Afe Babalola condemns scrapping of Post-UTME Test

•Afe Babalola

Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado EKITI (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola has condemned the Federal Government’s decision to scrap the Post-Universities Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test.

Speaking on the issue at the weekend, the legal luminary said he was shocked by the action, which he described as a “calamitous mistake, which poses danger and irreversible adverse effect on quality of education in Nigeria”.
Babalola said he was taken aback that “such a far-reaching decision could be taken without due and adequate consideration for how the concept of the Post-UTME came into being”.

The former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) said the concept of the Post-UTME test came into being in 2003 when it was discovered that “many of the students admitted into Nigerian universities through JAMB were not only

Robbers attack Vanguard publisher Sam Amuka

•Amuka

Suspected armed robbers yesterday invaded the Lagos home of Vanguard publisher Sam Amuka, injuring him and carting away cash and some items.
The raid was the second on Amuka’s home in about two years.

The invaders  allegedly hit the octogenarian  with an iron rod. He was rushed to a private hospital.
Ten suspects arrested in connection with the attack are being quizzed

Buhari: Leading in turbulent times

President Muhammadu Buhari’s face can sometimes be deadpan and inscrutable.
As an ex soldier, he is supposed to be stern,so wearing a straight face that leaves no clue is not unexpected.
At the inception of his administration,most things that appeared to have been unhinged during the immediate past administration, started falling into place. Electricity supply ramped up from about 3,500

Chelsea Set Their Sights On Ligue 1 Enforcer As Alternative To Paul Pogba

The opening of the summer transfer window is fast approaching so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea are linked with Blaise Matuidi….

Chelsea have turned their attention to Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi after accepting defeat in their pursuit of Paul Pogba this summer, according to the Express.

New boss Antonio Conte isn’t due to officially take charge at Stamford Bridge until after he’s fulfilled his duties with the Italian squad at Euro 2016 but it looks as though the 46-year-old has already started planning for life in West London.

Paraguay reveals Copa America Centenario final roster

 

Paraguay manager Ramon Diaz has called on a veteran, mostly North and South America-based roster for Copa America Centenario.

Only five of Paraguay's 23-man squad are based in Europe, with a heavy contingent from Liga MX and Paraguay, Argentina and Chile's domestic leagues. Seattle Sounders forward Nelson Valdez is the only U.S.-based player and will be part of a potentially dangerous attack,

Iheanacho: My best is yet to come at Manchester City

May 9, 2016 16:53:06

Despite scoring 13 goals in his first season in the Premier League, the Nigerian forward believes the Citizens have only seen a fraction of his ability so far

Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho has appraised his performances for the club so far and stressed that his best is yet to come.

The Nigerian international scored 13 times in 33 appearances for the Citizens this season and though many would be satisfied with that tally, the 19-year-old feels he still has much to prove.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino 'very sad' to see Michel Platini's ban from football upheld

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has given a mixed reception to the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to uphold his former boss Michel Platini's ban from football.

Platini had hoped sport's highest court would squash his six-year ban but the Lausanne-based body only reduced it to four years, effectively ending his career in the game.

Speaking to journalists in Mexico City after his first FIFA Council meeting, Infantino said: 'As president, I respect the decision of CAS, no doubt about that.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is sad at the decision to uphold his former

NPFL: Rangers, 3SC Rekindle Rivalry‎ In Enugu

Nigeria Professional Football League leaders, Enugu Rangers will look to bounce back from last weekend's disappointing 3-1 loss to Rivers United when they confront perennial rivals, Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium, Enugu on Sunday, reports Completesportsnigeria.com.

The Flying Antelopes boast of a hundred percent record at home in the league this season.
They will be without two regular players; Bobby Clement and Obinna

F’Bank face Police, Dolphins battle Customs in semis

•Ijeh Fumnaya of Dolphins (right) and Emen Okon of Plateau Rocks during their Zenith Bank National Women Basketball League game played in Lagos... on Monday. Photo: Sodiq Adelakun

Pius Ayinor and Idris Adesina 

Defending champions of the Zenith Bank League, Dolphins, will take on Customs in one of the semi-final games billed for Tuesday in Lagos. The other semi final match will see former champions First Bank taking IGP Queens who defeated Delta Force 60-58 on Monday to book the game

The science behind SpaceX’s ambitious plan to land a spacecraft on Mars

Only the space agencies of the Soviet Union, the US and the EU have landed anything on Mars. This week Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX said it would put its Dragon spacecraft on the red planet “as soon as 2018″—making it the first private company to go interplanetary.

It’s easy to get impatient with crackpot plans to head for the red planet. (I’m guilty of it, too.) But SpaceX is unique in combining its dreams of Mars with well-funded, hard-nosed engineers.

And as it turns out, the company’s long-running quest to build reusable rockets, with the aim of making it cheaper to launch satellites into Earth’s orbit, has had a stealthier goal too. SpaceX’s

Burundi President Condemns Killing Of General

The President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, has condemned the killing of a senior army officer shot along with his wife and bodyguard in an attack that also wounded their child.

The attack is the latest in an expanding wave of violence in the central African nation that heightened after Nkurunziza declared his interest in a third term in office.
A spokesman for the Army, Gaspard Baratuza, told reporters that

ASUU Demands NDU Workers’ Salary Arrears

L-R: Newly appointed Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Eastern Naval Command, Rear Adm. James Oluwole, Commandant, Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Port Harcourt, Commander Feyisara Solebo and Command Operations Officer, Eastern Naval Command, Commodore Razaq Babalola, during the FOC’s familiarisation tour of Navy formations and units in Port Harcourt yesterday.

The Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), has called on the Bayelsa State Government to immediately commence the payment of four months salary arrears owed workers of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island.

This is even as the union called for the declaration of a state

Mimiko faults ICPC’s report on bailout

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

Tunde Odesola

The Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has faulted the report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission which said that the state government did not utilise N1,537,575.050.32 of the N9.4bn bailout given to it by the

Obama: We can wipe out nuclear N Korea

A TV news programme shows an image published in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper of a ballistic missile that the North claimed to have launched from a submarine. Photo / AP

By David Blair analysis

US President Barack Obama delivered a stern warning to North Korea, reminding its "erratic" and "irresponsible" leader that America's nuclear arsenal could "destroy" his country.

Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, claimed to have tested a submarine-launched missile last weekend.
A photograph showed the weapon flying out of the sea, although there was

We’ll Host Best NBA Confab’ …Wike Harps On Cashless Economy To Check Crime …Tasks Govt On Anti-Poor Policies

L-R: Representative of the Swiss Embassy, Dr Daniel Cavegn, Assistant Inspector General of Police (Training and Development), Mr Olufemi Adenaike, and Commandant, Police College, Kaduna, CPJimoh Ozi-Obeh, at the Nigeria Police Force Human Rights Training Programme in Kaduna, recently

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has hinted that the state will host one of the best Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conferences come August this year.
He gave the hint while playing host to the African Bar Association (ABA) in Government House, yesterday in Port Harcourt.

Aside the NBA conference, the governor said the state is geared to host other national events such as the Peoples Democratic Party Convention billed for May,