By Daily Trust

The Daily Trust Foundation has awarded scholarships to 70 female students pursuing studies in medicine, dentistry, and nursing, providing vital financial support to future healthcare professionals.

This initiative reflects the Foundation’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and its dedication to improving lives through education and healthcare.

The scholarship recipients are drawn from the University of Maiduguri, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and the University of Ilorin, representing various levels of academic progression in their respective programmes.

The awards are part of the Daily Trust Foundation’s broader scholarship scheme aimed at advancing girl-child education and increasing female participation in the health professions, in line with the Foundation’s stated objectives.

The intervention builds on a sustained investment in women’s education.

Over 300 female medical and nursing students have benefited from the scheme over the years, with former scholars going on to work in hospitals in Nigeria and abroad.

That record places the scholarships within a longer effort to help students turn academic ambition into professional opportunity.

Beyond the financial awards, the scholarships represent an investment in access to medical and nursing education.

By Nick Ibe

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Friday commissioned the Academic Publishing Centre (APC) at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, to enhance academic textbooks availability and increase publishing capacity across tertiary institutions in the South-East.

The centre’s commissioning by the Chairman of the TETFund Board of Trustees, Aminu Bello Masari places it as a regional publishing hub for higher institutions, providing them modern printing facilities and professional publishing services to address challenges associated with the production of academic textbooks and other scholarly materials.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Masari, who was represented by the South-East member of the Board, Esther Ukachukwu, said the establishment of the centre reflected the Fund’s commitment to improving teaching, learning and research through targeted interventions in the tertiary education sector.

Masari explained that TETFund’s Higher Education Book Development Project was introduced to expand access to quality academic publications and strengthen indigenous publishing capacity in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions.

He disclosed that the Board of Trustees made a submission to the Federal Government for N2bn to commence the Higher Education Book Development Project in 2009, which was subsequently approved.

According to him, an additional N2.95bn was provided in 2019, while the Technical Advisory Group Committee was reinvigorated and inaugurated in August of the same year to strengthen the implementation of the project.

He said one of the major objectives was to establish and equip model Academic Publishing Centres in selected institutions across the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory, with their services extended to public tertiary institutions within their respective regions.

The South-East centre, located at UNIZIK, is therefore expected to serve institutions across the zone.

Masari said education is a strategic sector that must receive priority attention, noting that TETFund would continue to introduce interventions that promote innovation, improve learning outcomes and strengthen research development.

“TETFund will continue to deliver responsive intervention programmes and will be at the forefront in promoting creative and innovative approaches to educational learning and championing new literacy-enhancing areas.”

The TETFund BoT chairman, however, charged the university and other beneficiary institutions in the South-East to ensure that the facility was properly managed, effectively utilised and sustained.

“It is the expectation of the Fund and that of the Federal Government that the beneficiaries will reciprocate this gesture by ensuring that the APC located in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, is put into operation, properly managed and sustained by the host and beneficiary institutions within the zone,” he said.

He also solicited the cooperation of stakeholders to ensure the successful take-off of the centre, assuring that the Fund would remain committed to transparency and accountability in the discharge of its responsibilities.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Chairman of the Academic Publishing Centre Board, Prof. Bond Ugochukwu Stanley Anyaehie, said the commissioning was a significant milestone.

He expressed the university’s commitment to ensuring that the facility becomes operational and serves its intended purpose.

Speaking further, the VC expressed optimism that the UNIZIK facility would operate efficiently and effectively.

“So, on my honour, I pledge to make use of it, and try to operate the board and also get input from other universities to see how we can run it, and do all we can to protect it,” he said.

Anyaehie also thanked TETFund for locating the project at the university and appealed to the Fund to consider more interventions that would support the institution and other tertiary institutions in the region.

The commissioning ceremony also featured an inspection of the centre’s facilities, including modern printing machines and other state-of-the-art equipment installed to support academic publishing.

By Vincent Tyosuugh

An investigation has been launched into the alleged fraud surrounding the award of over N100 billion contracts for the construction of technical colleges in Benue State, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The investigation is allegedly coming on the heels of petitions from more than 60 contractors to the EFCC claiming to have been defrauded by some government officials.

The investigation led to the interrogation of four senior state government officials, the former Commissioner for Education and Knowledge Management, now Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals, Rev. Frederick Ikyaan.

Other key government officials questioned by the EFCC Makurdi Zonal Directorate are the incumbent Commissioner for Education, Mrs Margaret Adamu; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Timothy Ornguga; and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs Helen Nambativ.

The complaining contractors allegedly mobilised personal funds to commence construction of some technical colleges across the state, after being assured that the projects had government approval.

But an anonymous EFCC source, according to Daily Trust said the contracts, valued at over N100 billion, were allegedly awarded last year without the approval of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The source claimed that one Lawrence Kyaku, who reportedly presented himself as a Senior Special Assistant to the governor, persuaded the contractors to commence work, claiming that he had the administration’s approval.

He further said that Kyaku collected huge sums of money from some contractors under the guise of facilitating the projects, including over N100 million from one contractor and N50 million from another.

“The man had been claiming he is the SSA to the Governor and was deceiving the contractors to go ahead. He also deceived the commissioner that he had the governor’s backing to do the work.”

The source added that the contractors began raising concerns when they encountered difficulties securing payment for work already executed, prompting them to petition the anti-graft agency.

He further disclosed that the EFCC was investigating a letter allegedly signed by the Attorney-General, Prof. Ornguga, directing contractors to pay one percent of their contract sums into a designated bank account as vetting fees.

According to the source, the letter and the account details reinforced the contractors’ belief that the projects were genuine government contracts, encouraging them to invest their resources.

“This one percent may look to you as a small amount, but when it involves a huge amount, it is huge,” the source said.

The commission is also examining the respective roles of the former commissioner, the incumbent commissioner, the permanent secretary and other officials in the alleged contract awards, including whether established government procedures were followed or not.

The source added that EFCC had deployed investigators to unravel the nature of the transactions, determine the amounts collected from the contractors and ascertain whether any government approvals existed for the projects.

He added that the investigation was ongoing and that the commission was yet to establish the full picture of the alleged financial transactions.