Economic Integration in the ECOWAS: Implications for Financial Intermediation in Nigeria

The study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to co-integration to estimate a set of four models with a view to examining the impact of ECOWAS integration on financial intermediation in Nigeria, which was differentiated by type of financial development indicators (FD) used as dependent variable in the different models. The dependent variables were the proxies for financial intermediation in Nigeria, namely; ratio of credit to private sector provided by commercial banks to national GDP (CPS_GDP); ratio of broad money supply (M2) to GDP (M2_GDP); and ratio of commercial bank’s assets to the combination of commercial banks’ and central bank’s assets (COMB_ASSETS). A composite measure of the three financial intermediation indicator was also used in the fourth model. The study data ranged from 1960 to 2018, and comprised Nigerian and ECOWAS macroeconomic variables obtained from different sources.  ADF test was conducted to test for unit root and the result showed that the variables have a unit root. Across the four models, the results of the study showed that ECOWAS regional economic integration does not significantly influence the degree of financial intermediation in Nigeria, and may not be promoting development of the Nigerian financial sector. On the contrary, domestic macroeconomic developments are, however, more supportive of financial intermediation in Nigeria, and suggest the need to improve monetary conditions and credit access and availability. It has become imperative, therefore, to carry out a cost-benefit and impact analyses of the region’s integration to help reposition the country for its benefits. Keywords: economic integration, financial intermediation, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), co-integration, ECOWAS, Nigeria JEL Classification: E44, F36, G2, G32, G21. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-4-06 Publication date: February 29th 2020

A NEURAL NETWORK SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL PROFITABILITY OF SMOKED FISH BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

Small scale smoked fish business is a lucrative business venture in Nigeria as market fish sellers especially women living inriverside areas of the country earn a living from this business. However, these fish sellers they may not know thecombination of smoked fish type that will yield optimum profit. In this research, a neural network model was designed forachieving this purpose and was used to predict the profitability of smoked fish business based on the analysis from thesample survey of smoked fish sellers/retailers in selected markets in Ota, in Ogun State, Nigeria, and its environs, . Thisprediction results could help government and small scale smoked fish retailers to fashion out best practices to help achievemaximum profitability in the smoked business.Keywords: Neural Network, Profitability, Smoked Fish Business, Voice Communication, Ogun State, Nigeri

A Study of the Effect of Electrode Gap on the Production of Hydrogen from Aluminium/Copper Fuel Cell

In this work, we investigated the effects of electrode gap spacing on the amount of hydrogen produced in Aluminium/Copper Fuel Cell and its efficiency. Aluminium/Copper materials were used as the electrodes because of their high performance in the electrolyser systems while Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) was used as electrolyte. 10% concentration of potassium hydroxide was used throughout the experiment. The electrode spacing of 5mm and 10mm were used. It was observed from the graph that 5mm electrode spacing produced maximum efficiency of 29.7% and 10mm electrode spacing produced 17.7% efficiency. This implied that hydrogen production was highly dependent on electrode gap distance. The smaller the gap between the pair of electrodes, the more hydrogen was produced and the more efficient is the system

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Uncorrected tetralogy of fallot in a 47 year old Nigerian man: a case report

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease and is usually diagnosed in childhood. Uncorrected TOF has a bad prognosis with 95% mortality by the age of twenty. There are reports of patients with uncorrected TOF who survived into adulthood with minimal symptoms. This has been attributed to relatively small degrees of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction and/or presence of congenital aorto-pulmonary shunts. Very few cases of uncorrected TOF in adults have been reported in Africa. We report this case of uncorrected TOF in a 47 year old Nigerian man to highlight this rare presentation in adult life. He is the oldest case of TOF so far reported in Nigeria. He had hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy which may have contributed to his longevity.Keywords: Congenital heart disease, Ventricular septal defect, Pulmonary stenosis, Adulthoo

Herbal medicine: a survey of use in Nigerian presurgical patients booked for ambulatory anaesthesia

Abstract Background Utilization of herbal medicines in the preoperative period by Nigerian patients booked for day case surgery has not been explored. Methods Cross-sectional survey of 60 patients presenting for day-case surgery at a tertiary healthcare institution over a 3-week period in August 2011 was conducted. Using a structured questionnaire, inquiries were made concerning use of herbal medicines in the immediate preoperative period. Socio-demographic characteristics, information on use of concurrent medical prescriptions, types of herbs used, reasons for use, perceived side effects and perceived efficacy were obtained. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Results Fifty-two (86.7%) were American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 1 while 8 (13%) were ASA 2. Most patients (86.7%) had their procedures done under local infiltration with monitored anaesthesia care (MAC), while 5.0% and 8.3% had their procedures done under regional and general anaesthesia, respectively. About 48.3% of respondents were on concurrent medical prescriptions while 51.7% were not. Forty percent (40%) of patients admitted to use of herbal medicine, all by the oral route, in the immediate perioperative period; 87.5% did not inform their doctor of their herbal use. Types of herbs used included ‘dogonyaro’, ‘agbo’, ‘nchanwu’, and Tahitian noni. Treatment of malaria was commonest reason for use in 29.2% of patients, while cough and concurrent surgical condition were reasons given by 12.5% of patients, respectively. Seventy-nine percent (79.2%) of patients considered their herbal medications effective. Perceived side effects of herbal medication (16.6%) included fever, waist pain and intoxication. There were no variations in use between ASA 1 and ASA 2 patients and none between respondents on conventional medication against those that were not. Variables such as age less than 35 years, female gender, being married and being an urban dweller did not show any significant difference in use. Conclusion This survey revealed many patients were on one or more herbal preparations in the immediate preoperative period. In consideration of possible untoward drug interactions between conventional medication, herbal preparations and anaesthesia, doctors (especially anaesthetists) should routinely assess all patients booked to be anaesthetized, especially those for day case surgery. The authors recommend surveys with larger respondent numbers to determine prevalence of use and possible interactions between indigenous Nigerian herbs and anaesthesia.</p