The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Study

  • Aisha Buhari urges children to study hard

    Aisha Buhari urges children to study hard

    The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, yesterday in Abuja called on children to study hard to improve their learning skills.

    The President’s wife, who was represented by the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Aisha Alhassan, stated this at Christmas and New Year Children’s Party at the Presidential Villa.

    She urged children to do all their homework given to them at all times to ensure that they become good students.

    Aisha advised children to be obedient to their parents and teachers as well as be law abiding in order to make Nigeria a great nation.

    She urged them toalso pray for the country to overcome all the challenges facing it.

    “The party is to rejoice and show love to the children as we celebrate Christmas and New Year.’’

    She said the present administration was committed to development of children as they represented the future of the nation.

    Highlights of the occasion was cutting of the New Year cake and prsentation of gifts to the children.

  • Study: nine out of 100 Nigerians have been raped

    Study: nine out of 100 Nigerians have been raped

    Nine out of every 100 male and female Nigerians were reportedly raped as children, a study has shown.

    The results of the study, titled: “Being a man in Nigeria: Perceptions and realities,” were presented last Saturday to the Lagos State Government at the Lagos Sheraton Hotels and Towers in Ikeja, as a landmark research by Voices 4 Change (V4C) Nigeria.

    Wife battery, sexual harassment and rape were also found to be some of the major violence perpetrated by men against women.

    Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Mrs Lola Akande warned perpetrators of violence against women that their actions contravened the 2007 Lagos State Domestic Violence Law.

    The state, she said, had shown the capacity to prosecute offenders.

    The researchers including V4C’s Mrs Caroline Enye and Mrs Patience Ekeoba, statistically showed that verbal abuse, forced/early marriage are common in nine states (six in the North and three in the South).

    Mrs Ekeoba said: “The research found that in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Benue, Lagos, Rivers and Enugu, men who regularly partake in childcare and house chores are described in several ways such as woman-wrapper, mijin-hajiya, mumu and ice-water.”

    The study covered issues ranging from cultural to social and religious attitudes towards masculinity among Nigerian men.

    It further found that 43 percent of men and 28 percent of women believe that women deserve to be beaten at times.

  • Study: Private schools save govt N377b

    Study: Private schools save govt N377b

    If results of some studies by the Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN) are anything to go by, the Lagos State government may be considering tax incentives for private schools soon.

    This is because private schools have saved the government over N377 billion educating about 7.5 million pre-primary, primary and secondary pupils in the state in the last five years.

    The researches by DEEPEN, a programme sponsored by the Department for International Development (DFID), a United Kingdom (UK) donor agency, to improve learning outcomes, particularly in low-cost private schools that serve low income families, were concluded in February. They focused on how much private schools have saved the government by investing in education, learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy in private schools compared to public schools, and situational analysis of public examinations.

    At the dissemination of findings of the studies held at The Dover Hotel, Ikeja, DEEPEN researcher, Chioma Obi-Osuji, noted that the N377.010 billion savings between 2010/11 and 2014/15 was calculated based on the unit cost of N45,560 and N68,136 that government spends per pupil at the primary and secondary levels.  She also said low-cost private schools accounted for 52 per cent of the savings.

    Projecting the likely cost to educate about 19,075,045 pupils expected to be attending primary and secondary schools between now and 2024, DEEPEN announced that the government would save N958 billion within the period.  Calculated according to quality education scenario endorsed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the amount becomes even higher – N1,443 billion.

    DEEPEN Team Leader, Dr Gboyega Ilusanya, said the implication of the research is for the government to consider the vital role private education providers play in the education sector and give them an enabling environment to be effective.

    “That tells us a lot of story; it means that we have to be thinking differently about this public private sector collaboration.  It does not imply that government should be giving money to private sector, but we should be looking at what challenges they face in their business environment.  When you look at Lagos State development plan 2012-2025, it actually mentioned straight forward that Lagos State has recognised education as a pluralist in Lagos and the samething has begun for other businesses in Lagos State,” he said.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Akinyemi Ashade, described the findings as eye-opening.

    “It is something we need to take cognisance of.  The savings appeal to me.  For us in Planning, what we have to focus on is how we can get convergence in terms of quality so that we don’t have two systems where children get different qualities of education,” he said.

    However, he noted that private education providers must contribute their quota in terms of taxes.

    Responding on behalf of low-cost private school educators under the umbrella of the Association for Formidable Education Development, the president, Mrs Ifedola Dada, urged the government to exempt low cost schools from taxes.

    “In some other countries, low income schools are exempted from a lot of levies because of their participation and what they are doing to the grassroots. You can see it is very difficult to get land in Lagos, so government should look into that.  The government can establish education bank.  If a cloth seller can have access to bank loans, then what happens to education?  They need a lot of adjustment in that area,” she said.

    Regarding analysis of examinations, DEEPEN found out that policies of government that all public and private school pupils take the Primary Six placement test and the JSS3 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was not true in practice as not all private schools take the examinations.  Also, some private schools presented primary five instead of primary six pupils for the examination; and charged additional fees well above government charges.

    The study also showed that private educators want government to make public examinations compulsory and free at primary and junior secondary levels.

     

  • Reasons Nigerians ‘prefer’ Paypal

    Reasons Nigerians ‘prefer’ Paypal

    Since mid-2014 when PayPal, an online payments system was launched in Nigeria, online money transfer service has undeniably improved – a study proves.

    The study has it that the launch of PayPal introduced a more secured way of transacting businesses in a simpler and more flexible manner across borders; opening up a world of shopping possibilities for Nigerian consumers.

    According to the study, PayPal gives people better ways to connect to their money and to each other, helping them pay online bills without sharing financial information with sellers.

    The study conducted in Nigeria by Ipsos – a global market research company, shows an expectation by Nigerian consumers to conduct more shopping online.

    “Out of the approximately 50 million internet users in Nigeria, 65% of users already shop online and another 24% of users expect to do so in the nearest future.

    These numbers clearly demonstrate that Nigerians have a big and growing appetite for E-commerce,” the study observed.

    It further highlighted 5 reasons Nigerian consumers choose PayPal and use it for online shopping to include:

    1. It is a more secured way to pay online

    When you make a payment with PayPal your financial details are not shared with the seller. This gives you more control over your financial information and provides you with an extra layer of security.

    2. The benefit of PayPal Buyer protection

    The online payment platform also protects eligible purchases with PayPal Buyer Protection. If an eligible item doesn’t show up, or turns out to be different from what was described, PayPal can help sort things out with the seller. It is included in its Terms and Conditions.

    3. Shop on thousands of website around the globe

    PayPal, established in 1998 in California has proven to be a truly global payment platform that is available in about 203 countries and markets.

    You no longer need to book a flight ticket to shop worldwide as PayPal is an accepted form of payment on thousands of websites around the globe and countries you do not necessarily need to go.

    4. Online shopping made easier

    Online payments using PayPal makes your life easier because when checking out with your PayPal account, you do not need to type in all your credit card details and shipping information for each transaction- everything is already stored in your PayPal account and kept secured.

    All that is needed is a PayPal account’s email address and password and the shopper will get through the checkout in no time.

    5. Free to sign up

    Interestingly, signing up for PayPal is free and it is a breeze. All that a shopper needs to do is follow the steps on the website which are to sign-up, choose country, enter identification details, enter card details then click continue. Lastly, go your email to confirm the mail from PayPal.

    The online payment system serves as electronic alternatives to traditional paper methods like checks and money orders, which is currently one of the world’s largest internet payment companies.

    The company operates as an acquirer, performing payment processing for online vendors, auction sites and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.

  • Ebola: Study lauds, faults media role

    A study conducted by the Urban Action Group of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG), has lauded media coverage of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria for playing a role in checking its spread.

    Although the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Nigeria Ebola-free on October 20, last year, the study recommended that the media should continue reporting the disease to serve aa a tool for effective prevention and control of the virus in the country.

    The study also revealed that the frequency and prominence of the reports by the media played a great role in curbing the spread of the virus in Nigeria.

    The group, which gathered and analysed data on the reportage of the outbreak in four national dailies, isolated a total of 719 published reports within the six-month period under study.

    The analysis also revealed that an average of four news items was published per day.

    It concluded that the national dailies fulfilled their social responsibility functions of informing the public about the outbreak of EVD and revealing precautionary measures to curtail the spread.

    However, the study discovered that interpretative reports on the EVD was low as only 26 per cent of articles  was devoted to the interpretation and analysis of the disease, rating it significantly low considering the  high mortality rate (90 per cent) of the disease.

    Besides, only 11 per cent of the newspaper reports were on the front and back pages, which the group implied that “Nigerian newspapers did not attach much prominence to the coverage of the EVD, probably because of other news items contending for attention, such as insecurity and politics.”

    Prior to the outbreak of EVD in Nigeria, only 0.1 per cent was devoted to the reportage of the disease. The implication, the study reasoned, might be responsible for the haphazard response of approach the government and entire populace reacted to it.

    The study stated: “It also reflects the lack of proactiveness by Nigerian newspapers because EVD was already prevalent in West African countries close to Nigerian borders.”

    In the month that the index case was recorded (July, 2014), only two per cent of reports were on the EVD, while 50 per cent of the total news coverage of the six-month period studied was published in August after the Federal Government addressed a press conference on the outbreak. The reportage dropped to 30 per cent in September after the index case had died, and 17.9 per cent in October in which month the WHO declared the country Ebola-free.

    “By October, prior to the World Health Organisation declaration of Nigeria as Ebola-free, news reportage dropped to 17.9 per cent, which should not have been so, because Nigeria was still at a critical point since the vaccine/cure for the virus had not been found. Our land borders also remained porous, making the country still susceptible to a re-emergence of the EVD,” the statement noted.

    Based on the findings, the study recommended that Nigerian newspapers should step up their role in interpretative and investigative reportage on disease outbreaks.

    Other issues highlighted included the need for proper training of journalists, with continuous capacity building on social development issues;  encouraging communities to establish local print media with up-to-date functional libraries for information access and dissemination; government should also take keen interest in health management by providing appropriate policies that can ensure easy access to medical aid at subsidised rate.

     

  • NBCC embarks on export, study tour to UK

    The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) in collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) Trade and Investment Department (UKTI) will from October 20 to 24 organise an Export Nigeria Study Tour to the UK.

    The President, NBCC, Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, said the Chamber is organising the tour to address the trade imbalance between Nigeria and the UK. “There is an imbalance when it comes to trade between Nigeria and most countries; this tour is just one of many strategies NBCC has lined up to rectify this imbalance in Nigeria’s favour,” he said.

    The tour comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s inability to generate steady export to the UK due to poor management.

    Other reasons, according to NBCC chief, are limited understanding of the rules and standard governing exports to the UK,  policy inconsistencies and others which he said has made it nearly impossible for about three million Nigerians living in the UK to buy made-in-Nigeria products.

  • ‘Why we prefer studying in UK’

    ‘Why we prefer studying in UK’

    “The best thing about studying in the UK is that you get to meet so many different people,” Olufunmilayo, Odeyemi, 19, currently a student in the UK said excitedly.

    Olufunmilayo, is among several other Nigerians who rush to the UK to get a degree.  A recent statistics revealed that the number of Nigerians studying in the UK has trebled in just eight years.

    For Olufunmilayo, the experience so far is worth the while, “It’s a real experience and I have learned much more than I ever imagined. Not only that, but I love football and have been to watch my favourite team, Manchester United, play in the Premier League,” she said.

    It is the same story for her sister Fehintola, 21, “The lifestyle is very different in the UK compared to Nigeria. What you say, how you dress and the way you interact with people is very different from home. It has been a real experience.

    “I plan to do a masters degree in architecture which will lead to me being qualified with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Once I have this, I would like to come home to Nigeria and move to Lagos to work in an architectural firm,” she said.

    Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in the UK (HESA) shows that 17,640 Nigerians enrolled to study at UK universities during 2011/12 compared to 5,385 for 2003/04.

    Nottingham Trent University, based in Nottingham in the East Midlands in England, now has nearly double the number of Nigerian students compared to two years ago. For the academic year 2013/14, 64 Nigerians enrolled at the university, compared to 38 in 2011/12.

    Among those to enrol were siblings Olufunmilayo, Fehintola and Olurotimi Odeyemi who were all born and raised in Kaduna.

    Olufunmilayo is currently studying for a degree in product design, while Fehintola and Olurotimi have both graduated with degrees in architecture.

    They all undertook a foundation course at Nottingham Trent International College, which is based at the university’s campus in Nottingham city centre, to give them a good ground for their degrees.

    Selma Toohey, international recruitment officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at Nottingham Trent University, said: “We’re seeing increases in the number of students from Nigeria coming here to study, which is really encouraging. In the past we have had many students applying from Lagos, but now we’re seeing more come to us from other parts of Nigeria, such as cities and towns in the north like Kaduna.

    “More people are realising that studying in the UK is a realistic option and many find it to be a real benefit to experience living in another culture while studying for their degrees.”