Charting Nigerian Waters for Safer Navigation

In pursuit of Nigeria’s, international obligations on maritime safety, the elimination of dangers to search and rescue efforts in our coastal waters, environmental pollution and destruction of maritime habitats, and hide-out for sea-borne criminal elements, the Federal Ministry of Transport through the National Maritime Authority (NMA), entered into an agreement on June 16, 2003, with Humber Marine Werks Limited (HMW) for Consultancy on Removal of Wrecks and Derelicts in Nigerian Waterways aimed the contract to conduct a hydrographic survey of the Lagos Ports Area; a critical input to quotations for actual removal of wrecks by contractors to be nominated by the Ministry.Intentando respetar las obligaciones internacionales de Nigeria en relaciôn con la seguridad marîtima; la eliminaciôn de peligros en los esfuerzos de bûsqueda y salvamento en nuestras aguas costeras; la contaminaciôn marina y la destrucciôn de habitat marinos, y los escondidos elementos criminales llevados a cabo en el mar, el Ministerio Federal de Transporte, a través de la Autoridad Marîtima Nacional (AMN), llegô a un acuerdo el 16 de Junio del 2003 con la empresa ‘Humber Marine Werks Limited’ (HMW) para su Asesoramiento sobre la Supresiôn de Restos de Naufragios y Objetos abandonados en las Vîas Navegables Nigerianas. El objetivo del contrato fue dirigir un levantamiento hidrogrâfico de la zona portuaria de Lagos; una contribuciôn critica para la cotizaciôn de la remociôn de restos de naufragios por parte de los contratistas a ser designados por el Ministerio. Esta es la primera de cuatro fases de contratos de levantamientos.A l 'appui des obligations du Nigéria en matière de sécurité maritime, pour l'élimination des dangers présents lors des efforts de recherche et de sauvetage dans nos eaux côtières, pour lutter contre la pollution environnementale et la destruction des habitats maritimes, et pour contrer la dissimulation d'éléments criminels à bord, le Ministère fédéral des Transports, parle biais de TAutorité maritime nationale, a conclu un accord, le 16 juin 2003, avec la société Humber Marine Werks Limited (HMW) pour des services de consultant en rapport avec l'en lèvement des épaves et des navires abandonnés dans les voies navigables nigérianes. Ce contrat a pour objet d'exécuter un levé hydrographique de la zone des ports Lagos; une contribution essentielle aux devis pour l ’enlèvement des épaves par des sociétés contractées par le Ministère. Il s'agit de la première phase de quatre phases de levés devant être réalisés sous contrat

Perception on the effects of substance abuse in a comprehensive university: a case of gender

Abstract: Substance abuse has been identified to interfere with the students’ physical, cognitive and affective development. The main aim of this study was to determine the perception of gender on the effects of substance abuse on their physical, cognitive and affective development. Methodology: The research philosophy adopted was positivism and the approach was deductive. A self-administered questionnaire containing items developed from literature review was administered to 199 built environment and civil engineering students at a South African university. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Cronbach alpha was used to achieve the reliability for internal consistency of the measured constructs i.e. physical, cognitive and affective development. Item correlation identified the correlation of the measures of physical, cognitive and affective development. T-test was further conducted to test gender perception on the effects of substance abuse on the physical, cognitive and affective development. Findings: The measures of physical, cognitive and affective development had a strong relationship and were reliable measures. Furthermore, the results suggest that there was no statistical significant difference on the perception of the effect of substance abuse on cognitive development as informed by male and female students. However, there was a significant difference on their perception on substance abuse on physical and affective development. Limitation(s): The respondents were from one comprehensive university, therefore the findings cannot be generalized for all the tertiary institutions in South Africa..

Acute myocardial infarction in a resource-poor setting: a case report in Awka, Nigeria

The incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Predisposing factors to ACS in Nigeria are not completely known. The management of ACS is influenced by its timely detection and availability of medical and reperfusion intervention facilities. We thus document a case of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in 3 years that was successfully managed medically in Awka, Nigeria, albeit a debacle of resource-poor setting. The patient was a 42 year-old man who presented with retrosternal, stabbing chest pain of 4 hours duration. He has obesity, hypertension and a sedentary life style. He was in painful and respiratory distress; blood pressure was 140/80mmHg. Oxygen therapy, intravenous morphine 10mg was given. Oral Isosorbide dinitrate 20mg bd, oral Clopidogrel 300mg bd initially then 75mg daily, oral Aspirin 150mg bd, oral Simvastatin 20mg daily and oral Lisinopril 2.5mg were instituted. Resting electrocardiography showed evidence of ST elevations in the inferior leads. Cardiac enzyme markers were elevated. Following medical therapy, his condition improved. On the 3rd day he was discharged and subsequently followed up in the clinic. This case of AMI in a man who, has risk factors for AMI and, presented as the first case in three years in a Cardiology Unit in a tertiary hospital in Awka suggests that AMI is rare in this area. A resource-poor setting such as ours might still provide valuable medical therapy to ACS patients especially with prompt referrals from peripheral hospitals

Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on the Economy of Nigeria

The study investigated the impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data from 1981 to 2013. The study also examined the effects of exchange rate of the naira and openness of the economy on economic growth in Nigeria. The ordinary least square technique and vector error correction model was employed in estimating the long run effects and the parsimonious short run dynamics of the parameter estimates. The results of the study revealed that in both the long run and short run, foreign direct investment has positive and significant impact on gross domestic product in Nigeria. The result also revealed that exchange rate of the naira has negative effect on economic growth in Nigeria while trade openness had no impact on economic growth in Nigeria. This study recommends policies that will encourage foreign direct investment in non-oil sector such as agriculture, mining and industrial sectors to boost economic activities and increase output level in Nigeria. It also recommends the removal of government induced distortions and provision of conducive environment for foreign investors to operate and the creation of friendly business environment in the country by the government to increase the level of openness. Keywords: Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, Exchange Rate, Trade Openness, Domestic Inflatio

Relatıonshıp Between School Clımate And Prıncıpals’ Job Performance In Secondary Schools

This study investigated the relationship between school climate and principals’ job performance in secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. It adopted a correlational study design. Five research questions and five hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study embraced all the principals from 283 secondary schools in the six education zones of Enugu State. Out of the population, a sample of 177 principals was selected through simple random sampling technique. The instruments used to collect data were Organizational Climate Index and Principal Self-Assessment Questionnaire, adapted and developed by the researcher, respectively. The two sets of questionnaires were duly validated by experts in Measurement and Evaluation, and Educational Management and Policy. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the instruments which yielded 0.83 for the Organizational Climate Index and 0.94 for the Principal Self-Assessment Questionnaire. . Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. The findings showed among others that: there was a moderate positive relationship existing between the two variables- school climate and principal’s job performance. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that principals should embrace the collaborative and collegial style of administration where teachers are included and free to share ideas and concepts for managerial and school effectiveness. It was also recommended that principals should create an atmosphere that is supportive, comfortable, friendly, productive, and relaxed, to motivate students’ greater participation in learning and achieving educational goals

Factors influencing migrant fisher access to fishing grounds

Fisher migration plays a critical role in artisanal fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean. The present study uses a multiple method approach to evaluate fishing behaviour of migrant fishers at four destinations in Kenya, and focuses on fishing grounds used by migrant fishers to illustrate spatial characteristics that attract or determine access and fishing behaviour. Migrant fisher knowledge of natural trends, cycles and oceanographic processes that influence the abundance of target resources largely determines access to fishing grounds. Calm winds and a fairly high Chl-a concentration make favourable conditions at fishing grounds on the north coast during the northeast monsoon. Fishing grounds on the south coast include sheltered areas that remain accessible during the southeast monsoon. Increased fisheries productivity is experienced during the rainy season due to sediment loading and increased supplies of particulate matter. The main catch landed on the north coast included octopus, grouper and tripletail that were found within the reefs and on the deep slopes, while on the south coast it included needlefish, tunas and mackerels, barracuda and sardine, among other highly migratory pelagic species. Besides natural conditions, local regulations at the destination, including gear and licence restrictions, were also found to be important determinants of access by migrant fishers.

Business Mentoring and Domestic Entrepreneurship in Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sub-sector: The place of Foreign Direct investment Inflows

Although there is a fairly extensive literature on the theory of foreign direct investment, not much of it is useful in providing insights into its effect on domestic entrepreneurship in Nigeria. This paper looks at the theoretical basis for business mentoring, examines the influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow on domestic entrepreneurship in Nigeria’s manufacturing sub-sector from 1973 to 2010 while employing OLS technique. Results identified a positive and highly significant effects of each of human capital and infrastructural development on activities on Nigeria’s manufacturing sub-sector while each of manufacturing FDI, market size and anti-FDI policies has a negative and highly significant effect on activities in Nigeria’s manufacturing sub-sector. This paper therefore recommends that policies on investment should be geared towards wooing foreign investors into the manufacturing sub-sector while giving the diversification of the country’s productive base a top priority. Keywords: Domestic entrepreneurship, Foreign Direct Investment, Spill-ove

Neural network-based colonoscopic diagnosis using on-line learning and differential evolution

In this paper, on-line training of neural networks is investigated in the context of computer-assisted colonoscopic diagnosis. A memory-based adaptation of the learning rate for the on-line back-propagation (BP) is proposed and used to seed an on-line evolution process that applies a differential evolution (DE) strategy to (re-) adapt the neural network to modified environmental conditions. Our approach looks at on-line training from the perspective of tracking the changing location of an approximate solution of a pattern-based, and thus, dynamically changing, error function. The proposed hybrid strategy is compared with other standard training methods that have traditionally been used for training neural networks off-line. Results in interpreting colonoscopy images and frames of video sequences are promising and suggest that networks trained with this strategy detect malignant regions of interest with accuracy

Effect of Annona Formulations on Non-target Invertebrates and on Physicochemical Water Parameters at Semi-field Condition

Plant extracts from the genus Annona exhibit insecticidal properties and thus, may offer an alternative to synthetic insecticides. In the present study larvicidal efficacy of formulations of Annona squamosa and A. montana were evaluated against Anopheline and Culicine larvae in the laboratory and semi-field conditions. In the laboratory there was no significant difference (t=0.5313, p>0.05) in the effectiveness of the A. squamosa formulation at 50 μg/ml and above between An. gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus by day 4. Significant difference (t= 2.649, p<0.05) was observed for A. montana formulation at higher concentration than 50 μg/ml since An. gambiae was more susceptible than Cx. quinquefasciatus. In semi-field condition the efficacy of the two formulations against Anopheline was not quite significant (t= 2.504, p>0.05). The activity of A. montana leaf powder against Culicines was significantly lower compared to A. squamosal (t=3.827, P<0.05). The variation in water parameters had no significant effect on the efficacy of the formulations. The formulations did not affect the survival of the 9 invertebrate groups tested during the period of study except for the Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) whose mortalities was more than 85%. The\ud formulations have proven to offer an alternative to synthetic insecticides