Ethnic Conflict and African Womenas Capacity for Preventive Diplomacy

The spate of the occurrence of Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria and indeed Africa is sporadic and to say the least alarming To scholars of Ethnic Conflict in Africa it has defied all logical approaches to its resolution Based on this fact international organisations have begun to look for alternative means of approaching these conflicts Not a few have agreed that wars are better and cheaper prevented than resolved or transformed In the light of this this paper had set out to look at the concept of Preventive Diplomacy Ethnic Conflict Women and the role they play in mitigating conflict by researching into activities of women in pre and post-conflict situations in selected African conflict and has been able to establish the peculiar capacity of women in dousing tension both at domestic and communal level

The Media and the Fight against Trafficking in Persons and Child Labour in Nigeria

Trafficking  in persons has been an age-long practice at both local and international levels and this has gained international attention with the ‘Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children’ which is also referred to as the ‘Trafficking Protocol’. This United Nations’ instrument has evidently removed the practice from the local to international domain of operation and therefore has become an issue of universal concern. However, the signing and domestication of this protocol in municipal laws of member countries particularly in Africa has not impacted significantly on the practice as cartels of human traffickers keep erupting even as the battle turns fierce against them. Child labour which is one of the main impetuses for the trade is still rife in many communities particularly in Africa. This paper peruses the causes of trafficking in persons, the resultant child labour, its dynamics and the media engagement in the fight against the scourge. It proffers some peacebuilding suggestions for the involvement of the media in the fight against human trafficking and child labour. Keywords: Human trafficking, Child labour, Media, Peacebuilding, Human Smuggling

The Effects of Financial Decisions on the Performance of Commercial Banks in Nigeria

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of financial decisions on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria using four performance indices. Both primary and secondary data were used. 20 commercial banks that operated during 2000-2013 period constitute the sampling frame. In analysing the data, Panel regression model was used to examine the effect of financial decisions on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria.  The results show that net loans to deposit a finance decision had significant impacts on Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Likewise Capital Labour Ratio and Capital Earning to Labour Employed both investment decisions were positively significant on Return on Asset (ROA). Also, Earnings per share a dividend decision was only significant on profits. However, liquidity decision was not significant to any of the performance indices. It is against this background that these recommendations were made that banks should pay more attention to other financing decisions such as dividend and liquidity in order to keep the banks at high level of performance which is crucial to their sustainability. Keywords:  Financial decisions, Investment Decision, Liquidity Decisions, Commercial banks, Nigeria

CONFLICT MONITORING AND SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT OF SEME BORDER OF NIGERIA AND REPUBLIC OF BENIN

Conflict Monitoring is a crucial exercise in peace building. It is often designed to detect early warning signs of potential intra/interpersonal, intra/inter-organisational and other forms of conflict. Monitoring and Evaluation should be a major component of any development process. However, in many countries of the Sahel region this crucial component of development is neglected in their border regions. The issue is not a dearth of national policy/ies on Monitoring and Evaluation but that of the political will of governments to enforce the implementation of such policies. The extrapolation of evaluation   policies into constructive actions germane to development often suffers governmental neglect. This paper presents the report of the strategies deployed in conflict monitoring and risk evaluation of the Seme Border of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin, with a view to enhancing full understanding of the risks inherent in security operations at the border, designing a pro-active agenda in the areas of profiling, targeting and selecting as preventive diplomacy against further degeneration of activities in the area and resultant threat to the security of both countries.     &nbsp

Effects of aloe vera gel application on epidermal wound healing in the domestic rabbit

Background: A wound is a breakdown in the protective function of the skin or loss of continuity of epithelium, with or without loss of underlying connective tissues, muscles, nerves, bones following injury to the skin, surgery, a blow, cut, chemicals, heat, cold, friction, shear force, pressure or diseases such as leg ulcers or carcinomas. A study was undertaken to determine the healing properties of Aloe vera gel on epidermal wounds in rabbits.Methods: Twelve adult rabbits were divided into two groups randomly of six each representing the treatment and control respectively. A pair of wounds measuring 2cm x 2cm each was created on the back of each rabbit lateral to the spinal cord. The wounds were treated with homogenized Aloe vera gel while the wounds on control group were treated with normal saline. Wound contraction was measured on days 5, 9 and 12 representing the inflammatory, proliferative and maturation phases of wound healing respectively. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 for analysis.Results: Animals treated with Aloe vera gel had significantly (p<0.05) faster rates of healing with shorter days of scab fall off than the control and showed significant (P<0.05) changes in the packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, lymphocyte and neutrophil counts.Conclusions: The study concluded that Aloe vera was effective in treating epidermal wounds in rabbits over the control. An improvement occured in haematological profile of the experimental animals and these findings will go a long way in expanding the horizon of clinical application of this plant in solving wound healing problems in both humans and other animal species

The Effect of Financial Decisions on Selected Commercial Bank’s Profit Margin in Lagos, Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the effect financial decisions have on the profit margin of commercial banks in Lagos, Nigeria. Seven commercial bank were selected spanning the first, second and third generation banks from 1995-2004. 375 questionnaires were administered on the management cadre of the selected banks of which 350(93%) were fully completed and returned. Secondary data was extracted from the annual reports of the selected banks. The objectives were addressed using(i) descriptive statistics, (ii) multiple linear regression analysis (iii) logit regression and tobit models.The results of the regression analysis showed that only three banks recorded a significant relationship between the profit margin and financial decisions. They are Union bank, Chartered bank and Intercontinental bank representing the first, second and new generation banks Their F-values stood at 6.797, 45.043 and 8.412 respectively. In Chartered bank there was significant relationship between the profit margin and financial decisions at both .01% and .05% levels respectively. While in the other banks the results showed otherwise.The logit regression results also showed that profit margin was greatly influenced by capital (11.88), dividend yield (-3.70), profit margin indicator (17.53) and performance (-2.88) at 1% level of significance.The study shows that the relationship between financial decisions and the profit margin was very strong, thus, sound financial decisions are very crucial for better profit margins. It is thus recommended that banks should build and implement better strategies to help meet with the global challenges facing them to get the desired results of adequate profits. Keywords: Commercial banks, Financial decisions, Financial management, Profits, Profit margins, Regression Analysi

Appraisal of Corporate Tax Management on Performance of Non-Financial Firms in Nigeria

The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of corporate tax management on performance of Non-financial firms in Nigeria. The specific objectives were to ascertain the factors influencing corporate tax management on the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria, to determine how corporate tax management affects the annual income of non-financial firms in Nigeria, to access the effects of corporate tax management on the work output of non-financial firms workers in Nigeria and to determine the extent of the relationship of corporate tax management and the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria.The population of this study comprises of non-financial firms in Oyo state, Nigeria. Random sampling technique was used and the sampling size for the study was ten firms. In carrying out this study, the researcher made uses of secondary sources of data. The period of study was from 2011 to 2021. Both descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed in this study. The result shows that a unit increase in EQT Shows negative contribution of 350.48 to NP, a unit increase in DRT contributed 109.54 decrease to NP. PTI indicated a positive contribution of11.72 and TAS shows a positive contribution of 1.66to changes in NP. More so, two of the four explanatory variables were significant at 5% in explaining variation in NO. These are EQT with (t=0.018 and P=0.004) and TAS with (T = -0.28 and P=0.0000).It is now concluded that taxation has positive significant corporate tax management and performance of Non-financial firms in Nigeria. From the results obtained, there is no doubt that tax is a key indicator to consider when discussing the economic development of Nigeria. It is a major source of revenue for the Federal Government to meet their statutory obligations for the wellbeing of the citizens. Keywords: Tax, Corporate Tax Management, Performance, Non-Financial Firms DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-14-01 Publication date:August 31st 2022

A comparison of the antioxidant activity with the Total Phenolic and Total Flavonoid Contents of the leaves and stem-bark of Anogeissus leiocarpa (DC.) Guill& Pirr. (Combretaceae)

Background: Anogeissus leiocarpa is used in traditional medical practice for the treatment of many diseases such as asthma, malaria, diabetic ulcers, dysentery,  blood clots, cough, tuberculosis, parasitic infections and general body pain. Free radicals are known to play a major role in the aetiology of several these diseases. Thus, radical scavenging as well as antioxidant potentials of the plant are good indications of its effectiveness in disease management.Objective: This study evaluates the antioxidant activity of the extracts from the leaves and stem bark of Anogeissus leiocarpa..Materials and Methods: Dried powdered leaves and bark were extracted with  methanol. The extracts were subjected to DPPH Free Radical Scavenging Activity, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), ABTS Cation Decolourization, Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC), and Metal Chelating (MC) assays. The Total Phenolic Content (TPC), Total Flavonoid Content (TFC), total anthocyanidin Content (tAC), and proanthocyanidin Content (pAC) were also determined.Results: The extract and ethyl acetate fraction of the stem bark had more  antioxidant potential. The stem bark extract had an IC50 of 12.44+2.32 in the  DPPH radical scavenging assay, the ferric reducing antioxidant power of 98.43+1.63 and ABTS radical decolourisation activity of 96.55+0.54 while the DPPH radical scavenging activity and the ABTS radical decolourisation effect for ascorbic acid and trolox were 39.25+ 1.11 and 379.24 + 0.08 respectively. The Total Antioxidant Capacity as well as the Total Phenolic Content and Total Flavonoid Content was highest in the ethyl acetate fraction of the bark.Conclusion: The extract of A. leiocarpa showed good antioxidant activity which  compares well with the high phenolic content and thus have potential for use in the management of several diseases.Keywords: Anogeissus leiocarpa. Antioxidant, Radical Scavenging, Total Phenolic, Total Flavonoi

EFFECTS OF OIL SPILLS ON FISH PRODUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA OF NIGERIA

The oil producing area of Nigeria, known as the Niger Delta region consist of highly diverse ecosystems that is supportive of numerous species of terrestrial and aquatic fauna and flora. The region is the largest wetland in Africa and it is among the ten most important wetlands and marine ecosystems in the world. Incident of oil spill raises concern about seafood safety. Crude oil endangers fish hatcheries in coastal water and also contaminates commercially valuable fish flesh. Hence, this study examines the effects of oil spills on fish production in Niger Delta of Nigeria from 1981-2015 by using an estimable production function based on a Cobb Douglas production function model. The variables included in the model are captured fish production, number of fishers, loan to fishery, oil spills data and oil production data sourced from FAOSTAT, CBN and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) respectively. The findings established that oil spills and oil production negatively affect fish production, while labour positively affects fish production. On the other hand, fishery loan exerts a negative effect on fish production and this can be ascribed to the bottlenecks in trying to access these loans. Looking at the Pairwise Granger Causality test result, it was established that the number of times oil is spilled on the environment affect the level of fish production negatively

Studies on zinc and copper ion in relation to wound healing in male and female west African dwarf goats

Wound healing remains a challenging clinical problem for which precise and efficient management is essential in order to curtail morbidity and mortality. Wound healing has been shown to depend upon the availability of appropriate trace elements like copper and zinc which serve as enzyme cofactors and structural components in tissue repair. This study aims at evaluating the distribution of zinc and copper found in the hair as well as skin during epidermal wound healing. Adult and healthy West African dwarf (WAD) goats of both sexes fed with concentrate, grass, cassava peel and water ad libitum were used. The animals were housed for three weeks before commencement of the experiments. Epidermal wounds were created on the trunks of all the goats using cardboard template of 1cm². Progressive changes in wound contraction were monitored grossly by placing clean and sterile venier calliper on the wound margin. Hair and skin elemental (copper and zinc) analyses were done using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Significant increases in Cu level were observed in the female hair compared with that of males. There were significant increases in the Zn levels of the females’ hair compared with the males. The wound healed faster in female goat compared with the males. The ratio of copper to zinc is clinically more important than the concentration of either of these trace metals. The pattern of distribution between zinc and copper concentration in the skin and hair of the male and female goats observed in this study could be added factor responsible for early wound healing in female. Therefore, our findings suggest that the distribution in the Cu and Zinc level in skin and hair of both male and female goats could also be a factor for wound healing in the animals.Keywords: Wound healing, Copper, Zinc, Hair, Skin