By Philip Yatai

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said on Thursday that it would establish the FCT University of Technology to increase access to tertiary education and decongest the FCT College of Education Zuba, Abuja.

The Mandate Secretary, Education Secretariat, FCTA, Dr Danlami Hayyo, disclosed this during the inauguration of Deans, Directors, Head of Departments, Chairmen and members of Standing Committees of College of Education, Zuba.

Hayyo said that education is one of the priority sectors of President Bola Tinubu-led administration, adding that the education secretariat would do everything possible to support government’s education agenda.

He pointed out the need for additional tertiary institutions in the nation’s capital to decongest the population in the FCT College of Education Zuba.

“Establishing the university will help to reduce the pressure at the college, and if possible, we will also establish a polytechnic to accommodate the large number of youths seeking tertiary education in FCT,” he said.

The secretary promised to ensure improved funding for the college with a view to improving the infrastructure and critical facilities of the college of education.

Earlier, the Provost of the College, Dr Sule Mundi, explained that the event was to inaugurate newly elected and appointed management staff and recognise other staff for their hard work.

Mundi identified the offices as Deans of Schools, Head of Departments, Directors and Heads of Unit and Programmes.

He also explained that the award was to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of the nominees, applaud their contributions and be inspired by their dedication and resolve towards their passion.

“Whether we are honouring individuals who have contributed significantly to their professions as teachers, or those that made outstanding contributions to their various units, these awards are testament to the commitment to excellence,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

By Salisu Sani-Idris

A 25-year-old Nigerian filmmaker, Idorenyen Uko, has achieved academic excellence by graduating with the highest distinction from the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles (NYFA’s).

The News. Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uko, who hails from Akwa ibom boasted a perfect cumulative grade point average of 4.00.

During her academic journey at the academy, Uko, directed and produced outstanding films like “Sincerely Me” and “Error Connection”.

” Each of the films showcased her unique storytelling style and cinematic flair.

In a telephone interview with NAN on Wednesday, Uko said that her ambitious and vision extended beyond the bright lights of Hollywood.

She also expressed her passion for returning to Nigeria to revolutionise the country’s film industry.

Uko said: “I aspire to create films that resonate with both Nigerian and international audiences alike.

” Our stories are unique, and it’s high time they received the global recognition they rightfully deserve.

“I firmly believe we can achieve Hollywood-level production quality while staying true to our cultural roots.”

According to her, she received the prestigious Summa Cum Laude distinction at NYFA’s commencement ceremony, held in August.

Uko said that the event was attended by fellow graduates, faculty members, family, and friends, all gathered to celebrate her remarkable journey and promising future. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

By Taiye Olayemi

Ikeja Dynamic Lions Club, an arm of Lions International District 404B2, Nigeria,  has donated school books, bags, story books and other stationery to pupils of Agidingbi Primary School,in Lagos.

Speaking during the gift presentation, Mr Sanyaolu Opeyemi, President of the club,  said that the gesture was extended to the school in commemoration of the 2023 World Literacy Day.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Literacy Day is celebrated annually on Sept. 8, to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Opeyemi said that the club was operating with its annual theme,  “Service With Love”, which also necessitated the act of gifting the pupils educational aid.

He said over 500 story books, 200 school bags, 2,000 exercise books, 200 biros and 500 pencils with erasers were donated.

He said uniforms were also sewn for some of the pupils who did not have.

“This is our way of giving back to the society to commemorate the World Literacy Day, bearing in mind the theme for the year in the Lions Club, “Service with Love”.

“We will come back to do more for the school; we have another big project on the way; we will spread the kind gesture to other schools around Ikeja Local Government Area.

“We appreciate Belloxxi biscuit for their generosity shown toward the children,” he said.

Also speaking, Mrs Oluwakemi Abimbola, Second Vice District Governor of the club,  described the donation as a significant and signature project, urging the pupils to make good use of all the materials donated.

She called on the staff of the school to join the club as it is a voluntary and humanitarian society.

Mr Lekan Owolabi, immediate past District Governor of the club, commended the current leadership for believing in the future of the pupils.

Owolabi said this was an opportunity given to the children to realise their full potential.

“With this, we are securing your future, it is better to nurture you properly so we will not take the fate of having our future in jeopardy because you are the future of tomorrow,” he said.

In her response, Mrs Deji Alao, Head Teacher of the school, said, “I believe God is solidly behind us here, I thank Ikeja Dynamic Lions Club for the humanitarian job done so far.

“We have been enjoying this gesture,  at least three times in a session, your charity work is really appreciated.

“I pray that your own children will never be stranded in life.”

Mr Popoola Ayodeji, representing Mr Shittu Babatunde, Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said, “This act of kindness will spur the children to also give back to their society when they are older. We appreciate you.” (NAN) (nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran

By Funmilayo Adeyemi

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has called for the total overhauling of the higher education system to put the universities and other tertiary institutions at par with others around the globe.

Mamman made this known while declaring open the 8th edition of the “Libsense” Open Science Symposium in Abuja on Wednesday with the theme:” Advancing Open Science and Collaboration:The role of Stakeholders”.

The event is organised by the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) in partnership with the West and Central African Research Education Network (WACREN) and other partners.

Represented by the Director of University Education in the ministry, Mrs Rakiya Ilyasu, the minister said the ministry is committed to fostering the role of science through partnership from shared knowledge.

“Higher education is an education designed to produce manpower for the social, economic and technological development of the country.

“It is however, unfortunate that our higher education sub-sector is plagued with many challenges such as inadequate funding, corruption, inadequate infrastructural facilities, shortage of academic staff, strike actions, brain-drain, poor research, weak governance and insecurity, among others.

“You will agree with me that, the higher education landscape in Nigeria requires a total overhaul so that it can effectively put Nigeria universities and other levels of tertiary institutions at par with others around the globe,”he said.

The minister added that president Bola Tinubu is aware of the enormity of challenges of Nigeria’s higher education and fully prepared to confront them headlong.

He said in addressing this information the president decision to improve the education budget to 25 per cent with the right policies in place.

“We need to understand that before we can harness our human resources, we need to be sure of what we need to do to fill in the gaps that have, over the years, inexplicably pulled us back.

“We need to know the extent at which we have met contemporary demands of tertiary education globally and if it is not sufficient, how to address them.

“I passionately appeal to the roadmap committee of the Vice-Chancellor of Nigerian Universities to provide the committee with quality memorandum of how our education sub-sector can be competitive in all ramification,” he added.

Also, the Secretary General, CVCNU, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, said there was need to explore innovative ways on the scientific future of the country.

Represented by the Vice-Chancellor, Kaduna State University, Prof. Abdullahi Musa, said the conference was apt as it would help uncover innovative ways toward research development as well as foster collaboration to new opportunities.

In the same vein, the Chief Strategy Officer, WACREN, Omo Oaiya, said that the symposium would be if immense benefit to the Nigeria academy space as it would increasing the visibility of research in the education sector.

“Nigeria can benefit from this open science in the production of research by the different groups. This will create conversation towards resolving problems associated with research programmes.

” Stakeholders will come up with the kind of roadmap that will describe the work to deliver the goals in terms of producing community driven infrastructure.

“Though, the government need to help but also community can do a little bit more with the support of WACREN.

“It will further improve efforts of stakeholders to take all of the ideas to campus level connecting with their communities and campus level,” he said.

NAN reports that the national symposium is aimed at increasing open science awareness among primary stakeholders in the country, ranging from university leaders, librarians and Directors of ICT.

Nigeria, however, has two member networks of WACREN – the Nigerian Research and Education Networks (NGREN) and Eko Konnect Research and Education Initiative. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Peter Amine

The Director-General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari said the fund was equipping all its libraries with the requisite personnel and materials to boost staff and clients’ capacities.

Ari who was represented by Director of Field Services, Mrs Adetola Aje, stated this at the opening of ITF  16^TH Library Week on Monday in Jos.

He said that libraries served as knowledge hubs and provided access to a wealth of educational and training resources.

According to him, the aim of equipping the libraries is to build staff capacities and clients’ interests in reading as technology advances at speedy rate.

Ari added that repositories of books, research materials and digital content, empowered the workforce to expand their learning horizons, enhance skills development initiatives, and foster a culture of continuous improvement in the workforce.

“Indeed, in an increasingly globalised world, libraries had become more important and integral to the activities as individuals and as a corporate entity.

“We want the staff of ITF and our clients to be at pace with the globalised world we are living in. We expect everybody to read more by taking advantage of recent books in our libraries.

“Let me use this opportunity to remind you that the ITF Community Readers Development Service Programme is coming in a few days’ time.

“Through this programme, the fund has over the years, taken practical steps to promote the reading culture among learners at both primary and secondary school levels.

“Educational materials are usually donated to participating students and pupils by ITF during the programme, by way of encouragement.

“This service is rendered to our immediate and surrounding communities as part of our social responsibilities,” he stated.

The D-G commended the Research and Curriculum Development Department (R&CDD) for their farsightedness in coming up with: “The Dialectics of knowledge management in a hlobalised age,” as the theme for the week.

According to him, in an era where information flows freely across borders and technology connects people like never before, the management of knowledge has become a critical factor in the success and sustainability of organizations, communities, and nations.

He described knowledge, as a powerful asset that was key to innovation, growth, and competitiveness.

Mr Faruk Wase, Director, Research and Curriculum Development Department in his remarks, said that the fund consistently organised the week because ITF was a citadel of learning.

“We are in the business of human capital development and capacity building and we cannot drive this without knowledge background.

“And the library week is one of the focal points we try to reiterate the need for people to try to harness their knowledge assets.

“We do it annually for people to be able to revamp their reading habits, reading attitudes and also to have access to new books and publications which we have been able to accumulate annually,” he added.

Prof. Victoria Lawal of University of Jos, in a presentation, said it centred on how organisations were supposed to work towards harnessing their tacit and explicit knowledge.

Lawal stated that organisations should work towards harnessing their knowledge for the purpose of remaining relevant, competitive and progressive in terms of their activities.

The academic said knowledge management was very important as society was growing to a level of technology where information sources were increasing.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that goodwill messages were received from librarians of NTA TV College Jos and Nigerian Film Institute Jos.  (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

By Ramatu Garba

The Centre for Dry land Agriculture (CDA) of Bayero University, Kano says it plans to hold its fourth conference on dry land and food security from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14 in Kano.

Prof. Jibrin Mohammed-Jibrin, the Director, CDA, said this when he briefed newsmen in Kano on Monday.

“The biennial international conference on drylands is one of the programmes of the centre that provides a platform for disseminating research findings, networking and sharing experiences between scientist, practitioners and other stakeholders.

‘’The conference has the theme “Ecosystem Restoration and Natural Resources Management: Exploring Opportunities for Food Security in the Drylands” and “Improving Climate-Resilient Agriculture in West Africa: Leveraging the Success of the Regional Africa Centers of Excellence,’’ he said.

Mohammed-Jibrin said the theme aligned with the current United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration to address development changes and food security.

“This year’s conference 100 papers would be presented and bring together scientists, farmers, policymakers, CSO and private sector from United States, China and Senegal among others to share knowledge and experiences.

‘’The stakeholders will address low agricultural productivity, climate change, high population pressure and unsustainable land use in West Africa and Central Africa.

“The CDA is a World Bank and AFD-supported Africa Centre of Excellence in dryland agriculture.

“The Centre works in collaboration with various stakeholders to support adaptation to the changing environment in Africa drylands through training, research and outreach” Mohammed-Jibrin said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Inuwa Ali-Baba

By Favour Rotimi/Funmilayo Adeyemi

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to improve budget meant for education by 25 per cent with the right policies in place.

Mamman said this while declaring open the 2021 and 2022 Nigeria Annual Education Conference (NAEC) in Abuja on Monday.

The theme of the conference is tagged: “Implementation of Education 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Nigeria”.

The minister also pledged his commitment to bridge the gaps between education policy statements and its actualisation outcomes.

He noted that the country had a lot of good policies on what was required to do in the best interest of the nation but that those policies were not bringing values to the sector.

“President Tinubu has directed the return of the 10.5million out-of-school children to school at the expiration of his tenure.

“We still have a long way to go. We are not matching the children in the country with the desired education and this is because our policies are not producing the values we need.

“What we need is the action on ground and not the policy declaration. This is where I can tell you we intend to come in.

“We want to bridge the gaps between policy statements and actualisation of outcomes.

“This is to give them future training that will enable them to live their lives and make them employers of labour. Everybody deserves to live a life of dignity for the well-being of their family,” he said.

He said that the responsibilities of government was to provide opportunities for Nigerians to be empowered adding that now is the time to make the policies reality.

He also said that the basic and secondary schools must be equipped by developing appropriate skills template for creativity and research.

“We know that society that had benefitted from education are known for nurturing of creativity and research which starts from the lower levels,” he said.

He said there was need for implementation strategies to provide mechanisms for constant monitoring and evaluation of policies, to ensure the SDG goals were achieved.

The minister expressed concern over the state of insecurity in the schools and nation at large, lamenting the recent killing of one Miss Deborah Atanda, a nursing student of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti few days ago.

He, however, directed Vice-Chancellor of the institution, in concerted efforts with the security, to uncover the perpetrators of the killing.

He charged stakeholders to work with the Federal Ministry of Education and agencies as well as State Ministries of education to identify innovative approaches for improved funding and ensuring inclusive equitable, quality education and life-long opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, explained that the 2021 and 2022 edition of the conference could not hold because of COVID-19 recovery which informed its delay till now.

Adejo, represented by the Director, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the ministry, Abubakar Isah, charged stakeholders to deliberate on ways of collaborating and partnership towards actualising the 2030 education agenda.

Also, the Education Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), James O’Donoghue, pledged UK’s commitment to support Nigeria in actualising the 2030 SDG agenda and to ensure every child receive quality education.

O’Donoghue called on the Nigerian government to ensure increased funding for education while also that the money was utilise for the overall education purpose.

NAN reports that the UN suggested to the federal Government to increase its current budgetary allocation to the education sector from seven to 20 per cent in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 4—universal, inclusive and equitable basic education for all school-age children by 2030.

For years, Nigeria’s allocation to the education sector has been below the recommended benchmark for developing nations.

In the 2023 budget, the sector got N1.79 trillion — representing 8.2 per cent of the appropriation bill — according to Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning.

Giving a further breakdown, former minister said N103.29 billion was allocated for Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) while transfers to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions is N248.27 billion.

Ahmed added that N470 billion was allocated for tertiary education revitalisation and salary enhancement.

For context, the education sector got the second largest allocation in the budget after defence and security sectors which account for N2.98 trillion — representing 13.4 per cent of the budget.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) recommended that member nations should earmark four to six per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or 15 to 20 of public expenditure (annual budget) to fund education.

However, UNESCO said “the majority of countries have not yet reached this threshold”.

The 2023 allocation to the sector was an increase from that of last year’s budget which gave education N923.79 billion representing 5.4 per cent of the N17.23trillion budget. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

==========
Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Ruth Oketunde

The British charity, IA-Foundation has advised the Nigerian government to review its education policy to embrace soft skills, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

She said that embracing soft skills was necessary in the education policy of the country for the masses to depend less on white-collar jobs and acquire skills that would make them to overcome the challenges of the current century.

According to her, Nigeria should revamp its education curricula to reflect present day realities and embrace soft skills, entrepreneurial skills and digital know-hows to make youths to survive present day challenges.

Adeagbo noted that colonial legacies in the education sector had left Nigeria rudderless in its education and other developmental aspirations, saying the way forward was for the West African country to overhaul its education policy completely.

She condemned a call attributed to the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye that Nigerian children should be made to get involved in industrial production and urban development of Nigeria.

Kennedy-Ohanenye reportedly made the call on Sept. 8 in Awka, Anambra, while speaking at the Anambra State Summit, staged by the state government to foster development in the state.

Adeagbo, who has been campaigning to have every Nigerian child in school, argued that involving children in industrial production was a clear violation of Nigeria’s Child Rights Act 2003.

She re-stated that Nigeria should put measures in place to take back its 20.2 million children currently out of school back to classrooms, to secure the future of the country.

“I am shocked to hear the suggestion by the minister, calling for children to be involved in production of toothpicks. This is unacceptable.

“We are supposed to be protecting the rights of children in Nigeria in line with the Child Rights Acts 2003 and not propagating suggestions that will subject children to child labour and other forms of activities that will keep them out of classrooms,” Adeagbo said.

She, however, lauded the Federal Government for expressing its commitment to tackle the out-of-school crisis, saying that no Nigerian child deserved to be left uneducated in the 21st century.

“With over 100 children already in school as a result of our work, we will not relent until the last child gets into school,’’ Adeagbo added.

IA-Foundation which was established in 2019 has been active in Nigeria, where it has been campaigning vigorously to ensure that every child, especially the girl-child had access to education. (NAN)(www.nanews.ng)

Edited by Silas Nwoha