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Therapeutic Potency of the “Holy Mud and Water” in Selected African Initiated Churches in Rivers State, Nigeria
Get PDFWestern biomedicine is an explicit method to therapeutic illnesses with evidence-based treatment validated through biological research, with treatment administered via formally trained doctors, nurses, and other such licensed medical practitioners. In contrast, the African Initiated churches (AICs) see the therapeutic efficacy in restoring health in nature. Unfortunately, there were several attempts in the form of crusades to eliminate any ‘primeval knowledge’, and spirituality by the scientifically, economically and socially dominant western powers. Despite its significance, little research exists on the therapeutic efficacy of holy water in AICs. And besides the wide application of the sacred elements of mud and water, the therapeutic potency of it, remains poorly understood, leading to scepticism and mistrust. This knowledge gap necessitates an in-depth examination of holy water's role in AICs. This paper therefore is an attempt to show the therapeutic potency of the holy mud and water adopted as found in some African initiated churches in Rivers State, Nigeria for healing processes. The paper adopts the local content policy of Nigeria which was specifically designed to build domestic capacity relevant for service and product delivery; and encourage increase participation of local and indigenous institutions, ideas, knowledge and heritage for human socio-spiritual wellbeing as the theoretical tool to validate this research claims. A qualitative and descriptive method blended with ethnographic approach was employed to investigate the therapeutic potency of holy mud and water in three selected AICs. This study draws on symbolic interactionism as the theoretical frame and analytical mill. The results indicate that holy mud and water is perceived as a multifaceted healing agent, addressing spiritual, psychological, and physical ailments. Findings reveal that naturopathic (alternative) medicine such as the "Holy mud and water" are local wisdom and potent natural and spiritual objects for healing and wellbeing and recommends that indigenous knowledge such as this should be encouraged and harnessed as it is cost effective accessible and easily available. Paper further recommends an integration of traditional healing practices into mainstream healthcare. There should be enhanced collaboration between the AICs and healthcare providers and conduct further research on the therapeutic potency of holy mud and water in Nigeria.
Keywords: Healing, Ritual, Therapeutic, Holy Mud and Wate
Psychological Factor: A Predictor of Consumer Buying Behaviour in Retail Outlets in South-West Nigeria
Get PDFRetailers operating in both informal and formal retail environments often face challenges in meeting customer expectations and increasing profitability due to limited insight into the diverse psychological factors that influence consumer purchasing behaviour. This study investigated the impact of selected psychological variables on consumer buying behaviour in retail outlets across South-West Nigeria. The target population comprised customers from both informal and formal retail settings within the region. Primary data was collected through a survey of 1,000 respondents, with selection of 500 each from Lagos and Oyo States using a convenience sampling method to select participants from designated markets. To analyse the data, regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to determine the comparative influence of psychological variables. The results indicated that perception and learning significantly and positively affect consumer buying behaviour in both retail types at the 0.05 level of significance. Additionally, motivation was found to have a positive and significant influence in formal retail outlets, though it showed no significant effect in informal settings. Meanwhile, beliefs and attitudes were not statistically significant in shaping consumer buying decisions in either outlet type. The study concludes that psychological factors play a vital role in influencing consumer purchasing decisions in both retail formats, as evidenced by F-statistics of 69.675 and 12.680, with p-values of .000 in both cases. Based on these findings, it is recommended that retailers develop a marketing tactics effective and suitable to motivate at the same time influence consumers’ buying behavior, targeting the factors that determines their purchase decisions to include past experience, product awareness, social status, personal values, and emotional responses.
Keywords: Consumer Behaviour, Psychological Factors, Retail Outlets, Perception, Learning, Motivation, South-West Nigeria
Effect of Dictation Strategy on Senior Secondary School Student’s Academic Performance in Biology Concepts
Get PDFThe study is concerned with the effect of Dictation Strategy on Biology student’s Academic Performance, in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Two research questions were raised to guide the study and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design, using pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design. The population of the study comprised of 10500 SS II Biology students in Mixed public Senior Secondary Schools. The sample of the study consists of students in two intact classes randomly selected by balloting from two schools. One intact SS II class of 40 students: 20 boys and 20 girls served as experimental group while the other intact class of 41 students: 20 boys and 21 girls served as control group. The instrument, Biology Academic Achievement Test (BAAT) was used to collect data and Kuder Richardson formular 20 with an internal consistency coefficient of 0.67 was obtained. The BAAT was used to pre-test both experimental and control group, it was reshuffled and administered as post-test to both groups after the administration of treatment to the experimental group. Paired sample t-test, and ANOVA were used for Data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that there was a significant difference in the post-test and pre-test of students taught concepts of Protista in their Academic Performance using Dictation Strategy and there was no significant interaction effect of Dictation Strategy and sex on Biology students’ Academic Performance. It was recommended among others that Biology teachers should incorporate the use of Dictation Strategy in teaching with other methods because it is capable of improving biology students’ Academic Performance than the conventional method. It was also recommended that professional organization should organize workshops, Seminars and Conferences for Biology Teachers on the use of Dictation Strategy and its benefit.
Keywords: Dictation Strategy, Biology, Conventional method, Academic Performance and Protista
Ukraine-Russia War: Implications for Global Peace, Security and Development
Get PDFThis study examines the implications of the Ukraine-Russia war for global security, with a particular focus on the role of international bodies in promoting peace. Using the Realist theory of international relations as its theoretical framework, this study argues that the Ukraine-Russia conflict is a classic example of a security dilemma, where one state's efforts to increase its own security led to a decrease in the security of another state. The study employs a qualitative research method, with a focus on analyzing the implications of the Ukraine-Russia conflict for global security amongst others. The findings of this study suggest that international bodies, such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the European Union, play a crucial role in promoting a ceasefire and peacebuilding in Ukraine. The study recommends that international bodies should play a more active role in promoting a ceasefire and peacebuilding in Ukraine, and that the international community should provide more economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to help stabilize the country. The study also highlights the importance of mediation and diplomacy in peaceful conflict in the international community. Finally, the paper further recommends that respect for a state’s sovereignty as enshrined in international law and United Nation’s charter should be a thing of national concern of both countries, that referendum should be considered especially with issues surrounding the status of Crimea.
Keywords: Global Security, International Bodies, Peacebuilding, Development and Conflict
Divination among the Etche of Niger Delta
Get PDFThe unusual occurrences such as a tree or a branch falling down especially when there is no wind or rain, a sheep growing a horn, the appearing and disappearing of millipede and by extension frequent death, in explicable diseases, resulting in fear. However, form the basis of divination among Etche as a means to proffer solutions to the above circumstances. the paper posits that divination has helped to ascertain the underlying causes of these occurrences. The paper also argues that these occurrences not only portend messages from the supersensible realm but are also manifestations of the anger of the supersensible entities. The study adopted phenomenological approach to interpret and describe the causes of these usual signs. The study also adopts primary and secondary sources (primary sources-oral interviews; report of the custodians of Etche custom and tradition and handed down tradition and secondary sources (published materials). Findings reveal that divination among Etche is so significant not only in the religious life of the people, but also as a means to offer explanations to inexplicable circumstances.
Keywords: Etche, Diviner and Divination
Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:8-17 and Its Relevance to Global Warming and Flooding in Port Harcourt
Get PDFThe rising spate of flood in the global space majorly attributed to global warming in recent times makes is alarming. The devastations caused by floods cannot but make Christians to wonder if God has reneged on his promise in the Noahic covenant. The problem of this paper therefore, is to examine the validity of the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9:8-17 in relation to the challenges of global warming and flooding in Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta. It aims to investigate the message of the covenant and find out if global warming as well as flooding has invalidated the covenant. In order to foster an understanding of the text and its implication on global warming and flooding, evaluative model of Justin Ukpong is employed. It was found out that the flood in the covenant was not regional, but the floods experienced today are regional. It was also discovered that the flood of Genesis which the covenant refers to, had divine origin, though necessitated by human disobedience, but the contemporary floods, which emanated from the refusal of humans to care for nature as demonstrated in the covenant, is human cause and can be reversed by human adjustment. It is concluded that, as long as flooding does not wipe out the entire creation at a time, Noah’s suzerain has kept his part of the bargain. A deliberate return to creation care to reduce the impact of global warming and deliberate actions by government and other stakeholders to address issues aggravating flooding are therefore recommended.
Keywords: Noahic Covenant, Global Warming, Flood, Port Harcourt, Genesis
Agricultural Financing and Agricultural Output in Nigeria
Get PDFThis article's goal was to investigate the connection between agricultural financing and Nigeria's agricultural production. We replaced agricultural finance with the agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF), commercial bank loans to agriculture (CBLA), and government spending on agriculture (GOVXA). Agricultural output was substituted with the agricultural GDP. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimate technique was used to specify the ARDL model, which was created to examine the relationship between agricultural financing variables and agricultural production using quarterly data from 2009Q1 to 2023Q4. An econometric analysis program called E-view 9.0 was utilized. The results show that while government spending on agriculture (GOVXA) and the agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF) have no effect on agricultural output in Nigeria, commercial bank loans to agriculture (CBLA) do. Furthermore, the control variable, yearly rainfall, significantly raises agricultural productivity. According to the study's findings, agricultural financing has a major impact on Nigeria's agricultural production. This is demonstrated by the fact that commercial bank loans to agriculture (CBLA) significantly increase agricultural output. The study's conclusions suggest that farmers who obtain program loans should be properly monitored to ensure that they are being used for agricultural objectives. Nigeria's agriculture industry also need more loans from commercial or deposit money banks in order to boost agricultural output.
Keywords: Financial: Agricultural credit guarantees scheme fund, Agricultural financing, Agricultural output, Commercial bank loans to agriculture
Lessons of Burma Campaign 1942-1945: A Case Study of General Bill Slim’s Leadership and Military Qualities
Get PDFThis paper examines the background, strategies, tactics and battlefield experiences and qualities of General Bill Slim, one of the greatest British General of World War II. As a Commander of the battle fields from 1914-1958, Bill Slim’s most impressive triumphs came to limelight in India and Burma in the long war against the Japanese. This paper highlights the military qualities of General Bill Slim, he employed in his military strategies the principles of flexibility and surprise. that foreshadowed modern British Military doctrine. Thrust into a desperate situation, he orchestrated the longest retreat in British Army History in the withdrawal from Burma. The turning of the tide occurred when he turned on the Japanese when they invaded India, shattered their army and pursued them to destruction in Burma. This paper points out General Slim’s great military victories, he left a legacy of training and morale building that endures in the British Army to this day. This paper draws out lessons to be learnt from General Bill Slim’s Military Leadership Experiences by examining some of Slim’s greatest battlefield experiences and the strategies and tactics employed, Administration, Command and Control that set him apart from his counterparts. This paper has sourced both primary and secondary sources, archival materials and documents, books and journals.
Keywords: Leadership and Military Qualities of Commanders, Battlefield, Strategies, Tactics, Administration, Command and Control, Morale
Cooperation, Competition and Conflict: A Historical Analysis of the Religious and Socio-Political Relations of Pentecostal Churches in Kaduna Metropolis, 1970-2020
Get PDFThe focus of this article is the religious pluralism of the Kaduna Metropolis, and its socio-political implications on inter- and –intra –faith relations in a rapidly changing urban context. It examines the relationship between Pentecostal churches, other Christian denominations, non-Christians, and the institution of the state between 1970 and 2020. Against this background, it investigates the factors that have necessitated Christian collaboration such as the shared objectives of proselytization, common socio-political concerns, and joint initiatives such as such as crusades and community development projects in the metropolis. It also analyses the elements that have fuelled inter and intra-religious tensions, especially the pursuit of followership, as well as the regulatory roles of the Kaduna State Government which has been a subject of debate. On the strength of largely primary sources, research findings reveal that Pentecostalism's growth in Kaduna Metropolis has engendered complex relationships with religious and secular institutions. Initial interdenominational tensions within Christianity evolved into cooperation and cross-denominational influence. Simultaneously, Pentecostal churches navigated interreligious (Christian-Muslim) dynamics and contributed to both peacebuilding and conflict. The article concludes that their relationship with the Kaduna State Government is also marked by cooperation and tension, fueled by concerns regarding religious freedom and perceived marginalization, which underscores the need for interfaith dialogue and collaborative governance.
Keywords: Cooperation, Competition, Conflict, Pentecostalism, Relation
Comparative Analysis of the Legal and Policy Framework for Financial Technology in Nigeria and Selected Jurisdictions
Get PDFThe rapid growth of financial technology (FINTECH) has transformed the global financial landscape, presenting new vistas and innovations in traditional banking and financial systems. This research undertakes a comparative analysis of the legal and policy frameworks governing Fintech in Nigeria and selected jurisdictions, with a view to assessing their effectiveness, identifying gaps, and making best practice propositions. It discusses the steps Nigeria has taken to create a Fintech ecosystem through both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission, while also covering regulatory uncertainty, enforcement challenges, and weak infrastructural capacity. Comparisons are made to jurisdictions like the United States of America, South Africa, and Canada, and there is a demonstration of various approaches being taken to implement regulatory sandboxes, innovation hubs, and stakeholder engagement. The research is underpinned by a doctrinal methodology, which analyzes primary legal instruments, regulatory policies, and judicial precedents, supplemented by a comparative analysis to draw upon lessons from other jurisdictions. Results indicated that while Nigeria has been doing well, there is a need for further alignment of its legal and policy framework with the best practices in order to foster investor confidence, innovation, and consumer protection. It concludes by recommending harmonization of Fintech regulations, improved cross-border collaboration, and adaptive legal frameworks as means to keep up with rapid technological evolution. This way, Nigeria, like other emerging markets, could close the regulatory gaps and further create an enabling environment for itself to become a leading global Fintech hub in using technology toward economic growth and financial inclusion.
Keywords: Fintech, Financial System, Regulation, Legal Syste