Mobile Phone Banking In Nigeria: Benefits, Problems and Prospects

The internet and other electronic media have had a positive impact on the lives of individuals and businesses all over the world. This study investigated the extent of the adoption and usage of the mobile phone banking services among banking customers in Nigeria and the associated problems. Mobile phones are now ubiquitous and a standard aspect of daily life for a large percentage of the world population. In addition, innovations in mobile finances offer the potential to change the way customers conduct financial transactions. Yet many banking customers all over the world remain sceptical about the benefits of mobile financial services and the levels of security provided with these services. Thus the aim of this study was to understand the levels of usage and non-usage of these financial services by customers within Nigeria. In the course of the research, ten out of twenty one banks were selected in Nigeria. The stakeholders interviewed included bank staff, customers and students from higher education institutions. Study data was gathered over a two month period using an unstructured set of interview questions and data analysis was through thematic evidences arising from the data analysed. Internet banking services were first introduced into the Nigerian financial system in 2001 and other electronic banking services such as the ATM and phone banking followed thereafter. The findings of this study however, discovered that phone banking was more established than internet banking and ATM services, but ATM services had a wider reach. In summary, the overriding factors affecting this situation included the cost and maintenance involved, education of customers, poverty and infrastructure availability. Recommendations are therefore awareness creation of the services and associated business environment, security improvement of the services and tough government regulations for general electronic banking services in the Nigerian contex

Downsizing as a Strategic Tool for Effective Organizational Management: A Case Study of Nigerian Banks

Downsizing, in recent years, have assumed a commonplace in various organisations. The views of various practitioners and in fact results of various studies indicates that these initiatives, albeit, intended to produce positive results, often do more harm than good to some organisations, workforce and their performance. The unending quest for lower costs, higher productivity and fatter profits have often led to the wielding of the ‘’big stick’’. Organisations of varying sizes and shapes have used downsizing as a cost cutting management strategy, however, the untold stories are the actual cost of these exercise to the organisation, performance and it’s far reaching implications to the workforce. This paper explored the costs and implications of the massive wave of redundancies in the workforce in Nigerian banks. With the help of data obtained from open-ended interviews conducted with various stakeholders in downsizing operations and applied within a clinical framework, individual reaction patterns are explored in the victims, the survivors and the executioners. Among the victims and survivors within the Nigerian setting, a number of ways of coping can be discerned, and described as compulsive, abrasive, dissociate and depressive. Findings revealed a plethora of mixed feelings among various employees and expose the far reaching implications both to the organisations, affected individuals (victims) and the psyche of their co-workers (survivors). The article ends with a number of practical recommendation

Changes in Nitrate-Nitrogen Concentration in Sugar Beet Petioles as Influenced by Irrigation and Fertilizer Practices

Sugar beets must be properly irrigated and fertilized to maximize sugar production. Both yield and sugar content can be materially altered by water or fertilizer deficiency or excesses (4, 5). Farm operators must carefully manage fertilization and irrigation to obtain the greatest net return from sugar beets

Predicting the Nitrogen Needs of Sugar Beets by Petiole Analysis

Sugar beets are grown extensively in areas where fertilization and irrigation can be regulated to maximize sugar production and net returns per unit area. The yield and sugar content of sugar beets can be materially affected by either deficiencies or excesses of water and fertilizer. Nitrogen, in particular, has a great effect on yield and sugar content of beets. Inadequate nitrogen limits root yield. On the other hand, excess residual or applied nitrogen stimulates top growth and reduces root sugar percentage

Determining Nitrogen Fertilizer Needs for Sugarbeets from Residual Soil Nitrate and Mineralizable Nitrogen

Soil nitrate and mineralizable nitrogen are used to predict the root yield potential and N fertilizer needs of sugarbeets. Predicting the required N fertilizer for optimum refined sucrose production based on soil test procedures is needed because inadequate N limits root yield and high levels of N may reduce both extractable sucrose and sucrose yield. Sugarbeets (Beta vulgaris L.) were grown at 14 residual and fertilizer N rates to determine the root yield, sucrose percentage, sucrose yield, and N uptake in relation to the residual, mineralizable, and fertilizer N. A soil test to measure both the mineralizable and NO?-N level of a soil was found to serve as a valuable guide in recommending N fertilizer for sugarbeets. The amount of N supplied from mineralizable sources in a uniformly cropped and fertilized field is expected to remain reasonably constant if adequate but not excess N fertilizer is supplied each year to the crop grown. Therefore, repeating the test for mineralizable N each year may not be necessary. Determining the amount of NO?-N in the root zone, which is now feasible with rapid and accurate methods of soil analysis, combined with the predetermined mineralizable N, would increase the accuracy of N fertilizer recommendations

Irrigation of Crops: Drainage Water Quality

Recent research has provided new knowledge on managing irrigation water to decrease the degrading effects of irrigation on the mineral quality of drainage water and to increase crop yield and quality by effective use of sprinkler irrigation. In sprinkler irrigation, water is exposed to the atmosphere, which enhances evaporation. The evaporation process cools the droplets, increases the heat absorbed by the droplets from the air through which they pass, and adds water vapor to the atmosphere. It has also been determined that the plant as well as its environment can he cooled with water applied by sprinklers

Effect of Mid-to Late-Season Water Stress on Sugarbeet Growth and Yield

Costs of irrigation (labor, water, and energy) and sometimes limited-late-season water are factors associated with the choice of crop and economic returns. Sugarbeets (Beta vulgaris L.) have shown certain tolerance to water stress, therefore the objective of this study was to evaluate growth rates and characteristics, sucrose accumulation, and N uptake by sugarbeets grown under mid to late-season soil water deficit and plant water stress. Sugarbeets were grown in a field experiment on a Portneuf silt loam soil (Durixerollic Calciorthids; coarse-silty, mixed, mesic) under normal irrigation until 15 July, after which further irrigation was terminated or reduced on two treatments during a 2-year period. Root yield, sucrose concentration, sucrose yield, plant N uptake, and petiole NO?-N were determined from samples taken throughout each season. These experiments demonstrated that very little, if any, sucrose yield reduction can be expected in the Idaho area if irrigations are discontinued after filling the soil profile with water about 1 August and if the soil contains at least 200 mm of available water to a soil depth of 160 cm. During dry years, there may be an advantage to applying a light irrigation about 1 month after water cutoff and to have sufficient surface soil water present at harvest to prevent loss of roots by breaking. Use of deficit water management during August, September, and October curtailed leaf growth, reduced leaf area when no longer needed, reduced N uptake from the soil, increased sucrose concentration in the beet root, and decreased fresh root yield. These effects on yields were mainly caused by dehydration of the beet tops and roots so sucrose production was scarcely affected even though only 74% of the normal irrigation water was applied. Limited irrigations reduced evapotranspiration rates because of drier surface soil and partial stomatal closure, thereby decreasing the rate of water extraction from the soil reservoir by the plant. Use of mid to late-season deficit water management could substantially reduce sugarbeet production costs in irrigated areas and economically benefit the consumer, producer, and manufacturer

Interpreting the Rate of Change in Nitrate-Nitrogen in Sugarbeet Petioles

Nitrate-nitrogen in sugarbeet petioles is used to evaluate current N status of sugarbeet crops. Since the NO?-N changes rapidly during the season, better relationships are needed to interpret these data relative to sugarbeet N nutrition. Sugarbeets (Beta vulgaris, L.) were grown at four N fertilization rates and two irrigation levels to determine the root yield, sucrose percentage, sucrose yield, and N uptake in relation to the NO?-N concentration in the petioles. NO?-N in beet petioles increased to a peak concentration and then decreased exponentially during the two growing seasons on all treatments. The exponential decrease after the peak enables prediction of the NO?-N in the petioles during the remainder of the growing season. This rate of change approach can be used to predict N needs when adding supplemental N for sugarbeets and to characterize the N status of soil-crop systems

Effect of Row Spacing and Nitrogen Rate on Root and Sucrose Yield of Sugarbeets in Southern Idaho

Research results at other locations in western U.S. indicate that a plant spacing of approximately 12 inches within rows and 20 or 22 inches between rows is necessary to obtain near maximum yields of sugarbeets (Beta vulgaris L.) and yet maintain adequate space for machinery operation (4, 6, 10). Increasing row and plant spacings with corresponding decreases in plant population have reduced root and sucrose yields (1, 9, 11). Decreasing row and plant spacings with consequent increases in plant populations may augment yields (5). The optimum row spacing and plant population for maximum sucrose production by varieties currently used by the Amalgamated Sugar Company under a high fertility level, controlled irrigations, and the climatic conditions of southern Idaho are unknown. In southern Idaho, most sugarbeets are grown in 22- or 24-inch rows with plants thinned to 9- to 12-inch spacings within the row. With these plant spacings, the factory average beet root yield from 1966 to 1969 was 20.9 tons in southwestern, 18.3 in south central and 17.8 tons in southeastern Idaho. Experimental plots and many farm fields during the same period produced 5 to 8 tons more than the average when stand, fertilizer, and irrigation water were optimized. A substantial part of the lower average yield may be due to a poor plant stand at maturity on farmers' sugarbeet fields rather than to fertility or irrigation practices. Narrower rows at optimum fertility and irrigation levels, while maintaining adequate space for modern farm machinery, may improve average yields by increasing yield compensation (when frequent skips occur) and by providing an earlier full leaf canopy. This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of plant population, as varied by row width while maintaining a uniform within-row stand, and N level on beet root and sucrose production under the climatic conditions of southern Idaho

Modeling Water and Nitrogen Behavior in the Soil-Plant System

A set of dynamic mathematical relations is developed for the major variables of soil water, nitrate, ammonium, available organic nitrogen, and plant growth and nitrogen uptake. Daily climatic conditions are used to control evapotranspiration and modify the rates of plant growth and soil processes. Inputs of irrigation water and fertilizer can be controlled to reduce leaching of nitrate