Plateau indigeneship non-negotiable – Sen Pwajok by By JOSEPH ERUNKE

ABUJA—The senator representing Plateau North Senatorial Zone, Gyang Pwajok, has said the natives of the state would not mortgage their traditional institutions to those he referred to as residents.

Senator Pwajok, who was elected under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in replacement of Senator Gyang Dantong who was murdered during one of Jos crises, said those causing problems in Plateau State must begin to realise that there was a clear distinction between indigeneship and residency in the nation’s constitution.

Insisting that indigeneship in Plateau State was not negotiable, Pwajok said the long duration a person spent as a resident in any place did not confer automatic rights on him to enjoy certain rights and privileges.

He said certain institutions as chieftaincy and some political offices were exclusive rights of indigenes and that such practice was applicable to his state alone.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, Senator Pwajok said: “When people begin to over-stretch their demands for certain things that they are not supposed to, then there is a problem.”

He recalled that the Plateau State local government elections of 2008, which resulted in ethno-religious crisis, produced many ward councillors from different parts of the country, who were residents of the state.

He said: “Plateau people believe that you cannot replace indigeneship with residency. Indigeneship cannot be created today, but residency is something that you can create today, so the two cannot be said to be the same.”

On the protracted labour crisis in the state, following the inability of the state government to yield to the demands of workers in implementing the N18,000 minimum wage, Pwajok said security challenge and the need to reposition the state to the dream of its citizens, had made it impossible for recurrent expenditure to cope with incessant increment in salaries of workers.

He said: “The problem with strike in Nigeria is that there is no stiff condition that once you are on strike, you don’t get salary for that period you were on strike.

“People just feel that after all, when they resume from strike, their salaries are there to be paid to them. This has helped in creating all these unnecessary cases of strikes.” we are seeing today.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/plateau-indigeneship-non-negotiable-sen-pwajok/#sthash.0sLdiDnr.dpuf

10 Different Insights into What Makes a Great Teacher

“…great teachers do not teach. They stack the deck so that students have a reason to learn and in the process can’t help but learn mainly by teaching themselves. This knowledge then becomes permanent and cherished rather than illusory and irrelevant.“ Ben Johnson

This blog was inspired while I was attending ISTE13 where I met some of the most incredible educators in the world. They all seem to share similar traits, and yet all be distinguished individuals. The attendees, the majority of who were teachers or administrators or in some other capacity involved in education, were invigorated, energized, and carried themselves with greatness. Teacher education programs have struggled for years to identify what makes a great teacher. We have tried, yet never identified what makes great teachers in any reliable, objective way. College education classes spend way too much time on the theories of education and not enough time on actually how to teach. Most prospective teachers graduate from college with little or no real practical experience in the real world of managing a classroom environment. The debate continues whether teaching is an art or a science, which teaching style/method is most effective, and whether great teachers are born or made. We are living with dichotomy in our world, as Adam Bellow so eloquently stated in the end keynote at ISTE, Schools block Facebook access for students but have their own school Facebook pages. What an amazing experience being with like-minded educators that understand technology and where the educational landscape needs to go.

1. Great Teachers Don’t Teach by Ben Johnson, Edutopia  – “… great teachers do not teach. They stack the deck so that students have a reason to learn and in the process can’t help but learn mainly by teaching themselves. This knowledge then becomes permanent and cherished rather than illusory and irrelevant.

2. What makes great teaching? by Joe Kirby in Pragmatic Education – “Students in the classroom of the most effective teachers make double the amount of progress of average teachers in a year.”

3. What makes a great teacher? by Great Schools  – “Study after study shows the single most important factor determining the quality of the education a child receives is the quality of his teacher.”

4. Nine Characteristics of a Great Teacher by Maria Orlando for Faculty Focus – “Great teaching seems to have less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work.”

5. Weigh In: What Makes a Great Teacher? by Jacqueline Heinze, Scholastic  – “In this information age, educators must become guides to learning. Children are now so techno-savvy that they are learning all day every day as long as there is a power cord or a battery or Wi-Fi. A great teacher must have digital agility.” Gregory E. Thornton, superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools

6. How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation by Katrina Schwartz, MindShift  – “Rather than saying no when an idea conflicts with district policy, he works to change the policy. He’s found that working that way removes most of the barriers people cite as obstacles to fully integrating technology into classrooms.”  Eric Williams, Superintendent York County School Division in Virginia

7. The NY Times, Sunday Dialogue: A Talent for Teaching – Letter To the Editor: –“Seasoned professionals know what works: being creative, independent, spontaneous, practical and rule-bending. Often it is the least orthodox teacher who most engages and excites students. Scripts and rules and models strictly followed cannot replace what the best teachers have: practical wisdom.” David Greene Hartsdale, NY

8. Who Makes Great Teachers? by EdSurge News Brief – “Only seven percent of programs match student teachers with top performing senior teachers.”

9. Valerie Strauss refers to Pasi Sahlberg, in What if Finland’s great teachers taught in U.S. schools? on The Washington Post, The Answer Sheet – “But education policies in Finland concentrate more on school effectiveness than on teacher effectiveness. This indicates that what schools are expected to do is an effort of everyone in a school, working together, rather than teachers working individually.”

10. Can anyone be a great teacher? by Annette Breaux for SmartBlog on Education – “In actuality, great teachers work very hard to earn their coveted status. There’s no magic involved, but they do seem to work magic every day in their classrooms!”

In this age of information, educators must become guides to learning. A great teacher must have digital agility, and accept change with welcome arms. Remember the technology does not make or break a great teacher, it is a tool that needs to be facilitated properly to prepare students for what lies ahead in this great new world.

Shell Graduate Recruitment 2014

At Shell, we focus on innovation and technology to help meet the growing demand for energy. We are looking for ambitious students and graduates who have expressed capacity, achievement and strong relationship skills to deliver on the global energy challenge. Shell is an equal opportunity employer and an advocate for diversity and inclusion.

Shell Graduate Programme

The Shell Graduate Programme is a development framework that enables new graduates to become fully independent Shell professionals in 2-5 years.

At Shell, new graduates have access to a range of roles and world-class training and development opportunities, including:

·         Leadership skills development

·         Networking, Coaching and Mentoring relationships

·         Learning curriculum (training, e-learning modules, accreditation) 

Requirement:

·         Successfully completed WAEC or its equivalent with at least credit ratings in Math and English in not more than two sittings

·         Finished first degree not more than four years ago

·         Completed bachelors degree with at least second class upper

·         Completed or will be completing NYSC in 2014

·         Graduates who have not taken part in a Shell Recruitment Day in the past 3 years or written our test in the past 12 months

Shell matches graduates into a particular role based on their skills, so graduates will not be required to apply for a specific Shell position.

To apply, visit us at www.shell.com/careers

Click on icon below for candidate application guide

Nigerian Ports Authority graduate recruitment 2014

Nigerian Ports Authority GRADUATES RECRUITMENT 2014. Minimum ofB.Sc/ HND in social sciences & humanities. applicant should be between22-35years old Deadline:10th February, 2014. Method of Applicationsend CV or application to: General Manager Human Resources: NigerianPorts Authority (NPA), 26/28 Marina, Lagos. OR E-mail to:Info@nigerianports.org. U please inform your eligible friends.

Invest in Northern Nigeria Limited - 2014 Job offers

Invest-in-Northern-Nigeria limited company is a multi-investment special purpose 

vehicle for the development of key northern regional, economic and social 

infrastructure.

The company is looking to recruit self motivating and eloquent speaking graduates with strong business reasoning to join it’s team of professionals in various capacities. The following positions are open for application:

1. Strategy Officer: Degree in Business Management, International Relations, Economics, Finance, Information Technology, Mathematics, Engineering (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, etc), or any such professional qualification that enables one to use his/her knowledge in such an Investment Facilitation Special Purpose Vehicle professionally and productively.

2. Marketing Officers: Requirements as in 1 above

3. Investment Officers: Requirements as in 1 above.

Condition:

A. Graduates with not more than 3 years working experience. Previous spell with a top brand company involved in investment facilitation would be added advantage.

B. Minimum of Second Class Upper shall be considered.

C. Candidates are expected to move freely throughout the 19 Northern states as the business may require. Residency in any of the Northern states could be an added advantage.

D. Candidates should be between 22 – 31 years of age by January 1st 2014.

All applicants are expected to send the following to info@mbfsed.com or mb@mbfsed.com on or before 17th Feb 2014.

1. Cover letter detailing your experiences and how you could effectively contribute to the strategic vision of Invest in Northern Nigeria Limited.

2. Curriculum vit

3. Copies of degree/s certificates.

4. NYSC discharge certificate.

For more information about the initiative, visit www.iinnl.com

Musa's List: Recommended Personal Development Material May 2012

The following books have made it to Musa's List as the recommended books for the month May 2012.

1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Daniel Goldmann N3500

2. Thinking Strategically: The competitive Edge in Business, Politics and Everyday Life - Avinash K. Dixit N3300

3. The Innovative Leader: How to inspire Your Team and Drive Creativity by Paul Sloane N2500

4. Break out Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles by - Ruchir Sharma N3800

5. Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg N4000

6. How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians by Quintus Tullius Cicero N3200

7. Paper Promises: Debt, Money, and the New World Order by Philip Coggan N4200

8. Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle by Dan Senor N3700

9. The Prize: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power by Daniel Yergin N4000

10. What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis N3200

I also wish to recommend 2 very good books for people that want to understand the dynamic of Nigerian Politics.

1. This House has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis by Karl Maier N1900

2. Nigeria:Dancing on the brink by John Campbell N5500

You can order any of this books from my sponsors www.amaruz.com. Can call their Marketing Lead Mr Saheed Rahamon on +234 808 455 0738, +234 802 688 2574 or +234 803387 5878.

Please follow on twitter as azi_musa, facebook as musa mohammed.

regards,

Musa Mohammed Musa

Oil Subsidies 101! by By Barryonenergy

It has been said that the “oil industry is the most heavily subsidized industry in the U.S. This is a rather grandiose statement, which sounds good but requires some validation. So in an attempt to dill down on the subject, no pun intended, this discussion takes a brief look at the tax codes in hopes of shedding some light on this claim.

To develop a common understanding of subsidies, a good rational is given by Gary Becker (University Professor Department of Economics and Sociology and Professor Graduate School of Business, The University of Chicago) and Richard Posner (Judge, United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Senior Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School). They state “a subsidy is defensible on economic grounds if it encourages the production of benefits that would be under-produced from an overall social-welfare standpoint were it not for subsidy.

For example, they indicate “That is the argument for allowing expenditures for research and development to be written off (deducted from taxable income) on an accelerated schedule; R&D is under-produced from an overall social-welfare standpoint because even with a patent system one firm’s R&D is quite likely to confer benefits on other firms for which the firm conducting the R&D will not be compensated; note in this connection that one requirement for a patent is that the applicant disclose the invention, and that disclosure may convey valuable information to competitors even though they cannot practice the patented invention without the patentee’s authorization.”

As a starting point, a review of the corporate income tax system gives a good indication of the relative level of taxation currently applies to capital income of the oil industry. The Congressional Budget Office Paper “Taxing Capital Income: Effective Rates and Approached to Reform” dated October 2005 shows:

• Petroleum and Natural-Gas Structures are subjected to a 9.2 % effective tax rate on capital income, the lowest of 49 categories. Computers and peripheral equipment have the highest tax rate at 36.9%
• Oil-field machinery is subjected to a 21.9% effective tax rate on capital income, ranking No 21 of the 49 categories.
These low tax rates may or may not be considered a direct subsidy. But in context to other assets types, such as educational building, which are taxed at 28.4%, the justification behind these favorable rates granted to the oil industry seems unbalanced.

Going a little bit deeper, Becker and Posner point out that the principal tax subsidies for the oil industry are:

• A “domestic manufacturing deduction” that allows oil and gas companies to deduct an extra 6 percent of their taxable income;
• A deduction for “intangible costs,” which are costs for investments in oil exploration or production that have no salvage value, such as clearing land to enable an oil well to be drilled—the oil companies are not required to amortize these costs over the entire expected life of the oil well.
• The companies are permitted to deduct royalties they pay to foreign government, on the ground that royalties paid to a government are really a tax.
They go on to say, “the aggregate value of these subsidies to the U.S. oil industry is approximately $5 billion a year, almost as much as the industry pays in federal income tax ($5.7 billion).  The industry’s total profits exceed $30 billion, so it would not be facing a crushing burden if the subsidies were to be eliminated; the Obama Administration proposes to eliminate only $2 billion of the subsidies.

Finally in a more qualitative way, David Kocieniewski article “Oil Companies Reap Billions From Subsidies,” which ran in the New York Times after the BP oil spill catastrophe suggests:

• “….. for many small and midsize oil companies, the tax on capital investments is so low that it is more than eliminated by various credits.”
• “ ….. (American producers) exploited tax laws by moving overseas to avoid paying taxes in the United States.”
• “….. many small and midsize oil companies based in the United States can claim deductions for the lost value of tapped oil fields far beyond the amount the companies actually paid for the oil rights.”
• “….. rigs, like Deepwater Horizon, are registered in Panama or in the Marshall Islands, where they are subject to lower taxes and less stringent safety and staff regulations.”
In closing, this discussion could not confirm the notion that the oil industry is the most highly subsided industry in the U.S. However, using Becker-Posner’s rationale, it is highly questionable that subsidies to the oil industry are defensible on economic grounds since it does not encourage the production of benefits that would be under-produced from an overall social-welfare standpoint were it not for subsidy. In fact the opposite is true.
Nevertheless, the discussion clearly shows a degree of disparity in favor of the oil industry from exploration to extraction. Eliminating these subsidies for the oil company and bringing their tax rates in line with other industries would bring additional revenue to the U.S. government. The real cause for concern lies in the economic impact of increased gasoline prices. How much would the price of gasoline increase to the consumer is anyone’s guess? Even a slight increase would be painful at a time of severe economic uncertainty and high unemployment. But sooner or later the oil industry must pay their fair share. You never know, relaxing subsidies may even help the bankability of renewable energy development projects.
Assuming the country does not fall into another deep recession, the net effect of the increase would be a reduction in consumption and a shift to cleaner fuels. A desired outcome if you care about the earth and our future.