International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Credibility of Financial Reporting in Nigeria Public Sector: An Improvement or A Ruse

The objective of this work is to examine the application of IPSAS on financial reporting in Nigeria public sector and its economic benefits. The descriptive research survey method was adopted in this work while the population comprises of Fifty (50) members drew from ten (10) ministries randomly selected from all accounting departments of various ministries in Ado- Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, Nigeria. The primary source of data collection was employed through the use of questionnaire. The 4-point Likert scale was logically employed to quantitatively reflect order ranking while the mean scores of data analysis and Ordinary least square (OLS) were used. The results show that there is no relationship between application of IPSAS, financial reporting and its economic benefits to Nigeria. For instance, IPSAS has neither improved management and Revenue generation nor increased foreign direct investment into Nigeria. It was observed that IPSAS has no significant relationship with ability of the government or financial reporting in reducing corruption in the public sector, though, the findings show positive relationship between IPSAS and credibility of financial reporting-using accrual basis of accounting. The study concludes that adoption IPSAS has not really brought any improvement in term of its economic benefits to the government and the public; hence IPSAS is a ruse and a mere imposition on the developing countries. We recommend that government should put in place an enabling legislative framework that will aid the smooth running of IPSAS implementation in Nigeria. Government should strengthen anti- corruption agencies and engage professionals, and technocrats to drive the process to reflect stakeholders’ expectation on IPSAS and financial reporting in the public sector. Keywords: Accountability, Corruption, Financial Reporting, Public Sectors, Transparency

Integration of Information Communication Technology in Journalism Practice: A Survey of Journalists in Ekiti Metropolis, Nigeria

The aim of this study was predicated on the need to ascertain the extent to which Nigerian Journalists, especially those in the state capital of Ekiti state; have integrated the use of information communication technology (ICT) tools in their journalism practice which includes, but not limited to; news gathering, dissemination etc. The objectives among others is to decipher the extent of use and the adoption of new information communication technologies in journalism practise. A total of thirty four (34) TV and radio journalists were sampled with a view to ascertain their use and types ICT tools employed for the achievement of communication efficiency. Despite the perceived importance of the role of ICT in improving communication efficiency (as opined by 97% of the respondents), findings from this study revealed that the use of modern ICT tools were not fully employed for their day to day task execution. Also, only 24% of the respondents agreed to the availability and free access to internet facility in their day to day operations while 64.7% own or have personal access through their owned devices. The challenges enumerated by journalists includes lack of corporate internet access and information, technology hardware and software configurations that are crucial to journalism in new media practice. Hence, it is recommended media proprietors should provide as part of the work environment, modern facilities to enable journalists discharge their duties in line with international best practices

Investigative study of seasonal changes in Quality Parameters of Oluwa River Water, Agbabu area of Nigeria

Physico-chemical parameters of River Oluwa water in Agbabu, Nigeria were investigated to determine its quality characteristics and establish seasonal effects on the water. Water from the river was collected at five different points in dry season (March, 2008 and 2009) and rainy season (July, 2008 and 2009). Insitu parameters (pH, EC and Turbidity) were measured using Horiba Water Checker Model U-10 while TDS was by Lovibond CM – 21 Tintometer. Subsequently in the Laboratory, Na+ and K+ were determined using flame photometric methods while Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3-, SO42-, Cl-, PO42- and NO3- were determined by wet analysis. River Oluwa water was alkaline with average pH of 7.41 and 7.53 in dry and rainy seasons respectively. Electrical conductivity (EC) was high during dry season (av. 630.44 µS/cm), but low in the rainy season (av. 317.58 µS/cm) due to long residence time in dry season allowing more water-rock interaction. Turbidity's average values of 0.14 NTU and 2.29 NTU in dry and rainy seasons respectively suggested moderate pollution with particulate matter. The order of average cations concentrations in the dry and rainy seasons was Ca2+ K+ Na+ Mg2+ while that of the anions was HCO3- Cl- SO42- NO3-. The ions concentrations though lower in rainy season, Ca2+-HCO3- water was dominant in both seasons. Quality evaluation for irrigation revealed that the water was suitable for all irrigation purposes. River Oluwa water was soft, low mineralized, chemically potable, suitable for irrigation but with lower ionic concentrations in rainy season

Pattern of Maxillofacial Trauma in the Nigerian Population

Introduction: The pattern of trauma to the maxillofacial region differs in various parts of the world. Studies have shown that not only does it differ from one continent to the other, it differs from one country to another within the same continent and from one zone to another within the same country. These have been ascribed to the prevailing socioeconomic, cultural and environmental factors in the study area. It is important that patterns of maxillofacial injuries should be continuously evaluated so that efforts should be put in place to reduce the incidence. The aim of the present study is therefore to describe the patterns of maxillofacial injuries in the Nigerian literature.Methods: The MEDLINE was used to conduct a computerized literature search using for publications on maxillofacial trauma in Nigeria. For this search, the medical subject headings on "maxillofacial fractures" or "mandible fractures" or "middle-third fractures" or "facial fractures" or "zygoma fractures" were combined with "Nigeria". Also, the publications cited in these articles to look for additional important articles but were not found on MEDLINE were searched for.Results: Most of the studies were retrospective while the commonest geopolitical zone where studies were done was the South West region. The commonest cause of maxillofacial injuries was road traffic accident while the commonest age group was the 21-30 years.Conclusion: Road traffic accident is the commonest cause of maxillofacial injuries. It is therefore recommended that the appropriate authorities should enforce seat belt and helmet laws. The government should provide street lights, good roads, pedestrian bridges and traffic lights to reduce vehicular/vehicular and human/vehicular/human collisions.     &nbsp

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Experience with transverse preputial island flap for repair of hypospadias in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Objective: To review our experience with the use of transverse preputial island flap in the repair of hypospadias in the paediatric surgical unit of our University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Patients and Methods: We reviewed the cases of hypospadias managed by transverse preputial island flap repair over a ten year period (1996 and 2006) in the paediatric surgical unit of our institution. Data was retrieved from the case notes and analysed. Results: Fifty-one patients had hypospadias repair during the period, 22 of whom were by transverse preputial island flap repair. Hypospadisas were in penile shaft in 16 (72.7%), penoscrotal in 5 (22.7%) and perineal in 1 (4.55%). All the patients had intact prepuce at presentation and chordee was present in 18 (81.8%). The commonest complication was urethrocutaneous fistula in five patients, which closed spontaneously in three leaving 2 patients (9.1%) with persistent urethrocutaneous fistular. Conclusion: Transverse preputial island flap urethroplasty remains aviable option in the management of hypospadias especially when the meatal opening is proximal, with associated chordee limiting the options in the repair

Paediatric day-case neurosurgery in a resource challenged setting: Pattern and practice

Background: It has been generally observed that children achieve better convalescence in the home environment especially if discharged same day after surgery. This is probably due to the fact that children generally tend to feel more at ease in the home environment than in the hospital setting. Only few tertiary health institutions provide routine day-case surgery for paediatric neurosurgical patients in our sub-region. Objective: To review the pattern and practice of paediatric neurosurgical day-cases at our hospital. Patients and Methods: A prospective study of all paediatric day-case neurosurgeries carried out between June 2011 and June 2014. Results: A total of 53 patients (34 males and 19 females) with age ranging from 2 days to 14 years were seen. Majority of the patients (77.4%) presented with congenital lesions, and the most common procedure carried out was spina bifida repair (32%) followed by ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion (26.4%) for hydrocephalus. Sixty-eight percentage belonged to the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class 2, whereas the rest (32%) belonged to class 1. General anaesthesia was employed in 83% of cases. Parenteral paracetamol was used for intra-operative analgesia for most of the patients. Two patients had post-operative nausea and vomiting and were successfully managed. There was no case of emergency re-operation, unplanned admission, cancellation or mortality. Conclusion: Paediatric day-case neurosurgery is feasible in our environment. With careful patient selection and adequate pre-operative preparation, good outcome can be achieved