THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN GOVERNANCE

In the international political system, the media is an essential tool for governance, information dissemination and management. It not only helps in remolding the character and policies of those in authority and power, but also acts as a potential medium through which global and states conflicts could be generated, escalated and prolonged. Consequently, this paper is of the view that the influence and control of the media on the three entities of a state such as the government, the population, and the international community, had over the years generated either positive or negative reactions on an existing government. Conversely, the paper is also of the view, that the influences and controls of governments on the media hitherto, militates against the effectiveness, objectivity and the authenticity of media publications and information dissemination. This is because, the media over the years has helped the decision makers, civil society groups, the masses and the non-state actors, to take decisive steps or actions on critical issues. However, this paper intends to evaluate the influence of governments on the media; how information disseminations are hindered by governments; and how the role of the media, has helped to shape public opinion, while using the Arab Spring as a case note. In caring out this research, secondary sources such as news papers, journals from the internet, and personal interviews were used, and data analyzed using descriptive methods. The result findings however show that in spite of the various strategic roles played by the media, when biased, its publicities tarnish the image of their targeted entity. On the other hand, most journalists, who never compromised the integrity of their profession with any government, have met severe persecutions on the course of doing moral justice to their profession. Finally, the recommendations are centered on the need for objectivity, credibility and authenticity in media publicities; and the need for absolute independence of the media from governmental controls and interferences

War against Corruption in Nigeria: Weak Institutions and Economic Crisis as Bane of Its Success

Corruption has taken over the day to day discussion and deliberation on issues relating to national growth and development in Nigeria. It has become a virus eating into the bones and marrow of every sectors and structures of national policy and polities. It is crystal clear that if Nigeria fails to live above corruption and overcome it; it will not be long before corruption would end every hope of golden age of the nation. The paper examines the dimensions of corruption in Nigeria; with major attention on enumerating the weakness of the nation’s political, social and economic institutions including Economic and Financial Crime Commission as a bane militating against all efforts in winning against corruption. This breeds terrible corruption and evil is inimical and unimaginable threat to the survival of corporate existence of the nation. The paper explains the concept of corruption that act as forerunners of other social cankerworms. These are political and bureaucratic corruption. The implication of this cankerworm are also numerous: abject poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment; ethno-religious violence, secession, and terrorism as expression of grievances. This is the object of this paper as historical method becomes suitable in the collection of date, analysis and interpretation

Statistics for Nursing and Allied Health at Saint Louis University in the Spirit of SUMMIT-P

This paper describes the renewal of a consumer-based elementary statistics course to benefit students in the nursing and allied health disciplines. While the goal of the course transformation was initially to update the pedagogy of the course and ensure students are able to make connections between the course material and their majors, that goal expanded to include the needs and objectives of the client disciplines. This expanded goal was accomplished by incorporating insights gained from a SUMMIT-P business school collaboration and was based on the Curriculum Foundations project recommendations. The paper addresses course projects, instructor development, faculty roles, and interactions with stakeholders. The influence of SUMMIT-P on the course renewal as well as sustainability plans are also shared

Impact of Public External Debt on Exchange Rate in Nigeria

With continuous increase in public expenditures, and low capital formation in many developing countries, many governments have resorted into borrowing either or both within and outside the country. However, most borrowings come with interest attached, which results in debt servicing. Serving external debt may involve demand for foreign currency which tends to affect the exchange rate of the country. Hence, this study examines the impact of public external debt on exchange rate in Nigeria. Using the Ordinary Least Square, on the secondary data sourced from the CBN and DMO among other sources, findings reveals that all the dependent variables, that is, external debt, debt service payment and foreign reserve proved to be statistically significant in explaining exchange rate fluctuation in Nigeria within the period of observation, with debt service payment having the strongest effect (Coeff: 0.4443). Based on the finding, the study recommends that government should ensure that all public borrowing, where and when necessary, be directed towards productive economic activities which can generate returns to service and pay up the debt at maturity. Keywords: Public Debt, Foreign reserve, Exchange rate, Expenditur

Crystallography, magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and electrical resistivity of heavy fermion LiV2_2O4_4 single crystals grown using a self-flux technique

Magnetically pure spinel compound ${\rm LiV_2O_4}$ is a rare $d$-electron heavy fermion. Measurements on single crystals are needed to clarify the mechanism for the heavy fermion behavior in the pure material. In addition, it is known that small concentrations ($< 1$ mol%) of magnetic defects in the structure strongly affect the properties, and measurements on single crystals containing magnetic defects would help to understand the latter behaviors. Herein, we report flux growth of ${\rm LiV_2O_4}$ and preliminary measurements to help resolve these questions. The magnetic susceptibility of some as-grown crystals show a Curie-like upturn at low temperatures, showing the presence of magnetic defects within the spinel structure. The magnetic defects could be removed in some of the crystals by annealing them at 700 $^\circ$C\@. A very high specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ = 450 mJ/(mol K${^2}$\@) was obtained at a temperature of 1.8 K for a crystal containing a magnetic defect concentration $n$${\rm_{defect}}$ = 0.5 mol%. A crystal with $n$${\rm _{defect}}$ = 0.01 mol% showed a residual resistivity ratio of 50.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, Title modifie

Assessment of Common Chest X-ray Findings in Immuno-compromised Patients in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Background: Retroviral diseases such as the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is characterized with immune suppression leading to opportunistic infections (OI). This immune deficiency predominantly involves the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. Purpose: To assess the prevalence of a variety of infections associated with immune compromised patients (ICPx)using chest radiographs.Methods: A retrospective study of 543 (44.75 % male and 55.25 % females) postero-anterior (PA) and the anteroposterior (AP) chest radiographs of HIV/AIDS patients for a period of 5 years (2008-2013), selected at random from the X-ray departments of 5 hospitals within Lagos Metropolis.Results: The result showed that about 395 (72.44 %) radiographs presented with various infectious patterns while148 (27.56 %) radiographs demonstrated normal radiographic patterns. Subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis (30.94 %) were presented with the most predominant opportunistic infections (OI), followed by pneumonia (17.12%), pleural effusion (12.89 %), kaposi’s sarcoma (8.66 %). Other conditions such as cardiomegaly, atelectasis and lung consolidations constituted 3.13 %.Conclusion: Most HIV/AIDS patients in Lagos metropolis presented with episodes of PTB as evidenced on the chest radiograph. Also, as important as the chest radiograph is in detecting lesions, some patients presented with normal chest x-ray findings despite a high suspicion of pulmonary disease