Tourism Planning and Development: A Panacea to Economic Recession in Nigeria

The current economic recession in Nigeria has come down heavily on the nation’s economy in no small way. Even though crude oil still remain the mainstay of the nation’s economy, diversification of economy and exploitation of potentials of tourism resources are seen as a panacea to the current economic meltdown in the country. This paper therefore identified various tourism potentials and resources readily available in the country. This ranges from water tourism resources, vegetal tourism resources to land scape tourism resources and anthropogenic cultural tourism resources. The authors observed that tourism planning and development in Nigeria is under- exploited despite the enormous potentials. Thus, the paper suggests strategies to adopt by the government, private sector, host communities as well as workers in the tourism industry to alleviate the poor state of tourist centres in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the tourism sector has very huge potentials which if fully supported and the menace of terrorism and kidnapping is curtailed in Nigeria, will contribute significantly to the economic diversification everybody is yarning for and Nigeria will bounce back from the two edged sword of economic meltdown ravaging the country. Keywords: Economic recession, Economic diversification, Tourism development, Public-Private partnershi

Challenges of developing the fisheries resources in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Theoil boom that almost spelt doom for agricultural development also affected the development of fisheriesprojects in many parts of the country including the growing Bayelsa State. The National FisheriesDevelopment Policies adopted by the state, geared towards increased fish production are attendedwith several challenges. Bayelsa State has great potentials in fisheries activities with more thanthree quarters of the land area occupied by a network of several natural lakes, rivers, creeks, swampsand marshy land stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. The challenge to develop this vast expanseof fisheries resource is the focus of this paper. It carefully reviewed the planning of the developmentefforts, the evaluation of the resources, the development of necessary management andtechnical personnel, introduction of appropriate technology and identification of priorities and needs of the fisheries industry in the state. It recommended the active participation of private investorsin the developmental efforts

Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment at Ipinsa-Okeodu Area, Near Akure, Southwestern Nigeria, using GODT

Aquifer vulnerability assessment has been undertaken at Ipinsa and Oke-Odu area, southwestern Nigeria using geoelectrically derived GODT model. One hundred and two (102) vertical electrical soundings (VES) data utilizing Schlumberger array were carried out at half-current electrode separation (AB/2) varied between 1-150 m. Qualitative interpretation of the VES data using partial curve matching and computer-aided inversion techniques yielded geo-electric parameters (layer resistivity and thickness) that were used in delineating the aquifers in the area and evaluating their vulnerability to pollutants. The geoelectric sections revealed that the area is underlain by three to four geo-electric layers namely the topsoil, weathered layer, partly weathered/fractured basement and fresh basement. The weathered layer and partly weathered/fractured basement constitute the major aquifers in the area. The GODT vulnerability model depicts that the area is characterized by four vulnerability zones which are very low, low, moderate and high vulnerable zones. According to the model, about 10% of the area is highly vulnerable while about 35% is of moderate rating. The low and very low ratings constitute 40% and 15% of the area respectively. Keywords: Aquifer vulnerability, GODT model, vertical electrical sounding and geoelectric parameters

Determinants of intensity of biomass utilization: evidence from cassava smallholders in Nigeria

Open Access Journal; Published online: 30 April 2019he paradigm shift from value chains to value webs in the emerging bioeconomy has necessitated a review on how agricultural systems transit to value web production systems. This study examines how smallholders in the cassava system in Nigeria have been able to increase utilization of biomass in their production systems. Using a sample of 541 households, the study employed cluster analysis and ordered probit regression to examine the intensity of cassava utilization and the determinants of the intensity of utilization. The study found that over 50% of the respondents were classified as low-intensity utilization households, while ~13% were high-intensity utilization households. Land, social capital, farming experience, and asset ownership increased the probability of intensifying cassava utilization among smallholders. The study recommends strengthening assets acquisition, improving land quality and encouraging social capital development among smallholders

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF M-QAM SIGNALINGS SCHEMES PERFORMANCE OVER FAST AND FREQUENCY NON-SELECTIVE RAYLEIGH FADING CHANNEL WITH MRC RECEIVER

This paper presents a comparative analysis of some digital modulation signaling schemes over fast and frequency non selective Rayleigh fading channel with multiplicative distortion, addictive white Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and maximal ratio combining (MRC) at the receiver. Three M-ary (with m=4, 8, 16) modulation schemes are used as the channel input and a comparative analysis is carried out in terms of bit error rate (BER) averaged over the iterations (ABER) versus the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) for different orders of the M-ary over the channel and the processing of the received signal by an MRC were simulated using MATLAB 7.0 application package. The result show that, of the three modulation schemes considered, the ABER performance for 4. Level quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) signal is the best followed by that for 8QAM, while an excessive degradation is noticeable in the ABER performance of the 16QAM scheme when compared with the performances of the other two schemes even when an MRC receiver is used

Pediatric adenotonsillectomy in a low resource setting: Lessons and implications

Objectives: To examine the practices related paediatric adenotonsillectomy in our setting especially in relation to blood request and transfusion, routine investigations, post-operative analgesic practice and complications.Methods: We reviewed the record of paediatric patients who had adenotonsillectomy in our facility over a 5-year period to obtain relevant information to our study. Results: There were 33 males and 19 females with mean age of 3.27 ± 2.76 years. Sinus tachycardia was found in 11(21.2 %) of the subjects and T wave anomaly in 1(1.9%) of the subject. Thirty-five (67.3%) patient had adenotonsillectomy, 13(25.0 %) adenoidectomy only and 4(7.7%) tonsillectomy only. Majority of the patients (24, 46.2%) were classified as ASA physical status I. Pre-operative blood request rate was high (49, 94.3%) though the transfusion rate was 1.9 % (1 patient). Acetaminophen combined with other analgesics was used for post-operative analgesia for most of the patients. There was significant weight gain post-operatively among patient Conclusions: Cold steel adenotonsillectomy is safe and effective in our environment. We believe that there is no justification for routine pre-operative blood request as a preconditions for surgery. We also like to suggest that post-operative pain management be streamlined taking into consideration the available analgesics in our setting.Keywords: Adenoidectomy, analgesia, pediatric, tonsillectomy, transfusio

Consumers' preference of fish products in Yenagoa metropolis, Bayelsa State

The study was conducted to assess consumer's preference of fish products in Yenagoa Metropolis, Bayelsa State. One hundred and ninety consumers were randomly selected for the study. Results showed that fishery products in Yenagoa metropolis include fresh, smoked, fried, dried, canned and frozen fish. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said that the products are enough, whereas seventy-six percent feel the variety of fishery products is low. Majority of the respondents (86%) preferred fresh fish followed by smoked fish which was preferred by sixty-four percent of the respondents. Age, ethnic grouping, gender, marital status and education did not have any significant influence on the preferences of the consumers (P>O.05). Major problems identified by the consumers were exorbitant prices of fish because of the activities of middlemen, unhygienic selling environment and scarcity of fish products. Consequently, it is recommended that an adequate system of financing small scale fisheries be evolved to reduce the influence of middlemen; sanitary laws should be enacted and enforced in the fish markets around the metropolis; Establishment of modern fish markets in Yenagoa to boast fish production, aquacultural investors should be attracted

HISTOGRAM NORMALIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR PREPROCESSING OF DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHIC IMAGES

Digital mammogram has become the most efficient tool for early breast cancer detection modalities and pre-processing these images requires high computational capabilities. Pre-processing is one of the most important step in the mammogram analysis due to poor captured mammographic image qualities. Pre-processing is basically used to correct and adjust the mammogram image for further study and classification.  Many image pre-processing techniques have been developed over the past decades to help radiologists in diagnosing breast cancer. Most studies conducted have proven that a pre-processed image is easier for radiologist to accurately detect breast cancer especially for dense breast. Different types of techniques are available for pre-processing of mammograms, which are used to improve image quality, remove noise, adjust contrast, enhance the image and preserve the edges within the image. This paper acquired 20 digital mammograms from Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) database and uses Histogram Normalization algorithm for pre-processing of the mammograms. A percentage of 95% was obtained. It was observed that the pre-processed mammographic images displayed breast abnormalities clearer with little or no noise

Mandatory adoption of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless and e-payment policy: implications for bank customers

This study seeks to uncover the projected gains and challenges of a cashless and epayment policy in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on the wellbeing of bank clients, and to examine the extent to which the promised benefits of the policy were realized eight years down the line of implementation. Researchers provided copies of a research questionnaire to selected bankers and bank customers in Ogun and Lagos states of Nigeria to find perceptions of the two stakeholder groups regarding the subject matter. Three hypotheses formulated were tested using ANOVA. The paper reveals that the cashless banking initiative in Nigeria has significantly enhanced bank customer satisfaction; the implementation of the cashless banking structure in Nigeria has not led to a significant reduction in the level of cash fraud in Nigerian banks; and the adoption of a cashless economy practice in Nigeria has significantly improved the management of bank customer funds in terms of spending and saving. The paper, in particular, recommends that bank regulators constantly and widely cooperate with all key stakeholders in the system in the fight against cybercrime. This will make the electronic space safe and reliable for use in doing banking in Nigeria and beyond

Screening of sweet potato ((Ipomea batatas [L.] Lam.)cultivars for drought tolerance

The effect of drought on most agricultural crops results inmany problems for the producers in Nigeria and even other parts of the world. These problems include reduced vegetative parameters and yield loss which consequently lead to reduced income for the growers of the crops. The most direct way of avoiding drought is to discover or create drought tolerant varieties of sweet potato. Sweet potato is a crop which is part of the Nigerian diet due to its perceived nutritive values. A field experiment was carried out in Bowen University, Iwo to evaluate different cultivars of sweet potato for drought tolerance. The experimental design was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates and three treatments including the mild water stress (32 days of drought), severe water stress (from the day of drought till harvest) and nowater stress (control). Results showed that under the control treatment, the highest yield was from the Local variety 1 with 127.63 g while the lowest yield under control was from Local variety 2 with 39.20 g. Under the mild water stress, the highest yield was from Introduced variety 1 with 272.46 g while the lowest yield was from Local variety 2 with 59.66 g. Under the severe water stress, the highest yield was from Local variety 1 with 41.15 g while the lowest yield was from Introduced variety 1 with 0 g. The highest yield among the three treatment methods was under the mild water stress treatment from Introduced variety 1 with 272.46 g.Therefore, variety 3, the local variety, is recommended under severe drought based on the above reason but under moderate drought,the Introduced variety i.e. variety 1 (orange fleshed sweet potato) is preferred because it had the highest yield and is also of high nutrient content compared to the other varieties