This study evaluated the ability of ethanol extract of Aframomum angustifolium seeds to ameliorate the nephrotoxic effect of potassium bromate (KBrO₃) in rats. Biochemical alterations following co-administration of extract with 30 mg/kgbw KBrO₃ were monitored in four animal groups (3 rats/group). Oral administration lasted for 28 days. Biomarkers were monitored using standard spectrophotometric methods. Kidney SOD and CAT activities, as well as serum HCO₃^- and creatinine levels were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the treated groups than in the positive control group. Photomicrographs of kidney tissue support the biochemical observations. These findings suggest that the extract mitigated bromate-induced kidney lesions in the treated rats.

ICTs are vital technologies for the development of agricultural sector in Nigeria. Its usage has created wealth to many, both in developed and developing countries. The study evaluated the usage of ICT in agricultural practices and determined factors influencing its usage among farmers in Esan community of Edo State, Nigeria. Data used for the study were generated from a sample of 75 respondents using structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data collected were analysed using inferential statistical method. The result of ANOVA analysis revealed that factors limiting the use of ICT on farming activities among small scale farmers in the community include inability of farmers to use ICT (0.017 ≤ 0.05), lack of technological infrastructure (0.012 ≤ 0.05), cost of technology (0.039 ≤ 0.05), fear of technology (0.015 ≤ 0.05), time to spend on technology (0.026 ≤ 0.05), value of ICT (0.011 ≤ 0.05) and trustworthiness (0.007 ≤ 0.05). These factors are significant at 0.05 level of significance and tend to have varying impact on the adoption of ICT with respect to age, implying that lower age group tend to favour factors such as: time spent on technology, value of ICT and trustworthiness, while higher age group are compatible with technological infrastructure and the inability to use ICT. The study concluded that the adoption of ICT begins at lower age group, While, at higher age group, this tendency tends to decline. The study recommends that aggressive policy of digital revolution should be lunch in the community and could re-orient farmers and make them conversant with the beneficial effect of ICT in agricultural process.

A reciprocally re-enforcing relationship exists between institutions, foreign direct investment and economic growth. Sound institutional framework which supports foreign direct investment is significant for driving rapid Economic growth. An important factor that has undermined rapid and sustained economic growth is the weak institutional structure, decrepit state capacity and low level of foreign direct investment in Nigeria. Democratic structures reflected in the rule of law, effectiveness and predictability of the judiciary and enforceability of contracts proceedings is imperative for accelerating economic growth. Employing the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation techniques on annual time series data covering the period from 1981 to 2015, the relationship between these variables was empirically investigated. The empirical findings reveal that democratic institutions and foreign direct investment are significant variables influencing economic growth in Nigeria. In particular, the results, using Nigerian data, show that weak institutions have a destabilizing impact on growth. The impact of FDI on the other hand is found to be positive and significant. Therefore, sound institutional framework, as well as appropriate and consistent macroeconomic policies that encourage foreign direct investment to propel rapid economic growth in Nigeria needs to be put in place.

The greatest challenge facing the pharmacological use of phytochemicals is the fact that they are subject to modifications by the several processes they may be exposed to. Thus, pharmacological activities of the new compounds become a matter of scientific interest. Scientists are further faced with the challenge of not knowing the direction of research since the activity of some modified products can differ greatly from the primary compounds. In this study, in silico approach was used to determine the pharmacological and biochemical activity of ascorbic acid and its oxidation products. The probable activity (Pa) was set at equal to or greater than (≥) 0.900 and probable inactivity (Pi) was set at equal to or less than (≤) 0.03. The oxidation products of ascorbic acid were observed to have lesser antioxidant activity. Other possible pharmacological activities such as antidiabetic and respiratory analeptic were revealed. This approach could guide research on new compounds and their processing induced modified products that will greatly enhance drug discovery and formulation of functional foods.

ABSTRACT
This research was carried out to assess the extent of application of ICT to teaching and learning in Nigerian private universities. Four research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population used as the sample consisted of 8 private universities from the south south geopolitical zone, particularly from Delta and Edo States. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.96 was used for data collection. The quantitave statistics: frequency counts, percentage and mean were used. The inferential statistic was applied to assess the significance of the hypotheses. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was the technique of estimation and the F- statistic was used to test whether the hypotheses at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 significance respectively. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the use of ICT in teaching and learning in private universities. The results show that the application of ICT promotes teaching and learning in higher institutions of learning, particularly universities that have well-equipped ICT units are able to enhance their lecturers’ teaching and students’ learning capacity.

ABSTRACT
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology application spans across numerous industries. Due to its automatic and unique identification capability through radio frequency signal. Although advance applications such as logistics, access control, security, etc are center focus of research so far, domestic things such as personal belongings (bags, shoes, kitchen utensils, furniture’s, clothing’s etc) yet to find their fit. These things are lot more than the current numerous applications of RFID system. For instance, each individual can have more personal belongings such as shoes, cloths, mobiles phones, furniture’s, automobiles etc. therefore expanding the future of RFID beyond scientific and industrial applications to domesticated applications tailored toward securing personal belongs. Furthermore, this can increase the scope of internet of things to internet of domestic things (personal belongings). This research paper presents the description of a future RFID application scope beyond industrial applications to domestic application suited for personalization, identification, and tracking of personal belongings. This is termed RFID of things, which further enhances the prospects of internet of things into domestic things (personal belongings: cloths, shoes, shirts, bags, furniture, kitchen utensils, electronic gadgets e.t.c) being connected over the internet, termed as internet of domestic things.

Relationship marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages. Relationship marketing and traditional (or transactional) marketing are not mutually exclusive and there is no need for a conflict between them. A relationship oriented marketer still has choices at the level of practice, according to the situation variables. Most firms blend the two approaches to match their portfolio of products and services. This study long-term customer relationship building and maintenance in the Seed industry, Primary data was used for this study which was generated through structured closed ended questionnaires. Chi-square was employed to test the research hypothesis. The result reveal that relationship building is significant to customer satisfaction and retention. 

Information literacy skills are indispensable skill every secondary school student must
possess not only to succeed in their present academic endeavours but to become a lifelong
learner. Giving every student equal right to learning resources in the schools is also pivotal
to their academic achievement. This study investigated the information literacy skills and
equitable access to learning resources in selected secondary schools in Ilesa City. 240
respondents were selected from eight schools in the two Local Government Councils in the
city. The data were analysed using SPSS. It was discovered that even though there are school
libraries and school librarians in the schools the idea the students have about information
literacy skills is more of theory than practical, as the students are deficient in reading skills
which is an integral part of information literacy skills. The study also established that there
are barriers to equitable access to learning resources in the secondary schools. The study
concluded that there is a need to train and retrain teacher-librarians so that they will be
better positioned to teach information literacy skills in a practical way that will make the
acquisition of the skills realistic for the students. The Government, school owners and other
stakeholders should see to the possibility of every student having equitable access to all the
learning resources in the schools without any restrictions.

Spices are rich in phytochemicals which are responsible for their observed antioxidant property. This potential can be affected by heat treatment when spices are used as food additives. This research studied the effect of heat treatment on the antioxidant capacity of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Aframomum angustifolium seeds. The antioxidant capacity was measured in vitro by evaluating the metal chelating activity (MCA), ferric reducing ability (FRA), hydroxyl radical (•OH) scavenging activity, nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) before and after heat treatment. The percentage metal chelating activity of the extracts
before heating were comparable (p > 0.05) to that of ascorbic acid while the percentage metal chelating activity of the ethanol extract decreased significantly (p < 0.05) from 65.99% to 47.62% after heat treatment for 30 min. The percentage hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of the aqueous extract was unaffected (p > 0.05) by heat treatment whereas the activity in ethanol extract decreased. The ferric reducing ability of the extracts decreased significantly after heat treatment while the NO scavenging activity increased with heat treatment. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the extracts measured as ascorbic acid equivalents reduced but were not
significantly affected by heat treatment. The results of this study suggest that the antioxidant potential of aqueous and ethanol extracts of A. angustifolium seeds is not totally lost by heat treatment.

Abstract
Studies have shown inadequate reading materials for the visually impaired in Nigeria. Information technology
has greatly advanced the provision of information to the visually impaired in other industrialized climes. This
study investigated the extent of application of information technology to the transcription of reading materials
for the visually impaired in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design of the ex-post facto to select 470
personnel as respondents. A questionnaire titled Information Technology Use Scale (α=0.74), and Interview
Schedule (α=0.75), were used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment
Correlation. The findings indicate that information technology in transcription was low and a significant positive
relationship between application of information technology and transcription of information materials (r=0.62:
p<0.05). The study recommended among others that Multi-National Corporations should be sensitized to extend
their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to help in procuring modern information technology
devices and software to enhance transcription.

The paper examined the impact of Strategic Management on the performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) via competitive advantage, sales and profit.  This was with the view of assessing the impact of Strategic Management on sustainable growth in Nigerian SMEs. A descriptive survey research design was employed for the paper using structured questionnaire and oral interview for data collection. The questionnaire was administered on thirty SMEs owners in four states of Southwest Nigeria comprising Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Oyo State. Thus, a total of 120 respondents were purposively sampled for the study. Data collected were analyzed using frequency tables, simple percentages and chi-square test. The results showed that Strategic Management practices significantly assist SMEs to gain competitive advantage ( The results further showed that Strategic Management significantly increased their sales ( and improved their profits levels. The paper concluded that, Strategic Management has contributed immensely to the sustainable growth of Small and Medium scale Enterprises in South-West Nigeria and recommended that Strategic Management practice should be adopted by all small and medium business firms in Nigeria.

This study investigated the effect of air and sun drying methods on the antioxidant capacity of Ocimum basilicum L. leaves. The total antioxidant capacity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, metal chelating activity and ferric reducing power were evaluated using standard spectrophotometric methods against different concentrations (30 to 120µg/ml) of the plant extract and ascorbic acid as reference standard. There was no significant difference in the total antioxidant capacity estimated as ascorbic acid equivalent between the air and sun-dried extracts. A concentration dependent increase in antioxidant capacity was observed in the other assays. The air – dried extract had the highest percentage activity except in the metal chelating and ferric reducing power assays. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of the air-dried extract (86.21±1.19%) was significantly higher than ascorbic acid (85.69±0.90%) and the sundried extract (77.14±1.19%) at 120µg/ml. The result of this study suggests a better potential for air drying of basil leaves for use as spices, food additive and in traditional medicine.

Nigeria’s neo-liberal reform and privatization programme of State Owned Enterprises promoted toward industrialization failed because they were prematurely privatized under a dysfunctional state and controlled by extractive political institution whose agenda is to secure rent. Public firm is a product that must evolve through the Product life cycle stages and can only be privatized at maturity stage where the firm has outgrown threats from market externalities. The objective of this study is to establish the high failure pattern associated within the product life cycle timeframe template that cut across privatized firms in Nigeria, using DSC as a case study. The study adopted Focus Group Study as methodology and Institutionalist Political Economy (IPE) serves as theoretical framework to justify state- market relationship captured in developmental crisis. Successful privatization requires building strong political and bureaucratic (regulatory) institutions that are democratic, inclusive, observe corporate governance (rule of law), accountable and responsible.t

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been known as vital technologies that are associated with production mechanisms for technological progress. The study examined the impact of ICT on project planning activities in Nigerian food and beverage industry. Data from primary sources were obtained through the use of questionnaire and interview scheduled on one hundred and seventy five (175) purposively selected users of ICT across three Departments of food and beverage firms in Nigeria. This was with a view to elicit information on the level of outputs and significance of the application of ICT to the performance of the industry. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the analysis of variance shows that there were significant difference in the mean rank of respondents’ opinion on ICT to improve quality (F=110.07, P = 0.05), reduce cost (F=110.07, p<0.05), improves process (F=140.93, p<0.05), and reduce processing time (F=184.36, p<0.05). Evidence shows that Internet usage, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) had strong impact on product quality, process improvement, cost and time reduction. It was concluded that the absence of ICT in the firm will slow down the effective coordination of raw materials.

Tony Blair, a former British Prime Minister once described Africa as a ‘scar on the conscience of the world.’ An interpretative commentary on Blair’s remark would mean that Africa is an embarrassment to the comity of progressive nations in the international system because of the high level of underdevelopment caused especially by corruption. The paper therefore seeks to find out the possibility of influencing African political system through the application of Christian morality using Nigeria as a case study. This is against the backdrop of the renewed call by some prominent Nigerian Christians to actively participate in Nigerian politics with the hope that Christian morality may positively colour governmental policies in terms of the provision of quality services to its citizens. The paper adopts a comparative historical methodology to interrogate the synergy between politics and religion within the Nigerian space and find out that as long as Nigerians are unable to blend religious and humanistic values with political participation, the country may continue to remain in the web of political, social and economic underdevelopment. In the light of the above, the paper recommends some of the following; that Christians should form a political party as done in Germany, set up a Christian monitoring group as a watch dog on politicians, adopt the whistle blowing technique that will expose irregularities in the system, churches should avoid exposed corrupt politician, discourage over emphasis on posterity gospel more that righteousness, and refuse any form of patronage from the state.

The focus of this paper is on the identification of determinants of organizational commitment

and employee job satisfaction. It is viewed as one of the basic concepts describing the relationship between an employee and an organization. In this paper determinant of organizational commitment, factors conditioning development of three organizational commitment components and various variables responsible for employee satisfaction is been discussed. These variables are: Organization development factors, Job security factors, Work task factors, Policies of compensation and benefit factor and opportunities in the organization. Other factors discussed which give satisfaction to employees’ in cl ud e: promotion and career development, equitable rewards and supportive colleagues; also discussed are the various ways by which one can improve employee satisfaction. The main objective of this study is to discuss the above mentioned variables and examine the major determinants of organizational commitment and employee job satisfaction and highlight the factors that can enhance employee’s job satisfaction. This paper adopts the exploratory and content methods analysis of various relevant literatures to review the concepts of organizational commitment and employee job satisfaction. The paper recommends that Organizational managers should try their best to evaluate why employees leave or what kindles their dissatisfaction.

The focus of this paper is on Human Resources accounting which has not been properly integrated into the financial statement of various organizations and being regarded as assets. The main purpose of this study is to examine the issues involved in valuing human resource /people working in organizations, which has been regarded as the most valuable assets in business organizations, the benefits of attaching values and the challenges and obstacles of implementing the Human Resource accounting disclosures of such values in the firm’s statement of financial position. In the pursuit of the focus of this study, the paper adopts exploratory and content analysis methods of secondary data. The paper reveals that the exponent of human resources valuation models in most cases has not dealt with the mode of recording and disclosure of the accounting information relating to human resources in the books of account or financial statements of the organization. In most cases, the human resource accounting information is given in the form of supplementary information attached to the financial statements. This is of great concern to accounting professionals and practitioners. The paper concludes that considerable research done is due to the increasing importance of human capital in the economy to develop the concepts and methods of valuing human resource that has been recognized as human resources accounting (HRA), and that there is a great need for evolving a system of accounting for human resource that is acceptable to professional accountants, managers and other decision makers – investors, creditors and other stakeholders.

Stability in price level is one of the main broad objectives of most economies over the world. Therefore, this study investigates the long-run relationship of macroeconomic variables effect on consumer price index from 1^st quarter of 1998 to 4^th quarter of 2015 and sourced data from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical bulletin. The study adopted Park (1992) Canonical Co-integration regression (CRR) technique of analysis against other studies that used Vector Autoregressive Error Correction Model (VECM), Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Error Correction Model (ECM). The study found out that, in the long-run, macroeconomic variables such as real income, money supply and exchange rate among others contributed positively and significantly to price level, while interest rate exert a negative significant effect. These explanatory variables combined to significantly influence the variations in CPI in Nigeria as much as 98% while the stochastic error term (U1) capture 2%. The study recommends that Nigeria government should pursue with vigour, policies that will enhance the reduction of the general price level and increased productive capacity of goods and services. Such policies may include wage control/freeze, monetary policy (reduction in money supply), good management of foreign exchange, total ban on importation of some goods and increase in domestic production of goods and services.

In a time when establishing and maintaining of market advantage is crucial in the world at large and in the hotel business in particular, the use of technical innovation such as the hotel reservation system becomes a competitive necessity in the hotel busi-ness. This leads to digitalizing this business and improving its operations. In view of this, this paper has provided an overview of Ho-tel Reservation System (HRS), provided a digital design for the such system. It also discusses the advantages associated with integrat-ing the system across the hotel business and what and where the potential gains are in Nigeria. The hotel reservation system developed in this work, when fully implemented, will go a long way to addressing the problem faced by the hotel management in the area of managing their customer’s booking, management of customer’s information and having quick access to information.

This study assessed the raw and boiled seeds of thevetia peruviana for amino acid contents, fatty acids composition and Phytochemical properties. The parameters of interest were determined using standard methods.The study revealed the main saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in raw and boiled thevetia peruviana seed. The unsaturated fatty acids are palmitoleic acid (C16:1), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3) and erucic acid (C22:1). Oleic acid is the most abundant unsaturated fatty acid followed by linoleic acid with values as follows, (54.75 % and 21.48 %) while for boiled (52.45 % and 18.95 %) respectively in each case. Myristic acid, Pamlitic acid, Stearic acid and Behenic acid are the saturated fatty acid. Also, the value of oleic acid (C18:1) reduced (52.45 %) due to the effect of boiling, while the saturated fatty of pamlitic acid (C16:0) increased (19.06 %) due to the effect of boiling. The study further revealed that all the essential amino acids required in human and animal diet were present in both raw and boiled seed of Thevetia peruviana. Glutamate acid has the most abundant in both raw and boiled sample (18.45 %) and (19.99 %) respectively while the lowest of all in raw is Cysteine (1.18 %) and in the boiled Histidine (1.25 %) which is as a result of boiling.The Phytochemical screening on the oil revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, steroids, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, and alkaloids. The boiling has little reduction on the characteristics of boiled thevetia peruviana seed.

The e-banking systems in Nigeria is witnessing a large number of users, thereby encouraging the cashless economy policy proposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Hence, these systems need to be highly secured and reliable. This is because any compromise by this system can breach the customer’s trust in using such systems for making transactions thereby discouraging the cashless policy agenda. Based on this the CBN is proposing the use of fingerprint biometric as a means of identification of any bank customer in Nigeria. However, since most fingerprint biometric systems can accept and grant access to artificial fingerprint, it is therefore clear that only fingerprint will not be suitable in securing banking system. Thus, the primary research objective of this paper is to propose a multifactor biometric model that would assist in creating a highly secured banking application in Nigeria using human physiological features. Based on the verification carried out on the model presented in this paper, it can therefore be sanctify to providing highly secured banking system in Nigeria if fully implemented.

In a time when establishing and maintaining of market advantage is crucial in the world at large and in the hotel business in particular, the use of technical innovation such as the hotel reservation system becomes a competitive necessity in the hotel busi-ness. This leads to digitalizing this business and improving its operations. In view of this, this paper has provided an overview of Ho-tel Reservation System (HRS), provided a digital design for the such system. It also discusses the advantages associated with integrat-ing the system across the hotel business and what and where the potential gains are in Nigeria. The hotel reservation system developed in this work, when fully implemented, will go a long way to addressing the problem faced by the hotel management in the area of managing their customer’s booking, management of customer’s information and having quick access to information.

Abstract
Transformation is the creation and change of a whole new form, function or structure. To transform is to create something new that has never existed before and could not be predicted from the past. The effort put in place by public administrators in the transforming process is a catalyst for growth, national renewal and a lasting source of comparative advantage, which will become very significant and paramount to the state. As a sovereign state, Nigeria has failed to meet the basic human needs of its population; it lacks transparent and accountable political institutions and it has not produced sustainable or equitable economic growth. Against this backdrop this paper is set to examine innovations and best practices by Nigerian public administrators in a democratic society towards transformation process, as it recognizes the variety of operational and strategic challenges, which policymakers ought to address, in order to achieve ultimate goal and raise the quality of service delivery to the citizens. This study drew its analysis from empirical studies using the transformation theory to further buttress the transformation process. The study submits that in spite of daunting challenges such as lack of political and bureaucratic commitments, some progress has been made by the public administrators towards achieving sustainable democratic environment and repositioning administration for higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Accordingly, recommendations were made to enable administrators fare better in the discharge of their duties to the citizens and to the society in general.

Access to hygienic water is becoming difficult by the day, especially in developing economies. The people of Uromi in the Esan or Ishan region of Nigeria find it challenging to access drinkable water even in the 21st century. The problem of water has been an issue in Uromi since the pre-colonial era. Before the imposition of British colonial rule in Nigeria, the Uromi people resulted to digging pits to trap running rain water as their main source of water, which of course was unhygienic. Colonial documents obtained from the National Archives Ibadan, Nigeria were analysed and the findings reveals the spirited efforts made by the colonial regime to provide accessible and hygienic water for the people of Uromi. However, the colonial attempt was not very successful because of the Uromi topography, but that attempt improved the quality of water available to the people.