THE NIGERIAN FACTOR IN LIBERIAN PEACE PROCESS 1990- 1993

The outbreak of civil war in Liberia in 1990 put pressure on the stability of the West African sub-region. An in an attempt to manage the crisis and curtail the contagious effect of the war, Nigeria embarked of a peace making process which led to the establishment of the Economic Community of West African Monitoring Group, ECOMOG. Apart from this, Nigeria contributed more than 10,000 troops to the ECOMOG mission and gave other financial and material support to the war torn country. A refugee camp was also established for Liberian refugee in Oru, a suburb of Ijebu-Ode, in Ijebu North Local Government area of Ogun State in South-Western Nigeria. This paper examines among others the role of Nigeria in the Liberian peace process. Drawing from its findings, the paper argues that Nigeria’s involvement in the Liberian peace process was motivated primarily by the need for the ruling military junta in Nigeria to attract external credibility. This however, was achieved at a very great cost in terms of human and material resources

Slaves in Agricultural Development of Ibadan, 1835-1893

Nations are generally endowed with the natural resources which are exploited for the physical and human development of such a geographical entity. Such natural resources may include fertile land and deposits of all kinds of liquid and solid natural resources. The Ibadan of our period may not have paraded the latter, but the former was available and very fertile. In other words, the pre-colonial Ibadan advertised fertile land that was suitable for the production of both cash and subsistence crops to feed the town. Ibadan also has advantage of abundant human resources that could be mobilised at the shortest notice. These were mainly the producer slaves and they produced more than seventy percent of labour that was required on the farms. Agriculture thus became one of the mainstays of the economy of Ibadan. The focus of this article therefore, is to underscore the indispensable role the producer slaves played in tilling the land to produce food in large quantities both from the small and large farms, which were in most cases owned by the civil and military chiefs

THE NIGERIAN FACTOR IN LIBERIAN PEACE PROCESS 1990- 1993

The outbreak of civil war in Liberia in 1990 put pressure on the stability of the West African sub-region. An in an attempt to manage the crisis and curtail the contagious effect of the war, Nigeria embarked of a peace making process which led to the establishment of the Economic Community of West African Monitoring Group, ECOMOG. Apart from this, Nigeria contributed more than 10,000 troops to the ECOMOG mission and gave other financial and material support to the war torn country. A refugee camp was also established for Liberian refugee in Oru, a suburb of Ijebu-Ode, in Ijebu North Local Government area of Ogun State in South-Western Nigeria. This paper examines among others the role of Nigeria in the Liberian peace process. Drawing from its findings, the paper argues that Nigeria’s involvement in the Liberian peace process was motivated primarily by the need for the ruling military junta in Nigeria to attract external credibility. This however, was achieved at a very great cost in terms of human and material resources

Perspective Chapter: Industrial Waste Landfills

Wastes are generated as a result of anthropogenic activities. The rapid industrialization of human society in the twenty-first century has led to an increase in the generation of industrial wastes that have negatively impacted humans and the environment. While industrial operations and techniques have improved globally, leading to a higher standard of living, economic prosperity, and healthcare delivery, industries have continued to produce waste on a scale never before seen. This chapter discussed industrial wastes, waste generation, and industries involved, waste disposal, landfilling as a disposal method, effects of waste disposal, modern techniques in industrial waste management, landfill sustainability, and regulations

ERGONOMIC EVALUATION OF PACKAGING WORKERS’ POSTURE IN A FOOD MANUFACTURING COMPANY

This study conducted an ergonomic evaluation of the working posture of workers engaged in various processes in the packaging section of a food manufacturing company. Workers in the packaging section of the food manufacturing company were divided into operating, folding, packing, carton wrapping and palletizing. Forty of the workers in the packaging section were placed under observation through video recording of their daily activities for a period of three months to obtain their working postures. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to analyze the working postures in order to obtain their ergonomic risk levels. Computer codes for RULA were written for quick and easy evaluation of upper arm, lower arm, wrist, wrist twist, neck, trunk and leg postures. The results from RULA indicated that 25% of the workers in the operating and folding units were exposed to medium ergonomic risk level; 30% of the workers in the packing unit and 10% of the workers in the carton wrapping unit were exposed to high ergonomic risk level while 10% of the workers in the palletizing unit were exposed to a very high ergonomic risk level. The study concluded that workers in the packaging section of the food manufacturing company were exposed to between medium and very high ergonomic risk levels of working posture necessitating the need to change the conditions of their workstations

ERGONOMIC EVALUATION OF PACKAGING WORKERS’ POSTURE IN A FOOD MANUFACTURING COMPANY

This study conducted an ergonomic evaluation of the working posture of workers engaged in various processes in the packaging section of a food manufacturing company. Workers in the packaging section of the food manufacturing company were divided into operating, folding, packing, carton wrapping and palletizing. Forty of the workers in the packaging section were placed under observation through video recording of their daily activities for a period of three months to obtain their working postures. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to analyze the working postures in order to obtain their ergonomic risk levels. Computer codes for RULA were written for quick and easy evaluation of upper arm, lower arm, wrist, wrist twist, neck, trunk and leg postures. The results from RULA indicated that 25% of the workers in the operating and folding units were exposed to medium ergonomic risk level; 30% of the workers in the packing unit and 10% of the workers in the carton wrapping unit were exposed to high ergonomic risk level while 10% of the workers in the palletizing unit were exposed to a very high ergonomic risk level. The study concluded that workers in the packaging section of the food manufacturing company were exposed to between medium and very high ergonomic risk levels of working posture necessitating the need to change the conditions of their workstations

Evaluations of training and education interventions for improved infectious disease management in low-income and middle-income countries:a systematic literature review

OBJECTIVES: To identify most vital input and outcome parameters required for evaluations of training and education interventions aimed at addressing infectious diseases in low-income and middle-income countries. DESIGN: Systematic review. DATA SOURCES: PubMed/Medline, Web of Science and Scopus were searched for eligible studies between January 2000 and November 2021. STUDY SELECTION: Health economic and health-outcome studies on infectious diseases covering an education or training intervention in low-income and middle-income countries were included. RESULTS: A total of 59 eligible studies covering training or education interventions for infectious diseases were found; infectious diseases were categorised as acute febrile infections (AFI), non-AFI and other non-acute infections. With regard to input parameters, the costs (direct and indirect) were most often reported. As outcome parameters, five categories were most often reported including final health outcomes, intermediate health outcomes, cost outcomes, prescription outcomes and health economic outcomes. Studies showed a wide range of per category variables included and a general lack of uniformity across studies. CONCLUSIONS: Further standardisation is needed on the relevant input and outcome parameters in this field. A more standardised approach would improve generalisability and comparability of results and allow policy-makers to make better informed decisions on the most effective and cost-effective interventions

Targeting IL-1β and IL-17A driven inflammation during influenza-induced exacerbations of chronic lung inflammation.

For patients with chronic lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), exacerbations are life-threatening events causing acute respiratory distress that can even lead to hospitalization and death. Although a great deal of effort has been put into research of exacerbations and potential treatment options, the exact underlying mechanisms are yet to be deciphered and no therapy that effectively targets the excessive inflammation is available. In this study, we report that interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) are key mediators of neutrophilic inflammation in influenza-induced exacerbations of chronic lung inflammation. Using a mouse model of disease, our data shows a role for IL-1β in mediating lung dysfunction, and in driving neutrophilic inflammation during the whole phase of viral infection. We further report a role for IL-17A as a mediator of IL-1β induced neutrophilia at early time points during influenza-induced exacerbations. Blocking of IL-17A or IL-1 resulted in a significant abrogation of neutrophil recruitment to the airways in the initial phase of infection or at the peak of viral replication, respectively. Therefore, IL-17A and IL-1β are potential targets for therapeutic treatment of viral exacerbations of chronic lung inflammation