Surface Runoff Responses to Rainfall Variability over the Bida Basin, Nigeria

Information on annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall variation is desirable for planning operation and management of water resource projects as this gives an insight into river flow regimes.  A surface runoff response to rainfall variation in The Bida River Basin was investigated.  The River Basin has an area extent of about 7,540 km2.  The research utilizes rainfall data for a period of 30 years (1980 – 2009) mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and linear regression are used in the analysis. Results indicate that the rainfall pattern is generally in the form of alternating dry and wet years, and characterized by strong seasonality which is reflected in the surface runoff. Declining trend in rainfall over the years has been observed during the study period and is also reflected in the overall decline in runoff leading to variability in annual flow regimes. Therefore, attention should be focused on development of networking of continuous observation and monitoring of hydrometeorological variables and also control of environmental factors that influence the hydrology of the Bida Basin. Keywords: Rainfall, Runoff, Landscape, Streamflow, Seasonalit

The Correlation between Risk Management and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Investigation using Panel Data

The study analyzes risk management and organizational performance in deposit money banks in Nigeria. Two measures of organizational performance concentration are used. The first is the return on assets, while the second is return on equity. Determination of the relationship between risk management and organizational performance is done using panel data regression models. Explanatory variables, such as standard deviation of return on assets, standard deviation of return on revenue, current ratio, quick ratio, equity over total assets, equity over loan ratio, debt over equity and debt over total assets are used. Five hypotheses are tested and overall, organizational performance is positively affected by the risk management mechanisms of the bank and its liquidity policies. However, the relationship between financial leverage, size and age of the bank and financial performance is negative. The study concludes that risk and liquidity management policies are important to high financial performance. However, banks should put in place sound risk management mechanisms and policies to guide their operations. Also, banks should adhere strictly to sound liquidity management practices to guide against lack of liquidity. They should utilize earnings rather than seeking for external financing. Finally, banks should reduce their level of noncurrent assets and invest more in current assets in order to earn more profits from operations. Keywords: Risk management, organizational performance, deposit money banks, liquidity, financial leverage, size, age, Nigeri

Working capital management policy and the financial performance of food and beverages companies in Nigeria

This study is set to examine the relationship between working capital management policy and profitability of quoted food and beverages companies in Nigeria. The population comprises a sample of ten (10) food and beverage companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study used secondary data for a period of ten (10) years (2005-2014) and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Stata version 13. Two research hypotheses were formulated and tested. It was found that, there is no significant relationship between receivable collection period (RCP) policy and profitability of quoted food and beverage companies in Nigeria. However, it was recommended that the management should identify the level of inventory which allows for uninterrupted production but reduces the investment in raw materials and minimizes reordering cost and hence increases profitability. The management should reduce their RCP from 53 days on the average to at most 30 days by instituting adequate control and flexible credit policy.peer-reviewe

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection in Males: A Need for More Awareness

Globally, human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral sexually transmitted pathogen, which is significantly associated with high morbidity and mortality in both sexes. Except those vaccinated, virtually all sexually active individuals will be infected with HPV in their lifetime. Although most HPV infections are transient, association with anogenital warts, cervical, penile, and other malignancies have been reported. HPV can be transmitted from one person to another through contact especially during sexual contact including anal, vaginal, or oral. Although HPV infection affects both males and females, its causal association with cervical cancer has made most literature to be mainly on females. In view of its sexual transmissibility and the increasing prevalence of HPV-related malignancies among males worldwide, there is need for more awareness on the infection in males. Most developed countries offer HPV vaccination for girls, but vaccine recommendations for boys are still relatively uncommon especially in developing countries where the burden of HPV-related malignancies is still very high. The current discourse highlights the need for increased awareness on HPV vaccination among this neglected gender group

Gaya pemudah cara di sekolah: sejauhmanakah pengetua-pengetua mengamalkannya

Kajian deskriptif ini bertujuan meninjau persepsi guru-guru terhadap gaya pemudah cara perubahan di kalangan pengetua-pengetua dan kaitannya dengan dimensi tingkah laku kepimpinan di sekolah menengah. Terdapat tujuh dimensi tingkah laku yang berkaitan dengan gaya pemudah cara perubahan pengetua yang dilihat dalam kajian ini iaitu penetapan matlamat, menstruktur dan menyusun semula sekolah, menguruskan perubahan, bekerjasama dan menugaskan kerja, membuat keputusan, memberi bimbingan dan sokongan dan akhir sekali penstrukturan peranan kepimpinan pengetua. Dapatan daripada kajian rintis menunjukkan pekali kebolehpercayaan alpha Cronbach adalah 0.9210. Seramai 167 orang guru dipilih sebagai sampel penyelidikan dari 14 buah sekolah menengah di daerah Johor Bahru. Instrumen soal selidik telah digunakan dalam kajian ini Penganalisaan data dilakukan menggunakan parisian “Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 9.0 dengan melakukan analisis secara deskriptif dan inferensi. Selain itu analisa tahap dilakukan berpandukan tiga tahap iaitu tahap rendah, sederhana dan tinggi untuk melihat tiga gaya pemudah cara yang dikaji iaitu gaya responden, pengurus dan perintis. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan gaya pemudah cara pengurus dan perintis adalah pada tahap yang tinggi berbanding gaya pemudah cara responden pada tahap yang sederhana. Di samping itu, kajian juga menunjukkan penstrukturan peranan kepimpinan merupakan aspek utama dalam dimensi tingkah laku yang dibenkan penekanan oleh pengetua-pengetua. Analisis Ujian -t menunjukkan tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan mengikut persepsi guru lelaki dan perempuan terhadap tiga gaya pemudah cara pengetua. Bagaimanapun, terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan gaya pemudah cara pengurus dan perintis mengikut perjawatan. Berdasarkan analisis Inferensi, didapati perhubungan korelasi bagi setiap gaya pemudah cara perubahan dan bagi setiap tujuh dimensi tingkah laku pengetua

International Financial Reporting Standards and Earnings Management Behaviour of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This paper investigates the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards adoption on earnings management behavior of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study examines how the change in the recognition and measurement of banks’ loan loss provision, affects earnings management behaviour. A sample of 15 deposit money banks listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was used. Financial data in respect of the periods before and after adoption of the IFRSs (i.e., 2004 to 2008 and 2009 to 2013) were used. The banks under investigation experience a significant growth of their loan portfolio, on average, 16.65 % (median 14.77 %) during IFRS period as compared to 10.12 % (8.79 %) before IFRS adoption. Non-performing loans (NPLit-1) remain relatively stable over the whole time period, and represent, on average, 3.44 % (median 2.21 %) of loans before and 3.19 % (median 1.99 %) after IFRS adoption. Regulatory capital ratios (RegCapit) remain basically similar in both time periods. Earnings before taxes and loan loss provisions (EBTLLPit) increase slightly; however, this increase is statistically not significant. Besides the impressive loan growth the most significant change between the two time periods relates to our dependent variable the level of loan loss provisions (LLPit). LLPit decreases significantly from a mean of 0.72 % (median 0.54 %) to 0.49 % (median 0.32 %) after IFRS adoption. Taken the descriptive statistics together, the study concludes that the restriction to incurred losses under IFRS significantly reduces the ability of banks to engage in earnings management. Keywords: IFRS, IAS, financial reports, loan loss provisions, earnings management, non-performing loans, loss recognition, bank regulation, earnings before taxes and loan loss provisions.

Yield stability analysis of pearl millet hybrids in Nigeria

Genotype x environment interaction in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.] was studied for grain yield by growing 90 genotypes consisting of 81 hybrids and 9 inbred parents at 5 locations for 2 years. Genotype x environment interaction was observed, a large component of which was accounted for by non-linear regression on the environment means. Although the linear portion was significant, its magnitude was smaller than that of the non-linear component indicating the significance of environmental effects on the genotypes. Six hybrids were found to be stable across the environments. They yielded above the average mean yield of all the genotypes under test, with a slope of unity and the mean square due to deviation from regression equal to zero.Keywords: Genotype x environment interaction, yield, stability, pearl mille

Ethno-Religious Factor and the Menace of Election Violence in Nigeria

Elections in Nigeria have been characterized by high scale of electoral malpractices, money politics, electoral violence and the use of ethno-religious divide strategy by political elite in order to influence the majority votes, claimed and announced as authentic election winners, these phenomenon’s has dominate Nigerian electoral process since the return of democracy in Nigeria during 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 elections. Electoral violence is one of the strategies employed by Nigerian politicians during electioneering period to win election by illegal and dubious means. Desperate challenges of democratic governance operations and poor attitude of our leaders in Nigeria whose fails to meet the public demand of protecting lives and property as well as citizens welfare provision, the power drunk politicians often sponsor unemployed youths and stark illiterates to carry out assaults on their perceived political opponents with a view to manipulating election results to their own advantage. Therefore, this paper discusses electoral violence in the context of religion and its implication for sustainable development. Since electoral violence has been the bane of political stability and development in Nigeria. The researcher has uses secondary source of data to reviewed various literature on the subject matter to investigate the problem of election violence connecting it with religious or ethnic factor differences and used Karl Marx’s dialectical materialism theory on the discussion of the problems of election violence in Nigeria. This paper has made an in-depth analysis of electoral violence in Nigeria with particular focus on the Fourth Republic. The  paper was of the view that right  application of religious  teaching, moral values is considered to be a veritable tool for ensuring violence free elections, which will guaranteed  development of democracy in Nigeria. Keywords: Electoral Violence, Electoral Security, Religious and Ethnic Difference DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/59-04 Publication date:May 31st 202

Prevalence studies of human T-Lymphotrophic virus type 1 among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Dutse metropolis, north-western Nigeria

Human T-lymphotrophic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a causative agent of tropic spastic paraparesis and adult Tcell leukaemia, Information regarding the involvement of HTLV-1 in presentation of some subclinical immune  suppression that may results in increased rate of HIV and TB infections has long been documented. Sixty (60) Confirmed Pulmonary TB subjects  consisting of 41 males and 19 females were recruited in this study,  Tuberculosis was confirmed by collecting their sputum samples and analysed using GeneXpert. The prevalence of HTLV-1 IgG antibodies among TB subjects was 6.6%, while that of IgM was 1.6%. Accordingly, sexually active couple  group has the highest prevalence of 2.3% when compared to single and widow categories, age group 15-24 has the highest percentage of 3.3% for HTLV-1 IgG antibodies.Key words: HTLV-1, Tuberculosis, IgG, IgM

Pattern of utilisation of oral glucose tolerance test: the experience of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano

Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is the gold standard test for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). It is considered as the oldest dynamic function test in clinical practice and has several advantages over other plasma-based tests for diagnosis of type 2 DM, notably random plasma glucose (RPG) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). For instance, it is the only means through which diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance can be made, and has a higher diagnostic yield compared to FPG. There is paucity of data on the utilization of OGTT particularly in northern Nigeria. This study therefore aimed to determine the utilization of OGTT in a tertiary Hospital in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. This was a retrospective study carried out in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital between January, 2013 and December, 2014. Following ethical approval, Hospital records of all clients who had OGTT in Chemical Pathology department of the Hospital were retrieved. The OGTTs were done using the 75g, 120 Minutes as recommended by WHO. Plasma Glucose were analyzed using quantitative glucose oxidase method described by Trinder. Data obtained were entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.About 335 OGTTs were performed during the study period but 312 were selected. Majority of the clients were females, 290 (92.9%), aged between 20-39 years (74.0%). About 2/3rd of the clients 224 (78.5%) were pregnant women referred from antenatal clinic due to previous history of Gestational Diabetes  Mellitus (GDM), previous macrosomic baby, and unexplained intra uterine foetal death. Non-obstetric indications for OGTT encountered were obesity, impaired fasting glycaemia and suspected acromegaly. Majority of clients who had OGTT were pregnant women who were referred for obstetric indications. Previous history of GDM was the commonest indication for OGTT. There was under-utilization of OGTT for non-obstetrics medical indications.Keywords: OGTT, Diabetes mellitus, Gestational Diabetes, Nigeri