Resurgent Military Political Adventurism in West Africa: Implications for the Survival of Democracy

The democratization efforts of the 1990s in West Africa appeared to have put paid to military political adventurism which had been the plague of that region since independence in the 1960s. But since the year 2000 there has been a resurgence of military intervention in the politics of some West African states and this calls for concern as well as pre-emptive measures. This study sets out to identify the pre-disposing factors and make suggestions for the sustainment of democracy. In the process it was established that bad governance; corruption; poverty; insecurity; nonavailability of the dividends of democracy in tangible quantity; inordinate ambition of some military officers; and the half-hearted response of ECOWAS to anti-democratic tendencies are prevalent pre-disposing factors. We have suggested that good governance, inclusive democracy, transparency and accountability should be strictly adhered to under the close watch of ECOWAS.Key words: Coups, Governance, Democratization, Junta, Democracy, Competition,Electio

Anatomical and chemical composition of Detarium Senegalense J.F. Gmel Bark

The anatomical and chemical composition of Detarium senegalense bark was studied after grinding and fractioning into different particles sizes. The bark of D. senegalense mature trees was fractionized into fine and coarse granulometric particles using 0.150 mm and 4.0 mm mesh respectively. The bark showed the following compositions for fine and coarse bark granulometric respectively as ash (10.9 % and 12.1 %), total extractives (20.9 % and 16.4 %), suberin (0.97 % and 0.94 %) and lignin (36.5 % and 31.2 %). Ash elemental composition was different in both fractionized biomass. The suberin content in both fractions were as well low. Fine D. senegalense bark contained more extractives in relation to coarse granulometric D. senegalense bark. For the elemental compositional characterization, the values obtained for the fine and coarse bark solutes were almost in the same range for N (0.75 % and 0.72 %), P (0.095 % and 0.092%), Mg (0.13 % and 0.14 %), Ca (6.6 % and 6.2 %), K (0.33 % and 0.31 %), Ni (1.81 mg/kg and 1.77 mg/kg ), Cr (1.98 mg/kg and 1.93 mg/kg), Pb (2.02 mg/kg and 2.05 mg/kg). However, high concentration of Zn was found in fine granules of D. sengalense bark that is, 29 mg/kg compared to 13 mg/kg in the  coarse bark. Extractives were present preferentially in the finest fraction in dichloromethane, ethanol and water soluble. D. senegalense bark had a high content of 36.5 and 31.2 cellulose and hemicelluloses especially in the coarser fraction. The rich lignin content of 39.5 and 20.9 in D. senegalense wood makes it a good potential resource for adhesives, chemical and biorefinery industries. The significant content of extractive in D. senegalense suggests conferment of natural durability to the wood. Particle size reduction by grinding is a unit operations that may be used as selective enrich solutes in soluble materials. Keywords: Anatomical structure, Chemical composition, Detarium senegalense, fine granulometric fraction, coarse granulometric fractio

Randomness of Stock Return in Nigerian Banking Sector

This study presents a test of Random Walk Hypothesis in the Nigerian Stock Market, with a view to determining if stock price changes conform to predetermined probability distribution. A sample of thirteen Deposit Money Banks which are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2014 were used in the analysis. Secondary daily price data for the period were sourced from the capital assets section of NSE Fact Book. The methods used were; Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test (ADF), Phillips-Perron Test (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin Test (KPSS) unit root tests were used to test non-stationarity while Descriptive Statistics of Jaque-bera were used to check for normality. The ADF, PP and KPSS unit root test results imply that the changes in stock prices are stationary at level while Descriptive statistics results indicate that the changes in stock prices do not follow a normal distribution. The findings of this study show that stock price changes are stationary and not normally distributed. Based on the findings, the changes in Nigerian Deposit Money banks’ stock price in Nigerian stock exchange do not follow a random walk. In other words, Nigerian Stock market is not weak form efficient. The study recommends that since changes in stock prices are not indeterminable or caused by random events, the investor should endeavour to identify what determines the prices in the past in order to ensure judicious and prudent allocation of their investable funds

An examination of the relationship between provisions of infrastructural facilities and property tax in Ibadan North Local Government

Local councils have responsibilty to provide infrastructurre for the sustenance of  the residents within thier jurisdiction.Thus many local council have resorted to the use of property tax in addition to other sources of revenue. However, there is no correlation between the generation of property tax and the provison of social amenities or key infrastructure that should be sustaining residents. The study adopted secondary data sourced from  Ibadan North Local government, that is the amount of property tax generated and the amount of financial allocation to the provision of social amenities from 1999 till 2010. The result from the regression analysis conducted  indicated that property tax is responsilble for a statistical variation of 74.2% in the financial allocation to Infrastructure in the study area.The recommendation of the study is  that local coucil needs to examine the tax base as well as develop a model that will encourage participation of the residents in property tax administration. Key Words: Property Tax, Infrastructure/Social Amenities, Local Council, Allocation, Users Participation and Public financ

An Economic Feasibility Model for Sustainable 5G Networks in Rural Dwellings of South Africa

Numerous factors have shown Internet-based technology to be a key enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG), as well as narrowing the divide between the global north and south. For instance, smart farming, remote/online learning, and smart grids can be used to, respectively, address SDGs 1 and 2 (ending poverty and hunger), 3 (quality education), and 7 and 9 (energy and infrastructure development). Though such Internet-based solutions are commonplace in the global north, they are missing or sparsely available in global south countries. This is due to several factors including underdevelopment, which dissuades service providers from investing heavily in infrastructure for providing capable Internet solutions such as 5G networks in these regions. This paper presents a study conducted to evaluate the feasibility of deploying 5G networks in the rural dwellings of South Africa at affordable rates, which would then serve as a pre-cursor for deploying solutions to improve lives and achieve the SDGs. The study evaluates the economic viability of a hybrid network model which combines terrestrial and aerial networks to provide 5G coverage in rural areas. The feasibility study reveals that such a network can be engineered at low monthly subscription fees to the end users and yield good returns to the service providers in rural areas; however, for large but sparsely populated suburban locations, the traditional terrestrial network with base stations is more suitable

Sustainablility of Agricultural Transformation Agenda: The Place of Rice Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

Self-sufficiency in rice production and processing has eluded Nigeria for a long time despite continuous efforts by the Federal Government of Nigeria towards its realization. Chains of activities in the Nigerian rice production and processing industry are largely executed manually and on small scale level. Thus, the issues of value chain aspects that would have improved the profitability of the rice industry have only just been taken into consideration as part of the Presidential Initiative – Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).This study examines the prospect of Agricultural Transformation Agenda amongst rice farmers in Ogun State where rice production is a growing industry in attempt to achieve food sustainability in line with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Well-structured and validated questionnaires are used to survey and report the activities and processes carried out by the rice farmers in target area. However, part of the result of the survey indicated that the level of awareness of Agricultural Transformation Agenda is still very low in the study area. There is need for a conscious and concerted effort to be made by relative Government Agencies to create greater awareness about ATA for the rice farmers and others involved in empowering the growth of the rice industry, otherwise the vision and motives of Agricultural Transformation Agenda may remain just an academic exercise. Other Government Agricultural Policy, for example the Fadama and/or Ogun State Agricultural Development (OGADEP )  were well accepted and their impact is greatly significant in the study area which is a clear indication that ATA strategies like the above-named policies would be well adopted by the rice farmers as well as those related participants like the processing and marketing aspects of the industry if the gospel of Agricultural Transformation Agenda is effectively preached to the rice farmers in the study area.   Key words: Rice industry, Small holder farms, Family labour, Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Government Agricultural Policy, Ogun State, Nigeria

Geophysical Investigation for Aquifer Potential Assessment and Groundwater Development at EKSU Staff Quarters GRA Ado Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria

Very-Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and Electrical resistivity methods for  reconnaissance and detailed geophysical studies respectively have been carried out within the Ekiti-State University Staff Quarters at Onigari GRA area of Ado-Ekiti. The study’s objectives include amongst others to detect drillable points for groundwater abstraction boreholes in order to frontally address the inherent problem of scarce water supply for uses by the university staff and their families living within the quarters. Seventeen (17) East-West traverses were established along where VLF profiling were conducted at an interval of 10m. The qualitative and quantitative interpretations of the VLF-EM data revealed twenty three (23) positions along the traverses that exhibited significant conductivities which are suggestive of thick and/or fractured overburden which are favourable structures for possible groundwater accumulation, these 23 positions were selected for further detailed investigation using the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique. The Twenty-three (23) VES stations were thereafter occupied employing the Schlumberger arrangement, with half-electrode spacing (AB/2) varying from 1-150m. The quantitative interpretation of the obtained VES data were carried out using the  curve-matching and computer iteration techniques. The 3-layer (A and H); 4-layer (HK, KH, KQ and QH); 5-layer (HKH); 6-layer (AKHK and KHKH) and 7-layer (HKHKH) depth sounding curves were derived from the area. The 4-Layer type curve is predominant with 25% occurrence. The geoelectric sections mapped-out five lithologic units; including the topsoil; the weathered layer; the partly weathered/fractured basement, the fractured basement and the fresh basement. From the integrated consideration of the geoelectric parameters and inferred aquifer characteristics of the study area, it becomes clearer that the following VES postions are recommendable for the development of good yielding groundwater development schemes in order of priority,VES 20 ,  VES 12 , VES 18 ,  VES 10 , VES 8 ,  VES 7  and VES 15. Keywords: Traverses, Depth Sounding Curves, geoelectric sections, VES stations, aquifer units, borehole

Effects of PID Controller on Performance of Dish Antenna Position Control for Distributed Mobile Telemedicine Nodes

Introduction of telemedicine into developing nation’s healthcare delivery scheme could be a solution to a number of challenges facing the scheme including acute shortage of medical personnel. Because of distribution and mobility nature of the system combined with Nigeria’s large land mass, the resulting propagation delay will be large which may lead to system poor quality of performance or instability if the system is not compensated. This study aimed at assessing the effects of introducing Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller into the control of the position of dish antenna mounted on distributed mobile telemedicine nodes within Nigeria when the link is via Nigcomsat-1R. The system closed loop composite transfer function was obtained and subjected to unit step forcing function which then yielded time domain parameters. There was reduction in the value of system time domain parameters obtained for PID controller compensated system compared to uncompensated system. Based on the value of the system time domain parameters obtained from the simulation, introduction of PID controller into this system has improved the system response significantly

Anatomic study of the morphology of the right and left coronary arteries

Arising from the aorta, the right (RCA) and left (LCA) coronary arteries provide the arterial supply to both the atria and the ventricles of the heart. An extensive literature review revealed that most studies have either evaluated the morphology of the RCA or the LCA independently. This study aimed to document the relationship between the morphology of the RCA and LCA using coronary angiograms. In addition, variations such as split or double RCA and an absent LCA were documented. A review of 500 coronary angiograms was conducted and the RCA and LCA were classified according to their branching patterns and arterial dominance. The most prevalent branching pattern of the LCA was bifurcation (in 65.8%; 329/500), while trifurcation and quadrifurcation occurred in 20.4% (102/500) and 1.6% (8/500), respectively. The LCA was absent in 11.8% (59/500) of cases with the bifurcation and trifurcation of its branches in 10.8% (54/500) and 1.4% (7/500), respectively. The splitting of the RCA occurred in 4.2% (21/500) of the angiograms. A split RCA with concomitant absent LCA was documented in 1.2% (6/500) of the angiograms. The RCA and LCA were dominant in 77.2% (386/500) and 9.8% (49/500) of cases, respectively, whereas co-dominance occurred in 13% (65/500) of the sample examined. In most cases where a split RCA was present, the RCA was found to be non-dominant. With the advent of coronary arteriography, a comprehensive understanding of coronary arterial anatomy and their anomalies has become essential

Geophysical Investigation for Aquifer Potential Assessment and Groundwater Development at EKSU Staff Quarters GRA Ado Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria

Very-Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and Electrical resistivity methods for  reconnaissance and detailed geophysical studies respectively have been carried out within the Ekiti-State University Staff Quarters at Onigari GRA area of Ado-Ekiti. The study’s objectives include amongst others to detect drillable points for groundwater abstraction boreholes in order to frontally address the inherent problem of scarce water supply for uses by the university staff and their families living within the quarters. Seventeen (17) East-West traverses were established along where VLF profiling were conducted at an interval of 10m. The qualitative and quantitative interpretations of the VLF-EM data revealed twenty three (23) positions along the traverses that exhibited significant conductivities which are suggestive of thick and/or fractured overburden which are favourable structures for possible groundwater accumulation, these 23 positions were selected for further detailed investigation using the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique. The Twenty-three (23) VES stations were thereafter occupied employing the Schlumberger arrangement, with half-electrode spacing (AB/2) varying from 1-150m. The quantitative interpretation of the obtained VES data were carried out using the  curve-matching and computer iteration techniques. The 3-layer (A and H); 4-layer (HK, KH, KQ and QH); 5-layer (HKH); 6-layer (AKHK and KHKH) and 7-layer (HKHKH) depth sounding curves were derived from the area. The 4-Layer type curve is predominant with 25% occurrence. The geoelectric sections mapped-out five lithologic units; including the topsoil; the weathered layer; the partly weathered/fractured basement, the fractured basement and the fresh basement. From the integrated consideration of the geoelectric parameters and inferred aquifer characteristics of the study area, it becomes clearer that the following VES postions are recommendable for the development of good yielding groundwater development schemes in order of priority,VES 20 ,  VES 12 , VES 18 ,  VES 10 , VES 8 ,  VES 7  and VES 15. Keywords:Traverses, Depth Sounding Curves, geoelectric sections, VES stations, aquifer units, borehole