An Assessment of the Strategies for Sustaining Self Help Group Projects in Paikoro Area Niger State, Nigeria

Self-help groups (SHGs) have been seriously viewed in recent times as one of the potent instruments for socio-economic development in rural communities having realized that governments cannot provide all the necessities of life for the teeming population in the country. It is in this regard that rural people evolved this strategy as a means to overcome deprivation and neglect. The study aimed at assessing various projects executed by self help groups in Paikoro local government area of Niger State, Nigeria. This study used field survey, and focus group discussion. It adopted a systematic sampling to select 35 self help groups  and purposive sampling technique to select 4 group leaders to make 140 samples on the one hand, 316 samples were generated among the members of the communities through cluster sampling within the neighbourhoods to select key informants in wards where self-help group projects have been executed. The study adopted descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency, averages and percentages to analyse the data. The study identified 105 self-help groups within five districts Paiko having 37(35.2%) as the highest and Ishau has the lowest with 13(12.3%). Projects include roads, clinic, boreholes, electrification, skill acquisition centres, schools, and community toilets. With resource mobilization, some 52(37.2%) are donated by members, 34(24.3%) from stakeholders, 38(27.1) through launching of funds, and 13(9.3%) from various levies. Regarding sustainability of group projects, majority 118(84.3%) opined that involvement of community members would help to maintain the projects and some 9(6.4) admitted that provision of adequate security was necessary. It is recommended that active community participation in self help projects should be encouraged since the people treat such projects as their own. Also, distributive justice should be paramount to location of projects such that there should be no discrimination either by tribe, religion or political affiliation. Moreover, government should give grants and technical assistance to communities that embark upon laudable self-help projects. Keywords: District Self Help Group Project Sustenanc

Trade Openness, Economic Growth, and Environmental Concern In Nigeria

This study is an attempt to analyze the relationship between trade openness, economic growth, and environmental pollution in Nigeria. The study introduces urbanization and ruralization as measures of the growth of urban and rural sectors to analyze their contributions to pollution in the country. Using Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) and co-integration techniques, the result confirms the existence of the Environmental Kuznets curve in Nigeria. Also, there is a positive relationship between ruralization and environmental pollution both in the short and long run. However, there is a negative relationship between urbanization and environmental pollution in the long run, but positive in the short run. The study concludes with the recommendation that there is a need for policy makers to enact and enforce environmental laws that are aimed at regulating various sources of environmental pollution in the country. Key Words: EKC, Trade Openness, Urbanization, Ruralization, VECMTrade Openness, Economic Growth, and Environmental Concern In Nigeri

Exchange Rate Volatility and International Trade In Nigeria

Volatile exchange rate makes international trade and investment decisions more difficult because volatility increases exchange rate risk. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of exchange rate volatility on international trade in Nigeria on the basis of annual data from 1980 to 2013, which was obtained from World Bank Development Indicators (WDI). Exchange rate volatility, gross national product (GDP), investment, interest rate, import and export were used to capture the causal relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade and also the long-run and short-run relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade. A review of the literature reveals that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on international trade. The empirical analysis began with testing for stationarity of the variables by applying the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), this was followed by co-integration test, then the granger causality and the Error Correction Model (ECM). The co-integration test indicated that the variables are co-integrated which implies that a long-run relationship exist between the variables while the granger causality test showed that a causal relationship exist between international trade and exchange rate volatility. It was observed form the ECM analysis that exchange rate volatility negatively affects international trade. The study therefore recommend that the government should put in place exchange rate and trade policies that will promote greater exchange rate stability and trade conditions that will promote domestic production in the economy. In other to achieve this, the government should provide efficient infrastructural services like energy resources

Cryptic Eimeria genotypes are common across the southern but not northern hemisphere

The phylum Apicomplexa includes parasites of medical, zoonotic and veterinary significance. Understanding the global distribution and genetic diversity of these protozoa is of fundamental importance for efficient, robust and long-lasting methods of control. Eimeria spp. cause intestinal coccidiosis in all major livestock animals and are the most important parasites of domestic chickens in terms of both economic impact and animal welfare. Despite having significant negative impacts on the efficiency of food production, many fundamental questions relating to the global distribution and genetic variation of Eimeria spp. remain largely unanswered. Here, we provide the broadest map yet of Eimeria occurrence for domestic chickens, confirming that all the known species (Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria tenella) are present in all six continents where chickens are found (including 21 countries). Analysis of 248 internal transcribed spacer sequences derived from 17 countries provided evidence of possible allopatric diversity for species such as E. tenella (FST values ⩽0.34) but not E. acervulina and E. mitis, and highlighted a trend towards widespread genetic variance. We found that three genetic variants described previously only in Australia and southern Africa (operational taxonomic units x, y and z) have a wide distribution across the southern, but not the northern hemisphere. While the drivers for such a polarised distribution of these operational taxonomic unit genotypes remains unclear, the occurrence of genetically variant Eimeria may pose a risk to food security and animal welfare in Europe and North America should these parasites spread to the northern hemisphere

Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

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Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for health research that would have the potential to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs.MethodsThe Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method was used to identify COVID-19-related research priorities. All ISoGH members were invited to participate. Seventy-nine experts in clinical, translational, and population research contributed 192 research questions for consideration. Fifty-two experts then scored those questions based on five pre-defined criteria that were selected for this exercise: 1) feasibility and answerability; 2) potential for burden reduction; 3) potential for a paradigm shift; 4) potential for translation and implementation; and 5) impact on equity.ResultsAmong the top 10 research priorities, research questions related to vaccination were prominent: health care system access barriers to equitable uptake of COVID-19 vaccination (ranked 1st), determinants of vaccine hesitancy (4th), development and evaluation of effective interventions to decrease vaccine hesitancy (5th), and vaccination impacts on vulnerable population/s (6th). Health care delivery questions also ranked highly, including: effective strategies to manage COVID-19 globally and in LMICs (2nd) and integrating health care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs (3rd). Additionally, the assessment of COVID-19 patients' needs in rural areas of LMICs was ranked 7th, and studying the leading socioeconomic determinants and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs using multi-faceted approaches was ranked 8th. The remaining questions in the top 10 were: clarifying paediatric case-fatality rates (CFR) in LMICs and identifying effective strategies for community engagement against COVID-19 in different LMIC contexts.InterpretationHealth policy and systems research to inform COVID-19 vaccine uptake and equitable access to care are urgently needed, especially for rural, vulnerable, and/or marginalised populations. This research should occur in parallel with studies that will identify approaches to minimise vaccine hesitancy and effectively integrate care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs. ISoGH calls on the funders of health research in LMICs to consider the urgency and priority of this research during the COVID-19 pandemic and support studies that could make a positive difference for the populations of LMICs

Training during the COVID-19 lockdown : knowledge, beliefs, and practices of 12,526 athletes from 142 countries and six continents

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March–June 2020). RESULTS Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to “maintain training,” and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is “okay to not train during lockdown,” with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes. In total, 60% of athletes considered “coaching by correspondence (remote coaching)” to be sufficient (highest amongst world-class athletes). During lockdown, < 40% were able to maintain sport-specific training (e.g., long endurance [39%], interval training [35%], weightlifting [33%], most (83%) training for “general fitness and health maintenance” during lockdown. Athletes trained alone (80%) and focused on bodyweight (65%) and cardiovascular (59%) exercise/training during lockdown. Compared with before lockdown, most athletes reported reduced training frequency (from between five and seven sessions per week to four or fewer), shorter training sessions (from ≥ 60 to < 60 min), and lower sport-specific intensity (~ 38% reduction), irrespective of athlete classification. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19-related lockdowns saw marked reductions in athletic training specificity, intensity, frequency, and duration, with notable within-sample differences (by athlete classification). Higher classification athletes had the strongest desire to “maintain” training and the greatest opposition to “not training” during lockdowns. These higher classification athletes retained training specificity to a greater degree than others, probably because of preferential access to limited training resources. More higher classification athletes considered “coaching by correspondence” as sufficient than did lower classification athletes. These lockdown-mediated changes in training were not conducive to maintenance or progression of athletes’ physical capacities and were also likely detrimental to athletes’ mental health. These data can be used by policy makers, athletes, and their multidisciplinary teams to modulate their practice, with a degree of individualization, in the current and continued pandemic-related scenario. Furthermore, the data may drive training-related educational resources for athletes and their multidisciplinary teams. Such upskilling would provide athletes with evidence to inform their training modifications in response to germane situations (e.g., COVID related, injury, and illness).A specific funding was provided by the National Sports Institute of Malaysia for this study.The National Sports Institute of Malaysia.https://www.springer.com/journal/40279am2023Sports Medicin

Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A\ud Multivariate Investigation

There is a lingering puzzle as to whether electricity consumption has positive, negative or neutral impact on economic\ud growth and also regarding the direction of causation between them. This study examines this relationship in the case of\ud Nigeria. The study introduces capital formation as well as labor stock in a multivariate system for the period covering\ud 1990-2011. Augmented Dickey Fuller test and Philip Perron unit roots test; Johansen test for co integration, vector error\ud correction and Granger causality test are employed. The result of the study shows unidirectional causality from electricity\ud consumption to real gross domestic product. The long run estimates however, supports the Granger causality tests by\ud revealing that electricity consumption is positively related with real gross domestic product in the long run. Investigation\ud further indicates that there is unidirectional causality from capital formation to real gross domestic product. This implies\ud that Nigeria- being a country highly dependent on energy- will have capital formation’s contribution to the economy\ud relatively determined by adequate electricity