Ethno-Religious Conflict in Northern Nigeria: The Latency of Episodic Genocide

This dissertation explores the ethnic and religious dimensions of the northern Nigeria conflict in which gruesome killings have intermittently occurred, to determine whether there are genocidal inclinations to the episodic killings. The literature review provides the contextual framework for examining the conflict parties and causation factors to address the research questions: Are there genocidal inclinations to the ethno-religious conflict in northern Nigeria? To what extent does the interplay between ethnicity and religion help to foment and escalate the conflict in northern Nigeria? The study employs a mixed content analysis and grounded theory methodology based on the Strauss and Corbin (1990) approach. Data sourcing was from 197 newspaper articles on the conflict over the study period spanning from the 1966 northern Nigeria massacres of thousands of Ibos up to present, ongoing killings between Muslims and Christians or non-Muslims in the region. Available texts of the conflict cases over the research period were content-analyzed using Nvivo qualitative data analysis software involving processes of categorizing, coding and evaluation of the textual themes. The study structures a theoretical model for determining proclivity to genocide, and finds that there are genocidal inclinations to the northern Nigeria conflict, involving the specific intent to ‘cleanse’ the north through the exclusionary ideology of imposition of the Sharia law through enforced assimilation or extermination of Christians and other non-Muslims who do not assimilate or adopt the Muslim ideology. The study also suggests that there is latency in the recognition of these genocidal manifestations due to their episodic nature and intermittency of occurrence. he study provides further understanding of factors underlying and sustaining the violent conflict between Muslims and Christians in northern Nigeria. It contributes new perspectives and theoretical model for determining genocidal proclivity to the field of conflict analysis and resolution, and proffers alternative strategies for relationship building and peaceful coexistence among different religious groups. The findings will guide recommendations on policy formulations for eliminating religious intolerance in northern Nigeria. The study creates further awareness on the need for global intervention on the region’s sporadic killings to avert full blown Rwandan type genocide in Nigeria

Surgical Indications for Eye Removal in Enugu, South Eastern Nigeria

Objective: To determine the surgical indications for removal of the eye in Enugu in south eastern Nigeria. Method: Retrospective case series review. Results: At the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, between 1st January 1994 and 31st December 2003, 106 eyes of 106 patients, comprising 71 (67.0%) males and 35 (33.0%) females, aged 6-72 years (mean 31.8), were removed by evisceration (59; 55.7%), enucleation (35; 33.0%), and exenteration (12; 11.3%). Severe open globe injury (49; 46.2%), infection (29; 27.4%), malignant tumour (15; 14.2%) and blind painful eye (14; 13.2%) were the indications for eye removal. Eye removal was more frequent in males (67.0%), among farmers (21.7%), and among the 21-40 year age group (41.5%). Patients who had their eyes removed constituted 0.42% of new outpatients, 4.63% of inpatients and 7.83% of patients who had eye operations during the study period. Conclusion: The indications for eye removal were mainly for preventable/curable causes. There is, therefore, a need to improve promotive, preventive and curative eye care delivery to reverse this trend. Keywords:eye, removal, indications, Enugu, NigeriaNigerian Journal of Opthalmology Vol. 15 (2) 2007: pp. 44-4

Prevention of perioperative nausea and vomiting during epidural anesthesia

Epidural anesthesia in 15-30 % of cases complicated by postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) of varying severity

Patients’ satisfaction with eye care services in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Background: Understanding the patientsf perception of services received is essential as the parameters important to the patient may be quite  different from that to the eye health provider.Aim: This study aims to evaluate patientsf satisfaction with the care received from the pioneer teaching hospital in south.eastern Nigeria and use it to audit services.Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross.sectional study. An interviewer.administered questionnaire was administered to 307 consecutive consenting patients seen at the eye clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu in April 2013. The questionnaire asked questions regarding satisfaction with the time spent in the clinic, attitudeof various categories of staff, physical facilities, cleanliness of the clinic and willingness to come again to the clinic or recommend it to others.Results: The respondents were more satisfied with the attitude of the doctors and nurses than that of revenue and medical records clerks (P = 0.001). Most patients, 288 (93.8%) expressed satisfaction with the overall cleanliness of the eye clinic; 220 (71.7%) and 288 (93.8%) were not satisfied with the toilet facilities and cost of services, respectively. Only 140 (45.6%) participants will recommend the hospital to others strongly, 145 (47.2%) will do so hesitantly.Conclusion: Majority of the patients were satisfied with the services  received. The major dissatisfaction points were cost of services and inadequate toilet facilities.Key words: Developing country, eye care services, patient satisfactio

EVALUATING THE PROSPECTS OF THE ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME FOR SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN NIGERIA

The quest to tackle the problems bedevilling the agricultural sector and help Nigeria get out of the current recession occasioned by over dependence on oil revenue, necessitated the launch of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) in 2015. It involves the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to smallholder farmers (SHF) to boost production of the targeted commodities. At harvest, the SHF supply his/her produce to the Agro-processor (referred to as the Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account. The ABP concept is like the contract farmer concept which has been found to be effective in other countries like India. The success of the pilot project which was carried out in Kebbi State for rice has been very remarkable. About 78,000 rural farmers in Kebbi State benefitted from the programme, which used integrated rice millers as buyers to ensure that there was a ready market for the produce. Yields as high as 7.5 to 8.0 tonnes per hectare were obtained by farmers compared with less than 2.0 tonnes per hectare previously obtained and smallholder farmers were made Naira millionaires in Kebbi State in 201

AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN FINANCING AND SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN NIGERIA: THE PRE-REQUISITES

value chain is a connected string of companies, groups and other players working together to satisfy market demands for a particular product or group of products. In recent times, Financial Institutions are more interested in financing various actors along the value chain, with emphasis on cash flow rather than any form of collateral. Value chain approach to agribusiness financing considers the market first and assesses the level of development of the value chain. However, in Nigeria as in most other Sub- Saharan African countries where agriculture is still characterized by small scale producers and disjointed agricultural value chains, a lot still needs to be done to be able to achieve success with the concept of value chain financing in the bid to transform the agricultural sector and accelerate economic development. One of the pre-requisites for making the concept of agricultural value chain financing work efficiently in Nigeria where over 90 percent of agricultural output in the country is produced by small-holders with less than 2 hectares under cropping is connecting farmers to market

Relevance of Soft Skills to Professional Accountants in the Nigerian Finance Industry

The role of accountants has changed rapidly in recent times. As a resulr tlze technical proficiency of the accountant is no longer adequate to enable him effectively carryout his duties. The modern accountants therefore require more than technical skills. The study was therefore designed to investigate the soft skills set required by the accountant in the finance industry to do their job. The data used in the stitdy was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The main findings were that the modern accountant is ill-equipped to handle his job as he lacks capacity in soft skills. It was also revealed that companies in the finance industry organize in-house training courses for their accounting employees in respect of soft skills. The paper recommends that soft skills be introduce d into the curricula of the professional accounting bodies as well as those of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria

Assessment of the Level of Compliance of Petroleum Filling Stations to Development Control Standards on Land Space/Size and Setbacks in Anambra State.

Sequel to the loss of lives and properties with other attendant negative socio-economic effects of non-compliance to development control standards, this study was conceived with the aim of assessing the level of compliance of petroleum filling stations to development control standards on land space/size and setbacks in Anambra State. The study adopted the survey research design and field measurement. There were actual field measurements of the filling stations under study as well as the use of imageries of the study areas to identify these filling stations and measure their level of compliance to set standards for distances and location. 270 filling stations which is about 31% of the total number of filling stations were sampled. Arc GIS 10.1 software was utilized to measure the distances between the sited Petroleum Filling Stations and the roads with the help of a computer system. The imagery used was Quickbird (0.5m resolution) and Ikonos (1m resolution). The age ranges between 2015 and 2018. The Software used was ESRI ArcGIS 10.3, GIS Software. It has a measuring tool which was used to measure the distance. The Imagery were added using the ‘Add’ tool. It was then displayed (re-projected) on Projected Coordinate System (UTM, WGS 1984, Zone 32) for accuracy. It was found that the overall level of compliance to land space/size and setback standards is 44.1 percent across the filling stations in Anambra State. That is to say that only 44.1 percent of the PFSs in Anambra State complied with the land space/size and setback standards of building filling stations. Also that there is significant difference between the distances of the filling stations sampled from the road and the set standards for setback. The study thus recommends that: the law should empower the planning officer(s) to prosecute all cases of illegal developments and plans by non-planners without the planners approval should be subjected to prosecution as well. There is great need for public participation as the owners of these lands can join hands to say that a wrongly sited structure cannot be. Campaign should be mounted to conscientize the filling station owners and other developers of the dangers of non-compliance to set standards. Open punishment should be given to all defaulters to the set standards and  corrupt officials of the enforcement agencies/bodies for others to learn their lessons. Finally, there should be proper planning to accommodate future expansion of roads. KEYWORDS: Development Control Standards, Compliance, Land Space/Size, Setbacks, Petroleum Filling Stations. DOI: 10.7176/CER/12-2-10 Publication date: February 29th 202

Poverty Reduction Policy and Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

Nigeria is endowed enormously with abundant resources, which can empower the youths for positive contributions towards sustainable socio-economic development. A prosperous, disciplined, law-abiding and focused youth population remain a vital segment of the society, who has the ability to create a great future for the nation. However, the neglect of this group of human resources is no doubt the most pernicious of wastes, which can militate against the development efforts of the nation. This paper examined the dynamics of poverty reduction policy in relation to youth unemployment in Nigeria, with the use of secondary data and some indicators.  It was discovered that majority of the youth segment of the Nigerian population live below the poverty line, due to unemployment. Some among this group are even unemployable. Furthermore, the paper revealed that the agencies charged with the responsibilities of implementing the poverty reduction policies of government, (relating to youths employment) have failed in the discharge of their duties, thus exacerbating the menace of poverty in Nigeria. The study recommended among other things, a holistic approach to the creation of jobs, so as to reduce youth unemployment. The authors believe that this position would boost economic growth, which is expected to tickle down to reduce poverty and ensure a sustainable national development in Nigeria. Key words: Poverty, Poverty reduction, Policy, Youth unemployment, Youth development, Programmes, Poverty reduction Agencies