Education and Transformation Agenda in Nigeria: An Appraisal

There is no doubt that education is the foundation of any development in every society. It is important to every individual, and the society, at large, as roots are important to the growth and development of a tree. This paper is an evaluation of effects of Transformation Agenda (TA) on education sector in Nigeria. The study covers only two years (2011 – 2013) as the Federal Government of Nigeria rolled out mid-term report of the agenda. The study revealed the challenges of education in Nigeria and the contributions of TA to the education sector. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations, among others, were submitted: more budget allocation to education; non-politicization of education sector; and improvement ofconditions ofservicefor teachers at all levelsof education in Nigeria. Key Words: Education, Transformation Agenda (TA)

Dead or Dormant? Docile or Fractured? The Culture of Military Clampdown on Youth Demonstrations and its Repercussions on the 21ST Century Nigerian Youths

The history of military regimes in Nigeria is synonymous with the history of suppression, repression, extricable use of violence, impunity and blatant trampling on fundamental human rights. Exclusive of J. T. U. Ironsi’s short six months in office, every military dictator in Nigeria had propelled himself to the rein through dubious and anti-people means. It was therefore not fortuitous that these praetorian guards, possessing the powers of ‘life and death’, trampled on, subdued, and caged the ‘bloody civilians’ whose social contract they had successfully usurped. Being the most affected, Nigerian youths had in several scenarios, occasions and events staged protests, demonstrations and marches to register their discontentment and resentment towards the military dictatorships. The reactions from the military governments were always violent, brutal, dreadful and aptly horrific. Military regimes went extra miles to enforce authority, legitimacy and acceptability. Whether through killing, maiming, blackmailing, bribing or threats, the youths had to be forced or cajoled into submission. This work focuses on military clampdown on youth demonstrations during the military era. It argues that the various repressive regimes had nurtured a docile and sycophantic youths who either display lackadaisical attitude over issues bothering social contract or are ignorant and nonchalant about governance in the country. Secondary evidences are used in the analysis

Nulliparity, Delayed Child Birth and Obesity: Potential Risk Factors for Development of Uterine Fibroid in South-South Nigeria

Background: Causes of fibroid are still unknown. Despite series ofcytogenetic investigations, the uncertainty remains as to the primary orsecondary genetic changes and their impact on the initiation orpromotion of fibroid development.Purpose: To determine the effect of obesity, nulliparity and delayedchild birth on the occurrence of uterine fibroid.Materials and Methods: A prospective sonographic survey wascarried out in a population of women in South-South region of Nigeria.Ultrasound scan was performed in 240 randomly selected women aged20 – 45 years, presenting for scans at the time of study. Subjects’ agesand reproductive history was obtained to ascertain their parity statusand ages at which parous women had their first children.Results: Results showed a weak positive association (r = 0.1; p<0.05)between uterine fibroid and delayed child birth and nulliparity at 31-35years. A strong positive association (r = 0.9; p<0.05) was observed at36 – 45 years. There was no statistically significant associationbetween low, normal and high body mass index with uterine fibroidhowever, a significant association (r = 0.85; p<0.05) was observedwith obesity.Conclusion: Delayed child birth and nulliparity after 36 years of ageappeared to be the most potent risk factor for uterine fibroid in thepopulation studied

Re-thinking instructional strategies for enhancing gender equity in learning primary science: let’s try cooperative small group instructional mode

The study investigated the effect of cooperative small group instructional mode on the cognitive achievement of boys and girls in primary science. Eighty-two pupils (41 girls and 41 boys) were drawn from 2 randomly selected primary schools and from 2 intact primary 5 classes in Uyo Local Government Education Authority. The subjects were exposed to 5 weeks of instruction in selected science concepts from primary 5 curriculum module. Two modes of instruction used were the cooperative small group and the whole class instructional modes. Instrument for collecting the data was the Primary Science Achieve ment Test (PSAT). Data analysis involved the use of t-test statistic. Results revealed no statistically significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls in primary science. The paper claims that cooperative small group instructional mode could remove gender bias in female pupils’ achievement in science.Keywords: cooperative small group instruction, gender bias in achievement, science achievemen

Doctoral profile of the medical radiation sciences: a baseline for Australia and New Zealand

YesResearch is critical to evidence‐based practice, and the rapid developments in technology provide opportunities to innovate and improve practice. Little is known about the research profile of the medical radiation science (MRS) profession in Australia and New Zealand (NZ). This study provides a baseline of their doctoral activity. A cross‐sectional survey of MRS professionals in Australia and NZ holding a doctorate or undertaking doctoral studies, was performed using an online tool (Bristol Online Survey®, Bristol, UK). A chain‐referral sampling technique was adopted for data collection. An email invitation with a link to the survey was generated and distributed through email and social media. The survey contained questions related to participant demographics, doctoral status, qualification route, funding and employment. There were 63 responses to the survey comprising 50.8% diagnostic radiographers (DRs; n = 32), 23.8% radiation therapists (RTs; n = 15), with the remaining 25.4% (n = 16) equally split between sonographers and nuclear medicine technologists (NMTs). A total of 40 (63.5%) of respondents had completed their doctoral qualification. In NZ, only DRs held a doctoral award constituting 0.3% of DRs and 0.2% of the total registered MRS population. In Australia, there was a greater proportion of doctoral NMTs (n = 8/1098; 0.7%) than RTs (n = 15/2394; 0.6%) and DRs (n = 27/12,001; 0.2%). Similar to other countries, findings show a very small percentage of doctoral MRS professionals in Australia and NZ. Strategies to engage and support individuals in research, up to and beyond doctoral study, need to be embedded in practice

A Preliminary Survey on the Parasites of Free Range Chicken in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

A preliminary study was carried out to assess the parasitic burden of domesticated and free range chicken in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. A total of twenty birds where purchased from five popular markets in Abeokuta namely, Itoku, Kuto, Lafenwa and Osiele and examined for presence of parasites. The skin and feathers of the birds were also combed to check for ectoparasites. Afterward, the birds were slaughtered and the intact gastro-intestinal tract were then separated and opened to check for endoparasites. All parasites found were collected into petri-dishes and examined under microscope for identification. Two species of ectoparasites Menacanthus stramineus with a prevalence of 90.0% and Lipeurus caponis with a prevalence of 60.0% were recovered. Three species of endoparasites found consisted of two nematodes (Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum) and one cestode (Raillietina echinobothridia). Ascaridia galli and Raillietina echinobothridia were seen in the small intestine and Heterakis gallinarum in the caecum.  Raillietina echinobothridia had the highest prevalence of 80.0% followed by Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum each with 60.0% prevalence. The results show that free-range chickens in Abeokuta carry high parasitic burden which could be a big constraint to their productivity and commercial value

Prevalence of malnutrition among settled pastoral Fulani children in Southwest Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a dearth of information on the health of pastoral Fulani children living in southwestern Nigeria. These are fully settled pastoralists whose economy are centred on cattle and farming. In other to monitor and plan appropriate nutritional intervention for their children, a cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of malnutrition of pastoral Fulani children.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Fulani's children aged 6 months to 15 years, living in 61 settlements in Kwara, Ogun and Oyo States in Southwestern Nigeria participated in the study. Heights and weights of 164 girls and 167 boys were measured. Their anthropometric indices, height-for-age (HA), weight-for-height (WH), and weight-for-age (WA) Z-scores determined. The prevalence of stunting (HAZ < -2), wasting (WHZ < -2) and underweight (WAZ < -2) was 38.7%, 13.6%, and 38.7%, respectively when compared to the reference NCHS/WHO standard used for defining stunting, wasting and underweight. Boys were more malnourished than the girls were, but this was not significant (stunting: χ²= 0.36; df = 1; P = 0.54); (underweight: χ²= 1.10; df = 1; P = 0.29); and (wasting: χ²= 0.00; df = 1; P = 0.98) The mean of Z-scores of Height-for-age, Weight-for-age and Weight-for-height in children were -1.502, -1.634 and -0.931 respectively. The SD was 1.52, 1.09 and 1.20 respectively. Using WHO Malnutrition Classification systems, 38.7% of the children were found to be malnourished.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate high prevalence of malnutrition among settled pastoral Fulani children, possibly due to changes in food habits and lifestyle occasion by the transition from nomadic to sedentary living. We suggest the inclusion of Fulani's settlements in nutritional intervention for these areas.</p

Lipid Profile of Apparently Healthy Adults in Aba Metropolis, South Eastern Nigeria

This study was designed to evaluate the lipid profile pattern of apparently healthy adults in Aba metropolis and hence, identify the possible contributions of hyper lipidaemia in the ever increasing cardiovascular risk burden in our society. Subjects for this study were apparently healthy adult respondents who met the inclusion criteria and willingly granted their informed consent. They were measured for their weights (in kg), height (in metres), age, sex, body mass index (BMI), blood sugar and lipid profile. The data obtained were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences and the student t-test was performed at p &lt; 0.05. The results showed that 30% of the subjects had BMI in the overweight range (25-29.9kg/m2) while 16.56% had BMI in obesity range (&gt;30.00kg/m2). A high mean total cholesterol (34%) and LDL (17%) cholesterol values were observed among healthy adults. Hyperlipidaemia was more prevalent among females than males and may be associated with the increasing cardiovascular risk burden.Keywords: Lipid profile, Apparently healthy adults, Aba, Nigeria

Regulated-element Frost Beamformer for Vehicular Multimedia Sound Enhancement and Noise Reduction Applications

A key requirement of an adaptive sensor array involves the ability to deterministically adjust the directional response of the array to reduce noise and reverberations, null interferences and enhance the gain and recognition of the desired signal. This paper presents a low-carbon adaptive broadband beamforming algorithm called the regulated-element Frost beamformer. It enhances the desired signal based on the noise conditions of the individual omnidirectional sensors deployed in a complex dynamic environment that is prone to steering errors. The investigation of this algorithm was carried out in an interference-dominant, noisy automobile environment characterised by diffuse noise conditions. An embedded system measurement of real-time signals was carried out using omnidirectional acoustic sensors mounted in a model convertible F-Type car driven at speed limits of 20 to 50 mph. The simulation results indicate an array gain enhancement of 2 dB higher than the conventional Frost beamformer and it requires less sensors and filter taps for real-time reconfigurable implementations. The experimental results reveal that the average array gain of the regulated-element beamformer is 2.9 dB higher than the conventional Frost beamformer response. The minimum floor array gain of the regulated-element beamformer is 5 dB, representing 70 % noise reduction than the conventional adaptive beamformers

Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Antenna Architecture for Multiband 5G Adaptive Beamforming Applications

One major challenge to full 5G systems deployment especially in mm-Wave band is the poor signal propagation. One approach to mitigate this effect is the use of new 5G technologies such as massive MIMO, adaptive beamforming, reconfigurable antennas etc. which can enhance the performance of the system. Adaptive beamforming algorithm uses advance digital signal processing techniques to generate main beams in the direction of interest while placing nulls in interfering signals direction to reduce interference. The beams are formed in the receiver rather in free space. It is therefore very crucial to develop an algorithm that can optimize the system to improve performance by generating signals at a faster convergence rate.In this paper, the performance analysis of various adaptive beamforming systems for 5G applications are presented using various LMS algorithms including a novel sign-leaky LMS algorithm. A uniform linear array antenna of varying element configurations, inter-element spacing, varying step-size, direction of arrival angles of the desired signals are analysed using various algorithms to determine the optimum performance of the systems. Simulation result shows that the convergence rate is highly enhanced, with the proposed algorithm converging with at least 5 iterations less than conventional LMS algorithm, while reducing interference effects by placing deeper nulls in interfering signal direction of arrivals using the proposed beamforming algorithm. There is also at least-2dB drop in normalized power of the sidelobe level compared to the LMS algorithm