Assessing the land equivalent ratio (LER) and stability of yield of two cultivars of sorghum (Sorghum bicolorL. Moench)-Soyabean (Glycine max L. Merr) to Row intercropping system

Field trials were conducted in the Institute for Agricultural  Research (IAR) farm, Samaru, Zaria during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 rainy seasons to study the performance of sorghum/soyabean intercrop as influenced by cultivar and row arrangement. The treatments consisted of two sorghum cultivars – SAMSORG-14 and SAMSORG-17, two soyabean cultivars- TGx 1448-2E and SAMSOY 2, four crop row arrangements (1:1, 1:2, 2:1 and 2:2 Sorghum : Soyabean) in factorial combinations. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design. The most stable treatment combination in the trial was SAMSORG-17 intercropped with TGx 1448-2E in 1SG:1SY row arrangement (1.01).  All but one intercrop had LER values above unity, thus suggesting a considerable benefit for intercropping sorghum with soyabean.Among the treatment combinations, SAMSORG-17 intercropped with TGx 1448-2E in 1SG:1SY row arrangement produced the highest LER value of 1.40. Key words: LER, cultivar, crop stabilit

Assessing the land equivalent ratio (LER) and stability of yield of two cultivars of sorghum (Sorghum bicolorL. Moench)-Soyabean (Glycine max L. Merr) to Row intercropping system

Field trials were conducted in the Institute for Agricultural  Research (IAR) farm, Samaru, Zaria during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 rainy seasons to study the performance of sorghum/soyabean intercrop as influenced by cultivar and row arrangement. The treatments consisted of two sorghum cultivars – SAMSORG-14 and SAMSORG-17, two soyabean cultivars- TGx 1448-2E and SAMSOY 2, four crop row arrangements (1:1, 1:2, 2:1 and 2:2 Sorghum : Soyabean) in factorial combinations. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design. The most stable treatment combination in the trial was SAMSORG-17 intercropped with TGx 1448-2E in 1SG:1SY row arrangement (1.01).  All but one intercrop had LER values above unity, thus suggesting a considerable benefit for intercropping sorghum with soyabean.Among the treatment combinations, SAMSORG-17 intercropped with TGx 1448-2E in 1SG:1SY row arrangement produced the highest LER value of 1.40. Key words: LER, cultivar, crop stabilit

Police-Public Media Relations: Issues and Challenges

Police-Public relations is the subject of Police-Media Relations. The Police and the media are two institutions that are aimed at ensuring that the society lives well based on lawful and orderly conduct in the interest of justice, fairness and development of the society. The two institutions require information from the public to perform their duties prudently and diligently. However,  they differ in orientation, operational techniques, platforms and public perception. A typical scenario for instance, if there is an uprising, attack, disaster or any such unfortunate occurence, members of the public will be running to safer areas.  It is common see the Police and the media are pushing their way forward into that ‘danger zone’ to perform their individual responsibilities. Both the Police and the media depend on sources for information to facilitate their work, though they differ significantly in approaching the subject matter; thus the Police interrogate to get information, the journalist on the otherhand, interviews to secure information. It is undeniable fact that, the two institutions require each other in the performance of their responsibilities and therefore need to develop a harmonious and cordial relations. One fact is that the Police have bags of information that the media require, likewise, the Police require the visibility and bridge that the media provide to link them with the society in a positive manner in order to have a goodwill from the public. Daily, the media reports on issues partaining crime or about the Police, the crime news and other sensational events excite the public and it enables them to appreciate the effort of the government or that of the Police on crime prevention and control. These inevitably indicates that the media and the police must work together. However, over the years there exists a mixed relation between them, this paper identifies those challenges affecting the duo relations and recommends ways to overcome those challenges. Keywords: Police;  Media and public relations challenges

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of Heavy metals in water at Daura Gypsum Mining Site, Yobe State, Nigeria

This study was designed to detect heavy metals level in water collected from Daura gypsum mining site, Yobe State, Nigeria. Samples were collected and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The level of Pb, Ni, Cd, As, Cu and Zn, were assessed. Also the conductivity of the water samples detected using Conductivity meter. The result shows significant level of As at 0.0382 mg/l, Cd at 0.06-0.18 mg/l and 0.9852 mg/l for Ni which exceeded the WHO limit (0.01 mg/l). Cu, Zn, and Pb were detected at 0.95mg/l, 1.77 mg/l and 0.244 mg/l respectively. Cu, Pb, and Zn were found below the WHO, USEPA limits. This may bring kidney related risk to the people over a long period of time, Therefore , incorporation of ion exchange, reverse osmosis or adsorption in water sources will help reduce the heavy metals burden of the public in the area

Religious Diversity and National Integration in Nigeria

Nigeria is a diverse country with about 150 Million people; it is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious; hugely pluralistic and clearly heterogeneous. In fact, the beauty and strength of its existence as a nation lie in the variety and unity of its set up. Imagine the complexities and divergences that exist in the stretch from Port Harcourt to Sokoto; from Lagos to Maiduguri, or from Enugu to Yola.  The geographical landscape of the country varies, stretching from the Sahel Savannah in the far North to the rain forest down South, just like the people who are also remarkably unique in their individual outlooks and orientations, but united in their humanity. These diversities are evidently manifested in the citizens’ cultural and religious practices. For instance, there are more than 400 documented ethnic groups across the land comprising of millions of people who are adherents of the two major religions of Islam and Christianity and, to a lesser extent, the traditional religion (Albert, 2002). The citizens are religious in profession and even the Constitution is religious, as it begins with the words “UNDER GOD”, though the Nation has not adopted any religion as a State Religion. God is centrally considered in the affairs of the people

External Debt and Domestic Debt impact on the growth of the Nigerian Economy

The rationale for this paper is to establish the relationship between economic growth, external debt and domestic debt in Nigeria. Debt has become inevitable phenomenon in Nigeria, despite its oil wealth. This paper therefore is set to investigate the impact of external debt, and domestic debt on economic growth in Nigeria between 1970-2010 through the application of Ordinary least square method to establish a simple relationship between the variables under study, Augmented Dickey-Fuller technique in testing the unit root property of the series and Granger causality test of causation between GDP, external debt and domestic debt. The results of unit root suggest that all the variables in the model are stationary and the results of Causality suggest that there is a bi-directional causation between external debt and GDP while no causation existed between domestic debt and GDP as well no causation existed between external debt and domestic debt. The results of OLS also revealed that external debt possessed a negative impact on economic growth while domestic debt has impacted positively on economic growth (GDP). A good performance of an economy in terms of per capita growth may therefore be attributed to the level of domestic debt and not on the level of external debt in the country; therefore external debt is seen as inimical to the economic progress of a country. The paper found that domestic debts if properly manage can lead to high growth level. A major policy implication of this result is that concerted effort be made by policy makers to manage the debt effectively by channeling them to productive activities (real sector) so as to increase the level of output in Nigeria, hence achieving the desire level of growth. Another policy implication of the study is that most developing countries contract debt for selfish reasons rather than for the promotion of economic growth through investment in capital formation and other social overhead capital. Thus, the paper also recommends that government should rely more on domestic debt in stimulating growth rather than external debt. Government should formulate policies aimed at encouraging domestic savings vis-à-vis domestic investment. The need for borrowing is due to gap between domestic savings and investment; therefore, bridging the gap can be a likely solution to Nigeria’s debt accumulation. For debt to promote growth in Nigeria and other highly indebted countries fiscal discipline and high sense of responsibility in handling public funds should be the Watchword of these countries’ leaders. Debt can only be reduced to the barest minimum by increasing output level (GDP)

Globalization and its impact on the performance of the Nigerian Economy

This paper investigates the impact of globalization on the performance of the Nigerian economy ‘between’ 1962-2009 through the application of simple Annual Average Growth Rate (AAGR) technique. The comparative analysis of growth of key sectors of the Nigerian economy (agriculture, petroleum, manufacturing, solid minerals, transport and communication sectors) between Pre-globalization (Pre-SAP; 1962-1985) and Post globalization periods (Post-SAP; 1986-2009). The study reveals that ‘‘globalization’’ had had positive impact on some sectors of the economy especially, agriculture, transportation and communication; while negative impact on some sectors especially petroleum, manufacturing, and solid minerals. Globalization had had positive impact on the overall performance of the economy which is measured by GDP. This implies that despite its negative impact on some sectors of the economy; still is beneficial to the growth of the economy. This paper therefore, recommends that concerted effort need to be taken by government and policy makers to boost the performance of the sectors negatively impacted by globalization especially petroleum which is the largest contributor to GDP in recent time in the country, followed by manufacturing and solid minerals with the view to diversifying the economy. The paper also recommends that crude petroleum should be refined before exporting in order to benefit more from globalization. Another policy implication of this study is that inflation and unemployment may be successfully control if the rate at which Nigerian economy is globalized reduces to some level (i.e. openness of the economy be reduce)

Detection of African swine fever virus (ASFV) antibodies in pigs in Taraba state north east Nigeria

A serological study was conducted between 2011 and 2013 to detect the presence of antibodies to African swine fever virus (ASFV) in Pigs in Taraba State, north eastern Nigeria. Sixty (60) pig farms were studied. Questionnaires (N=885) consisting of sections related to the farmer and the animal were distributed and blood samples taken to analyze for the African swine fever virus antibodies. All the 60 questionnaires were answered by the farmers, while 885 were retrieved for the individual pig studied. Of the 60 famers, only 13 (21.7%) were aware of the disease while 47 (78.3%) were ignorant (P<0.05). Out of the 885 pigs examined, none (0%) was infected nor showed any clinical signs of the infection. However, 117 (13.2%) out of the 885 sera samples analyzed for the three year period were positive for ASFV antibodies. The results obtained in 2013 (22.5%) was significantly higher (P<0.05) those in 2011 (12.9%) and 2012 (4.0%). Although male pigs recorded higher sero-prevalence (13.7%) than the females (12.9%), this was no statistically significant (P>0.05). The highest sero-prevalence (16.3%) was  recorded in the Northern zone in 2011, followed by 10.0% and 5.0% in Southern and Central zones  respectively. In the year 2012, no ASFV antibody was detected from the 100 and 99 pigs examined from Central and Northern zones respectively. However, the Central zone recorded a sero-prevalence of  12.0%. In 2013, the sero-prevalence in Southern (29.0%) and Central zones (24.0%) is significantly higher (P<0.05) than in the Northern zone. The sero-prevalence obtained may pose a great risk in the study area, it is therefore recommended that adequate veterinary services, proper sanitary measures and monitoring of pig movement be instituted to avert an outbreaks.Keywords: African swine fever virus, Antibodies, ELISA, Pigs, Taraba State, North eastern Nigeri

Stabilization of Soft Soil by Incinerated Sewage Sludge Ash from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant for Engineering Construction

Effective Management of Municipal Solid Waste cannot be achieved without involving wastewater treatment plants as they generate sludge that must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. Therefore, recycling or reusing them are the preferred options for sustainable development. The study presented the use of incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) as a soil stabilizing agent. Oxide compositions were determined by the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Result showed that ISSA contains Silicon oxide, SiO2 (61.42 %), Aluminum oxide Al2O3 (23.51 %) and Iron oxide, Fe2O3 (4.24 %) in high proportion. Clay soil with low to medium plasticity (CL) from an A-7-6 group was replaced with 0 % 3 %, 5 %, 7 % and 10 % ISSA. Test such as California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), Compaction and Atterberg limit were conducted. Soil obtained lowest OMC and highest MDD values both at 7% ash content. PI dramatically reduced at short extension of curing age from 21 % to 7 % at 10 % ISSA content thereby improving it from category A7 to A2. With 2.25 % at 3 days realized as the maximum value for resistance to loss in strength, durability requirement is satisfied. ISSA effectively raised CBR values of soil from 15.6 % to 19.5 %, 32.6 %, 47.9 % and 46.4 % respectively with 7 % ISSA additive yielding best result. Therefore, the study concludes that 7 % ISSA additive effectively enhance the strength of soft soils

Phytochemistry of methanol seed extract of Abrus precatorius and its effect on spermatogenesis in rats

The methanol seed extract of Abrus precatorius was studied for its acute toxicity and its effect on spermatogenesis in rats as well as its phytochemical constituents. The results of this investigation showed that the LD50 of the methanol seed extract following oral administration was above 5000 mg/kg showing low toxicity. Histological studies of the liver, kidneys and testes of the rats treated with the various oral doses (10 - 5000 mg/kg body weight) showed no remarkable changes in the hepatocytes, kidney cells and testes compared to the control. The effects on sperm cells did not show any significant increase in total sperm head counts. The Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of pharmacologically active compounds such as reducing sugars, tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, saponins and flavonoids. In conclusion, the methanol seed extract of Abrus precatorius contain important phytochemical constituents possessing pharmacological activities and it is relatively safe but has no effects on sperm cell production.Keywords: Abrus precatorius, acute toxicity, phytochemical constituents, spermatogenesi