Sustainability of Financial Inclusion to Rural Dwellers in Nigeria: Problems and Way Forward

Financial inclusion as the provision of a broad range of high quality financial products such as savings, credit, insurance, payments and pensions, which are relevant, appropriate and affordable for the entire adult population especially the low income segments of the economy. This study critically examines the sustainability of financial inclusion to rural dwellers in Nigeria using descriptive study and content analysis. The study observed that the sustainability of financial inclusion to rural dwellers in Nigeria remains the mainstream for economic growth in any country. The implication of this study is that economy cannot grow fast without proper implementation of financial inclusion to rural areas in Nigeria. The study recommended that the promotion of collaboration between Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and Communication services providers for enhanced intermediation of financial services should be encouraged; there is need to educate rural dwellers on the importance of banking as it would facilitate the success of CBN financial inclusion policy and that since some of the rural dwellers preferred to keep money under their pillows at home, there should be proper enlightenment to change their orientation on financial inclusion in Nigeria. Keywords: Financial Services, financial inclusion, DMBs, rural dwellers, poverty reduction.

Investigating electrical response to water saturation of Agbada sandstone in an x-field Niger delta, Nigeria

In an attempt to characterize a reservoir in a field, importance is given to living models as it serves critical function in estimating if the reservoir under study is economically viable. Having a good knowledge of electrical response to reservoir rocks is important in characterizing and modeling the behavior of fluids at the subsurface. In this study, core plugs extracted from core barrels in a Niger Delta oil field were analyzed in the laboratory in order to determine the electrical properties of the samples and their relationship with each other and formation fluid. This was achieved by using a brine of a known concentration for simulation of core plugs. Results obtained show that for the unconsolidated sandstone, Formation resistivity factor increases with increase in confining pressure. This characteristic depends on the porosity of the Formation and type of fluid present. Resistivity values in a reservoir will increase with increase in capillary pressure and decrease with water saturation. Decrease in cementation exponent increases the rate of permeability in reservoir sand. However, resistivity values decrease with clay presence in reservoir sand

Implication of Marketing of Banking Services on the Profitability of Nigerian Banks: a Case Study of First Bank Plc.

Banking industry renders services to customers ranging from collection of deposits, opening various categories of account, deposit, current and savings account. Out of the volume of money-collected part are given out as loan to investors, individual, corporate bodies and the government. The aim of this study is to investigate the implication of marketing of banking services on the profitability of Nigerian banks. The scope of the study spanned from 2000 to 2012. The study made use of quantitative data and econometric techniques in assessing the level of implication. The result of the analysis shows that marketing of banking services have indeed had significant positive implication on profitability of Nigerian banks looking at the indicators of banks product or services such as savings account, current account, loan and advance, e-banking, payments and cash management, treasury services, etc. the study therefore recommend that bank customers, management and shareholders should adopt electronic banking operation so that it will increase the level of bank profitability; bank management should from time to time train their staff and customers with regards to services banks provide especially in the area of modern banking development and that the regulatory authorities (CBN, NDIC and Federal Ministry of Finance) should monitor the activities of commercial banks in terms of bank charges on services rendered to customers. Keywords: Marketing, Banking Services, Deposit, E-Banking, Profitability

Impact of Capital Market on Domestic Resource Mobilization for Economic Development in Nigeria (2000-2015)

The study investigated the impact of Nigerian capital market on domestic resource mobilization for economic development, using time series data from 2000 to 2015. The study employed secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, the Nigerian Stock Exchange Fact Book and Securities and Exchange Commission database. To evaluate the impact of the independent variables on the dependent, the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of estimation was employed. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test was used to identify the order of integration. Economic growth was proxied by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the capital market variables considered include: Market Capitalization (MCAP), Total New Issues (TNI) and Value of Transactions (VLT). Applying Johansen and Juselius co-integration test, the result showed that there was at most one co-integrating equation in the model, implying that there is a long run relationship between the variables in the model. The causality test results suggest bidirectional causation between the GDP and the Value of Transactions (VLT) and to the GDP but not vice-versa. Using two-tailed test, the F-statistics is significant at 5 percent level of significance. Furthermore, there was no evidence of reverse causation from GDP to market capitalization and there was no evidence of independence causation between the GDP and Total New Issues (TNI). The study showed that the major problem with domestic resource mobilization in Nigeria have been that not enough savings are being generated to facilitate the required investment. Also, the type of savings available does not easily make financial intermediation possible. The Nigerian stock market has been constrained by policies that tend to make the exchange look like a mechanism by which government raise loan finance rather than an instrument for mobilizing industrial finance. It is recommended therefore that the regulatory authority should appraise and modify the restrictive policies that constrained resource mobilization capacity of the Nigerian capital market

Palynotaxa and Parasitic Loads of Nigerian Currency: Potential Sources of Microbial Transmittance

Currency notes are handled by a large number of people under a variety of personal and environmental conditions. A total of ninety six samples of one hundred naira denomination of Nigerian notes were procured from seven Local Government Areas (LGA) of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The aim of the study was to determine the palynotaxa and parasitic load prevalent on currency notes. The leachates of currency notes were obtained and subjected to acetolysis and examined microscopically. Twenty six fungal spores type were recorded and were highly dominated by spores of Libertelli spp., Botrytis spp. and Spadicoides spp. Pollen achieved 54 % of the total bio-particles, whereas fungal spores and parasitic worms achieved 35.2 % and 10.60 %, respectively. The presence and relative abundance of these palynotaxa and parasites in currency notes affirms their propensity to spread vectors of diseases

Bacteriological profile and in vitro antibacterial activities of some liquid herbal preparations sold in Abia State, south-eastern Nigeria

Background: The use of liquid herbal preparations in the treatment and management of human diseases has long been practiced before the advent of chemotherapy and is a fundamental component of the African traditional healthcare system. Objectives: The objective of this study is to analyze the bacteriological profile and in vitro antibacterial activities of selected indigenous liquid herbal products sold in Abia State, Nigeria. METHODS: A total of 315 bacterial strains were isolated from 150 therapeutic liquid herbal preparations (LHPs) sold in different parts of Abia State. Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from these products; the isolates were evaluated for total aerobic plate count, Gram’s reaction, biochemical reaction. Antibacterial activity was assessed using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and inhibitory zone diameter (IZD).The MBC, MIC and invitro antibacterial activities of LHPs were carried out against 3 test clinical bacterial isolates; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, using agar well diffusion methods. Results: The number of isolates obtained in this study were; 100 (31.4%), 84 (26.7%) 131 (41.6%) from Umuahia, Ohafia and Aba respectively. The genera isolated included Salmonella, Bacillus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Proteus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Citrobacter and Pseudomonas. Out of 150 LHPs processed, 20 showed no bacterial growth. Different concentrations of these LHPs were evaluated for their antibacterial activities. MIC for LHPs with antibacterial activities range from 6.25-100%. MBC ranged from 12.5-100%, while IZD had range of 6-20mm. Conclusion: The study revealed that some tested liquid herbal preparations were grossly contaminated with bacteria while some had antibacterial activities. Key words: Liquid herbal preparations, Antibacterial activit

Physiological behavior of newly isolated Bacterium CB1 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CB2 on Chrysene, Pyrene, Naphthalene and Fluoranthene

The biodegradability of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were studied in liquid culture media using bacterial strains (Bacterium CB1 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CB2) isolated from a former industrial site contaminated with organic and inorganic contaminants. The enrichment experiment was done with chrysene. The partial 16S rRNA gene analyses of Bacterium CB-1 possessed 100% similarity to an uncultured bacterium clone nbt020a while Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CB2 had 99% similarity to Paenibacillus sp. Y412MC10. Bacterium CB1 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CB2 degraded naphthalene between the range of 27% and 42%, chrysene 47% and 12%, fluoranthene 5% and 16%, pyrene 12% and 17% respectively. The strains utilized the test compounds as sole source of carbon and energy. As anticipated, the controls (abiotic and killed) losses were insignificant. The residual PAH obtained in some cases correlated to an increase in cell number indicating that our strains were responsible for the degradation

Study of The Lumbosacral Angles of Males In Port Harcourt, South- South, Nigeria

Background: This study was carried out to evaluate the lumbosacral angles of males in the south south geopolitical region of Nigeria in the age group.Methods: A total of 100 lumbosacral lateral radiographs of normal from subjects South South geopolitical region of Nigeria taken in the department of Radiology, UPTH were evaluated. The lumbosacral angles were measured using Ferguson's method.Results: The mean lumbosacral angle in the sample o o population is 36.1 +/- 9.41 .The lumbosacral angle was found to increase with age up to a maximum in the age group of 36-40years.It remains fairly constant there after until the seventh decade.Conclusion: The normal range of lumbosacral angles in Nigerians of South-South geopolitical zone is demonstrated and it does not increase significantly after the age 36-40years

Animal Cruelty: A Review

Animal Cruelty cases make headlines around the world every day, whether it’s the person who kills the neighbour’s cat, the hoarder of sick and dying animals or the family whose freezing, starving dog is tied up outside in the middle of the winter. Animal Cruelty has several types which may be one of Simple Neglect, Gross Neglect, Intentional Abuse, Animal Hoarding, Organized Abuse, Ritualistic Abuse or Animal Sexual Assault. These cases of Cruelty cannot be overlooked as it has proven to have severe implications ranging from the fact that it is linked to other crimes, to the factual truth that these practises inflict great pain on these animals that have nobody to speak for them. Combating this menace of Animal Cruelty is a Journey that must be undertaken and everybody including the Government, NGOs and even Culture has a major role to play in this.  This review looks at Animal Cruelty in the world while paying a little more attention to Nigeria

Evaluation of the Hydrocarbon Maturity Level of Oil Well in Sedimentary Basin of the Northern Niger Delta, Nigeria

The hydrocarbon maturation level of Oben-1 well in the northern Niger Delta sedimentary basin was evaluated using the Lopatin "Time-Temperature Index (TTI). The result shows that sediments in the basin are both oil and gas producing with the oil window lying between the depths of 2.5 to 3.5km. Time of hydrocarbon generation varies from 36 Ma upwards. The hydrocarbon maturation level was estimated for seven horizons (A, B, C, D, E, F and G), and the results show that horizons A, B, C and D which are less than 36Ma are non oil and gas producing (i.e. TTI < 15) while horizons E, F and G which are more than 36Ma old are both oil and gas producing. This result is in agreement with the values of Vitrinite reflectance obtained for the well. This study shows that exploratory wells in the area should be extended beyond the depth of 3.5kilometres and that the hydrocarbon prospects of the northern Niger Delta is high. @ JASE