Activity In Nigeria Research Articles

Monthly Temporal-Spatial Variability and Estimation of Absorbing Aerosol Index Using Ground-Based Meteorological Data in Nigeria

The objective of this work is to analyze the temporal and spatial variability of the monthly mean aerosol index (AI) obtained from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) in comparison with the available ground observations in Nigeria during 1984-2013. It also aims at developing a regression model to allow the estimation of the values of AI in Nigeria based on the data from ground observations. TOMS and OMI data are considered and treated separately to provide continuity and consistency in the long-term data observations, together with the meteorological variable such as wind speed, visibility, air temperature and relative humidity that can be used to characterize the dust activity in Nigeria. The results revealed a strong seasonal pattern of the monthly distribution and variability of absorbing aerosols along a north to south gradient. The monthly mean AI showed higher values during the dry months (Harmattan) and lower values during the wet months (Summer) in all zones. From December to February, higher AI values are observed in the southern region, decreasing progressively towards the north, while during March-October, the opposite pattern is observed. The AI showed clear maximum values of 2.06, 1.93, and 1.87 (TOMS) and 2.32, 2.27 and 2.24 (OMI) in the month of January and minimum values in September over the north-central, southern and coastal zones, while showing maximum values of 1.76 (TOMS) and 2.10 (OMI) during March in the Sahel. New empirical algorithms for predicting missing AI data were proposed using TOMS data and multiple linear regression, and the model co-efficient was determined. The generated coefficients were applied to another dataset for cross-validation. The accuracy of the model was determined using the coefficient of determination R2 and the root mean square error (RMSE) calculated at the 95% confidence level. The AI values for the missing years were retrieved, plotted and compared with the measured monthly AI cycle. It is concluded that the meteorological variables can significantly explain the AI variability and can be used efficiently to predict the missing AI data.

Oil Price Shocks and Nigeria's Economic Activity: Evidence from ARDL Co-Integration and VECM Analysis

This study examines the impact of oil price shocks and their transmission channels to selected macroeconomic variables which serve as proxies for economic activities in Nigeria using quarterly data from 1980Q1 to 2011Q4. Empirical analysis was carried out using VAR framework. Further the Impulse response function (IRF) and the variance decomposition (VDC) were carried out to trace the impact of oil shocks to the Nigerian economy. The result shows that oil price shocks have negative impact on nearly all the variables used in the analysis; furthermore the asymmetric relationship between oil price shocks and GDP was not established as the effects was found to be minimal in all the tests results. The result clearly illustrates that oil price decreases affects most of the macroeconomic indicators than increases. Specifically, oil price decrease affects trade balance, inflation, government revenue and exchange rate. The implications are that oil price decreases affects macroeconomic activity in Nigeria than increases as most of the variables except inflation did not respond to increases. Based on the findings it was recommended that a relaxation of monetary policy during an oil price fluctuation era as the government has already through the central bank adopted a inflation targeting policy in order to protect the economy from possible outcome of a full blown stagflation among others.

Gentamicin nephrotoxicity: Animal experimental correlate with human pharmacovigilance outcome.

National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which is responsible for pharmacovigilance activity in Nigeria, recently withdrew injection gentamicin 280 mg, used in the management of life-threatening and multidrug-resistant infections from circulation, due to reported toxicity. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the toxicity profile of the commonly used strengths (80 mg and 280 mg) of gentamicin on kidney using animal models. Animals were divided into five groups of 16 rats each. For rats of groups 1 and 2, gentamicin (1.14 mg/kg each group) was administered intramuscularly twice daily for 7 and 14 days, respectively, after which eight of them were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Blood was collected via cardiac puncture and the kidneys were carefully removed and weighed immediately. The remaining eight animals were kept for reversibility study for another 7 and 14 days, respectively. For groups 3 and 4, gentamicin (4 mg/kg each group) was administered as a single daily dose for 7 and 14 days, respectively, and eight animals from the groups were subjected to reversibility study for 7 and 14 days, respectively. Group 5, the control group animals, were given 10 ml/kg distilled water for 14 days. Histopathology of the kidneys, serum creatinine levels, and antioxidant enzyme activities were investigated. Significant increase (p ≤ 0.001) in the level of creatinine of rats administered 4.0 mg/kg for 14 days was observed compared with all other groups. Significant (p ≤ 0.001) elevations in the lipid peroxidation in all gentamicin-administered animals and acute tubular necrosis in most of the gentamicin-administered animals were observed. Toxicity profile of gentamicin on the kidneys is dependent on both dose and duration of administration. The findings justify the decision made by NAFDAC to ban the use of high-dose inj. gentamicin 280 mg in Nigeria.

Perception of built environmental factors and physical activity among adolescents in Nigeria.

BackgroundUnderstanding environmental factors related to adolescents’ physical activity can inform intervention for obesity control and prevention, but virtually no study has been conducted in the African region, where adolescents’ physical inactivity and chronic diseases rates are rising. This study assessed associations between perceived built environmental variables and adolescents’ physical activity (active transportation to school and leisure-time moderate-to- vigorous physical activity), and the moderating effects of neighborhood-level income on association between environmental variables and physical activity among Nigerian boys and girls.MethodsParticipants were 1006 adolescents (12–19 years, 50.4% girls) randomly selected from 11 secondary schools in Maiduguri city, Nigeria. Physical activity and perceptions of environmental characteristics were assessed by validated self-report questionnaires. Separate gender-based, hierarchical multiple moderated linear regression analyses were used to examine the direct associations between the environmental perceptions and physical activity variables (active transportation and leisure-time MVPA; dependent variables), as well as the moderating effects of neighborhood-level income.ResultsOnly in boys were direct associations and interaction effect of neighborhood-level income found. Access to destinations was positively associated with active transportation to school (β = 0.18; CI = 0.67, 2.24); while residential density (β = 0.10; CI = 0.01, 1.74) and availability/quality of infrastructures (β = 0.14; CI = 0.49, 2.68) were positively associated with leisure-time MVPA. Also, neighborhood-level income moderated the association between perceived safety and leisure-time MVPA, with more perceived safety related to less MVPA (β = -0.16; CI = -0.01, -0.70) in boys living in high SES neighborhood but marginally related to more MVPA (β = 0.11; CI = -0.04, 2.88, p = 0.06) in boys living in low SES neighborhood.ConclusionsFew environmental attributes were associated with adolescents’ physical activity in Nigeria. Future studies are needed to determine the multidimensional correlates of physical activity that may be relevant for both adolescents’ boys and girls in Nigeria.

Application of Software for the Prediction of Heat Loss in Outdoor Condition during Physical Activity in Nigeria

Application of Software for the Prediction of Heat Loss in Outdoor Condition during Physical Activity in Nigeria

The Venturesome Poor and Entrepreneurial Activity in Nigeria

Based on a cross-sectional study using a data set of 77,400 households in 37 regions of Nigeria, the authors examine how the ability of the poor to use information and communication technology-based products (their ‘venturesomeness’) influences the location of entrepreneurial firms in urban and rural regions. They investigate in particular the role of human capital in mediating the relationship between such venturesome consumption and the location of entrepreneurial firms. They test three sets of hypotheses to examine this relationship using multiple regression analyses, bivariate correlations and t-tests. The authors find that the use of information and communication technology by both the urban and rural poor is significantly linked to the location of entrepreneurial firms. While human capital mediates this relationship with regard to the poor in urban areas, the same is not the case for the rural poor. Implications are drawn for theory, practice and policy.

Macroeconomic Impact of Oil Price Levels and Volatility in Nigeria

This study investigates the time-series relationship on the impact of oil price volatility on macroeconomic activity in Nigeria using exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH), impulse response function and lag-augmented VAR (LA-VAR) models. We found evidence that there is a unidirectional relationship exists between the interest rate, exchange rate and oil prices, with the direction from oil prices to both exchange rate and the interest rate. However, a significant relationship between oil prices and real GDP was not found. Our results suggest a potentially important role for energy prices in future research on exchange rate modelling.

Prevalence of physical activity among adults in a metropolitan Nigerian city: a cross-sectional study.

BackgroundBaseline information on physical activity is relevant to controlling the epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases occurring in many African countries. However, standardized data on physical activity are lacking in Nigeria. We assessed the prevalence of physical activity and its relationships with sociodemographic characteristics in a subnational sample of Nigerian adults.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among a representative sample of 934 adults (age, 20–82 years) living in metropolitan Maiduguri, Nigeria. Physical activity was measured using the validated Nigerian version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Hausa IPAQ-SF). Using the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline, participants were classified as sufficiently active or insufficiently active. Sociodemographic correlates of sufficient physical activity were identified using multinomial logistic regression.ResultsOverall, 68.6% of Nigerian adults were sufficiently active. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in prevalence of physical activity between men (68.0%) and women (69.3%), but physical activity tended to decrease with increasing age category, especially among men. Physical activity prevalence was positively associated with being married (OR = 1.52, CI = 1.04–4.37) and blue collar work (OR = 2.19, CI = 1.16–4.12) and negatively associated with car ownership (OR = 0.38, CI = 0.17–0.86) and higher income (OR = 0.54, CI = 0.10–0.95).ConclusionsThe prevalence of physical activity varied between sociodemographic subgroups of Nigerian adults; thus, public health policies and interventions based on ecologic models of health behaviors may be warranted in promoting physical activity in Nigeria.

Stock Market Development and Growth in Nigeria : A Causal Analysis

The study examines the long run and causal relationship between both stock market development and economic growth in Nigeria using annual data from 1980-2010. Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and Cointegration technique of analysis were employed to analyze the data and draw policy inferences. The study found that stock market development as well as banking activity was cointegrated with economic growth in Nigeria. That is, there is a long run relationship among these variables in Nigeria. The result from VECM showed that economic growth granger causes both stock market development and banking activity in Nigeria. The study therefore, strongly recommends that policy makers should lay emphasis on the economic growth through the appropriate regulatory and macroeconomic policies to remove all constraints to the acceleration of the sustainability of economic growth and development in Nigeria.

Adaptation, Test-Retest Reliability, and Construct Validity of the Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale in Nigeria (PANES-N)

This study adapted the Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES) to the Nigerian context and assessed the test-retest reliability and construct validity of the Nigerian version (PANESN). A multidisciplinary panel of experts adapted the original PANES to reflect the built and social environment of Nigeria. The adapted PANES was subjected to cognitive testing and test retest reliability in a diverse sample of Nigerian adults (N = 132) from different neighborhood types. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) was used to assess test-retest reliability, and construct validity was investigated with Analysis of Covariance for differences in environmental attributes between neighborhoods. Four of the 17 items on the original PANES were significantly modified, 3 were removed and 2 new items were incorporated into the final version of adapted PANES-N. Test-retest reliability was substantial to almost perfect (ICC = 0.62-1.00) for all items on the PANES-N, and residents of neighborhoods in the inner city reported higher residential density, land use mix and safety, but lower pedestrian facilities and aesthetics than did residents of government reserved area/new layout neighborhoods. The PANES-N appears promising for assessing environmental perceptions related to physical activity in Nigeria, but further testing is required to assess its applicability across Africa.

Linear and asymmetric impacts of oil price shocks in an oil‐importing and ‐exporting economy: the case of Nigeria

AbstractGiven its economic structure, high‐energy intensity and its simultaneity as an oil‐importing and ‐exporting economy, Nigeria stands out as a special case to study the oil price–macroeconomy relation. By using a structural vector autoregressive model with 10 theoretically derived structural factorizations, this paper studies the linear and asymmetric impacts of oil price shocks on the Nigerian economy, focusing on the supply side effects, wealth transfer effects, inflation effects and real balance effects of oil price shocks between the period 1970Q1 and 2008Q4. Overall, the results show that oil price shocks have asymmetric impacts in one direction (positive) on the Nigerian economy and are not a major determinant of macroeconomic activity in Nigeria. Using Granger causality analysis, the paper also investigates the short‐run impacts of oil price shocks on the Nigerian economy. The results showed that depending on the measurement of oil price shock used, it only Granger‐caused output and inflation in the short run. This revealed that though Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil, domestic macroeconomic trends do not significantly influence the dynamics of global oil markets, i.e. oil prices are strictly exogenous to the Nigerian economy. These insights have inspired us to recommend that the common practise of national development planning, premised on forecasts of anticipated oil prices should be de‐emphasized in Nigeria.

Pharmacovigilance amongst Patent Medicine Vendors (PMVs) in Ekiti state, Nigeria

With the current population of Nigeria and the limited number of trained health care providers, PMVs are inevitable and highly needed especially in the rural areas for the supply of drugs in treating minor illnesses. Thus, pharmacovigilance (PVG) activity in Nigeria cannot exclude the roles of PMVs; therefore, this study was aimed to determine the knowledge of PMVs on PVG and adverse drug reaction reporting system. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey of the knowledge of Pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting system of 96 PMVs in Ekiti state, Nigeria before the National Pharmacovigilance training in February, 2011 and after the training. The data obtained before the training showed that more than 87% of the respondents had at least secondary level of education. About half of the respondents (58.5%) knew the correct meaning of PVG and 56.6% knew how to report ADRs. But only about one third of them (35.8%) knew where to obtain ADR forms. Very few respondents 3 (5.7%) had received report/complaints of ADR from patients in the last 1 month while just 2 (3.8%) of them reported. The most commonly mentioned factors/reasons for poor reporting of ADRs/compliance with PVG guideline by the respondents were fears of indictment (61.3%), poor public knowledge (88.7%), and poor training on PMVs (92.5%). However, the results after the training showed a statistically significant (p ≤ 0.005) improvement in the proportion of respondents who were aware of PVG (from 55.8% to 89.1%), those who knew the meaning of PVG (from 49.0% to 61.7%), where to obtain ADR form (28.3% to 92.1%) and those who knew how to report ADRs (44.2% to 88.0%). PMVs are ready to practice PVG if they are properly trained. Training has been revealed to play a significant role in the knowledge of the concept of PVG amongst PMVs. It is therefore recommended that National Pharmacovigilance Centre should continue to organize periodic trainings for PMVs especially those with poor knowledge on PVG.

Book: Academics, Epidemics, Politics by Idris Mohammed

Book: <i>Academics, Epidemics, Politics</i> by Idris Mohammed

Structural Adjustment And The Stability Of The Nigerian Money Demand Function

This paper uses cointegration vector error correction analysis to test the stability of the demand for real broad money (M2) in Nigeria over the quarterly period 1986:1 to 2001:4 in order to ascertain whether recent macroeconomic developments such as the implementation of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) in 1986; the liberalization of the exchange rate, domestic interest rate, and capital accounts; financial deepening and innovations; changes in monetary policy regimes; and increased integration of the economy with the rest of the world may have caused the real broad money demand function to become structurally unstable. Our empirical results indicate that there exists a long-run relationship between the real broad money aggregate, real income, inflation rate, domestic interest rate, foreign interest rate, and expected exchange rate. Furthermore, both the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests confirm the stability of the short- and long run parameters of the real money demand function. The stability of the parameters of the money demand equation provides the justification for the monetary authority to target the broad money supply in its bid to manage inflation and stimulate economic activity in Nigeria.

Oil price shocks and the macroeconomy of Nigeria: a non-linear approach

This paper assesses, empirically, the effects of oil price shocks on the real macroeconomic activity in Nigeria using both the Granger causality tests and multivariate VAR analysis. The study finds evidence of both linear and non-linear impact of oil price shocks on real GDP. In particular, asymmetric oil price increases in the non-linear models are found to have positive impact on real GDP growth of a larger magnitude than asymmetric oil price decreases adversely affects real GDP. The non-linear estimation records significant improvement over the linear estimation and the one reported earlier by Aliyu (2009). Further, utilising the Wald and the Granger multivariate and bivariate causality tests, results from the latter indicate that linear oil price change and all the other oil price transformations are significant for the system as a whole. The Wald test indicates that the oil price coefficients in linear and asymmetric specifications are statistically significant.

Business environment and entrepreneurial activity in Nigeria: implications for industrial development

Commonsense suggests, and academic studies agree, that an ameliorative business environment enables entrepreneurial activity and boosts enterprise performance. This paper examines the business environment in southeast Nigeria, using two separate but complementary studies. Defined in terms of infrastructure, access to credit, bureaucratic practices and regulatory policy, the business environment in southeast Nigeria is stressful, and so has the capacity to limit entrepreneurial activity. This stressful business environment, which is a nationwide phenomenon, poses obstacles to Nigeria's industrial development.

Empirical Characteristics of Money in Nigeria

There is a marked tendency to treat outside money, inside money and quasi money alike as if they can be explained by the transactions money demand function in extant empirical studies of money demand in Nigeria. This paper examines the appropriateness or otherwise of applying the transactions demand framework across the aggregates available for Nigeria. The five aggregates that have been modeled in extant literature are currency outside banks (COB), demand deposits (DD), narrow money (M1=COB+DD), Quasi Money (QM), and Broad Money (M2), which is the sum of M1 and QM. A sixth aggregate that has not been modeled is the monetary base (MB). The objective is to classify the six aggregates into those that can rightfully be modeled within the transactions' demand framework and those that are more likely to be appropriately modeled within rival approaches such as the Granger-causality or the money multiplier frameworks. We found that while the relationship between inside money (demand deposits) and real activity in Nigeria can be captured by transactions' demand function, outside money aggregates like currency outside bank (COB) and monetary base (MB) are not determined by real activity and interest rates in Nigeria. The significant differences in the relations of outside and inside money aggregates to real activity in Nigeria is that inside money is endogenous to changes in real activity and interest rates, while outside money is not. While the two components of narrow money are related to real economic activity in qualitatively and quantitatively different ways, demand deposits seem to dominate currency outside banks once both are added to define M1. Quasi-money could not be explained by a transactions demand function. Broad money (M2) could similarly not be explained by a transactions demand function.

Information Content of Interest Rates Spreads in Nigeria

This paper extends the largely OECD-based research on the predictive content of the yield curve for future economic activity to the Nigerian context. Measured simply as the difference between the 14-year Federal Government Development stock rate and the 3-month Treasury bill rate, the slope is used to predict future growth in both total and disaggregated measures of real output and real expenditure. We find that the term-structure spread does predict real activity in Nigeria quite well. The in-sample predictive power of the spread is comparable to that found for OECD economies. The spread contains strong and reliable information on real economic activity growth from three to eight quarters ahead. It outperforms other available predictors over this horizon, but has little or no predictive power beyond two years. The spread contains relatively more information on future demand growth than on future output growth in Nigeria. The demand side sub-aggregate for which the spread has the highest information content is gross domestic investment. In fact the slope is quite weak in explaining private consumption or government consumption in the in-sample tests. The spread however contains considerable exclusive information only on consumer spending in Nigeria. Interestingly, out-of-sample forecast results also suggested that the information content of the spread is confined to consumption growth. Further tests for the transmission mechanism confirm that the explanatory power of the spread for future real activity stem entirely from the demand side of the economy. The information contained in the slope for future real output growth is still high in absolute terms, being only relatively lower than demand side. Manufacturing activity is the supply-side aggregate for which the spread has the highest information content. Since both investment demand and manufacturing output are more closely associated with the business sector in Nigeria, the information contained in the slope probably reflects business sectors' (investors') expectations of future activity or 'business confidence'. The spread however has absolutely no predictive content for real activity in the period before 1985. Its information content appears confined to the post liberalization/structural adjustment period when interest rates reflected relative scarcity of funds, exchange rate and goods prices were fully liberalized, and the macro-economy entered a turbulent phase. Finally, we note a number of reasons why the practical usefulness of the slope of the yield curve for policy purposes will vary over time. The slope of the yield curve will be of practical value to the central bank only when it is used in combination with information available on other key variables in the economy at any given point in time. It is only in this way that the slope can be a very strong indicator of the best courses of action, even when the slope itself cannot be used as a policy instrument or an intermediate target.

Transmission of human herpesvirus 8 by sexual activity among adults in Lagos, Nigeria.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is common in Africa, but prevalence varies geographically. Studies in Europe and America suggest spread through homosexual contact, but evidence of heterosexual spread is inconsistent. We examined the association between HHV-8 and markers of risky sexual activity in Nigeria. The study subjects included an adult referent population at relatively low risk of HIV infection, patients attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic, and female commercial sex workers (CSW). Sera were collected between 1991 and 1994 to study the epidemiology of retroviruses and STD in Lagos, Nigeria. Residual samples were tested for HHV-8 antibodies using a K8.1 enzyme immunoassay and for antibodies to syphilis, chancroid, herpes simplex virus 2, HIV-1/2, and HTLV-1. Associations were sought using chi square tests and logistic regression. Overall, HHV-8 prevalence was 26.5% in 2002 study subjects, being higher among CSW and STD patients (31% in each) than in the referent population (19%). HHV-8 prevalence in women was approximately half that in men in both the referent and the STD populations. Increasing age and STD were each associated with HHV-8-seropositivity in men and women, and among women being a CSW was also a risk factor. HHV-8 antibodies were more frequently detected in those with laboratory evidence of STD in each group. Having at least one STD was associated with having HHV-8 antibodies. The higher prevalence of HHV-8 antibody in groups with multiple sexual partners and the association with STD among individuals both support the sexual transmission of HHV-8 in African adults.

Children's influence on household economic activity in Nigeria.

This study estimates the effects of children's economic contributions on parents' allocation of time for income-earning activities, care of preschool children, non-income home production, and leisure activities in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Fathers spent 65% of work time, mothers 20%, and children 15% during the assessment of family time allocation and income contribution. Demographic factors affecting the parents' time for the children include age of parents, age and sex of children and the number of other people living in the household. Economic factors affecting parents' time allocation include education, house value, wealth, and combined income of parents. Major observations noted were the following: 1) children contribute non-negligible amounts of income and time to their families' income-earning activities; 2) they play important roles in non-income home production and child care activities; 3) their presence has a considerable influence on their parent's allocation of time; 4) children appear to stimulate fathers to work longer hours at the expense of leisure; 5) young children reduce mothers' time in income-earning activities and leisure time; 6) older male children substitute for mothers' shorter work time; 7) older female children substitute for mothers' lesser home production time; and 8) older children of both sexes appear to increase mothers' leisure time.