Sunday Ojeme
More pupils in secondary schools are still finding it difficult to see mathematics as an easy subject, contrary to what some mathematicians say. In their desire to study science-related subjects and take after their doctor and engineer idols, they have often been discouraged by their inability to understand the intricacies of calculation.
The development has again re-echoed the plans by the Lagos State Government, through the Teachers’ Development Programme, to introduce subject teaching methods in all the schools in the state.
The effort, which was initiated by the State Universal Basic Education Board in 2006, is meant to sharpen the teaching skills of the teachers and simplify the learning of certain subjects.
In an encounter with our correspondent in Lagos on Wednesday, some students, cutting across some schools in Lagos State, and a few others currently in the state for the Christmas holiday, called on the authorities to strengthen the scheme so as to make the teaching and understanding of mathematics easier and more student-friendly.
Some of the students, who were having fun in some of the public parks, said their desire to read science-oriented courses in the higher institutions had become shaky due to their inability to comprehend the various calculations in some of the science-related subjects.
Master Desire Kio, a JS3 student from Rivers State, expressed worries that in spite of his personal efforts over the years, his dream to become an engineer in future was already being threatened by his inability to grasp the various mathematical formulas. He said his father’s sympathy to his ordeal had compelled him to engage a mathematics teacher whose efforts had hardly yielded any result.
According to him, “My inability to fully understand mathematics is one of the problems I am having in school. I am good at other subjects, but the ones I really need to become an engineer, which is my dream, are giving me problem. Physics and mathematics have really posed problem for me and my father’s efforts to help has equally not been fruitful.
“I believe part of the problem has to do with the way some teachers handle the two subjects. There should be more practical and effective ways to teach it so as to enable students to understand the subjects. I am saying this because I improved under a particular teacher during his short stay in my school. All the same, I am now working to pursue a course in accountancy.”
Kio, who lamented the disappointment, said a more practical and down-to-earth method should be adopted for the teaching of mathematics and other subjects that had to do with calculation.
On his part, Master Ochuko Thomas, an SS2 student from Delta State, said he simply could not face the rigours of calculation in his early years in the secondary school. He said he never hid his hatred for the subject as soon as he discovered that he could not assimilate it like a few others in his class when he was still in JS2.
According to him, “I did not want to deceive myself for too long. I am only managing to get along just to enable me secure admission and study something that does not require much of calculation. I intend studying either political science or mass communication because I see myself excelling in any of these fields.”
However, in the midst of the fun-loving kids, an SS3 female student, who recently won a scholarship from her school, Miss Obianuju Madu, said she was in love with all subjects, including mathematics. She said although she used to find mathematics difficult in the past, there was an improvement when she took the subject more seriously in her JS3 class.
According to her, “It was a personal decision that I took. Since then, I have not regretted the efforts I committed to excelling in the subject. I am happy that my dream to study medicine in the higher institution is gradually coming to reality.
“But whether one is good or not also depends on the teacher handling the subject. If the teacher is not too good in teaching the subject, the students will find it difficult to understand. That is why some parents still find it necessary to engage private teachers for their children as well as enrolling them in lessons.”
At the inauguration of the TDP, the Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Oluwagbemiga O.T. Benson, said there was a need for the board to collaborate with other institutions to train teachers, especially on the need for specialisation.
She said the course contents, which include papers on continuous assessment and the effective teaching of each of the core subjects (Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Integrated Science) would also update and sharpen teachers’ skills for the development of the child.
According to her, the training and re-training is the key to the success of any organisation and teachers are no exception as they have to be brought up-to-date in modern trends of teaching and moulding the lives of the young ones who are the future leaders of the nation.
A representative of Sede Mathematics Laboratory, Mrs. Abosede Peter-Thomas, said mathematics is of utmost importance because it forms the foundation of science and needs to be made as simple as possible so that students would not run away with the impression that it was a very difficult subject.
She decried the low use of textbooks by both teachers and students saying the era of lesson notes had taken over the use of textbooks.
She said, “The problem we are having with the teaching of mathematics is not a case of laziness on the part of students or that teachers are not doing their job, but a simple case of ignoring the concepts of mathematics. Students must be taught to move according to the plan of their textbook, so that the choice of textbook becomes very important. Our goal is to teach teachers how to encourage their students to finish their textbook.”
A mathematics teacher in one of the private schools in Lagos, Mr. Babatunde Adewunmi, supported the pupils’ call for better teaching methods. He said the teachers and students had formed the habit of blaming themselves over the abysmal performance in the subject.
According to him, “The students may have their own problems but the fact remains that the teachers too sometimes compound the problem. There are some teachers who actually know the subject but they find it difficult to impart it on the pupils. In my own days, I used to fail mathematics but today that is what is putting food on my table.”
He said mathematics is an easy subject to learn by any student who is mentally fit, adding that some students lack the basic foundation of the subject before moving from one class to another. He said 70 per cent of the problem should be blamed on the teachers.
On the issue of textbooks, he said emphasis should not be placed on textbooks because if textbooks would really help, then there would be no need for teaching. He said textbooks become necessary only when the topic has not been properly introduced by the teacher.
As a panacea for the seeming intractable and age-old problem, the National Mathematical Centre is evolving a programme aimed at getting state governments to address the dismal performance in mathematics in public schools.
The Director-General, NMC, Prof. Sam Ale, said the poor performance was attributable to poor teaching methodology rather than curricula content.
To help the pupils, the centre has initiated some projects capable of encouraging the teaching and learning of mathematics in schools and state governments are expected to adopt the projects to enhance performance in the subject at all levels.
The projects include mathematical games, mathematics laboratory, as well as teaching modules and workbooks for primary and secondary schools.
The director-general revealed that a trial run of the projects in Katsina State raised the number of successful students in mathematics in both NECO and the West African School Certificate examinations from five per cent to 90 per cent.
He said, “Our target has always been to bring mathematics to the doorstep of every Nigerian, to make mathematics as interesting to teach and learn as any language.”
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Friday 28 December 2007
Sunday 2 December 2007
Law Union grows profit by 157% in third quarter
Sunday Ojeme
Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc has recorded a profit growth of 156.87 per cent in its unaudited financial accounts for the third quarter ended September 30 2007. The insurance firm reported a pre-tax profit of N700.89m, an improvement compared with the total profit of N272.85m recorded in the corresponding period of 2006.
A statement on Saturday said the profit resulted from a gross written premium of N2.01bn, representing an increase of 94.7 per cent over the total earnings of N1.03bn achieved in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The statement said the company’s nine-month turnover of N2.01bn was more than its 2006 full year turnover of N1.33bn by 51 per cent. The company’s net premium income in the nine months under reference was N1.85bn as against N854.28m recorded as at September 2006.
The product lines that contributed principally to the huge volume reported were motor business, N403.1m; fire, N338.4m; engineering, N223.20m; and goods in transit, N102.66m.
The company reported improvement in all its health indicators, which is consistent with its performance record in the last four years.
The statement attributed the bullish performance of Law Union & Rock in recent years to the process upgrade and overall re-engineering of the company which started in 2004. The company has posted impressive numbers following the implementation of the turnaround project. The run is expected to be enhanced by the recent release of the offer proceeds of 2006 to the 49 insurance companies, including Law Union and Rock, cleared to operate in the industry as successfully recapitalised companies.
According to the statement, the release of the money held in escrow account at the Central Bank of Nigeria in the last one year means an inflow of more than N2.5bn into the company’s vault.
The statement added that with a capital base of more than N5bn, the company was well positioned to play in the big league in the Nigerian insurance market.
The statement said, “The company is striking up alliances at home and abroad to position itself for bigger market challenges. It is one of the six Nigerian underwriters that recently formed the First Energy Insurance Consortium which was officially unveiled in Lagos on November 16 2007. The consortium is targeted at big insurable risks in the oil & gas sector.”
Law Union’s stock traded above N4 at the close of business in the week ending November 23.
Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc has recorded a profit growth of 156.87 per cent in its unaudited financial accounts for the third quarter ended September 30 2007. The insurance firm reported a pre-tax profit of N700.89m, an improvement compared with the total profit of N272.85m recorded in the corresponding period of 2006.
A statement on Saturday said the profit resulted from a gross written premium of N2.01bn, representing an increase of 94.7 per cent over the total earnings of N1.03bn achieved in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The statement said the company’s nine-month turnover of N2.01bn was more than its 2006 full year turnover of N1.33bn by 51 per cent. The company’s net premium income in the nine months under reference was N1.85bn as against N854.28m recorded as at September 2006.
The product lines that contributed principally to the huge volume reported were motor business, N403.1m; fire, N338.4m; engineering, N223.20m; and goods in transit, N102.66m.
The company reported improvement in all its health indicators, which is consistent with its performance record in the last four years.
The statement attributed the bullish performance of Law Union & Rock in recent years to the process upgrade and overall re-engineering of the company which started in 2004. The company has posted impressive numbers following the implementation of the turnaround project. The run is expected to be enhanced by the recent release of the offer proceeds of 2006 to the 49 insurance companies, including Law Union and Rock, cleared to operate in the industry as successfully recapitalised companies.
According to the statement, the release of the money held in escrow account at the Central Bank of Nigeria in the last one year means an inflow of more than N2.5bn into the company’s vault.
The statement added that with a capital base of more than N5bn, the company was well positioned to play in the big league in the Nigerian insurance market.
The statement said, “The company is striking up alliances at home and abroad to position itself for bigger market challenges. It is one of the six Nigerian underwriters that recently formed the First Energy Insurance Consortium which was officially unveiled in Lagos on November 16 2007. The consortium is targeted at big insurable risks in the oil & gas sector.”
Law Union’s stock traded above N4 at the close of business in the week ending November 23.
IGI gets licence to float bank in Uganda February
Sunday Ojeme
Industrial and General Insurance Company has finalised arrangements to open a commercial bank in Uganda by February 2008 after obtaining an operating licence from the Bank of Uganda.
According to a Uganda-based newspaper, Daily Monitor, IGI received its license from Bank of Uganda to start operations three weeks ago. It will be joining Kenya Commercial Bank that opened early last week, among the new entrants on the country’s increasingly competitive financial services market.
With the development, more than 250 Ugandans would be directly and indirectly employed when the bank starts its operations.
IGI has been operating in Uganda as a dominant insurance firm after acquiring 60 per cent equity in Uganda’s government owned National Insurance Corporation.
According to the Chairman of NIC, Chief Remi Olowude, IGI identified many gaps in the financial services sector that needed to be urgently addressed.
He said, "We are moving beyond insurance to become a financial services provider in the whole East African region."
He spoke at the location where the new bank whose brand name is Continental Trust Bank will be housed.
Olowude said IGI would initially embark on a robust penetration in the rural areas, with longer banking hours and establish a presence with "surprise products," which every Ugandan can afford.
However, NIC customers will have special arrangements when dealing with the bank.
The Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said the development would attract more confidence in Nigerian entrepreneurs to invest in Uganda because of its open door policy for investors.
"It's time for business people in Africa to start intra-trade investments to build each other's economies," he said.
Opening the bank comes at a time when NIC in finalising plans to float 40 per cent shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange.
Olowude said the value of the company had increased over the past months thus affecting the share price; but that they are working to ensure that as many Ugandans as possible buy into the company.
Industrial and General Insurance Company has finalised arrangements to open a commercial bank in Uganda by February 2008 after obtaining an operating licence from the Bank of Uganda.
According to a Uganda-based newspaper, Daily Monitor, IGI received its license from Bank of Uganda to start operations three weeks ago. It will be joining Kenya Commercial Bank that opened early last week, among the new entrants on the country’s increasingly competitive financial services market.
With the development, more than 250 Ugandans would be directly and indirectly employed when the bank starts its operations.
IGI has been operating in Uganda as a dominant insurance firm after acquiring 60 per cent equity in Uganda’s government owned National Insurance Corporation.
According to the Chairman of NIC, Chief Remi Olowude, IGI identified many gaps in the financial services sector that needed to be urgently addressed.
He said, "We are moving beyond insurance to become a financial services provider in the whole East African region."
He spoke at the location where the new bank whose brand name is Continental Trust Bank will be housed.
Olowude said IGI would initially embark on a robust penetration in the rural areas, with longer banking hours and establish a presence with "surprise products," which every Ugandan can afford.
However, NIC customers will have special arrangements when dealing with the bank.
The Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said the development would attract more confidence in Nigerian entrepreneurs to invest in Uganda because of its open door policy for investors.
"It's time for business people in Africa to start intra-trade investments to build each other's economies," he said.
Opening the bank comes at a time when NIC in finalising plans to float 40 per cent shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange.
Olowude said the value of the company had increased over the past months thus affecting the share price; but that they are working to ensure that as many Ugandans as possible buy into the company.
Insurance: Facing another challenge with fake operators
By Sunday Ojeme
Two weeks ago, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel re-echoed the threat by fake insurers to continue their illegal operations despite efforts by the Federal Government to sanitise the sector.
At the inauguration of the National Insurance Commission unit of SERVICOM in Abuja, he said the fake insurance companies would be chased out of the market as the industry was currently undergoing reforms.
This, according to him, is to ensure that the newly approved companies are allowed to protect the rights of Nigerian especially the insured, through the payment of compensation.
He condemned the attitude of some service providers and promised harsher measures to ensure that the industry defended itself in serving Nigerians well in the spirit of SERVICOM.
Like his predecessors, the NAICOM boss has commenced another battle to rid the sector of fakes who operate in different guises. The fact that the industry was poorly regulated for a very long time in the past gave rise to the predominance of fake companies that rendered various forms of insurance services.
The problem has also been blamed on the conservative attitude of the genuine operators, who, in the past, never bothered to give enough publicity to their operations as well as protect their documents.
Even with the efforts made so far in the last four years, or so, to cleanse the sector, some operators still allow various vehicle licensing offices to retain their documents, thereby giving fillip to the offices to abuse the documents.
This is the more reason the Third Party vehicle insurance has been the most abused of all insurance policies.
In one of his public outings last year, former Commissioner for Insurance, Chief Emmanuel Chukwulozie, said the channels of premium leakage through capital flight in the oil and gas energy sector and the operations of fake insurance institutions had been closely monitored and identified. He said they were also being effectively blocked and sealed by NAICOM for optimum productivity and maximum benefit to the industry and the country at large.
To check the fake operators, NAICOM placed a ban on the sale and purchase of insurance policies and certificates in all licensing offices throughout the federation and policyholders were advised to obtain their insurance covers only in the offices of registered insurance companies.
Insurance companies were also advised to place their operational certificates issued by NAICOM conspicuously in their offices while the full implementation of the controversial Vehicle Insurance Sticker policy was expected to erase operations in the case of fake vehicle insurance.
According to him, ”We anticipate that this will not take too long. The same action is being effected in the oil and gas sector. In due course, all leakages points shall be effectively barricaded.”
Contrary to the erroneous belief that the Third Party only covers compensation for a victim’s vehicle in the event of an accident, the Third Party Insurance Act actually provides that in the event of an accident-victims will be compensated for bodily injury, death, medical expenses or property damage. Contravention of this provision attracts payment of a fine of N250,000 or one year imprisonment or both.
The Act also provides that, it is an offence to forge, alter, mutilate or deface any certificate of insurance; to use or allow being used by another person any forged, altered, mutilated or defaced certificate of insurance; to lend or borrow a certificate of insurance; and to make or have in one‘s possession, a fake certificate of insurance calculated to deceive.
Apart from the illegal operations of the licensing offices, some travel agents are also involved in issuing fake insurance covers to travelers either deliberately or ignorantly.
In 2004, an agency, which had an affiliation with an insurance company in Denmark, was in the habit of issuing insurance certificates to travelers illegally for a long time until NAICOM, under the leadership of Chief Oladipo Bailey, intervened.
To make matters worse, the insurance operators have not thought it wise to organise an interaction with the Nigeria Police, which is one agency that can help ensure that the public put a stop to patronising fakes. The illegal transaction on fake insurance documents at the licensing offices thrives because those who patronise them do that to beat only the police checkpoints.
The system has become so chaotic that even the insurance companies are finding it difficult to identify their own policy certificates, while the law enforcement agencies are completely incapacitated in that regard.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Managing Director of Union Asurance, Mr. Theo Egesi, said the activities of the fake operators had become disturbing to the genuine operators. Specifically, he said the operation thrived most at the licensing offices more because most insurance companies that had been axed had a lot of their unused documents still littering some of the offices.
He, however, said that the reforms in the industry would go a long way in checking the menace, just as he advised the genuine operators to embark on individual campaigns to enlighten motorists on the need to get genuine policy certificates from registered companies.
Two weeks ago, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel re-echoed the threat by fake insurers to continue their illegal operations despite efforts by the Federal Government to sanitise the sector.
At the inauguration of the National Insurance Commission unit of SERVICOM in Abuja, he said the fake insurance companies would be chased out of the market as the industry was currently undergoing reforms.
This, according to him, is to ensure that the newly approved companies are allowed to protect the rights of Nigerian especially the insured, through the payment of compensation.
He condemned the attitude of some service providers and promised harsher measures to ensure that the industry defended itself in serving Nigerians well in the spirit of SERVICOM.
Like his predecessors, the NAICOM boss has commenced another battle to rid the sector of fakes who operate in different guises. The fact that the industry was poorly regulated for a very long time in the past gave rise to the predominance of fake companies that rendered various forms of insurance services.
The problem has also been blamed on the conservative attitude of the genuine operators, who, in the past, never bothered to give enough publicity to their operations as well as protect their documents.
Even with the efforts made so far in the last four years, or so, to cleanse the sector, some operators still allow various vehicle licensing offices to retain their documents, thereby giving fillip to the offices to abuse the documents.
This is the more reason the Third Party vehicle insurance has been the most abused of all insurance policies.
In one of his public outings last year, former Commissioner for Insurance, Chief Emmanuel Chukwulozie, said the channels of premium leakage through capital flight in the oil and gas energy sector and the operations of fake insurance institutions had been closely monitored and identified. He said they were also being effectively blocked and sealed by NAICOM for optimum productivity and maximum benefit to the industry and the country at large.
To check the fake operators, NAICOM placed a ban on the sale and purchase of insurance policies and certificates in all licensing offices throughout the federation and policyholders were advised to obtain their insurance covers only in the offices of registered insurance companies.
Insurance companies were also advised to place their operational certificates issued by NAICOM conspicuously in their offices while the full implementation of the controversial Vehicle Insurance Sticker policy was expected to erase operations in the case of fake vehicle insurance.
According to him, ”We anticipate that this will not take too long. The same action is being effected in the oil and gas sector. In due course, all leakages points shall be effectively barricaded.”
Contrary to the erroneous belief that the Third Party only covers compensation for a victim’s vehicle in the event of an accident, the Third Party Insurance Act actually provides that in the event of an accident-victims will be compensated for bodily injury, death, medical expenses or property damage. Contravention of this provision attracts payment of a fine of N250,000 or one year imprisonment or both.
The Act also provides that, it is an offence to forge, alter, mutilate or deface any certificate of insurance; to use or allow being used by another person any forged, altered, mutilated or defaced certificate of insurance; to lend or borrow a certificate of insurance; and to make or have in one‘s possession, a fake certificate of insurance calculated to deceive.
Apart from the illegal operations of the licensing offices, some travel agents are also involved in issuing fake insurance covers to travelers either deliberately or ignorantly.
In 2004, an agency, which had an affiliation with an insurance company in Denmark, was in the habit of issuing insurance certificates to travelers illegally for a long time until NAICOM, under the leadership of Chief Oladipo Bailey, intervened.
To make matters worse, the insurance operators have not thought it wise to organise an interaction with the Nigeria Police, which is one agency that can help ensure that the public put a stop to patronising fakes. The illegal transaction on fake insurance documents at the licensing offices thrives because those who patronise them do that to beat only the police checkpoints.
The system has become so chaotic that even the insurance companies are finding it difficult to identify their own policy certificates, while the law enforcement agencies are completely incapacitated in that regard.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Managing Director of Union Asurance, Mr. Theo Egesi, said the activities of the fake operators had become disturbing to the genuine operators. Specifically, he said the operation thrived most at the licensing offices more because most insurance companies that had been axed had a lot of their unused documents still littering some of the offices.
He, however, said that the reforms in the industry would go a long way in checking the menace, just as he advised the genuine operators to embark on individual campaigns to enlighten motorists on the need to get genuine policy certificates from registered companies.
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