PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2012
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Exam malpractice: Bauchi to close down private schools From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi
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he Bauchi state government has warned that it would close down any private schools assisting in examination malpractices in the state. The Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, disclosed this when he paid an unscheduled visit to some secondary schools in the state, where he expressed concern over
the cases of examination malpractices. He reiterated the determination of the state government to eliminate cheating during examinations especially among secondary schools. Alhaji Ibrahim explained that henceforth, any private school caught aiding examination malpractice would be blacklisted and disallowed from participating in any examination in the state.
Envoy donates return ticket, trophy to best Maths, English students By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
N Former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mamman Nasir (middle), measuring grain to a beneficiary during the flag-off of Malumfashi local government sale of subsidised grain to people yesterday at Marabar Kankara village, Katsina state. Photo: NAN
N40bn unclaimed dividends: SEC lauds Reps over planned probe By Lawrence Olaoye a he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), yesterday commended the House of Representatives on its resolution to commence investigations into the alleged N40 billion unclaimed dividends. The House through a motion sponsored by one Hon. Akpan Micah Umoh, had passed a resolution mandating itas Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions “to investigate the high volume of unclaimed dividends in quoted companies in Nigeria and report to the House within four (4) weeks”. The motion was in turn predicated on the efforts of the SEC which, in his words “revealed” that “…unclaimed dividends were gradually mounting up to over N40 billion”. In a statement issued by the SEC yesterday in Abuja, the Commission explained that the legislative attention to unclaimed dividends was a positive
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development even as it disclosed that the volume of unclaimed dividends transcended Umoh’s figure actually put at N52.2 billion. According to the statement, "The size of the problem has since surpassed the N40 billion referred to by Hon. Umoh since as at December 2011, the size of unclaimed dividends was N52.2 Billion. Out of this figure, 84.7% i.e. N42.5 billion was held by nine out of 23 registrars who submitted their returns". "It was out of concern for this unfortunate situation in which return on shareholders’ investment by way of dividends is perennially locked in the unclaimed dividends saga that as far back as in 2002, the SEC sponsored a bill in the National Assembly for an act of parliament which will set up the “Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund”. This Fund and the Act of Parliament which set it up were intended to drastically reduce or completely eliminate the incidence of unclaimed dividend by
providing alternative domicile for funds deriving from unclaimed dividends to what was stipulated in Section 382(1) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act that": “Where dividends are returned to the company unclaimed, the company shall send a list of the names of the persons entitled with the notice of the AGM to the members. After the expiration of three months of the notice mentioned in 382(1), the company may invest the unclaimed dividends in an investment outside the company. No interest shall accrue on the dividend against the company”. SEC maintained, "If passed into law, the “Unclaimed Dividend Bill” would have removed the point of domicile for unclaimed dividends from their originating companies to another party managed Trust Fund and removed the incentive which feeds the collusion between certain players in the market to frustrate shareholder access to dividend accruals on their investment".
igeria’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mrs. Nimota Akanbi, has donated a trophy and return ticket to the Netherlands for the best graduating student in English and Mathematics in Kwara state public schools. While presenting the trophy and ticket to Kwara state Governor, AbdulFatah Ahmed, during his economic mission to The Hague, Netherlands, Amb. Akanbi said the gesture was aimed at boosting the morale of public school students in both English and Mathematics as well as giving the two crucial subjects frontline attention.
In an online statement issued by her office yesterday, Akanbi explained that education was a key factor in achieving the Vision 2020-20 of the Federal Government, saying “No sacrifice is too much in getting Nigerian students educated, especially those in public schools who are often times neglected”. The Kwara-born diplomat used the occasion to call on Kwara state indigenes as well as other Nigerians resident in the Netherlands to continue to respect the laws of their host country, advising that “at some point though, you would need to go home and contribute your quota to the development of our Motherland”.
7 countries begin embassy buildings in Abuja Rifat Rondic, gave early 2014 as
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even countries have begun building their permanent embassies at the Diplomatic Drive, a street allocated to them in Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. They are Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Turkey, Benin Republic, Serbia and Cote d’Ivoire. The Iraqi Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ali Al-Amery, said the new embassy would be completed by April next year, adding that it would accommodate the consular office as well. Al-Amery said a local construction company, Sahar Continental, was handling the project which, according to him, would cost about three million dollars. The Ambassador of Serbia, Mr.
the expected date of completion of the project which is being handled by Energo company, a Serbian firm. He did not state the cost of the project. A NAN investigation revealed that most of the embassy projects are being done by indigenous construction companies. Some embassies -- Ghana, China, the U.S., Niger, Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, Cuba and Liberia -- are already operating from the Diplomatic Drive. Others are Palestine, North Korea, Brazil, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. South Africa, Pakistan, Italy and the Netherlands embassies operate from Constitution Avenue, an extension of the Diplomatic Drive. (NAN)
Nasarawa: Fulani,Tiv communities resolve to end conflicts F From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia
ulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers in Kadarko, Jenkwe development area of Nasarawa state, yesterday resolved to end the lingering crisis involving the two ethnic groups that has resulted in the loss of several lives as well as damage to property worth millions of naira. The two tribes among other ethnic groups in the area, made their resolve known during a community based conflict
resolution meeting held in Kadarko, where representatives of both the Fulani and Tiv warriors collectively denounced the skirmishes, vowing to influence their kinsmen into sheathing their swords and giving peace a chance. Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in the state, Alhaji Mohammadu Hussaini, while tracing the root of conflicts between Tiv farmers and Fulani herdsmen to minor skirmishes involving trespass into
farmlands by cattle belonging to nomads, expressed gratitude to traditional rulers in the area who initiated the peace meeting. On his part, Joseph Gyor, vice president, Tiv Youth Organisation, observed that the meeting signalled the end of the conflict, even as he sought for the deployment of more security agencies in the hinterland to assure the people of the safety of their lives and property. The initiator of the peace meeting, the Sarkin Kwandere,
Alhaji Ahmadu Al-makura, declared that with the meeting, the lingering crisis was now a thing of the past. The Sarkin Kwandere urged the people who had fled from the crisis area to return home, adding that henceforth anyone caught breaking the law would be arrested and punished. On his part, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, while expressing his delight for the meeting, said the composition of the participants at the parley, was a testimony that peace has returned to the area and the state at large. He explained that government
deliberately adopted the community based conflict resolution strategy to guide the peace initiative, collaborating and supporting the ethnic nationalities to organise the meeting. The governor said his administration has earmarked steps to consolidate on the peace process, which will include among others, providing 15 permanent security posts in the area, open up the area by constructing rural roads and stepping up measures to fight crime across the state. Al-makura then announced a donation, one truck of fertiliser for the Tiv farmers and a truck of salt for the Fulani herdsmen.