Analysis of Determinants of Agribusiness investment in a Young Economy: Nigeria (1999 -2008)

The study examined determinants of agribusiness investment in Nigeria. Data for the study are time series collected on quarterly basis from publications of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and National Population Commission (NPC). Some firms’ specific data were collected from published and unpublished records of forty (40) agribusiness enterprises randomly selected in Nigeria. Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model was used to analyze the data. Among the determinants of agribusiness investment in Nigeria analyzed by the study, tax paid, market size and exchange rate were found to be statistically significant at 5% probability level. Based on the results, it was recommended that government should enforce the policy on five-year tax holiday for young agribusiness firms and also establish Agribusiness Investment Protection Agency which will be charged with the responsibility of liaising with other relevant agencies to create enabling environment for agribusiness firms

Trend and Determinants of Unmet Need for Family Planning Services among Currently Married Women and Sexually Active Unmarried Women Aged 15-49 in Nigeria (2003—2013)

This study examines trend and determinants of unmet need for family planning (FP) among currently married women and sexually active unmarried women of reproductive age 15-49 in Nigeria over a period of 10 years (2003-2013). Data from three consecutive Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (2003, 2008 and 2013) were analyzed. The results show that the unmet need for FP declined between 2008 and 2013 to a level less comparable with the situation in 2003. The significant determinants of unmet need for FP included age, marital status, education, religion, current work status, decision-making on spending personal earnings, gender of household heads, household wealth status, number of living children (including current pregnancy), rural-urban residence, home visit by FP workers and recent exposure to FP messages via mass media. It is therefore necessary that FP programmers continue to develop specific responses that address the barriers to contraceptive use.

Comparing weighted Markov chain and auto-regressive integrated moving average in the prediction of under-5 mortality annual closing rates in Nigeria

In developing countries, childhood mortality rates are not only affected by socioeconomic, demographic, and health variables, but also vary across regions. Correctly predicting childhood mortality rate trends can provide a clearer understanding for health policy formulation to reduce mortality. This paper describes and compares two prediction methods: Weighted Markov Chain Model (WMC) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) in order to establish which method can better predict the annual child mortality rate in Nigeria. The data for the study were Childhood Mortality Annual Closing Rates (CMACR) data for Nigeria from 1964-2017. The CMACR provides random values changing over time (annually), so we can analyze the mortality closing rate and predict the change range in the next state. Weighted Markov Chain (WMC), a method based on Markov theory, addresses the state and its transition procedures to describe a changing random time series. While the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) is a generalization of an Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) model. The findings indicate that the ARIMA model predicts CMACR for Nigeria better than WMC. The WMC entered in a loop after two iterations, and we could not use it effectively to predict the future values of CMACR

Population explosion in Nigeria: Causes, its effects on educational sector and the ways forward

This paper treated the causes of population explosion and its effects on educational sector in Nigeria. Various past studies by researchers and personal experiences of the author as a Nigerian were critically examined. Causes of population explosion and its effects on educational sector were fully discussed. The paper went further to propose the various measures to be put in place to control the incoming birth rate by the Federal Government and Nigerians themselves. Among the proposed measures to control population explosion were executive and legislation policies, sex education and among others. The paper concluded that since the Federal Government is desirous to eliminate poverty, hunger, illiteracy, diseases and to provide effective food, healthcare and education to our future generations, then, the government should take the drastic steps to implement the stated measures. Keywords: Birth rate, Causes, Educational Sector, Effects, Population Explosion, Solutions

Levels and Trends in Household Source of Cooking Fuel in Nigeria: Implications on Under-Five Mortality

Background: Studies have shown that characteristics present in the neighbourhood where children are raised might likely influence the mortality risks of such children. Cooking fuel can be regarded as one of the environmental factors determined by the socioeconomic background of the household, but the nexus between this and the health outcome of under-five children had received little attention. Objective: This study seeks to examine the levels and trends of source of cooking fuels among households in Nigeria as implied on under-five mortality. Methods: The data used was the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS)-Child Recode file of 2003, 2008 and 2013. The method of analysis used was the descriptive approach which includes cross tabulation, charts and tables. The chi-square statistic was used to show the significance of the association between the variables of interest in the study. Results: The percentage of U-5 children who lived in homes where wood was used as cooking fuel was about 80 percent. The findings from this study show that there was a highly significant relationship between type of cooking fuel and under-five mortality in Nigeria (P<0.001). The poorest and the poorer represented the highest percentage among the households that used wood and agric. crop/dung for cooking. Environmental factor such as type of cooking fuel is significantly associated to socioeconomic characteristics of the household where the child lives, some of which includes wealth status and place of residence as discussed in the result. Recommendation and conclusion: The study found that, there has not been a major improvement in the source of cooking fuel in households where under-five children are raised and this contribute in determining their health outcomes. Therefore, the government of Nigeria needs to provide reliable power supply (electricity) for household consumption. Also, gas fuel must be made available and affordable for household consumption

Vital Civic Registration System as a Tool for Development Planning in Nigeria: An Examination of the Major Challenges

This study examines the processes and procedures of Vital Civic Registration System in Nigeria. The essence is to highlight those factor militating against effective and efficient Vital Civic Registration System as a veritable means of obtaining current data you update census data; which are required for planning on the one hand, and on the other hand, attempting to proffer possible measures to improve on Vital Civic Registration System in Nigeria. The data for this study were mainly generated from secondary sources. The content analysis method was used. Relying on theory to explain how the general demographic system works, effort are however made to link the secondary data with personal experiences with the stakeholder in the vital registration centres and locales. The paper reveals that the Vital Civic Registration System is hindered by such factors as low level of literacy, inaccessibility centres influence of strong cultural belief, poor appreciation of the need for these data; and type of model adopted in Nigeria. Among other thing, the paper recommends that with urgency a continuous intensive and extensive public enlightenment campaign throughout the country on the issue of vital civic registration Keywords: Civic registration, System, Development, Planning Enlightenment Campaign, literac

Nigeria’s demographic transition and implications on the attainment of sustainable development goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a time-bound global development agenda with 17 goals which targets 169 social, economic, and environmental indicators agreed upon in 2015 by UN member states to be achieved by year 2030. The SDGs includes many targets and references to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, improved health for women and children, enhance universal access to quality education, and gender equality, among others. This study utilised the reports of Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys from 1990 to 2018 and the 2006 national population census results to understand and analyse Nigeria’s demographic trends (age structure, fertility and mortality rates) with the intention to understand how they may affect the country’s efforts towards realising the set targets of the SDGs relating to eradication of poverty and hunger, ensuring health of the people, providing quality education and empowering women and girls. Findings showed that Nigeria’s demographic trends is characterised by slowly declining mortality and fertility rates with high population growth rate, and a dismal performance in the SDGs targets relating to poverty, hunger, health, education and women empowerment. The country will have to slow down its population growth rate and invest heavily in education, healthcare and job creation to be able to achieve the targets of the SDGs by 2030

URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Nigerian cities are witnessing high rate of environmental deterioration and are rated among urban areas with the lowest livability index in the world. It is estimated that between 20 percent and 30 percent of the urban population enjoy decent urban life in the country. Although studies have identified various environmental problems in Nigeria, little attention has been given to their implications for sustainable development in literature. This paper therefore examined the causes and implications of increasing environmental deterioration for sustainable development in the country. Relying on archival records and observations, this paper identified colonial antecedents of Nigerian cities, rapid urbanization and poor psychological orientation of residents as being responsible for the current situation. The paper highlighted the three –fold effects on the human health, the economy and ecological system and suggested that the application of planning, economic, legal, institutional as well as educational tools will address the situation