Customised Ibadan-Yoruba

This article reports that Reverend Gbade Ogunlana, popularly known as Paito wa, uses the Ibadan dialect of Yoruba in his preaching, but deploys available phonological mechanisms to add a sort of comic impression to his speech. Consonant deletion, which is usually minimised in public domains of speaking are rather maximised in his speaking, while tone spreading is accentuated to produce acute rising and falling contours. Further, it is reported that he prefers lexical borrowings which allow him the freedom to then adapt the borrowed words in the layman’s manner. This freedom is also apparent in the use of novel words which he is able to pronounce in the layman’s manner. It is argued that the intent of these is to add humour to his preaching, and accommodate his target audience for social identity and better understanding, an intention he appears to achieve with his choice of style

Willingness To Pay For Waste Disposal in Ilorin Metropolis in Kwara State

This study examines willingness to pay for waste disposal in Ilorin metropolis in kwara state. Data on socioeconomic characteristic of the respondents and their opinion on waste disposal and willingness to pay for waste disposal were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 95 households for the study and descriptive statistics and binomial probit model were the analytical tools used.  Evidence from the probit model indicated that four variables had significant influence on the households' willingness-to-pay. Of these, income is positively significant at P < 0.01. Age was positive and significant at the P < 0.05 level while sack/weeks was negative significant at P < 0.05. From the findings of this study, attempts should be made to improve waste management services being rendered at lowest possible service fee while government should also concentrate on awareness campaigning on the consequences of waste mishandling and benefits inherent in paying for proper management of waste. Key Words: Waste disposal, Probit, willingness to pa

Information Seeking Behaviour of Graduate Students of University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria: A Qualitative Approach

The study evaluates how the graduate students behave towards seeking knowledge they need for academic activities in the institution. The study used exploratory qualitative research design. The population of the study was the graduates of University of Agriculture Abeokuta (UNAAB) for 2010/2011 session. An in-depth semi structured interview was explored to examine their information seeking behaviour. The study revealed that inaccessibility and ease of use were the major factors affecting the choice of information resources by the students and that the influences of people like lecturers and lead scholars in the institution shape and reshape the approach of students to information seeking behaviour. It was also observed that e-journals, agricultural CD-ROMs, handbooks and reference materials were the important sources of information to these students. However, lack of time, unawareness, information overload and epileptic power supply were the challenges hindering their information seeking. The study concluded that the information seeking behaviour of these students was more organized than being random and the use of internet do not improve the information use skills of the students, Thus, it was suggested that librarians should trigger their ability to validate sources of information that the students utilized to improve their relevancy, and they should train the lead scholars that the students consulted when they need information. Keywords Information Seeking Behaviour, Graduate Students, University of Agricultur

Development of high-performance self compacting concrete using eggshell powder and blast furnace slag as partial cement replacement

This study aimed to examine the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) developed using eggshell powder (ESP) and granulated ground blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as partial cement replacement. The coarse aggregate impact value was 21.6% and the water absorption of the fine aggregates was 24 wt%. 10 wt% partial replacement was optimal for flow-ability and workability. SCC with 20 wt% partial replacements had the highest compressive strength at 41.34 kN/mm2 and 42.4 kN/mm2 for ESP and GGBFS respectively after 28 days of curing. SCC with 20 wt% partial replacements had the highest flexural strength at 3.2 kN/mm2 for both ESP and GGBFS after 28 days of curing. From the microstructural analysis, partial replacement with mineral admixtures improved the interfacial interactions between constituents of the concrete and GGBFS SCC gave a better interfacial interaction between the concrete constituents than ESP SCC. In summary, GGBFS had better fresh, hard and microstructural properties than ESP

Development of high-performance self compacting concrete using eggshell powder and blast furnace slag as partial cement replacement Gender Implications

This study aimed to examine the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) developed using eggshell powder (ESP) and granulated ground blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as partial cement replacement. The coarse aggregate impact value was 21.6% and the water absorption of the fine aggregates was 24 wt%. 10 wt% partial replacement was optimal for flow-ability and workability. SCC with 20 wt% partial replacements had the highest compressive strength at 41.34 kN/mm2 and 42.4 kN/mm2 for ESP and GGBFS respectively after 28 days of curing. SCC with 20 wt% partial replacements had the highest flexural strength at 3.2 kN/mm2 for both ESP and GGBFS after 28 days of curing. From the microstructural analysis, partial replacement with mineral admixtures improved the interfacial interactions between constituents of the concrete and GGBFS SCC gave a better interfacial interaction between the concrete constituents than ESP SCC. In summary, GGBFS had better fresh, hard and microstructural properties than ESP

Assessment of the willingness of doctors to work at coronavirus disease-19 treatment center

Objectives: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is currently ravaging the entire world. Doctors as well as other healthcare workers as front-liners in tackling this disease are at a higher risk of exposure to the virus and its potential consequences. The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge of doctors on the mode of transmission of the virus, to assess their willingness and readiness to work at the COVID-19 treatment center, to identify factors that affect their willingness to work at the treatment center, and to assess their knowledge on infection prevention and control (IPC) practices.Materials and Methods: All medical doctors who attended the COVID-19 sensitization and preparedness meeting with the management of Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State Nigeria, were recruited into the study after an informed consent was obtained. Study period spanned from the beginning of April 2020 to middle of June 2020. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire was administered to collect relevant information.Results: A total of 112 doctors that were in attendance had the questionnaires administered to them; however, 106 (94.64%) questionnaires were returned. Out of these, 64.2% had correct knowledge of the mode of transmission of COVID-19. We observed that only 34.9% of doctors were willing to work in the treatment center while 1.9% were indifferent. The perceived lack of adequate training and insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff were major reasons why some doctors were not willing to work in these centers. Fifty percent of the participants got the correct meaning of donning and doffing and three quarters of them had good knowledge of IPC practice.Conclusion: We found in our study that a substantial number of doctors were unwilling to work in COVID-19 treatment areas due to a number of factors including perceived inadequate PPE and inadequate knowledge. The factors that would influence their willingness to work in COVID-19 treatment center were more training, provision of inducement or extra allowances and life insurance schemes. We recommend that in addition to putting emphasis on training, re-training, and providing appropriate equipment, special inducement allowance, and life insurance for healthcare workers might be helpful to encourage them to work in COVID-19 treatment centers

Challenges of residency training and early career doctors in Nigeria study (charting study): a protocol paper

Introduction: Early career doctors (ECDs) make up a significant proportion of the workforce of medical/dental practitioners in Nigeria. ECDs play pivotal roles in the Nigerian healthcare system. However, several factors affect ECDs in their career endeavours, ranging from poor remuneration to psychosocial problems (such as burn out, job dissatisfaction, etc.). While other countries have tried to investigate these factors and their impact, no national inquiry has been done yet in Nigeria. This demonstrates the critical need to conduct a nationally representativestudy exploring these factors, such as demographic, workplace and psychosocial factors, among ECDs in Nigeria. This article is a protocol paper for the challenges of residency training and early career doctors in Nigeria study; charting study to be conducted under the auspices of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria(NARD).Methods: The Charting Study would be a mixed study design, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative study designs and access data from structured questionnaire, focus group interview and secondary data available to the association.Conclusion: The outcome of this study will provide great insight into various issues affecting ECDs in Nigeria and make necessary recommendations.Keywords: Nigeria, early career doctors, junior doctors, physicians, dentists, workplace, psychosocial issue

SARS-CoV-2 variants-associated outbreaks of COVID-19 in a tertiary institution, North-Central Nigeria: Implications for epidemic control.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is being driven by evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants with consequential implications on virus transmissibility, host immunity, and disease severity. Continuous molecular and genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 variants is therefore necessary for public health interventions toward the management of the pandemic. This study is a retrospective analysis of COVID-19 cases reported in a Nigerian tertiary institution from July to December 2021. In total, 705 suspected COVID-19 cases that comprised 547 students and 158 non-students were investigated by real time PCR (RT-PCR); of which 372 (~52.8%) tested positive for COVID-19. Using a set of selection criteria, 74 (~19.9%) COVID-19 positive samples were selected for next generation sequencing. Data showed that there were two outbreaks of COVID-19 within the university community over the study period, during which more females (56.8%) tested positive than males (47.8%) (p<0.05). Clinical data together with phylogenetic analysis suggested community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through mostly asymptomatic and/or pre-symptomatic individuals. Confirmed COVID-19 cases were mostly mild, however, SARS-CoV-2 delta (77%) and omicron (4.1%) variants were implicated as major drivers of respective waves of infections during the study period. This study highlights the importance of integrated surveillance of communicable disease during outbreaks