External Funding Possibilities for SMEs in Nigeria

Small and Medium Enterprises play a pivotal role in the economic growth of any nation, thereby increasing productivity, GDP, and employment opportunities. One major challenge to the growth and development of this sector of the economy is poor funding. It is on this premise that this re-search is based upon, finding the external funding possibilities for SMEs in Nigeria. This study briefly talks about the importance of the SME sector to the Nigerian economy and also extensively explains the major external funding possibilities available to SMEs in Nigeria. Funding initiative by governments (Federal and States) as well as those of Non-Governmental Organizations, and International Development Agencies were also adequately considered. The qualitative method was used in this research, thereby data was collected from both primary and secondary data. The primary data was obtained by interviewing two key officers of a SME business in Nigeria. Two senior officers at two lending institutions were also interviewed. Most of the secondary data used in this research were obtained by consulting articles, journals and other publications. During the course of this research study, the researcher found that there are numerous sources of external funding possibilities with relatively cheap, available and accessible medium to long term funds for SMEs in Nigeria but are not aware of them because their existence and services were not adequately given enough publicity by the media. The findings identified new initiatives springing up to support the sector. In the light of the above, the SMEs need to get acquainted with the knowledge of external funding initiatives available to them. It should also be noted that the entrepreneur’s attitude towards external funding should be taken into consideration

Water for Cities in Nigeria:The Governance Dimension

This work assesses the state of water resources in Nigeria in the light of the global state of the affairs of water management. The study takes an in-depth survey of water availability globally on a regional per capita basis. The study further exposes contemporary trends in water management with particular focus on efforts at privatisation. The study goes further to expatiate the concept of water governance with a view to furnishing sound knowledge of the political, economic, social and administrative variables involved before it proceeds to assess the state of the affair in Nigeria, with the Niger Delta in perspective. The study concludes by drawing up the emerging issues in water governance in Nigeria for policy and practice

Sales Promotion in Hotels:A British Perspective

In their article - Sales Promotion In Hotels: A British Perspective - by Francis Buttle, Lecturer, Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration, University of Massachusetts and Ini Akpabio, Property Manager, Trusthouse Forte, Britain, Buttle and Akpabio initially state: “Sales promotion in hotels is in its infancy. Other industries, particularly consumer goods manufacturing, have long recognized the contribution that sales promotion can make to the cost-effective achievement of marketing objectives. Sales promotion activities in hotels have remained largely uncharted. The authors define, identify and classify these hotel sales promotion activities to understand their function and form, and to highlight any scope for improvement.” The authors begin their discussion by attempting to define what the phrase sales promotion [SP] actually means. “The Institute of Sales Promotion regards sales promotions as “adding value, usually of a temporary nature, to a product or service in order to persuade the end user to purchase that particular brand as opposed to a competitive brand,” the authors offer. Williams, however, describes sales promotions more broadly as “short term tactical marketing tools which are used to achieve specific marketing objectives during a defined time period,” Buttle and Akpabio present with attribution. “The most significant difference between these two viewpoints is that Williams does not limit his definition to activities which are targeted at the consumer,” is their educated view. A lot of the discussion is centered on the differences in the collective marketing-promotional mix. “…it is not always easy to definitively categorize promotional activity,” Buttle and Akpabio say. “For example, in personal selling, a sales promotion such as a special bonus offer may be used to close the sale; an advertisement may be sales promotional in character in that it offers discounts.” Are promotion and marketing distinguishable as two separate entities? “…not only may there be conceptual confusion between components of the promotional mix, but there is sometimes a blurring of the boundaries between the elements of the marketing mix,” the authors suggest. “There are several reasons why SP is particularly suitable for use in hotels: seasonality, increasing competitiveness, asset characteristics, cost characteristics, increased use of channel intermediaries, new product launches, and deal proneness.” Buttle and Akpabio offer their insight on each of these segments. The authors also want you to know that SP customer applications are not the only game in town, SP trade applications are just as essential. Bonuses, enhanced commission rates, and vouchers are but a few examples of trade SP. The research for the article was compiled from several sources including, mail surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, trade magazines and newspapers; essentially in the U.K

Sub-Cellular Correlation of Nitrite in Cassava (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) Leaves and Nitrosamine Toxicology in Wistar Rats

The aim of this study was to determine the nitrite levels in the sub-cellular fractions of cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) leaves containing chloroplast, mitochondria and in the cytosol respectively and to their contribution in the causation of liver toxicity in rats exposed to N-nitrosamine precursors. The design of this experiment consisted of three animal groups. The first group was administered with dimethylamine hydrochloride plus sodium nitrite (DMA.HCL + NaNO2), the second group was administered with sodium nitrite (NaNO2) only and the third group (control) was given distilled water. The methods used included cell fractionation, tissue homogenization and centrifugation, spectrophotometric analysis, enzymatic determination and histopathology. Nitrite levels were estimated at 6.08 ± 0.92, 4.06 ± 1.65 and 1.29 ± 1.66μg/200g of cassava leaf tissue in chloroplasmic, mitochondrial and cytosolic sub-cellular fractions respectively. Both the NaNO2 dose regime and the combined dose of DMA.HCL and NaNO2, at P- value 0.05, caused significant increases in GGT, ALP, AST and ALT levels in serum. The histopathological study of the rat liver for DMA.HCL + NaNO2 administration showed severe portal and central venous congestion while the NaNO2 administration revealed a mild periportal cellular infiltration. This study shows that there is a correlation of nitrite in the chloroplast, mitochondria and cytosol sub-cellular fractions of cassava leaves and administration of nitrite dietary level in cassava leaves and dimethylamine hydrochloride produced acute synergistic toxicity in the liver

Solutions of Schr\"odinger Equation with Generalized Inverted Hyperbolic Potential

We present the bound state solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation with generalized inverted hyperbolic potential using the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We obtain the energy spectrum and the wave function with this potential for arbitrary - state. We show that the results of this potential reduced to the standard known potentials - Rosen-Morse, Poschl - Teller and Scarf potential as special cases. We also discussed the energy equation and the wave function for these special cases.Comment: 20pages, 5figure

N-nitrosation of N-methylaniline and nitrosamine toxicology in the wistar rats

The aim of this study is to investigate the urinary excretion of nitrosamine ions in rats, to investigate the effect of precursors of N-nitrosamine on serum enzymes activities and to evaluate the toxicity on liver on exposure to N- nitrosamine precursors. Forty two male wistar rats were divided into six groups and each group was admininistered with varying doses of sodium nitrite and N-methylaniline. The following methods were used; spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography, cell fractionation, centrifugation, dialysis, histopathology, enzymatic and colorimetry. The RF values of the test samples were similar to those of the test standard, signifying the presence of N-nitrosamine in the urine of the rat. Liver function test, showed significant elevations (P < 0.05) in the AST, ALT, ALP and GGT activities in all the test groups compared with the control. Histological evaluation showed severe haemorrhage within the sinusoid, the portal triad was infiltrated by inflammatory cells in both NaNO2 induced group and NMA combined with NaNO2 group, thus showing acute damage compared with the control group which showed no lesion. The present study showed the urinary excretion of nitrosamine formed from N-methylaniline and sodium nitrite, the effect of N-methylaniline and sodium nitrite on serum enzymes and their toxicity on the liver of wistar rats