Subsistence Living and Global Climate Change: Implications of Biocharcoal Production for Farmers in Rural Areas of Nigeria

The study examines socio-economic implications of charcoal production for farmers of rural communities in Nigeria using selected communities in Ifedapo Region of Oyo State. From a total of 67 charcoal producing rural communities identified in the region, 16(30%) was proportionally selected using three sampling techniques (stratified, purposive and simple random sampling). A total of 32 colliers and 8 middle traders (wholesalers) were selected as respondents to form the representative sample of the studied population. A-25 item questionnaire was the instrument used for the study. The survey reveals that charcoal producers are mainly male, married adult farmers with little or no education. The charcoal enterprise has been on part-time basis, undertaken as a coping strategy, and the forest is depleting due to uncontrolled and indiscriminate exploitation of mature and nearly-mature trees. Its production would not stop because available alternatives are limited and expensive. Consequently, creating short-term employment during off-season period for farmers, subsidising agricultural inputs, an appropriate policy that delivers gas and kerosene to the end-users for domestic use at affordable price, community participation in forest management, researches into the use of wind and solar energies, law against cutting down of trees without replacement and implementation of the components of the national planning programmes, which pertain to afforestation, discourage farmers from charcoal production.Keywords: Fuelwood, Deforestation, Biocharcoal, Subsistence Livin

Towards Improving Local Government Administration on the Rural Poor in Nigeria: The Role of Women and Private Media

One of the basic objectives of establishing local governments in Nigeria is to bring about development and improvement in the standard of living of the people at the local level. Though many calls have been made on the issue of decentralization of authority at this level, the fact remains that most of the activities of this arm of government in their present semi-autonomous state are urban focused, thus increasing the concern on further marginalisation of poverty stricken rural communities. This study, therefore, examined the role of women and private media in the design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of local government projects/development programmes in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling was used: this involved dividing Oyo State into regions where Ifedapo representing Oke-Ogun was purposively selected. Using a threshold population of less than 20,000 rural areas in the region were identified and ten communities were randomly selected from the marginalised communities in terms of social and economic development using interview guide and direct observation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result of the study indicated that most of the empowerment programmes and development projects of the government eluded the selected communities due to political interference. The rural communities were also not privileged to have access to information about most of the projects and the activities of the private media were not extended to these communities in this regard. The study therefore concluded that participatory local governance be given priority. It was recommended that the rural women and the private media should collaborate and be involved in the design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of local government projects and development activities. Keywords: Rural poverty, marginalisation, women, private media, empowermen

Storage life of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) seeds under humid tropical conditions

No Abstract.Nigeria Agricultural Journal Vol. 38 2007: pp. 62-6

Experimental classification of the antioxidant capacity of the leaf, stem and root barks of Magnifera indica and Azadirachta indica

The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total phenolic concentration of the leaf, stem and root barks of Magnifera indica and Azadirachta indica growing in Ogbomoso, Nigeria were evaluated in vitro. Only the leaf of A. indica belonged to good FRAP. Both the stem and root bark of A. indica and all the parts of M. indica investigated belonged to high FRAP. Experimental results revealed that theantioxidant capacity ranged from 6.80 - 9.20, 12.40 - 13.00 and 10.20 -13.203 mM of reduced Fe3+ for the leaf, stem and root bark, respectively in A. indica. In M. indica, the antioxidant capacity ranged from 12.20 - 15.20, 11.00 - 11.80 and 11.20 - 12.20 mM of reduced Fe3+ for the leaf, stem and root bark, respectively. The total phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity of M. indica stem bark showed ahigh significant positive correlation (r = 0.9439; p = 0.05). The total phenolic concentration of the root bark of A. indica showed a high positive significant correlation with antioxidant capacity (r= 0.9850; p=0.05). All the plant parts examined might be exploited in clinical medicine as protective factors because of their good and high antioxidant capacities

Assessment of Deformation Twinning in Cold Rolled Austenitic Stainless Steels with Electron Back Scatter Diffraction

Deformation twinning has traditionally been studied with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). In this study, an assessment of deformation twinning in Austenitic Stainless Steel (ASS), type 304L, cold rolled to 20% reduction was investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) techniques rather than the conventional TEM. The study revealed the presence of deformation twins in the cold rolled grains of ASS. It emerged from the study that the deformation twins observed may facilitate localised heterogeneous deformation and development of internal stresses within the grain.KEYWORDS: Cold rolled; Twinning; Deformation; Dislocation; SEM; EBS

Personal Data Protection in Nigeria: Reflections on Opportunities, Options and Challenges to Legal Reforms

The right to personal data protection is, without doubt, an important right in the jurisprudence of rights in the contemporary information society. It is becoming as crucial as other orthodox human rights and also attracting significant attention from academics, lawyers, human rights activists and policy makers. In spite of the growing attention data protection receives at international and regional levels, Nigeria is still lagging behind many competitor states like South Africa in establishing an effective legal framework to protect personal data. Individuals‟ personal data is being collected and used without any serious form of control to check against abuse. This paper reflects on opportunities, option and challenges to legal reforms on data protection in Nigeria. It contends that certain legislative and practical challenges stand in the way of an effective legal regime on personal data protection. The paper suggests appropriate legal reforms that are needed to enable prevent the increasing risks of violating the right to data protection in a country that is making rapid advances in Information and Communication Technology but hamstrung by an outdated regulatory framework.http://link.springer.com/journal/109912018-07-30hb2017Centre for Human Right