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Proceedings of the first conference to be concerned with the Kano region, Kasar Kano, held on the university

It is an indisputable fact that Nigeria is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country. It is also widely recognized that the country has an abundance of material and human resources due to its diverse population. But what was once seen and considered as a blessing has turned into a serious problem for governance and politics in Nigeria. This is because the determination of ethnic entrepreneurs to invoke the common consciousness shared by individuals who identify with a specific ethnic or religious group lies at the heart of a lot of governance and policy challenges in the country. Symbolic ethnic pluralism has been an element in conflictual group relations whenever there is socioeconomic and political competition in the country. The objective of this paper is to examine how public policy agenda-setting and ethnoreligious consciousness intersect in Nigeria. The study used a qualitative approach, collecting data from the author's observations as well as a comprehensive analysis of the body of existing literature. The findings imply that the overlapping roles of power, perception, potency, and proximity in political mobilization and policy-making in Nigeria have an impact on the intersection of ethnicity and religion as well as the reduction of complex geostrategic and historical conflicts to ethnic strife. The study recommended that the country's current institutional arrangements and social norms be drastically altered.

Influence of six metal ions viz. Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Ba2+ on the binding affinity of human serum albumin (HSA) towards three antimalarial drugs, namely, sulfadoxine (SDN), mefloquine (MEF) and lumefantrine (LUM) was investigated using fluorescence quenching titrations. The effects of metal ions (Mn2+, Cu2+ and Ba2+) were similar on the affinity of HSA towards SDN, MEF and LUM. Values of the association constant, Ka, for SDN/MEF/LUM ̶ HSA interactions in the presence of these metal ions, decreased significantly in the order: Mn2+ > Cu2+ > Ba2+. On the other hand, the presence of Mg2+, K+, and Ca2+ affected the binding affinity for these drugs differently. Whereas a slight increase in the Ka value of the SDN ̶ HSA complex was seen in the presence of Mg2+, Ca2+ produced a similar effect on the LUM ̶ HSA system. For MEF ̶ HSA and LUM ̶ HSA systems, effects of K+ and Mg2+ were similar, showing a decrease in the Ka value, being more effective with K+; however, this decrease was more significant than Mn2+, Cu2+ and Ba2+. Values of 'n' remained approximately equal to 1, hinting at a single binding site for each drug.

Background: Widespread access to good quality antihypertensive medicines is a critical component for reducing premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Poor-quality medicines pose serious health concerns; however, there remains a knowledge gap about the quality of cardiovascular medicines available in low- and middle-income countries.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the quality of generic antihypertensive medicines available in the retail market of a developing country.Methods: Samples of the 2 most commonly prescribed classes of antihypertensive medicines were collected from 3 states in 3 different geopolitical zones in Nigeria following a semirandom sampling framework. Medicine samples were purchased by mystery shoppers from 22 pharmacy outlets from 6 local government areas across the 3 states. Medicine quality was determined by measuring the amount of stated active pharmaceutical ingredient using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and classified according to their compliance to the specified pharmacopeia tolerance limits for each antihypertensive drug.Results: Amlodipine and lisinopril were identified as the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive drugs in Nigeria. In total, 361 samples from 22 pharmacies were collected and tested. In total, 24.6% of amlodipine and 31.9% of lisinopril samples were of substandard quality and significantly more samples purchased in rural (59 of 161, 36.7%) compared with urban (32 of 200, 16%) outlets were found to be of substandard quality (p < 0.001). No falsified samples of either amlodipine or lisinopril were detected. There was large variation in price paid for the antihypertensive medicines (range ₦150 to ₦9,750). Of the 24 pharmacy outlets surveyed, 46% stated that patients did not always require a prescription and 21% had previously reported a medicine as falsified or substandard.Conclusions: More than one-quarter of some commonly prescribed antihypertensive medicines available in Nigeria may be of substandard quality. Enhanced quality assurance processes in low- and middle-income countries, such as Nigeria, are needed to support optimum management.HighlightsManagement of hypertension can largely be achieved through availability of and adherence to qualitative evidence-based medicines. There is very little research examining the quality of antihypertensive medicines available in the retail market of low- and middle-income countries.In total, 361 samples of amlodipine and lisinopril were collected from 22 pharmacies and their stated active pharmaceutical ingredient was measured.More than a quarter of some commonly prescribed antihypertensive medicines available in Nigeria appear to be of substandard quality (samples had more or less stated active pharmaceutical ingredient than stated in the United States Pharmacopeia–specified tolerance limits range).However, the proportion of substandard quality was not statistically different for amlodipine and lisinopril, and significantly more samples purchased in rural compared with urban outlets were of substandard quality.No falsified samples (containing no stated active pharmaceutical ingredient) of either amlodipine or lisinopril were detected.Enhanced quality assurance processes in low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria are needed to support optimum management.