Anambra in top-5 highest JAMB applicant states

ITRealms:

The Anambra State is in top five states with highest applications for the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which commences Saturday, February 28, 2016, nationwide, reports ITRealms.

Registrar and Chief Executive of West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), Prof. ‘Dibu Ojerinde, made this disclosure to ITRealms on the level of preparedness of the council on the conduct of the 2016 Computer-Based Test (CBT).

He listed the top five to include Imo with 102,727, following by Osun with 83,060, Oyo, 81,065, Delta 80,197 and Anambra with 76,777.

While the least five states with applications in the 2016 is led by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 5,069, followed by Zamfara with 7254, Yobe, 12,079, Kebbi, 12,3978 and Sokoto recording 13,443.

ITRealms reports that a total number of 1One Million, Five Hundred and Eighty-Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Fifty (1,589,175) candidates applied for the 2016 UTME.

Prof. Ojerinde also said that in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted in 2015, a total of One Million, Four Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Seventy-Seven (1,475,477) candidates registered. 

The WAEC chief told ITRealms that the figure for the 2016 UTME shows an increase of One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Six Hundred and Seventy-three (113,673) applicants when compared with last year’s figure of One Million, Four Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Seventy-seven (1,475,477).

In addition, he said, Three Hundred and Forty-three (343) Prison Inmates registered for the 2016 UTME. “They will also have access to computers at both the Kaduna and Ikoyi prisons,” Prof. Ojerinde explained.

  
Uj N. Dominic/GEE
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Why Oliseh resigned from Super Eagles job, Siasia takes over

ITRealms:

The reasons behind the sudden resignation of Sunday Oliseh as Nigeria coach are gradually coming to town, top of which is sabotage by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) reports ITRealms.

Sources close to the former coach said he was uncomfortable with the level of sabotage in recent times especially as it concerned the next month’s crucial AFCON qualifiers against Egypt slated for March 25.

ITRealms recalls they Nigeria was to host Egyptian side on March 25 in Kaduna prior to new date now slated for Egypt.

News Express had earlier quoted top official close to Oliseh as saying, “Oliseh resigned as Super Eagles coach after he did not enjoy the right support from the Nigeria Football Federation.

“His resignation letter was addressed to NFF president Amaju Pinnick and he copied principal officials like the general secretary. He also spoke on the phone with the sports minister.”

Further ITRealms gathered that Oliseh resignation was not unconnected with his four months salary arrears in addition to a promised accommodation in the nation’s capital of Abuja.

Equally he was pained by the sacking of his personal assistant and allegations that NFF was making overture to former Cote d’Ivoire coach Herve Renard, who has since been appointed coach of Morocco.

Appointed the national team coach in July 2015, the former Nigeria's skipper Sunday Oliseh replaced Stephen Keshi.

Meanwhile, the NFF has named coach Samson Siasia an interim coach for the national team while Daniel Amakochie to assist.

•Pix: Sunday Oliseh

Banji Boye/GEE

Ntel makes history with first VoLTE call in Nigeria

ITRealms:

The NatCom Development and Investment Limited, trading as ‘ntel’ has made its first Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) in the city of Lagos, today, reports ITRealms.

The company, ITRealms recalls recently acquired the core assets of NiTel/MTel which is currently in liquidation.

 

According to the duo of the Director, External Affairs, Mr. Osondu Nwokolo and Head, Corporate Communications at ntel, the telco made its first Voice over LTE call in Lagos today, Thursday, February 25, 2016, at about 3.30pm at telco’s new Tier III data centre located on Lagos Island. 

They also noted that VoLTE calls are enabled over a carrier’s high-speed data network instead of on a voice network, hence, the Voice over LTE calls also connect faster upon dialing and feature ultra-clear high-definition voice quality.

ITRealms also confirmed that the VoLTE call was completed in partnership with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), Messrs L M Ericsson of Sweden and Sony Electronics of Japan. 

This, ITRealms reports, follows ntel’s first data call on 18 January, 2016 and its first SIP voice call on 18 February, 2016 respectively.

Ntel, ITRealms further gathered would now progress work with Nigeria’s other mobile operators and international partners to perform cross-network VoLTE calls to ensure that ntel’s customers could actually connect with each other as easily as they could to both customers in Nigeria and to those elsewhere in the world; a network now comprising more than seven billion telephones, globally.

Ntel further pointed out that this crystal-clear, high-definition VoLTE call was made via an ntel sim card and is set to be a significant differentiating factor for ntel as it progresses with the roll-out of Nigeria’s largest Advanced 4G/LTE network, due to be launched shortly.

Excited ntel CEO, Mr. Kamar Abass said this calls confirms that the key network elements are now in place to support the full commercial launch of premium integrated voice, video and data services over 4G/LTE.

“The ntel network is built on the 900/1800 Mhz which are the most efficient propagation frequencies for the deployment of 4G/LTE technology,” he declared.

ITRealms recollects that the ntel’s first test data call in Lagos was on Monday January 18, 2016, a few days after NatCom chairman, Tunde Ayeni appeared before the House of Representatives Communications Committee.

Ayeni had assured the Lawmakers that ntel is committed to investing over $1bn to support roll out of commercial services, starting in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Noting that ntel will generate employment for over 4,000 Nigerians over the next five years.

This test call is a further demonstration that ntel is fully committed to building on the acquired assets of NiTel/MTel to provide world class super-fast broadband services to support the Federal Government’s 2013 National Broadband plan.

 +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)

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SEC, DMO collaborate on Sukuk

ITRealms:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) are collaborating on the first sovereign Sukuk to be issued soon, reports ITRealms.

Till date, ITRealms recalls that it is only Osun State that issued a Sukuk, through which it raised N11.4 billion in 2013.

The Director General of DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo and his counterpart at SEC, Mounir Gwarzo made these pledges to partner to ensure a deeper bond market including non-interest products such as Sukuk.

Speaking when the management of SEC visited DMO in Abuja, Nwankwo stressed the importance of non-interest products, explaining that a sovereign Sukuk issuance had been part of the institution’s strategic plan designed three years ago.

He solicited support from the SEC, especially in the area of capacity building in order to realise the goal of issuing Nigeria’s first sovereign Sukuk this year.

On his part, Gwarzo assured the DMO of the commission’s continued support, while pledging to take measures that would help enhance the capacity of relevant staff of the DMO.

“Within the context of continued decline in the prices of crude oil in the international markets, attendant drop in both foreign exchange and government revenues as well as fragility of growth from major emerging markets like China, the need for alternative sources of capital to finance infrastructure becomes increasingly more compelling,” Gwarzo said.

Both government agencies therefore agreed on the urgent need to begin mobilizing capital in order to address the nation’s investment needs.

ITRealms also gathered that issuing a sovereign Sukuk will attract significant amounts of affordable capital from the Gulf countries and other established Islamic markets around the world into Nigeria.

 

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Dickson meets ex-ministers, drums support for Modu Sheriff

ITRealms:

The Bayelsa State governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson on Thursday had a meeting with the Forum of Former Ministers within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling on them to rally round the new chairman of the party, Senator Alli Modu Sheriff, reports ITRealms.

While advising against litigation over internal party misunderstanding and their recourse to divisive and inflammatory comments in the media, the governor "appealed for support for the new PDP chairman and the need for members of the forum to align itself with the position already taken by NEC in respect of the leadership issues affecting the party."

The governor also called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to produce a timetable soonest that will lead to the conduct of a conclusive and transparent convention. 

He specifically urged them to align themselves "with the position already taken by National Executive Council (NEC) in respect of the leadership issues affecting the party."

Dickson in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Markson-Iworiso, said at the end of the consultative interactions held in Abuja, thanked and appreciated them, not only for their continued membership of PDP, but also for their effort at putting together the forum to further strengthen the party.

"The governor commended the former ministers for the inclusion of all members who served between 1999 till date, which has created a diverse blend of human assets which the party need especially now that the PDP is in opposition. Dickson urged them to join hands with other leaders and statutory organs of the party in the onerous task of re-building and re-positioning the party.

"The countryman governor seized the opportunity to call on other senior members of the party to put themselves in an organised platform and be ready for effective mobilisation of all party men and women across the country. He reiterated the call for the inclusion and respect of all major stakeholders of the party especially now that the party is in opposition", Markson-Iworiso stated.

According to him, Dickson also enjoined the forum to join hands with others back home in their respective states to mobilise and re-position PDP "along the lines of reforms as proposed by the new leadership."

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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2016 IAD summit gets 10-man Local Organizing Committee

ITRealms:

A 10-man Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the 2016 Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit has been inaugurated in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), reports ITRealms.

The Vice-Chairman of the Summit Planning Team, Mr. Owoicho Igoji, while inaugurating the 10-man LOC said that IAD Summit is a continental ICT stakeholder engagement platform that is held annually across the African continent. 

He said that before now, the IAD had held successfully in 13 countries, pointing out that Nigeria was selected to host the 2016 event due to recent developments in the telecoms and ICT sector. 

Some of these events, he said, include the recent rebasing of her economy in 2014, and the huge contribution of the sector to the Nigerian GDP, played a major role in Nigeria’s emergence as the largest economy in Africa.

The 14^th edition of the IAD Summit, he said, will hold from 19^th – 21^st April, 2016 at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja by 8.30am. 

Igoji, who doubles as chairman, LOC said the committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR) was carefully created in a manner that will ensure the successful execution of the event. 

“The ToR has been structured in a manner that makes it possible to plan and deliver the event end to end. It will also help to guide deliberations of the LOC and the execution of assigned tasks. Our focus should be to deliver positive results on the basis of the MOU signed between Nigeria represented by Ministry of Communications and GBB on one hand and Extensia UK,” he said.

ITRealms gathered that the committee is made up of five sub-committees namely; Programme Coordination/Secretariat/Accommodation, Entertainment/Dinners, Media/Publicity/Marketing, Finance/Procurement and Logistics/Transportation/Security, even as LOC membership was drawn from public ICT ecosystem.

 

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