FLOW OF FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AMONG LAYERS OF GOVERNMENT: A CASE OF NIGERIA

The issue of fiscal federalism has for quite some time engaged the attention of scholars and policy makers in contemporary Nigeria. Several arguments have been put forward on the economic and political desirability for the practice of fiscal federalism in a country. While the political arguments are largely based on the heterogeneous characteristics of the different regions making up the country, the economic justification is usually based on the need to promote efficiency in the use of national resources. This paper examines the effect of fiscal decentralization on macroeconomic performance in Nigeria. The study employs three measures of fiscal decentralization namely revenue measure, expenditure measure and simultaneity measure to determine the extent, and the impact of fiscal decentralization on macroeconomic performance over the period 1980 to 2010. The overall objective of this study is to analyze the empirical effects of fiscal decentralization on some selected indicators of macroeconomic performance in Nigeria. The indicators include: economic growth, inflation rate, interest rate, and exchange in Nigeria. The Vector Autoregressive (VAR) estimator with lagged decentralization variables was employed using the E-views, version 7.0 to provide analytical support. The empirical findings are quite informative and offer evidence that the central objective of this study has been empirically investigated. There is, indeed, a connection between fiscal federalism and macroeconomic performance in Nigeria over the study period. The study suggests that faster economic growth may constitute additional benefit of fiscal decentralization beyond those already well recognized. This finding conforms to a strand of the literature that establishes links between fiscal decentralization, public sector efficiency and macroeconomic stability

Journalism Education, Practice and Gender Issues in Nigeria: Factors Determining Journalism Career Consideration by Female Graduates of Mass Communication

Over the past two to three decades, journalism education at advanced levels is increasingly gaining popular acceptance despite being gendered, with more institutions of higher learning (such as universities and polytechnics) offering courses in Mass Communication and Journalism across Nigeria. Also, since the deregulation of the Nigerian broadcast media industry in 1992, many public and commercial broadcast outlets have been established across Nigeria, thus providing a bustling market for journalism career. This development could have encouraged those who studied Mass Communication and Journalism especially women (who are often discriminated against) to consider adopting journalism as a career after graduation. However, it is not known whether that is obtainable, and what factors could be affecting that. To solve that research gap, this study examined the factors impeding the adoption of journalism as a career among female graduates of mass communication in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. The study attempted to finding out the rationale behind non-pursuance of journalism by women. A qualitative survey approach, specifically the key informant interview (KII) approach was adopted. Using the snowball sampling method, 12 women mass communication graduates who were selected for interviews, and their responses were analysed using the thematic approach. The study found that: there was a great deal of perceived discrimination senior colleagues at places of work and by the general society toward women that are into journalism practice in Nigeria; female roles as mothers and wives; religious and cultural beliefs; and poor salary/wages were some of the critical factors impeding women mass communication graduates in Maiduguri from adopting journalism-related careers. The study concluded that women mass communication graduates in Maiduguri have negative perception toward journalism-related careers. The study, therefore, recommended that media organisations should make it as a duty to employ offer employment opportunities to more women and formulate and implement viable and strong gender equality policies. Keywords: Career consideration, Journalism career, Mass communication graduates, Media organisations, Nigerian news media, Women journalists DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/98-01 Publication date:September 30th 2021

Radio Broadcast and Indigenous Language Development in Nigeria: Contributions of the Radio Service of BRTV Maiduguri Toward the Promotion of Kanuri Language

Nigerian indigenous languages are facing challenges due to many factors including the ever-present long-term effects of colonialism and the use of English as the official language of communication and education, as well as urbanization, internal migration, and the mass media (both traditional and new). The preservation of indigenous languages has received global attention over the decades by notable international non-governmental organizations such as UNESCO and The British Council. In fact, the preservation of traditional cultural heritage, language inclusive, is one of the cardinal functions of mass media. Kanuri language, which is the main spoken language in Borno State in the northeast of Nigeria, is one of the several Nigerian indigenous languages facing challenges. Khaddamari, the headquarters of Jere Local Government Area, is a town very close to Maiduguri, a cosmopolitan city with population of about 1 million. Being so close to a large urban center it is known whether Kanuri language faces similar challenges it faces in the urban center, and if it does, what role does the media broadcasting from the city play toward promoting the language? This study examined the impacts of the Kanuri broadcast service of BRTV Radio, Maiduguri in the promotion and preservation of Kanuri language among the people living in Khaddamari town. Using the snowball sampling technique, 14 participants were recruited for in-depth interviews from BRTV radio and Khaddamari town. The study found that BRTV’s Kanuri broadcasts’ contribution toward the promotion of Kanuri language at Khaddamari is progressively diminishing compared to how much it could have done so three decades ago and that some of the listeners were dissatisfied with several BRTV’s Kanuri programs/news broadcasts. The study concluded that BRTV radio’s contribution toward the promotion of Kanuri language in Khaddamari town is crucial but was minimal, often hampered by the dwindling broadcast power and reach of BRTV radio signals. Therefore, BRTV should address its infrastructural deficits and formulate articulate broadcast language policy. Keywords: Radio broadcast and indigenous language, Radio program, BRTV Maiduguri, Indigenous language preservation, Kanuri language DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/99-01 Publication date:October 31st 202

Internationalization of Higher Education: The Pros and Cons

Globalization in the twenty first century has reshaped virtually all facets of human life, higher education inclusive. Higher institutions of learning respond to this new trend through internationalization. Thus, citadels of learning are integrating international dimensions such as internationalized curriculum, exchange programme, recruitment of international students’ as well as hiring of prestigious international scholars in order to improve the school programme and cope with the unfolding challenges. Higher institutions of learning are undoubtedly becoming global actors and invariably undergoing aggressive modification. The modification does not only involve the curriculum taught in the school but also the aims and objectives of schooling, system of assessment and grading as well as academic governance and leadership are being revised in order to meet up with the contemporary global challenges. However different views have emerged in relation to internationalization of higher education. It has been regarded by some as a curse rather than a blessing for institution of learning, neo-colonialism rather than possibility for national development while to some it is an opportunity for global cooperation, cultural integration and economic interdependence. Based on these divergent views, this paper looks at the pros and cons of internationalization of higher education and how it can be effectively handled

Manifestation of Remote Sensing Data in Modeling Urban Sprawl Using the SLEUTH Model and Brute Force Calibration: A Case Study of Sana`a City, Yemen.

Sana’a the metropolitan capital of Yemen, has experienced rapid spatial growth and uncontrolled development for decades. In the absence of a means to forecast and predict urban growth trends, planning and urban policy decisions have been found wanting. In this study the SLEUTH (Slope, landuse, exclusion, urban extent, transportation and hillshade) model which has been widely and successfully applied in developed countries, has been applied to predict the spatial urban sprawl pattern from 2004–2020 in Sana’a. This was to provide the necessary forecast for better planning and decision making. The model performed well as per the calibration coefficient values. The results showed that there will a 29 % increase in spatial urban sprawl growth during the modeling period. Growth of the sprawl will be mainly at the edges of the urban boundary, there will also be a wide area of scattered urban clusters. Factors that will have major influence on spatial expansion of the city will be diffusion, natural and internal growth, slope (that will hinder spread) and transportation (along which most of the urban sprawl will occur). The study also provides an insight into how the SLEUTH model performs in a poorly planned urban environment as compared to the planned and controlled environment where it has been applied

Co-occurrence of antibiotic and disinfectant resistance genes in extensively drug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from broilers in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria

Objectives: The occurrence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in poultry poses the public health threat of zoonotic transmission to humans. Hence, this study assessed the occurrence of drug-resistant Escherichia coli in broilers in the largest live bird market in Kwara State, Nigeria in December 2020. Methods: Presumptive E. coli isolates were isolated using the European Union Reference Laboratory guideline of 2017 and confirmed via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS). Broth microdilution was performed on confirmed E. coli isolates to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration. Five extensively drug-resistant (XDR) isolates were selected for Illumina whole genome sequencing to predict the resistome, phylotype, sequence type, serotype, and diversity of mobile genetic elements in these isolates. Results: Of the 181 broiler caecal samples, 73 E. coli isolates were obtained, of which 67 (82.0%) and 37 (50.6%) were determined as MDR (resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics) and XDR (resistant to at least five classes of antibiotics), respectively. Whole genome sequencing revealed diverse sequence types, phylogroups, and serotypes (ST165/B1 - O80:H19, ST115/A - Unknown: H7, ST901/B1 - O109:H4, ST4087/F - O117:H42, and ST8324/A - O127:H42). The XDR E. coli isolates encoded resistance to fluoroquinolones, fosfomycin, sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin and cephalosporins, trimethoprim, aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, and macrolides. Mutations in the gyr A gene conferring resistance to fluoroquinolones were also detected. There was a positive correlation between phenotypic resistance patterns and the antibiotic resistance genes that were detected in the sequenced isolates. The XDR isolates also harbored two disinfectant resistance genes ( qac E and sit ABCD) that conferred resistance to hydrogen peroxide and quaternary ammonium compounds, respectively. The genome of the XDR isolates harbored several mobile genetic elements and virulence-associated genes, which were conserved in all sequenced XDR isolates. Conclusions: This is the first report of co-carriage of antibiotic resistance genes and disinfectant resistance genes in E. coli isolated from broilers in Ilorin, Nigeria. Our findings suggest that poultry are potential carriers of clonally diverse, pathogenic, MDR/XDR E. coli, which may have detrimental zoonotic potentials on human health. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )Peer reviewe

Prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis cysts in sheep slaughtered at Sokoto abattoir, Sokoto state, Nigeria

A prospective study was conducted based on the principle of post mortem examination on sheep slaughtered at Sokoto abattoir for the presence of Cysticercus tenuicollis cysts. A total of 261 sheep were examined with 34 (13.03%) infected. Prevalence of infection increased with the age of the  animals. Males had relatively higher prevalence than females. Infection was recorded in several visceral organs with omentum having the highest  prevalence (35.29%) and the lungs the least(11.76%). The results suggest that C. tenuicollis is common and may constitute a health problem in sheep and a source of economic loss in the meat industry, thus emphasizing the need for proper meat inspection and handling of offals in the study area

Cryptic Eimeria genotypes are common across the southern but not northern hemisphere

The phylum Apicomplexa includes parasites of medical, zoonotic and veterinary significance. Understanding the global distribution and genetic diversity of these protozoa is of fundamental importance for efficient, robust and long-lasting methods of control. Eimeria spp. cause intestinal coccidiosis in all major livestock animals and are the most important parasites of domestic chickens in terms of both economic impact and animal welfare. Despite having significant negative impacts on the efficiency of food production, many fundamental questions relating to the global distribution and genetic variation of Eimeria spp. remain largely unanswered. Here, we provide the broadest map yet of Eimeria occurrence for domestic chickens, confirming that all the known species (Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria tenella) are present in all six continents where chickens are found (including 21 countries). Analysis of 248 internal transcribed spacer sequences derived from 17 countries provided evidence of possible allopatric diversity for species such as E. tenella (FST values ⩽0.34) but not E. acervulina and E. mitis, and highlighted a trend towards widespread genetic variance. We found that three genetic variants described previously only in Australia and southern Africa (operational taxonomic units x, y and z) have a wide distribution across the southern, but not the northern hemisphere. While the drivers for such a polarised distribution of these operational taxonomic unit genotypes remains unclear, the occurrence of genetically variant Eimeria may pose a risk to food security and animal welfare in Europe and North America should these parasites spread to the northern hemisphere

Method for the fast determination of bromate, nitrate and nitrite by ultra performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and their monitoring in Saudi Arabian drinking water with chemometric data treatment

A rapid, sensitive and precise method for the determination of bromate (BrO3(-)), nitrate (NO3(-)) and nitrite (NO2(-)) in drinking water was developed with Ultra performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-ESI/MS). The elution of BrO3(-), NO3(-) and NO2(-) was attained in less than two minutes in a reverse phase column. Quality parameters of the method were established; run-to-run and day-to-day precisions were <3% when analysing standards at 10µgL(-1). The limit of detection was 0.04µg NO2(-)L(-1) and 0.03µgL(-1) for both NO3(-)and BrO3(-). The developed UPLC-ESI/MS method was used to quantify these anions in metropolitan water from Saudi Arabia (Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh areas) and commercial bottled water (from well or unknown source) after mere filtration steps. The quantified levels of NO3(-) were not found to pose a risk. In contrast, BrO3(-) was found above the maximum contaminant level established by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 25% and 33% of the bottled and metropolitan waters, respectively. NO2(-) was found at higher concentrations than the aforementioned limits in 70% and 92% of the bottled and metropolitan water samples, respectively. Therefore, remediation measures or improvements in the disinfection treatments are required. The concentrations of BrO3(-), NO3(-) and NO2(-) were mapped with Principal Component analysis (PCA), which differentiated metropolitan water from bottled water through the concentrations of BrO3(-) and NO3(-) mainly. Furthermore, it was possible to discriminate between well water; blend of well water and desalinated water; and desalinated water. The point or source (region) was found to not be distinctive

Modelling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based cellular automata and SLEUTH models: the case of Sana'a metropolitan city, Yemen.

An effective and efficient planning of an urban growth and land use changes and its impact on the environment requires information about growth trends and patterns amongst other important information. Over the years, many urban growth models have been developed and used in the developed countries for forecasting growth patterns. In the developing countries however, there exist a very few studies showing the application of these models and their performances. In this study two models such as cellular automata (CA) and the SLEUTH models are applied in a geographical information system (GIS) to simulate and predict the urban growth and land use change for the City of Sana’a (Yemen) for the period 2004–2020. GIS based maps were generated for the urban growth pattern of the city which was further analyzed using geo-statistical techniques. During the models calibration process, a total of 35 years of time series dataset such as historical topographical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imageries was used to identify the parameters that influenced the urban growth. The validation result showed an overall accuracy of 99.6 %; with the producer’s accuracy of 83.3 % and the user’s accuracy 83.6 %. The SLEUTH model used the best fit growth rule parameters during the calibration to forecasting future urban growth pattern and generated various probability maps in which the individual grid cells are urbanized assuming unique “urban growth signatures”. The models generated future urban growth pattern and land use changes from the period 2004–2020. Both models proved effective in forecasting growth pattern that will be useful in planning and decision making. In comparison, the CA model growth pattern showed high density development, in which growth edges were filled and clusters were merged together to form a compact built-up area wherein less agricultural lands were included. On the contrary, the SLEUTH model growth pattern showed more urban sprawl and low-density development that included substantial areas of agricultural lands