NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR: THE BIAFRAN INVASION OF MIDWEST AND INTER-GROUP RELATIONS IN THE REGION

Peaceful coexistence is a major challenge in a multi-ethnic region like the Midwest. After the creation of the region in 1963, ethnic distrust dominated the region's body politics. The Biafran invasion of Midwest remained one invent that heightened ethnic distrust in the region. Although, scholars have examined the invasion, the need to re-examine it arises from the fact that the event made ethnic antagonism among the groups in the region more intense than ever before. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines the Biafran invasion of Midwest and its implications on inter-group relations in the region. Relying on primary and secondary sources, the paper is of the opinion that the intense group antagonism and suspicion emanated from the fact that the Biafran incursion into Midwest caused division among the groups in the region. The groups that were loyal to the Nigerian Government opposed the groups that supported Biafra. The paper further argues that the ethnic tension was also as a result of the assumption by the non-Igbo groups in the region that Biafrans were in the region to promote the interest of the Igbo groups.

Determining the Factors of Profitability in Islamic and Conventional Banks of Pakistan

Banks plays vital role in capitalist economy. During the period of financial turmoil, it has been viewed that banks lost a huge capital due to non-recovery of loans from customers. Since there are two type of banks working in Pakistan therefore this thesis analyse which banks performance was better during the financial crunch. The objective of this thesis is to determine the factor affecting the profitability of Islamic and Conventional banks in Pakistan during the period 2008 — 2012. Data was collected through financial books of seventeen conventional and five Islamic banks. Two dependent variables i.e. Return on Asset and Return on Equity were used to determine the profitability of Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan. Whereas Liquidity, Credit Risk, Capitalization, Efficiency, Bank Size, Economic Performance, Inflation and a dummy variable were used as Independent variables. Panel Data analysis is used to find out the result of secondary data. Initially the analysis was conducted on whole industry, which then applied on Islamic and Conventional banks separately. The results shows mixed trend for whole industry as well as separately. Liquidity is insignificant in the industry whereas the same result was obtained in separate analysis of Islamic and Conventional banks. Credit risk is significant and negatively correlated for whole industry as well as for separate banking segment i.e. Islamic and Conventional. Capitalization is significant in industry with ROE but showing a direct relationship. Same result is shown in Islamic and Conventional Banking Industry. However, it is also significant with ROA in Conventional banks showing an inverse relation. Efficiency is positively correlated and significant with ROA and ROE in industry and Islamic banks, whereas it is insignificant with ROE in conventional banks. Bank size shows same result for all analysis i.e. positive correlation and significance. The results of inflation and GDP are significant for conventional banks but having an inverse relation. Whereas GDP showing insignificant results in Islamic banks. While inflation is, significant but positively correlated with ROA. The results depicts that certain factor plays different role while determining the profitability of banks during certain conditions and type of banks. A same factor may be beneficial for conventional banks in certain time period whereas the same may be impacting negatively due to change of circumstances.