Youth Restiveness in Nigeria: Challenge for Counselling

The paper examined the meaning of youth restiveness in Nigeria, its causes and challenge for counselling. The youths were seen as young people who are still in the most active period of their lives. They are cognitively capable of hypothetical deductions, analysis and synthesis of situations by which they find themselves. They are restive; in other words impatient, obstinate and agitated especially when they are not satisfied with the state of things around them. The complexity of modern life makes the situation to be even more difficult for the youths, while the Nigerian factor further complicates matters for them. Some of the factors that contributed to the restiveness of youths in Nigeria include: leadership styles, economic situation, educational pursuits, poverty, unemployment, marginalization, exuberance, drugs, sexually transmitted diseases and activities of significant adults in the communities. Good guidance and counselling were seen as possible strategies that could help in harnessing the inert potentials of the youths and channeling them into vehicles for national development (if the challenges are dealt with); otherwise their restiveness could become fuel for mal-adaptive and mal-adjustive behaviour, thus constituting social problems for the nation as a whole

Utilization of Selected Vitality Staple Foods by Low Income Households in Ebonyi State

The study focused on the utilization of selected vitality foods among low income household in Ebonyi State. Specifically the study aimed at identifying vitality foods that are available, accessible and utilized by low income household in state. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study is 2,173,501 households and the sample size is 400 households. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire and interview. The research questions were answered on individual item basis using mean, frequency and standard deviation, t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The findings revealed among other things that vitality foods are not always available in the state; they are not always accessible and therefore not always utilized by the low income households in the state. This is contrary to US Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid that children should consume three servings from the vitality foods each day to remain healthy.  Based on the findings, some recommendations were made including (1) Nutrition education at the household level should be taught by Home Economics Extension workers to family members through workshops/seminars as this will encourage low income households on ways of reducing food insecurity during off seasons (2) Entrepreneurship education should be introduced into the school curriculum from primary to university levels of education to empower low income households financially among others. Keywords: utilization, vitality, foods, staple, low-income, household

Horizontal versus vertical wells interference in hydraulically fractured shale reservoirs

The authors acknowledgethe Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Nigeria for sponsoring this project. Special thanks to Christie Judith, and members of Computer Modelling Group (CMG) for technical support on the use of CMG-GEM software for this study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Ocean Economy in Nigeria: Analysis of the Economic Benefits of River Benue, 1960-2020

Many scholars of different shades of life have comprehensively undertaken some studies on River Benue. However, these intellectual enquiries have not x-rayed the economic dimensions of the River. This paper, therefore, attempts to narrow the existing historiographical gap on the subject. Using extant and oral historical sources in line with the interdisciplinary methods, the paper analyses the economic benefits of River Benue between 1960 and 2020. It affirms, the indispensable nexus between the River and thriving agricultural production, water transporation, fishing, block industry, and rice milling, et cetera. The study discusses the challenges that have impeded the aforementioned and related economic activities. The evidence thrown up leads to the major conclusion that the protracted flooding and the resultant massive destruction and obstruction of the economic activities, paucity of funds, lack of modern equipment, and double taxation, among others, posed a grave danger to the aforementioned sources of livelihood. Given the above, the paper concludes that River Benue contributed marginally to the development of the Benue economy. It recommends inter alia the dredging of the river and the construction of a buffer dam

CHRISTIAN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE: A CATALYST FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN TIVLAND, CENTRAL NIGERIA, 1980s – 2020

Agricultural economists, agribusiness scholars, historians, political scientists, economists, geographers, and scholars of various disciplinary orientations have comprehensively interrogated issues of agricultural production in Tivland in Central Nigeria. However, these intellectual inquiries have not x-rayed directly on the contributions of Christian Agricultural Cooperative (CAC) to agricultural production in Tivland. This paper thus serves as an intervention by focusing on the role of CAC as a catalyst to agricultural production in the study area between 1980 and 2020. With the aid of extant literature and oral sources in line with the interdisciplinary method, the paper discusses the phenomena under consideration. In doing this, the study traces the historical foundations of CAC in the study area. Besides, the paper examines the roles and challenges of CAC in agricultural production in Tivland within the study period. It is the opinion of this paper that weak leadership/poor management and paucity of funds were the major forces that weaken the CAC and agricultural production in the focal area. The study concludes that leadership and membership of this cooperative should be able to study and understand the doctrines or tenets of cooperative and also register with National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) to be able to receive assistance if the threat of failure arises

Why Burundi intervenes in the DRC: Self-interest or Pan-Africanist considerations?

Questions have abounded as to what Burundi’s motives and interests have been in sending troops, and spearheading the intervention in the eastern DRC.  With reference to the case of Burundi’s intervention within the East African Community’s (EAC) response to the growing conflict in the eastern DRC, this article considers a broad range of what Burundi’s motives and interests might be. This includes security and stability, both nationally and regionally, regional political dynamics and the position of Burundi within this, and trade and business opportunities. This article discusses that in terms of intervention, while the realist perspective can help us to understand Burundi’s intervention in DRC to a large extent, an additional layer of complexity is the multifaceted relationships that African neighbouring states have with one another, and to the continent as a whole. Manifestations of this can be seen in the emphasis by the African Union and individual African states on ‘African Solutions to African Problems’, the principle of subsidiarity, and the Responsibility to Protect. These considerations not only place people at the centre of intervention as opposed to placing the state at the centre, but they also speak to issues of African agency, African resistance to external ‘interference’, Pan-Africanist interests and the decolonial concern of addressing the ongoing colonial legacy

Coloniality, Legitimacy in Statebuilding, and the Use of Force in Africa

In Africa, legitimation and claims to the legitimate use of force are often challenged by the problematic nature of ethnic diversity, amongst other things. Although ethnicity and diversity are not the problems in themselves, the politicisation of ethnicity is. In this paper, we link this to a history of colonisation which clustered multiple ethnic groups together within single sovereign entities around the continent, as well as the current realities of coloniality which has prevented states within the continent from imagining and transcending the European artefact and design of the modern state in Africa. We link the exploratory term coloniality in statebuilding to the failure of African states to overcome the politicisation of ethnicity and ethnic diversity in order to mitigate the problematic nature of democracy in modern African states. This failure leads to challenges of legitimacy in any given state, and ultimately the states’ claim to the legitimate use of force. The resultant symptoms and indicators of such challenges are manifest in the rise of various insurgencies, separatism, and other forms of insecurity. The cases of Kenya, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia are briefly discussed in this article, highlighting the problematic nature of the claims to the legitimate use of force, legitimacy, and the resultant political ethnicity with all its consequences for these states