Religious and Political Crises in Nigeria: A Historical Exploration

Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state but underneath, religion plays a fundamental role in the socio-political governance of the people. The integration of religion and politics in Nigerian political history by her founding fathers is believed to be one major problem behind the current religious violence and political instability bedevilling the country today. The aim of this paper is to understand why the political history of Nigeria is shrouded in religious bigotry by providing the historical overview of the background that has influenced the socio-religious and political activism in Nigeria. The paper also examined the passivism or activism of the two major religions: Christianity and Islam in seeking socio-political justice and control in the political activities of Nigeria and the aftermath of this power play in the affairs of governance. Lastly, the paper critiqued the effect of religious involvement in either promoting or reducing socio-religious and political crisis in contemporary Nigerian society. The paper adopted the historical and descriptive research methods and argues that the present religious violence and political instability, is predicated by the “divide and rule” and the pretentious “amalgamation” policy of the Colonial Administrators that favoured the North against the South. The seed planted by the Colonial Administrators before Independence is what has gradually grown into a monster that is threatening the peaceful co-existence of the Nigerian State. The paper concludes that to restore peaceful co-existence in a heterogeneous State like Nigeria, there is need for a realistic constitutional amendment that will truly reflect the heterogeneous secular nature of Nigeria and consider the wishes of the Federating units and by addressing the political, religious and other social-economic issues that are threatening the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria society and guarantee every religious group equality before the law

Mary Slessor’s Legacy: A Model For 21st Century Missionaries

The story of Miss Mary Mitchell Slessor is not a story of a clairvoyant legend who existed in an abstract world but a historical reality that worked around the then Old Calabar estuary and died on the 15th of January, 1915 at Ikot Oku Use, near Ikot Obong in the present day Akwa Ibom State and was buried at “Udi Mbakara” (Whiteman’s grave) in Calabar, Cross River State. Mary was one of those early missionaries that went to villages in the then Old Calabar where few missionaries dared to go in order to bring hope and light to the people that were in darkness. Through her evangelistic efforts, schools and hospitals were erected on her initiative, babies and twins saved from death, barbaric rites and customs stopped because of her undaunted love and passion for God and the people. After a centenary of death, one can easily conclude that what immortalizes a person is not what he does for himself but what he does for others. Mary Slessor’s name, work and care for twins can never be forgotten even in another century to come. The tripartite purpose of this paper is to first examine the stepping out of Mary Slessor from her comfort zone to Calabar (her initial struggle), her passion for the people of Old Calabar and her relational method of evangelism that endeared her to the heart of the people

Retirees and Pension Scheme in Nigeria: Some Socio-Ethical Implications

Life after retirement is to some people the most dreaded period of their life because of the uncertainty that surrounds it. Even with proper planning by way of contributory pension scheme during one’s active period in service, the uncertainty of both the political and economic policies in the country makes the future of pensioners and the aged very bleak and unpredictable. The delay in payment and the administrative bottle neck creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity physically, psychologically, economically, socially and emotionally among most employees in Nigeria. Their fear is justified by the incessant corruption scam that has bedeviled the pension scheme in Nigeria over the years. The paper investigated Some Socio-Ethical Implications of Corruption on Retirees, using the management of the Pension Scheme in Nigeria as a case study. The study discovered the multiple negative effect of corruption on retirees to include frustration, depression and poverty that has led to untimely death of many pensioners who gave their all to the nation and were neglected and abandoned after retirement. Many died because their gratuities were not paid; even their monthly pensions that they depended so much on were scarcely paid on time. Some of their adult children who would have taken care of them are unemployed, some are married and taking care of their own families and their responsibility does not allow them take care of their parents as it was in the African traditional setting. The study recommended that the appointment of pension manager should be apolitical and that persons of credible, impeccable and uncompromising track record of honesty and sincerity be appointed as pension manager to reduce the plight of the aged in Nigeria

HUBUNGAN TINGKAT PENDIDIKAN FORMAL DAN PERHATIAN ORANGTUA DENGAN PRESTASI BELAJAR GEOGRAFI SISWA KELAS X SMA NEGERI 2 SLEMAN TAHUN AJARAN 2011/2012

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui: 1) hubungan antara tingkat pendidikan formal orang tua dengan prestasi belajar geografi siswa, 2) hubungan antara perhatian orang tua dengan prestasi belajar geografi siswa, dan 3) hubungan antara tingkat pendidikan formal dan perhatian orang tua secara bersama-sama dengan prestasi belajar siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman. Penelitian ini termasuk jenis deskriptif kuantitatif dengan penarikan kesimpulan melalui analisis statistik. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman sebanyak 104 siswa dan semua anggota populasi menjadi responden. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan kuesioner atau angket dan dokumentasi. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi linier berganda, uji t, uji F, R 2 dan sumbangan relatif dan efektif. Hasil analisis regresi memperoleh persamaan garis regresi:Y= 0,425X +44,328. Persamaan menunjukkan bahwa prestasi Geografi dipengaruhi oleh pengaruh tingkat pendidikan formal orang tua dan perhatian orang tua. Hasil penelitian pada siswa SMA Negeri 2 Sleman menunjukkan bahwa: (1) Terdapat hubungan yang positif dan signifikan antara tingkat pendidikan formal orang tua dengan prestasi belajar geografi siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman tahun ajaran 2011/2012. Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan nilai t hitung lebih besar dari nilai t (2,947 >1,659) dengan sumbangan efektif sebesar 6,55%. (2) Terdapat hubungan yang positif dan signifikan antara perhatian orang tua dengan prestasi belajar geografi siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman tahun ajaran 2011/2012. Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan nilai t tabel lebih besar dari nilai t (4,913 >1,659) dengan sumbangan efektif sebesar 27,45%. (3) Terdapat hubungan yang positif dan signifikan antara tingkat pendidikan formal dan perhatian orang tua secara bersama-sama dengan prestasi belajar geografi siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman tahun ajaran 2011/2012. Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan nilai F tabel lebih besar dari nilai F tabel hitung (22,691 > 3,09), dan dengan hasil uji koefisien determinasi (R)sebesar 0,340. Artinya adalah prestasi belajar geografi siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Sleman tahun ajaran 2011/2012 ditentukan oleh 34,0% variabel tingkat pendidikan formal dan perhatian orang tua, sedangkan 66,0% ditentukan variabel lain yang tidak dibahas dalam penelitian ini. Kata Kunci: Tingkat Pendidikan Formal Orang Tua, Perhatian Orang Tua, dan Prestasi Belajar Geografi

Socio-Religious and Political Activism in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis of Christians and Muslim Responses

Nigeria is multi-cultural and multi-religious country with two major religions, Christianity and Islam, each competing and claiming superiority and  dominance over each other in number and in might. This claim of  superiority as well as dominance has served as the foundation for religious intolerance and several socio-religious crises and violence that have bedevilled Nigeria since Independence in 1 st October, 1960.Though sometimes concealed in political garment, it is usually motivated by religious bigotry. The objective of this paper is to first, provide a historical overview of the background that has influenced the socio-religious and political activism in Nigeria since independence and examine the passivism or activism of the two religions in seeking socio-political justice and control in the political activities of Nigeria and the aftermath of this power play in the affairs of governance. Lastly, the study will critique the effect of religious involvement in either promoting or reducing socioreligious crises and violence in contemporary Nigerian society. The paper adopted the historical and analytical research methods and has submitted that religious worldviews and beliefs are the major determinants of socioreligious and socio-political violence in Nigeria and therefore recommends a kind of integrative religious education at all levels which must include religious tolerance for peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.Keywords: Christianity, Islam, Social, Religious, Political, Activism, Violence, Nigeri

Superhydrophobicity and Underwater Superoleophobicity of Oxidized Surfaces of Some Copper Alloys

Thermal oxidation and chemical oxidation of C36000 and C84400 copper alloys in different oxidizing N2-O2 mixtures and in different concentrations of stearic acid (STA) and arachidic acid (ARA) generated surface morphologies that affected the wetting of the copper alloys. XRD and EDX analyses of the thermally oxidized surface layers of the C36000 copper alloys confirmed the formation of ZnO and PbO with the nanowires formed consisting of ZnO in terms of the chemical composition. Equally, the XRD analyses of the oxidized surface layer of the C84400 copper alloy at the different oxidizing temperatures (550 °C and 650 °C) showed that a mixture of ZnO, PbO and CuO were formed. In the thermally oxidized C36000 copper alloy, the growth of the ZnO nanaowires on the convoluted oxide layers sufficiently altered the contact angle behaviour of water as the surfaces on which the ZnO nanowires grew were anti-wetting to water. The calculated values of the fsl, for the surfaces of the thermally oxidized C36000 substrates with ZnO nanowires, ranged from 0.002 to 0.004. A stable Cassie-Baxter wetting state, with contact angle up 142 ° for water, was generated due to a combination of water trapped in the convoluted oxide layer and the low fsl. However, surfaces that showed high water contact angle, \u3e 130 °, were oleophilic under water to oil drops. Superoleophobicity was achieved through a porosity driven mechanism that was dependent on the thickness of the oxide layer in the thermally oxidized samples of the C84400 copper alloys. The measured under water oil contact angles increased with the oxide layer thickness, as the porosity of the oxide layer increased due to the irregular packing of oxide grains. At a peak oxide layer thickness of 25.69 ± 9.14µm, oil contact angle of 154.4 ± 1.2 confirming underwater superoleophobicity was achieved. The oxide granule morphologies changed with the amount of oxygen in the oxidizing N2-O2 gas mixture used. In N2-0.75 wt.-% O2 gas mixture, the granules were larger and showed lateral growth. However, the kinetics of the thermal oxidation processes showed that the growth of the oxide layer followed the parabolic law. A combination of the thermal oxidation and reaction of the oxide formed with STA and ARA created superhydrophobic surfaces made of varying forms of nanostructures. Superhydrophobicity was achieved with the maximum water contact angles of 150.2 ° ± 1.5 ° and 153.8 ° ± 3.5 ° for the C36000 as well as 150.5 ° ± 1.5 ° and 152.9 ° ± 2.1 ° for the C84400 copper alloys that were processed through this method. However the hierarchical rough surface degraded and the superhydrophobicity of the surfaces cease after 18 hours of the process. FT-IR and XRD of the surfaces confirmed the oxides reacted to form the stearates and arachidates of Zn, Cu and Pb. Similar anti-wetting, superhydrophobic behaviour was achieved through the direct chemical oxidation process in different concentrations of STA and in 0.005M ARA at 30 °C and 40 °C process temperature. The nano-features formed at 40 °C were thicker than those at 30 °C. The XRD studies on the sample surfaces after 5 days of chemical oxidation in 0.005M STA confirmed the formation of zinc stearate and zinc arachidate superhydrophobic coatings

EFFECT OF COST ACCUMULATION METHODS ON THE PROFITABILITY OF FISH FARMING BUSINESS IN CALABAR METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

The investigation focused on effect of cost accumulation methods on the profitability of fish farming business. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cost accumulation methods on the profitability of fish farming business in Calabar Metropolis. The research design adopted for this study was the ex-post facto research design. The result revealed that the two methods for estimating production cost have considerable effect on the profitability of fish farming which significantly proved that cost estimation and record keeping in fish farming business is a critical factor that will assist fish farmers in the measurement of profit. This is evidenced as the regression result of both fixed and variable cost showed the existence of substantial relationship between cost accumulation and profitability of fish farming in Cross River State, Nigeria. From the findings, the study recommended that fish farmers should develop better cost-effective techniques that minimize feed and equipment related costs to enhance future returns. JEL: Q10; Q22; D20 Article visualizations

Pastoral Livelihood Adaptation to Drought and Institutional Interventions in Kenya

human development, climate change