This study investigated the effect of crude oil-contaminated soil on the germination and growth performance of Abelmoschus esculentus, a widely cultivated vegetable crop in Nigeria. The experiment was conducted in the Screen House, under controlled environmental conditions. The seedling emergence percentage, heights and girths were studied to determine the growth performance of the crop in crude oil-contaminated soil. The result of the investigation revealed that the crude oil-contaminated soil affects the growth performance of Abelmoschus esculentus L. as hindered germination, reduced heights and girths were observed in the crop planted in treated soil and this adversely and severely affects the crop agronomic growth and development and probably its yield. Therefore, contamination of agricultural soils with crude oil should be avoided and public awareness should be created on the detrimental effects of crude oil pollution in our terrestrial ecosystem. Innovative and environmental-friendly remediation strategies should be carried out on our agricultural soils that have been grossly polluted by crude oil exploitation and exploration.

Despite the frequent detection of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) worldwide in the aquatic environment, there is currently a paucity of studies from Africa, including Nigeria, on the occurrence and potential ecological risks of two commonly used NSAIDs diclofenac and ibuprofen in wastewater and effluent receiving water. In this work, diclofenac and ibuprofen were determined in wastewater from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and effluent receiving water in South-Western Nigeria. Instrumental analysis was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Ecological risk was assessed for four trophic levels: fish, daphnia, algae and bacteria. The method quality parameters were satisfactory for the accurate determination of target NSAIDs in wastewater and effluent receiving water. Maximum concentrations of diclofenac and ibuprofen in wastewater were 166.1 µg L-1 (UCH influent) and 62.0 µg L-1 (Ijaiye effluent), respectively. Ibuprofen posed high risk to fish in all effluent and effluent receiving water samples. Bacteriawere the most sensitive organisms to the presence of diclofenac while fish was the most sensitive to ibuprofen. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the occurrence and ecological risk assessment of diclofenac and ibuprofen residues in wastewater from Nigerian municipal and hospital WWTPs. More efficient wastewater treatment processes and technologies are recommended for the investigated WWTPs to reduce the discharge of target NSAIDs and other pharmaceuticals into the Nigerian aquatic environment. Keywords: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, wastewater, ecological risk assessment, Nigeria

The influence of different heat treatments,including oven drying at 40, 50, 60 and 70°C for 60, 120 and 180 minutes ateach temperature,roasting, boiling for 5, 10, and 15 minutes,sun and solar drying for 480 and 720 minutes,on the drying behaviour, moisture content and oil yield of Balanite aegyptiacakernels (BaKs) was investigated.The moisture contentson wet basis were determined by the oven drying method at 105C for 4 hours and calculated from both weight loss data anddry solid weight of the kernel samples,while oil was extracted with n-hexane using Soxhlet apparatus. The experiments were conducted in triplicates.Low moisture contents of 2.726 and 2.426% at drying times of 60 and 120 minutes were obtained in Balanites aegyptiaca kernelsdried at 70C,while drying at 40, 50 and 60C for 180 minutes gave low moisture contents of 3.973, 3.861 and 3.779%,respectively. The drying of Balanite aegyptiacakernels occured in the falling rate period. The moisture contents of Balanites aegyptiaca kernelsoven-dried at 40, 50, 60 and 70C decreased with increasing drying time when compared to the raw kernels. Similarly, the average oil yield of Balanite aegyptiaca kernels decreased with increasing temperature in the following order: raw>40C>50C>60C>70 C. The highest oil yield (45.345%)was obtained in the boiled kernels and the least oil yield (37.790%) in those kernels dried at 70 C. Results from thisstudy justify the use of boilingin traditional Balanite kernel oil extraction process as it gave the highest oil yield.