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Consuming toxic chemicals and substances can induce gastric damage to the stomach, which can result in serious medical disorders, cancer, and even death. Traditional herbs are being studied and processed into contemporary medications that are used to treat a variety of illnesses and medical issues. Mistletoe extracts have a long history of usage as secondary treatments for a variety of illnesses. Additionally, they include antioxidants such flavonoids, which have effects both in vitro and in vivo, and they have also been documented to exert specific pharmacological actions (such as cytotoxic and immunomodulatory). This study was carried out to investigate the effects of aqueous extract of mistletoe on lead acetate˗induced gastric damage in adult Wistar rats. Thirty (30) Wistar rats weighing between 150g and 250g were grouped into six; Group A, B, C, D, E and F. Each groups was made of up 5 rats and the rats were fed with grower mash feed (Primer Feed mill, Nigeria) and had free access to water throughout the entire period of study. Group A served as control. Group B rats were given 10mg/kg of lead acetate and 200mg/kg extract of Mistletoe (low dose). Group C rats were given 10mg/kg of lead acetate and 400mg/kg extract of Mistletoe (intermediate dose). Group D were given 10mg/kg of lead acetate and 800mg/kg extract of Mistletoe (high dose). Group E were given 10mg/kg of lead acetate only. Group F were given 10mg/kg of lead acetate and standard drug 500mg/kg (Omeprazole). After receiving the treatment for 28 days, the rats were sacrificed. Choloform was used to render the rats unconscious. The stomach was removed, weighed, and placed in 10% formal˗saline to prevent autolysis before being sent to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) histopathology department for tissue processing and histological evaluation. The results from this research shows that there was significant increase (P<0.05) of body weight in Group A, B, C, D and F when the initial body weight were compared to the final body weights. There was no significant difference (P˃0.5) of gastrosomatic index across all the groups. There was no significant difference (P˃0.05) of gastric weight across all the groups. The Viscum album extract had a dose dependent ameliorative, therapeutic and protective effect on the gastric damage caused by lead acetate on the stomach as revealed and seen in the histology results.

This study examined the effect of financial technology and financial inclusion on economic growth in selected sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The specific objectives of the study are to examine the effect of internet penetration and the influence of financial technology application on economic growth in selected SSA countries, while also examine the role of financial access, the extent financial usage impact and how financial quality impact on the economic growth in selected SSA countries. The method of analysis adopted in the study is the panel non-linear autoregressive distributed lags (PNARDL) approach which was chosen because it allows for the capture of the effect of potential asymmetries in the independent variables on the dependent variable. It therefore captures nonlinear dynamics that standard linear models might miss. With stratified sampling technique and the use of data filtering approach 29 countries were included in the study based on data availability, depth of the Fintec space and regionalization within the period 2014 to 2023. The study found that the internet penetration and financial technology significantly promotes economic growth in SSA countries. Similarly, financial access and financial quality were also found to positively promote economic growth while the reverse was the case for financial usage which was found to exhibit a negative relationship towards economic growth. In addition, the asymmetric effects of ICT infrastructure and Fintec are found to be much larger than the beneficial effects of their positive shocks with the coefficients of mobile banking (MBK) and POS agency positive but significant values of 0.185 and 0.002 respectively dwarfed by their respective coefficient of negative changes of -0.721 and -0.172. This result therefore calls for a combination of measures in addressing the digital deficits in SSA countries and also encouraging financial technology and inclusion while ensuring that digital services are stabilised and efficiently used over time to prevent costly disruptions.

The issue of mental capacity as a determinant for legal responsibility and validity has given rise to various judicial precedents and scholarly discourse within the Nigerian Legal system. Recurrently, the courts have been tasked with determining cases where the mental health of an individual is central to the case. This occurs whether in respect of assessing criminal or tortious liability or enforcing contracts. In criminal matters the argument espoused is the incapacity of an individual to form the intention necessary for the offence committed. Whereas, in contract law a person may seek to invalidate an agreement by claiming that at the time of the formation of the contract, they lacked the requisite mental capacity to understand and consider the consequences of the contractual agreement. Therefore, this study majorly examines : what legal effect mental capacity has with regards to criminal responsibility and contractual reliability respectively? What is the legislative framework in place for mental health care in Nigeria ? And lastly how effective are these legislative frameworks in relation to global mental health care standards? The rationale for modern interpretation is based on the constitutional rights of fair hearing, protection of human dignity and freedom from discrimination as provided by section 36, 34 and 42 respectively of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as (amended). In addition, the provision of section 17(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which vests the state with the duty of providing proper health care and health care facilities for individuals in Nigeria. The finding in this study shows that although laws have been enacted to cater for treatment and care of persons with mental disorders and incapacity in Nigeria, such laws do not fully cater for their rights and to a large extent does not align with modern international standards for mental health care.

In today's computing landscape, it is all about the proactive and intelligent solutions that extend beyond the reactive nature of a standard system monitoring solution. This project focuses on creating an AI-based System Monitor and Process Manager for Windows OS in the Rust programming language, with real-time intelligent analysis powered by Google's Gemini API. It overcomes the shortcomings of traditional monitoring solutions, including fixed thresholds, lack of elasticity for changing workloads, and the absence of human-readable insights, by combining Rust's performance and memory safety with cloud-based large language model (LLM) reasoning. Through the use of the sysinfo crate system metrics, such as CPU utilization, memory, disk I/O, and network traffic are collected and packaged into prompts sent to the Gemini 1.5 Flash API, which provides actionable, natural language summaries for each metric that are categorized by anomalies, optimizations, and priorities. High metric accuracy was shown through validation testing with the Windows Task Manager (1– 3% deviation, which is acceptable for real time monitoring). The AI-generated responses have always been relevant to the content, and 75-80% of them contained specific recommendations. The non-technical evaluators and technical evaluators both provided user feedback that showed a great preference for the use of the natural language interface system as opposed to traditional numerical dashboards. Although complete automation of the process was not achieved for security and complexity reasons, the system provides a good proof of concept for the feasibility of a hybrid architecture between a low-level native monitoring system and an AI-based semantic analysis system. The tool can be deployed as standalone tool without any dependency that requires a Windows executable file, which makes it easy to use for both individual and enterprise users. This work presents a novel methodology for proactive system performance management, especially important for resource-constrained systems, and serves as a stepping stone for future advancements such as predictive analytics, automated process control, and local LLM inference. Key components: System monitoring, Windows OS, Rust programming language, Artificial Intelligence, Gemini API, process management, anomaly detection, real-time analysis.

This thesis presents the design and development of an Adaptive Learning Support System that leverages real-time learner analytics, intelligent recommendation techniques, and Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) to enhance personalized education delivery. The proposed system integrates several interconnected modules—including data acquisition, learner state monitoring, adaptive content delivery, personalized recommendations, intelligent interventions, and teacher in-the-loop support—to create a responsive learning environment capable of adjusting to each learner’s unique needs. By analyzing behavioural patterns, content interactions, assessment performance, and contextual factors, the system dynamically recommends suitable learning materials while providing transparent explanations of its decisions. The intelligent services layer ensures scalability, interoperability, and continuous optimization across modules. Overall, the system aims to improve learner performance, engagement, and instructional efficiency, offering a robust and modern approach to adaptive education grounded in computational intelligence, machine learning, and human-centered design principles.

The rapid expansion of digital technology has transformed traditional concepts of contract formation, execution, and enforcement. In Nigeria, digital contracts—ranging from online agreements and e-commerce transactions to fintech-based service contracts—have become increasingly common. However, despite their widespread use, the legal framework governing these electronic agreements remains fragmented and insufficiently developed. This thesis critically examines the legal challenges and emerging opportunities associated with regulating digital contracts in Nigeria. The study evaluates key statutes such as the Evidence Act 2011, the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015, and the pending Electronic Transactions Bill, highlighting gaps in their capacity to address issues such as electronic signatures, admissibility of electronic evidence, jurisdictional complexities, automated contracting, and data protection. Using a doctrinal research methodology, the work draws on primary legislation, judicial decisions, scholarly writings, and comparative legal standards from jurisdictions such as the European Union and the United States. The findings reveal that while Nigerian law recognises electronic evidence and signatures to an extent, significant uncertainties persist in areas such as enforceability, consumer protection, and cross-border digital transactions. The absence of a comprehensive and consolidated statute on digital contracting continues to undermine legal certainty and trust in Nigeria’s digital economy. Nevertheless, the study identifies opportunities for Nigeria to strengthen its regulatory landscape through legislative reform, harmonisation with international best practices, and institutional capacity-building. The thesis concludes that modernising Nigeria’s digital contract framework is essential to promoting commercial growth, safeguarding consumer rights, and ensuring Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global digital marketplace. It recommends the enactment of a robust Electronic Transactions Act, clearer judicial guidelines on electronic evidence, improved data protection mechanisms, and increased public awareness on digital rights and obligations. These reforms, if implemented, will enhance legal predictability and support Nigeria’s transition toward a fully digitised commercial environment.

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This study investigated the effectiveness of school leadership styles in promoting learning outcomes: a case study of public secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. To achieve the purpose of the study, four research questions were raised and examined. The sample size was made up of 120 respondents. The questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. An analysis of data was done using mean and standard deviation. The findings from the study include that transformational, charismatic, transactional school leadership style significantly promotes learning outcomes in public secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. It was concluded that there is a significant relationship between school leadership styles and students’ learning outcomes in public secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. The study recommended among others that secondary school principals should avoid the use of autocratic leadership and embrace transformational and charismatic leadership style.

The study investigated teacher's perception on the Causes of Failure of Students in Biology in Secondary Schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, two research questions and one null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey study research design was adopted by the study. The population of this study consisted of all Biology teachers in the thirteen (13) public secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The number of teachers for this study is made up of thirty (30). The sample for the study was 30 Biology teachers from ten (13) randomly selected public secondary schools. The purposive sampling technique was adopted by the study to select the entire thirty (30) Biology teachers to make up the sample for the study. A structured questionnaire titled: "Teachers' Perception of the Causes of Failure of Students in Biology Questionnaire" (POTBQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts, the researchers' supervisor and two experts in Department of Curriculum and Instructional Technology, University of Benin, Benin City. Their opinions, suggestions and recommendations of these experts was used to produce the final instrument. The questionnaire were personally administered to all the respondents in the various schools after due permission was obtained from the principals. This was done in collaboration with the help of the subject teachers in the school who assisted with the distribution and collection of the questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency, mean (x), and standard deviation (SD). Frequency, mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions. The study found that Inadequate training of teachers affects students' performance and there are no adequate instructional materials for the teaching and learning of Biology and in most school the teachers do not make use of instructional materials. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended amongst others: The government should put into consideration professional training and qualifications of teachers during employment to ensure better outcomes during examinations. With this, only teachers with professional qualifications should be employed to teach Biology in our Secondary Schools.

The Sahel region is a semi-arid belt stretching across Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and has in recent decades become one of the world’s most volatile and insecure regions. It comprises states such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and parts of Nigeria. Between 2005 and 2025, the Sahel has witnessed a rapid escalation of terrorist activities and violent extremism, primarily linked to the spread of jihadist ideologies and the collapse of effective governance structures in key states. The increasing fragility of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso has created a fertile environment for extremist movements such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), and several local militias to thrive.¹