An Assessment of the Impact of Boko Haram Insurgency onSmall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Gombe State of Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects IntroductionSince the early part of 2009, Nigerian government has been battling with insurgency caused by Boko Haram activities. Boko Haram is a religious based Nigerian Militant group that believe in extreme religious imposition of Sharia law in the northern states of Nigeria. Ideologically, the group opposes not only western education but also Western culture and modern sciences. The activities of the group have resulted to serious political instability in the affected Nigerian states. The activities of this group have led to critical questions among investors about whether their investments are safe within the affected states and the country at large. It has also threatened the survival, existence and performance of many businesses in Nigeria especially in the north-east part of the country. Their activities include killing of innocent Nigerians, raping of women, bombing of public and major private buildings, bombing of police stations, among others (Mukolu & Ogodor, 2018).The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2019) reports on the crisis within the Nigerian political environment have revealed that between 2009 to early part of 2021 more than 20,000 lives were lost due to Boko Haram militia insurgency in country. Also, in the first nine months of its operation in the early 2009, approximately 815 people were massacre in more than 275 suspected different attacks, also more than 60 police stations were destroyed within Northern states of Nigeria. The crisis within the North-east of Nigeria has resulted to many businesses operating within the area to shut down and some have even moved to other countries. The few existing ones may be operating at low capacity which may possibly lead to staff retrenchments. Thus, people in Nigeria, particularly those living within the north-east states leaves in constant fear. Therefore, one begins to wonder how people who leave within the north-east region go about their socioeconomic activities. This no doubt portent a grave danger for the growth, development and performance of SMEs within the area.SMEs are generally have been mostly refers to as the engine of economic growth and sustainable development. They are labor intensive, capital saving and capable of helping developing countries to attain development. SMEs are also considered as the key to achieving economic growth and poverty reduction. SMEs are also in a better position to boost employment, guarantee even distribution of industrial development and facilitate the growth of non-oil exports.Majority of the SMEs in Nigeria operate as family business or sole proprietorship business and are generally classified into commercial, industrial, and agricultural categories depending on their activities. The SMEDAN (2017) survey on SMEs reveals that the commercial SMEs in Nigeria constitute more than 90% of the entire number of SMEs in

IntroductionThe increased recognition of the importance of the knowledge economy in organizations has increased a lot of discussions on how to identify, quantify, and disclose intellectual capital. Intellectual Capital (IC), which complements financial and physical capital, plays a vital role in the value creation process of businesses in knowledge-based economies. Many 21 st century businesses' performance is believed to be dependent on their ability to unlock and leverage their intellectual capital in order to achieve maximum organizational advantage (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998;Keenan & Aggestam, 2001). Keenan et al (2001) were one of the first authors to identify conceptual linkages between corporate governance and intellectual capital. The authors stated that decision makers in charge of an organization's corporate governance have a fiduciary responsibility to fully exploit intellectual capital, as well as financial and physical capital.IC (human capital, structural capital and relational capital) is a significant value producer and a critical component in increasing a company's competitiveness. Firms are encouraged to provide annual IC statements in order to provide a clearer image of the company's IC base, its activities that use IC to create value, and the output of those activities to various stakeholders. The quantity of information that companies reveal about their IC is referred to as Intellectual Capital Disclosure (ICD). It can also be defined as a technique for reporting the nature of non-measurable (intangible) values in an organization. Board diversity refers to the composition of the board of directors and directors, as well as the combination of qualities, characteristics, and diverse talents of individual members of the board. The composition of the board of directors as an organ of a corporation tasked with applying corporate governance principles and enhancing creditor protection is one mechanism of corporate governance. The existence of a board of directors and directors is viewed as an internal control mechanism that allows management to maximize shareholder value by controlling selfish behaviour of the management. Board diversity is an important control tool for monitoring management choices and ensuring that a company operates efficiently for its stakeholders.Empirical evidence in Nigeria in relation to the conceptual link between board diversity and intellectual capital is limited. In addition, data periods of these studies stopped prior to the year 2010 (for example, Oba et al, 2012;Sanni & Haji, 2014). This study, therefore, looks into the influence of corporate board diversity in influencing intellectual capital disclosure by non-financial services firms in Nigeria from 2011 to 2020.