Effects of Strategic Tax Behaviors on Corporate Governance

The interactions between corporate governance and taxation are bilateral and biunique: in fact, on one side, the manner in which corporate governance rules are structured affects the way a corporation fulfills its tax obligations; on the other hand, the way tax designs (from the government perspective) and related tax strategies (from the corporation perspective) are planned influences corporate governance dynamics. For example, allowing corporations to keep two different and separate sets of books (one for accounting purposes, the other for tax purposes) makes it easier for tax managers to obtain both tax savings and promising financial statements even though a critical financial status is present. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to analyze the connection between corporate governance and strategic tax behaviors, investigating how corporate governance rules can reach a higher level of corporate compliance with the tax system

The Effects of Board Size on Financial Performance of Banks: A Study of Listed Banks in Nigeria

A critical review of the Nigerian banking system over the years shows that one of the problems confronting the sector has been that of poor corporate governance. In an attempt to investigate the linkage between corporate governance and financial performance of banks, this study contributed to the existing literature by assessing the effect of size of boards on the performance of banking sector in a developing economy like Nigeria. This study made use of a range of data drawn from the Nigerian Stock Exchange fact book (2008), which contains information on board size and the performance proxies. Regressing performance on board size, it was observed that banks with board size below 13 are more viable than those with board size above 13. The study further observed that banks with larger boards recorded profits lower than those with smaller boards. Therefore, this study concludes that there is a significant negative relationship between board size and bank financial performance with a t- value of -1.977 and a p- value of 0.053. This is because, increase in board size occurs with increase in agency problems (such as director free-riding) within the board and the board becomes less effective. However, the paper recommends a smaller board size for better financial performance and to reduce the problem of free-rider of banks in Nigeria

FINANCIAL LITERACY: A PANACEA TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA

There are a number of intelligences that humans’ are expected to possess in order to maximise life on the earth. These intelligences include spiritual, mental, physical, social and financial. Whereas all the different intelligences are important determinants of wellbeing, financial intelligence (FI) is pivotal for individual/family prosperity. Unfortunately, the configuration of Nigeria education curriculum at all levels does not include financial intelligence. This lacuna in the educational system has been reckoned to have contributed to the ever increasing rate of poverty in Nigeria. This paper theoretically discussed financial intelligence as a panacea to winning the war against poverty in Nigeria. The discussion covered an overview of the laws of financial intelligence, personal financial statement, the psychology of wealth creation and sources of passive income as well as the process of financial freedom among others. The paper concludes that if financial intelligence is embraced at the same level with other intelligence, the incidence of poverty in Nigeria will plummet significantly

Occurrence and Distribution of Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria in a Polluted Lagoon

The presence and distribution of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the sediment and water from four strategic points on the Lagos Lagoon were assessed using the most probable number technique. All the samples were positive for the dissimilatory sulphate reducers. The relative occurrence varied markedly with the site and pollution status. The least polluted end of the lagoon recorded the lowest number of SRB in both sediment (4.23x102 SRB/ml) and water (28 SRB/ml) while the most polluted site receiving sewage and domestic wastes harboured numbers as high as 5.71x103 and 7.6x104 SRB/ml for water and sediment sasmples, respectively. The occurrence of sulphate-reducing bacteria in such numbers indicated that this environment favoured biocorrosion of buried and immersed metals. The active involvement of these organisms in the syngenesis of sulphur, metallic sulphides and the general biodegradation of pollutants in this ecosystem is discussed