Development of Gocken Multiplication Technology for Cocoyam

Low multiplication ratio of cocoyam {Colocasia esculenta (taro) and Xanthosoma mafafa (tannia)} and scarcity of planting materials are major constraints militating against sustainable cocoyam production. During harvesting and processing of cocoyam, very small cormels weighing about 7.0 g (micro cormels) and less are discarded as wastes. These ‘wastes’ usually sprout in the wet season to constitute environmental problem. The Gocken Multiplication Technology is a new technology developed at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria, for very rapid multiplication of cocoyam by recycling ‘wastes’ of cocoyam (≤7.0 g cormels) in cocoyam production. The technology utilizes a seed rate of about 0.35 - 0.45 t/ha compared to 1.0-2.0 t/ha currently in use. Total corm + cormel yield ranged from 7.34-15.5t/ha. Similarly, seed harvest multiplication ratio (SHMR) ranged from 19.0-39.0, while available yield ranged from 89.5-94.7 %. Economic analysis showed that the benefit cost ratio was 4.24:1.0, indicating that the technology is profitable by returning N4.24 to every N1.00 spent.Gocken; very rapid multiplication; technology and cocoyam

Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Staphylococcus aureus from clinical isolates in a tertiary health institution in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The importance of Staphylococcus aureus as a persistent nosocomial and community acquired pathogen has become a global health concern. It has a remarkable capability of evolving different mechanisms of resistance to most antimicrobial agents. The aim of the present study is to establish the incidence of S. aureus in clinical specimens and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern to various antibiotics in this locality. METHODS: One hundred and fifty consecutive isolates of S. aureus obtained from various clinical specimens between January and December 2009 sent to the Medical Microbiology Laboratory Department of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) were confirmed by standard bacteriological procedures. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern was carried out by disc diffusion method. RESULTS: The age group with the highest number of isolates was (0-10)yrs while wound infection had the highest frequency of S. aureus isolates (30.7%) in the study. Males (62.0%) were more infected than females (38.0%). The sensitivity pattern of S. aureus to the following antibiotics; Gentamicin, Amoxycillin/clavulanate, Streptomycin, Cloxacillin, Erythromycin, Chloramphenicol, Cotrimoxazole, Tetracycline, Penicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Amoxycillin and vancomycin were 92.4%, 63.0%, 44.2%, 35.8%, 52.4%, 61.9%, 15.5%, 31.2%, 7.1%, 78.9%, 76.6%, 100%, 71.4%, 30.7% and 100% respectively. Methicillin resistant isolates were sensitive to Levofloxacin 93.7% and Ofloxacin 68.7%. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study show that the fluoroquinolones are effective in the management of Staphylococcus aureus infections including methicillin resistant strains in this environment

The Biafran Self-Determination Question: Challenges and Prospects

The Nigerian civil war and Biafra’s failed attempt to secede from Nigeria raised a series of questions about the nature and scope of the right to self-determination in formerly colonised states. The question which this paper focuses on is whether the right to self-determination should always amount to a right to secession. Through a critical analysis of Biafran agitations for statehood during the Nigerian civil war and in recent times, this paper makes the case for a framework through which self-determination claims can be addressed within existing territorial arrangements. The paper argues that, in the case of Biafra, forms of internal self-determination such as autonomy may address the agitations and needs of the people better than secession. Hence, international lawyers, and the international community as a whole, should give more attention to internal forms of self-determination

Exchange rate pass-through to inflation in Nigeria

Concerns about the magnitude and length of exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices have increased in many developing countries in view of its profound implications on price and exchange rate stability as well as the macroeconomic policy environment. This paper examines the exchange rate pass-through effect at the aggregate level into import and consumer prices in Nigeria for the period 1995Q1 - 2015Q1. Utilizing the Johansen approach to cointegration and a vector error correction methodology, the paper found the exchange rate pass-through into Nigeria's CPI inflation to be incomplete. The long run pass-through elasticities were found to be 0.24 and 0.30 for the baseline and alternative models. The effect was discovered to be higher in import than in consumer prices, implying that the pass-through effect declines along the pricing chain. These findings were useful in the design and implementation of monetary and exchange rate policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria

ECONOMIC HARDSHIP AND INTENTION TO QUIT: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SMALL BUSINESSES ENTERPRISES IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

The increasing economic hardship in Nigeria has presented various businesses with high levels of distress that might exacerbate the intention to exit the business. The primary purpose of the present paper was to examine the intention to quit a business based on economic hardship. Although much has been written on the challenges of SMEs in Nigeria, this study explored whether economic hardship can predict the intention to quit

Meta-Literacy for Librarians and Users in an Era of Metaverse Technology: Librarians Point of View

Metaverse which is one the contemporary technologies that is shaping the way information is acquired  and managed in the digital ecosystem entails the acquisition of special skill for both the librarians and the library user to be able to harness the gain of digital togetherness and the associated experience. This study is an enquiry into ascertaining the views of librarians as it concerns the need for metaverse in libraries and meta-literacy for librarians and library users in this era of metaverse.  The study used descriptive survey research design approach with the aim of collecting data on and describing in a systematic manner the characteristics features and facts about the given population.  The sampled population for this study was 8200 selected through purposive sampling technique among 7850 registered librarians in Nigeria from different types of libraries in Nigeria with the exception of the school librarians since no primary or secondary school in Nigeria could boast of a certified librarians.  The sampled librarians were identified and selected with the help of Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria list of certified librarians in Nigeria as at 2023. The primary instrument used in this study for data collection is the questionnaire.  Apart from section ‘A’ of the instrument which dealt with demographic data the other aspect of the instrument was structured according to the modified Likert scale on four point rating scale while data collected were analyzed using frequencies, simple percentiles and presented in tables.  The study was able to ascertain from the librarians the benefits of adopting metaverse in the library and why there is need for meta-literacy for both the librarians and the library users as well as what they felt would be the challenges against the application of metaverse technology in libraries in Nigeria. It was discovered that the librarians were aware of the potentials of metaverse towards effective library services and that the potentials of the technology requires that both librarians and library users need to be meta-literate for the to gain the prowess to adeptly interact with digital information within the digital world of metaverse while on the other hand, lack of robust technological infrastructure and access to requisite technology and equipment that may curtail some users\u27 full engagement in the virtual sphere are among the identified challenges that can hinder the implementation of metaverse technology in libraries in Nigeria.  The study recommended that libraries should encourage regular training and re-training as well as giving all desirable back-ups to digital librarians and library users, ensuring the up-to-date of their meta-literacy skills through workshops, webinars and online courses among others

The Double-Edged Sword of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries and Research

The study is an investigation into the beautiful and ugly sides of applications and utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in Academic libraries and research. It adopted a descriptive survey design and was guided by two research questions.  The population sample of the study was 150 librarians and lecturers selected from 75 universities in Nigeria, while a Likert four point type structured questionnaire was the only instrument used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts in measurement and evaluation using Cronbach’s alpha. Result showed coefficient of α=.80.  Data collected were analyzed using frequencies and simple percentile and presented in tables. The outcome of the study revealed among other things that application and use of AI in academic library will enhance service provision to users and can positively enhance academic research while on the negative side, that AI may not always provide accurate prediction or decision, depending on the complexity of the task and quality of data and with it, academic research, data security is not guaranteed as well as that at a point in time, researchers might start to think that AI knows everything and can replace human researchers among others. The study therefore recommended inter-alia that Librarians in academic libraries in Nigeria should discard the allayed fears and view AI from the angle that it is a vital tool for the provision of vital information or knowledge in line with the transformation agenda of the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) therefore must be harnessed to its fullest

Black women and the criminal justice system

Although this thesis statement sounds simplistic enough, there is a need to demonstrate its validity because the theory and practice of punishment focus exclusively on the punishment of offenders' as if anyone who is 'punished' is necessarily an offender. A review of the philosophy and theory of punishment reveals that the punishment of the innocent is conceptualised as a logical impossibility or contradiction because punishment is conventionally construed to presuppose an offence. The present dissertation argues that the punishment of the innocent is not always a mistake or a miscarriage of justice but also an inherent feature of the adversarial nature of criminal justice which assumes formal equality between parties who are substantively unequal in class, race and gender relations. This dissertation is guided by the assumption that the more central punishment is to any theory or practice of criminal justice the greater the tendency for that theory or practice to conceal or truncate relatively autonomous issues that are routinely packaged with, and thereby colonised by, the conceptual empire of punishment. The historical materialist theory of the articulation of race, class and gender relations is applied hereto show how poor black women in particular, poor black people mid poor women m general, are uniquely vulnerable to victimization-as-punishment and victimization-in-punishment and how they struggle against these. The former refers to the ‘punishment’ of innocent people sometimes because they are close to targeted individuals and sometimes because they are framed and made to appear guilty. The latter refers to punishment which is unusual or out of proportion in relation to the nature of the offence. The concept of colonialism is employed in this thesis to underscore the close links between the law-and-order politics of today and the imperial traditions of the past and to emphasise the colonisation of relatively autonomous institutions and processes by the criminal justice system. Towards the decolonisation of victimisation, or the understanding of the nature of victimisation-as-punishment and victimisation-in-punishment as part of the processes of imperial domination which survive in the internal colonies and the colonies of today, the history of the victimisation of black women in the guise of punishment is sketched from the days of enslavement, through conquest and colonialism, to neo-colonialism as a useful background to understanding the victimisation of black women and other marginalised categories specifically in the internal colonies of England , with analogous evidence from other locations brought in to throw more light on the situation in England. Informed by feminist research and by critical criminology, the present dissertation adopts the method of data reception that differs from data collection in the sense that the former respects the autonomy of sources of data which the latter tends to take for granted. Empirical data were received from individuals and groups who were aware of the problems that faced black women in the criminal justice system in England. Such information was complemented by the personal observations of the present researcher and by what is already known from previous research and publications.This dissertation concludes by explaining the theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the present research especially for people who are active m the struggles against the problems that face black women and people like them in the criminal justice system in particular and society in general. The major implication of the present research is that since the problems that face black women in the criminal justice system can be seen to result from the articulation of unequal and oppressive class, race and gender relations; research, theory and struggles must be aware of all three rather than prioritising, distancing or isolating one or two of these social relations

Nursing interventions and roles for elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic literature review

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic condition where the body struggles to regulate glucose levels due to either insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production that disproportionately affects the elderly, posing a public health challenge and complications if left untreated. The aim of this research is to uncover and understand the interventions and roles of nurses for elderly people with type 2 diabetes to prevent complication and increase wellbeing. A qualitative systematic review of literature was conducted, sourcing studies published between 2019 and 2024 from three electronic databases: Academic Search Elite (EBSCO), CINAHL Complete, and MEDLINE. Applying strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 9 out of 894 studies were selected based on the PRISMA framework and qualitative content analysis was used for the selected studies. Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing was employed as the guiding theoretical framework for this research. The findings reveal four core themes essential to managing T2DM in the elderly: pharmacological intervention, nutrition, physical activity, and psychotherapy. From these themes, eleven sub-themes emerged. This research underscores the significance of personalized, patient-centred care, emphasizing the need for consistent education and emotional support to empower elderly patients to manage their condition effectively. Nurses not only address the clinical aspects of diabetes management but also play a critical role in alleviating the psychological burden associated with the disease