Economy
Bill to Establish College of Education in Abia Passes Second Reading

By Adedapo Adesanya
A Bill for an Act to establish Federal College of Education, Bende in Abia has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill, which seeks to provide full-time courses, training in technology, applied sciences, commerce, social sciences, arts and humanities, among others, was sponsored by Mr Benjamin Kalu at Thursday’s plenary session.
The bill was read for the first time in the lower chamber of the National Assembly on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, and was only revisited yesterday.
Leading the debate, Mr Kalu said that the importance of education in society cannot be overemphasized, saying that education was important for a happy and stable life, for better income and livelihood and for social equality.
According to him, education makes a person self-dependent, turns dreams into reality and makes the world a better and safer place.
On the location, Mr Kalu said Bende Local Government Area of Abia is the single oldest and largest Local Government Area in the South-East geo-political zone.
“Bende has remained undivided since its creation in 1976, even though with the size of four Local Government Areas as found in comparative federal constituencies.
“Despite its strategic location in Abia and sharing a border with Akwa Ibom, with a growing population and landmass, there is no tertiary institution in the Federal Constituency operated either by the federal or state government.
“Bende deserves to have the presence of a tertiary institution to serve the education need of the teeming youthful population, especially now that the need for well-trained educationists has risen.
“This is accompanied by the need to fill the gaps created by both the consequences of brain drain and the lack of qualified educationists to provide quality training at all levels of education,” he said.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, referred the bill to the House Committee on Tertiary Education for further legislative actions.
This is not the only education-centred bill at the parliament as there was a Bill for an Act to establish Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, Ebonyi, which also passed second reading in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bill, which was also sponsored by Mr Kalu, seeks to ensure the adoption of agricultural techniques, enhance research and development in agriculture.
“It will also serve as a catalyst for effective agricultural education system through training, research and innovation, for effective economic utilisation and conservation of the country’s human and material resources.
“It will identify the modern agricultural education needs of the society with a view to finding solutions in the interest of national development,” he said.
Economy
Nigerian Exchange Tumbles 0.46% on Profit-Taking

By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited suffered its first loss this week with a 0.46 per cent decline on Friday, influenced by profit-taking.
The market was under selling pressure yesterday, with all the key sectors of the bourse closing in red when the gong was struck by 2:30 pm.
The commodity index was down by 1.94 per cent, the insurance sector depreciated by 0.22 per cent, the industrial goods space lost 0.18 per cent, the consumer goods counter went down by 0.05 per cent, the energy industry tumbled by 0.02 per cent, and the banking sector fell by 0.01 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 498.56 points to 108,733.40 points from 109,231.96 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N314 billion to N68.339 trillion from N68.653 trillion.
The market participants traded 459.2 million equities valued at N11.2 billion in 15,723 deals on Friday versus the 554.1 million equities worth N14.4 billion traded 16,704 deals in the preceding session, implying a decrease in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 17.13 per cent, 22.22 per cent, and 5.87 per cent apiece.
Tantalizers traded 101.4 million shares for N237.3 million, GTCO exchanged 51.3 million equities worth N3.5 billion, Access Holdings transacted 45.2 million stocks valued at N975.3 million, Zenith Bank sold 21.8 million shares worth N1.1 billion, and Sterling Holdings transacted 15.5 million equities valued at N91.8 million.
The heaviest price loser was Transcorp Power with a decline of 9.98 per cent to settle at N328.50, Haldane McCall fell by 9.57 per cent to N4.25, Meyer lost 9.09 per cent to trade at N8.00, Regency Alliance dropped 6.78 per cent to finish at 55 Kobo, and Sunu Assurances crumbled by 6.73 per cent to N4.99.
On the flip side, ABC Transport chalked up 10.00 per cent to quote at N2.86, Sterling Holdings also expanded by 10.00 per cent to close at N6.05, Chellarams improved by 9.94 per cent to N10.40, Academy Press gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N4.32, and Red Star Express appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N5.55.
Business Post reports that a total of 34 stocks appreciated, while 32 stocks depreciated, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment despite the loss recorded by Customs Street during the session.
Economy
CSCS, Three Others Weaken Unlisted Securities Market by 0.46%

By Adedapo Adesanya
Four stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.46 per cent on Friday, May 9, bringing down the market capitalisation by N9.02 billion to N1.935 trillion from N1.944 trillion quoted at the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 15.42 points to settle at 3,304.74 points, in contrast to the 3,320.16 points recorded a day earlier.
Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) went down by N1.28 during the trading session to finish at N22.60 per share versus Thursday’s value of N23.88 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.00 to close at N40.03 per unit compared with previous closing value of N41.03 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 11 Kobo to end at N1.81 per share versus the previous session’s N1.92 per share, and UBN Property Plc shrank by 4 Kobo to trade at N1.96 per unit, in contrast to the N2.00 per unit it was sold in the preceding day.
However, the price of Impresit Bakolori Plc went up by 11 Kobo yesterday to close at N1.27 per share versus the previous day’s price of N1.16 per share.
The volume of transactions went down on Friday by 33.1 per cent to 231.6 million units from the 346.3 million units recorded a day earlier, the value of trades decreased by 31.3 per cent to N606.4 million from N882.8 million, while the number of deals increased by 256.3 per cent to 57 deals from 16 deals.
At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 265.8 million units valued at N469.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.
Similarly, Okitipupa Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.6 million units worth N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 19.9 million units valued at N765.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
Economy
Naira Maintains Stability against Dollar at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was relatively flat against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, May 9, though it marginally shed 0.2 per cent or 7 Kobo to settle at N1,609.64/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,609.57/$1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the session, remaining unchanged at N2,145.48/£1 and N1,818.42/€1, respectively.
In the same vein, the value of the domestic currency to the Dollar remained unchanged in the parallel market yesterday at N1,625/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained positive as President Donald Trump announced a comprehensive trade deal with the UK and the cumulative inflows into the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit a record high above $40 billion.
According to market analysts, this has led to substantial liquidations of bearish short positions, or leveraged plays aimed at profiting from price losses. A position is liquidated or forced closed when the trader’s account balance falls below the required margin level, often due to adverse price movements. This leads the exchange to close the position to prevent further losses automatically.
Meanwhile, the US and China are said to be working on a trade deal but many are skeptical of a deal being reached this month.
Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 7.6 per cent to sell at $0.2229, Litecoin (LTC) improved its value by 5.5 per cent to quote at $103.51, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.6 per cent to $663.22, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 3.6 per cent growth to sell at $171.52.
Further, the price of Ripple (XRP) went up by 1.4 per cent $2.37, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 0.8 per cent to sell for $2,366.49, and Cardano (ADA) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.7952, while Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.3 per cent to $103,670.89, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) trading flat at $1.00 each.
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