Re-Engineering the Business Education Programme in Universities for Enhanced Human Resources Development in Nigeria

The paper reviewed business  education programme in  Nigeria Vis-a-Vis its role  in human resource development  and highlighted deficiencies in programme curricular and delivery changes needed in  remodeling  of the programme to enhance learning outcomes, in crease skill acquisition, meet  world’s standards and current  labour demands in business organizations were suggested. The paper recommended the use of hybrid e-learning  and traditional teaching process as appropriate for optimizing  programme delivery and learning  outcomes. It  further recommended that Nigerian government  should adopt a policy of massive retraining of teachers in E- learning /s e- teaching, provision of ICT  infrastructure and other equipment needed for  proper teaching of business education in secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Keywords: Business education , Human resources  development, ICT

An Assessment of Business Competencies Needed by Business Education Students for Entrepreneurial Development in Nigeria

The paper examined the business competencies required by business education students for entrepreneurial development in Nigeria.  To achieve the objective, two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the  study. Survey design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 6002 business education students. Six hundred  (600) students were selected through satisfied sampling techniques and were used for the study. A structured questionnaire was developed by the researchers. The questionnaire was face-validated by three experts in the Departments of Business and science Education of Ebonyi State University. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using  Cronbach   Alpha correlation coefficient and it yielded an index of 0.95. Mean , standard deviation and t-test were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that business education students required management and marketing  competencies to function well in the business environment. It was concluded that there was need to put in place the learning facilities that will help the business education students to acquire the competencies stated  in the study. It was recommended that each institution training Business Education students for entrepreneurial development should have well qualified training personnel who are well groomed in instilling management and marketing competencies in students. Keywords: Assessment, Business competencies, Entrepreneurial development, Nigeria.

Impact of computer-based testing modes on academic achievement among senior secondary school students in Abuja, Nigeria

Innovation in education has led to several changes and method of testing is no exception. Paper-Pencil examination is less used as a method of determining students’ achievement nowadays owing to several limitations. Computer-based testing has been adopted by some testing organisations, however, some elements of cheating are still perceived. Thus, the study investigated the effects of Computer-Multimedia Test (CMT) and Randomized Computer-Based Test (RCBT) on academic achievement of senior secondary students. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. The population comprised all the Senior Secondary School three (SSS 3) students who took the 2017 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Multi-stage process sampling procedure was used to select three Local Education Authorities, nine secondary schools and three hundred and thirty-five (335) students who participated in the study. The nine selected schools were randomly assigned 3 each to CMT, RCBT and Randomized Paper-Pencil Test (RPPT) examination mode groups. Five research instruments were used for data collection and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicate that the participants in the RCBT group performed significantly better in English Language and Mathematics Achievement Tests than the participants in other groups. However, majority while answering the Scale of Attitude to Computer-based Testing attested to the fact that CMT is better at curbing cheating. Based on these findings, recommendations are made that RCBT should be initially adopted to acclimatise students to computer-based examinations while CMT should be gradually embraced for all examinations in Nigerian secondary schools not to only to effect a change of attitude towards cheating in examination but also to curb it and promote true learning.Keywords: Computer-Based Testing modes, Academic Achievement, Innovative item

Metal Contamination Of Foods and Drinks Consumed in Ota, Nigeria

Food consumed in Ota, Nigeria are prone to contamination with environmental metal pollutants. The concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) were determined in some commonly consumed foods and drinks using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Samples selected included fried yam, fried bean cake (akara), roasted plantain (bole), roasted meat (suya), roasted fish, cassava flour (fufu), yam flour (amala), garri (eba), beans and herbal drink (agbo jedi jedi). Lead was present only in roasted meat (0.02±0.02 mg kg-1), garri (0.04±0.06 mg kg-1) and roasted plantain (0.004±0.01 mg kg-1). Copper and cadmium ranged from 0.02±0.19-3.55±0.20 and 0.02±0.01-0.59±0.17 mg kg-1, respectively. The mean concentration of zinc and nickel ranged from 0.09±0.10-1.19±1.52 and 0.04±0.01-6.38±7.61 mg kg-1, respectively. The mean concentration of manganese ranged from 0.06±0.05-0.25±0.19 mg kg-1. Manganese was absent in agbo jedi jedi (ethanolic). Some of the foods including roasted plantain (bole), roasted meat (suya), roasted fish, cassava flour (fufu), yam flour (amala) and beans were contaminated with nickel above FAO/WHO tolerable limits. Agbo jedi jedi was found to be contaminated with cadmium, nickel and copper above safety levels. Mercury was present only in roasted plantain at a level of 0.91±1.28 mg kg-1 which was beyond tolerable limits. This study indicates that consumers of the foods and drinks with high levels of metal contamination may be exposed to health risks associated with their presenc

Evaluation of Hydrocarbon Emulsification and Heavy Metal Detoxification Potentials of Sophorolipid Biosurfactants Produced from Waste Substrates using Yeast and Mushroom.

Insolubility challenges have reduced the efficiency and rate of environmental bioremediation of hydrophobic pollutants occurring in hydrocarbons, soil and water environments. As biosurfactants, sophorolipids possess the unique capacity of activity at the interface of immiscible liquids or solid‐liquid phases, thus reducing surface and interfacial tensions through emulsification, dispersion, foaming and wetting, with advantages of stability, ecological acceptability and ability to be produced from renewable and cheaper substrates. In light of the above, this study was aimed at assessing the hydrocarbons emulsification and heavy metals detoxification efficiencies of sophorolipid biosurfactants produced from harvested mushrooms and yeasts isolated from a hydrocarbon contaminated site in Obohia, Abia State, Nigeria. Isolates were cultured on an optimized media fortified with agro‐industrial waste substrates of rice bran and food industry waste oil as hydrophilic and hydrophobic sources of carbon, respectively. However sophorolipids production from the yeast, Candida bombicola, was confirmed by the emulsification index after 24 h, surface tension (ST), FT‐IR spectroscopy and GC‐MS analyses. Solubilization of selected hydrocarbons (used engine oil, kerosene, unused engine oil, diesel and crude oil) was observed with percentage emulsification activities at 60.7, 56.7, 46.9, 44.8 and 40.0 %, respectively. Furthermore, various concentrations of chromium, lead, zinc, copper and cadmium salt solutions incubated with culture supernatants of sophorolipids for 24 h were observed to remove 43.41% chromium from a 10mg/l salt solution and 23.11( Cr), 9.93 ( Pb), 7.29 (Zn), 4.96 (Cu) and 15.71 (Cd) from the highly toxic 70 mg/L salt solutions upon analysis via atomic absorption spectrometry. Our results indicate that sophorolipid biosurfactants could enhance the rate of bioremediation efficiency by emulsifying, solubilizing and detoxifying environmental contaminations of hydrocarbons and heavy metals respectively. Sophorolipids of agro‐industrial waste origin possess good surface‐active properties that can facilitate the solubilization, dispersion and desorption of hydrophobic environmental contaminants for microbial uptake and bioremediatio

Experimental Investigation of Sophorolipid Biosurfactants Produced by Candida and Pleurotus Species Using Waste Oils and Rice Bran and Their Oilfield Benefits

Conventional chemical surfactants applications usually linked with environmental unfriendliness and toxicity are associated with high production costs resulting from fluctuations in oil prices and thermal energy requirements. Sophorolipid biosurfactants can potentially be implemented with a remarkably low operating cost. Besides economic interest, sophorolipids and their derivatives have shown promise as emulsifiers, antimicrobials, surfactants and a source of specialty chemicals reduction capacities, thus, facilitating microbial hydrocarbon and heavy metal emulsification and uptake. In this study, sophorolipids produced by Candida and Pleurotus species respectively isolated and harvested from oil contaminated soils from Ukwa West LGA of Abia State were investigated. Mineral salt media supplemented with different hydrophilic (rice bran, spent mushroom substrate and cassava peels) and hydrophobic (food industry waste oil) renewable wastes as sources of carbon were tested on nine (9) of the potential isolates to select the best medium and organism that maximized sophorolipids production. This was supported by the emulsification index after 24 hours (E24), FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. All isolates were subjected to biosurfactants production screening, to find the best sophorolipid producer among the available strains. Results showed that isolate CP1SP6c, a hydrocarbon utilizing fungi (HUF) exhibiting β- haemolysis and 92.4% microbial adhesion to hydrocarbon (MATH), gave the maximum E24 of 69.2%, within 6 days of incubation on media fortified with rice bran and food industry waste oil in a rotary shaker. Further studies on CP1SP6c were carried out to assess the interaction of the produced sophorolipids with porous media in core flooding experiments as a tertiary recovery technique. The results showed high promises of using this bio-product in hydrocarbon recovery, where 12.3% of crude oil was recovered after injecting the culture supernatant. An additional recovery of 15.7% of residual oil was observed after concentrating the sophorolipid solution

Young women's responses to smoking and breast cancer risk information

Current evidence confirms that young women who smoke or who have regular long-term exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) have an increased risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer. The aim of this research was to examine the responses of young women to health information about the links between active smoking and SHS exposure and breast cancer and obtain their advice about messaging approaches. Data were collected in focus groups with 46 women, divided in three age cohorts: 15–17, 18–19 and 20–24 and organized according to smoking status (smoking, non-smoking and mixed smoking status groups). The discussion questions were preceded by information about passive and active smoking and its associated breast cancer risk. The study findings show young women's interest in this risk factor for breast cancer. Three themes were drawn from the analysis: making sense of the information on smoking and breast cancer, personal susceptibility and tobacco exposure and suggestions for increasing awareness about tobacco exposure and breast cancer. There was general consensus on framing public awareness messages about this risk factor on ‘protecting others’ from breast cancer to catch smokers’ attention, providing young women with the facts and personal stories of breast cancer to help establish a personal connection with this information and overcome desensitization related to tobacco messages, and targeting all smokers who may place young women at risk. Cautions were also raised about the potential for stigmatization. Implications for raising awareness about this modifiable risk factor for breast cancer are discussed

Cost-Effectiveness of Alternative Models of Community Health Workers for promotion of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Northern Nigeria

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) have proven to be successful in mobilizing rural populations to utilize primary health services where they can be supported by skilled health workers. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of three CHW models implemented in northern Nigeria. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we compare the costs and health outcomes for communities where CHW models were implemented versus those where no CHW models were implemented. The three CHW models were Community Volunteer (CV), Nigeria Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme for Maternal and Child Health Village Health Worker (VHW), and the Junior Community Health Extension Worker providing community based service delivery (JCHEW-CBSD). The unit costs, consultation patterns, benefit-cost ratios, and cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for the three CHW models. Results: Compared to the CVs, the VHWs and the JCHEW-CBSDs had the highest levels of interactions in the community, each helping to educate 120-130 pregnant women each year. JCHEW-CBSDs made the most referrals for antenatal care (220) and facility births (122); however, women who interacted with the VHWs increased their antenatal care visits the most, with 92% of the women having made at least one and 70% having made 4+ ANC visits. The unit cost of the CVs was lowest, compared to the other two models, at $127 versus$3176 for the VHW model and $4443 for the JCHEWCBSD model. The outcomes per unit cost ratios were highest for the VHW model. For every$1000 invested in the VHW, there were 54 ANC 4+ visits and 95.9 deliveries attended by a skilled birth attendant. The Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratios for the VHW model were also lower than for the JCHEW-CBSD model, ranging from a low of an additional $25 per incremental ANC visits to$152 for increments in attended deliveries, the latter amount three times lower than for the JCHEW-CBSD model. Conclusion: This cost-effectiveness study of CHW models in Northern Nigeria shows that the SURE-P VHW model was most cost-effective. The VHW model, an enhanced volunteer model, promises the greatest return on investment if scaled up in northern Nigeria and settings with similar health care delivery contexts

Socioeconomic dynamism and the growth of baby factories in Nigeria

Abstract: Illegally breeding babies for marketing purposes otherwise known as “infant commodification” is increasing in Nigeria. This menace is a vice that threatens the lives and wellbeing of babies, young girls, and women. This article investigates through an in-depth review of scholarly publication and media coverages the factors that have contributed to the emergence and growth of the illicit industry in Nigeria. It examines the role of cultural beliefs, social attitudes, and norms as well as the harsh economic conditions of the nation as factors playing pivotal roles in the continual growth of baby farming in Nigeria. Some of these sociocultural factors are social stigmatization of pregnancy outside wedlock, stigmatization of adopted children, and the importance attached to fertility and the demonization of childlessness. The article draws on Emile Durkheim anomie theory and Chambers dimensions of poverty to explain how breakdown within the nation’s socioeconomic structure has a concomitant impact in breading social vices. It concludes by recommending that there is a need to jettison stigmatizing sociocultural beliefs within the nation’s social fabrics. Responsive attitude toward family reproductive issues should be encouraged and finally the activities of health care providers, operators of nongovernmental organizations taking custody of babies and young girls be properly monitored. As well, stringent punishment be meted out to apprehended operators of these baby farms to serve as deterrent to others