Many years of neglect by government and inadequate investment in public infrastructure has left the public drinking water supply in Nigeria in an unreliable state. The society has therefore taken to several adaptive measures of alleviating this stress. One of these is dependence on sachet water, popularly referred to as 'pure water'. Although easy to serve and the price is affordable, complaints abound on its purity and other health concerns. A gradual nationwide ban was proposed by the national regulator for this packaged water but the market still witnesses tremendous growth, especially among the poor. To determine the bacteriological quality of drinking water sold in sachets in Lagos, Nigeria, one hundred samples of high- and low-demand sachet waters obtained from vendors at hot-spot locations were assessed using the multiple tube fermentation method. Based on the zero tolerance standards stipulated by the regulator, a 22% non-compliance level was recorded. Recommendations that may contribute to a policy that would allow for an integrated and holistic approach in managing the sachet water industry are discussed. The need for support of such local initiatives, especially in the drive towards achieving the much publicised Millennium Development Goals for universal water access, is also highlighted.

This study examined the pattern of saving and investment among four hundred cooperative farmers in southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique. Results show that cooperative farmers in southwestern Nigeria are mostly males, literate and of average age of 47 years. About 40% of total capital borrowed was expended on farm work and mean annual total investment was N75,043.00, with cooperative farmers earning more than 3 times the investment made. Average annual savings was N31,572.00 and this increased in proportion to annual incomes in the area. However, the unavailability and inadequacy of credit was a major problem of the farmers. Different factors influenced cooperative farmers’ saving and investment patterns. Income, loan repayment and amount of money borrowed were significant variables that influenced saving patterns while the fund borrowed significantly influenced investment patterns. These factors therefore have to be considered in designing strategies aimed at improving the saving and investment patterns of cooperative farmers in southwestern Nigeria. Additionally, the saving and investment level of the cooperative farmers can be enhanced if loans are adequately made available and proper supervision and monitoring of funds for specified production purposes are put in place.

The lack of current network dynamics studies that evaluate the effects of new application and protocol deployment or long-term studies that observe the effect of incremental changes on the Internet, and the change in the overall stability of the Internet under various conditions and threats has made network monitoring challenging. A good understanding of the nature and type of network traffic is the key to solving congestion problems. In this paper we describe the architecture and implementation of a scalable network traffic moni-toring and analysis system. The gigabit interface on the monitoring system was configured to capture net-work traffic and the Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) and Webalizer produces graphical and detailed traffic analysis. This system is in use at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; we describe how this system can be replicated in another environment.