News Agency of Nigeria (Nan)
Govt. Introduces New Education Policy `Every Child Counts’
By Chijioke Okoronkwo.
The Federal Government introduced a new education policy known as `Every Child Counts’, to encourage children enrolment in schools.
A statement issued on Wednesday by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, quoted Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as saying this in Lagos.
Osinbajo spoke at the 60th Anniversary of Grange School, Lagos, on Tuesday.
According to the vice president, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country; and like the rest of the continent, it is a nation of young people as half of its population is below the age of 20.
He said that Nigeria would be the third most populous country in the world by 2050 and would have a large youth population that could be a tremendous blessing for economic growth and prosperity.
Osinbajo, however, said that the population could also be a problem especially if Nigeria did not plan well and in advance as extreme poverty further complicated the problem for a country like Nigeria.
He said there was the need to increase school enrolment which had increased in many cases by over 30 per cent in the last 2 ½ years, largely on account of our school feeding programme.
Osinbajo said that to eradicate poverty, Nigeria’s education must equip the young to be productive as the Federal Government was working on far-reaching skills-based curriculum on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
“This is the curriculum for primary and secondary schools.
“The core skills the programme will provide include: (1) Coding and Computer Programming; (2) Design Thinking and Computer Generated Imaging, Animation and Graphics Design; (3) Robotics, Networking and basic engineering applications.
“We have a programme called the N-Power programme and about 3,000 of them are currently being trained in animation skills and techniques and we found that people take so easily to learn some of these things.
“In fact, the younger people are, the easier it is for them to learn all of these technology skills.
“So, we think that to develop the kinds of young people who will be able to take on the kind of challenges of the 21st century and get the kind of work that the 21st century is producing already, we simply have to change the way we teach and what we teach.’’
He said the Federal Government was working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Oracle Academy, Microsoft Cisco Academy and IBM.
According to him, they are working with the Federal Government in developing the curriculum alongside, the Federal Ministry of Education and the respective states.
The vice president said that the immediate plan was to reach, with this sort of education, at least 2 million pupils in the first year.
“The plan also envisions a new classroom structure that permits the cultivation, expression and early adoption of skills that will function in the environment that is already being created – the technology environment that is already being created.
“The next question we asked is, for whom do we plan? The answer is quite straightforward – it is the Nigerian child.
“Not just the ones in the urban areas or the few that are privileged to afford decent schooling above the weakened standards of public schooling generally.
“The real slogan for us is “Every Child Counts” and that is the name of the policy, which means we have democratised our vision of a qualitative and relevant education to reach every Nigerian child.
“Every Child Counts” ensures that all children, especially the number reported to be out of school now, and in those areas where children tend to drop out of school much faster, all of them deserve to get a decent education, all of them must be reached by this programme,’’ he said.
Osinbajo said he was proud of the way Grange School had collaborated with his office in some of the important work it was doing at the learning centre in Maiduguri.
Sourced From: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
By Abujah Racheal
Nigeria has recorded 87 new cases of the COVID-19, bringing the total infections to 1,182 , according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The NCDC, in a tweet via its official handle, said 33 of the new infections were recorded in Lagos, 18 in Borno, 12 in Osun, nine in Katsina, four each in Kano and Ekiti, three each in Edo and Bauchi and one in Imo.
“As at 11:55 pm April 25, there are 1,182 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. The country’s total deaths from the virus now stand at 35, while 222 have been treated and discharged,” it said.
The centre said as at 11:55 pm, April 25, Lagos has 689, FCT-138, Kano-77, Ogun-35, Osun-32, Gombe-30, Katsina-30, Borno-30, Edo-22, Oyo-18, Kwara-11, Akwa Ibom-11, Bauchi-11, Kaduna-10, Ekiti-8 and Ondo-4.
Others are Delta-six, Rivers-three, Jigawa-two, Enugu-two, Niger-two, Abia-two, Zamfara-two, Sokoto-two, Benue-one, Anambra-one, Adamawa-one, Plateau-one and Imo-one.
87 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported;
33 in Lagos
18 in Borno
12 in Osun
9 in Katsina
4 in Kano
4 in Ekiti
3 in Edo
3 in Bauchi
1 in ImoAs at 11:55 pm 25th April there are 1182 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
Discharged: 222
Deaths: 35 pic.twitter.com/La5xzZZe2z— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 25, 2020
Sourced From: News Agency of Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari has publicly disagreed with the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress over the right of aggrieved members to seek redress in court.
In a statement by Femi Adesina, the president’s media adviser, President Buhari stressed that if anyone is displeased with the way and manner anything has been done, and feels deprived of his/her rights, then such a person is at liberty to approach the courts for redress.
It was the president’s first public reaction to the discontent within the party over the conduct of primaries, in the selection of candidates for elective offices.
Until now, President Buhari had tried to appease members behind the scenes, begging and cajoling aggrieved members to bury the hatchet.
In a different reaction, the NWC of the party headed by former governor Adams Oshiomhole forbade members from dragging the party to court. It even went further to threaten the litigants.
President Buhari disagreed with the party:
“We can’t deliberately deny people of their rights. We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court. The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.”
In the statement, President Buhari still favoured non-legal approach for reconciliation of the aggrieved as he urged them to embrace the party’s reconciliation panels.
According to Adesina, President Buhari advised members to work with the reconciliation committees empanelled for the six geo-political zones by the APC, and not a purported Presidential Committee on Reconciliation, stressing that the Party is the only body authorised to constitute such committees.
The APC had threatened aggrieved members who have headed to the courts, saying that: “The Party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the Party and hurt the Party’s interest.
“We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the Party has put in place.
“APC members should understand that as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.”
Sourced From: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
By Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni.
Over 1000 workers will be employed for the Warri-Itakpe standard gauge rail corridor, Mr Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said.
“It’s about 320km, about 12 stations and we have to engage people that will maintain the tracks, people that will work in the stations and sell tickets.
“Also, technicians that will examine the train. So, we are going to engage close to over 1000 to maintain about 320km track, both junior and senior.
“New employees can’t just be sent there; they must be trained.
“In order for them to be trained, we will be moving people from the existing staff, but we have to replace them. So we have to fill up those positions before the new people will be trained and certify to be part of the train operations,” he said.
NAN reports that NRC operates one-year training programme for graduate staff and three months for the junior staff.
According to Okhiria, the 12 stations for the train service are still under construction, adding that temporary stations would be used pending completion.
He, however, assured that the stations would be completed by the first quarter of 2019, noting that some of the houses at the railway village were renovated recently for workers.
Okhiria said that a lot has been achieved, especially in the rail system under the current administration, with the purchase of more rolling stock and wagons.
Sourced From: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
By Jacinta Nwachukwu/ Bukola Adewumi
Mr Loveday Ogbonna, Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says registration for the National Identity Number (NIN) is free of charge to all Nigerians.
Ogbonna, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said that the commission had never charged anyone for NIN registration.
Some residents in Kubwa, Abuja, had claimed that they were made to pay N200 for logistics before being registered at the ongoing NIMC registration.
But, Ogbonna said that it was not the responsibility of the enrollees to pay money to fuel generators at registration centres.
“The commission absolutely condemns this, it is not right for enrollees to pay money for fueling of the generators before being captured but people also react based on how urgent they need NIN.
“Our staff would have told them that there was no light which is not under their control; however, you know that electricity is not under our purview just like the internet.
“Therefore, if you come to a place that we don’t have electricity and people on their own volunteer to contribute money to fuel the generator, it is out of their own free will.
“Although we don’t encourage it, because that will lead to corruption, but if the people on their own decide to contribute we cannot stop them.
“All these issues are due to paucity of fund, if there is enough money available for the exercise or steady power supply all these things will not happen,’’ Ogbonna.(NAN)
Sourced From: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
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