Protecting Internally Displaced Children in Armed Conflicts: Nigeria in Focus

Internal displacement, especially of children, is a common consequence of armed conflict. Children who become internally displaced as a result of armed conflict face significant trauma due to their vulnerability, in addition to the fact that many of them lose their parents before being moved to internal displacement camps. Moreover, the conditions of some of these camps are not favorable and may affect children’s health and wellbeing. Internally displaced children therefore need protection and care by the national governments of affected countries, with support from the international community. However, Nigeria has not effectively protected children who have been displaced by virtue of the Boko Haram-induced armed conflict. This is due to several challenges, including an inadequate legal framework, lack of institutional coordination, insufficient financial resources, and lack of political will. This Article seeks to highlight these challenges, in addition to discussing the effects of internal displacement on children. It then proffers recommendations as to how internally displaced children could be effectively protected in Nigeria

Effect of Low Level Cadmium Exposure on Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Rat

Purpose: To investigate the effect of low level cadmium (Cd) exposure on the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in rat.Methods: Thirty-two male albino rats were divided into four groups of eight animals each. Group one received distilled water and served as control. The other three groups were exposed to 100, 200 and 300 ppm cadmium doses, respectively, in their drinking water for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, blood, brain and liver were removed from the animals and SOD activities were investigated spectrophotometrically at 480 nm.Results: The data revealed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in organ weight of the exposed rats, and with the highest cadmium accumulation in liver ranging from 2.99 ± 0.20 μg Cd/g tissue in control to 34.57 ± 2.06 μg Cd/g tissue for the 300 ppm dose group. Exposure to cadmium resulted in significant (p < 0.05) decrease in SOD activity in plasma, erythrocytes, brain and liver in a dose-dependent manner compared to control. The data showed a negative correlation between tissue cadmium and SOD in plasma, erythrocyte and brain. While positive associations were observed between blood and tissue (brain and liver) cadmium and SOD, a significant (p < 0.01), negative correlation was found between tissue cadmium and SOD.Conclusion: As Cd dose increase, plasma, erythrocyte, brain and liver SOD activities decrease. This might affect the maintenance of the normal body physiological conditions.Keywords: Cadmium, Superoxide dismutase, Liver, Brain, Toxicity, Environmental contaminan

Disruption of Lipid Profile and Alteration of Hepatic Lipoprotein Metabolism Gene Expression in Anaemia‐induced Rat

Background and Objective: Iron metabolism in animals is altered by haemolytic anaemia induced by phenylhydrazine (PHZ), however, its effects on lipid metabolism remains elusive. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of anaemia on lipid profiles and lipoprotein metabolism gene expression in rats. Materials and Methods: Fourteen adult male Wistar rats were randomly classified into normal control and anaemia‐induced group (n = 7), respectively. Anaemia was induced in rats by daily administration of PHZ at 10 mg kg–1 for 8 consecutive days, after which blood was collected and liver excised. Lipid profiles of plasma and liver were determined spectrophotometrically while the expression of genes associated with lipid and lipoprotein metabolism was assayed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results: The induced‐anaemia resulted in hypotriglyceridemia and hypophospholipidosis, with concurrent hypercholesteromia compared to control, respectively. Liver triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol were observed to be up‐regulated. Anaemic rats showed a significant (p<0. 05) up‐regulation of the relative expression of hepatic lecithin‐cholesterol acyltransferase (Lcat), paraoxonase‐1 (Pon‐1), aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), 3‐hydroxy‐3‐ methylglutaryl‐CoA reductase (Hmgcr) and down‐regulation of Scavenger Receptor Class B Type I (Scarb1). Conclusion: The induced‐anaemia alter the expression of lipoprotein metabolizing genes which might be the underlying mechanism of anaemia to disrupt lipid metabolism

The Effect of Environmental Damage on Children in Armed Conflicts

32 pagesThe environment is a great source of sustainability for humans and other aspects of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, the world, especially developing countries, has been hit by armed conflicts, which have great implications on the environment and all forms of life that depend upon it for their existence. Such effects are, however, more profound on children, who are one of the most defenseless groups of persons in armed conflicts. Nuclear weapons, small arms, fires, destruction of forests, water pollution, and air pollution are all methods of warfare that destroy the environment with a severe impact on children. Using a doctrinal approach, this study examines the specific ways armed conflicts harm the environment and the effects of environmental degradation on children. Existing legal frameworks are discussed to determine their sufficiency and the extent of their effectiveness in protecting children from the effects of environmental degradation caused by armed conflicts. This is in addition to the steps that could help save children from environmental harm, as healthy children have better chances of contributing to the development of their communities and nation as a whole

Protecting Internally Displaced Children in Armed Conflicts: Nigeria in Focus

Internal displacement, especially of children, is a common consequence of armed conflict. Children who become internally displaced as a result of armed conflict face significant trauma due to their vulnerability, in addition to the fact that many of them lose their parents before being moved to internal displacement camps. Moreover, the conditions of some of these camps are not favorable and may affect children’s health and wellbeing. Internally displaced children therefore need protection and care by the national governments of affected countries, with support from the international community. However, Nigeria has not effectively protected children who have been displaced by virtue of the Boko Haram-induced armed conflict. This is due to several challenges, including an inadequate legal framework, lack of institutional coordination, insufficient financial resources, and lack of political will. This Article seeks to highlight these challenges, in addition to discussing the effects of internal displacement on children. It then proffers recommendations as to how internally displaced children could be effectively protected in Nigeria

Government Expenditure and Selected Macroeconomic Variables in Nigeria: A Bayesian VAR Approach

The scale of the public sector continues to rise on a daily basis, and one wonders whether this expansion is accompanied by an increase in output growth. There are two strong but contradictory perspectives in the literature on government expenditure: on the one hand, government expenditure is a significant policy instrument for ensuring that economic activity is carried out at a suitable level and that cyclical short-term changes in aggregate expenditure are accurate; on the other hand, excessive government participation in economic activities disrupts and distorts the activities of other economic activities. From 1986 through 2020, this study used Bayesian Vector Autoregressive to investigate the impact of government expenditure on macroeconomic variables in Nigeria. Empirical results indicated that the shock from recurrent expenditure has a substantial influence on economic growth and has a long-term effect, but government capital expenditure has a little impact on economic growth and has no beneficial impact. As a result, it was advised that the government begin to exercise some control in its use of capital spending since it had the potential to aggravate economic circumstances