The  role   of  inventory   management   is to ensure  that  the  needed  materials    and spare  parts  are  made  available  at the  places,   time,   proportions,    and  conditions necessary  for production   to turn out the desired  outputs.   Inventory  management is all  about  ensuring  the  availability   of the production inputs of materials  and effectively   and  efficiently  controlling   the  costs  of  the  operation   (Olakunle,2004).  As the buyers' market is gradually emerging and taking over in many of our industries, the competition for raw materials and component parts now need to be sourced from very many and far places as the location of industries is now mainly determined by market forces rather than the sources of materials inputs (Olakunle, 2004). NAFDAC (2006) study reveals that with the global economic recession of the early  1980s  and the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria  in 1986,  the costs of both imported and locally• sourced material production inputs have increased tremendously However,  in the past,  inventory  management was not seen to be necessary. In fact excess inventories were considered as indication  of wealth. Management by then  considered   over  stocking  beneficial.  But  today  firms  have  started  to embrace effective inventory management (Susan & Michael,  2000). Managers, now more than ever before,  need reliable and effective inventory control  in order to reduce costs and remain  competitive (Closs,1989).According to Dobler and  Burt  (2006),   inventory  alone   account  for  as  much  as  30%  of  the                            organization invested capital. Drury  (2004) asserts that inventory costs include holding costs, ordering costs and shortage   costs. Holding costs relate  to  costs of having physical  items in stock. These include insurance, obsolescence and opportunity costs associated with having funds which could be elsewhere but are tied up in inventory. Effective Inventory management and control systems are critical to the financial performance  of  many  companies.   Many  Adventist  Institutions  have  trouble resulting from operating losses  and cash flow problems.  This could be because of low income,  poor management of inventory systems,  and lack of financial discipline. Financial   performance   compnses   of  the  actual   output   or  results   of  an organization  as measured  against  its intended outputs (goals  and objectives). According to Richard (2010) :financial  performance encompasses  the specific area  of  firm  outcomes  include return  of  equity,  return  on  asset,   return  on investment.

In the light of the above,  the research work is  set to determine the effect of Inventory management on :financial  performance of Dangote  Nigeria plc.