…Bayelsa, Borno, Gombe Record Low Enrollment As 70,603 Candidates Compete For Admission Slots

…Sponsor Exams Of Students In Your Constituencies, Senate Committee Chairman Urges Lawmakers

A total of 70,603 candidates on Saturday, sat for the 2024 National Common Entrance Examination, NCEE, conducted by the National Examinations Council, into the 110 Unity Colleges nationwide.

Registrar of NECO, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, disclosed this while monitoring the exercise on Saturday, at Model Secondary School, Maitama and Government Day Secondary School, Wuse 2 Abuja.

He added that the examination was conducted in 599 centres across the country.

While giving a breakdown of candidates’ participation by gender, Wushishi said 33,335 males registered for the 2024 NCEE, while 37,268 females registered for the exercise totalling 70,603.

He lamented that the 2024 registration was lower than that of 2023 which had 34,064 males and 38,801 females, totalling 72,865.

Data released by the council showed that Lagos came top with the highest number of candidates, totalling 17,751, while FCT came second with 10,209 candidates and Anambra in third place with 4,972 candidates.

Bayelsa, Borno and Gombe had the least number of candidates participating in the exercise, after registering only 133, 138 and 174 candidates respectively.

The NECO boss attributed the low registration in 2024 to economic factors as the exam body had slightly raised the registration fee and parents, who are grappling the effect of the economy, were responsible for sponsoring candidates at this level.

“For the males and females, last year’s registration was higher than this year’s registration this could be attributed to so may factors; economic factor is the most prevalent factor that maybe could hinder this large registration,” he said.

Wushishi also refuted claims of NECO registering underage children for the National Common Entrance Examination, clarifying that students participating in the examination were either 10 years old or left with a month or two to be 10.

On her part, the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, who gave a general assessment of the conduct of the exercise, expressed satisfaction with what NECO has put in place to ensure a smooth and seamless exercise.

Walson-Jack disclosed that there were 55 centres writing the NCE in the FCT, stating that everything went on smoothly and students were placed in conducive examination halls to sit for the exercise.

Also speaking, the Chairman Senate Committee on Education, Basic and Secondary, Sen. Lawal Adamu, said he rolled out NECO and JAMB sponsorship in the state and contributed over N250 million for parents to be able to pay for NECO and JAMB examinations.

Adamu, who also called on National Assembly members to provide an educational foundation for every child in their constituencies, lauded NECO for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The Comptroller General, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap, has said that 107,646 produced passports remained uncollected nationwide.

The Service Public Relations Service (SPRO), Mr Kenneth Udo, said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The CG appealed to applicants whose passports have been produced to go for pick-up at the various Passports Issuing Centres across the country.

Nandap lamented that efforts being made at reaching out to the owners had proved abortive.

“Applicants are therefore strongly advised to always provide verifiable addresses and phone numbers when filling their online passport application forms for easy contact, “she said.

This, she said would enable officials attend to applicants coming for the collection of their produced passports only.

“Therefore, those concerned are hereby informed to take advantage of this opportunity.

“For further enquiries, complaints or feedbacks, the Service can be reached through the following channels:

“Twitter: @nigimmigration, Instagram: @nigimmigration, Official Website: http://www.immigration.gov.ng, Contact centre: 09121900655;09121556359;09121477092, “she said.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Joe Ajaero has described the minimum wage negotiation with the federal government and other tripartite committee members, as a “helpless situation”.

Ajaero’s assertion was revealed during a press briefing shortly after an earlier meeting with the federal government which ended in a deadlock in Abuja on Friday.

THE WHISTLER had earlier reported that NLC and its counterpart the Trade Union Congress (TUC) declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting Monday, June 3, 2024.

The strike was to press home their demands for a new minimum wage, reversal of electricity hike, and the removal of electricity consumers from various bands announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

However, Ajaero said “In the meeting today we told them we have to be here and allow them to go and get the mandate and come back to this meeting, we also told them we are ready to sleep here. But they said no, we should allow them that it is difficult to see Mr. President as they don’t have access to him.

When asked if the strike would be called off if the federal government calls for another negotiation with a new proposal, Ajaero responded, “The federal government can only call for a continuation of the negotiation, not by awards.

“You can’t say come we are giving you N10, N20. No, we have to sit down and negotiate, calling us doesn’t mean agreement. Until you sign an agreement to what is mutually agreeable by the parties involved, our action will not stop negotiations.

“Because the two parties are going to negotiate under duress now, that is the meaning of this strike, so the earlier they respond the better for all of us.

“I am not sure where you have the labour centres in a country and they are embarking on a strike for one month and you don’t listen to them.

“So, I think what you will be praying for, is for the people who are suffering so much and these are some of our people, that was why we were reluctant, and why we were virtually telling them that we needed to find a solution.”

South Africa head coach, Hugo Broos has said the Super Eagles are a different team under the new head coach, Finidi George.

Portuguese tactician, Jose Peseiro was in charge of the Super Eagles the last time the West Africans confronted South Africa at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Finidi took charge of the Super Eagles in an interim capacity in the friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March. 

Broos claimed that he saw a different Super Eagles team from the friendlies compared to the side that played at the AFCON.

The Belgian claimed he has to work out a way to stop the Super Eagles like he did at the AFCON.

“We will try to shock them again. It’s a little bit different than the team of AFCON,” Broos told SABC

“With Finidi George they have a coach who thinks more offensively. Peseiro was a little bit more defensive and I saw that certainly in the game against us, he was always telling the team to go back.

“Also in the final they didn’t really play offensively, they just tried to be good defensively and then hoping on a counterattack or a situation in front of the goal where they could score.

“I saw two games against Mali and Ghana, it’s different. They take a little bit more initiative. It’s not the team anymore who went back and waited.

“They also try to make pressure early in the game and close to the goal of the opponent, so we have to look for something now that we can shock them again like we did for the game in Ivory Coast.”

Bafana Bafana will be up against the Super Eagles at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo next Friday.

The Ogun Government has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is set to begin oil and gas exploration in the state.

In a statement on Friday, the government said the development would make its quest to become an oil-producing state materialise soon. 

The statement noted that stakeholders in the oil and gas industry were received at the office of Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor, and Noimot Salako-Oyedele, his Deputy, to discuss the prospect.

Speaking at the meeting, Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister Of State For Petroleum Resources (Oil), said Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey basin with the prospect of having a huge deposit of hydrocarbons.

“We decided that we are going to resume exploration in the different Basins; we decided to come to Ogun State to reassure the people that we have very high potential of discoveries here,” he said. 

“Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey Basin and our presence underscore the seriousness the federal government attaches to the exploration activities that we want to carry out in Ogun State.”

Lokpobiri said the visit was also to demonstrate the commitment of the federal government to bolster its revenue through the oil and gas sector.

“Today we are here to tell the people of the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that we continue our campaign and exploration activities across the country,” the minister said.

“We are doing this exploration activities in several places across Nigeria and today we are in Ogun after which we will proceed to Sokoto State.”

On his part, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC, said Ogun state is blessed to be in the Dahomey basin corridor, with expected high deposit of oil.

He assured that the company would return in earnest to commence exploration activities.

Kyari also expressed hope that oil would be found in commercial quantity in the state.

In his remarks, Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the team’s visit was to further indicate the commitment of the federal government to growing oil reserves and enhancing federation revenue.

Komolafe said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) makes provision for funding the development of the frontier basins.

He added that in line with the commitments of the government, the NUPRC is collaborating with the NNPC to leverage on the PIA to carry out oil exploration in the Dahomey basin.

“The Dahomey Basin stretches up to Delta, Edo, Ogun and Ondo states. We intend to in the course of this exercise, cover all those states leveraging on the provision of Section 9, Subsection 4 of the PIA,” he said.

In his response, Governor Abiodun said Ogun state is part of the oil prospecting leases (OPLs) 302, 303, 306, and 307.

He said numerous studies show the potential of the basins, highlighting the state’s potential for commercial success and economic benefits from exploration and production within a short timeframe.

“It is noteworthy that this is a region of the country that provides ease of access, low entry and operating costs, a safe and welcoming community and a very active state government support and participation,” Abiodun said.

“Ogun State therefore presents some unique opportunities towards the realization of the full intentions of the PIA section 9 on frontier exploration as it will contribute to guarantee additional petroleum production of additional petroleum products for the country and afford more supply to potential refineries in the area.”

The Governor said the area presents an opportunity for Bitumen extraction, reducing import dependency and reducing foreign exchange expenditure on a single line item.

Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, in Kano State, Alhaji Hashimu Dungurawa has said detractors can’t stop the destiny of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Dungurawa said those fighting Kwankwaso were behind reports that he’s being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Reports had it that the anti-graft agency was probing Kwankwaso over alleged N2.5 billion fraud.

However, addressing journalists in Kano, the NNPP chieftain described the reports as lies, stressing that Kwankwaso is a man of integrity and capacity.

He said: “We have been seeing this kind of rumour several times on different occasions.

“Let them continue with the rumour. Whether they like it or not, Kwankwaso remains the only person with integrity, respect, popularity, and capacity to govern this country.

“The rumour came from an enemy, shared by ignorance, and accepted by a fool. Thank God that we are not all three. We are his lovers, we are not ignorant of his doing, and we are not fools.

“All these will not stop his destiny. But they should be mindful that rumours don’t add any value; instead, they will generate popularity for him.”

Nationwide blackouts will commence across Nigeria as electricity workers reveal they will be withdrawing their services from Sunday midnight for the organized labour’s indefinite strike slated for Monday.

The acting General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Dominic Igwebike, disclosed this in a notice on Friday.

The development comes in compliance with the indefinite strike action by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress over the failure of the federal government to sign and implement a new minimum wage and the reversal of the April 3, 240 percent electricity tariff hike. 

“The withdrawal of services becomes effective Sunday 2nd June by midnight”, the notice stated.

DAILY POST reports that organized labor announced the commencement of the indefinite strike starting on Monday.

The federal government had offered N60,000 as a minimum wage but organized labor proposed N400,000.

Earlier, workers staged a walkout over the government’s N60,000 minimum wage proposal.

Nigerian workers are also using the strike to press home their demand for the immediate reversal of the electricity tariff to N65 kilowatt-hour from the current N208.80.

Nigerian activist, Aisha Yesufu has vowed that she will always sit down during the rendition of the re-introduced national anthem, ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’.

The socio-political activist has been in the news following a viral video that captured her sitting down while the national anthem was being recited at an event.

The video which is presently making the rounds, captured the co-convener of BringBackOurGirls, BBO crossing her legs during the recitation of the anthem.

In the video sighted by DAILY POST, most guests at the event were astonished by Aisha’s display.

In another viral video, Aisha explained why she may never acknowledge the new anthem.

Citing the economic and security crisis bedevilling the nation, she noted that there are better things that should have taken the attention of the National Assembly.

She said, “As far as I am concerned, there is no new and old national anthem, there is only one ‘Arise O Compatriot’ and that is what I know.

“If I am at any occasion I will stand up for the national anthem but if they start playing the ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’ I will sit down and operate my phone.

“For me, that is an obnoxious law, the National Assembly Assembly has things they should focus on. If they are not ashamed of themselves, we citizens of the country are ashamed on their behalf.

“That is not what they should be focused on. Right now, we have companies that are leaving Nigeria, we are losing a lot, our GDP is going down, and there is no security of lives and properties.

“In the midst of all these, adults who are supposed to sit down in one place, said they want to take Nigeria back, saying Nigeria we hail thee. We have a national anthem”.

Grammy-nominated Nigerian singer and songwriter, Ayra Starr, has opened up about her struggle with writer’s block and how it affected her.

The ‘Rush’ crooner said she couldn’t write songs for about six months until she received the demo of her song ’21’ off her new album, ‘The Year I Turned 21,’ from a friend as a birthday present which opened her mind. She said in a viral podcast interview:

“I got the demo of ’21’ from a friend as a birthday gift the day I turned 21,”

“I had told him that it has been so hard… I was having a writer’s block for six months. I couldn’t write about myself then he gave me the first version of the song in a demo as my birthday gift. Recording ’21’ was quite easy for me, I did it in one-take. I was even lying down with the mic in my hand.

“’21’ is special because it is what opened my mind to the rest of the album. With ’21’ I started to see myself again the way I wanted to see myself.”

Still on album releases, Award-winning Nigerian music star, Yemi Eberechi Alade, has opened up on why she named her forthcoming album ‘Rebel Queen’.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Friday, the ‘Johnny’ crooner said she is a true rebel in words and action, and the body of work is a combination of her thoughts, melodies and truck load of nostalgia.

Yemi Alade also noted that she made the album because she got tired of the “monotony in genre and style” of Afrobeats music.

The songstress further disclosed that the 16-track album theme encompasses feminity, liberation and consciousness in life.

Nigerian media personality and actress, Moet Abebe, has said she is open to having sex on the first date.

According to her, she has done it before and has no regrets, because she has no shame regarding things like that.

The thespian disclosed this on the latest episode of the ‘Bahd And Boujee’ podcast, co-hosted by her and reality star Tolanibaj.

Tolanibaj asked: “Would you have sex on a first date?”

Moet replied: “Yes, why not? I have done it before. To be honest, I have no regrets. I don’t regret anything in my life. If I want you, I want you. And I’m also shameless.”

The actress also said she dislikes it when her friends suspect her of snatching their partners.

“I hate when women who are close to me think I want to take their man,” she said.

Tolanibaj inferred, “It’s because you are endowed. I can understand why they are insecure. Your backside is intimidating. But that is because they are also not sure of themselves.”