The influence of socio-cultural variables on proneness to lesbianism among female adults in Lagos Metropolis

This study investigated the influence of socio-cultural variables on proneness to lesbianism among female adults in Lagos Metropolis. A structured questionnaire was designed for the purpose of collecting data by the investigator. The questionnaire was administered on 150 female adults drawn from two local government areas in Lagos State which include Ikeja Local Government (the staff of Police Children School and Sogunle Primary School) and Mainland Local Government Area (Sandwish Students offering Guidance and Counselling, and Educational Psychology in Educational Foundations Department, Faculty of education, University of Lagos). The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient and t-test were used to test the five hypothesis generated for testing in this study. The findings revealed that three of the five hypotheses – peer group pressure, sexual gratification and mass media - tested established the influence of socio-cultural variables on proneness to lesbianism among the female adults while the remaining two – ethnicity and beliefs/customs - do not. As a result, three of the hypotheses are accepted. To further ascertain the degree of these variables, other silent factors have been examined under the discussion on findings which elucidate the slight variations of the hypotheses tested among the tribes of Nigeria. The implications of the study for guidance and counseling were also discussed to help the counselors effectively handle this unhealthy practice in our society.Keywords: Lesbianism; Socio-cultural; Female Adult

The Impact of Bank Credit on the Growth of Nigerian Economy: A Co Integration Approach

This work investigated the impact of bank credit on the growth of Nigerian economy for the period of 1986-2012. The data was sourced from CBN statistical bulletin. To determine the impact of the independent variables on the dependent OLS method of estimation was employed. ADF was used to determine the order of integration, and all the variables were found to be integrated of same order one I(1). The Johansen and Juselius co-integration test was employed and the result showed that there is at most one co-integrating equation in the model, implying that there is a long run relationship between the variables in the model. The result of the OLS regression showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between GDP and TBCPS in the long run. M2 which was used as control variable has a positive and significant impact on GDP at the long run. The ECM showed that 24.03% of the disequilibrium will be corrected yearly. The short run dynamics of the variables indicates that TBCPS also have a negative and insignificant impact on GDP at the short-run. The result of the granger causality test reviles that causation runs from GDP to TBCPS and not the other way round, a case of unidirectional causality. The result also showed bidirectional causality between TBCPS and M2. And based on the forgoing it was recommended that CBN should lower the lending rate by manipulating the monetary policy rate, direct credit control should also be adopted by the CBN in other to improve the contribution of the informal sector. The government should improve on the infrastructural facilities in the country at the same time improve the level of security in this country by tackling the issue of Boko Haram sect and Militancy in Niger Delta. Key words: Bank Credit, Economic Growth, Co-integration.

Board Size and Composition and Corporate Performance: the Case of Non- Financial Companies on the Nigerian stock Exchange

The rampant corporate failures in recent times both within and outside Nigeria make corporate governance issue an interesting and important area of research in Accounting.  The cases of Enron, Xerox, Adelphia et cetera internationally and Cadbury, NITEL, NEPA, NRC and many banks in Nigeria are very well known. Interestingly the Board of Directors as the top management of these corporate entities is where the bulk stops. The quality of the board, its efficiency and by extension the corporate performance of the entity could be affected by the size and composition of the Board as a critical element of corporate governance. Precisely the question is asked, if at all, to what extent do Board size, Board composition/structure, and frequency of board meetings and regularity of attendance at meetings by board members impact the corporate performance of companies? This paper uses opinions of company administrators and managers to assess their perception on the impact of Board size and composition and the related variables on the financial performance of Non-Financial Companies quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange. A total of 72 companies selected through the Taro Yameni formula were selected and three copies of a structured questionnaire administered to three top ranking managers/accountants in each company to get their perception of the impact of these board characteristics on the corporate governance and performance of these companies. The Micro soft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the responses presented in a 5-point likert scale. The regression showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted non financial companies. R, the correlation coefficient which has a value of 0.977, indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted companies.  R square, the coefficient of determination, shows that (B = -02.0%; C= 80.4%; F= -22.2%; R= 40.7%) of the variation in the performance of quoted companies is explained by the model. More specifically, a higher percentage outside board membership leads to a higher corporate performance and the fewer the overall size of the Board, the higher the corporate performance. It is therefore recommended among others that the Board should not be unnecessarily weighty in size but more importantly, the Board should be composed more of outsiders with proven integrity, acumen, experience and skill in corporate management. This is expected to reduce drastically the spate of corporate failures as good corporate governance is engendered Key words: Board of Directors, Corporate performance, corporate governance

EXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTS AND MANUFACTURING CAPACITY UTILIZATION IN NIGERIA

The study examines the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the performance of the manufacturing sub-sector in Nigeria. To achieve this objective, changes in exchange rate and its key determinants were analyzed to ascertain the extent to which they impact on capacity utilization in the sub-sector. Key determinants of exchange rate behavior selected for analysis are interest rate, inflation rate and trade openness. Empirical studies related to the subject area have basically focused on the response of aggregate output (GDP) to changes in these economic indicators. Studies on sector-specific responses to changes in these economic indicators, particularly in developing economies like Nigeria, have not only been dearth but have produced mixed results. Quantitative research technique based on ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. Econometric method based on vector error correction mechanism was adopted in estimating the parameters of the model. Model estimates show that, in the long-run, all the exogenous variables (exchange rate, interest rate, inflation rate and trade openness) have significant positive impact on manufacturing capacity utilization. The study also shows significant positive effect of exchange rate and trade openness on manufacturing capacity utilization in the short-run. Inflation and interest rates were observed to exert non-significant impact on manufacturing capacity utilization during the period covered by the study. Diversification of the economy away from oil is strongly recommended in order to achieve enhanced foreign exchange inflow necessary for rapid development of domestic manufacturin

EXAMINATION OF CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE OPENNESS, EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES AND MANUFACTURING CAPACITY UTILIZATION

A major policy cha//enge f or open developing economies is determination of an optimal exchange rate consistent with their economic development objectives. These economies are characterized by heavy dependence on commodity exports while relying extensively on consumer and industrial goods imports. This translates to massive outflow of fore ign exchange from developing economies to industrialized nations thereby impeding the capacity of developing nations to build a robust domestic production base. This study examines the channel of transmission of impact between manufacturing capacity utilization, exchange rate and trade openness using the Granger causality estimation technique. Interest rate and inflation rate were introduced as control variables. The study covers the period 1986-2013. The study did not produce evidence of causal relationship between exchange rate andmanufacturing capacity utilization and between trade openness and manufac turing capacity utilization. However, there is evidence of unilateral causation from inflation rate to manufacturing capacity utilization. The study recommends that policies which support moderate levels of inflation be implemente

Impact of Recurrent and Capital Expenditure on Nigeria’s Economic Growth

The need to better the lots of citizens through government expenditure has raised questions on the impact of government expenditure on its impact on economic development and growth of nations. It is against this background that this paper examines the impact of government expenditure (disaggregated into recurrent and capital expenditure) on economic growth from 1987 to 2010. Three variable multiple regression model was adopted while recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure were used as independent variable and gross domestic product growth rate as dependent variable. The result emanating from this study reveals that while recurrent government expenditure had positive and non-significant impact on economic growth, capital expenditure had negative and non-significant impact on economic growth thus re-echoing the need for increase and encouragement of private sector investment while have proven over the years as a more efficient utilization of resources compared to public sector. Keywords: Recurrent Expenditure, Capital Expenditure, Economic Growth, Nigeri

Financial Decision and Poverty: Examining the Financial Behavior of the Extreme Poor in Nigeria

The study examines the relationship between poverty and finance so as to ascertain if poverty has an impact on the quality of financial decision taken by the poor and financially vulnerable individuals. The study utilised a unique methodology (truncated regression) and applied a survey data to investigate the quality of loan usage among the extreme poor in Nigeria. We allowed for the inclusion of other policy relevant variables that may likely inform the direction of new generation poverty alleviation policies like gender, education and age of the individuals. We find that the extreme poor use more of the loans for other non-developmental issues like funeral and marriage celebrations than for productive and poverty alleviating ventures. However, the younger males engage more in this act than the females. Also, as the poor become more educated, they are able to use more of the loan for development-oriented investments like purchase of assets, building houses and even furthering their education. A major policy implication of this result is that loans should be directed towards younger individuals, and education should be a focal priority in selecting who to fund

Assessment of knowledge and factors that may predict willingness to volunteerism: A pilot study of community.directed distributors in Anambra state

Background: Malaria as a leading cause of death in many developing countries requires urgent interventions. In order to improve access to healthcare, trained volunteers are used to distribute health commodities. The present study aims at determining knowledge and factors that may predict willingness to volunteerism in a developing country.Methodology: This was a cross.sectional descriptive study carried out in 2014 among 284 community-directed distributors in three rural communities in Anambra, Southeast Nigeria using pretested  semi-structured questionnaires.Results: The age range of volunteers was 21.79 years. Most (71.8%) are females and are married (83.1). Only 5.6% of the volunteers did not have any formal education. The predominant occupation is trading (52.5). Most volunteers (78.5%) could define the term volunteerism. Less than half (40.1%) knew the resources that could be volunteered. Most (67.3%) felt that volunteerism is most needed in church activities. Many  respondents (58.8%) had volunteered for one or more programs previously. The most common challenge faced was interference with other income generating activities (66.5%). Retired males were more likely to volunteer than retired females (P . 0.01). However, females are more likely to volunteer if the main reason of volunteering is to help people (P . 0.01). The more educated ones believe that volunteerism will help them to be selected for other community programs.Conclusion: Most respondents had volunteered for other programs and the motivating factors included the satisfaction derived from helping others and the hope of being used for other community programs.Key words: Community.directed distributors, knowledge, malaria, volunteeris

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Adoption and the Performance of Key Financial Ratios: Evidence from Quoted Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Financial ratio is one of the performance measures used by investors to determine the viability of a firm. In view of this assertion, this paper investigates the effect of IFRS on key financial ratios of 11 quoted banks in Nigeria. The study addresses the research hypotheses by comparing the key financial ratios computed under the NGAAP for the three-year period, 2009-2011 and the corresponding three-year period under IFRS regime, 2013-2015 using the Mann Whitney U-Test. The study investigates the effect of IFRS on key financial ratios of listed banks in Nigeria. Evidence from the study shows that at 5 per cent level of significance: (i) Profitability ratios of listed banks under NGAAP differ significantly from those under the IFRS regime. (ii) There is statistically significant difference between short-term solvency ratios of quoted banks under NGAAP and IFRS. (iii) Long-term solvency ratios of quoted banks under NGAAP are significantly different from those under the IFRS regime. (iv) There is significant difference between investment ratios, of listed banks, prepared under NGAAP and IFRS. Based on the above results, the study concludes that adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) has significant impact on the performance of financial ratios of quoted deposit money banks in Nigeri

Effect of External Debt on Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria

The study seeks to determine the effect of external debt on economic growth in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examines whether external borrowings and its major determinants like exchange rate, gross fixed capital formation and inflation rate have supported the growth of the Nigerian economy. The parameters of the model were estimated using the ordinary least squares method. The robustness of the result was enhanced using the generalized least squares technique. The result shows evidence of significant positive correlation between economic growth and the explanatory variables namely external debt, exchange rate and inflation rate. A negative correlation was however observed between economic growth and gross fixed capital formation. The regression estimates for both the ordinary and generalized least squares tests show significant positive impact of external debt, exchange rate and inflation rate on economic growth. The results also show non-significant negative effect of gross fixed capital formation on economic growth. The study concludes the external debt has significantly promoted economic growth in Nigeria