National
NYSC wants youth corps producing institutions to digitalise students’ records
NYSC wants youth corps producing institutions to digitalise students’ records
Mrs Christy Uba, the Director, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has urged youth corps producing tertiary institutions to computerise all their students’ records.
She made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.
According to her, computerising students’ records from start to finish will enable the NYSC to merge databases with ease.
She said that “right now, you hear that schools do Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post UTME), they pull from Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) database to do Post UTME, however it ends there after.
“They will now be typing senate approved result, why? That database from Post UTME should go through first, second, third, fourth and final year, isn’t it?
“You should be able to update such records. You don’t come and be doing manual, by now we are supposed to phase out that our data entry interface that we did in bulk”, she added.
RELATED STORY: INEC assures of peaceful, credible elections
Uba added that only few private universities have been able to computerise their students’ records from the beginning to the end, while others complain of students’ population.
She, however, said that in as much as institutions conduct Post UTME and are able to link with JAMB database, it should not be an impossible task.
The director also said that JAMB has migrated everybody to the Central Admission System (CAS) which contains the list of admitted students, adding that NYSC uploads records from JAMB and verify.
“It is only articulated records that we can pick from JAMB database. We had challenges with most universities, they want to upload some of their students but they are not in the JAMB articulated lists.
“JAMB has been driving it but our youth corps producing institutions should stand up to the occasion and begin to harmonise these things so that their data will have integrity because the manual thing has so many errors.
“So, we look at the name on the institution’s senate approved list and ensure it corresponds with the name on the JAMB data base”, Uba said.
On addition of names by Prospective Youth Corps Members, she said that the reference point was always the JAMB database as any name that was not on it would not be approved.
On accreditation of Cybercafe Business Operators (CBOs), she said it was to enable the NYSC to have some semblance of control and ensure that the CBOs are responsible to the scheme and the youth corps members.
She said that the idea was to have only CBOs registered and accredited by the scheme’s CBO Online App Platform to have access and provide services on its portal.
According to her, when the NYSC integrated system came on board in 2014 the organisation wanted to aggregate the cybercafe operators but there was so much resistance.
“We felt lets just kickstart first then along the line we will bring on board some of these controls.
“We have been having a lot of challenges from some of the cybercafe operators, a lot of manipulations.
“Sometimes, they don’t care about data integrity, all they care about is the number of prospective youth corps members that they can register in a day or within a given period and that creates a lot of challenges for us.
“Sometimes in a bid to hurry up and register as many youth corps members possible, cafe operators interchange thumbprints and even photographs and we have a policy that if your thumbprint is verified but at the camp it does not tally, you will miss that batch.”
She also said that the cafe operators tried to manipulate the records and give prospective youth corps members the impression that they could upload any type of documents for them, knowing quite well that those documents may not apply to it.
“For example, for married women, sometimes you see them uploading one set of marital documents for 100 prospective members and we check and sometimes we call the school and they say it is the cyber cafes and sometimes the students confess that it’s the cyber cafe that uploaded and they just paid for it.
“So, in accrediting them, we want to have control so that we can be able to attach CBOs that will register each member on our portal so that if there is any issue, we know who to hold responsible.”
Uba said that the exercise would kickstart with the 2022 Batch ‘C’ Stream One youth corps members presently participating in the orientation course.
She also said that the scheme had gone round to inspect over 2000 cyber cafes, saying “we can always communicate to them, they can reach us and once we start, they will be issued a code.
“We have an agreement with them already and best practices have already been set. The agreement has stipulated what should be binding, so they know the consequences of violating the rules.
“In our agreement, sanctions are stipulated and the cyber cafes are aware.”
She said list of accredited CBOs would be provided on the NYSC website and the online registration portal.
NiMet predicts 3-day sunshine, thunderstorms from Sunday
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunshine and thunderstorms from Sunday to Tuesday across the country.
NiMet`s weather outlook released on Saturday predicted sunny skies on Sunday with patches of cloud over the northern region.
It forecast isolated thunderstorms are expected over parts of Katsina, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa and Taraba States during the morning periods.
According to it, isolated thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Adamawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Taraba States later in the day.
“Cloudy skies with intervals of sunshine are expected over the North Central region with prospects of thunderstorms over Kwara, Niger, Benue and Kogi States during the morning hours.
“ Widespread thunderstorms are expected over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kogi States later in the day.
“Cloudy skies with intervals of sunshine are anticipated over the southern states with chances of thunderstorms over parts of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Delta States during the morning periods, “ it said.
According to him, thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta States later in the day.
NiMet envisages sunny skies on Monday with patches of cloud over the northern region during the morning periods.
“ Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Kaduna, Adamawa and Taraba States.
“The North Central region should be cloudy with chances of isolated thunderstorms over parts of Kogi, Benue, Niger the Federal Capital Territory and Kwara States during the morning hours.
“In the afternoon/evening hours, isolated thunderstorms are expected over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States,“ it said.
According to it, the southern region should be cloudy with thunderstorms over parts of Edo, Ondo, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Delta States during the morning hours.
It anticipated thunderstorms over parts of Oyo, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Ekiti, Edo, Ogun, Ondo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Delta States later in the day.
It predicted sunny atmosphere on Tuesday with patches of cloud over the northern region with prospect of thunderstorms over parts of Taraba during the morning hours.
It predicted isolated thunderstorms over parts of Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Adamawa and Taraba States as the day progresses.
“ The North Central region should be cloudy with sunshine intervals with prospects of isolated thunderstorm over parts of Niger State during the morning hours.
“Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are expected over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi, Kwara and Benue States.
“Cloudy atmosphere with intervals of sunshine is expected over the southern region during the morning hours,“ it said.
The agency predicted thunderstorms over parts of Lagos, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa States later in the day.
NiMet urged the public to take adequate precaution as strong winds might precede the rains in areas where thunderstorms were likely to occur.
The agency also advised Airline operators to get updated weather reports and forecasts from NiMet for effective planning of their operations.
NiMet predicts 3-day sunshine, thunderstorms from Sunday
Fuel scarcity will soon be over, Senate leader assures Nigerians
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has assured Nigerians that the fuel crisis experienced in the country will soon be a thing of the past.
Bamidele gave this assurance in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the Oil Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, on Friday.
According to him, the legislature is working tirelessly to ensure that fuel scarcity and frequent queues at filling stations are resolved.
He said that there were plans to involve more private-sector players in the construction of new refineries.
“The Senate is working to ensure that more private-sector players are licensed to own and operate refineries.
“This is to support other smaller ones that are springing up in several parts of the country.
“In addition to licensing new refinery operators, the Federal Government and Senate are working to ensure that the existing refineries are turned around with repairs and replacement of parts carried out where necessary.
Bamidele said the Senate had gotten assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., (NNPC Ltd.) that two of its refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt would come on stream before the end of the year.
He also noted that the commitment to licensing new refinery operators and revitalising existing refineries remained vital for increasing domestic oil production.
Opeyemi maintained that the focus was to ensure that Nugeria meets its OPEC production quota.
He explained that achieving such milestones would provide more revenue for the government and halt lack and borrowings.
By enhancing local refinery capacity, the Senator said that the country could reduce its dependence on fuel imports, leading to a potential decrease in petrol prices.
He explained that what drives pricing is the ability to meet demand in the face of every product, finding its level and place in a free market.
Also speaking, the Chairman,
Senate Committee of Downstream, Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah, said the last Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) that happened at the refineries was about 15 years ago, which led to the comatose state of the facility.
Ubah said that the non-deregulation of the downstream sector had put undue pressure on NNPC Ltd., as the entire industry depends on company for its petroleum needs.
He pointed out that no country could meet its energy needs by having a single entity; importing its petroleum product needs.
However, to be self-sufficient, Ubah urged the government to create a cluster of five to eight modular refineries within the riverine communities.
Fuel scarcity will soon be over, Senate leader assures Nigerians
NERC unbundles TCN, establishes new system operator
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has unbundled the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) with the establishment of the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO)
The company disclosed this in an order signed by its Chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba and Mr Muslim Oseni, Vice Chairman in Abuja on Saturday.
According to the order, TCN will transfer all market and system operation functions to the newly formed NISO.
The company said that this is in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, which provides clearer guidelines for the incorporation and licensing of the independent system operator (ISO).
It said that previously, TCN held Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and System Operations (SO) licences issued by NERC.
”With the establishment of NISO, TCN will now transfer its assets and liabilities related to market and system operations to the new entity.
According to the order, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has been directed to incorporate a private company limited by shares under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) by May 31.
”This new company, to be named the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO), will assume the market and system operation functions as specified in the Electricity Act and the terms of TCN’s system operation licence,”It said.
The company outlined NISO’s responsibilities to include managing assets and liabilities related to market, and system operation on behalf of market participants and consumer groups.
”The new ISO will also negotiate contracts for ancillary services with independent power producers and generation licensees.
”In addition to performing market and system operation functions for the benefit of market participants and system users”It said.
NERC unbundles TCN, establishes new system operator
-
Education10 months agoMathematics Teacher Reportedly Stung By Bee While Preparing Students For Exam
-
Health3 weeks agoOnly 58,000 doctors renewed licence out of 130,000 registered doctors – MDCN
-
News1 year ago3 escape death in Ore-Sagamu expressway accident
-
Politics3 weeks agoAPC IN A FIX AS GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS REJECT THE ONDO STATE PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS
-
Crime2 weeks agoPolice arrest cultists who killed rival in his daughter’s presence
-
Sports3 weeks agoAsaba to host Wheelchair Basketball Atlantic Conference League
-
Education3 weeks agoUTME: JAMB to refund registration fees to deserving visually-impaired candidates
-
National3 months agoResidents gather to scoop engine oil as tanker falls in Ojuelegba
