Leadership and Leadership Selection/Election 'Drafting' in Nigeria: A Study of Some Former Heads of State, Since 1966

This study aims to investigate the leadership and leadership selection/election ‘drafting’ system in Nigeria from 1966 to the present. It will analyse the leadership dynamics of the former heads of state and examine the various selection/election processes that have been employed over the past 54 years in order to identify and understand the core features of the Nigerian leadership system. The study will make use of both primary and secondary sources to examine the selection/election processes, the role of the military, the impact of external forces such as international organisations and regional powers, and the internal dynamics of key stakeholders such as political parties, religious groups and the electorate. Furthermore, the study will explore the implications of the leadership selection/election system in Nigeria and discuss the impact on key issues such as political stability, economic prosperity and security. The research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Nigerian leadership system and contribute to the broader understanding of leadership across the African continent

An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Inflation in Nigeria

This paper investigates the determinants of inflation in Nigeria between 1980 and 2012. The properties of time series variables were examined through the use of OLS, Augmented Dickey-Fuller technique in testing the unit root property of the series and Granger causality test of causation between inflation and money supply, government expenditure, exchange rate, and interest rate, cointegration and vector error correction techniques was also employed. The results of unit root suggested that all the variables in the model are stationary. Inflation is stationary at level while money supply, government expenditure, exchange rate and interest rate are stationary at first difference. The results of Causality suggested causation between inflation and some of the included variables. The Johansen cointegration result shows that there existed long run relationship between inflation and the included variables. The VEC error correction result also confirmed the existence of long run relationship between the variables of the model with only money supply and exchange rate causing interest rate. The OLS results revealed that money supply and interest rate influenced inflation positively, while government expenditure and exchange rate influenced inflation negatively. Therefore, a good performance of the economy in terms of price stability may therefore, be achieved by reducing money supply and interest rate and also increasing government expenditure and exchange rate in the country. A major policy implication of this study is that concerted effort should be made by policy makers to stabilize prices (inflation) by reducing money supply and interest rate as well as increasing government expenditure and exchange rate; most importantly increasing exchange rate and reducing interest rate. Key words: Inflation, effects, Error Correction Method, co-integration, money suppl

Study of the Geographically Weighted Regression Application on Climate Data

This study used Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR) technique to find spatial relationship between Elevation and climate (Rainfall, Temperature) in Northern Nigeria using climate (Rainfall, Temperature) data from weather stations from 1980 – 2010 obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (Nimet). From the results of the analysis it was shown that there is significant relationship between the elevation and climate variables (Rainfall, Tmax and Tmin). The study also shows that GWR has smaller residual sum of square than OLS in analysing the relationship between Elevation and Climate data. This may be due to the consideration of the spatial variation of the relationship over the study region. When mapping the results of GWR model it was observed that the effect of Elevation on climate variables appears to vary geographically Keyword: Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR), Ordinary Least square (OLS)

A Formal Synthesis of (3S, 4R) (-)-fermoxetine and (3S, 4R) (-)-paroxetine from Enantioselective Desymmetrisation of N-Benzyl Imides

Enantioselective reduction of N-benzyl 4-substituted glutarimides employing oxazaborolidine catalyst 3 derived from cis-1-amino-indan-2-ol occurred in moderate yield and excellent ee. This has led to the formal synthesis of two antidepressants (-)-fermoxetine 1 and (-)-paroxetine 2. Keywords: Enantioselective, desymmetrisation, imides, glutarimides, fermoxetine, paroxetin

FUEL-EFFICIENT VEHICLES AND PETROL CONSUMPTION IN THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR OF LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

The sustained growth in the economic activities and re-emergence of the middle-level income people in Nigeria have led to general increase in the number of personal vehicles on the roads. However, a large number of these are imported, fairly used vehicles, popularly called 'Tokunbo' in Nigeria. These vehicles are fuel inefficient because they consume fuel intensively. This paper investigated the effect of driving fuel-efficient vehicles on petrol consumption in the transportation sector of Lagos State. Data was collected from a valid sample of 1565 respondents selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. The result of a correlation analysis showed that fuel-efficient vehicles can significantly reduce petrol consumption in the transportation sector of the state. This finding is instructive and the paper suggested the need for policy makers in Nigeria to enunciate appropriate policies that would encourage majority of motorists, currently driving used and fuel inefficient vehicles, to switch to new and more fuel-efficient vehicles to reduce their fuel consumption and carbon footprints in the state

Phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of securidaca longipedunculata root against urinary tract infection pathogens

Urinary tract infection caused by bacteria leads to inflammation and over growth of uropathogens and prevalence of infection for both genders, but women is more vulnerable especially at the sexually active ages. But unfortunately, the continuous emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains brings most serious public health concerns. It is therefore, important to look for more alternative, effective, safer and safer treatments. The aim of the present study was to investigate antimicrobial activity of Securidaca longipedunculata root extracts against some human pathogenic bacteria and fungi using agar well diffusion method and agar dilution for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Phytochemical and acute toxicity studies were carried out using the standard methods. Phytochemicals which include alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, carbohydrates and triterpenes were detected in both aqueous and methanolic extracts. The antimicrobial results revealed that, the methanolic extract had promising antibacterial activity. For intense Escherichia coli was found to be the most susceptible bacteria in both methanol and aqueous extracts at 500mg/ml with inhibition zones of 20 mm and 16mm, Staphylococcus aureus was next most susceptible bacteria to methanol extract of the root with inhibition zone of 16 mm and MIC of 31.25 mg/ml respectively. The extracts does not showed activity against all the tested fungal isolates at lowest concentration 62.5 mg/ml. The LD50 of Securidaca longipedunculata was found to be greater than 5000 mg /kg and could be considered safe for consumption

Application of web 2.0 tools for the provision of library services for teaching, learning and research in Polytechnics

This study investigated the application of web 2.0 tools for the provision of library services for teaching, learning and research in Polytechnics. The researchers employed a descriptive survey method and a questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection.  The population of the study consisted of ninety one (91) library staff in polytechnic libraries in Edo and Rivers states. However, eighty four (84) library staff was found in their respective offices during the period of this study and were subsequently selected as the sample for the study using convenience sampling techniques. The data obtained from the copies of questionnaires retrieved from respondents were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages and mean to answer the research questions. Any item with a mean score of 2.5 and above was considered as an acceptable standard for judgment/ decision making in this study. The results indicated that social networking sites and instant messaging are the most used Web 2.0 applications utilized by the library staff. It was discovered in the study that the library staff in the polytechnic libraries in Edo and Rivers states did not use web 2.0 applications for the provision of library services to users rather for personal purpose to dissemination of information, for communication and for entertainment. The study therefore recommended that government and polytechnic management should be committed to library development by providing the necessary infrastructure and facilities to enable polytechnic libraries render 21st century services to their patrons and the entire polytechnic community