₦airaland Forum

macnuel:
I'm speechless anyways. But doomed? Nah! I disagree. There's still hope so far we look for it. But personally, I would clamour for the eradication of JAMB, they are just making things worse every year.

A recently reported statement credited to the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), regarding the criteria for the incoming Minister of health, if correct, is unfortunate, uninformed, ignorant and self serving. An excerpt of the published statement states that "… the most appropriate health professional to lead the Federal Ministry of Health is a patriotic medical practitioner with integrity, sound administrative acumen, rich clinical experience and untainted record of service. It is only such a medical practitioner that is imbued with all the knowledge required to head the health team”.
The NMA could have done us a favor by providing empirical evidence substantiating this claim, otherwise this statement is so old thinking, not helpful and may be considered an underhanded pre-emptive attack against Prof. Dora Akunyili. In the USA whose political system we adopted, Health Ministers/Secretaries are not required to be medical doctors. The recent United States Health Ministers/Secretaries, namely Donna Shalala (Bill Clinton’s administration), Tommy Thompson (GW Bush’s administrations) and Kathleen Sebelius (Barack Obama’s administration) are neither medical doctors nor healthcare practitioners. They were never disparaged by the American Medical Association or other healthcare trade associations either. They performed very well which is what matters, and had enduring accomplishments: Children Health Insurance Program (Donna Shalala), Medicare Reform and HIV/AIDs initiatives (Tommy Thompson), Healthcare Reform (Kathleen Sebelius). This is more than one can say for Nigeria’s recent health ministers, most of whom were medical doctors.

Contrary to NMAs omnipotent assertion, no one profession is “imbued with all the knowledge.” Developed economies have embraced a multi-disciplinary team approach to patient/health care delivery, to maximize patients’ outcomes.

Patient Care/Healthcare delivery is getting more complex and sophisticated - medicine is transitioning from population medicine to personalized/pharmacogenomics medicine. This reality must be embraced by NMA, or risk becoming irrelevant.

While I have no confidence in our current political dynamics and who it decides to appoint to what, I want to make it clear that one criterion we do not need in a ministerial appointee, let alone the health ministry, is “a know-it-all”. With the exception of the Attorney General’s position (the nations lawyer), where professional qualification is required in addition, the essential criteria for all ministerial positions should be; a solid academic accomplishment, experience, commitment, courage, and a track record of innovation and accountability.

The NMA is an age-old organization of noble medical professionals, with enormous potentials to reshape and rebuild our healthcare system and hold our elected officials who fly out abroad for every minor ailment accountable. The NMA appears to be missing in action or afflicted with aphonia, except when advocating for her narrow selfish interests, such as fighting for their remuneration or against other healthcare professionals for turf, status or matters of personal interests. NMA must advocate for the NIGERIAN patients.

As one from a family of mostly healthcare practitioners, comprising Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists and healthcare scientists, I can vouch that Nigeria has in her midst, the smartest doctors anywhere in the world. They deserve better than the sub-standard and simplistic representation offered by the current NMA leadership. Mediocrity and intellectual malaise afflicting Nigeria’s leadership must not be allowed to settle in the NMA.

Prof. Edward Oparaoji, PharmD (US Based Cardio-Renal Specialist)

otesy:
@Black_Revo:Forcing people who do not want to attend polytechnic to go there is hardly a solution. Employers already discriminate against HND graduates. Will the government also force employers to stop doing that?

Nigeria is offering to lease farmland to Gulf countries seeking food security and will allow investors to export all of their produce, the head of a private Nigerian agriculture consultancy firm said.

Gulf countries reliant on food imports have intensified efforts over the last year to buy land in developing nations ranging from Pakistan to the Sudan and Ethiopia.

"Nigeria has the terrain to provide 100 percent of the Gulf's food needs," Enbong Jimie Idiong, chief executive of Global Corp, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference in Dubai.

Global Corp is working as a consultant to the Nigerian government on ways to develop the agriculture sector, Idiong said.

Nigeria has around 71.2 million hectares of farmland, of which less that 50 percent is being used, according to data from the firm.

"We need investment to fully utilise this land and we will allow the investors to export back 100 percent of the crop and this will create employment opportunities for people in Nigeria," said Idiong.

The land could be leased for up to 30 to 40 years at a cost of around $10,000 per hectare for that period, he said.

"Because of the large size of land we can offer investors as much as they want, and there is no particular kind of crop that can't be grown in Nigeria."

For years Nigeria relied on oil production to fuel its growth, and paid little attention diversification, said Idiong.

"The oil is a curse, and all of these large oil companies are causing a lot of pollution and I think for our generation this is a time we need to pay more attention to developing agriculture."

Asked what type of guarantees could be presented to investors, a common concern for Gulf nations when considering investments in Africa, Idiong said the government would back any deals.

"Before you step in to invest one penny you will have a sovereign guarantee from the government," he said. Developing countries all over the world have been competing to attract foreign investors seeking food security to buy or lease land under attractive terms.

Last May, Pakistan offered investors 6 million acres of farmland to lease under long term agreements, but will require outsiders to share half of their crop with local growers.

So far Nigeria has not signed any deals with Gulf nations to lease farmland. "Regrettably this has to do with the attitude of our officials who are not proactive, I don't understand why Saudi and the UAE have gone to places like Pakistan and Sudan where climate and political conditions are less stable," said Idiong.
"We are just not marketing ourselves enough."

Foreign investors have acquired some 15-20 million hectares of farmland in poorer countries since 2006, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute.

aisha2:
This Topic is baseless, has no substance to it. I an simply here to assist Kosovo. This Topic is Misleading and false, For that reason am locking it.

candylips:
Nobody said anything about negative marking. that is insane .

The exams is very hard anyway so Why should they penalize someone for getting a question wrong. it makes no sense to me.

Syenite:
LOOK AT THIS COMPARISON

My generation                                               Today
-1) We watched TV only from 5pm daily       They watch TV 24hrs no thanks to private stations,DSTV and co
-2) We spent 0 time on the internet            They spend hours on the internet
-3) We never watched Live premiership      They spend hours on sat, sun and mon watching Premiership games
    games
-4) We never watched Champions/              They spend hours on tue, wed and thu watching Champions/Europa
     Europa League games                            league games
-5) GSM: We never made mid-night calls     After watching TV for hours of the day they make mid-night call for hours
-6) We were more creative with toys           They never make their own toys instead it's computer games
     that develop the brain.
-7)The average age for a WAEC candidate   The average age for WAEC candidate is 15yrs(immaturity)
    18yrs(maturity)

PUTTING POINTS 1 TO 6 TOGETHER IT'S OBVIOUSE THAT WE HAD MORE TIME FOR OUR BOOKS IN MY GENERATION.
YOU YOUTH'S OF TODAY SHOULD LEARN TO READ YOUR BOOKS. THAT IS THE WAY OUT OF YOUR FAILURES!!!!

Ben-10:
JAMB Too Hard jor. . .

Students find it difficult in this country to work and school. If the country isn't this difficult, students would face their book and not to facebook to earn money from magas.

Get the country in a good shape and every candidate will pass JAMB.

beewhyfocs:
I said 1999, so i used the trends before 1999 for the preparation. Even the type thing started in the 1999 UME. The re-arranging of the question notwithstanding did not matter. Just that my question 50 could be your question 40.

Having wrote that, I only cited an instance. Ok?

jemmyvibe:
What happens to the remaining 5.9m people?

MsTom:
Aparently, the JAMB marking scheme isnt working. I still stand by this tot. that those who sit for JAMB and fail sit for SAT, GRE et all and yet they pass. Afterall, they have marking schemes too. If by any chance these kids who fail jamb get to a university, they come out first class or 2-1. I have seen cases where these students had to do A-levels from a school in the north (cant remember the name of the school now) and use the result as an entrance to the university. There is more to JAMB than students reading for JAMB. Believe me, some kids still read while of cos, some dont read but guess who passes. Question is, WHAT IS WRONG?

Feraz:
agree with d bolded but u know it's going to bring about more malpractices or don't u think so?

beewhyfocs:
Well, students fail because they did nt study d trend in Jamb. For instance in CHEMISTRY, I Found out then in 1999 dat 10 questions (40-50) comes out 4rm organic chemistry and requires little or no calculation. However, in my WAEC, i dint read much of organic yet had A1. So I knew I had 2 prepare specially for organic aspect which I did. On entering d exam hall, I went straight 2 ques 40-50 and finishd in little time.

tkb417:
i understand what ure saying
it was a tactic i used for a long time b4 they banned me. Stop doing it or they penalise by giving your captaincy to the player with the least points
i had bikey as my captain when he was in ANC and the guy with the highest points will get the captaincy but i think they changed it to a 30day thing when they found out i/we was/were profitting from the lapse in their system

so guy, if Rooney had played, u wouldnt have gotten Lamps.

2. Lack of Counselling and Mentorship: The problem starts right from when candidates purchase their JAMB Exam forms. Many of them do not quite know what course they want to study in the University. This problem crops up because there are no career counsellors in our secondary and primary schools Sad Sad If a student is able to decide the actual course he wants to study at the University, he or she will be strong in the subject areas pertaining to the course. For example, a student who wants to study Theatre Arts and has a natural flair for acting will be fairly good in subjects like Literature In English, History, Bible Knowledge, English etc. Those are the subjects he or she should be encouraged to study for and take in the JAMB Exams Smiley Smiley We need career counsellors and mentors in our secondary schools especially. A mentor could be a scholar who is doing well at the University or has just graduated with at least a 2:2 Degree or a Upper Credit from the Polytechnic. The mentor will then be assigned to a group of students to guide them and give them study tips towards their exams. There is no way the situation will not improve if mentors are used to inspire JAMB Candidates.

Nigerian Students fail JAMB Exams for different reasons.

1. Laziness: Many youths and teenagers in Nigeria today are not ready to spend quality time studying. They're not disciplined academically and cannot create a schedule of studying for themselves. They're so good at complaining about the lack of textbooks and study materials, while they do not make any effort to locate libraries that might have such books. I studied for my JAMB Exams back in 1999 with a JAMB Syllabus brochure that I purchased at a bookshop. I covered the topics one by one and also got textbooks [ though they were old and dirty, it was worth the effort Smiley Smiley ] to aid me in my study. I also bought past questions and answers from the bookshops. I studied hard and avoided watching the television all the time for my 3 months of intense studies. Many students nowadays will prefer to use their money to maintain their mobile phones and buy 7-Pack movie DVD's which are sold all over the place. I used up packets of candles and never bothered about PHCN's frequent blackouts. teenagers and youths these days will use PHCN as an excuse for their failure Sad Sad

Redman44:
@Moderators

I can't see my post. Why was it deleted? There is nothing offensive in the post. Let people learn from the post unless you guys have a hidden agenda Cheers.

Redman44:
Nigerian Students fail JAMB Exams for different reasons.

1. Laziness: Many youths and teenagers in Nigeria today are not ready to spend quality time studying. They're not disciplined academically and cannot create a schedule of studying for themselves. They're so good at complaining about the lack of textbooks and study materials, while they do not make any effort to locate libraries that might have such books. I studied for my JAMB Exams back in 1999 with a JAMB Syllabus brochure that I purchased at a bookshop. I covered the topics one by one and also got textbooks [ though they were old and dirty, it was worth the effort   ] to aid me in my study. I also bought past questions and answers from the bookshops. I studied hard and avoided watching the television all the time for my 3 months of intense studies. Many students nowadays will prefer to use their money to maintain their mobile phones and buy 7-Pack movie DVD's which are sold all over the place. I used up packets of candles and never bothered about PHCN's frequent blackouts. teenagers and youths these days will use PHCN as an excuse for their failure

2. Lack of Counselling and Mentorship: The problem starts right from when candidates purchase their JAMB Exam forms. Many of them do not quite know what course they want to study in the University. This problem crops up because there are no career counsellors in our secondary and primary schools  If a student is able to decide the actual course he wants to study at the University, he or she will be strong in the subject areas pertaining to the course. For example, a student who wants to study Theatre Arts and has a natural flair for acting  will be fairly good in subjects like Literature In English, History, Bible Knowledge, English etc.  Those are the subjects he or she should be encouraged to study for and take in the JAMB Exams We need career counsellors and mentors in our secondary schools especially.  A mentor could be a scholar who is doing well at the University or has just graduated with at least a 2:2 Degree or a Upper Credit from the Polytechnic. The mentor will then be assigned to a group of students to guide them and give them study tips towards their exams. There is no way the situation will not improve if mentors are used to inspire JAMB Candidates.

3. The Inefficiency of JAMB Itself: JAMB as an Examinations body is not efficient in its services in general terms  Enough information is not being distilled to students about the Examination Process and how the papers are graded. The JAMB site itself sucks JAMB needs to be proactive and innovative in their approach to conducting exams that will get students admitted into our higher institutions. The body needs to start getting students informed and groomed towards their exams right from JSS1. JAMB has to start organising seminars and lectures in different secondary schools all over the nation. Students should be made aware of how JAMB operates and the role the body plays towards their securing admission into our Universities and Polytechnics. Dramas and playlets could be inculcated into the seminars to warn students about the dangers of cheating during exams. Solid information will get students prepared for the JAMB Exams far ahead of time.

May I also add that many teachers in our secondary schools are not even qualified to teach their students. Some teachers do not update themselves about new stuff in their Subject area and have not gone for retraining in decades. Dilapidated buildings and classes without windows, empty libraries and schools without roofs also contribute to failure psychologically. Cheers.

Acidosis:
how much is jamb payin u 4 dis tutorial?
2 or 3 yrs ago, a police officer(40+yrs) had d highest score. Isn't dat a maniputn.

MsTom:
Heard of this once. My question, why should there be a marking scheme? shouldnt a right answer should be a right answer and a wrong answer should be a wrong answer?

with all these marking scheme, are you sure?