The role compulsory licensing in combatting counterfeit drugs in Nigeria

The negative implication of the existence of counterfeit to the public, government and pharmaceutical companies is one of the issue examined in this study. This leads to a question of how the concept of compulsory licensing as provided for under the relevant laws can be used to address the proliferation of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria The objective of this study is to identify how the relevant laws on compulsory licensing can be used to address the proliferation of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria. Thus, this study employed doctrinal legal method. The content analysis is used in analyzing the data collected in this research. The study found out concept of compulsory licensing has the effect of enhancing access to affordable drugs through the authorization given to other producers to manufacture the said patented drugs and this will in turn spur competition. The study also recommends the government to issue compulsory licensing over patented drugs in order to assist the public to get of affordable and quality drugs in Nigeri

Tax non-compliance among small corporate taxpayers in Nigeria : the influence of tax tribunal and tax compliance costs

This study investigates the determinants of small corporate taxpayers’ tax non-compliance in Nigeria. This study develops a model of small corporate taxpayers’ non-compliance, which is underpinned by the theories of deterrence and social exchange. The model contains both economic (audit, complexity, penalty and tax compliance costs) and non-economic (bribery, fairness perception, public goods supply, perception of the tax tribunal and tax rate perception) determinants of tax non-compliance. This study extends the current literature by investigating the direct effect of perception of the tax tribunal and incorporating the mediating effect of tax compliance costs. The study administered questionnaires to a sample of 450 small corporate taxpayers operating in Kano state of Nigeria. PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses. This study found that audit, complexity, fairness perception, perception of the tax tribunal, tax compliance costs and tax rate perception have significant direct effects on tax non-compliance. Tax compliance costs are found to mediate the influence of audit, complexity, perception of the tax tribunal and tax rate perception on tax non-compliance. The findings of this study provide important insights to the tax authority, policy-makers and future researchers in understanding the tax non-compliance of small corporate taxpayers. To curtail tax non-compliance in Nigeria, the tax authority should widen its audit net and make the information about detecting tax evaders public to serve as a warning to potential evaders. The tax system should be fully automated to reduce the complexity and high compliance costs borne by the taxpayers. The tax authority should make the procedures of the tax tribunal available to the public through the mass media to increase positive perceptions about the tribunal and reduce non-compliance accordingly. The current tax rate structure should be made fairer by giving a lower rate to small corporate taxpayers to eliminate the perception of unfair tax burden

Complexity of Nigerian Company Income Tax Act (CITA 2007): Readability assessment

Simplification of tax laws in terms of readability to aid easier and complete compliance by taxpayers is a key issue to achieving the objectives of every country’s tax system. The connection between language and compliance is obvious and understanding of the laws is crucial for all stakeholders to be able to carry out their respective responsibilities (Tan & Tower, 1992). In particular, simple tax laws would reduce the burden of compliance costs. Under the self-assessment system (SAS) regime, the simplicity of the tax laws is very important as most responsibilities defined by the laws have been shifted to the taxpayers. Thus, complexity of the tax laws may be an obstacle to both the taxpayer and the SAS. This study examines the readability of the Nigerian Company Income Tax Act 2007 (CITA 2007) and explores its association with compliance and administrative costs and SAS of taxation. The study employs readability formulae (Flesch Reading Ease Score and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level), Average Sentence Length (ASL) and Percentage of Passive Voice (PPV) to determine the level of readability of the Act. Furthermore, this study adopts interview approach to triangulate the readability results obtained using the above formulae, and explores the association between the readability of the Act and compliance costs, administrative costs and SAS. The study found that the CITA 2007 has low level of readability which made the Act very difficult to understand. The low level of readability is also found to be associated with increased compliance costs as well as administrative costs, which subsequently impair the progress of the SAS in Nigeria. The study recommends that tax simplification policy in Nigeria should include language simplification in order to reduce compliance costs and administrative costs. With this tax simplification effort, it is hoped that tax compliance under the SAS can be improved and more tax revenue can be generate

Changing Scenarios of Global Oil Market

This paper attempts a prognosis of the demand, consumption and energy intensity of oil future. Adopting 2009 as the baseline year and 2030 as the timeline, the study resorts to the use of forecasting technique to model future oil scenario. In estimating future oil consumption, correlation analysis is run for the set of data generated and power laws that show best-fit lines are derived. United Nation’s (UN) middle variant scenario for ascertaining 2030 population sizes for Five oil-rich countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Nigeria and Mexico while World Bank projections are used to ascertain 2030 Gross Domestic Products (GDP) for these five countries. The study predicts that oil consumption over the forecasting period is expected to increase across board, barring the adoption of renewable energy policies and increased technological advances. The increase in oil consumption is likely to be driven by increased population growth and the expected acceleration of the economies of the countries studied. An implication for these likely trends is that increase in oil consumption is expected to worsen greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lead to worsening outcomes for the environment. Keywords: oil consumption, oil forecasts, energy policies, oil prices, Energy efficienc

AN ASSESSMENT OF INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING SERVICES IN NUHU BAMALLI POLITECHNIC LIBRARY, ZARIA, NIGERIA

This paper examines the concept of indexing and abstracting, where index is define as systematic arrangement of entries designed to enable users to locate information in a document. While abstract at the other hand is an intellectual summary of an information package. The paper tried to finds out the availability and use of indexes and abstracts in Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Library (Annex) Zaria. The paper finds out that most types of indexes and abstracts are available and mostly used by Academic staffs and Students. It concludes that subject and citation indexes, as well as subject abstract were the most highly used by the respondents in the library; this could be due to lack of awareness about the other existing types of indexes and abstracts. However, some recommendations were made which includes; public awareness to the staffs and Students about the other existing types of indexes and abstracts and also more experts should be employed because as at present only one person is in charge of Indexing and Abstracting services.

On the Stability of the Interior Equilibrium Point of a Bioeconomic Model of Prey-Predator Interaction with Constant Harvesting and Reserve Zones

A modified version of a bioeconomic model for Prey-Predator interaction in polluted environment with constant harvesting strategy and reserve zone is proposed and studied. The coexistence equilibrium state has been analysed using the method of linearization and Routh-Hurwitz criteria. The analytical results revealed that the coexistence equilibrium state is locally asymptotically stable. Results of numerical experiments carried out using Matlab R2010a agree substantially with the analytical results. The implication of the results obtained, is that creation of reserve zones have significant effects on both Tilapia and Nile perch yields in the unreserve zone. Therefore, the study recommends the creation of reserve zones with migration rate of for effective control of overexploitation and extinction of fish biomass in both reserve and unreserve zones. Key words: Bioeconomic; Reserve Zone; Prey-Predator; Coexistence equilibrium point; Stabilit

INFORMETRICS ANALYSIS OF AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL REPOSITORY (IDR)

Employing Informetric analysis, the study investigated the features, types of documents, subjects spread and challenges affecting the growth and development of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Institutional Digital Repositories (ABU-IDR). The findings of the study indicated that the IDR has diverse features, deploying DSpace, Dublin core metadata elements and Open Archive Initiative – Metadata Harvesting Protocol (OAI-PMH) to make the repository robust and interoperable. As reported by earlier studies, ABU-IDR is also found to be dominated by theses and dissertations with 9,857(95.82) documents. Finding on subjects spread of theses and dissertations illustrated that Faculties of Sciences and Education have the largest subject coverage with 1979 (20.1%) and 1702 (17.3%) respectively. With diverse features and deploying DSpace, OAI-PMH and its interoperability, the study concluded that ABU-IDR has gained considerable traction in recent years. However, the IDR can be made more effective and efficient by creating institutional repository policy that will take care of copyright, deposition right, diversification of contents and advocacy which are the major challenges hampering the growth and development of the IDR

Screening of sweet potato feathery mottle virus resistant sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L., Lam.) cultivars in Kebbi State, Nigeria

Sweet potato is a food security crop because of its ability to withstand adverse climatic conditions. This security, however, is being threaten by viral diseases and use of resistant cultivars remain the best management. This research was conducted to screen cultivars of sweet potato against sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) infection. The treatments consisted of five cultivars coded as CV1, CV2, CV3, CV4 and CV5, respectively. The asymptomatic experimental plants were established, maintained under screen house conditions and graft-inoculated using infected vines which were tested SPFMV positive using both Double Antibody Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS-ELISA) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and replicated three times. Results obtained from disease incidence and symptom severity indicated that there was significant difference (P <0.05) among cultivars in their reaction to SPFMV infection. CV2 had the highest mean disease incidence (60.67%) while, CV3 had the lowest mean disease incidence (36.67%). CV1, CV3, and CV5 have the same lowest mean symptom severity score of 2.00 while, CV2 had the highest mean severity score of 4.00. Based on the reaction of the cultivars after inoculation, it could be concluded that, all the cultivars screened were susceptible to SPFMV but CV1, CV3 and CV4 cultivars have some degree of resistance to SPFMV infection and were therefore recommended for use by the farmers in the study area. This is the first research that screened sweet potato cultivars for resistance to SPFMV in Kebbi State, Nigeria

Premature discharge of children from hospital admission at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria: A 3-year review

Introduction: Leaving hospital care prematurely could threaten the healthy survival of and expose children to a risk of harmful alternatives. It is also a concern and a challenge to healthcare providers and the health system. A better understanding of its characteristic could help mitigate the impact on children.Objective: To determine the prevalence, types of, and reasons for premature hospital discharge amongst children.Methods: We carried out a threeyear retrospective review of case notes of children who were taken away from hospital admission by their parents/caregivers before they were due for discharge.  Socio-demographic, clinical anddischarge information were collected and data was entered into Microsoft® Excel® for Mac 2011 (Version 14.1.0), cleaned and analysed. Results were presented as percentages, statistical means and standard deviations, tables and charts.Results: There were 56 cases of premature discharge out of 2858 admissions, giving a prevalence of 2.0%. Under-five children constituted 65.4%, with a male: female ratio of 2.3:1. Thirty-one (55.3%) children were absconded with while 25 (44.7%) were taken away by caregivers against medical advice. The commonest diagnoses were protein-energy malnutrition and pneumonia and majority were from poor socio-economic family background. The commonest reasons for discharge AMA were unaffordable costs and perception of improvement of child’s medical condition.Conclusion: Socio-economic factors were significant determinants of utilization of in-patient hospital services for the children studied. There is a need for provision of affordable health care as well as efficient discharge policy to protect children from potential risks associated with premature hospital discharge.Keywords: Children; admission; premature discharge; discharge against medical advice; absconding; elopemen