Katsina-Ala Multi-disciplinary Journal

AUGUSTINE AYOM GWAZA
Department of General Studies Education,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala,Benue State.
E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This study compared literature and non-literature students’ performance in English Language in secondary schools in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, Benue State. Two research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the Ex-post-facto research design. The population consisted of 20,041 senior secondary II students. A sample of 200 students was drawn from four sampled schools using multistage sampling techniques: stratified random sampling was used to select two schools both from urban and rural areas, while simple random sampling was used to select one contact class of SS II students as participants in each of the four sampled schools. Data were collected using Reading Comprehension and Grammar Performance Test. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that literature students performed better than non-literature students in reading comprehension (0.02 < 0.05)and grammar (0.00 < 0.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended that senior secondary classes should read literary texts to broaden their knowledge, include Literature-in-English in their list of selected subjects. Parents should provide literary texts for their children. School administrators should organize inter-class and inter-school quiz competitions on literary texts.

Keywords: Reading comprehension, grammar, literature students, non-literature students.

SEBASTIAN ORAFAGA BII

Department of Economics,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The central role played by the GATT/WTO in shaping post war trade policy is widely accepted. International trade has provided benefits to domestic producers and consumers. This work maintains that the conventional international trade theory based on the principle of comparative advantage is irrelevant for developing countries and the current trading system hinders economic development in the developing nations. The increasing participation of developing countries in the GATT/WTO trading system and the pragmatic support provided them assist these developing countries to both expand and diversify their trade. This work has identified formidable impediments to the complete attainment of these optimal benefits and concludes however that the fuller integration of the developing countries is critical to ensure the future health and sustained growth of the world economy and the trading system.

Keywords: Trade, Tariffs, free trade, reciprocity, non discrimination, countervailing, dumping, barriers.

TERHEMEN ORAGANDE

Department of Computer Science Education,
College of Education Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impediments to implementation of the Computer science education (CSE) programme in Colleges of Education in Benue state. Six research questions guided the study. A survey research design was employed for the study. The population consisted of all the 23lecturers from the three Colleges of Education in the state. A random sample of 18respondents was drawn from the population. An instrument entitled impediments to implementation of computer science education (CSE) programme in Colleges of Education in Benue state was administered on the respondents while data collected were analysed using simple percentages. The results indicated that lack of well-equipped computer laboratories, lack of sufficient academic staff, lack of laboratory technologists, lack of laboratory instructors and lack of suitable standby generators constitute the impediments to implementation of the CSE programme in the state’s Colleges of Education. The researcher suggested the urgent recruitment of all the needed academic staff, laboratory technologists, and laboratory instructors as ways of changing the scenario to guarantee the effective implementation of this programme in Colleges of Education in Benue state. The researcher also urged the affected institutions to liaise with Tertiary Education trust fund (TETFund) to equip their computer laboratories as well as provide suitable standby generators for effective implementation of this programme in their institutions.

Keywords: Computer Science Education, Impediments, Implementation

H.A. ADEKOLA, H.O. EGBERONGBE, F.M. OYEYIPO, J.M. ADEYEMI
Department of Microbiology,
Olabisi Onabanjo University, P.M.B. 2002,
Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.
corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
Automated teller machine (ATM) cards which are used for an alternative access to banking functions can serve as a potential source of infectious diseases. In this study fifty (50) ATM cards of students in Olabisi Onabanjo University was sampled for presence of enteric bacteria. Swab sticks soaked with normal sterile saline were used and cultured on Eosine Methylene Blue (EMB) Agar, MacConkey Agar (MAC) and Salmonella Shigella Agar (SSA) using standard microbiological procedures. Identification of Enteric microorganisms was done using colonial, microscopic and biochemical characteristics. The results revealedthe presence of organisms belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family such as Klebsiella spp (33.3%), Escherichia spp (23.3%), Enterobacter spp (23.3%), Salmonella spp (13.3%), Shigella spp (3.4%) and Pseudomonas spp (3.4%). We concluded that ATM cards could play a significant role in the transmission of infectious diseases caused by enteric organism.

Martina Angbiandoo Amande, PhD
Department of Educational Psychology,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Robert Ter Mnaorga
Department of Educational Psychology,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Dorcas A. Yajir
Department of Educational Psychology,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State.

Abstract
This investigation assesses depression among HIV/AIDS patients in some selected hospitals in Makurdi township(Federal Medical Centre, General Hospital North Bank and Bishop Murray Medical Centre). A total of 2,885 respondents constitute the population for the study. However, a sample size of 310 was representatively used, out of which 129 were male whereas 181 were female. They were aged between 20-61 years. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the participants. Hamilton rating scale for depression was adopted as an instrument for data collection. The result generated indicates that: there is a significant difference in the level of depression between inpatients and outpatients: hence HIV/AIDS inpatients were significantly more depressed than their outpatient counterparts [t(df=308)=7.25,P=0.1]. Also, female HIV/AIDS patients were significantly more depressed than their male counterparts (t(df=308)=4.45,p.<01). Nevertheless, the result further indicates that depression is more prevalent in illiterates and the unemployed than in the literate and employed HIV patients. Lastly, it was also found that, 64% of the patients were depressed ranging from mild to severe level, thereby resulting to low quality of life, increased health challenges and poor adherence to treatment. The researchers therefore, recommend that, HIV/AIDS patients need to be assessed, treated and counseled properly against depression early enough in order to avert its dangers. Also, that government at all levels should imbibe routine screening for better clinical results.

KEYWORDS: DEPRESSION, HIV/AIDS, INPATIENTS, OUTPATIENTS, HOSPITALS, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Dorothy Medondo Unom
¬Department of French,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Email: [email protected]
Aondongu Nyon
Department of Tiv Language Studies
College of Education, Katsina-Ala
Email: [email protected]
Abraham Vearumun Kaa
Department of Tiv Language Studies
College of Education, Katsina-Ala
Email: [email protected]

Abstract
With a plethora of languages, Nigeria is a linguistic paradise of sorts. This linguistic variety could make Nigeria a modern Babel. No one knows exactly how many languages exist in Nigeria but estimates put the figure at somewhere between 400-450 languages. English is the official language in Nigeria and had enjoyed this unrivalled status alone until the Abacha administration made French a second official language in the mid 1990s. Both are exogenous languages taught as second languages. Three Languages of Wider Communication (LWC) or Dominant Languages (DL) Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are designated “national languages”. The rest of the indigenous languages have the status of “minority languages” – Non-Dominant Languages (NDL). There are feelings in some quarters that an indigenous language should be used as an official language for the purpose of integration. In a multilingual setting such as ours, which of these myriad of languages should be selected is a topic for unending debate with no consensus, not before, not now. This paper fingers politics, or better still, politicisation, as being responsible for this lingering debate on the choice of an indigenous Nigerian language as an official language – a lingua franca. The paper favours a more inclusive language policy that recognizes the importance of the indigenous languages in special domains of the lives of the people.

KEYWORDS: LANGUAGE, POLITICS, NATIONAL LANGUAGE, OFFICIAL LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE PLANNING, CHOICE

Moses Shishi Uzer
Department of English and Literary Studies,
College of Education, Katsina-Ala Benue State.
Email: [email protected]

Abstract
This paper focuses on the Marxist tradition as it examines and brings out Marxian issues in the African novel which emanate from the continuing socio-economic crises in Africa, instigated by Western capitalists and imperialists. It showcases the efforts made by African literary scholars towards the liberation of Africa from the claws and shackles of imperialism even as it deals with colonialism and neo-colonialism in all its virulent manifestations. The paper selects novels from West, East and South African regions to demonstrate clearly the evil of capitalism and also supports the views of the proletariat while condemning the bourgeois philosophy and ideology which are based largely on exploitation. It concludes that for society to be classless and egalitarian, the proletariat must revolt and seize power from the capitalists to ensure equal distribution of resources for the benefit of all.

KEY WORDS: AFRICAN NOVEL, MARXISM, SOCIALISM

Ukeyima Nicholas Pever
Registry Department
Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev (AOCAY),
Gboko – Benue State
Email: [email protected]
Luper Nongo
Registry Department
Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev (AOCAY),
Gboko – Benue State
Email: [email protected]
Joseph Terdue Tyosar
College Library,
Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev (Aocay),
Gboko – Benue State
Email: [email protected]

Abstract
This study is a conceptual, as well as a theoretical inquiry into the phenomenon of godfatherism as it relates to Nigerian politics and national development. By looking at the character of the phenomenon over the years, the article observes that it has come to assume two contradictory yet important dimensions. Therefore, the phenomenon can be either negatively or positively conceived depending on the perspective from which one is looking at it. Overall, the paper submits that the negative (malevolent) dimensions of politics of godfatherism dominate political practice in Nigeria. The paper recommends ethical revolution of the masses in terms of participation in selection and election of political leaders, political education of the masses by the academia, teachers, community leaders, etc., among others, as ways of reducing the prevalence of politics of godfatherism in Nigeria.

KEY WORDS: DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE, POLITICS, GODFATHERISM, IMPLICATION