EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ATTITUDE TO WORK OF NON-ACADEMIC STAFF OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Emotional Intelligence has become popular in the field of work and this makes it more imperative for a staff be it academic or non-academic to have the knowledge and perhaps have the skills of emotional intelligence before he or she can discharge his or her duty effectively. This singular reason inspired the researcher to investigate how level of emotional intelligence can influence attitude of non-academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State to work. Descriptive survey was adopted for this study. All the Non-academic staff of the tertiary institutions in Kwara State constituted population for the study. Stratified was used to select three tertiary institutions in the state and in each of the institution 50 non-academic staff were randomly selected and the total number of 150 non-academic staff were selected as respondents in this study. Two instruments were used to obtain data from the respondents; the first was questionnaire titled emotional intelligence scale and the second instrument was attitude to work scale. These instruments were adapted from Rohana, Kamaruzaman and Zanarial (2009). The instruments were tested for the reliability and the reliability score of 0.88 and 0.75 were obtained for the two instruments respectively. Chi-square statistical analysis was used to test two hypotheses postulated for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that level of emotional intelligence significantly influence the attitude to work of non-academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State i.e. staff with high level of emotional intelligence have positive attitude to work. Also, the study revealed that working experience significantly influence level of emotional intelligence of non-academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State. Based on these findings, the researcher therefore recommended that seminar and workshops should be constantly organized for non-academic staff of tertiary institutions to increase their level of emotional intelligence which will in turn develop their attitude to work and improve the productivity.&nbsp

Plastic contamination in agricultural soils: a review

Researchers are focused on the global issue of plastic contamination in agricultural soils because of the known effects of plastics on the soil ecosystem. Previous reviews did not pay attention to plastic sources, standardized extraction methods, soil characterization, and the abundance of plastics in agricultural soils. This study aims to review up-to-the-minute knowledge about plastic contamination studies, suggest the best method for microplastic studies, and propose future research areas. The research about plastic contamination in agricultural soils published from January 2018 to March 2022 was reviewed for this review article. Studies focusing on microplastics in soils other than agricultural soils were not considered in the present review. The data were acquired from several databases, namely Web of Science and Google Scholar. The keywords used to search these databases were "microplastics AND agricultural soils" and "macroplastics AND agricultural soils". Other literature sources were obtained from the reference lists of downloaded articles, and other pieces of literature that directly dealt with macroplastic and microplastic contamination in agricultural soils were obtained from relevant journals and books. Overall, 120 sources of literature, including 102 original research articles, 13 review articles, and five books, were selected, reviewed, and synthesized. As expected, agricultural soils, including arable lands, paddy lands, uplands, irrigation, and greenhouse soils, receive plastic contaminants. The contaminants of different sizes and forms are distributed spatially and temporally in the surface, subsurface, and profiles of the agricultural soils. Unlike previous studies that reported many studies on sewage sludge, the significant sources of plastic contamination in the agricultural soils included mulching, sludge and compost placement, and greenhouses abandonment. The distribution of plastic contamination studies in the agricultural lands is Asia: 60%; Europe: 29%; Africa: 4%; North America: 4%; Latin America: 3%; and Australia: 0%. After careful analysis of the methods used for the plastics contamination studies, the study concluded that floatations with low-density solutions such as distilled water and NaCl are efficient in separating light-density microplastics. In contrast, ZnCl and NaI are incredibly efficient in separating the heavy-density microplastics. Moreover, this review provides insight for future research in the field

Assessment of Food Insecurity among Almajiri in Sokoto Metropolis and Selected Environs (Gwadabawa and Kware), Sokoto State, Nigeria

This paper aimed to assess food insecurity among Almajiri in Sokoto metropolis and it’s environs using a structured questionnaire on 120 respondents. The respondents were Muslims, Hausa/ Fulani, males and Nigerians. The occupations of Almajiri fathers were ,farming (66.7%) , business ( 16.7%) , and 16.7% were doing nothing. 33.3% of their fathers were married to two wives, 25.0% married to three wives , 16.7% married to one wife each and , 16.7% married to four wives .33.3% of the Almajiri said their fathers have two children, 25.0% said their fathers have three children, and 8.3% have four kids ,and 8.3% have one child .None of the participants attended western school ,but only 25.0% admitted that they like " Boko " ( western education) ,while 75% said they don't like " Boko ".58.3% goes home only after one year stay at the school ,25.0% return after graduation , 16.7% return home after 3years stay at school. 50.0% said they always come with insufficient food from home, but 41.7% said they come with nothing.7.3% come with insufficient money from home, whereas, 41.7% come with nothing. 41.7% eat food thrice ,25.0% eat twice, and 16.7% eat once .58.3% earn through begging, 25.0% earn through domestic work ,and 16.7% earn through external work .75.0% eat tuwo ,and 16.7% eat Gari ,and others. All the respondents echoed that the system hurt them psychologically. The findings revealed that Almajiri children were unable to come with enough food or money to sustain them throughout their stay at school. Thus, this depicts food insecurity, which in turn can invariably lead to hunger.Parents should give sufficient provisions to their wards whenever sending them to Almajiri schools.The government, wealthy persons and relations should fully put hands on deck to help Almajiri child.Keywords: Food insecurity, Almajiri, child labour, domestic work

Multi-pollutant approach to model contaminants flow in surface and groundwater: a review

Pollution of surface and groundwater is largely caused by anthropogenic activities and the natural geogenic processes. Most of the contaminants in surface and groundwater have a common origin. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of multi-approach modeling of pollutants which is required for various reasons, owing to the availability of different types and sources of water pollutants. We attempted a systematic review to assess the current progress in modeling water pollution using multi-approach methods. Results showed that (9) out of the eleven (11) chosen studies have applied some forms of multi-approach modeling methods to examine pollutants in surface and groundwater. Results also suggest that there is an increased concern on understanding how pollutants are transported from sources to surface water and how impurities are transported to groundwater aquifers by infiltering surface flows. A major limitation of water quality models is that models assumed a uniform environmental setting and can simulate contaminants only in the gas and aqueous states. The rationality of contaminant modeling using multi-pollutant approaches is mostly problematical to validate because suitable field data is wanting for comparison. Therefore, the model output must be scrutinized within the context of the uncertainty of the model inputs, data limitations and consistently essential application of established standards from the literature

Assessment of Phytochemical Screening of Vernonia amgydalina Lin Leaves and its Antibacterial Potential on Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus

The phytochemical screening of Vernonia amygdalina Lin leaves and its antibacterial potential on Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated using standard methods. The Wattman No 1 sterilized paper discs (6mm in diameter) impregnated with Vernonia amygdalina ethanolic and aqueous extracts at the concentrations of 20 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml, 5 mg/ml and 2.5 mg/ml were tested on Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus. The zones of inhibition shown by the extracts at different concentrations against different strains, the turbidity of broth culture (susceptibility), Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and bacterial growth Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the test organisms were studied. Susceptibility test revealed that VAEE have antimicrobial activities for Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus (clinical, reference and environmental strains). There was significantly higher difference with respect to the zones of inhibitions produced among the various extract concentrations against the test organisms (ANOVA P<0.05). The strains of S. typhi and S. aureus showed MIC and MBC at the extract concentrations of 10 mg/ml and 20 mg/ml respectively. The findings of this study suggested ethanol to be a good solvent for the extraction of the antibacterial substances in VA. Furthermore, some constituents; saponin tannin, flavonoid and alkaloid were shown to be presence in the leaves of VA, hence could be isolated and developed in to effective antimicrobial agents

Comparative analysis of noise descriptors in some selected areas in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria

This paper presents the results obtained from environmental noise measurement at selected locations in Ilorin metropolis. Forty-two (42) different locations throughout Ilorin were selected to establish background noise level and dominant noise sources at these selected locations. Noise level measurements and analysis for the locations were based on the noise descriptors LAeq, L1, L10, L50, L90, and LD. The results from comparative study indicated that the equivalent noise level (LAeq) and peak noise level (L1) have the highest and lowest values at road junctions/busy roads (86 dBA,88 dBA) and low density residential areas (46 dBA, 63 dBA) respectively. The background noise level (L90) has the highest and lowest values at passengers loading parks (73 dBA) and low density residential areas (34 dBA) respectively. The result of this study shows that the major source of noise in Ilorin metropolis can be attributed to traffic noise. Other intrusive noise sources include noise from record player, electric generators, and hawking with loud speakers. Based on the recommendations of CEOH, WHO and HUD, only 6 locations out of 42 are under normally acceptable situation while the noise levels of other areas are not acceptable. Noting the noise emission standards, technical control measures, planning and promoting the citizens awareness about the high noise risk may help relieve noise problem in the metropolis. These data are useful as reference and guideline for future regulations on noise limit to be implemented for urban areas in Nigeri

Assessment of Selected Health Determinants among Almajiri Students in Gwadabawa Local Government, Sokoto State, Nigeria

Health determinants are factors that can influence our health either positively or negatively. This paper determined the factors that affect the health of Almajiri in their system of study in Gwadabawa local government of Sokoto state, Nigeria. Interview and visual observation were used to collect data, which was analyzed by thematic networks method. The result of this study was shown. Most (50.0%) of the Almajiri live in buildings own by school,whereas, 33.5% of them in donated buildings .There were three types of houses / classes where Almajiri live.Most (50.0%) were made of cement/modern style ,then (33.3%) the mud houses / classes, and (16.7%) were the ones from zinc .There were toilets for urination only ,no one was slated for defecation . In 75% of the schools there was no water, whereas 33.3% have water source from unprotected wells. In 33.3 % of the schools there was refuse dumps .In 33.3% there were no any source of risk. Whereas, in 16.7% there were gutters, and in 16.7% there were roads nearby. Personal hygiene was observed. 75.0% of Almajiri wore dirty garments.25.0% wore cleaned garments, 12.5% wore torn garments, and 87.5% wore untorn garments. 62.5% wore shoes and 37.5% have no shoes. 62.5% take bath weekly, 37.7% take bath daily. Interms of livelihood, most of them relied on begging for food; 25.0% do domestic work to get food and other needs. 70.0% of them eat twice in a day, 25.0% thrice, whereas, 5.0% once; in most cases. The result revealed many health determinants which can negatively affect the health of Almajiri.Keywords: health determinants, open defecation, overcrowding, begging, child labou