UNN SCREENING REGISTRATION UPDATE
This is to inform all prospective students that the University administration has extended the closing date of the ongoing Screening registration to midnight on Monday 23rd July, 2018.
This is to enable students who failed to register do so before the forthcoming screening examination.
Any students who fails to register by Midnight of Monday 23rd July 2018 will not be allowed to register again.
PRO
OpenWater, a Software Development Company in Washington DC is offering scholarship opportunities to Students who wants to be great in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Software Development, Sales Profession or any thing in between.
The OpenWater Scholarship is designed to equipped talented and Excellent Students with grant worth $1,500.
Application Deadline: December 31st 2018
Application Results Announcement: February 1st, 2019
Eligible Countries: USA
Type: Undergraduate
Eligibility:
How To Apply: Every Student who wish to be an OpenWater Scholar or wish to win the OpenWater Scholarship must write an Captivating Essay which Stands out amongst others.
The Essay Title: How do you envision your field of study fitting into the future?
The compile list below is available and most applied scholarship for Nigeria Undergraduate,the aim of this scholarship is to assist some student that are eager to study but not financially buoyant.
So interested students who wish to apply for any of this programs stay tuned on Ngschoolz.com as we are going to inform you when they announce it individually,and we will also update you on the requirements for application.
Here Are The List Of Top Available Undergraduate Scholarship 2018
1. Agbami Medical Engineering Scholarship
For 100/200L
Worth: Medical awardees = N200, 000 ,
Engineering Students awards = N100,000
2. NNPC/Chevron Scholarship For 200L
Worth: N150,000
3. NNPC/Addax Scholarship for 100L
Worth N100,000
4. Total EP Scholarship For 100L/200L
Worth N150,000
5. NLNG Scholarship For 100L
N150,000
6. Exxon/Mobil Scholarship For 200L
Worth N150,000
7. SPDC (Shell) Scholarship For 100L
Worth N75,000
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8. PTDF Scholarship I 200L
Worth N150,000 Plus Laptop during first payment.
9. ABC Transport Scholarship For 100L
Worth N100,000
10. Federal Government Scholarship Award
For 200/300/400L Worth N150,000
11. MTN Foundation Scholarship For 200L
Worth N200,000
12. NAOC (Nigeria Agip Oil Company)
Scholarship For 100L
Worth N100,000
13. Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship
Worth N100,000
14. NWAG Scholarship
Worth N50,000
15. SNEPCo Scholarship For 100L
16. MUSTE Undergraduate Scholarships for Nigerian Students (All levels)
17. BAT Iseyin Agronomy (BATIA) Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme
18. Sir Emeka Offor Foundation Scholarship Award-
19. NPDC/SEPLAT Undergraduate Scholarship Awards
After getting backlash from Nigerians for questioning Hillary Clinton why she added 'wife' to her twitter page, Chimamanda has reacted.
Hillary Clinton and Chimamanda Adichie
Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has replied all the criticisms that have been coming her way since she questioned former US presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton why she added “Wife” to her Twitter bio on Wednesday.
Nigerians had criticized Chimamanda for being too extreme with her feminism. Some had argued that feminism is all about choice and wondered why she would question another woman's expression since no one made her 'commander-in-chief' of feminists.
However, Adichie took to her verified Facebook page to write a lengthy post detailing her stance on the matter. The author interviewed Hillary Clinton at the PEN World Voices Festival lecture in Manhattan on Sunday night and one of her questions bothered on why the former FLOTUS twitter bio begins with “Wife.”
Adichie wanted to know if it was Clinton’s choice to first be identified in relation to her husband, and if so, why.
“When you put it like that, I’m going to change it,” she laughed; before adding that women should be able to celebrate both their personal and professional achievements.
THE REPLY
"Dear Unnamed Person Who I Am Told Is On Social Media Saying I am Her Family and Telling Me to Shut Up:
Cynicism is ugly. It doesn’t flatter anyone. Yours doesn’t suit you at all.
I remember you vaguely; I think you were in my class in primary school. And now you claim to be my ‘family’ and you are asking me to shut up.
Did you watch the video of the conversation? Did you read a full transcript?
I am tired of Nigerians who read a headline and, without bothering to get details and context, jump on the outrage bandwagon and form lazy, shallow opinions.
I am tired of Nigerians cynically thinking of anybody in public life as a ‘brand.’ No, I am not a brand. I am a person who feels strongly about certain issues. I choose to talk honestly about them. I made the choice to talk about feminism knowing very well the kind of hostility it brings – but I think it’s important and I will continue to speak my truth and hope to bring about some change, no matter how small. Adirom agba egwu ka m data ego.
No, of course you don’t actually deserve a response, but I have some free time today. So I want to make you feel a little important because it sounds like you need it.
And I want to reflect on an absolutely lovely hour spent on stage with Hillary Clinton.
Women, especially women in public life, face a lot of societal pressure about how to be, how to live, much more than men do. Women in public life are considered ‘cold’ and ‘un-relatable’ unless they define themselves in domestic terms. Women’s accomplishments are often considered incomplete unless they have also ticked the ‘marriage’ box. These things are not true of men, even though marriage can be a wonderful thing for both men and women.
Feminism is indeed about choice. But it is intellectually lazy to suggest that, since everything is about ‘choice,’ none of these choices can be interrogated. Choices are never made in a vacuum. And sometimes, for women, choices are not always real choices.
After she got married, Ms. Clinton kept her name, but she was so viciously criticized for this that she then took on her husband’s name. Was this a ‘choice?’ Would she have done so if she wasn’t being attacked and if she didn’t want to feel responsible for her husband’s potential losing of votes?
During the last presidential campaign, she was expected to account for the policies of her husband’s administration. She was labeled an enabler of sexual harassment. She was accused of cynically staying married because she wanted to benefit politically.
Much of Ms. Clinton’s public image is a caricature of a person who is untrustworthy, calculated, cold, dishonest. That caricature has its roots in her early public life when she was the First Lady of Arkansas.
Her crime was that she did not conform to the traditional role of First Lady. She had kept her name. She clearly considered herself to be her husband’s equal partner. She did not intend merely to be a Wife. She had her own dreams, her own ambition. She dared to say that she wasn’t planning on ‘staying home and baking cookies,’ which was not about denigrating stay-at-home mothers but simply about saying that that was not what she wanted to do.
A small comment about a small thing, but it was significant and revolutionary because she was consciously resisting the status quo.
But she was attacked for that. Horrendously. And those attacks were repeated so often that they stuck and they contributed to her being reduced to a caricature.
It was therefore upsetting to see her first descriptor as ‘wife.’ The question isn’t about including ‘wife’ in her Twitter bio. The question is about giving ‘wife’ a certain primacy as the first word that describes her, and it speaks to larger questions about the societal expectations placed on women.
Ms. Clinton wrote in her most recent book WHAT HAPPENED, that she ran for president because she thinks she would have been a ‘damned good president.’
She certainly would have been. And so I suggested, half-joking, that ‘Would have been a damned good president’ is a perfect Twitter bio start. And then mother and wife and grandma and Senator and hair icon etc could follow!
I completely stand by my question and by my conviction that it is a subject that matters.
I had a truly enlightening evening on that stage with Ms. Clinton, and was once again awed by her grit, her humanity, her sparkling intelligence.
After the conversation, Ms. Clinton told me, “It was like talking to a friend.” She is now my Aunty For Life.
Oh, as for YOU, Unnamed Person, saying that I am ‘family’ to you, mbakwa biko. The people I consider family don’t ‘do petty.’
Saying “shut up” to a woman who airs an opinion is so unoriginal. Try and be a bit more inventive.
Try reasoning. Try intelligent debate. Try understanding things in context before you reveal your ignorant misogyny to the world. Try reading more than a headline. Try reading a whole book. Or two. And please keep talking. Keep speaking. Don’t ever shut up."
~CNA
Harvard University uses Nigeria as a case study of a failed African country
Harvard University gave to its students an assignment in which Nigeria was used as a case study of a failed African country. It question stated that the country had failed to thrive for its first thirty years as an independent nation.
The question Harvard University gave its students reads;
Africa is growing. Seven of the the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and the continent’s largest economies are becoming less dependent on extractive commodities. The continent’s rising middle class has demonstrated a taste for consumer goods and technological innovation, and Africa’s population-currently more than a billion people- is booming and overwhelmingly young at a time when populations in other regions are shrinking and aging.
Nigeria, sub-saharan Africa’s largest economy, epitomizes both the promise and the problems the continent faces in the 21st century. The country had failed to thrive for its first thirty years as an independent nation, despite having a developmental head start relative to countries like China and India, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue.. Now, after pathbreaking reforms followed by signs of retrenchment, Nigeria’s new President faced both vast opportunity and grave challenges. Would the country flourish or founder in this new era? We will analyze key reforms in Nigeria’s economy, significant political developments, and the choices facing the country’s fast-growing private sector.
Why did Nigeria fail to thrive between 1960 and 1999, particularly relative to China and India?
How would you characterize former President Obasanjo’s legacy?
Are you bullish or bearish on the next fifteen years for Nigeria? What would make you change your mind? What opportunities do you see? What are the challenges (and risks)
It was in the news recently that a 15-year-old Nigerian girl was offered admission to the prestigious Harvard University in United States of America. Saheela Ibraheem is the 15-year-old daughter of a Nigerian immigrant family living in New Jersey, United States. Since news broke about Saheela’s incredible acceptance to 13 of American’s prestigious Universities, local and International media took interests in the teen’s success story.
Joe Igbokwe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has thrown his weight behind the statement allegedly made by President Muhammadu Buhari that a lot Nigerian youths prefer to sit and not work.
Buhari, while speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London few days ago, had said "most Nigerian youths want everything free without doing anything"
Supporting Buhari’s remark, Igbokwe insisted that some Nigerian youths are actually lazy.
In a Facebook post, the publicity secretary of the APC in Lagos said youths now prefer “Okada business, yahoo yahoo and begging” to learning a trade that will take them years to perfect.
Igbokwe wrote” “10 REASONS WHY I INSIST SOME NIGERIAN YOUTHS ARE LAZY.
“A research carried out at NNAMDI Azikiwe University Awka Anambra State found out that Students spend more time doing some funny things on the Internet than focusing on their books.
“In the 90s I had some two Children of close family members in my house. They were about writing their WEAC Exams but I didn’t see them for one day reading for the exams. When I confronted them they said ‘ Uncle do not worry we will pass’ They ‘passed’ and today they are ‘graduates’ but I know they are not.
“Today in Nigeria if you want a good carpenter, Tiler or POP man you need to get the Togolese, Camerounians, Ghanaians to do the job.
“I have met Mothers who are ready to give anything including their bodies for their Children to get admission into Universities and even to pass common entrance exams.
“For years I have pleaded with some of the young people I know to go to learn a trade and even when I succeeded in getting them places to learn something they usually run away to go and continue to beg.
“I have met many of our young people who said they went to university and when you engage them you will discover instantly that they are fake graduates who are not employable and yet they will tell you there are no jobs.
“One of my brothers spent good money to get his wife who claimed to be a graduate a teaching appointment. He pushed and pushed until one day he was invited by the man who wants to help him. My brother was shocked to the marrows when the man told him that the woman should return to class one in Secondary School and that she knows nothing.
“In the South East today hundreds of young men have been brutally killed in drug related offenses in South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia and other Countries. Some sell their Kidnies to raise money. Give these young men a job of 200k a month they will just laugh at you.
“Today in NNEWI where I come from it is difficult for you to get a young boy to learn a trade for say 5,6,7 years before they are established. They prefer Okada business, yahoo yahoo, begging etc.
“There are so many fake Proprietors of universities and Polytechnics in NIGERIA that are only interested in money and nothing else. They go to JAMB and bribe them to send these 10th rate poor students to them. They push and push them until they graduate and the vicious cycle continues. We have close to 200 Higher Institutions but how many of them are real higher institutions.
“I am passionate about getting our Country to work again and that is the reason why I am challenging the young people of Nigeria. My father abused us for laziness and untoward behaviors to make us strong and dedicated. Our teachers in those days abused, flogged and and gave us pits to dig for failing to do our assignments. I know a father who went to pick his son in Navy school Abeokuta for holidays. When he got there and was told that the boy failed his exams the man turned his car and left for LAGOS without the boy. He did not return to pick that boy until after one week. It became a turning point in the life of that boy.”
The management of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has given update on the commencement of 2018 Batch A orientation exercise.
The scheme in a statement on its official Facebook page, listed compulsory documents expected to be taken along by the corps members for the orientation exercise.
The statement read “This is to inform 2018 Batch “A” PCMs to kindly note the following ahead of Commencement of the Orientation Exercise.
i. Persons who studied in Nigeria should bring to camp: Degree/HND Certificates or Statement of Results, Personal Identity Card from Institution of graduation.
Foreign graduates should bring for verification, original copies of ALL their uploaded credentials and travel documents including International passport.
ii. Foreign graduates are to ensure that academic paper(s) in Languages other than English must be translated into English accordingly; both versions must be presented for verification at the camp.
iii. Medical/veterinary Doctors, Dentists, Pharmacists, Optometrists, Physiotherapists Nurses and Public Environmental Health graduates should bring their professional licenses or certificates of full registration issued by their professional bodies. Thank you.”
Manchester City have won the 2017/2018 Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola’s men beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on Saturday, to re-open a 16-point gap between themselves and rivals Manchester United.
However, United were shocked 1-0 by bottom club West Brom at Old Trafford, to hand the title to their neighbours.
Jay Rodriguez was the unlikely man to send the seal the championship for City, with his 74th-minute goal.
The result leaves second-placed United just one point above Liverpool, although Jose Mourinho’s side do have a game in hand.
Application Deadline: May 3, 2018 at 11:59pm.
• Are you a brilliant first year or continuing student pursuing first degree education in any of the public tertiary institutions in Ghana requiring financial assistance?
Are you a First year or continuing student pursuing first degree education in any of the public tertiary institutions in Ghana requiring financial assistance? The MTN Ghana Foundation has launched a scholarship scheme to support 100 brilliant and needy Ghanaians to complete their tertiary education. 300 scholarship awards would be given over a period of three years and beneficiaries will be selected from all 10 regions of Ghana. This scholarship will cover the cost of Tuition, Accommodation and a Stipend for books and other relevant reading materials.
For about two decades, 1000s of Ghanaian youth have been supported by MTN Ghana Foundation to pursue various courses at different levels of education in Ghana through the Scholarship scheme.
CRITERIA
The applicant
1. Must be a citizen of Ghana
2. Must be proven to be;
c) Be hard-working with excellent academic results
(An applicant in the first year of any public tertiary institution in Ghana should have credit passes in six (6) subjects with overall aggregate of 24 at the WASSCE/SSSCE respectively.
Three of the six subjects should be core subjects: English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies and three must be in relevant electives.
For the purposes of this Scholarship, a credit pass in:
i. WASSCE means A1 – C6
ii. SSSCE means A – D
AND
A continuing student applicant should have a minimum GPA of 3.0
d) Be involved in extra curricula activities.
e) Be proven to be without any academic disciplinary issue and/or must not be serving a bond to be of good behavior.
3. Continuing students and first year students in any accredited public tertiary institution in Ghana who meet all criteria may apply.
4. Provide a one page letter of motivation indicating why MTN Foundation should award you a scholarship for your education, including what your educational and professional goals are.
5. Attach WASSCE results, admission letters and written Testimonials from your Senior High School. Please note that thorough checks will be made on all documents submitted.
6. Application must be submitted together with valid contact details (Phone number/E-mail address).
7. Shortlisted applicants will be notified and invited to meet the scholarship panel.
8. An applicant who enjoys any form of educational scholarship should not apply.
9. Priority would be given to persons pursuing courses in ICT, Computer Science, and Engineering. WOMEN, and PERSONS with disability are especially encouraged to apply.
10. Application submission shall be opened from April 3, 2018 and closes on May 3, 2018 at 11:59pm.
11. Successful Candidates would be contacted directly and their names published in the newspapers by May 28, 2018.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants can go online and apply through the web portal scholarships.mtn.com.gh OR visit any of these MTN Service Centers to pick up forms ; Tamale Branch, Wa Branch, Bolgatanga Branch, Kumasi (Nhyaeso branch), Takoradi Main-Beach Road, Ho main Branch, MTN House, Accra, Cape Coast Branch, Sunyani main Branch, Koforidua Main Branch. For further clarification or assistance, mail to mtnghanafoundation@mtn.com or call 0244300000.
PLEASE NOTE: Under no circumstances whatsoever would an applicant be required to pay any money for the processing of their applications.
Jan Koum, founder of Whatsapp hates advertisements. When Facebook took over Whatsapp in February 2014 for US$19 billion, Jan obliged Facebook to maintain Whatsapp add free now and forever.
So how does Whatsapp earns revenue?
Actually it doesn't. Atleast presently.
It is vastly believed that Facebook uses Whatsapp to create data base and for behaviour tracking of users. Which they use to display adds on Facebook and other websites.
Intially Whatsapp use to Charge 1$ for 1 year of subscription but later that plan was cancelled. And since then WhatsApp is free for all.
In future WhatsApp might have some integrations which will accumulate profit for the company. As of now we know of WhatsApp Pay which will soon launch in India and Globally.
Presently WhatsApp is trying to accquire as many users as it possibly can. They already have about 1 Billion+ active users.
How does WhatsApp earn money when there are no ads?
A question answered on Quora.com by Ajinkya Khobragade
Juventus vs Real Madrid will go down as one of the most controversial finishes to a game in Champions League history.
Trailing 3-0 from the first leg, Juventus managed to lead 3-0 in the second leg, and with minutes remaining at the Bernabau the tie seemed destined to head to extra time.
But referee Michael Oliver awarded Real Madrid a controversial penalty in the final moments, which Cristiano Ronaldo would eventually dispatch to send the Spanish side through.
Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon was shown a red card because of his protests, and he would not hold back in his assessment of the incident in his post-match interview.
"The team gave its all, but a human being cannot destroy dreams like that at the end of an extraordinary comeback on a dubious situation,"
Buffon said in an emotionally charged interview.
"Clearly you cannot have a heart in your chest, but a bag of rubbish. On top of that, if you don't have the character to walk on a pitch like this in a stadium like this, you can sit in the stands with your wife, your kids, having your drink and eating crisps.
"You cannot ruin the dreams of a team. I could've told the referee anything at that moment, but he had to understand the degree of the disaster he was creating."
PETER CROUCH HAS HIS SAY
The incident has divided the footballing world. Many have sympathised with Buffon, whereas others have condemned him.
And now Peter Crouch has weighed in with his opinion, and it's very hard to argue with him.
The English international praises his countryman for staying cool in the situation, claiming he was 'as cool in that moment as Cristiano Ronaldo'.
"Fair play to Oliver for making the call," Crouch wrote. "It wasn’t ‘stonewall’ by any means but he was as cool in that moment as Cristiano Ronaldo was when he took the decisive spot-kick."
And Crouch also sympathises with Buffon given the heartbreaking way his last chance to win a Champions League winners' medal ended.
"Buffon’s reaction has caused great debate. There are times when you lay into a referee and know you have overstepped the mark and I’m sure, in the future, Buffon will regret what happened. I know how he feels as I have some experience of red cards in the Bernabeu.
"I am not defending Buffon but, at that moment, the emotions could not have been more highly charged.
"I cannot begin to imagine how he felt when he knew that his lifelong dream of winning the Champions League was ripped from his grasp in such a controversial manner."
Well said, Crouchy.
It's hard to defend Buffon. His reaction was completely unacceptable; both on the pitch and off it.
But that was his last chance of winning the Champions League, and to have had it ripped away from him in such a controversial manner must have been heartbreaking.
For that reason, Buffon must accept the consequences of his actions, but at the same time he also deserves sympathy.
At the just concluded draws for the Champions League semi finals Real Madrid will face rivals Bayern Munich in a heavyweight contest.
Whenever both teams cross each other's path in the competition it has always been a blockbuster and a highly entertaining and sometimes controversial fixture.
Both teams have played 24 matches against each other and Los Blancos have a superior result with nine wins, a draw, and two losses.
The Bavarians have only managed to defeat the Spanish giants on two occasions with just one draw and nine losses in the process.
The defending champions had a 6-3 aggregate win against their German counterparts in the quarter finals playing a 2-1 first leg away win and another 4-2 spanking at the Bernabeu last season.
However, at the semi final stages of this competition, both have met four times in the last since the 1999/2000 campaign till date.
The pair have two wins each including a 3-1 Bayern overall victory in the 2000/01 season and the 2011/12 season ended on penalties in favour of the Germans.
However Madrid won the 1999/2000 fixture on a 3-2 aggregate and pulled a 5-0 scoreline in the 2013/14 season.
Since Jupp Heynckes took over from Carlo Ancelotti this season the Bundesliga champions have been unbeaten in the most event in football.
They recorded an emphatic 8-1 aggregate win over Besiktas in the round of 16 and qualified into the semis at the expense of Sevilla with a 2-1 result over two legs.
Zinedine Zidane's men also pulled an emphatic 5-2 results against Paris Saint Germain in the knock phase and managed to scale through on a 4-3 aggregate score against mighty Juventus.
Los Merengues made it to their eight straight semi finals and will hoping to be crowned champions for the third successive season to make it 13 in total.
Bayern who have five trophies in their history will be aiming for their sixth tournament silverware and their first in five years.
Real Madrid star, Cristiano Ronaldo has blamed Lionel Messi for Barcelona’s Champions League quarter final exit to AS Roma on Tuesday.
Barcelona gave away 4-1 lead in the reversed fixture in Camp Nou and were thrashed 3-0 in Rome on Tuesday.
Messi was not enabled to lift his side from slumping as they crashed out on away goal rule.
Spanish outlet Don Balon reports that Real Madrid’s Ronaldo blamed the defeat on Messi.
Messi started the season in fine form and still has 39 goals to his name so far.
Ronaldo, however, was dreadful at the beginning of the campaign but has since managed to overtake Messi on 40 strikes for the season.
The report said that the Real Madrid star thinks Messi is now saving himself for the World Cup in June.
The Bright Scholarships scheme under the MTN foundation is giving an opportunity to 300 students to further or complete their tertiary level education.
A statement released by the MTN foundation suggest the student or interested applicant have between April 3 and May 3, 2018, to apply and complete all due processes for the scholarship. The scholarship which is believed to run for 3 years will give a hundred scholarships annually.
Clearing the scheme from discrimination, beneficiaries will be selected from all the regions in Ghana. This is the juiciest part — the scholarship will cover tuition, accommodation and a stipend for books and other relevant reading materials.
“The scholarships are open to both senor high school graduates and continuing students in public universities. SHS students are required to have credit passes in six (6) subjects with an overall aggregate of 24 at the WASSCE/SSSCE respectively to quality. Three of the six subjects should be core subjects – English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies and the other three must be in applicant’s respective electives,” the statement said.
It added that continuing students’ applicants should have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and be involved in extra-curricular activities.
“Qualified applicants can apply through–Scholarships.mtn.com.gh or visit any MTN Service Center for applications forms,” the statement said.
Commenting on the Bright Scholarships, the Acting Corporate Services Executive of MTN, Samuel Koranteng said, “over the years, MTN identified the crucial role funding plays in helping brilliant and needy students to achieve their dreams and aspirations. In view of that, MTN Ghana Foundation makes the conscious efforts to ease that burden by awarding scholarships such as the MTN Bright scholarships to enable these students to complete their education.”
The commencement of the Bright Scholarships is in honour of the promise MTN made to Ghanaians during the commemoration of its 20th Anniversary in 2016.
For over 20 years, the Foundation has awarded over 1000 scholarships to students from basic school to tertiary level.
Aside the Bright Scholarship, MTN Ghana Foundation launched the Teacher Improvement Award Programme in 2015. Since the inception of the programme, 60 teachers have been awarded scholarships to pursue First or Masters’ Degrees at the University of Cape Coast and the University Education, Winneba.
MTN Bright Scholarship falls under education, which is one of the three focus areas of the MTN Ghana Foundation. Since the launch of the MTN Foundation in 2007, the Foundation has invested in over 82 educational projects across the country. Some of these projects include a boys’ dormitory block for Akropong School for the blind, a six-unit classroom block for Kodjonya Millennium School, eight unit dormitory block for Owerriman SHS, a three unit classroom block for Akatsi, 108 Seater Library at Tsito Senior High School and the provision of over 1000 scholarships for needy but brilliant students across the country.
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Barcelona’s players will have woken up on Wednesday morning wondering if the previous evening’s events had all been a vivid nightmare.
Sadly for them, they weren’t dreaming. What happened at the Stadio Olimpico most definitely happened.
AS Roma advanced to the Champions League semi-finals, despite losing the first leg 4-1, after recording a stunning 3-0 win over Barça in front of their home supporters.
Goals from Edin Dzeko and Daniele De Rossi gave Roma hope - and then Kostas Manolas popped up with the all-important third goal in the 82nd minute of the match.
Cue pandemonium from the Roma fans, who couldn’t believe their team had upset the odds and reached the last-four of European football’s premier cup competition.
Barcelona’s supporters, on the other hand, were understandably crestfallen after the defeat. Not only was this a wasted opportunity to add another European Cup to their collection but their shock exit increases Real Madrid’s chances of winning the competition for a third successive season.
They will all be praying that Juventus manage to stage a similarly remarkable comeback at the Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.
PUYOL'S TWEET WAS PERFECT
Shortly after the full-time whistle blew at the full-time whistle, Carles Puyol posted a message to Barcelona supporters on Twitter - and it was perfect.
"It's a blow, a hard day, but we can't burn everything down now, we have two titles to win,”
Barça’s former talismanic captain wrote . “Now more than ever, long live Barca!"
Awesome stuff from Puyol. When fans were all losing their heads, there was Puyol to quickly put things into perspective.
Barcelona fans listen to this man and no doubt his timely tweet prevented a few angry messages from being directed at the club’s players on social media.
BARCELONA REMAIN ON COURSE TO WIN TWO TROPHIES
As Puyol alluded to, Barcelona remain on course to finish the season with two major trophies: La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Ernesto Valverde’s side possess a nine-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga with seven matches remaining and will face Sevilla in the final of the Copa del Rey at the Wanda Metropolitano on April 21.
It’s now down to the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique - as the club’s senior players - to pick up their teammates after such a disappointing defeat.
That’s what Puyol would have done, anyway.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Politics, Religion and Personality Cult in Postcolonial Africa
Personality Cult refers to a situation in which a public figure (such as a political or charismatic leader) is deliberately seen as an idealized, heroic, at times worshipful image of a leader worthy of admiration and veneration. In Africa, as in most other parts of the world, politics and religion are two areas where the personality cult syndrome has found fecundity. Personality cult operates on a dialectic basis, either occasioned by the deployment of propaganda by its own subject, that is the leader or personality around whom it is built, or generated by the people through excessive hero worship. In modern Africa, the media has become, among others, one of the major tools for the invention, sustenance and celebration of the personality cult. Today personality cult is sustained in the mill of the travestied democracies and religious movements that define Africa.
In Africa, politics is a complex phenomenon, largely driven by the sensitivities of ethnicity and ethnocentrism manifested in cases of ethnic domination and cleansing, migration and re-settlements, minority issues, resource-control controversies, political exclusion and marginalization, ethnic conflicts, terrorism, gender inequality, sit-tight-syndrome, corruption and leadership ineptitude, etc. The quagmire is vividly complemented by the complexities and contradictions harboured in contemporary religions/religious movements, especially Pentecostalism with its propensity for nescience, nihilism, extremis and intersectional intolerance within and across countries in the continent. The situation is further compounded by the intermingling of the religion and politics in neo-colonial Africa as the two realms increasingly become instruments of aggression and impoverishment against the masses. When religion trespasses into realms (such as education and politics) not traditionally its own, as Jonathan Sacks suggests in hisPolitics of Hope, the results can be very catastrophic.
With the enthronement of religion and politics as the most fundamental means to heroic materialism and crude power in contemporary Africa, there is not only a scramble by people to become pastors and politicians, but to amass wealth and wield enormous power thereof and to use these as instruments of control on the people. In a continent where hunger and poverty have taken the front seat in many nations, political and religious leaders quickly become agencies for bread and butter and are easily confused with the offices and interests they should ordinarily represent. It is in this socio-political, religious and economic context that personality cult thrives in the continent and is beamed onto the landscape as a legitimate phenomenon. Against this background, we would like to invite papers for the anthology “Politics, Religion and Personality Cult in Postcolonial Africa”,with a view to tracing the history and social dynamics and dimensions of personality cult as it manifests and operates within the realms of religion and politics in postcolonial Africa, using the following subthemes and other related issues as possible spin-offs:
· The Concept of Personality Cult
· History of Personality Cult in Africa
· Politics, Personality Cult and the Media in Africa
· Interface of Politics and Religion and the Power Struggle in Neo-Colonial Africa
· Personality Cult and the Media in Africa
· Religions and Personality Cult in Africa
· Personality Cult and Economic Development/Survival in Africa
· Personality Cult, Ethnicity, Religion and Politics
· Extremis, Apocalypse and the Personality Cult Syndrome in Pentecostalism
· Personality Cult and Violence in Democracy in Postcolonial Africa
· Personality Cult as a Cultural Residuum in Africa
· Personality Cult and Social Conflicts
· History, Culture and the Politics of Language in Africa
· Personality Cult as Resource in Arts and Literature in Africa
Contributors to the book should send an abstract of not more than 250 words to the editors via the email addresses:krydz.ikwuemesi@unn.edu.ng,nche.george@unn.edu.ng, andmichael.ugwueze@unn.edu.ng, for consideration before July 30, 2018. Abstracts should be submitted with the following information and in this order: (a) title of paper, (b) author(s), (c) affiliation, (d) email address, (e) phone number(s), and (f) 5 keywords of your proposed paper. Full papers based on selected abstracted are to be submitted by November 30, 2018. The edited anthology will be published in April 2019.
EDITORS:
Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi
Department of Fine and Applied Arts,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: krydz.ikwuemesi@unn.edu.ng
Tel: +234803744485
George C. Nche
Department of Religion and Cultural Studies
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: nche.george@unn.edu.ng
Tel: +2348063732241
Michael I. Ugwueze, Ph.D
Department of Political Science
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: michael.ugwueze@unn.edu.ng
Tel: +2348061145510
--
Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, MFA, PhD
Painter, Art Critic, Ethno-Aesthetician, Writer and Culture Entrepreneur;
Associate Professor of Fine Art, University of Nigeria, Nsukka;
International Secretary, The Pan-African Circle of Artists;
Emeritus President, The Art Republic;
Editor: Letter from Afrika, The Art Republik;
Ag. Director, Anambra Book and Creativity Festival;
Coordinator: Death Studies Association of Nigeria;
Japan Foundation Fellow, Hokkaido (2009;
ACLS-AHP Doctoral Fellow (2012);
Leventis Fellow, SOAS (2017)
Tel: 234-8037244485
We thank Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi for the information.
bets wishes
Prof Obinna Onwujekwe
Chairman: Senate Research Grants Committee
Wale Odunsi, the deputy political editor of Daily Post, an online newspaper, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, claiming that his life was threatened by Edward Onoja, chief of staff to Kogi state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
In the petition seen by our agent, Odunsi said Onoja called him on Sunday, April 8, and threatened to kill him over a story published on Daily Post.
Several media houses including Daily Post had reported that Onoja was involved in an accident with his family along the Lokoja-Abuja highway.
“The rumour is purely a satanic tales by moonlight, a fiction penned by a prevaricating mephistophelian author and shared by gullible minds,” the Kogi state government said in reaction to the story.
Part of the petition reads: “Mr. Onoja called me at exactly 10:39am on Sunday April 8, 2018 via phone number 07088698212. The call was less than three minutes. (Please see call record screenshot).
“He complained about a story we published about him and insisted it was false. I politely told him to write to our management to formally complain. But he dismissed my advise.
“He claimed the story was a hatchet job but I quickly replied him that some other media houses - including The Punch and Guardian Newspapers - reported similar story.
“Mr. Onoja continued to speak in harsh tones and told me point blank that he would order hit on me. I asked if he was threatening me and he said ‘Yes, mark my words. I will kill you’.
“He went on to say ‘Anywhere I see you, I will tear you apart’. These are weighty statements which any reasonable person must not take lightly.
“I am writing to you to please use your good office to investigate this threat before my life is cut short. Even though I believe God Almighty give and take life, a direct and unequivocal statement such as Mr. Onoja’s should not be swept under the carpet.”
Reacting to Odunsi's claims, Onoja told NAIJ.com via a phone call on Tuesday, April 10, that he did not threaten anyone.
He said the media report was a hatchet job targeted at his aged parents, adding that they were both hypertensive.
His words: “How can they say an unconscious man that is threatening an able-bodied man. It's all a lie and you know the only way to cover your lie, is to cover the first lie so that it can fizzle with it.
“My lawyers are already writing to the agency in charge of media regulation to take the matter to court.
“The story was targeted at my aged parents as they are both hypertensive. I have never traveled with my child in the same vehicle since he was born in January. My vehicle official has never hit anything since it was given to me too.
“They should shut their operations and go for six months training from their editors to their reporters.”
When NAIJ.com reminded him that Odunsi was the not author of the story in contention, he simply said, “Daily Post is Daily Post. They are unreliable and untrained.”
A copy of the petition sent to the IGP by Wale Odunsi.
Spanish football giant, Real Madrid is reportedly considering the exit of club legend, Zinedine Zidane with Klopp penciled down as replacement.
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, is attracting interest from Real Madrid.
According to The Sun, the club want him if they sack Zinedine Zidane at the end of this season.
Zidane is expected to remain at the club if he wins the Champions League, but the club’s poor league form has put his position under threat.
Klopp has become a target for the LaLiga giants, following his success with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool in the European competition.
The Liverpool boss could still have a say in whether Madrid will retain the Champions League if both sides progress to the semi-finals.
Bayern Munich have also been linked with Klopp, but reports in Germany say Madrid hold the most interest.
So you want to start a blog?
Nowadays anyone can create a blog in a few simple steps. Blogging is an incredible marketing tool and can even become a great source of income.
However, if you would like to build a successful and profitable blog, you need to set yourself on the right path.
Here are ten things you should know before you jump into blogging.
Blogging takes time and effort
Before getting started, ask yourself why you want to start a blog. If your goal is just to make money online, honestly blogging might not be the best choice for you. There are hundreds of ways of making money online and blogging is one of the harder ones.
It requires a lot of hard work and takes a long time to grow your audience. It is pretty disappointing if you publish your first post and nobody reads it, but you need to undergo these awkward moments. Do not expect the results immediately.
Successful bloggers are patient enough to keep working on their blogs for a long time . It’s tough, but they know it’s worth it.
Blogging is not free
WordPress.com, Blogger, Medium and Tumblr, these blogging platforms are all free and very easy to use. However, as long as you go for a free blog you do not own your blog, which means there are some limitations and lack of control.
If you want a cool web address, more design flexibility, larger storage or more monetization opportunities, a self-hosted WordPress blog is still the best bet. You can start a self-hosted blog by buying a hosting, domain name and installing WordPress. All of it will cost you around $50-150/year. Jamie Spencer wrote a comprehensive guide on how to start a blog including choosing a domain name, hosting and installing WordPress.
Once started, you might need to spend more money on other things to get more traffic and increase engagement. Below are some of the investments you can make for your blog.
Design customization
Custom development
Ads, marketing promotions
Better web hosting
Hiring other writers
A/B testing
Software
Identify your niche
It is crucial to decide what you write about and stay focused on that niche. There are already a lot of blogs. You’ll have to figure out how to make your blog stand out from the crowd. Choose a topic you are passionate about and do not expand it too broadly.
Define your target audience. Get a clear answer to the following question. Who is going to read your blog? Identify their needs, interests and concerns. It will help you come up with good topics to write about.
Content is King
Content marketers and pro bloggers are often faced with an argument ‘ Quality vs Quantity ‘. Quantity matters to increase and maintain your traffic, but you should still focus on quality over quantity.
If your readers get value from the information in your articles, they will engage and become your regular audience. On the other hand, nobody will like your blog if you publish shallow and uninformative articles.
Get social
It is not enough to write a great post and wait for people to find it. While your blog is new, nobody will find your articles through search engines. Then how can you get traffic? You need to be proactive.
One of the best ways to get noticed is to use social media to promote your posts. You can even buy traffic by creating ads on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
It is OK to share the same content more than once, which is one of the easiest ways to drive more traffic. But just be careful not to be a spammer. Kissmetric mentions great tips about
how to increase your traffic through social media .
Learn basic HTML
Thanks to the powerful blogging platforms, HTML and CSS knowledge is no longer necessary for everyone. It is possible to customize themes and plugins without having a look at any code.
Still, a basic understanding of HTML (and CSS if possible) can surely help professional bloggers and non-tech marketers. Once you are familiar with these skills, you will be able to edit the appearance of your articles by hand or even fix simple errors on the blog.
You can easily start learning online for free. For instance, Codecademy , Code School and Khan Academy are offering free video courses about HTML fundamentals.
Learn basic SEO
Learning basic search engine
optimization (SEO) is a fundamental and very effective way to drive traffic to your blog. Traffic from search engines is the key to growth. SEO is very complicated but even knowing a few tips can make a huge difference in the long run.
Moz offers great articles about SEO, you can check their beginner”s guide here .
Learn about copyright issues
What do you do when someone steals your content without permission? It can happen to anyone at any time.
You should learn how to protect your articles and images. At the same time it is critical to educate yourself to prevent becoming a “content thief” unintentionally.
Good design is a must
The blog design can influence how readers perceive your content. It can seriously make or break the first impression. If your blog is ugly and hard to read, then sure nobody will read it.
Google’s algorithms are prioritizing mobile-friendly sites. Research by Smart Insights reveals that people are now spending more time on mobile devices . Make your blog mobile-friendly and responsive to ensure you create a pleasurable reading experience for your audience and reap low-hanging SEO fruits.
Be authentic
Always be yourself. By being authentic and real, you can build trust with your audience. People buy from people they trust. It takes years to build trust and just a matter of minutes to ruin it. Be open and interact with your readers. Be the first one to admit mistakes and apologize.
Conclusion
Today, anyone can start a blog. However, it’s not for everyone. Most of the new bloggers give up too early.
At first writing might be painful and will take a lot of time to finish just one article. But if you keep writing content you are passionate about; you will gradually get used to it.
With all due respect to all the fans of Ronaldo and Real Madrid( even Manchester United fans) in the forum, Messi is infinite times better player than Ronaldo. I am not comparing them on their hard work or the way they train. Purely on a footballing sense, Messi is just ridiculously superior. Just watch the matches of Madrid and Barca from a neutral point. Irrespective of the result of the game, Messi will amaze you in ways you can't explain.
Messi can play anywhere in the middle and in the front of the park and be decisive. The same cannot be said about Ronaldo. He is a great winger in his younger days and now Zidane has moulded him into a striker more or less. Even if you want to compare the stats, Messi would be better. I would post the links for stats below. But again I would suggest to watch Messi play rather than compare stats.
Here is one of my most favorite article I have ever read about Messi. This article is very comprehensive. Although it is 3–4 years old, it never fails to amaze me. Kudos to Benjamin Morris, the author of the article.
If you observe closely, Messi doesn't do great tricks like Ronaldo or Neymar. He excels at the basics of Football: passing, conception of space, positioning, understanding opponent tactics, dribbling, shot. That's the reason behind Messi's brilliance. Here is the analysis of the recent El Clasico from The Guardian:
Here is a tweet from the author of the article which explains about Messi:
@sidlowe: “Watching El Clásico again. The variety and sheer number of things Messi does is extraordinary.”
Again, I am not comparing their trophy haul. Both players have plenty in their cabinet. Both players had excellent team mates to help them win it as well.
I would like to finish it off with some quotes from Footballing greats:
If you aren't watching the Messi show, start now-we still have 3–4 years to come. You will be amazed. Here is a gif to get you excited.
Edit 1 (Messi vs Celta on 01/11): Messi did this a day after I wrote this answer! Just look at the below video! Messi takes out 9 opponent players out of the equation and leaves the team mate completely 1 on 1 with goalkeeper! The way he places the ball just between two players to a rushing team mate and the timing of the release of the pass to beat the offside as well! Freaking Genius! (Credit: Golazo TV)
As Pep once said:
“Don’t write about him. Don't try to describe him. Watch him”.
Lionel Andrés Messi !
EXCLUSIVE Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has proved that even billionaires have to muck in sometimes. The internet mogul took his fluffy white pup Beast for a walk near his home and found himself scooping up poop like every other dog owner. It comes just days after Beast had an embarrassing accident at the launch of his owner's new Facebook data centre, in Pineville, Oregon on Friday (15Apr11). The web designer was left cleaning up a puddle after Beast got caught short and he even posted the pictures on the dog's very own Facebook page, with the with the caption, "Mark took me to see Facebook's new data centre, and I christened it by peeing on the floor. That puddle at the bottom left is all me." Palo Alto, California - 16.04.11 Featuring: excl mark zuckerberg 170411 Where: United Kingdom When: 16 Apr 2011 Credit: Nick Stern/WENN.com
A photographer claims he was accused of breaching privacy by Facebook after taking photos of Mark Zuckerberg cleaning up his dog’s poo. Photojournalist Nick Stern says he was approached by security guards for taking the snaps – on a public street – and told to drive to Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California, in April 2011.
When he got there, he says he was escorted inside by the guards and met by two senior Facebook employees who told him he was breaching Zuckerberg’s privacy and must stop taking photos of the billionaire.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the photographer reportedly accused the tech giant of hypocrisy in light of the recent Cambridge Analytica data leak reports. ‘It’s ironic that Zuckerberg will go to such extraordinary lengths to protect his own privacy – when the privacy of millions of people doesn’t appear to have been high on his priority list,’ he told the Mail.
EXCLUSIVE Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has proved that even billionaires have to muck in sometimes. The internet mogul took his fluffy white pup Beast for a walk near his home and found himself scooping up poop like every other dog owner. It comes just days after Beast had an embarrassing accident at the launch of his owner’s new Facebook data centre, in Pineville, Oregon on Friday (15Apr11). The web designer was left cleaning up a puddle after Beast got caught short and he even posted the pictures on the dog’s very own Facebook page, with the with the caption, “Mark took me to see Facebook’s new data centre, and I christened it by peeing on the floor. That puddle at the bottom left is all me.” Palo Alto, California – 16.04.11 Featuring: excl mark zuckerberg 170411 Where: United Kingdom When: 16 Apr 2011 Credit: Nick Stern/WENN.com
The 50-year-old, who lives in Los Angeles but is originally from Hertford in the UK, said the way the meeting was conducted left him feeling ‘intimidated’. ‘I never once invaded his privacy – I only ever took pictures of him when he was out in public doing normal things like walking his dog,’ Nick said.
‘He was becoming a huge public figure – so people were interested to learn about who this guy was. ‘A short time after the dog mess pictures were published I was sat in my car when a security guy pulled up in a golf buggy and told me I had been summoned to Facebook headquarters.
‘I was shocked I didn’t even know how they knew who I was. ‘The security followed me all the way to the parking lot at Facebook and I was then escorted to a meeting with Debbie Frost, who was then head of public policy and Jonathan Thaw from the PR department.
‘They told me that Zuckerberg’s private life and the life of those around him is private and should remain so – and that I had no right pursuing him or stories about him to publish. ‘This is despite the fact that he was quickly becoming a huge public figure – and Facebook had millions of users around the world. ‘They didn’t threaten me as such but it was an intimidating set up.
‘If anything the pictures were endearing – especially the dog mess ones – it showed that despite being a billionaire he wasn’t afraid of dirty work.’ Debbie Frost is now Vice-President Global Affairs and Communications at Facebook and Jonathan Thaw is Vice President of Communications.
Zuckerberg, 33, has been summoned to Parliament to answer questions on Facebook’s alleged involvement in the Cambridge Analytica revelations. A whistleblower revealed that data from 50 million users was improperly harvested to target voters in close-run elections including Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Brexit. Facebook shares have fallen almost 18% since March 17 when the allegations were made. Zuckerberg has repeatedly apologised and bought full-page advertisements in US and British newspapers promising to do more to restrict access to users’ information.
Igbinedion University has just released the results of evicted big brother niaja housemate, BamBam to refute claims that she failed due to sexual advances from lecturers.
BamBam who along with her in-house lover Teddy A arrived back into the country with many fans storming the airport to welcome them appear to already be caught up in a controversy.
The private University released the documents and wrote;
“Bambam could not measure up to our academic standards, that was why she was withdrawn in year 1.”
See her result below:
Meanwhile, the talented ex-housemate began her media tour yesterday with Teddy A as with some Nigerians calling her ugly due to the fact that she did not have any make on.
Nigeria LNG Limited hereby invites entries for The Nigeria Prize for Science, in line with its vision of helping to build a better Nigeria.
This annual prize for science is endowed by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) to recognise outstanding scientific achievements by Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike for advancing scientific solutions to prescribed problems afflicting Nigeria, as captured by the theme of the year.
The winner(s) would receive an award of one hundred thousand US dollars ($100,000.00).
THEME
The theme for the 2018 competition is:
innovation in Electric Power Solutions.
Entries are therefore invited from, researchers for work that contribute to the electric power solution especially from a Nigerian perspective.
ELIGIBILITY
The award is open to all Nigeria and non Nigerians involved in the application of science to proffer innovations solution to the electric power challenges confronting Nigeria.
The work should be of outstanding merit and should have advanced the frontiers of knowledge and /or provided an innovative solution in the area of electric power.
The material for consideration must be original and indicate the specific area of merit; and all submissions must relate to that particular area.
The material in support of the entry must be submitted within the time open for entry submission.
Entries, including the supporting documents, must be submitted in six (6) copies.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
As the intension is to recognise the most relevant and effective solution to specific Nigeria problems, works of collaboration by two or more persons are also welcome.
Only one entry per contestant(s) is permitted per competition year.
No entry previously submitted for this competition may be considered at a later date.
Entries not submitted by the stated deadline and according to stated condition shall not be considered.
Members of the Advisory Board or panel of judges or their relatives are not allowed to enter their works for the science prize during their year of services as well as the following year.
NLNG staff or their family members are ineligible to enter for the prize.
The prize will be awarded for no other reason than excellence.
PANEL OF JUDGES
A panel of judges shall be appointed for the Nigeria Prize for science by the Advisory Board.
The appointment of judges shall, as far as possible, reflect and represent a multi-disciplinary approach relevant to the theme, persons appointed as judges are those who have wide experience, peer recognition, good public image and command respect nationally and internationally.
The decision of the process shall be final.
ADVISORY BOARD
Professor Alfrend A.Susu, FAS, NNOM - Chairman
Professor Barth Nnaji, FAS, CON, NNOM – member
Dr.(Mrs) Nike Akande, CON - member
Professor Michael Adikwu, FAS - member
Professor Elijah D. Mshelia, FAS - member
CLOSE OF ENTRY
All entries must be received by May 25, 2018 . Late entries will not be entertained.
ANNOUNCEMENT AND PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF WINNER
Winners will be announced in October and presented to the public at a later date.
Entries shall be sent to:
The Nigeria prize for science
External Relations Division
Nigeria LNG Limited
Intel’s Aba Road Estate
Km 16P Port Harcourt –Aba Expressway
PMB 5660.Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Or
The Nigeria Prize for Science
External Relations Division
Nigeria LNG Limited
4th floor, Heron House
10 Dean Farrar Street
London, SW1H ODX.
The federal government runs only three higher education scholarship schemes in Nigeria, the agency administering them has stated.
According to the Nigerian Scholarship Board (NSB), the three scholarship schemes it runs for Nigerians are the Bilateral Education Agreement Awards, Nigerian Awards and Commonwealth Awards.
Although there are many other scholarship schemes in the country through the private and public sectors, many Nigerians believe that the federal government is not doing enough to help its citizens withe the burden of tertiary education.
The NSB explains the processes for the three schemes that it runs as follows:
1. Bilateral Education Agreement Awards (BEA)
The Nigerian government runs this scheme in agreement with 12 countries, namely: Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Candidates for the BEA are selected on merit by the board from across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory through an examination conducted in collaboration with the state government officials.
MODE OF EXAMINATION
The Joint Admission Matriculation Board is in charge of conducting the computer-based examination for the BEA awards. The board releases the results indicating the candidates’ states of origin and performance. The NSB then presents a data from which the donor countries pick the beneficiaries.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Applications for the awards open in December and closes at the end of January. Candidates are allowed to choose two countries.
ELIGIBILITY
An applicant must possess five distinctions in school certificate examination or general certificate of education at one sitting, including in Mathematics and English. FSB, however, said this process is being reviewed due to many Nigerian students not passing English and Mathematics with distinction.
The applicant cannot write the scholarship examination an independent candidate, but in the school attended by the applicant and at first attempt.
The O’Level certificate of an applicant should not be more than two years old. However, some countries prefer the O’Level not exceeding one year.
MODE OF TEACHING
All the countries except Hungary teach in the language of their countries. It is thus mandatory for the beneficiary to learn the language for a year before proceeding with the professional course. Also the course the candidate will be given depends solely on performance of the language test.
BENEFITS FROM AWARDING COUNTRIES
The countries pay the school fees, provide accommodation, give stipend and place the students on health insurance.
BENEFIT FROM NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
According to the FSB, the Nigerian government gives each of the students $500, warm clothings and health insurance worth about $6000 a year.
Undergraduates are given take off grants of N60,000. The government also sends return tickets back to Nigeria to the beneficiaries at the end of their programmes.
An applicant must not be less than 18 years of age and not above 20 years for undergraduates.
According to the FSB, there were 720 beneficiaries last year, some of whom have graduated.
Candidates can visit www.education.gov.ng, then click on Federal Scholarship Board and click on any award of their choice.
2. The Nigerian award
This is the award the federal government designed for Nigerians according to their states of origin but they are not given at entry level.
CRITERIA
The students can only apply after completing 100 level or Part One with a CGPA of 4.0 on a scale of 5. That is, each candidate must score 80 percent average score in all the subjects. When the beneficiary’s CGPA drops from 80 percent, the candidate forfeits the scholarship automatically. But if the CGPA is maintained, the federal government sponsors the candidate till graduation.
ELIGIBILITY
The age limit for undergraduates is 20 years . The candidates will not be selected if they are below 18 years. The maximum age for post graduate studies is 35 years while the age limit for doctorate degree is 40 years.
BENEFITS
HND\NCE beneficiaries receive N100,000 per academic session. Undergraduates candidates receive N150,000 per session. Post-graduate beneficiaries receive N180,000 per session.
The FSB said about 3000 Nigerians are beneficiaries of the Nigerian Awards yearly.
CALL FOR APPLICATION
The site opens in December and closes in March.
Candidates can visit www.education.gov.ng, then click on federal scholarship board and click on any award of choice.
3. Commonwealth Awards
The FSB said the applicant can only fill the form on the federal scholarship website when the Commonwealth secretariat demands the opening of the website. The Commonwealth countries Britain and countries that were its former colonies. They all use English as official language.
The secretary of the board, Fatima Ahmad, said selection for the awards is done through the FSB but the Commonwealth sponsors everything.
BENEFITS
The scholars are fully sponsored (Nigeria government does not pay anything).
CALL FOR APPLICATION
The application opens in December and is concluded in March.
The board said only 17 people received the scholarship in 2017.
ELIGIBILITY
Commonwealth Awards is for postgraduates and doctorate degree applicants only.
Applicants must possess Second Class Upper to apply for the post-graduate studies.
For doctorate degree, a candidate must possess a 2-1 at B.Sc level and a 2-1 at Masters level.
But a 2-2 at B.Sc level with a first class in M.Sc level can also apply.
Candidates can visit www.education.gov.ng, then click on federal scholarship board and click on any award of choice.
Regardless of the anticipated impact of these scholarships, they have not been without their concerns, including issues of inadequate technology of identification and students being stranded abroad, among others.
While speaking with PREMIUM TIMES, Secretary of FSB, Mrs. Ahmad, said one of the problems with the Nigerian awards is the lack of a strong system of identifying indigenes of a particular state.
Mrs. Ahmad said the Nigerian awards covers all the 36 states including the FCT, noting that the scholarship is meant for brilliant and diligent students.
She said the only thing the Nigerian government does for the Commonwealth awards is conduct interaction with scholars in the education sector in order to select the best of the applicants.
According to the FSB boss, the interaction with professors in their related fields is like an oral interview .
“In most cases, we don’t know who is admitted, we only nominate, do the selection, send the people and then the Commonwealth Secretariat conducts another interview and select them. The Commonwealth sends us a copy of letters of those admitted but the students don’t come back (to FSB) because we don’t give them anything, “ she said.
She said there are other countries that inform the board of an ongoing scholarship for which applicants can apply directly.
“But our duty to these scholarships is to stamp and endorse their forms with the correct credentials, we crosschecks all the details before endorsing it.”
Mrs. Ahmad said the board also gives the applicant a letter that their form is at ‘no cost’ because the government is not directly involved in it.
On the issue of Nigerian students stranded abroad, the secretary said it is being resolved as the fund required was included in the 2018 budget proposal.
She said the issue emanated when the Attorney-General of the Federation told the then Education Trust Fund now TETFUND that sponsoring students who are not lecturers on scholarship is an infringement on the law establishing them.
“For the PRESSID scholarship, students studying engineering, oil and gas were sponsored by PTDF, students for ICT were sponsored by NITDA while the remaining students were sponsored by ETF, which they funded till 2013 but TETfund had to stop on the advice of the Attorney-General. The present INEC chairman was the executive secretary of TETfund , it was NUC (National Universities Commission) that was managing and NUC does not generate funds so they were stuck with the people,” she explained.
According to Mrs. Ahmad, the issue came to the attention of the Minister of Education in 2016 and he requested that the scholarship be transferred to FSB in order to resolve the issue.
She said the issue was transferred officially to the board in July 2017, noting that the debts for the past years and this year were in the 2018 budget proposal.
“Our focus is to clear the past debts and the present ones, until those ones outside the country graduate. It is in the 2018 budget proposal and the legislators are aware of it and are willing to help clear the debt. So we have had NUC to transfer to us because we cannot ask TETfund to continue, it is illegal. There are other batches to clear their debts too, but we will settle the ones outside the country first because it is embarrassing,” she concluded.
