Implication of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Corruption on the Consolidation of Democracy and Sustainable Development and Growth in Nigeria from 2004-2008

Nigeria’s inability to consolidate her democracy is blamed largely on the high level of corruption in the country. Corruption is efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense; or a misuse of public power for private benefit. Corruption like cockroaches has coexisted with human society for a long time and remains as one of the problems in many of the world’s developing economies with devastating consequences. Corruption as a phenomenon, is a global problem, and exists in varying degrees in different countries (Agbu, 2001). Corruption is not only found in democratic and dictatorial politics, but also in feudal, capitalist and socialist economies. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures are equally bedeviled by corruption (Dike, 2005). Corrupt practices are not an issue that just begins today; but the history is as old as the world (Lipset and Lenz, 2000). Corruption not only distorts competition, hinders economic growth and endangers the stability of democratic institutions; it pulls down the moral foundation of society (Inokoba and Ibegu, 2011). In Nigeria, it is one of the many unresolved problems (Ayobolu, 2006) that have critically hobbled and skewed development. It remains a long-term major political and economic challenge for Nigeria (Sachs, 2007). It is a canker worm that has eaten deep in the fabric of the nation. It ranges from petty corruption to political / bureaucratic corruption or Systemic corruption (International Center for Economic Growth, 1999). World Bank studies put corruption at over $1 trillion per year accounting for up to 12$188 million, up from $15 million, with a deadline for compliance at the end of December 2005. This resulted in a record number of bank mergers and acquisitions. As a result, the number of banks in Nigeria has shrunk from 89 in 2004 to 25 in December 2005. The institutions charged to fight corruption in Nigeria have not done enough to contain the upsurge of his this menace up to expectation. Thus, the paper is tempted to ask the following questions: Why have the various anti-corruption agencies of various administrations failed to reduce the menace of corruption? Are the methods applied to confront corruption inadequate? Can the present anti-corruption commission (EFCC) effectively confront corruption as a step to the consolidation of democracy? Lastly, does the role played by the EFCC justify why it was established? It is against this background that this study seeks to investigate the implication of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and corruption on the consolidation of democracy and sustainable development and growth in Nigeria from 2004-2008

Recapitalisation and the Financial Performance of Firms: Empirical Evidence from the Insurance Industry in Nigeria

Financial Performance sits at the core of a firm’s ability to meet the expectations of its stakeholders and create sustainable value. The history of insurance in Nigeria traces back to the pre-colonial era with the creation of the Royal Exchange Assurance Agency in 1918. The industry, however, is arguably one of the least performing sectors within the Nigerian economy and the financial service sector in particular. Recapitalization reforms have been acknowledged as one of the actions that improve the financial performance of firms, this study, therefore, gauged the impact of recapitalization on the financial performance of the insurance industry in Nigeria. The study adopted the Expected Bankruptcy Cost Hypothesis, Signalling Theory and Risk-Return Hypothesis to underpin the impact of Recapitalisation reforms on the performance of firms. Using Purposive Sampling technique, the study selected the top 12 (contributing 74% of total insurance industry revenue in 2018) insurance companies in Nigeria from 2009 to 2018 and used annual reports obtained from the company’s corporate website to select variables of interest. Using Shareholders Funds (SHF) as a proxy for recapitalization and Gross Written Premium (GWP), Profit before Tax (PBT), Total Assets (TA) and Capital Employed (CE) as proxies for financial performance, Least Square regression result show a positive and substantial relationship between recapitalization and the financial performances of firms. The study, therefore, recommends that the upcoming recapitalization reforms in the insurance sector be embraced by all stakeholders as evidence suggest that the industry would be in a better financial state and well-positioned to take on large/complex in-country risk thereby forestalling capital flight. Keywords: Recapitalisation, Financial, Performance, Insurance, premium DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-23-07 Publication date:August 31st 202

Impact of Non-life Insurance Penetration on the Economic Growth of Nigeria

This study explores the impact of non-life insurance industry performance on economic growth in Nigeria. Insurance penetration is measured through five diverse proxies such as non-life insurance, savings, expenditures, investment and profits of the insurance industry with their time-series statistics covering the period 1988 and 2012. The ex-post facto research strategy and purposive (judgemental) sampling technique were discovered appropriate for the study as effectively utilised by several intellectuals in the past. Data were analysed using regression. The ordinary least square regression was adopted for the testing of the hypotheses. The outcomes of the study showed that non-life insurance penetration had a substantially positive effect on the economic growth in Nigeria during the period. Profit and investment are found to have a positive effect on the economy but statistically insignificant while Savings and government expenditure have an adverse effect on the economy. The study recommends an improved modification in insurance products, especially in non-life businesses to availing clients the chance of choosing from a diversity of products. The study, therefore, recommends an increase in the awareness of non-life insurance services for its impact to be felt at all levels and to encourage participation. Keywords: Non-life insurance, Economic growth, Insurance penetration, Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-2-05 Publication date: January 31st 202

Exploring the Pillars of Sustainable Development in the Context of Ghanaian SMEs

This paper explores the pillars of sustainable development in the environmental, socio-economic, and political context of Ghana, with a basic focus on its Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs). Sustainable development has developed into a common mantra within the discourse of present-day development. However, given its universal and the enormous acceptance it has acquired over the years, the term still appears vague as several gaps still exist that questions the context, meaning and insinuations of sustainable development for practice. Extensive literature was reviewed to explore the pillars of sustainable development in Ghana, one of the emerging countries in Africa. The paper recognizes and maintains that the whole question linked to sustainable development cut across generations and are fundamentally grounded on three major pillars: social, economic and environment. The study recommends that key players in the interior of the United Nations, private sector, governments, civil society organizations need to be repetitively watchful of the relationships and compromises among these pillars of sustainable development. Keywords: SMEs, sustainable, environmental, development, political, economic, social, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-14-04 Publication date:July 31st 202

The Nexus between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Financial Performance of Firms: Empirical Evidence from the Nigerian Insurance Industry

This study looked at the impact of gross domestic products (GDP) on the Financial performance of insurance firms in Nigeria using gross written premium (GWP), profit before tax (PBT), total assets (TA), capital employed (CE) and shareholders fund (SHF) as proxies for financial performance. The study adopted the theories of shareholder primacy theory also known as the shareholder value theory and signalling theory. shareholder primacy theory sees organisation as entities with the primary objective of maximising the wealth of the shareholder while signalling theory looks at the propensity to change of financial performance to changes in GDP figures. Using secondary data sources, findings from the results of our regression analysis show that Nigeria’s GDP has an impact on Total assets, total capital employed, profit before tax and shareholders fund but has negligible impact on the gross written premiums of insurance firms in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that government should seek to contribute positively to GDP growth through the instrumentality of fiscal and monetary policies, enterprises should contribute to GDP growth through taxes and employee benefits and firms should adopt a bullish approach to consumption for better GDP outcomes. Keywords: impact, gross domestic products, financial performance DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-6-07 Publication date:March 31st 202