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Technological advancement continues to revolutionize the labor market and has particularly intensified the debate on its employment effect across developing and developed economies. Employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework, this study provides insights into the employment-innovation nexus across the Nigerian economic sectors using the quarterly data from 2011Q1 to 2021Q4. The findings reveal that the employment-innovation nexus is a short-run phenomenon in Nigeria and that technological innovation enhances employment generation in the service sector and the agricultural sector, but it takes a quarter before the positive employment effect occurs. Overall, the results suggest that technological innovation improves employment and reallocates labor across the sectors, which suggests the need to fully operationalize technological innovation across the Nigerian economic sectors in order to tackle the prevailing unemployment conundrum in the country.

The Nigerian economy has been repeatedly hit by macroeconomic shocks, primarily owing to its over-reliance on crude oil and poor resource management. Given the limited resilience capacity of Nigeria’s economic sectors, this study examined the sensitivity of these sectors to macroeconomic shocks using the Vector Autoregression (VAR) and the Vector Error Correction (VEC) models in whose frameworks the study was carried out for the period between 2010Q1 and 2021Q4. The findings revealed the high responsiveness of the services and agricultural sectors to fiscal shocks, as well as the high sensitivity of the industrial sector to interest rate shocks. Also, the services sector was found to be more resilient to oil price shocks than the other sectors. Therefore, this study advocates for developing strategies to boost sectoral productivity and skillfully blend the fiscal and monetary policies so as to cushion the effects of macroeconomic shocks. Overall, this study provides the evidence of the sectoral effects of macroeconomic shocks in Nigeria.

Increasing agricultural productivity enhanced by versatile production systems is critical for sustainable food security and economic development. The study aims to compare the profitability and technical efficiency of vegetable production and factors influencing the technical efficiency of vegetable production between inorganic and organic farming systems in Imo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires comprising 100 vegetable farmers using a multistage sampling procedure. The budgetary analysis and stochastic production frontier model were used to estimate the profitability and the technical efficiencies of the enterprise. An average farmer realized ₦277,445.24 and ₦190,506.04 per hectare as profit from inorganic and organic vegetable production and can potentially earn ₦4.40 and ₦2.89 on every Naira invested, respectively. However, the inorganic farming system achieved significantly higher returns than the organic farming system. The mean technical efficiencies for organic and inorganic vegetable farmers were 89.57% and 75.64%, respectively. Farm size, labour and the quantity of seeds were the crucial factors that affected the technical efficiency under both farming systems. Also, age, years of education and farming experience were the significant variables that influenced the technical inefficiency of inorganic farmers, whereas years of education and household size significantly influenced the technical inefficiency of organic farmers. This study advocates for subsidized inputs for organic farmers to compensate for their lower yields and policies that would attract young people to vegetable farming to increase the production level.

A field experiment was conducted in 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Technology, Minna to evaluate the effects of different rates of nitrogen (N) and zinc (Zn) on the growth and yield of maize. The treatments included four levels of N: 0, 60, 90 and 120 kg ha-1 and three levels of Zn: 0, 2.5 and 5 kg ha-1. The experimental design was a 4 × 3 factorial design fitted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The soil was relatively low in initial N content and relatively high in soil extractable Zn of 2.30 mg kg-1. The main effect of N on the plant height of maize was significant (p

Malnutrition resulting from low protein intake is one of the nutritional problems facing most developing countries including Nigeria. Most proteinaceous food sources are costly and in short supply. 'Wara' is a proteinaceous ready to eat food product made by curdling milk. It does not normally undergo any further safety treatments before consumption. Frequent hawking on our major streets and roads calls for determination of the safety of these products. 'Wara' samples sourced from four different locations each at Ilorin, Kwara State and at Ogbomoso, Oyo State respectively, were analysed for nutritional and microbial safety. Proximate composition of the samples over the period of storage showed that moisture content and carbohydrates increased from 59.69% to 72.00% and from 2.39% to 11.39% respectively, while protein, fat and ash contents reduced from 22.20% to 10.80%, 15.80% to 3.62% and from 2.99% to 0.25%, respectively. Microbial and fungal counts ranged from 2.0 X 102cfu to 6.3 X 105cfu and from 2.0 X 102cfu to 7.1 X 105 cfu, respectively. Klebsiellaand Salmonella species, Escherichia coli and some fungiwere isolated. The study revealed that some of the hawked cheeses were not safe for consumption. Attributable reasons were unhygienic practices of the hawkers or producers and/or lack of requisite preservatives.

Borassus aethiopum extract as a biological extender was evaluated on semen quality, fertility and hatchability in chickens under conditions of warm preservation at 37oC. The extenders were prepared in 1:5 and 1:10 ratios (extract to normal saline) and preserved for 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours respectively in a factorial design layout. There was no significant (p>0.05) effect of the extender on semen characteristics within 2 hours of preservation. However, motility (%) was significantly (p0.05) higher in the extender of 1:10 than in the extender of 1:5 and it was above 70%. Using the extender of 1:10 in the fertility and hatchability trial in a completely randomized design layout showed that fertility decreased, 95% in the 0- hour treatment to 73% in the 4-hour treatment while hatchability decreased from 71.4% in the 0-hour treatment to 61.5% in the 4-hour treatment. It may be concluded that the Borassus aethiopum extract could be used to extend and preserve the semen of chickens for 3 hours providing good fertility and hatchability of eggs.

A comparative study on the response of six maize hybrids: two hybrids each from the 1980s (8321-21 and 8425-8), 1990s (9801-11 and 9803-2) and 2000s (0103-11 and 0103-15) to sub-optimal and optimal nitrogen fertilization was conducted in Oke-Oyi, Nigeria. The trials were set up in a split plot with three nitrogen levels (0, 30 and 90 kg N ha-1) as a main plot and six hybrids as sub-plots. Significant interactions were observed between hybrid and N level for all characters, with increasing in variation as the level of N decreased. Mean grain yield reductions across eras were 73.8% at no-N and 32.6% at low-N, and those of optimal-N fertilization were 34.3% and 15.7% for 1980s and 1990s genotypes respectively. Depending on N treatment, grain yield varied from 0.67 to 4.89 t ha-1. Kernel number was most severely reduced by N stress, but had positive and highly significant (p≤0.01) correlation with grain yield at all N levels. Genetic gains in grain yield were 42% (between 1980 and 2000 eras) and 9% (between 1990 and 2000 eras) under optimal-N fertilization. The two modern hybrids of 2000 era (0103-11 and 0103-15) were outstanding for all the agronomic traits and leaf chlorophyll concentration at all N levels. Improving traits associated with fertilizer N response could accelerate rate of genetic gains in maize yields.

Quality protein maize (QPM) combining the enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan with high grain yield and desirable agronomic traits could reduce food insecurity and malnutrition in West and Central Africa. Twenty-two varieties of QPM and two local checks were evaluated for agronomic characteristics and nutritional qualities in the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria for two years (2009 and 2010). Though crude protein levels are good indicators of quality, amino acid composition analyses, especially lysine and tryptophan that would provide a final proof are in progress. The genotypes comprised five open pollinated varieties (OPVs), nine inbred lines, eight hybrids and two local varieties. Differences among the varieties were significant (P

It has long been ascertained that the application of a family centered perspectives to learning is a positive strategy toward implementation of inclusive education worldwide. Similarly, research also confirmed that meaningful parent's involvement is highly recognized as the most important ingredient for successful inclusive practice. This article critically explores and reviews research literature on the relevance and usefulness of family involvement to the implementation of inclusive education. The article planned to increase our knowledge and understanding of the crucial role that engaging families of learners with special needs might have on their learning, and look at earlier studies relating to the major effects of parental involvement in inclusion. Moreover, the article also paid particular attention to how culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and family characteristics influence the level of school - parent partnership in inclusive settings. Finally, findings revealed parents as social actors whose involvement is related to positive outcomes of learners with exceptional needs in inclusive settings.