JAMB releases 2014 UTME, Poly, COEs cut-off marks

The Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) has released the cut-off marks for the 2014 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), retaining the existing 180 cut-off mark for admission into universities in Nigeria.

The board has also pegged the cut-off marks for admission into Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (COE) at 150.

These were arrived at on Tuesday, after debate by stakeholders, including vice chancellors, Rectors and Provosts at the fifth combined policy meeting on admissions to tertiary institutions held at the National Universities Commission (NUC).

JAMB Registrar and Chief Executive, Professor 'Dibu Ojerinde, who made this known while speaking with newsmen, said the decisions were unanimously accepted by all stakeholders at the meeting.

Chairman of the Board, Mr Eze, however, urged the institutions to strictly adhere to 60:40 Science to Arts ratio for conventional institutions and the 70:30 Technology to non-Technology ratio for specialised institutions, which were aimed at entrenching the technical advancement of the country.

Eze equally urged both federal and state-owned institutions to abide by the guidelines approved by their proprietors to promote unity, integration, geographical spread and equity.

'Accordingly, the 45:35:20 admissions quota for the merit, catchment area and educationally-less-developed states criteria should be complied with by federal institutions,' he said.

Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, who declared the meeting open, frowned at the inability of most tertiary institutions to utilise their admission quota.

He, however, said in view of efforts to boost access, institutions which failed to utilise their admission quota for 2014 would be sanctioned.

He reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to the development of ICT training, which he said had already been inculcated as part of the standard curriculum at the secondary school level.

He said: 'I have been briefed that despite the rising demand for higher education vis-a-vis the availability of a large number of qualified candidates, some institutions did not fully utilise the admissions quota approved for them by relevant regulatory agencies in 2013.

'This disservice to the Nigeria child is totally unacceptable, in line with efforts of the Federal Government to improve access, let me urge you all to with effect from today, work assiduously to ensure that all admission spaces in your institutions for the current year are fully utilised within the approved time frame,' he stated.

Meanwhile, Professor Ojerinde, in his presentation, gave a statistical run down of candidates' preference for tertiary education.

He said after the conduct of the 2014 UTME candidates who applied for degree awarding institutions or universities were 1,584,348, representing 97.07 per cent, NCE applicants totalled 25,767, representing 1.579 per cent, National Diploma  and a paltry 22,072, representing 1.349 per cent, while NID had just 46, representing 0.003 per cent.

Ojerinde wondered why Nigeria's educational system had consistently failed to embrace technical education in its quest for industrialisation, saying the British which Nigeria copied the polytechnic education from awarded degree in all its polytechnics.

World Cup 2014: Millions watch glorious Brazil exit

Millions of Americans stopped work early to watch their national football team get edged out of the World Cup by Belgium in a thrilling match in Brazil.

After a string of fine saves from US goalie Tim Howard, Belgium went 2-0 ahead in extra-time. The US then pulled one back to set up a pulsating finale.

Thousands packed public viewing areas areas across the country, despite a a kick-off time of 16:00 EST (20:00 GMT).

Afterwards, the 2-1 defeat was hailed by many as the best game so far.

Leaving Soldier's Field in Chicago, where nearly 30,000 people watched the drama unfold on big screens, fans said they were "heartbroken" but proud of how the team had played.

It was a magnificent defensive effort, as Belgium launched wave after wave of attacks in the second half but each one foundered as American bodies - most often Howard's - were flung in the way.

Even England fans were impressed, many commenting on social media how much they admired the American spirit, which was ultimately extinguished after a late, desperate attempt to equalise in the closing minutes failed.

As many as 14 million workers were predicted to down tools to watch Tuesday's game, costing the US economy more than $600m (£350m) in lost labour productivity, according to an estimate by Yahoo Finance.

At the scene - Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, Chicago

It was only minutes before they were eventually knocked out of the World Cup that the final rousing chant of "I believe" rose up from Soldier Field.

About 28,000 people had been given hope by a US goal and noisily willed their team to repay the nation's seemingly undying faith and equalise.

Obama vows to act alone if Congress gridlocks, taunts Republicans: 'So sue me'

President Barack Obama speaks about transportation and the economy, Tuesday, July 1, 2014

President Barack Obama defiantly dared congressional Republicans on Tuesday to try to block his efforts to act on his own and bypass a divided Congress that has thwarted his policy initiatives.

'So sue me,' he taunted on a sweltering day, as he pushed lawmakers to pay for road and bridge repairs. 'I'm not going to apologize for trying to do something.'

Obama struck an aggressive tone in the face of a lawsuit threat from House Speaker John Boehner and in the wake of two defeats before the Supreme Court, including a unanimous decision from the court that he overreached when he appointed members of the National Labor Relations Board while the Senate was in recess.

His remarks came a day after Obama declared that he would act on his own to address weaknesses in the nation's immigration system after Boehner informed him that the House would not take up an immigration overhaul this year.

He has already taken a series of executive actions, including an order requiring federal contractors to pay a higher minimum wage and initiating steps to to lower carbon emissions in coal-fired power plants.

'So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to strengthen the middle class not ideas that are unique to me,' he said. 'But the Republicans have said no to raising the minimum wage, have said no to fair pay. They've said no to extending unemployment insurance for over 3 million Americans looking for a new job.'

Earlier Tuesday, Obama met with his Cabinet secretaries and urged them to 'be creative about how we can make real progress' on issues where Congress won't act.

Obama said he would prefer that Congress act on issues such as immigration and infrastructure because laws are more sweeping than his own administrative actions.

'We're not always going to be able to get things through Congress, at least not this Congress,' Obama said. 'I want to make sure we emphasize not what we can't do, but what we can do in the coming months.'

Speaking at Washington's Key Bridge, Obama in shirt sleeves and his tie undone made a pitch to fix the nation's bridges and highways.

He called on Congress to close tax loopholes and use the money on infrastructure projects, a long shot idea that has little if any support among congressional Republicans.

'It's not crazy. It's not socialism,' he said, mocking the criticism from some conservative quarters. 'You know, it's not, you know, the imperial presidency or no laws are broken.'