Obi

Something has been bothering me about Nigeria’s university admissions process and I want to put it out there. I was just talking with a younger brother and he says that JAMB exams comes this month, while WAEC comes in May. Every year, close to two million candidates sit for JAMB before many of them have even written WAEC. Some haven’t passed it. Some haven’t sat for it at all. Yet they are already being ranked for admission into universities. WAEC is the foundation. The certificate that says you finished secondary school. What every university, polytechnic and college of education demands before they will even look at you. Without it, your JAMB score is essentially worthless paper. So why are we running the ranking exam before the qualifying exam? Between 2015 and 2019, over 40% of UTME candidates had no O’Level results when they sat for JAMB. Not awaiting results. No results at all. They paid, registered, wrote the exam, and went home. Some of them probably did it more than once across multiple years. The standard defence is that SS3 students should not lose a whole year waiting for WAEC results before writing JAMB. That argument has some legs for fresh candidates in their final year. But repeat candidates already have their results sitting somewhere. Why are they allowed to join the queue without first proving they meet the minimum requirement? What this system has quietly created is a very efficient machine for collecting registration fees from people who were never going to be admitted in the first place. Nearly two million candidates. One form each. Do the math. The fix is straightforward. Move JAMB to a later window so WAEC results can land first. For repeaters specifically, make O’Level proof a hard gate before purchase of the UTME form. You cannot rank candidates for something they have not yet qualified for. Nigeria’s education administrators are smart, capable people. This is a prioritisation problem. And until someone decides that the integrity of the admissions pipeline matters more than the revenue flowing through it, we will keep having this conversation every single year @winexviv @JAMBHQ

@AskMichaelTaiwo I have used windows all my life, 5 months ago, i switched to Macbook and I really don't think I will be switching back to windows anymore. The advantages of Homebrew is incomparable. It's also so smooth and seamless and the connection between iPhone and Mac is awesome.

I have seen the light. I am buying a MacBook.

it shows that getting academic jobs tends to be about relationships, politics and standing with hiring committees rather than merit, accomplishments, skills and/or experience.

I used to tell my students that you can do everything right and still not get a job. But the truth is, you can see that job go to someone who didn't do everything right, and that's far worse.

Apparently we’re now RANSOM-SHAMING in Nigeria. Someone paid 1.5m ransom to release him brother, you say that one no be kidnap. It’s a big shame to share a country with some imbeciles.

@DesmondOElliot But you were once a beneficiary of such rascality. If you didn't speak up then, why are you protesting now?

My decision was one of statesmanship and restraint—not a concession, withdrawal, or surrender of my candidacy. It is therefore misleading and inaccurate for anyone to interpret or portray my remarks as stepping down from the race. I, Desmond Elliott,remain committed to democratic principles, the rule of law, and the mandate freely given to me by the overwhelming majority of my supporters across Surulere Constituency 1.m We call on party members, stakeholders, and the general public to disregard false narratives and remain focused on the need for transparency, fairness, and justice in the electoral process. At this critical moment, it is imperative that the integrity of the primary election process be upheld and that every legitimate supporter and delegate is allowed to participate freely, without intimidation or obstruction.

Imagine the dysfunction that people have has to grow up with? Municipal playgrounds is the function of your local government council, your councilors and your local government chairmen. In other countries you find well maintained outdoor gyms, mini football fields and outdoor sports centers for each ogbe (municipality) or one free outdoor sports center per 2000 inhabitants. In Nigeria, posts like the OP make it seem like it's the responsibility of private citizens to provide these basic amenities. The government has even totally abandoned community swimming pools. People now believe that to relax in a pool, you need to go to a hotel. Heck, even the beaches in Nigeria are not even free 😂 When they say basic amenities it encompasses roads, schools, sports centers etc. People now even believe that pipe borne water is a private affair, it sounds like like stories when kids of nowadays are told that once upon a time in majority of Nigeria, there were functional water boards. 12 year olds ( people born under the APC regime) have never ever in their life witnessed anything good going for them in Nigeria. I remember when primary and secondary school was ACTUALLY free. Just bring your matchet, tissue rolls, detergent and broom and you can go to a medium standard school. Nowadays? God forbid. Oh how the might have fallen! Giant of Africa sounds more like midget of Africa. How I wish there is a way to show Nigerians what is obtainable in other nearby African countries, maybe they can demand better.

My best advice to any young person is to avoid the attention economy as a life/career/job path. Do something else - anything that helps people or builds something in the real, tangible offline world. If I had a time machine to restart my life, that's what I would do.

@OselokaHObaze @obi_media @Aisha_SupportN @EstherUmoh10 @grok @KwankwasoRM @PO_GrassRootM @Sunnybo43619988 @RealQueenBee__ @okmovemnt2027 He must be in that ballot, whether Tinubu or INEC likes it or not

Peter Obi cleared by the NDC Screening Panel

I am an environmental economist working on the frontiers of climate change, financial systems and the economy, I would love to models scenarios specific to the Nigerian context, but how we make informed predictions and or decisions when the data is lacking? I wish the Nigerian authorities would make it mandatory for businesses and firms to report their data and make it open source. Atleast the non sensitive ones. There are numerous templates that are working in developed and ASEAN economies that Nigeria can adapt. We do not need to set up new structures. Nigeria need to take scientific research and data banks serious.

This is so wholesome.

Local projections are surprisingly robust to misspecification. By contrast, VAR confidence intervals with short-to-moderate lag length can severely undercover for misspecification that is small, difficult to detect, and cannot be ruled out a priori. econometricsociety.org/publications/e…

When someone teaches you something you didn't ask to learn, your brain reacts like it's in physical pain. UCLA scientists watched it happen on brain scans in 2003. The same wiring that fires when you stub your toe also fires when someone treats you like you need fixing. Naomi Eisenberger and Matthew Lieberman ran the study and published it in Science. The brain region is the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which is just the fancy name for your main pain alarm. It doesn't care whether the threat is a hot stove or a friend telling you how to live. A neuroscientist named David Rock built a framework around this in 2008. Five things make the brain feel safe in social moments: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. Take away any of those and the alarm fires. Rock wrote that one of the easiest ways to dent someone's status is to give them advice they didn't ask for. Even hinting that they're doing something wrong is enough. When people are told what to do, they often do the opposite, even when the advice was good. The psychologist Jack Brehm noticed this in 1966, and sixty years of follow-up have confirmed it. The brain is trying to keep your life feeling like your own. Close friends cut each other off with unsolicited advice in about 70% of supportive conversations, often before the friend has even finished explaining the problem. That number comes from a 2016 study by Bo Feng and Eran Magen in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. The closer the friendship, the worse it gets. And the advice tends to make them more stressed, more depressed, and more lonely, not less. Giving advice gives the giver a sense of power, even when nobody asked for it. Michael Schaerer and his co-authors, working across Harvard, Duke, INSEAD, USC, and Singapore Management, published this in 2018 after four experiments with about 700 people. People who chase power volunteer advice more often than others. Whether the student actually improves is a side effect, if it happens at all. So when you feel the urge to teach somebody who never asked, that urge is mostly about you. You walk away feeling a little more powerful. They walk away feeling like they were just told they can't run their own life. Most uninvited teaching is one person's ego dressed up as kindness.

That's a food with no soul

@jaytheiconn Can a legal person explain whether it's possible to issue summons to a person living in another country on a permanent residency basis? Or does he become culbaple when he visits Nigeria?

For the past several months, I have quietly carried the weight of intense emotional distress and private pressure that no one should ever have to endure. Since the end of my marriage, I have tried to move forward in peace…

@EmehObiorah @KKSY_Reporters Have you listed to his recent interviews, and observed his postures while he was doing the interviews. He is no longer with obi

@KKSY_Reporters I think there is no need for this We still need his support. We need to build bridges

Politics is not just about making speeches on television or attending interviews. Politics is about structure, influence, loyalty, and the ability to move people from the grassroots. That is why what Senator Musa Kwankwaso is bringing into this alliance with Peter Obi is completely different from what Nigerians saw in 2022/2023 between Obi and Datti. Many of us wanted this Obi/Kwankwaso political brotherhood to happen before the last election because we knew the value it would add to the movement. Politics is a game of numbers, structure, and regional acceptance. Kwankwaso came with the powerful Kwankwasiyya Movement, which has strong influence not only in Kano but also across Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Zamfara, and many Northern states. That movement has loyal grassroots followers who vote based on conviction and long-standing political relationships. With due respect to Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, he did not command that kind of political structure. He is intelligent, educated, and outspoken, but politics in Nigeria goes beyond media appearances and intellectual debates. Many people could not point to any major electoral influence from his ward, constituency, or even state during that election. He lacked the deep grassroots political machinery needed for a tough national contest. Kwankwaso, on the other hand, is a tested political force. Whether people like him or not, his political value cannot be ignored. He has built loyal followers over the years and has remained relevant in Northern politics because he understands how to organize people politically from the grassroots upward. This is exactly the kind of political partnership many Nigerians prayed for in 2022/2023. Imagine the energy of Obi’s massive support in the South and among the youths combined with Kwankwaso’s strong Northern grassroots structure. That would have changed many calculations completely. Interestingly, Peter Obi has always shown loyalty in political alliances. In 2019, he stood solidly with Atiku Abubakar and delivered massive support from the Southeast. But when it was time to build a fresh generational alliance for the future, Atiku failed to reciprocate by supporting a younger ticket that Nigerians were yearning for. Politics is about sacrifice and mutual support. The support Senator Musa Kwankwaso is showing now will never be forgotten. If this alliance survives and remains sincere, the Southeast and South-south will surely remember and reciprocate that loyalty whenever Kwankwaso needs support in the future. This is how real political brotherhood is built, through trust, strategy, loyalty, and respect for each other’s political value. #loyalty #support Ndubuisi Nicholas Ifedoro ✍🏻

Ndi nkem Enugu East Senatorial Zone and our friends across the Nation, I greet you warmly. Today, I stand before you as Ada nke unu — your own daughter — who truly believes in the strength, resilience, and future of our people. Our people are hardworking men and women, resilient youths, determined traders, farmers, professionals, and entrepreneurs who continue to push forward despite many challenges while yearning for stronger representation and greater development. Our people are not asking for miracles. They are asking for representation they can feel in their daily lives. Representation that listens, that is accessible, and that works sincerely to improve the lives of ordinary people. After wide consultations with leaders, stakeholders, women, youths, and supporters across Enugu East Senatorial Zone, I am honored today to formally declare my intention to contest for the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent *Enugu East Senatorial Zone*. This journey is about service, unity, and progress. It is about working together to build a stronger future for our communities and creating greater opportunities for our people. I cannot do this alone, so I humbly ask for your prayers, your support, and your partnership as we begin this journey together. May God bless Enugu East Senatorial Zone in a New Nigeria that is POssible. And may God bless us all. Thank you very much for reading.

In 2023, I was stranded in Oshodi while coming back from an interview. No cash, no money in the account. Phone at 4%. Rain was beating me black and blue with no hideout. I posted: “Please, is anybody around Oshodi? My phone is about to go off and I’m stuck at Arena Junction. I need 2k for transport to get back home. I’ll pay back tomorrow. No jokes please.” I tagged three of my closest friends, people that called me “sister” on birthdays. First reply was laughing emojis. “LMAO, you don finally cast.” Second reply: “Omo, trek am, exercise.” Third person saw it and posted a meme two minutes later. My phone died. I sat on a bench laid across the walkway, soaked, watching Lagos run past me, thinking this is how it ends for two thousand naira. After a few minutes, a car parked close to where I was. The car windows rolled down and a voice asked, “Are you Ireoluwa?” I nodded. “One guy say make I carry you go Abule Egba. E don pay.” I got in without thinking twice. Halfway, my phone buzzed on the driver’s power bank. A DM from a stranger I never followed: “Hey there, I saw your post. I really don’t know you but I know that feeling. Bolt is paid to your street. Get home safe. No need to pay back. Just help someone else one day when you can.” I got home and checked his page. He’d been job hunting for three months and was probably broke. But he sent me a ride and some money. Now we are good friends even though we have still never met. My friends with jobs posted me for cruise. A stranger with nothing posted me for life. That night I learned friendship doesn’t define family. Sometimes your lifeline is the person you’ve never met.

The bias for western economists: