BOARD CHARACTERISTICS AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT OF LISTED CONSUMER GOODS FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Corporate governance mechanisms have continued to strengthen the operations and activities of corporate entities in Nigeria. Board characteristics and earnings management have attracted many scholars trying to establish relevant relationship that will assist policy makers and regulatory agencies in facilitating good corporate governance. This study examines the impact of board characteristics on earnings management of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The Agency Theory was used to underpin the study. Board characteristics as the independent variable was proxied using board independence, board meetings, board gender diversity and board expertise while earnings management as the dependent variable was measured using the Modifies Jones Model. The panel data multiple regression was used on data extracted from annual reports of sixteen listed consumer goods firms from 2011 to 2020. The study found that, board gender diversity and board expertise negatively and significantly influence earnings management while board independence and board meetings have no significant influence on listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that, regulatory agencies and policy makers should encourage listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria to increase diversity in boards and expertise as this will minimize earnings management activities by management

HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC TERTIARY EDUCATION OF KADUNA STATE

Human capital development denotes the most valuable and critical assets in the public tertiary education and it is globally recognized as a key driver for innovation and sustainable development. However, the study examines the effect of human capital development in public tertiary education of Kaduna state. The population of this study was made up of the all the public Tertiary Institutions in Kaduna State (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state University, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria, Kaduna Polytechnic, National College of education Zaria and Kaduna state college of education Gidan Waya. Twenty-five questionnaires were administered to each public institution. 150 questionnaires administered and 112 were retrieved from the respondents which was used as the sample size. Therefore, the impact and significance of human capital development in Public Tertiary Education in Kaduna State will no doubt enhance learning as well as development in all area of human endeavor. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Nigerian government should develop an adequate human capital with global skills and e-learning practices, with proper training partnership with other domestic industries, technical training institutions and research institutions internationally. Also, there is an urgent need for the federal and state government to raise their spending on education in order to fulfill the 26% UNESCO criterion by increasing staff costs and salaries, which will aid in advancing knowledge, increasing production, and fostering national progres