Contributions of financial sector reforms and credit supply to Nigerian agricultural sector (1978-2009)

This study analyzed the trends and pattern of institutional credit supply to agriculture during pre- and post-financial reforms along with their determinants. It then compared the effects of reform policies on access to institutional credits in Nigerian agricultural sector before and after the reforms (1978 - 1985; and 1986 -2009). Relying mainly on time series data from CBN and NBS, it used ordinary least squares method (linear, semi-log and double log) to model the determinants of banking sector lending to the agricultural sector during the review period. The models were subjected to several econometric tests before accepting one. Chow test was used to verify the presence of structural change in the selected equation before and after the reforms. Results indicated an exponentially increasing trend of agricultural credit supply in the economy after the reform began. Econometric analysis shows that stock market capitalization, interest rate and immediate past volume of credit guaranteed by ACGSF significantly influenced the quantity of institutional credit supplied to the agricultural sector over the period in review. There was a significant difference between the credit supply function during the pre-reform and post reform periods. It was recommended that government must consider interest rate regulation as a veritable tool for making credit accessible to farmers at affordable levels; increase fund allocation to ACGSF; boost monitoring capacity of CBN on banks generally and strengthen the microfinance banks to be more responsive to agricultural credit needs

Physico-chemical characterization of groundwater of Kaltungo, Gombe state, Nigeria and treatment for flouride removal

Physico-chemical characteristics of Kaltungo groundwater were determined for a period of 12 months. The physical characteristics include odour, colour, taste, temperature, turbidity and TDS; while conductivity, pH, chloride, iron, copper, lead, zinc, fluoride, cadmium, nitrates, TH, total alkalinity (TA) and fluoride were the chemical characteristics. Nine water samples, three from three hand dug wells and six from six boreholes were taken monthly for the period. This study was undertaken because the people of Kaltungo town depend on groundwater from hand dug wells and boreholes for their water needs and children who grow up in the town during the ages of teething end up having mottled teeth. The results showed that the physical parameters were below their maximum limits, except temperature that had a mean of 29.7°C, which was still within ambient temperature. Most of the chemical parameters were below the recommended maximum limits except Iron and fluoride which had mean monthly values of 0.9mg/l and 1.66mg/l as against 0.3mg/l and 1.5mg/l respectively. Treatments for flouride removal carried out with alum, bone charcoal and Moringa olifera seeds showed that fluoride concentrations in water was reduced when treated with dosages ≥ 10g/l of raw water by between 15% and 43% reduction. Kaltungo groundwater should be treated for fluoride removal before consumption to avert teeth mottling.Keywords: Characteristics, fluoride, groundwater, teeth mottling, treatmen

Knowledge of awareness about HIV/AIDS among the people of Lake Chad basin of Borno State, Nigeria

A cross sectional quantitative survey that obtained information on the behavioural characteristics of the general population and the vulnerable groups with respect to knowledge of awareness of HIV/AIDS in Lake Chad Basin of Borno State was carried out among 1,790 volunteers. The respondents, who had ever heard about HIV/AIDS, were disaggregated by target groups. 78.7% of prison inmates, 76.8% of commercial sex workers, 75.2% transporters, 64.5% of uniform service men/women and 58.7% of Island population have heard about HIV/AIDS, while the percentage among traders and Household stood at 56.4% and 45.5% each. On disaggregation by gender, 63.9% of males and 49.8% of the females have heard about HIV/AIDS. 60.4% of the urban and 59.3% of the rural communities reported to have heard about HIV/AIDS. On the knowledge of transmission of the HIV/AIDS, there was 45% awareness on unprotected sexual intercourse, 40% on blood and blood products, 6% on mother to child transmission, 1% on sharp objects while 8% does not know how the virus is transmitted. On HIV/AIDS prevention tools, 34% were aware of abstinence, 32% use of condoms, 13% faithfulness, 8% reported other methods while 13% did not know. The knowledge of awareness about HIV/AIDS though cut across both the general and vulnerable populations, there is need for more awareness to curb this dreaded disease

Assessing attitudes and high-risk practices to HIV/AIDS infection among the people of Lake Chad basin, Borno State, Nigeria

A cross sectional quantitative survey that obtained information on high risk behaviours which expose individuals to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) especially HIV was carried out in Lake Chad Basin of Borno among 1,790 volunteers. A well-structured questionnaire was developed and used to collect the desired baseline sociodemographic characteristics by direct interview of respondents in their houses among the populations living in the ordinary households, the mobile population and vulnerable population group (VPG) not living in the households were interviewed in their places of abode with discretion. The mean age range of the participants was 32.5 years (SD + 2.21) ranging from 15 to 49 years. 1,234 (68.9%) of the respondents were males while 556 (31.1%) were females. The prison inmates had the highest prevalence of STIs, 37% of the respondents didn’t know that they were at risk of contracting HIV. The knowledge of HIV status was higher among the males (80.2%) than the females (19.3%). The use of male and female condom was higher among the rural (19.2%) than the urban (10.8%) respondents. This study revealed high risk practices among the respondents even though there is tremendous HIV test intake across both the general and vulnerable populations, there is need for more awareness as rate of risk perception is very low

Changing Ecotypes of Dengue Virus 2 Serotype in Nigeria and the Emergence of Cosmopolitan and Asian I Lineages, 1966–2019

Dengue virus (DENV) is a leading mosquito-borne virus with a wide geographical spread and a major public health concern. DENV serotype 1 (DENV-1) and serotype 2 (DENV-2) were first reported in Africa in 1964 in Ibadan, Nigeria. Although the burden of dengue is unknown in many African countries, DENV-2 is responsible for major epidemics. In this study, we investigated the activities of DENV-2 to determine the circulating strains and to appraise the changing dynamics in the epidemiology of the virus in Nigeria. Nineteen DENV-2 sequences from 1966–2019 in Nigeria were retrieved from the GenBank of the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI). A DENV genotyping tool was used to identify the specific genotypes. The evolutionary history procedure was performed on 54 DENV-2 sequences using MEGA 7. There is a deviation from Sylvatic DENV-2 to other genotypes in Nigeria. In 2019, the Asian I genotype of DENV-2 was predominant in southern Edo State, located in the tropical rainforest region, with the first report of the DENV-2 Cosmopolitan strain. We confirmed the circulation of other non-assigned genotypes of DENV-2 in Nigeria. Collectively, this shows that DENV-2 dynamics have changed from Sylvatic transmission reported in the 1960s with the identification of the Cosmopolitan strain and Asian lineages. Sustained surveillance, including vectorial studies, is required to fully establish the trend and determine the role of these vectors

Evaluation of Environmental Effect of Shiroro Hydropower Dam on the Downstream Communities of Shiroro Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria

This study evaluates the environmental effect of Shiroro hydropower dam on the downstream communities. The main objective of this study is to investigate the environmental effects of Shiroro hydropower dam on the downstream communities. A suitable conceptual framework was formulated and obtained data on the environmental impacts of dam on downstream communities, followed by a comprehensive literature review for viable information on the study. Three communities were used as case studies and quantitative method was  used as an appropriate research paradigm such as structured questionnaire survey (with predominantly quantitative questions) and  relevant data was obtained from the study area. Subsequently the data was analysed using descriptive, factor analysis and Kruskal-Wallis test as well construct reliability and validity analysis. From a broad range of environmental impacts, core environmental impacts were determined. The core impacts include changes in riparian vegetation, changes in river water quality, changes to channel shape and changes in floodplains among others. Similarly, control techniques were identified to lessen the effect of the impact and the result revealed that watershed management, water pollution control, management of water releases, fishing regulation, fish hatcheries and fish passage facilities were the core control techniques. The result of Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that majority of the environmental impacts affecting the communities under study is significantly and statistically different while the Cronbach alpha for internal consistencies of the constructs of the questionnaire was 0.745, hence high enough for generalising the result. Keywords: Environment, Effects, Hydroelectric, Dam, Downstream DOI: 10.7176/JEES/9-3-11 Publication date:March 31st 201

The effect of pyridoxine supplementation on quality of life of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Objective: Pyridoxine, is essential in the metabolism of many classes of food, we aimed at determining the effect of its supplementation on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).Methods: This study compared the (QoL) and haematological parameters of CLL patients before and after the administration of pyridoxine. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 19.Results: There was improvement in the QoL of the patients after pyridoxine supplementation; Majority of the parameters that make up the physical functional scales was significantly higher after pyridoxine supplementation. There were also significant improvements in insomnia, appetite loss and constipation after pyridoxine supplementation.Conclusion: Pyridoxine supplementation in patients with CLL marginally improved quality of life.Keywords: Pyridoxine, Supplementation, Quality of life, Leukaemia, CL

Effect of sedimentary heterogeneities in the sealing formation on predictive analysis of geological CO₂ storage

Numerical models of geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) in saline aquifers use multiphase fluid flow-characteristic curves (relative permeability and capillary pressure) to represent the interactions of the non-wetting CO2 and the wetting brine. Relative permeability data for many sedimentary formations is very scarce, resulting in the utilisation of mathematical correlations to generate the fluid flow characteristics in these formations. The flow models are essential for the prediction of CO2 storage capacity and trapping mechanisms in the geological media. The observation of pressure dissipation across the storage and sealing formations is relevant for storage capacity and geomechanical analysis during CO2 injection. This paper evaluates the relevance of representing relative permeability variations in the sealing formation when modelling geological CO2 sequestration processes. Here we concentrate on gradational changes in the lower part of the caprock, particularly how they affect pressure evolution within the entire sealing formation when duly represented by relative permeability functions. The results demonstrate the importance of accounting for pore size variations in the mathematical model adopted to generate the characteristic curves for GCS analysis. Gradational changes at the base of the caprock influence the magnitude of pressure that propagates vertically into the caprock from the aquifer, especially at the critical zone (i.e. the region overlying the CO2 plume accumulating at the reservoir-seal interface). A higher degree of overpressure and CO2 storage capacity was observed at the base of caprocks that showed gradation. These results illustrate the need to obtain reliable relative permeability functions for GCS, beyond just permeability and porosity data. The study provides a formative principle for geomechanical simulations that study the possibility of pressure-induced caprock failure during CO2 sequestration

Public risk perception and behaviours towards COVID-19 during the first and second waves in Nigeria: a secondary data analysis

Objectives To describe changes in public risk perception and risky behaviours during the first wave (W1) and second wave (W2) of COVID-19 in Nigeria, associated factors and observed trend of the outbreak. Design A secondary data analysis of cross-sectional telephone-based surveys conducted during the W1 and W2 of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Setting Nigeria. Participants Data from participants randomly selected from all states in Nigeria. Primary outcome Risk perception for COVID-19 infection categorised as risk perceived and risk not perceived. Secondary outcome Compliance to public health and social measures (PHSMs) categorised as compliant; noncompliant and indifferent. Analysis Comparison of frequencies during both waves using χ2 statistic to test for associations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses helped estimate the unadjusted and adjusted odds of risk perception of oneself contracting COVID-19. Level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results Triangulated datasets had a total of 6401 respondents, majority (49.5%) aged 25–35 years. Overall, 55.4% and 56.1% perceived themselves to be at risk of COVID-19 infection during the W1 and W2, respectively. A higher proportion of males than females perceived themselves to be at risk during the W1 (60.3% vs 50.3%, p<0.001) and the W2 (58.3% vs 52.6%, p<0.05). Residing in the south-west was associated with not perceiving oneself at risk of COVID-19 infection (W1—AOdds Ratio (AOR) 0.28; 95%CI 0.20 to 0.40; W2—AOR 0.71; 95%CI 0.52 to 0.97). There was significant increase in non-compliance to PHSMs in the W2 compared with W1. Non-compliance rate was higher among individuals who perceived themselves not to be at risk of getting infected (p<0.001). Conclusion Risk communication and community engagement geared towards increasing risk perception of COVID-19 should be implemented, particularly among the identified population groups. This could increase adherence to PHSMs and potentially reduce the burden of COVID-19 in Nigeri