APPLICATION OF FINANCIAL ETHICS IN ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTING OF BANKS

The importance of financial ethics and its application in financial reporting of banks cannot be ignored as it assists in building public confidence and fostering professionalism. However, the non-compliance and conformity with Nigerian Financial Regulatory Authorities prudential guidelines in the preparation of financial statements lead to incomplete or false information. The objective of the study is to examine the application of financial ethics in annual financial reporting of banks. The study employed primary and secondary data and stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used in which 20 questionnaires were administered to respondents. ANOVA and chi-square were in analysis and the findings revealed that there are significant unethical practices in the preparation of financial reports of banks in Nigeria. The study recommends that more emphasis and attention should be given to ethical standards in all banks and banks should give out clear reports of their financial activities to the regulatory authorities

Effective Staff Relationships as An Impetus for Growth in 21st Century Church

Effective staff relationships is a stimulus to church developmental growth in all facets of church life. It is expedient that each church and religious organizations should imbibe because of its benefits that cannot be overemphasized. This paper considers the necessity of staff relationships for growth in the 21st Century church by exploring into the biblical perspective of staff relationships. The necessity of staff relationships was also consider, such as it enhances mutual encouragement both personal and spiritual; it facilitates and improve the workforce; it promotes growth in all facets; teamwork, delegation and supervision are enhanced; it is problem-solving; it is enjoyable and broaden staff understanding, and building a Christlike attitude and relationships are not exempted. The possible challenges in staff relationships were also considered, such as staining, denting and destroying each other reputation and integrity. Mistrust and lack of sincere commitment among staff members. Inattentive to staff voices, preferential treatment and rivalry. Lack of recognition, motivation and appreciation of staff. The unconducive atmosphere and lack of openness and the spirit of cooperation. Excessive use of power and social stratification; and unforgiving spirit. The paper concludes that staff relationships are inevitable in contemporary churches and religious organizations. Healthy staff relationships should be built and encouraged for efficiency, growth, productivity and fulfilment of the primary purpose of multi-staff both between the volunteer staff members, non-ministerial staff and ministerial staff. Keywords: Effective, Staff Relationships, Impetus, Growth DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/48-02 Publication date:March 31st 2020

Trends in Aridity of the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Northern Nigeria

Aridity index (AI) is a numerical indicator of the degree of dryness of the climate at a given location. These indicators serve to identify and delimit regions that suffer from a deficit of available water, a condition that can severely affect the effective use of agricultural land and water resources development. The focus of this paper is to determine the trend and map out the aridity of the drought prone areas of northern Nigeria. Three decade’s (1981–2010) annual rainfall and, minimum and maximum temperature records for 11 synoptic meteorological stations were collected from NIMET Office, Lagos and used. De Martonne’s aridity index formula was applied to the data and aridity indices were derived for the region. The derived aridity indices were subjected to time series analysis and classification of the region into aridity zones was carried out based on the derived aridity indices from which an aridity map of the region was produced. Results of the time series analysis show that only Kaduna indicated a decreasing aridity while the other stations exhibit a significantly positive tendency towards increasing dryness. The region is classified into four aridity zones based on the aridity indices as: slightly humid zone (Kaduna and Zaria areas), moderately arid areas (Yelwa, Gusau, Kano and Bauchi), semi arid regions (Sokoto, Potiskum, Maiduguri) and the arid zone (areas around Nguru, Hadejia and Kano). It is concluded that the drought prone areas of northern Nigeria are witnessing increasing aridity which accounts for the shrinking of most dams and other surface reservouirs in the region. This has necessitated accessing of underground water from even the third aquifer at some locations. It is recommended therefore, that the dredging of all the existing dams in northern Nigeria be undertaken in order to improve the storage of more water, just as proper water policy for its sustainable use be formulated by Nigeria. Keywords: aquifer, aridity, drought, dryness, Indices, time serie

Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Heavy Metals in Farm Produce and Livestock around Lead-Contaminated Goldmine in Dareta and Abare, Zamfara State, Northern Nigeria

Background. Hitherto studies in response to the June 2010 lead poisoning, Zamfara State, Nigeria, have focused on clinical interventions without information on livestock and other metals. Objective. This study has investigated the distribution of heavy metals in farm produce and livestock around lead-contaminated goldmine in Dareta and Abare, Zamfara State, Nigeria. Methods. Vegetables, soil, water, blood, and different meat samples were harvested from goat, sheep, cattle, and chicken from Dareta, Abare, and Gusau communities. The samples were digested with 10 mL of a mix of nitric and perchloric acids; the mixture was then heated to dryness. Lead, cadmium, zinc, chromium, copper, magnesium, and nickel were analysed using flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The daily intake, bioaccumulation factor, and target hazard quotient (THQ) were calculated. Results. Chicken bone-muscles from Dareta had the highest concentrations of lead, zinc, and nickel (28.2750, 16.1650, and 4.2700 mg/kg, resp.), while chicken brain had the highest levels of cadmium, magnesium (0.3800 and 67.5400 mg/kg), and chromium (6.1650 mg/kg, kidney tissue inclusive). Conclusion. In addition to lead, cadmium may also be of concern in the contaminated mining communities of Zamfara State, Nigeria, given the high levels of cadmium in meat and vegetables samples from these areas

Assessing Communication Apprehension Among In-Service Teachers in A University of Education

This study examined Communication Apprehension among in-service teachers in a university of education in Nigeria with particular focus on the influence of gender and age on CA among the sample.  A cross-sectional ex post facto survey design was adopted for the study. Participants were 100 purposively & randomly sampled, in-service teachers drawn from a university of education in Nigeria. There were 35 (35%) males and 65 (65%) females, their ages ranged between 16 – 30 years with a mean age of 22.10 and a standard deviation of 2.48. of these samples, 71 were Christian, 27 Muslims and 2 belong to other religions. 90 of the total sample were singles, while 10 were married. Validated scale was used for data collection and three hypotheses tested using descriptive statistics and t-test for independent samples. Results showed that in-service teachers were not significantly high on CA and gender as well as age was not found to be significant predictors of CA among this sample. This result may be owing to the fact that they were purposive samples who have been exposed to pedagogical training that must have helped them to handle CA. it was recommended that further studies should examine other factors such as psychological and social and increase the sample size as well, cutting across other institutions apart from specialized university. Keywords: - In-service teachers, Nigeria, University of Education, Education Majors, Communication Apprehension, Pedagogy

Substituents Effect on the Kinetics and Mechanisms of Formation of Copper (II) and Nickel (II) Complexes of Some Β-Diketones

Chelates of β – diketones (R1COCH2COR2) with transition metals have been found to possess a wide range of properties and application, some of which are dependent on the substituents (R1 and R2).  Copper(II) and Nickel(II) complexes of β – diketones in which R1= C6H5 and R2 = C6H5 (dbm), R2 = CH3 (bza) R2 = CF3 (tfpbd) and R1 = C4H3S, R2 = CF3(tta) were synthesised and characterised using UV, IR, elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility. The probable influence of the substituents on the kinetics and mechanisms of formation of the complexes were investigated with the aid of a Thermostated Schimadu 1800 uv-visible spectrophotometer. The reactions were studied at wavelengths characteristics of each complex. Results show the six coordinate copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes have probable distorted octahedral geometry while the four coordinate Ni(dbm)2 is tetrahedral. The kinetics data suggests an influence of the diketonate substituents on the copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes in solution is in the order C6H5 > CH3 >CF3 > C4H3S and CF3 > C6H5 > CH3 > C4H3S respectively. Solvent influence (k-1) was constant in the range 0.007 – 0.008 for fluorosubstituted complexes and least at 0.004 – 0.005 mol-1s-1 in the alkyl substituted complexes. The steady state approximation gave solvent independent rates k1k2 at 25oC, in the copper(II) complexes, k2 is greater than k1 (k2 > k1) , with k2 constant while in the nickel(II) complexes, the values of k2 was less than k1 and ascribed to rate determining and varies with the nickel(II) - ligand systems studied. Keywords: β-diketones, Copper II and Nickel II Complexes, Substituents effect, Kinetics

Evaluation of the Chemical Composition of Soil at E-waste Blazing Sites in Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

The evaluation of open blazing of electronic waste on the chemical composition of three different soil where e-waste were regularly being burnt with control samples at various distances away from each blazing site at computer village, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria was carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cr, Zn, Cd and Cu from the three locations were found to be 120.3±0.4, 18.7±1.3, 90.3±0.4, 16.4±0.5 and 60.3±2.0 mg/kg respectively. There was gradual decrease in heavy metals concentrations at various distances away from each blazing site as the distances increase which suggested that there were leaching of these heavy metals from ewaste containing substances. Pearson correlation revealed that some of the heavy metals showed both positive and negative correlations with each other. When compared with standard values, only cadmium exceeded the tolerable limit recommended by European Union and USEPA. Thus, open blazing of e-waste contributed to the concentrations of these heavy metals in the soils

Characterization of the geomagnetic H-component for a paired station in Africa

This scientific research investigates the quiet days variation, Sq(H) of H- component of geomagnetic field for the paired stations: Aswan (ASW: G.G.Lat.24.090N, G.G.Lon.32.890E and G.M.Lat.15.200, G.M.Lon.104.240),Durban (DRB: G.G.Lat.29.860S, G.G.Lon.31.020E and G.M.Lat.39.210, G.M.Lon.96.10) located along the 960 MM (magnetic meridian) using the ten international quietest days’ geomagnetic data from MAGDAS for the year 2009 (a low activity year).The study reveals that sq(H) shows predominantly the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variations of the geomagnetic H-component during the quiet days year round. With maximum amplitude of sq(H) in ASW and minimum in DRB. Meanwhile, the CEJ seen as negative depressions in the H-component of earth field at DRB are all salient physical processes in this study. Further data analysis also revealed many other interesting characteristics for the Sq(H) over African sector paired station. The conclusion drawn from the study shows that the geomagnetic field variations in the northern hemisphere are higher due to solar activities in the region. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, so this area of the Earth receives more direct sunlight during the day than the Southern Hemisphere does. The Southern Hemisphere, on the other hand, is tilted away from the sun and thus receives the sun's rays at an angle, which significantly explains why there is a consistent decrease when it reaches the Durban station (southern hemisphere station), hence the solar activity of the sun influences the Earth’s magnetic field, and the upper atmosphere(ionosphere)

OPTIMAL ROUTE DETERMINATION FOR POSTAL DELIVERY USING ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

There are a lot of optimization challenges in the world, as we all know. The vehicle routing problem is one of the more complex and high-level problems. Vehicle Routing Problem is a real-life problem in the Postal Delivery System logistics and, if not properly attended to, can lead to wastage of resources that could have been directed towards other things. Several studies have been carried out to tackle this problem using different techniques and algorithms. This study used the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm along with some powerful APIs to find an optimal route for the delivery of posts to customers in a Postal Delivering System. When Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm is used to solve the vehicle routing problem in transportation systems, each Ant's journey is mere “part” of a feasible solution. To put it in another way, numerous ants' pathways might make up a viable solution. Routes are determined for a delivery vehicle, with the objective of minimizing customer waiting time and operation cost. Experimental results indicate that the solution is optimal and more accurat