DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The Encyclopedia of Leadership has highlighted the critical role of leadership development in enhancing organizational performance and fostering effective leadership practices (Encyclopedia of Leadership). Without adequate training, leaders may default to familiar, often less effective, styles, perpetuating existing issues. Many Nigerian organizations suffer from a dearth of structured leadership development programs. Leaders often rise through the ranks based on technical competence or seniority rather than demonstrated leadership capabilities. This result in managers who lack the necessary skills in communication, motivation, conflict resolution, or strategic thinking. This study examine leadership style as a predictor of organizational achievement. It specifically determine why leadership style impact employee engagement and motivation, examine the relationship between leadership style and team productivity, find out if leadership style determines organizational adaptability, and to find out if leadership style affect the achievement of organizational goal. Questionnaire was used as research instrument to source for relevant data for the study. 327 questionnaire was distributed to non-academic Staff in University of Benin. Both frequency and percentage employed to analysis the respondent opinion on the issues of subject matter. Chi-square method was employed to test the hypothesis of the study. The finding of the study show that leadership style can be use as instrument for organizational achievement. Leadership style was discovered to be one of the determinant of employee engagement and motivation. The study revealed that a relationship exist between leadership style and team productivity. The analysis revealed that a good leadership style can be use as a determinant of organizational adaptability. And also it was discovered that leadership style has positive significant effect on the achievement of organizational goal. The study recommend that every organization should as issue of importance, ensure of getting the right leader that will man their organization; in order to achieve their set goals/objectives.

This study investigated the influence of grinding fineness on heavy metal leaching across seven common food matrices-melon, tomatoes, pepper, white and yellow corn, beans, groundnut, and crayfish-using both household and industrial tools. Samples were processed at two fineness levels (coarse and smooth), and analyzed for iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb). Results showed that smooth grinding consistently produced higher Fe and Zn concentrations than coarse grinding, indicating that finer particle exposure and increased friction enhance metal transfer from processing tools. Iron levels were highest in beans (10.97 mg/kg), followed by crayfish (6.47 mg/kg) and white corn (4.64 mg/kg), while zinc peaked in crayfish (1.15 mg/kg) and groundnut (0.82 mg/kg). Manganese were moderate, with the highest levels in pepper (0.71 mg/kg) and melon (0.58 mg/kg). Nickel appeared only in isolated smooth-ground samples, while cadmium and lead were largely undetected, except for trace levels in melon (0.015 mg/kg) and tomatoes (0.00008 mg/kg). Blenders, hand crank grinders, and aged milling machines contributed most to metal leaching, whereas traditional tools such as mortars and grinding stones showed comparatively lower contamination. Although detected metal levels generally fell within international food safety limits, cumulative exposure may pose long-term health risks. The study concludes that grinding fineness, tool type, and age are key factors influencing heavy metal migration during food processing. Routine equipment maintenance, use of food-grade materials, and greater public awareness are recommended to minimize contamination and ensure safer household and industrial food processing practices.

The study investigated the impact of welfare policy on Niger Delta region. To achieve the purpose of the study, three (3) research questions were raised and answered. The sample size for the study was made up of 100 respondents. The data collected was analyzed using frequency count and simple percentage. The study revealed that marginalization is the caused of the unrest and that the Niger Delta minorities have being agitating since the 1950 that they have been marginalized by the federating units of the Nigeria federation. It was concluded that the hope of the oil multi nationals for a peaceful resolution of the unrest suggests that the basic ef ort is to create dialogue and positive engagement in a transparent manner with the numerous ethnic nationalities in the region and to formulate an action plan for continuous and sustainable pragmatic intervention to end the conflict. The study recommended among others that Dialogue should be embrace by all while the use of force should be de emphasized. The federal government should go into dialogue with all stakeholders to end the unrest