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UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION IN AN EMERGING DEMOCRACY
Get PDF1st Annual Registry LectureIn the turn of the new millennium, the world became more concerned with the issues of democracy, energy supply, technological advancement and globalization based on importance of knowledge as a commodity in international trade. The issue of democracy and governance became so important in the face of growing self determination among various peoples of the world. Universities are traditionally institutions that thrive on the tenets of democracy and colleaguality, Therefore, considering issues of the administration of the institution within the environment of increasingly emerging democratic governance in our nation is considered apt. Democracy in Nigeria is still in its infancy given the various failed attempts of the first, second and third republics. The growth of our universities within the various processes of governance which for most part was under military dictatorship was naturally impacted and the nature of governance as enunciated in the laws of the universities established during the military regimes definitely manifested the prevailing scenario. Since the commencement of the fourth republic and the growing democratic tenets, the implication for university administration is becoming more discernible and we intend in this paper to highlight the implications of the emerging scenario on the governance and administration of the institutions
Youth Labour Market outcomes in Nigeria: Evidence from National Labour Market Survey
Get PDFThis study examines the determinants of youth unemployment in the Nigerian labour
market. The data for this study were obtained from the Labour Force Sample Survey of 2005,
carried out by the defunct National Manpower Board. In addition to the descriptive statistics
used in the analyses, the binary logistic regression model was employed. The study has
empirically confirmed the magnitude of unemployment among the youths in Nigeria and that in
2005 when the data for this study was collected, the youths were more than three times as likely
as the adults to be unemployed. The data analysis also enabled the study to identify the basic
determinants of youth unemployment. Some of these factors are the formal educational
attainment of respondents, region of origin, household status, and household size, among others.
Several policy prescriptions to reduce unemployment rate and increase both the participation
rate and employment-to-population ratio among the youths in Nigeria were put forward in the
paper
Assessment of the Physicochemical Qualities and Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Vibrios in the Final Effluents of Two Wastewater Treatment Plants in South Africa: Ecological and Public Health Implications
Get PDFThe final effluents of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were evaluated for their physicochemical and microbiological qualities over a period of 12 months. The physicochemical parameters assessed ranged as follows both plants. The ranges of values for the physicochemical are: pH (3.9–8.6), total dissolved solids (86.50–336.3 mg/L), electrical conductivity (13.57–52.50 mS/m), temperature (13–28 °C), nitrate (0–21.73 mg/L), nitrite (0.01–0.60 mg/L), orthophosphate (1.29–20.57 mg/L), turbidity (4.02–43.20 NTU), free chlorine (0.05–7.18 mg/L), dissolve oxygen (3.91–9.60 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (0.1–9.0 mg/L) and chemical oxygen demand (4.67–211 mg/L). The microbiological assessment for both WWTPs revealed the presence of E. coli in counts ranging between 0 and 1.86 × 104 CFU/100 mL and Vibrio counts ranging between 0 and 9.93 × 103 CFU/100 mL. We conclude that these WWTPs are important point sources of pollution in surface water with potential public health and ecological risks
Carbazole Degradation in the Soil Microcosm by Tropical Bacterial Strains
No full textIn a previous study, three bacterial strains isolated from tropical hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and phylogenetically identified as Achromobacter sp. strain SL1, Pseudomonas sp. strain SL4 and Microbacterium esteraromaticum strain SL6 displayed angular dioxygenation and mineralization of carbazole in batch cultures. In this study, the ability of these isolates to survive and enhance carbazole degradation in soil were tested in field-moist microcosms. Strain SL4 had the highest survival rate (1.8 x 107 cfu/g) after 30 days of incubation in sterilized soil, while there was a decrease in population
density in native (unsterilized) soil when compared with the initial population. Gas chromatographic analysis after 30 days of incubation showed that in sterilized soil amended with carbazolev(100 mg/kg), 66.96, 82.15 and 68.54% were degraded by strains SL1, SL4 and SL6, respectively, with rates of degradation of 0.093, 0.114 and 0.095 mg kg-1 h-1. The combination of the three isolates as inoculum in sterilized soil degraded 87.13% carbazole at a rate of 0.121 mg kg-1 h-1. In native soil amended with carbazole (100 mg/kg), 91.64, 87.29 and 89.13% were degraded by strains SL1, SL4 and SL6 after 30 days of incubation, with rates of degradation of 0.127, 0.121 and 0.124 mg kg-1 h-1, respectively. This study successfully established the survivability (> 106 cfu/g detected after 30 days) and carbazole-degrading ability of these bacterial strains in soil, and highlights the potential of these isolates as seed for the bioremediation of carbazole-impacted environments
Metal biouptake by actively growing cells of metal-tolerant bacterial strains
Get PDFMetal uptake potentials of Pseudomonas aeruginosa CA207Ni, Burkholderia cepacia CA96Co, Rhodococcus sp. AL03Ni, and Corynebacterium kutscheri FL108Hg were studied to determine their competence in detoxification of toxic metals during growth. Metabolism-dependent metal biouptake of the bacteria revealed appreciable uptake of the metals (57–61, 10–30, 23–60, and 10–16 mg g dw−1 of Ni2+, Cr6+, Co2+, and Cd2+, respectively) from medium, after initial drop in pH, without lag phase. The bacteria exhibited 95–100 % removal efficiency for the metals from aqueous medium as 21 (±0.8)–84 (±2.0) concentration factors of the metals were transported into the bacterial systems. Passive adsorption onto the cell surfaces occurred within 2-h contact, and afterwards, there was continuous accumulation for 12 days. Biosorption data of the bacteria were only fitted into Langmuir isotherm model when strains AL96Co, CA207Ni, and AL03Ni interacted with Ni2+, achieving maximum uptake of 9.87, 2.72, and 2.69 mg g dw−1, respectively. This study established that the actively growing bacterial strains displayed, at least, 97.0 % (±1.5) continuous active removals of metals upon adsorption. The bacteria would be good candidates for designing bioreactor useful in the detoxification campaign of heavy metal-polluted systems
Investigating chaotic features in solar radiation over a tropical station using recurrence quantification analysis
Get PDFThe use of solar energy for power generation and other uses is on the increase. This demand necessitate a better understanding of the underlying dynamics for better prediction. Nonlinear dynamics and its associated tools readily lend itself for such analysis. In this paper, nonlinearity in solar radiation data is tested using recurrence plot (RP) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) in a tropical station. The data used was obtained from an ongoing campaign at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Southwestern Nigeria using an Integrated Sensor Suite (Vantage2 Pro). Half hourly and daily values were tested for each month of the year. Both were found to be nonlinear. The dry months of the year exhibit higher chaoticity compared to the wet months of the year. The daily average values were found to be mildly chaotic. Using RQA, features due to external effects such as harmattan and intertropical discontinuity (ITD) on solar radiation data were uniquely identified
Use of B2O3 films grown by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition for shallow boron doping in silicon
Get PDFPlasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PALD) was carried for growing thin boron oxide films onto silicon aiming at the formation of dopant sources for shallow boron doping of silicon by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). A remote capacitively coupled plasma source powered by GaN microwave oscillators was used for generating oxygen plasma in the PALD process with tris(dimethylamido)borane as boron containing precursor. ALD type growth was obtained; growth per cycle was highest with 0.13 nm at room temperature and decreased with higher temperature. The as-deposited films were highly unstable in ambient air and could be protected by capping with in-situ PALD grown antimony oxide films. After 16 weeks of storage in air, degradation of the film stack was observed in an electron microscope. The instability of the boron oxide, caused by moisture uptake, suggests the application of this film for testing moisture barrier properties of capping materials particularly for those grown by ALD. Boron doping of silicon was demonstrated using the uncapped PALD B2O3 films for RTA processes without exposing them to air. The boron concentration in the silicon could be varied depending on the source layer thickness for very thin films, which favors the application of ALD for semiconductor doping processes.Investment Bank Berlin and EFR
Trade Liberalization and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Do Concern Matters?
Get PDFThe present study investigates the relationship between trade and economic growth. Methodology: This paper uses the Johansen co-integration approach, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) approach to analyse the relationship among trade liberalization, export, import, population growth and economic growth. Findings: Results show there is long run equilibrium among trade liberalization, export, import, population growth and economic growth. A negative and significant relationship exists between trade liberalization and economic growth. Both export and import show positive and significant results. Population shows an insignificant effect on economic growth of Nigeria. It is therefore concluded that concern about trade liberalization in Nigeria should not be a priority. Recommendations: However, the paper recommends among others that priorities should be given on how to fight corruption which is the major problem of the country
Aquifer Characterization and Groundwater Potential Assessment of the Sedimentary Basin of Ondo State
Get PDFThe sedimentary basin of Ondo State, underlain by the Coastal Alluvium, Coastal Plain Sands, Imo Shale Group, Upper Coal Measures and Nkporo Shale, was investigated using integrated electrical resistivity and borehole lithologic logs with a view to characterizing the aquifer and assessing the groundwater potential. One hundred and four Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) were quantitatively interpreted using the partial curve matching technique and computer assisted 1-D forward modeling. Fourteen (14) borehole lithologic logs were used to generate columnar sections from which aquifer units were delineated. Geoelectric sections were generated from the VES interpretation results, constrained by borehole lithological logs, for aquifer identification and geoelectric parameter determination. Depths to top and thicknesses of the aquifer units within each geologic unit were determined. Four aquifer units were identified within the Coastal Alluvium/Coastal Plain Sands. The depths to top/thicknesses of the aquifer units were 5–23 m (7–26 m); 7–80 m (6–67 m); 63-188 m (20-143) and 245–261 m (61–117 m) respectively. Within the Upper Coal Measures, two aquifer units were identified. The depths to the top/thicknesses of the aquifer units were 9.8 m (1.7 m) and 23 m (5.3 m) respectively. The Nkporo Shale had depth to top and thickness of the only identified aquifer unit as 10 m and 16 m respectively. The study concluded that the groundwater potential of the Coastal Alluvium and Coastal Plain Sands was high while the groundwater potential of the Imo Shale Group, the Upper Coal Measures and Nkporo Shale was adjudged low
Souring and Corrosion Potentials of Onshore and Offshore Oil-producing Facilities in the Nigerian Oil-rich Niger Delta
Get PDFSouring and corrosion potentials of two oil producing facilities were determined by monitoring microbial activities in CSB-K medium and MPN counts of SRB and APB in API RP-38 and ZPRA-5 broth medium, respectively. Corrosion rate measurements were carried out by weight loss method. Our investigation revealed that microbiological activities at the onshore facility were dominated by methanogenesis with zero potential for souring and high potential for corrosion while that of offshore facility were dominated by sulfate reduction with high potential for both souring and corrosion. Biocide treatments were effective against the sulfate-reducing bacteria but not effective against the methanogens associated with corrosion