Local Government Areas Of State Research Articles

Flood Vulnerability Assessment of Communities in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria

Floods are natural events, however, due to various anthropogenic activities coupled with climate change, flooding tends to be both human-induced and natural events. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) techniques can spatially process different physical-environmental parameters in flood risk assessment and the present study determine the extent of vulnerability among the communities in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. From the analysis, spatial extent of 932.26 km2 (13.48%) showed low flood vulnerability level while a spatial extent of 3411.37 km2 (49.33%) and 2572.09 km2 (37.19%) indicated moderate and high flood vulnerability levels respectively. At the Local Government Areas (LGAs) level, the low vulnerability covers 932.27 km2 which represented 13.48% of the entire LGAs in Akwa Ibom State, the medium vulnerability covers a spatial extent of 3411.37 km2 which represented 49.33% of the entire state while the high vulnerability covers a spatial extent of 2572.09 km2 which represented 37.19% of the LGAs in the state. The outcome further revealed that Two (2) LGAs are found within the low vulnerability, nineteen (19) LGAs are found within the medium vulnerability while ten (10) LGAs are found within the high vulnerability. At the community level, the analysis indicated that among the 795 communities in the state, 138 of the communities which represent 17.36% of the entire communities have low vulnerability to flood hazards, 429 communities at 53.96% have medium vulnerability level while 228 communities which represent 28.68% of the entire communities in the state have high flood vulnerability level. The generated maps and identified LGAs and communities at different flood vulnerability zones are useful in all steps of disaster management (prevention, mitigation, preparedness, operations, relief and recovery) and should be considered during initial planning.

Kidnapping and Hostage taking: an emerging Issues of Insecurity in Kastina State

The Governor Masari of Kastina State has cited the high level of insecurity in his state as very worrisome on 2nd January, 2019 at one of the extraordinary security meeting in Katsina which was organized to find a lasting solution to the resurgence of insecurity in the state, said: “all most every day by day we received reports from security agencies about threat of kidnapping, armed robbery and banditry. “No one, not even I, is safe. So, this is the situation and that is why we are here to find a way out, which is a must. There is no option because we are thinking of the survival of our people and state. “It is now a daily occurrence as no day passes without a case recorded. It is not even rustling of cows but now kidnapping of people. “Our state is currently under serious siege by armed robbers, kidnappers and armed bandits who arrest rural people at the grassroots at will and demand ransom, which if not paid, they kill their victims. “The Permanent Secretary was just informing me that his close relative was kidnapped and a ransom of N5 million was demanded and the person who took the money to them was shot. “Some people visited me, and as they left, they were trailed and robbed of their belongings. The armed robbers could not go away with the vehicle because it has security lock on it. “In the past, they carried out their activities in the middle of the night, but now, they operate at midnight, 10pm and gradually in broad day light. “It is not up to a month, right here in front of Government House, five electricity poles were carted away. It is getting out of hand that we should not fold our arms. Let’s return to God, let’s pray to Him to salvage the situation. So we must reach a lasting solution at this meeting to curtail this ugly trend. “The citizens are on daily basis being harassed by bandits and kidnappers that are on rampage in the state. Based on the above statement of Governor Masari of Katsina State, this paper has the general objective of finding out the major causes of these emerging issues of insecurity in Kastina State from 2017-2019 and finding a lasting solution to the problem, the paper has uses secondary source of data to generate relevant information and analyses the problem. The paper has highlighted the nature of insecurity problems in Katsina curb around kidnapping, armed robbery and banditry in all most 34 local government areas in state which was happening at any giving time of the day or night good peoples of Katsina are in serious confusion because the situation is moving out of control of current security operatives in the state. The paper has of the view that security mechanism need to be improved by demonstrating serious effort and commitment from government at level and the local communities.

Health Information Needs and It’s Sources among Rural Dwellers in Egbedore Local Government Areas of State of Osun, Nigeria

The study investigated the health information needs and its sources among rural dwellers in Egbedore local government areas of the state of Osun. The study employed a survey and observation methods to collect information from rural dwellers, findings from the data analyzed revealed the health information needs such as immunization, family planning, pre-natal, personal hygiene, malaria, clean water supply and post-natal. Sources of health information to includes; radio, town crier, health officers, church, mosque, posters, ministry of health information van, conversation, television and newspapers. The result of the research indicated that radio, town crier, health officers and ministry of health van were their most preferred sources of information. It was indicated that library performed no roles in information dissemination in rural areas of Egbedore as a result of non-availability of library and its facilitiesin the area. Recommendation was made on how the library can assist in provision of health information to rural dwellers.