Guidance and Counselling and the Quest for Effective Continuous Assessment as A Tool for Functional Universal Basic Education (Ube) in Nigeria

Continuous assessment is an aspect of educational assessment and at UBE level it is regarded as the key form of assessment. The concept, features and implementation strategies/operational modalities point to its efficacy in guaranteeing effective schooling if implemented with a good measure of professionalism. It was acknowledged that an appraisal of teacher education curriculum in Nigeria provides for appreciable understanding of the implementation of continuous assessment but that this has not been reflected in the quality of educational practice and that is partly why we have the problem of stay-ins. The role of Guidance and Counselling with emphasis on the counselling oriented attribute was examined and it was made clear that testing and non-testing techniques should be used with a view to promoting learning at all times. And that any tendency of use of test either at the level of item generation, test administration, measurement and interpretation to achieve any objective other than the development of the learner is antithetical to school practice

Factors Influencing Cohabitation Among Undergraduate Students of Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State, Nigeria: Implications for Counselling

The study investigated factors responsible for cohabitation among students of Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. A sample size of 285 was obtained using proportionate random sampling technique for students. The instrument used for data collection was the researcher designed questionnaire.  Frequencies were counted and percentages were computed for the demographic categories. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions. Decisions on the research questions were based on the resulting means score interpreted relative to the concept of real lower and upper limits of numbers. The findings in terms of prevailing factors of cohabitation include: Peer pressure, inadequate hostel accommodation, poverty, access to pornographic materials and inability to manage sexual urges among others. Some of the recommendations include; concerted effort should be made to provide additional on-campus hostel accommodation/facilities, student orientation should be organized as soon as new students resume, rules regulating students’ conduct in hostel accommodation should extend to off-campus accommodation particularly in cultures that frown at cohabitation and timely organization of seminar and workshops for students and parents on reproductive health, social skills, sporting activities and distracting effect of cohabitation. Keywords: undergraduate students, cohabitation, factors, counselling. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-9-02 Publication date:March 31st 201

Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with COVID- 19 vaccination: a case report

Several reports and studies are being conducted to this day based on the safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccination inducing GBS is a rare adverse effect and is likely to be causal. Though, there are reports concerning the relation between coronavirus infections and GBS, the pathogenic mechanism and relevant factors behind COVID-19 vaccines inducing GBS are still not being corroborated so far. Guillain-Barre syndrome is the principal cause of acute flaccid paralysis with a prevalence rate of 2 in 100, 000 people per year. We illustrate a 55 years old female patient who presented with acute onset paraesthesia and progressive weakness of bilateral lower limbs and gait imbalance of 5 days duration to the Hospital during the first week of September. Her symptoms occurred within 2 weeks of the first dose of the ChAdOx1-n-CoV-19 (Covishield) vaccine proving a major possibility of vaccine-induced neurological adverse effect as she didn't have any likely significant history of illness or allergies in the past rather than type 2 diabetes mellitus. This report aims to highlight the incidence and to ruminate upon this matter while evaluating any GBS cases in the current eras of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination

Stochastic characteristics and modeling of relative humidity of Ogun Basin, Nigeria

Extreme events of atmospheric phenomena are often non deterministic in nature, and this has been a major constraint in achieving agricultural sustainability in most developing countries.To facilitate this study, 29 years information of the observed relative humidity of Ogun basin was obtained from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Abeokuta, Nigeria. The data collected covers the periods between 1982 and 2009 and were pre-whitened and aggregated into monthly and annual time series. The stationarity of the time series data was achieved through Mann-Kendal non parametric test and spectral analysis. The Mann-Kendal Z-value obtained is -1.37, which gives no reason to expect the presence of trend in the time series. The spectral density plot showed high variance to lower frequency, and this signifies a positive correlation. No evidence of seasonal effect in the series as clearly depicted by the monthly Periodogram. The autoregressive AR-model, moving average MA-model and autoregressive moving average ARMA-models were fitted for the parameter, with the aid of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and error terms of FE, MAE, MSE and MAPE. ARMA model of order (2, 2) was found to be the most parsimonious for predicting relative humidity. Results are highly accurate and promising for all models based on Lewis’ criteria. Prediction scheme applied in this research could be considered in situations where database is a problem during model development.Keywords: ARMA model, Autocorrelation, Forecasting,Prediction andRelative humidit

EFFECT OF TREATED SEWAGE SLUDGE ON THE QUALITY OF OKRA FRUIT

Treated sewage sludge (Defective) has been identified to increase heavy metals in the soil which are in turn transferred to plants. In view of this, the study is aimed at assessing the effects of treated sewage sludge on the quality parameters of okra fruits. The randomized block design was employed in raising okra plants with three treatments (0t/ha, 10t/ha, and 20t/ha sewage sludge amendment) over a land area of 56.3m2. Soil analysis was used to determine the level of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the soil. After 2months, the okra fruits were harvested by cutting the pods off, slicing, oven drying, milling, and labeled correctly prior to laboratory analysis. The heavy metal content in the okra fruit were analysed using atomic absorption spectrometer. The parameters analyzed were Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, and Zn. The concentration of the selected heavy metals was subjected to descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The transfer factor was also determined. Most soils in the okra field was sand. Study found out that the soil was deficient in phosphorus and potassium. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals were not found in the okra fruit since Cu, Zn and Fe have transfer factors of less than 1. In addition, transfer factor order in okra fruit were Zn>Cu>Fe>Cd>Pb. The study revealed that the application of sewage sludge at 10t/ha and 20t/ha resulted in high uptake of Zn and Fe whereas cadmium and lead were not detected. The study concluded that consumption of the okra fruit grown on 10t/ha and 20t/ha were very safe since Cu, Fe, and Zn in the okra fruit were less than desirable limit as recommended by FAO and WHO. There is need to determine hazard quotient, the health risk index, morbidity status the enrichment factor and degree of contamination in okra fruit. Effect of sewage sludge at different application rates between 25t/ha and 60t/ha be seriously investigated so as to determine the optimal level of heavy metal in the okra frui

Community engagement and mobilisation of local resources to support integrated Community Case Management of childhood illnesses in Niger State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Despite strong evidence of integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illnesses being a proven intervention for reducing childhood morbidity and mortality, sustainability remains a challenge in most settings. Community ownership and contribution are important factors in sustainability. The purpose of this study was to document the process and scale achieved for community engagement and mobilisation to foster ownership, service uptake and sustainability of iCCM activities. METHODS: A review of data collected by the RAcE project was conducted to describe the scale and achievement of leveraging community resources to support the community-oriented resource persons (CORPs). The Rapid Access Expansion (RAcE)-supported iCCM programme in Niger state (2014-2017), aimed at improving coverage of case management services for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea, among children aged 2-59 months. Resources donated were documented and costed based on the market value of goods and services at the time of donation. These monetary valuations were validated at community dialogue meetings. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise quantitative variables. The mean of the number of CORPs in active service and the percentages of the mobilised resources received by CORPs were calculated. RESULTS: The community engagement activities included 143 engagement and advocacy visits, and meetings, 300 community dialogues, reactivation of 60 ward development committees, and 3000 radio messages in support of iCCM. 79.5% of 1659 trained CORPs were still in active iCCM service at the end of the project. We estimated the costs of all support provided by the community to CORPs in cash and kind as US$ 123 062. Types of support included cash; building materials; farming support; fuel for motorcycles, and transport fares. CONCLUSIONS: The achievements of community engagement, mobilisation, and the resources leveraged, demonstrated acceptability of the project to the beneficiaries and their willingness to contribute to uninterrupted service provision by CORPs

Effect of community-based intervention on improving access to treatment for sick under-five children in hard-to-reach communities in Niger State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Access to prompt and appropriate treatment is key to survival for children with malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Community-based services are vital to extending care to remote populations. Malaria Consortium supported Niger state Ministry of Health, Nigeria, to introduce and implement an integrated community case management (iCCM) programme for four years in six local government areas (LGAs). The objective was to increase coverage of effective treatment for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea among children aged 2-59 months. METHODS: The programme involved training, equipping, ongoing support and supervision of 1320 community volunteers (CORPs) to provide iCCM services to their communities in all six LGAs. Demand creation activities were also conducted; these included community dialogues, household mobilization, sensitization and mass media campaigns targeted at programme communities. To assess the level of changes in care seeking and treatment, baseline and endline household surveys were conducted in 2014 and 2017 respectively. For both surveys, a 30×30 multi-stage cluster sampling method was used, the sampling frame being RAcE programme communities. RESULTS: Care-seeking from an appropriate provider increased overall and for each iCCM illness from 78% to 94% for children presenting with fever (P < 0.01), from 72% to 91% for diarrhoea cases (P < 0.01), and from 76% to 89% for cases of cough with difficult or fast breathing (P < 0.05). For diagnosis and treatment, the coverage of fevers tested for malaria increased from 34% to 77% (P < 0.001) and ACT treatments from 57% to 73% (<0.005); 56% of cases of cough or fast breathing who sought care from a CORP, had their respiratory rate counted and 61% with cough or fast breathing received amoxicillin. At endline caregivers sought care from CORPs in their communities for most cases of childhood illnesses (84%) compared to other providers at hospitals (1%) or health centres (9%).This aligns with caregivers' belief that CORPs are trusted providers (94%) who provide quality services (96%). CONCLUSION: Implementation of iCCM with focused demand creation activities can improve access to quality lifesaving interventions from frontline community providers in Nigeria. This can contribute towards achieving SDGs if iCCM is scaled up to hard-to-reach areas of all states in the country

Epidemiological and Entomological Evaluations after Six Years or More of Mass Drug Administration for Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination in Nigeria

The current strategy for interrupting transmission of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is annual mass drug administration (MDA), at good coverage, for 6 or more years. We describe our programmatic experience delivering the MDA combination of ivermectin and albendazole in Plateau and Nasarawa states in central Nigeria, where LF is caused by anopheline transmitted Wuchereria bancrofti. Baseline LF mapping using rapid blood antigen detection tests showed mean local government area (LGA) prevalence of 23% (range 4–62%). MDA was launched in 2000 and by 2003 had been scaled up to full geographic coverage in all 30 LGAs in the two states; over 26 million cumulative directly observed treatments were provided by community drug distributors over the intervention period. Reported treatment coverage for each round was ≥85% of the treatment eligible population of 3.7 million, although a population-based coverage survey in 2003 showed lower coverage (72.2%; 95% CI 65.5–79.0%). To determine impact on transmission, we monitored three LF infection parameters (microfilaremia, antigenemia, and mosquito infection) in 10 sentinel villages (SVs) serially. The last monitoring was done in 2009, when SVs had been treated for 7–10 years. Microfilaremia in 2009 decreased by 83% from baseline (from 4.9% to 0.8%); antigenemia by 67% (from 21.6% to 7.2%); mosquito infection rate (all larval stages) by 86% (from 3.1% to 0.4%); and mosquito infectivity rate (L3 stages) by 76% (from 1.3% to 0.3%). All changes were statistically significant. Results suggest that LF transmission has been interrupted in 5 of the 10 SVs, based on 2009 finding of microfilaremia ≥1% and/or L3 stages in mosquitoes. Four of the five SVs where transmission persists had baseline antigenemia prevalence of >25%. Longer or additional interventions (e.g., more frequent MDA treatments, insecticidal bed nets) should be considered for ‘hot spots’ where transmission is ongoing

Effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines on maternal and perinatal outcomes:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To assess the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in women before or during pregnancy on SARS-CoV-2 infection-related, pregnancy, offspring and reactogenicity outcomes. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: Major databases between December 2019 and January 2023. Study selection: Nine pairs of reviewers contributed to study selection. We included test-negative designs, comparative cohorts and randomised trials on effects of COVID-19 vaccines on infection-related and pregnancy outcomes. Non-comparative cohort studies reporting reactogenicity outcomes were also included. Quality assessment, data extraction and analysis: Two reviewers independently assessed study quality and extracted data. We undertook random-effects meta-analysis and reported findings as HRs, risk ratios (RRs), ORs or rates with 95% CIs. Results: Sixty-seven studies (1 813 947 women) were included. Overall, in test-negative design studies, pregnant women fully vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine had 61% reduced odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.75; 4 studies, 23 927 women; I2=87.2%) and 94% reduced odds of hospital admission (OR 0.06, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.71; 2 studies, 868 women; I2=92%). In adjusted cohort studies, the risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy was reduced by 12% (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.82 to 0.92; 2 studies; 115 085 women), while caesarean section was reduced by 9% (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.98; 6 studies; 30 192 women). We observed an 8% reduction in the risk of neonatal intensive care unit admission (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.97; 2 studies; 54 569 women) in babies born to vaccinated versus not vaccinated women. In general, vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy or perinatal outcomes. Pain at the injection site was the most common side effect reported (77%, 95% CI 52% to 94%; 11 studies; 27 195 women). Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and related complications in pregnant women. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020178076