₦airaland Forum

I didn't watch the interview, but then, I don't need to.

As a Northern muslim, I'm not a fan of Buhari. But that didn't change the hard, cold, fact that with him as our president, things will be far better than they are now.

However, the choice of Prof Osinbajo as VP swept me off my feet, completely. I don't know the man, never seen or heard him speak but reading people's testimonies of the man's brilliance drew my attention to him.

I will vote Buhari/Osinbajo ticket because of the Prof. Certainly.

wip7:
Thats fine, i will love to hear more on how your work goes in that region. Really, if the Govt show interest in the remediation work, i think it will benefit the researcher a lot. Try to demonstrate the use of the adsorbent for them in Lab or small scale industry-type system. See what you can use the recovered Pb to do.

You have to ensure that your adsorbent desorption capability and desorption rate is rapid and high that way you can spend less adsorbent and still remediate high capacity.



May i ask, how do you intend to destroy underlying gases in the Landfill since your adsorbent may likely take only adsorbates like Pb, Cu etc not gases.

We hope to do all that.

The work on bottom ash is different from my PhD work on leachate attenuation.

In Nigeria, we don't have landfills much as we have a 'landhill'. There is no engineered landfill (or even a sanitary one) in Sokoto, they're just open plots where waste is dumped so the gases generated cannot be destroyed as all of them will escape. The idea for this work came up after I made a strong recommendation for a construction of, at least, a sanitary landfill in the state in one of our in-house seminars attended by the state's SSG.

They really are keen

wip7:
Okay, around June i have conference in USA i shall meet the Bostwana researcher and discussed with him cos he is currently undergoing analytical training on spatial exploration and biogeochemical characterizations in Berkeley Lab Earth Sciences Division.

The consultant argument was right, most of the medical wastes may contain toxic components that are recalcitrant. But am sure you can easily use the spent bottom ash very well. I have tried that very well in lab scale and i did the economics as well. With just 20gr bottom ash in Up-flow column system i was able to recover and treat copper infected industrial water....saved almost 65% cost using alternative and cost-benefit models.

hmmmmm I used to know about the lead leach in Zamfara, i thought they have been able to clear that? There are lots of projects in Zamfara but i dont know how willing they like to execute them.

I'll appreciate getting access to him.

The government was a bit reluctant to commit to the remediation exercise, leaving it, first, to doctors without borders. Recently, there is a renewed interest.

Yes, we will be able to use the spent bottom ash for the exercise. We'll definitely save the government some money.
The government is recently, is showing renewed interest in research studies. There are several going on. It will be a good idea to try. I would love to be one of your research assistants, sir.

wip7:
Yes the Geo-statistical simulation and modeling will help a lot for spatial data exploration and surface generation. Unfortunately, our climatic and geochemical features differs although is adaptable work. Am working in the Mediterranean region and those particular studies are designed for Turkey and North Cyprus region. There is a researcher in Bostwana working on goldmine and copper deposit that i met in California recently that hopes to work on " optimization and modeling of natural attenuation parameters of leachates from landfill in Bostwana" ..i feel you guys work wiill be very close due to similar geoclimatic conditions.


Which mechanisms by which landfill leachate is attenuated by soil are you conversant with? .....(adsorption, biological action, ion-exchange reactions, dilution, filtration, and precipitation reactions)

The Medical Waste Bottom Ash: What will you do with it after spent? Do you know you can use it as adsorbent again for heavy metal remediation?

I feel the theme of my work is similar to the Bostwana guy. If you can help, I would want to be in touch with him.

Attenuation mechanism? I am conversant with all (from my readings of the literature) but focused on, for my work, on sorption, redox reactions, ion exchange, precipitation and degradation processes.

Yes, exactly! Zamfara government is still spending a lot of money for remediation of the sites (villages, actually) of recent lead poisoning. I made a proposal to the effect that we can use the bottom ash as an adsorbent for the remediation exercise (the government's chief consultant is my supervisor). The consultant argued that we have to study the bottom ash for traces of toxic chemicals before using it as an adsorbent and I was commissioned to do it.

wip7:
That is great to hear about this. Wow environmental chem is actually a great area. I have extensive knowledge of that and i have developed robust system for single to multiple stage treatment of industrial water, hospital wastewater, emerging pollutants like antibiotics, phenolic compounds like p-nitrophenol etc.

You may try Chicken Eggshell/duck eggshells as Heterogeneous catalyst...

Your bioethanol: How do you classify it? is it Ethanol or methanol? cos with Ethanol, you will get low product yield due to the chain conformation...methanol is perfect!


I have a recently submitted works on the following and how does that relate to your region:

1. Geostatistical modeling and fractal simulation for mineral resource classification in Landfill sites

2. Evaluation and Characterization of vertical distribution of geochemical data in samsun gold deposit using fractal models

Wow! This is wonderful. I would love to know more of your works. Aside my PhD research, I have also submitted a proposal for 'Analysis of Toxic Chemicals in Incinerated Medical Waste Bottom Ash'. This will cover Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states.

Yes, there was a low yield of biodiesel produced using the bioethanol. My idea was to use a different catalyst from the traditional NaOH/KOH we are using in Nigeria to see if we can achieve, even marginally, higher yield than is obtainable from the literature. It backfired.

I will definitely try chicken/duck eggshells as a heterogeneous catalyst in the future. It is cheaper and readily available.

There are works in the natural attenuation of leachates from landfills in the tropics, my work entails studying effects of seasonal dynamics on the leachate production and monitoring its attenuation combined with biogeochemical analysis and develop a model that will enable us determine how it affects groundwater.

I think your works would be very useful in such a way that it will add to our insight in the use of geostatistical data (which we will not be using), to further test our model and make a case for the state government (by the way, they are the sponsors of the work) to embark on landfill construction

I don't know if your research area have the same climatic and, by extension, geochemical characteristics as my own. But I'm sure your works will be of help.

Would love to read them.

husseinjnr:
You are welcome. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

You're welcome, bro.

wip7:
Waow biodiesel is great. I produced that from waste fruits seeds, peels, waste vegetables and plant materials. Is actually easy stuff to do...we still have tested samples we produced. Do they use it in Nigeria now at commercial level? If you have great passion for it...you can tell me what raw materials you have abundant you want to use....I will tell you parameters to check and then you start that. Do you know you can produce it from used/waste cooking oil? I did and also instead of using NaOH an homogeneous catalyst..i decided to produce my own catalyst from Eggshell waste and used it as heterogeneous catalyst. You can produce the methanol you need for the conversion from cattle dung as well.

Great deal of research. I love it. We (I and my project student) recently produced biodiesel (FAEE) from castor and water melon seed oils using bioethanol (which we also produced ourselves). We used heterogeneous catalyst (BaO.MgO.CaO/Al2O3). It was the first biofuels project I supervised (as I'm more into environmental chemistry and anthropogenic pollution and prefer working in the area) but I had to seek the help of a colleague who specializes in fuels catalysis. It was fun. I think I'll do it again.

Now this is where one belongs. An introduction, however:

I am an academic, a lecturer in one of the Northern Universities. I earned a BSc in Chemistry (UDUSok), MSc Petroleum Chemistry (UDUSok), MSc Environmental Technology, with a specialty in Landfill Engineering (Wolverhampton, UK) and PhD (in view) (UDUSok).

My PhD research area is Environmental Geochemistry. We are trying to develop a model that could/would make it possible to predict the time and extent of groundwater contamination by the natural attenuation of (landfill) leachate in the city of Sokoto.

Hopefully, we will be through by late 2015

Lemme register too

Was there any mention, even in passing, of the Chibok girls please?

dollarsplenty:
Is Jelani Aliyu from Yorubaland? Jelani is from Sokoto state and schooled briefly in ABU Zaria before he left for US. dont be in a hurry to abuse others, first check yourself.

Jelani schooled in Waziri Umaru Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi not ABU, before leaving for Detroit

Jelani has always had passion for car design. There still are a lot of car drawings in the room where he spent most of his youth, the room we took over after he left for US.

Growing up, he was our mentor. He was (still is) a symbol of dedication, commitment and persistence.

His simplicity is his greatest virtue.

eripecs:
I wish I was forced like you. Just thinking of putting in for the program next year. Am happy for you

Thank you, my sister.

Sometimes what one needs is just to be a bit respectful and a dose of luck to have the kind of superiors I have.

I wish you the best of luck as you prepare to take the plunge

eripecs:
Its indispensable for those in the academics. My advice for the singles is to put in for their PhD immediately after their masters. If I had taken heed to this advice, I would have completed the program by now.

I so agree. I was practically forced by my superiors in my school to enroll for a PhD. Thankfully, I will be done with it by late 2015.

Not easy, though.

I agree with all these.

I decided to pursue a PhD because my job requires it. Now, I don't know where to classify that.

It has, however, given me intense satisfaction and joy, it makes me feel I can truly earn my 'strifes' in my chosen profession.

On the downside, it is incredibly difficult and requires total commitment and focus. Plus one has to choose (for those of us studying in Nigeria) one's supervisors carefully.

I will go with GEJ's for its simplicity and artistry.

I will also go with Buhari's for the message it sends and the hope it raises.

APContherun:
You know sometimes some things are not necessary. I still repeat Jonathan owes you nothing as regards his qualifications. If you have need for it, make the short trip to Port Harcourt surely it's not going to cost you so much and make enquiries. You can even place a call direct to the registry department of the school to find out. The burden of proof is with the claimant, you have claimed that Jonathan never went to school, go beyond that and prove it. You can even take him to court and charge him for lying so the truth may come out finally.

Burden of proof is with the claimant? Enough said. No further engagements

APContherun:
Jonathan doesn't owe you anything as regards his theses, he doesn't need to prove anything to you. If you as you feel in need of his theses just make the short trip to the university he graduated from and ask questions. Expecting me or another to do it for you when I have no need for it is pure laziness.

A few examples here might help; when Donald Trump was leading the charge that President Obama was not born in the US, the president had to release his birth certificate to the public. Now, you won't be so gullible as to accuse a billionaire of laziness by failing to make a simple inquiry in a hawaiian hospital to find out the truth, right? He made the charge, the president provided the proof. At home here, a few weeks ago, people were accusing Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode of having no requisite experience to govern Lagos. His response? Release of his CV showing all the experience he has and why he feels he is qualified to run for governorship. People made the charge, he provided the proof. Certainly, you won't accuse of his critics of laziness, will you? Now, the onus is on those who failed to be convinced by his proof to go and verify from the schools.

Why should this be different in the case of GEJ? Charges were made and he could not provide the proof that could and would enable his doubters to verify the claims. Certainly, he could not be more presidential than Obama or, for that matter, a technocrat than Ambode.

And who says I'm expecting you to do it for me? C'mon! We are expecting the president tho respond to the allegations, not a non starter like you. By the way, do you think the school will provide that kind of information easily? In Nigeria? Keep sentiment aside and face the reality of things. There is a structural pattern, a protocol for these kind of things. We made our own and the next move is the President's.

BlackSEER:
you are expecting others to verify it for you when you are still alive,lazy man

Hehehe! Silence, they say, is the best answer to a...

APContherun:
You know it's very simple. If you want to know the titles of his degrees all you need do is check with the Zoology Dept of Uniport. If the dept says it doesn't have records of his theses then you know he lied about his qualifications. I don't know why it's difficult for you to do.

Really? In the internet age? Besides, he is our president for God's sake. He, and everything about him, is a public property. He should make it public

In addition to not knowing his students, the titles of both his MSc and PhD theses are not known. There is also no record of any academic publication (journal article, conference paper, book) credited to him either as main or co-author. These are things that should be easily verifiable. Common, do we even know his colleagues?

Lecturers. They always get them raw

Death brings wails and lamentations. Death brings silence too.

As you receive the scraped remains, flesh and bones and sand from the north,
of your kin
and more and more of the horrible horrible news

Who will comfort me as you want me to comfort you?
What answers do you seek for what questions?
What dance of shame on this blood soaked earth?
My markets are burnt and dried up.

We do not know what is going on, with each passing day we are perplexed the more.
We do not understand the immediate problem.
How can we find immediate answers?
The newspapers will not give you correct casualty figures or identify suspects or the deceased
And you trust the gist of the matter in the news is quite accurate?

Do not say, 'but they live among you, why don't you cast and reject them?'.
Do not say, 'why don't you give information to the security people?'.
Do not say, 'why don't their imams wage a war from the pulpit against the terrorists if the people and religion are indeed peaceful?'.
Do not say, 'these born to rule savages want power at all cost'.
Do not say, 'why don't their leaders speak out against this?'.
Do not say, 'these attacks are obviously "targeted", calculated blood thirst'.


Do not say what your misperception and fact gaps and distance from the 'situation on ground' drives your vulnerable heart to.

we die among them even as they live among us
informants have died in waves and waves
the pulpits are almost empty from the death of imams who launched righteous missiles from it
we are not the ones who have seen this power and know of it so how can we want it what will benefit us in no way and will be held in betrayed trust by our brothers and yours?

You are right, targeted, calculated; 'to what end?' ask yourself in the same breath.
Mine or yours?

In your grief, see my despair and let us tell ourselves ... 'this is not an age for anger'.