Government Area Of Lagos State Research Articles

Heavy Metals and Microbial Contents of Roadside Roasted Corn and Plantain

In Nigeria, West Africa, it is common practice to eat roasted food as snacks without being mindful of the health implications from the environment where it is roasted. This research work evaluated the level of heavy metals and microbial contents in roadside roasted corn and plantain from three locations in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. Heavy metals and microbial concentration of 18 samples were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) and Standard Microbiological Techniques (SMT). The average concentration of heavy metals in all the samples ranged between 0.45 – 1.40mg/g, 2.45 – 4.80mg/g, 3.20 – 14.05mg/g and 9.95–18.05mg/g for copper, zinc, iron, and magnesium respectively. Furthermore, samples from heavy traffic areas had average concentration range of between 0 – 58.40mg/g and 0 – 1.95mg/g for lead and cadmium respectively. Most of the values are higher than World Health Organization permissible limits. The average microbial load of the samples ranged between 250×10−3 – 800×10−3 Cfu. Samples from locations close to refuse dumpsite had the highest microbial content. Four micro organisms isolated from the samples are Escheriachia coli, Bacillus species, Neurospora species and Aspergillus niger. These findings indicate that roadside roasted food are contaminated by the polluted environment which make them not healthy for human consumption.

Effect of Ill Health on Technical Efficiency of Dry Season Vegetable Farmers in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State Nigeria

This paper examined the effect of ill health on technical efficiency of dry season vegetable farmers in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State, South-West, Nigeria. A total of 80 dry season vegetable farmers were sampled through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier analysis. The results showed that majority (68%) of the farmers were within the economic active age group of 25 and 35 years. The mean number of days absent from farm work due to illness was 3 days while majority (70%) of the farmers had contact with extension workers. The major problems confronting the farmers were inadequate land, capital and pest infestation among others. The return to scale value of 1.15estimated from the Stochastic Frontier Analysis revealed that farmers were operating in stage 1 of the production surface, hence, the need to employ more resources in order to maximize benefits. The mean technical efficiency was 0.701. This implies that the efficiency of the vegetable farmers can be improved at the existing technology by about 29.9% in the short run. The health variable which was captured by illness episodes and number of days absent from work due to illness had positive coefficient and statistically significant at p < 0.10. The study therefore concludes that ill health have adverse effect on the technical efficiency of the dry season vegetable farmers in the study area, thereby reducing their productivity levels.

Profitability and Constraints Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs in Lagos State, Nigeria

This research assessed the constraints limiting the success of women entrepreneurs in selected local government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample of 120 women entrepreneurs were selected from three Local Government Areas of Lagos State in a two-stage sampling procedure. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, constraint analysis, budgetary analysis and multiple regression analysis. The predominant primary occupation was found to be trading 45 with 92.5% of the women in their productive years. The finding also revealed that a vast majority (92.5%) of the women entrepreneurs had formal education above primary level with 43.3% of them spent not less than 10 years in their business, which was presumed to benefit their enterprises. The women entrepreneurs faced certain constraints which affect their businesses, the highest ranked ones include; poor shop location (ranked 1 st ), lack of long term finance (ranked 2 nd ) and competition from rivals (ranked 3 rd ) among others. The women entrepreneurs earned 40 kobo on every 1 naira sale revenue. The multiple regression results revealed that main occupation, business membership strength, initial capital outlay and total variable cost had significant effect on the net income of the women. Policy options from the findings include: Increment in funds invested in the business enterprises of these women entrepreneurs alongside reduction in cost could boost the possible expansion of their enterprises; provision of psychological, moral and financial support from members of the family is needed for entrepreneurial development and Government should provide cheaper sources of credit to the women with little or no collateral to encourage their enterprises growth, self-reliance which are necessary ingredients for nation's development.

Prevalence, Pattern and Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Sewing Machine Operators in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria

Objective: Work related musculoskeletal disorders have been described as the most notorious and common cause of severe long term pain and physical disability affecting hundreds of millions of people across the world. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, pattern, impact, risk factors and the most frequently affected anatomical parts of the body in musculoskeletal disorders among sewing machine operators. Materials and Methods: The study design was a cross sectional descriptive survey design. All subjects were evaluated using a 32-item questionnaire including items about demographic and impact of musculoskeletal problems. The intensity of the pain was assessed by visual analogue scale. Results: A 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was observed to be 92.0%. The result showed that the most commonly affected body part was the low back (78.6%). The mean number of years of sewing experience of the participants was 10.0 ± 2.5 years with majority, (51, 25.8%) having worked for 1-5 years and 9 (4.7%) participants having just worked for less than a year. The four major job risk factors identified in this study were prolonged sitting (99.4%), sitting on a high chair (76.5%), sitting without back rest (71.5%) and sitting on a low chair (24.0%). The age, frequency of sewing and years of sewing experience on sitting to sew, standing to cut and ironing were significantly associated with prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: There was high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among sewing machine operators. Age, frequency of sewing and years of sewing experience could predispose to the occupational risk of musculoskeletal disorders.

Determination of the Concentration of Selected Heavy Metals in Indigenous Plant: Telfairia occidentalis

Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F. is an edible vegetable, rich in essential diet components and contains protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and other nutrients, which are not adequately supplied in our diet. However, Telfairia occidentalis is believed to contain heavy metals over a range of concentrations which could pose potential health risk to the consumers. The objective of this study was to determine whether the concentration of selected heavy metals present in Telfairia occidentalis cultivated in twenty Local Government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria, are within the acceptable range for human consumption. Telfairia occidentalis leaf samples were collected from twenty local government areas in Lagos State, washed thrice with water and air-dried prior to grounding into fine powder and sieved. The samples were digested with concentrated HNO3 and the concentrations of the metals were determined using the Buck 205 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The British Pharmacopoeia calibration plot method was adopted. All the Telfairia occidentalis samples (100%) from the 20 Local Governments in Lagos State contained arsenic and mercury below the USP oral component limit while 100% contained cadmium above the oral component limit. Twenty percent (20%) contained iron above the USP oral component limit. These metals could bio-accumulate in the biological system of people consuming this vegetable, thus posing potential health risk to consumers especially if consumed over a long period. We therefore suggest regular assessing of these metals in vegetables grown in these localities and that government should monitor and ensure proper disposal of waste within the environment in order to reduce the level of contamination of vegetables by heavy metals which are mainly resulting from industrial wastes and other sourcesof environmental pollution.

Determination of the Concentration of Selected Heavy Metals in Indigenous Plant: Telfairia occidentalis

Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F. is an edible vegetable, rich in essential diet components and contains protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and other nutrients, which are not adequately supplied in our diet. However, Telfairia occidentalis is believed to contain heavy metals over a range of concentrations which could pose potential health risk to the consumers. The objective of this study was to determine whether the concentration of selected heavy metals present in Telfairia occidentalis cultivated in twenty Local Government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria, are within the acceptable range for human consumption. Telfairia occidentalis leaf samples were collected from twenty local government areas in Lagos State, washed thrice with water and air-dried prior to grounding into fine powder and sieved. The samples were digested with concentrated HNO3 and the concentrations of the metals were determined using the Buck 205 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The British Pharmacopoeia calibration plot method was adopted. All the Telfairia occidentalis samples (100%) from the 20 Local Governments in Lagos State contained arsenic and mercury below the USP oral component limit while 100% contained cadmium above the oral component limit. Twenty percent (20%) contained iron above the USP oral component limit. These metals could bio-accumulate in the biological system of people consuming this vegetable, thus posing potential health risk to consumers especially if consumed over a long period. We therefore suggest regular assessing of these metals in vegetables grown in these localities and that government should monitor and ensure proper disposal of waste within the environment in order to reduce the level of contamination of vegetables by heavy metals which are mainly resulting from industrial wastes and other sources of environmental pollution.

Threats to Biodiversity Resources in Badagry Local Government area of Lagos State

Biodiversity constitute the source of all our food, much of our raw materials, a wide range of goods and services and genetic materials for agriculture, medicine, industry and commerce worth billions of dollars per year. For Nigeria and other African countries, biodiversity is of critical importance to our survival as our livelihood is dependent on having free and open access to a great variety of biological resources for food, fuel, medicine, housing materials, farm implement and economic security. Data was collected using three methods: Reconnaissance and direct observation, use of questionnaires and Oral interview. Administration of one hundred and twenty (120) structured questionnaires in eight (8) randomly picked coastal communities of Badagry Local Government of Lagos State, oral interview was also conducted to get information from the residents and direct observation of resource availability, resource management status and threats to biodiversity in the selected communities were carried out. The data collected for the study was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The evaluation of the major biodiversity resource available across the various community of study reveals that various species of fish: cat fish (Clarias gariepinus), obokun, (chrysythys nigrodigitatus), tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), prawns (Peanus notatus ), Raffia palm (Raffia vinifera), Coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Rhizophora spp are more abundant. The opinions of the respondents on threats to biodiversity revealed that 46.7% believed there are no threats and 45.8% believe otherwise while 7.5% did not respond. Respondents' view is dependent on community at P-value 0.00041 (P<0.05) and not dependent on sex at P-value of 0.63678.

Contraception among bankers in an urban community ln Lagos state, Nigeria

IntroductionContraception means procedures employed to interfere at one stage or the other with the normal sequence of events in the process of reproduction leading to a failure in conception. It means voluntary techniques adopted to achieve birth control. Its use remains sensitive worldwide. Within the same society, contraception varies amongst people of different socio-cultural, educational, religious, or occupational affiliations. It also varies between urban and rural settlements. Some contraceptive techniques also prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The prevalence of STIs also varies with these same factors. There is very limited literature on contraception exclusively amongst bankers. We sought to investigate the level of awareness and practice of contraception amongst bankers in an urban society in Lagos State, Nigeria.MethodsIn this descriptive cross-sectional study, 200 self-administered structured questionnaires were retrieved from bankers from 5 banks selected by simple random sampling in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Data was subsequently statistically analyzed using SPSS.ResultsThe age range was 21-45 years, mean28.8±1.4 years, 51.7% were males (72% single, 27% married, 1% separated) and 48.3% were females (52.4% single, 47.6% married). All (100%) respondents were aware of contraception, 93.3% males and 91.7% females were sexually active, 88.9% males and 84.5% females believe contraception is useful. Most (71.4%) respondents practice contraception, males (81%) being more than females (61.1%), p < 0.05. More (71.4%) females and fewer (37.8%) males believe that contraception prevents pregnancy but not STIs, 28.6% of females and 46.6% of males believe it prevents both pregnancy and STIs, whereas 14% of males and no female believe contraception prevents STIs but not pregnancy.ConclusionThe awareness of and practice of contraception was very high among the bankers but more male bankers practice contraception whereas more female bankers perceive contraceptives to be for the married only.

Effect of Land Use, Time of Day and Vehicle Type on Seat Belt Use in Lagos, Nigeria.

The seat belt has been proven to be effective in the reduction of traffic injuries and deaths. Despite the efficacy and strict enforcement of legislation, it has been frequently underutilized in many countries including Nigeria. The aim of this study was to investigate the seat belt use rate, and determine the effect of land use types, vehicle types and time of day on observed rates in a local government area of Lagos state, Nigeria. A two-day cross-section observational survey was conducted in three observation points. The use rates by land use type, time of day and vehicle type were observed. A total of 40,753 vehicles were evaluated. In general, 43.1 percent of drivers observed used the sear belt. The highest seat belt compliance rate was observed in the residential sector (55. 8%), among private cars (65.1%), and between 1.00plll and 4.00pm (44.8%). The chi-square analysis confirmed significant differences in seat belt use across three land use types (X2=609.72, p = 0.001), vehicle types (K’= 11780.31; p = 0.001) and time of day (X2= 59.86; p= 0.001). More scar belt education and stricter enforcement of the seat belt regulation were suggested to raise the level of seat belt use in concerned areas, vehicle types and at the affected time interval

The Effect of Registration and Regulation on the Use of Herbal Medicines in an Urban Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria

The Effect of Registration and Regulation on the Use of Herbal Medicines in an Urban Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria

Impact of poverty on housing condition in Nigeria: A case study of Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State

The poor in most developing countries are found among four identifiable economic groups, the rural landless, the small farmers, the urban underemployed and the unemployed. Generally, the poor are dis-proportionately located in rural areas and slums in urban areas. The urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa especially the West Africa region experience difficult time. This research work examined the impact of poverty on housing condition in Mushin Local Government of Lagos State. The objectives of the study are to examine the socio economic characteristic of the residents in the study area; examine the type and quality of facilities in these houses; examine the existing housing condition (physical structure); examine the environmental quality surrounding these houses; and examine the relationship between poverty and housing in the study area. The methodology adopted includes the use of both primary and secondary data. The survey covered the ten wards in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State. Stratified random sampling technique was used in the administration of questionnaires based on the income of respondents that is, high, middle and low income area. The respondents consist of 187 males and 213 females. The questionnaire addressed issues concerning respondents’ socio-economic characteristic, physical environment and level of infrastructural facilities. Sixty questionnaires were administered in high income area, 100 questionnaires to middle income area, and 240 questionnaires to low income area. A total of 400 questionnaires were administered and the data obtained were analyzed with the use of both descriptive and simple statistical analysis. The findings revealed that poverty result in the poor health of the residents due to exposure to pollution of different forms. It also has adverse impact on the lives of people and housing condition. Among suggestions made were poverty alleviation programmes, provision of an effective loan scheme, partial upgrading, effective urban development policy, and improvement of sanitary conditions and enforcement of housing and building codes. If all these suggestions were adhered to there could be tremendous improvement in the standard of living and housing condition in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State. Key words: Poverty, housing, environment.

Technical Efficiency in Poultry Broiler Production in Umuahia Capital Territory of Abia State, Nigeria.

The study assesses the attitudes of women farmers towards urban agriculture in Somolu local government area of Lagos State. Fifty respondents were randomly selected from five extension blocks were purposively selected due to high concentrations of women involved in urban agriculture. The data obtained were analyzed with the aid of frequency count and percentages while chi-square was used to test the hypothesis. The findings indicates that the women’s' attitude to urban agriculture remains extremely negative. The statistical analysis performed on the respondents’ attitude towards urban agriculture as a profession revealed that there was significant relationship to the respondents’ age, marital status, educational level, years of experience and access to loan respectively while farm size, annual income, access to labour and access to inputs were statistically insignificant.

Impact of Microfinance Bank on Standard Of Living of Hairdresser in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government of Lagos State

The research study takes a look at the impact of Microfinance bank on standard of living of hairdressers in Oshodi-Isolo local government area (LGA) of Lagos State as a Poverty eradication strategy among the society. The objectives of the study examine how Microfinance bank in Oshodi-Isolo has impacted greatly on the business of hairdressers in the local Government and to also examine the impact of Microfinance on asset acquisition and savings of hairdressers in that LGA. A total of 120 hairdressers who registered with Oshodi-Isolo LGA were used as study sample. However, primary data of questionnaire analysis was adopted and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis was used as the estimation techniques. More so, the hypotheses of the research were tested at 5% level of significance and the result revealed that there is a significant relationship between Microfinance bank efforts and standard of living of hairdressers in Oshodi- Isolo local Government area of Lagos state, and the implication of this is that due to the existence and help of Microfinance bank, Poverty has reduced a little bit among the hairdressers association in Oshodi Isolo LGA. In conclusion, the study recommend that Government at Local, State and Federal levels through the Central bank of Nigeria should ensure that Microfinance bank loans are easily obtainable and repayment should include a grace period with reasonable schedule instead of weekly payment period that is commonly found among the microfinance banks in Nigeria.

An observational survey of child car safety practices in private pre-primary and primary schools in two local government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria

ObjectiveTo describe child car safety practices among children aged 0–8 years. Eight schools from two local government areas (LGAs) were selected by simple random sampling. Passenger cars were observed for...

Women in post harvest management of food production in Nigeria

Post harvest production management of food is arguably the most important aspect of the food production process besides harvesting, storage and preservation. Although women play a very important role in food production and post production food management, their efforts are largely unsupported and unaccounted for. This study reviewed women’s involvement in post harvest management of food in three local government areas of Lagos state within five main markets, using the questionnaire along with structured oral interview. This was to ascertain the extent of women’s involvement in post harvest food management. The purpose of the study included establishing the status of women and what can be done to give more recognition to women’s participation as well as reduce post harvest loss. Data collected yielded a preferred mode of training by the women to facilitate better post harvest management of food by women. The resulting data was treated with frequency tables and the chi-square test was conducted on the hypothesis. The study further identified constraints to post harvest food management experienced by women and this provided the baseline information for the researchers to propose ways of reducing post harvest loss. In effect, the data analysed generated educational requirements for the women. The women’s preference was mainly a special type of education that reflects and revolves around their dominant life pattern. Thus, a transformative re-education model was developed to integrate the women’s education into their sustainable economic life endeavour. Based on the study’s findings also, the researchers insisted that, since children of the women are also found to contribute heavily (up to 75% of the children) to post harvest activities, it was suggested that more schools be located in rural areas for proximity, among others. Key words: Post harvest food management, adult teaching methods, market women.

An Assessment of Implementation Strategies of Integrated Early Childcare and Development (IECD) in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State

The study investigated implementation strategies of integrated EarlyChildcare and Development (IECD) in Epe Local Government Area of LagosState. The sample for the study comprises 53 headteachers and 89 caregivers using purposive sampling techniques. The instrument used was a two part questionnaire. Simple percentages and chi-square (x2) were used toanalyse the data. The result showed that major stakeholders inimplementation of IECD were yet to be given proper in-service training. Thestudy also revealed non-availability of IECD curriculum and instructional/play materials in some schools/centres. Recommendations on how to properly implement the IECD curriculum were made.Lagos

An Appraisal of the Factors Influencing Rural-Urban Migration in Some Selected Local Government Areas of Lagos State Nigeria

This study identifies the factors influencing the rural-urban migration in some selected local government areas of Lagos State. It was carried out in Lagos because of its high concentration of migrants from different parts of the world. About 15 of the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State make up Lagos metropolis. These 15 LGAs were purposively chosen based on perceived migrants population and six (6) of these were randomly selected within their categories. In each LGA, the street listings of the 1991 National Census were used to draw a random list of seven streets from which 10 respondents were selected. Only 400 interview guides were however analyzed given the dearth of relevant data from the remaining 20.Data were collected by the use of pre-tested interview guide to elicit information from the respondents in the study areas. Logistic regression model was adopted for the data analysis.The study revealed that unemployment, education, family reasons, inadequate social amenities in the rural communities, avoidance of boredom in agriculture and health reasons are the major factors influencing rural-urban migration in Nigeria. It was however recommended that to stem down the rate of the migration, functional amenities such as pipe borne water, electricity, recreational facilities should be provided in the rural areas. Good educational facilities and qualified teachers should be made available in the rural areas. Agro-allied industries must be set-up in the rural areas in order to provide job opportunity for the rural dwellers.

The effect of milk formula advertisement on breast feeding and other infant feeding practice in Lagos, Nigeria

This study investigated the level of impact milk formula advertisements had on mothers’ choice of infant feeding in Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 225 mothers with children 0-2years were randomly selected from five hospitals in Lagos Island local government area of Lagos State. Validatedquestionnaires were used to obtain information from the mothers on their age, occupation, infant feeding pattern and type of infant formula advertisement seen. Data collected were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result of the study showed that 92% of the mothers were within the reproductive years (20-40years). Fifteen percent of the mothers were housewives and 84.9% had some form of occupation. The result also revealed that70% of the mothers breast fed only, 1.8% formula fed their babies and 27% practiced mixed feeding. The percentage of the mothers who saw or heard advertisement often from television, magazines,posters, radio and bill board were 31.6%, 24.9%, 18.2%, 3.6% and 3.1%, respectively, 82.7% of the mothers had seen or heard of some form of infant formula advertisement. The most commonly advertised infant formula was NAN (51.1%). The most common type of advertisement seen was television advert (31%); 18.7% of the mothers were influenced by infant formula advert while 64% were not. The result showed that there was a significant effect on the infant feeding practices before and after infant formula advertisement was seen at (f=3.387; 0.003) and (f=4.025; 0.001), respectively. The study concluded that there was a high percentage of mothers who breast fed their infants however analyses of the data before and after advert between the groups and within the groups of women showed that infant formula advertisement had a significant effect on mothers’ choice of infant feeding.

Child Street - Trading Activities and Its Effect on the Educational Attainment of Its Victims in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State

This study examined child street trading activities and its effect on the educational attainment of its victims inEpe local government area of Lagos State. One hundred and twenty (120) respondents were selected from 6communities using purposive sampling techniques, administered by means of interview guide. Childreninterviewed were between 10 and 18 years of age. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used indata analysis. The study revealed that most (60.8%) of the children who engaged in trading are females while39.2% were males. Also, 36.7% of the respondents are Christians while 40.3% are Muslims. Most (31.7%) of therespondents have a household size of 9 -12 persons while 34.2% have father’s occupation as fishing. Also,45.8% have mother’s occupation as trading. Only 20.0% undertake load carrying operation while 29.2% citedreason for involvement in street trading as poverty. Most (40.8%) are into sales of pure water. Majority of themearn a daily income of N500 – N1000 while 36.7% work morning and afternoon. Nevertheless, 70.9% of therespondents are of the opinion that child trading activities have a negative effect on the reading schedule ofchildren while 79.2% believes trading activities affect their school attendance rate. There is a significantrelationship between daily income and pure water selling (?2= 22.22, p < 0.05), orange hawking and head carrier(?2 = 21.72) p < 0.01). The study suggests the need for government to design appropriate programme aimed atpoverty reduction and recommends mass enlightenment for the populace to reduce the menace.

Demographic survey of traditional healers and their practices in Mushin local government area of Lagos state and Ifedore local government area of Ondo state, Nigeria

Traditional Healers (THs) are known to play an important role in health care delivery system in Nigeria and the majority of the population patronise them because of easy accessibility and affordability. However, traditional healing methods are generally associated with occultism, unhygienic environment and lack of documentation of mode of practice. It is thus imperative that their present level of practice should be upgraded to an acceptable standard which will eventually lead to their co-recognition or full integration into the health care delivery system in Nigeria. A demographic survey was conducted on some of the THs and their practices in Mushin (within 7 out of 8 health districts) and Ifedore (within the 7 health districts) Local government areas (LGA) of Lagos and Osun States respectively. The surveys revealed that while the majority (about 76%) of the practitioners in Ifedore LGA were operating their clinics on part-time basis. The majority (about 98%) were operating on full-time basis in Mushin LGA. About 52% (in Ifedore) and 52% (in Mushin) used only medical methods for treating their patients while 26% (in Mushin) and 48% (in Ifedore) used both medical and occultic methods. The survey showed that the THs are contributing their quota in the management of diseases especially at the primary health care level. However, there is a need for the government to establish traditional healers' schools to retrain the existing healers in basic medical practices and to train more practitioners that will increase the number of health manpower at primary care level.