The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) initiative of socio-economic development in Africa: achievements and challenges

The timeline for NEPAD’s programme of development in Africa is expected to consummate by 2015. Less than two years to the end-time for NEPAD’s implementation, it is expected that most of her objectives would almost be accomplished by now. Contrastingly however, this study discovered that inspite of some of the achievements of the development agency in Africa, a lot of her programmes are still lingering unaccomplished. These areas of lackluster performance are caused by several constraints besieging her operations. Some of these challenges have circumscribed the developmental agenda of this august body

Phonological Interference in the Spoken English Performance of the Izon Speaker in Nigeria: A Product of Systemic and Interlanguage Factors.

This paper sets out to examine the phonological interference in the spoken English performance of the Izon speaker. It emphasizes that the level of interference is not just as a result of the systemic differences that exist between both language systems (Izon and English) but also as a result of the interlanguage factors such as the level of the individual’s interaction in and with the L1, his level of education and access to oral English lessons while in school. The research reveals some troublesome contrasts in the two languages. The three factors that determine the level of interference are: the level of immersion of the individual in Izon; the level of the individual’s education; the individual’s oral English education exposure. The English language teacher has to be aware of these factors and pay particular attention to the differences in the phonological systems of the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) which can cause interference.Keywords: Mother-tongue, First language, Second language, Interlanguage, and Immersion

Rationalisation and Intertextuality: An Analysis of the Language of Men’s Reactions to Gender Equality in Zulu Sofola’s The Sweet Trap

It has been observed in Zulu Sofola’s The Sweet Trap that male characters view and speak about the female characters in very discriminating manner with the aim of subjugating women and maintaining their supremacy over them. This paper explores the discursive strategies in terms the linguistic and non – linguistic strategies which men use to maintain their dominance over women in Zulu Sofola’s play. The paper also shows that men explicitly (through verbal and non- verbal actions) and implicitly (through the demands of culture) discriminate against women or suppress gender equality or recognition and even discredit the women through language. The two discursive strategies of maintaining male power and female marginality are rationalization and intertextuality. While rationalisation is a strategy in which men use pure reason instead of experience to dominate women, intertextuality is the use of legitimate events or mechanisms operating in the society to work against women. In rationalisation, men try to vindicate themselves and blame their actions on their forefathers’ age-long practices (tradition). This paper explores the language use in these practices in the above-mentioned text.Keywords: Rationalisation, Inhibition, Aggression, Justification and Intertextualit

Performance of the Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male questionnaire for the clinical detection of androgen deficiency in black sub-Saharan African men with Type-2 diabetes mellitus

Background: The Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male (ADAM) questionnaire is increasingly popular for evaluation of androgen deficiency (AD) in sub-Saharan African men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). However, its reliability in this population is unknown.Methods: Total testosterone < 8 nmol/L was used as the gold standard for diagnosis of AD in this cross-sectional survey of 200 type 2 DM males aged 30–69 years. Participants also completed the Saint Louis University ADAM questionnaire whereby AD was diagnosed by a ‘yes’ answer to question 1 (reduced libido) or 7 (erectile dysfunction) or any other three questions. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and overall accuracy of the ADAM tool were computed.Results: The mean age of the participants was 58.0 ± 8.8 years. A total of 142 subjects (71.0%) had AD based on the ADAM questionnaire. However, AD was biochemically confirmed in 59 subjects (29.5%). The ADAM questionnaire rendered a sensitivity of 88.1%, specificity of 44.7%, PPV of 50.0%, NPV of 85.7% and accuracy of 61.4%.Conclusion: Despite an impressive sensitivity, the low specificity and overall accuracy of the ADAM questionnaire makes it unreliable for the detection of AD in sub-Saharan African men with type 2 DM.Keywords: ADAM, Africa, androgen, Nigeria, testosterone, type 2 diabete

Assessment of the Application of Selected Public Relations Reputation Management Strategies as Weapons Against Corruption in Nigeria

In this study, we undertook a critical appraisal of some selected public relations reputation management strategies like self-image auditing and corporate-auditing as weapons against corruption in Nigeria. This is motivated by the widely held international perception of Nigeria(ns) as very corrupt people and the negative image this is giving the citizens. The study objectives therefore included: ascertaining if a holistic self-image audit by Nigerians; corporate image audit by private/public organizations in Nigeria and a rebranding effort by all, could help in the eradication of corruption in the country. For the methodology, structured questionnaire and interviews were used in gathering data, which were analyzed in percentage frequencies. The results reveal that self-image audit, corporate and institutional image audit, matched by marketing communications rebranding campaign will help to stem the tide of corruption and redeem the soiled international image of the country. Keywords: Public Relations, Reputation Management, Corruption, Image Audit

Assessment of Zinc Level and its Relationship with Some Hematological Parameters among Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia in Abakaliki, Nigeria

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited hemoglobin (Hb) disorder with susceptibility for oxidative damage due to chronic redox imbalance in red blood cells (RBCs) which often results in hemolysis, endothelial injury, recurrent vaso-occlusive episodes, and derangement in hematological parameters. Zinc is an antioxidant which helps to reduce oxidative damage. This study aimed to assess the serum level of zinc and its relationship with some hematological parameters in patients with SCA (HbSS). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study which involved HbSS patients in steady state with sex‐ and age‐matched HbAA control. Assay of Hb phenotype, serum zinc level, and some haematological parameters were done. Ethical approval was gotten from the institutional review board, and each participant gave informed written consent before recruitment into the study. Analysis of all data obtained was done using SPSS software, version 20. Results: Thirty adult patients with SCA and thirty sex- and age-matched controls with a mean age of 26.7 ± 7.6 years and 27.7± 5.3, respectively, were studied. There was a significant decrease in serum zinc level among patients with HbSS compared to those with HbAA (P = 0.038). Similarly, patients with HbSS had significantly lower Hb level, packed cell volume, and RBC count compared to HbAA control (P < 0.05). On the contrary, patients with HbSS had significantly higher white cell count and platelet count compared to HbAA individuals (P < 0.05). Correlation between serum zinc level and blood counts showed weak positive relationship between zinc level and Hb level (r = 0.04, P = 0.8) and weak negative relationship between serum zinc level and platelet count (r = −0.3, P = 0.1), as well as zinc and white blood cell (WBC) count (r = −0.2, P = 0.4). Conclusion: There was a significantly low level of zinc among patients with HbSS compared with HbAA controls. Patients with HbSS had zinc levels that weakly correlated with Hb level positively but weakly negatively correlated with platelet and WBC counts. Further studies are required on a wider scale to assess whether zinc supplementation may improve blood counts in patients with SCA

Biosorption of heavy metals in industrial wastewater using micro-organisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa)

Heavy metal ions are often present in industrial wastewater, and sometimes there is the need to reduce their concentrations to some certain minimum. Biosorption is one of the methods by which this reduction can be achieved. The purpose of this study is to explore the biosorption technique as an alternative to conventional methods such as reverse osmosis, electro dialysis, ultra filtration, ion-exchange and chemical precipitation in the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater. Biosorption of the heavy metals namely cadmium, zinc and silicate were conducted using Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. Samples of wastewater from an industrial source were collected in a 2L container and poured into six containers. Measured quantities of the biomass were then introduced into the samples. The concentrations of heavy metals in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer. The results yielded a significant reduction in the heavy metal ion concentrations in the samples, with even the highest initial concentration greatly reduced. Biosorption technique can be a very good alternative to conventional methods in terms of availability of materials, cost-effectiveness and absence of precipitates and slurry