Stanbic IBTC Advocates Partnership in Education Sector

By Aduragbemi Omiyale More than 17,000 students from across the nation have registered for the prestigious Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) competition, Interswitch SPAK. The educational contest is organised by Africa’s leading integrated digital payments and e-commerce enabler, Interswitch, to promote STEM subjects in secondary schools. The programme, in its 5th year, is currently operational in Nigeria and Kenya and was conceptualised by the organisers in 2017 to ignite, promote, and reward STEM interest in young Africans. It has since drawn over 9,000 schools and over 60,000 students from senior secondary schools across Nigeria, six of which appear in

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has increased the school fees of new students into Federal Government Colleges (FGCs), otherwise known as Federal Unity Colleges. The fees, which were increased to N100,000, represent a 122.2 per cent increase when compared to the previous fees of N45,000. This means that parents and guardians will pay the new fees per term for their wards in these schools. This disclosure was contained in a circular from the Office of the Director of Senior Secondary Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education, with reference number ADF/120/DSSE/I, dated May 25, 2023, and addressed to

By Bon Peters A beneficiary of the Andoni Local Government Maritime scholarship scheme, Mr Ukotije Hezekiah, has emerged as the 2023 best-graduating student of Charkin Maritime Academy. At the passing out parade/convocation ceremony weekend in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, Mr Erastus Awortu, Chairman of the area council and initiator of the program, lauded cadets for putting in commensurate efforts in their respective courses of study. Mr Awortu said that upon commencement of his administration in 2021, he unveiled the Maritime scholarship scheme. According to him, 15 students (4 females and 11 males), who successfully completed the scholarship requirements,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Tax defaulters in Edo State have been given a 50 percent waiver by the state Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki. However, they have to meet certain conditions to enjoy this freebie. The Governor made this announcement during a meeting with the Management of Edo State Inland Revenue Service (EIRS) and representatives of tax payers in the state which held at the weekend in Benin City, the state capital. Mr Obaseki noted that the gesture was to tidy up tax system and encourage tax defaulters to join the pool of 10 percent who pay taxes in the state. He

By Chido Nwakanma Eight months later, the arteries of the economy are pumping once again. Airports have reopened, bringing in 5,000 to 7,000 passengers daily. Schools have resumed, as have formal and informal markets. Machines are humming again in hitherto shut factories. The full reopening of the economy after months of a lockdown that required careful management and phasing to reopen has brought relief. Nigerians are eager to get on with their lives. For the managers of the system, it was a delicate balancing act between health and economics. At times, it was akin to the famed chicken and egg

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigeria-based oil firm, Aiteo Group, has thrown its full weight behind the nation’s senior football team participating at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia. Aiteo, the official optimum partner of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), recently premiered to industry applause, an official theme song to mentally boost the Super Eagles of Nigeria to go for glory at the Russia 2018 World Cup. This is also as they pledged to donate $50,000 to the team ‘for every unreturned goal’ scored at the Mundial. The rousing theme song titled, ‘Dem Go Hear Am, meaning ‘Go Show Them’ was

By Dipo Olowookere The Lagos State Head of Service, Mrs Olabowale Ademola, has unveiled the redesigned and remodelled Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) Library done by a corps member, Miss Omobolanle Ogunnaike as a Personal Community Development Service project which is one of the cardinal programmes of the year-long service. The HOS, while unveiling the project redesigned from a 20-seater open Reading Room to a modern individualised 34-seater Reading Room, acknowledged the corps member’s traits of excellence, tenacity, and resilience to succeed. While urging parents to encourage children in whatever profession they choose, she described her as a good child

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The current foreign exchange (FX) scarcity will worsen if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does nothing about the wide gap between the exchange rates in the parallel market and the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX). This was the submission of S&P Global Ratings in its latest report released this week, which was made available to Business Post. The agency noted that the difference between the spot market rate and the parallel market creates an avenue for manipulations in the currency market. At the close of business on Thursday, the Naira was exchanged with the Dollar in

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has reiterated its commitment to bring women into the digital sector, which has reduced $1 trillion from the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of low- and middle-income countries. The Minister of Women Affairs, Ms Pauline Tallen, made this disclosure ahead of an event in commemoration of the 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD). The event, which will be marked on Wednesday, March 8, is themed DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. According to her, bringing women and other marginalised groups into technology has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.

By Sodeinde Temidayo David Employees of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) are presently dancing in jubilation after the federal government approved new conditions of service and raised their salary scale. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Pantami, during the public presentation of the approved condition of service, said the approval was done at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Wednesday and presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. At the presentation on Thursday, the Minister explained that he pushed for better pay for the NIMC staff as a result of the agency’s centrality in

By Dipo Olowookere The value of shares transacted on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week stood at N8.004 billion, lower than the N9.329 billion reported a week earlier. Data showed that the volume of local equities transacted by investors was 719.398 million units carried out in 17,444 deals, in contrast to the 949.819 million units executed in 18,525 deals in the preceding week. Business Post reports that financial stocks led the activity chart with 411.407 million shares valued at N3.943 billion traded in 9,471 deals, contributing 57.19 per cent and 49.26 per cent to the total