Military rescues 1980 boko haram hostages in borno

Also Troops of 121 Task Force conducted joint paith Cameroonian forces at Mararraba, Angwan Fada, Dale and Wizha Bokko Timit, Bokko Nasanu and Bokko Hidde up to Ngoshe in which they rescued 17 women and 28 children.

A statement from Army headquarters on Friday noted that “Similarly, troops of 7 Division Garrison, in a joint operations with 112 Battalion, Army Headquarters Support Group and Armed Forces Special Forces at Gajibo, Maula, Gamai, Gamare, Maiwa, Warsale, Tangli, Tushi, Sowa, Hasanari, Changuwa, Malamaja, and Marya in Dikwa and Mafa Local Government Areas rescued 350 people including 5 Cameroonian girls that were held hostages by the Boko Haram terrorists in those areas.

“In a similar operation, troops of 7 Division Garrison in conjunction with troops of 112 Task Force Battalion, and Armed Forces Special Forces on 17th February 2016, conducted clearance operations at Kwaptara, Mijigete, Garin Boka, Mosole, Ngubdori, Ma’asa, Dukje and Gulumba in Dikwa and Bama Local Government Areas in which they rescued 195 persons held hostage by Boko Haram terrorists.

“On 23rd February 2016, troops of 21 Brigade in conjunction with troops of MNJTF on clearance operations at Kumshe general area, rescued 250 and persons, mainly women and children held hostages by Boko Haram terrorists and brought back 800 refugees from Cameroon.

“Also on 23rd February 2016, troops of 7 Division rescued 150 persons at Kodo. “Troops of 21 Brigade on Thursday February 25, 2016 intercepted over 3,000 Nigerian refugees crossing from Wambatche, Liman and Kodo Fata villages in Cameroon into Nigeria.

“The refugees have been moved to Bama Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp. “Also, in a clearance operations troops of 25 Task Force Brigade today, at Galmasku, Muli, Chiralia, Maisani, Talala, Ajigin, Shetimalau, 1 and 2 and Dalomi also rescued 250 civilians held hostages by Boko Haram terrorists.”

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1.85M candidates applied for 2016 UTME CBT-JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has disclosed that more than 1.85 million candidates applied for this year ‘s UTME on its Computer-Based Test (CBT) platform.

The board’s Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, disclosed this to NAN on Thursday in Lagos, stating that this year’s figure was an improvement on the 1.47 million candidates who applied for the same examination in 2015. It added that the figure for the 2016 UTME showed an increase of 113, 673 applicants against last year’s figure.

According to the statement, a total of 343 prison inmates nationwide will participate in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). It said that these inmates would also have access to computers at both the Kaduna and Ikoyi prisons. “The 2016 UTME will commence on Saturday, Feb. 27 and will last for about 14 days, it noted.

“For purposes of clarity, let me remind Nigerians that, the first Joint Matriculation Examination (JME) was held in 74 towns in Nigeria and by a special request in Gambia, with a total number of 96,884 candidates tested. However, the challenges in the conduct of examination became enormous as the number of candidates increased.

“Question papers were printed flown into Nigeria and transported in trailers escorted by security agents to the Board’s office. The distribution of the materials to the various examination towns was also done largely by air, road and so on. Materials were stacked up in large cartons and distributed to states from where they were conveyed in vehicles to the custodians. This was the story of the board. Today, the Computer Based Test (CBT) has erased all this hurdles and ensures that the system is seamless.

“And we call on Nigerians to continue to support the board in this drive to return the glory of Nigerian education when it was placed far above foreign education.” According to the statement, in the board’s effort to maximize the few spaces in the country’s tertiary institutions informed the redistribution of candidates in the last admission exercise.”

It noted that the policy was grossly misunderstood even though the candidates were those that were “not admitable” based on the prevailing guidelines. The statement however, said that the board had fine-toned the policy by introducing another choice after the preferred among the schools that are under-subscribed. It said it would enable the candidates take up a second opportunity if they fail to get their first preferred choice. “Again, let me use this opportunity to explain the misconception about cut-off points. First the cut-off point is not set by the board, but by the policy committee chaired by the Honourable Minister of Education with the board, Vice-Chancellors, Provost of Education, Rectors of Polytechnics, Monotechnics etc.

“The 180 cut-off point is a minimum requirement and not an indication that one is admissible. Other factors and criteria of admissions will also follow in arriving at what constitute admissible cut-off point. Nigerians should also note that institutions are at liberty to go higher than 180 depending on their peculiarity and this does not in anyway infringe on the powers of the board,” the statement added.

It said that statistics taken by the board had shown that Imo had the highest number of applicants for the 2016 exercise, while the Federal Capital Territory had the least with a total of 5, 069 applicants. Adding that this year’s examination would hold simultaneously in 521 centres in Nigeria and eight foreign centres including Accra, Buea in Cameroun and Cotonou in Republic of Benin.

The statement listed others as London, Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, Johannesburg in South Africa, Addis in Ethiopia and Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire. It said that visually Impaired candidates were expected to take the examination at designated centres in all the state capitals and the FCT. It noted that a total of 201 visually impaired candidates would also be participating in this year’s examination nationwide.

“It is the board’s desire to ensure that no candidate is deprived of the examination. The examination will be conducted using the Braillenote Apex Computers for the visually impaired candidates in order to give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams academically,” the statement noted

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NYSC to re-open orientation camps in Borno Adamawa and Yobe says DC

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has disclosed that it will re-open the orientation camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States before the end of 2016.

The Director-General (DG), Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi told newsmen on Thursday in Katsina that the decision followed the successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.

His words: ‘’Since the insurgency has been reduced drastically, we are resuming orientation in Gombe state beginning with this batch ‘A’ of 2016. ”Adamawa state will resume with the next batch, while Borno and Yobe orientation camps will be re-opened before the end of the year,” he said.

According to Olawumi, the states had some of the best facilities for orientation in the country, but had to be closed down due to insecurity. He, however, advised corps members to discharge their duties at their places of primary assignment diligently.   Thanks for reading.

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U I expels 97 students as NUC ranks its the best university in Nigeria

The National
Universities Commission (NUC), in its latest 2015 ranking has rated the University of Ibadan first in Nigeria.

The NUC ranking placed other Universities in the top five with the University of Lagos, 2nd, University of Benin, 3rd, Obafemi Awolowo University, 4th and Ahmadu Bello University, 5th.

It indicated that the University of Ilorin is 6th, Lagos State University (11th) while the Covenant University led Pan African University (18th) to occupy 13th position. University of Jos (7th), University of Port Harcourt (8th), University of Maiduguri (9th).

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta occupied the (10th) position, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (12th), University of Nigeria (14th), Federal University of Technology, FUTA (15th), Nnamdi ‎Azikiwe University, (16th), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (17th)  Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH (19th), Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola (20th).

Professor  Abel Idowu Olayinka while reacting to the ranking, noted that the university was thinking more about ranking among the Top five in Africa in next few years.  His words: “Being No 1 in Nigeria and No 1 in West Africa‎ should not be taken for granted. The real challenge is for us to be ranked among the top 5 in Africa in the next few years. This is do-able given the pedigree of Ibadan over the last 68 years.

“As we speak, we have perhaps the most highly developed postgraduate school, with easily the largest number of Masters and Doctorla students in sub-Saharan Africa. The UI school of Business has been approved by the National Universities Commission, and it is set to take off soon with her flagship MBA programme, which used to be run by our Department of Economics,” he said.

The UI Research Foundation (UIRF), set up by the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole, to reposition research activities in this institution, is perhaps the first of its type in Africa.

Also the Senate of the University has approved the withdrawal of 97 students from the University for failure to obtain the minimum academic requirements at the end of the 2014/15 session. This was disclosed in a special Bulletin released by the institution and signed by its Registrar, Olujimi Olukoya.

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Falling Oil Price:Nigeria Returning to agriculture, Other Sectors To Develop Economy says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said late Tuesday in Riyadh that his administration was fully committed to increasing the productivity of Nigeria’s agriculture and solid minerals sectors to save the nation from the harsh effects of lower crude oil prices.

Speaking at a meeting with leading members of the Council of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry, President Buhari said that with declining revenues from crude oil exports, Nigeria’s hopes of economic resurgence now lie in the rapid development of its immense agricultural and solid mineral resources.

Inviting Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in both sectors, the President said that his administration will welcome greater foreign investment in support of its efforts to rapidly diversify the Nigerian economy.

President Buhari said that Nigeria had regrettably depended too much on crude oil exports to the neglect of other resources and was now paying a harsh price for failing to diversify its economy early enough.
“With the downturn in the global prices of oil, we now have to prospect our solid minerals. We have to return to agriculture. Mining and agriculture are our hopes now. We will welcome investments in these areas. We will appreciate an in-flow of more resources and expertise to help us achieve our objective of economic diversification,” the President said.

The governors of Osun, Ogun, Katsina, Borno, and Zamfara states, who were part of the President’s delegation, took turns to address the Saudi Arabian businessmen on investment possibilities in their states, assuring them of good returns.

The Chairman of the Council of the Saudi Arabian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil said that agriculture was a very important area of investment for its members, adding that they were already in Brazil, the United States of America and Sudan, “where we have huge farms.”

Declaring that they were willing to invest in Nigeria, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil said that the Saudis were the leading investors in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

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Court stops NERC, DISCOS from increasing Electricity tariff as Power Generation Drops

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, dismissed an application by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, seeking to stay further proceedings in the suit challenging the hike in electricity tariff by Distribution Companies, DISCOs.

Lawyer and rights activist, Toluwani Adebiyi, had filed a suit praying the court to stop NERC and DISCOs from implementing the proposed 45% increase in electricity tariff. but NERC and DISCOs had gone ahead on February 1, 2016 to hike tariff in electricity, despite the subsisting order by Justice Idris had in one of the rulings which barred NERC from implementing any upward review in electricity tariff pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

Meanwhile, NERC had asked the court to stay proceedings until its appeal against two previous rulings delivered by the judge was heard and determined by the Appeal Court.

While dismissing the application for stay of proceedings for lacking in merit, yesterday, Justice Idris held that contrary to the claims of the applicant, there are no indication that the appeal has been listed for hearing at the Appeal Court.

He said, “It is clear that the applicant has an application before the court seeking for an extension of time to compile and transmit its record at the Appeal Court.

“There is also another motion for leave to rely on the same record of appeal in this present appeal. However, there is no indication that the application has been listed on the cause list or that it had been heard or adjourned for hearing.

“In the circumstance, this court cannot grant a stay of proceedings on an incompetent appeal which is awaiting regularisation at the Appeal Court. On the whole, the application lacks merit and is dismissed accordingly,” the judge said.

Power Generation Drops

There are indications that despite increased electricity tariff, Nigerian may not enjoyed more power supply as statistics by the Federal Ministry of Power last Thursday showed that power generation has dropped drastically to 3,664MW from a historic peak of 5,074MW on February 2 2016.

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UTME registration-Jjamb re-opens portal for 48 hours

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has re-opened the 2016 UTME registration portal for 48hrs.

According to the spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB will reopen its website between 12 midnight on Tuesday and 12 midnight on Thursday to allow applicants complete their registration process for the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The Board stated that the 48 hours will only be for applicants who were unable to complete the registration process as of Friday, 5th February when the registration closed to upload and complete the process and not those who want to begin a fresh registration process.

The spokesperson said: “The directive does not cover fresh registration but only those who had either done offline registration or visited our website but could not submit."

He further stated, “The Board wishes to state that all arrangements for 2016 UTME has been completed and examination will commence as earlier stated,” the statement added. The Board, however,  urged all candidates to print their examination slips for the schedules of their date, venue, the time allotted to them and other necessary information.

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