By Angela Atabo

The Princeton Leadership Forum on Wednesday called for sustainable mentorship of students and young people with a view to position them to be great future leaders of Nigeria.

Dr Chibuike Echem,  president of the forum (PLF), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of a Leadership class for the Students and Prefects of Britach Secondary school, Lugbe-Abuja.

Echem said the leadership masterclass was the forum’s first edition booth camp targeted at prefects of secondary schools across the country to empower the students with the requisite leadership skills for effective engagement.

He said: “We believe there is need for us to begin to focus effort towards the re-engineering of our leadership architecture in Nigeria, how we breed and produce our leaders.

“We believe that it is time for us to begin to create a mentorship structure to impact young people.

“For example, what you have here are prefects from different schools coming together to be thought on problem solving, emotional intelligence among others.

“So, what Princeton is doing is bridging the leadership gap by bringing these young people together and teaching them these foundational principles of leadership.

“This is because it is said that everything rises and falls on leadership because a healthy nation is a product of the structure of her leadership.”

Mrs Hauwa Shehu, Co-Founder/Business Development Officer, Noor pain De vie Services Ltd, said that the students were taught on how to interpret their emotions as well as those of the people around them.

She said: “This programme being held by Princeton gives them the best opportunity to become the best leaders that they could be in the future.

“Sorting them out young is the best move that anybody can make.

“We keep talking about changing Nigeria, and we need to start while they are still young so that the leaders that turn up tomorrow will be better than what we have today.

“This is probably the best move you can make for any child in life. Start them out young, teach them how to be better persons, teach them how to master their emotions and teach them how to lead better and you would have done your job as parents.”

Mr Chibuzo Okereke, Legislative and Policy Expert Leadership Coach, said the aim of the event was to catch young people early to inculcate leadership skills in them.

“Leadership is critical worldwide to building nations, societies and families.

“So, we designed this programme specially to target young leaders who may not even understand what leadership is about but they found themselves in leadership positions.

“This boot camp is to equip them with relevant skills and principles of leadership, emotional intelligence, problem solving skills, personal and interpersonal relationships, and communication skills among others,” he added.

Some of the participants who spoke with NAN commended the organisers of the programme for the initiative.

Miss Kamsi Okafor, Head Girl, Britach Secondary School, Abuja said she learnt a lot from the boot camp and would apply the knowledge positively.

“I have learnt a lot; I learnt about how the power of your behaviour affects leadership, how not to be a dictator, how to carry people along and its a good experience.

“I believe that if I keep following this trajectory wherever I go in life I will keep on prospering,” she said.

Mr Clement Desmond, Head Boy of the school commended the forum for the initiative and promised to apply the knowledge in his future endeavours. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Deborah Coker/Bashir Rabe Mani

By Funmilayo Adeyemi

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has called for a review of Nigeria’s educational curriculum to meet present day realities.
The Director, UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE), Mr Ydo Yao, made this appeal at a capacity development training workshop for officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja on Tuesday.
Yao said to address education crisis, there was need for actions in making curriculum relevant for assuring quality in education and ensuring that values, knowledge and skills thrived.
He said curriculum was a central and irreplaceable component of any educational policy which are also pivotal in the transformation of education.
”You know, we use to say that curriculum is for education, while a constitution is for a democracy. It means curriculum is the heart of education.
”So, when you talk about education, you are talking about content, programmes and learning.
”So, if you want to transform education, and you don’t transform what is at the core of it, which is the learning, content and the programmes, your transformation has no meaning,” he said.
Yao described the curriculum as being overloaded, outdated and short of present day development, hence the need for review.
He said the training was put in place to strengthen the capacities of specialists and officials in the ministry on eight thematic modules.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Education, Mr Goodluck Opiah, said steps had been taken in the curriculum transformation plan of the country.
Opiah said the ministry was already working on the democratisation of curriculum review process to give voice to all critical stakeholders, including parents and students.
”We recognise the fundamental role of curriculum in the drive for the attainment of globally agreed goals and country specific aspirations.
”It remains the singular instrument capable of transforming the human capital base of a nation for effective contribution to nation building and development.
”Thus, in setting our education targets as articulated in the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) (2019 to 2022) for the education sector, curriculum and policy matters were identified and prioritised,” he said.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research Development Council (NERDC), Prof. Ismail Junaidu, said the ministry had continued to strengthen school curricula with knowledge and skills on entrepreneurship, job creation and capital market studies, among others.
Junaidu said that teachers and education managers had also been provided with resource materials to help them implement the curriculum seamlessly.
”It is heart-warming to us at NERDC that this workshop is taking place at this time when we are set to review the Senior Secondary Education Curriculum.
”As part of preparations for the review, we have evolved a curriculum review model that is anchored on a participatory and equity framework.
”A model that gives voice to all legitimate citizens in the curriculum development process,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 16 weeks training would cover modules on policy dialogue and formulation, curriculum change, curriculum design, system management and governance.
Others are development of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials, capacity development for curriculum implementation, processes of curriculum implementation; and student assessment and curriculum evaluation. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

By George Odok

The University of Calabar will graduate 7,769 students during its 35th convocation holding on Friday and Saturday.

Prof. Florence Obi, Vice Chancellor of the institution, disclosed on Monday in Calabar while enumerating activities lined up for the week long convocation.

Obi said that Friday was for the award of first degrees, diplomas, masters and post graduate and also induction into UNICAL alumni for those found worthy in character and learning.

She explained that Saturday was scheduled for award of doctorate and honorary degrees to deserving students and awardees.

According to her, Thursday has also been scheduled for the investiture of the 6th Chancellor of the institution, Alhaji Aminu Ado-Bayero, the Emir of Kano.

The Vice Chancellor said that the convocation lecture would be delivered by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.

She said that the convocation topic is “The Leadership and Followership Question in Nigeria: Imperative or Ethical Re-Orientation.

“For the 35th convocation of our university, we are happy to announce that 11 students made first class, 899 students made second class upper, 3,396 graduated with second class lower, while 721 got third class.

“Also, we have 519 students for doctorate degree, 1,078 for masters and 556 for post graduate diploma and others.

“For our sandwich programme, 162 students made second class upper, while 251 made second class lower,” she said.

The VC also announced that the senate of the university accepted three personalities for the award of honorary doctorate (honoris causa) degrees.

She said they include; Dr Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria, Mrs Winifred Akpani, Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Petroleum and Ms Tola Johnson, a business woman and an advocate of women and youth empowerment.

She described Jonathan as a humble gentleman who places Nigeria above any other personal consideration, referring to him as a unifying factor in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

She commended staff and students of the institution for their support for her administration, adding that the university under her leadership would continue to strive for academic excellence and quality research. (NAN)

Edited by Ismail AbdulAziz

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says it has become imperative for Africa to develop an education curriculum that will be relevant to the changing world and available jobs.

Osinbajo expressed this view on Saturday in Nairobi, Kenya, while featuring as a panelist at the first session of the 2023 Ibrahim Governance Forum with theme, “Africa in the World: Multiple Assets.”

The session is part of the 2023 Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend organised by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

The vice president participated in the session alongside Donald Kaberuka, AU Special Envoy and former President of African Development Bank and Hafou Toure, Deputy Director of Cabinet for the Minister in charge of promoting Small and Medium Enterprises in Côte d’Ivoire.

More so, Ibrahim Mayaki, AU Special for Food Systems, featured in the session online.

Osinbajo spoke on what the future holds for Africa with regards to the creative industry, education among others.

The creative industry in Africa is a phenomenon that many will say happened without government.

“ It possibly happened because there was no government; so, I think that in many ways what is important is to see how the creative industry can be supported.

“Firstly, entertainment, it is evident that there is a huge amount of talents and it’s evident also that the regulatory environment favours it because there are no impediments.

“And one would say that, as much as possible, what we should seek to do is to see how we can expand that space and to support with credit where that is possible and infrastructure that will be helpful.’’

He said that in Nigeria, the National Theatre had a few studios for films, entertainment and others and had shown great promise in supporting the industry.

“And the need and support they can get in many cases that support can come especially in the form of infrastructure from the government and credit also from the government.

“But things have changed in so many fundamental respect that there is greater independence of the artist and the creative people and they really function very effectively with little help.

“I would say that we should be cautious in not interfering too much; at the same time, we need to provide infrastructure, we need to provide credit with such an exposure that they may need.

“Well, certainly we could do a lot more I don’t think it is right to say that we are doing what we can.

“But frankly I think that we should start from the premise of placing a different vision before our young people.”

According to him, there is need to have a clarity of vision on where Africa is headed in terms of education.

He said there was need to give Africa’s young people a sense that there was a future and that there were promises that could be made and delivered.

The vice president said that education was about youth demographics.

“It is really the privileged young people; I use the word privilege cautiously because these are young people with education – local education or education abroad, some have college degree and all of that and there is a huge rural young people who have no education and that demography has a large number of women.

“So, even understanding what such of educational programmes we need to put in place and even the vision for that educational programme you have to understand that we are dealing with several demographics.

“The final point is that we are in a new place where the world has changed so dramatically and particularly in the past 10 years, where we have robotic, artificial intelligence; what sort of education makes sense to create job opportunities today?

“This is the time to think through the educational curriculum and to decide how this curriculum will be relevant and would deliver the sort of persons that we want to deliver and create the sort of opportunities that we require for the jobs that will be available,’’ he said.

Kaberuka, before responding to his own question, complimented Osinbajo for his contributions to Nigeria’s development.

“I think this gentleman has done an excellent job in his country; I do not think we have seen the last of him,” he said.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Mo Ibrahim, who is also the founder, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said it had become urgent for Africa to adjust to the fast-paced world.

According to him, questions on Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world and the benefits therein will be raised at the forum.

“This year, the world is changing around us; I think everybody knows that; all the previous assumptions are being broken; we see different powers rising; tensions, camps being formed, where exactly is Africa’s place.

“Things are really changing around us and where are we? What is our relationship with these people?

“We need to understand and define our relationship with rest of the world; what does Africa offer the world and what does the world offer Africa?’’ he asked.

At the opening ceremony on Friday, Osinbajo had joined other leaders in celebrating Mahamadou Issoufou, the immediate past president of the Republic of Niger, who won the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

Unidel Vice Chancellor, Prof. Stella Chiemeke (2nd on row) on the procession to mark Year 2022/2023 Matriculation Ceremony for all  fresh undergraduate students of University of Delta (Unidel), Agbor, Delta on Thursday, pix by NAN

By Ruth Oketunde

The DUMENA Education Group, a Digital Company, has called on school owners to integrate the use of technology in their teaching and school operations.

He said this at a one-day workshop organised for school owners and administrators in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the event is “Building a Digital-Ready School”.

Mr Kingsley Ezejiaku, Chief Executive Officer, DUMENA Education Group, said that the workshop is aimed at improving the digital literacy of school owners and administrators and to encourage them to embrace technology in their operations.

“We organised this event to enable school owners and administrators to enable them make sense of technology and how best they can integrate it to their learning and operations.

“This was inspired by the works we have done with some schools and children and we found out that many of these children are far ahead of the schools they attend in terms of their understanding of technology.

“That is why we are getting the owners of these schools to let them know that they really need to take a step to find out what is available for them in terms of technology and how to bring it back to the classroom.

“This is because the children are being exposed to technology everyday but in the classroom where they are meant to have a first class experience, technology seems to be missing.

“So our objective is to let the school owners know that it is time to embrace technology because it has come to stay,” he said.

Mr Joseph Ajuwon, Co-founder, Afrelib Academy, said when technology is brought into classroom, it would make the students stand-out in terms of employment, starting their businesses, among others.

“We have a huge potential with the number of children in educational facilities in Nigeria, that is a massive potential that can really bring about massive change in this part of the world.

“So we want to make sure that technology for children is made easy and to do that it is the teachers that can make it come to life.

“So bringing technology and making it accessible to the children in the classroom would go a long way in our society,” he said.

Mrs Temitayo Ibikunle, Director, Thriving Treasures School, Garki, said the had provided them the knowledge of how to overcome the challenges of a technology-driven society.

“We have learnt the importance of blended learning which has come to stay and the truth is that it is the future and we cannot shy away from it.

“We have to embrace it and put in every effort to evolve because we are raising children for the future,” she said.

Mr Otaru Richard, Software Engineer, Telesoftas Nigeria, a facilitator at the workshop added that the advantages of technology in education is massive as it would make the students to be problem-solvers.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Jacinta Nwachukwu.

The National Mathematical Centre (NMC) on Thursday urged all female students to show more interest in the learning of Mathematics in order to perform better in the society.

The Director/Chief Executive, NMC, Prof. Promise Mebine gave the advice at the 2022/2023 award ceremony of the crowning of the Nigeria Mathematics Queen for the 2022 Mathematics Competition at Sheda, Kwali Area Council.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the competition was organised for girls at the public junior secondary schools across the country under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The theme of the event is: “The importance of Mathematics in female education on national development through the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Mebine said that the Nigerian girl-child (student) has been placed in a disadvantaged position, especially in the area of education, adding that this has relegated her in the general scheme of things.

He said that the girl-child hardly competed educationally with her male counterpart, hence the Centre’s top priority was to spark interest in the girl-child’s education and her special involvement in Mathematics.

“It is on this background and our quest to develop, identify, motivate, inspire, and boost the interest of the girl-child student in mathematics that this special competition for the Junior Girls Olympiads competition was conceived.

“As far as SDGs 4 and 5 are concerned, these Junior Girls are our ‘Would-be women leaders’ tomorrow: Mothers and home keepers, Accountants, Technologists Mathematicians, Engineers and Scientists among others.

“Therefore, an investment in Mathematics for the girl-child is a positive developmental investment in future of our country,” Mebine said.

The director, while calling on relevant stakeholders to assist towards the training of teachers and students, said that the Centre had designed and produced instructional materials for the effective teaching and learning of Mathematics.

On her part, the Senior Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said that statistics showed that girls perform poorly in Mathematics.

Orelope-Adefulire, who was represented by Dr Ify Ukaegbu, Desk Officer, SDGs, Ministry of Education, said that there was gender gap in Mathematics, coupled with the high rate of school dropout among girls at the secondary school levels.

She encouraged the participants at the contest to put more effort in the learning of Mathematics, saying that the competition would bridge the gender gap in Mathematics.

Speaking on the importance of Mathematics in female education, Prof. Uche Anaduaka said that education empowers individuals to be productive in the society.

Anaduaka said “if a child is equipped with mathematical knowledge he/she will excel in life”.

According to her, education changes the mind, character and abilities of individuals while female education will produce mothers who are literate and will in turn educate their children because education of a child begins at home.

“Mathematics is life; it is key to science, technology and engineering among others.

“It helps a child to reason logically, when one is good in Mathematics he/she will be successful in all other subjects,” Anaduaka said.

Dr Sylvester Okwuoza, the Desk Officer, SDGs, NMC said that the aim of the competition was to identify girls that would do well in engineering, technology and sciences among others.

NAN reports that the climax of the event was the crowning of the 2022 Nigeria Mathematics Queen in the person of Chinenye Oganno of Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, Rivers.

Oganno emerged the overall best among the 86 contestants in the Mathematics Competition nationwide. (NAN)(www.nanews.ng)

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Edited by Razak Owolabi.

By Muhammad Lawal

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has appealed to authorities concerned to use all means to rescue university and secondary school students from their abductors.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two female Microbiology students of Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara and another 10 female secondary school students of Kachia LGA in Kaduna State had been in captivity.

Mr Vanessa Kwere, the Deputy Coordinator, Inter-Campus Affairs of NANS Zone A, made the appeal in a statement issued to NAN in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday.

Kwere issued the statement after NANS delegation met with the management of the university shortly after the union’s Zonal Convention held in Jigawa recently.

He pointed out that the call became imperative in view of the fact that the abducted students were under the care of government, hence they remained the property of government.

Kwere said: “We were notified of the sad news regarding the abduction of two 200 level female students of Microbiology Department, Federal University, Gusau.

“It is indeed a really heart touching incident, we had to stop by to pay a solidarity visit, to also sympathise with the institution on this incident.

“We urge the students to remain calm and keep praying for the safe return of their friends and sisters.”

According to him, the union met with the school management, including Prof. Ahmad Galadima, the Acting Vice Chancellor, who is also the current Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university; Dean Students’ Affairs, Prof. Lawal Sa’ad; Deputy Dean, Student Affairs, Dr Tagba as well as the Chief Security Officer.

Kwere said during the meeting, they discussed how the incident happened and the strategies being currently applied by the institution to rescue the abducted students.

“The meeting was presided over by the pioneer Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and President FUBK, Comrd. Usman Ladan-Fakai, and attended by several NANS officials.

“Present at the meeting include Comrd. Vanessa Enoch Kwere, the Deputy Coordinator Inter-Campus Affairs Zone A, and Comrd. Daniyalu Bello Mailafiya, the Director Special Duties NANS Zone A. And a number of stakeholders from Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara axes,” he said.

The deputy coordinator noted that the Dean Student Affairs had enlightened them on the efforts made by the university to guarantee the safe return of the abducted students.

He said the acting VC also assured them that the university was doing its best to maintain security within the institution, assuring that frantic efforts are being intensified to rescue the abducted students.

In a related development, the union expressed deep concern over the abduction of about 10 female students of Kachia LGA in Kaduna State, who according to preliminary report, were students of Government Secondary School, Awon.

“It is very disheartening to learn about this incident, despite still in worry of the two 200 level female students of Microbiology Department, FUGUS, abducted at their Hall of residence.

“We are in constant turmoil because of this reoccurring incidents, our governing bodies have failed to protect us from such menace, students no longer feel safe in their institutions or anywhere at all.

“Predicaments like this are what discourages and interferes with the educational process of Nigerian students, looking at most of this cases, victims always turn out to be females, we’re fragile beings who are abducted, tortured and explored.

“We students’ representatives demand a serious and immediate intervention from the Federal Government and all relevant security bodies, it is our right to feel safe wherever we are,” he pleaded. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola