Feyerabend’s Philosophy of Science and its Implications for National Development in Africa

The thesis of this article is that Feyerabend’s philosophy of science, hinged on his pillar of ‘anarchism’ and ‘anything goes’ can serve as a challenge for scientific and technological development in Africa. Africa has been largely tagged as ‘underdeveloped’ because she has failed to chart her own course of scientific development, and has somewhat felt satisfied playing the dependent role. This work agrees with Feyerabend’s thesis that knowledge (scientific) is a local commodity designed to solve local problems. Using the textual and contextual methods we contend that every culture, certainly including Africa, can harness her own indigenous scientific categories and develop from her own local perspective. We reason with Feyerabend that Western science is not sacrosanct, nor its method of rationality the only path toward development. The work reveals that Feyerabend’s views, though challenging and somewhat intriguing, are very congenial to our African experience. Thus we conclude by adumbrating some positive implications that his views have for the Africans, especially towards scientific and even technological development

The Morality of Same Sex Marriage: How Not to Globalize a Cultural Anomie

The question of the morality of same-sex marriage has become quite prevalent in the 21st century. Some western cultures believe that same-sex marriage is morally defensible and can be legalized. Using the human right fad and political might, they subtly engineer the globalization of this phenomenon. This move has been strongly opposed mostly by ‘developing’ nations and some churches across nations. The argument of such group is that same-sex marriage is immoral, unnatural and ungodly. This paper defends the thesis that same-sex marriage cannot morally be defended successfully. It shows that same-sex marriage is not exclusively a western phenomenon but has been in practice for a long time even in some African cultures; though in some subtle way. It argues that in whatever way it is practiced same-sex marriage is a cultural anomie: and more or less an elixir and alibi, aimed at concealing immorality. The paper concludes that it is wrong for some cultures to attempt a globalization of this cultural anomie especially by hinging its morality on the human right doctrine. The paper is expository, speculative, critical and evaluative in approach

Fiscal Decentralization and Social Outcomes in Nigeria

This research is motivated by the increased attention in recent times to the delivery of public services and the role of decentralization. The study explores the linkage between fiscal decentralization, infant mortality rate and literacy rate. It is based on a panel of the 36 states and federal capital territory in Nigeria. Socioeconomic indicators such as infant mortality rate, literacy rate and the ratio of state government revenue to federal government revenue, which is used as a proxy for the level of fiscal decentralization, are employed. Findings demonstrate that higher fiscal decentralization is consistently associated with lower mortality rate and higher literacy rate; benefits from fiscal decentralization are not particularly important for states with high population and low internally generated revenue; the internally generated revenue enhances literacy rates and reduces infant mortality. This underscores the need to improve state autonomy and reduce dependence on transfers from the centre. On the whole, the research findings provide useful information for the ongoing fiscal reforms in Nigeria

Electrochemical Investigation of the Inhibitory Action of Ciprofloxacin Drug on the Acid Corrosion of Mild Steel

Electrochemical investigation of mild steel corrosion in acidic medium inhibited by an environmentally safe and commercially available low cost drug, ciprofloxacin, was carried out at room temperature. The results obtained show that the drug provided a good protection for mild steel in the acid medium investigated. The inhibition efficiency was found to increase with a corresponding increase in the concentration of the drug. The adsorption process that facilitated the inhibition mechanism was found to follow the Langmuir’s adsorption isotherm. Keywords: linear polarization resistance (LPR), corrosion inhibition, mild steel, ciprofloxacin dru

Hazardous Waste Management: An African Overview

Hazardous waste materials and their management are of prime importance to society. This article gives an overview of the current practices that relate to hazardous waste management. It looks at issues concerning the transboundary or international movement of harmful materials from industrialized nations to the developing and emerging world. This study has shown that Africa, most notably Nigeria, has become a dumping ground for hazardous waste materials as a result of the high importation of scrap computers and electronic devices into the country. The public health hazards, such as birth deficiencies, cancers, and even infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B and C, respectively, have been traced to the improper management of these waste materials. The review highlights a few models on hazardous waste management as developed by previous literature, which gives a hierarchy, ranging from source reduction, recycling, and landfill options. Studies reveal that hazardous waste management in Africa must revolve around wealth creation, economic, and environmental sustainability. The study provided evidence that the recycling option has high potentials in the areas of energy recovery. The data collected show South Africa to be the most advanced in the African continent in the field of hazardous waste management. For a sustainable environment, keen attention must be paid to hazardous waste management globally

An Inquiry into the Moral Question of Xeno-Transplantation

The practice of cross species transplantation has generated enormous controversies over time. Recently the lack of human organ donors has prompted an intense research effort throughout the medical community towards the possibility for animal organ transplants. Taking advantage of the overwhelming success of human to human transplantation, xeno-transplantation aims to reduce the demand-supply gap for organs. This paper examined whether the potentiality of saving thousands of lives should annihilate the ethical implications of xeno-transplantation and whether the possibility of ethical and health problems should overshadow the benefits of this new technology

Education Policy in Nigeria: the Bane of Her Practice of Functional Vocational Education

Poor policy formulation as opined by few individuals has little or no influence on the practice of functional vocational education. This paper therefore sought to find out whether it is true that policy formulation does not significantly influence the practice of functional vocational education in Nigeria as policy implementation does. Two null hypotheses and research questions respectively were formulated to guide the study. A five-point Likert Scale and a 10-item questionnaire were designed for data collection. Mean statistics was used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. It was found out that policy formulation was equally a major cause of doom in the practice of functional vocational education in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that equal degree of importance should be given to policy formulation and policy implementation

Financial Control Measures and the Enhancement of Administrative Effectiveness of Principals in Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study was focused on the determination of the relationship between financial control measures and enhancement of administrative effectiveness of secondary school Principals in Akwa Ibom State. The choice of this topic was necessitated by the fact that despite the continuous personnel auditing conducted in the public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, financial mismanagement still persists. The population of the study was 227 principals from the 227 public secondary schools in the state. The sample size for the study was 192 using stratified random sampling technique for the selection. Eighteen-item structured questionnaire designed by the researcher was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by five experts. Three (3) null hypotheses were tested. The major findings were that the principals have not adopted budget preparation, budget implementation and internal auditing for the control of school finances. It was found that there is significant relationship between the variables and principals’ administrative effectiveness. The recommendations made based on the findings were that (1) State Secondary Educational Board should instruct principals to prepare annual budget of their schools. (2) State Secondary Education Board should properly monitor the implementation of the school budget. (3) Internal auditors should be sent by the Ministry of Education to Schools.Keywords: Control, Measures, Enhancement, EffectivenessLWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 8(4), 70-77, 201

Electrochemical Linear Polarization Studies of Amodiaquine Drug as a Corrosion Inhibitor for Mild Steel in 0.1M HCL Solution

The effect of amodiaquine on corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid was investigated by linear polarization resistance (LPR) electrochemical method. The results indicated that corrosion inhibition efficiency and degree of surface coverage were increased with rise in the concentration of amodiaquine. The inhibitor followed monolayer chemisorption since it obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Keywords: linear polarization resistance (LPR), amodiaquine drug, corrosion inhibitor, mild steel, HC