By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Federal Government’s reported approval of a uniform ₦50,000 examination fee for WAEC and NECO candidates from 2027, describing the policy as a barrier that would deny millions of Nigerian children access to education.

In a statement issued Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku also criticised the recent fee increases in Federal Unity Colleges, arguing that both measures are economically insensitive and inconsistent with the government’s constitutional obligation to make education accessible to every Nigerian child.

The former Vice President said the policies impose additional financial burdens on families already struggling with record inflation, rising food prices, high transportation costs, electricity tariff increases and widespread unemployment.

“It is unconscionable that at a time when Nigerian families are battling record inflation, soaring food prices, rising transportation costs, crippling electricity tariffs, stagnant incomes and widespread unemployment, the Tinubu administration has chosen to make education even more expensive,” Atiku said.

He argued that education remains the most effective instrument for breaking the cycle of poverty, warning that increasing the cost of schooling would further widen inequality.

“A government that genuinely believes in the future of its people does not erect financial barriers between children and education. It removes them. Education is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it is the birthright of every Nigerian child and the foundation upon which prosperous nations are built,” he stated.

The ADC chieftain noted that the proposed examination fee and higher Unity School charges come at a time when Nigeria is grappling with one of the world’s largest out-of-school children populations, estimated at between 10.5 million and 15 million.

“Nigeria already bears the painful distinction of having one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world. Any government confronted with such a national emergency should be investing aggressively to bring these children back into school. Instead, this administration is choosing policies that will inevitably swell those numbers,” he said.

Atiku warned that higher examination fees would disproportionately affect children from poor and middle-income households, many of whose parents are already forced to choose between meeting basic needs and paying school-related expenses.

“The consequences of these policies extend far beyond school gates. Every child priced out of education today becomes tomorrow’s victim of unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminal exploitation, drug abuse or insecurity. Nations do not become prosperous by making education more expensive; they prosper by making education more accessible,” he added.

The former Vice President also questioned the government’s emphasis on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), arguing that student loans cannot compensate for policies that make it difficult for children to complete secondary education or sit qualifying examinations.

“A university loan offers little comfort to a child who has already been priced out of secondary education or cannot afford the qualifying examination required to secure admission. A government cannot credibly claim to be expanding access to higher education while simultaneously erecting financial barriers that prevent millions of young Nigerians from ever reaching the university gates,” he noted.

Atiku called on President Bola Tinubu to reverse the increase in Unity School fees and shelve the proposed ₦50,000 WAEC and NECO examination fee, while convening a stakeholders’ dialogue on sustainable financing of public education.

He also urged the Federal Government to invest more in public schools, recruit additional teachers, expand the capacity of tertiary institutions and ensure that no Nigerian child is denied education because of financial hardship.

“No nation has ever taxed its way into educational excellence. Countries that aspire to economic greatness invest more—not less—in education during difficult times because they understand that human capital is the engine of sustainable development,” he stressed.

The statement comes amid growing public debate over the affordability of education following recent increases in school-related charges and concerns about the rising cost of living.

While the Federal Government has introduced NELFUND to improve access to tertiary education, critics argue that affordability challenges begin much earlier in the education value chain, particularly at the secondary school level where students must complete qualifying examinations before seeking university admission.

The plan to introduce a uniform ₦50,000 examination fee for WAEC and NECO candidates from 2027 has sparked widespread public reactions, with stakeholders calling for clarity from the relevant authorities on the policy.

By Hadiza Abdulkadir

Bayero University, Kano (BUK), has emerged as the overall winner of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) Faculty Capstone Project Competition, defeating six other federal universities in a keenly contested event held in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The competition, which brought together faculty teams from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the University of Ibadan; the University of Lagos; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and the University of Port Harcourt, saw BUK’s delegation distinguish itself through exceptional innovation, collaborative synergy, and academic rigour.

The victorious BUK team was represented by Dr. Shukrah Bello, Dr. Adamu Abubakar Rasheed, Dr. Halima Abdulkadir Idris, Dr. Ibrahim Shehu Dauda, and Dr. Adenekan Lanre Qasim. Their outstanding performance not only secured the top prize but also brought national acclaim to the Kano-based institution.

In a statement following the victory, the team expressed deep gratitude to the university’s management, led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Haruna Musa, FSI, praising his administration’s unwavering commitment to staff development and institutional support, which they credited as instrumental to their success.

The latest feat adds to BUK’s growing stature as a beacon of academic excellence and leadership within Nigeria’s higher education landscape, reaffirming its position among the country’s foremost centres of learning and innovation.

By Muhammad Abubakar

The Institute of Islamic Cogitation, in collaboration with Markaz Khulafa’irrashidin Sharada, will host the 4th Annual Summit on the Life and Legacy of Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at Usman ibn Affan Mosque, Kofar Gaya, Kano.

The summit will focus on the theme: “Rethinking Islamic Scholarship, Leadership, and Societal Transformation in Contemporary Nigeria.”

According to the organisers, the event aims to examine Sheikh Ja’afar’s enduring contributions to Islamic scholarship, leadership, and social reform. Scholars, researchers, students, and members of the public are expected to participate in discussions on seven approved sub-themes, including Qur’anic exegesis, jurisprudence, theological education, youth engagement, institutional development, and strategies for sustaining his intellectual legacy.

The annual gathering is intended to promote informed academic discourse on the late scholar’s teachings and their relevance to contemporary Nigerian society while encouraging reflection on the role of Islamic scholarship in national development.

By Mohammed Mohammed Haruna, PhD, mnipr

Every economy has its insiders and its outsiders. The distinction is not always determined by citizenship, geography or even willingness to work. Sometimes, it is drawn quietly by access: access to credit, identity, insurance, knowledge, technology and the institutional pathways through which human effort is converted into economic possibility. Millions may live within an economy, trade within it, labour for it and contribute daily to its survival, yet remain strangely absent from its most productive opportunities. They are present in the marketplace but invisible to formal credit, active in enterprise but largely unknown to the financial system, economically alive but institutionally unseen.

The question, therefore, is no longer merely how large an economy can become, but who gets to participate in its enlargement. Nigeria’s aspiration to build a trillion-dollar economy makes that question particularly urgent. A larger Gross Domestic Product may announce the expansion of national output, but it does not, by itself, tell us how widely economic agency has travelled. Growth can expand while exclusion survives. Wealth can accumulate while opportunity remains fenced. A country can become statistically richer without sufficiently enlarging the economic citizenship of its people.

There is, after all, a difference between economic enlargement and development. An economy may double in size while reproducing substantially the same geography of privilege and exclusion. Development begins when more citizens acquire the tools, knowledge, protection, institutional connections and opportunities through which their latent capacities can become productive economic agency. It is within this tension between economic ambition and economic participation that the public assignment of Dr. Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion in the Office of the Vice President and a leading figure in the Secretariat of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), deserves serious examination.

The temptation in writing about a public officer is often to begin with the individual: his certificates, appointments, conferences, awards and proximity to power. But perhaps the more useful starting point in understanding Zauro is not the man but the idea. That idea is inclusion, and more particularly, the conviction that belonging to an economy should mean more than merely surviving within its territorial boundaries.

The woman selling produce in a rural market, the artisan working from an informal workshop, the smallholder farmer vulnerable to one failed season and the young graduate possessing a viable idea but no pathway to capital are not necessarily unproductive people. Frequently, they are disconnected people. Their exclusion is not always a deficit of effort. It can be a deficit of institutional connection.

The question that appears to have followed Zauro through his academic preparation, training in accounting and finance, years in central banking and digital financial inclusion, and now his assignment within the Presidency is therefore a fundamental development question: how does the formal economy make room for those whose energy sustains commerce but whose circumstances keep them at the margins of capital, technology, insurance and institutional opportunity?

There is a meaningful difference between discovering an idea after receiving an appointment and arriving at an appointment with a question that has already occupied one’s intellectual and professional imagination. In the first case, the office educates the officer. In the second, preparation and opportunity encounter each other. Zauro’s trajectory increasingly appears closer to the latter.

His Central Bank of Nigeria experience is particularly important in understanding this continuity. Central banking in a developing economy offers an unusual window into the contradictions of development. At one level is the economy of policy rates, payment systems, credit aggregates, financial institutions and regulatory architecture. At another is the lived economy of the roadside trader, the smallholder farmer, the young entrepreneur and the woman whose enterprise may be viable but whose economic existence remains inadequately captured by the structures through which formal capital is allocated.

The important policy question is how to connect these two economies, because that is the last-mile problem of development. A financial system can become increasingly sophisticated without becoming sufficiently inclusive. Digital platforms can multiply while digital illiteracy persists. Credit can expand while small enterprises without conventional collateral remain stranded. Citizens may own bank accounts yet remain without meaningful access to affordable credit, pensions, insurance, investment knowledge or protection against shocks capable of erasing years of household progress. To be banked, therefore, is not necessarily to be economically included, and even to be financially included is not automatically to be financially secure.

This distinction is central to any serious assessment of the policy architecture associated with Zauro’s present assignment. The Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion represents one expression of this wider thinking. Its significance lies in the attempt to broaden the vocabulary of inclusion beyond ownership of a bank account towards finance, digital infrastructure, financial literacy, underserved communities, women, young people, rural populations and small businesses.

The deeper philosophy is important. Financial inclusion, properly understood, is not merely the act of moving more citizens into banking halls or onto digital payment platforms. It is the dismantling of barriers between human capacity and productive opportunity. The female trader already understands inventory. The farmer understands production. The artisan possesses skill. The young graduate may possess an idea. What is often missing is the connective institutional tissue: identity, finance, information, professional networks, insurance, digital competence and the confidence to navigate increasingly complex formal systems.

Financial inclusion, viewed this way, is not charity. It is productivity policy. Every viable enterprise permanently stranded outside formal finance represents potential output unrealised. Every productive woman unable to access appropriate financial services represents foregone economic agency. Every smallholder farmer left without suitable insurance remains one shock away from losing productive assets. Every digitally excluded citizen risks becoming progressively more peripheral to an economy increasingly organised around data, connectivity and electronic transactions.

This is also why PreCEFI should ultimately be judged not by the number of meetings it convenes but by whether it can help solve one of Nigeria’s most persistent governance problems: institutional fragmentation. Nigeria rarely suffers from an absolute absence of institutions. More often, it suffers from insufficient coordination among them. One institution holds identity data. Another regulates payments. Another supervises financial institutions. Different agencies administer social programmes. State governments possess distinct demographic and economic realities. Development partners operate interventions. Private firms possess technology. Professional bodies hold expertise. Yet the excluded citizen experiences the cumulative consequences when these systems fail to connect. The deficit can therefore be a coordination deficit.

PreCEFI’s potential importance lies in its attempt to create an architecture around this fragmentation. Its engagements with subnational governments, federal institutions, financial-sector actors, professional bodies, private organisations and development partners point towards what might be described as institutional orchestration. The effective public officer in a modern developmental state cannot always command results into existence. Important policy outcomes frequently sit across the statutory boundaries of several institutions. Progress therefore requires persuasion, coalition-building, shared ownership, interoperable systems and the patient translation of different institutional languages into common action. It is an administrative craft that often attracts little theatre but can produce consequential outcomes when sustained with discipline.

No serious account of Zauro’s emerging public-service footprint, however, should construct the mythology of the solitary technocrat. Capacity may reside in an individual, but public service remains an institutional enterprise. Ideas require room. Initiative requires confidence. Responsibility requires trust. Innovation within government frequently requires leaders sufficiently confident in their own authority to identify capable people, expose them to responsibility and allow their preparation to be tested against the difficult realities of governance.

It is here that the role of Zauro’s principals becomes indispensable to an honest understanding of his journey. His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has provided strategic political leadership for the economic and financial inclusion agenda within the responsibilities entrusted to his Office. Alongside him, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President in the Office of the Vice President, occupies an important position within the institutional machinery through which complex assignments are coordinated and sustained.

From the guidance, trust, mentorship, counsel and institutional support of these principals, Zauro has evidently benefited immensely. That fact diminishes neither his preparation nor his exertions. It properly contextualises them. One of the least discussed responsibilities of leadership is the identification and deployment of competence. Nations do not progress merely because talented people exist. Every country has intelligent citizens. Progress occurs when systems of leadership can recognise capacity, assign responsibility, provide guidance and create sufficient institutional space for competent people to contribute towards clearly defined public purposes.

Preparation without opportunity can remain dormant, while opportunity without trust can remain constrained. When preparation encounters the confidence of perceptive leadership, however, public service can become a platform for consequential action. The larger framework remains the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the administration’s aspiration for a stronger and much larger Nigerian economy. Yet the expansion of national output creates an unavoidable policy obligation: growth must find citizens, and the statistics must eventually acquire faces.

Reform cannot remain indefinitely at the level of macroeconomic abstraction. Its social and political legitimacy must ultimately be encountered in opportunity, enterprise, jobs, resilience and the expanded ability of citizens to participate productively in economic life. This is where the work of inclusion meets the broader presidential mandate. The President provides the national reform and development direction. The Vice President provides strategic leadership across responsibilities entrusted to his Office. The Deputy Chief of Staff supports the coordination required to move complex assignments through government. Technical officers such as Zauro are given specialised responsibilities through which aspects of the larger ambition may acquire operational form. The technical officer does not work outside the national blueprint. He works within it.

Several initiatives associated with the present inclusion agenda illuminate the thinking behind this work. The ambition to train millions of Nigerians in financial inclusion and literacy, including through collaboration with professional bodies, rests on an important development premise: capacity is infrastructure. Infrastructure, in the conventional imagination, is concrete, steel, electricity, rail and fibre. These are indispensable, but there is another infrastructure without which physical and technological investments may yield far less than their potential. That infrastructure is human competence.

A sophisticated financial system has limited developmental reach when millions lack the knowledge and confidence required to navigate it. A digital platform is only as inclusive as the ability of its intended users to understand and use it safely. Credit availability means little to a potential entrepreneur who cannot formalise, structure or communicate the economics of an enterprise. A road connects places, while knowledge connects people to possibilities. Both are infrastructures of development.

The same logic applies to women’s economic participation. Initiatives such as She’s Included should not be understood as exercises in benevolence. Women’s economic inclusion is economic arithmetic. A society cannot constrain the productive capacity of a substantial proportion of its population and still expect to optimise national output. The exclusion of women from finance, skills, networks and capital represents foregone enterprise, weakened household resilience and diminished national productivity.

Effective inclusion, however, also requires recognising that uniformity is not equity. A female micro-entrepreneur operating informally, carrying disproportionate care responsibilities and possessing little conventional collateral does not encounter the financial system from the same starting position as a salaried professional. Giving both the same product and declaring the system inclusive is to confuse sameness with fairness. The test of a gender-responsive inclusion agenda is therefore not how many women attend an event or open an account, but whether more women acquire durable economic agency.

That distinction brings us to the most important part of the discussion: the next frontier. The work associated with Zauro and PreCEFI may have established a compelling architecture of intention, but public policy eventually encounters its hardest question after the communiqués, accords, committees, partnerships and launches have been completed. The question is what actually changed.

For the present inclusion agenda to mature into a durable national institution, and for Zauro himself to become even more effective in the assignment entrusted to him, the next phase should move decisively from policy mobilisation towards an independently measurable architecture of outcomes.

The first requirement is a public inclusion scorecard. Nigeria should be able to see, at regular intervals and preferably at state and local levels, not merely how many citizens possess accounts but how many actively save, obtain responsible credit, hold insurance, use digital financial services safely, build viable enterprises and demonstrate improved financial resilience. What gets announced attracts attention, but what gets measured attracts accountability.

The second requirement is to move from counting beneficiaries to tracking developmental journeys. Training millions of people may be impressive as an output, but the more consequential questions arise afterwards. How many acquired demonstrable competence? How many formalised enterprises? How many accessed appropriate finance? How many increased revenue, created employment or improved household resilience? Public policy should not confuse reach with impact.

The third requirement is an independent evaluation mechanism. PreCEFI and its partners should periodically invite credible universities, research institutions and independent evaluators to assess major interventions against published baselines and targets. The purpose would not be to embarrass government but to protect policy from the dangers of self-congratulation. Serious institutions learn in public, and strong policy leadership should be confident enough to allow evidence to confirm success, identify weaknesses and guide correction.

The fourth requirement is a stronger subnational delivery architecture. Exclusion is experienced locally even when policy is designed nationally. The constraints confronting a woman entrepreneur in Lagos may differ substantially from those facing a farmer in Kebbi, a trader in Aba or a pastoral community in Adamawa. A national strategy therefore needs state-level delivery compacts, locally disaggregated data and measurable responsibilities for implementation partners. Abuja can coordinate inclusion, but it cannot manufacture every last mile.

The fifth requirement is deeper integration of Nigeria’s emerging digital public infrastructure. Identity, payments and appropriately governed data-sharing systems should increasingly work together so that citizens do not repeatedly prove their existence to disconnected institutions. Interoperability, however, must be accompanied by strong privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection and accessible grievance-redress mechanisms. The excluded citizen should not be invited into the digital economy only to become the easiest victim within it.

The sixth requirement is the creation of a permanent citizen feedback architecture. The people for whom inclusion policies are designed should have structured mechanisms for reporting what works, what excludes them and where products or programmes fail. Policy elites often understand systems from the perspective of those who design them, while citizens experience them from the point at which they break down. That knowledge is itself valuable data and should be systematically incorporated into programme design and evaluation.

The seventh requirement is institutional permanence. The ultimate test of PreCEFI will be whether its work becomes embedded deeply enough in national and subnational systems to survive individual officeholders and political transitions. Personality may mobilise an agenda, but institutions must preserve it. The strongest legacy Zauro and his colleagues can build would therefore not merely be a collection of successful programmes, but an inclusion architecture capable of sustaining itself beyond the tenure of any particular administration or public officer.

These are not arguments against Zauro’s work. They are arguments for its maturation. Indeed, avoiding hagiography requires acknowledging that the significance of a public officer lies not in being beyond criticism but in being capable of converting scrutiny into better public outcomes. For Zauro, this may be the deeper meaning of the trust reposed in him by his principals. Trust in public service is not a decoration. It is a debt payable in results.

Gratitude to President Tinubu for the national mandate within which the assignment finds its purpose, to Vice President Shettima for the guidance, mentorship, confidence and strategic leadership that have given Zauro’s preparation room for expression, and to Senator Hadejia for the counsel, institutional support and coordination surrounding the assignment should not merely be matters of protocol. They are part of the moral story of opportunity.

The greatest tribute to confidence, however, is not repeated acknowledgement. It is the work that makes the trust count. It is ensuring that the privilege of serving close to the centre of power is converted into value for people who may never enter the gates of the Presidential Villa, never sit at a policy roundtable and never know the names of those designing the frameworks that shape their economic lives.

Those citizens include the woman seeking capital to enlarge h

By Sabiu Abdullahi

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has selected Professor Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani, a Nigerian academic based in the United States, for the 2026 National Diaspora Merit Award (NDMA) in recognition of his contributions to the education sector.

The commission announced the honour in a statement issued on Saturday. It also confirmed that the decision was communicated in a letter dated May 22, 2026. The letter was signed by NiDCOM Secretary Sule Bassi on behalf of the Commission’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

According to the commission, the Federal Government set aside July 25 as National Diaspora Day to acknowledge the contributions of more than 20 million Nigerians living abroad to the country’s development.

NiDCOM said the annual event provides an avenue for networking, advocacy, and celebrating the achievements of Nigerians in the diaspora.

The letter explained the basis for the award. It stated, “This National Diaspora Merit Award (NDMA) therefore is predicated upon recognizing and celebrating Nigerians in Diaspora who have excelled in their various fields of endeavours and contributing to the overall development of Nigeria.”

The commission added that Professor Tijani was chosen because of his outstanding contributions to education.

NiDCOM also invited the professor to participate in the National Diaspora Day celebrations and the award presentation.

The invitation read: “This is an invitation to be part of the National Diaspora Day 2026 celebrations, scheduled to hold on the 24th and National Diaspora Merit Award on 25th July 2026.

“The events will be at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, by 15:00hrs (WAT) on Friday the 24th of July 2026 and the National Diaspora Merit Award by 17:00hrs (WAT) on Saturday, 25th of July, 2026 respectively.”

The commission further advised prospective participants to register for the events through its official website.

By Sabiu Abdullahi

The Federal Government has evacuated 39 more Nigerians from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Lagos under an emergency airlift coordinated by Air Peace.

The latest evacuation followed an arrangement for citizens who were unable to board the previous flight organised by the government.

The evacuation exercise is part of efforts to bring home Nigerians affected by recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The programme targets citizens who completed the required documentation within the deadline set by the authorities.

In a statement issued on Friday, the government said the additional flight was organised to ensure the evacuation process continued without interruption.

It added that the aircraft was expected to arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos at about 8:50 p.m. on Friday.

The Federal Government also commended the management of Air Peace for providing support for the additional evacuation operation.

According to the statement, the final evacuation flight is expected next week. It will bring home about 300 more Nigerians from South Africa.

The government reaffirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains committed to the welfare, protection, and safe return of Nigerians affected by the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

By Sabiu Abdullahi

South African international and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Jayden Adams has died at the age of 25, weeks after representing his country at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Adams was reportedly found dead on Saturday morning at a residential building in Schotschekloof, a suburb of central Cape Town. Authorities and members of his family have not disclosed the cause of his death.

His death came shortly after another tragedy in his family. His 72-year-old grandmother, Marianna Adams, died on June 17, one day before South Africa’s decisive group-stage match against the Czech Republic.

Despite the loss, Adams remained with the national team. He started the match and continued his World Cup campaign.

Brendine Johnson, the late footballer’s mentor and family representative, confirmed the news and spoke about the shock surrounding his death.

“This passing has ripped everybody apart, returning from the World Cup just now, and then getting such news. Nobody expected this,” Johnson said.

He added, “I had a close conversation with him on Thursday, the guy was really positive on returning back, and being able to return after the World Cup… knowing what lies ahead, he was prepared.”

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) also confirmed Adams’ death in a post on X.

South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, described the footballer’s death as a huge loss to the country.

“It is with profound shock and a heavy heart that I have learnt of the passing of Jayden Adams, midfielder for Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana, at the age of 25,” McKenzie said.

The South African Football Players Union (SAFPU) also paid tribute to the midfielder.

“Jayden had only recently represented South Africa at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, carrying the hopes of the nation with pride, courage, and distinction,” the union stated.

It added, “His passing is an immeasurable loss to his family, teammates, clubs, the football fraternity and country at large.”

Adams played a key role in South Africa’s historic World Cup campaign. The Bafana Bafana side reached the knockout stage for the first time in the tournament’s history. He featured in all three group-stage matches. He started against Mexico and the Czech Republic before coming off the bench in the team’s 1–0 victory over South Korea.

At club level, Adams enjoyed a successful 2025/26 season with Mamelodi Sundowns. He helped the club win the CAF Champions League title after joining from Stellenbosch FC.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has issued an urgent public warning to all citizens regarding a new wave of cybercrime targeting mobile phone users. In a notice released by its Cyber Crime Department, the anti-graft agency cautioned that fraudsters are exploiting the recent rollout of 5G services to defraud unsuspecting victims.

According to the EFCC, scammers are calling individuals under the guise of updating their SIM cards from 4G to 5G. During these calls, the criminals request a One-Time Password (OTP) from the victim, claiming it is necessary for the “update.”

The Commission emphasised that this is a fraudulent ploy, stating: “PLEASE, DO NOT provide the OTP sent to you.” The EFCC explained that once a victim shares the OTP, the miscreants can immediately gain access to their bank accounts and transfer all available funds to their own accounts.

The agency reiterated that while the commencement of 5G services is a known fact, citizens should remain vigilant and treat any unsolicited request for personal verification codes with extreme suspicion.

The EFCC has urged the public to share this information widely to prevent others from falling victim to the scam. The notice specifically warns, “please don’t tell if any stranger asks for OTP.”

As digital banking expands, law enforcement continues to advise citizens that legitimate service providers will never ask for sensitive security codes over the phone. Anyone who receives such a call is encouraged to ignore the request and report the incident to the authorities.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The Nigerian Army has officially commenced the training of 5,300 newly recruited soldiers at the Depot Nigerian Army in Osogbo, Osun State, marking a significant boost to the nation’s military manpower.

Major General IM Abdullahi, Chief of Administration (Army), formally handed over the recruits to Brigadier General BM Madaki, Commandant of the Depot, signalling the start of their basic military instruction. The recruits, part of the 91 Regular Recruit Intake, will undergo an intensive six-month training programme aimed at instilling discipline, physical fitness, leadership skills, and combat readiness.

“This intake represents our commitment to strengthening the Nigerian Army’s capacity to meet the nation’s evolving security challenges,” Major General Abdullahi stated during the handover ceremony.

Receiving the recruits, Brigadier General Madaki assured that the training would produce highly disciplined, mission-ready soldiers capable of supporting the Army’s operational responsibilities. “Through rigorous military instruction and character development, we will transform these recruits into professional soldiers,” he said.

The exercise underscores the Nigerian Army’s ongoing efforts to enhance its operational effectiveness as the country continues to confront diverse security threats across various regions. Upon completion of their training, the new soldiers are expected to be deployed in support of ongoing security operations nationwide.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The Federal Government has approved a new uniform registration fee of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000) for the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by both the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).

The approval was conveyed in a letter dated March 31, 2026, from the Office of the Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, addressed to the National Examinations Council.

According to the letter signed by Mr. Adeniji Ibrahim, Director of Senior Secondary Education, the decision followed a meeting of Examination Bodies held with the Honourable Minister of Education, where the need for an upward review of examination fees was extensively discussed.

During that meeting, the Minister directed that both WAEC and NECO should adopt a uniform fee structure for the conduct of their SSCE examinations. The newly approved fee of N50,000 applies to both examination bodies.

The directive, which takes immediate effect, mandates that all relevant stakeholders be informed of the new fee regime. The letter concluded with warm regards from the Honourable Minister to all parties concerned.

This development comes amid growing concerns over the rising cost of education in Nigeria, with stakeholders expected to weigh in on the implications of the new fee structure for students and parents nationwide.