FG Scraps UTME, NECO, NAPEP, others

indications emerged last night that the Federal Government may have resolved to scrap some of its agencies in line with the recommendations of the Steve Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies following the completion of study of its White Paper Committee report.
Among those scrapped are Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE), National Examination Council (NECO), Public Complaints Commission, National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Fiscal Mobilization and Allocation Commission among others.
The Oronsaye committee had recommended the abolition of 38 agencies, the merger of 52 and the reversion of 14 to departments in the ministries from which they were carved out, a move the committee argued would save the government more than N862 billion between 2012 and 2015 should its proposal be adopted.
A reliable government source confirmed that President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and selected senior aides of the president met twice and eventually took decisions, which included the scrapping of some agencies and merging of others.
Another source revealed that the with the scrapping of the UTME, individual universities in the country would conduct their own admission examinations and admit students while the Joint Matriculation and Examination Board will set and ensure compliance to standards as it acts as the clearing house.
The source said JAMB would be modeled along the line of Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS), the central organization through which applications are processed for entry to higher education in the United Kingdom.
According to the source, “individual universities will do their own examination and admission. If you want to apply to a university, you do so but in order not to have a situation where one person gets multiple admission, JAMB acts as a clearing house to free up spaces. All the universities are free now to admit students.” Even though details were still being worked out, it was learnt that government’s decision, was informed by the need to promote merit in admission into the nation’s universities because “the idea is to ensure that the best students go to the best universities.”
The source further disclosed that the president had also approved that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) is now expected to take over the functions and vast infrastructure of NECO, which now ceases to exist. The sources confirmed that WAEC would now conduct two external examinations in a year, January and November. The Public Complaints Commission is to be merged with the Human Rights Commission, just as NAPEP would also be scrapped and replaced National Agency for Job Creation and Empowerment.
The Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation made far-reaching recommendations, which, it explained, were aimed at helping the government to effect a drastic reduction in the size of its bloated bureaucracy, eliminating duplication of functions and bringing down the cost of governance. The committee submitted its report to the president in April last year.

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Woman Gang-Raped For 6 Hours As Boyfriend Watched

An American tourist who was attacked in Rio de Janeiro was gang raped in front of her boyfriend, it emerged yesterday.
The young woman and the Frenchman were apparently subjected to a six-hour ordeal by three men after flagging down a public transit van in the Brazilian city.

The horrific crime has sparked fear among visitors to the metropolis, which is set to host next year's football World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics.
A few minutes after the pair of tourists boarded the mini-bus on Friday night, the operators ordered the other passengers to get off and inflicted a 'party of evil' on the couple.
The three assailants took turns raping the woman and beating the man, whom they handcuffed and sometimes struck with a metal crowbar, police investigator Alexandre Braga said yesterday.
The men split up the driving, ending up in Rio's sister city of Niteroi across, where they went on a spending spree with the foreigners' credit cards.
Once they hit the limit on both cards, spending around $500 at gas stations and convenience stores, the suspects drove the pair back to Rio and forced the woman to fetch another credit card, Mr Braga said.
He said that she did not dare call for help at this point 'because the young man was still under the suspects' control and she feared something even worse might happen to him'.
Around six hours after they were kidnapped, the tourists - both in their early 20s - were dumped by the side of highway 30 miles away from Rio.
They managed to reach a consulate, where staff helped them contact police. The woman has returned home, while the man is still in Brazil helping officers with their inquiries.
Wallace Aparecido Souza Silva, Carlos Armando Costa dos Santos and Jonathan Foudakis de Souza have been arrested on suspicion of the crime.
'The victims recognised the three without a shadow of a doubt,' Mr Braga said. The men's mug shots were also recognised by another woman who said she'd been raped by the three under similar circumstances last month.
Two of the suspects have confessed to Saturday's attack, while the third denies any responsibility.
Many are now asking whether Rio authorities, who have succeeded in cracking down on much of the city's drug violence, are up to the task of protecting the waves of tourists expected to flood the city during the World Cup and Olympics.
Some 2million people are also expected to flock to the city in late July for World Youth Day, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage that Pope Francis is scheduled to attend.
Observers said the attack came as a particular shock given that safety has improved at least in the city's tourist-friendly seaside neighbourhoods.
'No one expects to be attacked in Disneyland, handcuffed and roughed up,' said Alfredo Lopes, the head of the hotel association. 'Copacabana is our Disneyland.'
The suspects allegedly rented their van, which seats about a dozen people and has dark tinted windows, from the vehicle's owner, who has not been linked to the attack.
Rio's van services are widely reviled for their precarious safety conditions and reckless driving, as well as their links to organised crime.
Some vans are run by militias largely composed of former police and firemen who control large swaths of the city's slums and run clandestine transportation and other services. In general, tourists avoid the vans and opt for regular buses or taxis.
Australian visitors Emma Richardson and Jason Sestic said they have been taking extraordinary precautions throughout their weeklong stay in Rio.
'We've stayed well away from Copacabana and the beach areas at night,' Mr Sestic said. 'I'm a pretty paranoid person in general and I've heard enough stories about here to be really paranoid.'

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