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The conscientious pursuit of crime prevention is a worthy objective of every criminal law and criminal justice system as a whole, and many evidences prove that law and order would break down in the absence of the criminal justice system. Withmuchemphasis onpunishment,however, victims of criminal offencesmore oftenbecome alienatedand end up getting immersed in a complex physical and psychological trauma under a criminal proceedingthat does not include them as a formal party. This paper presents adebate on whether the state is a better agent to pursue breaches of individual rights such as murder, rape, burglary, and theft, which are tagged as criminal offences. Or is the individual victim better equipped to decide on taking on the case for justice through either retribution or compensation?The paper examines the concept of punitive sanction throughthe postcolonial theory lens and argues forthe decolonization of the coloniallyinherited criminal law and a shift towards a System in which the victim is capable of being empowered by invoking processes that place him within proximity to criminal proceedings. This perspective questions the foundational assumption of the State ordered punishmentas intrinsic to the functions of the criminal justice system.There is a wide array of potential methodologies for studies of this nature, but this paper adopts a basic historical survey through secondary sources. The findings of the paper reveal that the pursuit of justice in all its nuanced forms will be much better served under a justice system that promotes the victim’s right to apply for compensation, damages and restitution in criminal cases through personal remedies.

Introduction: Diseases of the ovary are diversely arising from the different parenchymal tissue components. This span between reactive functional cysts to more debilitating ovarian carcinoma. Ovarian carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer and one of the leading cause of cancer death among female. This study aims to determine the epidemiological and histopathological patterns of ovarian masses in our setting. Materials and Methods: The study material was all the ovarian tissues biopsy specimen submitted to the Department of Histopathology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto over five years. These were fixed in 10% formal saline embedded in paraffin wax, tissue blocks formed and were sections and stained with hematoxylin and eosin on the glass slides. Request cards and case folders were used to extract clinical information. These were reviewed, analysed and presented as frequency distribution figures. Results: There were 112 ovarian biopsies during the study period. Their ages ranged between 13 and 67 years and peaked in the fourth decade of life. Fifty per cent of all the cases were seen between the ages of 21 and 40 years. Benign neoplastic diseases formed 50% of the ovarian masses and matured cystic teratoma was the most common. Others were reactive and functional ovarian cysts (24.1%), malignant neoplastic conditions (14.3%) and inflammatory / infectious diseases (11.6%). Overall mature cystic teratoma constitutes 27% of the entire ovarian masses. Conclusions: Matured cystic teratoma was the most common disease of the ovary in our setting, afflicting young female, while malignant tumours dominated by serous cystadenocarcinoma affect the older age group. The fourth decade of life was the most common age of affectation. We advocate for proper histopathologic evaluation of all ovarian masses to arrive at a definitive diagnosis to offer an appropriate treatment modality. Keywords: Pathology, Ovary, Mature cystic Teratoma, Serous cystadenocarc

Background: Empyema thoracis is defined as the presence of pus in the pleural space or a purulent pleural effusion. Chronic empyema is characterized by thickened visceral and parietal peels which hamper the ability of the affected lung to re-expand and requires definitive surgical intervention. In a resource constraint environment like our, open thoracotomy and decortication is the treatment of choice. The aim of this article is to review our experience with cases of chronic empyema thoracis that had thoracotomy and decortication Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive and observational study. Medical records of patients who had thoracotomy and decortication on account of chronic empyema thoracis in the cardiothoracic surgery unit of our hospital between 2012 and 2020 were retrieved and reviewed. The information obtained from the records included gender, age, premorbid conditions, aetiology of empyema, cultures of pleural fluids, histology results of the cortex removed, duration of chest tube drainage, duration of hospital stay, postoperative complications and outcome. Results: One hundred and eighty-five patients diagnosed with empyema thoracis were seen in the study period. Sixty-five patients had thoracotomy and decortication on account of chronic empyema thoracis while the remaining 120 (64.9%) had closed tube thoracostomy drain insertion. Male: female was 5:1, mean age at presentation 24.24 years with age ranging from 2 years to 70 years. Fourteen (23.33%) were in the paediatric age group while the remaining (76.67%) were adults. The aetiology of empyema was pneumonia in 36 (60%). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the commonest organism isolated from pleural fluids of these patients accounting for 23.33%. All patients underwent thoracotomy and decortication. The mean duration before surgery was 17 days with a range of 2 days to 40 days. The average duration of surgery was 2 hours. Chest tube was removed after an average of 7 days (range 5 to 33 days. Twenty-one patients (35%) had complications. Average duration of drainage was 18.87 days and that of hospital stay was 36.74 days. There were 3 mortalities (5%). The mean duration of follow-up was 3 months. Conclusion: Chronic empyema thoracis is still common in our environment and presentation is usually very late. In our series, open thoracotomy and decortication was found to be an excellent procedure with low morbidity and mortality. Majority of our patients had good functional outcome with few complications.

Background: Asthma accounts for 1 out of every 250 deaths worldwide. Many of these deaths are preventable as they occur as a result of suboptimal long-term medical care and delay in seeking help during severe exacerbation. It is believed that increased concentrations of dust, high winds, low temperatures, and low humidity may cause exacerbation of asthma. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess seasonal variation in asthma exacerbation among patients attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. Materials and Methods: Eighty-seven patients aged 16 years and above with physician-diagnosed asthma were selected by systematic random sampling. Clinical information was obtained from each participant about history of asthma exacerbation and health-care utilization. Meteorological data were obtained from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency corresponding to period of patient's recruitment. Results: Eighty-seven patients comprising 60 females and 27 males aged 32.1 ± 10.8 years participated in the study. Among the study participants, 50.6%, 28.7%, and 20.7% had exacerbation during harmattan, rainy, and dry (hot) seasons, respectively. Correlation analysis shows a significant negative relationship between temperature and asthma exacerbation (r = −0.372, P < 0.01). Conclusion: This study shows that asthma exacerbation is most frequent during the harmattan season and low temperature is associated with its exacerbation.

Background: Diseases of children in most developing countries revolve commonly around infectious disorders and malnutrition. However, other conditions including neoplastic diseases may be unassuming challenges to the attending physician. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological and histopathological pattern of malignant tumours among children in a northern Nigerian tertiary health institution. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of malignant tumours in children aged fifteen years and below diagnosed over a ten year period (1st January 2011- 31st December 2020). Histopathology laboratory records at the Department of Pathology, Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state, were reviewed and all diagnoses of malignant tumours were extracted. The findings were compared with similar studies elsewhere. Results: There were 36 children with confirmed cases of malignant tumours; 22 males and 14 females. The male to female ratio was 1.7:1. The peak age of incidence was 11-15years. The most common childhood malignant tumours were rhabdomyosarcoma, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Head and neck region was the commonest area of affectation. Conclusion: The most common malignant tumours in children in our setting are sarcomas and small round blue cell tumours of childhood affecting predominantly older male children with head and neck regional predilections. Malignant tumours in children though not very common, are an important aspect of paediatric disorders to the attending physician due to their high morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of such can be challenging to the pathologist, especially in resource constrain environments. High index of suspicion is therefore advocated to detect the tumour in its early stage that is associated with low morbidity and mortality.

Educational institutions, information and knowledge givers in Nigeria are faced with numerous challenges of carrying everyone on the same page through the lack of proper digital learning and knowledge preservation tools simply regarded as a digital library. In any learning institution, digital libraries and institutional repositories are the keys to a qualitative knowledge stockpiling and delivery. The main aim of the paper is to propose a viable means of effective digital learning for the Polytechnics in Northern Nigeria. This paper also attempted to highlight the major information system components needed to develop a digital learning that will fit the Institutions with an approach through Multimedia data mining and suggests an Institutional Knowledge repository for proper academic data storage such as journals, thesis, lecture notes, dissertations, undergraduate student projects etc. The proposed system is expected to serve as a step towards bridging the gap between the polytechnics learning system and the tertiary institutions in the developed nations.

Background: Cigarette smoking is a widespread social habit in Nigeria with extensive deleterious multisystemic effect. Ventilatory dysfunction is one of the cigarette smoking-related illnesses that affect the respiratory system. Spirometry is an investigative method that can be used for the early detection of ventilatory dysfunction even before the onset of the symptoms. Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire adapted from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey was administered to collect demographic, clinical, and cigarette smoking data. Ventilatory function test was conducted using Clement Clarke (One Flow) Spirometer, version 1.3. The highest value of each ventilatory function index was chosen for analysis, and individual(s) with ventilatory dysfunction were subjected to post bronchodilator spirometry. Results: For the purpose of this research, 150 participants who were currently cigarette smokers were enrolled, and 50 apparently healthy, age-matched individuals who were never smokers served as controls in the ratio of 3:1. Eighty percent of participants and 68% of controls were aged 40 years or below. The mean age of participants (34.27 ± 8.91 years) and the controls (35.08 ± 10.35 years) was not significantly different (P = 0.592). Similarly, there were no statistically significant differences between the mean anthropometric indices (weight: P = 0.663, height: P = 0.084, and body mass index: P = 0.099) of both participants and controls. The mean values of FEV1 (forced expiratory flow in one second) and FEV1/FVC (FVC=forced vital capacity) were lower in the participants compared to the controls, and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). There was a weak negative correlation between pack-years of cigarette smoking and FEV1 (r = −0.237 and P = 0.004). Obstructive ventilatory defect was found among six study participants (4%) and two controls (4%). Conclusion: Cigarette smoking is associated with decline in ventilatory function test indices (FEV1 and FEV1/FVC) in adult males. Decline in FEV1 is directly related to pack-years of cigarette smoking.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), also known as cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis, is one of a spectrum of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. IPF is an increasingly common condition which poses many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges leading to misdiagnosis and mismanagement. We presented a 55-year-old male textile trader who was initially managed as sputum-negative pulmonary tuberculosis before histology report. He presented to our clinic with Breathlessness and cough of 3 years and 2.5 years, respectively. He had commenced anti-tuberculosis two months before presentation without significant relief. General Physical examination and vital signs were essentially normal. SPO2 was 96% on room air. Chest Examination revealed end-inspiratory bi-basal velcro-like crackles. Other systemic examinations were normal. Radiological examination by way of chest X- ray and chest CT showed features suggestive of IPF. The patient also had open Lung biopsy for histology and spirometry which demonstrated restrictive ventilatory function pattern. A diagnosis of Interstitial lung disease probably Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis was entertained. He was commenced on Tab prednisolone, Tab Rabeprazole, with minimal improvement. IPF have often been misdiagnosed and treated as pulmonary tuberculosis with unfavorable outcome.