Quality Management of University Education in Nigeria: an Appraisal

Quality management in education is about all the various organized activities that culminate in the production of a given output that conforms to set standard. It is geared towards high standards and a zero tolerance level for wastage in the educational enterprise. This paper examined quality management of University education in Nigeria. The roles of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in maintaining quality management in University Education were highlighted. The appraisal revealed that there were constraints to quality management in Nigerian Universities leading the author to recommend possible solution.Key words: Quality, Management, University Education, Nigeria, Appraisal

Federalism, Democracy and Constitutionalism: The Nigerian Experience

A great democracy must either sacrifice self-government to unity or Preserve it by federalism. The co-existence of several Nations under same state is a test, as well as tshe best security of its freedom. Federalism has been described as the best form of governmental organization capable of accommodating diversities of interest. Federalism, democracy and constitutionalism all have their underlying characteristics and their advocates employed them as a measuring tool in ascertaining the extent on which individual states conformity or nonconformity. In this article, we examined these basic and related concepts after which we examined these features as provided in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria so as to measure the extent of her conformity or non conformity with these principles in practice and made some recommendations that will further upgrade her to the level of modern advanced federations. Keywords: Federalism, Federal Principles, Democracy, constitutionalism, rule of law

Acute toxicity of the chloroacetanilide herbicide butachlor and its effects on the behavior of the freshwater fish Tilapia zillii

Acute toxicity of butachlor, a chloroacetanilide herbicide (2-chloro-N-[2, 6-diethylphenyl] acetamide) to Tilapia zillii, was studied in a semi static bioassay. The 24, 48, 72 and 96 h LC50 values (with 95% confidence limits) estimated by probit analysis were 3.13 (2.88 to 4.61), 1.93 (0.63 to 4.41), 1.27 (0.59 to 1.92) and 1.25 (0.60 to1.85) mgl-1, respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the LC50 values obtained at different exposure times and the safe levels estimated by different methods varied from 1.25×10-1 to 1.25×10-5 mgl-1. There were dose and time dependent increase in mortality rate due to exposure to the herbicide. Stress signs in form of hyperactivity, erratic swimming, skin discoloration, vigorous jerks of the body followed by exhaustion and death were observed. The 96 h LC50 of 1.25 mgl-1 obtained indicate that the herbicide was toxic to T. zillii. Agricultural use of butachlor in the environment, especially, near water bodies, must be restricted to avoid the severe risk associated with the use of the pesticide.Keywords: Tilapia zillii, butachlor, toxicity, mortality, behavioral changes, safe levelAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(5), pp. 499-50

An Examination of the Contradictions in the Ownership of Land and Natural Resources in Nigerian Federation

Ownership and control of land and natural resources, especially petroleum has been of great controversy in Nigeria. In fact the issue between states and federal government and even between governments and the communities who own the land has been one question that has continued to be the backbone of every controversy and mineral related disputes in Nigeria. This is because in Nigeria the ownership of mineral resources is vested in the Federal Government, while the lands in each of the states of Nigeria are vested on the government of the respective states.  Also worthy of note is the effect of the Land Use Act; a federal enactment regulating land use by the states and vesting powers and functions in the state governors on the federal principle of state autonomy. Further the common law principle of quid quid plantateur, solo solo cedit is part and parcel of Nigerian law, yet while land is vested on Governors of the states on behalf of the people, natural resources affixed on the ground are vested on the federal government of Nigeria, a negation of this common law principle. This paper x-rays these varying and palpable contradictions in the Nigerian legal system and makes recommendations on the need for harmony and fairness in the distribution of land resources by the legal system. Keywords: Federal, Natural Resources, Constitution, Ownership, Autonomy

ACUTE OTITIS EXTERNA AS SEEN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA TEACHING HOSPITAL, ENUGU.

Aim: is to evaluate clinical features of AOE diagnosed in and to update the previous study from our facility.Methods: A prospective, clinical and laboratory study in a tertiary health facilityResults: A total of 3793 consecutive patients that attended the otorhinolaryngology clinics of the university of Nigeria teaching hospital Enugu during the period under study were assessed for clinical diagnosis of otitis externa. A total of 155 ears from127 patients were diagnosed clinically and confirmed by microbial studies as having acute otitis externa. There were 66 males and 61 females out of the 127 patients seen.71 ears had only bacteria isolated from the culture of their ear swab specimens, 28 fungus only and, 32 ears had both bacterial and fungal isolates while 24 ears had no isolates of microbes of the 3793 patients assessed.Conclusions: Acute otitis externa is a common disease in Enugu  with no gender biasand there were three times more cases of bacterial otitis externa than fungal otitis externa.

An appraisal of the rights of the niger-delta peoples over natural resources under the African charter on human and peoples’ rights

The people of the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria have persistently demanded for the control of the natural resources being exploited in their territory by oil companies pursuant to the powers granted to them by the federal government of Nigeria. They decry the deleterious impact of resources exploitation on their environment and livelihoods. They decry lack of benefit from the proceeds of exploitation. They have most often founded their demand on the provisions of international and regional human rights legal instruments. This article based on doctrinal research methodology examined the contentions of the Niger-Delta peoples of Nigeria and the relevant provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights, decisions of the African Commission on Human Rights and other relevant materials and concluded that the rights enshrined therein enure to the benefit of the Niger-Delta peoples‟ of Nigeria. It called on the Nigerian government to fast track legislative and policy reforms aimed at realizing the rights of the Niger-Delta peoples‟ as guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights. Keywords: “Natural Resources”, “Exploitation”, “Ownership”, “Rights of Peoples”

Determination of in vitro and in vivo production of polygalacturonase (pg) by storage mold aspergillus niger v. Tieghem, during storage of rice (oryzae sativa l) seeds

The in vitro and in vivo production of pectic enzyme polygalacturonase (PG) by storage mold of rice Aspergillus niger and the effect of temperature and pH on the activity of the mold were investigated. Theresult of the assay for the production of polygalacturonase (PG) by the mold in vitro and in vivo showed that the activity of the enzyme when tested viscometrically, using 10% pectin was 142.9 R.V.U (Relative viscometric units) at 25 oC. The optimum activity of the enzyme secreted in vitro by Aspergillus niger was obtained at a temperature of 25 oC, and at temperature of 25 oC and 30 oC for that secreted in vivo., with a value of 142.9 R. V.U. The least activity of the enzyme was obtained at 20 oC, 40 oC, 45 oC and 50 oC in vitro, and at 20 oC ,45 oC and 50 oC with a value of 111.1 R.V.U each. The optimum activity of the enzyme produced in vitro by the fungus obtained at pH 5 and 6 with a value of 125R.V.U, and at pH 5 with a value of 142.9 R .V. U. in vivo. The activity of the enzyme was least at pH 2, 3, 4, 7,8, 9 and 10 in vitro, and at pH 2,3,8,9 and 10. in vivo with a value of 111.1 R. V. U

Numerical simulation and optimisation of polymer flooding in a heterogenous reservoir : constrained versus unconstrained optimisation

Polymer flooding offers the potential to recover more oil from reservoirs but requires significant investments which necessitate a robust analysis of economic upsides and downsides. Key uncertainties in designing a polymer flood are often reservoir geology and polymer degradation. The objective of this study is to understand the impact of geological uncertainties and history matching techniques on designing the optimal strategy for, and quantifying the economic risks of, polymer flooding in a heterogeneous clastic reservoir. We applied two different history matching techniques (adjoint-based and a stochastic algorithm) to match data from a prolonged waterflood in the Watt Field, a semi-synthetic reservoir that contains a wide range of geological and interpretational uncertainties. Next, sensitivity studies were carried out to identify first-order parameters that impact the Net Present Value (NPV). These parameters were then deployed in an experimental design study using Latin Hypercube Sampling to generate training runs from which a proxy model was created using polynomial regression. A particle swarm optimization algorithm was employed to optimize the NPV for the polymer flood. The same approach was used to optimize a standard water flood for comparison. Optimizations of the polymer flood and water flood were performed for the history matched model ensemble and the original ensemble. The Adjoint technique yielded a better quality match compared to stochastic history matching, whereas, the stochastic history matching resulted in a more diverse set of history matched ensemble. The optimal strategy to deploy the polymer flood and maximize NPV varies based on the history matching technique. The average NPV and the variance is predicted to be higher by 4% ($600 million) and 1.9$149 million) respectively in the stochastic history matching compared to the adjoint technique. This difference is due to the ability of the stochastic algorithm to explore the parameter space more broadly, which created situations where the oil in place was shifted upwards, resulting in higher NPV. Optimizing a history matched ensemble leads to a narrower range in absolute NPV compared to optimizing the original ensemble. This difference is because the uncertainties associated with polymer flooding are not captured during history matching. The result of cross comparison, where an optimal polymer design strategy for one ensemble member is deployed to the other ensemble members, predicted a decline in NPV but surprisingly still shows that the overall NPV is higher than for an optimized water food, even for sub-optimal polymer injection strategies. This observation indicates that a polymer flood could be beneficial compared to a water flood, even if geological uncertainties are not captured properly. This thesis reported the bias of stochastic algorithm by creating reservoir models where oil in place were shifted upwards. This can be further investigated and addressed

EFFECTS OF CEMENT DUST ON THE HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN OBAJANA CEMENT FACTORY WORKERS

This study investigated effects of cement dust on haematological parameters of Obajana Cement factory workers. The investigation of haematological parameters were performed on 60 workers in different units/sections exposed to cement dust and controls (unexposed to cement dust). Automated Abascus Haematoanalyser was used to analyse haematological indices. The results showed that the values of white blood cell (WBC), lymphocytes (LYM), monocytes (MID), haematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular heamoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelets (PLT) were significantly increased in exposed workers but red blood cell (RBC) and Haemoglobin (HGB) were significantly lower( p < 0.05). Results also showed a long term duration response effect on the Haematological indices in relation to years and age of workers of exposed to cement dust. In this study alteration in level of haemotological parameters in exposed workers is an indication of effect of cement dust on pathopysiology of blood and reticuloendothelia system of cement factory workers and in general human health. This study highlighted the need for continuous cement dust environmental monitoring, mandatory use of personal protective equipment and periodic haematological assessment of factory workers to prevent related haematological hazard