The Effect of Board Attributes on Real Earnings Management in Nigerian Financial Institutions

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between board attributes and real earnings management of listed Nigerian financial institutions. The residuals from Roychowdhury model (2006) is used to proxy real earnings management. Data were collected from 45 financial institutions quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from 2011 to 2016. For analysis purpose, the Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs) regression was utilized. The regression result shows that board meeting and board expertise have a significant positive impact on real earnings management. Whereas, female directors has a significant negative influence on real earnings management. The study recommends that the authorities concerned in Nigeria should concentrate on the recent technique of real earnings management (cash flow from operation, discretionary expenses and cost of goods sold) known to board members in developed economies in order to play a pivotal role in constraining corporate managers to act opportunistically in the ordinary course of business activities and preparing financial reports

Web application development process

There are a lot of challenges when it comes to the developing of the right web site with the application at the right time. Web sites that initially started as a few Web pages grew in size and after a while became unmanageable. There are a lot of cases where managers wanting to develop Web sites for their organizations getting frustrated because they could not get the Web site they wanted to developed in a timely manner within a reasonable budget. Another common downside occurrence is that if an information change,appropriate changes to all relevant Web pages becomes very difficult. Although, by performing a context analysis and developing a product model and a process model before going into the details will be able to allow developers to meet the client I user requirements. Unfortunately, information are dynamic, each day there are onward addition of updates and subtraction of outdate these however remain as a strong challenges, as a result this chapter provide some possible ways of respond to some challenges faced while developing a particular web site called "Peer Student Portal". A highdegree of client-user participation (problem analysis), testing (as the measure issue) and flexibility of web application has been recognized to be some of the major critical activities during web developmen

Assessment of Undergraduate Business Education Students' Usage of Social Networking as a Platform For Entrepreneurship Activities In North-West, Nigeria

The study assessed the undergraduate business education students' usage of social networking as a platform for entrepreneurship activities in North-west, Nigeria. Specifically, the study had five objectives, five research questions and five null hypotheses. The study anchored theory of Technology Acceptance Model of Ajzen and Fishbein's, (1980) and Division of Innovation Theory (DOI) of Rogers (1995). The study adopted a survey research design. The population of this study comprises of all the 407 final undergraduate business education 2019/2020 academic session in North-west Nigeria. The entire population was used for the study. The instrument for the data collection was a structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by four experts, pilot tested and a reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. The data were collected by the researcher assisted by four research assistants using personal contact method. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was employed to answer the research questions. The hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed among others that the level of students' awareness, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of social networking as a platform for entrepreneurship activities in tertiary institutions in North-west Nigeria was low. Based on these, it was concluded that the business education will not reap the benefit of social networking sites to searcher for business opportunities, venture into business and meet the needs of their technologically savvy customers. It was recommended among others that business education lecturers should create awareness on students on the role of social networking as a platform for entrepreneurship activities

Analyzing infant and child (under-five) mortality in Zaria: A regression analysis approach

This study was carried out using secondary data from Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, on infant and child (under-five) mortality and delivery rates. Descriptive statistics, Regression and Correlation analysis are the statistical techniques used for the study. From the regression analysis result obtained, it showed that both infant and child mortality rates has a direct relationship with delivery rates. The correlation analysis result showed that there is a very strong and positive relationship between mortality and delivery rates. The study revealed that infant and child mortality rates will continue to decrease if there can be improvement in the factors under study.Keywords: Infant and Child Mortality, Death and Birth Rates, Regression and Correlation, Anova, Trend, Demograph

A Literature Review of Salam Contract for Agricultural Development in Gombe State, Nigeria

Agriculture is essential to a country's economic development as seen in many advanced and developed nations who have valued and viewed agriculture as a catalyst for national prosperity and major source of food security. Bay’ Salam can be directly translated to ‘a forward sale or contract whereby a buyer purchases specific commodities that will be delivered by a seller in a future date which is more relevant to agricultural development. Although little has been accomplished in Nigeria, successive governments have placed a strong emphasis on the need to give the agricultural sector top priority to achieve both local and export food sufficiency. It's interesting to note that Gombe is recognized as one of the Nigerian states that have prioritized food and cash crop production as a vital endeavor that can improve both the state's and the nation's fortunes. However, agriculture must be integrated into modern society through Salam contract as suggested by this research to simplify agricultural endeavors, have a positive economic impact on the lives of farmers and rural communities, and to meet its demands and overcome its obstacles in Gombe state, Nigeria. The work used a qualitative research method that includes interview with relevant people on the subject matter and literature review to gather data. The study suggests that, if adopted, managed, and effectively used, the opportunities provided by Salam contract will strengthen the agricultural sector, lessen the frequent conflicts between farmers and herders, and ensure food security in Gombe State, Nigeri

Critical factors influencing effective of ICT resources and capabilities

Substantial research on the importance of strategic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and capabilities for higher institution has mainly focused on developed countries. The results of these studies may not hold for developing nations and in particular, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). To address this gap, this research therefore, builds on theory of DeLone and McLean to examine the strategic links between the success of effective utilization of ICT Resources and ICT Capabilities of KSA higher institutions. Quantitative research methodology has been used. The study was conducted in a KSA context from a sample of 68 higher institutions. Nine main hypotheses were formulated and tested. Analysis of the data provided support for all the nine main hypotheses, except for relationship between “User Involvement and Effective utilization of ICT resources and capabilitie

Window size and round-trip-time in a network transmission session

A transmission session in a network constitutes a period beginning with the transport of data from one communicating node to the other. A transmission session is always set out for end-to-end connection and involves many network resources. Previous research studies on smooth data flow across a network reveals that the maximum number of data in an optimal transmission session is associated with window size. Problems are still encountered when it comes to the rate at which data move in a transmission session and also the required window size. This should be dynamically and automatically controlled. This research investigates the effect of Window Size and Round-Trip Time (RTT) in a transmission session. Packet data are collected for many network transmission sessions. The raw data were normalized, and the Naïve Bayes technique was used for the analytical evaluation. The effect of window size and RTT in a transmission session is examined, which reveals that the rate at which data move in a transmission session can be dynamically controlled to a considerably high degree of accuracy. Each network node cannot be overwhelmed when the window size is adjusted to the required siz

Sebaceous Carcinoma of Submandibular Gland Presenting with Upper Airway Obstruction: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) of the salivary gland is a very rare tumor occurring more in the parotid gland. It is extremely rare in the submandibular gland. Only four cases of submandibular gland SC have been reported worldwide in English literature. We present the first case of submandibular gland SC in our environment and the fifth to be reported in English literature. A 55‑year‑old male farmer presented to our facility with a 10-year history of progressive, painless left submandibular mass, which worsened 4 months before presentation, associated with dysphagia to solid, muffled voice, weight loss, and upper airway obstruction. He had emergency tracheostomy and biopsy of the left submandibular mass. Histopathological examination of the mass confirmed SC. He was referred for radiotherapy but said to have died few weeks later while still preparing to travel for the radiation therapy. The rarity of these cases made the clinicopathologic pattern to be poorly understood thus making the choice of treatment option difficult. More cases need to be reported in other to develop the best treatment modalities

Acute Toxicity and Antidiabetic Studies of Adansonia digitata Stem Bark Extracts on Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

The study investigates acute toxicity and anti-diabetic potential of solvents extract (n-hexane, Chloroform, Ethyl acetate and Methanol) of Adansonia digitata stem bark. For each solvent, twelve (12) rats were used for Oral LD50 determination, and were grouped into four (4) groups of three rats (3) each. The first three groups were administered with 10 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively, while the last group was subdivided into three groups of one rat each and were administered with 2500mg/kg, 3500mg/kg and 5000mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. Thirty (35) rats were used for the diabetic study and were grouped into seven (7) groups of six (5) rats each. Group I served as normal control, group II served as diabetic control while Groups III, IV, V, VI and VII were induced with diabetes and administered with standard drug, n-hexane, Chloroform, Ethyl acetate and Methanol extract respectively for two weeks. The research found the oral LD50 of all the extract to be greater than 5000mg/kg indicating that the extract was practically non-toxic. Administration of the extract to test groups shows a significant (p<0.05) decrease in blood glucose level in chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extract administered groups compared to diabetic control with ethyl acetate extract having the highest activity. It also ameliorate liver toxicity by decreasing the serum level of liver enzymes. Thus indicating a hypoglycemic activity by the extract, Keywords:Acute toxicity; Adansonia digitata; Antidiabetic; Solvents Extract and Streptozotocin. DOI: 10.7176/ALST/89-04 Publication date:August 31st 202

Assessment of the influence of ICT facilities for sustainability of modern teaching excellence in education

The advents of information and communication technology (ICT) have induced tremendous changes in the present education system. These interactive technological gadgets have affected the very nature of teaching and learning. Most teachers as well as studentsare not aware of the influence of ICT in the developing nations. Therefore the aim of this study is to determines the types of ICT facilities that could be affordable for the students and teachers, the extent of use of the ICT facilities among teachers ofSecondary Schools (senior) in Potiskum Local Government, the influence of ICT facilities among students in secondary schools in Potiskum, the influence of ICT facilities among teachers in secondary school in Potiskum, as well as the problems affecting theuse of ICT in teaching, learning and research in Potiskum. Findings of this study reveals that ICT gadgets are considered to be used in teaching and learning primary education but not affordable to teachers and students, students and teachers also do stayon computers but not for so long. ICT is also considered to have influenced teaching and learning in secondary schools. Therefore it is concluded that, students and teachers in secondary schools use ICT instruments in the process of teaching and learning,although the tools are not very much affordable to them. The study has also revealed that students and teachers do stay on computers a little period of time due to lack of ICT facilities in their schools. We therefore concluded that ICT gadgets should be considered of paramount priorities in schools as it influence teaching and learning and school authorities should find ways to make ICT gadgets available for use to both students and teachers to facilitate academic activities and to influence learning at larg