24 — Vanguard,WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2013
Ter tiar ertiar tiaryy education and youth emplo yment employment FORUM: From left: Secretary, Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), Yemi Idowu; Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Ayo Gbeleyi; Vice President, BDAN, Foluke Abdulrasaq, and member, Governing Council, BDAN, Nike Akande at the stakeholders forum on Public Private Partnership Innovations in Public Sector Financing organised by BDAN, in Lagos.
Impressive Q3 result propels NSE’s performance By NKIRUKA NNOROM
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HE sustained rally in Nigeria’s equities market is anchored on the impressive third quarter results of most companies whose results had been released with some unrepentantly committed to their policy of payment of interim dividend, said Skyview Capital. In its weekly review of activities in the local and global capital markets for the week ended November 8, 2013, Skyview stated that both the dividend declaration and impressive results reinforced investors’ confidence to take position ahead of full year when more robust corporate benefits would surface. Giving a breakdown, it said, “In Nigeria, the Nigerian Stock Market indicator, NSE All All Share Index, ASI appreciated by 0.28 percent to close the week at 37,870.87. Market capitalisation gained N33.565billion. A review of the sectoral indices showed that NSE Oil and Gas added the most during the week, advancing by 14.16 percent. NSE Insurance appreciated by 2.68 percent, while NSE Consumer Goods and NSE Lotus II gained 1.82 percent and 1.88 percent respectively. The Banking
Indices, however, shed 34 basis points (0.34 percent) to close the week red. “During the week under review, volume of transaction increased by 7.06 percent from the previous week. Volume traded was majorly driven by activities on Transcorp, Wapic and Zenith Bank. Turnover by value went up by 39.39 percent to N22.961billion as compared to N16.473billion in the preceding week. At the end of the week, thirty eight (38) equities appreciated in price during the week. The Forty three (43) equities depreciated in price lower than forty four (44) equities the preceding week, while one hundred and sixteen (116) equities remained unchanged.” The report further stated that profit taking dominated activities at the over-thecounter (OTC) secondary market for FGN bonds as average price came down for major tradable bonds, especially the long tenure bonds except few short dated bonds that appreciated marginally. Thus, average yields trended upward to within a band of 12.39 percent to 12.80percent as compared to the preceding range of 12.37 percent to 12.78 percent, the company said in the report.
Zonal winners emerge in SEC’s catch them young contest Govt. Girls College, Bauchi while Rumfa
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ll is now set for the grand finale of the SEC Catch ‘them Young National Quiz competition for secondary schools in Nigeria on Capital market. This follows the successful conclusion of the preliminary rounds comprising state level competition and zonal contests across the six geopolitical zones. With this development, all the six Zonal Champions will now slug it out at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja venue of the grand finale on Friday, November 29, 2013. In the South - West Zone, College of Education Demonstration School, Ikere, Ekiti State came tops with an aggregate score of 55 points whereas in the North - Central Zone, Divine Academy, Itakpe, Kogi State beat all comers with a total score of 35 points. The North - East Zone competition was won by Federal
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College, Kano was the laureate in the North - West Zone. The South - East witnessed the triumph of Marist Comprehensive College, Nteje in Anambra State while the contest in the South - South was won by Federal Govt. College, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom. These zonal winners will all converge in Abuja to compete for the National Prize Winner of the 2013 edition of the SEC Catch them Young National Quiz Competition for Secondary Schools in Nigeria on Capital Market. In line with the SEC’s CSR strategy of supporting learning and digital migration the winning school of the national competition will receive three desktop computers complete with printers and UPS. The first runner - up will be rewarded with two desktop computers and accessories in like number while the second runner - up will cart away a desktop computer along with accessories.
igeria’s economy is reported to be experiencing an increase in the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, without an increase in available employment opportunities and without an improvement in the living conditions of the population. We have also indicated that our educational system should give our young people the skills that would lead to the eradication of malaria and the skills that would make food readily available to the population. The institutions that should provide the solutions and action plan for dealing with problems such as GDP growth without job opportunities are the universities. The universities should also produce the personnel that would provide the answers in the fight against malaria and in ensuring food availability. We spend a lot of money on road construction each year and we have found that a large number of our road pavements fail much earlier than what was projected when the roads were designed. A few years ago, a university professor, Prof. Meshida, was awarded the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, Prize for Science for his research into the factors associated with premature road pavement failures. Prof. Meshida found that the major factor was the instability of the relatively finegrained soils used in road construction. A material called lateralite was developed following several years of investigation. This material, when mixed in the prescribed proportions with the soil, acts to stabilise the soil and ensures that the road pavement does not fail before its design life is attained. By now, there should be a minimum of a 2-km stretch of road somewhere in Nigeria built using this material. This is not the situation because the material is not being produced in commercial quantities. The University of Lagos should accept the challenge of bringing this material to the market. The university expects to operate its businesses under a holding company structure and the university can start a new business which would raise venture capital from other investors for commercial production of the material. New businesses and new ideas are vital to the provision of employment opportunities for our population. There are ideas and research findings generated within Nigeria in other sectors, especially in food preservation and food processing, that should be developed and brought to the market. Students who attend universities, polytechnics and colleges of education enjoy the maximum period of training available in our educational system. We sometimes have comments suggesting that students graduating
from our tertiary institutions do not meet the requirements of employers. For some of the professional courses in the tertiary institutions, there are professional regulatory bodies which have to give approval for the courses in addition to the approval of the National Universities Commission, NUC. Perhaps each university should bring in people from outside the university into advisory committees on the various departments in the university. These committees would make suggestions on how the work of the departments could be improved. The basic question is what should be the content of a university education. The university graduates usually become the leaders in the formal
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There should be a minimum of a 2-km stretch of road somewhere in Nigeria built using this material
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sector of our economy and in the government departments that execute government policies. The university should give the students the body of existing knowledge that would enable them to carry out their responsibilities in the workplace as well as the abilities to resolve any problems that come up. The university should also develop brilliant young talent and create the new knowledge and innovation that drive the growth of our civilisation. It is in the latter part that the universities have a lot of work to do. The universities have to provide the research facilities and the projects and ideas on which our young people would work for their doctoral degrees. What are the opportunities now available to a university graduate after completion of the 4-year academic programme and the one year in the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC? There would always be a limited number of places each year in the formal sector and in the government service given that some of the persons employed now would be leaders in these