WATER RESOURCES USE, ABUSE AND REGULATIONS IN NIGERIA

The evolvement processes of water laws in Nigeria, as well as their efficiency in the sustenance of surface water resources, were studied. A cursory look was also taken into the mode of access to water resources by households in Nigeria. This was done vis-à-vis the governmental effort at providing potable water for its teeming population as well as the Land Use Act of 1978, which vests absolute control and ownership of all water resources, ground and surface, in the land owner. About 47 million Nigerians still rely, exclusively, on surface water sources to meet their domestic needs. Yet, pollution discharge into the surface water by individuals and industries go on unmitigated, unregulated, and unpunished due to weaknesses in the existing laws. The involvement of the scientific community in the regular calibration and monitoring of surface water quality as a tool for managing the surface and groundwater resources, among other things, would be an advantageous tool for curbing the pollution menace

Study of Auto Purification Capacity of River Atuwara in Nigeria

The aim of this paper was to study and predict the self-purification capacity of River Atuwara. This was done primarily by measuring the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) downstream of a pre-selected pollution discharge point on River Atuwara and then predicting the same using the modified Streeter-Phelps equations. Other data gathered from each of the 17 sampling stations on River Atuwara and used in the analysis included Biochemical Oxygen Demand, (BOD), pH, stream velocity, stream depth and distance. Predicted DO deficit trend lines were first fitted by retaining the original re-aeration coefficient component, k2, of the modified Streeter-Phelps equation (USGS equation) and subsequently by substituting it with Atuwara reaeration coefficient model. It was found that the latter displayed better predictive capacity. Results also demonstrated that the auto-purification capacity of the river which is already limited by the relatively low DO saturation level is further threatened by the wastes being discharged into it at varying intervals. Some of the wastes which are non-biodegradable and acidic were also found to be interrupting the auto-purification processes of the river. Water from River Atuwara requires treatment before it can be considered safe for consumption by its current users

RAINFALL VARIABILITY AND DROUGHT INFERENCE IN SUDANO-SAHELIAN REGION OF NIGERIA

Rainfall variability in Sudano-Sahelian regions of Nigeria (SSRN) over the 20th century and its poten-        tial links to the Sahelian drought have been examined using daily rainfall series from seven synoptic        stations in SSRN. Using the 30 year climate interval (i.e., 1940-1970 and 1970-2000), the percentage        changes in mean monthly rainfall depth and number of rain days, ranges between 4 and 33% for the        core season and between 3 and 70% in the marginal periods. The standardized rainfall index (SRI)        and normalized rain day index (NRI), two statistical descriptors, are defined and used in this study to        highlight the variability in rainfall and infer drought occurrence in SSRN. Both indices reveal that the        temporal variability in the amount and distribution of rainfall and number of rain days observed within        the region have to a large extent contributed to the 1973 and 1984 drought occurrences in the region.        Similarly, the relatively low NRI values observed within the region for the recent years may also be an        indication that the drought conditions since the early 1970s might be reoccurring.&nbsp

Energy (in)justice in off-grid rural electrification policy: South Africa in focus

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Generally speaking, increasing rural marginalisation in sub-Saharan Africa has sat alongside a rise in energy poor homes in rural off-grid communities. Even measures meant to improve electricity access have exacerbated the energy access gap between grid connected and off-grid homes. For example, the South African Non-Grid Electrification Policy Guidelines for electrifying off-grid, rural poor homes promote the adoption of Solar Home Systems (SHS), which are expected to produce 7.5 kWh/month on average. However, for poor homes within grid coverage, the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) programme allocates 50 kWh/month. This paper investigates the resulting disparity in terms of electricity cost (ZAR/kWh), including associated costs for heating, cooking and other needs. It does so through the energy justice framework, highlighting the mismatch in policy formulation (procedural injustice), resource distribution (distributive injustice) and spatial distribution (injustice in the recognition of population groups’ special needs). Through a combination of mathematics and social science perspectives, it then moves beyond a critique of the current SHS system to proposes a new one: a hybrid generation approach with a flexible pricing scheme and centralized system of operation that is both ethically compliant and capable of improving electricity access to off-grid communities with standards comparable to grid access

Stock Price Prediction Using the ARIMA Model

Stock price prediction is an important topic in finance and economics which has spurred the interest of researchers over the years to develop better predictive models. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models have been explored in literature for time series prediction. This paper presents extensive process of building stock price predictive model using the ARIMA model. Published stock data obtained from New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) are used with stock price predictive model developed. Results obtained revealed that the ARIMA model has a strong potential for short-term prediction and can compete favourably with existing techniques for stock price prediction

Comparison of ARIMA and Artificial Neural Networks Models for Stock Price Prediction

This paper examines the forecasting performance of ARIMA and artificial neural networks model with published stock data obtained from New York Stock Exchange. The empirical results obtained reveal the superiority of neural networks model over ARIMA model. The findings further resolve and clarify contradictory opinions reported in literature over the superiority of neural networks and ARIMA model and vice versa

Examining energy sufficiency and energy mobility in the global south through the energy justice framework

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The widespread adoption of the energy justice framework notwithstanding, arguments offered have not been able to provide tangible definitions of sufficientarianism and energy mobility. Considering widening disparities on what constitutes sufficient energy (electricity) access between the global north (North America, Europe, Australia) and the global south (sub-Saharan Africa, SSA), this paper highlights the influence of ’western reality’ on the energy narrative. This paper also attempts to propose a model that evaluates off-grid electrification projects (in the global south) and their ability to guarantee sufficientarianism by examining the prospects of such projects in providing connected households access (energy security and sustainability of energy supply) and mobility (transition from a lower to higher energy level through the purchase of additional electrical equipment). Furthermore, this paper explores and provides arguments on energy bullying (by industrialized nations on developing countries mostly in SSA) while also offering suggestions for improvements in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. In essence, this paper formulates the endemic problems of energy access and energy mobility (plaguing the global south) as a justice problem and further provides insight into the exacerbation of injustice and bullying exhibited by the global north. Examples from South Africa have been utilized as case study

Effect of industrial effluents on water quality of River Atuwara in Ota, Nigeria. In Adeyemo

The impacts of industrial wastewaters discharged into River Atuwara were estimated from the physical and chemical characteristics of the samples using standard methods. The quality of the effluent before and after dilution in the receiving water and impact on the use of the water for irrigation was studied using QUAL2K software for hydrodynamic analysis of streams and rivers. From the inputted data into the QUAL2K software, the average (and range) of the stream depth, velocity of flow and flow rates of the reaches studied were respectively 0.915m (0.49-2.59 m), 0.336 m/s (0.21-0.4 m/s) and 14.66 m3/s (3.48-59.36 m3/s). Majority of the water quality parameters exceeded the maximum concentration permissible: BOD: ≥ 31 mg/L; COD: ≥ 181 mg/L; Alkalinity: ≥ 138.4 mg/L; TSS: ≥ 826 mg/L; TDS: ≥ 501 mg/L; Chloride: ≥ 9.95 mg/L; Nitrates ≥ 11.3 mg/L and Phosphates ≥ 2.92 mg/L. High concentration of heavy metals such as Cadmium (≥ 0.017 ppm), Pb (≥ 0.29 ppm), Zn (≥ 0.001 ppm), Fe (≥ 7.04 ppm) and Mn (≥ 0.127 ppm) portends environmental hazard to riparian users. Although the water in the river could be used for irrigation to encourage urban agriculture as practiced along the river, the gross pollution of the river underscores the need for pre-treatment of the industrial effluents before discharge into the receiving water body

Policy discussion for sustainable integrated electricity expansion in South Africa

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Emerging reports have shown that despite Eskom's continued investment in increasing electricity supply capacity to grid connected and off-grid households, there has been a steady decline in electricity consumption (kWh/month/individual) and household income (ZAR/month). This paper presents an integrated electricity expansion model (IEEM) for South Africa that seeks to incorporate demand side management (DSM) in providing a roadmap for improving and increasing energy (electricity) access that is sustainable, viable, ethically compliant and cost effective. In modelling IEEM, a modified genetic algorithm (MGA) would be utilized in simulating the dispatch of DSM loads (residential houses only) across the country. This paper advances traditional grid expansion planning by presenting smart policy discussions on the usefulness of IEEM in reducing associated network losses, enhancing utilization of local energy sources and minimizing expansion and plant operations costs. This paper also discusses the impact of the IEEM on the quality of life (QoL) of households and quality of service (QoS) of the utility. Electricity consumption data have been adopted from the existing literature and appropriately modified

An Experimental Validation of Public Cloud Mobile Banking

Currently, financial institutions incur huge expenditure to implement and maintain mobile banking (m- Banking) solutions and this cost is bound to rise significantly, as more customers subscribe to m-Banking services. Cloud computing has potential to facilitate reduced cost, high scalability and a variable cost structure that could guarantee cheaper, reliable and sustainable m-Banking in the long term. While the adoption of organizational private clouds seems natural for banks because of the sensitive nature of banking transactions, some have argued for the adoption of public clouds as a better alternative, despite concerns on issues such as trust, security and privacy. However, there is lack of sufficient empirical evidence in the literature on the suitability of public clouds for m- Banking. Hence, this study presents an investigation of the use of public cloud for m-Banking. A prototype cloud- based m-Banking application was developed using a public platform-as-a-service (Paas) cloud model, which was evaluated for usability and robustness in a controlled experiment. The evaluation result shows that m-Banking on public cloud is viable, if the cloud-based application is sufficiently robust and usable. The result also indicates that m-Banking services on public cloud are suitable for adoption by the banking industry