Standard Theories of Emotion and the Concept of Intentionality

In traditional Western philosophy, it was widely accepted that emotions could be an obstacle to human rationality when it comes to attempting to gain objective knowledge and truth. One way of understanding emotions is that they may accidentally happen to us; they are a purely non-volitional form of a mental phenomenon. There is the question of whether the study of emotions needs to rely on scientific methods at all. Can emotions be investigated merely through conceptual analysis and introspection? Are emotions only accessed, felt, and even understood from the first-person perspective? If the answer is positive, it indicates that we should have to refute pieces of subpersonal empirical evidence regarding the neurophysiological activities of emotions. This paper concerns the philosophical debate on emotion. I argue that in the history of the philosophy of emotion, the competing theories place themselves either on "cognitive" or "bodily" grounds; both are responsible for the mind-body dichotomy and have their difficulties. The former is what I call the "Orthodox Feeling Theory," which cannot account for the structure of intentionality or the evaluative property of emotions; the latter is the "Strong Cognitive Theory," which ignores the role of the bodily and experiential aspects. Such standard theories are out of date

Impact of climate Change on Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria

This research work examined the impact of Climate change on agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria from 1998 to 2018. The study adopted secondary data and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique, involving a multiple regression model to analyze the causal relationship and coefficient of determination of climate change on food production and food security, as well as considering Agricultural Technology Innovation as alternative solution to the problems of climatic changes in Agriculture. The study employed annual time series data sourced from C.B.N. Statistical Bulletin. Agricultural Output was used as a proxy for Food security (dependent variable). Annual Rainfall and carbon dioxide were used as proxies for Climate change while Value Added in Agriculture and Government Expenditure on Agriculture were used as proxies for Agricultural Technology Innovation. The regression result revealed that there is a negative relationship between the dependent variable Agricultural Output (AO) and the independent variables Average Rainfall (ARF) and Carbon dioxide (Co2), as revealed by the values of their coefficients (-0.341801 and -20.56647). This result indicated that Climate change is not healthy for Food Security in Nigeria. The OLS result also revealed that there is a negative relationship between Agricultural Output and Value Added in Agriculture while there is a positive relationship between Agricultural Output and Government Expenditure as shown by the values of their coefficients (-0.102 and 4.58). The study recommended that the government should take proactive steps in addressing environmental problems which includes effective management of waste, flood and erosion

Oxalaceto(2-Chloro–6–Fluoro–Benzylidene) and Oxalaceto(2-Chloro-5–Nitrobenzylidene) Hydrazides and Spectroscopic Studies of the Complexes

The synthesis, structure, spectral and biological studies of Cu(II), Mn(II), and Zn(II)  complexes of two kind of hydrazides ligand are described. The ligands was derived by the condensation of oxalaetic acid with hydrazine hydrate later substituted with two kind of benzaldehyde. These metal complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic moment measurements, IR, and spectral data. An octahedral geometry was proposed for all the metal complexes. It is evident from the IR data that in all the complexes, only two part of the ligands is coordinated to the metal ion resulting in binuclear kind of complexes. The ligand coordinates through the nitrogen atoms (C=N) of the azomethine  and oxygen atom of the carbonyl compound (C=O) of the hydrazide moiety. The formulations,- [Cu(HL1)], [Mn(HL1)], [Zn(HL1)], and [Cu(HL2)], [Mn(HL2)], [Zn(HL2)], are in accordance with elemental analyses, physical and spectroscopic measurements. The complexes are soluble in organic solvents dimethylsulphoxide ( DMSO). Molar conductance values in DMSO indicate the non electrolytic nature of the complexes. The ligands and metal complexes show a good activity against the bacteria; B. Subtilis, E.coli and S.aureus and fungi A.niger, A.flavus and C.albicans. The antimicrobial results also indicate that the metal complexes are better antimicrobial agents as compared to the ligands

GLOBALIZATION AND UNANSWERED GENDER QUESTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUE IN NIGERIA

The social phenomenon of globalization which has become a buzz word has continued to occupy the centre stage of academic discourses since the turn of the 21st century. Although globalization has been on-going since the history of human civilization, its contemporary status exacerbated by technological advancement in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) has implications for the widening gender gap. The extent to which globalization has impacted on the gender questions of how and why men and women are different has not been given much attention by scholars. The quest for democratic values that is silent on the gender questions will not drive sustainable democracy. Indeed, sustainable development cannot be attained when a significant number of the world’s population is marginalized based on gender differences. Here, we focus on the increasing gender inequality in Nigeria and argue that mainstreaming gender in every sphere of human endeavour is crucial to the attainment of sustainable democratic values in the country. Article visualizations

Managing Primary Health Care in the South - South Geo Political Zone of Nigeria

Management of Primary Health Care (PHC) is one of the main pillars of a health system through Human Resources. Furthermore, the quality of health services depends to a large extent on the people who manage the services. The paper reviews the role of stakeholders in the management of primary health service provisioning in general and in Primary Health Care in particular, it examines brief historical review of the gradual introduction of new cadres of health managers into the health system in response to perceived health needs, training and deployment of health during the colonial era, establishment of the advance schools for health workers, events at third national development plan and the unfortunate decline of community nursing and community midwifery, etc. It further analyzes factors and challenges of leadership which affect the performance of health managers. It also discussed case studies of proven innovative approaches and best practices in the management of human resources in sub – Saharan Africa and Nigeria. Data used in this paper is derived from secondary sources. An urgent need for a comprehensive database on the Human Resource for Health (HRH) situation in Primary Health Care should be developed. The current Human Resource situation indicates that the availability and distribution of HRH and PHC is far from being adequate. The need to mobilize communities to get them to take ownership of primary health care delivery and its maintenance is important. The morale and motivation of personnel have major implications for their performance. In the case of Human Resource for PHC in Nigeria, data is not easilyavailable and when available tends to be incomplete and/or contradictory. The distribution and availability of HR and PHC is also a major concern in most parts of Nigeria. The poor distribution and inadequate number of the various health personnel required for an effective PHC in Nigeria is compounded by the brain drain, poor motivation among health personnel and inappropriate policies among others

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN AFRICA AND THE INTEGRITY QUESTION: TOWARDS AN ETHICAL NARRATIVE

This work is an analysis of public procurement and the role integrity and ethics plays in enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of the procurement system. The paper situates that though public procurement is a worldwide exercise where government spends public funds for the procurement of goods works and services, for the good of the people, inefficiencies has trailed the procurement system in most developing countries of Africa. Some of these countries have taken some steps to reform the sector, but there are still noticeable challenges and obstacles to a full maximization of the goals of a good procurement system. One of the major challenges, identified has been that of a dearth of integrity and ethical consciousness on the part of procurement professionals and stakeholders alike. It is essential that public procurement professional and stake holders adhere to a well-defined and established code of ethics. Ethics are the principles which defines behaviours as right, good and appropriate. Employees in public service are expected to uphold certain core values and any attempt to pursue personal interest using conduct that are not consistent with the proper discharge of the employee’s duties is a breach of the public trust. In the public sector where procurement is funded by public expenditure, it is imperative that procurement operates with integrity, transparency and professionalism. In most African countries, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania to mention a few, the ethos of an efficient system devoid of unethical behaviours by professionals has been far from achieved. The procurement systems have therefore been plagued by integrity and ethical issues leading to unwholesome and undesirable situations. A review of related literatures to these topics was carried out with a view to carry out a contextual analysis in addressing the specific issues under study. This work is therefore significant as it tried to apply ethics to a fundamental aspect of governance which is the procurement of goods, services and works for the ultimate benefits of the populace

Trace metal Levels in Some Packaged Fruit Juices Sold in Makurdi Metropolis Markets, Nigeria

The concentrations of ten (10) trace metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Cd and Pb) in samples of commonly consumed fruit juices in Nigeria were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric (AAS) technique. The mean concentration (mg/L) of the trace metals in the samples analyzed were as follows: Cr (0.172±0.05), Mn (2.29±1.0), Fe (14.4±7.9), Co (0.739±0.29), Ni (0.217±0.17), Cu (0.758±0.47), Zn (1.79±1.3) and Se (0.385±0.25). However, Cd and Pb were below the detection limit of the AAS and therefore not detected in all the juice samples analyzed. The mean concentrations of trace metals in descending order for all the fruit juices samples analyzed was; pineapple > orange > apple. Similarly, the pattern of mean concentrations of trace metals for the six different brands investigated were coded as follows: Ceres (CR) > Chivita (CH) > Fumman (FU) > Frutta (FR) > Soy good (SG) > Nature’s fresh (NF). Some of the results obtained were comparable to those found in the literature, but urgent attention is required to address high metal content found in pineapple juice of one brand (CR).Keywords: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric, Fruit Juice, Makurdi, Nigeria, Trace metals

Comparative Analysis of Termiteria and Surrounding Soil Properties in the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria

Variations in the properties of termitaria and their surrounding soil properties within the University of Agriculture Makurdi were investigated using routine soil analysis protocol. Parameters such as texture, pH, cationic exchange capacity (CEC), organic carbon (OC), available phosphorus (AP) and total nitrogen (TN) were determined alongside with the elemental (Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe, Cd, Pb, Na, K, Ca, Mg and Al) analysis. There were clear disparity in the texture (clay content), pH level, AP and TN within the mound and in the environs. Similarly, elemental analysis shows significant variability of the elements among sites ranging from 0.02-196 mg/kg and 0.01-172 mg/kg for the termitaria and surrounding soils, respectively. The predominant analyte is Al, which is the most abundant element in the earth crust. The results show that trace elements such as Mn and Fe, are significantly higher in the termite mounds compared to the surrounding soils. Therefore, we recommended that farming should be carried out very close to the termitaria soils since these elements were essential to plants and animals.Keywords: AAS, Heavy metals, Makurdi, Soils, Termite

THE NOTHINGNESS OF THE GETTIER PROBLEM

This work, “The Nothingness” of the Gettier Problem is an attempt to deconstruct the popularly held view that a fourth condition may be necessary for the Traditional Account of Knowledge otherwise known as JTB. Plato, it was who championed the traditional account of knowledge as justified Belief in response to the agitation of the skeptics notably Georgias and Protagoras. This tripartite account held sway until Edmund Gettier Challenged the position with his article “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” Since this challenge, scholars have tried to solve what has become known as the Gettier Problem by trying to fashion out a fourth condition to JTB. This work argues that the celebrated Gettier counter-examples in the challenge of the tripartite account is a "nothingness". The traditional account is rather fundamental in knowledge claim, hence any new vista in form of additional information on JTB should not invalidate it. The textual analysis was adopted as a method for this research