Investing in communities is key in mitigating Nigeria's extreme weather events

The 2022 severe floods and landslides in Nigeria highlight how vulnerable the country is to multiple risks and impacts of such extreme events. Scientists have attributed the recent rising sea level and frequent flooding to climate change. Despite Nigeria’s commitment to achieving net-zero by 2060, Olasunkanmi Okunola wonders whether such policy commitments and macro interventions are enough to mitigate subsequent flood occurrences in the country and if there is a political will to transform communities at risk into resilient and sustainable communities

Intrigues and Twist in the Imamate Crisis of Lagos Central Mosque (Jama’atul Muslimeen Council), 1841 to 1947

The period between 1847 to 1947 was a chequered one in the history of Islam and especially the Imamate in Lagos. After establishing the Imamate, the Lagos Muslim community found the traditional authority as a pillar of support and much later the colonial authority. The crisis, that bedevilled the community from one time and the other, created schism that permanently divided the community into two factions. In a bid to outwit each other, it was exigent for different factions to find support and align with both the traditional and colonial authorities. This paper explored the causes, course and the negative impacts of the crisis on Lagos Muslim community. It also argued that the positive fallout of the crisis is the peaceful succession process to the exalted position of the Chief Imam which Lagos Muslim Community enjoys till today.Key words: Imamate, Crisis, Chief Imam, Traditional Authority, Colonial Authority

Application Of Latent Variable Modeling And Related Techniques To The Analysis Of Toxicological Data

Background: Soil contamination poses a significant problem in Canada because of either current or potential adverse impact on human health and the environment. Petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) are the most common sources of soil contamination in Canada and therefore the provision of remediation targets for such contaminated soils are of great concern to toxicologists. Objective: This research project provides toxicologists with an alternative method for provisional remediation targets based on readily measured environmental variables without requirements for extensive toxicological testing. This study allows us to determine if models describing the relationships among soil characteristics, contaminant concentrations, and species responses could be used to predict these effects in soil when the contaminant concentrations and soil characteristics were known. Methods: In this study, we used statistical methods to describe the relationship among soil characteristics, contaminant concentrations, and species responses, and how these can be used to predict toxicity in soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a useful analysis tool that can be used to analyze these covariates, while accounting for those covariates that are intercorrelated, which are usually problems in current methods. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) under SEM was carried out using the lavaan package in R to estimate the measurement model which specifies the relationship between covariates and their latent factors and any inter-correlations between the covariates. A structural model was also analyzed to estimate the relationships between the latent factors. Non-linear procedures were carried out to quantify the relationships between PHC contaminant concentrations and the observed species responses to provide an estimate of the concentration at which there is a particular percentage change (ICp; where p stands for the percentage change) in biological function for each endpoint (growth, reproduction, mass, shoot length, root length). Lognormal, exponential and gamma distributions were fit to the estimated IC25 and IC50 values using the ”fitdist” function in the “fitdistplus” package of R software. A lognormal distribution gave the best fit to the IC25 and IC50 values. Results: The CFA was carried out on different models specified based on theoretical knowledge and the model with the best fit was identified. This CFA model specified that the masses (or other similar responses like size) of one species are indicators of the response of that species to the PHC contaminant in the soil and this response contributes to the aggregate response of all the other species to the PHC in the soil. Soil properties were added to this model to identify how some common soil properties affect toxicity. The amount of clay and the pH of the soil were found to be significant predictors of the aggregate response of the species. PHC concentrations were also found to be a significant cause of the aggregate response. IC25 and IC50 values were estimated for the two different study sites included in the dataset. The remediation guidelines for the PHC contaminated soils according to the IC25 values were estimated as 452.76 ± 50.38 mg/kg for site 1 and 234.93 ± 394.78 mg/kg for site 2. Therefore, PHC concentrations above these levels will be of great concern. Conclusion: According to (CCME, 1996), the development of site-specific remediation objectives for PHC contaminated sites is a critical stage, and using current methods, requires extensive site-specific testing. This study demonstrated the utility of SEM in describing toxicity effects and most importantly the use of CFA in aggregating species endpoints to describe their joint response to PHC contamination. This method provides an alternative to current methods to estimate IC25 and IC50 values directly from the estimated aggregate species response. These values will then serve as remediation targets for toxicologists to use in risk assessments

Gender Dimension of Asset Poverty in the Near-Urban and Rural Households in Selected Local Government Areas of Oyo and Osun states, Nigeria

Attempt was made to collect data on housing characteristics, household durable and semi-durable assets of the respondents to construct an asset index. Due to economic limitations, only 454 households were covered. Most women interviewed in the near urban were either divorced, separated or widowed. They were highly educated and lived in modern apartments owned by them or inherited from their spouses. This unlike their counterparts in the remote areas, though they remained in a married state by being widowed, they lived in poorer apartments and mostly uneducated. On the average, female headed household respondents were older with an average age of 58.6 years while that of the male headed counterpart was 56.2 years. In asset poverty, 18.5% males as against 24.2% of the female headed households were in the richest category. This is in contrast to the apriori expectation; Male headed households had educational advantage over their female headed counterparts at the primary, secondary and the university levels. Yoruba culture is patriarchal; hence 54.2% of the male headed households inherited land from their father side while 37.0% of the female headed households did. Average distance to water source was 0.54 kilometer for male headed households and 0.56 kilometer for the female headed households. Open defecation affected more males in that 16.5% of the male headed households and only 6.8% of the female headed households had no toilets facilities.    Female headed households use mobile phones and television sets/DVD, remittances, cooperarative societies and the micro finance houses and commercial banking than their male counterparts

The Relationship Between Forms of Soil Phosphorus and Uptake of Phosphorus by Barley

The present investigation was suggested by the evidence that results obtained from some fertilizer experiments in the northern half of South Dakota related poorly to the soil test values. The yield increases from added phosphorus on fallowed land have not been as well correlated with soil tests as on non-fallowed land. A greater yield increase due to added phosphorus was obtained on fallowed soils having a high phosphorus test than on those having a medium test. Continued study was needed to determine the relationship between crop response to applied phosphorus uptake by plants, and the phosphorus fertility status of these soils as revealed by chemical methods. The availability of soil phosphorus to plants during the growing season may be a function of the solubility and amounts of all or certain forms of the phosphorus present in the soil. Variation in the tests between different groups of soils might also be due to the variation in the forms of phosphorus present in these soils. The objective of this investigation, therefore, was to study the relationship between crop response to applied phosphorus, phosphorus uptake by plants, and the phosphorus fertility status of these soils as revealed by chemical methods. The availability of soil phosphorus to plants during the growing season may be a function of the solubility and amounts of all or certain forms of the phosphorus present in the soil. Variation in the tests between different groups of soils might also be due to the variation in the forms of phosphorus present in these soils. The objective of this investigation, therefore, was to study the relationship between the various forms of soil phosphorus and plant-available phosphorus. Taken up by barley plants grown on these soils in the greenhouse. It was hoped that by separately determining the amounts of the different forms of soil phosphorus and relating each of them to plant phosphorus availability a more rational basis for future development or selection of a soil test might be provided

Bacterial contamination of hemodialysis water in three randomly selected centers in South Western Nigeria

Background: Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common method of renal replacement therapy for patients with either acute kidney injury in the failure stage or end stage kidney failure in Nigeria. The number of dialysis centers in Nigeria has risen exponentially from 10 centers two decades ago to more than 120 centers in 2015. The number of patients needing renal replacement therapy in the country in the form of HD has also risen close to a projected 2000/year. The outcome from HD in Nigeria is poor as a result of a myriad of interwoven factors such as complications of cardiovascular diseases and suboptimal dialysis dose primarily due to economic factors. These are often complicated by episodes of dialysis water related bacteremia, possibly as a result of the apparent lack of a standardized guideline or protocol for monitoring dialysis water treatment system which is the driving force of dialysis units.Objectives: This is a multicenter laboratory‑based study designed to determine the microbiological quality of samples of HD water and dialysate in randomly selected dialysis units in three major government teaching hospitals in Nigeria.Methodology: Water samples were aseptically and serially collected from three HD units. The samples were taken from 6 points at each center coded A, B, and C over a 6‑month period.Results: The water system in the three dialysis centers were grossly contaminated with Gram‑negative aerobic bacteria such as Pseudomonas species and Moraxella species at all the points in the three centers.Conclusion: Conventionally, water treatment is a major determinant of morbidity and mortality in HD units, and the microbial quality is a major factor involved. There is evidence of bacterial contamination in the dialysis units sampled in this study. There is thus the compelling need for periodic microbiological monitoring of water after each treatment step. A uniform national guideline as part of an effective quality assurance protocol in infection surveillance is also advocated for dialysis units in Nigeria.Keywords: Hemodialysis, microbiological, Nigeria, wate

Comparative Studies of Physico-chemical Properties of Some Selected Cements in Nigeria

The aim of this study was to evaluate some physico-chemical properties of four major general purpose cement (As, Br, De and Sk) sold in Nigerian market using standard methods; due to the persistent collapse of buildings. The results showed that Br cement recorded the least CaO content (56.17%) while De cement had the highest CaO content being 63.48%. All the samples have Al2O3, SiO2 and Fe2O3 contents within the acceptable limits with the exception of De with SiO2 content being below the required standard. The MgO and SO3 compositions were generally below the recommended limit; C3S content in De was above the recommended limit while it was below the standard in As. The C3A, C4AF, LSR, AR and SR of all the brands of cement were within the recommended standards for general purpose cement, with the exception of SR in As. The longest setting time for the cement samples was recorded in Br; LOI and IR were significantly high in all the samples. Sk and Br cements had the highest compressive strength of 50.42 and 50.43 N/mm2 respectively after 28 days. The results indicate that the properties of the four brands of cement are comparable and are all of good quality.Keywords: Cement, properties, good quality, setting time, physic chemica