The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Educational Attainment: Cross-Country Evidence from Macro Data

Do natural disasters impact educational attainment? Education as a paramount factor of economic development suffers from the uncontrollable effects of these increasing events from storms to floods, earthquakes to wildfires. Globally, educational resources are destroyed, directly and indirectly, students and teachers are displaced or killed, parents’ income is affected because of natural disasters. Investments in human capital for rich- and low-income countries are exposed to the uneven impact of natural disasters that adjusts household and country-level decisions, leaving them to short and long-run losses. Exploring the influence of natural disasters on secondary school attainment across a sample of 85 countries from 1960 to 1990, we employ a panel data set from the Emergency Events dataset and Barro-Lee dataset. Using year and country fixed effects, the data shows that the intensity of deaths from natural disasters has a greater effect on secondary school attainment than the intensity of damages from these disasters. Data also suggests that damages per capita have a slightly significant effect on the secondary school repetition rate. Psychological and behavioral effects caused by deaths from disasters lead to disinvestments from human capital and these degenerates into long-term effects on economic development. Consequently, while natural disasters cannot be averted, its damages can be curtailed, therefore, it is crucial to inform policies that drive countries to a conscientious effort for high-performance social intervention programs; and motivate an urgency for climate change conversation

The Nigerian Budget: Using Creative Technology to Intersect Civic Engagement and Institutional Reform

This study analyses the efforts of BudgIT, Nigeria’s creative start-up, in making the Nigerian budget simple and accessible to every citizen. This includes its classification of citizens according to their understanding of public finance and its personalised approach in reaching out to them. In its 53 years of independence, Nigeria, which has an oil-driven economy, has had more than thirty-three years of military rule, which guarded the detailed budget as a state secret. Current efforts in the democratic regime have made both the proposed and enacted budget available to citizens as enabled by law. However, the budget is officially released in a non-readable format. In addition, most citizens have no clear understanding of government finances. BudgIT uses an array of technology tools to simplify the budget for citizens and also works with the civil society and media in data analysis and representation. BudgIT believes that the amplified voices of citizens based on better access to budgetary data can lead to institutional reform. It also works to improve the capacity of congressional budget offices to enhance budget performance. BudgIT methodology will use refined data mining skill sets to creatively present data and empower citizens to use the information that is available in demanding improved delivery of services.Cette étude analyse le projet de BudgIT, une start-up nigériane créative, qui vise à simplifier le budget du Nigeria et à le rendre accessible à chaque citoyen. Ce projet inclut la classification des citoyens en fonction de leur degré de compréhension des finances publiques et une approche sur mesure pour entrer en contact avec eux. En 53 ans d'indépendance, le Nigeria, dont l'économie est fondée sur le pétrole, a été plus de trente-trois ans sous dictature militaire avec un budget caché comme un secret d'Etat. Conformément à la législation, le régime démocratique peut désormais mettre à la disposition des citoyens la proposition de budget et le budget adopté. Cependant, bien que le budget soit diffusé officiellement, il l’est sous des formats non lisibles et la plupart des citoyens n'ont pas les connaissances nécessaires pour comprendre les finances publiques. BudgIT utilise toute une gamme d'outils technologiques pour simplifier la compréhension du budget par les citoyens et travaille en coopération avec la société civile et les médias pour l'analyse et la représentation de ces données. BudgIT est persuadé que le fait d'accroître l'engagement des citoyens en leur facilitant l'accès aux données budgétaires peut entraîner des changements institutionnels. Cette startup travaille également à accroître les capacités au sein de l’administration même responsable du Budget au Parlement afin d'améliorer l'exécution du budget. La méthodologie de BudgIT consiste à tirer avantage de très bonnes compétences en exploration de données afin de représenter les données de manière innovante, et ainsi permettre aux citoyens d'utiliser les informations disponibles en matière budgétaire pour pouvoir exiger ensuite une amélioration des services publics.  Este estudio analiza los esfuerzos de BudgIT, una nueva empresa creativa nigeriana, para hacer que el presupuesto de Nigeria sea sencillo y accesible para todos los ciudadanos. Esto incluye una clasificación de los ciudadanos en función de su comprensión de las finanzas públicas y el enfoque a medida para llegar hasta ellos. En los 53 años de su independencia, Nigeria, una economía impulsada por el petróleo, estuvo sometida durante más de 33 años a un régimen militar que mantenía los detalles del presupuesto como un secreto de estado. Los esfuerzos actuales de los regímenes democráticos de acuerdo con lo establecido en la ley han hecho que tanto el presupuesto propuesto como el promulgado estén a disposición de los ciudadanos. No obstante, el presupuesto se publica oficialmente en formatos ilegibles y la mayoría de los ciudadanos no comprenden con claridad las finanzas del gobierno. BudgIT utiliza una serie de herramientas tecnológicas para simplificar el presupuesto para los ciudadanos, y también trabaja con la sociedad civil y los medios de comunicación en lo que respecta al análisis y la representación de los datos. BudgIT considera que las voces unidas de los ciudadanos basadas en un mejor acceso a los datos presupuestarios pueden traducirse en una reforma institucional. Además, sirve para mejorar las capacidades de las oficinas presupuestarias del congreso para optimizar la eficacia del presupuesto. La metodología de BudgIT es utilizar habilidades mejoradas de extracción de datos para representar de forma creativa los datos y permitir que los ciudadanos utilicen la información disponible para solicitar una mejor prestación de los servicios

The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Educational Attainment: Cross-Country Evidence from Macro Data

Do natural disasters impact educational attainment? Education as a paramount factor of economic development suffers from the uncontrollable effects of these increasing events from storms to floods, earthquakes to wildfires. Globally, educational resources are destroyed, directly and indirectly, students and teachers are displaced or killed, parents’ income is affected because of natural disasters. Investments in human capital for rich- and low-income countries are exposed to the uneven impact of natural disasters that adjusts household and country-level decisions, leaving them to short and long-run losses. Exploring the influence of natural disasters on secondary school attainment across a sample of 85 countries from 1960 to 1990, we employ a panel data set from the Emergency Events dataset and Barro-Lee dataset. Using year and country fixed effects, the data shows that the intensity of deaths from natural disasters has a greater effect on secondary school attainment than the intensity of damages from these disasters. Data also suggests that damages per capita have a slightly significant effect on the secondary school repetition rate. Psychological and behavioral effects caused by deaths from disasters lead to disinvestments from human capital and these degenerates into long-term effects on economic development. Consequently, while natural disasters cannot be averted, its damages can be curtailed, therefore, it is crucial to inform policies that drive countries to a conscientious effort for high-performance social intervention programs; and motivate an urgency for climate change conversation

Budget oversight and accountability in Nigeria: what incentivises digital and non-digital citizens to engage?

Opening up the budgets of economies such as Nigeria’s continues to be a challenge, and most citizens remain in the dark on how the budget is formulated and executed. One obstacle is citizens’ lack of access to information on budgeted projects within their communities; while a budget containing lots of technical jargon means that most Nigerians are unable to understand the budget and are, therefore, limited in their ability to monitor its progress. As a pioneer in the field of social advocacy combined with technology, BudgIT, a social advocacy organisation in Nigeria, aims to simplify the topic of public spending for citizens with the aim of increasing transparency and accountability in government. This practice paper reports on practitioner research conducted by BudgIT, and documents a reflective conversation on the implications of its findings for future efforts to improve accountability in Nigeria. It aims to discover if access to information leads to empowerment, as well as demands for accountability; and whether demands for accountability necessarily lead to the greater responsiveness of public institutions.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

Heavy Metals Adsorption on Cellulosic Materials from Agricultural Waste

Adsorption technique has been known to be a very effective method for treatment of heavy metals polluted wastewater, with the advantages of specific affinity, simple design and being user-friendly. However, the high cost of activated carbon commonly used as the adsorbent makes it necessary to explore the use of cheap cellulosic adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive property of sugarcane bagasse (SB) and orange mesocarp (OM) was investigated. The cellulosic adsorbents were used for the sorption of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of varying adsorbent dose, varying contact time and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process of the metals were studied. The results show that both adsorbents (though waste materials) are viable for removal of metals from wastewater. Moreover, SB had higher sorption capacity for zinc (12.95 for SB and 12.68 for OM) while OM had higher sorption capacity for lead (9.90 for OM and 9.48 for SB) at optimum dosage. The isothermal studies shows that for lead adsorption, experimental data best fitted the Langmuir isotherm for both adsorbents (R2 of 0.9574 for OM and 0.98 for SB) while the data for zinc adsorption best fitted into Freundlich isotherm with SB (R2 of 0.9565) and Langmuir isotherm for OM (R2 of 0.814)

ACCESSIBILITY TO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES AND ADOPTION OF E-LEARNING IN TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA: A PILOT STUDY

The primary aim of this survey was to examine the effect of accessibility to mobile telecommunication service on the adoption of e-learning in tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. One hundred students of the University of Lagos and Lagos State University were randomly selected and administered questionnaire at pilot stage. Two hypotheses were postulated to guide the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and parametric statistical tool for correlational analysis. The results revealed that there is significant relationship between accessibility to mobile telecom service and adoption of e-learning on one hand; and quality of mobile service delivery and adoption of e-learning on the other hand (at .05 level of significance). It was recommended that telecom service providers should make improved value-added data services accessible and affordable to their subscribers so as to enhance the adoption of e-learning in line with the best global practices

Heavy Metals Adsorption on Cellulosic Materials from Agricultural Waste

Adsorption technique has been known to be a very effective method for treatment of heavy metals polluted wastewater, with the advantages of specific affinity, simple design and being user-friendly. However, the high cost of activated carbon commonly used as the adsorbent makes it necessary to explore the use of cheap cellulosic adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive property of sugarcane bagasse (SB) and orange mesocarp (OM) was investigated. The cellulosic adsorbents were used for the sorption of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of varying adsorbent dose, varying contact time and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process of the metals were studied. The results show that both adsorbents (though waste materials) are viable for removal of metals from wastewater. Moreover, SB had higher sorption capacity for zinc (12.95 for SB and 12.68 for OM) while OM had higher sorption capacity for lead (9.90 for OM and 9.48 for SB) at optimum dosage. The isothermal studies shows that for lead adsorption, experimental data best fitted the Langmuir isotherm for both adsorbents (R2 of 0.9574 for OM and 0.98 for SB) while the data for zinc adsorption best fitted into Freundlich isotherm with SB (R2 of 0.9565)and Langmuir isotherm for OM(R2 of 0.814)

Capital Market Operations and SMEs’ Financing in a Developing Economy: A Conceptual Evaluation of the Nigerian Stock Market

This study evaluated the capital market operations vis-a-vis SMEs’ financing in Nigeria. The fundamental objective of this study was to assess how the capital market enables organisations, particularly the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), raise medium to long-term finance. It was observed that the financial accessibility has been a key challenge to SMEs’ growth in many developing economies. The issue of SMEs’ funding need to be addressed with swiftness, given the importance of SMEs to Nigeria and the global economy in general. This study will stimulate increased interests in the trading of SMEs’ stocks at the floors of the stock markets in many developing countries. The study therefore evaluated the reforms agenda of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) which were targeted at mitigating the challenges of SMEs’ financing. The study concluded that there is need to develop a culture of venture capital and private equity in Nigeria. The study recommended that using the capital market to finance the SMEs in the developing economy should not be a matter of choice but a part of the operating environment in the country’s financial system, especially in this contemporary regime of fairer trade in goods and services. The Nigerian stock market needed to be built up with mass participation of SMEs to attain a meaningful sustainable growth and development. There are also needs to formulate investment friendly regulations; keep low inflationary rate; provide favourable government policies and provide stable macroeconomic framework for the sustainability of informal and SMEs sector in the developing countries. Keywords: capital market operations, Nigerian financial system, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) financing, stock market

Assessment of some heavy metals and physicochemical properties in surface soils of municipal open waste dumpsite in Yenagoa, Nigeria

The current study was designed for the assessment of lead, cadmium and chromium and some physicochemical properties of soils collected from an open dumpsite in Yenagoa, Nigeria. Surface soil samples at two depths (0-10 and 10-20 cm) were randomly collected at the dump field and control site, and were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and contamination by lead, chromium and cadmium using standard analytical methods. The results show that the main dumpsite had higher sand (>80.0%) and lower clay and silt contents than the control site. Soil mean pH varied between 4.89±0.05 in the control and 7.60±0.02 in the dump. Total nitrogen (N) content of the dump soils ranged from 0.06±0.07 to 0.24±0.09% and is slightly higher than that of the control soil. This is reflected in the high value of organic matter (4.71±0.85%) in dump soils. Available P was quite high ranging from 35.00±1.01 to 84.20±1.02 mg/kg. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) varied between 12.98±0.31 and 91.07±0.11 cmol kg−1. ECEC levels were moderate to high ranging from 14.10±0.10 to 91.47±0.11 cmol/kg. All the soil samples had very high base saturation (>90.0%) and exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and Na, far above the critical levels set by FAO for agricultural soil. Average levels of Pb ranged from 14.75±0.05 to 16.14±0.04 mg/kg in the dump and 8.35±0.05 to 8.78±0.07 mg/kg in the control. Mean concentration of Cr in the dump soil varied between 0.05±0.01 and 0.06±0.01 mg/kg, and is slightly higher than the control (0.005±0.01 mg/kg), while Cd was found in trace amounts (<0.0001±0.01 mg/kg). These values are all far below the maximum tolerable levels set by FAO and WHO for agricultural soil. It is suggested that the dumpsite and the control area with their adequate soil nutrients and low levels of metals should eventually be converted to agricultural farmland. No remediation is needed at this time.Keywords: Dump waste soil, heavy metal, soil fertility