A Review of Michael E. Porter’s Presentation — Creating a Competitive Nigeria: towards a Shared Economic Vision

In this review of Michael E. Porter’s presentation, the reviewer revealed that the presentation highlights Nigeria’s situation with respect to global competitiveness, and suggests ways to leapfrog and become highly competitive, and socio-economically prosperous

Planning for Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria

Sustainable development has popularly been conceptualised to imply meeting the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Thus, any development that is highly probable to adversely affect future generations cannot be said to be consistent with sustainable development. The entire world currently aims to achieve a set of development goals known as “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” before or by 2030. For a country to achieve the SDGs, such country must, among other things, adequately plan for the achievement of the goals. This paper highlights some of the anomalies and inadequacies associated with the SDGs. The paper also discusses some of the major things that              should be done in planning for SDGs in Nigeria. The paper concludes by cautioning that Nigeria       may soon become a failed state if the various socio-economic problems currently plaguing the country are not adequately tackled, and then recommends that the country should optimally plan for the attainment of the SDGs in order for her to become one of the most developed countries in the world within a short time. Keywords: Planning, Sustainable Development Goals, Age Structure, Nigeri

Can Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment And Exports Provide The Desired Panacea To The Problem Of Unemployment In Nigeria?

Employment generation has over the years been widely celebrated as a major key to socio-economic progress. In recent times, reduction in unemployment has been identified as a chief indicator of economic development. Unfortunately, the problem of unemployment has plagued Nigeria over the years and it has become highly pronounced in recent times. This study seeks to find out if the unemployment problem in Nigeria can be solved through economic growth, exports and foreign direct investment. The study employs contemporary econometric techniques of cointegration and Granger causality tests within error correction modelling framework to analyse the relationship among unemployment, economic growth, exports and foreign direct investment. The study also utilises the VAR techniques of variance decomposition and impulse response functions. The study is based on annual time series data from 1984 to 2010 obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The results of the study indicate, among other things, that economic growth, exports and foreign direct  investment do not provide the desired solution to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria both in the short-run and long-run. Thus adequate mechanism should be put in place to ensure that economic growth, foreign direct investment and exports bring about optimum employment generation. KEY WORDS: Unemployment, Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, Error Correction Modelling, Exports, Nigeri

Impact of Employment Status and Nature of Employment of Household Head on Household Poverty Incidence in Nigeria

Unemployment and poverty are major indicators of underdevelopment. Unfortunately, despite the enormousmaterial and potential human resources in Nigeria, the country has over the years been plagued by the twoproblems.. This study employs binary logistic regression technique in analysing the impact of employment statusand nature of employment of household head on household poverty incidence in Nigeria. Various occupationalgroups and occupational status of household head are added to major correlates of poverty such as householdsize, age of household head, sex of household head, region and sector of residence, access to regular remittances,access to credit, ownership of housing unit and educational level of household head to form the regressors whilethe poverty status of household is the regressand. The analysis is based on the 2004 Nigeria Living StandardSurvey (NLSS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics. The results of the study show that employmentstatus and nature of employment of household head in general have significant impact on household povertyincidence. Thus the government should put adequate measures in place to provide sufficient employmentopportunities so as to pave the way for rapid and sustainable development in the country. The study furthershows that some types of employment do not have significant impact on household poverty incidence such asemployment in agriculture/forestry, production, transport, manufacturing and processing. The governmentshould take adequate steps to make all occupations lucrative and contribute significantly towards povertyreduction in Nigeria.Key words: Employment Status, Poverty Incidence, Logit Model, Nigeria

Impact of Fixed Medium-Term National Development Plans and Structural Adjustment Program on Aggregate Economic Activity in Nigeria

Nigeria adopted and implemented four fixed medium-term national development plans between 1960 and 1985 with a view to ultimately achieving optimum societal wellbeing. However, due to the economic problems of the 1980s, an extensive structural adjustment program (SAP) was put in place in 1986. Among other things, SAP was meant to restructure and diversify the Nigerian economy. This paper empirically analyzes the impact of the four plans and the structural adjustment program on aggregate economic activity in Nigeria. The study employs a growth equation that contains major macroeconomic variables such as credit to private sector, foreign direct investment and foreign trade as well as dummy variables that capture eras of the four fixed medium-term national development plans and the structural adjustment program. Contemporary econometric techniques of co integration and autoregressive modeling form part of the methodology for this study. The study is based on annual time series data from 1960 to 2009 obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The estimates of the study, among other things, reveal that the fixed medium-term national development plans in general had no significant impact on aggregate economic activity in Nigeria whereas the structural adjustment program had some significant positive impact on aggregate economic activity in the country. Thus there is need for optimum state planning in the country, especially if the planning is for fixed medium-term. In general, there is need for optimal management of the country’s economy. Keywords: Development planning, Econometrics, Structural adjustment program, Time series, Nigeria

Household Energy Use and Determinants: Evidence from Nigeria

This study examined household energy use and its determinants in Nigeria based on the 2004 Nigeria Living Standard Survey data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics. The study utilised descriptive statistics and multinomial logit models. Most households in Nigeria use firewood as cooking fuel and kerosene for lighting. This shows that most Nigerian households do not have adequate access to environmentally-friendly modern energy sources. Energy use in Nigeria supports fuel stacking rather than energy ladder hypothesis. Among the factors that significantly influence household energy use for cooking are educational levels of father and mother, per capita expenditure and household size. Adequate measures should be taken to ensure that most households in Nigeria have access to modern environmentally-friendly sources of energy. This will pave the way for sustainable development in the country. The results of this study should serve as an invaluable guide to the Nigerian government and policymakers. Keywords: Energy use; Multinomial logit; Poverty; Determinants; Nigeria. JEL Classifications: I32; Q40; R2

Household Energy Use and Determinants: Evidence from Nigeria

ABSTRACT: This study examined household energy use and its determinants in Nigeria based on the 2004 Nigeria Living Standard Survey data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics. The study utilised descriptive statistics and multinomial logit models. Most households in Nigeria use firewood as cooking fuel and kerosene for lighting. This shows that most Nigerian households do not have adequate access to environmentally-friendly modern energy sources. Energy use in Nigeria supports fuel stacking rather than energy ladder hypothesis. Among the factors that significantly influence household energy use for cooking are educational levels of father and mother, per capita expenditure and household size. Adequate measures should be taken to ensure that most households in Nigeria have access to modern environmentally-friendly sources of energy. This will pave the way for sustainable development in the country. The results of this study should serve as an invaluable guide to the Nigerian government and policymakers

Software piracy and scientific publications: knowledge economy evidence from Africa

This paper is an extension of the debate on the nexus between the strength of IPRs and prospects for knowledge economy. It assesses the relationships between software piracy and scientific publications in African countries for which data is available. The findings which reveal a positive nexus are broadly consistent with the school of thought postulating that, the East Asian miracle has been largely due to weaker IPRs regimes at the early stages of development. As a policy implication, less stringent IPRs regimes on scientific-related software (at least in the short-run) will substantially boost contributions to and dissemination of knowledge through scientific and technical publications in Africa. IPRs laws (treaties) on scientific-oriented software should be strengthened in tandem with progress in: scientific and technical publications and; knowledge spillovers essential for economic growth and development. More policy implications are discussed

BOOK REVIEW: The White Man's Burden

Drawing conclusions from William Easterly's Book - The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Effort to Aid the Rest have Done so Much Ill and Little Good, this paper reviews that despite the positive influences of globalisation in some parts of the world, the rest have not benefited. It therefore urges developing countries to rely less on the West and more on economic development therapies which will eliminate the imbalances that are silently inherent in the aids extended to the Rest.NESG Economic Indicators Vol. 13 (2) 2007: pp. 60-6

An econometric analysis of the performance of the Nigerian economy

This paper analyses the economic performance of Nigeria over the years and posits that improvement in monetary policy is necessary to influence aggregate economic performance since it has proven to be more effective in the Nigerian context. NESG Economic Indicators Vol. 13 (3) 2007 pp. 24-3