Strategic Lessons Learned from The Management of Covid-19 That Can Influence Better Management of Future Pandemics in Nigeria

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Review of Some Herbs with Haemato-Therapeutic Properties in Use in Nigeria

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Case Study of HELLP Syndrome in a pregnant woman of African Descent in Jos, North Central Nigeria

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Ethnobotanical Uses of Plants Among the Binis in the Treatment of Ophthalmic and ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Ailments

An enthnobotanical survey of plants used in the treatment of Ophthalmic and ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) ailments in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria was conducted. The information was obtained through administered questionnaire and personal interviews of local healers in the study area. The investigation revealed that 24 plant species belonging to 18 families and 22 genera are commonly in use in the treatment of eye and ENT; of these, 16 plant species are used for the treatment of eye ailment, 5 for ear, 3 for nose while 5 are used for throat ailment. The documented medicinal plants were mostly used to cure ear ache, sore throat, nasal bleeding and eye ailment. The ethnobotanical survey shows that among the plants studied some plant species like Allium cepa, Newbouldia laevis, Euphorbia hirta and Spondias mombin are used for the treatment of more than one ailment

RADICAL ISLAMISM: TRAJECTORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSES IN AFRICA

In Africa, radical and extremist Muslims are striving to transform society through violent change, claiming that African rulers are dictatorial and anti-Islamic; as a result, many African countries are experiencing serious human rights violations and abuses. Therefore, this paper examined radical Islamism and its trajectories of human rights violations and abuses in Africa and proffered workable solutions to the dilemma. To achieve the above aim, the paper employed historical and evaluative methods. The historical method was used to critically review the scholarly literature on radical Islamism and its human rights violations and abuses antecedents in Africa. At the evaluative level, the paper critically discussed the impact of human rights violations and abuses on the African nations and their citizens. The paper revealed that radical Islamism in Africa is driven by bad political leadership, poverty, poor education, unemployment, and religious exclusivism among others. The paper concluded that good governance, economic enhancement, and religious inclusiveness are key tools in discouraging and curbing radical Islamists in African countries. &nbsp

Time-series analysis of Nigeria rice supply and demand: Error correction model approach

The study examined a time-series analysis of Nigeria rice supply and demand with a view to determining any long-run equilibrium between them using the Error Correction Model approach (ECM). The data used for the study represents the annual series of 1960-2007 (47 years) for rice supply and demand in Nigeria, derived from the World Rice Statistics compiled by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, 2009). The order of integration and the level of co-integration were determined using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF), Johansen co-integration and Granger causality test. The result of the descriptive statistics showed that rice supply and demand had means of 1.8 and 1.6 million metric tonnes respectively with a demand-supply lag of 0.18 million metric tons. The Trace test indicated one co-integrating equation at the 0.05 level of significance while the Granger causality ran one-way from supply to demand. The result of the ECM shows that the co-efficient of the short-run and long-run relationships between rice demand and supply were 1.102963 and -0.043497 respectively. There is disequilibrium between Nigeria  rice supply and demand in the short-run but re-equilibrates at 0.043. Thus, the more the demand for rice, the higher the production is expected in order to avoid any shortage, in the short-run, which though will always even out in the long-run. Nigeria rice supply-demand exhibit disequilibrium in the short-run but has a long-run equilibrium.KEYWORDS: Rice, Integration, Co-integration, Unit-Root And Stationarity

Morphological and Anatomical Studies of the Leaf and Stem of Some Medicinal Plants: Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl. and S. cayennensis (L.C.Rich) Schau.

A comparative study of the morphological and anatomical features of the leaves and stems of Stachytarphetajamaicensis and S. cayennensis was undertaken; both species have been widely reported in several herbal medicines. The presence of angular stem and pubescent leaves in the latter distinguishes it morphologically from the former, which is characterized by smooth circular stem and glabrous leaves. The use of a light microscope revealed the presence of trichomes in the leaf of S. caynnensis but absent in S. jamaicensis. Differences in epidermal structure and stomata arrangements were also prominent features for separating between these species

Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence in an unbooked obstetric population in the Niger Delta

Despite recent advances in the prevention of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from mother to child during pregnancy, infants continue to be born and infected with HIV, particularly in Africa. This study was undertaken to determine the seroprevalence of HIV infection among unbooked pregnant women in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. One hundred and eighteen consecutively recruited unbooked subjects presenting to the isolation ward at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital were screened for HIV. Among the 118 subjects studied, 30 (25.4%) were positive for HIV. HIV-1 was the predominant viral strain. Gestational age of subjects at presentation was 28–40 weeks and mean age was 35.04 ± 8.06 years. The majority of subjects were primigravidas 66 (55.9%), while 52 (44.1%) were multigravidas. The prevalence of HIV was significantly higher among unbooked pregnant women with less formal education: 14 (11.9%) compared with 9 (7.6%), 5 (4.2%), and 2 (1.7%) for those with primary, secondary, and tertiary education, respectively (P = 0.01). Among the occupational groups, the prevalence of HIV was significantly higher among traders 14 (11.9%) than in career women 5 (4.2%, P = 0.04). Multigravid women were more susceptible to HIV infection 17 (14.4%) than primigravid women. Perinatal mortality and emergency cesarean section was high among unbooked pregnant women. The prevalence of HIV observed amongst unbooked antenatal subjects in this study is significantly higher than those of booked patients in previous studies. These findings are very pertinent to health care delivery, because this pool of unbooked patients may not be benefiting from the Prevention of Maternal to Child Transmission program, thus increasing the pediatric HIV burden in our environment

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected subjects in aresource - limited setting in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

Since the early days of antiretroviral therapy, adherence has emerged a milestone to success. The objective of this study was to evaluate the factors militating against adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected individuals in the resource - limited setting of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. A structured interviewer- administered questionnaire from consecutively recruited 187 HIV-infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy of two-nucleoside analogue; stavudine and lamivudine and one non-nucleoside (nevirapine) was used. Association between the independent variables and adherence were analyzed using chi square analysis. This study observed an adherence level of 49.2% and identified the following as factors associated with nonadherence: cost of antiretrovirals, educational status, medication adverse effect, occupational factors, and high pill burden of prescribed regimen (p < 0.05). There is an urgent need for universal access and sustainability of antiretroviral therapy particularly in resource - limited settings. There is need for supervised medication delivery. Efforts should be made towards simplifying the therapeutic regimen to reduce the pill burden and substitution with treatment combination and strategies that minimize negative adverse effects, coupled with the re-intensification of patient\'s education and counseling. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 13 (3-4) 2006: pp. 13-1