Rethinking Judicial Activism Ideology: the Nigerian Experience of the Extent and Limits of Legislative-Judicial Interactions

Authoritarian governments are by their very nature unconstitutional. Such government thinks of themselves as above the law, and therefore sees no necessity for separation of powers or representative governance. Constitutional democracy on the other hand, is however based on the notion of people’s sovereignty, which is to be exercised in limited manner by a representative government. Accordingly, judicial activism in this paper is employed to establish the theory of popular participation of courts in the decision making processes through settlement of disputes, interpretation or construction of laws, determination of propriety of legislations, legislative and execution actions within the doctrine of separation of powers for the purpose of enforcement of the limitations in government on constitutional ground. This paper thus examines the concept of judicial activism, its legitimacy and as a mechanism for providing checks and balances in the Nigerian government. The paper demonstrates a game theory of judicial legislative interaction within their function and contends that the notion of judicial supremacy does not hold water because the legislature always has the second chance of invalidating the judgment of courts exercising the legitimate powers. The paper concludes that judicial activism in these countries is a veritable tool in advancing the compliance with the rule of laws on the ground of the Constitution. Keywords: Judicial activism, separation of powers, checks and balances, democrac

Essays on Energy Reforms, Regulation and Institutions

Abstract Essays on Energy Reforms, Regulation and Institutions Mahmud Ibrahim Imam This thesis contents a doctoral research that examines whether implementations of the reforms have succeeded in reducing the negative influence of weak institutions on Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries’ electricity sector performance. Chapter 1 of the thesis examines how corruption contributes to low levels of economic development of SSA countries, defines the concept of corruption and discusses its major determinants as it relates to the region. By using a panel data on 48 SSA covering the period 2002 to 2013, chapter 2 investigates how corruption could negatively affect electricity sector performance of SSA countries, and how this performance effects of corruption would be mitigated or amplified by implementations of electricity sector reform policies. The findings show that corruption can significantly reduce technical efficiency of the sector and constrain the efforts to increase access to electricity and national income. However, these adverse effects of corruption are reduced when independent regulatory agencies are established, and privatisation is implemented. Chapter 3 extents the findings of chapter 2 by using data on 45 SSA governments from 2000 to 2015 to investigate the ideological differences in the effect of independent sector regulation on access to electricity and installed capacity. The findings suggest that independent regulation in left-wing governments deteriorates both installed capacity and electricity access. However, independent regulation in right-wing governments improves installed capacity and has no significant impact on electricity access. Chapter 4 uses data on 49 SSA countries from 2002 to 2013 to examine the impact of electricity access on human development index (HDI) and its three components (health, education, and income) post the implementations of electricity sector reforms and other policies by SSA countries. The findings indicate that increased access to electricity has positively boosted human development. Similar results are found on the impact of electricity access on the three components of HDI

IMPLIKASI DINAMIKA PEMIKIRAN DAN GERAKAN RADIKALISME TERHADAP SOSIO RELIGIUS DI INDONESIA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apa implikasi pemikiran dan gerakan radikalisme terhadap sosio religius di Indonesia. Adapun yang melatarbelakangi penelitian ini adalah makin berkembangnya pemikiran dan gerakan radikalisme yang banyah mempengaruhi sosio religius yang ada di Indonesia. Penulis mencoba untuk mengkaji dan mempelajari bagaimana dinamika pemikiran dan gerakan radikalisme yang ada di Indonesia yang kemudian akan dicarikan implikasinya terhadap sosio religius yang ada di Indonesia. Dan pada akhirnya penulis bisa mendapatkan implikasi dinamika pemikiran dan gerakan radikalisme terhadap sosio religius di Indonesia. Jenis metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah jenis metode penelitian kualitatif. jenis penelitian ini adalah jenis penelitian yang memiliki maksud untuk bisa memahami suatu fenomena yang dialami oleh objek, dan dengan pendiskripsian dalam bentuk bahasa dan kata-kata. Pengumpulan data dengan menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Adapun yang dimaksud dengan teknik ini adalah bahwa pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan mempelajari dan memahami berbagai buku refrensi, jurnal-jurnal, laporan-laporan dan berbagai media lainnya yang berkaitan dengan penelitian ini. Analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis deduktif. Analisis deduktif adalah analisis yang dilakukan pada hal-hal yang umum terlebih dahulu dan kemudian menuju kearah yang lebih khusus. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa dinamika pemikiran dan gerakan radikalisme terhadap sosio religius di Indonesia memiliki dua implikasi besar. Yang pertama adalah akan muncul berbagai macam tindakan terorisme yang mengatasnamakan Islam. Yang kedua adalah akan muncul Islamophobia yang akan sangat merugikan agama Islam

Impact of the judiciary on the Nigerian social and economic development

There is universal agreement that judiciary has and is playing a role in realm of social and economic development as an independent arbiter particularly in the enforcement of rights. Consequently, creating accountable and impartial court systems that will be responsive to public needs is not enough but must also be efficient and accurate to ensure government is responsive to its constitutional obligations, secure property rights, reduce uncertainty, and promote social and economic development. Incidentally, in this new democracy, Nigeria has extends the areas of economic and social development to creative applications of the law. This is because economic and social development depends on an effective legislation and judicial system. Against this background, this article attempts to discuss linkage and impact of judicial experience in economic development.Keywords: Judiciary, Democracy, Arbiter, Right, Socio-economic, Rule of La

Sub-Chronic Toxicity Evaluation of Tannery Waste Water to Clarias gariepinus Juveniles

This paper was conducted to investigate the sub-chronic toxicity of tannery effluents sourced from Challawa industrial estate Kano, Nigeria using Clarias gariepinus. The study covered physicochemical parameters, haematological, and biochemical stress enzymes assessments. The water quality results revealed mean value of Temperature (29.92±1.93oC), pH (8.14±0.85), DO (1.60±0.38mg/l), BOD (0.77±0.16mg/l), Salinity (7.75±0.60mg/l), Nitrate (1.19 ± 0.05mg/l) and Phosphate (16.48±0.85mg/l). After termination of 21 days sub-chronic test, haematological and biochemical changes analysed were generally considered significantly different (P<0.05) within the treatments. The haematological indices revealed a decrease and sudden increase in concentration of estimated values of PCV, Hb, RBC, MCHC and MCH, while WBC and MCV fluctuated. These may be attributed to stress, the duration of exposure and levels of pollutants in the effluent. Furthermore, oxidative stress enzymes followed an order of SOD > CAT > GSH. This could be due to level of pollutants in the effluent. The results of the data indicated tannery effluent to have a toxic effect on the experimented organism. The information calls for a more enrich toxicity testing that should involve wide range of organisms. It should entail reproductive aspects of the species, detail relationship and enhanced methodological procedures

Keragaman Alat Evaluasi dalam Buku Teks Bahasa Indonesia Ditinjau dari Aspek HOTS

Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan keragaman soal alat evaluasi pada buku teks Bahasa Indonesia Kelas XI SMA Kurikulum 2013 yang berstandar HOTS yang terdiri dari C4 (analisis), C5 (mengevaluasi), dan C6 (mencipta). Metode yang digunakan adalah metode analisis deskriptif kualitatif, sumber data yang digunakan yaitu buku teks Bahasa Indonesia Cerdas Berbahasa Indonesia Kelas XI SMA Kurikulum 2013,data yang digunakan adalah alat evaluasi pilihan ganda sebanyak 10 bab materi menggunakan teknik dokumentasi. Peneliti menemukan hasil dari seratus soal alat evaluasi yang dianalisis soal alat evaluasi berstandar HOTS hanya sebanyak 34 soal yang terdiri dari kategori C4 (analisis) pada kata kerja operasional membedakan sebanyak 13 alat evaluasi, kata kerja operasional mengorganisasi sebanyak 12 alat evaluasi, dan kata kerja operasional mengatribusikan sebanyak 6 alat evaluasi. Jumlah total keseluruhan sebanyak 31 alat evaluasi dengan persentase yaitu 91,18% . kategori C5 (mengevaluasi) pada kata kerja operasional memeriksa sebanyak 3 alat evaluasi, kata kerja operasional mengkritik sebanyak 0 alat evaluasi atau tidak ditemukan, dan jumlah keseluruhan sebanyak 3 alat evaluasi dengan persentase yaitu 8,82%. kategori C6 (mencipta) pada ketiga kata kerja operasinal merumuskan, merencanakan, dan memproduksi sebanyak 0 alat evaluasi atau tidak ditemukan dengan jumlah persentase 0 %.  Hasil uraian di atas temuan tiap-tiap kategori standar HOTS maka dapat diketahui bahwa persentase kategori C4 (analisis), C5 (mengevaluasi), dan C6 (mencipta) belum didistribusikan secara merata terlihat dari temuan sebaran alat evaluasi yang berstandar HOTS setiap bab pada tes formatif hanya ditemukan sedikit dan terbatas

Islamic Finance and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Islamic finance is gradually gaining acceptance locally and internationally which Nigeria is not an exception. The emergence of Islamic finance in Nigeria can be traced back to 1991. The main objective of this paper is to assess the contribution of Islamic finance on the growth of the economy of Nigeria as well as its relationship and directions. Time series data from 2012 to 2015 was used on quarterly basis. Islamic banks’ financing credited to private sector through modes of financing was used as a proxy for Islamic finance, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and TRADE as explanatory variable while Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) was used as a measure of real economic growth called the dependent variables. For the analysis, Ordinary Least Square (OLS), the unit root test, cointegration test and Granger Causality tests was used. Our empirical results show that there is a strong positive association between Islamic banks’ financing and economic growth in Nigeria, which reinforces the idea that a well-functioning banking system promotes economic growth. Furthermore, the causal relationship happens only in one direction, i.e, from Islamic banks’ financing to economic growth, which is in compliance with the Schumpeter’s supply-leading theory Keywords: Islamic finance, Economic growth, Causality, Nigeria, Sharia

Acquired neuromyotonia following upper respiratory tract infection: a case report

We present a 37-year-old male subject who presented with burning sensations in his hands and feet with generalised twitching of his limbs, trunk and face. His symptoms developed 2 weeks after an upper respiratory tract infection. There was associated facial flushing and disturbed night sleep but no memory impairment or generalised sweating. Examination showed generalised myokymia and fasciculations and electromyography revealed widespread continuous semi-rhythmic doublets and triplets of low frequency with interspersed silent periods. Anti voltage gated potassium channel antibodies, antinuclear antibodies, anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies and the anti-neuronal antibodies anti Hu, anti Yo and anti Ri were all negative. His symptoms improved slightly on lamotrigine and amitriptyline

Corruption in Nigeria: A call for an aggressive legal solution

Corruption has been an issue which has equally become an obstacle to the achievement of a better, efficient and effective economic development and virile democracy globally. Corruption is not exclusively economic phenomenon but manifest in every facet of our life, in political, the processes and other sectors like industries, banks, government establishments/institutions, law enforcement and judicial system, legislative  assemblies, that is to say in both private and public sectors etc.1 This article will  proffer aggressive legal solution as a panacea to this hydra-headed cankerworm

DEBAT MORAL SEBAGAI UPAYA MENINGKATKAN INTEGRITAS KEPALA SEKOLAH

Abstrak: Integritas adalah tingkat kejujuran dan kualitas moral yang dimiliki seseorang yang dilaksanakan secara konsisten dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Integritas adalah kepribadian seseorang yang bertindak secara konsisten dan utuh, baik dalam perkataan maupun perbuatan, sesuai dengan nilai dan kode etik. Upaya penegakan dedikasi dan integritas kepala sekolah dan guru penting dilakukan untuk mempersiapkan generasi Indonesia menghadapi jamannya dengan terus mengupdate kompetensinya untuk memberikan layanan pendidikan terbaik. Debat moral digunakan sebagai pendekatan dalam meningkatkan integritas kepala sekolah. Berbagai hal terkait pendidikan dapat dijadikan topik dalam debat moral kepala sekolah. Semua topik tersebut harus tetap berada dalam koridor kebangsaan Indonesia. Nilai-nilai kebangsaan merupakan hal utama untuk meningkatkan mutu pendidikan sekolah melalui kepemimpinan kepala sekolah. Hal ini diharapkan dapat menumbuhkan kecintaan pada negara kepada pelajar. Kata kunci : integritas, prinsip, debat moral Abstrak: Integritas merupakan tingkat kejujuran dan kualitas moral yang dimiliki seseorang yang dilakukan secara konsisten dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Integritas merupakan kepribadian seseorang yang bertindak secara konsisten dan utuh, baik dalam perkataan maupun perbuatan, sesuai dengan nilai-nilai dan kode etik. Upaya meneguhkan dedikasi dan integritas kepala sekolah dan guru menjadi hal penting untuk menyiapkan generasi Indonesia masuk ke zamannya dengan tetap memperbaharui kompetensi untuk memberikan layanan pendidikan terbaik. Debat moral digunakan sebagai pendekatan dalam meningkatkan intregitas kepala sekolah. Berbagai hal yang terkait dengan pendidikan dapat dijadikan topik dalam debat moral kepala sekolah. Semua topik tersebut harus tetap berada dalam koridor kebangsaan Indonesia. Nilai-nilai kebangsaan menjadi hal utama untuk meningkatkan mutu pendidikan sekolah melalui kepemimpinan kepala sekolah. Hal ini diharapkan dapat menumbuhkan nilai cinta tanah air kepada siswa. Kata kunci : integritas, kepala sekolah, debat mora