ICT and Gender Specific Challenges Faced by Female Entrepreneurs in Nigeria

The accepted “gender” generalization in the Nigerian society expects a female to be dominantly a homemaker and not engaged in stressful, high-risk business activities, generalized as entrepreneurial activities. This has hindered many Nigerian female entrepreneurs from starting, running and growing successful business enterprises, as they face many political, economic and social obstacles in the society as highlighted by the feminist theory. Following the resource-based theory; this study highlights the importance of a nation to fully utilize all its resources including women who constitute 49% of Nigeria’s population. Through case study research of two successful female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, this study established that ICT does have a positive influence in tackling the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs, as the two successful female entrepreneurs studied, highlighted in their interviews how they gained advantage in the business world by the use of various ICT tools. From the case study analysis, a framework was created to serve as a yardstick for measurement of successful female entrepreneurship. It is anticipated that the insights developed in this study will be beneficial both by female entrepreneurs across developing countries and the world at large, and in effective program development by policy designers

On intellectual capital efficiency and shariah governance in Islamic banking business model

This paper empirically investigates whether intellectual capital (IC) and shariah governance jointly affect the economic performance of Islamic banks (IBs). In contrast to prior research, this paper disaggregate IC and corporate governance features and examine whether the two are jointly related to economic performance. These relationships are further explored before, during and after the financial crisis based on a sample of 64 Islamic banks operating in different regions during the period 2007–2014. The required data to calculate different constituents of IC efficiency and governance mechanism is hand collected from 512 annual reports. After controlling for other corporate governance and bank‐specific characteristics (operational type, bank size, listing status, risk, type of auditor, accounting standard and region), we find both intellectual capital efficiency and shariah governance proxies (size and dominance of prominent scholars of shariah supervisory board) to have a significant positive relationship with accounting measure of performance. However, based on market performance measure, only one proxy for shariah governance mechanism, that is, prominent scholars on SSB, is found to be significant but in the negative direction. These results provide important insights into the relationship between IC efficiency, corporate governance and performance in Islamic banking business model and have policy and practical implications

Visual functions of commercial drivers in relation to road accidents in Nigeria

Objective : To determine the effects of the visual functions on the occurrence of road traffic accidents (RTA) amongst commercial drivers in Ife central local government area (LGA) of Osun state of Nigeria. Design : A cross-sectional study. Settings : Four major motor parks located at Ife Central LGA. Materials and Methods : Of the estimated 270 commercial drivers in the four major parks of the LGA, 215 consecutive drivers were interviewed and had their eyes examined. Structured questionnaires were administered by an ophthalmologist. Results: The prevalence of visual impairment (visual acuity < 6/18) in the better eye without correction was 3.3% ± 2.4 and there was a significant association between uncorrected visual acuity impairment in the better eye and RTA ( P = 0.0152). Refractive error was seen in 8.4% of the drivers, but none of these wear corrective glasses. Visual field defect, abnormal stereopsis and color vision impairment did not have any significant association with RTA. Conclusion : Poor visual acuity is strongly associated with RTA amongst Nigerian commercial drivers as opposed to visual field defect, abnormal color vision and stereopsis. A significant proportion of visual impairment was due to uncorrected refractive errors

Adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy: is clotting profile relevant?

Background: Adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy are common surgical procedures performed mostly in paediatric population. They have the risk of haemorrhage in an area that may not be easily accessible. Thus the need to preoperatively do coagulation screening and this has remained controversial. Hence, the purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate our experience in Ibadan. Method: The records of sixty-eight patients that underwent adenoidectomy/tonsillectomy from 1998 to 2002 in the Department of ORL, UC H were evaluated for demographic data, history and physical findings that could suggest bleeding disorders, values of prothrombin/activated partial thromboplastin time and occurrence of peri-/postoperative haemorrhage. Results: There were 41 males and 27 females with M: F ratio of 1.5: 1. The age range was 6 months to 38 years, while the common age group involved was 0 - 10 years (75%). Four patients (5.9%) had history of risk factor of bleeding. Eight patients (11.8%) and 23 patients (33.5%) had prolonged PT and aPTT respectively. One patient with normal coagulation study had postoperative haemorrhage due to remnant of tonsillar tissue. There was no documentation of further confirmatory coagulation investigation in those that were prolonged. No correlation was observed between the coagulation tests and intraoperative blood loss and duration of surgery generally. Conclusion: Although these tests are routinely done in our centre, there was no clear evidence in support of their relevance. However, we advocate a flexible approach to this issue and each patient must be individually assessed and effort must be made to standardise the approach to adequate history taking with proper documentation of all relevant information before one decides to perform any investigation

Post Operative Complications of Cataract Surgery Seen Over a 5-Year Period [Jan. 1998 – Dec. 2002]

Objective: To determine the commonest post-operative complications of cataract surgery seen at LUTH over a 5year period. Methodology: All case notes and operation notes of patients who have had cataract surgery over a period of 5years [Jan'98-Dec'02] were retrospectively studied and analyzed. Results: A total of 272 eyes in 254 patients were operated. The commonest procedure was Extracapsular Cataract Extraction with Posterior Chamber implant [ECCE + PC IOL] in 67.3% of eyes while the least procedure was secondary lens implant [Posterior chamber and anterior chamber implant] in 1.5% of eyes each. The commonest post-operative complications was found to be wound gape with uveal prolapse [43.5% of total complications] while the least post-operative complication is corneal decompensation [4.3% of total complications]. Conclusion: It is recommended that proper attention be paid to wound closure during surgery while adequate training in suturing should also be ensured. The use of figure-of-8 interlocking sutures if employed would also go a long way in reducing this common complication. NQJHM Vol. 14 (1) 2004: pp. 56-6

Pattern Of Ocular Emergencies Seen At L.U.T.H. Over A Period of 1 year

Aim: To determine the commonest type of ocular emergencies seen at L.U.T.H. over a period of one year. Methodology: Data of all consecutive patients seen as emergencies within the designated period was taken. These included age, sex, symptoms, signs, agents of injury, duration and the complications. Results : A total of 304 patients were seen. 207 (68.0%) of them were males, while 97(32.0%) of them were females giving a ratio of 2.1:1. Out of the total number, 159(52.3%) had non-injurious emergencies. Of the 145 (47.7%) injurious emergencies, blunt trauma was the commonest with 77 patients (25.3%). Penetrating trauma was next in frequency with 37 patients (12.2%) as compared to blunt injury with 77 patients. Foreign body injuries were seen in 18 patients (5.9%), followed by chemical injuries which constituted the least with 13 patients (4.3%). Conclusion : Majority of the ocular emergencies seen were due to non-injurious type, while blunt trauma was the commonest of the injurious type. Recommendation : Health education and awareness creation should be intensified on the various causes of the ocular emergencies, more importantly on the non-injurious causes to prevent the resultant ocular morbidity. Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol. 17 (2) 2007: pp. 90-9