Fiscal Allocation and Administrative Effectiveness of University Managers in Southern Nigeria

This study investigated Fiscal Allocation and Administrative effectiveness of managers of Federal universities in the South-East and South-South Zones of Nigeria. The causal comparative design was adopted while two hypotheses which covered the sub-variables of the research were formulated to guide the study. Two ten point semantic differential instruments were developed and validated for the study: Fiscal Allocation and Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (FAAEQ) and University managers Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (UMAEQ) were used to obtain data from 600 purposively sampled subjects and 2,400 randomly selected lecturers from a population of 640 managers and 8,654 lecturers respectively in the eight universities within the area of study. The data were analyzed using population t-test. The study revealed a significantly high level of fiscal allocation to universities in Nigeria and that universities manager’s administrative effectiveness was equally significantly high. It was concluded that fiscal allocation in terms of the levels of subvention, internal revenue, grant/aid has a significantly high influence on the administrative effectiveness of university managers in terms of budgeting, decision-making and management of finance, personnel, curriculum and plant/facilities. Keywords: Fiscal Allocation; University Managers; Administrative EffectivenessRésumé: Cette étude a examiné l'allocation budgétaire et l'efficacité administrative des gestionnaires des universités fédérales dans les zones sud-est et sud-ouest du Nigéria. La méthode comparative de causalité a été adoptée alors que deux hypothèses qui couvraient les sous-variables de la recherche ont été formulées afin de guider l'étude. Deux instruments sémantiques différents de dix points ont été développées et validées pour l'étude. Le questionnaire de l'allocation budgétaire et de l'efficacité administrative(QABEA) et le questionnaire de l'efficacité administrative des gestionnaires universitaires (QEAGU) ont été utilisés pour obtenir des données de 600 sujets délibérément choisis et 2.400 enseignants choisis au hasard parmi un total de 640 gestionnaires et de 8.654 professeurs respectivement, dans les huit universités dans le domaine d'étude. Les données ont été analysées à l'aide du t-test de population. L'étude a révélé un niveau significativement élevé de l'allocation budgétaire pour les universités du Nigeria et le niveau de l'efficacité administrative des gestionnaires des universités a été également significativement élevée. Il a conclu que l'allocation budgétaire en terme du niveau de subvention, des recettes internes, de la subvention ou de l'aide avait une influence significative sur l'efficacité administrative des gestionnaires des universités en matière de la budgétisation, de la décision et la gestion des finances, du personnel, des programmes et des installations.Mots-clés: allocation budgétaire; gestionnaires des universités; efficacité administrativ

A conceptual perspective of internal audit quality and local government performance in Nigeria

The study highlights the influence of internal audit quality on the performance of an organization.Internal audit quality components such as competence, quality of internal audit work, objectivity and independence, training and development, and management support for the internal audit function are critical for enhancing organizational processes.It relies on extant literature in developing the conceptual framework and arriving at hypotheses that guide the study. Thus, the study suggests that the quality of internal audit influences performance and this link opens up a new perspective in examining the local government performance in Nigeria

Sociology of Landscape: Agricultural, Soil and Water Conservation in Calabar, Cross River State

The magnitude of challenges created on the human environment in different parts of the earth surface today, is alarming. This has resulted to various environmental threats across the universe which are quite visible and have a roused the concern of sociologists-worldwide. This is seen in the scale of wildlife destruction, soil erosion, deforestation, air, water, and land pollution, increased temperature levels among others. Globally, we are confronted with massive human starvation, extinction of plants and animal species, dwindling biodiversity, drought and desertification, global warming, emission of carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels, depletion of the protective ozone layer by lethal chemicals and concomitant bombardment of the earth’s environment by cancer-causing ultra violent radiation. Man’s attempt to convert the environment for his development had produced the highlighted and if mans activities on the environment are not controlled it would seriously rendered the world landscape uninhabitable. This paper seeks to explore the various ways in which man’s activities in the environment pose a threat to Agricultural soil and water conservation. It also highlights strategies to achieve sustainable environmental landscape balance

DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE TOMOGRAPHY (ERT) DATA ACQUISITION PROTOCOLS FOR CONDUCTIVE MULTIPHASE PROCESSES

This report describes a considerably low-cost improvement theory of existing data acquisition system for a 16-electrode Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT). It comprises of electrical parts such as voltage measurement amplifier circuit and switching circuit. Quality of data acquired is crucial for future work of image processing which induced the importance of mentioned circuits. Experimentations are conducted on brine solution with different concentrations to classify lower and upper range of voltages for different applications as well as demonstrating the effect of different measurement protocols towards common mode voltages

The impact of internal audit quality, effective internal controls, and institutional context factors on local government performance in Nigeria

As the third tier of government in Nigeria, local governments are struggling with issues bothering on performance failures. Stakeholders are demanding answers on why local governments are unable to deliver on their mandate. Accountability mechanisms like internal audit and internal controls have been acknowledged to bring about improvement in processes and performance. However, there seem to be little influence of these mechanisms as performance failures still trail local governments. It has also been acknowledged that internal audit and internal controls alone may not generate the much needed improvement unless embedded in the governance system of an organization. On this basis, this study examined the impact of internal audit quality, effective internal controls, and institutional context factors on local government performance in Nigeria. Data were collected from 301 heads of internal audit units of local governments in Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. Also, follow up interviews were conducted to clarify the findings of the survey. The results indicated that internal audit quality and effective internal controls were positively and significantly related to local government performance. Also, institutional context factors showed mixed relationships with local government performance. Particularly, strategic planning and top management commitment were positively and significantly related to performance. However, internal audit and external audit collaboration and political interference were negatively and significantly related to local government performance while strategic mission, regulations, internal audit relationship with management and auditees, and corporate ethical culture had no significant relationship with performance. Thus, the study provides evidence of a relationship between internal audit quality, effective internal controls, institutional context factors and performance in the local government. Therefore, there is need for local administrators and policy makers to address institutional context issues to enable internal audit quality and effective internal controls thrive for better performance of local governments in Nigeria

Post-operative symptoms at home in children following day case surgery

No Abstract. Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia Vol. 12(3) 2006: 101-10

Chronic Wounds in Children: Prevalence, Aetiological Types and Predilection Sites in a Rural Setting in an Emerging Economy

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, aetiological types and predilection sites of chronic wounds in children. This study was a cross sectional study conducted on children aged 0-15 years. Through cluster sampling technique, children with wounds were recruited and evaluated. Demographic and clinical data were collected and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize variables and Chi-squared test was used to achieve comparison between age groups and sexes. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. The results show that one thousand and ten children were screened for wounds out of which 107 children with 115 wounds were found. 16.5% of these wounds were chronic with a prevalence rate of 2.0%. Chronic wound prevalences in the school aged (47.4%) and adolescent (52.6%) children were 0.9% and 1.0% respectively (x2 = 0.821; p = 0.359 Yates’ corrected, Fisher’s exact test 2-sided) and statistically insignificant. 57.9% were caused by trauma and majority (89.5%) occurred in the lower limbs (x2=0.000; p=1.000 Yates’ corrected, Fisher’s exact test 2-sided) without any statistical significance. Prevalence of chronic wounds in the children population was very low. The commonest aetiological type was inadequately treated traumatic wounds which progressively healed on institution of appropriate wound treatment