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APPROACHES TO REFORM OR RENEWAL (TAJDῙD) OF USUL FIQH (ISLAMIC LAW OF JURISPRUDENCE)
Get PDFTajdīd (reform or renewal, a concept in Usul al-fiqh denotes rejuvenation of what has been obliterated in the application of Quran, and Sunnah and also cutting off what has surfaced in terms of heresy and unprecedented invention has been perceived from a number of scholarly perspectives. Contemporary Muslim reformist ideology is a hard and diverse phenomenon comprising of a number of discourse and activists with different reform agendas and sentiments. It is observed that incessant attacks and stigma unleashed on reformists and their thoughts is needless. This paper adopts doctrinal method to study tajdīd and subsequently reveals that these reformists differ in the manner in which they approached tajdīd while allotting to it different hermeneutical positions in their overall approach to Islamic legal theory. It is also found that the major approaches to renewal took the form of rethinking the structural idea of the discipline and or rethinking the content accordingly. This paper, therefore, expands our understanding of the role and usefulness of tajdῑd and its various approaches to our contemporary space and time.
Keywords: Approaches, Tajdῑd Usul al-Fiqh
Nigeria’s Population Ageing: A Health Crisis in the Making
Get PDFBeing old comes with a lot of health crises that inhibit an aged person from adequately living a comfortable life as desired. However, advancement in medicine and technology is expected to make life comfortable for every human, particularly theageing population. This paper relies on secondary data sourced from the internet to measure the health crises facing the ageing population. Evidence from the works of scholars showed that Nigeria has a very high, consistent, and rapid growth rate of the older population with serious health, social, economic and political implications. Findings revealed that old people without adequate care are often confronted with physical and psychological crises that eventually compound their socioeconomic and political lives. It is affirmed in this paper that maintaining a healthy state in old age is hampered by the onset of mental diseases, neurological disorders, drug use disorders and other health crises (diabetes, hearing loss and osteoarthritis). It is concluded that old age is crisis-driven and devastating to individuals and society. Thus, the paperrecommends adequate medical and social support tailored to the specific need of individuals. Additionally, access to medical care should be tailored to the physical activity, occupation, education, and communication of the aged
Newspaper Framing of 2023 Fuel Subsidy Removal Policy in Nigeria
Get PDFThe media is saddled with the responsibility of informing the public about government policies and decisions. It is the lens through which individual sees issues and events outside their immediate life space. Since people form their reality through the contribution of others, the media through frame influences the way audience determine their social and political environment, by shaping their views and opinions. Framing theory provided the theoretical framework for this study while quantitative content analysis research design was adopted. Three national newspapers (The Punch, The Guardian and Daily Trust) were purposively selected for content analysis. Findings show episodic 72.5% as the dominant frame type used in reporting the 2023 fuel subsidy removal policy in Nigeria. Also, human interest 40%, attribution of responsibility 15%, and morality 15% frame typologies were mostly adopted. In addition, the selected newspapers gathered majority of their contents from the government 37.5% and their own media correspondence 22.5%. Findings further reveal news story format 72.5% and positive tone 55.0% as the dominant editorial format and tone respectively. It was inferred that the Nigerian media through frames types, typologies, news sources, editorial formats, and tone downplays the complexities of fuel subsidy removal policy. This may suggest that the media in Nigeria are strong instruments in the hands of the government as they often represent government policies as important, necessary and inevitable even when such policies bring hardship on the masses. Keywords Newspaper framing, fuel subsidy removal policy in Nigeria, Nigerian newspapers, Framing theor
THE YORUBA PEOPLE’S QUEST FOR SELF-DETERMINATION WITHIN THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION
Get PDFThe demand for self-determination is not a recent phenomenon in Nigeria. There have been cacophonies of secession from Nigeria before the independence but there has been much more since independence. Different tribes constituting present-day Nigeria had at one point or the other agitated and attempted to exercise their right to self-determination but the agitation of the Yoruba people remains one of the most pronounced in recent times. However, the Nigerian government has always adopted a reprisal approach to quelling these agitations. The support for this approach, according to the government is that the right to self-determination challenges the territorial integrity of the country, hence unconstitutional. This paper examined the historical contexts and factors underpinning the quest of the Yoruba people for self-determination in Nigeria. It further examined the constitutionality of the right to self-determination under the 1999 Constitution. Through the adoption of a qualitative research methodology using a doctrinal method of legal research, the paper found that the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates, the insecurity challenges in the Southwest, the perceived political and economic marginalization of the Yoruba people, and the legitimacy questions surrounding the 1999 Constitution amongst others are the factors underpinning the agitation for self-determination of the Yoruba people. The paper found further that the right to self-determination is unconstitutional in Nigeria. The paper, therefore, recommended appropriate solutions to the incessant struggle for self-determination of the Yoruba people.
Keywords: Self-determination; Secession; Territorial Integrity; Yoruba people; Amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorate
Effect of Aflatoxin-B1 Exposure on Performance and Haematological Stress Indicators in Male Sprague Dawley Rats
Get PDFAflatoxin-B1 is a ubiquitous mycotoxin usually accumulated in food and feeds, thereby posing a critical health risk to humans and animals. This study was carried out to determine its effects on performance characteristics and haematoogy indicators of stress in male Sprague Dawley rats. The rats were randomly distributed into 4 groups (n=10 per group) including an unexposed group that served as control and other groups which were orally exposed to 150 µg of aflatoxin-B1 per kg body weight on a varied basis for 28 days. The records of food intake and body weight changes were obtained while blood was collected at the end of the study for downstream analyses. There was a significant difference observed in food intake, body weight, kidney weight, liver weight, lung weight, and testes weight of the rats (p<0.05). There was a significant difference observed in the heterophil-lymphocytes ratio and bilirubin concentration as haematology biomarkers of stress in the rats (p<0.001). The study concluded that aflatoxin-B1 exposure in rats is capable of inducing stress-related performance dysfunction such as reduced food intake and body weight loss, while haematoogy biomarkers of stress heterophil-lymphocyte ratio and bilirubin concentrations could be used as potential biomarkers suitable for measuring these performance dysfunctions. There is a need for further studies to establish the possible use of heterophil-lymphocyte ratio and bilirubin as measures of performance compromise in response to aflatoxin-B1 exposure in rats.
Keywords: Aflatoxin-B1, Stress, Heterophil-lymphocyte ratio, Bilirubin concentratio
Politics of Financial Clientelism in Developing Democracies: Insights from Kwara State, Nigeria
Get PDFAbstractPolitical clientelism, locally known as godfatherism has been a recurring issue in the democratic practice of developing countries. It has become a key feature of Nigeria’s democratic practice and has been adjudged by several literature as a bane towards good governance. The work focuses on the effects of godfatherism as well as the perceptions of the citizens of Kwara State, a State which has had a long history of acts of godfatherism in Nigeria and one which the citizens in the 2019 General elections denied the wishes of the godfathers with their votes. The study was conducted using a descriptive survey method, using questionnaire as a means of data collection from 385 Krejcie and Morgan samples in the state. The data was analysed using a regression model. The study found significant impact of godfatherism on governance in Kwara State and recommends the need to curb godfatherism for improved democratic practice.KeywordsGodfatherism, politics, democracy, governance, Kwara State, Nigeri
STATES’ AUTONOMY IN NIGERIAN FEDERALISM: DELIGHT OR AN ABERRATION?
Get PDFNigeria operates a federal system of government wherein powers are shared between the Federal and State governments. The federal structure, enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and which has become a hallmark of successive Nigerian constitutions since 1951, allocates specific powers to the federal government while granting residual authority to the states. This division aims to foster decentralization, accommodate regional diversity, and promote effective governance. However, there exists challenges in the equitable distribution of powers between both levels of government leading to a continued clamour for more devolution of powers to the State governments. Using the doctrinal research method, this research delves into various factors influencing the degree of autonomy enjoyed by states, including political, fiscal, and socio-cultural dynamics. It analyzes the implications of state autonomy on governance, democracy, and national cohesion. The paper finds that more devolution of powers to the States is required to achieve a more balanced and effective federal system in Nigeria which can only be achieved through constitutional amendments and policy variations. It is thus recommended that more constitutional reforms further devolving powers to the states more particularly in the areas of security and fiscal autonomy would greatly help in facilitating a more balanced federal system.
Keywords: Federalism, State Autonomy, the Constitution, Governance, Fiscal Federalism, Democrac
Identifying customer churn in Telecom sector: A Machine Learning Approach
Get PDFNowadays, there is no shortage of options for customers when choosing where to put their money. As a result, customer churn and engagement have become one of the top issues. With the increase in the number of service providers for the same targeted population, there is a need for service providers to try to find the changing customer behaviour and their rising expectations to retain them. Various studies have proposed customer churn. Data mining was routinely used to predict telecom customer attrition. Most researchers have compared and proposed different approaches for the prediction of customer churn, though some of the Machine learning (ML) algorithms used were unable to provide the performance needed to identify customer churn. Therefore, this paper presents a comparative analysis of Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF) in the Telecommunications Dataset. To prepare the dataset for machine learning algorithms, chi-square was used for feature selection to select the most informative features from the original dataset. We validate our model using a ten-fold cross-validation approach to test the performance of our models. RF model performed better than other models in terms of accuracy (94%), precision (94%) and F-measure (94%), respectively. Additionally, we compared our results with existing models that used the same dataset; the proposed strategy outperformed them.
Keywords: Customer Churn, Telecommunication, Machine Learning, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF
AN EXAMINATION OF THE REGULATORY STRUCTURE FOR ELECTRONIC BANKING IN NIGERIA
Get PDFThere is no gainsaying the fact that financial activities are predominantly tailored by the banking sub-sector. Indeed, banking activities are substantially electronically driven in this age. As such, the quality and structure of regulation of these activities are important in determining their efficiency. The article, thus, sets out to examine the regulatory structure of electronic banking in Nigeria. It adopts the doctrinal legal research methodology and examines the legal framework founded on the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria Act (CBNA), and other subsidiary legislation made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under these laws. It contends that both the BOFIA and CBNA do not directly provide for e-banking regulations, rather the CBN is empowered to issue guidelines. While this is a good approach, it exposes the framework to different forms of risks as a result of its flexibility. It further reveals that Nigeria’s approach to banking regulation is mainly focused on institutional regulation, making it difficult for the regulator to focus on unique electronic services offered by the banks and other service providers. The system is found to have been bedeviled by some challenges, ranging from adequacy gaps, and system exposure to risks such as fraud, hacking, and other criminal intrusions. It, thus, mainly recommends that the focus of regulation must be scaled down to cater to different e-banking products and services, rather than the banks and service providers themselves. This must be supported with strategies aiming to address intricate and overlapping risks, functions, and institutional portfolios. Caution must also be taken not to make the structure too complex to discourage competition or stifle growth as a result of the heavy compliance burden.
Keywords: E-banking, Central Bank of Nigeria, Regulation, Banks, Legal Framework, Guidelines
CONCEPT OF JIHAD IN ISLAM AND TERRORISM; CORRECTING THE MISCONCEPTIONS
Get PDFThe religion of Islam is known to be a peace loving entity, it prides of being a perfect template for any given civilization that aspires a peaceful society. However, one of its core doctrines had been a source of concern, the concept of Jihad, which -amongst others- presupposes a warfare expedition had attracted torchlight of criticism for being the source of inspiration for terrorist organizations in modern time. The criticism waxes stronger on the strength that most of these terrorist organizations often disguise by adorning in Muslim dress and claim to be fighting in the name of Islam. It is however, contradictory, that Islam, as a religion that prides as the source of peace and tranquility, will at the overturn serve as a source for terrorism. This paper adopts the doctrinal research methodology to examine the concept of Jihad in juxtaposition with terrorism with the objective of determining the veracity of the claim that Islam is a religion of peace or whether the claim by some dastard terrorist groups of deriving their inspiration and strength from the concept of Jihad in Islam is, indeed, true?. The research found that the allegation that the concept of Jihad serves as the bedrock for terrorism is faulty in fact and evidence.
Keywords: Jihad, Terrorism, Peace, Islamic Law, Religio