2021

The study examined the corrupt practices by telecommunication service providers in Nigeria and their impacts on the efficiency of telecom services in the country. Specifically, the focused on identifying the different categories of corrupt practices by the telecom service providers and their collective impact on service availability, quality of service, and their cost of service. In order to achieve these objectives, the study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design, using primary data. The population consisted of all active telecommunication users (subscribers) in the six (6) South-South States in Nigeria (i.e. Akwa-Ibom = 3,102,760; Bayelsa = 1,102,570;
Cross-River = 2,274,165; Delta = 5,328,096; Edo = 5,169,076 and Rivers State = 6,270,011), totalling 23,246,678 subscribers (i.e. GSM and others) as at the second quarter (Q2) of 2018. The Taro Yamani’s formula was employed in systematically scaling down the sample to four hundred (400) participants for convenient sake which were chosen randomly among the subscribers of the four (4) major service providers in Nigeria (MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile). Both descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression techniques were used for the analysis. The results showed an inverse and non-significant relationship between level of corrupt practices, telecom service availability and quality of telecom service. This implies that higher levels of corrupt practice by telecom operators have the tendency of reducing telecom service availability and quality, but not significantly. However, the relationship between level of corrupt practices and cost of service is positive and statistically significant meaning that higher level of corrupt practice by telecom network providers is strongly associated with high cost of telecom services (tariffs). The study concludes that the level of corrupt practices by telecom network providers is not associated with the quality and availability of the telecommunication service in Nigeria. The study recommends, among others, that stiffer sanctions, such as withdrawal of licence, should be meted out to network providers found to be engaging in corrupt practices and/or exploitative services capable of short-changing the subscribing public

This research presents the results of an investigation of fracture parameters and how it affects the production rate or recovery from a hydraulically fractured well. The problem that occurs without taking into consideration the important role each of these parameters play in the ultimate recover from a low permeability reservoir. In dealing with hydraulic fracturing design, it is neces sary to be able to determine the area of fracture extent to be able to calculate or estimate the productivity index of the well.
The aim of the study is to show the relationship between the fracture area which is one of the important fracture parameters and the productivity index of a well. Field data was acquired, an analytical method was applied and mathematical correlations was established to determine the parameters of interest, and Microsoft excel was employed for computational purposes to ensure error elimination. For the analysis of data, an investigation was also made to ascertain the various basic parameters and their respective values from four different wells that was fractured. Their different fracture area and productivity index were computed using the equations established and the field data acquired to attest the accuracy of the adopted correlation. Graphs were also plotted to show a clear relationship between the fracture area and productivity index. The results from the research shows that an increase in the area of fracture extent will variably increase the production rate or recovery from the well. That is the fracture area varies directly with the well’s productivity index.

Communication right from creation is a very essential aspect of human existence. Just as it is obtainable in other parts of the universe, the concept of consumer protection is same in Nigeria. It is designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous producers and service providers. The telecommunication sector in Nigeria is an active participant in this development as seen in the accelerated growth of the industry with one innovation replacing another in quick succession. Following the opening up of the telecommunication sector of the Nigerian economy in 2002, telecommunication services became widely available in the country with the number of active telephone lines presently trying to equal the population of the country. However, with the rapid growth of the telecommunication industry and the consequent expansion of its consumer base, consumer dissatisfaction has become rife in Nigeria. Consumer complaints against telecommunication services provider include call interference and loss of audio, high rates of call attempts, recurrent downtimes, long delay and non-delivery of SMS, multiple deliveries of a single SMS and unsolicited commercial text messages. While the government has responded through the enactment of legislations, with the aim regulating the telecommunication sector, the issue of consumer dissatisfaction still continues amidst these legislations. Utilizing the doctrinal research methodology, this research work seeks to the efficiency of the regulatory frame work on the regulation of the telecommunication sector and consumer protection in Nigeria. The research work concluded by making salient recommendation which implemented will ensure more protection of the telecommunication consumers in Nigeria.

The amount of sunlight that strikes the earth’s surface in an hour and a half is enough to handle the entire world’s energy consumption for a full year. Solar Power Technology is one of the major types of green and renewable energy. They are used to convert sunlight into electrical energy either through photovoltaic (PV) panels or through mirrors that concentrate solar radiation. This energy can be used to generate electricity or be stored in batteries or thermal storage. This project is titled “The Design of a Standalone Solar Power System for Four Offices in Electrical/Electronic Department”. The project aims to design and install a Standalone Solar system to provide power supply for the critical loads present in four offices in Electrical/Electronic department, University of Benin. The methodology employed in this project was to calculate and estimate the electrical loads and critical loads in the four offices in Electrical/Electronic department, the sizing and installation of solar panels, batteries, inverter and charge controller, and lastly the test results and maintenance procedures carried out after the installation. This PV system consist of 3.5KVA 220V inverter at 50Hz which incorporates 14 300W-Solar panels all connected in parallel, 2 deep cycle batteries rated 200Ah, 12V connected in series and a 12V 200Amps charge controller. The system was designed to assess the total electric power demand. During the day the output from the PV charges the batteries and feed the load and when power failure occurs from the grid, the stored energy in the battery is again supplied back to the load in order to ensure there is always availability of power in the office

This paper examines the impact of value added tax and budget deficit on economic performance in Nigeria. The main objective of this study is to examine the interrelationship among value added tax, budget deficit and economic performance proxied as gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria during the period under study. The study utilized aggregate annual data from 1980 to 2018. The data was analyzed with the co-integration/ VECM method. The major findings are: the test for stationary using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) which showed that all the variables except budget deficit were not stationary in levels but were all stationary in first difference. The Johansen-Juselius co-integration techniques were employed in testing for long run equilibrium relationship among the variables and the results indicated that co-integrating relationship was found among the variables. The coefficient of determination reveals that about 88% of the systematic variation in the dependent variable (GDP) is explained by the five independent variables which are value added tax, budget deficit, exchange rate, consumer price index and real interest rate. Also, the vector error correction model (VECM) shows that about 22% of the discrepancy between the actual and the long run or equilibrium value in the real gross domestic product is corrected or eliminated each year. Furthermore, the result revealed that value added tax, budget deficit, and exchange rate has positive and insignificant effect on GDP in Nigeria, while consumer price index has positive and significant impact on GDP in Nigeria based on the magnitude and the level of significance of the coefficient and p-value. The result also reveals that there is long run relationship between value added tax, budget deficit and gross domestic product as evidenced by the VECM. The paper concluded that Government and policy makers should carefully study the present state of the economy and properly estimate the effects of various alternative policy measures of financing fiscal deficits. And also government should supervise the collection of VAT revenue to ensure orderly, fair and equitable dealings in the collection of VAT revenue and to forestall illegal deals by privilege insiders so as to raise the revenue as
effectively and efficiently as possible.

The study examined the factors influencing students’ dropouts in adult literacy centres in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, five research questions were raised to guide the study. The sample for the study consists of one hundred (100) adult learners selected from four (4) adult literacy centres in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. The participants were selected using the simple random sampling method and data was collected with the aid of questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the instrument were ascertained using the test-retest procedures. Simple percentages and frequency count were used to analyze collected data. Findings from the study revealed that the several factors such as low
facilitator’s competence, financial constraints, gender and distance from literacy centre are capable of influencing student drop-out in adult literacy centres. And based on the findings emanating from the study it was recommended that there is need for national re-orientation to the value of adult IV literacy education through public enlightenment programmes to encourage the
adult learners to continue with the literacy programme.

Giardiasis is a disease of public health importance, a common cause of acute and chronic human diarrheal. In some developing countries, infection and mortality rates among young children can be quite high. This study was carried out to determine Giardia lamblia infection among children in rural and urban areas in Benin City, Edo State, A comparative study was done, using the microscopy method and ELISA technique, 288 primary school children consisted of (194) males and (94) females were enrolled in this study, Stool specimen was collected from each participant into a sterile universal bottle and sent for analysis to the
laboratory department of City of Hope Medical Centre, Benin city. The age of participants ranged from 6-14years. A well-structured questionnaire bothering on the bio-data and socio-demographic characteristics was administered on each
participant prior to the collection of Specimen. Informed consent was obtained from the parent or guardian of each participant. The stool specimens were analyzed using microscopy and ELISA technique. A prevalence of 5.6% of Giardia lamblia infection was observed among children in the Study Areas. Comparative studies of the microscopy method and ELISA techniques showed a
p-value of < 0.05 (0.001) which was significant. There was a significant difference in the age group 10-11 years old presenting with the highest prevalence of 13.7% in comparison to other age groups with p-value < 0.05 (0.014). Hand hygiene was highly prevalent (12.5%) with p-value <0.05(0.000) which was significant, which showed that those who observed poor hand hygiene are with the high odds of being infected than those who practice good hand hygiene. Epidemiological factors such as Residential locations, settlement type, type of toilet, proximity of kitchen to toilet facility, diarrhoea, and Food source significantly affected the prevalence of G. lamblia infection. Increased Awareness, personal hygiene and good sanitary practices, particularly among mothers and children, should be encouraged as this would curb the spread of giardiasis. ELISA with sensitivity of 95% to 100% and specificity over 90% when compared with direct microscopy provides a relevant alternative method to the routine ova and
parasite examination in diagnosing giardiasis. Based on this, detection of giardiasis should not solely be based on microscopy; more effective methods such as ELISA could be employed.

Human Rights are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because he or she is a human being. Right from the evolutionary point of Human Rights, there have been arguments as to its natural existence, also its applicability across places and spaces within the context of their socio-cultural, political, and economic realities. Thus, the discourse of the Universalism and Cultural Relativism of human rights is one of great controversy in both domestic and international levels. Essentially, most if not all the Human Rights instrument provide that Human Rights are Universal, for instance the provisions of the UDHR1 preamble, which declares itself a ‘standard of achievement for all people’. The cultural relativist argue that human rights or at least certain human rights are a result of Western influence, and as such should not be imposed on other cultures, it promotes the tolerance of other cultures and challenges the universality of human rights. With respect to the subject of gay rights which has provoked a lot of outburst from Africans and the Westerners on its implementation and practice universally. While many Africans considerLGBT as immoral to their culture, the Westerners consider it as part of human rights. This long essay would attempt to distinguish between the universalism and cultural relativism of human rights, and within the context of LGBT rights in Nigeria as a focus, its legislation; Prohibition and Punishment of LGBT practice, the implication of such in the society, noting that nowhere in sight is the political consensus on LGBT rights equating with human rights in Nigeria

The study examined the corrupt practices by telecommunication service providers in Nigeria and their impacts on the efficiency of telecom services in the country. Specifically, the focused on identifying the different categories of corrupt practices by the telecom service providers and their collective impact on service availability, quality of service, and their cost of service. In order to achieve these objectives, the study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design, using primary data. The population consisted of all active telecommunication users (subscribers) in the six (6) South-South States in Nigeria (i.e. Akwa-Ibom = 3,102,760; Bayelsa = 1,102,570;
Cross-River = 2,274,165; Delta = 5,328,096; Edo = 5,169,076 and Rivers State = 6,270,011), totalling 23,246,678 subscribers (i.e. GSM and others) as at the second quarter (Q2) of 2018. The Taro Yamani’s formula was employed in systematically scaling down the sample to four hundred (400) participants for convenient sake which were chosen randomly among the subscribers of the four (4) major service providers in Nigeria (MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile). Both descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression techniques were used for the analysis. The results showed an inverse and non-significant relationship between level of corrupt practices, telecom service availability and quality of telecom service. This implies that higher levels of
corrupt practice by telecom operators have the tendency of reducing telecom service availability and quality, but not significantly. However, the relationship between level of corrupt practices and cost of service is positive and statistically significant meaning that higher level of corrupt practice by telecom network providers is strongly associated with high cost of telecom services (tariffs). The study concludes that the level of corrupt practices by telecom network providers is not associated with the quality and availability of the telecommunication service in Nigeria. The study recommends, among others, that stiffer sanctions, such as withdrawal of licence, should be meted out to network providers found to be engaging in corrupt practices and/or exploitative services capable of short-changing the subscribing public.

This study, anchored on the tenets of cultivation and uses and gratification theories, investigated the influence of the Big Brother Naija reality television show on the lifestyle of youth in Edo State. The study became necessary following the assumption that Big Brother Naija show has the abilities to positively or negatively influence viewership. Thus four hundred (400) youth, selected to reflect and represent the eighteen (18) Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, comprised the sample of this study. The
sample was selected through purposive, stratified random and random sampling techniques. An eleven (11) item questionnaire was used to generate data from the sample. Data generated were analyzed and presented with the aid of frequency tables,
simple percentage and mean score. Findings show that the extent to which youth are exposed to Big Brother Naija Show is very high. It was also revealed that the attitude of youth in Edo State towards Big Brother Naija show is very strong. It was also found that youth utilize the show for entertainment, education, information and socialization. However they are mostly entertained from watching the show. The study concluded that the Influence of Big Brother Naija Reality Television Show on youth is more
negative than positive. It concluded that the show remains a formidable force in moulding the lifestyle of youth in Edo State. It was therefore recommended that since reality shows such as Big Brother Naija has serious influence on youth, they must observe
caution while watching the programmes so that they don’t get addicted to the programme or it doesn’t affect their lifestyle negatively