Federal University Kashere

This study examines the long-run relationship between foreign aid, poverty, and income inequality in 27 least developed countries across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asia, East Asia, Western Asia, and Latin America over the period 1990–2011. Using an unbalanced panel dataset, the study applies the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimator to account for potential endogeneity and serial correlation in the presence of integrated variables. Panel unit root and cointegration tests are conducted prior to estimation. The study findings indicate that foreign aid has a statistically significant effect on poverty and inequality; however, its redistributive impact is conditional on the quality of governance. Specifically, in Sub-Saharan African countries with weak corruption control, the effect of aid on inequality is minimal. Conversely, when governance quality improves, foreign aid exhibits a stronger equalizing effect. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of aid in reducing poverty and inequality depends critically on institutional quality and anti-corruption mechanisms. The study highlights the importance of strengthening governance frameworks to enhance the developmental impact of foreign assistance.

The growing moral, political, and social concerns confronting contemporary Nigerian society have fueled proposals for curriculum reform focused on value-based education. Although Social Studies and Islamic Studies are both intended to enhance ethical consciousness, citizenship, and moral responsibility, they are administered concurrently rather than in a coordinated manner. This study critically investigates the philosophical, pedagogical, and structural aspects of combining Social Studies and Islamic Studies in Nigerian schools to improve coherent value formation. The research uses a qualitative comparative design to analyze national curriculum papers, engage teachers and curriculum planners in semi-structured interviews, and observe classroom practices in chosen secondary schools. The study, based on curricular integration theory and maqāṣid al-sharīʿah-informed ethical frameworks, suggests that integration can increase moral internalization, civic involvement, and social cohesiveness while maintaining disciplinary integrity. The findings show strong overlaps in value targets, fragmented educational delivery, and institutional hurdles that prevent synergy. The study presents an integrative curriculum framework built on common value domains, collaborative pedagogy, and outcome-based evaluation. It concludes that systematic integration is a strategic avenue for developing holistic education and sustained national development in pluralistic societies.

<title>Abstract</title> This paper investigates the impacts of varying zonal harmonics up to J4 on dynamics of a satellite around out-of-plane equilibrium points of the restricted three-body problem with variable masses. The motion and mass variations of the primaries are described by the Gylden-Mestschersky problem (GMP) and the unified Mestschersky law (UML), respectively.The non-autonomous differential dynamical equations of the satellite are obtained and transformed to an autonomized system, with the help of the Mestschersky transformation, the UML, the particular integral and solutions of the GMP. Four out-of-plane equilibrium points (OEPs) denoted by and are obtained. Further, the OEPs are seen to be unstable and a numerical application is rendered for a satellite placed in the neighborhood of PQ Pegasi. It is observed that Increasing values of zonal harmonics results in the satellites position at the OEPs drifting towards the binary while the satellite is forced away from the PQ Pegasi at the points. A contrary observation occurs when the mass variation is large. Also, the zero velocity curves (ZVCs) are explored and it is seen that increasing the mass variation parameter increases the forbidden region in the presence or absence of zonal harmonic terms. Also, it is seen that, the zonal harmonic J4 term increases the region where motion is permissible, while the J2 term decreases it. Furthermore, it was seen that the orbits of the satellite around the OEPs could be quasi-periodic, divergent straight line or a chaotic. The study is applicable in space missions and astronomy.

Background of Study: Climate change, driven by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, presents a global crisis. The construction sector is a primary contributor, responsible for 30–40% of global energy use and over 30% of emissions throughout the building life cycle. Despite innovations like low-carbon materials and Building Information Modeling (BIM), current research remains fragmented. A significant gap exists in integrating technical, economic, and environmental aspects into a single analytical framework. Aims Paper: This paper aims to identify trends in sustainable materials and green technologies through a systematic review. It evaluates their performance across technical, environmental, and economic dimensions while formulating future research directions to achieve sustainable development goals. Methods: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted using the Scopus database (2016–2025). Five core keywords were used to identify relevant studies, which were then cleaned using OpenRefine and visualized via VOSviewer. Elicit AI assisted in screening and synthesizing the final 12 journal articles. Result: Analysis of 12 articles shows that experimental studies (50%) and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (25%) are the dominant methodologies. Research primarily focuses on optimizing specific materials like waste-based concrete and geopolymers. While material innovation is a priority, there is limited integration of technical data with long-term Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or life-cycle cost analysis. Cocnlusion: Current sustainable construction research emphasizes technical material optimization through experimental approaches. While decision-support models are evolving, empirical integration of the circular economy and LCA remains limited. Future research must adopt holistic frameworks, expand data sources, and include diverse geographical case studies to support effective sustainability practices.

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of financial inclusion on the performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Gombe state, Nigeria. The population of the study is 1745 registered MSMEs in Gombe state out of which the sample of 324 were computed using Taro Yamane formula and selected using convenience sampling technique. Accordingly, the study collects data using primary method with self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling via SmartPLS software. The finding revealed that digital financing and financial literacy have significant positive effect on MSMEs’ performance in Gombe state of Nigeria. In view of the obtained result, it is recommended that governments at different levels players should invest in infrastructural development such as internet connectivity and mobile network services especially in rural and underserved area. Also, financial institutions and fintech companies should develop and offer digital financial products specifically tailored to the need of MSMEs. Lastly, there is need for financial institutions to establish mechanisms for ongoing financial education such as regular workshops, seminars and online course to ensure that MSMEs owners continue to build their financial literacy as their business grow.

A well-educated population is essential for driving economic growth andorganise innovation, as well as competitiveness, leading to improved economic outcomes and reduced poverty. The study assessed the diagnostic parameters for access to basic education in Akko Local Government Area, Gombe State. The study employed survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all the 1,984 primary schools and lower junior secondary schools’ teachers in Akko L.G.A where a sample of 322 respondents were drawn from the population using proportionate stratified sampling technique. Questionnaire was used for data collection and was validated and tested for reliability (a crumbach alpha of 0.723 was recorded). Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students/pupils in Akko L.G.A, Gombe State need basic education but are faced with some difficulties in getting learning resources. Also, there is a wide gender disparity of learne existsat exist in all the basic education schools. It was recommend the government tvernment should develop policies that will reduce difficulties faced by learners to avert its ef the basicon basic education programme. Furth the government tvernment should organize campaigns to create awareness against gender bias in school enrolment and learning.

This study investigates the effect of market orientation on the organizational performance of Deposit Money Banks in Adamawa State, Nigeria, and further examines the moderating role of service quality. The study population consisted of 908 bank employees across 16 banks, from which a proportionate sample of 278 staff was drawn. A total of 226 valid responses were retrieved and used for analysis. The research framework was grounded in the SERVQUAL Model and the Resource-Based View (RBV), which explain how service quality and organizational capabilities contribute to sustained performance. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4.0. The findings show that customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination each have a positive and significant effect on organizational performance. Service quality also demonstrates a significant direct effect on performance. Additionally, service quality significantly and positively moderates the relationship between market orientation and organizational performance, indicating that the benefits of market orientation are strengthened when banks deliver high-quality services. The study contributes to knowledge by providing empirical evidence from the Nigerian banking context, showing how integrating market-oriented strategies with strong service quality practices enhances organizational outcomes. The findings offer valuable implications for bank managers and policymakers seeking to improve customer satisfaction, competitive positioning, and long-term performance.

Criminal activities in the Kaduna-Abuja Highway have been an enormous security risk to the commuters, residents, and economic growth in Northern Nigeria. Conventional law enforcement approaches are still reactive and lack data, which restricts the anticipatory and preemptive actions. This paper describes Data Mining Analytics Approach-Based System of forecasting the occurrence of crime along the Kaduna-Abuja highway, using developed models of machine learning. The analysis used three supervised learning algorithms which include Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and Random Forest (RF) to represent crime patterns and predict potential types of crime, time and location. These algorithms were selected because they are widely used for classification problems, handle and have shown strong performance in similar prediction studies. Artificial data of 1,500 entries that cited five years of criminal incidences was created and prepared. Class imbalance was dealt with with the help of SMOTE (Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique), hyperparameters optimization with the help of the GridSearchCV. The experimental outcomes showed that the KNN classifier performed best having an accuracy of 71% then SVM and Random Forest with 66.5% respectively. Analysis of the importance of features showed that the most significant predictors were month, day of the week, number of victims, year, and time of day. Study evidences that predictive analytics based on data can complement the proactive policing practices and help the security agencies to predict the high-risk times and locations along the transport corridors in Nigeria that are critical.