Processing 10 8.3
Agricultural Marketing 20 16.7
Total 120 100
Source: Field Survey, 2007.

Data analysis indicates that crop production is the most favoured agricultural activity (70.8%) in mass media,
while animal production and fishery are least covered by mass media (4.2%). This trend shows the tendency
of agricultural extension efforts bias for crop production against other aspects of agriculture in Nigeria.
Constraints to Use of Mass Media for Farm Information
Responses were elicited on farmers’ perceived constraints to use of mass media as source of agricultural
information and presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Constraints to Use of Mass Media for Farm Information

Constraints *XS Decision
i. Language poses barrier to use of mass media 3.0 Accept
ii. Method of presentation constitutes a problem to use of mass media
Time of programme presentation is not convenient for most farmers 2.8 Accept
iii. Lack of/inconsistent power supply limits use of mass media
Financial constraints constitute a problem to use of mass media 3.1 Accept
iv. Lack of formal education limits by capacity to source information through
mass media 3.5 Accept
v. Inaccessibility of mass media constitutes a problem to the use
3.8 Accept
vi.
2.0 Reject
vii.
2.3 Reject
*XS = Mean score
Source: Field Survey, 2007.

Table 3 reveals that the most limiting factor to use of mass media for agricultural information by the farmers
is financial constraint (XS = 3.5). Other perceived constraints in rating order include lack of /inconsistent
power supply (XS = 3.5), time of programme presentation (XS = 3.1), language barrier (XS = 3.0) and
method of agricultural programme presentation (XS = 2.8).

Implication of ICT Application to Agricultural Technology Transfer

Several studied including the CTA-sponsored study on rural women’s access to public and private extension
services (Arokoyo, et al, 2002) have revealed that the village level extension agent is the most effective
source of information for farmers but certainly not the most efficient in terms of cost and coverage.

The Extension Service, therefore, must be appropriately supported with the use of ICT. Unfortunately, the
study has indicated that the radio has been the only ICT extensively used for agricultural information
delivery (66.7%) and supported by the television (20.8%). Telephone use in farm information delivery, even
with the introduction of global system of mobile (GSM) communication in Nigeria, is very insignificant to
non-existent. It can be concluded that the current ICT use in farm information access is extremely low
especially as it affects the farm information users, the farmers.

Despite the worldwide ICT revolution, extension organisation and clientele seem not to be fully “ICT-ready”
due to such factors as poor ICT infrastructural development as indicated by few rural telephone lines and
networks, limited and unstable power supply, and high cost of telephone services. Other possible constraints
to ICT application to agricultural technology transfer include limited access to computer and internet
facilities by both farm information providers and their clientele, as well as poor-funding of extension service.

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For application of ICT to agricultural technology transfer to be realistic, it is recommended that:

(i) energy expansion programme of the current administration in Nigeria should be beefed up to
accommodate intensified rural electrification schemes;
(ii) extension organizations should be provided with internet and other ICT components;
(iii) rural radio and television programmes should be sponsored by both extension and non-
governmental organisations and presented at time of the day when it will be convenient for
farmers to enhance their participation;
(iv) such radio and T.V. programmes should be presented in the people’s local language and in a
manner that will reflect the farmers’ socio-cultural and economic background;
(v) programmes must avoid the stereotype crop biased extension pattern to ensure balance of
emphasis through promotion of other aspects of agriculture such as livestock production,
agricultural marketing and processing;
(vi) deliberate policy considerations should be made to enhance farmers’ knowledge and access to
telephone and internet facilities at subsidized costs.

REFERENCES
Aboyade, O. 1987. The provision of Information for Rural Development. Wemicre Press Limited, pp 15 59.

Ani, A.O. 2007. Mass Media Methods. Agricultural Extension: A Pathway for Sustainable Agricultural
Development. Apani Publications, Kaduna, p. 25.

Arokoyo, T., Chikwendu, D. and Ogunbameru, K. 2002. A Study of the Access of Rural Women to Public
and Private Extension Service in Nigeria. Report of a study commissioned and funded by CTA.

Folorunso, I. 1987. Communication Implication Policy in Nigeria. National Communication Policy

Conference Report. Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Badagry.

Oboti, J.N. 2005. Influence of Mass Media in Sustainable Agricultural Development in Afikpo North LGA
of Ebonyi State. Unpublished Research project: Department of Agric. Econs. Management and Extension,
Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.

Qamar. M.K. 2002. Global Trends in Reforming Extension Services: Implications for Rural Development
Education and Training. Paper presented at International Workshop on Technical Training for Rural
Development. China, 12 – 21 September, 2002.
Received for Publication: 05/08 /2008
Accepted for Publication: 10/09 /2008

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