Neonatal jaundice (NNJ), affecting around 60% of term and 80% of preterm infants, poses significant health risks, particularly in low-resource settings. Delays in treatment due to maternal knowledge gaps or misconceptions can result in severe complications such as kernicterus. Maternal knowledge and perception are central to early recognition and care-seeking, yet gaps and misconceptions persist among expectant mothers in many low-resource settings, including Nigeria. The study aimed to assess the knowledge, perceptions, and perceived effects of NNJ among expectant mothers at selected teaching hospitals in Ogun State, Nigeria, to inform the development of effective educational interventions. A descriptive quantitative survey was conducted among 107 expectant mothers at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital and Babcock University Teaching Hospital, using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation, with hypotheses tested at the 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed gaps in maternal understanding: 69.2% had good general knowledge of NNJ, but only 40.2% recognized blood incompatibility as a cause, and 61.7% had good knowledge of NNJ complications. Perception of NNJ as a common, normal condition was divided (42.1% agreed, 40.2% disagreed). Hypothesis testing showed no significant relationship between knowledge and perception (r = 0.188, p = 0.053), but there were significant positive relationships between knowledge and perceived effects (r = 0.339, p < 0.05) and between perception and perceived effects (r = 0.334, p < 0.05). Respondents had good knowledge of neonatal jaundice; their knowledge positively impacted their perception and perceived effects of neonatal jaundice on the mother and the child. The study recommends that targeted educational interventions are essential to improve maternal understanding of NNJ, fostering proactive healthcare-seeking behaviour and reducing NNJ complications. Read more

This study examined the effects of packaging and innovativeness on the performance of herbal medicine businesses in Gombe State. A quantitative research approach was adopted, and primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from owners and/or managers of herbal medicine businesses. The study employed purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings showed that packaging had a positive and insignificant effect on business performance (β = 0.421, t = 2.417, p = 0.018), while innovativeness had a positive and significant effect (β = 0.630, t = 2.886, p = 0.000). The model produced an R2 value of .560, indicating that the predictors jointly explained 0.56 of the variance in business performance. The study concluded that strengthening modern packaging can improve the performance of herbal medicine businesses in Gombe State. The study recommended that herbal businesses owners should embrace continuous improvement in product packaging and hygienic handling in order to strengthen their competitiveness and customer patronage. Read more

Employee loyalty and retention are critical issues in human resource management in an organization. High employee turnover is rampant in many organizations especially in developing countries like Cameroon. With the shortage of qualified personnel, organizations increasingly face the challenge of finding and retaining qualified workers who are committed to the missions and vision of the organization. Fringe benefits are important in improving employee loyalty and in causing them to want to stay in the organization. The main objective of this study was to examine the interrelationships among employee loyalty, fringe benefits and employee retention in Viettel Cameroun SA. Specifically, the study sought to investigate the influence of fringe benefits on employee loyalty, the influence of fringe benefits on employee retention and the moderating role of employee loyalty on the link between fringe benefits and employee retention. The OLS estimation showed that an additional fringe benefit increases the employee loyalty score by 0.418 units. The logistic regression analysis revealed that an additional fringe benefit increases the probability of employee retention by 10%, and that employee loyalty enhances the influence of fringe benefits on employee retention from 10% to 17.6%. The study recommends that Viettel and similar organizations provide regular fringe benefits to their workers, make their salaries more stable, improve communication and appreciation of workers in order to improve their loyalty and increase their chances of staying in the organization. Read more

Background: Human Papillomavirus infection is a major global public health concern, with cervical cancer being the fourth most common cancer among women. Despite the availability of the HPV vaccine, uptake remains low in many communities in Nigeria. Nurse-led educational interventions have the potential to improve parental awareness and vaccine uptake. Objective: To determine the effect of a nurse-led educational intervention on parental uptake of the HPV vaccine among parents of adolescents in Kaduna North Senatorial District, Nigeria. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest study was conducted among 208 parents of adolescents aged 9–14 years, equally allocated across four Local Government Areas (LGAs); Zaria and Sabon Gari (intervention) and Makarfi and Soba (control). A multistage sampling technique was used to select wards, communities, and households, with one parent recruited per household. Baseline data on HPV vaccine uptake were collected, followed by a structured nurse-led educational intervention. Post-intervention uptake was assessed three months later using the same questionnaire. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and the results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to address the research question to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Results: The mean HPV vaccine uptake score in the intervention group increased significantly from 2.49 ± 2.37 at pretest to 4.12 ± 1.71 at post-test (t = –6.91, p &lt; 0.001), while the control group showed no significant change (1.45 ± 2.14 vs 1.77 ± 2.18, t = –1.85, p = 0.067). The proportion of parents with high uptake in the intervention group increased from 52.9% to 86.3%, compared with a modest rise from 31.4% to 40.2% in the control group. Between-group comparisons confirmed that the intervention group achieved significantly higher uptake than the control group post-intervention (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: Nurse-led educational interventions effectively improved parental uptake of the HPV vaccine in Kaduna North Senatorial District. These findings support the incorporation of structured nurse-led education into community-based immunization programs to enhance HPV vaccine coverage among adolescents. Recommendation: Integrating nurse-led educational programs into routine immunization outreach is recommended to improve HPV vaccine coverage in Nigeria. Read more

Agricultural commercialization is a strategy that has been adopted to enhance input use among smallholder farmers in order to increase productivity. This paper determines the effect of commercialization on input use among smallholder pre-cooking bean agriprenuers in Kimilili Sub-County, Kenya. Cross-sectional data were collected from 413 smallholder pre-cooking bean farmers through an interview using a semi-structured questionnaire. Double-Hurdle model was used for analysis. Findings revealed that receiving a subsidy and owning livestock reduced the probability of buying chemical fertilizer at 1% and 5% significance levels, respectively. However, owning a farm store increased the buying probability at 1% significance level. Education, land size, intercropping, and owning a transport facility increased values of chemical fertilizer bought. However, receiving a subsidy reduced the value bought at 1% significance level. Commercialization specifically through input subsidy has a significant negative effect on input use. The study recommends a swift from direct price support to market-enabling strategies like road network and storage facility improvements. Read more

Agricultural commercialization is a strategy proposed to alleviate food insecurity problem in Africa. This paper contributes to the debate on the effect of agricultural commercialization on household food security by assessing its effect on household food security. Cross-sectional data for the 2022/2023 farming season were collected from 413 smallholder pre-cooking bean farmer households in Kimilili Sub-County, Kenya. A propensity score matching model was used for data analysis. Crop output market participation share (COMPS) and crop input market participation share (CIMPS) were converted to Z scores and jointly used as a proxy of agricultural commercialization of a household. Findings indicated that agricultural commercialization had a significant negative Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) of -0.0731 and -0.0836 food insecurity experience scale scores using nearest neighbor and Kernel matching, respectively. The paper recommends a combination of agricultural commercialization with diversification to improve the household food access dimension of food security. Read more

The study was conducted on risk assessment of waste management officials/workers in Uyo Metropolis of Akwa Ibom State. It aimed at identifying the occupational hazards affecting waste management officials in the study area, assessing the health effect of the hazards on waste management officials in the study area, assessing the safety packages and medical conditions available for waste management officials in the study area as well as identifying constraints to effective solid waste management in the study area. Respondents were drawn from waste collection points and dumpsites in Uyo Metropolis. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) waste management officials were selected for the study using a stratified random sampling technique. They were given well-structured questionnaires and out of 120 questionnaires issued, 118 questionnaires were retrieved from waste management officials in usable forms. The questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that occupational hazards affecting waste management officials in the study area include risk of musculoskeletal disorders due to lifting and carrying of heavy loads and pushing pushcart, contaminated materials, and working in contaminated environment, contact with hazardous substances in the course of working with mixed waste, mechanical hazards due to unintentional contact with sharp items and working near moving parts of machinery/vehicles and psychological burden in working with waste and disrespect by members of the society. Common health risks associated with waste management in the study area include cholera, diarrhea, nasal irritation, eye irritation, high temperatures in working environments causing dizziness, insect bites and musculoskeletal injuries. Mechanical Hazards include cut on hand, finger, thumb, or foot from broken glass or sharp objects and eye injury. Severe health complains among the waste management officials in the study area include chronic back pain, chronic neck pain, chronic shoulder pain, eye injury, excessive heat and skin diseases. These complain are indications that waste management officials are at risk in the study area. Only protective gears for waste handlers, protective clothing and safety shoes were confirmed by majority of the respondents as the only available safety equipment confirming that these officials are exposed to occupational risks and hazard. From the study, high ranking constraints identified by the respondents include insufficient funding, lack of sufficient awareness of officials on the danger of some waste items, policies and education while low ranking constraints include inadequate capacity of waste managers and regulators and poor attitude of waste management officials. It is therefore recommended that hazardous waste items should be eliminated at source through proper waste sorting and segregation as well as provision of safer safety equipment and packages. Read more

The study has empirically analyzed the effect of fuel subsidy removal on academic staff productivity in Colleges of Education in Benue State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The study population comprises all academic staff of the state owned Colleges of Education in Benue State. A sample of 223 respondents were used for the study using multistage sampling techniques. Questionnaire alongside interview were used for data collection. Data was analyzed using charts, frequencies, percentages and simple regression analysis. The results of the study indicated that high cost of living, transportation cost and been unable to fuel vehicles were factors affecting productivity of the academic staff. More so, the study found that fuel subsidy removal has significant relationship with the extent of cost of living of academic staff in Colleges of Education in Benue State. Finally, the study established that fuel subsidy removal has significant relationship with the level of productivity of academic staff in Colleges of Education in Benue State. Therefore, the study concluded that fuel subsidy removal has posed a great challenge to the academic staff concerning their effectiveness in performing their core responsibilities in Colleges of Education in Benue State. The study recommended that state government through the Ministry of Education should intervene in providing cash transfer scheme, transport vouchers and mass transit schemes among others to the academic staff in order to reduce their suffering due to the elimination of fuel subsidy. Read more

Investments in Geothermal Energy Development Projects (GEPs) are still considered high-risk and capital-intensive with unpredictable completion even amidst the adoption of Public Private Partnership (PPP) financing models particularly in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Numerous project completion bottlenecks affecting timely project completion have been documented lately; these challenges have caused delayed delivery of critical path milestones, project stalling, and even outright project failures. Recent empirical studies focused more on developed countries' longitudinal secondary databases covering the wider energy sector, with minimal attention paid to the situation of GEPs in developing countries. Anchored on the positivism and pragmatism foundations, this study examined the mediating influence of delivery capability on the relationship between PPP financing structure and the completion rate of GEPs in Kenya. Using a census survey design, data from 48 geothermal energy projects (project managers and implementation team leaders) and key informants was collected and analyzed using mixed methods. Data triangulation and diagnostic tests were performed. The results and findings revealed that while PPP financing structure alone explains 43.9% of the variance in project completion rates, the inclusion of delivery capability substantially increases the explained variance to 66.1%. Both PPP financing structure and delivery capability have statistically significant effects on project completion rates, with delivery capability (β = 0.579) having a stronger isolated effect compared to the PPP financing structure (β = 0.326). The reduction in the PPP financing structure coefficient from the first to the second model suggests that some of its effect is shared with or mediated by delivery capability. The study concludes that completing PPP-financed geothermal energy projects requires an integrated approach that considers both PPP financing structure and project delivery factors, particularly emphasizing building agile project management capabilities of public and private developers. Specific government support measures and industry recommendations are provided to enhance the success of geothermal energy PPP projects mainly in the SSA region. Read more

The study examines the effect of internal marketing on organizational objectives. To determine this, the study establish the effect of organizational value exchange on organizational objectives; determine the rate of organizational internal communication on organizational objectives and examine the effect of training and development on organizational objectives. The analysis of the internal marketing tools in the study showed that variety of internal marketing tools has led the company (Nigerian Breweries Plc) to achieve its organizational objectives. To sustain this achievement, there is need to pay attention towards internal customers (employee). Simple random technique was adopted to select 155 employees of Nigerian Breweries, Lagos. While correlation analysis was adopted to determine the relationship between internal marketing variables (Value exchange, Internal Communication and Training &amp; Development) and organizational objectives (performance). The result reveals the value of the correlation coefficient to be less than the standard 0.05 at 5% significance level, this depicts that internal communication has positive impact on organizational objectives of companies in Nigeria. This results in tandem with the findings of Gordon &amp; Wakibi (2019) that internal marketing and job satisfaction are positive and statistically significantly associated to quality health service delivery. The study conclude that the role of internal communication, value exchange and training and development among employees in manufacturing companies should be given utmost attention, since employees needs exchange of information to drive the marketing capabilities of the organization, identify and merge the values of the organization with the values of the staff to maximize efficiency on the market drive and offer quality marketing trainings and development for the employees to gain competitive advantage and capture the large market within a short period of time. Read more