Innovations

Record shows that more than 90 million young people are unemployed (47 per cent of the total global labour force) and 300 million are working in poverty in low-skilled, insecure jobs in terrible conditions.The need for a better society has called for a clearer delineation of what constitutes a healthy state. Public policy initiative is a product of substantive measures chosen at a particular time or place to solve a particular problem. From the discursive point of view, every policy and law codifies a specific construct of social reality,both the informative goal and the planned means required to achieve that goal are part of that construct. The policy also connects and represents practises, actors and communities that are intertwined with politics.Policy can be referred as a fluid field that aims to shape the exercise of state power, but whose boundaries are regularly redrawn in public discourse.The Researcher explored quantitative concept approach with questionnaire method to conduct investigation in 12communities of Anambra State Eastern Nigeria. 390 respondents comprising parents of 25-60 years of age sampling frame were randomly selected to represent the total research population. Data were analysed using SPSS statistics version 24.The studymade an in-debt investigation involving parental care level, stakeholders and policy implementation to ascertain hypothetical outcome in justifying and examines the impediment issues that would result to a family better live-hood and that of the society at large. Findings indicates Lack of policy evaluation ministries leads to failure in policy implementation”. Likewise, with the mean score (M=2.68 – SD=1.246) majority of respondents in the study disagree with the statement “Existing policies adequately address social welfare, youth, and adolescent wellbeing in Nigeria. Lastly, with the mean score (M=2.56 – SD=1.250) majority of respondents in the study disagree with the statement “Policy implementation affects economic growth and impact on citizen wellbeing. Finally, government as the key stakeholder mediates Adolescent wellbeing, family and the community. Therefore, the development of families will inevitably have an impact on the improvement of the young people, communities and societies to which they belongs when there is right policy initiative and implementation mechanism in place.  

The Right to Information (RTI) law is a critical tool for promoting transparency, accountability, and participatory governance in democratic societies. Since its inception, RTI has empowered citizens to access information held by public authorities, thus enabling them to hold the government accountable. However, the effectiveness of RTI laws has been increasingly challenged by issues such as bureaucratic resistance, lack of awareness, and technological barriers. This paper explores the future directions for RTI, focusing on innovations and reforms needed to enhance access to information. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the historical development of RTI laws, the current status of the RTI Act in India, and the global trends that could shape the future of access to information. The paper proposes several reforms, including the integration of digital technologies, strengthening of legal frameworks, and harmonization of RTI laws with data privacy regulations. These reforms are essential to ensure that RTI continues to serve as a powerful instrument for transparency and accountability in the years to come

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) has emerged as a critical strategy for organizations aiming to achieve substantial cost reductions and enhance operational efficiency in today’s competitive environment. This study explores the impact of BPR on cost reduction within corporate organizations, with a specific focus on Sterling Bank Plc. Utilizing a survey research design, data was collected from 100 employees through structured questionnaires, designed to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights into BPR practices and their effects on cost reduction. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression, which revealed that BPR accounts for 53.1% of the variability in cost reduction. This significant finding indicates that BPR factors included in the model explain a considerable portion of the observed changes in cost reduction, highlighting BPR’s crucial role in cost management. The standardized coefficient of 0.687 and a p-value of 0.046 further underscore the positive and statistically significant relationship between BPR implementation and cost reduction, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. These results emphasize the effectiveness of BPR in achieving cost reduction objectives. Based on these findings, it is recommended that organizations prioritize BPR initiatives, streamline processes, invest in employee training, and continuously refine BPR strategies to enhance cost management and operational efficiency.

Nigeria's energy landscape, characterized by a burgeoning population and a rapidly growing economy, is confronted with a pressing need for sustainable and diversified energy sources to meet the requisite energy demands of industries and the society. This study presents a critical review that analyzes the potentials, challenges and solutions involved in the use of biomass energy as an alternative energy resource for the country. The nation has a wide array of resources with the potential to produce 7.5 million m3 of bioethanol per annum, of which 62% (4.7 million m3) are obtainable from agricultural residues, with more than 71% of the generated municipal solid waste (MSW) being combustible with high energy potentials. Amidst these prospects, biomass energy in Nigeria is faced with challenges ranging from financial constraints and infrastructural deficiencies to inefficient resource utilization, poor policies and the lack of government support. Despite these challenges, the prospects of biomass in Nigeria section illuminates a promising path forward with multifaceted opportunities, including renewable energy generation, rural electrification, sustainable waste management, job creation, climate change mitigation, and improved indoor air quality. These prospects resonate with Nigeria's aspiration for sustainable development and align with global trends in renewable energy adoption. By navigating the challenges and capitalizing on the prospects of biomass energy, Nigeria can chart a course toward a resilient, diverse, and environmentally conscious energy future through international partnerships, public acceptance campaigns, development of logical databases for biomass resources, establishing the proper framework and infrastructure for biomass implementation as well a robust support from the government to inculcate biomass into the existing energy grid of the country. This transition holds the potential to reshape the nation's energy landscape while fostering innovation, economic growth, and sustainable progress.  

This study empirically evaluates the impact of service recovery on customer satisfaction and repurchase intention within Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. Service failure occurs when a provider fails to meet customer expectations, necessitating effective recovery strategies to address the issue and restore customer satisfaction. This research examines how various service recovery strategies—such as employee apologies, compensation, promptness of service, and employee courtesy—affect customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions in Nigerian DMBs. The study specifically aims to ascertain the extent to which employee apologies lead to effective service recovery, ascertain the impact of compensation on service recovery, determine the impact of promptness of service on service recovery, examine the effect of employee courtesy on service recovery, determine the effect of service recovery on customer satisfaction and examine the effect of customer satisfaction on repurchase intention in the Nigerian deposit money banks. Using a survey design, data were collected from 384 customers of DMBs in southeastern Nigeria, resulting in 312 usable responses. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that employee apologies and compensation significantly enhance service recovery, while promptness of service and employee courtesy do not have a significant impact. Effective service recovery significantly improves customer satisfaction, which in turn drives repurchase intention.  

This study focuses on digital transformation and academic staff performance of South-Eastern, Nigeria universities. Specifically, the study objectives were to assess the effect of technological adoption on teaching effectiveness; determine the effect of Information Technological (I.T) infrastructural investment on research output and, evaluate the effect of digital skills training on teaching innovations. The study population consist of the academicstaff of Southeast, Nigeria universities, given as eight thousand, five hundred and ninety-two (8,592). Trek’s (2004) sampling size determination toolwas used to derive a sample size of three hundred and eighty-three (383). Questionnaire was the primary source of data for the study. Validation of the questionnaire was done by research experts and digital professionals. Regression analysis was used for analysing data at 5% error margin. Results indicate that: technological adoption had a significant effect on the teaching effectiveness. Again, the study revealed that information technology infrastructural investment significantly affected research output. More so, digital skills training had a significant effect on teaching innovations. In conclusion, digital transformation is a veritable tool that has the potential of enhancing teaching effectiveness, research output, and teaching innovation. Recommendation for the study was that management of universities should focus on incorporating advanced technological tools and platforms into their teaching methods to enhance teaching effectiveness and innovation.  

The study investigated the mineral, heavy metal, phytochemical compositions and antibacterial sensitivities of Bryophyllum pinnatum leaf-extracts against bacterial pathogens. The phytochemicals were extracted with absolute ethanol, methanol and aqueous solution as solvents. The phytochemical and mineral compositions of the extracts were determined using Association of Analytical Chemist (AOAC) and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometeric (AAS) methods respectively. Antibacterial sensitivity tests were conducted using agar well diffusion assay method against some pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. The susceptibility patterns of these extracts against these pathogens were compared with those of standard antibiotic (Chloramphenicol), which served as a positive control. Minerals and heavy metals such as K,Na, Ca, Mg, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cu, Hg, Cd, Ni, and Co were detected in low amount in the extracts. Secondary metabolites like alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and phenolic compounds, were identified in the extracts. Aqueous extract was the most effective, with a mean inhibition range of 0.00-12.64±0.01 mm, followed by ethanol (0.00-12.25±0.21 mm), while methanolic extract was the least (0.00-11.00±0.00 mm). Streptococcus pyogenes was the most susceptible bacterium, while Proteus mirabilis was the least. The bacteria were however more susceptible to Chloramphenicol than the three extracts at the tested concentrations. This study provides valuable insight into the potential use of Bryopyllum pinnatum as an antimicrobial agent.  

Salivary diagnostics is a potent and imminent field utilized for molecular diagnostics which aids in the diagnosis of oral and systemic diseases. As saliva is a clinically informative biological fluid useful for novel approaches and for expanding perspectives in clinical diagnosis, disease monitoring and treatment planning. Due to its ease and non-invasive collection process it is widely used as a molecular biomarker and also as an extensive potential diagnostic tool. Here, we briefly summarized the components of salivary proteomics and their applications and latest advances using salivary biomarkers for disease diagnosis.