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This study investigates the relationship between oil price fluctuations and Nigeria’s current account balances from 1987 to 2021. Current account is a pivotal macroeconomic variable that is used to measure the economic performance of a country. This current account is itself a record of all of a country’s national and international transactions and oil price is one of the major factors that determines the value and volume of transactional movements in a country. This is largely the case with Nigeria, which is a country that is heavily reliant on oil. This study adopted a time series analysis by investigating time series data and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) was used to estimate the correlation between oil price variations and current account in the short and long runs. The findings showed that oil price had a positive but insignificant effect on current account in the short run while it had a negative but significant impact on the current account in the long run. In terms of the other determinants of current account which were examined in this study, it was discovered that population growth rate and trade had an insignificant correlation with current account balances in the short run while GDP and oil prices had significant impacts on current account balances in the long run. These findings inform the conclusion of this study that current account is a viable metric for measuring Nigeria’s economic performance as well as policy making. To gain greater economic stability, this study recommended that there is a need to strategically position Nigeria’s economy towards other forms of revenue rather than oil so as to reduce the impact of oil price fluctuations on the country’s current account balances and the economy at large.

Background: Medicinal plants have long been used traditionally in the management and control of diabetes in Nigeria with reduced burdens of unwanted side effects associated with the use of synthetic anti-diabetic drugs in the market.Aim: The present study was carried out to evaluate antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activities of Hibiscus cannabinus kenaf methanolic Leave extract in Alloxan induced diabetic rat by administering 2000mg of extract for 21 days.Methodology: Body weight and glucose levels of an animal were measured on day 0, 7, 14, and 21.The blood glucose was determine using Glucose Oxidase method (Cheesbrough 2006). ELISA method was used to assess the thyoid hormones.Results: Body weight and glucose levels was measured on day 0, 7, 14, and 21. The extract showed antidiabetic activity but not to a significant level and also decrease in bodyweight. Administration of extract for 21 days also resulted in reduction of serum cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol level was found to be also decreased but not to a significant level (p>0.05) as compared to diabetic control group. The effect was compared with diabetic control and normal control. The determination of blood glucose level by Glucose Oxidase method. The result shows the methanolic extract of Hibiscus cannabinus kenaf leaves lowered the blood glucose of hyperglycemic rats and Lipid profile level but does not showed a significant level. From the toxicity study it was observed that methanolic extract of Hibiscus cannabinus kenaf was nontoxic up to 4000mg/kg body weight.Conclusion: It is concluded that Hibiscus cannabinus leaves extract does not has a significant antidiabetic activity, which lowered the fasting blood glucose level in Alloxan induced diabetic rat.

Background: Moringa oleifera provides natural dietary sources of antioxidants (vitamins, carotenoids, phenolic compounds) that protect against free radical oxidation damages. The plant is usually cooked or steamed before eating and which consequently, results in changes of nutritional and chemical composition of important phyto-components. Objective: This study assessed the effect of heat on the total phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant properties of the methanolic leaf extract of Moringa oleifera leaves Methods: Methanolic leaf extracts of heat treated and untreated leaves of M. oleifera were prepared and an in vitro 3+total phenolic content (TPC), ferric ions (Fe ) reducing anti-oxidant power (FRAP) and total antioxidant activity 3 3 3(T AA) evaluations were carried out for both unheated and heated samples at 100 µg/cm, 50µg/cm and 25 µg/cm, respectively. Results: The TAA results showed a minimum of 50% decrease in the untreated over the heated extracts while TPC and FRAP showed a maximum decrement of less than 30% across all extracts concentrations of the unheated over the heated; with extract concentration-dependency only shown in FRAP. Conclusion: Heating reduced the antioxidant functions of M. oleifera leaves by more than half without a corresponding proportionate decrement in its phenolic content or its reducing capacity. It is important to be cautious when heating the leaves of Moringa oleifera for if one is to obtain the highest possible benefits from the bioactive, antioxidative phyto-compounds present in them.Keywords: Moringa oleifera leaves, phyto-chemicals, heating, phenolic content, antioxidant capacity

Fossil fuel depletion has prompted the need for alternative sources of energy and income generation. Kaolin is an abundant solid mineral found in many parts of Nigeria, whose economy is over dependent on oil. However, lack of detailed study, characterization and analysis made it difficult for investors to show interest in this manufacturing sector. In this study kaolin from Getso, Kano state, northern part of Nigeria was characterized using pH measurement, X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis (XRF), Thermogravimetric-Derivative Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Analysis (FTIR) to establish its potentialities for industrial applications. The XRF analysis indicated that Getso kaolin consists mainly of silica, 47.07% and alumina, 39.20% with other metal oxides like iron (III) oxide as minor component, while the XRD and FTIR results indicated that the main mineral present in the sample is kaolinite with small amounts of mica and quartz. The pH was found to be 7.2, which qualified it for very good industrial applications. The chemical composition of Getso kaolin was found to be comparable to the theoretical composition and that of commercial kaolin making it suitable for some industrial applications like paper, adhesives, plastics, fiberglass, rubber and paints.Keywords: Getso Kaolin, Characterization, Theoretical kaolinite

No AbstractKeywords: Kolanut, ‘Daushe’, ‘Sabo’, Caffeine, Kano

The antimicrobial susceptibility profile of L. monocytogenes and other Listeria species isolated from some ready-to-eat (RTE) foods sold in Kano metropolis, north-western Nigeria was carried out using disc-diffusion method. The results obtained showed that L. monocytogenes was moderately susceptible to all the antibiotics tested while L. inovanii and L. seelegeri exhibited high and low susceptibility patterns respectively. However, all the species were resistant to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, augmentin and ceftriazone. Considering the fact that L. monocytogenes and other Listeria species tested in this study are slowly becoming antibiotic resistant; a situation that poses a threat to both human and animal health, the continuous examination of emerging antimicrobial resistance of these pathogens is important to ensure effective treatment of human listeriosis. The results of this study could therefore help in enriching the data on antibiotic resistance of Listeria strains isolated from foods and in developing effective risk management strategies. In addition, it is recommended that more research be conducted to ascertain the presence of these organisms in other food items in Kano, Nigeria.Keywords: Listeria species, Ready-to-eat foods, Antimicrobial susceptibility, Kano, Nigeria.