Growth without Development in Nigeria: Issues and Way Forward

Development has long been a catch-all phrase and it now seems that everybody has something to say on the subject It is indeed crucial to know what one is talking about if only to allow for the differentiation of development from economic growth with which it is equated all too often In point of fact it is believed that the apparent failure of the development project can be attributed to precisely this misunderstanding surrounding the notion of development itsel

English Language Instructions and Walkability Constraints among Adult Residents in Southwest, Nigeria

The study examined the nexus between English language instructions and walkability constraints among adult residents in Southwest, Nigeria. In the light of this, two specific objectives and research questions were achieved and answered respectively. The study was premised on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a relevant theoretical framework. With respect to methodology, descriptive survey research design was embraced and simple random sampling techniques were used to take a sample of three hundred and eighty-four (384) participants from the target population within the studied areas. In addition, a self-designed structured research instrument was administered on these respondents with the aid of twelve (12) trained research assistants and the obtained data was analyzed by employing descriptive statistical tool, that is, simple percentage. The empirical findings revealed that most adults barely comprehend English language instructions on road/community routes in southwest Nigeria, and as a result of this, they feel intellectually disturbed. It was recommended that well-trained English language instructors should be integrated into environmental planning team of each State Government within Southwest Nigeria to curb the rise of walkability constraints among adults

Effects of Allanblackia floribunda stem-bark Extracts on Oxidative stress and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Rats Exposed to Crude Oil

The development of degenerative diseases has been linked to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the changes caused by crude oil exposure contribute to the onset of degenerative diseases. There is little or no information on the anti-degeneration properties of Allanblackia floribunda. This study was carried out to investigate brain mitochondrial tissues exposed to crude oil and the effects of A. floribunda as a preventive and therapeutic intervention against oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Twenty-five Wistar rats were divided into five groups: the control group received distilled water, the second group received ethanol extracts of A. floribunda, the third group received crude oil (5 mL/kg), the fourth and fifth groups received crude oil and A. floribunda extract concurrently (200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively). The results showed that crude oil treatment caused a significant increase in brain mitochondrial MDA levels and induced significant alterations in brain mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme activities compared with control. Treatment with the extract alone revealed a significant increase in protein carbonyl, conjugated dienes, and ATPases compared with crude oil-treated rats. This indicates that A. floribunda inhibited crude oil-induced mitochondrial lipid peroxidation and improved ATPase and antioxidant status in the rat brain mitochondria, which further suggests that A. floribunda possesses potential and may efficiently inhibit crude oil-induced oxidative damage and improve mitochondrial functions

Comparison of phyto-accumulation of metals by Vigna unguiculata L. (bean) and Zea mays L. (maize) grown in crude oil contaminated soil

The study compared the phyto-accumulation of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) by bean and maize seedlings grown in crude oil-contaminated soils. A total of 300 bags containing 500g of soil were used for this study. Three viable seeds of bean and maize were planted in a set of 60 bags of sandy loam soil with no history of crude oil contamination, which served as control, 180 bags of sandy loam soil were mixed with crude oil to give 2%, 5% and 10% contamination, while another set of 60 bags had 500g of soil from crude oil spill site in Ubeji community, Niger Delta. Both plants were harvested 7, 14 and 21 days post germination and the soils and seedlings analyzed for some metals before and after planting. Metal levels in the crude oil contaminated soils were not detected for Cd but showed high concentrations for the other metals when compared with control. The values of Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe decreased in the crude oil contaminated soil and increased in both seedlings as the number of days increased. The study indicates that bean seedlings accumulated more Fe and Cu than maize whereas maize seedlings accumulated more Zn and Pb than bean in the crude oil contaminated soil. The results suggest that the plant species for phyto-accumulation measures for decontamination of crude oil contaminated soils is an important factor.Keywords: bean, copper, iron, lead, maize, phyto-accumulation, sandy loam soil, zinc

Assessment of single extraction methods for the prediction of bioavailability of metals to Vigna unguiculata l (beans) grown on crude oil contaminated soil

The bioavailability of toxic metals in the soils is increasingly an important issue as soil always becomes  contaminated from various anthropogenic activities. Total concentrations of metals in the soils are generally  poor indicators of metal toxicity because they exit in different solution and solid phase forms that can differ in  terms of their bioavailability. As such, regulators are looking at bioavailability as an indicator of risk  associated with metal contamination in soils. Since the bioavailability of metals, their biological uptake and  eco-toxicological effect on soil biota can be understood better in terms of their biogeochemical forms, the  study assessed the effect of crude oil applied at rates, 0, 2, 5, and 10% on the fractional chemical forms and  availability of some metals in soils from Usen, Edo State, with no known crude oil contamination and soil from  a crude oil spill site in Ubeji, Delta State, Nigeria, using several techniques as a basis for predicting metal uptake by plants. Bean seeds were grown in the contaminated soil for 21days and the metal concentrations in the seedlings were compared with the total soil metal concentrations, bioavailable metal concentrations and EDTA-extractable metal concentrations.Keywords: bioavailability, chemical forms, crude oil-contaminated soil, EDTA, metal concentrations

Theories of Costs of Health and Safety Compliance and Non-Compliance with Regulations

Globally, the economics of health and safety compliance and non-compliance with regulations remains absurd and elusive. Costs of health and safety compliance at enterprise level are elements that organisations find difficult to define or price adequately due to subtle, inconspicuous, and elusive nature. Conversely, evidence shows that costs of health and safety non-compliance with regulations in recent times are eye-watering and mind-boggling. Yet, theory that provides explanation of cost behaviours concerning health and safety compliance and non-compliance with regulations is rare. Aim: The aim of the study is to develop a theoretical concept that can be used to predict costs of health and safety non-compliance with regulations. Research question: put forward by the paper is: What are the predictable cost behaviours of health and safety compliance and non-compliance with regulations? Research Method: Phenomenological research strategy was adopted; with qualitative data collected via focus group discussions; in addition to detailed observation of 20 years real costs of health and safety non-compliance with regulations data. Findings: Reveal that costs of health and safety compliance with regulations are often ill-defined and elusive. Similarly, the study discovered that cost behaviour of health and safety non-compliance with regulations can be erratic and exponential in nature. Other finding reveals that for every health and safety failure (ill-health, injuries/fatalities), there are likely associated costs, that are contingent on specific legislations, rule of law, state (national laws), and commercial viability of organisation involved

An empirical approach to the evaluation of factors in local authority housing maintenance requirements in the City of Manchester

The thesis is concerned with the evaluation of factors in Local Authority housing maintenance requirements in the City of Manchester. Since 1982, expenditure in housing maintenance and repair works has consistently accounted for more than 50% of total expenditure on maintenance and repair work. In turn, maintenance and repair work accounts for almost 50% of total construction output in the UK. Given this level of sectorial contribution, it is apt to understand the factors which affect defects in dwelling buildings and hence maintenance requirements. This thesis reviews the catalogue of building defect causative factorsleading to the conclusion that social and tenants' characteristics are equally important. The study is based, chiefly, on a postal questionnaire survey of building surveyors involved in day-to-day identification of defects as well as tenants of the sampled dwellings; and computer cost records of maintenance on dwellings within the sample.A total of 45 completed questionnaires from building surveyors, and 252 Council tenants with corresponding computer cost records formed the data base for the analyses conducted. The building surveyors' questionnaire assisted in the identification of defect-cause criteria which relate to the internal attribute of the dwelling building. The consistency of the resulting data was confirmed by the use of Kendall Coefficient of Concordance. An analysis is described of the manipulated data set using regression analysis. The analysis found that Changing standard contributes (38%) of (building structure relatedfactors') impact on maintenance requirement variance, construction factors (23%), design factors (22%), vandalism (12%) and age factors (6%). The intercorrelations among these five defect-cause criteria within the building object necessitated further analysis using the principal component analysis. This resulted in the extraction of nine significant factors showing how the initial five factors combine to exert their influence on the building. In all, this family of building structure related factors contribute 32% of the variation in maintenance requirements.Combining the data from the tenants' questionnaire, computer cost information and dwelling survey, regression model testing was employed to identify the significantfactors. This was facilitated with the use of three indices of housing maintenance requirements as the dependent variables, namely; reactive maintenance cost, propertycondition and satisfaction among tenants. Nine factors (six of which relate to tenant's characteristics) pertaining to tenant, environmental and housing management were significantly influential

Breast cancer knowledge and screening practices among undergraduates in a Nigerian tertiary institution, Southwest Region

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most diagnosed female malignancy in Nigeria. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of breast cancer screening among female undergraduates in a tertiary institution in Southwest Nigeria. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 350 female undergraduates of a public university in southwest Nigeria using a multi-stage sampling method involving simple random sampling. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Epi info 7 was used for data analysis, level of significance was set at 5% (p<0.05). Results: The majority, 316(90.3%) had poor knowledge of breast cancer and screening and 340(97.1%) had positive attitude towards screening. Only 185(52.9%) had done breast self-examination and 16(4.6%) had done clinical breast examination. The student’s year of study was significantly associated with knowledge of breast cancer (p = 0.002) Marital status (p=0.039) and attitude towards breast cancer screening (p<0.001) were significantly associated with breast self-examination. Students in their third year were 6 (2 – 16) times more likely to have good knowledge of breast cancer (Adjusted Odds Ratio 5.87, ConfidenceInterval 2.17 – 15.86). Conclusion: Overall knowledge and practice of breast cancer screening were poor, but students’ attitude towards screening was positive. Health education on breast cancer and screening is recommended. Keywords: Knowledge; practice; breast cancer; screening; young people; Nigeria

Property and Pecuniary Risk Exposures: An Investigation into SMEs’ Shutdown and Mitigation Methods in Nigeria

Business Interruption (BI) insurance is not popular among the operators/owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. This study is an attempt to investigate causes of SMEs’ failure and to assist the owners on how to use BI to protect both the physical assets as well as future profits of their businesses. Hence, 389 SMEs were purposively selected from four major cities in Niger Delta Region (NDR) in Nigeria for this purpose. The statistical tools used for analysis were Phi and Cramer’s V. The extent of SMEs losses through means of sourcing for materials and strategy employed to transfer such risk to third party were considered in this study. The findings revealed that: SMEs’ losses were strongly related to means of conveying raw materials to business locations; and responsibility assumed by SMEs’ owners to distribute goods to customers without the use of insured vehicles/vans. The study recommended among other things that SMEs’ owners can reduce some business risk exposures by making sure that their goods are carried on insured vehicles/vans, and that they can devise means to make the SMEs’ suppliers responsible for safe delivery of all materials purchased from them