Presidential Term Limits in African post-Cold War Democracies: The Role of Political Elites

Why have attempts to repeal presidential term limits succeeded in some African countries and failed in others? What measures and pressures were required to demand and enforce presidential term limits compliance? The lack of precise and effective strategy to enforce term limits compliance seems to expose term limits to incipient repeals by incumbent presidents in Africa. My field observation in various African democracies shows that the parliament, the judiciary, democracy movements and the international community, though occasionally influential, have not played a decisive role in enforcing term limits compliance in Africa. Their roles rather appear to be dependent on elite dissidence, resistance, sponsorship and sometimes manipulation. My fieldwork in Zambia, Nigeria and Malawi reveals the critical influence and role of political elites in mobilizing and converging pressures to demand and enforce compliance. These cases further find that a compliance outcome becomes possible if individual political elites choose to resist any incumbent president seeking to repeal term limits. The ability of dissenting elites to provide an alternative platform for the convergence of other pressures raise the cost of repression for presidents and force them to compliance. Since othe pressures achor around elite dissidence, the position of some political elites either for or against the removal of term limits explains why some presidents have succeeded and why others failed in repealing term limits in Africa

Common Genitourinary Fistulas in Rural Practice: Treatment and Management

Acquired genitourinary fistulas are common in rural practice. They are pathological communications between the urinary and genital tracts, or between either of the tracts and gastrointestinal tract or skin. Vesicovaginal fistula is the commonest and most devastating. They may result from prolonged and obstructed labor, injuries during obstetric, gynecologic, pelvic and urologic procedures, circumcision, fall from heights, road traffic accidents and female genital mutilation. They present as urinary leakage with characteristic odor. Diagnoses are mainly clinical and confirmed by dye tests, contrast radiography and endoscopy. Treatment is individualized according anatomic sites and etiology. Timing of repair is of essence; delayed repair for obstetric and early for focal injuries. Multidisciplinary team approach and cooperation is encouraged in the management of some of these cases. The sustenance of the 2 – way referral system is emphasized in cases beyond the scope of rural practice. Repairs when undertaken by skilled compassionate fistula surgeons with attention to principles of fistula management and surgical treatment, success rate can approach 90%. Interposition of vascularized grafts have improved success rate. The burden of this condition will be reduced through integration of rural practitioners in the preventive strategies of health education of the public and girlchild; improvement of healthcare, education and transportation infrastructures

An improvised underwater seal drainage system.

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An Investigation of Potable Water Supply Problems in Akinima Community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognizes clean water as a major factor that determines development and promotes livelihood and human well-being, thus it set time-bound target for overcoming non –availability and non-potability of drinking water. A Scenario that is prevalent in developing countries including Nigeria. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potability of drinking water in Akinima Community, a rural community in Ahoada West Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State. The community like many other rural communities in Nigeria has no pipe-borne water supply. The major sources of drinking water are harvested rainwater, water from boreholes, and rivers. These sources are indentified to have varied problems of contamination and pollution, which range from high levels of chemical and microbiological contamination of harvested rainwater and rivers respectively, to saline intrusion into river water sources. Point sources and non-point sources of water contamination/pollution are common. With the current state of affairs meeting the MDGs target of “Halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water” is a mirage. The research design for the study is basically survey design and experimental design. The instruments used for investigation are questionnaire survey, face to face interview and observation. Experimentation was done in the laboratory to investigate physical, chemical and microbiological samples of drinking water from the households in Akinima community. Both primary and secondary data are applied for the study. The sample size is statistically determined using Taro Yamani’s formula for a finite population. The basic sampling unit (BSU) is the household. Sampling techniques applied are both systematic sampling and random sampling for selection of house-types and households respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics are applied to investigate the data. Major findings revealed that the three major drinking water sources are not safe for drinking, because the values are significantly difference from the National Drinking Water Quantity Standard (NDWQS) 2007. The paper recommends the development of technologies that should harness rainwater harvesting and the introduction of active Civil Society Organization (CSOs) interventions/participation in rural water supply in Akinima Community among others

Human hookworm infection in the 21st century.

The scientific study of human hookworm infection began at the dawn of the twentieth century. In recent years, there have been dramatic improvements in our understanding of many aspects of this globally widespread parasite. This chapter reviews recent advances in our understanding in the biology, immunology, epidemiology, public health significance and control of hookworm, and to look forward to the study of this important parasite in the 21st century. Advances in molecular biology has lead to the identification of a variety of new molecules from hookworms, which have importance either in the molecular pathogenesis of hookworm infection or in the host-parasite relationship; some are also promising vaccine targets. At present, relatively little is known about the immune responses to hookworm infection, although it has recently been speculated that hookworm and other helminths may modulate specific immune responses to other pathogens and vaccines. Our epidemiological understanding of hookworm has improved through the development of mathematical models of transmission dynamics, which coupled with decades of field research across multiple epidemiological settings, have shown that certain population characteristics can now be recognised as common to the epidemiology, population biology and control of hookworm and other helminth species. Recent recognition of the subtle, but significant, impact of hookworm on health and education, together with the simplicity, safety, low cost and efficacy of chemotherapy has spurred international efforts to control the morbidity due to infection. Large-scale treatment programmes are currently underway, ideally supported by health education and integrated with the provision of improved water and sanitation. There are also on-going efforts to develop novel anthelmintic drugs and anti-hookworm vaccines