JAMB Meets With CBT Centre Owners Over 2017 Exams

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says arrangements have been concluded to have an interaction with owners of Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in the country ahead of the 2017 UTME.

The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, made the disclosure in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

According to the statement, the meeting which comes up on Tuesday at the University of Lagos is to fine tune all areas of challenges geared towards conducting a hitch-free examination in 2017.

It said that the meeting would determine the number of centres to be used for the 2017 all CBT Unified Tertiary Matriculation Board (UTME) exercise.

“These are centres that must have a minimum of 250 and above terminals (computers).

“We will not hesitate to disqualify any centre that falls short of the requirements,’’ the statement said.

“We will equally not compromise on the selection of these centres as they will fully be responsible for our registration and examinations and other related responsibilities that they will be saddled with from time to time as we introduce new measures.’’

It added that the board decided to come face to face with owners of these centre to ensure it got first hand information on the challenges they were faced with in the course of the examinations.

“As partners in progress, we need to sit down on a round table and tell each other the truth so as to get to the root of all the hiccups.

“We should all feel concerned even if it was just one centre that had challenges or hitches during the conduct of the last examination.

“Nigerians expect a lot from us and we must strive not to fail them.

“We are looking at strengthening what was done holistically to improve on the previous exercises,’’ the statement quoted the board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede as saying.

It added that the board was committed to giving Nigerians globally accepted standard in the conduct of the examinations.

The statement said that the board would commence the sale of application forms soon and urged prospective candidates not to patronise any self-acclaimed agent as the board had not and would not appoint any.

It urged candidates to always visit the board’s website for information.

The statement noted that in a few months, the board had been working tirelessly on processes that were connected to the conduct of the examination.

It added that the board had taken stock of all the challenges that were recorded during the 2016 exercise, especially CBT centre-related issues.

It said the board had resolved to give every Nigerian child desirous of tertiary education a level playing ground to compete for the available space in these tertiary institutions.

“We are mindful of the fact that any child that writes in a dysfunctional centre is at disadvantage.

“All candidates must have same conditions, atmosphere and working facilities,’’ the statement said.

Credit: NAN

Manchester United Worth $1billion Less Than When Louis Van Gaal Took Over As Manager

Manchester United has suffered a spectacular financial decline in the last one year. It’s been revealed that over $1billion has been wiped off the club’s share price value from July 2014 to March 2016.

Dutch coach Louis van Gaal took over management reins at the club in the summer of 2014, after leading Holland to third place at the World Cup. Since he joined Man U, the club’s share price has dropped by $6.25. It went from $19.58 to $13.33, on the close of the New York Stock Exchange on March 23 2016. Over the same period, the US stock market has risen by 3 percent.

“Football clubs typically don’t present a particularly attractive investment proposition because their revenues are lumpy, and their employees are rather expensive,” said stock market analyst Laith Khalaf.

“Mistakes on the pitch can be costly for shareholders too – in 2015 Manchester United’s broadcast revenues dropped by £30 million as it failed to qualify for the Champions League in that season. So far this year things seem to be picking up with a bounce in revenues, but if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League this season, next year could be a fallow one for investors.”

Dangote Cannot Afford To Buy Arsenal Football Club – Etcetera Writes ..

You have sold some shares and you’ve got some money to spend. Now you want the ultimate: Your own football club. Hold on there, are you sure? Football clubs are a nightmare to run. In fact, almost two-thirds of premiership clubs have been in receivership at some point. Remember Portsmouth FC ploughed through four owners some seasons back and landed itself a debt of £60m and relegation in the Championship.
Think of Leeds United’s tragicomic collapse; the balls-up at Cambridge United; Rotherham going into receivership in 2006 and 2008; Southampton’s sorry saga. And, of course, Crawley Town getting a winding up order years back. So, what do we know? Don’t buy a football club for the glory. So, before Dangote aspires to join Abrahamovic, Glazers and Al Mansours, he should make sure he
knows his stuff.
But does Dangote know how much these football clubs really cost?
No, he can’t. New UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations already in place, require clubs to balance their income and expenses. Dangote cannot operate under such rules. The premiership is too organised and transparent for any businessman to easily manipulate. The wage structure of footballers is too large for a businessman like Dangote to take on. Let us forget that those goons at Forbes have told us that Dangote is Africa’s richest man. As it stands, he cannot afford the outright purchase of a big football club like Arsenal. It is as simple as that. He will go broke. It is a possibility if we are talking about a club in the coast of West Africa. Dangote has most of his wealth in shares and physical assets and the football business requires liquid cash to sustain. Have we all forgotten that the same Dangote got a 3G licence and sold it to Etisalat? He is a very smart businessman who knows how to pick his areas of investments.
Can he get Bank backing?
Unlikely! No serious private equity firm would get involved with a football club. They are not proper businesses. Too much politics, too many egos. And there’s no proper exit route – the history of football clubs on the stock market is chequered, to say the least. They are rich men’s toys, great for entertaining your mates, and that’s about it. I don’t think Dangote can afford such an expensive toy.
A lot of people think it is relatively easy to make a million pounds by being the owner of a football club. That all you have to do is put in that first two million pounds. But these people should also know that since the English Premier League was formed in 1992, football finances have dried up to the extent that making a million pound profit is no longer a walk in the park. It is also the case that buying a football club is unlikely to yield that much of a return. Despite the significant TV and other commercial revenues, football clubs in England’s top flight still struggle to break even. This is ironic, given the goal of setting up the Premier League was to stabilise club finances.
Is Dangote putting his heart over his head?
Yes I think so. Simon Jordan, in his autobiography, tells the story of how owning a football club can go terribly wrong. Jordan amassed a fortune of £75m in the early days of the mobile phone revolution. In 2000, he paid £10m to take control of South London football team Crystal Palace, becoming the youngest football club chairman at the age of 32. He was warned by many not to do it, but having watched the club since his childhood, he could not resist. Fast-forward 10 years and the club was in administration and Jordan’s personal wealth largely wiped out. It is reported that Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea, has written off more than one billion pounds he ploughed into the club since acquiring it in 2003.
 Catching him up fast is Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi, who has invested close to one billion pounds in Manchester City since 2008. Can Dangote write off such a huge amount of money? It is in fact the amount of money he borrows to invest in businesses. But again, I think Dangote is just trying to hype himself. Most of the serious money flowing into football recently has come from the Middle East. The Qatar Investment Authority (the country’s sovereign wealth fund) bought the French Ligue 1 side Paris St Germain in 2011 and has gone about transforming them in the same way Sheikh Mansour has Manchester City. Forget those guys at Forbes, Dangote is not in the same league as these guys.
The Glazer Family bought Manchester United in 2006, recognising the immense value of its global brand as a cash generator and the opportunities to enhance it even further. The cost of buying the club was loaded on to the club itself, with the revenues it generates used to pay the debt and interest that the Glazers undertook to buy the club. Eventually, the hope is that the club will essentially pay for itself leaving its American owners in possession of a multi-billion pound asset but till date, the Glazers are still gnashing their teeth and are still neck deep in debt. When it was speculated that a Middle East consortium was willing to pay £1.5bn for Arsenal Football Club, it was stated that Stan Kroenke, the American who owns about 63 per cent of the shares in the club, would have made just £400m on his shares. So, given the appalling financial returns, why do people buy football clubs?
Who can buy Arsenal football club?
Anyone can buy Arsenal football club, but that anyone doesn’t include anyone who obtains bank loans to fund a business. Sir John Madejski, chairman of Reading Football Club, describes the ideal football club owner as having deep pockets, mercurial, and not faint-hearted.
It is often mistaken that these clubs go for a quid. For instance, Swansea City was bought by investors for £100, and sold four years later for a £1. But beware: underneath those figures lies a pile of debt.
Does Dangote have the cash, can he do an Abramovich?

Petrol Scarcity: ?Road Transporters Owners Suspend Strike

Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria on Friday ?have ?reached an agreement with the National Association of Road Transport Owners to suspend their strike, according to an official. MOMAN Executive Secretary, Femi Olawore, made this known while speaking with journalists on the ongoing impasse with the government over outstanding fuel subsidy payment.

According to him, the marketers are owing members of the transport association about N20 billion and their inability to offset the debt prompted the suspension of the lifting of products.

However, he said, following the release of N154 billion to marketers by the Federal Government as part payment of the subsidy, they had in turn offset part of the debt they owed the transporters. Mr. Olawore said ?the ?government had yet to pay the N200 billion it is owing the marketers as subsidy payment.

He said the the marketers, with the understanding of NARTO members, had given ?the ?government a grace of two weeks to settle the remaining payments. “We have scheduled to meet with the Coordinating Minister of the Economy on Monday, but if the meeting fails to address the issue we have tabled, then we will continue with the action?,?” he warned. According to him, some of their members have started receiving payment.

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