Impact of Job Stress on the Job Performance of Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps Members.

This study assessed the impact of job stress on job performance among workers of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC). Job stress was measured by the Job-Related Tension Index (JTI) developed by Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal (1964) and job performance was measured by the Role Based Performance Scale (RBPS) developed by Welbourne, Johnson and Erez (1998).The sample for the study consisted of 300 participants, comprising of 185 males and 115 females. Participants were selected using the convenience sampling method from the population of NSCDC workers. And results of the analyses of data collected indicated that job stress positively influenced job performance. Additionally, it was found that age, gender and years of experience neither independently not interactively influenced job performance. Discussion of results was in line with previous literature and it was recommended that organizations should foster functional stress to trigger moderate anxiety for higher performance while simultaneously avoiding over stressing workers to guide against redundancy and lower job performance. Keywords: Job stress, job performance, NSCDC workers, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Patents and the trans-pacific partnership: How TPP-style intellectual property standards may exacerbate the access to medicines problem in the East African Community

Least developed countries (LDCs) generally enjoy some exemptions under the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Despite these exemptions, patents continue to pose a major challenge to access to affordable medicines in the East African Community (EAC), especially with respect to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The EAC is a regional economic bloc made up of six states, with five of the member states currently ranked as LDCs by the United Nations. This article argues that the implementation of the patent protection standards following the model adopted in the Trans-Pacific Partnership is likely to further exacerbate the access to medicines conundrum of the EAC

Perceived Benefits of Improved Practices in Pre Harvest Tomato Production among Farmers in Afijio Local Government Area, Oyo State

This study was designed to investigate the perceived benefits of improved practices in pre-harvest tomato production among farmers in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select respondents in the study area, with the aid of structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential (PPMC) statistics were used to analyze the data. Majority of the respondents (88.5%) perceived that it has lots of benefits. Also, 82.7% perceived that improved practices minimize post-harvest losses on a medium scale.  Furthermore, 85.6% perceived that improved practices minimize disease infestation on a medium scale, while 84.6% perceive it protects tomato from decaying. Also, 76.9% of the respondents perceive that improve practices helps to retain nutritional content of tomato on a medium scale.  Also, the category of the respondents that had high awareness considered the improved practices to be highly beneficial to them.  The study further concluded that the benefits derived by minority of the respondents influenced most of the respondents to have favorable perception to derivable benefits embedded in improved practices of tomato in the study area.  In addition, the result also revealed significant relationship between awareness and perceived benefits of improved practices in pre-harvest tomato production (r=0.280, p=0.004).  The study therefore recommended that the extension agents should properly train the farmers on the benefits and use of these improved practices. Adequate information should be made available to the tomato farmers on the most recent developments in tomato farming and production (pre harvest and post-harvest). The government should be able to provide adequate and glitch free loan to the farmers to enable them utilize the information and training

A Floristic Assessment of Woody Plant Diversity in Secondary Forest, Ile-Ife Nigeria: A Proactive Step to Monitoring the Diversity Loss and Degradation

Loss of biodiversity has been recognized as one of the main threats to the forest ecosystem. This study examined the diversity and conservation status of woody species in the secondary forest of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria using six permanent plots. All woody species were completely enumerated, and identified; their girths at breast height were measured at 1.3 m above buttress. Biodiversity status was assessed using Shannon-Wiener diversity, evenness of distribution, Sorrenson index of similarity and species importance value index. There were 77 tree species distributed into 62 genera and 30 families. The most abundant species were Celtis zenkeri and Lecaniodiscus cupanioides, while the most abundant families were Moraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and   Fabaceae. The tree species density ranged from 508 – 1132 plants per hectare. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index (1.83 to 3.50), evenness (0.483 – 0.741) and the basal area (6.06 – 25.73 m2 ha-1) were high in the forest. However, Celtis mildbraedii is critically endangered, while Garcina kola, Mallotus oppositifolus and Ricinodendron heudelotii are vulnerable. This study provides baseline diversity data for the conservation of woody species in the forest and concludes that this secondary forest is a potential biodiversity hub if properly managed. It will also play a key role in fashioning out realistic, appropriate, and effective conservation strategies that will enhance the restoration and management of the floristic composition of the secondary forest

Perception of Agricultural Extension Agents on the Privatization of Service Delivery towards the Rural Fish Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract The withdrawal of the World Bank sponsorship of agricultural develop ment programmes (ADP) in Nigeria and the decline in both the funding and overall organization and administration of extension has posed a great challenge as regards effective means of funding extension delivery, privatization of extension service delivery has been considered lately as the only option. The study therefore examined the perception of agricultural extension agents on the privatization of services delivery towards the fish farmers. The study was carried out in Ondo State, Nigeria. Samp le size of 92 respondents (extension agents) from the Ondo State Agricultural Develop ment Project (ODSADP) was used in the study. Data for the study were collected through the use of structured questionnaire. Data were analy zed using frequency counts, percentage, mean score, and Ch i-square. Most of the respondents (66.7%) were male, mean age of 45.1 years, 88.5% were married and 41.7% had Ph.D as the highest educational qualification, while the average working experience of the respondents was10 years. Also, 64.6% of the respondents agreed that the privatization can ensure fish farmers have greater access to fishing inputs, 59.4% agreed that privatization will improve efficiency and effect iveness of extension agents while 57.3% agreed that privatization will improve employ ment opportunities for trained extension personnel. Personal characteristics of extension agents and their perception on privatization of service delivery towards rural fish farmers are not significant (P >0.05). The study concludes that issues on privatization of extension should therefore be given adequate consideration by policy makers, stakeholders in extension service delivery and the government before final decision is taken on whether or not to privatize agricultural extension services in the State

Evidences of Metasomatic Processes During the Emplacement of Pan-African Granites in the Eastern End of the West African Craton.

Pan African Orogeny has been linked with pervasive potash metasomatism that has affected most parts of the Precambrian Basement Complex of Nigeria. The Nigerian Basement Complex is characterized by several granitoid intrusives marking the Pan-African orogeny (600 Ma). They are seen emplaced within schists and migmatites. These rocks reflect syn- to post collisional environment.The Ilesha schist belt is studied to investigate which of metasomatic or magmatic processes is the more dominant process that affected the emplacement of rocks of the Nigerian basement complex.Aluminium saturation index (ASI) shows that these granites range from metaluminous – peraluminous. Tectonic model reveals that they are calc-alkaline products of continental collision events. Petrographic studies show typical composition of quartz, alkali feldspar, biotite and hornblende as the major mineral phases. Both geochemical and petrographic data infer phase changes that may be connected with potash metasomatism. Key words: Older granites, Potash metasomatism, Microcline, Pan African orogeny and Ostwald ripening

Analyses of Willingness to Practice Agriculture as Enterprise among Students of Tertiary Institutions in Ibadan, Oyo State

This study investigated willingness to practice agriculture as enterprise among students of tertiary institutions in Oyo State. A Multi-stage sampling technique was used to elicit data from 112 selected respondents in the study area. Data were collected using a well structured questionnaire and analyzed with the use of descriptive (frequency counts, percentages, and mean) and inferential statistic (Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation). The results showed that majority of the respondents were within the age range of 21-25 years, with majority males, whom were single in the study area. Furthermore, results revealed that majority of the respondents had low interest in agricultural enterprise preference and high constraint associated with respondents willingness to engage in agricultural enterprise in the study area. Majority of the respondents had positive willingness to practice agricultural enterprise in the study area. There was significant relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of the respondents except Gender and Marital status. It is therefore recommended that government should motivate agricultural students by providing Youth Empowerment programmes and services directed to improve their willingness to engage in agricultural enterprises

Chemical composition and antioxidant potentials of Kigelia pinnata root oil and extracts

The chemical composition of Kigelia pinnata root oil extracted with n-hexane was analyzed by GC/GCMS. The antioxidant potential of the oil was compared to that of ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the root. UV and IR spectroscopic techniques were used to carry out partial characterization of the oil and extracts. The free radical scavenging activity by spectrophotometric assay on the reduction of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was examined while the total antioxidant activity (TAA) and relative antioxidant activity (RAA) were compared with standard antioxidant, α-tocopherol. The antioxidant activity (which correlated with the total phenolic content of the extracts) was assumed to be from the total phenolic content of the extracts. TAA was found to be higher in methanol extract (at 0.25 mg/mL). We hereby report for the first time the major component of the oil from the root of Kigelia pinnata to be elaidic acid (56.12 %). It is a reported toxicant which thereby underscores the risk in the use of the plant in traditional therapies