Determinants of Household Food Insecurity in Northern Ghana: An Ordered Probit Approach

Even though food insecurity is experienced in different degrees, and in many forms and periods, most studies have often classified food insecurity as mild/very low, moderate/low and severe. This study extends the study on food insecurity by examining the relative occurrence of each of these wide categories using ordered probit model and analysing data from 4,288 households in northern Ghana. The study shows that for each of these categories, households’ rural dwelling, age, land size and access to credit significantly increase food insecurity whilst maize crop output and marital status decrease food insecurity. This study reveals that food insecurity is a rural and productivity problem and not a poverty issue (or inadequate credit). We therefore recommend that credit in the form of inputs such as fertiliser, improved seed and mechanisation should be promoted rather than increasing access to credit (cash) to increase household members purchasing power. Keywords: Northern Ghana, Ordered Probit, Productivity, Rural, Credit, Food Insecurit

War against Corruption in Nigeria: Weak Institutions and Economic Crisis as Bane of Its Success

Corruption has taken over the day to day discussion and deliberation on issues relating to national growth and development in Nigeria. It has become a virus eating into the bones and marrow of every sectors and structures of national policy and polities. It is crystal clear that if Nigeria fails to live above corruption and overcome it; it will not be long before corruption would end every hope of golden age of the nation. The paper examines the dimensions of corruption in Nigeria; with major attention on enumerating the weakness of the nation’s political, social and economic institutions including Economic and Financial Crime Commission as a bane militating against all efforts in winning against corruption. This breeds terrible corruption and evil is inimical and unimaginable threat to the survival of corporate existence of the nation. The paper explains the concept of corruption that act as forerunners of other social cankerworms. These are political and bureaucratic corruption. The implication of this cankerworm are also numerous: abject poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment; ethno-religious violence, secession, and terrorism as expression of grievances. This is the object of this paper as historical method becomes suitable in the collection of date, analysis and interpretation

Antibacterial activity of Nigerian medicinal plants as panacea for antibiotic resistance: A systematic review

Background & Aim: Antibiotic resistance is one of the global public health threats facing modern health care system. The development of new effective agents has been challenging. Thus, the interest in the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of bacterial infections has increased. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review Nigerian medicinal plants with antibacterial activity. Experimental: This study retrieved data from published articles on Nigerian medicinal plants with antibacterial activity. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were adopted. A systematic search of PUBMED CENTRAL was conducted. The included studies were those published in peer-reviewed English language journals between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2020 and reported on the key terms; Nigerian medicinal plants with antibacterial activity. Results: The database searches yielded a total of 817 results, and 765 articles were ineligible. After reviewing relevant titles and abstracts, a total of 52 articles on antibacterial were retrieved for full text review. After extensive review of each article, 13 articles were excluded and a total of 39 articles were retained. Furthermore, 4 articles were also removed due to lack of specific compounds stated. Finally, only 35 articles met the inclusion criteria for the assessment of antibacterial activity of Nigerian medicinal plants. The narrative synthesis of the included studies revealed different plants families with broad activities against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Among the bacterial isolates, Staphylococcus aureus was tested more, followed by Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the bacteria were subjected to 97 medicinal plants species for antibacterial activity. Recommended applications/industries: The results from this study reveal that many Nigerian medicinal plants contain bioactive compounds with potentials of antibacterial activity and suggest that they could be employed as alternative in the treatment of bacterial infections after safety profiles is appraised

The use of plants in the traditional management of diabetes in Nigeria: Pharmacological and toxicological considerations

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The prevalence of diabetes is on a steady increase worldwide and it is now identified as one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. In Nigeria, the use of herbal medicine alone or alongside prescription drugs for its management is quite common. We hereby carry out a review of medicinal plants traditionally used for diabetes management in Nigeria. Based on the available evidence on the species׳ pharmacology and safety, we highlight ways in which their therapeutic potential can be properly harnessed for possible integration into the country׳s healthcare system. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical information was obtained from a literature search of electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed and Scopus up to 2013 for publications on medicinal plants used in diabetes management, in which the place of use and/or sample collection was identified as Nigeria. ‘Diabetes’ and ‘Nigeria’ were used as keywords for the primary searches; and then ‘Plant name – accepted or synonyms’, ‘Constituents’, ‘Drug interaction’ and/or ‘Toxicity’ for the secondary searches. Results: The hypoglycemic effect of over a hundred out of the 115 plants reviewed in this paper is backed by preclinical experimental evidence, either in vivo or in vitro. One-third of the plants have been studied for their mechanism of action, while isolation of the bioactive constituent(s) has been accomplished for twenty three plants. Some plants showed specific organ toxicity, mostly nephrotoxic or hepatotoxic, with direct effects on the levels of some liver function enzymes. Twenty eight plants have been identified as in vitro modulators of P-glycoprotein and/or one or more of the cytochrome P450 enzymes, while eleven plants altered the levels of phase 2 metabolic enzymes, chiefly glutathione, with the potential to alter the pharmacokinetics of co-administered drugs. Conclusion: This review, therefore, provides a useful resource to enable a thorough assessment of the profile of plants used in diabetes management so as to ensure a more rational use. By anticipating potential toxicities or possible herb–drug interactions, significant risks which would otherwise represent a burden on the country׳s healthcare system can be avoided

ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING FOR ESCHERICHIA COLI CAUSING URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS IN SOKOTO METROPOLIS

Objective: The study was designed to diffuse awareness on the prevalence of Escherichia coli as a causative agent of urinary tract infection (UTI) in Sokoto metropolis as well as to determine the susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics in Specialist Hospital Sokoto (SHS). This is also to raise awareness of the risk of giving antibiotics and their direct impact on the outcome analysis of UTIs.Methods: This study was conducted at SHS, and ethical approval to carry out the study was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the hospital. Informed consent was obtained from each participant. Early morning, mid-stream clean catch urine samples were collected by patients in sterile disposable containers. The antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was determined against 10 commonly prescribed antibiotics in SHS using the modified Kirby–Bauer disc agar diffusion.Results: A total of 86 urine samples were analyzed over 2 months, and 34 were culture positive giving an isolation rate of 39.5%, while 48 were culture negative giving a rate of 55.8%, and 4 (4.7%) were undecided. A total of 16 isolates were E. coli (47.1%), while 18 accounts for others (52.9%). The results of antimicrobial susceptibility profile to 10 antibiotics showed that E. coli displayed high susceptibility to vancomycin (91.6%), followed by amikacin (89.2%) and then meropenem (88.0%), while high rate of resistance was found in nalidixic acid (81.2%), followed by co-trimoxazole (73.3%) and then norfloxacin (76.2%).Conclusion: When there is an adequate detection of E. coli and other uropathogens, it will aid in selecting the appropriate antimicrobial therapy and this will also serve as a means of infection control. This will go a long way in reducing the cost of treatment and threat of resistance as witnessed in the management of some uropathogens

Persuasive strategies in Buhari's maiden coup speech

Remarkable leaders are those who are skilled at communicating their ideas with a good sense of persuasion. The present paper attempts to investigate the Linguistic augmentative means and devices of the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, regarding his speech Save Our Great Nation from Total Collapse (1984). In order to analyse the speech, Johnstone's (2008) framework for persuasive strategies was used. The findings demonstrate the use of three persuasive strategies: quasi-logical, presentational and analogical. Quasi-logical argumentation, which is based on rationality, was made through syllogism, enthymeme, and causation. Second, president Muhammadu Buhari manipulated presentational persuasion via rhetorical deixis, metaphors, images, and similes to create involvement. Finally, attempting to elevate the spiritual values of his addressees regarding the cause of their being in the economic impasse under corrupt leadership and to motivate his audience to receive his claims about the outgoing government, Buhari employed analogical persuasion by referring to the Holy Qur'an. Of these three strategies, presentational strategies were the most manipulated by President Buhari in the given speech to move his audience and win their support, solidarity, and cooperation for his plans