Lagos conducts oral scholarship interview for 600

The Lagos State Scholarship Board on Saturday put 600 students through oral interviews to ascertain their claims of being from the state and eligibility for 2016/2017 local scholarship offered by the government.

Mr Stephen Oshinowo, the Executive Secretary of the board, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the candidates needed to be interviewed to authenticate their claims of Lagos being their state of origin.

“Out of over 3000 candidates who sat for the computer based test in February 2017, only 600 candidates scored 43 per cent cut-off mark.

“We reduced the cut-off mark to 43 per cent to give more candidates opportunity to benefit from the scholarship.

“The candidates must attend the oral interview to substantiate their claim to Lagos,” he said.

Oshinowo said three panelists, selected from the five administrative divisions — Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe, were brought in to interview the candidates.

He said that the local scholarship was for exceptionally brilliant students, who have made 3.5 CGPA in their various institutions.

“In 2015/2016 session, about 1121 candidates benefited from the exercise.

“Out of the 600 candidates, those that are not recommended will still be dropped because we do not want to exceed what our budget can accommodate,” he said.

According to him, the local scholarship covers undergraduates, Masters and PhD students, who are indigenes of the state.

Oshinowo said that the budget for the 2016/2017 scholarship is N265 million.

He said that the state government was aware of the economic downturn and was ready to assist indigenes of the state to pursue their academics.

According to him, the names of the successful candidates after the exercise would be forwarded to the governor for approval and release of funds.

Oshinowo said undergraduates would be awarded N200,000 yearly for the duration of their course, while masters students would receive N300,000 once and PhD students get N400,000 yearly for the duration of their programme.

He, however, said that candidates must maintain 2:1 CGPA throughout their academics to continue to benefit from the scholarship.

Mrs Kudirat Odewale, one of the panelists from Epe division, told NAN that the essence of the oral interview was to ascertain the claim of the candidates, find out their family house and history.

Odewale said that government could not afford to waste resources on people that are not from the state.

She said the interview was mostly conducted in native language and names also play a major role to ascertain place of origin.

“In the past, we have seen students who claimed to be indigenes of the state but could not speak the language or identify their family house.

“Some students go as far as collecting scholarship from two different states; all these we are trying to stop,” she said.

One of the candidates, Miss Maume Hundenu, from Badagry division, commended the state government for setting up the scholarship to help average students, pleading that it be sustained.
“I am satisfied with the interview process; the panelists checked my documents, my family history and ability to speak my native language.

“It is not stressful, everything is orderly unlike the previous exercise.

“If I get the scholarship, it will help me finance my education and not become a drop-out,” she said. (NAN)

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Benzema returns Madrid to La Liga summit

Every dog has its day, or every cat in Karim Benzema’s case. The player once dubbed a pussy cat by Jose Mourinho scored twice as Real Madrid comfortably beat Eibar without Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Benzema has always had his critics at Madrid and he came into this game not having scored in his last seven League games. The morning papers ran a list of 35 players who had scored more than the French international in the league.

But without having to service Ronaldo and Bale, Benzema was free to be the protagonist and he scored two and set-up one as Madrid scored twice in 15 minutes to wrap-up this victory before the half-hour mark.

Benzema needed two attempts to beat Eibar keeper Yoel Rodriguez who saved his first shot but could do nothing about the well-struck rebound.

It was Benzema’s first goal in the league since January 9 and his sixth league goal of the season; number seven was not long in coming.

Benzema had stepped-up when his team had needed him most. This was the perfect way to prepare for Napoli on Tuesday.

Real Madrid had a heated argument in a team meeting before their training session on Friday, according to Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo.

Mundo Deportivo, based in Barcelona, stated that many Real players suggested that they aren’t happy with Cristiano Ronaldo’s behavior.

There were no reproaches from the squad towards Coach Zinedine Zidane but there was tension between the players, including the likes of Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Modric.

Some of the stars expressed their disapproval at Ronaldo, saying that when he wins, it’s all about him, but when they lose, the other players are at fault.

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Champions league: Ribery can’t wait to finish Arsenal

Bayern Munich’s dominant 3-0 Bundesliga win over Koln was good preparation for confirming Arsenal’s Champions League demise, according to Franck Ribery.
The French forward came off the bench and netted the final goal as Carlo Ancelotti’s side cruised to a comfortable victory at RheinEnergie Stadion on Saturday, the first away team to come out on top in a league match at the venue for 11 months.
Next up for Germany’s domestic title-holders is a visit to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, where Bayern hold a 5-1 aggregate lead from a dominant victory in the first leg at home, with a spot in the quarter-finals surely a mere formality.
“We have to go on like this,” Ribery said.
“It was a tough game today, but we did well – 3-0 in Koln [is not easy].
“They are a good team, they have played a good season so far. This is also important for Tuesday against Arsenal.
“We always want to attack, but we have to be careful. We scored the first goal nicely. The second goal was very important for the game,” he added, referring to strikes from Javi Martinez and Juan Bernat either side of half-time.
Of Bayern’s injury problems, he said: “Jerome Boateng is still missing, Renato Sanches was a bit sick, but we need all players for this season. It’s very nice when we are complete.”
Now seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, Bayern are at home to Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.

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NLC says no to VAT increase plan

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is objecting to any plan by government to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT).

The NLC declared Friday that any such move would further impoverish Nigerians.

It said that instead of increasing VAT and thereby placing more burden on the people, government  should go after all individual tax dodgers and  multinationals that are in the habit of not paying tax, but prefer to negotiate what they want to pay.

The NLC position was made by its President; Mr. Ayuba Wabba represented by the Head of Information, Comrade Benson Ukpah at the presentation of a book entitled “Developmental Unionism” in Abuja.

Wabba also lamented the current division within the rank of organised labour in the country saying it is weakening the bargaining power of the Nigerian worker to the advantage of employers and government.

Wabba said it was unfortunate that while capital is consolidating, leading to some transnational corporations far richer and far stronger than government, unions are fragmenting and doing the exact opposite.

He said: “If you look at the social partners, whereas the government has power and resources and employers have resources, unions do not have the material resources the two other social partners have except their labour as well as strength in their unity and this should not be discountenanced.”

He said the working class people in the country are more hit by the current economic challenges in the country because “our economy is going through challenges that are unprecedented.”

“In fact, not even the unfortunate civil war created this kind of situation for Nigerians. When we have challenges in the economy, they directly translate into the working and living conditions of workers.

“Thischallenges also directly affect our unions. When salaries and pensions are not regularly paid, they transmit poverty and suffering to our homes.

“When inflation rises without commensurate rise in pay, this reduces the capacity and purchasing power of the worker and reduces the quality of food and standard of living of the worker. The present economic challenges are directly felt more by workers than any other member of the Nigerian community.
“The other challenge we face in the world of work at the moment is that while  capital is consolidating, leading to a situation where we have transnational corporations far richer and far stronger than national government, unions are fragmenting and doing the exact opposite. So, this further weakens the bargaining power of unions because strength lies in unity.

“The other challenge we have is that while capital is able to move, Labour is not allowed to move. Each time there is a project of Foreign Direct Investment, the government welcomes them with open hands.

“Whenever some of our political leaders take our money and take it outside the country, nobody questions them. The billions of naira that has been taken out of this country was done with the aid of foreign collaborators.

He stressed the need for every Nigerian to join in fighting corruption.

“Corruption has eaten into the fabrics of this country and we must fight it and restore the integrity and honour of this country so that our children can stay back here and not be treated like dogs in South Africa.

Author of the book, Comrade David Kayode Ehindero called for a united labour movement in the country, while government and corporate organisations should entrench welfarist policies in their day to day activities.

Ehindero who is the Chairman of the Kwajalein state chapter Agricultural and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria said there was the need for organised labour to come together in the spirit of patriotism and value placement to achieve a realistic development and advancement.

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