Mediation Role of Perceived Benefit in the Relationship between Perceived Government Support, Religiosity, Awareness and the Acceptance of Islamic Microfinancing in Nigeria

Social Exchange Theory highlights the possible mediating role perceived benefit in social and economic relationships, however, extent literature falls short is validating such theoretical insights in the context of Islamic microfinance. Following this theoretical insights the mediating role of perceived benefit on the relationship between perceived government support, religiosity, awareness and intention to accept Islamic micro-financing was examined. Quantitative research design through data collected from smallholder farmers in Jigawa state was employed; the data was analyzed using PLS-SEM. The finding revealed that perceived benefit mediates the relationship between perceived government support, religiosity, awareness and intention to accept Islamic micro-financing. It implied that perceiving the benefit is one of the mechanisms through which government support, religiosity and awareness influence intention to accept Islamic micro-financing. The study expands the understanding of TPB through the support of SET to explain the mediating effects of perceived benefits in the context of Islamic micro-financing. Thus, it will benefit policymakers in understanding that perceived benefit of Islamic micro-financing is a key to its acceptance, hence, the need for awareness campaigns, support services and religious preaching to that end. Implementing the finding will not only solve problem of access to finance among the smallholder farmers but also ease life through employment generation and poverty eradication. To the researchers’ knowledge, this work could be first to examine the mediating role of perceived benefit in the context of Islamic microfinance among the smallholder farmers with inferences from Social Exchange Theor

The influence of entrepreneurial competencies on entrepreneurial career option among polytechnic students in Nigeria

Entrepreneurship is gradually becoming a parameter of measuring socio-economic developments among nations. Entrepreneurship is helping the growth of economies by creating additional jobs, wealth, and reducing the incidence of abject poverty. Developed countries ascribe their achievements to technological development, scientific break-through, improved communication and information technology, and competitive advantage gained through their entrepreneurial competencies and adventures. The objective of this paper is to examine the significance of entrepreneurial skills and their influence on entrepreneurial career option. Entrepreneurial competencies seek to create awareness among students about entrepreneurship as the appropriate career option to engage after graduation, as well as impart the needed social skills and knowledge of the use of insights and intuitions to identify and exploit opportunities to start a business. A quantitative approach was used involving a total of 505 questionnaires distributed to polytechnic students in Nigeria. A total of 425 questionnaires were completed and returned with a response rate of 84.2 percent. Data were analysed using SmartPLS 3; results indicate a significant positive influence of know-who and know-when competencies on entrepreneurial career option. The study was consistent with earlier studies on the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial career option among students. The findings of the study will be of immense benefit to the government, education regulatory agencies, higher education institutions, and the general public. Further, the study will serve as a framework for future reference and assist in formulating future policies on entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Keywords: Entrepreneurial career option, entrepreneurial competencies; polytechnic

Optimization and kinetics of green pressurized-liquid extraction for andrographolide from Andrographis Paniculata

This research was focused on green solid-liquid extraction (SLE), one of the most crucial stages for the upstream phytochemical processing because the extracted product would affect the quality of finished product. The influence of process variables for green SLE of andrographolide from Andrographis paniculata (AP) was investigated through exploratory experimentation using a 2 complete factorial experimental design, and a rotatable central composite design (RCCD). The main and interaction effects of the solid-liquid ratio (1/50 - 5/50 mg/L), average particle size (0.175 - 1.200 mm), time (5 - 25 minutes), and temperature (80 - 120 °C) were examined. The process was studied under isothermal condition at 80°C, and other temperatures; 100 °C and 120 °C in a pressurized liquid extractor using water as the greenest solvent. The multiple objectives for the green SLE of andrographolide from AP were simultaneously optimized using the RCCD technique coupled with desirability and penalty functions based on the concepts of extraction yield, and new developed techniques for extraction selectivity of andrographolide. The extraction kinetics was found to follow the second-order rate law. As the particle size decreases and solid-liquid ratio increases, the observed specific extraction rate constant, kobs, and the initial rate of solid-liquid extraction of andrographolide, rB0 significantly increase. It was found at 80 °C that kobs increased to nearly twofold from 0.000653 to 0.00128 Lmg-1min-1 for the solid-liquid ratio of 1:10 g/mL when particle size was decreased from 1.200 to 0.175 mm. Besides, it increased to more than fivefold, 0.00344 Lmg-1min-1 and virtually fourfold, 0.00496 Lmg-1min-1 for particle sizes of 1.200 and 0.175 mm, respectively when the solid-liquid ratio was increased to 1:50 g/mL. kobs increased for a solid-liquid ratio of 1:10 g/mL to more than 143 times, 1.10 X 10-1 Lmg-1min-1 and nearly 221 times, 7.22 X 10-1 Lmg-1min-1 for a solidliquid ratio of 1:50 g/mL when temperature was raised from 80 °C to 100 °C, and 120 °C. Hence, kobs, and the activation energy, Ea significantly increased with a decrease in particle size and an increase in solid-liquid ratio and temperature

Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial career option among polytechnic students in Northwestern Nigeria: the mediating effect of creativity

The study's primary objective is to examine the mediating effect of creativity on the relationship between components of entrepreneurship education (EE) and entrepreneurial career option (ECO) among polytechnic students in northwestern Nigeria. Data were collected from polytechnics through cross-sectional study design. The study adopted multistage stratified sampling to select six polytechnics and used proportionate random sampling to select 505 respondents, and questionnaires were self-administered. 348 usable responses were gathered to assess 11 direct and 5 indirect hypotheses and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLSSEM) was used in the hypotheses testing. This study found that know-what (KWT), know-how (KHW), know-who (KWO), know-why (KWY), know-when (KWN), and creativity (CRT) are essential EE components of EE objectives that influence students to engage in ECO in northwestern Nigeria. The findings revealed that KWT, KHW, KWY, and KWN depends on the CRT disposition of the students. It is expected KWO and KWN would increase students' ECO, but the findings of this study ran contrary to this expectation, as the relationship between KWO, KWN and ECO was not significant. Interestingly, the findings further showed that creativity significantly mediate the relationship between KWT, KWO, KWY, KWN and ECO, but not the relationship between KHW and ECO. Higher educational institutions (HEIs) should emphasise KWT, KWO, KWY, and KWN, but it is imperative to note that overemphasis on KHW may result in lower creativity. The results of this study provides significant insights to EE stakeholders and researchers to recognise that the EE, CRT, and ECO relationships need to be examined further. The current study contributes mainly to the current literature on how CRT mediates the relationship between all of the components of EE and ECO, especially in the Nigerian context where such studies are sparse. The study recommends strategies and practical road map for effective delivery of EE courses in line with global best practice. Lastly, limitations of the current study and avenues for future research were discussed

The Stochastic SIR Household Epidemics With TI ≡ 4:1 and TI Having GAMMA(a, b) Infectious Period Distribution

Model estimates, their functions are in no doubt affected by wrong choice of the infectious period distribution, TI when the actual one is unknown. This is a misspecification problem which is often accompanied with biased and imprecise estimates. This work does not com- pletely examined this problem but explored the choice of constant infectious period, TI ≡ 4.1 and TI distributed as Γ(2, 2.05) for the household epidemic and then examined their effects on the behaviours of the model functions and quality of its maximum likelihood estimates in order to see if there are considerable disparities in the maximum likelihood estimates and behaviours of the functions giving these scenarios and whether constant infectious period is a reasonable assumption for the stochastic SIR household epidemic. &nbsp

Increasing rice production through adoption of improved variety in Niger State, Nigeria

The study examined the performance of Faro 44 improved rice variety in increasing rice production in Niger State, Nigeria. To achieve the objectives of the study, 203 farmers were randomly selected from three Local Government Areas in the State. Validated interview schedule with reliability co-efficient of 0.89 was used for collecting data and collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation analysis. The result indicated that the mean age of the respondents was 43 years, with mean farm size of 2.1ha. Finding also revealed that a total 97.54% of the respondents adopted Faro 44 improved rice variety in their farms. The mean yield of the respondents was 6 Tons/ha., which increased the rice output of more than half (52.22%) of the respondents twice. The mean income was N675, 000.00 ($ 1,824.32); this led to empowerment of the respondents in the areas of attending to family welfare needs (89.66%), re-investment in farming businesses (70.94%) and acquisition of landed properties (50.73%). Challenges of adoption were complexity of some components of improved variety (39.90%) and late delivery of improved seeds (35.47%). The result further showed that respondent’s educational level (r = 0.285), farm size (r = 0.309) and extension contacts (r = 0.236) had significant relationship with adoption of improved rice variety. Thus, it was recommended that extension service providers should provide follow-up information to the farmers to educate them more on the agronomic practices of the improved rice variety. It was also suggested that back-up inputs such as improved seeds should be made available to farmers adequately and on time by relevant stakeholders

Salam in Financing the Green Enterprenueship Education in Nigeria

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of Salam finance in the growth of green entrepreneurship education (agriculture) to meet the employment level of the Nigerian youth, income generation to the individual and the government, food security, poverty reduction and increase the supply of raw materials to the industries and export. Almost, 70 percent of the Nigerian youth and able bodies are employed in agriculture and related sectors as their major source income. The paper intends to study this free Shariah financial product in order to recognize how it can contribute to the Nigerian youth entrepreneurship, since, Nigeria is the most populous and agrarian and country on the African continent. It recommends that free interest financial institutions should provide Salam mode of financing to agriculture. It is with the anticipation that Salam finance will be impacted on the agricultural produce, improve youth employment opportunities, and income. It will also promote economic growth as well as an alternative solution to the Nigerian economic problems. This paper is conceptual in the methodology

Investigating the Impact of Entrepreneurial Infrastructure Deficit on Firm Growth

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria are suffering from a deplorable condition of entrepreneurial infrastructure (EI) which is evidenced in the myriad of challenges bedevilling their growth and development. This study therefore aims to investigate the impact of EI deficit on firm growth, focusing on the growth of SMEs in Nigeria. This was done through a critical review of extant literature (peer reviewed journal articles) on EI which were obtained from reputable data bases and broken down into two basic components of infrastructure (physical and non-physical infrastructure). Empirical findings revealed that the availability of physical infrastructure (constant water supply and good road infrastructure) and the non-physical infrastructure (electricity, government policies/programmes, access to financial support services, incubation centers/platforms, business clusters and entrepreneurship training) improves productivity, profitability, sales, number of customers and consistent growth rate of SMEs. Findings of this study would be of help to entrepreneurs, policy makers and the academic community as it will add to the existing literature on how availability of EI impacts the growth of SMEs. The study recommends that government should use fiscal policies to address the economic challenges of SMEs and also invest in the provision of EI facilities to facilitate the growth and development of SMEs in Nigeria

Histopathological observations of the liver of albino rats orally exposed to the African black soap (Sabulun salo)

Aim: This is to determine the effect of oral administration of the sabulun salo (African traditional black soap) on the liver of albino rats. It is commonly produced and widely used in the Northern part of Nigeria and other parts of the country for herbal medication. Methods: Twenty (20) albino rats were divided into four groups of three test groups and a control group. The albino rats were administered with different concentrations of sabulun salo for the period of two weeks. The groups (AC, BC and FC) received 2000mg/kg, 3000mg/kg and 4000mg/kg of the sabulun salo respectively. And the control group received normal feed. Results: At end of the intervention, the albino rats were sacrificed and the livers were removed and processed for paraffin embedding. The blood samples were also collected for the biochemical and hematological analysis. At the end the analysis, the liver presented a normal histo-morphology across all the groups, the hematological and biochemical analysis showed some significant changes in the entire groups and the reduction in water and food consumption as the concentrations increased. There were also significant increased in white blood cell, hemoglobin and packed cell volume in the entire groups except in group FC when compared to the control and a haphazard changes in the blood biochemical parameters Conclusion: The results of this research have shown that the African traditional black soap (Sabulun Salo) is histologically non toxic to the liver of the albino rats exposed

Long-run Relationship between Islamic Stock Indices and US Macroeconomic Variables

The aim of this paper is to examine the long-run relationship between Islamic stock indices (Dow Jones and FTSE) and US macroeconomic variables (economic uncertainty index, federal funds rate, money supply, volatility fear index, consumer price index, Treasury bill and Brent oil price). Daily closing stock prices for the period January 2006 – December 2017 were used selected from US, Europe, Canada, Japan, Turkey, Malaysia, China India, Qatar, Kuwait, and Taiwan. Johansen test for Cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) were employed for the analysis. The study found the existence of a long run relationship between the selected Islamic indices, the broad market index (represented by Dow Jones Industrial Average) and the set of US macroeconomic variables. Results from the VECM showed slow speed of adjustments indicating the series were highly volatile and took long time to converge to equilibrium. It is recommended that investors should be concerned with the economic policies of US as it has the tendency to affect the expected returns of Islamic Dow Jones and FTSE in the selected countries