JAMB lauds role of media in nation building with caution notes

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Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, the Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commended the Nigerian media for their role in nation building and transformation of the society.

Oloyede gave the commendation in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Dr Fabian Benjamin, on Sunday in Lagos.

Oloyede said that the media remained a veritable tool in the board’s quest to execute its mandate of ensuring a brighter future for the Nigerian child.

“The JAMB will like to commend the role of the Nigeria media, especially in its quest to sensitise the public on the innovations carried out in the sale of 2017 application document.

“Of great interest is particularly on the recent publicity given by some media outfits over the `no admission for awaiting candidates’,’’ Oloyede said.

JAMB, however, faulted some of the headlines in the publications, noting that curious readers would jump into conclusion by merely reading the headlines of the publications without reading the body of the stories.

“Such headlines led to readers to think that JAMB had excluded candidates with awaiting results from taking the unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, which is not true.

“Such hasty perusal and attitude is not only capable of misleading the public but could cause disaffection, anger, misconception of Federal Government guidelines on admissions.

“It may also demoralise the Nigerian child intending to take JAMB examination.’’

Oloyede said that the Ordinary Level (O/L) had always been a criterion in considering candidates for admission among other requirements.

According to him, one of such requirements included suitability of the candidate’s performance in the screening exercise, carrying capacity of various institutions, catchment areas and subject combination among other entry qualifications.

Oloyede said that the board was a responsible and responsive organisation and would not disfranchise any candidate intending to take the examination.

“Rather than closing assess, we will expand it in as much as quality and equity is not compromised.

“In view of that, the board stated that candidates with ‘awaiting results’ could take the examination, but would have to upload their results to the board’s portal before the commencement of admissions.

“No candidate should take his or her result to any office but upload on our portal.’’

The registrar urged candidates to upload their result on the website of JAMB to enable the board begin their admission process in record time.

He added that the board would not accept any recommendation from any institution based on awaiting result status.

The  board had announced that it would begin the sales of its registration documents for the 2017 UTME before the end of March

 

The post JAMB lauds role of media in nation building with caution notes appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Economic empowerment: Experts charge Nigerian youths to be different

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…as MTNF inaugurates Scholars Alumni Conference

Nigerian youths have been charged not to allow their challenges be their limitations in the quest to become successful in their endeavours. As a way out, the youths are advised to develop the necessary skills, attitudes and attributes to succeed as entrepreneur and excel in their chosen carrier.

The call was made during the grand finale of the MTN Foundation Scholars Alumni Conference. The event which held in Lagos, was part of several initiatives from the MTN Foundation aimed at empowering the Nigerian youths towards making their lives brighter.

Providing insight for becoming a successful entrepreneur in Nigeria, founder of arts and style centre, Tera Kulture, Ms. Bolanle Austen Peters, advised the students and alumni to build valued relationships that will be instrumental in their path to success. According to Austen-Peters, “a valuable relationship and a bold determination is important to climbing and staying on top of the ladder of success. Fear is the enemy, dream big, be bold”.

Recounting how he also surmounted his challenges, CEO OkadaBooks.com Ofili Okechukwu encouraged the youths to always explore every opportunity to achieve their objectives He said “don’t get addicted to your degrees you have to get up and be a reformer,  reformers do it until they get it right”.

Earlier in Owerri, CEO, SLOT Nigeria, Nnamdi Ezegbo, urged the participants at the conference to grab opportunities as they come and avoid losing sight of their goals. “There is no perfect time for you to strike at success. Every time is the best, but you need to understand the times.”

Speaking on the same issue in Abuja, the Co -Founder and Executive Director of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, urged the alumni and other students to believe in their abilities and start winning. He advised the participants to take advantage of the strength that comes from their abilities and use it to achieve their desires.

Assuring the participants of MTN Foundations’ continuous support, Director, MTN Foundation, Elder Dennis Okoro, said that the participants should see the scholarship as a rare opportunity that must be well utilized. For the alumni Okoro said, “now that you have all gained and have been empowered, it is essential that you show yourselves as worthy ambassadors of the programme. Feel free to exhibit your creativity positively and contribute your quota to the development of the country; also remain assured of our continuous support”.

Headlined by a road show which began in Owerri, through Abuja and Lagos, the Scholars Alumni Conference is yearly gathering of the  beneficiaries of MTN Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme and Blind Students Scholarship Scheme. The event was preceded by the annual employability workshop, where the graduands were taught relevant life skills needed for economic empowerment.

Since the inception of the scheme, the MTN Foundation has awarded scholarships worth over 6 Billion Naira to more than 8,000 blind/science and technology students. The Foundation has provided annual scholarships since 2009 worthN200, 000 to 500 eligible students studying a science related discipline and 100 deserving Blind students.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mtXHrj

US embassy assures Nigerians they are welcome to travel

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The US embassy in Nigeria said Wednesday that Nigerians were welcome to travel to the United States following confusion over President Donald Trump’s new immigration rules.

A foreign affairs adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday warned citizens against non-essential travel to the United States, as some Nigerians had been denied entry at the border.

“The US embassy in Abuja wishes to clarify that there is no reason for Nigerians with valid visas to postpone or cancel their travel to the United States,” said the embassy in a statement.

“There is no prohibition against Nigerian lawful permanent residents or persons with a valid visa or other US government authorisation from entering the United States.”

Trump signed a revised ban on refugees and on travellers from six Muslim-majority nations on Monday. Nigeria, which has a majority Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, is not on the list.

Nigeria’s foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama told a news conference it was “business as usual” with the United States, despite the earlier advisory from a presidential adviser.

Of the 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States in 2015, 327,000 were born in Nigeria, according to data from the Pew Research Center, published in February.

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Nigeria plans Africa’s first sovereign green bond (Read full details)

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Chief executive officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema, discussing with Nigeria's acting president Yemi Osinbajo at Green Bonds Capital Market and Investors Conference in Lagos on February 23, 2016. PHOTO: TWITTER/NSE

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said that the Federal Government was making arrangements to inaugurate the first African Sovereign Green Bond to address climate change and environmental projects.

Osinbajo said this at the Green Bonds Capital Market and Investors Conference organised by the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Debt Management Office (DMO) at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) office in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bonds are debt instruments issued by a government or a company which represent a fixed sum of money that was borrowed.

Green Bonds are debt instruments tied to environmental projects to address climate change.

He said that the Federal Government under the Green Bonds initiative would give N20 billion under the first tranche before the end of the first quarter through the nation’s bourse.

Osinbajo, who described the initiative as a new addition to the market funding portfolio, stated that the proceeds would be used to fight climate change.

He said that climate change had led to more natural disasters, thereby impacting negatively on food, water and energy supply.

The acting President said that the initiative would also provide an opportunity to deepen the capital market as well as tackle poverty.

According to Osinbajo, the bond issuance will support the Federal Government’s shift to non-oil base assets for project financing for economic growth and development.

He said that the proceeds of the bonds would be used for environmental projects such as renewable energy micro-utilities in three communities estimated at N10 billion. Besides, he said it would as well provide an average of 33KW of power through solar technology.

Osinbajo noted that power had posed a major challenge in the nation’s universities, adding that 37 federal universities and seven teaching hospitals would benefit from the Energising Education Programme (EEP).

He stated that the EEP project estimated to cost 213 million dollars would provide119 megawatts of power in 37 universities using off-grid solar technology.

According to him, Nigerians should embrace the bond initiative, the first in Africa to benefit from its higher yields.

Osinbajo, who commended the ministries of Finance and Environment for the foresight in putting the bonds together, said the initiative would attract more private sector participation in the market.

Also speaking, Mrs Amina Mohammed, Minister of Environment, said that the project was in line with the Federal Government’s sustainable development initiative born in September 2016.

Mohammed said the government, under its recovery growth plan initiative, identified Green Bonds as a vehicle that could be used to drive the economy in terms of environmental projects funding.

She said that the bonds if properly harnessed would create new jobs, open new investment avenues for the country as well as ensure creative thinking.

Mohammed stated that the proceeds would be invested in critical social-economic and environmental sectors that would impact on the lives of common Nigerians.

She said that the domestic investors needed to rally round the issuance to ensure its success in order to support government diversification agenda. The minister said that the bond’s proceeds would be managed by DMO.

Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said that the initiative was born based on extensive consultation.

Fashola said that the DMO would determine the amount that would be used for all projects earmarked under the Green Bonds.

He said that Nigeria was working toward achieving 30 per cent in renewable energy by 2030, adding that Solar Unit Distribution Programme (SUDIP) project was estimated to cost N1.3 billion.

According to him, the units in aggregate from the project will provide up to 12mws of power, creating 6,000 jobs and impacting at least 60,000 persons.

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Ibrahimovic and Pogba return for Man United…See full details

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Manchester United's English striker Wayne Rooney (L) Manchester United's French midfielder Paul Pogba and Manchester United's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic react following the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Hull City at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on February 1, 2017. The match ended in a draw at 0-0.<br />Oli SCARFF / AFP

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho restored Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba to his starting line-up on Wednesday against Saint-Etienne in the Europa League.

Leading 3-0 from last week’s last 32 first leg at Old Trafford, Mourinho made six changes to the side that beat Blackburn 2-1 in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Sergio Romero kept his place in goal while Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Henrikh Mikhitaryan also started at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.

For St Etienne, coach Christophe Galtier dropped Portugal forward Jorginho with Robert Beric starting up front as one of four changes.

Captain Loic Perrin came back into the side having missed Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Montpellier due to a knock to the head sustained against United at Old Trafford.

And Florentin Pogba started at left back against his brother Paul just as he did last week.

Teams

St Etienne (4-2-3-1)

Stephane Ruffier; Kevin Malcuit, Kevin Theophile-Catherine, Loic Perrin (capt), Florentin Pogba; Jordan Veretout, Vincent Pajot; Romain Hamouma, Henri Saivet, Kevin Monnet-Pacquet; Robert Beric.

Coach: Christophe Galtier (FRA)

Manchester United (4-3-3)

Sergio Romero; Ashley Young, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind; Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick; Henrikh Mikhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juan Mata.

Coach: Jose Mourinho (POR)

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Ribery returns to full training with Bayern…See full details

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Franck Ribery. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images/AFP<br />JONATHAN DANIEL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

Former France international forward Franck Ribery resumed full training with Bayern Munich on Tuesday following injury, his club said.

The 33-year-old took part in his first training session with team-mates following seven weeks out with a thigh problem.

He had trained on Monday too, but alone as the rest of the squad was given the day off.

Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti has already suggested Ribery could make his comeback as early as this weekend in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash with Hamburg.

Although frequently injured these last few seasons, Ribery remains a vital cog in Bayern’s attack.

But last season he played in only just over a third of Bayern’s league matches and the year before he featured in less than half.

He’s only scored nine league goals in the last two and a half seasons, short of his single season best of 12 for Bayern in 2011/12.

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SpaceX blasts off cargo from historic NASA launchpad

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NASA

SpaceX on Sunday blasted off its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the unmanned Dragon cargo ship, packed with food and supplies for the six astronauts living at the International Space Station.

The white rocket soared into the cloudy, gray skies over Cape Canaveral, Florida at 9:38 am (1438 GMT).

The mission was the first to take off from NASA’s historic launchpad 39A, the origin of the pioneering US spaceflights that took astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the space shuttle missions that ran from 1981 to 2011.

The launch was initially planned for Saturday, but was canceled just 13 seconds before liftoff due to a glitch with the rocket engine.

“They resolved all the technical issues last night,” said NASA’s Bob Cabana, director of Kennedy Space Center.

The origin of the problem — a piece of equipment known as the thrust vector control actuator in the second stage — was replaced. Subsequent tests showed it was working fine, a SpaceX spokesman explained.

The unmanned spaceship is packed with more than 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of food, gear and science experiments for the astronauts in orbit.

It is the 10th such resupply mission for SpaceX, which along with Orbital ATK has a multi-year contract with NASA to send supplies to the International Space Station.

The cargo is expected to arrive at the space station on February 22, a SpaceX spokesman said.

– Successful landing –

About 10 minutes after the launch, SpaceX refired the engines on the booster portion of the Falcon 9, guiding it down to a controlled, upright landing at a different part of Cape Canaveral.

“The Falcon has landed once again,” a SpaceX spokeswoman said on a live webcast, as loud cheers and applause erupted at the company’s mission control center in Hawthorne, California.

The touchdown marked the third time SpaceX has managed to stick a landing on solid ground.

Other such landings have taken place on floating ocean platforms, as the company perfects its techniques of powering costly rocket parts back to land instead of jettisoning them in the ocean after a single use.

– Crew vehicle –

SpaceX is also developing a version of its Dragon capsule that can one day carry astronauts to space.

SpaceX says the first crew flights will take place in 2018, though a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report out last week predicted that schedule delays and budget cuts would push it back to 2019.

SpaceX’s chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell insisted Friday that the company is on target for 2018, saying she was “very confident” in that deadline.

The retirement of the US space shuttle program in 2011 left the United States without any spacecraft for sending people into orbit.

Since then, the world’s astronauts have hitched rides aboard Russia’s Soyuz spaceships, which fit three people at a time.

The cost for a single astronaut’s transport is currently $82 million, the GAO report said.

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Borno adopts new measures to tackle Boko Haram’s remnants

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PHOTO:AFP

The Borno Government has approved the introduction of new security measures to curtail the increasing attacks by remnants of Boko Haram insurgents in the state.

Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser to Gov. Kashim Shettima on Communication and Strategy stated this in a statement in Maiduguri on Sunday.

According to him, the measures include the setting up of new guard locations in strategic areas to prevent the insurgents from carrying out attacks.

It also stated that the measures were adopted after an emergency security council meeting in Maiduguri.

“Following resurgence of attacks by suspected remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents in some parts of the state, Shettima held an emergency security meeting with heads of the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Police and the Department of State Security.

“The meeting is part of the initiatives to take proactive measures to tackle recent upsurge in insurgents attacks.

“At the end of the meeting, new guard locations were established in some routes across the state to curtail the movement of remnants of Boko Haram fighters.

“Deployment of security personnel to various locations were increased with additional number of local vigilantes (the Civilian JTF).

“The governor gave approval for the release of additional patrol vehicles to security agencies for increased surveillance.

“He also approved logistics to compliment efforts of the Federal Government in strengthening armed forces, while measures were adopted to strengthen the Civilian JTF and hunters.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lwsbJc

The Biography Of Akosua Busia [Age, Life Profile & Net Worth]

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Akosua Gyamama Busia (born December 30, 1966) is a Ghanaian actress, film director, author and songwriter who lives in the U.K. Busia is best known for her role as Nettie Harris in the 1985 film The Color Purple alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

Akosua Busia is the daughter of Kofi Abrefa Busia, who was prime minister of the Republic of Ghana (from 1969 to 1972) and a prince of the royal family of Wenchi, a subgroup of the Ashanti. Akosua is a princess of the royal family of Wenchi. Her sister, Abena Busia, is a poet and academic, an associate professor in English at Rutgers University.

Akosua Busia grew up in Ghana, and began her acting career at the age of 16, attending London’s Central School of Speech and Drama on scholarship. Her first acting role was as Juliet in an otherwise white cast performing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at Oxford University, where her siblings were studying.

Busia’s film roles include a notable performance as Bessie in a 1986 film adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son (with Geraldine Page and Matt Dillon), as Nettie (opposite Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg) in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker’s novel of the same title, as Ruth in Badge of the Assassin (1985), as Jewel in John Singleton’s Rosewood (1997), and as Patience in Antoine Fuqua’s Tears of the Sun (2003). She has also appeared on television in the series ER.

Busia is the author of The Seasons of Beento Blackbird: A Novel ( Washington Square Press, 1997). She was one of three co-writers for the screenplay adaptation of Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel Beloved for the 1998 film version of the same name directed by Jonathan Demme.

In 2008 Busia directed a film about her father: The Prof. A Man Remembered.

Busia also co-wrote the song “Moon Blue” with Stevie Wonder for his album A Time 2 Love.

On 12 October 1996, Akosua Busia married the American film director John Singleton, with whom she has a daughter — Hadar Busia-Singleton (born 3 April 1997); the couple divorced on 15 June 1997.

• An Uzomedia Biography

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Expert urges CBN to reduce MPR (Read full details)

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CBN

Dr Samuel Nzekwe, finance expert, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate currently at 13 per cent in order to boost the economy.

Nzekwe, former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ota, Ogun, that the higher MPR had eroded the purchasing power of most Nigerians.

NAN reports that the Monetary Policy Committee of CBN had at its two-day meeting in Abuja on Tuesday retained the MPR at 13 per cent.

According to him, the interest rate charged by the commercial banks was too high, making businesses difficult to do in the country.

“The Federal Government needs to create enabling environment by providing lower interest rate and address critical infrastructure deficiency for industries to thrive’’, the ex-ANAN boss said.

According to him, Nigeria is experiencing cost push inflation, the result of higher cost of production of goods and services.

Nzekwe said devaluation of the nation’s currency was a major factor that affected the high cost of production.

“Goods and services are available but people have no money to buy them because the recession made people to be worse off’’, he said.

He, therefore, advised the CBN to reduce interest rate so that investors could access cheap loans, reduced cost of production and create more employment.

This, he said, would boost the Gross Domestic Product and eradicate poverty level in the country.

Expert urges CBN to reduce MPR

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