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One of the students of Government Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, Aliyu Husseni, 19, has narrated their ordeals in the hand of their Abductors stating that, they were fed with animals foods, dates.

Aliyu, an SS2 student said, he could not estimate the distance they trekked, saying that he was with his brother, Jani Husseni, who was kidnapped with him.

His words: “We trekked for eight hours non-stop. Only the younger ones among us did cry, and the bandits, in response, would raise their guns up and shoot in the air, saying they are Boko Haram and they acknowledged only Islamic knowledge.

”They took us to one big rock where we slept for just one hour before we continued to a big mountain where each time they saw a plane (aircraft) they would ask us to lie down.

“We fed on dates from that Friday that we were kidnapped. We were also eating an animal food from a tree commonly called ‘Kalgo’ in Hausa language. We ate that until Sunday evening when we were given potatoes and kulikuli (groundnut cake) before the journey continued.

“We were crying because we were tired and hungry, but they would not listen to us.

”We later reached a place where we rested and were given the usual food. Once you collect your ration, they would beat you as you were going.

“Whenever we wanted to drink water, we did so like animals, putting our mouths to the ground.”

When The Nation Correspondent Asked whether ransom was paid for their release, he said: “I don’t know. But some are saying they collected while some are of the view that they did not.

”But they were talking on the phone until they finally took us on motorcycles to a safe ground and released us.

‘’Although we promised them that we would not return to school, we know that we are only loyal to the decisions of our parents. Whatever they say is what we will do.”

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami has approved the licensing of 173 private sector agents as well as 30 state institutions to help conduct enrolment of Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB) on behalf of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

This approval follows the directive by the Minister who ordered that all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards without valid National Identification Numbers (NIN) should be blocked. The Director General of NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

Aziz explained that the licensed agents were approved after successfully fulfilling all the conditions in the advertised Expression of Interest (EOI) which was done in 2019 as a first step towards the take-off the National Digital Identity Ecosystem project.

According to the statement, 16 state governments were licensed, including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Lagos, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Oyo, Ogun, Sokoto and Zamfara states. Prominent among the public sector institutions licensed are the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Pension Commission(PenCom), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS Plc), National Population Commission(NPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joint Tax Board (JTB) and Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST).

Other public sector organisations issued licences include Military Pensions Board, Abuja Enterprise Agency, Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Agricultural Extension & Research Liaison Services and National Commission for Refugees, Migrants & Internally Displaced Persons.

The Sun

A Ghanaian, Jonathan Nkansah, was, yesterday, presented with the overall best National Distinction Award of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for 2019.

Nkansah had his nursery and primary education at Olumawu Nursery and Primary School, Abuja while his secondary school was at Christ the King College, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

A non-council member representing Nigeria on Sub-Board of Trustees of WAEC Endowment Fund, Godwin Uzoigwe, presented the award to Nkansah during the 58th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee of the council held in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

Uzoigwe said Jonathan was presently studying Petroleum Engineering at Covenant University, Ota in Ogun State.

Kenechukwu Emmanuel and Olaiya Oluwadara came second and third respectively in the WAEC award.

Uzoigwe said since the WAEC National Distinction/Merit awards began in 1985, two facts were significant.

He said: “Winners of the awards have always been high flyers whose academic excellence spanned their primary and secondary careers and who continued to blaze the trail in the best universities in Nigeria, Europe, America – the awards have thus confirmed the validity of WAEC assessment.

“No school or class of schools has the monopoly of producing brilliant candidates as village/community schools have, once in a while, produced award winners.”

Solomon Olorundare, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, Nigeria National Committee, Binta Abdulkadir, said the examination body had taken advantage of ICT to improve its service delivery.

“The Nigerian office in particular has taken advantage of ICT to improve its service delivery.

“This includes the online registration of candidates for senior school and private candidates, the deployment of social code on the certificate thereby making it impossible to falsify certificates issued by the council, adaptation of computer-based test and Item Detection Profile to stop the menace of examination malpractice.”

Minister for Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has again heaped blame on Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the lingering strike .

Ngige who debunked the recent statement credited to the University of Jos Chapter of ASUU, led by one Dr. Maigoro, that he was to blame for the protracted strike by the lecturers. He said the Federal Government had fulfilled all the demands by ASUU for which the union went on strike on March 9, 2020.

In a statement from his office in Abuja, the minister said: “It is rather ASUU which has bluntly refused to reciprocate the Federal Government offers by refusing to either teach, conduct researches or engage in other academic values for which they are paid, that should be held responsible.

“Strangely, ASUU claims ‘patriotism’ as basis for this prolonged industrial action, forcing every patriot to raise concern over this weird definition of patriotism by ASUU officials. Living by its words, the Federal Government has fulfilled all the demands over which ASUU went on strike on March 9, 2020.”

Ngige said the visitation panels to the universities have been approved by the President and will swing into action once the universities re-open.

He added that the revival of the Renegotiation Committee for the 2009 ASSU/FG Agreement demanded by ASUU has been set up by the Ministry of Education, with Prof Munzali as Chairman, replacing the ex-chairman, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN).

“Similarly, government has also acceded to a hybrid payment platform which is not 100% IPPIS for the payment of salaries and Earned Academic Allowances/Earned Allowances, pending the result and conclusion of the integrity and usability test on the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS) by the National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA)

“Besides, government has also processed for payment N70 billion, comprising N40 billion for Earned Academic Allowances/Earned Allowances and N30 billion for revitalisation of the universities. The Accountant General of the Federation at present awaits the accounts details from the Federal Ministry of Education and the National University Commission for the remittance.

“Of note is that even while ASUU was on strike during the COVID-19 lockdown, government, on the insistence of the Minister of Labour and Employment, and out of compassion, paid them February, March, April, May and June salaries to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 on them and their families and further made every entreaty to them to come on board virtual negotiations, with a view to an early call-off of strike, to enable students benefit from virtual/online classes, fashionable at the time, and even now, all over the universal academic community, but ASUU bluntly refused,” the statement further read.

Two best graduating students of Lagos State University, LASU, have been promised a donation of N5 million by the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and also scholarship to whatever level of education they choose to attain.

Sanwo-Olu made this promise at the LASU 24th Convocation ceremony which held on Wednesday, Dec 16.

Sanwo-Olu, who is still on self-isolation after contracting Coronavirus joined the event virtually from the State House, Marina.

Oladimeji Shotunde, a student whose mother is a trader and his father a mechanic, is the recipient of this donation and scholarship, having emerged the overall best graduating student.

22-year-old Oladimeji Shotunde finished from the Department of Business Administration in the Faculty of Management Science, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.95.

Also, Sola Olabanjo, a Master’s degree graduand from the department of Computer Science, who scored a CGPA of 5.0, will also receive a 5 million Niara grant from the office of the Lagos state governor, Sanwo-Olu announced.

The state governor made a vow to both exceptional students, saying: “Once you have thought out what you want to do, the state government has employment for you, the state government has scholarship for you to help you achieve your academic excellence to whatever level you so desire to have it.”

Oladimeji Shotunde took to Facebook after the ceremony to deliver a vote of thanks.