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Winners Emerge In UBA NEC Competition, As GMD Extols Values Of Reading

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Winners have emerged in the fifth edition of the UBA Foundation National Essay Competition for Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.

In a keenly contested competition, Miss Emediong Uduak Uko, a 15 year old student of British Nigerian Academy, Abuja, won the coveted prize of N1m education grant.

Emediong emerged the winner from over 3,326 entries received across the country.

Starish Ugie-Oritse-Ete Enonuya of The Lagoon School, Lagos and Eze Ugochinyere Golden of Living Word Academy School, Abia, emerged first and second runner ups, winning N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants respectively.

Speaking during the event at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, GMD, Phillips Oduoza, commended all the participants and the schools for encouraging the students.Oduoza explained that the digital age of technology called for increased interest in reading culture among youths, adding that this had led to the decision of UBA, through its foundation, to begin the Essay Competition.

He said, “UBA Foundation believes in sustainability and in supporting of the environment where we operate, and that is why we have earmarked a certain percentage of our profit to this end.

He noted that the competition which started in 2011 in Nigeria had also be extended to Ghana and Senegal which had also produced winners in the last few years.

Stressing the nuggets for success, he said, “Reading is essential to broaden your knowledge and horizon and most importantly youths should maintain self-discipline and ensure that they determine their career part and get mentors to assist them in their goals.

He also explained that the bank remains committed to dedicating resources towards grooming world leaders, because UBA believes so much in the youth and their ultimate success.

On her part, the MD/CEO, UBA Foundation, Miss Ijeoma Aso, commended the participants and expressed delight at the increase level of participation recorded this year.

She said, “compared to the last edition, we had an increase of almost 100 per cent in the number of entries received, and this shows that there is a growing level of awareness amongst the youth.”She added that the impact of UBA Foundation is being felt by many educational institutions and communities in Nigeria.

According to her, the initiative is not only to test the aptitude and knowledge of our students but has become a pipeline to groom future UBA Ambassadors, adding that the winners who would go to any university of their choice in Africa would remain part of the UBA family provided they are of good behavior and remain focused.

“In UBA we appreciate and nurture talents. All the finalists here today have opportunity to excel in life and UBA is delighted to play a part in the process,” she noted.

The 12 finalists selected by a panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities are; Ayomide Omole; Udochukwu Melvin Okonkwo; Emediong Uduak Uko; Jonathan Favour; Obiabunmo Precious and Starish Ugie-Oritse-Ete Enonuya. Others are Comfort Macaulay Uwem; Dada Oluwatobi Joshua; Osagiede Omosefe; Olaoye Promise Oluwatobiloba; Eze Ugochinyere Golden and Peter G Okon.

Each of the 12 finalists received a laptop as a consolation prize for getting to the final of the competition.

As a the CSR platform for the UBA Group, UBA Foundation works through four areas of focus, education, economic empowerment, environment and special project. Communities across Nigeria and other parts of the continent continue to benefit from the foundation through these focus areas.

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Degree mills: FG to flush out fake certificate holders

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The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has pledged to flush out persons in public and private organisations working with fake certificates.

Mamman made this known while speaking in Abuja on Friday when he received the report of an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling from the Chairman of the committee , Prof. Jubrila Amin.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that the minister of education on Jan. 9, inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Committee to examine the veracity of allegations of degrees racketeering within both foreign and local private universities.

The committee was mandated to review the role of any MDAs or its officials in facilitation of the recognition and procurement of fake certificates in question.

Mamman, who expressed sadness over what has been uncovered during the investigations, said that the ministry would work with relevant agencies to sanitise the education sector and rid it of any fake tendencies.

“We can’t afford to have the integrity of our education soar by some few persons.

“It is possible that some are carrying fake certificates in public and private organisations who needs to be flushed out. This report is a product of a thorough investigation.

“It is sad that someone who should come out from a Nigerian institution with a 2:1 or 2:2 is now parading an international certificate of first class.

“The ministry is determined to take steps to sanitise the system,” he said.

He pledged to take decisive role to ensure standards were enshrined in the system saying that ‘we can’t afford to let down our country when it comes to standards’.

Presenting the report, Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee, Amin, decried the horrible standards of education in those schools saying that many of those schools awarding degree certificates were an eye saw.

Amin said the problems at hand required speedy intervention, recommending that all agencies in the sector must digitise/automate their system.

He said that automating the entire education system was a way to go in such a way that you could sit in your office and monitor what is happening in all tertiary institutions.

According to him, in the course of our investigation, we realise that the present programme of accreditation and evaluation of results is inadequate.

He called for more universities in the country, saying that more universities to train PhD holders would help a lot rather than Nigerians going outside in search of certificates while ending up getting fake certificates.

He, therefore, urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay more attention to institutions offering part time or sandwich programmes so we don’t have a repeat of 2017 saga of centres offering unaccredited courses.

“People go and get fake degrees and we have been to those countries and we know what a proper degree looks like, we know what the fake one looks like.

“We have given it to the ministry to scrutinise anyone presenting a certificate from those institutions and anything else is fake.

” It is up to the ministry to find out people with fake certificates and deal with them in whatever way they derm fit,” he said

 

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Just In: EFCC submits additional proof of evidence against Emefiele

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has submitted additional proof of evidence against the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

During the court hearing on Friday, Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo requested an adjournment to review the new evidence before continuing the cross-examination of John Ikechukwu Ayoh, the second prosecution witness.

Ojo accused the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, of engaging in “trial by ambush” and not being diligent in their prosecution.

He told the court that he just received the additional proof of evidence from the EFCC.

He said the new proof of evidence was filed on Thursday, saying he needed to study the additional proof of evidence to cross-examine the prosecution witness.

He told the court, “My lord, there is a need to adjourn this case. We were just served these huge documents by the EFCC in court.

“The prosecution keeps dumping documents on us at every sitting. This is trial by ambush.”

Sharing the same sentiment, the counsel to the second defendant, Adeyinka Kotoye, also said he was served the additional proof of evidence five minutes after arriving in court.

In his defence, Oyedepo argued that they provided documents from a former aide to Emefiele in preparation for his testimony, saying it did not affect the ongoing cross-examination.

He added that it was unfair to describe the service of processes by the prosecution as “ambush by trial”.

Oyedepo emphasised that the additional evidence submitted were documents obtained from the phone of a former aide to Emefiele, John Adetona, who is set to testify as a witness.

He also clarified that these documents were provided in advance for Adetona’s future testimony and that he was not scheduled to appear in court on the present or upcoming hearing on May 9.

“The witness (Adetona) whose device the documents were printed from has not given evidence before the court,” Oyedepo said.

“In preparation for his testimony which is not coming up today or May 9, the prosecution rather waiting for the defence to formally demand the hard copies the prosecution team printed the documents out.

“How does that amount to prosecutorial unfairness?”

Oyedepo, however, requested that the court instruct the defence counsels to conclude their cross-examination of the second prosecution witness.

He clarified that the introduction of new documents does not hinder or impact the ongoing cross-examination of this witness.

However, Emefiele’s lawyer disagreed, stating that he needed time to review the new documents as they may contain valuable information for use during cross-examination.

In his ruling, the presiding judge, Rahman Oshodi, agreed with the defendant’s counsel.

Oshodi then adjourned the matter to May 9.

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are currently being tried in a Lagos high court on a 26-count charge.

Both the former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them.

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Bello Matawalle’s alleged N70bn fraud case still open – EFCC

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has assured the public that it will continue with the alleged N70 billion corruption case against the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, during his tenure as the Governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.

The EFCC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajuren, stated this while addressing protesters under the aegis of the APC Akida Forum who were at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, to demand the reopening of the pending case.

Uwajuren told the protesters that once the EFCC opened an investigation, it would not be closed, and assured them that their demand would be looked into.

“I want to commend members of the APC Akida Forum for this peaceful protest. It is within your rights to protest. The Constitution guarantees the right of free expression and you have done that today. I want to assure you all that the EFCC does not close cases. Once we open an investigation into a case, we do not close such a matter. So I assure you that this petition will be looked into. Thank you very much,” he said.

Presenting a copy of their petition to the EFCC, Chairman of the group, Musa Mahmud, asked the Commission to reopen the investigation into the corruption allegations against Matawalle.

He said the call came amidst growing concerns about corruption in Nigeria and the bold steps taken by the APC administration regarding government officials suspected of embezzlement, including former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, among others.

Mahmud further urged the EFCC to investigate the $2.1 billion arms deal, which included Matawalle among the dishonourable Nigerians and companies that benefited from the former National Security Adviser’s NSA scandal.

“The APC AKIDA Forum is appealing to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to continue investigating Matawalle’s alleged mismanagement of public funds during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State and his involvement in the famous arms deal scandal.

“As party loyalists, we want the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate the matter and bring justice to those responsible for the mismanagement of public funds. This will serve as a deterrent to others considering engaging in corrupt practices in public office, especially considering what happened to the humanitarian minister.

The APC Akida Forum, as a political pressure group, commends the Federal Government for making bold decisions against corruption,” he added.

On May 18, 2023, the EFCC announced that it was investigating allegations of extensive corruption, fraudulent contract awards, and the misappropriation of more than N70bn by Matawalle.

Meanwhile, members of the Zamfara Alternative Forum had staged a similar protest at the EFCC headquarters in January, asking the commission to revisit the probe of the former governor.

 

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