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Correlated response and path analysis of some growth characters to grain yield in rainy season sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) varieties at Samaru and Maigana Northern Guinea Savannah
No full textCorrelation and path analysis was evaluated in 2013 and 2014 wet seasons at the Research Farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research (I.A.R) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency, Maigana for seven characters (plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, crop growth rate, relative growth rate and net assimilation rate). Two sorghum varieties were grown at four rates of cowdung (0, 5, 10 and 15 t ha-1) and inorganic nitrogen (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg N ha-1). Treatments were laid out in a split plot design and replicated three times with nitrogen and cowdung rates assigned in the main plot while varieties were allocated to sub-plots. Grain yield had expressed highly significant and positive correlation with all the parameters in both years, locations and combined except net assimilation rate (0.156), (0.186) at Samaru in 2013 and combined seasons respectively and at Maigana (0.190) in the combined years of the experiment only. The variables that had the strongest positive direct effects on grain yield at Samaru in both years was plant height (0.918), (0.922) except the combined years, where leaf area index (LAI) had the strongest relationship (0.186) while at Maigana number of leaves had the strongest relation (0.746) in 2013 but LAI was the strongest (0.906) and (0.847) in 2014 and combined years respectively. The effects of the other variables were not consistent in both seasons, locations and combined. The highest total percentage contribution to yield at Samaru in 2013 was by LAI (277.15%) while in 2014 and combined seasons was by Plant height (196.21%) and (56.76%) respectively. The highest total percent contribution to yield at Maigana in 2013 was by number of leaves per plant (134.08%) while in 2014 and combined seasons was by plant height (53.56%) and (76.13%) respectively. The interrelationships among these variables might be used in preparing a breeding programme to take advantage of their contributions to yield and develop high yielding sorghum varieties of improved characteristics
Effect of moisture and light intensity on the early growth of miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum (Schum. & Thonn.) Daniell): a threatened tropical shrub species
No full textSynsepalum dulcificum is a highly valued ethnobotanical shrub, whose wild populations are threatened by over exploitation and habitat destruction. In this study, the effect of different light intensities and watering regimes on early growth of Synsepalum dulcificum were investigated for 24 weeks. In a completely randomised design experiment with factorial arrangement, uniformly growing seedlings were potted and subjected to four light intensities (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and four watering regimes (daily, 3-day, 5-day and 7-day intervals). The seedling total height, collar diameter and number of leaves were measured, fortnightly. The relative growth rate, absolute growth rate and net assimilation rate were also determined. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at p < 0.05 level of significance. There were significant differences in the main and interaction effects of light intensity and watering regime on the growth variables. The combined effect of light intensity and watering regime revealed that 100% light intensity and watering at 7 days intervals had the highest leaf production (12.00±1.58). Seedling height increased from 6.5±0.1 cm (75% light intensity) to 6.99±0.01 cm (25% intensity). Daily watering (7.19±0.1 cm) had the highest seedling height while 7-day watering (6.39±0.1 cm) was least. The lowest collar diameters were for 75% light intensity (1.25±0.02 mm) and 3-day watering intervals (1.42±0.02 mm). The relative growth rate increased from 1.06x10-2 month-1 (25% light intensity) to 2.10x10-2 month-1 (75% light intensity), and 1.22x10-2 month-1 (7-day watering) to 2.41x10-2 month-1 (3-day watering), respectively. Synsepalum dulcificum seedlings grew successfully at 25% light intensity and could survive for seven days without watering
Estimating stem volume using breast height and stump diameters for Tectona grandis Lin F. in Afe Babalola plantation, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
No full textForest plantation has been identified as a quick fix to the attendant problems of deforestation. Information on appropriate volume models estimated with Diameter at Breast Height (dbh) and stump diameter of plantation grown species for sustainable management is inadequate. Therefore, this study was carried out to develop volume models using dbh and stump diameter for Tectona grandis in Afe Babalola plantation, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Four age series (22, 20, 14 and 11 years old) of Tectona grandis were purposively selected based on availability. A total of 40 temporary sample plots (20 x 20 m) were laid using stratified random sampling, considering each age series as a stratum, all trees with DBH ≥ 10cm in each plot were enumerated. Tree dbh, Diameter at Stump Height (DSH), Total Height (TH) and Merchantable Height (MH) were measured. Basal area (BA, m2/ha) and Total Volume (TV, m3/ha) were estimated. Five models were selected each for DBH and DSH to predict stem volume. The suitability of these models was evaluated and the best selected based on least Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and highest adjusted R2 (R2adj). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression at α0.05. The dbh observed ranges between 10.0 to 34.0 across all the age series while the mean height varied from 16.15±0.21m to 16.79±1.69m. The basal area ranged from 20.17m2h-1 to 23.81m2h-1. The DSH ranges between 19.55±0.32cm and 19.43±0.26cm. The estimated merchantable volume range between 140.0±0.007m3/ha and 167.32±0.005m3/ha for the whole stand. The selected model for volume - DBH relationship was V = 0.0000476D1.666 × H1.296 (AIC = -2693.595, R2adj = 0.8388, RSME = 0.0466) while for volume – DSH relationship, the best model was: V = 0.2447 + 0.00591Dst + 0.0004Dst2 + 0.0134H (AIC = -2642.177, R2adj = 0.8285, RSME = 0.0480). Stand volumes can be estimated using the selected models
Real-time detection of abandoned object using centroid difference method
No full textAn abandoned object is one that remains stationary for an extended period. Such object might contain explosives and if left on purpose could cause death and injuries to people especially in crowded places. Abandoned objects need to be detected on time to prevent what might endanger people’s lives and health. Various methods have been developed to detect abandoned objects. The most reliable one is the vision-based method which automatically detects the abandoned object using image processing. The efficiency of the method was tested and evaluated on the customized datasets as well as the i-Lids advanced video surveillance system database. The Self -organizing Background Subtraction (SOBS) method overrides other methods in terms of its detection accuracy and simplicity of implementation, but fails for dynamic background scenarios. This work presents a real time vision-based object detection method using the centroid difference to improve on the accuracy of the detection and to tackle challenges of dynamic background of the SOBS method. Matlab Image processing toolbox was used to achieve this goal. The strategy is basically decomposed into two; foreground detection and stationary foreground object (SFO) detection. Gaussian Mixture Model is used for detecting the presence of newly introduced object into a scene (foreground detection), while the blob tracking approach based on frame counting is used to determine whether the detected foreground object is static/abandoned or not. The results show that the detection accuracy of 83% was obtained which outperform the SOBS method with 67% accuracy. Future research should focus on tracking the person that abandoned the object for onward prosecution. 
Dramaturgy of space and theatricality of counter-terrorism: Farewell to Babylon and Farewell to a virus of anomie as paradigms
No full textThat the Greeks gave us the theatre as “a seeing place” since the 5th Century BC is no longer contested, because it is a space; space, according to the English Dictionary, being “of unlimited or generalised physical extent or a bounded or specific physical extent”. Consequently, several scholars, including Peter Brook, have come up with diverse definitions and perceptions about the space of performance. Theatre is “an act of arts and an art of acts”, since several acts and arts collaborate to ‘terrorise’ the audience into accepting the point of view expressed on stage, the space. Whereas terrorism is a method which can be used by any group or person and for any kind of motive, terrorism equally involves unlawful and typical random acts of violence or the threat of such violence employed by an individual, group, or government to achieve political goal, counterterrorism is all about measures intended to combat or reduce terrorist activities. This paper argues that Nigerian playwrights and dramatists have created drama of counter terrorism to pass warnings to the public about the contestation for the Nigerian space by many groups or individuals. The theory of social change and the literary theory of Eagleton are used in looking at two plays which dwell on the theme of counter-terrorism, from different perspectives. The paper concludes that the dramaturgy of Bode Sowande and ‘Diran Ademiju-Bepo has helped in charting a survival agenda to counter the terrorism of contestation for space. 
Theatre for development as tool for countering rural banditry: The Maganda workshop experience
No full textThis paper examines the deployment of Theatre for Development (TfD) as a tool for countering rural banditry in northern Nigeria. The premise of our argument is anchored on the fact that the TfD has the potentials of addressing divergent issues of community concerns however these potentials have not been tested enough in a terrorised domain or community. The paper uses the Maganda TfD Experience, one of the five TfD workshops, which took place in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State to contend for new approaches in gaining entrance into communities in siege, addressing issues of development concerns and ultimately creating safe spaces for community facilitation. This paper uses Oga Steve Abah’s Methodological Conversation to argue for an expansion of methods and approaches stemming from TfD workshops in the face of incursions and terror. The paper found out that some of the existing TfD tools may not apply to communities under terrorist siege. The paper also discovered that the inaccessibility or paucity of TfD workshops or reports conducted in incursive spaces affect pedagogy in terms of the adaptive processes of using TfD, especially when confronted by terror.  
Economic recession, female economic empowerment and emancipation: A study of Osita Ezenwanebe’s Adaugo and Akachi Ezeigbo’s Hands That Crush Stones
No full textWomen’s economic wellbeing is one area in which the male chauvinists’ antics have been concealed. Maybe it has not yet occurred to many women that in the face of financial deprivations, they are tied to the apron strings of men. This paper evaluates the need to emancipate the woman from economic bondage and the denial of the right to eke a living for herself. Unequal pay, poor pay, capitalist exploitation through nonpayment of wages for work done, and in some cases, outright denial of the opportunity to work by the male folks constitute the area of discourse that this paper looks at. Furthermore, the need for women to earn money to save the family and make sacrifices in cases where the breadwinners are unable to meet up informs the analysis of the primary data; Osita Ezenwanebe’s Adaugo and Akachi Ezeigbo’s Hands that Crush Stones. The paper is hinged on a theoretical framework of socialist feminism and Marxist feminism, which questions the circumstances of the female’s inability to excel in an unequal society. It is submitted that given the socio-economic circumstances in which the citizenry is constrained, there is urgent need to consider options that make it critical for womenfolk to assiduously contribute a quota of their productivity for the sustenance of the society 
Leadership issues in modern Nigerian drama: A socio-economic analysis of Esiaba Irobi’s Hangmen Also Die
No full textNigeria is currently witnessing the worst economic recession in the past decades. Leaving behind scores of high inflation rate, unemployment, decline in exchange rate and drop in gross domestic product, and so on. These challenges, which are draining the Nigerian economy, are products of maladministration of either an individual, as a president, governor, or member of the executive council and the like. This study is a critical discourse of Esiaba Irobi’s Hangmen also Die, as a remedial measure to cushion the biting effects of the present economic recession, even if it cannot be totally contained. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology. The study recommends, among other things, that political office holders should be treated to stage performances at every political retreat, with this metaphorical construct. This is with the view to redirecting their focus on the need for them to become politically considerate in the art of state craftsmanship to save the nation from future economic downturns and sliding again into economic depression. 
Managing the Nigerian recessed economy through theatre and drama: Greg Mbajiorgu’s Wake Up Everyone as a Paradigm
No full textThere is no gainsaying that the Nigerian economy is recessed. Nigeria is perhaps one of the countries that dropped other means of economic survival avail to them and embrace the oil at its discovery. Since the discovery of crude oil the economy has lived on a mono-economy. Interestingly, it is now looking at the bedevilment of running a monoeconomy in the eye. The means of surviving economic recession becomes the concern of many Nigerians. Before, salaries of workers can take them home, but now, it cannot even take them to the gate of their office. The ways to ameliorating this avalanche of problems posed by economic recession is the concern of both leaders and the led. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology and makes use of the content analysis instrument to investigate this menace through Greg Mbajiorgu’s Wake Up Everyone. Therefore, the paper opines that since the way out of recession is the concern, theatre and drama can help in quashing the menace of economic recession. However, it should be noted and acknowledged that recession is a country’s problem, but it correction can begin from individuals to the family level through drama and theatre. The findings show that drama through reading and theatre through gate taking can improve the lots of Nigerians in a recessed economy. The paper recommends that the family’s economy can be managed during recession by organising theatre troop and can be extended the nation at large. It concludes that if such is put into practice it will cushion the effects of the recessed economy on the people. 
Lighting-based stage-screen intersection performances as panacea for economic recovery in Nigeria
No full textLighting design as practiced in today’s theatre, started as illumination of communal events; organised and financed by the community, state, churches or wealthy citizens. Initially, attendance was mandatory and cost free to citizens and members. However, financial patronage was withdrawn from the theatre by these benevolent donors in the sixteenth century when Elizabeth 1 of England prohibited the theatre from staging plays with religious and political themes. Thus, the theatre was forced to become a commercial enterprise and theatre blossomed once more. However, economic recessions have combined with other factors to cause drastic reductions in gate-takings and the live theatre dwindled again especially in Nigeria. Therefore, the aim of this study is to revive public live performance once more through lighting-based stagescreen intersection performances. Thus, the researcher’s objectives include evolving lighting-based stage-screen intersection performances that will make live performances attractive to the audience amidst strong competition from the electronic media. To assess the potentials of the lighting-based stage-screen intersection performances as panacea for economic recovery, the experimental interview and impact analysis approaches of mixed method of research are used. The researcher experimented the lighting-based stage-screen intersection performances at the Mbari Cultural Centre, Owerri. The research findings reveal that today, most Nigerian audiences are unwilling to patronising theatre events, unless they are sure of the quality. There is need therefore to save the theatre from the present as well as future economic hazards through lighting-based stage-screen intersection performances. This approach can pave way for new ideas to be accommodated in stage lighting performances. Hence, the paper concluded that the adoption of this new lighting approach will not only help to entertain the audience well, but will also help to blend with the electronic postmodern performance culture.