Education
Don’t allow ASUU to go on strike, Tinubu orders Education Minister
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa to intensify negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) and not allow the members embark on further strikes.
Briefing newsmen after a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, Alausa said the government was determined to ensure transparency and governance by providing data with a view to returning the nation’s varsities’ glory to what it used to be some 30-40 years ago globally.
Responding to question on what the government was doing to stop the universities teachers from returning to strike after the suspension of the warning strike about a week ago, the Minister said “As I told you the President has mandated us that he doesn’t want ASUU to go on strike, and we’re doing everything humanly possible to ensure that our students stay in school.
The last strike they went on for about 6 days was not really needed. We’re talking to them. We’ve met literally all their requirements.
“Now we’ve gone back to the negotiation table. We’re talking as he spoke to the leadership this morning. We will resolve this. And part of my visit today here is to also explain where we are with the ASUU strike to Mr. President and to extract more concession from Mr. President. In the education sector, we’re taking advantage of Mr. President because of his love, his fervent and benevolent love for education and human capital.
And when you talk about human capital, you’re talking about health, education and social protection.”
On the government’s plan to reset Nigerian universities to old glory they had some 30-40 years ago, the Minister said “With what we launched today, the Federal Tertiary Institution Governance and Transparency Dashboard, we have all our public Institute tertiary institutions, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education receiving almost 100% federal government funding, we have to hold them accountable.
The Federal Ministry of Education today is playing its oversight role under tertiary institutions actively.
We have now mandated them to report data on student enrollment, the amount of budgetary allocation they get for personnel, capital and over and recurrent capital, a recurrent budget, the net fund, the type of fund intervention, both direct and indirect, the intervention from NELfund as well, the money they’re collecting from NELfund, as well as endowment and their grants, both local and international grants.
These are now publicly available information. We’re doing these to accomplish several things, improve transparencies, governance, and then bring back our tertiary institutions, more so our universities, to where they were before, 30 or 40 years ago, where several Nigerian universities are competing globally.
When Nigerian universities are part of the first top 100 universities in the world. You need all these data. You need people to sit in the comfort of their room to go to the university’s website or the Federal Minister of Education website to see this data.”
–VC, FUHSO
By Our Reporter
The need to make mathematics tuition-free has been explained by the management of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo (FUHSO).
Disclosing the need was the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Aba Uba, while interacting journalists at the institution’s temporary campus in Otukpo, Benue State.
Prof Uba said the decision followed concerns by the university management over the financial burden on many families, particularly in Benue State with most parents depending on agriculture as the primary source of livelihood.
He revealed how the university’s management approached the Governing Council with a proposal to exempt Mathematics students from paying tuition, noting that the council approved the request.
Professor Uba reiterated that Mathematics remains a foundation for every science-based programme stressing that making the course tuition-free would encourage more young people to pursue the discipline and strengthen the country’s science and health workforce.
Apart from making Mathematics tuition free for students, he said the university had also reviewed downward tuition fees for all other programmes, following the intervention of the management and the approval of the Governing Council.
The Vice-Chancellor further expressed hope that the university would soon relocate to its permanent saying:
“We are committed to moving to the permanent campus as soon as the ongoing projects are completed.”
The VC commended the Federal Government for establishing the institution and for its continued support through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), saying the interventions had contributed significantly to the university’s growth.
He assured that the university would continue to pursue its mandate by expanding its academic programmes and improving teaching and research facilities.
He added that FUHSO is considering the introduction of Agricultural Science programmes, explaining that food and nutrition are a critical part of healthcare.
According to him, offering agriculture-related courses would complement the university’s health-focused mandate rather than deviate from it.
He also revealed that the institution’s student population has witnessed remarkable growth, rising from an initial enrolment of 564 students to about 2,373.
He noted that while the university is known for medical education, its mandate extends beyond producing medical doctors.
He said the institution is equally committed to training other critical healthcare professionals, including nurses, medical laboratory scientists, physiologists, anatomists and other specialists needed to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare
By Michael Lim
To entrench sanity and fairness in the fees charged parents and guardians, the Kano State House of Assembly on Monday passed the Kano State Private and Voluntary Institutions Board (Amendment) Bill 2026.
The legislation requires private primary and secondary schools to consult with Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) before implementing any fee increase.
Lawan Hussaini, House Majority Leader, while giving highlights of the new law said any approved increase must not exceed 10 per cent of existing tuition fees. He added that Private schools are also barred from charging students more than 10 per cent above official registration fees set by external exam bodies like WAEC, NECO, and NBTE.
Furthermore, to cushion the financial pains of school owners, the bill has reduced statutory charges payable by private schools to the state government from 15 per cent to five per cent.
According to the yet-to -be – signed into law bill, the Executive Secretary of the Private and Voluntary Institutions Board must be a retired or seasoned educationist who has attained at least Grade Level 14 in public service.
According to Hussaini, the provisions aim to strengthen regulatory oversight, protect parents from arbitrary fee hikes, and elevate educational standards in Kano State.
The Executive Bill is awaiting Governor Abba Yusuf’s assent
Education
NYSC Directs Prospective Corps Members to Sort Out Discrepancies Before Reporting at Orientation Camp
By Isa Abdul, Abuja
New guidelines have been released by the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, directing prospective corps members ahead of the upcoming orientation camp, to avoid night travel among key requirements for registration.
NYSC on Monday posted on its X handle that would-be corps members should prioritise safety:
“Prospective Corps Members are advised not to travel at night to the orientation camp.”
It further warned that candidates with discrepancies in their graduation dates would not be registered at the orientation camp.
“Prospective Corps Members with discrepancies in the date of graduation on their call-up letters and the date on their statement of results will not be registered in the orientation camp.”
All affected candidates are to resolve such issues with the relevant authorities before reporting to camp.
“They should sort out such issues with the Student Affairs Officers (SAOs) before reporting to the camp,” the statement added.
The prospective corps members are also reminded to complete all required documentation before arriving at camp, including the signing and submission of the registration form.
“Prospective Corps Members are advised to print and sign the form, which is to be submitted during registration at the orientation camp,” it stated.
The NYSC also provided guidelines for candidates seeking correction of their dates of birth.
It advised applicants to obtain a 19- or 20-digit WAEC Verification PIN and follow the correction process through their NYSC dashboard.
The process requires applicants to access the “Correction of Date of Birth” link, enter their WAEC Verification PIN, select their WAEC type, year of examination, and examination number, then verify and submit the request.
The scheme urged all prospective corps members to comply with the guidelines to ensure a smooth registration process and avoid challenges during the orientation exercise
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