Econometric Analysis of Foreign Reserves and Some Macroeconomic Variables in Nigeria (1970–2007)∗

Countries are showing interest in accumulating foreign reserves to ensure macroeconomic stability. There has been some debate whether to beef up the level of nations’ foreign reserves or make it lower, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Whereas some argue that the foreign reserve determines the country’s rating in the global market, others hold opposing views. In this light, this paper examined the interactive influence of foreign reserve (FRS) on some macroeconomic variables such as: economic size (GDP); trade; level of capital inflows (KFL); exchange rate (EXR); and inflation. Analyzing secondary data from CBN statistical bulletins (1970–2007), the econometric results obtained from cointegration test, vector error correction (VEC) within the framework of autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) revealed the following: (1) existence of a longrun relationship between the variables and two cointegrating equations; (2) possibility of convergence of the variables from the short run to the long run with slow speed of adjustment. It is thus the conclusion of this paper that accumulation of large foreign reserves is not very productive in Nigeria due to its inability to induce some of the macroeconomic variables

Performance of Onion (Allium Cepa L.) Enhanced By Organic Fertilizer in a Forest Agroecology, Nigeria

There is a growing interest in the use of organic fertilizers for vegetable production in Nigeria, it is important to determine the appropriate rate of application. Field trial was conducted in 2016 to evaluate the effects of cow dung application on growth and yield of onion (Allium cepa L) at the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.  The treatments consisted of cow dung applied at 0, 5, 10 and 20 t ha-1 arranged in randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data were collected on plant height, length of leaf, number of leaves, bulb length, bulb diameter and number of bulb, weight of single bulb plant-1, total biological weight and bulb yield. The result indicated that cow dung rates significantly influenced growth of onion with tallest plant, highest number of leaves and leaf length of 53.87 cm, 6.33 and 58.94 cm respectively. The highest number of bulb (51.8), weight of single bulb (51.9 g), total biological weight (57.4 g) and bulb yield  (14.5 t/ha) were obtained with 20 t/ha rate of application. Addition of cow dung can improved the fertility of the soils for onion production in the forest agroecology leading to low cost input by peasant farmers. Keywords: Agroecology, bulb, cow dung, onion, organic manure, yields

Effect of Substitution of Bovine Rumen Epithelial Tissue Scrapings for Fishmeal on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Utilization and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

. An eight-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the performance, nutrient utilization and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed varied levels of bovine rumen epithelial tissue scrapings (BRETS) in replacement for fish meal at 0, 50 and 100% levels of substitution. Fifty four birds were used for the study and the birds were randomly distributed into three (3) dietary treatments which were randomly assigned to the rations. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum and data were collected on the feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and nutrient utilization. Data were also collected on the carcass characteristics after some birds had been slaughtered at the end of the experiment. Data collected were subjected to one-way analysis of variance and significant differences were indicated using Duncan multiple range test to separate the means. Results indicated that there was significant difference (P0.05) in the weight gain, heart and lung weights. It was concluded that up to 50% BRETS inclusion as substitute for fish meal protein could be employed without any adverse effect, to maintain the quality of the broiler chicken while minimizing the high cost of whole fishmeal since BRETS is an abattoir by-product that is readily available locally

Analysis of Independence of Available Infrastructure on Geographical Location of Public Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria

This paper has attempted to study the availability of infrastructural facilities in public secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. Six local government areas (LGAs) were randomly selected with due consideration to the geo-political set-up of the State. Quantitative methods of analysis that were used include both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistical techniques were tabular presentation and bar chart while the inferential statistical technique applied is chi-square analysis. The inferential statistics revealed that enrollment of students in secondary schools depends on gender and on Local Government Area. Also, the level of equipping of laboratories, availability of information technology facilities,  portable water supply and supply of electricity depend on Local Government Area while availability of library in secondary schools is independent of Local Government Area. Conclusively, much still need to be done in the area of infrastructural development in public primary and secondary schools in Ondo State towards the achievement of the vision 20: 2020 goal of Nigeria as one of the 20 most developed economy of the world in terms of education. Keywords:  education, infrastructure, information technology, chi-square, enrollment

Impact of Credit Demand on the Productivity of Rice Farmers in South West Nigeria

Employing cross-sectional data from 360 rice farmers selected from three states in South West Nigeria, the study analyzes the impact of credit demand on the productivity of rice farmers. An Endogenous Switching Regression Model (ESRM) that accounts for both heterogeneity and sample selection biases were used to estimate the impact of credit demand on rice productivity in South West Nigeria. In addition, a Tobit regression model was employed to measure the level of participation of rice farmers in the credit market. The result of the first stage (probit model) of the ESRM revealed that household assets, access to service, climate variables, regional variables, and transaction cost are statistically significant in influencing farmers’ credit demand decision. The results of the second stage of the ESRM indicate factors such as household assets and access to service were statistically significant in explaining variations in rice productivity among participants and non-participants in the credit market. Furthermore, the results of the Tobit model showed that the farmers’ location income from rice farming experience, interest rate, and distance to the source of credit are statistically significant determinants of the amount of credit received. These findings suggest that facilitating farmers’ access to credit will improve rice productivity. Therefore, it is imperative for government and development partner to work together in order to improve the conditions for suitable agricultural credit access to rice farmers, especially a review of interest rates. A necessary addition should be developed to the assistance already being provided under Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) in the form of loan guarantees and other risk-sharing incentives, such as a regulatory environment that supports the modern contractual obligations that are characteristic of well-functioning agricultural financing. This would not only contribute to the intensification of rice production in Nigeria to meet its increasing rice demand, but also improve rice farmers’ productivity and their households’ incomes

A new method of vascular point detection using artificial neural network

Vascular intersection is an important feature in retina fundus image (RFI). It can be used to monitor the progress of diabetes hence accurately determining vascular point is of utmost important. In this work a new method of vascular point detection using artificial neural network model has been proposed. The method uses a 5×5 window in order to detect the combination of bifurcation and crossover points in a retina fundus image. Simulated images have been used to train the artificial neural network and on convergence the network is used to test (RFI) from DRIVE database. Performance analysis of the system shows that ANN based technique achieves 100% accuracy on simulated images and minimum of 92% accuracy on RFI obtained from DRIVE database

A Study on Thermal Performance of Palladium as Material for Passive Heat Transfer Enhancement Devices in Thermal and Electronics Systems

In this work, the thermal behavior of fin made of palladium material under the influences of thermal radiation and internal heat generation is investigated. The thermal model for the extended surface made of palladium as the fin material is first developed and solved numerically using finite difference method. The influences of the thermal model parameters on the heat transfer behaviour of the extended surface are investigated. The results show that the rate of heat transfer through the fin and the thermal efficiency of the fin increase as the thermal conductivity of the fin material increases. This shows that fin is more efficient and effective for a larger value of thermal conductivity. However, the thermal conductivity of the fin with palladium material is low and constant at the value of approximately 75 W/mK in a wider temperature range of -100℃ and 227℃ . Also, it is shown that the thermal efficiencies of potential materials (except for stainless steel and brass) for fins decrease as the fin temperatures increase. This is because the thermal conductivities of most of the materials used for fins decreases as temperature increases.However, keeping other fin properties and the external conditions constant, the thermal efficiency of the palladium is constant as the temperature of the fin increases within the temperature range of -100℃ and 227℃. And outside the given range of temperature, the thermal conductivity of the material increases which increases the efficiency of the fin. The study will assist in the selection of proper material for the fin and in the design of passive heat enhancement devices under different applications and conditions

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ADMINISTRATIVE SKILLS NEEDED BY SELF-EMPLOYED MOTOR VEHICLE MECHANICS IN THE NORTH CENTRAL STATES OF NIGERIA

This study was designed to discover the entrepreneurial administrative skills needed by self-employed motor vehicle mechanics in the North-Central States of Nigeria. The researchers formulated a research question and a null hypothesis guided the study. A descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The study was carried out in the North-Central States of Nigeria. The targeted population for the study was 22,523 respondents comprising of 21,340 registered self-employed motor vehicle mechanics, 1,016 managers of micro firms in motor vehicle mechanics and 167 entrepreneurship lecturers. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed for the study. The purposive sampling procedure was employed to select three states including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja out of seven states that constitute the North-Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The sample for the study was 2,019 respondents comprising of 1,435 registered self-employed motor vehicle mechanics, drawn through the use of Taro Yamane formula for finite population, 475 managers of micro firms in motor vehicle mechanics and 109 entrepreneurship lecturers. A structured questionnaire titled: Self-Employed Motor Vehicle Mechanics Entrepreneurial Administrative Skills Needed Questionnaire (SEMVMEASNQ) developed by the researchers was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by five Lecturers in the Department of Industrial and Technology Education, the Federal University of Technology, Minna and the reliability coefficient of instrument was 0.84 through Cronbach Alpha Statistics. Mean and standard deviation were the statistical tools used to analyze the data for answering the research question; while One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics was employed to test the null hypothesis for the study at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed among others that all the 31 items entrepreneurial administrative skills are highly needed by motor vehicle mechanics for self-employment in the North Central States of Nigeria. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that: the National Council on Automotive (NCA) should in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity incorporate the identified entrepreneurial skills into their training and re-training programs so that motor vehicle mechanics can be made to acquire the needed entrepreneurship management skills that will assist them to sustain and secure their employment