Settlement of Trade Disputes: Nigeria’s Labour Court in Perspectives

The fabric of any society rests on the interaction of people and the denomination of value exemplified in the exchange of goods and services. Prominent in this exchange, is the engagement of labour by the employer, in a relationship broadly identified as involving a contract of service. Typically, unresolved conflicts in divergent interests of employer and employee yield disputes. The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, as a specialized labour court with a chequered history, has been vested with far reaching jurisdiction and powers under the Constitution and statute, with responsibility for justice between parties even at the expense of evidentiary rules and technicalities, consonant with national laws and international standards and best practices. By some default, the court in its present form, serves as both court of first and last resort, making it suspect. The challenge is for the court not to transform into one where the interests of labour, both real and imaginary, must be protected at all cost. Key Words: Trade Disputes, Industrial Court, Jurisdiction, Dispute Resolutio

Law of Rape in Nigeria and England: Need to Re-Invent in the Twenty-First Century

This paper examines the law of rape in England and Wales, and Nigeria, showing the necessity for an urgent change in Nigeria’s domestic laws on rape - a form of gender-based violence - which is static in comparison with the ever changing law in England and Wales, from which the laws in Nigeria originated. The law on rape in Nigeria is too archaic and inadequate to deal with the rising cases of sexual violence in the country, underlined by the lethargy of the lawmakers to reinvent the law on the subject.

Towards a preferred housing environment: examining satisfaction elements outside a dwelling unit among Ahmadu Bello University (Kongo Campus) staff, Nigeria

In this paper, we built upon findings from a housing satisfaction study (considering largely those elements which are external to the dwelling unit) among two categories of university staff (academic and non-academic). Responses are gathered from university owned housing developments at four (4) different locations as well as private accommodations. 224 households (that is 20% of the entire staff population as at July 2011) were studied by selecting one out of five houses in each of the identified clusters. The study found that, the macro environmental effects of safety and security positively affects occupants’ overall satisfaction. However, although soft exterior landscaping is found to be generally poor in all the studied housing developments, it has no effect on the overall satisfaction. The scenario reflects the contextual level of socio-economic development; hence the study highlights the need to emphasize basic elements, particularly in response to the growing interest in fostering sustainable development through reduced material consumption

Gonadal Histo-Morphology and Antifertility Effects of Bonny Light Crude Oil in Male Rats

The study investigated the antifertility effects of ingestion of Bonny Light Crude Oil (BLCO) at a dose of 0.5, 1.5 2.5 and 3.5ml/kg body weight in adult male rats following oral administration for 60days. The animals were sacrificed, the epididymal spermatozoa expressed out and a homogenate made for semen analysis. The testes were removed for histological processing. The sperm count was significantly reduced (21.80±0.57, 19.00±0.85, 16.20±0.00 and 12.90±0.99 million/ml respectively) when compared to their corresponding control groups 26.30±1.27, 25.50±0.71, 26.70±2.69, and 25.60±0.57 million/ml) at P?0.05. Degenerative and necrotic changes of cells in the seminiferous tubules and interstitium  was observed in the histology of the testes. BLCO has adverse effects on male reproductive system. This may imply possible antifertility for male rats exposed to BLCO ingestion. Keywords: Bonny light crude oil, testes, antifertility, male ra

Assessment of cotton-seed (Gossypium species) meal as ingredient in the diet of Clarias gariepinus juveniles

The effect of feeding graded levels of cotton GossypiumSpp. seed meal as an inclusion in the diet of Clariasgariepinus juveniles for growth performance was analysed in comparison with the conventional commercial fish feed. Six experimental rations formulated were cotton-seed Gossypium spp. meal replaced fish meal at graded levels of 20%, 30%, 40% 50%, and 100% and were fed to Clarias gariepinus juveniles for 56 days. The experiment was conducted in six outdoor concrete tanks in the Department of Biological Sciences Garden, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Data for each parameter were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the means for various experimental diets were compared for significant differences at 0.05% level of inclusion. The results showed that fish fed with diet contained 20% cottonseed meal (D1) gave the best Body Weight Gain (81.28g), Specific Growth Rate (2.23), and Condition Factor (1.49), while diet contained 30% cottonseed meal (D2) gave the least Weight Gain (49.67g), Specific Growth Rate (1.58) Conversion Ratio (3.64) and Condition factor (0.79). The results were significantly different (p<0.05) for both growth and feed utilization parameters. Therefore, cotton-seed meal can be used as a replacement for fish meal at 20% level of inclusion. The results established significant reduction in production cost while optimal production is achieved.Keywords: Cotton-seed (Gossypium species), Diet, Growth performance, Clariasgariepinus juvenile

Appraisal of Asphalt Concrete with Coal Bottom Ash as Mineral Filler

This study was conducted to access the performance of asphalt concrete produced with coal bottom ash as partial replacement of cement in the mineral filler. The Marshal Mix design method of hot mix asphalt (HMA) samples preparation and testing was adopted. Fifteen (15) samples of HMA compacted and used for volumetric and stability testing at a varying percentage of bitumen contents (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, and 7.0%,) following the Asphalt Institute and Nigeria General Specification for Road and Bridges (NGSRB) approach for determining optimum bitumen content (OBC). An Optimum bitumen content of 5.5 % was obtained and used throughout the study. Another set of 15 samples of the HMA were prepared and compacted at varying percentage replacement of cement with CBA in the order of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35% by volume of cement to determine the optimum dosage of the coal bottom ash that will satisfy the requirements for the strength and durability of wearing course of flexible pavement. The Marshall Stability, flow, and the volumetric properties test results obtained indicated that the samples prepared with 25% CBA as filler with OBC of 5.5% satisfied the requirements of the NGSRB for wearing course of flexible pavement. Hence, the addition of up to 25% CBA by volume of cement in asphalt concrete can reduce the consumption of cement and provide a proper means of CBA disposal

Stability of a monovalent rotavirus vaccine after exposure to different temperatures observed in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Background: Rotavirus infection and its associated hospitalization of children less than 5 years old in middle- and low-income countries remains a public health challenge. We hypothesized that the Rotarix®potency is affected by non-optimal temperatures which translates into reduced vaccine effectiveness in these settings.Objective: To assess the effect of non-optimal temperatures on the potency of the Rotarix® vaccine in South Africa.Methods: Rotarix® vaccine was exposed to temperatures reflecting breaches in the cold chain. Vero cells (ATCC CCL-81) grown in a 24-well tissue culture plates were infected with Rotarix® vaccine viruses after exposure to non-optimal temperatures and the potency of the vaccine was determined using the plaque assay. Results: Exposure of the Rotarix® vaccine to seasonal temperatures in KwaZulu-Natal for 6 hours and to extreme temperatures of 40oC for 72 hours as well as to -20oC and -80oC for 12 hours did not affect the potency of the vaccine beyond its expected standard of >7 x 105 PFU/ml.Conclusion: This study revealed that the Rotarix® vaccine remains potent even after exposure to non-optimal temperatures. However, this study only explored the effect of a constant ‘adverse’ temperature on vaccine potency and not the effect of temperature fluctuations.Keywords: Monovalent rotavirus vaccine, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Effects of Load Ratio Variation on the Safety of Timber Concrete Composite Floor

This paper presents the structural reliability appraisal of timber concrete composite floor designed in line with Eurocode 5 (2004) and Eurocode 2, (2004). Limit state expressions for timber concrete composite floor subdued to tension, bending, tension and bending, shear and compression were generated and their entailed reliability degrees were assessed. The basic variables associated with the design are considered to be random variables with their properties espoused from the previous studies. Reliability analysis was performed using reliability mothed i.e. first order reliability method (FORM) owing to assess the safety levels of the composite floor structural elements by considering six different modes of failure. The analysis comprised of different selected species of softwood, hard wood and glue laminated timber whose strength class were obtained from BS EN 338, 2008 and concrete of strength class C30 from Eurocode 2. The results obtained disclosed that safety indices decrease as the load ratio steps up that led to cut down of the strength. It was detected that timber with strength classes D70, D50 and C50 are safe against all different failure modes looked at except C50 and D50 against shear failure at load ratio of 1, 1.5 and 2. It was conclude timber of strength classes D70, D50 and C50 would reliable for the construction of composite floor i.e. timber-concrete floor