Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) Journal
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Globalization and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria: The Public-Private Partnership Option
No full textGlobalization is a concept that has transformed the world economy in the past last century. Its impact had been more significant in Europe and America where technological advancement reduced cost in transportation, mobility and communication. Meanwhile, in retrospect, globalization has not borne satisfactory fruits in Africa. Its negative experience stands in stark contrast to the successes it has recorded in other regions. Nigeria, as an African nation is yet to maximize the positive promises of globalization. There are serious infrastructure deficits in Nigeria, despite the existence of a plethora of development policies. However, the objective of this study is to examine and assess the viability of Public Private Partnership (PPP) option as an alternative to solving Nigeria’s development problems. The study is basically qualitative. The findings reveal that PPP is a workable development strategy that Nigerian government should embrace having worked perfectly in Lagos State. The study then concludes that the adoption of PPP will benefit the country since PPP fund will be made available for different infrastructural development of the economy
Antibacterial and Phytochemical Screening of Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of Piliostigma thonningii
No full textThe antibacterial activity of aqueous and methanol extracts of leaves of Piliostigma thonningii collected within the campus of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, was investigated against four clinical bacterial isolates (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica Type Typhi) and four Type Culture organisms (Staphylococcus aureus subsp. Aureus(ATCC® 25923™), Escherichia coli (ATCC® 25922™), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC® 27853™) and Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC® 7080™) using the disc agar diffusion technique to determine the diameter zone of inhibition and the broth dilution assay for the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC). The methanol extract produced inhibition zone of 6mm at 2000µg/disc against Staphylococcus aureus and the aqueous extract produced inhibition zone of 6mm against Salmonella enterica Type Typhi at 2000µg/disc. The two extracts did not produce any inhibition against E. coli and P. aeruginosa. However, the aqueous and methanol extracts produced a mean diameter zone of inhibition of 8mm, respectively, against E. coli(ATCC® 25922™)at a concentration of 2000µg/disc. The methanol extract also inhibited P. aeruginosa (ATCC® 27853™) with 6mm diameter zone of inhibition. The MIC and MBC values against the sensitive organisms ranged from 1000 to >1000(μg/mL). Phytochemical screening of the powdered plant material indicated the presence of alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid, tannin and phenol. The antibacterial activity of the aqueous and methanol extracts of the leaves of P. thonningii observed in this study against the test organisms was low and variable at the concentrations tested. The in-vitro method used here did not provide an unequivocal scientific validation in support of the use of this medicinal plant as an antibacterial remedy in traditional medical practice. Future study may explore the in-vivo assay methods
Gross and Histologic Lesions of Infectious Bursal Disease in Unvaccinated Exotic Chickens
No full textThis study evaluated the gross and histologic lesions in unvaccinated 7-weeks-old exotic cockerels following an outbreak of infectious bursal disease (IBD). Clinical signs were drowsiness, drop in feed and water consumption, greenish-whitish diarrhoea, prostration followed by death. The outbreak resulted in 100% and 92% mortality from days 1 to 3 post-outbreak. The major gross lesions were distension of kidney tubules, enlargement and haemorrhages of the bursa of Fabricius, skeletal muscles and the proventiculus-gizzard junction. Sections of the organs showed marked necrosis and depletion of lymphocytes in the bursa of Fabricius and other lymphoid tissues and casts in the renal tubules. IBD was confirmed in bursae samples of affected chickens using agar gel immunodiffusion test. Our results showed that cockerels are highly susceptible to infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and the marked clinico-pathological changes indicate that the strain involved in the outbreak may be very virulent IBDV
Business Education in Nigeria: A Tool for Capacity Building for National Development
No full textTowards the end of the 20th century and at the wake of 21st century, it became apparent that national development depends on educational advancement, which in turn depends on technological progress. Business Education is a vocational education that prepares beneficiaries for gainful employment and sustainable livelihood. The objectives of business education generally are borne out of the needs of industry, commerce, and society. These objectives are highlighted in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004), the inculcation of the right types of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society; and the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities, both mental and physical, as requirements for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his or her society. This paper examines the role of business education in capacity building for national development such as establishing a small scale business ventures by its graduates, provides knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes needed to perform in the business world as a producer and/or consumer of goods and services etc. Finally, some recommendations were made among which is, that government should allocate more funds to business education in tertiary institutions in Nigeria to enhance effective capacity building in our society for national development, teacher-student ratio of 1:30 should be maintained for quality delivery of courses and the need to shun corruption in our society by both the leaders and the led
Financing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), Human Capital Formation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
No full textThis study examines the impact of commercial banks’ credit to small and medium scale enterprises and human capital formation on economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1981 to 2013. An augmented growth model was estimated via the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) techniques. The variables were tested for stationarity and co-integration analysis was carried out using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller estimation procedure. The study reveals that government expenditure on education has positive and significant effect on gross domestic product, while government expenditure on health had positive but insignificant effect on GDP. Similarly, commercial banks’ credit to the SMEs sector and gross national savings yielded positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth in Nigeria. Finally, Lending interest rate and the domestic inflation in Nigeria have inverse and significant effect on growth of the domestic economy. The study recommends capacity building for SMEs personnel to ensure proper business management and record keeping. Furthermore, there is need to encourage entrepreneurship by promoting investment in the domestic economy and by diversifying the economy to manufacturing, production and agricultural sectors
Nigeria and South Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Political and Economic Relations
No full textThe inter-relations among Africans have remained a viable “home–grown” development paradigm in the 21st Century. While assessing political and economic interaction between Nigeria and South Africa coupling with mutual benefits is the focus of the study, the economic and political relations between the two countries spur massive debates in the political economy organisations. This study analysed and discussed bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Africa, and adds value to the existing knowledge on this subject. After a qualitative analysis, it was discovered that bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Africa have been beneficial with some comparative advantages favouring South Africa than Nigeria. The study recommends improvement in infrastructural facilities, development of high human skill resources and technological advancement tilting towards Nigeria as parts of mutual benefits
Anatomical Alterations in Centrosema pubescens Benth. and Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb) Benth. due to Heavy Metals in Crude Oil Polluted Soils
No full textThe effect of crude oil polluted soil on the anatomy of Centrosema pubescens and Pueraria phaseoloides were investigated. The experiment was a factorial (2x4) arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD). Factors and levels were the two legumes (C. pubescens, P. phaseoloides) and crude oil concentration (volume/weight) in the soil (0 %, 1 %, 3 % and 4 %). Anatomical changes in roots, stems and leaves were observed in the treated samples (i.e. 1 % - 4 % v/w). Cortical parenchyma cells of stem and root of the studied plants had reduced intercellular air spaces in the treated/contaminated samples while those in non-treated (0 %) had large number of intercellular air spaces. Presence of dark spots was observed in roots at 3 % and 4 % with its accompanying tissue breakdown. Stomatal reduction and epidermal cell wall aberrations were observed in the leaves of the treated samples. The anatomical changes and observed tissue alterations in the plant tissues were discussed as phytoindicators and a possible tool in phytomonitoring. However, caution should be employed in the choice of site and disposal of experimental soil and plant. The soil and plant used for experimental purposes should be properly degraded beyond the uptake of the heavy metals by plant roots. This is done to prevent the reintroduction of the heavy metals-laden parts of plants and soil into the food chain, since not all accumulated heavy metal are phytoextracted or completely degraded by plant
Analysis of Factors Influencing Women Participation in Cassava Post Harvest Technologies in Abia State, Nigeria
No full textThis study was undertaken to analyze women participation in various trainings on cassava post-harvest technologies in Abia State, Nigeria. Purposive and multistage random sampling techniques were used to select ninety (90) women. Data for the study were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (probit regression analysis). The socio-economic characteristics of the women revealed that 63.33% of the women were married. The women had a mean age of 49.5 years and 48.89% of them acquired secondary education. Also mean processing experience of the women was 4.5 years and processing income of N226, 500.00. The result showed that the women participated in cassava odourless fufu and cassava cake technologies with mean ratings of 2.20, cassava flour ( =2.00), cassava flakes ( =2.00) and cassava biscuit ( =2.00), with a participation index of 66%. The result of probit regression estimates showed that coefficients for age, education, processing income and cooperative membership influenced women participation in cassava post harvest technologies. Drying of processed cassava products, distance to training centres, inadequacy of processing facilities and type of cassava varieties used in processing were problems encountered by women. The study, therefore, recommends training and re-training of women, cooperative formation and access to processing facilities to encourage active participation in cassava post harvest technologies
Analysis of the Factors That Influence the Size Of Underground Economic Activities in Nigeria
No full textThis study examined the critical factor that drive people underground. These factors which include poverty, unemployment rate, illiteracy rate, corruption index, real government consumptions, openness of the economy, economic liberalization as well as tax burden. The data for the study were generated from secondary sources and were analysed using multiple regression model. The variables in the model were subjected to unit root, co integration and error correction mechanism. The result showed that out of the eight factors examined only corruption index and economic liberalization were significant at 5% at the short run. The result further revealed that all other factors except tax burden had significant influence on the size of underground economy in the long run at 1%. The study therefore recommended that all hands should be on deck to support the three point agenda corruption, security and economy of the government since the agenda contains issues bordering on curbing corruption, improving public accountability and transparency, diversification of the economy through agriculture which will enhance employment creation and poverty reduction
Geometrical Effects of Radar Cross Section (RCS) for Military Applications
No full text In this research, geometrical analysis of Radar Cross Section (RCS) for military applications is presented. The prime effort is to find the presence of complex and arbitrary objects by monostatic radar. We performed MATLAB simulations to obtain the RCS signatures in order to classify the objects of the targets. The signatures are observed in MATLAB for further development to find accurate RCS. The results gotten shows that Ellipse, Cylindrical and Circular shaped objects have their RCS hotspot values at 90°, and the backscattered RCS for a perfectly conducting sphere is constant in the optical region. Also between 19° and 180° aspect angles, the RCS in dB(m2) of both frustum and triangular shaped objects falls drastically, while for rectangular shaped objects, the more the aspect angles increases, the more the vertical/horizontal polarizations becomes far apart. Furthermore, we saw that the behaviour of the RCS of a complex object depends on the individual behaviour of each RCS of the arbitrary objects that formed the complex object. Based on the results gotten from the simulations, we conclude that computer simulation can serve as a veritable tool in determining the RCS of objects with different geometrical forms. The results can also serve as platform for military intelligence gathering in areas of target detection and monitory. Further studies are suggested for the RCS of objects revolving in their own axis with a to-and-fro motion from the radar to be considered by future researchers