The medium of instruction controversy: language utility or inefficiency?

The choice of a medium of instruction, an aspect of status planning, is a sensitive, political and social matter in a multilingual setting. This paper explores the controversy about medium of instruction. A survey of attitude towards medium of instruction in the basic educational level was conducted in the six geo-political regions of Nigeria. A total of 600 teachers and non- teachers responded to a set of questionnaire. The result shows that language utility highly influences the choice and acceptability of medium of instruction; in fact, it may enhance its functionality.                                                                                   &nbsp

An assessment of the use of workbook on the reading culture and performance of students in integrated science in Abeokuta, Nigeria

This study is aimed at assessing the use of workbook in the reading culture and performances of students in junior secondary schools in Abeokuta using Integrated Science. The workbook is a form of programmed learning or programmed instruction meant to supplement traditional classroom teaching. We hypothesized that there would not be significant differences  Questionnaires were administered to thirty teachers and thirty students. Students’ samples were chosen at random while the Integrated Science teachers available in the six schools selected for the project completed the teachers’ questionnaire. The data collected were subjected to t-test and correlation analysis. A significant difference was established in the reading culture (16.55 @ p≤ 0.5) and the academic performance (8.66 @ P ≤ 0.5 as assessed by teachers&12.041@ P ≤ 0.5 as assessed by students) of studentsbefore and after the introduction of workbook. It shows that the use ofworkbook is found to improve significantly the reading culture and the performance of students in Integrated Science. The use of workbook should be extended to other subjects in the school curriculum

Assessment of students’ reading culture in a Nigerian university: Waxing or waning?

This study assessed the trend of the reading culture of the students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria. The respondents’ level of study, preferred language skill, frequency and duration of reading, and types of materials read were examined. Using a descriptive survey design, data was collected from 509 students in the first and last years of study across eight colleges by means of a questionnaire. The findings revealed that the most preferred language activity was reading with a high percentage engaging in it daily. Most students only read to pass examinations as they hardly engaged in any reading outside school books. A relationship between the students’ level and their reading culture was established. Amongst other recommendations, students were encouraged to read magazines, novels, and other recreational materials in order to improve their reading habits

Peer-crtiquing as an effective strategy for teaching writing

The problem of Secondary School students’ poor performance in EnglishLanguage has been of concern to English Educators. More worrisome, is thepoor writing ability of learners of English Language.. Effort to solve this problem directs attention of scholars and educators to pedagogy of imparting knowledge. Collaborative emerged as one of the supplements of language teaching both in first and second language situations. This paper used peer critiquing,, an aspect of collaborative learning, as a teaching strategy and examined its effect on writing skill of some secondary school student in the second language situation. One hundred second year Senior Secondary School students drawn as samples from two schools in Ikenne Local Government of Ogun State, Nigeria were the research subjects. The results show that peer-critiquing has a positive effect on teaching quality and the performance of students, thus it is recommended for teaching writing skill

Chalazion, a Benign Eyelid Tumour – The Sagamu Experience

Aim: To study the demographic characteristics, pattern of presentation and type of treatment of chalazion in Sagamu, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted to review all the cases seen and diagnosed as chalazion in the eye clinic of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital [OOUTH], Sagamu between January 1997 and December 2007. Data was obtained from the clinic attendance register, the register of minor office procedure and the case files. The age, sex, pattern of presentation and type oftreatment given were recorded.Result: Ninety-seven cases (0.7%) out of a total of 13,605 new cases seen during the period under review were diagnosed as chalazion although 59 case records were available for review. There were 46 males and 51 females with a mean age of 25.3 years. Thirty-nine cases (40.2%) were between the ages of 21 and 30 years. Twenty-one cases (42.9%) presented with multiple chalazia while 32 cases (65.3%) had chalazion onlyin their upper eyelids. Forty-four cases (74.6%) were treated with incision and curettage.Conclusion: Chalazion is not a common ocular problem. Youngage at presentation and multiple lesions are significant findings. Surgery is the standard method of treatment

Eye injuries in children the Sagamu experience

Objective: To describe the pattern of eye injuries in children at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Nigeria.Methods: The records of all children 16years and below presenting with eye injuries to the Eye clinic between January 2007 and December 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. Demographic data, cause of injury, time of  presentation, the injured eye, visual acuity at presentation, diagnosis, intraocular pressure, treatment given, post treatment visual acuities at one week, one month and three months were obtained and analyzed using SPSS version 16.Results: A total of 131 case notes were available for analysis. The age range of affected children was 9months to16 years: mean (SD) - 8.56years(4.18).The male female ratio was 2:1. The majority of affected children were age 6- 10 years. The right eye was involved in 55.7% of cases. The most common agent of injury was stick (22.1%), followed by slap.Conclusion: Intensifying health education to the children, parents and teachers will go a long way in reducing ocular injuries and vision loss in children

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activities of 1-((5-Chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide

A new 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide was synthesized from methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate and ethylamine. The compound methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate was synthesized from methyl pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate and 5-chloro-4-chlorosulfonyl-1-ethyl-2-methyl-imidazole. The compounds were characterized based on FTIR, 1H, 13C NMR, and DEPT 135 analysis. Antimicrobial activities of the 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide against Gram-positive (methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis), Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae), and Candida albicans were carried out using the standard microbiological method. The newly synthesized 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide had no activities against the tested organisms. Keywords:    1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide; methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate; L-proline; ethylamine

Antimicrobial Activity of Zingiber Officinale and Allium Sativum on some Drug Resistant Bacterial Isolates

Ginger and garlic are very important and useful spices and are used as therapeutic agent against many pathological infections. Increasing multi-drug resistance of pathogens forces researchers to find alternative compounds for treatment of infectious diseases. In this study, the antimicrobial potency of ginger and garlic were investigated against four clinical bacterial isolates. Three types of ginger and garlic extracts (aqueous extract, methanol extract and ethanol extract) were assayed separately against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhi. The antibacterial activity was determined by well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of different bacterial species varied from 1.5625mg/ml to 5.0mg/ml with ginger extracts having the lowest and garlic extracts having the highest respectively. All tested bacterial were most susceptible to the garlic aqueous extract and showed poor susceptibility to the ginger aqueous extract. However, ginger extracts from the mean zone of inhibition have higher antimicrobial activity when compared to garlic extracts with exception to garlic aqueous extract. This study encourages the use of spices especially ginger and garlic as alternative or supplementary medicine to reduce the burden of high cost, side effects and progressively increasing drug resistance of pathogens

Effectiveness of Zero Energy Cooling Chambers by Tomato Marketers in Ogun State

The need to enhance the storability and the shelf life of tomato fruits brought about the development of zero energy cooling chambers (ZECC) for the use of tomato value chain actors. In view of this, this study evaluated the effectiveness of three different types of zero energy cooling chambers (ZECC) by tomato marketers in Ogun State. Structured interview schedule was employed to obtain primary data from 80 tomato marketers’ selected using multi stage sampling procedure. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that all (100%) the sampled marketers were females. The mean age was 41.9 years marketers, 98.8% of the marketers were married while 55.0% of the marketers had primary school certificate. All (100%) the marketers stored tomato using open shelf and all (100%) the marketers were not aware of the zero energy cooling chambers. All the marketers (100%) adjudged the brick-in-brick, pot-in-pot, tin-in-pot effective for maintaining fruit firmness, fruit colour, quality and shelf life extension. However, less than 5.0% of marketers are of the opinion that brick-in-brick and pot-in-pot were ineffective for reducing disease incidence. The study concluded that there is low level of awareness of ZECC and that the tomato marketers adjudged the ZECC as effective. It was therefore recommended that steps should be taken towards creating a nationwide awareness about the ZECC and also making the resources for constructing ZECC be made available. Keywords: Tomato, Post-Harvest, Effectiveness, Marketers, ZECC, Packaging

EVALUATION OF PLANTING PERIODS AND FERTILIZER TYPES ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CUCUMBER INTERCROPPED WITH PAWPAW VARIETIES

In a two phased field experiment conducted between 2006 and 2008 at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, the performances of cucumber (Cucumber sativus L.) var. Market-more introduced into pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) var: ‘Homestead selection’ and ‘Sunrise solo’ at the early, simultaneous and late times of introduction using 10 t/ha OMF as basal application was evaluated. Also in the mixture, the best fertilizer type involving 10 t/ha OMF or NPK 15:15:15 at 125 kg / ha / month using the zero (0 t/ha) application as control was determined. The factorial experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. The results indicated that except at early cucumber introduction, growth and yield depression occurred in the crop mixture compared to the sole in the main vine length, leaf area, number of fruits, fruit yield and relative yield total (RYT). The cucumber performance was better in juvenile pawpaw (one year old) than in mature pawpaw (two year old). Both early and simultaneous introductions under juvenile and mature pawpaw were significantly better than late introduction. The cucumber with OMF was higher than those with NPK treatment in main vine length (101.6 cm and 53.3 cm respectively) and both were significantly better than the control (38.6 cm), though plants with OMF and NPK both were not different in leaf area (4,844 and 4,874 cm2 respectively), while plants with NPK compared to OMF recorded higher number of fruits (16 and 14 respectively) and higher fruit yield (13.8 and 11.2 t/ha respectively). The LER > 1.0 recorded for both cucumbers in Sunrise or Homestead indicated yield advantages of the mixtures compared to the sole.Â