Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journals
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Flood Risk Assessment of Trademore Estate and its Environs in The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria
No full textFlood is a common disaster affecting the liveshood and properties of humans. It has a history of causing great damage to infrastructure, disrupt transportation activities and land. It is therefore prudent that such natural hazard is addressed in a way to reduce the impact it causes on people and the environment. This research aimed at carrying out Flood risk assessment of Trademore Estate and its environs by analyzing the effect of changes in Land use land cover (LULC), susceptibility of the area to flood and evaluate the potential impact of increase in the level of runoff water on the infrastructure. This study employed multidisciplinary approach combining Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS) and ground Surveying method. The results of this study show a significant change in land use land cover between 2014 and 2024 by 41.82% increase in built up area, 13.44% decrease in vegetation, 3.16% decrease in water, 8.16 % increase in bare land and 32.97% decrease in farmland. Using the weight sum analysis, the impact level is categorized into high, moderate, low and least impact; the extent covered by each category are: 8.07 km2 (19.2%) for high impact, 10.16 km2 (24.2%) for moderate, 12.73 km2 (30.3%) for low and 11 km2 (26.2%) for least impact. Trademore Estate and its environs occupies a total area of 41.96km2 and the flood susceptibility analyses shows that Highly susceptible area occupies 2.15km2, susceptible area occupies 28.50km2, less susceptible area occupies 11.29km2 and least susceptible occupies 0.02km2. There are total of 3712 houses within the existing estate in the study area captured from the satellite image, the flood risk assessment shows that 366 houses has a highly vulnerable impact of 5m rise in water level, 387 houses occupy moderately vulnerable area and 3000 houses occupies least vulnerable areas. The study is a necessary input for mitigating flood hazards in the study area and will serve a good purpose in decisions making for the Government, urban planners and policy makers by emphasizing the need for stakeholder’s investment in building flood resilient infrastructure, make regulations to prevent new development in flood prone area and provide shelter centers within to safeguard people during flooding
Predictive Modelling of Water Surface Elevation Variations Using Multi-Mission Radar Altimetry in the Bayelsa River, Nigeria
No full textFlooding in Nigeria’s Niger Delta poses severe risks to lives and infrastructure, yet hydrometric data remain sparse. This study develops a predictive framework for water surface elevation (WSE) in the Bayelsa River by combining multi-mission radar altimetry with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Altimetric data from Jason-2, SARAL/AltiKa, and Sentinel-3 (for year 2008 to 2015) were preprocessed, corrected and merged into consistent WSE time series. Regression models revealed seasonal dependencies but achieved moderate accuracy (R² ≈ 0.41–0.89). By contrast, the ANN (39-20-1 feed-forward backpropagation) significantly improved prediction skill, attaining R² = 0.91, RMSE = 0.29 m, and MAE = 0.24 m against gauge observations. The ANN successfully captured double-peak seasonal hydrographs driven by bimodal rainfall, outperforming traditional statistical approaches. Findings confirm the potential of integrating radar altimetry and machine learning for flood forecasting in data-poor river basins. The framework offers a scalable, cost-effective solution for early warning systems and can be extended to other African basins and future SWOT mission datasets
Comparative Assessment of Pixel-Based and Object-Oriented Classification Techniques using Sentinel-2 Imagery of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) Campus
No full textPrecise classification of land cover is essential for effective environmental and urban planning, particularly in diverse landscapes with intricate spatial patterns. This study offers a comparative evaluation of pixel-based and object-oriented image classification techniques using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria. The pixel-based classification applied the Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) method, which depended exclusively on spectral data, while the object-oriented approach integrated multi-resolution segmentation and contextual features such as shape and texture. Ground truth data were gathered from thirty (30) georeferenced locations using a mobile GPS for validation. Results show that while using the pixel-based method, the vegetation covers 2.515 km² (37%), compared to 2.266 km² (33%) from object-oriented classification; Farmland accounts for 1.917 km² (28%) versus 1.803 km² (27%); Bare Ground is recorded at 1.206 km² (18%) as opposed to 1.232 km² (18%); and Built-up is measured at 1.161 km² (17%) compared to 1.496 km² (22%) from the pixel-based classification. Accuracy assessments using confusion matrices revealed that the object-oriented method outperformed the pixel-based method, achieving an overall accuracy of 90% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.8663, compared to 80% accuracy for the pixel-based method. The object-oriented classification proved more effective in distinguishing built-up and bare ground areas, while both methods performed similarly in classifying vegetation. This study concludes that object-oriented classification is preferable for complex and urban environments where accuracy is critical. Expanding ground-truth data beyond thirty points and employing higher-resolution imagery would further enhance classification reliability and precision
Proximate composition of cashew nut spread complemented with date palm and ripe banana
No full textThis study evaluated the proximate composition of cashew nut spread supplemented with date palm and ripe banana to develop a nutritionally enriched product from locally available raw materials. Cashew nuts, dried dates, and ripe bananas were processed into pastes and combined in different proportions using an extreme vertices mixture design. Seven formulations were prepared in varying ratios of cashew nut, date palm, and banana, mixed thoroughly and pasteurized. The spreads were subjected to proximate analysis using standard methods, and significant variations were observed. Moisture content ranged from 5.15–9.02%, protein 10.22–16.36%, fat 10.38–15.27%, ash 4.12–5.45%, fiber 4.34–6.24%, and carbohydrate 51.74–59.63%. The formulation with 70% cashew, 20% date, and 10% banana recorded the highest protein and fat contents, while the blend with 60% cashew, 20% date, and 20% banana had the highest ash content. Increased cashew nut levels contributed to higher protein and fat, whereas dates and bananas enhanced fiber and carbohydrate levels. The findings demonstrate that cashew nut significantly improves protein and fat composition in spreads, while the addition of dates and bananas enhances dietary fiber and carbohydrates. Therefore, cashew nut–based spreads enriched with date palm and ripe banana can serve as nutritious alternatives to conventional spreads, providing consumers with plant-based protein and energy from locally sourced ingredients
Influence of Soilless and Soil-based nursery media on emergence and early seedling growth of Pawpaw (Carica papaya L.)
No full textProviding alternative sources of nursery media compositions is important to reduce soil mining which causes soil erosion, land degradation and nutrient leaching. This study evaluated soil-based and soilless-based nursery media on emergence, early growth, and dry matter accumulation of pawpaw seedlings for two cropping seasons. Materials utilized for the nursery media were topsoil (TS), poultry manure (PM), river sand (RS), sawdust (SD) and rice husk (RH). Eight nursery media were composted and evaluated, namely TS+PM+RS (3:2:1), TS+PM+RS (1:2:3), RS+PM+SD (3:2:1), RS+PM+SD (1:2:3), RH+PM+SD (1:1:1), topsoil (100%), RH+PM (3:1) and SD+PM (3:1). These were laid in a completely randomized design in five replications. The findings revealed that the nursery media had significant (P<0.05) influence on emergence and growth parameters of pawpaw seedlings. TS+PM+RS (3:2:1) enhanced earliest days to 100% emergence (15 days in 2022) but this value did not significantly vary with 18-21 days obtained with RS+PM+SD (3:2:1), RH+PM+SD (1:1:1), RH+PM (3:1) and SD+PM (3:1). Seedlings from RS+PM+SD (3:2:1) and RS+PM+SD (1:2:3) at 10 weeks after emergence significantly produced more leaves (9.47%, 19.29% and 27.03%, 13.42%), in 2022 and 2023, respectively, compared to TS+PM+RS (3:2:1). Seedlings from RH+PM+SD (1:1:1) medium consistently allocated highest (45% and 62.4%) dry matter to the leaves in 2022 and 2023, respectively. It was therefore concluded that the investigated soilless-based nursery media particularly RS+PM+SD (3:2:1), RS+PM+SD (1:2:3), RH+PM+SD (1:1:1) and RH+PM (3:1) nursery media, can serve as alternatives to the commonly utilized soil-based media (topsoil and TS+PM+RS) for the production of vigorous pawpaw seedlings
Impact of livelihood diversification on climate change resilience among rural households in Kebbi State, Nigeria
No full textIn the face of increasing climate variability, rural households in sub-Saharan Africa are adopting diverse livelihood strategies to enhance their resilience. This study explores the relationship between livelihood diversification and climate change resilience among rural households in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Anchored in the broader discourse on rural adaptation, the research adopts a descriptive design to assess how engaging in multiple income-generating activities influences household capacity to withstand and recover from climate-related shocks. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 348 respondents from selected rural communities. Primary data were gathered through structured questionnaires and interviews, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, multinomial logistic regression, and a climate resilience index. Results show that 74.4% of respondents were male and 58.6% had only a primary education. A significant proportion (67.8%) engaged in both farm and non-farm livelihood activities, with petty trading (51.1%) and artisanal work (38.5%) being most prevalent. Regression analysis revealed that education level (p<0.01), access to credit (p<0.05), and prior climate shock experience (p<0.01) significantly influenced diversification choices. Non-farm activities contributed over 45.3% of total household income, correlating positively with indicators of well-being, such as food security and children\u27s education. Notably, 62.4% of households with diversified livelihoods were classified as highly resilient, compared to 38.1% of non-diversified households. Major barriers to diversification included limited access to credit (61.5%) and inadequate infrastructure (54.3%). The study concludes that livelihood diversification plays a critical role in enhancing rural households\u27 adaptive capacity to climate change. It recommends expanding rural financial inclusion and supporting adaptive livelihoods through targeted microcredit and infrastructure development programs
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Core Concerns of the Catholic Church in Nigeria
No full textThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 10th December 1948 is the conscience of the world community on what to be done or not to be done to a human person and to issues of concern to his existence and wellbeing. Consequently, the care for the wellbeing of human beings by a country or an organization whether civil or religious is measured by the extent the country or organization adheres to human rights principles and standards. By this logic the extent to which the Catholic Church in Nigeria caters for the wellbeing of human persons is determined by the extent to which she adheres to human rights principles and standards. This paper examines this hypothesis adopting the doctrinal research methodology by gathering information from the official teaching and activities of the Church. The examination covers the commitment of the universal Catholic under the Roman Pontiff and also covers the teaching and initiatives of the Catholic Church in the Nigeria municipal community. The finding is that the Catholic Church in Nigeria is passionately committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country notwithstanding the fact that the Church is herself a victim of human rights deprivations in some States in the northern parts of the country with Muslim majority as it concerns government employment of Christians, government university admissions of Christians, and land acquisition for religious purposes
National Policy on Blood Transfusion and the Right to Refuse Blood Transfusion-Establishing Legal Boundaries and Limits
No full textBlood transfusion is legally permissible in Nigeria under the National Health Act, 2014 and the National Blood Service Commission Act, 2021 which established the National Blood Service Commission. Furthermore, under the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017, a victim of gunshot shall receive obligatory treatment in any public or private hospital which may involve blood transfusion without the necessity for prior police report. Transfusion of blood raises delicate intersection between religion, medicine and law. While medical emergency may compel blood transfusion, yet the exercise of rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and privacy entitles a patient to reject any form of medical procedure including blood transfusion. To delineate the legal boundaries in these competing spheres, this paper adopted the doctrinal research method to critically examine statutory provisions and concomitant judicial decisions on blood transfusion, rights to religion and privacy. It was found that consent of an adult is non-negotiable whereas the welfare of the child is paramount irrespective of the religious or other beliefs of the parents hence the recommendation that the right of an adult patient to reject any medical procedure must be respected since it is a guaranteed constitutional right.
Analysis of the Legality of Gender Specific Provisions under Nigerian Law: A Review of Specific Legislations
No full text Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended) prohibits discrimination on various grounds including sex, ethnicity, religion, etc. In Nigeria, some laws and practices disproportionately affect women, while others aim to promote gender equality. Some laws contain provisions violating the prohibition on discrimination as provided for in the Constitution. The Constitution itself is not exempted from this anomaly as some of its provisions also violate the express prohibition on discrimination. This has led to a disparity in gender equality as practiced in the workplace in Nigeria. This work aims to examine the legality of some of these gender specific provisions in our laws in light of the very specific provisions of the Constitution.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS A PREDICTOR OF SCHOOL OUTCOMES AND PSYCHOSOCIALWELLBEING AMONG FEDERAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE
No full text Recent reports indicate a steady increase in the use of drugs among students in Nigerian universities.Substances such as cocaine, tramadol, marijuana, codeine, alcohol and other substances are usedby students not only for recreational purposes but to cope with the stress and rigours of academiclife. This growing trend raises concerns about the effects of these drug uses on the overall wellbeingof the students. This study therefore explored substance abuse as a predictor of school outcomes andpsychosocial wellbeing among university students in Anambra State. The study was guided by threeresearch questions and three hypotheses. The study adopted the correlation research design. Thepopulation of the study comprised all the undergraduates for the 2024/2025 academic session in thefederal university in Anambra State. A total of 493 university students obtained through a Purposivesampling technique made up the sample for the study. Four sets of instruments were used for datacollection: Substance Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ), School Outcomes Questionnaire (SOQ),Psychological Well-being Questionnaire (PWQ), and Social Wellbeing Questionnaire (SWQ). Theseinstruments were researcher-constructed, and their validated by experts in the field of Education.The reliability of the instruments was determined using the Cronbach Alpha method and they yieldedalpha coefficient indices of 0.71, 0.70, 0.69 and 0.77 for SAQ, SOQ, and PWQ and SWQ respectively.Data collected for the study were analyzed using the co-efficient of determination was used to answerresearch questions and while simple linear regression analysis was used to test the null hypotheses.The study revealed a significant positive correlation between substance abuse and each of theindependent variables: school outcomes, psychological and social wellbeing of university studentsin Anambra State. The study concluded that substance abuse is a significant predictor of schooloutcomes and psychosocial well-being of university students. The need to address substance abuseamong undergraduates in Anambra State was recommended among others.