Exploring the Dynamics of Identity Based Conflict and the Possibility for its Sustainable Management: A Study of the Persistent Ethno-Religious Conflict in Wukari Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

This article explores the dynamics of identity-based conflict and the possibility for its management. The study in particular focuses on the persistent ethno-religious conflicts in the Wukari Area of Taraba State, Nigeria. The real issues precipitating the persistent ethno-religious conflicts and the costs of the conflicts were clearly brought to the fore. The study proposes a new paradigm for managing social conflicts at the community level through the \u27use of community solutions for community problems\u27 which will involve the constructive participation of all of the stakeholders in the community. This paper concludes by making a proposal for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) and a power sharing arrangement as strategies that could bring about lasting peace between the Jukun Christians/ Traditionalist Jukun and the Jukun Muslims/Hausa Muslims who are the warring parties in the persistent ethno-religious conflicts ravaging Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

Government Expenditure and Inflation Rate in Nigeria: An Empirical Analyses of Pairwise Causal Relationship

The study investigates the nature and extent of causal relationship between government expenditure and inflation rate in a 42-year  period (1970-2011).Times series data obtained from the Central Bank's statistical bulletin of relevant years are analysed using descriptive(graphs and charts) and inferential(correlation,stationarity,Johansen's cointegration test and Granger causality test) analysis.The variables are stationary,weakly and inversely correlated and show longrun relationship.However,they did not granger-cause each other implying that there exists no pairwise causal relationship between them. We recommend appropriate fiscal-monetary policy mix,redirecting government expenditure to productive channels in the economy and maintaing a strategic balance between capital and recurrent expenditure. Keywords: Government Expenditure;Inflation Rate;Pair-wise causal relationship; Granger causality test

Government Expenditure and Inflation Rate in Nigeria: An Empirical Analyses of Pairwise Causal Relationship.

The study investigates the nature and extent of causal relationship between government expenditure and inflation rate in a 42-year  period (1970-2011). Times series data obtained from the Central Bank's statistical bulletin of relevant years are analysed using descriptive(graphs and charts) and inferential (correlation, stationarity, Johansen's cointegration test and Granger causality test) analysis. The  variables are stationary, weakly and inversely correlated and show longrun relationship. However, they did not granger-cause each other implying that there exists no pairwise causal relationship between them. We recommend appropriate fiscal-monetary policy mix,redirecting government expenditure to productive channels in the economy and maintaing ba strategic balance between capital and recurrent expenditure. Keywords: Government Expenditure; Inflation Rate; Pair-wise causal relationship; Granger causality test

The Implications of Executive-Legislative Conflicts on Good Governance in Nigeria

The legislature and executive are two very important political institutions in presidential democratic regimes and they have a very critical task to play in promoting good governance. The achievement of this task however is dependent on whether the relationship that exists between these institutions is constructive or conflictive. In Nigeria’s Fourth Republic for example, the relationship between the executive and legislature has been characterised more by dysfunctional conflicts which often deadlocks the policy making and implementation process, ultimately inhibiting good governance. More worrisome is the fact that even after thirteen years of democratisation in Nigeria, the political players have refused to wean themselves off from the culture of impunity and flagrant disregard to the rule of law, which are the twin evil introduced into the country’s body politics by the military. These factors and others have remained the triggers of political conflicts in Nigeria especially between the executive and legislative arms of government. This study therefore carried out an incisive analysis of the implications of executive-legislative conflicts on good governance in Nigeria and it clearly found out that executive-legislative conflicts have profound negative and positive impacts on good governance in the country. The research methodology adopted in this study is both descriptive and analytical. In conclusion, the study recommends that both the executive and legislature should respect and strictly adhere to the tenets of the principles of separation of powers so as to avoid frictions that could be counter-productive to the discharge of their constitutional duties, while embracing dialogue in resolving their differences. It is also imperative that both institutions should see themselves as complementary partners in the administration of the Nigerian state and as such synergize in the policy making and implementation process with a view to promoting good governance in Nigeria. Key Words: Conflict, Executive, Legislature, Governance and Good Governance

Impact of Currency Devaluation on Economic Growth of Nigeria

The primary aim of the study is to estimate the long run relationship between economic growth (RGDP) and currency devaluation. This study investigated the impact of currency devaluation on economic growth of Nigeria. This was achieved through a review of literature and a test of hypothesis. In order to generate the necessary data for this study, the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin of and publications of the National Bureau of Statistics were used for the period of 1986 to 2012. The Johansen Cointegration method was used for this analysis because the study involves the use of multivariate estimations. The result from the multivariate cointegration test shows that there is at least one cointegrating vector in the relationship between economic growth and the independent variables. This implies that a long run relationship exists among these variables. The autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) approach is used for the ECM. The error correction mechanism result indicates that short term changes in economic growth may actually be sufficiently explained by currency devaluation and other factors selected in the model. Thus, we cannot reject the hypothesis of a significant short term relationship between economic growth and currency devaluation. The study shows that in the short run currency devaluation leads to increase in output and improves the balance of payments but in the long run the monetary consequence of the devaluation ensures that the increase in output and improvement in the balance of payment is neutralized by the rise in prices. Our study therefore supports the monetarists’ view of currency devaluation. Based on the above it is recommended that the monetary authorities should do what they can to reduce the temporary increase in prices lest it become permanent. Timing at this point becomes very crucial. More so, the Nigerian government should consider devaluation of currency as the last resort to the economic imbalance

Evaluating the Health Impact of CenteringPregnancy Program Versus Traditional Prenatal Care in Midland Obstetric Clinics and Validating Selected Item On Birth Certificate

The primary focus of this dissertation is to evaluate the health impact of the CenteringPregnancy (CP) program versus traditional prenatal care (TPNC) on important maternal outcomes of pregnancy. This is looked at in two outcomes-gestational weight gain (GWG) and pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). The specific aims are to examine the: (1) effects of CenteringPregnancy program versus traditional prenatal care on gestational weight gain (GWG); (2) effects of CenteringPregnancy program versus traditional prenatal care on pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). Birth certificate (BC) data were linked to hospital discharge records of women who delivered in midland’s obstetric clinics of South Carolina between 2015 and 2019. The research project first validated the accuracy of GWG records on birth certificate data in a sub-sample of centering women (30%) before conducting the evaluation as previous studies suggested the need for this. Propensity score analysis (PSA) was used to account for confounding of patient characteristics and lack of randomization to treatment. The result from validation study showed that BC data for GWG records were similar to electronic medical records, the gold standard and can provide reasonable estimate of this variable for the evaluation, and thus BC is a valid database. For aim one, the study found no statistically significant association between Centering Pregnancy program (versus TPNC) and total gestational weight gain (using it as either continuous or categorical variable-adequate, inadequate, and excessive weight gain) in all analysis models (unadjusted, adjusted, propensity score covariate adjusted and inverse probability to treatment weighting (propensity score weighting) method. The same pattern was observed for weekly rate of weight gain. These are the analytical ways of assessing gestational weight gain as recommended by IOM guideline. For study two, CenteringPregnancy had higher odds of pregnancy induced hypertension in combined stratum in all models-unadjusted, adjusted, propensity score covariate adjusted and inverse probability to treatment weighting method (for unadjusted-OR 1.76, 95%CI, 1.43, 2.17), and specifically significantly increased in all models with development gestational hypertension/unspecified hypertension (for unadjusted- OR 1.91, 95% CI, 1.48, 2.45) compared to women that had TPNC which is opposite to our hypothesis. We also found statistically significant increased odds of severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia in only unadjusted model (OR 1.68, 95% CI, 1.14, 2.49) among CP participants compare to their counterparts in TPNC but surprisingly, mild pre-eclampsia was not statistically significantly associated in all models. In summary, the study found no significant difference in GWG for women that enrolled in CP program compared to traditional prenatal care despite the special nutritional knowledge component of the program to help participant women achieve adequate weight gain in pregnancy as recommended by IOM guideline and the use of advanced statistical methods is opposite to our hypothesis. However, the no program effect is consistent with some prior evaluations that examined the association. We also recommend further studies, preferably a randomized controlled trial to look at the treatment effect in larger, similar or different population of centering women. Study two result needs to be interpreted with caution because there are many factors that may have contributed to the increase rate of pregnancy induced hypertension among centering women that we don’t have data for their fidelity. More studies are warranted in this area to critically investigate and appropriately ascribe the contributory factor (s) to increase rate of pregnancy induced hypertension among centering women despite the efforts for maternal well-being during pregnancy by the CP program. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examined the association between CP program and PIH

Analysis of Sustainable Cassava Biofuel Production in Nigeria

Nigeria's biofuels policy advocates the adoption of cassava as feedstock for a 10%-biofuel substitution option in Nigerian transport fuel demand. This policy option is expected to address energy security and environmental consequences of using fossil fuels as the sole source of transport energy in the country. This paper appraised the technological and economic factors necessary for achieving Nigeria's cassava-based biofuel initiative at different substitution levels of 5, 10, and 15% by the Year 2020. A multi-stage energy forecasting and project analysis framework adapted from Coate's structure for technology assessment, as well as engineering economy methodology was used for the study. Technological analysis entailed determining petrol consumption projection, R&D capability, input feedstock requirements, environmental considerations and land requirement for feedstock crop production while engineering economy analysis evaluated the economic viability of the project. The results showed that petrol consumption in Nigeria and bioethanol substitution requirements were in the range of 18,285.7 – 19,142.84 thousand tons and 914.28 (5% low demand) – 2871.43 (15% high demand) thousand tons, respectively by 2020. Cassava feedstock and landmass requirements for bioethanol production were in the range of 4.64 – 14.53 million tons and 4.08 – 12.80 thousand sq. km, respectively while carbon dioxide savings were between 1.87 – 5.89 million tons by 2020. The recovery price for cassava bioethanol was estimated to be US$ 0.74/litre . Petrol being subsidised presently is harmful to the environment though it ‘oils’ the economy. Nigeria currently subsidizes petroleum products to the tune of 28% of 2011 budget. The government plans to remove this by 2012. Thus we conclude that weighing both economic and environmental benefits of bioethanol substitution in petrol consumption in Nigeria, the study showed that bioethanol production from cassava feedstock would be both technically and economically viable, provided subsidy, which depends on political will on the side of the government, is introduced for the first ten years of its implementation

Prevalence of drug resistance mutations among ART-naive and -experienced HIV-infected patients in Sierra Leone

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) in HIV-infected ART-naive and -experienced patients in Sierra Leone. Patients and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of HIV-positive adults aged 18 years at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone in November 2017. Sequencing was performed in the reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase regions, and interpreted using the Stanford HIVDR database andWHO 2009mutation list. Results: Two hundred and fifteen HIV-infected patients were included (64 ART naive and 151 ART experienced). The majority (66%) were female, the median age was 36 years and the median ART exposure was 48months. The majority (83%) were infected with HIV-1 subtype CRF02_AG. In the ART-naive group, the pretreatment drug resistance (PDR) prevalence was 36.7% (14.2% to NRTIs and 22.4% to NNRTIs). The most prevalent PDR mutations were K103N (14.3%), M184V (8.2%) and Y181C (4.1%). In the ART-experienced group, 64.4% harboured resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) and the overall prevalence of RAMs to NRTIs and NNRTIs was 85.2% (52/61) and 96.7% (59/61), respectively. The most prevalent RAMs were K103N (40.7%), M184V (28.8%), D67N (15.3%) and T215I/F/Y (15.3%). Based on the genotypic susceptibility score estimates, 22.4% of ART-naive patients and 56% of ART-experienced patients were not susceptible to first-line ART used in Sierra Leone. Conclusions: A high prevalence of circulating NRTI- and NNRTI-resistant variants was observed in ART-naive and -experienced HIV-1-infected patients in Sierra Leone. This necessitates the implementation of HIVDR surveillance programmes to inform national ART guidelines for the treatment and monitoring of HIV-infected patients in Sierra Leone.Xunta Galicia-Fondo Social Europeo | Ref. IN606A-2016/023Case Western Reserve University | Ref. NIH NIAID T32 AI07024Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDER | Ref. RD16/0025/002

FACTS Devices as a Solution to Power Industries Problems: A Review

With an ever-increasing demand for power and establishment of new industries with high load demand, the need to for constant upgrade of powers system network is high. Such transmission networks are prone to external disturbances from loads, environment and other sources which leads to low power quality. Sudden application or removal of large loads. Large loads are known to draw more reactive power than the generated reactive power which lead to reactive power imbalance which can lead to total system collapse. In this paper, a critical review of how Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices are used to mitigate such issues to ensure power quality is done. Previous work on the integration of different FACTS devices were review to establish the advantage of FACTS devices over conventional solutions to power transmission problems.&nbsp

Coniferous pine biomass : a novel insight into sustainable carbon materials for supercapacitors electrode

Low-cost biomass-derived activated porous carbon from natural pine cones is synthesized using hydrothermal approach followed by KOH activation and carbonization. The produced carbon materials have a high surface area of 1515 m2 g1 with a well-developed meso/micropores structure which is advantageous and favorable for mass transfer and ion accommodation for fast rate performance by providing pathways for electrolyte permeation and contact probability. Symmetric device fabricated using the obtained carbon material as electrode, exhibited good electrochemical performance with no degradation of capacitance after voltage holding at 1 V for about 60 h demonstrating good rate capability of the fabricated device. The results demonstrate the exciting potential of the pine cone derived carbons as a promising candidate for high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors if fully explored.The South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No. 97994).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/matchemphys2017-10-31hb2016Physic