Effects of Social Conflicts on the Sustainable Development of Ebonyi State, A Study of Ezillo-Ezza Ezillo Conflicts (2008-2014)

The paper focused on the “Effects of social conflicts on the sustainable development of Ebonyi State, a study of Ezillo-Ezza Ezillo conflicts. The study sought to ascertain how far the conflicts have affected socio-economic development parameters like level of poverty, provision and sustainability of infrastructure and social amenities; unemployment, peaceful co-existence, security of lives and properties among others. Extant literature were reviewed and there is a common understanding that conflict is inevitable in all human societies and that factors that result to conflicts are multi- dimentional. The Ezza- Ezillo conflict has been largely caused by indigene-settler conundrum and the natural tendency to gain material resources by man. This was further buttressed by the social atavistic conflict theory which maintained that there is a natural tendency on the part of creatures to migrate, expand and dominate space, or territory using a means possible – peace or through the use of force. It is therefore, the tendency to expand one’s territory that breeds resistance or clash of occupation. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Both primary and secondary data were utilized. The paper found out that the Ezillo-Ezza- Ezillo conflicts have affected the provision of infrastructure facilities in Ebonyi State, it has led to increase in the level of poverty and youth unemployment etc. The paper therefore recommends for a participatory or people driven approach to conflict resolution and management. Keywords: Sustainable development, conflicts, poverty, unemployment, social amenities

Petroleum Products Scarcity in Abakaliki and the Challenges of Enforcing Administrative Law by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC Ebonyi State Command)

This study was carried out to appraise the role played by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC Ebonyi state command) in controlling crime and civil disobedience especially during the petroleum products scarcity in Abakaliki from 12th to 14th November, 2014. Public sentiment paradigm and the interest group theoretical perspective were combined to appraise the role played by the corps during the impasse. The interest group theory was adopted for the study, based on its relevance to the working of the NSCDC in Nigeria. The area and population of study were the entire Ebonyi state and its residents that use petroleum products on almost on a daily basis. The sad story is that liberty and freedom to exercise administrative power have often led to administrative vices like impunity, oppression, victimization and so on. This was evident in the hardship suffered by residents of Abakaliki during the misunderstanding between the Ebonyi state command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and the Ebonyi State Petroleum Marketers Association. It is therefore needful to put in place strategies such as strategic public opinion boxes for masses to lodge their grievances on the excessive use of administrative laws to provide checks and balances in the administrative setting and to stimulate remedies for those who become victims of executive or administrative high handedness and misrule. Keywords: Petroleum products, challenges, administrative law, NSCDC

Evaluation of Vesicouterine Fistula with Ultrasonography in a Resource-constrained Setting

Objective: To determine the role of ultrasonography in the evaluation of patients with vesicouterine fistula. Methodology: This was a retrospective study conducted at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, South-East Nigeria between January 2015 and November 2016. Ethical clearance was obtained from Ethics and Research Committee of the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, Nigeria. A total of 25 patients had vesicouterine fistula during the study period. The records of 22 patients who had pelvic ultrasonography were reviewed and formed the basis of this study. Results: The mean age of the study population was 30.1±6.2 years. Pelvic ultrasonography revealed a communication between the uterus and the bladder in 19 (86.4%) of patients which is suggestive of vesicouterine fistula. Three patients (13.6%) had normal sonographic assessment. All patients were successfully repaired. Conclusion: Ultrasonography appears to be a useful, cheap, quick and readily available means of evaluating vesicouterine fistula in a resource-constrained setting. It provides an added advantage to clinical diagnosis in the evaluation of vesicouterine fistula. Keywords: Vesicouterine fistula, urogenital fistula, ultrasonography

Management of Rectovaginal Fistulas at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki over a 5-year Period

Objective: To share our experience in the management of rectovaginal fistula. Methods This was a retrospective study conducted at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, South-East Nigeria. The case folders of patients that had rectovaginal fistula between January 2012 and December 2016 were reviewed. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21. Results The records of 21 out of 26 patients who had rectovaginal fistula were available for review. The mean age was 31 ± 9 years. Majority (95.24%) were Christians. Twenty (95.24%) of  the cases were low rectovaginal fistula. The risk factors for rectovaginal fistula were mainly episiotomy, perineal tears during labour and prolonged obstructed labour Two (10%) out of the 20 patients that had surgery had minor complications. There was no mortality. The success rate after the first repair was 85% for those that were offered surgery. Conclusion The study suggests a good outcome for the patients reviewed with minimal complications. Keywords: Rectovaginal fistula, episiotomy, perineal tear

Airway epithelial cells: Current concepts and challenges

The adult human bronchial tree is covered with a continuous layer of epithelial cells that play a critical role in maintaining the conduit for air, and which are central to the defenses of the lung against inhaled environmental concomitants. The epithelial sheet functions as an interdependent unit with the other lung components. Importantly, the structure and/or function of airway epithelium is deranged in major lung disorders, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and bronchogenic carcinoma. Investigations regarding the airway epithelium have led to many advances over the past few decades, but new developments in genetics and stem cell/ progenitor cell biology have opened the door to understanding how the airway epithelium is developed and maintained, and how it responds to environmental stress. This article provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding airway epithelial stem/ progenitor cells, gene expression, cell-cell interactions, and less frequent cell types, and discusses the challenges for future areas of investigation regarding the airway epitheliumin health and disease

Inflammatory cell distribution within and along asthmatic airways

Asthmatic airways are infiltrated with inflammatory cells that release mediators and cytokines into the microenvironment. In this study, we evaluated the distribution of CD45-positive leukocytes and eosinophils in lung tissue from five patients who died with severe asthma compared with five patients with cystic fibrosis. For morphometric analysis, the airway wall was partitioned into an 'inner' area (between basement membrane and smooth muscle) and an 'outer' area (between smooth muscle and alveolar attachments). Large airways (with a perimeter greater than 3.0 mm) from patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis had a greater density of CD45-positive cells (p < 0.05) and eosinophils (p < 0.001) in the inner airway region compared with the same airway region in small airways. Furthermore, in small airways, asthmatic lungs showed a greater density of CD45-positive cells (p < 0.01) and eosinophils (p < 0.01) in the outer compared with the inner airway wall region. These observations indicate that there are regional variations in inflammatory cell distribution within the airway wall in patients with asthma that are not observed in airways from patients with cystic fibrosis. We speculate that this inflammatory cell density in peripheral airways in severe asthma may relate to the peripheral airway obstruction characteristic of this condition

Resident Cellular Components of the Human Lung Current Knowledge and Goals for Research on Cell Phenotyping and Function

The purpose of the workshop was to identify still obscure or novel cellular components of the lung, to determine cell function in lung development and in health that impacts on disease, and to decide promising avenues for future research to extract and phenotype these cells. Since robust technologies are now available to identify, sort, purify, culture, and phenotype cells, progress is now within sight to unravel the origins and functional capabilities of lung cells in developmental stages and in disease. The Workshop's agenda was to first discuss the lung's embryologic development, including progenitor and stem cells, and then assess the functional and structural cells in three main compartments of the lung: (1) airway cells in bronchial and bronchiolar epithelium and bronchial glands (basal, secretory, ciliated, Clara, and neuroendocrine cells); (2) alveolar unit cells (Type 1 cells, Type 2 cells, and fibroblasts in the interstitium); and (3) pulmonary vascular cells (endothelial cells from different vascular structures, smooth muscle cells, and adventitial fibroblasts). The main recommendations were to: (1) characterize with better cell markers, both surface and nonsurface, the various cells within the lung, including progenitor cells and stem cells; (2) obtain more knowledge about gene expression in specific cell types in health and disease, which will provide insights into biological and pathologic processes; (3) develop more methodologies for cell culture, isolation, sorting, co-culture, and immortalization; and (4) promote tissue banks to facilitate the procurement of tissue from normal and from diseased lung for analysis at all levels

The Role of Development Centres (Development Areas) In Community and Grass Root Transformation: A Study of Amachi Development Centre

This paper focuses on the role of development centres (development areas) in economic and political development of local communities and grass root transformation. It is aimed at identifying the activities of development centres (development areas) in grass root transformation of communities in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The findings of the study indicated that; incompetency on the part of staff and management authority is partly responsible for the poor state of affairs in the various communities that make up Abakaliki Local Government Area. The study used descriptive method of research on the existing literature on the subject matter and concluded that the quality and quantity of social services provided by the Development Centre has not shown any significant and commensurate relationship with the fund earmarked for developmental projects, that political interference and inadequate autonomy greatly affected developmental strides of the various communities in Abakaliki Local Government Area. It is the position of this study that incompetency, lack of political and administrative autonomy have become a cog of wheel in the social and economic transformation of our local communities. The paper therefore suggested that to ensure a governmental and democratic rule in the development areas that will bring about societal development and transformation, there should be opportunity to various constituents to nominate candidates qualified for appointive positions zoned to their constituents, financial independence of development areas, emphasis on meritocracy, attitudinal change and positive perception among the team players in politics. Keywords: Development Centres, Grass root transformation, incompetency, Social Services and Management Autonomy. Management Committee, Coordinator, Development Areas