Education
Tinubu Appoints Veteran Banker, Jim Ovia As Chairman Of Nigerian Education Loan Fund
Tinubu has appointed vetetan banker, Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
JomogNews reports that President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, CFR, as the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
This online news platform understands that this was announced in a State House Press Release by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale on April 26.
According to the statement, ‘‘the President believes Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds and of ensuring that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.’’
Jim Ovia, CFR, is the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, one of Africa’s largest banks with over $21.4 billion in assets and shareholders’ funds of over US$2.4 billion as at December 2023. Zenith Bank is a global brand listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In addition to major operations in Nigeria and other West African countries, the Bank has sizeable operations in London and Dubai.
Jim Ovia is the Founder and Chancellor of James Hope University, Lekki, Lagos which was recently approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to offer postgraduate degrees in business courses. James Hope University commenced activities in September 2023.
Through his philanthropy – the Jim Ovia Foundation – he has shown the importance he accords good education. In support of the Nigerian youth, Jim Ovia Foundation offers scholarships to indigent students through the Mankind United to Support Total Education (MUSTE) initiative. Most of the beneficiaries of Jim Ovia Foundation scholarship are now accountants, business administrators, lawyers, engineers, doctors etc.
He is the author of “Africa Rise and Shine”, published by ForbesBooks. The book which encapsulates Zenith Bank’s meteoric rise, details the secrets of success in doing business in Africa. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School (OPM), University of Louisiana (MBA), and Southern University, Louisiana, (B.Sc. Business Administration). Jim Ovia is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Community of Chairpersons, and a champion of the Forum’s EDISON Alliance.
In recognition of Jim Ovia’s contributions to the economic development of Nigeria, in 2022, the Federal Government of Nigeria honoured him with Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR. Also, in May 2022, Jim Ovia was conferred with the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Earlier, he has been conferred with the national awards of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR, and Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, in 2000 and 2011, respectively, as a testament to his visionary leadership and contributions to Nigeria’s financial services sector.
The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.
Covenant University (CU), a private institution, is listed as Nigeria’s overall best university in THE 2024 Rankings.
THE Rankings, published annually by Times Higher Education, is a comprehensive global ranking of universities.
The higher education intelligence firm has released its 2024 data, capturing 1,907 universities across 108 countries and regions.
It assessed universities based on 18 indicators that measure an institution’s performance across teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
THE’s 2024 ranking analysed more than 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 68,402 scholars globally.
It collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that submitted data.
On the global scale, the UK’s University of Oxford tops the THE 2024 Rankings for the ninth year in a row.
With this, Oxford’s reign is now the longest in the ranking’s history, beating Harvard’s eight-year stint which ended in 2011.
Stanford University in the US moved up to second place, pushing the UK’s Harvard University down to fourth place.
The UK’s University of Cambridge slipped to fifth place in 2024, after being in joint third place in 2023.
THE’s Global Top-10 Best Universities
- University of Oxford, UK
- Stanford University, US
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
- Harvard University, US
- University of Cambridge, UK
- Princeton University, US
- California Institute of Technology, US
- Imperial College London, UK
- University of California, Berkeley US
- Yale University, US
Nigeria’s highest-ranking institution on the 2024 list is Covenant University (CU) which fell within the 800-1000 global scale alongside the University of Ibadan (UI).
Nigeria’s THE Overall Best Universities
- Covenant University
- University of Ibadan
- Federal University of Technology Akure
- University of Lagos
- Bayero University
- University of Ilorin
- University of Nigeria, Nsukka
- Afe Babalola University
- University of Benin
- Federal University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta
- Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
- Lagos State University
- Nnamdi Azikiwe University
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- University of Port Harcourt
- Abia State University
- Akwa Ibom State University
- Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike
- Babcock University
- Baze University
- Bells University of Technology
- Benson Idahosa University
- Delta State University, Abraka
- Edo State University, Uzairue
- Edwin Clarke University
- Elizade University
- Evangel University, Akaeze
- Federal University of Kashere
- Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
- Federal University of Technology, Minna
- Federal University of Technology, Owerri
- Fountain University
- Landmark University
- Nasarawa State University, Keffi
- Niger Delta University
- Plateau State University, Bokkos
- Thomas Adewumi University
- Veritas University, Abuja
- Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano
On a national scale, however, Covenant University is listed as Nigeria’s best across teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
Rankings like THE are used by prospective students, employers, and governments as a benchmark to evaluate universities.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has warned that most Nigerian universities are currently on the verge of collapsing following “unbearable cost of electricity”.
ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who spoke on Thursday during the opening session of a two-day national conference convened by the union in Abuja, said the electricity bills of some universities run between N200m to N300m monthly.
According to him, upon the huge bills universities only receive N15m monthly from the federal government as running costs for both electricity and other bills.
He lamented that while the universities get N15 million as total running cost, the government is paying each Senator “N21 million a month”.
He said, “What the government gives you to run the system is N15 million, and you get a bill for electricity alone of N300 million. Where is that money coming from? You have to run the laboratories. You have to run the diesel. You have to run the fuel for vehicles.
“But you know what? A government that will give just N15 million for UNILAG to run, will in turn, give one Senator N21 million a month. The government gives a system N15 million, but an individual gets N21 million. That’s where our priority is”.
Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra, on Thursday, announced free education for students of senior secondary in public schools in the state.
Soludo made the announcement in Awka, while meeting with principals and head teachers in public primary and secondary schools.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on Sept. 21, 2023, the governor announced free and compulsory education from nursery to junior secondary in public schools in line with his Solution Free Education policy.
He noted said that students of senior secondary in public schools would pay N5, 000 only as tuition fee.
Against this backdrop, the governor while meeting with principals and head teachers in public schools stated that from next week, the free education policy would be available to students of senior secondary in public schools.
He said this would further increase children’s access to education and ensure effective development of their personality, talents, mental and physical abilities.
“I want to assure you that even with the resource constraint; our administration will continue to work very hard to deliver on its mandate.
“I’m giving a directive that students in senior classes, who have already paid their N5,000 tuition fees for this term should be refunded,’’ he said.
He reiterated his administration’s dedication to human capital development and promised to continue making strides in this area.
Soludo also said that the government would commence payment of the N70, 000 minimum wage in October.
“We remain committed to investing in our people and this new minimum wage and free education initiative are testaments to our resolve.
“This move is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of workers and students in Anambra, improving their standard of living and access to quality education,’’ he said.
(NAN)
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