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Ifebube, Anambra wonder kid, on song again! Bags fresh national award
Ifebube Chelsea Benson, remember her? The 18-year-old South African-born indigene of Ndikelionwu in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra state, now 19? She is on song again as her feat in being the OVERALL BEST FEMALE CANDIDATE in the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) has attracted another recognition.
With nine distinctions, including Mathematics, English language, Further Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and three others, the daughter of Ben Benson, a lawyer and journalist based in South Africa, but currently in Nigeria, decorated with a national award at Justice Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna, Niger State on December 6, 2023.
Ifebube, whose name translates, “beautiful thing to glamourise,” came back to Nigeria in 2022 to complete her secondary education at the Renaissance Garden Secondary School, Ago-Okota, Lagos, from where she took the NECO examination, to create the feat, was among the four students that were handed special recognition in addition to cash awards by Hajia Suwaiba-Said Ahmad, Minister of State for Education, on Thursday, November 28, at an elaborate ceremony in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The feat last year, had attracted the attention of the late Ifeanyi Uba, Senator, representing Anambra South at the National Assembly, who was so excited that he handed the young lady, currently a student at the University of Abuja, an instant N2million cash reward and an automatic scholarship to study anywhere in the world.
At the Abuja ceremony on Thursday, tagged: Second National Education Awards Programme (NEAP), which attracted a lot of fanfare, including cultural music performances, she was recognised as the second-best student in the 2023 NECO SSCE and the best in the female category, an award that came with the cash prize of N300, 000.
Chima Christian Okafor, who graduated from St. Paul Academy Jos was awarded N500, 000 as the overall best student in the 2023 NECO SSCE and N300, 000 as the second-best student in the 2023 WACE, while Orevaoghene Whiskey, a graduating student of Topfaith International Secondary School, Mkpatak Essien Udim, Akwa-Ibom State was awarded a cash prize of N500, 000 as the overall best student in the 2023 WACE.
Owuye Faheezah Oluwakemi, a graduate of Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Lagos, who secured the overall best student in the 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was awarded a cash of N300, 000, with Jegede Oshotame Gabriella, another student of Igbinedion Junior Secondary School, Benin City, securing the second-best overall student at the 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) getting N200,000 cash award.
Ahmad, who while handing out the awards at the event co-organised by the Federal Ministry of Education with the theme: Incentivising learning and reading processes for optimal performance, described education as the foundation of every thriving society.
Stressing on how education empowered individuals to unlock their potentials for self actualisation and fostered sustainable progress, she said: “Education is essential to national development, strengthening social cohesion, cultivating leaders, and breaking the cycle of poverty to illuminate society’s path to complete globally.
“To our outstanding students, congratulations! Your hard work and commitment to excellence have yielded desired results, etching your names in the ministry hall of Fame. You have demonstrated exceptional critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a deep understanding of your studies. This moment is a stepping stone towards even greater achievements. Let this recognition inspire you to keep reaching new heights.”
Christian-Ebubechukwu Igbokwe, President and Founder, Chris Igbokwe Foundation, Chairman of the occasion, while describing the recipients as standing out like colossus amongst their peers in their various schools, stated that he was privileged to have gone through certain brief of the awardees, adding that they all stand out in their academic performance.
Represented by Steve Eboh, Vice President of the foundation, he said: “This is a symbol of hard work, dedication and excellence. I am convinced that with these set of awardees, Nigeria education will attain the required height and become one of the best in the world again.
“As I had said times without number, the basic foundation of life begins with self which goes with the slogan “I CAN”. This phrase symbolises singular determination to succeed and excel in all facets of life.”
Anselm Ijebor, Chairman of the planning committee, while stressing that no government could drive its education sector alone without partnering with stakeholders in the education sector, said that it was the aim of NEAP to identify brilliant students with high academic achievement at the level of Senior Secondary School Examination for immediate scholarship.
His words: “The mission statement of NEAP is to mobilise the citizenry and organised private sector for a robust partnership in the identification and public harmony of academic excellence and valuable contribution for education development in Nigeria.”
Fuel marketers across Abuja on Wednesday continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, at old prices more than 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in its ex-depot price, Vanguard is reporting.
The paper reported that its investigation, showed that major retail outlets were yet to adjust their pump prices despite the N75 per litre reduction announced by the refinery on Monday.
At the retail stations visited in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Retail and TotalEnergies dispensed petrol at N1,335 per litre, while AA Rano sold at N1,350 per litre. AYM Shafa and Conoil outlets sold the product at N1,330 per litre.
The development comes amid growing public expectations that the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s gantry price would quickly translate into lower pump prices nationwide.
Explaining the delay, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, said retail prices are influenced by several factors beyond refinery gate prices.
Speaking to Channels TV, Gillis-Harry said: “Prices reflecting at the pump are dependent on availability of the product, the other is the cost. The cost of purchasing the product and cost in terms of logistics, and preparing the particular petroleum to be delivered to the people”.
According to him, downward price adjustments often take longer to reach consumers because marketers need to recover the cost of existing stock purchased at higher prices before restocking at lower rates.
When asked why increases in fuel prices are usually reflected immediately while reductions are delayed, Gillis-Harry said the dynamics of supply management play a significant role.
He explained: “It is mainly affected by whether the producer has additional resources or not at the time. Increases in prices are mainly caused by the need to restock. There must be that advantage pushing the price upward to be able to pay for new supplies.”
He further acknowledged that marketers generally seek to exhaust existing inventory before implementing lower prices.
“That’s the basic idea. But in petroleum, a mixture is involved, and loss is taken, though not in a way that affects the capital needed to restock,” he added.
Also speaking on the issue, energy analyst Olabode Sowunmi said fuel pricing in Nigeria is influenced by a combination of domestic supply arrangements and logistics costs, rather than crude oil prices alone.
He noted that although international crude oil prices remain an important factor globally, their impact on local petrol pricing is not always direct.
“Global price of crude oil is a factor internationally and not necessarily in Nigeria,” Sowunmi said.
Explaining that Dangote Refinery operates under arrangements that allow a portion of crude supply to be priced in naira, reducing the direct impact of international market fluctuations on local fuel prices, he said: “So basically the issue will have to be from the point of refinery to where it touches the final person. Logistics costs within the domestic supply chain remain a major determinant of the final pump price paid by consumers.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
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