The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has raised alarm over fresh tuition hikes in several universities and polytechnics, warning that the increases—ranging from 20 per cent to an astronomical 521 per cent—risk undermining the federal government’s student loan programme. A confidential document from the Fund’s risk management revealed that the sharp rise in charges—particularly for Medicine, Nursing, and Law—has left students drowning in debt while straining the Fund’s ability to sustain disbursements. The report, titled “Framework to Mitigate the Impact of Increased Institutional Charges on the Fund’s Operations,” listed institutions guilty of extreme fee hikes, including the University of Ilesha…
Author: National Update
By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja Teachers in Kogi State have used this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebration to sound a wake-up call to the state government: recruit more teachers or risk further setbacks in secondary school education. At the event in Lokoja on Monday, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) Kogi chapter decried the huge shortfall of teachers in public schools and demanded the immediate recruitment of at least 2,871 new teachers. The union’s chairman, Comrade Emejeh Ogwu Sunday, said the shortage had stretched the system to a breaking point, leaving many schools struggling to cope. “When 1,108 teachers…
By Olubunmi Omoogun It was the founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, that wrote an interesting book titled ‘Creating A World Without Poverty’, sometimes in 2005. Yunus went out of his comfort zone of the university, where he lectured students on theories revolving around the economics of poverty, and volunteered to lead his students on a field trip to the surrounding farming communities to learn from the poor that he became an ardent advocate for creating a world without poverty. This experience gave him the inspiration to establish Grameen Bank, an innovative banking programme that provides poor people, especially women,…
Nigeria has taken a decisive step to put Africa at the center of the global fashion map. On Monday in Abuja, the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, inaugurated a working committee to launch the Confederation of African Fashion (CAF), popularly branded as Afroliganza. Designed as a continental platform, Afroliganza seeks to transform Africa’s fashion economy from its current $30 billion to $500 billion, raising the continent’s share of the global fashion market well beyond the present 1.2%. Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Nneka Ikem Anibeze in a statement quoted the Minister to…
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has lashed out at former NLC President and Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, accusing him of siding against workers in the ongoing clash between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery. Speaking last Friday on Arise TV, Oshiomhole had criticized PENGASSAN’s industrial action—which led to a nationwide shutdown of oil facilities—as “hasty” and unfair to other workers. While acknowledging unions’ right to defend workers, he argued that such actions must not create wider economic hardship. “In seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you must not risk the jobs of several…
By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja The Kogi State Police Command has organized an awareness and sensitization campaign for scrap and waste dealers on the identification, risks, and safe management of explosive-related objects often mistaken for scrap materials. The campaign, coordinated by the Command’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Base 33, Lokoja, was held at the Command Headquarters in Lokoja in collaboration with the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria (NASWDEN), Kogi State chapter. Leading the session, CSP Danladi Ameh, Commander of EOD Base 33, educated participants on how to identify suspicious…
***Advocates Electoral Reforms, Increased Women Representation By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja Kogi State Director of Amnesty International, Comr. Sunday Jatto, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to leverage modern technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and online voting systems, to deliver credible elections in Nigeria. Speaking at a press conference in Lokoja on “Assessing the Performance of Democracy in Nigeria”, Jatto said adopting advanced technology would help eradicate vote buying, thuggery, multiple voting, and other forms of electoral malpractice. He argued that automation—particularly the application of AI—alongside the use of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and National Identification Numbers (NIN), could…
Tensions are mounting in the National Assembly as the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) faces an internal crisis, with its recognized leadership distancing itself from a planned protest even as a faction of aggrieved members insists on going ahead with a mass picketing exercise. In a memo circulated since September 25 and signed by its Chairman, Comrade Sunday Sabiyyi, PASAN warned members against participating in any demonstration allegedly being organized by a group identifying itself as Concerned Staff of the National Assembly. The union maintained that it is the only registered and recognized staff union within the National Assembly,…
As the Nigerian Senate reconvenes on Tuesday, lawmakers are bracing for a heated debate on a motion aimed at countering what they describe as a “dangerous and misleading” portrayal of the country’s security crisis as a campaign of Christian genocide. The motion, sponsored by Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South) and co-backed across party lines, argues that framing Nigeria’s violence as religiously one-sided distorts reality, undermines national unity, and risks damaging the country’s international reputation. While acknowledging that Christian communities have suffered brutal attacks, lawmakers stressed that the bloodshed has also affected Muslims and other groups. “Reducing the crisis to…
The South South Media Professionals Forum (SSMPF) has announced the death of its treasurer, Madam Stella Okoh-Esene, who passed away on Monday, October 6, 2025, at the National Hospital, Abuja. In a statement signed by the forum’s secretary, Emmanuel Iriogbe, SSMPF described Okoh-Esene as a pioneer member who served with diligence and left a lasting impact on the group. “She will be sorely missed for her motherly role and wise counsel. It is for us mortals to grieve the passing of a loved one but for God to grant eternal repose to the deceased,” the statement read. Until her passing,…