Socialscientia: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

Effect of Financial Leverage on Corporate Performance of Pharmaceutical Industries in Nigeria

2024-04-20T09:02:19+00:00

The study sought to examine the effect of financial leverage on firm performance in pharmaceutical industries and also determine the relationship and effects among the identified variable using firm performance as dependent variable while forms debt ratio, total debt to total asset, debt to asset ratio, long term debt ratio, liquidity as independent variables. Five research questions and five hypotheses were developed for the study. Ex-post factor research design was considered appropriate for the study together with the study of six years’ annual financial report of the listed pharmaceutical companies (2018-2023). Pearson moment correlation was adopted for data analysis, and the analysis revealed that Debt ratio has significant effect on performance of pharmaceutical firms in Nigeria, the result of the analysis also include that Total debt to total asset has significant effect on performance of pharmaceutical firms in Nigeria, among other. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Debt ratio should be increased steadily to sustain firm's value and investment in the organization because an increase in debt ratio is directly proportional to the robust performance of pharmaceutical firms in Nigeria. Among the findings are; Firms should be familiar with the timing of total debt to total asset to run with the number of times that is better and favourable to total debt to total asset to investors, Financial leverage pattern that is not properly checked will invariably hamper the performance of a firm, Debt to asset ratio increases the probability of a dividend cut rather than adjusting payouts the concept of leverage is used by both investors and companies. Among others.

Talcott Parsons’ Theory of Social Action and the Dialectics of Civil Disorder in Nigeria

2024-04-20T09:31:05+00:00

The dynamics of social action and various shades of civil action and disorder arising from the nature and character of the variety of the social forces and groups in Nigeria has remained a recurring feature of the Nigerian state. Many of these social action and civil disorder dates back to the early days of British colonization and founding of the Nigerian state and has continued unabated to the present day. In many cases, the dominant class of the state have strategically placed their surrogates to condemn these civil actions. This study investigated the intersection of Talcott Parsons’ theory of social action and the preponderance of such civil disorder in Nigeria. It interrogated how Talcott Parsons’ principle of purposive action of individuals is critical in explaining the rise and expansion of civil disorder in Nigeria which extant literatures have not sufficiently analyzed. The study was anchored on the Liberal paradigm and specifically on structural-functional theory. Broadly, the study was anchored on qualitative research design but specifically we adopted explanatory research design. It relied on the documentary method of data collection, and on qualitative type of data while the secondary sources of data generation was used. The general analytic tool was adopted for the presentation and analysis of data generated for the study. Thus, logic based on Parsons’ theoretical postulations formed the basis for concluding that man is motivated by rational considerations of his wants and the situation which affects their fulfillment. If attention is merely paid to the social action (symptoms), it will provide the most superficial and temporary relief as the underlying reason for the social action and the expansion of civil disorder itself will still be left unaddressed. Accordingly, this study recommended that logical acts of disputation must be engaged to address systemic injustices to keep the continuous corporate existence of the Nigerian State paramount.

The Use of Instructional Materials for Effective Academic Delivery in Nigeria.

2024-04-20T09:25:35+00:00

This paper presents the ability of a learner to apply whatever he is taught to his everyday life as an indicator of effective academic delivery on the part of the teacher and comprehension on the part of the learner. It emphasizes the fact that appropriate use of instructional materials is central to effective academic delivery. It equally stresses that improvisation and display are central to the use of instructional materials in the teaching and learning process. It concludes by highlighting the need for all stakeholders in the education system to join hands in the promotion of academic delivery. Recommendations are also given as to how to improve academic delivery regarding instructional materials.

The Nigerian Fourth Republic, Federalism and Party Aggregation

2024-04-20T09:12:24+00:00

The explanation for the number of effective parties in a political system is not primarily the institutional or ideological factors but rather the location of power in the federal system - centralized federalism builds up centralized national parties. Using Chhibber and Kollman's postulation, this paper argues that Nigeria's military-bequeathed centralized federalism is a significant factor leading to two dominant national parties, the PDP and the APC, and pushing other parties to emerge as a third force (the L.P.). The increased regional power in the First Republic encouraged forming regional ruling parties and minor parties with limited viability within the federating units. The force to aggregate at the centre became tremendous as power consistently shifted to the federal government. The miniaturization of the federating states enhanced the central government's power and political parties' appetite to control it. This heralded the birth of national parties or what can be referred to as dominant parties. As a means of capturing power at the centre, what emerged recently are 'umbrella' and 'bounded broom' parties representing groups and interests whose primary goal is to control the centre.

Global Politics and the Dynamics of Nigerian Foreign Policy

2024-04-20T09:07:18+00:00

Various regimes since the 1999 return to democracy have tried to thinker or restructure Nigeria's foreign policy guiding principles, necessitating the fears that Africa may no longer be the centerpiece of the nation's foreign policy. This paper argues that Nigeria's foreign policy review is imperative mainly because of four interlocking realities: globalization, the end of the Cold War, the decolonization of the African continent, the end of white minority rule in South Africa and the weak security and economic realities at home. The changes in the Nigerian foreign policy guiding principles are not necessarily a departure from the country's traditional foreign-relations approach; however, while maintaining her Afrocentric strand, Nigerian foreign policy refocuses on Nigeria's interest first. The moves entail that while Africa remains the centrepiece of Nigeria's economic and foreign policy, things will be geared towards protecting a clear vision of national interests, unlike the former 'big brother' approach.

Armed Banditry and National Security in Nigeria

2024-04-20T08:58:04+00:00

The North-West, an area of 216,065sq of the country’s total land mass with projected population of over 50 million people who are predominantly farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, is today ravaged by unabated menace of armed bandits and criminal gangs. In reference to this unpleasant situation, this paper examined extensively the dynamics and trends of armed banditry in the North-West region as a potential threat to national security. The methodology of the paper is qualitative design which illuminate the import of documentary sources of data collection (with emphasis on reports of international agencies, texts, articles, official bulletins), and non-participant observation of media coverage of events to textual-analyze the underlying issues and fundamentals of bandit insurgency in states of North-West region. The work revealed the existence of over 10,000 thousands armed bandits operating in rural communities and forests across Zamfara, Kastina, Kaduna and Sokoto states whose peril have led to over 50,000 thousands deaths; 210, 354 thousand people internally displaced from approximate 200 towns, 34,316 hectares of farmlands rendered inaccessible or (lost to bandits) and over 300 thousand livestock stolen from 2011 to 2021 occasioned with the abduction of 1, 436 school children from January to October 2021, as government and security agencies work fanatically to stem the tide. To complement the ongoing efforts, the discourse recommends national security summit to leverage on resourceful knowledge for holistic approach, inter-agency collaboration, and synergized roles as among the fundamentals to respond more efficiently to armed banditry in the North-West.

Public Opinion and Public Policy in the Context of Nigeria

2024-04-20T09:33:26+00:00

Public opinion and public policy are reflective link between the masses and the government in democracies. This discourse examined the pertinence of public opinion in public policies from Nigeria’s context. The methodology of the study is qualitative design with emphasis on documentary and observational sources of data which were presented and content-analyzed. The findings of the discourse revealed interesting trends in the significance of strident public protest in reversing arbitrary government’s policy actions as public concerns failed to make meaningful impact in the formulation and administration of public policies in Nigeria. Based on these findings, the discourse recommends for public interactive forum for opinion expression in governance, the creation of national opinion poll survey institute, advocacy of the civil society organizations as among the fundamentals to mainstream public concerns in policy conception an administration in Nigeria.

Political Parties, Ideologies, and the Nigerian Economy

2024-04-20T09:28:43+00:00

This paper studied the evolution of ideologies, Nigerian political parties and the economic system - how the development of political parties and ideologies sustained the colonial capitalist economy and governance model. From the independence era in Nigeria (the 1960s) to the current Fourth Republic (1999- ), the ideological transformation of political parties has reinforced the capitalist economy. The argument is that an intimate relationship exists between the developments of Nigerian parties’ ideologies and the Nigerian economic system. Ideology is one of the determinants of the economic system, a driving force in the government's economic policy-making. Therefore, the nature and ideologies of parties in power shape the country's economic system. The political parties that have been in power in Nigeria since its inception have helped maintain the status quo - improving the colonial capitalist economy and governance model.

Multilevel Participation and Dynamics of Community Project Initiative in Nigeria

2024-04-20T09:14:02+00:00

This paper explores “Multilevel Participation and Dynamics of Community Project Initiative in Nigeria: A Study in Fourth-Tier Development and Governance, in Anambra State 2016-2021.” Community development, devolution of power and decentralization of decision-making and governance have become crucial worldwide due to the rise in government activities, population growth, and development needs. No doubt in Nigeria, the three tiered system of government has become inadequate due to population and increased government activities. The top-down development model preferred by the government in Nigeria have rather aided disjointed and total absence of development in rural communities. This gives rise for the need to study bottom-up development model that suit the African history of small autonomous nationalities to galvanized development. This paper, therefore, explore the roles(s} of various government, and nongovernment actors in the development governance of projects, and to what extant their involvement has impacted the success of local initiatives in Anambra state. The study is primarily a qualitative one and adopts explanatory research design. Data was generated from secondary sources. The secondary data was complemented with key informant interview (KII) while the secondary data were sourced from books, government publications and other relevant document. The bulk of data generated was analyzed through textual method of data analysis. Using the Public Choice theory, the study argues that the Project though a bottom-top developmental model could not achieve much community development due to combination of factors. These includes but not limited to lack of law to recognize communities as a tier or arm of government that should spelt out functions of the PGs and traditional leaders of the communities. The result further shows that the people were not substantially involved in the decision-making at the grass-root and that there were pervasive corruption and looting of common wealth by staketakers (stakeholders) of the communities and party members among others.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) as an Effective Strategy for Improving Teachers’ Professional Practice

2024-04-20T09:09:32+00:00

This paper examined the need to improve teachers’ professional practice through instituting Professional Learning Communities (PLC). This is done in consideration of the downward trends in the academic performance of students over the years which may be related to the teacher factor. A teachers’ PLC comprises a group of individuals whose primary focus is to continuously work together for better performance in their duties as educators, with a resultant improvement and or betterment of the learners. The meaning of PLCs, issues involved in the setting up of PLCs, roles of stakeholders in a PLC, educational benefits of PLCs, and implications to educational planning are considered. The paper strongly recommends the formation of teachers' PLCs as a means of empowering teachers or boosting their performance toward the improvement of students' achievement.