Innovations

The paper addresses election rigging and its evolvingdecay in the Nigerian politics.In order to address the issue, clientelism was adopted as its theoretical frameworkwhile secondary sources of data were culled from textbooks, newspapers, journals, internet sources, etc. Besides, Afro barometer survey and resourcesfrom the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Carter Centre (CC) were used. Findings revealed that the nature of election rigging before the advent of the fourth republic was traditional and it included the snatching of ballot boxes, collation of fake results and introduction of violence to disrupt the electoral process. The evolving nature of election rigging is‘vote buying,’a tool for winning elections in Nigeria. It isa trend whichevolved fromerstwhile rigging techniques to a moremethodicalrigging technique. Furthermore, factors that accounted for the change from election rigging to vote buying arepoverty, lack of party ideology, digitalization of electoral process and desperation of politicians to win election. It is recommended that government should strengthen the legal framework to curb vote buying in Nigeria

The study investigated lecturers’ perspective of microteaching as a quality assurance tool in university teacher education for sustainable development in Nigeria. The aim of the study was to determine the extent microteaching  ensures quality assurance in university teacher education for sustainable development. Three research questions were answered  and two hypotheses posed for the study which adopted descriptive survey design with a population of 103 lecturers in Science education and Arts education departments, Faculty of Education, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba,Kogi State. A sample size of 40 lecturers was drawn using the proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a 15- item questionnaire validated by three experts and it gave a reliability coefficient of 0.78 which was obtained using Cronbach Alpha method. The data collected were analyzed with mean and standard deviation and the hypotheses tested using t-test. The findings showed poor communication of curriculum content delivered by lecturers, adequate  monitoring and supervision process as well as need for lecturers to improve on identification and utilization of local resources.It was then concluded that microteaching has the potential for quality assurance maintenance in university teacher education, could strengthen lecturers to be better and empower students for the future, though, lecturers need retraining for improvement. 

The present research paper makes an attempt to assess the level of achievement of SDGs by BRICS member countries. Five major goals namely; good health &well-being, quality of education, affordable & clean energy, decent work & economic growth and environmental sustainability have been considered to measure the achievement of SDGs by the BRICS member countries. The Sustainable Development Achievement Index has been prepared for the above five major goals. The results show the improvement in the level of achievement of SDGs from 2015 to 2022 however, the level of improvement is not encouraging and a long way has to go. All the BRICS member countries are in need to enhance their pace of effort for realizing the goal. China is expected to achieve the SDGs easily. Russia can also achieve the target with slight improvement in its effort and India and Brazil have to work hard for achieving the SDGs by the year 2030.

The emergence of green buildings marks a significant paradigm shift in the construction industry, particularly amid the ongoing evolution of society and economy. Integration of green building materials into civil engineering projects has emerged as a pivotal catalyst for industry advancement. These materials offer a myriad of benefits encompassing comfort, aesthetics, health, and environmental preservation. Consequently, they are increasingly prevalent in upscale designs and both interior and exterior construction endeavours. To further propel the adoption of green building materials in civil engineering, strategic measures are imperative. These include promoting the secondary utilization of waste, fostering the innovation of novel green building materials, and establishing pertinent industry standards. Such initiatives are vital for fostering sustainable growth within the construction sector, ensuring a harmonious balance between developmental progress and environmental stewardship.  

Background: Sitting-rising test (SRT) is a simple means of assessing a person's capacity for sitting and standing up from the ground. It gauges the degree of necessary support (knees or hands) and the presence or absence of balance and stability. Sitting and standing up from the floor are fundamental functional tasks for day-to-day existence. It is customary for people of all ages to participate in events and religious practices such as prayer, ritual performance, and ceremony participation while sitting on the floor. Appropriate degrees of muscle strength/power, coordination, body composition, balance, and flexibility are required for many daily actions. The SRT is a rapid and reliable test that gauges one's capacity to sit and stand up from the ground. The Sitting Rising Test is employed as an outcome measure in a number of articles. However, the relationship between the Sitting Rising Test and the strength of the anti-gravity muscles is still unknown, so the purpose of this study is to clinically observe and relate the same. Outcome Measures: Sitting Rising test, Isometric muscle testing (of Glutei, Quadriceps and Calf muscles) and Sorenson testStatistical Analysis: The data will be collected and entered in Microsoft excel sheet and descriptive statistic like mean, standard deviation after ensuring the normal distribution and analysis will be done by  using SPSS version 21 software by taking the help of a Biostatistician. For checking normal distribution of the data, the Shapiro-Wilk Test will be used. The Pearson correlation coefficient will be used, if the data follow normal distribution and the Spearman Correlation will be used if data does not follow normal distribution to find correlation among sitting rising test with Isometric muscle strength and Sorenson test. Conclusion: Clinical Trial Registration: The study is registered with Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI), with the registration number for the trial being CTRI/2023/11/060286.  

The interplay of organizational culture and commitment are critical factors influencing the attainment of organizational aims. Employing descriptive-correlational research design, this study describes organizational culture and commitment among the faculty of College of Education of Norwest Samar State University. Data were collected through online survey form and subjected to SPSS software for analysis. Result showed they have strong we-centric orientation in the culture of sharing and reinvention. However, female faculty members exhibited lower levels of observed culture of inclusion compared to males. Age and specialization have influenced their perception on culture of inclusion and sharing. The overall organizational commitment of the respondents was moderate, with individual scores indicating slightly lower continuance commitment. This means that they are more likely to stay with the organization because of their emotional attachment to it, but they are less likely to stay because of the perceived benefits of leaving. To improve continuance commitment, the organization my enhance job security, provide development opportunities, empower employees, and support work-life balance. Furthermore, not all dimensions of organizational culture significantly affected organizational commitment. However, culture of wondering and reinvention had an impact on continuance commitment, indicating that leaders should create an environment that encourages curiosity and innovation to reduce turnover. Additionally, the culture of appreciation significantly influenced normative commitment, suggesting that appreciation should be practiced but not excessively to maintain its effectiveness. Overall, the study found moderate positive relationship between organizational culture and job commitment, emphasizing the importance of strong organizational culture in fostering commitment among academic staff.  

Educational institutions in Nigeria usually claim that they are equipping learners with competencies they need to gain employment or become self-reliant but the reality does not match this claim. A cursory examination of the economic state of Nigeria, marked by rising unemployment, underemployment and poverty even among university graduates will convince anyone familiar with the situation that the education system needs to do more in terms of preparing students for the world of work. This paper argues that adapting the education system to the demands of 21st century will enable the system to produce graduates who can succeed in the world of work and pull themselves out of poverty. The paper, therefore, presents a roadmap that Nigerian education system can follow in order to offer 21st century education. The roadmap emphasises the need to provide basic education for all citizens; to make valuable inputs that can yield 21st century learning outcomes and also to adapt educational processes to the demands of 21st century education. It requires effective collaboration among stakeholders - government, school managements, ministries of education, related educational organisations, teachers, parents/guardians.In order to explain the development of the roadmap for adapting Nigerian education system to the 21st century, the systems theory was adopted as a theoretical framework. The case study, thematic and analytical approaches were also employed.  

Background: The neonatal period of new born infant is considered from birth to 28 days.Admission of the new-born infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) leads to a stressful situation for parents resulting in escalating feelings of anxiety and distress. Method: Total of 50 mothers were interviewed through self- developed questionnaire regarding their experiences of hospitalization in NICU by convenient sampling. Result: 48 % mothers knowthe reasons behind admitting their child to neonatal ICU informed to them by medical personnel out of them only 28% mothers were made aware of the treatment that their child had received ,Out of all mothers, 66% mothers mentioned that it was disturbing to see the appearance of their child in the NICU setup while 34% did not find it disturbing. 88% women were allowed and instructed to handle their baby in the NICU while 12% were not as the child would be critical, handling by mother would be difficult for herself to see her child with many cables or in post-surgical cases handling would be restricted. Conclusion: All these mothers experience disturbed seeing their neonate inside the NICU while most of them were disturbed by their appearance along with heightened feelings of fear, stress and anxiety.