₦airaland Forum

sammyscholar:
UI. Polyibadan to launch its own later this year.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Tuesday released results of 200,000 candidates who had written the examination even as the test continued.

The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, disclosed this during the monitoring of the exercise in Abuja and its environs.

He explained that over 200,000 candidates’ results had been released since the examination commenced on Saturday.

Ojerinde spoke just as the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, expressed concern over the plight and difficulties faced by non-computer literate students sitting for the examination.

The minister expressed his reservation when he visited some centres in the FCT to monitor the on-going Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) being conducted by JAMB.

Adamu, however, said though he was satisfied with the conduct of the CBT mode of the examination, he was glad the board had addressed most of his concerns and other Nigerians.

He said: “I seem to be very comfortable and happy with what they are doing. But my question has not been answered; that there may be people who are not computer literate, so, what do you do with them. I do not have reservation about CBT but I have sympathy for those who are not computer literate and there are many of them.”

Notwithstanding the minister’s reservation, Ojerinde urged candidates who had sat for the examination to visit the JAMB’s website and check their respective results.

According to him, “More than one million, eight hundred and fifty thousand candidates applied to take the examination nationwide in 2016.

“The figures however recorded a slight increase of 113,673 candidates who applied for the examination in 2015.”

JAMB kick-started full Computer Based Testing (CBT) in 2014 after eliminating the Paper Pencil Testing (PPT) system within that same period.

Prof. Ojerinde further informed journalists that government had reached out to the National Communications Commission (NCC) to produce at least four new CBT centres annually.

“National Communications Commission has been mandated to give us at least four centres every year. Meanwhile, the first four are fully completed, the next four would soon be built and with time every nook and crannies of the country will have functional CBT centres,” Ojerinde said.

Rev Fr Camillus Ejike Mbaka is the founder and spiritual director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN). In this interview, he speaks of his recent encounter with President Muhammadu Buhari, what transpired between him and Mrs. Patience Jonathan when she visited his ministry ahead of the 2015 general elections and many other issues. Excerpts:

What happened between you and President Muhammadu Buhari during your visit to the Presidential Villa?

Buhari assured me of good governance but his worry is democratic bureaucracy. If not for democratic bureaucracy, this country could have been a country for which everybody will say ‘Nagode Allah’ (I thank God), ‘Masha Allah’ (thank God for what this man has done), ‘Insha Allah’ (by the grace of God). But now, he has to pass through the Senate and the House of Reps. So, it’s no longer like when he was Buhari the military Head of State with Tunde Idiagbon. But Buhari still has the same spirit, the same enthusiasm, the same forcefulness, the same will power, the same determination to put Nigeria on the platform of excellence, but there is bureaucratic bottleneck. So, with an oath, Buhari assured me of giving Nigeria good governance.

Are you satisfied with what he has done so far?

It’s too early to judge Buhari, going by what we’ve seen in the past governments. But so far, Buhari has done very well. Look at the case of moral probity, how he, without mincing words, said no to same sex marriage. It’s immoral, it’s unnatural, and it’s un-African. Buhari said it’s not debatable in Nigeria, he said man should marry a woman and a woman should go and be married to a man. This is because, if sodomy and lesbianism and homosexuality are approved in Nigeria, the country will be in trouble. They are worse than economic collapse; because the bedrock of every successful country is her morality.

So if Buhari is touching the heart of the country, which is moral probity and enhancing spiritual value, he has succeeded. Number two, look at the issue of Boko Haram; here’s somebody who came to fight terrorism even though there’re skeletal attacks here and there, but the issue of “Boko Haramic” forces operating with flags and taking over some parts of the country, is dead. So, Buhari has succeeded, Kudos to him, no matter how other people are seeing in him, they must learn to see the good part of him.

He’s doing his best but Nigerians must do their best, too. Buhari cannot be in Abuja and be in Enugu or be in Ebonyi and be in Nasarawa or Kogi. All of us should be presidents in our own little way. We should clap for him, even if he has not gotten it 100 percent, 98 percent is not a small mark.

Now, come to the area of corruption, for the first time, the untouchables in Nigeria are being touched. Courageously, he’s moving like a lion, not to gain anything from it but to save Nigeria from sinking.

Take for instance, if it’s not someone like Buhari that’s at the helm of affairs, by now Nigeria would have been a country going for sale, going, going, going…gone. By now, Ghana must be pricing us, Ivory Coast will be pricing us, Cameroon and even Togo would have come to say “how can we buy you people?”

But the faith, assurance and guaranty Buhari is giving to the international community is worth more than a lot of things. They see him as a man that’s trustworthy, a man that’s not corrupt, a man that they can invest in his government or country, and they’ll go and sleep. And that’s why foreigners are coming to invest. People are now waiting for the budget so the country can kick off.

It’s the budget that’s slowing down things. And you cannot blame Buhari on the budget, neither can you blame the House of Reps or the Senate on the budget delay because there is fluctuation in the core source of the budget - oil. Today, oil is $29 per barrel; tomorrow it is $27 and before you know it, it comes to $31. But remember, the bench mark is $38. So, how can the budget be approved? Which means the budget, under this present predicament is unrealistic. Buhari was realistic when he made it but the economic decay and collapse has put everybody off balance. But, as I said, he’s fighting, saying corruption must die; his agenda is crusade against corruption. And can you imagine that it’s the same people who wanted to continue to rule us that embezzled 99 percent of the country’s resources, sending the money abroad. Is that not wickedness?

For me, it’s a rape of the economy. The past governments raped Nigeria. All of them should be kneeling down with their hands up, apologizing from morning till night that they should be pardoned. They raped our morality, they raped our economy, and they raped our security, they raped our spirituality because they gathered even the men of God to be singing for them, and they were giving them money. It is a holistic rape of a country.

The way you often fall out with politicians make people to wonder why you’re against them…

Politicians want to make themselves god and I’m serving God. I’m a servant of God. I’m worried when somebody becomes an idol to be worshipped and makes himself a sacred cow that cannot be touched. I’m not against politicians. Politics is not evil, and not all politicians are evil. There’re some good people in politics. I encourage Christians to join politics with good heart; it’s only good people that can change the country. Even if you’re not a Christian, and you’re a good man, join the government.

Let’s go a bit back to when Mrs. Patience Jonathan visited the Adoration Ministry. You prayed for her and poured oil on her head. And not long afterwards people alleged that you requested for money and her phone number, and when those things were not provided you changed your mind. Can you tell us what actually happened between you and her?

Praise the Lord. I’m just laughing because many people try to enter into areas they don’t know anything about. Prophetic life is a life that is spiritual and the Holy Spirit controls that atmosphere.

So, when it comes to prophetic life, it should be an area that should be left for the person who has the spirit of prophecy. It’s not a lay man’s football field for people to play in. It’s not even a journalistic field to rattle words. It’s the spiritual zone that the unschooled in it can enter and if you don’t know how to swim, you can be drowned inside.

Right from my primary school, God has been using me for prophesy. In the case of Jonathan and his wife, God in heaven knows that apart from the offertory the woman gave on the altar, which I knew the amount, I took that amount and put back inside the same bag that one of the former aides of Jonathan brought - small bag filled with dollars in appreciation of, not as bribe.

But the Holy Spirit said, ‘send back this money’. She didn’t give it to me directly. She gave it through somebody and I returned the whole money plus the one she used for offertory, all of them were returned. There is no kobo of Mrs. Jonathan or Jonathan in my hand; the Holy Spirit rejected all of them.

When the saga was going on, I put my hands on the altar and swore an oath that if I ever touched Jonathan’s one kobo, may he win the election, but if I never did and I am being accused of it, God knows he will fail the election.

I demanded the telephone number, not for any personal encounter but so that if any message comes I can give to her privately. Some prophecies should not be made public, but when the person that should receive it privately inhibits the opportunity of giving it to him or her privately, God may force you to air it publicly because the thing burns like fire in your life. I don’t take bribe from anybody.

God blessed me o. Many people think that I’m living by the people’s offertory. Throughout my 18 years in GRA, I never fed with one kobo from the offertory. I’m a musician. I have released some music and they are multi-million naira worth of musical works, and my music is a gift just like this prophecy. I go to bed to sleep and the songs come. I wake up and I’ll remember. I don’t even know how to write solfa notation. It’s just a gift but I’ve taken an oath that whatever God will give to me, I’ll use it for charity; to help the poor, the less privileged and to assist the ministry and the church.

So, what am I collecting money from Mrs. Jonathan to do? If I need money from them, I know what was offered me; it ought not to be that kind of money. When the saga was going on, some people said I was given N5m, but if I tell you the amount of money in the bag they came with, you’ll drop that tape-recorder you are holding. What happened on the altar that day, we were praying for them to win the election o. I didn’t give any message. I didn’t prophesy on the day the woman (Mrs. Jonathan) came.

I prayed for them because they came for prayer. But the message on 31st night (December) was pure prophecy, undiluted, just like the prophecy of 31st December 2013 that the Nigerian oil boom is going to turn to oil doom. That Jonathan should wake up and diversify our economy; that in no distant time our naira would have a problem while our oil would fall in the international oil market. Let us maximize the boom time to be ready to face the oil doom period.

The analogy given then was Joseph in Genesis 49:19 that he continued to gather and gather until there was more than enough, but nobody listened. Many men of God started criticizing me. Why can’t you do your own prophecy and go? I never criticized any man of God because of his message, if it’s true, let it come to pass. If it’s not true, let it be the way you and your God will understand it.

The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has carpeted his critics who accused him of mismanaging the state’s resources, saying, “I’m not a hungry governor.”

The governor, who stated this in a media chat at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, said he was an accomplished person by dint of a good career he had in the banking industry.

He said, “Look, let me tell you, I’m a wealthy person before I came here as a governor. I didn’t come here to steal, because there is nothing here for me to steal.
“I was enjoying my wealth in the United States of America with my family before I was approached to come and do this job as a governor.

“I had already made good money before venturing into politics. I was relishing in the comfort of my house, with swimming pool, basketball court and other good things in the United States before providence brought me here.

“I’m an accomplished person by every measurement. Providence brought me here as governor to serve the people.

“In terms of enjoyment, there is none here to enjoy as a governor, with all this protocol restricting my comfort.”

Obiano had been under criticism over alleged profligacy in the handling of state’s resources, including mismanaging N75bn allegedly left in the state’s coffers by his predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi.
But Obiano, in the media chat, said because of his banking background, he had maintained financial prudence and transparency in the management of the state resources.

He said in just two years in office, he was being rated with those who spent eight years in office as governor.

He boasted of his administration’s achievement in security, describing it as outstanding. According to him, Anambra State has now become an investment destination.

The governor said he had built the longest bridge in the state to link Anambra with other states, noting that the bridge would shorten journeys to Nsukka, Abuja and so on.

He added that the three flyovers in Awka under construction would be ready by April.