A Justice Void Filled: Explaining the Endurance of Extreme Tradition-Based Laws in Nigeria

As should be expected, where the citizens of a society are unable to receive justice in the dominant legal system, they will seek out other avenues and processes to achieve justice. And, for many citizens, the extremity of an alternative justice process is unlikely to dissuade their quest for fairness if the citizens regard the alternative as a viable means for justice. The following problem statement guides this paper: In view of the official guarantees and enormous powers of the English-style law and justice in Nigeria vis-à-vis Nigeria’s indigenous systems and processes as well as the potential for abuses of the indigenous models, this article critically examines the implications of the alternative justice process demonstrated in Nigeria’s Ọkịja shrine incident in 2004. The paper is based on the case study method. Thus, without suggesting that all traditional religious shrines in Nigeria – or even Igbo – follow the same pattern as that of the Ọkịja shrine, the 2004 incident illustrates and helps to explain the persistence of such justice outlets. Consistent with a string of previous studies, this article expounds that on many law and justice subjects, the English colonial standards detract from the indigenous Nigerian norms in various communities. However, the paper is unique because it deduces that sometimes the divide between English law and indigenous Nigerian law yields extreme justice, such as happened in the Ọkịja shrine incident. In particular, the article offers nine major explanations for the persistence of the Ọkịja and similar shrines as case management avenues in various Nigerian communities. Without suggesting that the Ọkịja and similar shrines are suitable routes to justice, the paper concludes that as long as the official law and justice system fails to properly address the relevant subject matters and satisfactorily accommodate germane indigenous Nigerian law and justice ideas and standards, extreme versions of justice, such as that found in the Ọkịja incident, are likely to persist

Relevance of African Traditional Jurisprudence On Control Justice and Law: A Critique of he Igbo Experience

Native African ideas and models of law and justice are best suited for social control in African societies. Africans should therefore prefer the ideas and models for many reasons, including the fact that Native African systems of law and justice derive fundamentally from African societies, rather than foreign cultures. This paper uses the Igbo (Nigeria) experience to illustrate the need for African societies to advocate, promote, and expand the uses of their indigenous justice and social control philosophies and systems despite their respective colonial experiences. The governments of modern African States, as well as private individuals and groups, have important contributions to make toward these objectives. Based on this author’s years of studying the Igbo systems of justice, social control, and law, this paper presents illustrative scientific evidence to demonstrate that the indigenous Igbo justice system, like many other Native African justice systems, remains potent for social control in Africa. Despite the potentials that the indigenous Igbo justice system presents, the lack of official government support for the system remains the greatest challenge facing the indigenous system. Postcolonial Nigeria’s continued descent to a condition of anomie exemplifies the heightened need for Nigerians, indeed Africans, and their leaders to recognize their indigenous social control systems as superior and preferable to foreign systems

STUDIES ON SIDA ACUTA HYDROGEL I: PROCESSING AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE DERIVED HYDROGEL OBTAINED FROM SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Objective: Sida acuta is a plant that is widely distributed in the subtropical regions where it is found in bushes, in farms and around habitations. This study was carried out to isolate hydrogel from this freely available natural source.Methods: The sieved dried powder from the leaves of Sida acuta was macerated in distilled water. The mucilage formed was filtered and precipitated with equal volumes of isopropyl alcohol. This was repeated using ethanol and acetone respectively. The precipitated hydrogel was purified by washing twice with isopropyl alcohol, once with acetone and dried in the oven at 40 °C for 8h.Results: The mean percentage yield of the hydrogel as obtained was 10.15±1.22, 9.24±0.74 and 7.90±0.03 %w/w for isopropyl alcohol, ethanol and acetone precipitated hydrogels respectively. The swelling index of the hydrogel in water was 10.00±0.02. The solubility of the hydrogel in water at 28 °C and 80 °C were 7.00±0.41 and 8.63±0.63 respectively. The solubility of the hydrogel in 0.1 N NaOH and 0.1 N HCl solutions were 11.86±1.75 and 5.67±0.58 mg/ml respectively. The loss on drying was 14 5±1.87% while total ash was 53.33±5.77 mg per 1 g hydrogel. The viscosity of a 1%w/v solution of the hydrogel using rotor 1 of a Brookfield viscometer at 30 rpm was 71.4±0.00 mPas. The pH of a 1%w/v solution was 6.60±009. The Carr's index and Hausner ratio were 38.77±1.69% and 1.63±0.05 respectively.Conclusion: The hydrogel obtained from powdered dried leaves of Sida acuta may have potential in various drug delivery systems

Formulation and evaluation of antimicrobial topical creams from ethanol extract of Vernonia ambigua leaves

Background: Antimicrobials of plant origin have enormous therapeutic potential. They are effective in the treatment of infectious diseases as well as ameliorating some of the untoward effects that are often associated with synthetic antimicrobials.Objective: This study was conducted to formulate and investigate the antimicrobial property of ethanol extract of Vernonia ambigua topical cream formulation.Method: The ethanol extract of the dried leaves was prepared by maceration and the filtrate obtained was concentrated to dryness. It was evaluated for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans as test organisms. The ethanol extract was formulated into a cream and evaluated for physicochemical and antimicrobial properties.Result: Percentage yields for the ethanol extraction was 15.38% w/w. The pH range of the formulated creams was between 4.56 and 6.89; the viscosity ranges between 16500 and 51300 mPas. All formulated creams were stable. The three bacteria used were sensitive to both the ethanol extract and the formulated creams, though their zones of inhibition differ slightly. The ethanol extract was not effective against Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) when the ethanol extract was applied was 100 mg/mL, 100 mg/mL, and 12.5mg/mL for E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, respectively.Conclusion: The study revealed that the ethanol extract and the formulated cream have antimicrobial properties and there was no loss of activity on formulation of the extract into a cream.Keywords: Vernonia ambigua, Creams, Antimicrobial, Microorganisms, Ethanol extrac

Optimization of coagulation-flocculation process for colour removal from Azo dye using natural polymers: response surface methodological approach

The ability of organic polymer rich coagulants for colour removal from acid dye was studied. An improved method for the extraction of the active coagulant agent from the seeds was employed. The effects of four variables including pH, coagulant dosage, dye concentration and time were analyzed. Response surface methodology (RSM) using face-centered central composite design (FCCD) was used to optimize the four variables. Increase in the colour removal efficiency was higher in acidic solution pH. Accurate control of coagulant dosages gave optimum destabilization of charged particles and re-stabilization occurred at above 800mg/L dosages. Polymer performances were measured through time-dependent decrease in particle concentrations following aggregates growth. The verification experiment agreed with the predicted values having less than 4% standard error. Overlay contour plot was used to establish an optimum condition for the multiple responses studied. The response surface approach was appropriate for optimizing the coagulation-flocculation process while minimizing the number of experiments. Coagulants studied should be considered as an alternative for conventional coagulants that are widely used in dye wastewater treatment plants.Keywords: Coagulation-flocculation, Azocarmine G, multiple response optimization, response surface design, colour removal, natural organic polymers

Evaluation of bio-coagulants for colour removal from dye synthetic wastewater: characterization, adsorption kinetics, and modelling approach

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DESIGN AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF METFORMIN PRODUCED USING DETARIUM MICROCARPUM GUM

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate sustained release matrix tablets of metformin formulated using Detarium microcarpum gum (DMG) as the matrix polymer. Methods: DMG was produced by acetone desolvation of the filtrate obtained by maceration of powdered seeds of Detarium microcarpum in distilled water. Metformin matrix tablets were prepared by direct compression technique using DMG or sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) alone, or their combinations as the polymer matrix. The tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability, weight uniformity, drug content, swelling behaviour and in vitro dissolution. They were compared to a marketed product. Results: The results of the evaluation showed that the tablets had physical characteristics that were within the acceptable limits and were comparable to the marketed product. They include hardness (7.13±1.99 to 13.17±1.59 Kgf), friability (0.40 to 0.80%), and drug content (95.11 to 104.17%). Formulations MTF2 (30% DMG) and MTF6 (20% DMG and 10% NaCMC) showed good sustained release behaviour, as they released 75% of the drug within 7 to 9 h and 100% release in more than 12 h. Conclusion: DMG alone or with NaCMC was successfully used to formulate sustained release metformin matrix tablets that were comparable to the marketed product

Microbiological Evaluation of some Oral Antacid Suspensions Sold in Delta State, Nigeria

Pharmaceutical products (non-sterile) are faced with the challenges of not exceeding the minimum limit of microbial presence tolerated for the respective formulations. Antacid suspensions which are multi-dose drug products that are utilized in the neutralization of gastric acid. This drug with neutral pH makes them to be liable to microbial contamination. This study was conducted to evaluate antacid suspensions marketed in Delta State, Nigeria based on their microbial quality. Six different brands of antacid suspensions were collected from different Pharmacies in Delta state and were analysed microbiologically to isolate and quantify the implicated bacteria and fungi using conventional cultural and biochemical techniques. The microbiological evaluation of these samples was determined using the agar-well diffusion method. Five out of the six brands evaluated were found to be populated with a huge number of bacteria (2.5 x 102 to > 2.2 x 102 CFU/ml) and fungi (2 x 102 to 8 x 102 CFU/ml). Staphylococcus aureus was absent in any of the antacids brands studied. However, there were presence of objectionable microorganisms, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans in three of the six brands. The results of this study reveal the microbial contamination level of some of the antacid (suspensions) marketed in Delta State which may be due to poor adherence to current good manufacturing practice by the manufacturers

THE EFFECT OF MICROFINANCE BANKS ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

The study seeks to examine the impact of microfinance institutions on the economic growth of a country, thus using Nigeria as a case study. The review utilizes the various relapse examination given that the information is cross-sectional and time series in nature. Optional information on all business banks was extricated from the National Bank of Nigeria’s measurable release and yearly reports. The information utilized in this model are time series optional information for the period 1992 to 2019. The discoveries of the review show that microfinance credits emphatically affect the short-run monetary presentation in Nigeria. Microfinance credits improved utilization per capita in the short run with a great coefficient, albeit these bank credits don't fundamentally affect monetary development over the long haul. Microfinance speculation be that as it may, essentially affects monetary execution in Nigeria over the long haul. Albeit miniature money advances are significant in the development process in Nigeria, different measures, for example, helping farming creation and finding a way suitable way to upgrade per capita pay are similarly significant in supporting the Nigerian monetary development. That's what we suggest, microfinance foundations ought to credit to further develop utilization in the short run, while the long run objective ought to be to further develop speculation and other capital aggregation.           JEL: D01, D04, G21  Article visualizations