Articles

Political Turbulence and its Impact on Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in some selected African countries

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This work examined the political turbulence and its impact on Foreign Direct Investment inflow on some selected African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The aim is to determine how the political climate in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa affects the inflow of foreign direct investment. The modified Cobb Douglass model was the theoretical underpinning of the study since growth in FDI is likened to output and the factors that lead to growth are the investment climate variables. Using the panel ARDL model analysis, the following findings were made: Political investment climate variable (PSI) had significant positive effect on the inflow of foreign direct investment in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The result showed that Political investment climate variables (political stability and corruption index) exerted significant negative effects on the inflow of foreign direct investment into Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. It was recommended that; Efforts should be made by the governments of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa to enhance their economic fortunes by strengthening their economy through prioritizing political stability and addressing underlying causes of political unrest, corruption, weak institution and political social inequality. As well as engaging in massive production for exports which will boost economic growth and attract more foreign direct investment.

 

Perceptive Influence of Purchasing Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy from Non-regulated Firms on the Performance of Insurance Industry in Nigeria: A Customer-Based Sentiment Analysis

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This study examined Customers’ perception on the influence of purchasing motor vehicle insurance policy from non-regulated firms on the performance of insurance industry in Nigeria. Specifically, the influence of purchasing fake insurance policy and non-renewal of expired policy bought from the regulated insurance firms on the performance of insurance industry in Nigeria were accessed.  Primary data collected through the use of structured questionnaire from 92 vehicle owners in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, that were selected through convenience sampling technique, was used in the study. Sentiment analysis was applied as the method of data analysis in the study. The result of the analysis indicated a neutral sentiment level of the respondents to both the influence of purchasing fake motor vehicle insurance policy and impact of non-renewal of expired motor vehicle insurance policy bought from regulated insurance firms on the performance of insurance industry in Nigeria. These findings implied a neutral perception of the effect of purchasing motor vehicle insurance policy from non-regulated insurance firms on the performance of insurance industry in Nigeria by the motor vehicle owners. The neutral perception found explains the below expectation performance of the insurance industry in Nigeria due to poor patronage. To enhance public perception in the insurance industry in Nigeria, targeted product features and benefits awareness campaigns as well as payment of genuine claims to deepen public trust in the industry were recommended.

Determination of Physico-Chemical Parameters of St. Nicholas River, Bayelsa State, Niger Delta, Nigeria

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The Physicochemical parameters of St. Nicholas River were determined from October, 2020 to September, 2021. Three sampling stations were identified and used throughout the duration of the studies. They were Meinmokiri, Ebierewo-bugo and Egeinkiri sampling stations. The physicochemical parameters were measured in situ with Mercury in Glass Thermometer for Temperature, Hand held Digital Salinometer for  (Model AR8012) for Salinity, pH meter (Model PH-009(1)) for pH, Digital conductivity tester (Model AR8011) for Conductivity, TDS meter (Model AR8012) for Total Dissolved Solid, Digital Water Velocity meter (Model PF LV550) for Water Velocity, Secchi Disk for Transparency, Digital Depth Founder (Model SD-5) for Water Depth and Dissolved Oxygen Meter (Model OM-51-10) for Dissolved Oxygen. The mean values of the Physicochemical parameters of water at the three sampling stations are temperature; 29.98±0.550C, Dissolved Oxygen DO; 11.89±0.33mg/L, Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD; 2.06±0.26 mg/L, Salinity; 16.80±2.06 PPT, Conductivity; 27.54±3.03µS/cm, Total Dissolved Solids TDS; 9.44±0.50mg/L, pH; 7.41±0.14, Water Depth; 0.58±0.06m, Transparency; 27.27±0.03cm and Water Velocity; 54.79±5.71m3/s. These physicochemical parameters values are comparable with other water bodies in the Niger Delta indicating contaminated waters. The contamination was caused by anthropogenic activities in terms of parameters assessed, therefore mitigation should be put in place for biodiversity conservation and sustainability of the ecosystem.

Measurement of Background Ionizing Radiation in Kogi State, Nigeria

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Radiation is said to be energy that is in motion and manifests itself everywhere we look in the form of waves or particles which can either useful or dangerous. Since radiation has always existed in the environment since the earth’s origin, daily exposure to varied levels of ionizing radiation is inevitable for humans. Therefore, environmental radioactivity measurements are crucial for measuring the background radiation level caused by naturally occurring radioactive sources with terrestrial and cosmic origins because of these effects on living beings. The aim of this paper is to measure and record the background radiation of various locations evenly distributed across the twenty-one (21) local government areas of Kogi State and use the measured value to produce a reliable and easily accessible background radiation contour map for Kogi State using ArcGIS 10.3. Using a portable RDS-31 Multi-survey meter, the dose rate of background ionizing radiation (BIR) was measured in μSv/hr and the result shows that Ankpa LGA has the lowest mean readings of 0.096 μSv/hr and 0.1682 mSv/yr for the annual equivalent dose rates. Yagba East had the highest mean reading of 0.2300μSv/hr and highest annual equivalent dose rates of 0.4030mSv/yr. The result shows that eventhough the AEDE are greater than the 0.07mSv/yr global average value, however they are all below the ICRP’s recommended permitted limits of 1.00mSv/yr. This demonstrates that there are no immediate radiological health effects on the general people as a result of BIR exposure in the examined locations. It is recommended that the various human activities that raise BIR levels in the regions should be reduced and that activity concentrations of natural radionuclides and BIR levels in the state be periodically assessed.