Video - Christmas travelers forced to trek the Asaba-Onitisha expressway

As the yuletide season approaches commuters who travelled to the South Eastern part of Nigeria to join their families in celebrating this season are contending with heavy vehicular movements and poor state of the roads.

In this report, Channels Television's correspondents spoke with some commuters who recount their experiences on the road which is a major gateway to the southwest, including the Enugu-Onitsha Road, the Onitsha-Owerri Road, 9th Mile-Obollo Afor Road, as well as the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

Mass failure in 2012 WAEC exams - 62.3 don't make grade

Two hundred and sixty two thousand, six hundred and fifty one candidates, representing 62.3 per cent of the 406,108 who sat for November/December 2012 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) failed to score up to five credits including English Language and Mathematics.

Head, Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Charles Eguridu disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Lagos yesterday. He said 413,266 candidates registered for the examination, but 406,108, representing 98. 27 per cent had their results processed.

Eguridu said "150,615 candidates, representing 37.97 per cent obtained credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics." If that figure is deducted from the number of candidates whose results were processed which is 406, 108, then it would be safe to conclude that over 62 per cent of the candidates who participated, actually failed.

A comparative analysis of the 2012 result with that of candidates who sat for same examination in 2010 and 2011, however, showed marginal improvement as only 24.16 and 36.07 per cents actually scored five credits including English Language and Mathematics for 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The WAEC boss said 47, 289 candidates' result, representing 11.04 per cent, are still being withheld over various cases of examination malpractices.

"Such cases are being investigated and the reports of the investigations would be presented to the Nigerian Examinations Committee (NEC) shortly for consideration. The Committee's decision will be communicated to the affected candidates through our zonal and branch offices," Eguridu said.

Eguridu also said out of the 49 blind candidates who registered for the examination, 23 of them, representing 46.93 per cent actually obtained credits in five subjects including English Language. He noted that blind students are not allowed to sit for Mathematics and science practical in WASSCE diets.

Daily Trust

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Nigeria's top google searches of 2012

Jamb - the Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board - is the most-searched term in Nigeria, according to Google’s Year-End Zeitgeist list.

The education system in the country is reportedly under review due to the "lack of reading culture, unqualified teachers, quest for money and lack of dedication to duty".

Mercy Johnson was listed as the top Nollywood celebrity while Davido was listed as Nigeria's top musician.

While Whitney Houston was the most searched person - she died on February 11, 2012, Victor Moses who plays for Chelsea came in as the second most-searched person followed by Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho.

Boko Haram, the Islam sect that is reportedly planning on overthrowing the government and impose strict Islam, laws is rated third on the searches category on the google search result 2012 in Nigeria.

Love topped two categories - the "How...?" and "What is...?" - showing that Nigerians do have a softer side...

Google's Year-End Zeitgeist, which means “the spirit of the times", revisits the most viewed searches around the world.

Top 10 Searches

Jamb
Mozat
Boko Haram
Asuu Strike
Google news
Eskimi
Whitney Houston
Vanguard news
NNPC recruitment
Facebook

All Africa

Gunmen kill 2, kidnap french expatriate

Gunmen Thursday kidnapped a French national and killed two persons after they attacked a divisional police station in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The gunmen, who were in large number, kidnapped the Franch national who is an engineer and identified as Francis.

The kidnappers also injured a riot policeman attached to the kidnapped French national who was working in an ongoing Federal Government project in the area.

The watchman at the French national's residence was killed, while his neighbour was also gunned down after they injured the riot policeman who was at the residence.

The state Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Magaji, confirmed the kidnap and attack on the divisional police station.

Abdullahi explained that the gunmen threw an explosive device into the police station on their way out of the town to divert the attention of the police.

The police commissioner stated that policemen had been deployed in all the nooks and crannies of the state to track down the kidnappers.

Some of the residents who spoke under anonymity with THISDAY on the phone explained that they heard heavy sound of explosion on Wednesday night which caused pandemonium in the sleepy town.

"We saw large deployment of security in the wee hours of Thursday, and believed that the situation is under control as people went out for their normal activities in the town," a resident of the town said.

THISDAY learnt that the corpses of the casualties in the attack had been deposited at the General Hospital in the city, while the injured persons were also receiving treatment.

This Day

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Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka wins Awolowo's Leadership Award

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday emerged recipient of the maiden edition of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.

Speaking during the ceremony in Lagos, the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, said: "Although an impressive number of nominations were received, Soyinka was adjudged to possess the highest degree of attributes considered for the award by the selection committee.

"The selection committee came to the unanimous conclusion that of all the nominees presented before it, the individual adjudged to possess to the highest degree, the attributes for the award and thus, the first ever recipient of the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for leadership, was Prof. Wole Soyinka."

He stated further that the prestigious biennial national prize was structured to follow a rigorous process of nomination and subsequent screening of many outstanding Nigerians.

"The nominees for the prize were expected to be men of character who had demonstrated to a substantial degree, the attributes considered to have characterised Awolowo's leadership style, which includes integrity, credibility, discipline, accountability, courage, selflessness, tenacity of purpose, visionary, people-centred leadership as well as respect of the rule of law and press freedom," he said.

While noting that an appropriate citation of Professor Soyinka will be given at the actual award ceremony scheduled to come up in March 2013, which coincides with Awolowo's birthday anniversary, Anyaoku said Awolowo was "a highly revered Nigerian federalist, who was variously described by Nigerians" as "the best president Nigeria never had", whose qualities were worth emulating.

This Day

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