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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, explained, yesterday, that the decision by stakeholders in education sector to reduce tertiary institutions’ admission cut-off points, beginning with the 2017 academic calendar, was to stop the quest for foreign education by Nigerians.

It also said the cut-off marks being condemned by the public, like in previous cases, were never strictly followed by most institutions.

“Institutions were going behind to admit candidates with far less, with others admitting candidates who never sat for JAMB, “it said.

The board, which queried the continuous controversies arising from the stakeholders’ action, blamed rising quest for foreign education to what it called “our policies and attitude to national values and deep concern for realistic benchmarks for national development.

“Such and so many other poorly thought out policies have pushed our frustrated candidates out of Nigeria to developed and neighbouring African nations for education they could not get at home.’’

To this end, JAMB vowed to press ahead with current admission benchmark, stressing that it would not be deterred to do what was right for the country.

JAMB, in a statement by its Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said the education sector was at its retrogressive stage because many were afraid to say the truth for fear of being condemned.

According to the statement, “it is obvious that the quest to go abroad for foreign education is not as a result of shortage of spaces or standard given some of the institutions attended by these Nigerians but partly due to some of our policies and attitude to national values and deep concern for realistic benchmarks for national development.

“The much trending controversy over the just released cut off marks for 2017 admission exercise by stakeholders at the policy meetingis quite unnecessary.”
“Today, we are where we are because many are afraid to say the truth for fear of being condemned rather than being celebrated and set free as commanded by the Holy books.

“This not withstanding, the Board will not be deterred, we will continue to say the truth as it is and support policies that would bring our education system out of the woods.

“Today, it is a known fact that millions of Nigerians are out there schooling in mushroom institutions and they will at the end come back with all kinds of degree certificates that we can not explain their contents.

“Our naira is continually devalued as a result of so many reasons, including the pressure to pay these school’s fees.

“Irrespective of this turn of event in our education history, our tertiary institutions hardly fill their available spaces otherwise known as carrying capacity.”

The statement continued:” The question we all should be concern about is how to address the flight of Nigerians to glorified secondary schools called universities in Ghana, Uganda and even Gambia and others.

“ How do we ensure that whatever we do has positive multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy. If we deny our candidates the opportunity to school in Nigeria they will find their way out and in doing that deplete our economic base.

“To provide answers to all these challenges, stakeholders decided that institutions should be allowed to determine their cut off marks according to their peculiarities and the quality and standard they want to be known for.

‘It is expedient to state here that the worst admitted cut off mark in a Nigerian institution is far better than allowing them to fly out to some of the institution they are attending out there which we all know are nothing to be proud of.

“Besides events have shown that many institutions do not comply with cut off marks in the past hence the flood of requests for regularization. Now the new management has resolve to stop it and ensure full compliance with resolutions on cut off marks.

“The Board will equally ensure that it correct all anomalies existing especially as regards the powers of institutions to make pronouncements on admissions and other related matters affecting the institutions.

“The public should not forget that the Board is a creation of the demands of the then Vice Chancellors for a central institution that will streamline the process of admission and eliminate multiplicity of entrance examination and admissions.

In view of this mandate, the Board will confine itself to this provisions especially the conduct of examinations and release of results to the institutions.

“It is also very misleading to say that Vice-Chancellors reject the cut off mark. This may be the editors power of caption, you can only reject an offer and not when the power to determine such privilege lays squarely on your hands.”

It explained that prior to the decision, “all Heads of tertiary institutions were requested to submit their cut off benchmark to the Board which will then be used for the admission and that these benchmarks once determined cannot be changed in the middle of admission exercise.”

“Again, it is necessary to explain that the 120 mark does not in any way suggest that once you have 120 then admission is sure for you. Institutions will admit from the top to the lest mark.

“We are now starting the actually monitoring of adherence to admissions guide lines, cut off marks inclusive.

‘This act to say the least is very distasteful and damaging to our national data and identity. Unfortunately the public has been kept away from this fact for such a long time and now that we are saying it the way it’s and working to address it, the public is criticising us using non existing paremetres that were only announced and not followed.

“ In years past admission were done with worst cut- off marks. We are determined and ready to correct all these with the 2017 exercise, the Board has designed a Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to check back door admission and other unwholesome practices associated with admission.

‘’We are sure that the system will bring out the good in us as it will also make provision for candidates to track their admission.

“This empowers them to raise queries if a candidate they have better scores and other prerequisites are admitted which CAPS will not allow anyway. This is the inclusiveness and transparency that education needs.’’

BIG STORY

Court Remands Woman For Allegedly Stabbing Husband To Death In Ibadan

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An Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court yesterday ordered the remand of a housewife, Olajumoke Olalere, 33, at Agodi Correctional facility, Ibadan, for allegedly stabbing her husband to death.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Olabisi Ogunkanmi, who did not take the defendant’s plea for lack of jurisdiction, ordered her remand pending the legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).

She, thereafter, adjourned the case until March 5, 2025 for mention.

According to The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the police charged Olalere with a count of murder.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Akeem Akinloye, had told the court that the defendant on October 30, at 9.00 p.m. allegedly caused the death of her 39-year-old husband, Oluwasegun Tinubu.

Akinloye said the defendant allegedly stabbed her husband with a knife during a disagreement at their house, at Zone 5, Gbelu, Iyana – Agbala, Ibadan.

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BIG STORY

UPDATE: EFCC Grants Former Delta Governor Okowa Bail Over Alleged N1.3trn Fraud

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The Port Harcourt zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has granted administrative bail to Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, a former governor of Delta State, over allegations of diverting N1.3 trillion in 13% derivation funds from the federation account between 2015 and 2023.

Okowa was arrested on Monday, November 4, 2024, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after reporting to the Port Harcourt Directorate of the EFCC at the invitation of investigators handling his case.

Sources confirmed that the former governor left the EFCC facility around 9 pm on Wednesday night.

A source under anonymity stated: “He left the facility at about 9 pm yesterday (Wednesday).”

“Okowa is expected to return soon to provide documents and answer more questions before the matter will be charged to court.”

The former governor is accused of failing to account for the 13% derivation funds, as well as an additional N40 billion, which he allegedly claimed to have used to acquire shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Specifically, Okowa is said to have purchased N40 billion worth of shares in one of the country’s major banks, representing an 8% equity stake in the offshore LNG venture.

The funds are also alleged to have been diverted for other purposes, including acquiring properties in Abuja and Asaba, Delta State.

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BIG STORY

Oil Marketers Respond To Dangote Refinery Claims, Say SON, NMDPRA Certify Imported Petrol

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The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) certify the imported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, that is imported into Nigeria, oil marketers have said.

They disclosed this on Thursday in response to claims by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that off-spec petroleum products were imported into the country by dealers.

On Tuesday, the refinery informed Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited and other oil marketers that the deregulation of the downstream oil sector should not be used as a justification for the importation of off-spec petroleum products or the undermining of Nigeria’s national interests.

Oil marketers denied this claim on Thursday, with the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, Robert Dickerman, revealing that his firm signed a 13-year agreement with the Dangote refinery to distribute the refinery’s petroleum products through pipelines.

Dickerman pointed out that independent inspectors, NMDPRA, and SON, among others, “inspect our products, so we can’t bring in off-spec products into this country.”

His position was confirmed by SON, as an impeccable source at the agency told one of our correspondents that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria was involved in the testing of imported petroleum products.

The official added that the organisation operates its own laboratory facility to check if the commodities are off-spec or not.

“Yes, We are involved in the testing of petroleum products when they come into the country. We are involved in that. We have our laboratory facility where these tests are conducted. It’s to ensure if the commodities meet regulatory standards or off-spec,” the official said.

A major marketer also kicked against the claim that dealers import off-spec products into the country, particularly since the downstream oil sector was deregulated by the Federal Government.

“I once told you what we went through when we brought in our imported cargo of petrol. The product underwent a lot of laboratory tests. I know the NMDPRA carries out tests on imported products. They took a sample of our recent import when it was still in the mother vessel at Atlas Cove before it was moved to Apapa.

“At the point of discharge, they took the sample again before allowing us to put it in our tanks. The NMDPRA has certified laboratories that they use. We have our laboratory, but the NMDPRA will not allow you to do your test without them certifying the product by themselves.

“The testing is in three stages, the one in Atlas Cove when the vessel lands in Nigeria. When the product moves to your point of discharge, they will do another test before they allow it into your tanks and aside from that, the day you want to start loading they will carry another test,” the marketer, who spoke in confidence due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, Dickerman said the clarification became necessary to debunk the statement from the Dangote refinery, which accused Pinnacle of plans to blend substandard petrol in Nigeria.

The Dangote refinery had also said the Pinnacle MD approached it, pleading with the refinery to extend pipelines to its tank farms in order to blend substandard imported petroleum products with its ‘high-quality’ ones.

Reacting, Dickerman described the statement as defamatory, inaccurate, and intentionally misleading.

The managing director said it proposed and invested in pipelines to distribute petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery, saying pipeline transfer is far less costly than distribution by ship or trucking across the country.

According to him, when the project was proposed to Dangote, it wholeheartedly agreed and signed a 13-year interconnection agreement with Pinnacle Oil.

“On November 5, Dangote issued a Press Release titled, ’Pinnacle Oil and Gas FZE: Our Stand’. It is unfortunate and deeply concerning that this release contained several statements that are defamatory, inaccurate and intentionally misleading. Further, it advocated a national policy that would cause severe economic damage to Nigerians by raising the cost of petrol above global market prices and higher than they are today.

“In our effort to further enhance distribution efficiency, we proposed and invested in pipelines to distribute petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery, as pipeline transfer is far less costly than distribution by ship or trucking across the country. When we proposed this project to Dangote, they wholeheartedly agreed and signed a 13-year interconnection agreement with us.

“In addition, Dangote facilitated our process of achieving regulatory approval by writing two Letters of No Objection to the regulator to enable our project to proceed. The agreement to allow us to interconnect our pipeline to them was agreed actually in 2022 and I think it was signed in early 2023. So it was about two years ago that we actually reached this agreement, and it was done very comprehensively, from a commercial and a legal standpoint,” Dickerman stated.

He narrated that a lot of processes had gone into the project since it was signed, including the engineering design for the pipelines, surveying, getting the right of way, and letters of no objections from anyone who could be affected by the pipeline.

“There’s a whole bunch of stages to a project. This is not unlike any other construction project. It’s a very simple and straightforward process. This was done first. There was never a hint that this was not a good deal for both parties ever. So, it’s just not true that they opposed it. It’s simply not true that they opposed it. They supported it,“ the Pinnacle boss stated.

This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited denied a video clip that claimed the oil firm was selling dirty fuel from an NNPC Retail outlet at Keffi Flyover.

“We have carried out spot checks at all our outlets and found this claim to be false. The product was not, and could not have been bought from any NNPC Retail outlet as the company does not dispense petroleum products into bottles or jerrycans as displayed in the video,” it said in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye.

It added, “NNPC Retail Ltd does not deal in adulterated products as it adheres to rigorous standards and quality control measures at every stage in its operations to ensure that only high quality, safe, and reliable petroleum products are available at its stations nationwide.

“Members of the public should discountenance the spurious claims made in the video and be wary of selfish and unpatriotic elements pushing such a narrative as they do not mean well for the country.”

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