Randomness of Stock Return in Nigerian Banking Sector

This study presents a test of Random Walk Hypothesis in the Nigerian Stock Market, with a view to determining if stock price changes conform to predetermined probability distribution. A sample of thirteen Deposit Money Banks which are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2014 were used in the analysis. Secondary daily price data for the period were sourced from the capital assets section of NSE Fact Book. The methods used were; Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test (ADF), Phillips-Perron Test (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin Test (KPSS) unit root tests were used to test non-stationarity while Descriptive Statistics of Jaque-bera were used to check for normality. The ADF, PP and KPSS unit root test results imply that the changes in stock prices are stationary at level while Descriptive statistics results indicate that the changes in stock prices do not follow a normal distribution. The findings of this study show that stock price changes are stationary and not normally distributed. Based on the findings, the changes in Nigerian Deposit Money banks’ stock price in Nigerian stock exchange do not follow a random walk. In other words, Nigerian Stock market is not weak form efficient. The study recommends that since changes in stock prices are not indeterminable or caused by random events, the investor should endeavour to identify what determines the prices in the past in order to ensure judicious and prudent allocation of their investable funds

An examination of the relationship between provisions of infrastructural facilities and property tax in Ibadan North Local Government

Local councils have responsibilty to provide infrastructurre for the sustenance of  the residents within thier jurisdiction.Thus many local council have resorted to the use of property tax in addition to other sources of revenue. However, there is no correlation between the generation of property tax and the provison of social amenities or key infrastructure that should be sustaining residents. The study adopted secondary data sourced from  Ibadan North Local government, that is the amount of property tax generated and the amount of financial allocation to the provision of social amenities from 1999 till 2010. The result from the regression analysis conducted  indicated that property tax is responsilble for a statistical variation of 74.2% in the financial allocation to Infrastructure in the study area.The recommendation of the study is  that local coucil needs to examine the tax base as well as develop a model that will encourage participation of the residents in property tax administration. Key Words: Property Tax, Infrastructure/Social Amenities, Local Council, Allocation, Users Participation and Public financ

An Economic Feasibility Model for Sustainable 5G Networks in Rural Dwellings of South Africa

Numerous factors have shown Internet-based technology to be a key enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG), as well as narrowing the divide between the global north and south. For instance, smart farming, remote/online learning, and smart grids can be used to, respectively, address SDGs 1 and 2 (ending poverty and hunger), 3 (quality education), and 7 and 9 (energy and infrastructure development). Though such Internet-based solutions are commonplace in the global north, they are missing or sparsely available in global south countries. This is due to several factors including underdevelopment, which dissuades service providers from investing heavily in infrastructure for providing capable Internet solutions such as 5G networks in these regions. This paper presents a study conducted to evaluate the feasibility of deploying 5G networks in the rural dwellings of South Africa at affordable rates, which would then serve as a pre-cursor for deploying solutions to improve lives and achieve the SDGs. The study evaluates the economic viability of a hybrid network model which combines terrestrial and aerial networks to provide 5G coverage in rural areas. The feasibility study reveals that such a network can be engineered at low monthly subscription fees to the end users and yield good returns to the service providers in rural areas; however, for large but sparsely populated suburban locations, the traditional terrestrial network with base stations is more suitable

Geophysical Investigation for Aquifer Potential Assessment and Groundwater Development at EKSU Staff Quarters GRA Ado Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria

Very-Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and Electrical resistivity methods for  reconnaissance and detailed geophysical studies respectively have been carried out within the Ekiti-State University Staff Quarters at Onigari GRA area of Ado-Ekiti. The study’s objectives include amongst others to detect drillable points for groundwater abstraction boreholes in order to frontally address the inherent problem of scarce water supply for uses by the university staff and their families living within the quarters. Seventeen (17) East-West traverses were established along where VLF profiling were conducted at an interval of 10m. The qualitative and quantitative interpretations of the VLF-EM data revealed twenty three (23) positions along the traverses that exhibited significant conductivities which are suggestive of thick and/or fractured overburden which are favourable structures for possible groundwater accumulation, these 23 positions were selected for further detailed investigation using the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique. The Twenty-three (23) VES stations were thereafter occupied employing the Schlumberger arrangement, with half-electrode spacing (AB/2) varying from 1-150m. The quantitative interpretation of the obtained VES data were carried out using the  curve-matching and computer iteration techniques. The 3-layer (A and H); 4-layer (HK, KH, KQ and QH); 5-layer (HKH); 6-layer (AKHK and KHKH) and 7-layer (HKHKH) depth sounding curves were derived from the area. The 4-Layer type curve is predominant with 25% occurrence. The geoelectric sections mapped-out five lithologic units; including the topsoil; the weathered layer; the partly weathered/fractured basement, the fractured basement and the fresh basement. From the integrated consideration of the geoelectric parameters and inferred aquifer characteristics of the study area, it becomes clearer that the following VES postions are recommendable for the development of good yielding groundwater development schemes in order of priority,VES 20 ,  VES 12 , VES 18 ,  VES 10 , VES 8 ,  VES 7  and VES 15. Keywords: Traverses, Depth Sounding Curves, geoelectric sections, VES stations, aquifer units, borehole

Effects of PID Controller on Performance of Dish Antenna Position Control for Distributed Mobile Telemedicine Nodes

Introduction of telemedicine into developing nation’s healthcare delivery scheme could be a solution to a number of challenges facing the scheme including acute shortage of medical personnel. Because of distribution and mobility nature of the system combined with Nigeria’s large land mass, the resulting propagation delay will be large which may lead to system poor quality of performance or instability if the system is not compensated. This study aimed at assessing the effects of introducing Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller into the control of the position of dish antenna mounted on distributed mobile telemedicine nodes within Nigeria when the link is via Nigcomsat-1R. The system closed loop composite transfer function was obtained and subjected to unit step forcing function which then yielded time domain parameters. There was reduction in the value of system time domain parameters obtained for PID controller compensated system compared to uncompensated system. Based on the value of the system time domain parameters obtained from the simulation, introduction of PID controller into this system has improved the system response significantly

Anatomic study of the morphology of the right and left coronary arteries

Arising from the aorta, the right (RCA) and left (LCA) coronary arteries provide the arterial supply to both the atria and the ventricles of the heart. An extensive literature review revealed that most studies have either evaluated the morphology of the RCA or the LCA independently. This study aimed to document the relationship between the morphology of the RCA and LCA using coronary angiograms. In addition, variations such as split or double RCA and an absent LCA were documented. A review of 500 coronary angiograms was conducted and the RCA and LCA were classified according to their branching patterns and arterial dominance. The most prevalent branching pattern of the LCA was bifurcation (in 65.8%; 329/500), while trifurcation and quadrifurcation occurred in 20.4% (102/500) and 1.6% (8/500), respectively. The LCA was absent in 11.8% (59/500) of cases with the bifurcation and trifurcation of its branches in 10.8% (54/500) and 1.4% (7/500), respectively. The splitting of the RCA occurred in 4.2% (21/500) of the angiograms. A split RCA with concomitant absent LCA was documented in 1.2% (6/500) of the angiograms. The RCA and LCA were dominant in 77.2% (386/500) and 9.8% (49/500) of cases, respectively, whereas co-dominance occurred in 13% (65/500) of the sample examined. In most cases where a split RCA was present, the RCA was found to be non-dominant. With the advent of coronary arteriography, a comprehensive understanding of coronary arterial anatomy and their anomalies has become essential

Geophysical Investigation for Aquifer Potential Assessment and Groundwater Development at EKSU Staff Quarters GRA Ado Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria

Very-Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and Electrical resistivity methods for  reconnaissance and detailed geophysical studies respectively have been carried out within the Ekiti-State University Staff Quarters at Onigari GRA area of Ado-Ekiti. The study’s objectives include amongst others to detect drillable points for groundwater abstraction boreholes in order to frontally address the inherent problem of scarce water supply for uses by the university staff and their families living within the quarters. Seventeen (17) East-West traverses were established along where VLF profiling were conducted at an interval of 10m. The qualitative and quantitative interpretations of the VLF-EM data revealed twenty three (23) positions along the traverses that exhibited significant conductivities which are suggestive of thick and/or fractured overburden which are favourable structures for possible groundwater accumulation, these 23 positions were selected for further detailed investigation using the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique. The Twenty-three (23) VES stations were thereafter occupied employing the Schlumberger arrangement, with half-electrode spacing (AB/2) varying from 1-150m. The quantitative interpretation of the obtained VES data were carried out using the  curve-matching and computer iteration techniques. The 3-layer (A and H); 4-layer (HK, KH, KQ and QH); 5-layer (HKH); 6-layer (AKHK and KHKH) and 7-layer (HKHKH) depth sounding curves were derived from the area. The 4-Layer type curve is predominant with 25% occurrence. The geoelectric sections mapped-out five lithologic units; including the topsoil; the weathered layer; the partly weathered/fractured basement, the fractured basement and the fresh basement. From the integrated consideration of the geoelectric parameters and inferred aquifer characteristics of the study area, it becomes clearer that the following VES postions are recommendable for the development of good yielding groundwater development schemes in order of priority,VES 20 ,  VES 12 , VES 18 ,  VES 10 , VES 8 ,  VES 7  and VES 15. Keywords:Traverses, Depth Sounding Curves, geoelectric sections, VES stations, aquifer units, borehole

Odontogenic tumors in Nigerian children and adolescents- a retrospective study of 92 cases

BACKGROUND: Tumours arising from odontogenic tissues are rare and constitute a heterogenous group of interesting lesions. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of odontogenic tumors (OT) among Nigerian children and adolescents 19 years or younger. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The histopathology records were retrospectively reviewed for all the tumors and tumor-like lesions of the oral cavity and the jaws seen in children and adolescents ≤ 19 years seen between January 1980 and December 2003. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections were re-evaluated and the diagnosis in each case was confirmed or modified according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification, 1992; and were subjected to analysis of age, sex, site of tumor and histopathologic type. RESULTS: A total of 477 tumors and tumor-like lesions were seen in patients ≤ 19 years during the period of the study. Of these, 92 (19.3%) were odontogenic tumors. Benign odontogenic tumors constituted 98.9% of the cases seen, while only 1 case (1.1%) of malignant variety was seen during the period. The mean (SD) age of patients was 14.9 (± 3.1) years (range, 4–19 years). Male-to-female ratio was 1:1; and mandible-to-maxilla ratio was 2.7:1. OT's were most frequently seen in patients aged 16–19 years (46.7%) and the least number (2.2%) were found in patients aged 0–5 years. Among nine histologic types of OT seen, ameloblastoma (48.9%), adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (19.6%) and odontogenic myxoma (8.7%) were predominant. Multicystic/solid and unicystic variants of ameloblastoma were diagnosed in 40 (89%) and 5 (11%) cases respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Odontogenic tumors are relatively common in children and adolescents in Nigeria. One out of every 5 children and adolescents with tumors and tumor-like lesions of oral cavity and the jaws seen in this study had a diagnosis of odontogenic tumor

An anatomical investigation of the carotid canal

Background: The carotid canal (CC) located in the petrous temporal bone transmits the internal carotid artery, internal carotid venous plexus and sympathetic nerve plexus from the neck into the cranial cavity. It is an accessible passage into the cranial cavity and is considered an important anatomical landmark for neurosurgeons. The aim of this study was to investigate the topographical, morphometric and morphological parameters of the CC. Materials and methods: An examination of the CC and related adjacent structures in 81 dry skull specimens was performed. Distribution of sample by sex was 34 females and 47 males, and by race 77 African and 4 Caucasian. The mean age was 50 years (range: 14–100 years). Results: The external opening of the CC was found to be round-shaped, oval-shaped and tear-drop-shaped in 28.4%, 49.4% and 22.2% of the specimens, respectively. (1) Mean diameters [mm]: (a) medio-lateral 7.52 mm and (b) antero-posterior 5.41mm. Statistically significant difference in the vertical diameter was recorded in the race groups and laterality of the samples. (2) Mean distances [mm] between: (a) medial margins of external opening of CC was 50.03 mm, (b) lateral margins of external opening of CC was 62.73 mm and (c) external openings of CC and foramen lacerum was 15.6 mm. There was a statistically significant correlation between race and location of the opening of external CC in relation to foramen lacerum (viz. postero-lateral, lateral and diagonal, and lateral). Conclusions: The present study corroborated previous reports on the CC; however, the tear-drop shaped external CC opening was a unique finding. The knowledge of the reference measurements pertaining to the CC and its relationship to adjacent structures may postulate a suitable surgical “safe-zone” range within the CC area