YORUBA TRADITIONAL INSTITUTION AND MAINTENANCE OF LAWS AND ORDERS IN THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

Traditional institution was the most relevant institution in all the Yoruba towns and villages in the pre- colonial period. It represented the central point of the people’s cultural, social, economic, political and spiritual engagement. Traditional Yoruba rulers were the trustees of the various communities and also responsible for the general well- being of their people. For most of these functions to be achieved, there was the need for laws and orders to guide the action and day to day life of the people. The paper therefore sets to look at the roles played by the Yoruba traditional institution in the maintenance of these laws and orders. The paper articulates the structure of Yoruba traditional institution, the sources of their laws and the instruments used in the maintenance of the laws and orders. Historical analysis approach is explored in writing this paper.&nbsp

LABOUR UNIONS, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS AND THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN NIGERIA (A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)

Child labour in Nigeria has been a problem that is becoming alarming in the society and also in the international community. Its elimination remains a major source of concern to the labour unions and industrial relations circles of the nation. This paper tries to look at this problem by looking at labour unions power centrality, its largeness and density of population amongst other associations in the country, to build a framework of alliance and solidarity that shows its central role as the protector of the citizen’s right to work, to fair work and treatment of workers. This could be fully enhanced into alliances, and connected networks with the civic society organizations and other meaningful groups to eliminate this modern menace of child labour. We used a comparative study method in which we used the connectedness to power of some civic associations that can change government or persuade its decisions on quick measures that could be employed to eliminate child labour in the Nigerian society. We also tested the key argument that unions power, centrality and largeness has a significant and positive effects on government, in controlling socio economic policies for the common good. Union centered, union linked civic association’s networks and connectedness can be useful in mobilizing other groups and the civil society to strengthen forces in the pursuit of a quicker implementation of measures on the elimination of the use of child labour. We highlighted therefore the important role of labour unions with its connectedness, alliance and solidarity with civic society organization in holding the government responsible to making effective policies and being accountable to the education and growth of its children for future socio-economic and political development of this nation

Elucidating mechanisms of endophytes used in plant protection and other bioactivities with multifunctional prospects

Endophytes are abundant in plants and studies are continuously emanating on their ability to protect plants from pathogens that cause diseases especially in the field of agriculture. The advantage that endophytes have over other biocontrol agents is the ability to colonize plant's internal tissues. Despite this attributes, a deep understanding of the mechanism employed by endophytes in protecting the plant from diseases is still required for both effectiveness and commercialization. Also, there are increasing cases of antibiotics resistance among most causative agents of diseases in human beings, which calls for an alternative drug discovery using natural sources. Endophytes present themselves as a storehouse of many bioactive metabolites such as phenolic acids, alkaloids, quinones, steroids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids which makes them a promising candidate for anticancer, antimalarial, antituberculosis, antiviral, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritis, and immunosuppressive properties among many others, even though the primary function of bioactive compounds from endophytes is to make the host plants resistant to both abiotic and biotic stresses. Endophytes still present themselves as a peculiar source of possible drugs. This study elucidates the mechanisms employed by endophytes in protecting the plant from diseases and different bioactivities of importance to humans with a focus on endophytic bacteria and fungi

The Real Aims that Shape the Teaching of Practical Physics in Sub-Saharan Africa

Practical work is widely seen as an important element of the science curriculum. However, there is a long-standing debate about the educational aims of practical work and about why it is important. Aims suggested include the contributions that practical work can make to understanding, to the acquisition of professional and personal skills, and to motivation. However, several authors have argued that the actual contributions made are minimal and there is ongoing pressure to justify the continuing inclusion of practical work in a period when greater cost efficiency is required from all those involved in education. Such pressures are extreme in countries that face resource challenges. This study examines current views on the aims of practical physics teaching in sub-Saharan Africa. Data were gathered from staff and students in four countries across the region through surveys and interviews. A context was provided by observation of practice and inspection of background documents. The overt educational aims of the staff are consistent with previous analyses though there is a heightened priority given to the improvement of content knowledge and understanding. However, there are additional drivers of behaviour that, to a large extent, define the observed practice. These ‘pragmatic aims’ concern mainly the practicalities of running schools with limited material and staff resources but also arise from cultural expectations and societal needs. Although the formal data is derived from the secondary sector, it is of relevance to all educational levels

INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ON RESEARCH OUTPUT OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

This paper investigated the influence of ICT skills on the research output of academic librarians in public universities in the South-West, Nigeria. The study was guided by three objectives and three corresponding research questions. A survey research design method was adopted for the study. The total population for the study was two hundred and twenty (220) librarians in the South-West Nigerian universities. Hence, the total population was adopted. A questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. Two hundred and three (203) copies of the questionnaire were returned and used for the analysis. Data were analysed using descriptive (frequency count, tables, percentages, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential (simple linear regression) statistics. The results of the analysis revealed that academic librarians’ level of research output was moderate in quality and quantity. The result also showed that the level of ICT skills among academic librarians in public universities in South-West Nigeria was high. ICT skills have a positive and significant influence on research output among academic librarians in public universities in South-West, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that academic librarians should endeavour to publish more textbooks, journal articles, conference proceedings, monographs, book chapters, and technical reports, in high rated journals for more visibility

Influence of Steel and Bamboo Fibres on Mechanical Properties of High Strength Concrete

This paper evaluated the influence of steel and bamboo fibres on high strength concrete. Samples of concrete cubes, beams and cylinders cast with varying proportions of steel and bamboo fibres were subjected to compression, flexural and splitting tensile strength tests respectively. A total of sixty three cubes of 100mm x 100mm x 100mm, fourteen beams of 100mm x 100mm x 500mm, and cylinders of diameter 100 mm and length of 150 mm were tested. The results revealed that concrete containing 1.0% bamboo fibre produced the greatest effect on flexural strength (81% increase in strength), and also on splitting tensile strength (101% increase). However, it was discovered that bamboo fibre has little or no impact on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Steel fibre-reinforced concrete generally produced an appreciable increase in compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strengths than the bamboo fibre-reinforced concrete

Effect of Coulomb interaction on the band gap of NiO

The band theory and local density approximation LDA predict NiO to be a metal but experimentally this material is known to be an insulator. To overcome this problem, we employ the LDA+U (where U is the on-site Coulomb interaction) technique in order to get the true nature of the material. We observed an increase in the band gap of the material as we gradually increase the value of U. Our result was compared with other works and that of experimental result. Keywords: LDA+U; Electronic band gap; on-site Coulomb interactio

Unravelling the endophytic virome inhabiting maize plant

Endophytes are well-known for their symbiotic interaction with plants and their ability to promote plant growth by producing various metabolites. The most well-studied endophytes are bacteria and fungi. For generations, viruses were misnamed, and their symbiotic associations were ambiguous. Recent advances in omics techniques, particularly next-generation sequencing, have given rise to novel developments in the mutualistic relationships that exist between plants and viruses. Endogenous viruses have received a lot of attention in the animal world, but limited information exists on their functions and importance to plants. Therefore, endophytic viral populations inhabiting the root of a maize plant were assessed in this study for the first time using shotgun metagenomics. Complete DNA was extracted and sequenced using shotgun metagenomics from the maize roots in farming sites where organic fertilization (FZ), inorganic fertilization (CZ), and maize planted with no fertilization (NZ) are being practised in an experimental field. Our results identified 2 orders namely: Caudovirales (67.5%) and Herpesvirales (28.5%) which dominated the FZ site, although they do not show any significant difference (p > 0.05) across the sites. At the class level Microviridae, Phycodnaviridae, Podoviridae, Phycodnaviridae, and Poxviridae dominated the FZ site. Myoviridae and Podoviridae were more abundant in the CZ site, while only Siphoviridae predominated the inorganic fertiliser site (NZ). Diversity analysis revealed that viral populations were more abundant in organic fertilization (FZ). Taken together, this research adds to our understanding of the symbiotic integration of endophytic viruses with maize plants and that their abundance is affected by farming practices. In addition, their potential can be exploited to solve a variety of agronomic issues

Investigating the Convergence and Bit Error Rate of Adaptive Algorithms over Time Varying Rayleigh Fading Channel

The fastest growing segment of the communication industry is the mobile wireless communication system. However, the systems faced a lot of challenges such as delay in the propagation of signals due to time-varying channel and effect of high speed transmission over Rayleigh fading which result into Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) distortion. Least Mean Square (LMS) and Normalized Least Mean Square (NLMS) have been previously used to adapt the system using the step size, and Eigen value. In this paper, the adaptive Algorithms over a time-varying channel were compared using convergence level, Bit Error Rate (BER), and Mean Square Error (MSE). The system model consists of bits to symbol converter, 16-QAM modulator and Raised Cosine transmit filter, all at the transmitter, time-varying Rayleigh fading with Additive White Gaussian Noise added, and at the receiver are Raised Cosine Receive filter, 16-QAM demodulator, then each of the Adaptive LMS and NLMS filters which received delay from the Random integer generator, and the integer/symbol to bit converter at the output. The system model was simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK software package. The algorithms were evaluated using convergence MSE at SNR of 10, 20 and 30dB over different number of iterations to determine the convergence rate, constellation diagram and BER. The results obtained showed that the flat convergence level of LMS and NLMS at SNR of 10dB are obtained with 300 and 200 iterations respectively, while 200 and 150 iterations are obtained at SNR of 20 and at SNR 30, the convergence level are obtained at 150 and 100 iterations respectively. BER values of 0.1598 and 0.0858 are obtained for LMS and NLMS respectively. Therefore, LMS algorithm took more iterations than NLMS algorithm to achieve the same error, and also lower BER value of NLMS is also in agreement with the result. Keywords: Convergence, MSE, LMS algorithm, NLMS algorithm, Intersymbol interference (ISI)

Influence of Scheduled Analgesics Administration on Surgical Patients’ Pain Relief in Teaching Hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Pain is a serious problem for surgical patients during the post-operative period. Surgical patients receiving analgesics for pain management after surgery expect to achieve pain relief. However, current evidence revealed that some patients in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt do not achieve pain relief during the post-operative period. When patients do not achieve pain relief, they could become upset and frustrated with the care they received, leading to complaints and damage to the reputation of the teaching hospitals. Hence, this study determined the influence of scheduled analgesics administration on surgical patients’ pain relief in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.The study utilized survey research design to answer the objectives. The population was 3854 comprising 250 surgical nurses, 1802 surgical patients and 1802 medication charts in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt. Krejcie and Morgan table was used to obtain the sample size of 152 nurses, 317 patients and 317 medication charts. Multistage sampling method was used to select the participants. A validated questionnaire which was partly adapted, and medication charts audit checklist were used for data collection. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.74 to 0.90. A response rate of 87.1% over all was achieved. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Findings revealed that scheduled analgesics administration had significant positive influence on surgical patients’ pain relief (R2 = .075, β = 0.273, p <0.05, F(1, 144) = 11.626, p < 0.05). Further findings showed that on the basis of the criterion mean of 3.0, surgical patients’ level of pain relief was very high (M = 1.75). The study concludes that scheduled analgesics administration enhances surgical patients’ pain relief in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study recommends that surgical nurses should follow the analgesics schedule prescribed for patients after surgery to increase and sustain pain relief among surgical patients. Keywords: Pain relief, Scheduled analgesics administration, Surgical patients, Teaching Hospitals DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/88-07 Publication date: April 30th 202