This study examined the effect of Time Management Counselling Intervention (TMCI) on the reduction of academic stress among undergraduate students. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design employing non randomized pretest, posttest control group design. Subjects were 32 undergraduate students from a university in Nigeria whose scores were high on the Student Academic Stress Indices (SASI) and low on Management of Academic Time Index (MATI). Student Academic Stress Indices and Management of Academic Time Index were developed by the researchers with reliability indices of 0.85 and 0.78, respectively and were considered suitable for the study. Those in the treatment group were exposed to time management counselling intervention (TMCI) in six sessions of approximately 45 minutes each. The control group was a waitlist group.  Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions and t-test for the null hypotheses. The results revealed that those in TMCI group had greater effect in reducing academic stress than the control at posttest and even at one-month follow-up.  Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that professional counsellors should expose students to time management counselling interventions especially those with high academic stress.

An experiment was conducted at teaching, demonstration and research (TDR) farm of Department of Horticulture and Landscape Technology, Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana-Afikpo during 2018 cropping season, to evaluate the effect of organic manure on the growth and yield of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F.) in Unwana. Three different organic manures (cow dung, poultry droppings and goat manure) were used. The treatments were laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Parameters measured were: vine length, number of leaves, number of vines, leaf area, stem girth, fresh weight of leaves and leaf yield. The result of the experiment showed significant differences (P=0.05) in vine length, number of leaves, number of vines, weight of leaves and leaf yield. The longest vine (156.40cm), highest number of leaves (36.93), highest number of vine (11.76), fresh weight of leaves (2.083kg) and leaf yield (94.80ton/ha) was recorded at poultry manure plot. Control plot obtained the least values in all parameters assessed. Therefore, based on the result of this finding, it is hereby recommended that the use of poultry manure should be adopted by farmers for profitable fluted pumpkin production in the study area.

Financial institutions have been in the process of significant transformation. Despite this transformation, even though there’s a richness of information on the nature and scope of electronic banking, via debit card, there is a scarcity of evidence about its contribution among banks. The changing dynamics of banking means that banks’ performance is no longer solely dependent on sales. The adoption of debit card by commercial banks is expected to have an effect on their financial performance asconsumers assess the safety of payment instruments and payment choices.The study was grounded on the theory of information production and contemporary banking theory, Innovation diffusion theory. The study adopted descriptive research design utilizing panel data covering the period from 2009-2019.The population comprised of eleven listed commercial banks operating in Kenya. This study primarily adopted the use of secondary data to collect information from published annual financial statements of the listed commercial banks. Data analysis was done using SPSS, while data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics obtained from panel linear regression analysis. Regression statistics was used to determine the significance of the relationship between variables. The results showed that increased in debit card usage enhance the profitability of banking industry in form of ROA over the period of 2009 to 2019 quarterly. The results also showed that increased usage of debit cards significantly reduced transaction costs and enhanced convenience among credit and debit card users. This thus attracted prospective customers leading to increased sales and profitability. Thestudy recommended that commercial banks should reduce transaction costs of payment channels to increase adoption. This will have a positive impact on the financial performance commercial banks in the country. The study also recommends that commercial banks should understand the mechanism of safety perception and payment behavior which might further help policymakers and central bankers preserve consumers’ confidence in the safety of the payment system.

Despite the credibility of EIA in predicting and mitigating environmental impact of development projects like dam, Gurara dam has continues to cause environmental degradation. This study assessed the implementation of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) of the Gurara Dam in Kaduna State Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to assess the implementation of mitigation measures for: air quality deterioration; noise and vibration and changes in hydrological patterns and water quality.To achieve the objectives, the EIA report of Gurara Multipurpose Dam Project was reviewed to identify the predicted impact andmitigationmeasures in the EIA report. Then field survey was conducted to evaluate the implementation using questionnaire survey, observation, interview, and focus   group discussion. This study selected five hundred (500) respondents for household questionnaire administration and twenty-three participants for Focused Group Discussion and interview using purposive, systematic and panel sampling techniques.  Data collected were analsyed using descriptive statistics frequency distribution tables, percentage, mean standard deviation and Coefficient of Variation.Results showed that three hundred and twenty-nine (329) respondents representing 65.8% agreed that the enlisted mitigation measures to prevent air pollution were implemented; two hundred and eight respondents representing 41.65% agreed that the enlisted mitigation measures to prevent noise and vibration were implemented and that one hundred and seventy-six respondents representing 35.1% agreed that the enlisted mitigation measures to prevent changes in hydrological patterns and water quality were implemented. It was concluded that the implementation of the outlined mitigation measures in the Gurara dam EIA report fall short of the arrangement in the Environmental Management Plan. It was recommended among other things that stakeholders should play their roles properly to ensure that mitigation measures in the Gurara are well implemented.

Family owned businesses play a crucial role in the economy through employment creation, income generation and also in accumulation of wealth. However, the family owned businesses face performance challenges such as poor employee performance leading to low profit margins or losses, employee payment challenges and marketing challenges. The study seeks to examine the effect of strategic leadership on performance of family owned businesses in Nakuru East Sub County, Kenya. The objectives of the study included; To examine the effect of organizational culture on the performance of family owned businesses in Nakuru East Sub County, Kenya, and To assess the effect of corporate governance on the performance of family owned businesses in Nakuru East Sub County, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design and target businesses owned by families within Nakuru East Sub County.  The study targeted the population of 2,600 family businesses operating within Nakuru East Sub County. The study used stratified random sampling to arrive at the sample size desired in the study. The sample size was 96 respondents.  From the findings the study concluded that organizational culture had a statistically significant positive correlation with business performance. In addition the study concluded that there was a statistically significant positive correlational relationship between corporate governance and business performance. From the conclusion  the study recommended that resources management should be emphasized on in order to lead to improved business performance of the family businesses. The study thus recommended that the aspects should be emphasized on by the management.

There seem to be a negative perception on women education which resulted to short of women participation in all professions including teaching profession. Thus, the paper in an attempt to review issues on gender equity in teaching profession discusses the conceptual analysis, concept of gender equity, concept of teaching profession, gender related discrimination in teaching, gender equity in teaching profession, feminization of teaching profession by United Nation, gender issue and professions in Nigeria and concluded that; gender disparity in education and teaching profession is global issue that is bedevilling both the developed and the developing countries. And proportion of female teachers presented by United Nation where Europe, North America and South America has the proportion of 42.30%, 46.00% and 41.00%% female teachers at the tertiary level respectively. It is also recommended that: teaching profession in Nigeria should be given self regulation to be extremely free and independent from government control; there is still the need for global enlightenment on issues regards to girl-child education and their acceptability to patronize the teaching profession globally; and reasonable amount should be paid as teachers’ salary in order to encourage the recognition and active participation of all genders in to the teaching profession. The paper will be of great important to Teachers’ Registration Council (TRC), National University Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) by showing need for them to put more effort in producing women teachers to the Nigerian society.

Talented and motivated employees are vital in the survival of any organization. In a turbulence and competitive environment, employee engagement has been shown to be the source of competitive advantage. The paper examined the association of employee engagement and organizational survival, with organizational culture as the moderating variable. The paper is a theoretical review of extant literature on employee engagement, organizational culture and organizational survival. To achieve its objectives, the paper adopted teamwork, empowerment and participation as the dimensions of employee engagement while innovativeness, adaptability and situation awareness were chosen as the measures of organizational survival. The finding of paper showed that when employees were given the power to participate in the decision making, they feel valued, trusted and will go beyond the demands of the job and ensure that organizationalgoals are accomplished. However, the paper also found that effective leadership, communication, reward, recognition and atmosphere of fairness among others are the drivers of engagement. The paper concluded that employee engagement predicts organizational survival, whileorganizational culture influences both variables. The paper recommended that managers should keep their employees engaged in order to reduce cost of recruiting new employees for the same job. In addition, since organizational culture influencesemployee engagement, management of organizations should ensure that employee engagement is crafted into their strategic intent in order to have engaged employees that will help the organization achieve its goals. Lastly, organization can utilize the exit interview with departing employees to determine the level of engagement in the organization if properly handled.

The kola industry had in the 60s and 70s contributed greatly to Nigeria’s GDP. The discovery of oil in the country had unfortunately led to the neglect of agriculture. Study was carried out in respect of information trend on kola production between 2007 and 2016, with the aim of evaluating the causes of decline and fluctuation in kola production. The results show no consistence with regards to kola production in terms of year and countries quarterly productions. Average kola production ranges between (100,000) in 2007 to (144,900) in 2010. Nigeria was the highest kola producer with about (143,829) tonnes while Sierra Leone produced (8,128) tonnes. This trend has adverse effect on Nigeria kola industry; hence something needed to be done to reduce the domination of kola plantations by old trees of  low yield and/or prone to pests and diseases infestation through adoption of rehabilitation techniques. It has become evident that these techniques could only be achieved through effective information dissemination and farmers’ group participatory approach.

The two-pot forced air charcoal stove was constructed as a better replacement to the traditional firewood stoves and many others. The smoke from the burning firewood contains toxic that are detrimental to our health causing eye, lung and heart ailments and increasing the risk of strokes. However, the two-pot forced air stove was constructed, tested and found to ensure almost complete combustion of charcoal producing large quantity of heat energy that we use to cook our meals, and carbon iv oxide which is used by green plant in the process of photosynthesis. In this way, the family members are shielded from the negative consequences of smoke and their meals cooked efficiently, saving time. The stove components include the metal rod unit, the cylinder unit, the mod unit, the blade unit, the blade enclosure unit, the battery unit and the resistance box. The result from the device shows that 300g of beans were well cooked in 24 minutes with only 150g of charcoal other achievements were also observed and recorded

Five brick samples of different line blends were made and fired at a temperature of 13000C. All the Five samples survived firing with no single one crumbling. The brick samples gave the following limits of results. Total shrinkage: - 6.52%, - 8.69%, Effective moisture content: - 22.22%, - 29.27%, Modulus of rupture: – 1.25kgf/cm2 - 2.20kgf/cm2. Apparent Density: 3.413g/cm2 - %, 69.26g/cm2. Bulk density: 1.080g/cm3.  - 1.414g/cm3, Drying Shrinkage: - 1.30%, - 3.47%, Fired shrinkage: - 3.15%, - 6.67%, Apparent Porosity: 58.57%, - 79.27%, Water Absorption Test: 41.41 %, - 85.10%, the results showed that almost the entire brick samples had good insulating characteristics.

The COVID-19 crisis has left more than 1.5 billion children out of school with the length of school closures uncertain. The purpose of the study was to investigate COVID-19 and teacher preparedness perception; challenges and opportunities, among secondary school teachers in Baringo County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: Explore the perceptions of teachers on their preparedness for immediate response, examine the perceptions of teachers on their preparedness on mid-term response and investigate the perceptions of teachers on their preparedness on the long term response to challenges and opportunities posed by COVID 19 in Baringo County, Kenya. The study was guided by the perception theory of Kurt Lewin as espoused by smith.The research method was qualitative. The research design was phenomenology.  Teacherswere interviewed and Focus group discussions conducted. The data was thematically analyzed. The study findings indicated that there is overburden of learning new tools (online) and teaching at the same time, repositioning of flexible home-based learning and curriculum review to integrate technology education in teaching and learning. The study recommends that there is need to invest in mental health, preparation of hybrid models to enhance curriculum delivery and provision of online guidance and counseling.

The study reviewed key elements for successful innovation self-learning using widely available mobile phone technologies as an entry point. Identified elements were integrated into design science research framework (DSRF). Every African owns or has access to a mobile phone making it a candidate platform that can be used most people to start learning technology innovation. Mobile phones use a hierarchical abstraction structure that hides complexity at multiple levels to simplify mobile phone use by different types of users. At lowest user level most complexity is hidden making it easy for almost everyone to use. The study postulates that group  of university and  tertiary institution students and people, who possess basic mobile phone technology understanding as one that can start innovation self-learning with potential to diffuse to masses. TRIZ is a widely used innovation theory consisting of several methods. It originated in science and engineering, and has been moving to other disciplines. TRIZ inventive principles method is used in this study. Some TRIZ principles at most basic level can be understood by everyone. However deep understanding of how technology was invented requires substantial domain knowledge and expertise. For example to understand how Ugali or Fufu the main African staple food was invented, a food science expert would use food science and technology knowledge. To the common person understanding would be basic using minimal knowledge. Incremental innovation self-learning approach was designed that allows learners to discover how technologies were invented using TRIZ inventive principles by adapting DSRF.  Mobile phone hardware and operating system is used as a window to start learning innovation that acts as a bridge for learner to latter move to learning and possibly innovating in area of interest.