This article investigated the image of gender identity in the circumcision songs of the Tiriki community living in Western Kenya. The objective of this study was: to determine the cultural context of the Tiriki community in the selected songs. The study seeks to bridge the academic gap that shows that gender identity in circumcision songs within the Tiriki community has not been fully researched. Gender identity is a topic that is very broad for research, but for this study, the researcher focused on highlighting the issue of gender image that appears in selected circumcision songs of the Tiriki community. The researcher purposefully focused on eight circumcision songs among the Tiriki community of Vihiga County, Hamisi sub-county, to investigate and classify how these songs represent gender identity. The research was guided by the theory of gender and performance by Judith Butler (2004) and the theory of communication, tradition and language ideology of Roy Rappaport (1999). The research was field based, though it benefitted a lot from internet library to get relevant data concerning this research topic. The researcher selected ten circumcised boys, ten elderly men, ten elderly women, five circumcisers, and five community-based groups as respondents of the research. Data collection was of context analysis by analyzing the songs and various works on the issue of gender identity. Targeted group was circumcised boys, selected elders and Tiriki old women. Data collection was of context analysis by analyzing the songs and various works on the issue of gender identity. Data was collected using a questionnaire and recorded in both hard and soft copies. Data was analyzed descriptively and results presented in written documents. Eight selected circumcision songs were examined and analyzed on how they bring the image of gender identity in the Tiriki community. The research provided an important source of reference to scholars on this topic of gender identity, and will brought a different view of gender identity through the Tiriki circumcision songs. The research is a bridge to future researchers on this topic of gender identity. Read more

Introduction: Competence-based education and training (CBET) has been widely embraced in Ugandan higher education to tackle concerns about graduate employability and skills gaps. However, the extent to which curriculum design, pedagogy/andragogy, and assessment are coherently aligned to foster competency development remains uncertain. Methods: An empirical review approach was employed to synthesise findings from qualitative and quantitative studies, policy documents, and institutional reports on CBET in Ugandan higher education and related East African contexts. Evidence was organised across four domains: curriculum, pedagogy/andragogy, assessment, and implementation outcomes, with particular focus on health professions, teacher education, and selected professional programmes. Results: The review reveals significant progress in defining competency frameworks and restructuring curricula around clear outcomes. Practice-oriented pedagogies, such as clinical placements, role-plays, and project-based learning, are increasingly adopted but remain constrained by large class sizes, resource shortages, and insufficient staff training. Assessment reforms include greater utilisation of criterion-referenced, formative, and scenario-based approaches, though high-stakes written examinations still predominate in many programmes. Alignment among curriculum, pedagogy/andragogy, and assessment is strongest where institutions invest in faculty development and structured workplace-based learning, and weakest in under-resourced settings and emerging disciplines. Key findings: First, curriculum reform alone does not ensure competency development; its success depends on congruent pedagogical and assessment practices. Second, andragogical principles, feedback, self-monitoring, and authentic tasks are most effective when integrated into systematic assessment frameworks. Third, gaps in teacher/lecturer assessment literacy and unequal resource distribution hinder consistent CBET implementation and aggravate institutional inequalities. Conclusion: CBET in Ugandan higher education has shifted discourse and formal curricula towards competencies, but implementation remains partial and uneven. Misalignment between curriculum goals, teaching practices, and assessment systems hampers the realisation of intended graduate competencies. Recommendations: The study advocates for sustained investment in staff development programmes focused on competency-oriented pedagogy and assessment, the development and refinement of discipline-specific competency frameworks, enhancement of criterion-referenced and workplace-based assessment systems, better resourcing of learning environments, and closer vertical alignment between secondary and higher education to facilitate coherent competence progression. Read more

This was a comparative study of the use irony in hero character depictions in the Kiswahili Epics of Mikidadi and Mayasa and Fumo Liyongo. The objective of the research was: - to do a comparative assessment of the use of irony as a stylistic device of depicting heroism in the Kiswahili Epics of Mikidadi and Mayasa and Fumo Liyongo. The choice of the research topic was informed by the existing academic gap. Even though many researches have been done on heroism, the researcher is yet to encounter a work on the comparative analysis the use of irony in depicting heroism in the selected Kiswahili Epics Fumo Liyongo, and Mikidadi and Mayasa. This paper was guided by the theory of Formalism by Victor Shykslovsky (1904) and expounded by vile Bies and Roman Jacobson 1919. This theory points out clearly that, literary works should have distinctive features like form and literary strategies in depictions. This research was library based. Different libraries including e-library were used. The target population was Kiswahili epics, and purposefully two Kiswahili Epics were sampled. The selected epics were; The Epic of Fumo Liyongo, (Kijumwa, 1913) and The Epic of Mikidadi and Mayasa (Bashir, 1972). Data was collected by use of content analysis. The selected Kiswahili epics were read in depth. Specific data connected with the objective was documented as guided by the theory of Formalism and The Readers’- Response Theory then cross checked in a comparative way. Data was then analyzed descriptively, and results presented in a written document. The research assessed comparatively the contexts of irony in various contexts in the selected epics. The research concluded that even though the contexts contradicted the expectations of the readers about a true hero in a community, irony was purposefully used to show heroism. The result in this research paper is expected to be an important source of reference to scholars of this topic of heroism in Kiswahili epics. This research is a bridge to future research and it is an important addition to works already done on heroism in Kiswahili epics. Read more

This was a comparative contextual analysis of the role of societal institutions in molding heroism in the Kiswahili Epics of Mikidadi and Mayasa and Fumo Liyongo. The objective of the research was: to comparatively assess the influence of institutions in molding heroism in the Kiswahili Epics of Mikidadi and Mayasa and Fumo Liyongo. The choice of the research topic was informed by the existing academic gap. Even though many researches have been done on heroism, the researcher is yet to encounter a work on the investigation of societal institutions that mold heroism in the Epics of Mikidadi and Mayasa and Fumo Liyongo. This research was guided by the Reader’s Response Theory. The Reader’s Response Theory suggests that, readers bring their unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the act of reading, shaping their understanding and response to a text. It therefore underscores the significance of reader-centered approaches in literary analysis and the dynamic nature of interpretation. This research was library based. Different libraries including e-library were used. The target population was Kiswahili epics, and the research purposefully sampled the Epic Mikidadi and Mayasa (Bashir 1972) and Fumo Liyongo (1913). Data was collected by use of content analysis by reading the selected Kiswahili epics in depth. Specific data connected with the objective was documented as guided by the theory and then cross checked to confirm how the institutions assisted in depicting a hero. Data was then analyzed descriptively, and results presented in a written document. The research, assessed the influence of themes like culture, economy, death and Betrayal in hero depictions in the selected epics. The result of the research is expected to be an important source of reference to scholars of this topic of heroism in Kiswahili epics. This research is a bridge to future research and it is an important addition to researches already done on heroism in Kiswahili epics. Read more

This paper discusses the critical need for Grassroots Theological Education (GTE) to promote moral development in Nigeria, focusing on the biblical narrative of Daniel 1. In Nigeria, where moral degradation and ethical challenges such as corruption, violence, and social injustice are pervasive, traditional theological education often fails to address these issues effectively at the grassroots level. The problem lies in the gap between formal theological institutions and the moral realities societies face, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This study fills that gap by arguing for implementing GTE, which is community-based, accessible, and contextually relevant for moral formation in Nigerian society. The paper examines the current state of theological education in Nigeria and its shortcomings in addressing moral development. It analyses the narrative of Daniel 1 to draw insights into moral integrity and propose a grassroots model of theological education that can better address Nigeria’s moral challenges. Through an analytical approach, the study employs textual analysis of Daniel 1 and a review of secondary sources on theological education and moral development in Nigeria. The findings reveal that Daniel’s moral courage in the face of cultural and political pressures offers valuable lessons for Nigerian youths and parents struggling with similar ethical dilemmas. Inspired by the narrative, GTE provides practical lessons for moral formation by engaging societies at their level of understanding and need. The paper recommends the establishment of locally-driven theological education that integrates biblical teaching with real-life moral challenges, focusing on practical ethics, leadership, and the promotion of integrity from a young age. Read more

Academic sermons (preaching tests) which depend largely on pragmatic choices, are used to determine the preachers’ quality and qualification for theological certification. Previous studies on religious discourse have not recognised the influence of delivery constraints on the overall output of academic sermons. This study, therefore, examined the pragmatic implications of the preachers’ choices. The study adopted aspects of pragmatic act theory. Stratification and purposive sampling methods were used to select three seminaries from which data were gathered. The penultimate year student-pastors were purposively selected for data collection and data were subjected to pragmatic analysis. Four performance contexts and six delivery styles with eight strategies demonstrated training-induced delivery constraints, which conditioned preachers’ pragmatic designs and determined their level of compliance to training in the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminaries. The perfect orientation to narrative and prescriptive styles suggested compliance to training, but the partial orientation and complete disorientation to analytical, invocational, affiliative and professing styles implied pragmatic misadjustment and professional deficiencies with implications for pastoral competence. Read more

The essentiality of electric load forecast for the effective design and management of electric power systems has been achieved in this study. PHEDC may plan for infrastructure construction, resource allocation, and energy management by using accurate long-term load forecasts of this study. In the context of the Woji Estate 11/0.415 kV Feeder in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, we have discussed the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for a long-term of ten (10) years load forecasting in this paper starting from January 2020- December 2029. However, curve fitting feed-forward artificial neural network has been employed for the simulation on MATLAB 2020 environment, with six(6) input datasets obtained from Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN), Oginigba and Port Harcourt electricity distribution Company, and average temperature dataset from NIMET-Abuja all in Nigeria from January, 2015-December, 2019. The regression plot of epoch 11 with training; R=1 and validation of 0.9999 have been achieved which indicates how efficient was the training of the dataset. Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm is used as an optimization technique in this study. In addition, training, test, validation, and error analysis have been used to examine the effectiveness of the LM algorithm, it has been found optimal with ANN. The general observation shows that ANN provides effective results on long-term electrical load forecasting of the Woji Estate Feeder with a total forecasted value of 29734.4 MWHR and an average value of 24778.67 MWHR at the end of the tenth year. Read more

The meaning of language is tied to the context where it is used. This study examines the different pragmatic acts performed by beggars across Southwest Nigeria while soliciting alms. The aim is to establish the role of language as a tool in perpetuating this age-long profession of soliciting alms from members of society. The study employs Jacob Mey’s Pragmatic Act theory as its theoretical springboard while data for the study was obtained by closely observing the activities of the subjects across selected locations within the study area. This is done with the consent of the subjects. The study discovered beggars often employ nine pragmatic goals in achieving their objective, that is, soliciting, hailing, praying, directing, informing, assuring, requesting, pleading and inquiring, with the pragmatic goal of pleading to account for the highest percentage of the occurrence. The study also identified a linguistic adaptation where the research subjects conform to the situational context in their linguistic choices, including a manifestation of shared situational knowledge between the research subjects and their addressees. Read more

This work attempts a lexico-semantic analysis of ‘Don’t Marry Angelica’ in order to reveal the author’s creative deployment of language to foreground his pre-determined intentions in the text. The study, which adopts Halliday’s Context of Situation as a theoretical framework, shows how the author uses his vast knowledge of linguistic techniques and fecundity of his mental construct to expose the ills of the African society through the use of figures of speech, connotations, direct translations and creative coinages among others in the text to develop the themes of poverty, under-development and his criticism against stigmatization of adoption, abortion and other social practices against women and children in the society, among others. Read more

Edge-based access-control systems must evaluate identity, context, and policy constraints quickly enough to protect distributed resources without imposing unnecessary authentication. This study compares CatBoost and a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN) as complementary models for contextual risk prediction in an enhanced access-control framework. Structured access records were encoded using login time, device trust, known location, biometric confidence, resource sensitivity, and Chinese Wall conflict status. CatBoost supplied interpretable risk estimates, whereas the 1D CNN classified access states as failed, uncertain, or verified. The 1D CNN achieved 84.08% test accuracy on 157 records; the verified class produced 96.77% recall and a 90.91% F1-score. System-level results further showed that adding biometric evidence and policy checks moved some context-only grants to step-up or deny decisions. The findings indicate that neither model is sufficient as a standalone security mechanism. A layered edge pipeline that combines structured risk scoring, contextual classification, identity confidence, and conflict-of-interest enforcement provides a more defensible basis for real-time grant, step-up, and deny decisions. Read more