JAMB, Stanbic IBTC Grant Scholarships to Best Candidates

By Bliss Okperan and Precious Olisa Students of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, have staged a peaceful protest against the hike in tuition fees by the management. The aggrieved students gathered at the school’s premises to express their dissatisfaction over the development, calling on the authorities to reverse the action. As reflected on the institution’s portal, new students are expected to pay N230,000 for the 2023/2024 session compared with the previous fee of N76,500, representing about 200 per cent, while the returning students are to pay N180,000, about 135 per cent higher than the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, Miss Sonia Nwakanma, has retained her position as the Best Female Chess Player in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the third year running. She clinched the latest accolade she first picked in 2021 at the prestigious Abuja Inter-School Chess Competition, rated by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Chess Players Association of Nigeria (CPAN). Miss Nwakanma, who is a member of the 2023 graduating set of the school, attributed her achievement to her school’s robust in-house sports and personal development facilities that offer students opportunities to compete with

By Adedapo Adesanya Irish author Paul Lynch won the 2023 Booker Prize for fiction for his novel Prophet Song, a dystopian work about an Ireland that descends into tyranny. The 46-year-old beat five other shortlisted novelists to the prestigious award at a ceremony in London. He becomes the fifth Irish writer to win the high-profile literary prize, which has propelled to fame countless household names, including past winners Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel. “This was not an easy book to write,” Mr Lynch said after collecting his award, which comes with £50,000 (around $63,000) and a huge boost

By Adedapo Adesanya Mr Obari Gomba, a playwright, has been announced as the winner of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature for the 2023 cycle on Drama for his work titled Grit. The prize, sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), was announced on Friday by Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, the Chairperson of the Advisory Board, at the Grand Award Night ceremony in Lagos, themed Redefinition. She also announced Eyoh Asuquo Etim’s entry Herstory versus ‘History’: A Motherist Rememory in Akachi Ezeigbo’s The Last of the Strong Ones and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun as the 2023 winner of The

By Dipo Olowookere No fewer than 23 Health Management Organisations (HMOs) have been de-registered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for failing to meet up with the minimum operational standards expected of them. Chairperson of the Board of NHIS, Mrs Enyantu Ifenne, while addressing newsmen on Thursday, disclosed that out of the 57 HMOS operating in the sector, only one scored 100 percent from the validity test conducted by the agency. According to her, the only HMO that scored 100 percent has been given permission to operate, while the 33 others have been granted provisional accreditation. She said these

By Adedapo Adesanya Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it now supports zero-fee trading for Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market value. According to the exchange, its users will be able to trade ETH against the native Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin for free starting from Friday, August 26. Binance traders will be able to take advantage of the cut in fees for a month. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume also cut trading fees to zero for various Bitcoin pairs in July. The move was linked to the fifth anniversary of the company. Binance initially dabbled in

By Dipo Olowookere Market and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll & HR, and payment systems, Sage, will welcome over 1000 entrepreneurs, Small & Medium Business owners and Sage Business Partners from around Africa and Middle East at the Sage Summit Tour in South Africa. The event takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg from March 7-9. Sage Summit Tour was traditionally an annual event held in the US, but this year, Sage is bringing its personalised and interactive experience to cities and business builders around the world. Sage partners and customers will gather in Johannesburg to learn about

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to the bullish zone on Tuesday, August 10 as it gained 0.23 per cent, driven by the three companies. These three securities were led by Nipco Plc, which appreciated by N7 or 9.1 per cent to trade at N77 per share compared with the previous day’s N70 per share. It was followed by Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc, which improved by 12 kobo or 0.7 per cent to finish at N16.76 per unit versus N16.64 per unit it finished a day earlier. Also, Food Concepts Plc increased its value during

By Dipo Olowookere Despite getting out of recession in the second quarter of this year, the Nigerian economy still remains vulnerable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed. From December 6 to 20, 2017, an IMF staff team led by Mr Amine Mati, Senior Resident Representative and Mission Chief for Nigeria, visited the country to conduct the 2018 Article IV consultation. During the visit, the team held discussions with senior government and central bank officials. It also met with members of parliament, representatives of the banking system, private sector, civil society, and international development partners. After the visit, Mr Mati

By Bliss Okperan A lawmaker representing Kaura-Namoda/Birnin Magaji Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Mr Aminu Sani Jaji, has raised alarm over the safety of children in schools in some parts of Northern Nigeria. The part of the country has witnessed kidnappings by terrorists and bandits, including in schools, leading to a low appetite for education over safety issues. While addressing newsmen in Abuja, he said, “These concerns intensify as incidents like the kidnapping of Federal University Gusau students follow purported dialogues, prompting public figures to call for a holistic approach to address the insecurity crisis decisively.” “Addressing the issue

By Dipo Olowookere As part of effort to squeeze excess liquidity in the system, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, June 23, 2017, conducted a special Open Market Operation (OMO) auction. During the auction, the banking industry watchdog mopped up about N403.1 billion. Before then, the central bank had conducted OMO sales on all trading days save for Thursday. As a result, system liquidity moderated on all sessions save for Thursday when a FAAC inflow of N275.2bn hit the system. It was observed that the mopping up of N403.1 billion by the CBN made the Open Buy Back

A South African startup, Wala, has been named the grand prize winner of the 2018 Zambezi Prize for Innovation in Financial Inclusion. Wala was announced winner of the competition by the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with support from the MasterCard Foundation. The announcement came during the Open Mic Africa Summit in Nairobi on August 29, 2018. Wala is a mobile financial platform geared toward consumers operating outside the formal financial system. Using a blockchain system, it enables zero-fee, instant, borderless micro-payments for emerging market consumers. Through the Wala platform, users receive