ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF IMAGE CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHMS

Iso-cluster unsupervised classification was performed using the multivariate toolset of ArcMap 10.1 to identified the spectral clusters or natural statistical groupings present in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja using 2011 Landsat-7 ETM+ and adopting supervised classification that involves ground truthing, the previous knowledge of the study area and creating training site. The maximum likelihood classification (supervised classification), default colour was changed to multiple colour that can easily be interpreted. The new colour assignment was based on information obtained from prior knowledge of the study area. The supervised classified image was further processed to remove all the noises - unwanted or non-relevant information that made it appeared speckled. Using the generalization toolset of ArcMap 10.1 spatial analyst tool, the classified output was filtered to remove the noise; this was done using eight nearest neighbours kernel majority filter. Also, the ragged boundaries of the classified output were smooth as well as clumping the classes together using boundary clean toolset

Assessing the Abuse of Professional Practices in the Nigerian Construction Processes

In order to contain and curtail the harmful and negative consequences posed by abuse of professional  practices in the Nigerian Construction Industry, it is important to envisage the construction phase that records the highest frequency of abuse in the Industry. It is presumed that, this can be a step forward in mitigating abuse of professional practices in the Nigerian Construction Industry. This research was carried out to envisage the construction stage that are prone to severe abuse of professional practices among the three phases; Planning & Design Phase (PDP), Pre-qualification & Tendering Phase (PQTP) and Execution & Completion Phase (ECP) in the Nigerian Construction Industry. A quantitative research approach was systematically employed were semi structured questionnaire was design and administered to the major stakeholders (consultants, clients and contractors) in the Nigerian Construction Industry. Ranking was used to determine the phase that are susceptible to abuse of professional practices than others and ANOVA was further deployed to investigate whether there is significant different in the respondents view point. From the findings made, it was concluded that Pre-qualification and Tendering Phase (PQTP) was the most susceptible to abuse of professional practices in the entire construction processes. The respondents were in the view that although dozens of abuse of professional practices are uncovered each year in different construction phases certainly more cases are occurred frequently at bidding/tendering stage than others. In addition, from ANOVA we concluded that there is significant difference in the opinions of the consultants to that of clients and contractors in the context they all view what abuse of professional practices is all about

Cinema semiotics: An application of Hodge and Tripp’s Paradigm/Syntagm approach

Abstract. Various scholars have defined the term semiotics according to their understanding but with a unifying central meaning which is the study of signs. Two important aspects of semiotics are syntagm and paradigm. The organization of signs by chain is referred to as syntagm, while by choice it is referred to as paradigm. According to Hodge & Tripp (1986), as far as syntagmatic structures are concerned, texts are examined from three different angles or variables: space, time, and continuity. Moreover, in film the interpretations of individual, shots depend on both paradigmatic analysis (comparing it, not necessarily, with the use of alternative kinds of shots) and syntagmatic analysis (comparing it with preceding and following shots). This paper, applies the concept of Syntagm and Paradigm given by Hodge and Tripp to analyse the structure of two films from Nigeria’s film industries i.e. Kanywood and Nollywood industries.Keywords. Cinema, Semiotics, Syntagm, Paradigm, Film, Kanywood, Nollywood.JEL. Z00, Y90, H80

Antecedent of Corporate Entrepreneurial Orientation on the Performance of Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises in the Post Covid 19 Era: The Case Nigeria

Even in the post-pandemic period, the Covid-19 pandemic still has a multiplier effect on the performance of SMEs. As sales revenues dropped, branches were closed, and employees’ jobs and overall performance were impacted negatively around the world. This paper aims to review literature to determine research antecedents on the relationship between firms’ entrepreneurial orientation and manufacturing SMEs' performance in the post-Covid-19 era in Africa and the rest of the developing economies. This is to note the area needed to cover some of the major causes of the variation in this sub-sector of the economy for future research. A literature survey methodology was employed for the current article. Articles were reviewed from sources including journals (Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Academia, and ResearchGate platform), and ordinary articles that spanned from 2002-2022 to understand the antecedents of research contexts and variables explored. The findings revealed that most studies focused on large-scale manufacturing firms and SMEs and considered external environmental factors like regulation, competition, interest and a few others to explain variation in enterprise performance. Furthermore, the result shows that non-multidimensional measures of enterprise performance were used. Consequently, a new conceptual framework was developed to look at firms’ inward entrepreneurial orientation as the driving factor for organisational performance improvement. The implication of the proposed framework developed is to harness strategies for performance improvement, growth, and survival in a complex and dynamic business environment. Thus, the paper concludes that the way to this development is for SMEs to build capacities that entrench their corporate entrepreneurial orientation to suit every business situation.

ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF PIXEL-BASED IMAGE CLASSIFICATION OF KWALI COUNCIL AREA, ABUJA, NIGERIA

In this study, Kwali Council Area located on the western part of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja was selected as a study area covering approximately 1,206 km² for comparing the two major pixel-based image classification algorithms (Supervised and Unsupervised classification). For this purpose, land use and land cover classification of the study area was conducted by supervised classification particularly maximum likelihood classification (MLC) and Iso-cluster unsupervised classification procedures and the results were compared with one another using 2011 Landsat-7 ETM+ satellite. However, the result of classification accuracy illustrates that light vegetation shrubs records dominance value of 27.54%, savannah grasses 23.04%, cultivated areas 20.12%, wetland flood plain 13.78%, sand open surfaces 11.01% and water body 4.52%. Overall, supervised pixel-based classification methods are found to be more reliable, accurate and outperformed unsupervised pixel-based classification methods in this study. The higher accuracy was attributed to the fact that supervised classification took advantage of spectral information of land cover, based on the spectral signature defined in the training set and digital image classification software that determines each class on what it resembles most in the training set in the remotely sensed imagery. This study is a good example of some of the limitations of unsupervised pixel-based image classification techniques, whereby the unsupervised image classification technique is commonly used when no sample sites exist. These improvements are likely to have significant benefits for land-cover mapping and change detection applications. It is recommended that, the two approach can be used together to provide a standard, accurate and finest result for specific applications by users in different parts of the world.   Keywords: Accuracy, assessment, pixel-based image classification algorithms, iso-cluster unsupervised, ML

Public relations perspectives on electoral reforms as a panacea for consolidating Nigeria’s democracy

Abstract. Electoral reforms have been considered as sustainable means of improving on the quality of elections in Nigeria, this is especially as it avails the country, tremendous opportunities in admitting new policies such as new techniques, technologies and improved systems of protecting the welfare of electorates. It is evident from the literature that, public relations overtime has been a unifying factor in accelerating Nigeria’s democracy and sustaining its need for periodic elections and encouraging the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).  Based on the level of malpractices and issues associated with the conduct of elections in Nigeria, it was concluded in this paper that, there are several benefits attached to the process of electoral reforms in Nigeria, hence, it gives government the opportunity to revamp its electoral policies through campaigns, introduction of new technologies, voting and more importantly, the nature of conducting elections bearing in mind that, poorly adopted electoral policies normally lead to the outbreak of crisis from aggrieved parties.  It is recommended amongst others that, government at all levels should consider periodic electoral reforms as a strategy for development and as such; they should ensure that only people with credibility are charged with the mandate of presiding over electoral reform committees (ERC).Keywords. Electoral reforms, Public relations, Democracy and elections.JEL. D72, D73, D78

Stagnation point flow with thermal and magnetic field over a stretching sheet

The purpose of this research is to examine effects of thermal radiation and magnetic field on 2D stagnation point flow toward a stretching sheet. The governing equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by similarities transformation method and then, solved, numerically using implicit finite difference scheme. The Velocity profile increase for higher values of stagnation point parameter, opposite occurred with magnetic field. The temperature profile is an increasing function of radiative energy

Determination of Placement Distance of Fertilizer for Sugarcane as an Agronomic Requirement Relevant in the Design of a Fertilizer Applicator

Fertilizer placement distance at which sugarcane utilizes fertilizer optimally was determined in terms of its growth parameters (root distribution, stem height, stalk thickness, and leaf count). Three placement distances (4, 8 and 12 cm) were used as treatment and replicated four times. After subjecting the data obtained to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for Complete Randomized Design (CRD), the average means for a placement distance of 4 cm (for root distribution, stem height, stalk thickness and leaf count) are 3,910.75 cm 2 , 30.83 cm, 0.763 cm, and 9.5, while for 8 cm placement distance are 2,011.63 cm 2 , 27.70 cm, 0.699 cm, and 8.5. The values for 12 cm placement distance are 5,840.06 cm 2 , 34.55 cm, 0.788 cm and 11.25, respectively. These show that the effects of fertilizer placement distance on root distribution, stalk thickness and stem height are significant at 0.05 level of significance during three months of growth. It was highest at 12 cm placement and lowest was at 8 cm placement distance. Hence, fertilizer placement distance at 12 cm was recommended for the design and construction of a fertilizer applicator for sugarcan

Analysis of Change Detection of Birnin-Kudu Land Cover Using Image Classification And Vegetation Indices

The study utilizes Landsat-7 ETM+ based Normalized Differences Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Differences Water Index (NDWI) from 1972 to 2012 at the study area situated in Birnin Kudu, Jigawa state, in North-western Nigeria. The classified satellite data based NDVI of 1972, 1986, 2003 and 2012, including NDWI of 1986, 2003 and 2012 were used to determine land-cover change; vegetation and water body that have occurred in the study areas. This study attempts to use a comparative change detection analysis to produce the best way to quantify changes that has occurred in the study area with a lag time of 40 years (1972-2012) for NDVI and 26 years (1986-2012) for NDWI. The results of the classifications of NDVI and NDWI were displayed on satellite imagery, of which the percentage differences of change detected from variations of land cover/vegetation using NDVI of 1972-1986 is 15%, 1986-2003 is 40% and 2003-2012 is 11.6%. In the same vein, the result of percentage differences of change detected from variations of water bodies using NDWI of 1986-2003 is 0.03% and 2003-2012 is 1.5%. In the final analysis the change detected using NDVI for the period of 40 years (1972-2012) is 43.4%, while using NDWI for the periods of 26 years (1986-2012) is 1.47%. The study recommends periodic examination of land-use changes for determining various ecological and developmental consequences over time. The study area is of great environmental and economic importance having land cover rich in agricultural production and livestock grazing. Keywords: Analysis, change detection, land-cover, image classification algorithms, NDVI, NDW

International Financial Reporting Standards’ Adoption and Value Relevance of Accounting Information of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Nigeria recently recognized the need to participate in opportunities offered by globalization and accordingly, adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This paper examines post-IFRS adoption value relevance of accounting information using two models. First, a price model which used proxies such as market price per share, book value of equity per share, earnings per share and cash flow per share. Second, a return-model which used proxies such as annual return, earning per share, change in earning per share, were used.  The results show that the explanatory power R2 for the price model specification is 84% for the total sample and that all coefficients are statistically significant. A comparison of coefficients indicates that the EPS of 3.47 has a higher explanatory power than any other variables. The results also demonstrate that explanatory power of accounting numbers increased from pre-adoption (60%) to post-adoption (78%). Similarly, Explanatory power (R2) for the return model specification is 13.4% for the total sample and just coefficient of EPS level is statistically significant. The explanatory power for the return model increased from pre-adoption (15.6%) to post-adoption (16.4%). According to both sub-samples just a coefficient of EPS level is statistically significant. So, the result of the return model also indicates adoption of IFRS improved relevance of accounting numbers in the deposit money banking sector. In view of these results, there is need for further study to explore the reasons for the superiority of EPS over BVEPS. Keywords: Value Relevance, Accounting Information, Deposit Money Banks, Nigeria