Education
VP SHETTIMA AT NASARAWA STATE VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE GRADUATION
VP SHETTIMA AT NASARAWA STATE VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE GRADUATION
- Our Reforms Creating Employment Opportunities, Greater Economic Prospects
- Flags off distribution of relief materials to flood victims, tractors, paddy rice to farmers
By: Our Reporter
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said the ongoing reforms initiated by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are such that will create employment opportunities for the youth population as well as provide greater opportunities in the various sectors of the economy.
He underscored the inevitability of skills acquisition among the young demographic in Nigeria, noting that the nation can no longer afford to keep growing a population of idle, unemployed and unemployable youths.
The Vice President spoke on Friday during the Combined Graduation Ceremony of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.
The Vice President stated: “The danger of paying lip service to technical and vocational skills acquisition is one none of us is prepared to experience, and the examples of various low- and middle-income countries, especially the Asian Tigers, are there to inspire the direction of our National Development Plans and push our economic drive towards a destination we all desire—a place of boom.
“This is why His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has championed economic reforms beyond the usual cosmetic fixes to lay the groundwork for greater opportunities ahead. With increased allocations to the states, I believe that we are more than energised to fund our development programmes”.
Recalling Nigeria’s origin as an agrarian nation, Senator Shettima noted that there is no greater inspiration than concentrating on “the magnitude of initiatives made possible by the proceeds of the sector and the hard work of those skilled and unskilled workers who were the fulcrum of our pre-oil economy”.
He said the graduation ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate the sincerity of the administration’s promise to create avenues for upskilling and reskilling the nation’s workforce across sectors.
VP Shettima pointed out that the institute is a vehicle through which the APC-led government fulfils its promise to Nigerians to “prioritise poverty reduction, employment generation, and job creation”.
Cautioning against harbouring the population of unemployed youths in the country, he said, “The reality we inherited points to the existence of a link between youth unemployment, violence, and other associated crimes, and as such, we cannot afford to create an idle, unemployed, or unemployable demographic.
“Our response, over which we gather here today, is to build on our agenda of providing our youths with skills to either find gainful employment or become self-reliant. This grand event, the Combined Graduation Ceremony for the graduands of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute, Lafia, aligns with the direction the world is headed—the path of skill acquisition.”
The VP applauded the foresight of Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, which he said is being manifested in his aspiration to turn the state “into a hub of jobs and opportunities.”
Senator Shettima who had earlier flagged off the distribution of relief materials to flood victims, presentation of tractors and paddy rice to farmers in the state said it was a demonstration of his “affinity for Nasarawa State, and as a Kanuri man who has ancestral connections with some segments” of the state that has already become home to him.
He also commended the institute for graduating no fewer than 9,000 graduands barely three years of its existence, even as he charged the graduands to join relevant associations and cooperatives to enable them access loan facilities and learn from the experiences of those ahead of them in their respective enterprises.
Earlier in his remarks, Governor Sule said the skills programme of the state vocational and technology institute was designed to address the skills gap in critical sectors and empower young Nigerians.
He thanked Vice President Shettima for finding time to visit the state, and for supporting its modest contributions to economic transformation and youth empowerment.
In his remarks, former Plateau State Governor, Senator Simon Lalong, praised the courage and efforts of the state government in impacting the lives of young Nigerians through the various schemes in agriculture and vocational and technology training.
On his part, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, His Lordship, Hassan Kukah, thanked Nasarawa State government for the efforts to address poverty through skills acquisition and economic empowerment initiative, just as he emphasised the significance of empowering young people with skills to impact their communities and societies.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational Technology Institute, Dr Daniel Asele said the 1,000 graduands of the 2024 programme of the institute had undergone rigorous training and acquired skills that are relevant to contemporary challenges of their communities and state at large.
In a goodwill message, the Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr Adewale Oyerinde, commended the Nasarawa State government for its commitment to empowering young Nigerians, saying the programme would significantly impact ongoing efforts to transform and industrialise the economy by providing the necessary skilled manpower to drive the processes.
On his part, the Emir of Lafia, Hon. Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I (rtd), thanked the Vice President for his support and commitment to the people of Nasarawa State, pledging the loyalty of the traditional council to the federal government’s programmes and policies.
High points of the event were the presentation of start-up packs and certificates to the graduands in welding, tailoring, and ICT among other fields.
Meanwhile, Vice President Shettima had earlier flagged the distribution of relief materials to flood victims in affected local government areas.
He also presented tractors and distributed Jangwa Paddi Rice from the proceeds of the pioneer Nasarawa Rice Farm project to 13 local government areas.
The VP commended Governor Sule for his exemplary leadership and sterling qualities, saying they have ensured peaceful co-existence among the different tribes in the state, and transformed agricultural production across the area.
The VP also toured the Olam warehouse where the produce of the Nasarawa State Rice Farm project for 2024 was stored.
Also present at the event were the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari; Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr Emmanuel Akabe; Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Danladi Jatau; Director General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mr Silas Agara, and other top government functionaries.
VP SHETTIMA AT NASARAWA STATE VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE GRADUATION
Automatic Tuition Aid: Al-Ansar University Offers Scholarships to New Intakes
By Auwal Umar, Gombe
In a remarkable move to reduce the financial burden of higher education, Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, has announced an Automatic Scholarship Scheme for self-sponsored candidates seeking admission into the university for the 2025/2026 academic session.
The initiative, approved by the Founder and President of the Al-Ansar Foundation, Dr. Mohammed Kyari Dikwa, offers partial tuition fee scholarships to all qualified new students.
According to the university management, this initiative underscores the foundation’s long-standing commitment to educational access and youth empowerment.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Abubakar Musa made available to Newsmen on Wednesday.
He said that the scholarship is open to candidates applying through UTME, Direct Entry, or those transferring from recognized universities.
The university emphasized that this offer is specifically for fresh applicants, and excludes students applying for the MBBS programme.
To qualify, UTME applicants must have scored at least 150 in the 2025 examination, possess the correct subject combination for their chosen course, and have at least five credit passes at O’ Level, including English Language and Mathematics.
The Direct Entry candidates are expected to hold recognized qualifications such as NCE, ND, or IJMB, along with five O’ Level credits including English and Mathematics.
Transfer candidates must have secured original admission through JAMB from 2022 or later, and are required to confidentially submit their official academic transcript to Al-Ansar University. They must also meet the academic and departmental requirements of their chosen programme.
The scholarship applies to degree programmes in the College of Arts, Social and Management Sciences, the College of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, except for the MBBS programme which is not covered under this scheme.
Interested candidates are encouraged to visit the university’s official website at www.aum.edu.ng, where they can complete the online admission application form and upload all relevant documents.
The university also issued an important reminder about the admission process. All result uploads must be done through JAMB-approved CBT Centres, otherwise, the candidate may not appear on the JAMB CAPS portal for admission recommendation.
The Candidates are urged to check their JAMB CAPS profiles and respond to any offer of admission within four weeks, or risk automatic withdrawal of the offer. Furthermore, JAMB has set a final deadline for admission into private universities, which is the end of November 2025. Any delay beyond this will make it impossible for JAMB to approve such admissions.
Al-Ansar University is calling on all eligible candidates to take advantage of this unique opportunity to pursue their dreams without the full weight of tuition costs. The Automatic Scholarship Scheme is a bold step toward transforming lives through inclusive and quality education.
Automatic Tuition Aid: Al-Ansar University Offers Scholarships to New Intakes
DIGITAL RIGHTS: EU, ASF FRANCE SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST CYBERBULLING IN NIGERIA
By: Michael Mike
Avocats Sans Frontieres (ASF) France with the support from the European Union (EU) in conjunction with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), through it e- RIGHTS Protect has called for more strength to fight against cyberbulling and digital rights violation in Nigeria.
This was made known at the grand finale of the national inter-school digital rights competition organized by ASF under it E-RIGHTS platform last Tuesday in Abuja.
After a thorough engagement by various schools across the country, four schools from different States and zone were qualified to the final, namely Kano State, Lagos, Imo and FCT.
In the keenly contested competition, the Sonmori Senior Comprehensive High School, Ifako Ijaiye, Lagos State emerged as the winner, followed by FCT, Imo and Kano respectfully. The winner takes home the sum of one million Naira with support also from the eRights project to empower what they are doing in terms of digital literacy.
ASF France, Nigeria County Director, Angela Uwandu Uzoma, explained that, the competitions is more than celebration of talents, but celebration of courage, consciousness and commitment. She said, the occasion is not just to shaping conversation of the students, but to shaping their future.
She further said “The eRights project aims at promoting digital rights, not just for the adults, but also for the children, ensuring that the children are not left behind in this conversation. So children are themselves today participating in putting out empowering videos, messaging to discourage cyberbullying, to say no to cyberbullying because of the attendant effects and the harms that it can cause”
“The Cybercrimes Act, which was recently revised, amended particularly with Section 24, which was amended in 2024, to ensure that the government addresses some of these issues
“The government needs to do more. And we’re seeing that this Act, which ordinarily should protect citizens, to empower them to create a safe space for engagement, ensure that people are able to express themselves freely as guaranteed by the Constitution, including children” she added.
Also, the EU representative at the event, Program Manager, CSO, Human Rights and Youth, Mrs. Wynyfred Achu-Egbuson, believed that, the competition will bring to the understanding of Yong people that they have a responsibility towards not only protecting their rights but also protect the rights of other people who use the digital space.
She further said, the issues surrounding digital rights in Nigeria and other developed countries of the West is dynamic. Therefore, the issues of legislations and regulation towards digital rights is developing, the situation is dynamic and ever changing
DIGITAL RIGHTS: EU, ASF FRANCE SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST CYBERBULLING IN NIGERIA
Education
Breaking News: Less Than 48 Hours After ₦100 Million Endowment, Summit University Secures Full ICAN Accreditation for Accounting Programme
Breaking News: Less Than 48 Hours After ₦100 Million Endowment, Summit University Secures Full ICAN Accreditation for Accounting Programme
By: Michael Mike
In a momentous week for Summit University, Offa, the institution has recorded a double milestone that cements its position as a rising star in Nigeria’s higher education landscape. Less than 48 hours after receiving a transformative ₦100 million endowment from the Isiaq Family Foundation (IFF) to boost accounting education, the University has secured full accreditation for its Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Accounting programme from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
This landmark accreditation follows the recommendation of the Students’ Affairs Committee and was formally approved by the Council of the Institute, having confirmed that the University met all stipulated criteria for assessment. The next accreditation visit by ICAN is scheduled for the 2027/2028 academic session.
The announcement comes as a proud validation of the University’s commitment to academic and professional excellence. It confirms that the Accounting programme at Summit University has not only achieved national benchmarks but is poised to produce graduates who are fully equipped for global relevance in the dynamic world of finance and accounting.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun Musa Aibinu, praised the timing and significance of the dual developments. “This is divine alignment. The recognition by ICAN, coming so soon after the extraordinary endowment by the Isiaq Family Foundation, sends a clear message that Summit University is on the path of greatness. These back-to-back milestones reinforce our resolve to deliver top-tier education and nurture future leaders in the accounting profession.”
Earlier this week, during the 11th Triennial Conference of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria held in Abeokuta, the Isiaq Family Foundation, led by Alhaji Kola Isiaq-Balogun, announced a ₦100 million endowment continue aimed at transforming accounting education at Summit University. The endowment includes annual scholarships for students, the establishment of a Professorial Chair in Accounting, a dedicated research grant, the development of an Accounting Technology Laboratory (AccTech Lab), and awards for the best graduating students. Provisions were also made for solar-powered energy and internet connectivity to support uninterrupted digital access for learning.
The dual developments have been hailed by the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, founders of the University, as a testament to their vision of academic and moral excellence. They reflect not only the growing confidence in the University’s academic direction but also the power of collaboration between philanthropic vision and institutional ambition.
Summit University stands proud in this historic moment—propelled by a generous endowment and fortified by national accreditation—ready to shape the future of accounting education in Nigeria and beyond. As part of its unwavering commitment to producing industry- and community-fitted graduates, the University prioritises the acquisition of seven transformative skills that define its unique educational model.
These include proficiency in ICT and Artificial Intelligence, deep understanding of Financial Literacy, and the nurturing of Acadopreneurship—an innovative blend of academic excellence and entrepreneurial thinking. Students are also grounded in history, heritage, and storytelling skills, empowered with knowledge in Clean and Renewable Energy, and cultivated to become responsible Global Citizens. Through this holistic approach, Summit University is not only building capable professionals but also shaping visionary leaders for national development and global relevance.
Breaking News: Less Than 48 Hours After ₦100 Million Endowment, Summit University Secures Full ICAN Accreditation for Accounting Programme
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