Performance evaluation and indices of cyber cafe business: a factor analytic approach

The advent of the World Wide Web has opened up a new vista of opportunities for investment in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. In recent years, the cyber café business has attracted considerable investment, providing job opportunities for many people. On the other hand, it has also been observed that some hitherto vibrant cyber cafes are also closing down due to the fact that they could not break even. This study, is therefore, aimed at identifying the factors/indices that could enhance the performance of cyber cafes. A total of 250 users of cyber cafes in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria were randomly selected and a structured questionnaire was administered on them. Data collected was analysed using factor analysis by principal component. The result revealed that four factors, namely quality of hardware, speed of processing, cost, and reliability of service are the major factors that influence users’ patronage. It is therefore recommended that investors and would-be-investors in the cyber cafe business should pay attention to these facors in order to enhance the success of their investment

The role of women in marketing of frozen fish in Lagos State of Nigeria

The involvement of women in the marketing of frozen fish in Lagos State (Nigeria) was examined in this study. Two hundred questionnaires were administered to fish marketers in five markets randomly selected within the Lagos metropolis based on their storage capacities. These markets were Balogun (500 tones), Idumagbo and Idumota (250 tonnes each) Obalende and Epetedo (37.5 tonnes each). From the study results, a greater percentage of women (64.2%) are actively involved in marketing of frozen fish in the study areas. Over 56% of these traders are retailers while about 33% are wholesalers. More than 91% of the marketers were found to be literate. A high percentage of the frozen fish are imported (68%), 27% from coastal fishing and 5% from riverine fishing. The commonest fish in the markets were titus (34%), sardine (32%), hake 19%, catfish 10% and argentine 5%. Catfish has the highest profit margin. The greatest problem of these traders is the lack of modern storage facilities and where available, the erratic power supply constitutes a proble

An Evaluation of Foreign Exchange Intervention and Monetary Aggregates in Nigeria (1986- 2003)

The paper investigates the impact of foreign exchange intervention in the Nigerian foreign exchange market using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modeling approach. Quarterly time series data spanning 1986:1 to 2003:4 are used and a number of statistical tools are employed to verify this hypothesis. The study examines stochastic characteristics of each time series by testing their stationarity using Phillip Perron (PP) test. This is followed by performing cointegration test using Johansen technique. The existence of co-integration motivates us to estimate the error correction model for broad money, M2. The overall finding from all the techniques employed is that foreign exchange intervention in Nigeria is sterilized because the cumulative aid, which constitute part of foreign exchange inflows, and net foreign assets variables, which are proxies for intervention, are not significant. Thus, paper concludes by recommending, among others, that the use of stock of external reserves to support the exchange rate through increased funding of the foreign exchange market should be encouraged.Nigeria; Foreign Exchange Intervention; Co-integration and Auto-regressive Distributed Lag

Analyzing Child Mortality in Nigeria with Geoadditive Survival Models

Child mortality reflects a country's level of socio-economic development and quality of life. In developing countries, mortality rates are not only influenced by socio-economic, demographic and health variables but they also vary considerably across regions and districts. In this paper, we analyze child mortality in Nigeria with flexible geoadditive survival models. This class of models allows to measure small-area district-specific spatial effects simultaneously with possibly nonlinear or time-varying effects of other factors. Inference is fully Bayesian and uses recent Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation. The application is based on the 1999 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Our method assesses effects at a high level of temporal and spatial resolution not available with traditional parametric models

DETERMINANTS OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS' COMPLIANCE WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The management of health and safety issues is very significant in the construction industry in South Africa in terms of accident rates and cost to contractors. The costs arise from both the cost of compliance with regulations and the cost of accidents and injuries. In spite of the fact that available evidence shows that construction-related accidents and injuries are on the increase in South Africa, many designers and contractors regard the cost of complying with regulations as unnecessary additional financial burdens. It is against this background that this study investigated the statutory regulations relating to health and safety in construction in South Africa and the level of compliance with the regulations and motivation for compliance by contractors. Data obtained from contractors in a questionnaire survey the Western Cape Province of South Africa were analysed using percentage scores and mean score analysis with the aid of the SPSS software. Although the validity of the findings is limited by sample size used in the survey, it is hoped that the findings will provide empirical basis for a more inclusive survey of H&S in the construction industry in South Africa. Keywords: health and safety, regulations, enforcement & compliance, construction industry, South Africa

Comparative study on the catch efficiency and size selection of entangling nets in Lake Kainji, Nigeria

The relative catch performance and selectively of gillnets and trammel nets were investigated in 12 sampling stations in Lake Kainji, Nigeria. 3 types of nets with dimensions 50mx3m were constructed using 76mm and 178mm meshsizes for two gillnets, 76mm and 178mm meshsizes for the lint and ar mour nets of the trammelnets respectively. All the nets were randomly ganged together to form a fleet of nine nets each, and were set twice in each of the 12 stations which gave a total of 24 fishing operations. A total of 365 fish weighing 88.9kg and belonging to 16 different species were caught in all the nets. The trammelnet had the highest catch by number and weight constituting 60% and 69.22% of the total catch and weight respectively with a relative species Diversity Index of 0.82. This was followed by 76mm gillnet which constituted 38.63% by number, 28.09% by weight, 0.69 relative Species Diversity Index. The 178mm gillnet had the least catch of 1.37% and 2.9% by number and weight respectively with 0.25 relative Species Diversity Index. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the number and weight of fish caught in the different nets. The minimum selection length for these species caught were the same for each net. The trammel net had a wider selection range that skewed to the right, a higher modal and median length indicating larger individual species being entangled in the ne

Evaluation of the body burdens of heavy metals in five commercially important fishes from different locations in Kainji Lake

The level and distribution of some heavy metals viz Cadmium, Lead, Copper Zinc, and Cobalt in five commercially important fishes, water and sediments at three different locations in Kainj Lake were determined using standard methods. The results show that the ranges of heavy metals mu g/g in fishes in Dam site Laotian are: Cd (0.05~c0.01-20~c01), (Pb(ND-1.12 plus or minus )1), Cu (0.81~c25-2.93~c06), Zn (20.89 arrow right .15-36.78~c2.97), Co(0.08~c01-0.27~c02); in cover Dam, the ranges are Cd (0.04~c02-0.16~c0.2), Pb (nd-02~c01), Cu(0.75~c05-2.61~c13), Zn(15.70~c1.55-32.23~c2.70), Co(0.04~c02-0.25~c0.01) and in Yuna they are Cd (0.05~c01-0.14~c02), Pb (nd-0.32~c01), Cu (0.23~c07-2.70~c05), Zn(15.50 plus or minus `.35-25.62~c2.47), Co(0.07~c02-23~c0.01). The metals concentration (mg/l) in the water sample from Dam site, cover dam and Yuna respectively are Cd(0.007~c001,. 004~c001 and 0.005~001), Pb(013~c001, ND and ND), Cu(.055~c008.030~c007, 05 plus or minus .010), Zn(0.13~c01, 0.060 plus or minus .0055) and Co (.026 plus or minus .022 plus or minus .004, .024 plus or minus .004), while the metals concentration ( mu g/g) in sediments sample from Dam site, cover dam and Yuna are respectively Cd(.05 plus or minus .01, .02 plus or minus .01), Pb(16.00~c1.00, ND and 9.33~c1.01), Cu(24.00~c1.34, 4.26 plus or minus .91 and 11.08~c1.32), Zn(42.00~c1.00, 35~c10 and 38.00 plus or minus .45), Co(15.00~c1.17, 8.69~c1.21 and 10.91~c44). The concentrations of the tested heavy metals are within the acceptable standards of WHO (1987a