The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reported generating N22 billion in revenue for 2024, with N6 billion remitted to the federal government, according to the board's weekly bulletin. The majority of the funds were allocated to operational costs, with over N18 billion spent on conducting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), compensating service providers, and covering essential expenses.

The board's financial breakdown reveals N2.1 billion in staff claims and a N3 billion subsidy program that provided N1,500 per UTME candidate for registration costs.

This latest remittance continues a pattern of significant financial contributions to the federal government that began in 2016 under the leadership of Is-haq Oloyede. This marked a dramatic shift from the board's previous performance, which saw minimal remittances totaling just N50 million between 2010 and 2016.

Under Oloyede's administration, JAMB's federal remittances have consistently remained in the billions, ranging from N5 billion to N8 billion annually. Previous years' contributions include N7.8 billion in 2017, N8 billion in 2018, N5 billion in 2019, N7 billion in 2020, N3.51 billion in 2021, and N2 billion in 2023.

The improved financial performance stands in stark contrast to the period under former registrar Dibu Ojerinde, who served from 2007 to 2016. Ojerinde currently faces prosecution by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for allegedly misappropriating over N900 million in public funds during his tenure. His trial for financial misconduct and resource mismanagement continues.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Chad’s government announced that security forces thwarted an attempt to destabilize the country on Wednesday evening following gunfire near the presidential office in the capital, N’Djamena. Military personnel swiftly blocked off surrounding streets, and officials assured citizens that the situation was under control.

In a video recorded at the presidential headquarters, government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah described the incident as minor and said calm had been restored. “It was a little incident … everything is calm,” he stated in the footage shared on Facebook. “This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted.”

The events unfolded during an official visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, adding a diplomatic dimension to the unrest. Chad recently ended a long-standing defense pact with France, a key Western ally in combating Islamic militants in the Sahel region, marking a significant geopolitical shift.

Koulamallah, seen in the video with a handgun on his hip alongside soldiers armed with assault rifles, promised more details in due course. A security source, speaking anonymously, described the incident as a terrorist attack, explaining that individuals in three vehicles attempted to assault military camps near the president’s office but were neutralized by the army.

Eyewitness accounts painted a tense scene in N’Djamena. Abbas Mahamout Seid, a resident caught near Place de Nation on his motorcycle, recounted hearing intense gunfire and witnessing military vehicles converging on the area.

Chad is led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who assumed power in 2021 after the death of his father, long-serving President Idriss Deby, during a battle with northern militias. The elder Deby had ruled the oil-rich but impoverished nation since seizing power in a 1990 coup.

While the government insists the situation is under control, questions remain about the nature and origins of the attempted attack. Further details are expected to shed light on the incident.

Israeli troops recover body of Gaza hostage with signs son also killed

The body of Youssef Ziyadne, an Israeli Bedouin taken hostage by Hamas-led fighters on Oct. 7, 2023, has been found in a tunnel in Gaza, along with evidence suggesting his son may also have been killed, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear how Youssef Ziyadne had been killed but Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said his death did not appear to have been recent.

"We are currently investigating the circumstances of his death and we are also investigating the findings regarding his son," he told a briefing with reporters.

"These findings raise concern for his life and they are still being examined at this moment," he said, without giving details.

Earlier Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the bodies of both men had been recovered.

Shoshani said special forces soldiers had conducted a "complex and difficult operation" in a tunnel in the area of the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday, and that the body of Ziyadne had been recovered close to bodies of armed guards from Hamas or another Palestinian militant group.

Two other children of Ziyadne, who were also abducted at the same time, were released in an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners that took place in November 2023.

The recovery of Ziyadne's body took place as negotiators continued talks in Doha to halt the fighting in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages back as part of a deal that would include the return of a number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across the border 15 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war against Hamas, according to health officials in the enclave.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia

A Russian guided bomb attack on Wednesday killed at least 13 people and injured 63 in Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.

The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents. Public transport was also damaged in the strike.

Prosecutors in the region said 63 people had been injured. Rescue work had been completed at the site of the attack.

High-rise apartment blocks were damaged along with an industrial facility and other infrastructure, Ukraine's prosecutor general office said on Telegram. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, it added.

As emergency workers tried to resuscitate a man, raging flames, smoke and burnt cars could be seen in the background.

Russian troops had used two guided bombs to hit a residential area, the regional governor Ivan Fedorov told reporters.

At least four of the injured were rushed to hospital in serious condition, Fedorov said, adding that Thursday would be an official day of mourning.

"There is nothing more cruel than launching aerial bombs on a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X, urging Ukraine's Western allies to step up pressure on Russia.

Regional authorities reported further explosions after the first strike hit.

Fedorov said Russian troops shelled the town of Stepnohirsk, south of Zaporizhzhia, killing two people. Two residents were pulled alive from underneath rubble.

Russia regularly carries out air strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region, which its forces partially occupy, and its capital. Moscow claims to have annexed the Ukrainian region along with four others including Crimea.

Public broadcaster Suspilne also reported two people killed and 10 injured in attacks on several centres in the southern region of Kherson, also partially occupied by Russian forces.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian army captures 18 Ukrainian servicemen west of DPR's Kurakhovo

Eighteen Ukrainian servicemen have been taken prisoner west of the Kurakhovo settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Units of the Battlegroup South have taken more favorable positions. They defeated the formations of two mechanized and an air mobile brigades of the Ukrainian army in the areas of Seversk, Belogorovka, Chasov Yar, Vasyukovka and Yantarnoye in the DPR. Three counterattacks by enemy assault groups were repulsed. Ukraine lost more than 280 servicemen; 18 soldiers of the 46th air mobile brigade were captured west of Kurakhovo," it said.

Russia’s army also destroyed a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier, seven pickup trucks, two artillery pieces and an ammunition depot.

Air defenses

"Air defense means shot down six rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system and 105 fixed-wing drones," the ministry said.

It noted that a total of 652 airplanes, 283 helicopters, 39,723 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,290 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,507 multiple rocket launchers, 20,284 field artillery and mortar guns, and 29,983 items of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.

Reuters/ Tass

I’ve been meaning to sell some company stock and diversify into another investment for awhile now. Here’s the thing, though: it’s hard. Not the actual sale – that’s as easy as clicking a few buttons. But first I need to look up a bunch of stuff related to taxes. 

There are other details, too, that I’m going to have to call someone and ask about. Because that sounds miserable, I haven’t done it. 

Behavioral finance experts have a name for this cognitive bias: complexity aversion.

In my particular case, it’s not a huge deal. But if it’s keeping you from, say, investing in the stock market at all, it’s something you’d be wise to address, says Amos Nadler, founder of Prof of Wall Street and a Ph.D. in behavioral finance and neuroeconomics.

“It’s the biggest barrier to building wealth for people who are not in markets or who have never invested before,” he says.

Staying on the sidelines means sacrificing your greatest asset as an investor: time. The longer you invest, the more time you give your money to grow at a compounding rate. For every year you delay getting started in the market, you potentially shave thousands of dollars off your future net worth.

Consider a 20-year-old who invests $200 a month into a retirement portfolio that earns an annualized total return of 8%. By the time she’s ready to retire at age 67, she’ll have $1.25 million saved. If she starts at age 25, with all other conditions the same, her total drops to about $830,000. And if she puts things off until age 30, she’d retire with $547,000.

Spend a few minutes playing around with Make It’scompounding interest calculator and you can see for yourself.

So if enrolling in that 401(k), for example, has seemed too complicated, now’s the time to talk to someone in HR about getting started. Your future self will thank you.

CNBC

The Nigerian stock market experienced its first decline of the year yesterday, with market capitalization dropping by N152 billion to close at N63.051 trillion. The all-share index (ASI) fell by 249.42 points (0.24%) to close at 103,398.82 points, primarily due to sell-offs in Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) and 50 other stocks.

Market Performance:

The market showed negative investor sentiment, with 51 stocks declining compared to 19 advancing. Trading volume increased by 30% to 1.112 billion units, valued at N14.638 billion across 16,617 deals.

Top Gainers:

- Abbey Mortgage Bank and PZ Cussons Nigeria: Both up 10% (closing at N3.63 and N27.50 respectively)

- Learn Africa: Up 9.90% (closing at N5.44)

- NCR Nigeria: Up 9.77% (closing at N7.30)

- Nigerian Exchange Group: Up 9.72% (closing at N29.90)

Top Losers:

- FTN Cocoa Processors, RT Briscoe Nigeria, and Veritas Kapital Assurance: All down 10%

- SUNU Assurance and Cornerstone Insurance: Both down 9.98%

- Honeywell Flour Mills: Down 9.92%

Most Active Stocks:

FBNH Holdings led trading activity with 161.46 million shares (N4.715 billion), followed by AIICO Insurance with 120.703 million shares (N225.444 million).

Market Outlook:

Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage note that the ASI's slower start this January contrasts with the 6.5% gain seen in early 2024. They attribute cautious investor sentiment to higher fixed-income yields and predict selective buying in the next trading session.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reported an overwhelming response to its 2024/2025 recruitment drive, with 573,519 applications received in just one week after the portal opened. This comes after Federal Government approval to hire 3,927 officers, as confirmed by Finance Minister Olawale Edun.

NCS National Public Relations Officer Abdullahi Maiwada provided a detailed breakdown of the applications across different positions:

For Superintendent Cadre:

- General Duty: 249,218 applicants

- Support Staff (requiring HND or university degree): 27,722 applicants

For Inspector Cadre (requiring NCE or National Diploma):

- General Duty: 115,634 applicants

- Support Staff: 12,952 applicants

For Customs Assistant Cadre (requiring secondary school certificates):

- General Duty: 153,593 applicants

- Support Staff: 14,400 applicants

The Customs Assistant positions are open to candidates with secondary school certificates, with separate categories for those who have a minimum of five credits including Mathematics and English, and those without these specific subjects.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Four days after Boko Haram militants launched a deadly assault on a military base in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, numerous soldiers remain missing, according to credible security sources.

The attack, which occurred at 4 p.m. on Saturday, targeted the Forward Operating Base in Sabon Gari. The assault involved a large number of insurgents, who overwhelmed the base’s defenses.

Despite ongoing efforts, the military and Borno State government have yet to issue an official statement. However, military insiders revealed that the casualty toll is rising as more bodies are being recovered.

“Some soldiers died en route to the hospital in Maiduguri, while many others remain unaccounted for,” said a military source. “It’s still too early to confirm exact figures, but over 12 bodies have been recovered so far.”

Another source confirmed to Daily Trust that the attackers dislodged the base, carted away equipment, and planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to thwart reinforcements. “The Forward Operations Base of the 25 Task Force Brigade was responsible for securing southern Damboa and curbing Boko Haram and ISWAP activities. Unfortunately, the base was overrun, with soldiers killed, equipment stolen, and others still missing,” the source added.

The base had an operational strength of 110 soldiers, but only about half have been accounted for so far.

The attack comes amid increasing sophistication in insurgent tactics. Two weeks prior, ISWAP fighters used modified drones in an attack on a neighboring base in Wajiroko, a sign of advanced planning and capabilities.

Residents and sources have linked the recent attacks to militants fleeing intensified military operations in the Lake Chad region. Many are believed to have regrouped in Sambisa Forest, joining factions loyal to the late Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

Efforts to obtain official casualty figures from the Defence Headquarters have been unsuccessful. Calls and messages to Major-General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, remained unanswered as of press time.

The decade-long Boko Haram insurgency has devastated northeastern Nigeria, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. Neighboring countries, including Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, have also been drawn into the conflict, which continues to pose a severe security challenge for the region.

Gunmen kidnapped at least 46 people, including women and children, in a raid on Gana town in Nigeria's northwest Zamfara state, residents and a local traditional leader said on Tuesday.

The attack, which follows a similar mass kidnapping in the state last month, occurred at about 2200 GMT on Sunday, with dozens of gunmen on motorbikes unleashing a barrage of gunfire on the community and setting fire to several homes and businesses, residents said.

Zamfara police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar was unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters. Efforts to reach him by phone and text message were unsuccessful.

Northwest Nigeria has been plagued by armed gangs, known locally as bandits, who routinely terrorize communities, leaving a trail of death and kidnapping victims, including residents, farmers, students and motorists, who are often held for ransom.

Garba Haure, a traditional leader in Gana, said the intervention of government security forces prevented the assailants from setting the entire town ablaze. No lives were lost, he said.

"We have 46 men, women and children that have been abducted altogether, and still counting," Haure said.

Bala Harauma, a resident, told Reuters the actual count of abducted individuals could be higher. Six people managed to escape while the armed gang moved the captives in the early hours of Monday, Harauma added.

Another resident, Yusuf Mohammed, reported that the bandits set ablaze dozens of houses and silos containing foodstuffs.

The captives taken in the December attack were freed after a ransom was paid, residents said.

Reuters

Trump Middle East envoy predicts 'good things' to announce on Gaza hostages before inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday he hopes to have good things to report about hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as U.S. president on Jan. 20.

"Well, I think we're making a lot of progress, and I don't want to say too much because I think they're doing a really good job back in Doha," Witkoff said at a Trump press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.

Doha has been hosting negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza war that would include freeing hostages that Hamas abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Doha is capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, which along with Egypt and the U.S. has been mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Witkoff said that he if did not travel back to Doha on Tuesday night, he would head there on Wednesday night.

"I think that we've had some really great progress, and I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural, we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president," Witkoff said.

Trump, a Republican who will succeed Democratic President Joe Biden, repeated his threat that "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if Hamas does not release the hostages by the time he takes office.

"It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone," he said.

Hamas-led Islamist militants killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250, including Israeli-American dual nationals, during their Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 100 hostages have been freed through negotiations or Israeli military rescue operations. Of the 101 still held in Gaza, roughly half are believed to be alive.

Israel's subsequent campaign against Hamas has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced nearly all of the population in Hamas-ruled Gaza and reduced much of its territory to rubble.

Reuters