BREAKING: Schools to reopen as FG, stakeholders settle for September

Barring any sudden change in plans, schools in Nigeria would reopen in September, a senior official of Federal Ministry of Education confirmed to Daily Sun on Friday, in Abuja.
The official said the decision will be implemented after school must have been put in proper position to control the spread of COVlD-l9.
The senior official of Federal Ministry of Education also told Daily Sun that officials of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) have been frequenting the Ministry, National Assembly and other relevant agencies lobbying the officials to persuade the government to reopen schools so as to allow graduating students to participate in the regional examination.
The official, however, confirmed WAEC officials have been uncomfortable since Nigeria announced that its students may not participate in the 2020 WAEC examination. Since then, they have been lobbying and using every opportunity to make the government see reasons to reverse the decision and allow students participate in the examination.
The official said: “The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, met with WAEC officials on Monday, and WAEC officials agreed to further consult with four other countries on the possibility of a new date for the examination.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Bem Goong, in a statement, on Friday, confirmed that Federal Government has given school owners in the country up to 29th July, to meet specific guidelines towards the safe reopening of schools.
The Ministry’s spokesman also confirmed that the Ministry has met with Federal Ministry of Health, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control,(NCDC), the Education in Emergencies Working Group, and had developed and circulated guidelines for safe reopening of schools.
He said the Minister has directed school owners to carefully study the recently released guidelines for safe reopening of schools, prepare and comply with the guidelines so that schools can be reopened.
He explained: “Schools are to undertake self-assessment and send feedback to State Ministries of Education, not later than 29th July, 2020. Thereafter, consultations with relevant stakeholders will be held on 30th July, 2020, to review the situation and decide on a specific date for reopening of schools or otherwise.
“We have consulted widely with stakeholders in the education sector, including Commissioners of Education in all the states of the federation, the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria,(APSON), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools,(NAPPS), Provosts of Colleges of Education, Rectors of Polytechnics, Vice Chancellors of Universities, State Governors, and development partners on the issue of safe reopening of schools.”
Recall that, on Monday, Federal Government released 52 page guideline document for safe reopening of schools, advising schools to strictly comply with the guidelines for the safety of students and teachers against COVID-19.

Credit: PressExpress

WASSCE: Good news to students as Minister to meet Buhari, Governors

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, the Ministry of Education and West African Examination Council, Nigeria Headquarters has met to take a deeper look at options for the WASSCE.
The stakeholders however agreed that if they were to make the September date for the Examination a reality, there is a need to get President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governors’ Forum involved in coming up with a timely and effective decision.
It is learnt they agreed that in the interest of the 1.6 million candidates registered for the West African School Certificate Examinations, there was a need to agree on a date for the regional examination as time was running out for the country.
One of the options was to find a date acceptable and immediate as the head of WAEC National office in Nigeria, Patrick Areghan revealed that it takes quite a while to print question papers and that other convoluted logistic considerations might come into play.
Areghan said that Gnana had wanted to have the examination in June, because its an election year in the country, but shelved it because of Nigeria.
He also revealed that it took a presidential directive for the Gambia to shelve its desire to have the examination before now. So, according to him, Nigeria should decide on if it wants to give its candidates what he called a COVID-19 exam certificate or a WAEC Certificate in concert with the other countries.
According to him, getting parents to pay another set of fees might be difficult if the September date is missed, warning that if the November option is considered, “someone has to pick the bills.”
The permanent secretary ministry of Education, Arc. Sonny Echono said that WAEC is one of institutions that espouses regional cooperation and having a stand alone examination will defeat the element of unity it portrays.

Credit: PressExpress

BREAKING: NLC, ULC Reconcile, Merge

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reconciled with the United Labour Congress(ULC) led by Joe Ajaero to form a united labour movement.
The ULC broke away in 2015 during the delegates conference to elect new leadership for the NLC.

President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, broke the news to reporters at the end of a joint session meeting addressed by the two leaders of the unions on Thursday in Abuja.
Wabba said with the reconciliation, the leadership of the ULC has been re-integrated into the NLC.
Details shortly…

Sister Of Late Female Combat Helicopter Pilot, Arotile, Demands Investigation Into Her Death

Damilola Adegboye, elder sister of Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, Tolulope Arotile, has asked the Nigerian Government to investigate her death from a purported “accident”.
Adegboye on behalf of the family said Arotile left home after receiving a call from a senior officer, who asked her to come to the Air Force Base but that she felt reluctant to go.
One hour later, the young lady was pronounced dead, her sister said.
She wondered how a car in reverse mode could kill her sister, adding that the family was not yet convinced of the circumstances that led to her death.
Adegboye in an interview with PUNCH, said, “We in the family are not convinced that Tolu can just die like that in a freak accident. I know that the military is well trained in the art of investigation, we want them to carry out a thorough investigation that can convince us beyond all doubts that the incident that led to her death was real.”

Credit: SaharaReporters

Bukola Saraki recovers houses forfeited to FG

A former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, has recovered two houses in Ilorin which were confiscated by the federal government after a court quashed its order which temporarily forfeited the properties to the government.
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ruled that the houses should be released to Saraki, The Nation reported.
A former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, has recovered two houses which were temporarily confiscated by the FG. Photo credits: Nigerian Senate
Justice Rilwan Aikawa who delivered the judgment stated that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to provide satisfactory explanation about the origin of the properties.
According to the judge, the anti-graft commission did not provide sufficient bases why the court should grant permanent forfeiture order on the properties.
Legit.ng recalls that in 2019, the court granted an order for the interim forfeiture of the houses after the EFCC alleged that Saraki acquired the properties with proceeds of fraud

Man told after graduation that his admission was invalid, repeats 4 years again

A Nigerian man who was told during his final year clearance that his admission at
Abia State University was invalid after spending 4 years to study Mass Communication decided to repeat 4 years, making it 8 years of study and has now emerged the Best Graduating Student of his department (2017/2018).
According to the brilliant man, Ramsey Mgbeahuru, this happened in 2014. He had to enroll again, paid school fees for another 4 years and graduated for the second time in 2018.
He has since served and is currently working with a reputable broadcast media organization at Abuja.
When the story began gaining momentum on the internet, GistReel got in touch with him and he confirmed the story as credible.
Ramsey told GistReel in an exclusive interview that he had written to the school’s senate and also mailed the school management severally in 2014 when it happened but nothing was forthcoming so he decided to enroll again while awaiting school’s verdict.
But funny enough, the school (Abia State University) never replied him till he graduated again in 2018.
The admin of a popular Facebook group shared the story, he wrote;
“This is Ramsey Aka, after 4 years of studying Mass Communication in Abia State University, he was told during final year clearance that his admission was invalid – not authentic.
“He could have sued the admissions unit or the entire school; he could have drank a small bottle of Sniper and ended it all; he could have taken out this disappointment in any negative direction.
But he said no…
“He was asked to repeat all over again.
He paid the fees of each semester again, same tests, sat through lectures all over again, new project topic with same stress.
“This time around, he graduated at the top of his class as the best in his department. Did his final clearance and now serving as a youth corper. [NB: Ramsey told GistReel that he’s done with his service year and is currently working].
“What if he had allowed the devil to convince him towards suicide?
“Yes, it might take a longer route at times, but we shall surely get what we pursue fervently.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing is beyond us.
“May this message get to the soul it was intended for.”

Credit: Gistreel

FG Won’t Pay Salaries of Private Schools – Ministry

Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, who declared the news that the FG would pay the salaries of private school teachers as palliative during the lockdown period, fake.
In an interview with Nigeria Info, Goong stated that no one, not even NAPPS, knows the precise wage bill of private school teachers in Nigeria.
According to him, “the sheer number of private schools in the country will tell you that it is unrealistic. It would take about half of the nation’s budget to pay these salaries. In fact, nobody can tell you precisely the wage bill of teachers in private schools across Nigeria. It is fake news”.
However, explaining the demands of NAPPS to the FG, Yomi Otubela said “NAPPS, at the beginning of the lockdown, had written to the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Committee, headed by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, requesting that the FG takes over payment of salaries of teachers in private schools for the period of the lockdown. We also asked for non-interest loans or single digit interest with a 10 year repayment plan.” He stated that he is confident that the FG is already working on this.
The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, at the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 refuted claims that the FG would pay salaries of teachers in private schools. According to Nwajiuba, “the CBN window is available for them to exploit and really any assistance we can give to them we will like to give them, but it is important to clarify that we are not taking over the payment of their salaries”.
The Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Education Ben Goong, corroborates the Minister’s statements. He believes that if the CBN would provide such support to private schools, they would require data from the ministry. According to him, “the CBN does not know the number of private schools in Nigeria- from kindergarten to higher institutions. Even NAPPS does not know the number of private schools in Nigeria. Most of the private schools in the country are not registered with the association. The CBN has not asked the ministry for any data. It is fake news”.

Credit: PressExpress

Students give FG two weeks to announce schools resumption date

Following what they described as Federal Government’s poor handling of schools reopening, students of tertiary institutions have given the government two weeks within which to fix a date for resumption.
They threatened to protest against continued closure of schools if government failed to accede to their demands within 14 days.
The groups, comprising the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), National Association of University Students (NAUS) and National Association of Colleges of Education Students (NANCES), at a virtual meeting, decried Federal Government’s approach towards resumption of learning institutions in the country.
They also faulted government’s decision to pull out of the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASCCE).
Urging the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to reconsider participation of Nigerian students in the terminal examination, they said WAEC could be taken, while observing social distancing and other safety protocols.
“It is hardly feasible that coronavirus may be eradicated in a fortnight and after months of observing several safety measures, there are little or no gains in the results so far recorded.
‘’Huge funds have been used to contain the spread of the virus, but we still have poorly equipped medical centres across the country,” they added.
They also charged the government to stop salaries of university teachers and other officials for advocating the continued closure of schools without proffering solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Professor Peace Chinedum Babalola, has advised the Federal Government to adopt ‘staggered’ reopening of schools.
Babalola spoke at the fifth matriculation ceremony of the institution, which was held online.
The Federal Government had on Monday released guidelines, actions, measures and requirements for safe reopening of schools in the country.
But in her reaction, she said the Federal Government could in the meantime reopen schools for final year students at all levels to enable them to finish their academic programmes on time.
“To achieve social distancing, one of the guidelines for reopening of schools is the need for government to ‘stagger’ resumption for the students,” she said.
She argued that while nobody knew when the COVID-19 pandemic would end, there was the need for gradual resumption of socio-economic activities and reopening of schools.

Credit: PressExpress

BREAKING:
Southwest states agree to reopen schools for WASSCE

Against the position of the federal government, all the six states in the southwest have agreed to reopen schools for students to participate in the forthcoming West African School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The six states in the southwest are Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti.
The Nation reports that commissioners, special advisers on education and SUBEB chairmen reached the agreement at a virtual meeting convened by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission.
Southwest states agree to reopen schools for WASSCE. Photo credit: DAWN Commission.
A statement by the DAWN Commission indicated that all the states will reopen schools for SS3 students by August 3 with COVID-19 preventive measures in place.
Also, the states also agreed to appeal to the federal government for postponement of the WASSCE by at least three weeks from the proposed resumption date.
Afterwards, the states also agreed to directly approach the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to seek postponement of the examination to August 24.

Credit: PressExpress

Breaking: Magu Released From Detention

The suspended chairman of the anti-graft agency, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has been released.

Mr Magu was released on Wednesday evening.

He was arrested last week Monday and has been detained by the police since then. He has been appearing before a presidential panel investigating allegations of corruption and insubordination levelled against him by Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s justice minister.

Details later…