BILLION

Some candidates who sat for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE were left in shock on Monday, August 7, after the body released results for the year but withheld theirs on grounds that the state where they sat for the examination owed the board billions of Naira.  Findings later showed that the examination body decided to withhold the results of eight states who are owing them billions of Naira.   Students who went on the examination board's site to check for their result were surprised to see ‘’Indebted'' written all over the subjects they sat for in the examination.   Speaking at a press briefing on Monday August 7 in Lagos, the Head of National Office, Patrick Areghan, while giving details of the results of the examination concluded 44 days ago, said withholding the results of candidates of the indebted states will force the states to pay their debts. Areghan mentioned Zamfara and Niger as the highest debtors. He, however, decl

NYSC opens her portal for online registration, Batch B, Stream 2. Prospective and eligible corp members can visit the  link  to start their registration. 

The University of Nigeria Nsukka released her approved Senate NYSC List for Batch B Stream 2. Students should take note of the memo attached below. download here

A six-months old baby, Chinedu Chukwueke, who was abducted in Minna, Niger state by a fake female apprentice has been found. LIB had earlier reported that the baby was stolen by  the woman posed as an intending apprentice to perpetuate the act,  at the child's mother's salon shop in Kure Ultra Modern Market, on Sunday, July 23, 2023. 

     The Armed Forces Selection Board (AFSB) Interview for 75 Regular Course (RC) of Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA)  took place from 27 May – 14 July, 2023. The List of Successful Candidates whose names appear below and can also be accessed through the NDA Official Website  NDA were successful at the AFSB Interview. The candidates  have been offered admission into NDA for the 75 RC and the successful candidates are to report to NDA Ribadu Campus (old site),  Kaduna on Saturday 26 August 2023. Cadets upon admission into the NDA are full time students and not employees in training.  They shall not claim any form of right or engagement whatsoever as an employee of the institution or Federal Government of Nigeria upon dismissal or withdrawal from the Academy before commission as an officer. Any candidate who fails to report by Monday, 28 August 2023 will forfeit his or her place. Selected and Reserve candidates are to report on the same date and will be received on arrival at

Operators in the real estate sector have said the hike in prices of cement and other building materials may trigger a drop in building standards of houses. Industry chiefs in separate interviews with our correspondent noted that the recent price hike of building materials would increase costs of production, reduce the company’s profits and affect the viability of the sector’s value chain. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, Femi Oyedele, told The PUNCH that the surge in the prices of building materials might force project owners to review contract conditions. He said, “Definitely, contractors who have started building projects will be going back to their clients (project owners) to review the contract terms. The increase in the price of cement will affect the conditions (price and rate of completion) of building projects. It will also affect the demand for building products as the increase in prices of cement will affect price

Superstar footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has leapfrogged reality star Kylie Jenner to become Instagram's highest-paid user.   Ronaldo, who has the highest number of followers on the app with 597 million Instagram followers, has made a fortune by promoting several big brands on his account.   The former Manchester United striker now earns £1.87 million more than reality star Kylie Jenner in every sponsored post. The reality star has now fallen to the second position in the recent ranking.   According to reports from the Sun, Kylie Jenner has profited by endorsing designer Jean Paul Gaultier and her own products, like Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Swim.   The footballer Lionel Messi, who charges £1.38 million for a sponsored post, is third on the Instagram Rich List. He has 479 million fans on the website and is the second most followed celebrity.   Singer Selena Gomez is ranked fourth, followed by actor Dwayne Johnson who is in fifth position.   Cristiano Ronaldo surpasses Ky

The Anambra State Government says it has handed over 19-year-old Mmesoma Ejikeme, who forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination result, to a psychotherapist for a three-month guidance and counselling The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, disclosed this at a press briefing in her office in Awka, on Thursday. Chuma-Udeh said Mmesoma would undergo a therapy class for three months as recommended by the state panel, which probed the UTME forgery case. Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, recently made the headlines after the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board called her out for fraudulently manipulating her UTME score from 249 to 362, thereby falsely parading herself as UTME top scorer for 2023. Before admitting the forgery, Mmesoma had engaged JAMB in accusation and counter-accusation, with the exam body slamming a three-year ban on her. On Wednesday, she appeared before a panel of the House of Representatives i

Kano, Oyo, Kwara and Osun states governments have declared Wednesday (today), a work-free day to mark the beginning of the 1445 Islamic (Hijrah) New Year. A statement by the Kano State Commissioner of Information, Baba Dantiye, on behalf of Governor Abba Yusuf, said the governor enjoined residents of the state to pray for its peace. “The governor, who congratulated Muslims around the world on the dawn of the new Islamic year, enjoined the civil servants and the people in the state to pray for peace and tranquillity as well as economic development of our dear state and the country at large,” the statement said. Similarly, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State declared Wednesday (today) as a public holiday in the state in commemoration of this year’s Hijrah 1445AH. The governor, in a statement  by his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, congratulated Muslim faithful on the commencement of the New Year, while  enjoining them to use the occasion to pray for  the peace, uni

The Federal Government, on Monday, said plans are underway to undertake a nationwide vaccination of cattle, sheep and goats, following a confirmed case of anthrax in Niger State. The Niger case comes weeks after the Federal Government alerted Nigerians to the outbreak of the deadly disease in some neighbouring countries within the West African sub-region. The government, in June, specifically stated that the disease was widespread in northern Ghana, bordering Burkina Faso and Togo. Consequently, the FG advised Nigerians to desist from the consumption of cow hides, otherwise known as ponmo, smoked meat and bush meat. Anthrax is caused by the spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, which primarily affects animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats. The disease can be contracted by humans who come in direct contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products, such as meat, wool, or hides. Anthrax may be contracted through the inhalation of spores, while cutaneous

Upon proper investigation and scrutiny, viz-a-viz cum credibility and zeal towards the above Union growth and development, I, hereby offer this appointment to the following persons for effective and smooth run of this administration. Cc. Abasifreke Benson 15-07-2023 #IGNITE

Despite recent criticisms of plans to increase the price of service charges, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria has said current economic conditions have not prompted point-of-sale operators to reconsider their plans to implement the new framework starting next Monday. This was as it indicated plans to extend the implementation of the new price range to the Federal Capital Territory and other states. The PUNCH reported that in June 30, the PRO, AMMBAN, Lagos Chapter, Stephen Adeoye, in an interview, said the association had come up with a new price list for PoS agents operating in the state. Justifying the increase in prices, he said PoS agents were adjusting their prices to reflect the country’s current economic realities. The raised elicited criticism from Nigerians, including threats of sanctions by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Central Bank’s promise to intervene. But speaking in an interview, the National pub

A 33-year-old woman, Olufunmilayo Erioluwa, who was accused of assaulting a policeman and later freed by a court, has said she was made to suffer over a dog. According to the hairstylist, she was unjustly detained and remanded in the Kirikiri Custodial Centre because the dog owner was connected to the police. She was released on June 27 after 44 days in prison. She expressed gratitude to a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, and his legal team, saying she could have “died in detention having been traumatised by the incident.” “I want to beg Nigerians who saw my picture when the police posted it on  Twitter  to arise and fight for me because I am weighed down by it all; it’s too much on me,” Erioluwa added. The woman was arraigned for allegedly assaulting the policeman less than 24 hours after the police arraigned Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, over a similar charge. The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, wrote about the incident on his Twitter page

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a plan to increase the visa application fee paid by immigrants.   While delivering a speech regarding an increase in public sector wages, Sunak disclosed that part of the funding for the wage increase will be raised from the foreign migrants who come to the United Kingdom to live and work.   Fees for the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) will also be significantly increased for migrants. Sunak said;    “If we’re going to prioritise paying public sector workers more, that money has to come from somewhere else because I’m not prepared to put up people’s taxes and I don’t think it would be responsible or right to borrow more because that would just make inflation worse. “So, what we have done are two things to find this money. The first is, we are going to increase the charges that we have for migrants who are coming to this country when they apply for visas and indeed something called the immigration health surcharge (

The United States government has announced a hike in fees for certain non-immigrant visa applications (NIV).   The 15 percent increment affects the student visa, exchange visitor visa, petition-based non-immigrant visas for temporary workers and treaty applicants.    The statement released on the bureau of consular affairs website, travel.state.gov, and on the websites of US embassies and consulates, reads;    “These increases were published in the federal register on March 28, 2023, and will be effective on May 30, 2023. The fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s and BCCs), and other non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from $160 to $185.  “The fee for certain petition-based nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) will increase from $190 to $205. The fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category) will increase from $205 to $

Doctors in Israel have re-attached a boy's head after he was hit by a car while riding his bike.   According to Mail Online, twelve-year-old Palestinian Suleiman Hassan, from the West Bank, suffered an internal decapitation where the base of the skull and the top of the spine become detached, but the skin is still intact.   Doctors said Suleiman's head was 'almost completely detached from the base of his neck.' He underwent painstaking surgery carried out by an intensive care team that took several hours.   Suleiman was riding his bike when a car hit him. He was airlifted to Hadassah Ein Kerem’s Trauma Unit in Jerusalem and immediately put into surgery.   His injury was fixed in early June, but the Jerusalem hospital waited a month to announce the results.   The true incidence of internal decapitation is unknown as 70 percent of victims die instantly or en route to the hospital. 'We fought for the boy’s life,' Dr. Ohad Einav, one of the surgeons who

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has commenced an investigation into the activities of marketers of aviation fuel, popularly called JetA1. This comes after the operations of all Boeing 737 aircraft in the fleet of Max Air were suspended over safety concerns.  The suspension was enforced after some of the airline’s aircraft were involved in series of incidents, one of which showed the moment water was being drained from one of the airline’s planes while on ground in Yola.  Speaking in a zoom meeting, the Director-General, NCAA, Musa Nuhu, said the agency was investigating fuel marketers as well as the airline.  He said, “We are investigating the whole thing and we learnt that that particular aircraft took fuel from Lagos, Kano and Abuja. I expect to get a report as regards the fuelling stations. Any station found wanting will be suspended till all these iasues are resolved.  “We are going to be releasing, hopefully tomorrow, another AOL to the industry to remind them of

Foreign investments to the manufacturing sector dropped by 35 per cent from $392.5m in the fourth quarter of 2022 to $256m in the first quarter of 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics’ capital importation report for 2023 Q1 has shown. According to the report, the total capital importation into Nigeria in Q1 2023 stood at $1.1bn, lower than US$1.5bn recorded in Q1 2022, indicating a decrease of 28 per cent. Despite the decrease, capital importation into the production sector ranked second with 22 per cent share of total investments, while the banking sector recorded the highest inflow of $304.5m, representing 26.89 per cent of total capital imported in Q1 2023. In recent months, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria had warned that the increasingly harsh business environment, occasioned by high energy costs, lack of access to funding, multiple taxation, among others, had scaled down investments into the sector. According to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Bi-A

A police Inspector, Jude Ukpaka, has been shot dead and his AK 47 rifle with unspecified rounds of ammunition stolen by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. PUNCH Metro  gathered that Ukpaka and two of his other colleagues of Dragon 19 attached to the Ughelli Area Command were at a checkpoint near the Evwreni axis of the East-West Road when the hoodlums attacked them on Wednesday. The windshield of the Toyota Hilux patrol van of the Police Dragon 19 used by the policemen was riddled with bullets. The incident was recorded barely two months after gunmen killed two policemen, Ujeyah Matthew and Sergeant Ijebu, attached to Ofuoma Police Division. They were killed and their guns were reportedly stolen at the Ekredjebor community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area. A trader who gave her name simply as Esther told journalists on Thursday that armed robbers attacked travellers returning from Bayelsa in the same area earlier

The management of the Osun State University, Osogbo, has suspended a 100-Level student of the institution, Victory Ehiremen, indefinitely. 17-year-old Ehiremen was suspended following her arrest by men of the Osun State Police Command in connection with a case of armed robbery in Ikire. PUNCH Metro  reported on Wednesday that Ehiremen and her boyfriend, Ayobami, allegedly lured the victim said to be based in Lagos State, who she met via WhatsApp to Ikire, Osun State, where he was assaulted and a sum of N1. 5m was transferred from his account. When paraded by the state Commissioner of Police, Kehinde Longe, on Wednesday, the suspect said she only witnessed how the victim was assaulted, but was unaware that money was transferred from his account. Addressing journalists on the campus of the university in Osogbo on Thursday, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Clement Adebooye, said the management decided on the suspension after considering the statement written by the suspect and intell