Pattern and Behavioural Approach to Fraudulent Practices in the Informal Economic Setting

The experience of consumers in recent times has been described in various studies as disastrous and one that portends serious danger to the safety of human life.  The frequently reported cases were those that pertained to agricultural food items.  It is amusing that consumption of these products that ought to complement nutrient in human life has become source of discomfort and health hazard.  Coupled with this was the case of fraudulent practices which were reported as rampant within the traders in public markets.  In spite of this, such cases were not given the kind of adequate attention that they deserved by scholars.  This study therefore emerged as a response to this with objectives of interrogating the experiences of the victims of this anomaly through the dimension that the fraudulent practices was taking and the management approach being adopted to address it.  The study is descriptive in nature: a total of 28 respondents comprising consumers, foodstuff sellers and officials of Foodstuff Sellers Association were involved in the study. Both purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used to reach out to these respondents. Interview guide was the major instrument used to source for data from the respondents in the course of in-depth and key informant interview sessions.  All the consumers engaged as respondents here as well as some sellers acknowledged the existence of fraudulent practices within Bodija Market, Ibadan. The common fraudulent practices within this market, according to the findings of this study, included measurement cheat, hoarding of goods and mixture of the products with bad/diseased variety.  Only a few of the victims of the fraud reported the matter to the officials of the Market.  Measures adopted by the respondents to counter the fraudulent practices include extensive consultation with other consumers who patronized the market over the credibility of the sellers and their wares.  There are consumers who go about with their measurement modules (kongo) while in the market to make purchases; this category of people will not buy from any seller except those that allowed the usage of the consumers’ module alone.  Recommendations presented emanated from the respondents and were in line with the findings of the study. Keywords: Consumers, Food Stuff, Fraudulent Practices, Kongo, Sellers

Inter Agency Cooperation in Crime Management and Its Implication on Workability of Community Policing Project in Nigeria

Mamu is one of the communities that are gradually assuming heterogeneity status as a result of steady migration of people for occupation and settlement purpose.  Mamu is located in Ijebu North Local Government area of Ogun State.  Apart from the influx of settlers, the town has a popular periodic market that always attract people from neighbouring communities as well as people from states like Lagos, Oyo and Ondo States.  In spite of high influx of migrants and traders into this community, it is one of the communities that maintain almost zero level of criminal activities.  The formal and informal agencies were noted as playing substantial roles in the success being recorded in this situation.  Such interactions are the needed requisite for the successful take off of community policing in Nigeria.  In view of the constant scenarios of conflicts among the security agencies in Nigeria, the happenings in this community thus become an irresistible issue that needed to be explored for academic purpose.  The findings from the community survey carried out in the town revealed that there was strong belief in traditional system hence the resolve of some of them (59%) that they will call on vigilante when in trouble; only 13% agreed to call the police when there is trouble in the community.  At the time when some eventually experienced real trouble, only 17% actually called the Police, 55% reported the matter to the Oba-in-council and the vigilante, while 28% did not see the need to report the case.  There was strong working relationship between the Police and Vigilante group.  Activities of vigilante assisted tremendously in making the act of Policing easier.  Those that reported the case to the Police were satisfied with the way the cases were dispensed.  The factors responsible for this according to them include thoroughness, adherence to rule of law and the respect for the cooperation the Police is received from the community.  This study thus demonstrated the high prospects that with political will, the project of community policing could work in Nigeria Key words: Security, Crime, Crime management, Community Policin

Prevention of prosthetic joint infection in total hip and knee arthroplasties: evidence based recommendations

Prosthetic joint infection is a dreaded complication of Total Joint Arthroplasty. Prevention, which is far more cost effective, should be of paramount importance to the arthroplasty surgeon. Proper patient selection and preparation as well as strict asepsis and antisepsis are the basic principles of prevention

Multiple levels of delay in the management of musculoskeletal tumours in Nigeria

Introduction: Musculoskeletal tumours are comparatively rare tumours and rank in the top 10 of all tumours in both sexes at the Ibadan tumour registry. Early diagnosis and multimodality treatments have been shown to improve outcomes. In our environment, patients with these tumourstend to present late. The aim of the study was to characterise the causes and levels of delay in their management.                                                  Patients and Methods: This was a five year (January 2006-December 2010) review of all orthopaedic patients with diagnosis of musculoskeletal tumour who had surgery at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. From the case notes of these patients, the following specific time frames were extracted: patient delay, doctor delay, referral interval, specialist delay, symptom interval and histopathology wait time.Results: Fifty-nine patients had biopsies/procedures for tumours over the 5 year study period. The biopsies were for giant cell tumours (24.1%), Osteogenic Sarcoma (10.3%) and Osteochondromas (10.3%). The Median Patient delay was 50 weeks (range 3-11 44weeks) while the MedianDoctor delay was 8 weeks (range 1 108 weeks). The Median Histology interval was 3 weeks (range 1 13 weeks). The Median Referral interval was 4.3 weeks (range 0-56), while the Mean Specialist delay was 12 weeks (range 1-108 weeks). The Median Symptom interval was 61 weeks (range 15-1200 weeks). Nine patients (28.1%) had visited alternative medical practitioners before presenting at the hospital. Eleven patients (34.4%) were lost to follow-up and 10 (31.3%) had documented improvement. Females were found to have a significantly longer symptom interval.Conclusion: Many patients with musculoskeletal tumours visit alternative medical practitioners. Significant professional delays still exists in the care of patients with musculoskeletal tumours. Incorporating bone setters into the healthcare system and educating primary care doctorswould help to reduce these delays