₦airaland Forum

The nation’s total indebtedness to foreign and local creditors now stands at N19.16tn, the Debt Management Office has said. This is N1.8tn increase from the N17.36tn recorded at the end of December 2016.
As of March 31, 2015, the country’s total debt stood at N12.06tn. This means the debt level increased by N7.1tn in two years.
Segmenting the national debt, the DMO put the Federal Government’s domestic debt at N11.97tn. Two years ago, as of March 31, 2015, this component of the debt burden stood at N8.51tn.
This means that within a period of two years, the Federal Government has borrowed a total of N3.46tn from domestic creditors. This shows that the domestic debt of the Federal Government has increased by 40.71 per cent.
In the same period, the country’s external debt (for the federal and state governments) rose from $9.46bn to $13.81bn. This means that within the two-year period, the country’s external debt rose by $4.35bn or 45.98 per cent.
The external debt component, however, has been affected by exchange rate variations as the last two years have witnessed noticeable changes in foreign exchange rates.
According to the DMO, the official exchange rate of N306.35 to $1 was used in calculating the country’s external debt for March 31, 2017, while the official rate of N197 to $1 was used in determining the foreign debt for March 31, 2015.
The domestic debt component of the states stood at N2.96tn as of March 31, 2017, up from the figure of N1.69bn at the same time in 2015.
This means that within the period of two years, the domestic debt of the states rose by N1.27tn or 75.15 per cent.
Amidst drying revenues from oil and gas, the government has in the last two years increasingly depended on borrowing even to carry out routine responsibilities.
Although foreign debts are accounted as cheaper than domestic debts, the government has increasingly depended on domestic sources of borrowing as foreign donors place more stringent conditions before granting credit facilities to the government.
To raise the required funds from the domestic debt market, the Federal Government has been active in the market with a number of instruments, including FGN Bonds and the Nigeria Treasury Bill. It recently floated a new instrument known as the FGN Savings Bond.
The International Monetary Fund had recently projected that Nigeria’s indebtedness would climb to 24.1 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product by 2018. It said that the country’s current indebtedness would have reached 23.3 per cent of the GDP by the end of 2017.
The country closed 2016 with a debt to GDP ratio of 18.6 per cent. By the end of 2015, Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio stood at 12.1 per cent, according to the Bretton Wood institution.
Nigeria’s GDP for the year ended December 31, 2016 stood at N67.98tn, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Going by the projection of 24.1 per cent for 2018, within three years, the nation’s debt to GDP ratio would have gone up by 100 per cent, from 12.1 per cent in 2015.
Although Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio is considered among the lowest in Africa, some experts have expressed worries about the increase in debt accumulation in recent years, while others are worried about the quality and utilisation of the debts.
The World Bank recently expressed concern over the debt servicing to revenue ratio, saying that reduced earnings might render the country’s debt unsustainable. A total of N1.84tn was provided in the 2017 budget for debt servicing.
Nigeria’s debt profile is dominated by local debts, which are characterised by high interest rates. Efforts are being made to secure more foreign debts and reduce the exposure of the Federal Government to the domestic debt market.

University of Ilorin is the most sought after university in Nigeria
– University of Benin only came behind in 2012
The Joint admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the most sought after universities in Nigeria.
According to JAMB’S statistics, University of Ilorin had the highest number of admission applications for any university in Nigeria between 2012 and 2016.
Premium Times recently obtained figure of 10 most sought-after universities in Nigeria in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
However, details for 2015 and 2017 were not included.
The statistics shows university of Ilorin leading the way as admission seekers’ favourite for three years.
University of Benin only came behind in 2012.
Consequently, in all four years covered, UNILORIN had 411,340 or 25.76 per cent total applications for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
UNIBEN came second with a total of 331,178 or 20.56 per cent applications.
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, had third highest number of aggregate applications of 305,790 or 18.65 per cent.
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and University of Lagos respectively held the fourth and fifth places.
Imo state University, Owerri, was the only state university that appeared on the ranking twice, that is 2012 and 2013.
Here are the tables below:
2012 UTME applications statistics by institution.
Top 9 institutions (universities)

Abia State Polytechnic has recovered more than N43 million from students who faked the school’s receipts, Prof. Ezionye Eboh, the Acting Rector, has said.
Eboh, while briefing newsmen in Aba, Abia, on the latest development in the institution, said that more than 700 students were involved in the act of obtaining fake receipts from unauthorised sources.
He said that the students would be punished, to serve as a deterrent to others.
Eboh also said that the Police had arrested a woman who operates a business centre near the polytechnic for allegedly issuing students with fake receipts.
He said that the woman worked for a lecturer and that she was collecting N10,000 and issuing fake stamped receipts to the students, thereby aiding them to evade payment of N50,000 school fees.
According to the rector, management discovered the forgery when it made it mandatory for students to show their school fee receipts before writing examinations.
He said that the lecturer had been suspended and that the students involved in the act were being investigated.
On the issue of the redeployment 10 nurses working in the school clinic, Eboh said that the development was due to the intervention of the governor.
“If it was not for the intervention of Gov. Ikpeazu, we would have sacked them. But he said they should be retained but re-assigned to places where their services would be needed.”
He said it was mind-boggling to employ such a large number of such senior nurses earning handsome salaries, in a non-residential campus.
He said that following their redeployment, the institution was saving N34 million per annum, adding that by plugging several loopholes, the institution had paid five months of 2016 salary arrears.
Meanwhile, the Abia Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed to the Newsmen on Thursday that the name of the woman connected with the fake receipts was Caroline Augustine.
He said that Augustine had been charged to court and also identified the owner of the business centre as Mr Alwell Nwachukwu-Njoku.

It was a show of shame yesterday when two corpers currently in orientation camp were caught in the act in Plateau State NYSC camp.
The corpers, of the recent Batch A Stream 1 orientation Camp in Mangu Plateau State were caught having sex inside a gutter in the wee hours of yesterday.
The two erring corpers, were caught in the act after lights out by parading soldiers.
The male corpers blamed the devil while the Female corper who happens to be married blamed the weather conditions in Plateau State and stated that she can’t stay too long away from sex.
The NYSC by-laws clearly doesn’t allow this and the two corpers have been decamped in accordance with the rule. They would be eligible for the youth scheme with the next batch.

September 13, 2009
It begins. On this fateful day in New York City, a 19-year-old Taylor was at the MTV Video Music Awards, accepting the Best Female Video award for unrequited love anthem 'You Belong with Me'. During her cute acceptance speech, Kanye jumped up on the stage and grabbed the mic, interrupting with the now-immortal words: "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!"
If you Google the words "sad kitten", you'll get a pretty good approximation of what Taylor's face looked like during this whole fiasco, while MTV's cameras cut to Beyonce herself looking horrified in the audience. Once Kanye had shrugged and handed the mic back to Taylor, her time was up.
Nobody was impressed. President Obama famously called Kanye "a jackass" over the incident. Even Katy Perry, now widely known as the subject of Swift's diss-track 'Bad Blood', was not on board: "F*** you, Kanye. It's like you stepped on a kitten," she tweeted, which is pretty much as accurate as metaphors get.
Kanye was promptly kicked out, while Beyonce used her Video of the Year win later in the evening as an opportunity to bring Swift back on stage, and let her finish her speech. Because no matter how trying the circumstances, Beyonce remains a flawless human being.

Just lyk day o

Everyone truly loves their mother. even the celebs....... . Check out Ludacris latest suprise to his beloved mother.....
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The world no 1 in tennis Andy Murray was kicked out of the Madrid Masters by world no 59 Borona Coric in round of the round of 16.
Murray was beaten 6-3 6-3by Coric, ranked 59th in the world, on Thursday.
The Briton has endured a tough season on clay, suffering a shock defeat in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masterslast month and also losing in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
"I definitely think I need to be concerned about today," Murray said.
"It's not always the worst thing losing a match, but it's sometimes the manner of how you lose the match which can be concerning or disappointing."
Coric, 20, only gained a place at the tournament after Richard Gasquet withdrew - becoming the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals in the Madrid tournament's 16-year history.
The Croat broke his Scottish opponent three times in the opening set, and a further break in the second was enough to secure victory in one hour and 25 minutes.
Top seed Murray hit 14 winners to his 28 unforced errors, but insisted his poor performance was not down to a lack of confidence.
"I was just making lots of mistakes early in the rallies and trying to end points very quickly at the beginning, and the errors just kept piling up.I didn't feel that was down to confidence - I just wasn't focusing as well as I needed to on each point.
"I made a lot of unforced errors and I also didn't find any way to make it a more competitive match, so that's the most disappointing thing for me.
"You can lose matches sometimes, but the manner of today's loss was disappointing."

The surgeon who operated on Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic says the veteran forward is in "superb shape" and can play on for many years if he wishes.
Ibrahimovic underwent surgery in the United States last week after suffering maJor knee ligament damage in Europa league tie againnst Anderlecht.
Ibrahimovic faces a long period of rehabilitation and, with his United contract due to expire at the end of the season, his future at the club is in doubt.
But Dr Freddie Fu told theSouth China Morning Posthe is convinced that Ibrahimovic should be able to continue playing at the top level.
Fu, who is chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, has carried out over 20,000 knee operations.
And he operated on Ibrahimovic alongside colleague Volker Musahl.
Fu said: "I can't discuss too many details, I don't want to get in trouble with Manchester United.
"But I can tell you he's in superb shape in all things.
Ibrahimovic sustained the season-ending injury in the Europa League match against Anderlecht
"Healthy morphology, the quality of the bone and muscle, everything is as good as you can possibly see.
"He's one of the top athletes I've ever touched, he is in superb shape."He can still play for many years."
Ibrahimovic has been a great success in his first season at United, scoring 28 goals in 46 appearances and bagging a brace in the EFL final against Southampton earlier this season. One thing is for sure and that is : Manchester United fans all over the world are surely glad to hear this..

What are your club's best and worst potential final positions in the Premier League this season?

We have factored every potential permutation from the remaining 25 fixtures

Tottenham, theoretically, remain in the title chase as Chelsea's sole challengers - despite losing 1-0 to West Ham last week - and have already guaranteed European qualification.

Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal are the remaining challengers for the two remaining top-four places.

Everton will now finish seventh, regardless of the outcome from their remaining two fixtures, after Arsenal's 2-0 victory at Southampton on Wednesday night.

Either Hull, Swansea, Crystal Palace, Watford or Burnley could become the third club to join already relegated Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Amazingly, Palace, Watford and Burnley also each have a chance of finishing in the top half of the table if results go their way.

Check out the graphic below to see where your club could finish…






Comment your club below: