Islamic Leadership Accountability Of Umar Bin Abdulaziz: A Lessons Towards A Good Governance In Nigeria

 There is no doubt leadership has been given a tremendous place and a key positioning in Islam, Qur’an, Sunnah and the consensus of Ulama’u (Muslim scholars) have made it apparent about the necessity of leadership among the Muslim community. Most recently, the issue of leadership in Nigeria has become a major concern to the Nigerians. Whilst some research has been conducted to examine the solutions to Nigerian leadership, little attention has been paid to Islamic approaches of accountability which is the vital pillar of governance as the key towards sustainable leadership in Nigeria. This study therefore seeks to explore the lessons from leadership and accountability during the caliphate of Umar bin Abdulaziz (R.A) as a panacea to Nigerian Leaders.The methodology of the study relies on critical and comprehensive analysis of the existing published literature related to the topic. Hence, data collection is effected through the qualitative method. The findings of this study revealed that there are lots of lessons and wisdoms that Nigerian government could acquire from the history of caliphate Umar such as his reformations and innovations in governing the state as reflected in siyasah shar’iyyah which can be solution for practicing good governance in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that fear of Allah and believing in accountability is the best option for leaders.Key words: Leadership, Islam, Model, Accountability, Good Governance

Mechanical and flammability properties of poly(lactic acid)/ poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) blends and nanocomposites: effects of compatibilizer and graphene

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/polybutylene adipate co-terephthalate (PBAT) blends were prepared by melt blending and compatibilized by glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The effect of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) on these compatibilized blends were investigated by incorporating GNP at different content. The formulated blend and nanocomposites were characterized for mechanical, morphological, thermal and flammability properties by using universal testing machine, impact tester, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI) and UL-94 respectively. The incorporation of 8 phr GMA into PLA/PBAT (75:25) blend as a compatibilizer results in a significant increase in impact strength (more than 14 times higher) compared to the uncompatibilized blend. Young's modulus and tensile strength of compatibilized PLA/PBAT nanocomposites increased upon addition of GNP and reached maximum values at 4 phr before decreasing slightly. However, impact strength decreased with increasing GNP contents. The thermal stability and the flame retardancy of the GNP reinforced blend nanocomposites were also improved with an increase in nanofiller content and the maximum values for the nanocomposites were achieved at 6 phr. Interestingly, the nanocomposites samples showed a UL-94 rating of V0 at 4 and 6 phr of GNP. Morphological studies using FESEM showed the GNP were evenly distributed and dispersed in the PLA/PBAT nanocomposites. The current methodology to prepare PLA/PBAT blend nanocomposite is an economical way to produce high strength biodegradable polymer which also has good flame retardancy

Synthesis of activated carbon from spent tea leaves for aspirin removal

Adsorption capacity of activated carbon prepared from spent tea leaves (STL-AC) for the removal of aspirin from aqueous solution was investigated in this study. Preliminary studies have shown that treatment with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) increased removal efficiency of STL-AC. Characterizations on STL-AC revealed excellent textural properties (1200 m2·g− 1, 51% mesoporosity), as well as distinctive surface chemistry (1.08 mmol·g− 1 and 0.54 mmol·g− 1 for acidic and basic oxygenated groups, pHpzc = 2.02). Maximum removal efficiency of aspirin observed was 94.28% after 60 min when the initial concentration was 100 mg·L− 1, 0.5 g of adsorbent used, pH 3 and at a temperature of 30 °C. The adsorption data were well fitted to the Freundlich isotherm model and obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetics model. The adsorption of aspirin onto STL-AC was exothermic in nature (ΔHϴ = − 13.808 kJ·mol− 1) and had a negative entropy change, ΔSϴ (− 41.444 J·mol− 1). A negative Gibbs free energy, ΔGϴ was obtained indicating feasibility and spontaneity of the adsorption process. The adsorption capacity of AC-STL (178.57 mg·g− 1) is considerably high compared to most adsorbents synthesized from various sources, due to the well-defined textural properties coupled with surface chemistry of STL-AC which favors aspirin adsorption. The results demonstrate the potential of STL-AC as aspirin adsorbent

An Assessment of Alternative Water Source for Domestic Used in Minna Metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria

Making freshwater available in urban centre are major challenge to be faced in 21st century globally. Population growth and industrialisation have put a lot of pressure on water resources the world over. Minna, the capital city of Niger State Nigeria, has witnessed population growth due to the influx of people from the various regions to seek greener pastures. The population growths have resulted in an inadequate water supply to the populace by conventional means. These problems result in an individual effort to meet their daily water demand. To explore this problem, structured questionnaire were distributed to two hundred households purposively selected from six areas in the town and semi-structured interviews were administered on five water analyst. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze the data collected. The study reveals that inadequate budgetary allocation to ministry of water resources is the major problem hindering water availability in Minna. The three alternative sources of water supply for domestic use identified were well water, water from vendors and boreholes. Consequently increase in resource allocation to the ministry of water resources in a way of policy framework that guaranty private investment in water sector, among others to improve water availability in the study area. Key words: alternative, water, sources, domestics, borehole, well, vendor

Synthesis and characterization of CaO-TiO2 for transesterification of vegetable palm oil

This study explores the potential of titanium oxide impregnated on calcium oxide (CaO-TiO2) as catalyst in transesterification of vegetable palm oil (VPO) to produce biodiesel. The biodiesel yield increased with catalyst calcination temperature and reaction time, and the usage of CaO-TiO2 led to higher yield of biodiesel production when compared to reaction catalyzed by CaO. Biodiesel yield of 93.33% was recorded when CaO-TiO2 was used at optimized reaction conditions. Catalyst characterizations showed that addition of TiO2 to CaO improved the catalytic property by increasing the surface area and strength of basic sites, hence increased the catalytic performance of CaO-TiO2. This study demonstrates the potential of CaO-TiO2 to convert VPO into biodiesel, and the potential of the catalyst in the conversion of waste cooking oil into renewable fuel

Potential materials for food packaging from nanoclay/natural fibres filled hybrid composites

The increasing demand for new food packaging materials which satisfy people requirements provided thrust for advancement of nano-materials science. Inherent permeability of polymeric materials to gases and vapours; and poor barrier and mechanical properties of biopolymers have boosted interest in developing new strategies to improve these properties. Research and development in polymeric materials coupled with appropriate filler, matrix-filler interaction and new formulation strategies to develop composites have potential applications in food packaging. Advancement in food packaging materials expected to grow with the advent of cheap, renewable and sustainable materials with enhanced barrier and mechanical properties. Nanoparticles have proportionally larger surface area and significant aspect ratio than their micro-scale counterparts, which promotes the development of mechanical and barrier properties. Nanocomposites are attracting considerable interest in food packaging because of these fascinating features. On the other hand, natural fibres are susceptible to microorganisms and their biodegradability is one of the most promising aspects of their incorporation in polymeric materials. Present review article explain about different categories of nanoclay and natural fibre based composite with particular regard to its applications as packaging materials and also gives an overview of the most recent advances and emerging new aspects of nanotechnology for development of hybrid composites for environmentally compatible food packaging materials

Optimization of phenol adsorption onto biochar from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB)

Malaysia, as one of the leading palm oil producers in the world faces problems in disposal of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), which can be converted into various value-added products, including adsorbents. This study investigated the adsorption of phenol from its solution using biochar produced from EFB through carbonization. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design was used to investigate the effects of three parameters (temperature, time and heating rate) during carbonization on phenol removal by the biochar produced. This was followed by process optimization based on statistical analysis. The results indicated that the optimized carbonization conditions were; 500 °C for temperature, 10 °C/min of heating rate and 80 min for reaction timwhich led to 7.57% of phenol removal. SEM revealed coarse and uneven surface of the biochar surface, with small degree of pore development. Comparison between FTIR spectrum of EFB and biochar revealed the loss water and hydroxyl compounds from EFB during carbonization. The lack of oxygenated groups (especially carbonyl groups) on the adsorbent surface as well as limited number of pores were the possible reasons leading to low phenol adsorption by biochar, therefore conversion of the biochar to activated carbon was necessary for higher adsorption performance

Facile synthesis of polyethylenimine-modified sugarcane bagasse adsorbent for removal of anionic dye in aqueous solution

Many studies have reported that surface modification of various type of materials by using polyethylenimine (PEI), usually necessitate to be combined with the crosslinkers, namely glutaradehyde, sodium tripolyphosphate, etc. The sugarcane bagasse (SB) is a fibrous agricultural waste derived from sugarcane stalks residue which has rich-cellulose content that makes it amenable to surface functionalization for tailored application. Thus, it is possible for SB material to modify by using solely PEI and eliminate crosslinking step. In this study, SB was used as supporting material for modified PEI to produce polyethylenimine-modified sugarcane bagasse (PmSB) for the adsorption of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dyes from aqueous solution. The effects of contact time (60 – 300 min), adsorbent dosage (0.05 – 0.15 g); initial dye concentration (0.01 – 0.10 g/L), pH (5 - 9) and temperature (30 – 70 °C) were varied to evaluate the performance of the PSB under different experimental conditions. The kinetics study revealed that the adsorption experimental data fitted the pseudo second order model. The equilibrium adsorption data also fitted the Langmuir model with R2 of 0.99 and maximum monolayer capacity of 25 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters suggest that the RB5 dye adsorption by PEI modified SB was spontaneous, exothermic and exhibited chemisorption. The adsorbent can be regenerated up to 4 cycles with the percentage dye removal greater than 80%). Therefore, the PmBS adsorbent has proven that the PEI is solely sufficient as modifying agents for SB material, even without an assistance of crosslinker reagents for removal of RB5 dye in aqueous solution

Exploring the effect of cellulose nanowhiskers isolated from oil palm biomass on polylactic acid properties

In this work, polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW) were prepared through solution casting technique. The CNW was first isolated from oil palm empty fruit bunch microcrystalline cellulose (OPEFB-MCC) by using 64% H2SO4 and was designated as CNW-S. The optical microscopy revealed that the large particle of OPEFB-MCC has been broken down by the hydrolysis treatment. The atomic force microscopy confirmed that the CNW-S obtained is in nanoscale dimension and appeared in individual rod-like character. The produced CNW-S was then incorporated with PLA at 1, 3, and 5 parts per hundred (phr) resins for the PLA-CNW-S nanocomposite production. The synthesized nanocomposites were then characterized by a mean of tensile properties and thermal stability. Interestingly to note that incorporating of 3 phr/CNW-S in PLA improved the tensile strength by 61%. Also, CNW-S loading showed a positive impact on the Young’s modulus of PLA. The elongation at break (Eb) of nanocomposites, however, decreased with the addition of CNW-S. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the CNW-S dispersed well in PLA at lower filler loading before it started to agglomerate at higher CNW-S loading (5 phr). The DSC analysis of the nanocomposites obtained showed that Tg,Tcc and Tm values of PLA were improved with CNW-S loading. The TGA analysis however, revealed that incopreated CNW-S in PLA effect the thermal stability (T10,T50 and Tmax) of nanocomposite, where it decrease linearly with CNW-S loading

Relationship Between Psychological Factors and Entrepreneurial Intentions of University Undergraduates in North East, Nigeria

The purpose of the study was to determine the psychological factors predicting entrepreneurial intentions of University undergraduate students. The design for the study was a correlation survey design. The area for the study covered all Federal Universities of Technology in North East Nigeria, with a population of 3700, when split, 2000 and 1700 are from ATBU, Bauchi and MAUTECH, Yola respectively. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was employed to arrive at 348 students, using Krejcie and Morgan table for determining sample. When split, 188 and 160 students are from ATBU and MAUTECH respectively. Two structured questionnaires, namely, PFQ and EIQ used for data collection were adapted from four different authors. The PFQ comprises of 41, while the EIQ contains 12 items. Results obtained in the pilot tested questionnaires revealed Cronbach’s alpha of PFQ and EIQ to be 0.784 and 0.730 respectively. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS (Version 20). Findings of the study revealed that all the three independent variables were found to be significant with the dependent variable, as well as all variables combined were found to have been positive in predicting the dependent variable. Finally, conclusions were reached and recommendations made