The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bags

  • JAMB insists no bags, gadgets allowed in UTME centres

    JAMB insists no bags, gadgets allowed in UTME centres

    Candidates sitting for the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have been warned to take only their e-registration slips and biros to examination centres.

    The examination gets fully  under way today, with candidates expected to sit for two or three sessions daily.

    Though the instructions are stated on the e-slips that bags, gadgets, calculators and phones are not allowed, many candidates took them to centres monitored in Lagos on Saturday, where 30 of the 53 centres held one session of the examination.

    However, they were forced to keep their property outside, some with strangers.

    Many were also sent away to re-print their e-registration slips because they brought the wrong ones to the centres.

    Dr. Beatrice Okorie, who heads the Lagos annex of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) headquarters, said they were not expected to come with the items.

    “The instructions were clear.  But many of them still came with bags and phones.  We sent them away to go drop their bags,” said Dr. Okorie, who supervised the centre at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).

    Regarding the correct e-registration slip, she said: “Before the examination commenced, the candidates were supposed to re-print their e-registration slips because the first one does not contain their centre and examination numbers.  That was why some who did not were told to re-print the correct one,” she said.

    At the West Midland Communication Limited Centre in Ikeja, candidates with bags and others were also sent away.

    The officials told parents to give their wards fare and leave.

    However, some parents ignored the advice and waited outside the premises for the 2-hour 45 minutes duration of the examination.  They helped to keep property for some candidates as well.

    The examination was hitch-free in many centres across Lagos.  However, there was a problem at Universal White Hall College in Fagba, Iju. Candidates were relocated to Bachel Model College, Ogba.

    The reason for the change was not explained to candidates and their parents grumbled about the last minute change, made at 10 am.

    Efforts to speak with the school officials proved abortive, as the headteacher, Mrs. Temilola, neither answered her phone nor showed up.

    A parent, Mrs. Adesanya, said: “It is bad that they changed it like that without any warning. It was difficult finding this new venue but thank God we are here now and everything is going on well.”

    But Bachel Model College was ready by the time the candidates reached there.  The college is supposed to serve as a UTME centre from March 7.

    The headteacher, Mr. Adekunle Adeleke, said the school responded to a distress call from Universal White Hall College a few minutes before 9 am.

    “They said they were experiencing technical issues at Universal White Hall College. I don’t know what it was but I think it had to do with their router. So, we gathered our staff impromptu and got things set. Lucky for us, we were prepared,” he said.

    Adeleke said the college had facilities for 270 candidates, and additional 30 computers as backups.

    The school’s proprietor, Mr. Ayokunle Fasusi, said it took between N8 and N9 million to get the centre ready to host UTME.

    “By the time the exam was over, the JAMB officials gave us an excellent grade in their report,” he said.

    The exams held between noon and 2 pm at Bachel and there were no hitches.

    While only one session of the examination held on Saturday, from today, Dr. Okorie said there would be two or three sessions daily for the 14-day duration.

    Besides the 30 split 1 centres, Dr. Okorie said there were 23 Split 2 centres in Lagos, which will start conducting the examination from March 7, 2016.

    The examination is expected to end on March 11.

  • Council chief donates bags, books to pupils

    Council chief donates bags, books to pupils

    Isolo Local Council Development Area Executive Secretary Olusegun Jubril has distributed school bags and exercise books to 14 primary school pupils.

    He made the donation during the closing seminar of the free summer coaching at the council.

    Jubril said parents, teachers and the government must come together to tackle the country’s security challenges in the country.

    He said: “The summer coaching was organised because we value both qualitative and quantitative education as a means of eradicating the menace of social miscreants. I am hopeful that the knowledge, skills and ideas acquired will go a long way in preparing you better for your future endeavours.“

    The Council Manager, Mr Kehinde Yusuf, said the initiative was designed to inspire the pupils, since it involved academic training, co-vocational and co-curricular activities.

    “We realised that during the long holidays, children are exposed to criminal activities. So, Isolo LCDA, in collaboration with the Community Initiative for Child Education (CICE) orgainised the programme to assist them in building a great future,” he said.

    Iyaloja Ire-Akari Market, Mrs Eunice Dosumu hailed the council chief for the gesture.

    A teacher, Omowunmi Awojobi, said some of the pupils, could not complete a sentence in English before the holiday started.

    “These same pupils can now speak and write well in English. I am glad because it makes our work easier,” she said.

    Speaking with The Nation, a pupil, Tosin Mantanmi, said she was glad for the opportunity.

  • Bags with African promise

    Bags with African promise

    BagsSTYLE for many is natural. It is the way you carry or present yourself to the rest of the world. Most times, you are wearing something worn by another, but it is done in your own way. Jewellery for the neck, hand, wrist and foot chains are items women would do anything to have. One other item that they never miss out on is bags. They love them in different colours, shades and sizes.

    Recently, the bags that continue to dazzle are bags made with African fabrics and accessories. Imagine you have a date and you step out in a black dress. An African print oil cloth sachet bag would certainly blend well to give you the overall effect desired. Alternatively, you can settle for a rope clutch bag, if what you desire is simplicity at its best.

  • Ighalo bags four in rout

    Ighalo bags four in rout

    Nigerian International Odion Ighalo was the cynosure of all eyes at the weekend for his Championship side Watford as he grabbed four goals in the 7-2 whitewash of Blackpool.

    Ighalo and teammates endured a poor start to the game after they fell two goals behind to the visitors but rallied to pull out a remarkable victory.

    The Nigerian thought he had scored on the stroke of half-time but saw his 25-yard shot superbly saved by Elliot Parish in goal for Blackpool but it all changed at the start of the second half as Watford treated fans at the Vicarage Road to a goalscoring spree.

    In-form Ighalo reduced the deficit when he latched on to Miguel Layun’s cross to finish expertly – six minutes later Troy Deeney equalized for Watford and the home crowd were sent into frenzy when Ighalo grabbed a brace with well drilled effort.

    It all went from bad to worse for the visitors as Watford scored four more goals with Ighalo grabbing two more with great aplomb and make a bold claim for International recognition from the Super Eagles handlers.

    The 25-year-old has now scored six goals in two games after his brace last week against Charlton Athletic.

     

  • Access Bank bags IFBA award

    Access Bank bags IFBA award

    Access Bank has been recognised by the International Film and Broadcast Academy (IFBA) for its support to the growth of the entertainment industry in Nigeria.

    The lender got the recognition during the award presentation ceremony in Lagos.

    Speaking  in Lagos, the founder, IFBA, Mr. Victor Okhai said the academy provided students the opportunity to network with film makers and broadcasters from all over Africa and the rest of the world.

    He said: “The truth is that the new generation has to take over and so we have to give them the opportunity to compete in the international level. If they are to start doing films today, you will find out that our standard will shoot up.

    “Of course, we needed to encourage this sector by creating a platform where talents can be discovered, nurtured and where they can get a springboard to the next level. With what we have done so far, the careers of many of them have exploded. So, for us, a natural partner was Access Bank.”

    In her remarks, its Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations, Mrs. Ojini Olaghere, who represented the bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, said the partnership with IFBA was part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR).

    She said: “For us, it is about partnership and support. Here in Access Bank, we are encouraged to carry out CSR.  It is not just as a bank, we are also encouraged as groups to carry out CSR initiatives and at the end of the year when we have the CEO award, whichever group has the best CSR, the bank will refund the amount spent on the project to the group. We do a lot of things and we don’t make noise about it. We make sure that these projects have a lot of impact.”

    According to her, Access Bank believes “in catching them young,” hence the need for the partnership with IFBA.

    ”We have products for children and our partnership with the academy is also in line with our mission of catching them young,” she added.

  • e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, phones online

    e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, phones online

    The liberalisation of the telecoms sector has boosted the economy. Access to telephony has become more democartised because of affordability. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) figures showed there are over 130 million active subscribers in the country while mobile operators have provided mobile internet for e-commerce to thrive. LUCAS AJANAKU writes on innovations and challenges of e-commerce.

    Nigeria and, indeed, Africa provides significant growth opportunities for players looking to have a sizeable bite of the emerging electronic or e-commerce cake.

    Analysts say the growth percentages are expected to reach hundreds and even thousands in no distant time, but argue that the growth trajectory does not match the value it represents.

    With consistent growth of e-commerce in the country and the African region with no sign of a slump, industry watchers say there is the prospect of a solid e-commerce expansion in the country.

    It is too common to associate e-Commerce with popular sites such as Jumia, Konga, Amazon and other online retail shops. In Nigeria, it is a belief being held by a large number of people that when one wants to buy consumer items such as shoes or electronics or books, one could go online. It is also possible to book local and international flights and hotel accommodation online.

    Of course, other sites allow people to search for jobs or properties or cars, but cannot really buy those items online.

    Analysts ask if it then meant that e-Commerce is only for shoes and phones. The answer is no. e-Commerce properly done allows an organisation of any size to greatly increase its turnover and sales irrespective of the business or the goods being sold.

    Chief Technology Officer, Computer Warehouse Group Plc, Mr. James Agada, said latest statistics showed that 66 million Nigerians are on Facebook, the popular internet social website. About 24 million Nigerians have smartphones that have internet capability, and internet penetration is at 50 per cent.

    Mobile internet provided chiefly by service providers using the global system for mobile communication (GSM) licence, has played significant role in his respect as it is used in the country by men, women, children, teachers, students, businessmen and enterprises. The addressable market for any business that goes online literally explodes. The importer of shoes can sell to more dealers, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) seller could sell to the distributors, and the tailor could sell both tailoring service and ready-made clothes, while the event organiser or transporter can sell tickets, everything riding on the internet.

     

    Initiative to boost e-commerce

    According to Agada, the CWG Openshopen platform enables any one to sell anything online. Sales are not only about accepting orders. Information technology (IT) is also about collecting payments and making deliveries. With CWG Openshopen, these services are built in so that once you sign up, you can, if you want, begin to receive payments online and have your goods delivered to customers nationwide without having to invest in any other logistics for payments or delivery. Take for instance an FMCG that currently battles with a bank to help do collections and hires an army of order takers to input order details into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The FMCG can replace the entire collection and ordering system by opening an online shop on Openshopen for her factors and distributors. They will order online, pay online and delivery can be arranged. Or consider a transporter who wants to run a cashless ticketing system. Simply put the tickets online and people can buy and pay and get their ticket numbers which can be verified from a phone.

    He said: “The CWG Openshopen platform takes eCommerce way beyond the pedestrian selling of shoes and phones, and extends it into the best tool for increased market access. This is a deliberate design borne out of the determination of CWG Plc through her new CWG 2.0 initiative to democratize access to the technology of business.

    “With 17.6 million small enterprises in Nigeria, extending eCommerce to the sale of locally made goods and services greatly expands market access for local content. This same role has been played by Alibaba in China. Today, Alibaba’s stock sells for $98-$100 per share. It will be interesting to see whether CWG shares will also trade at those levels in the nearest future.”

     

    Challenges

    A key stumbling block to the growth of e-commerce is power supply. Though there are innovative ways such as solar-powered chargers for mobile phones, inverters that could power PCs, power supply from the national grid continues to be a major issue.

    Analysts say though the government has done all the right things in terms of reforming the power sector, they argue that as with the telecoms liberalisation, it will take at least another five years for the new owners of the successor firms of the unbundled defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to get a control of people owing money and to start renewing the mass of obsolete infrastructure inherited from the power octopus.

    Aside stable power supply, a new survey has highlighted other potential threats to the future of the internet within the next 20 years, to 2025, including surveillance and government interference.

    The Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C., and providing information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States (U.S) and the world, canvassed 1,400 experts to get their view on the future of the internet.

    Majority said they hope that by 2025 there will not be significant changes for the worse and hindrances to the ways in which people get and share content online today.

    According to Pew, four net threats these experts fear: are: actions by nation-states to maintain security and political control will lead to more blocking, filtering, segmentation, and balkanisation of the internet; trust will evaporate in the wake of revelations about government and corporate surveillance and likely greater surveillance in the future; commercial pressures affecting everything from Internet architecture to the flow of information will endanger the open structure of online life; and efforts to fix the too much information (TMI) problem might over-compensate and actually thwart content sharing.

    Former Director-General, National Information Dvelopment Agency (NITDA), Prof Officer Cleopas-Angaye said the global trend now is for governments to look for ways of controlling the internet for national security.

    Chief Executive Officer, Teledon Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem said in view of the potential cyber attack on banks, telcos, payment cards, air traffic controller (ATC), there is need for government intervention in controlling the cyberspace.

    He said Nigeria’s territorial integrity includes her cyber space and should be treated the way air, land sea borders are generously protected. He therefore urged the appointment of a cyber security chief just as there are army, police, navy and air force chiefs.

    Britain has just determined that internet service providers (ISPs) block sites the government considers ‘terrorist’ or otherwise dangerous. This will grow. There will usually be ways to circumvent the obstruction but most people won’t bother.

    According to Pew, a professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S and architect of the Web, Jim Hendler, said: “If anything, it is privacy that will have to give way to openness, not the other way around… Repressive governments will be working hard to stop the spread of information. As today, there will be both good and bad news continually in that area, but over time more integration, access, and sharing will be a driving force.”

    Pew added that Peter S. Vogel, Internet law expert at Gardere Wynne Sewell,U.S said: “Privacy issues are the most serious threat to accessing and sharing Internet content in 2014, and there is little reason to expect that to change by 2025, particularly given the cyber terror threats confronting the Internet users and worldwide businesses.”

    Another issue is connectivity. But this is gradually paling into insignificance as there is a rising trend in retailers growing due to advances in this area. According to figures by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 16 per cent of the African population has Internet access – up from 10 per cent it was in 2010.

    According to the 2014 Mobile Media Consumption report released in February by InMobi, 83 per cent of consumers planned to conduct mobile commerce this year – up 15 per cent from last year’s figures. The study includes data from 14 000 users across 14 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

  • NDIC boss bags award

    NDIC boss bags award

    A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria (CCSON) has conferred its 2014 Certificate of Commendation Award on the Managing Director/CEO of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim.

    At the award conferment ceremony in Abuja, the President of the association, Comrade Bassey Williams Etuk said the organisation’s prestigious award was conferred on the NDIC Boss in recognition of the enviableand purposeful leadership which he had brought to bear in the management of the Corporation.

    “Part of our observations which informed this award were transparency, professionalism, proactive decisions, teamwork and above all, the effective delivery of the NDIC mandates which our organisation had noticed. This seems to be uncommon in our nation today, and as such, we have chosen to celebrate it to serve as a model to others, realising that Nigeria is blessed with virtually everything but leadership,” he said.

    Comrade Etuk said the national award was instituted two years ago by the national body of over 290 civil society organisations (CSOs) as a platform to work with public institutions towards enhancing good governance and promoting efficient service delivery to the citizenry.

    He pointed that the institution of the award marked a departure from the past when it seemed that CSOs saw nothing good in government and its agencies to an era of identifying and recognising public officers and institutions discovered to have an edge in service delivery.

  • Nigeria bags another silver, three bronze in wrestling

    Nigeria bags another silver, three bronze in wrestling

    Nigeria’S wrestling team completed its campaign at the 2014 Commonwealth Games by adding a silver and three bronze to its medal haul for Team Nigeria in the final day of the wrestling event at Hall 3 of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, on Thursday.

    Yesterday’s haul makes it a total of 12 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 8 bronze) won by the country’s wrestling team at this year’s edition of the Games, as against the 13 medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze) won at the 2010 edition in Delhi, India.

    Andrew Dick settled for the silver medal after losing to Canada’s Tamerlan Tagziev by 4-1 technical superiority in the Men’s Free Style 86 kg Gold Medal Match.

    Andrew, who won gold at the 2003 All Africa Games, defeated Kenya’s Peter Onyango Omenda 4-0 in the quarter-final, before overpowering Armando Hietbrink of South Africa also by 4-0 in the semi-final.

    Ifeoma Nwoye won bronze after defeating Joseph Essombe Tiako of Cameroon 5-0 in the Women’s Free Style 55 kg bronze medal finals.

    21-year-old Ifeoma beat 27-year-old Jeanne-Marie Coetzer of South Africa 4-1 in the quarter-final before losing to 32-year-old Brittanee Laverdure of Canada in the semi-final.

    Sampson Clarkson followed up with another bronze medal for Team Nigeria after defeating South Africa’s Terry van Rensburg 3-0 in the Men’s Free Style 65 kg Bronze Medal Finals.

    Clarkson, who qualified for the 2014 Commonwealth Games after taking part in the E.K. Clark Wrestling Open Championship held in Warri, Nigeria, last month, beat Jacob Jevon Balfour of Canada 3-1 in the Round of 16, before defeating Muhammad Salman of Pakistan by 3-1 technical point in the Repechage.

    Blessing Oborududu completed the bronze medal haul of the day when she defeated Chloe Spiteri of England 3-1 in the Women’s Free Style 63 kg Bronze Medal Finals.

    Blessing, who received the Best Female Wrestler award at the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa, lost to Danielle Lappage of Canada 3-1 in the quarter final match.

  • GLASGOW 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Amalaha bags Nigeria’s first gold

    GLASGOW 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Amalaha bags Nigeria’s first gold

    Nigeria’s good show in weightlifting  continued as teenage lifter Joy Chika Amalaha grabbed the country’s first gold medal in the women’s 53 kg category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games on Friday.

    16-year-old Amalaha who is the current African record holder in her category, lifted a total of 196 kg in snatch and clean and jerk to get the Gold medal. New Guinea lifter Dika Toua, who is a mother of two, took the silver with a total lift of 193 kg, while 20-year-old Santoshi Matsa from India grabbed the bronze medal after lifting a total of 188 kg.

    Amalaha led the snatch event with the best of 85kg and went on to break the Games Record with a lift of 111 kg each in the clean and jerk section.

    This is Nigeria’s second medal from the weightlifting event after winning bronze on the opening day of the event courtesy of Nkechi Opara.

    Nigeria now occupies the 7th position on the medals table. England continue to dominate the table with a total of 32 medals which includes 12 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals and is closely followed by Australia with 10 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze medal making a total of 31 medals, while host, Scotland is in 3rd position with 7 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze making a total of 14 medals.

  • Team Nigeria bags 12 gold

    Team Nigeria bags 12 gold

    Team Nigeria is fighting hard to emerge overall winner of the second edition of the African Youth Games (AYG) as the Nigerian team increased its gold medals’ hauls to 12 as at yesterday’s afternoon (Wednesday’s afternoon.)

    Nigeria is currently placed second on the overall medals table with South Africa leading having won 13 gold medals in swimming alone but the Nigerian Team is poised to overtake South Africa with envisaged gold medal haul from boxing and most especially athletics which began yesterday (Wednesday) evening. Kenya is also expected to give Nigeria a run for her money as a strong force in athletics in the continent.

    From the results gathered yesterday’s afternoon Team Nigeria has won three more gold medals and more silver and bronze in the sports as follows:

    The three additional gold medals were won by Deborah Ukeh in the Girls’ and  Adesokan Ajoke in the Badminton mixed double while Ajoke Adesokan also emerged gold medalist in the Badminton Girls’ single and Team Nigeria also won their third gold medal of the day in the Girls’ C1 Canoe Sprint while the Nigeria also won bronze in the boys’ C1 Canoe sprint.

    Other events where Team Nigeria won silver included Badminton Boys’ single won by Nelson Kingsley. Two Bronze medals were won in Canoeing K1 Sprint and C1 Sprint, two more bronze medals were carted home by Nigeria in Badminton mixed double while Ojo Muideen Oyakojo also bagged the bronze in Boys’ Boxing’s Light Flyweight 49kg category, Ajoke Ojomu won bronze in table tennis single and Esther Godwin in Girls’ 63kg taekwondo.