Ensuring good governance through parliamentary control of administrative agencies: A critique

Parliamentary institutions are central to most systems of government but their role within the structure of government varies from one country to another. Not only are there differences in terms of their specific powers, but also in measure of  power/influence exercised within the framework of normative rules or legal system of  a nation to guarantee good governance. The objectives of this paper are to overview parliaments around the world vis-à-vis their control of administrative  agencies, especially in Britain and United States of America and to highlight the forms of control that the Nigerian National Assembly exerts on the administrative  agencies. The writers rely on published and unpublished materials such as  textbooks; articles in journals, conferences and work shop documents, law reports; newspapers; magazine; and internet facility. The paper concluded that the  parliamentary control of administrative agencies depends largely on the type of  parliamentary system being practiced either uni-cameral or bi-cameral legislature or even presidential or parliamentary. It is suggested that care must be taken not only to ensure that the electorates choose their proper representatives to National or State Assembly, but there should equally be good electoral laws to ensure that, the choice of the people are not defeated as a result of electoral fraud because the failure or success of a state depends largely on the nature of its legislators.Key words: Legislature, Good Governance, Oversight, Impeachment, Investigatio

Refractive Error Status In Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Refractive errors affect the whole spectrum of the population without regard to age, gender, race and ethnic group. Uncorrected refractive errors have severe consequences for the individual, family and society.Records showthat no study documenting the distribution of refractive errors in Bayelsa State had been carried out. Records of patients who presented between January, 2004 and October, 2005 in the government-subsidized eye clinic of the Niger-Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri for refractive error servicewere reviewed.Myopiawas defined as = -0.50DS; hyperopia as = +1.00DS while astigmatismwas definedas = -0.25DC. Emmetropiawas defined as spherical power of -0.25Dto +0.75D. Results of the right eyewere usedfor analysis.Datawere analyzedusingthe Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10. In this retrospective study, a total of 654 patients fitted the inclusion criteria. There were 319 males and 335 females (48.78%and 51.22% respectively) with an age range of 5 - 86 years. Mean age was 42.18±13.1 (95% CI = 41.17 - 43.19) years. Significant refractive error was observed in 355 cases (54.28%) while 299 (45.72%) were emmetropic. Of the 355 with refractive error, 181 (50.99%) were male and 174 (49.01%) were females. Astigmatism was the commonest refractive error (n=162, 45.63%) followed by myopia (n=113, 51.83%) and hyperopia (n=80, 22.54%). The ranges of refractive power were as follows: astigmatism, -0.25DC to -1.75DC; Myopia, -0.50D to -9.00D and hyperopia, +1.00DS to +11.00DS. More males had hyperopia and myopia while more females had astigmatism. Presbyopia as indicated by the use of near addition was present in 490 (74.92%) of the subjects.The results can be used for planning self sustaining refractive error services in the state. Keywords: Emmetropia,Myopia,Hyperopia,Astigmatism, Presbyopia

Refractive Error Status in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Background: Refractive errors affect the whole spectrum of the population without regard to age, gender, race and ethnic group. Uncorrected refractive errors have severe consequences for the individual, family and society. This study , is the first of its kind, to document the distribution of refractive errors in Bayelsa State. Methods: Records of patients who presented between January 2004 and October 2005 in Okolobiri General Hospital—the government-subsidized eye clinic in Okolobiri, Bayelsa State—for treatment were examined. Myopia was defined as ≥- 0.50DS; hyperopia as ≥+ 1.00DS; while astigmatism was defined as ≥- 0.25DC. Emmetropia was defined as spherical power of –0.25D to +0.75D. Results of the right eye were used for analysis. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10. Results: A total of 654 patients were analyzed. There were 319 male and 335 female patients (48.8% and 51.2% respectively)with an age range of 5 – 86 years. Mean age was 42.18 years (SD 13.1, 95% CI = 41.17 – 43.19 years). Significant refractive errors were observed in 355 cases (54.3%), while 299 (45.7%) were emmetropic. Of the 355 with refractive error, 181 (51%) were men and 174 (49%) were woman. Astigmatism was the commonest refractive error (n=162, 45.7%) followed by myopia (n = 113, 31.8%) and hyperopia (n = 80, 22.5%). The range of refractive power was as follows: astigmatism, - 0.25DC to – 1.75DC. Myopia, - 0.50D to - 9.00D; hyperopia, + 1.00DS to + 11.00DS; More male patients have hyperopia and myopia while more female patients have astigmatism. Presbyopia as indicated by the use of near addition, was present in 490 (74.9%) of the subjects. Conclusion: Significant refractive error was present in over half of patients presenting in the period under analysis. The range of refractive errors recorded will assist in planning self-sustaining low-cost refractive error services in the state.Key words: refractive error, presbyopia, astigmatism, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Application of Dynamic Programming Model to Production Planning, in an Animal Feedmills.

The problem of this study is that of determining the quantity of products to produce and inventory level to carry from one period to the other, with the objective of minimizing the total costs of production and the annual inventory, while at the same time meeting the customer’s demand. A mathematical model was formulated for a multi-product problem using Dynamic Programming approach. The model was solved using the solution procedure proposed by Wagner and Whitin. The results show that the minimum total cost will be achieved with production in periods 1, 2, and 4. While demand for period 3 are satisfied with inventory from period 2. The total cost of this plan is N225, 704, 210.00, which is N6, 155, 765.00 less than the existing plan. Keywords: Inventory, Model, Periods, Plan, Cost

Development of an Ambient Control Method for Tomatoes Preservation

Thus, this work is aim at developing an ambient control method for tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) preservationThe quality of tomatoes depends on post harvest handling, transportation and storage techniques. Tomatoes cannot be kept for a long period of time due to their perishable and seasonal nature, it is therefore necessary to preserve it in seasons when available in other to ensure constant supply throughout the year with their nutritional value still retained. However, a 0.22 cubic metre capacity storage facility that operates on the principle of evaporative cooling, which is to increase the shelf life of stored tomatoes was designed, fabricated and tested. Data were observed twice daily and Results of the transient performance tests revealed that 117W is the cooling capacity of the produce (tomatoes) at 29.50C. Also, it was observed that the dry bulb (21-300C) and wet bulb (14.5-240C) temperatures are inversely proportional to the relative humidity (39-56%) of the cooler, which in turn show inverse relationship between the saturation efficiency (0-74.42%) and by-pass factor (0.26-1.00). An evaporative cooling system should be utilized to preserve tomatoes and other forms of vegetables at their minimal storage temperature in fourteen days relative to ambient storage. Thus, it has the prospect of being used for short term preservation of tomatoes soon after harvest and it will be very useful in helping the farmers most especially in a developing economy like Nigeria.Self-sponsore

Development of an Ambient Control Method for Tomatoes Preservation

The quality of tomatoes depends on post harvest handling, transportation and storage techniques. Tomatoes cannot be kept for a long period of time due to their perishable and seasonal nature, it is therefore necessary to preserve it in seasons when available in other to ensure constant supply throughout the year with their nutritional value still retained. However, a 0.22 cubic metre capacity storage facility that operates on the principle of evaporative cooling, which is to increase the shelf life of stored tomatoes was designed, fabricated and tested. Data were observed twice daily and Results of the transient performance tests revealed that 117W is the cooling capacity of the produce (tomatoes) at 29.50C. Also, it was observed that the dry bulb (21-300C) and wet bulb (14.5-240C) temperatures are inversely proportional to the relative humidity (39-56%) of the cooler, which in turn show inverse relationship between the saturation efficiency (0-74.42%) and by-pass factor (0.26-1.00). An evaporative cooling system should be utilized to preserve tomatoes and other forms of vegetables at their minimal storage temperature in fourteen days relative to ambient storage. Thus, it has the prospect of being used for short term preservation of tomatoes soon after harvest and it will be very useful in helping the farmers most especially in a developing economy like Nigeria. Key words: Evaporative cooling systems, tomatoes, preservation, temperature, relative humidity, cooling efficiency, cooling capacity.

Facilitating Community Development through Institutional Engagements: Reflections from 2016 Nigeria IACD Conference

This article reports on recent experiences of the conference/workshop management team and the host (Kwara State University - KWASU) of the fourth meeting of the Nigerian members and potential members of the International Association for Community Development (IACD) and the third National Community Development Consultative Conference/Workshop, held in Malete, Kwara State Nigeria from 11 to 14 October 2016. In reviewing the meeting and conference/workshop, the following sub-topics were used for organizing the contents of the article: community development and institutional engagements in Nigeria; IACD National Association in Nigeria; conference/workshop theme and overview; participations/state representatives and conference streams; keynote addresses; conference mobile learning workshop; conference/workshop assessment; and conclusion. The article also draws out implications of the conference/workshop for community development practice and professionalism in workplace settings within national contexts with mandatory institution supports. Finally, brief perspectives of the next Nigeria IACD conference to be held in Kano State are also provided. Keywords: Community Development, Institutional Engagements, Nigeria, IACD-Nigeria Conference 201

New Trends in Designing Parabolic trough Solar Concentrators and Heat Storage Concrete Systems in Solar Power Plants

Energy availability has always been an essential component of human civilization and the energetic consumption is directly linked to the produced wealth. In many depressed countries the level of solar radiation is considerably high and it could be the primary energy source under conditions that low cost, simple-to-be-used technologies are employed. Then, it is responsibility of the most advanced countries to develop new equipments to allow this progress for taking place. A large part of the energetic forecast, based on economic projection for the next decades, ensure us that fossil fuel supplies will be largely enough to cover the demand. The predicted and consistent increase in the energetic demand will be more and more covered by a larger use of fossil fuels, without great technology innovations. A series of worrying consequences are involved in the above scenario: important climatic changes are linked to strong CO2 emissions; sustainable development is hindered by some problems linked to certainty of oil and natural gas supply; problems of global poverty are not solved but amplified by the unavoidable increase in fossil fuel prices caused by an increase in demand. These negative aspects can be avoided only if a really innovative and more acceptable technology will be available in the next decades at a suitable level to impress a substantial effect on the society. Solar energy is the ideal candidate to break this vicious circle between economic progress and consequent greenhouse effect. The low penetration on the market shown today by the existent renewable technologies, solar energy included, is explained by well-known reasons: the still high costs of the produced energy and the \u201cdiscontinuity\u201d of both solar and wind energies. These limitations must be removed in reasonable short times, with the support of innovative technologies, in view of such an urgent scenario. On this purpose ENEA, on the basis of the Italian law n. 388/2000, has started an R&D program addressed to the development of CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) systems able to take advantage of solar energy as heat source at high temperature. One of the most relevant objectives of this research program (Rubbia, 2001) is the study of CSP systems operating in the field of medium temperatures (about 550\ub0C), directed towards the development of a new and low-cost technology to concentrate the direct radiation and efficiently convert solar energy into high temperature heat; another aspect is focused on the production of hydrogen by means of thermo-chemical processes at temperatures above 800\ub0C. As well as cost reductions, the current innovative ENEA conception aims to introduce a set of innovations, concerning: i) The parabolic-trough solar collector: an innovative design to reduce production costs, installation and maintenance and to improve thermal efficiency is defined in collaboration with some Italian industries; ii) The heat transfer fluid: the synthetic hydrocarbon oil, which is flammable, expensive and unusable beyond 400\ub0C, is substituted by a mixture of molten salts (sodium and potassium nitrate), widely used in the industrial field and chemically stable up to 600\ub0C; iii) The thermal storage (TES): it allows for the storage of solar energy, which is then used when energy is not directly available from the sun (night and covered sky) (Pilkington, 2000). After some years of R&D activities, ENEA has built an experimental facility (defined within the Italian context as PCS, \u201cProva Collettori Solari\u201d) at the Research Centre of Casaccia in Rome (ENEA, 2003), which incorporates the main proposed innovative elements. The next step is to test these innovations at full scale by means of a demonstration plant, as envisioned by the \u201cArchimede\u201d ENEA/ENEL Project in Sicily. Such a project is designed to upgrade the ENEL thermo-electrical combined-cycle power plant by about 5 MW, using solar thermal energy from concentrating parabolic-trough collectors. Particularly, the Chapter will focus on points i) and iii) above: - loads, actions, and more generally, the whole design procedure for steel components of parabolic-trough solar concentrators will be considered in agreement with the Limit State method, as well as a new approach will be critically and carefully proposed to use this method in designing and testing \u201cspecial structures\u201d such as the one considered here; - concrete tanks durability under prolonged thermal loads and temperature variations will be estimated by means of an upgraded F.E. coupled model for heat and mass transport (plus mechanical balance). The presence of a surrounding soil volume will be additionally accounted for to evaluate environmental risk scenarios. Specific technological innovations will be considered, such as: -higher structural safety related to the reduced settlements coming from the chosen shape of the tank (a below-grade cone shape storage); - employment of HPC containment structures and foundations characterized by lower costs with respect to stainless steel structures; - substitution of highly expensive corrugated steel liners with plane liners taking advantage of the geometric compensation of thermal dilations due to the conical shape of the tank; - possibility of employing freezing passive systems for the concrete basement made of HPC, able to sustain temperature levels higher than those for OPC; - fewer problems when the tank is located on low-strength soils

Design and Construction of a Batch Cassava Peeling Machine

Abstract This work focused on the design and construction of a batch cassava peeling machine able to handle one diametric size of cassava tubers. The principle of abrasive peeling using a stationary outer abrasive drum and a rotating inner abrasive drum was used based on a batch capacity of 8.5 kg and cut tuber lengths of 200mm and diameters of 90mm. An average peeling efficiency recorded was 70.45 percent while the average flesh loss was 5.09 percent. Percentage of broken cassava was estimated as 2%