Perceived Effect of Global System of Mobile Communication on Older Adults in South Western Nigeria

GSM introduction into Nigeria facilitated communication, shortened distance barrier, and provided instance response to matters of concern. Their stereotype beliefs and phobia became worrisome because of an assumed “Satanic” GSM in the South Western part of Nigeria. This “Satanic Telephone” generated vitriolic controversies among different groups of people, particularly the older people. This study was therefore designed to investigate the perceived effect of GSM on the older adults. The Study adopted survey design. The sample for the study consisted of 400 older adults selected from academic, market men /women, self –employed and civil servants. They were selected through stratified sampling technique based on education, gender, ethnicity and nature of their jobs. The result showed that 68% of the older adults believed that GSM had introduced new dimension into the morality of the youths. Socially, 76% agreed that GSM discouraged face-to-face conversation among the older adults. Also 61% believed that older adults, who use GSM heavily, develop weaker social relationship. 50% believed the “Satanic” GSM, 22% believed averagely while 19% did not believe. On the psycho-social effect, 48% of the older adults said it created fear in them, 22% averagely and 30% agreed that they did not develop any fear.Key Words: “Satanic” GSM phone, Vmobile, Glomobile, Communication,Radio Frequency (RF), Radio Frequency and Electromagnetic Force (RFEMF) and Hyper sensitivity

An Empirical Survey of Technology Application in Teaching Geography in Nigerian Secondary Schools

The main thrust of this study was to find out the extent of application of the new technologies in teaching and learning Geography in secondary schools in Nigeria. The present study is very important and necessary because many teachers are still very apprehensive about using the new technologies in instruction. In addition is the fact that, there are little empirical data on the level of preparedness and the extent of utilization of ICTs in instruction in Nigerian secondary schools. This study was therefore carried out to provide empirical data on the extent of the integration of the new technology in teaching and learning Geography in Nigerian SecondarySchools. The study employed the descriptive survey design. The sample for the study is made up of 214 Geography teachers drawn from secondary schools in Osun State. The schools and the teachers were selected through stratified sampling techniques based on school types, location, Local Education Area and gender. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. It was divided into five sections and was validated using construct validity. The co-efficient of reliability was 0.68. The findings showed that 55% of Geography teachers had access to computer but did not have the pre-requisite ICT skills. Out of the modern technologies available for teaching Geography, the most commonly used are: instructional television (54%), instruction radio (59%) and video (59%).Other findings showed that 54% of Geography teachers do not know the instructional value of CDROM/ interactive web packages available free for teaching Geography. Not only this, 84% of the teachers also rarely use the news groups .While 42% rarely make use of multi- media presentation in teaching Geography. Where as many of these facilities are available free on the web for teachers use. Lastly, lack of skills and cost of utilization ranked highest as one of the factors preventing teachersfrom using the new technologies in teaching Geography.KEY WORDS Information and Communication Technologies, Multi-media, instructivist/constructivist approaches, Internet, news grou

Improving science, technology and mathematics education in Nigeria: A case study of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

The study assessed the impact of a World Bank Assisted Project “STEP-B” on teaching and learning of Science,  Technology and Mathematics Education (STM) in Nigeria. It also described the contribution of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to the improvement of STM through research development, utilization of ICT, human resources and Educational Technology infrastructure in Post Basic Education Institutions (PBEIs) in Nigeria. A sample of 360 participants was used. They were selected from all the PBEIs through stratified sampling technique based on  gender, course, department, unit and job prescription. Data was collected using a-34 item questionnaire designed by the researcher with six sections. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there was a remarkable improvement in the teaching and learning of STM in PBEIs (F(4,233) =  6.112, P<0.00). A new creative, participatory and competency based learning method that is flexible, robust that incorporate web-based instruction (F(4,235)=2.248, p<0.04) was used. There was an increase in female enrolments in STM as a result of the different motivation and sensitization workshops (F(4,231) =8.109 , p<0.01). The project was effective in building staff and students capacity to utilize WBLS (F(4,234)=5.569 , p<0.01). There was also a reduction in the drop-out and failure rates among female students (F(4,233) =7.360 ,p<0.05).Keywords: post-basic education, science, technology and mathematics, competency-based training, web-based learning, gender disparit

Antimicrobial and toxicological evaluation of the leaves of Baissea axillaries Hua used in the management of HIV/AIDS patients

BACKGROUND: Persistent diarrhea is a common endemic disease with high incidence among the Africans including Nigerians. It also represents a frequent opportunistic disease in people living with HIV. Diarrhea represents one of the most distressful and persistent symptoms of HIV/AIDS, which may or may not be accompanied by an infection. The leaves decoction of Baissea axillaries Hua (Apocynaceae) is used by traditional herbalists in Edo state, Nigeria for the management of people living with HIV/AIDS. Determination of its antimicrobial activity and toxicological profile will provide supportive scientific evidence in favour of its continuous usage. METHOD: Chemical and chromatographic tests were employed in phytochemical investigations. Inhibitory activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts against clinical strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis were compared with Togamycin (Spectinomycin). Our report includes minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the test organisms. Toxicological evaluation was determined by administering 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of extracts on male Wister rats for 14 days with normal saline as control. The kidneys, liver, heart and testis tissues were examined. RESULTS: Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, and cyanogenetic glycosides. The extracts inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to varying extents, but only the ethanolic extract inhibited growth in Streptococcus faecalis. The LD(50 )of the extract in mice was above 5000 mg/kg body weight when administered intraperitoneally. Toxicological evaluation showed mere ballooning degeneration of the liver at 250 mg/kg while at 500 mg/kg there was tissue necrosis. The low and high doses showed ill-defined leydig cells in the testis and no remarkable changes in the heart and kidneys. CONCLUSION: Extracts of Baissea axillaries have demonstrated antimicrobial activity against clinical strains of selected microorganisms. While there is toxicity at the dose of 500 mg/kg, the therapy shows potential for application in the treatment of diarrhoea associated with AIDS/HIV. Further studies of Baissea axillaries on diarrhoea and toxicity are necessary to evaluate its mechanism of action and to fully establish its safety profile

Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects

Agrarian rural dwellers in Nigeria produce about 95% of locally grown food commodities. The low accessibility to and affordability of orthodox medicine by rural dwellers and their need to keep healthy to be economically productive, have led to their dependence on traditional medicine. This paper posits an increasing acceptance of traditional medicine country-wide and advanced reasons for this trend. The fact that traditional medicine practitioners' concept of disease is on a wider plane vis-à-vis orthodox medicine practitioners' has culminated in some socio-cultural and magico-religious practices observed in preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health management. Possible scientific reasons were advanced for some of these practices to show the nexus between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine. The paper concludes that the psychological aspect of traditional medicine are reflected in its socio-cultural and magico-religious practices and suggests that government should fund research into traditional medicine to identify components of it that can be integrated into the national health system

Sexual behaviour, contraception and fertility among in-school adolescents in Ikenne local government, South-Western Nigeria

A cross- sectional study was conducted among in-school adolescents in six secondary schools in the health districts of Ikenne Local Government to assess the sexual behaviour, contraception and fertility experiences of the adolescents between the months of May and November 2002.Relevant information was collected from 1140 in-school adolescents with the aid of pre-tested, structured, self-administered questionnaires, selected by using multistage and stratified random sampling techniques Information sought from the questionnaires included socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, parental background, their sexual behaviour, knowledge and use of contraception, human development, pregnancy and fertility experiences, information on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. During the same period, twelve (12) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) sessions were conducted using an FGD Guide in the selected schools to highlight differences in opinions of students and also to highlight identification of the group consensus. The mean ages at first intercourse were 13.9 ± 2.8 years and 14.8 ± 2.4years for males and females respectively. Boys initiated sex earlier than girls. This difference was found to be statistically significant (

Sexual behaviour: Contraception and fertility among in-school adolescent in Ikenne local government , South-western Nigeria

No Abstract. Nigrian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol.9 (1) 2006: pp.26-3