Beneficial Grease Hypothesis of Public Sector Corruption in Economic Development: The Nigerian Experience

The objective of the paper was to empirically investigate the validity of the beneficial grease hypothesis of public sector corruption with particular reference to Nigeria over the period 1981-2012. The study employed a multiple regression Ordinary Least Square methodology and the Johansen framework on secondary data to examine the nature of relationships between public sector corruption and five developmental explanatory variables. The empirical results confirm the existence of cointegration between public sector corruption and the identified variables. The results of causality tests indicate that public sector corruption does not Granger cause Gross Domestic Product and consequently Nigeria’s development. There is bidirectional causality from total expenditure to public sector corruption, while capital expenditure and foreign private investment Granger cause public sector corruption. The estimated regression results indicate that unemployment is positively related to public sector corruption while public sector corruption and GDP are inversely related; there is a strong inverse relationship between public sector corruption and foreign debt; capital expenditure and public sector corruption are positively related. The CUSUM and CUSUMQ results show the constancy of estimated parameters in the study period. The policy implication is that unless and until corruption is stamped out in Nigeria’s public life, promoting the country’s economic development, reducing unemployment and achieving a high standard of living among the people are not likely to be achieved. The conclusion is that the beneficial grease theory is not applicable to Nigeria and public sector corruption must be seriously addressed with the aim of eradicating it. Keywords: Cointegration, Corruption, Economic Development, Poverty, Public Sector

PR - Efficiency Of Rice Farmers In Nigeria: Potentials For Food Security And Poverty Alleviation

Self-sufficiency in rice production has eluded Nigeria for a long time despite over 36 years of efforts by the Government of Nigeria towards its realization. Chains of economic activities in the Nigerian rice industry like harvesting, parboiling, drying, milling/threshing etc are largely executed by women and children. Government of Nigeria has therefore not relented in her effort to develop the rice enterprise as this will put money and food into the hands of the very vulnerable segment of the Nigerian society. This study examines the efficiency of rice farmers in Nigeria, identifying the inefficiency variables in an effort to eliminate wastes and thus set the crop sub-sector on the path of growth and development. The trend analysis identified a huge rice supply deficit, huge rice import bills and very low rice productivity in Nigeria. Thus while Nigeria and other developing economies grapple with the problem of food/rice production the developed economies face other issues like quality and safety of food. In contrast, trend analysis results for developed agricultural economy indicates high productivity trend. Nigeria’s rice productivity problems occurred despite over 4.9 million hectares of available land suitable for rice production in Nigeria. Primary data were then collected form randomly sampled 300 rice farmers in Kogi State Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Stochastic Frontier production function. Further findings of the study indicated that the elasticity of mean value of rice output with respect to farm size (0.74), labour use (0.14), fertilizer (0.24), were of increasing function. The returns to scale value of 1.82 for significant elasticities was realized indicating a sub-optimal rice production process. The firm-specific indices of technical efficiency vary widely between 0.7 x 10-8 and 0.91 with a mean of 0.54. Technical efficiency in rice production in Nigeria could be increased by 46% through better management and use of available resources. The study indicated that this could be achieved through farmer specific factors including age, farming experience, household size, education and improved rice variety. Key recommendations of the study include access to improved rice variety, access to improved rice processing technology and access to markets and extension services

Comparative analysis of the impact of root and tuber expansion programme on poverty alleviation of peri¬urban and rural communities in Bende state, Nigeria

This study examined the impact of World Bank Assisted Expanded Programme on Root and Tuber, Production (RTEP) on the poverty alleviation of peri-urban and rural communities in Benue State, Nigeria. Data were collected from two hundred and eight (208) respondents randomly drawn from teµ (10) typically rural and ten (10) peri-urban communities. Simple_ descriptive statistics (percentages) and discriminant function analysis wer·e used to analyze the collected data. The discriminant. function was fitted on the poverty alleviation score to analyze causal and effect relationship. The study found income disparity and a homogeneous non-significant age di'stribution in ·both the rural and peri-ui·ban root and tuber crops producer communities. Major contributors to the poverty alleviation were: ·Income i·ealized from marketable surplus (X3), distance in kilometers to the nearest urban market of best sales (X1), the kilometer distance traveled to evacuate produce (X2), with 55%, 15% and 10% contributions respectively in that sequence to the total discriminant score(Z) of 87%. Other contributory indicators were average revenue receipt per unit of root and tuber in the best market (X4), quality of life score (Xs) and mobility score (X6). The study recommends that developing nations should re-focus their policy framework to provide better markets and marketing opportunities as well as improved transportation and communication infrastructures for the typically rural to accelerate poverty alleviation

Isolation of citric acid-producing fungi and optimization of citric acid production by selected isolates

The aim of the present research work was to screen for fungal isolates with potential for citric acid production. Submerged fermentation was carried out using 1.0%w/v soluble starch in a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask during the screening. A total of thirty three strains of fungi were isolated. Aspergillus specie EGN006 exhibited the highest citric acid yield of 3.456g/L followed by Aspergillus specie EGN004 with 2.432g/L and Aspergillus specie EGN003 with 2.304g/L after 96 hours incubation period on 1.0%w/v soluble starch. Based on the result of the screening investigations, Aspergillus species EGN003, EGN004 and EGN006 were selected for optimization studies. The citric acid productivity was strongly affected by fermentation conditions. The optimal starch concentration, temperature, pH and fermentation period were 60g/L, 30OC, 5.5 and 144 hours respectively. Under optimal culture conditions, the maximum productivity and yield of citric acid produced by Aspergillus specie EGN006 were 23.261 1.447g/L and 65% respectively. The productivities and yields of Aspergillus species EGN003 and EGN004 were respectively 15.998 2.343g/L, 50% and 19.072 1.327g/L, 54%. Under the same optimum culture conditions, citric acid production by Aspergillus specie EGN006 using cassava starch and fedbatch fermentation were 24.712 2.430g/L and 23.444 1.379g/L respectively. The factors such as energy source, incubation period, initial pH, aeration, agitation and temperature strongly affected citric acid production. Moreover, the results suggest that cassava starch could be potentially utilized in citric acid production. This would stimulate cassava production, increase earnings from it and provide employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths