Efik traditional marriage rites- A gender perspective

This paper investigated Efik marriage rites from a gender perspective. Marriage in Africa is a union between a man and a woman (monogamy) or mainly between a man and women (polygyny), or between a woman and men (polyandry), though this is very rare. In some cases it may be serial polygyny or polyandry, i.e. the case of marrying more than one wife or husband, but always after divorce. Marriage just like other institutions in Africa has rites of passage in which those who intend to enter into it must pass through. Every culture has a sense of peculiarity as to the way in which it approaches this matter. The Efik people are not an exception to this. The question that may be asked is, how gender-balanced are these rites? The Efik people claim to have gender equality, but is this reflected in her marriage rites? Rites are symbolisms of what the actual institution which those rites represent. It is in the light of this that this paper using gender theory critically looked at the Efik traditional marriage rites from gender perspective. The paper realized that, among the Efik people’s traditional marriage rites, there is gender imbalance. It proffers ways of having gender balance in Efik traditional marriage rites. Apart from adding a voice to the cry for gender equality and equity, it provides scholarship a resource material needed for Efik ethnographic study

Conflict Management. The Contribution of the Christian Church

It is true now that man lives in a world of conflict. Conflict is an ever-present process in human relations. Conflict situations indeed appear frequently in daily, public and private life. Conflict may occur within and among families, groups, communities or nations; and they may be fuelled by ethnic, racial, religious, or economic differences, or may arise from differences in ideologies, values and beliefs. Conflict may be on a small or large scale. Conflict charge the people with tensions, threats, fears, anxieties and uncertainties. What makes a society ideal is the extent to which the conflicting interests and needs in a society are constructively managed so that violence does not threaten its continued existence. Since it is obvious that conflicts in any given society is inevitable, management and resolution of conflict is the very essence of talking about conflict. This is what this work is set to achieve and to offer suggestions on how to manage and resolve conflict thereby reducing its negative and destructive effects. This work showed the church has the potential to contribute to the management and resolution of conflicts in Nigeria

Provision Of Low Vision Service In The Department Of Ophthalmology University Of Calabar Teaching Hospital

No Abstract Keywords: Low vision services, Residual vision, Low vision assessment, Retinal dystrophie

The Historical Era of Providential Preparation of the World for Christ and the Church

This work argues that Christianity was born into a world where religion was fully tolerated in the Greco-Roman world. On the other hand the Jews, the Greeks and the Romans made so many oblivious preparations which enhanced the growth and development of Christianity. Although on a superficial glance the Roman Empire may seem the greatest enemy of the early Christianity, and at times a bitter persecutor, yet it was in many ways the greatest preparation and in some ways the best ally of Christianity. God so designed the coming of Jesus Christ completely or in a perfect way that the small width time slot in which He came to this world was perfectly the most possible time for His coming to the world. Saint Paul called attention in Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 to the historic era of timely preparation that go before the advent of Jesus Christ to earth in human form: “But as soon as the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of women, born under the law”. When the Lord Jesus came, he declared “in Matthew 16:18: I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. This work adopted qualitative research approach with focus on historical and content analysis as a method. This shows that God in his infinite wisdom and sovereignty designed according to a plan to build the Church just at the very peculiar or suitable period in history. This work has shown how the Jews, the Greek and the Roman contributions helped in conveying historical development to the juncture where Jesus Christ could produce the highest or greatest significant or strong influence on history in such a way that not capable of being done or achieved previous to or since the period of his birth

Modeling the Nigerian inflation rates using periodogram and Fourier Series Analysis

This work considers the application of Periodogram and Fourier Series Analysis to model all-items monthly inflation rates in Nigeria from 2003 to 2011. The main objectives are to identify inflation cycles, fit a suitable model to the data and make forecasts of future values. To achieve these objectives, monthly all-items inflation rates for the period were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website. Periodogram and Fourier series methods of analysis are used to analyze the data. Based on the analysis, it was found that inflation cycle within the period was fifty one (51) months, which coincides with the two administrations within the period. Further, appropriate significant Fourier series model comprising the trend, seasonal and error components is fitted to the data and this model is further used to make forecast of the inflation rates for thirteen months. These forecasts compare favourably with the actual values for the thirteen months

Refractive errors in children with down syndrome in Lagos State, Nigeria

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder and many with the condition tend to be more at risk of several ocular disorders than those without Down syndrome. The study was aimed at assessing the distribution of refractive errors in children with Down syndrome between 5-18 years of age. The cross-sectional study used data from 104 children with Down syndrome from selected exclusive special needs schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. Visual acuity was measured using the Lea symbol chart and non-cycloplegic refraction was carried out using both static retinoscopy and autorefraction. Significant refractive error was defined as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism of 0.75D and above respectively. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS statistical software version 20.1. Chi-square and independent t test were used to test the hypotheses. A total of 91 children with Down syndrome were examined; 52 (57.1%) were males with a mean age of 13.6 +3.8 years. The study showed that refractive errors was present in 82 (95.3%) of the participants, with astigmatism being the commonest form of refractive error occurring in 61(67%) followed by hyperopia 12(13.2%) and myopia 7(7.7%) of the 91 participants studied. The study also supported the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the types of refractive error and gender (p=0.8331). Recorded visual acuities also revealed a generalised reduced visual acuity which significantly improved with best optical correction (p <0.001). This study indicates the need for people with Down syndrome to be provided with prompt eye care services.Keywords: Refractive error, Down syndrome, visual acuity, prevalence, distributio

An appraisal of the Philosophy of Nigerian Education for Sustainable Livelihood in Nigeria (2008 - 2012).

The philosophy of Nigerian education seems not to guarantee good lives for citizens of Nigeria. The macro-economic indicators for five years (2008 – 2012) now continuously recorded increase growth rates in Nigeria but without significant development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the philosophy of Nigerian education could justify sustainable livelihood in Nigeria. This study was designed to provide baseline information for macro policy-management on education in order to enhance the welfare of Nigerian citizens. The study adopted a descriptive survey design in Cross River State of Nigeria as a study area. One research question and one hypothesis were applied to guide the study while the related literatures were reviewed. The population of study was 2,395 university teachers and out of which 250 was drawn using a simple random sampling technique. Researchers’ constructed instrument was used to collect information from the respondents. Data was statistically analyzed using tables, mean rating and population t-test statistics. Results obtained revealed that the contemporary socio-economic trends of the philosophy of Nigerian education have not accelerated sustainable livelihood in Nigeria. Basic needs provision among the geo-political zones of Nigeria indicated disparities. Therefore, it was recommended that better measures of economic development such as Human Development Index (HDI) be utilized to ensure sustainable livelihood in Nigeria. Keywords: Livelihood, sustainable, philosophy, education, socio-economic trends

Modeling Inflation Rates using Periodogram and Fourier Series Analysis Methods: The Nigerian Case

This work considers the application of Periodogram and Fourier Series Analysis to model all-items monthly inflation rates in Nigeria from 2003 to 2011. The main objectives are to identify inflation cycles, fit a suitable model to the data and make forecasts of future values. To achieve these objectives, monthly all-items inflation rates for the period were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website. Periodogram and Fourier Series methods of analysis are used to analyze the data. Based on the analysis, it was found out that inflation cycle within the period was fifty one (51) months, which relates to the two government administrations within the period. Further, appropriate significant Fourier series model comprising the trend, seasonal and error components is fitted to the data and this model is further used to make a forecast of the inflation rates for thirteen months and this forecast compares favourably with the actual values for the thirteen months. Keywords: Fourier Series analysis, periodogram, frequency domain, time series, forecasting

Ophthalmic Skills Assessment of Primary Health Care Workers at Primary Health Care Facilities in Rural Communities in Cross River State, Nigeria

Primary eye care is at the frontline in the elimination of the avoidable causes of blindness. Proficiency in the basic ophthalmic skills is a critical factor in the effective delivery of eye care services at the primary level of care. The aim of the study was to assess the ability of the primary health care workers to provide basic ophthalmic services at primary health care facilities. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 146 health providers in twelve primary health care facilities in Cross River State. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used in the selection of respondents for this study. The ability of the health providers to carry out visual acuity test and correctly identify cataract and conjunctivitis using pictures of eye conditions and patients complaints was also assessed and scored. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee, Ministry of Health, Cross River State. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0.1. Majority of the participants could not perform the visual acuity test 126(86%). Their ability to correctly identify cataract and conjunctivitis were 78(53%) and 45(31%) respectively. Majority of those who showed the ability to perform some of the tests had previous training in primary eye care. The workers attributed the high failure rate/low score to lack of follow-up and inadequate duration of training on eye care, which was just for one day. The ophthalmic skills and knowledge of the primary health care providers were generally poor. This calls for a review of the strategy for the integration of primary eye care services into the existing primary health care system.Key words: primary, skills, eye care, assessment, ophthalmi

Effect of ethanolic extract of leaf of azadirachta indica on some hematological parameters in albino Wister rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ethanolic extract of the leaf of Azadirachta indica on haematological indices of rats. Twenty four adult male rats (weighing between 100 and 120g) were randomly but equally divided into four groups of six rats per group. Rats in group I (control) were administered with 10ml/kg of distilled water while rats in groups2 to 4 were respectively administered with the extract of A. indica orally at the dose levels of 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 300mg/kg, once daily for 14 days. On the 15th day post administration, rats of all the groups were sacrificed and their blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture into EDTA sample bottles for haematological analysis.The results showed that PCV, Hb, RBC counts were non-significantly increased in all the experimental groups compared to control, indicating that extract of A. Indica caused non-significant increase in thePCV, Hb and RBC counts. The mean white blood cell and platelet counts were significantly decreased in group3 compared to control. The mean lymphocyte values increased while the mean neutrophil values decreased in all the experimental groups compared to control. The mean values of MCH, MCHC and MCV were similar between experimental groups and the control. Therefore, in conclusion low dose of ethanolic Azadirachta indica causes increase in the cellular components of blood but higher dosesmay result in decrease of some or all of these blood parameters