An Assessment of the evidence of Climate change in Bauchi, Nigeria

The study aimed at identifying the evidences of climate change in Bauchi. The emphasis was to find out if there are changes on the temperature and rainfall over time; to what extent these changes occur and likely impact these changes will have in Bauchi. The study was done in Bauchi town, Bauchi state of northeastern Nigeria. Elements of climate such as temperature and rainfall of the study area for a period of thirty (30) years between 1978 and 2008 were collected and analyzed using statistical method of Time Series Analysis. Findings from the study showed that rainfall in Bauchi was increasing by 0.2mm per annum. The findings also showed that temperature was increasing by 0.02990c per annum. This implies that Bauchi may be vulnerable to flooding and ecosystem change. And having a detrimental effect on agricultural produce thereby leading to food scarcity in the town. The annual increase in temperature by 0.02990c and rainfall by 0.2mm indicate that Climate Change is real in BauchiKeywords: climate change, Bauchi, food scarcity, Time Series Analysis, temperature and rainfall

PUBLICATION OF FINANCIAL FORECASTS:PREDICTIVE ACCURACY AND IMPLICATION FOR USERS OF FINANCIAL REPORTS.

Nonnally, it is the practice of companies to publish forecasts of future prospects dwing mergers, acquisitions, and offer for sale or subscription using the prospectus. Since the forecasted results to some ex tent detenn ine the actual rcp01ted performance of these companies (in tem1s of earnings per share and dividend per share), in vestors and shareholders could request that companies show one to three year forecasts in their annual repo1ts. Despite the significance of profit forecast to investors, little or no attent ion has been paid to its reflection in the annual rep01t of companie

LONG TERM SOURCES OF FUND AND PROJECT FINANCING: OPTIONS FOR FINANCIAL MANAGERS IN NIGERIA

The capital structure of a firm is vital to its operations, growth, efficiency, maximization of shareholders' wealth and maintenance of their control or ownership. A finan cial manager, while deciding the long-term sources of fund and obtaining optimal mix of the funds, must know the peculiarities of each fund including the benefits, limitations and when to exercise his option

Perceptions of Auditors' Independence in Nigeria

It has been asserted that the value of an auditor's report or auditing services depends on the fundamental assumption that auditors are independent of their clients. This means that if the users of financial statements do not believe that an auditor is independent of a client, they will have little confidence in the auditor's opinion. There have been considerable studies on this issue. However, recent events like the collapse of Enron in the United States of America, the Africa Petroleum saga in Nigeria and Cadbury Nigeria P LC have opened fresh discussions on the vexed issue of auditors' independence. This study therefore examined the issue of auditor/ independence from tlie perspective of various stakeholders. It presents the results from a survey of a sample of auditors, .bank loan executives and financial analysts. The data. were subjected to the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study found that Nigerian auditors are low on the auditor's independence scale due to a number of factors. The study also made recommendations to mitigate the situation

A DESIDERATUM: COMING TO TERMS WITH INFLATION ACCOUNTING

A ccountin~ mechanisms measure tJ/e well - offuess or otherwise of economic units in response to environmentalunfoldings to which it responds in onler to be relevant in meeting users' economic decision neetls. However, inflation remains a fa ctor tr~fling the meaningfitln ess llll tl relevance ofi/CA i11 meeting these neetls. This paper attempts to look 111 the need to entrench 11 general price level 11ccounting as ftlllun ch pat/ for flel1eloping geneml- specijic price level ch11nges in the f uture. Emphasis on the success of this tlrive rel'olves aromul 11 concert by relevant players. This paper is divided into seven parts mtmely, (i) an overview of the utility of HCA in m1 inflationary en vironment, (ii) some criticisms of inflation approximations in R CA, (iii) A British inflation accounting trail, (iv) essential for inflation accounting incumbency on NASB, (v) the government and its expected role, and (vi) conclusion

THE DETERMINANTS AND DECISION USEFULNESS OF IFRS 8 ON SEGMENT DISCLOSURES

The paper examined the determinants and decision usefuln ess of segment disclosures under SAS 24 and /FRS 8. The sampling population include 15 listed banks in the Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2013 and survey of 126 chartered accountants in Benin Edo State. The findings suggest that there was a 10% increase in the segment disclosures after !FRS 8 adoption. The paired t-test reveals a significant difference in the pre and post !FRS 8 on operating segment disclosure practices of Nigerian bank. Therefore the findings indicate that Nigerian banks provided more disaggregated segmental information. Moreover. whereas profitability and growth rate of sales have significant positive relationship with segment disclosures. the company 's size and age have negative relationship with the segment disclosures. Again. most of the respondents agreed that !FRS 8 was more decision useful than the SAS 24. Therefore, the paper recommends the need for the regulatory authorities to compel Nigerian banks and other companies to segment information relating to the operation

THE INFLUENCE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ATTRIBUTES ON CORPORATE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE QUALITY IN NIGERIA

The paper examines the impact of corporate governance attributes on corporate, social and environmental disclosures (CSED) quality in Nigeria. The sample was made up of 174 listed companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2008. The content analysis of the annual reports for 2007 and 2008 was adopted to measure CSED. Specifically, following Hassan (20 I 0), the two ranking scale (0, 1) was adopted to measure the CSED quality. The OLS regression analysis was used to test the impact of the corporate governance attributes on the corporate, social and environmental disclosures quality. The empirical findings reveal that the big 4 audit firms and the presence of corporate social responsibility committee have positive and significant impact on CSED quality. The corporate governance attributes of board independence, audit committee independence, CEO duality and the ownership structure of directors' shareholdings, institutional ownership and substantial shareholdings (shareholders power) have no significant impact on CSED quality in Nigeria. In conclusion the results revealed that corporate governance mechanisms- board characteristics and ownership structures have less impact on CSED quality. Therefore it is recommended that the corporate governance mechanisms should be strengthened so that they can play a greater role in making companies act in the best interest of all stakeholders through qualitative, specific and non-rhetoric disclosure of their social and environmental activitie

Revenue Allocation in Nigeria: Implications for Sustainable National Development

This study examines the structure and formula for revenue allocation in Nigeria and highlights its implications for sustainable national development. The work uses the methodology of Error correction model (ECM) in conjunction with diagnostic tests of variables using Johansen Co-integration tests for robust policy recommendations. Using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the dependent variable and Revenue allocation to the three levels of government, inflation, and lending interest rate as the independent variables, the results from the study show that revenue allocations and the other variables have a significant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. Based on our findings, the study recommends among others that there should be accountability and transparency in the federating units to achieve national goals and objectives. Various levels of government should be given adequate funds to enable it to carry out its expenditure responsibilities to accelerate grass root development in the economy. The government should focus on optimal revenue allocation targeted at economic growth to improve the standard of living of the citizenry. These would aid to achieve the goals of desired economic growth and sustainable national development in the years ahead