The National Examinations Council (NECO) said it has introduced and launched e-posting software that is designed to address the myriad of problems associated with the posting of council staff for out-of-station assignments.
The Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, announced this while releasing the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) external candidate results, held at NECO headquarters in Minna today.
According to the NECO boss, "prior to the introduction of the annual staff posting calendar, the posting of staff for various assignments was greeted with a lot of complaints arising from lopsidedness and favouritism, which gave rise to serious agitations.
"What we are doing today is taking it a step further by digitalizing the process and making it seamless, thereby addressing some of those concerns associated with the manual process, and with the launch of e-posting, every staff member will be notified at the beginning of the year about the type and number of assignments they are eligible for and the place of assignments," he added.
He stated that an SMS notification will be sent to all staff after the launch to confirm their 2024 posting status, and it will later be broadened to include e-mail messages, noting that it will address all the issues associated with the manual approach as well as afford the staff enough time to prepare.
Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi further explained that two supervisors were blacklisted, one each in Oyo and Lagos states, for poor supervision, inability to control the candidates, and aiding and abetting malpractice.
He said that about 8,518 candidates in 2023 were booked for various forms of malpractice as against 11,419 in 2022, which shows a decline in the number of malpractice cases by 25.40 percent adding that examination malpractice for 2023 SSCE external candidates, two centres, one each in Kaduna and Ogun states, were involved in the whole centre cases.
The NECO boss explained that 73,124 candidates sat for English, out of which 55,272 representing 75.59% got credit or above.
Wushishi further stated that 73,119 candidates sat for mathematics, out of which 67,815 representing 92.75% got credits and above.
He said the number of candidates who got five (5) credits and above, including English language and mathematics, was 50,066, representing 67.35%.
He also said that 62,530 candidates, representing 84.11%, got five credits or above, irrespective of English language and mathematics.
Not fewer than 800 Nigerlites were extensively engaged in one job or another in the conversion and reconstruction projects of the famous Shiroro Hotel to the IBB University Teaching Hospital.
The Project Manager of Think-Lab Groups handling the project, Engr. Usman Yahuza, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Newsline at the project site Thursday, explained that the engagement of Nigerlites in the projects started from the managerial cadres to technicians, labourers, food vendors, and other service providers.
He noted that the project director is an indigene of Niger State and is charged with the responsibility of maintaining the roles necessary to give the project the desired shape and focus in the areas of construction and reconstruction at the project site.
He said about 100 personnel were serving as administrative staff at both the site of the teaching hospital and the Three Arms Zone projects, adding that the company has also engaged another 500 labourers working at the Three Arms Zone who were being paid on a daily basis.
While noting that the engagement of Nigerlites in the project was part of their company's corporate social responsibilities in the state, the construction company, last week, gave out scholarships to over 1000 students that were strictly in government secondary schools in the state.
Engr Yahuza further explained that the scholarship was given only and strictly to about five students from each 350 government secondary schools across the State.
He said that the group of companies was solely concerned with and committed to building a society full of strong bonds wherever and whenever they were on site, anywhere in the country.
He said that when the company resumed work at the site, precisely on September 19, 2023, the hotel was virtually on farmland, pointing out that the company had gone into negotiations with the people, after which an agreement was reached and compensations were paid to those involved.
He pointed out that since the company embarked on work at the site, there has not been any form of misunderstanding between the working personnel.
Also, while assuring Nigerlites of peaceful coexistence, he noted that works were ongoing simultaneously, symbolically at both construction sites.
He further explained that the company has also completed the entire stone base road network and electrification works at the Three Arms zone, adding that about 20 percent out of the 70 percent of the housing units in the zone are currently habitable.
