FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, ITS RELEVANCE AND CHALLENGES IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

The availability of timely and accurate information from authentic sources is a booster to national development. Freedom of information is a necessity in order to salvage the nation Nigeria and move it towards the part of economic and social transformation. The focus of this paper is to x-ray the Nigerian freedom of information bill, its relevance and challenges in the scheme of national development. The relevance of the information bill is that it give room to openness and transparency in government and strengthen the democratic structure with the end results of creating values. As good as the Act may seem, the cardinal challenge is the implementation process because Nigerian governments has been known for making good policies that never benefits the citizens in view of the fact that the implementation process has always remains a mirage. The stand point of the paper is that the Nigerian nation will definitely grow into an egalitarian society because the Act has the capacity to facilitate social and economic development of the country

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, ITS RELEVANCE AND CHALLENGES IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

The availability of timely and accurate information from authentic sources is a booster to national development. Freedom of information is a necessity in order to salvage the nation Nigeria and move it towards the part of economic and social transformation. The focus of this paper is to x-ray the Nigerian freedom of information bill, its relevance and challenges in the scheme of national development. The relevance of the information bill is that it give room to openness and transparency in government and strengthen the democratic structure with the end results of creating values. As good as the Act may seem, the cardinal challenge is the implementation process because Nigerian governments has been known for making good policies that never benefits the citizens in view of the fact that the implementation process has always remains a mirage. The stand point of the paper is that the Nigerian nation will definitely grow into an egalitarian society because the Act has the capacity to facilitate social and economic development of the country

Preparation of snail cyst and PEG-4000 composite carriers via PEGylation for oral delivery of insulin: An in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Purpose: To develop PEGylated mucin as a carrier system for oral insulin delivery. Methods: Varied ratios of snail cyst were molecularly modified with polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG 4000). Briefly, In each case, 20 g quantities of snail cyst and PEG 4000 were separately dispersed in distilled water, stirred and allowed to stand for 24 h to produce a homogeneous dispersion and clear solution, respectively. The solution of PEG was added to the snail cyst dispersion, stirred and allowed 12 h for molecular interaction. The mixture was added to a 250-mL beaker containing 100 mL of light liquid paraffin. The microparticles were obtained after stirring and removing the paraffin using chilled acetone. The obtained PEGylated mucin matrices, which were subsequently loaded with insulin using a diffusion method, characterized for particles size, drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, in vitro drug release and evaluated for oral application in diabetic rats. Results: The polymer hybrids improved insulin encapsulation efficiency (max 82.3 %), gave. polydispersity indices that ranged from 0.11 ± 0.1 to 0.24 ± 0.2, zeta potential values between 28 ± 0.3 and 38 ± 1.1 mV. Insulin release was highest (68 % in 6 h) for batch C and was sustained for 10 h in simulated intestinal fluid. The optimized batch (C-5) showed higher hypoglycaemic activity (56.5 %) than control (0.5 %) in diabetic rats. Conclusion: The results suggest that PEGylated mucin can potentially be developed as a platform for oral insulin deliver

Counselling Services and Social Homes as Remediators to Challenges of Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria

Persons with Disabilities (PWD’s) in Nigeria are faced with tons of daily challenges. These challenges range from stigmatization, discrimination, rejection and ostracization from family and friends; socialization problems, infrastructural deficit issues, exclusion and welfare needs from the society and government and also; dejection, depression, mood swing and pity from self. All these pose demeaning tendencies to their psycho-socio-cultural wellbeing. This paper seeks to advocate the provision of counseling services and also proper and adequate institutional homecare to help remediate their diverse challenges. It also tasks the legislature in Nigeria to implement policies and laws that creates enabling environment for her citizenry living with disabilities

POPULATION CONTROL IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR LIBRARIANS

The need for population checks in any country cannot be over-emphasized. This need becomes very important in a country like Nigeria where people depend on speculations for information in all spheres of life. It was reported from the last census that the population of Nigeria is 167 million. This number is alarming in a country which depends on one source of income. The causes of over-population in the country are identified as, cultural beliefs, lack of sex and population education, religious beliefs etc. To avoid the side effects of over-population, which among others are ; mass poverty, increased death rate, unemployment, it becomes eminent that some measures should be put in place to address this issue. Prominent among them is the role of librarians in collecting and disseminating information on population control to the masses. Problems that may impede the execution of this task, like lack of funds, lack of information resources, and lack of government’s attention were also discussed in this paper. The paper concludes that if the government pays attention to this project by funding and equipping our libraries, this assignment will be realized. Recommendations were made for improvement in the country’s population management

Tobacco use: prevalence, pattern, and predictors, among those aged 15-49 years in Nigeria, a secondary data analysis

Introduction Tobacco use is a major global public health challenge. It is a risk factor for most leading causes of death, and its health impacts span from conception to adulthood. This study aims to analyse tobacco use data from the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), assessing the prevalence, pattern, and socio-demographic correlates of tobacco use among Nigerians aged 15-49 years. Methods A secondary data analysis involving 2013 NDHS was done. Data on 17 322 respondents were extracted from 36 800 participants. This number represents respondents with complete data on outcome variables of interest. Primary Sampling Unit defined on the basis of Enumeration Areas from the 2006 census was used. Head of selected household, all men and women aged 15-49 were studied. Data was collected using questionnaires. A chi-squared test and a binary logistic regression model were used in the analysis. Results Generally, 6.6% of the respondents smoked cigarettes, 1.7% used snuff, 0.4% smoked pipe, and 0.2% chewed tobacco. Based on gender, 6.6% males and 6.3% females smoked cigarettes, 0.3% males and 0.4% females smoked cigarettes as well as used snuff. Predictors of cigarette use included being in age group 25- 34 years (AOR 5.8; 95% CI 4.6-7.2), being ≥35 years (AOR 4.1; 95% CI 4.1-6.8), having attained primary education (AOR 1.4; 95% CI 1.2-1.8), living in north region (AOR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1-1.5), as well as being a Moslem (AOR 0.6; 95% CI 0.5-0.7). Conclusions A minor proportion of both genders uses tobacco with the commonest form being cigarettes. The commonest combination was cigarettes and snuff, even on stratification by gender. The identified predictors were age in categories, educational level and religion

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The concentrations of some phytochemicals in three species of edible mushrooms (Coral mushroom, Agaricus bisporus and Lentinus sajor) that are common in Ohaukwu area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria were determined using standard methods. The results revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, oxalates, phytates, HCN and phenols in significant amounts with tannins being the highest, followed by flavonoids and phenols, while HCN was the least in concentration. There was a significant variation among the mushrooms in their composition of the phytochemicals (p<0.05). The obtained values of the phytochemicals in all the mushrooms were interestingly found to be significantly lower (p<0.05) than their toxicity levels according to World Health Organization (WHO) safe limits. The results of this study suggest that these mushrooms may be very safe for consumption in terms of phytochemical toxicity and at the same time have some medicinal properties