Assessment of Road Development in Abak Local Government Area, Nigeria

The poor quality of infrastructure in terms of network density, connectivity and accessibility levels and general conditions of road affect not only the rural economy but also triggers internal migration to urban areas. This study aim at assessing road development in Abak local government taking into consideration road connectivity and accessibility levels and the general conditions of existing roads using data obtained from field and map analysis.The study area was stratified into five (5) clans using stratified random sample. The Gamma and Shimble index techniques were used to analyze the data. Three hundred and ninety eight (398) copies of questionnaire were collected out of the 400 copies distributed. The result indicated that the study area has a total of 152.4km length of roads. 36km are paved federal roads, 84km unpaved state roads, and 1.69 km paved local roads and 30.7km unpaved local roads. The current status of road development coupled with poor conditions of road infrastructure is devasting and counter-productive to economic development of the study area. The roads in the area have been identified as deplorable. Thus, it is recommended that more roads should be opened and paved and properly maintained so as to achieve adequate level of accessibility and connectivity in the study area.Key words: Road, Development, Connectivity, Accessibility

Analysis of Empirical Relationship among Agricultural Lending, Agricultural Growth and Non-Performing Loans in Nigerian Banking System

Increasing levels in Non-Performing loans (NPLs) which has remained an area of great concern contributed to issue of declining agribusiness activities in Nigeria in the 1990s and thereafter. The study examined non-performing loans relationship with agricultural lending and agricultural productivity from 1980 to 2015 in Nigeria. Time series data obtained from CBN were analyzed using, Granger causality test, Pearson correlation, and co-integration as well as error correction models. The empirical analyses revealed that, bilateral Granger causality existed between loans and advances granted to agricultural sector and non-performing loans in Nigeria. Also, growth in GDP has a positive and significant correlation with NPL in Nigeria. In the long run, NPL is positively related to agricultural productivity, growth in the GDP and value of loans and advances offered to agricultural sector. Whereas, in the short run, NPL reacted significantly to the negative influence of interest rate and positive impact of GDP growth rate. The adjustment coefficient of 52% was discovered for the NPL long run equation in Nigeria. It is recommended that short and long- term banking reform policies be adopted to reduce fluctuations in NPLs in the banking system and efforts should be geared towards increased participation of specialized financial institutions as to accelerate investments in agriculture sector