College of Leadership and Development Studies

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    CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN ENGLISH AND HAUSA: A STUDY OF PSALM 91
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-08) ACHI, SALOME HOSEA; Covenant University, Dissertation
    Morphology, being the study of word structure and formation, plays a central role in understanding how languages encode grammatical and lexical meaning. To this end, meaning exist at various levels of language stud (Edet, 2021; Korochkina & Rastle, 2025). However, significant typological differences exist between English, a largely analytic language, and Hausa, a synthetic and morphologically rich language. These differences become particularly evident in translated religious texts, where equivalent meanings are expressed through structurally divergent morphological systems. This study therefore investigated the contrastive morphological processes in English and Hausa languages using Psalm 91 as a parallel corpus. The aim of this study was to conduct a contrastive analysis of morphological processes in Psalm 91 using King James English and Littafi Mai Sarki Hausa versions through the theoretical framework of Item-and-Arrangement (henceforth IA) and Word-and-Paradigm (henceforth WP) theories to account for the observed linguistic patterns. The specific objectives were to: identify and analyse morphological processes in the English version of Psalm 91; examine morphological structures in the Hausa translation of Psalm 91; compare the morphological systems of both languages; apply Word and Paradigm Theory in analysing morphological patterns; utilise Item-and-Arrangement Theory for morphemic segmentation. As such, the study employed a qualitative descriptive research design and purposive sampling to select Psalm 91 as a parallel bilingual text. Data were collected through systematic extraction of lexical items and analysed using morphological segmentation and contrastive comparison. Findings revealed that English morphology is predominantly analytic, with limited inflection and productive derivation, while Hausa exhibits a richer, more systematic morphological structure characterised by extensive affixation, possessive marking, and paradigmatic verb systems. The study further showed that Item-and-Arrangement Theory is more suitable for English morphological segmentation, whereas Word-and-Paradigm Theory gave a better explanation of Hausa morphological relationships. The study contributes to the domain of morphology by clarifying English–Hausa morphological distinctions in the Biblical text. It also validates the complementary application of IA and WP theories, and informs linguistic analysis, translation, and language pedagogy.
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    CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN ENGLISH AND HAUSA: A STUDY OF PSALM 91
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-06) ACHI,SALOME HOSEA; covenant university
    Morphology, being the study of word structure and formation, plays a central role in understanding how languages encode grammatical and lexical meaning. To this end, meaning exist at various levels of language stud (Edet, 2021; Korochkina & Rastle, 2025). However, significant typological differences exist between English, a largely analytic language, and Hausa, a synthetic and morphologically rich language. These differences become particularly evident in translated religious texts, where equivalent meanings are expressed through structurally divergent morphological systems. This study therefore investigated the contrastive morphological processes in English and Hausa languages using Psalm 91 as a parallel corpus. The aim of this study was to conduct a contrastive analysis of morphological processes in Psalm 91 using King James English and Littafi Mai Sarki Hausa versions through the theoretical framework of Item-and-Arrangement (henceforth IA) and Word-and-Paradigm (henceforth WP) theories to account for the observed linguistic patterns. The specific objectives were to: identify and analyse morphological processes in the English version of Psalm 91; examine morphological structures in the Hausa translation of Psalm 91; compare the morphological systems of both languages; apply Word and Paradigm Theory in analysing morphological patterns; utilise Item-and-Arrangement Theory for morphemic segmentation. As such, the study employed a qualitative descriptive research design and purposive sampling to select Psalm 91 as a parallel bilingual text. Data were collected through systematic extraction of lexical items and analysed using morphological segmentation and contrastive comparison. Findings revealed that English morphology is predominantly analytic, with limited inflection and productive derivation, while Hausa exhibits a richer, more systematic morphological structure characterised by extensive affixation, possessive marking, and paradigmatic verb systems. The study further showed that Item-and-Arrangement Theory is more suitable for English morphological segmentation, whereas Word-and-Paradigm Theory gave a better explanation of Hausa morphological relationships. The study contributes to the domain of morphology by clarifying English–Hausa morphological distinctions in the Biblical text. It also validates the complementary application of IA and WP theories, and informs linguistic analysis, translation, and language pedagogy.
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    ASSESSMENT OF CROSS BORDER ARMS TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL SECURITY
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-06) OFFONG, Jeremiah Etuk; Covenant University, Dissertation
    The study assesses cross border arms trafficking in Nigeria and its implications for Regional Security. The illicit movement of arms across the borders is one serious challenge to Nigeria's national security, institutional integrity and sustainable developmental path. Even though Nigeria has an extensive regime of international, regional and national legal obligations on the issue of small arms and light weapons, such as the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the Arms Trade Treaty and the United Nations Programme of Action, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been killed and millions displaced by the insurgency, banditry, farmer-herder clashes and organised crime that continues to plague the country via its 4,047 km borders with Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin. To achieve the objective of this study, qualitative research design with descriptive trend analysis of secondary data were used in the study. Some secondary sources were analysed using systematic document analysis that was structured around SDG 16 indicators and organised into five categories: Arms seizure reports, Violence and conflict datasets, Border Security and governance assessments, Regional and international organisation reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles (2010 to 2025). The study findings showed that cross-border arms trafficking in Nigeria is a self-reinforcing structural governance problem, which requires concurrently integrated reforms in institutional integrity, border infrastructure, socio-economic development, regional security cooperation and technological modernisation. The study recommended that the government of Nigeria needs to make an urgent priority reform of institutional integrity in the border security agencies as a precondition for all other investments in counter-arms trafficking and concluded that Nigeria, ECOWAS and the international community need an integrated, simultaneous and structurally adequate response to the issue of arms trafficking on a global scale.
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    DISINFORMATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: AN ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA-US SECURITY RELATIONS, 2017-2025
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-08) CHIMA, Samuel Kalu Chima; Covenant University, Dissertation
    Digital disinformation has become a major obstacle in the functioning of bilateral security relationships in today's international order, especially with regard to cooperation between developed and developing countries. As a result, this study to examined the effect of digital disinformation on Nigeria-United States security cooperation between 2017 and 2025, when Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have been present and foreign malign influence operations in Africa have been on the increase. This research adopted a qualitative approach, grounded in semi-structured key informant interviews with 20 purposively selected respondents from academia, military, intelligence, diplomatic practice, media and civil society, complemented by policy documents, institutional reports and publications. The results show that disinformation has had a significant effect on bilateral trust, especially in the form of exaggerated claims of religious persecution that led to Nigeria being redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in October 2025. The disinformation strategies that are used are multi-layered, such as social media amplification, generative AI, recontextualized content, influencer laundering, and high-level lobbying. The study reveals a diverse multi-actor landscape of foreign state actors, domestic political actors, separatist/extramist groups, religious advocacy networks, and profit-driven platforms. The research combines constructivism and realism, highlighting the disinformation as an instrument of power competition and an ideational reconstruction process. To counter the erosion of bilateral trust, this study recommends the establishment of a joint Nigeria-United States bilateral mechanism for the coordinated identification, attribution, and disruption of disinformation networks targeting their security cooperation, building on and expanding the framework previously developed by the US Global Engagement Center before its mandate lapsed in December 2024.The study concludes that coordinated approaches of the statutory, technological, communicative, educational and bilateral cooperative nature are necessary for the effectiveness of countermeasures. Suggested solutions encompass establishing of a formal bilateral mechanism for countering disinformation, institutionalisation of fast-track strategic communication, strengthening regulatory processes with safeguards for civil liberties, increasing digital literacy initiatives, and independent fact-checking institutions.
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    EFFECT OF FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS ON EMPLOYEES’ PRODUCTIVITY IN LAGOS STATE PUBLIC SERVICE
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-08) DEBO-ADELEYE, Naomi Adefesola; Covenant University, Dissertation
    The growing adoption of flexible work arrangements (FWAs), accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and Nigeria's 2024 fuel subsidy removal, has raised important questions about their productivity implications in bureaucratic public institutions. Although the Lagos State Government introduced a formal flexible work policy in February 2024, empirical evidence on its effectiveness remained limited. This study examined the effect of telecommuting, flexible working hours, compressed work schedules, and job sharing on employee productivity in the Lagos State Public Service and assessed the moderating roles of supervision, performance monitoring, and accountability mechanisms. A cross-sectional mixed-methods design was adopted. The population comprised 4,665 employees from three selected Lagos State ministries, sampled using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) method, with 335 questionnaires yielding 304 valid responses (76.2%) and 15 structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, one-way ANOVA, multiple regression, and moderation analysis; qualitative data were analysed thematically. FWA prevalence was uniformly low across all three ministries, with no significant inter-ministerial differences [F (2, 301) = 0.545, p = .580, η² = 0.004], supporting the first null hypothesis. Regression analysis showed that FWAs significantly predicted employee productivity, explaining 69.3% of variance (R² = 0.693, p < 0.001), rejecting the second null hypothesis. Job sharing and flexible working hours were the strongest independent predictors. Supervision, performance monitoring, and accountability mechanisms did not significantly moderate the FWA–productivity relationship (p > 0.05), supporting the third null hypothesis, though each independently predicted productivity. Qualitatively, paper-based processes, inadequate ICT infrastructure, and presence-based supervision were the primary barriers to implementation. FWAs, particularly through job sharing and flexible working hours, hold significant potential for productivity in the Lagos State Public Service. It is therefore recommended that the Lagos State Government institutionalise a comprehensive FWA Policy Framework, invest in ICT infrastructure, and transition to output-based performance management.
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    A PRAGMA-SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL MEMES OF THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN NIGERIA
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-08) ADEWUMI, Adetola Theresa; Covenant University, Dissertation
    In modern online discourse, memes have emerged as a strategic tool for expressing and conveying opinions and ideologies on political, economic and socio-cultural events. They have been evidently important in shaping perception of the voting public in Nigeria especially during electoral processes. On this premise, this study examines political memes shared on social media platforms in Nigeria during the 2023 presidential election, as well as analyse their linguistic and visual components. The research seeks to identify pragmatic act and semiotic resources to realise varying interpretations embedded in the memes. The problem addressed is the need to understand how political memes are conveyed online through multimodal resources and the significance of the study lies in its contribution to pragma-semiotics and online political discourse. Using a qualitative method, twenty (20) memes sourced from different social media platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and blogspots, were analysed using Mey’s (2001) Pragmatic Act and Kress and van Leuween (2006) Visual Design Grammar theories as framework for the analysis. Findings reveals that meme authors employ contextual variables such as strong criticism, persuasion, comparisons, etc. enhanced by pragmemes like shared situational knowledge, reference and metaphor to create memes aimed at lampooning electoral systems. The study further displays the deployment of semiotic designs categories under representational, interactive and compositional modes to evaluate symbolisms, framing, salience, social distancing, colour, mood as tools for visual interpretations. Results also indicate strong influence of political ideologies, age differences, political and economic instability and previous records of manipulations in the electoral system as motivating factors for the creation of this memes. Overall, ideological views though subjective, are portrayed through the political memes as tools to creating awareness against underlying illegitimate practices in the Nigerian electoral system.
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    ASSESSMENT OF NATIONAL COUNTER TERRORISM STRATEGY AND HUMAN SECURITY IN BORNO STATE, NIGERIA
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-08) JOSEPH, Ruth Modupeoluwa; Covenant University, Dissertation
    Terrorism is still impacting Borno State more than a decade after the National Counter- Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) of Nigeria was adopted, leaving a question of how far the strategy has gone in yielding its desired results. While military operations have played a role in territorial recovery, a focus on timely security responses appears to have overshadowed other non-kinetic considerations, such as civilian protection. The study addresses the four pillars of the strategy: Forestall, Secure, Identify, and Implement and their respective dimensions for addressing issues relating to radicalisation, civilian protection, early warning, and institution coordination. The analysis is guided by Human Security Theory and Policy Implementation Theory and adopts a single-case embedded qualitative design. Borno State was selected because its setting of insurgency, military action, displacement, and reintegration provides a suitable context for understanding the implementation of policy decisions. Primary data were collected through twenty semi-structured interviews with military personnel, civil society representatives, community members, and academic experts. Thematic and discourse analyses were adopted to analyse these accounts using secondary sources. The findings reveal that NACTEST remains military oriented and, at times, states’ security focus is more on military than on human security. The Forestall pillar is still hindered by socio-economic exclusion and resistance to the return of the former combatants. The Secure pillar has helped reclaim territory from insurgent groups but has also been associated with reductions in civil rights and disruptions to livelihoods. Competition amongst institutions further inhibits the sharing of intelligence and cooperation and reduces the impact of the Identify and Implement pillars. Patterns show that military success is not enough for long-term stabilisation in an environment of institutional weaknesses and unresolved community grievances. There is a need for a more balanced approach, with focus on civilian welfare, human rights and effective security operations. The study calls for the enhancement of socio-economic measures, accountability of institutions, protection of victims, and reliable information sharing. This can help ease the de-radicalisation of environments and help foster social cohesion in these communities. The study also advances the literature on security studies by studying and assessing counterterrorism policy through civilian safety and public trust as measures of policy success.
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    DIGITAL INNOVATION ON MARKET EXPANSION IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A STUDY OF FINTECH END-USERS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-06) OWOLOYE, BRIGHT ODUNAYO; Covenant University, Dissertation
    This study investigated the impact of digital innovation on market expansion in the financial sector, focusing on Fintech end-users in Lagos State, Nigeria. Despite the rapid growth of fintech services in Nigeria, fintech end-users still face challenges relating to financial exclusion, fraud risk, high transaction costs, limited transparency, and transaction inefficiency. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the study examines how customer digital engagement, regulatory technology use, blockchain technology adoption, AI and automation implementation, and real-time payment infrastructure improve financial inclusion, fraud detection, cost reduction, transparency, and operational efficiency among fintech end-users in Lagos State. Four hundred (400) copies of a structured questionnaire were shared electronically to fintech end-users in Lagos State, including active customers, merchants, and agents of OPay, Moniepoint, Internopay, and related platforms. 384 valid responses were received and analysed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling using SmartPLS. The major findings of this study revealed that five dimensions of digital innovation (customer digital engagement, RegTech acceptance, blockchain adoption, AI and automation adoption, and real-time payment infrastructure) positively and significantly affect indicators of financial market expansion (fraud detection, cost reduction, transparency, and operational efficiency) in the Fintech sector. The study concluded that investing in user-centred platforms such as automated compliance, blockchain-enabled verification, explainable AI, and resilient instant-payment rails drives financial market expansion and results in operational efficiency of the Fintech firms; hence, the study recommended that Fintech firms should invest more in automated fraud monitoring systems, identity verification tools, and anti-money laundering technologies to enhance fraud detection and improve users’ trust in digital financial platform.
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    DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND BUREAUCRATIC REFORM IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SECTOR EFFICIENCY
    (4th International Conference, School of Vommunication and Information Technology,Federal University of Technology Ilaro, 2026) Abasilim, Ugochukwu D.; Peter, Mark J.; Udofia, Anieti N.
    Abstract Digital transformation has become a central strategy for bureaucratic reform in developing countries, particularly to enhance public-sector efficiency and advance sustainable development. In Nigeria, reforms in payroll management, public procurement, financial systems, digital identity infrastructure, and open government data are widely promoted as mechanisms for modernising the public bureaucracy. However, their capacity to deliver measurable efficiency gains and advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 8, 9, and 16) remains contested. This paper examines the implications of digital transformation for bureaucratic reform and public sector efficiency in Nigeria. Drawing on New Public Management, Institutional Theory, and Sociotechnical Systems Theory, the study adopts a qualitative design based on secondary data, including policy documents, government reports, and existing empirical studies across six reform domains. Findings show that while digital initiatives have improved procedural transparency and standardisation, efficiency gains remain uneven and are constrained by entrenched institutional weaknesses, fragmented governance structures, and limited subnational capacity. The paper argues that a predominantly technocratic reform approach, insufficiently aligned with political and institutional realities, undermines transformative outcomes. The study concludes that without strengthened accountability, institutional coherence, and subnational inclusion, digital transformation in Nigeria risks yielding symbolic rather than substantive improvements in public sector efficiency.
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    INVESTIGATION OF EMOTION REGULATION SKILLS TRAINING IN ENHANCING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG STUDENTS OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY SECONDARY SCHOOL
    (Covenant University, Ota, 2026-05) Babajide, Faith Ebunoluwa; Covenant University, Thesis
    Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by intense emotional experiences. When emotional needs are neglected during childhood, it can negatively affect the development of emotional intelligence. Existing studies have established this relationship but there is limited evidence on effective interventions to improve emotional intelligence among affected adolescents. This study investigated the effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Skills Training (ERST) on emotional intelligence among adolescents with a history of childhood emotional neglect. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design was adopted with a sample size of 54 adolescents from Covenant University Secondary School, Ogun State selected using criterion sampling. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire, incorporating demographic items as well as items from the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) and the Multidimensional Neglectful Behaviour Scale (MNBS). Hypotheses was equally analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Paired and Independent Sample T-tests, ANCOVA, and Regression analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. Findings revealed that there was a negative relationship between childhood emotional neglect and emotional intelligence (r = -.239, p = 0.041). Furthermore, ERST significantly improved emotional intelligence among adolescents in the experimental group (t= -10.059, p= 0.000). There was also significant difference in emotional intelligence compared to the control group (t = 4.580, p = 0.000. The pretest did not significantly influence the intervention’s effectiveness F(1, 51)= 31.807, P= 0.000, η² = 0.384 and gender did not significantly moderate the effect of the intervention (b = 8.46, p = 0.2403). The study concludes that ERST is an effective intervention for enhancing emotional intelligence offering substantial evidence to support adolescents of both genders; promoting emotional and mental well-being. The study recommends to schools, engagement in emotion training during orientation programs and as well psychoeducate parents on the need for emotional responsiveness in the home.