By Our Correspondent

The Presidential aspirant of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi has expressed particular concern on the enhancement of quality of education in Nigeria, saying that the quality of education in a country determines their level of development.

Obi who stated this during a visit to Practicing Nursery and Primary School, in his country home of Agulu, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State on Thursday donated a N10millin cheque to them for the rebuilding of a part of the school gutted by mysterious fire in 2024 December.

Recall that he had earlier donated N10million as initial support for the rebuilding of the school block.

Asked what he thinks could be done to salvage schools from the dangers of insecurity in view of the kidnap of pupils and teachers and the killing of one of the teachers in Oyo State, Obi said it all depended on the decisiveness and will power of the government in power to tackle it.

I tell you, we do not only need to secure our schools from insecurity but also the society. And how we can do this is by being decisive. Government needs to be decisive against terrorists to protect schools and the society.

“I have been in government before and we knew what we did to ensure safety in Anambra. It needs decisiveness and will power of the people in government for us to defeat them.”

Donating the N10million cheque, the NDC Presidential hopeful recalled that he had visited the school last year and had promised to help rebuild it.

He said he was in the school to fulfill his promise and to help ensure a conducive environment for children to learn.

By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi

The Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, has condemned the coordinated abduction of over 45 pupils, students, and teachers from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State, on Friday, 15th May, 2026.

The affected schools are Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yaworan, Community Grammar School, Esiele, and L. A. Primary School.

In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, YCE described the attack as “not just a crime against Oyo State, but an assault on the conscience of Nigeria, on the future of the Southwest, and on the sacred right of every child to learn in safety.”

The pan-Yoruba sociocultural organization said schools must never become hunting grounds for kidnappers and bandits.

“In the face of this ugly occurrence, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately deploy special forces, intelligence assets, and logistics support to ensure the safe and unconditional release of all abducted victims,” the statement said.

YCE further called on the Governors of the six Southwest states – Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos – to rise above partisan boundaries and deploy all available strategic resources through inter-state cooperation to secure lives and property.

“Without gainsaying, Yorubaland cannot afford to become the next frontier of mass abduction,” Oyewole stated.

The group said the Oyo incident is a symptom of a deeper national security crisis, and therefore, called for the strengthening of community and regional security architecture across Yorubaland.

YCE urged Southwest governments to immediately provide necessary materials for the Amotekun Corps, give them more training, better equipment, and legal backing for intelligence-led operations.

The Council also said it is necessary at this period for the six governors to recognize the statutory roles of the office of the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, alongside the contributions of Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, in promoting peace in Yorubaland.

“The six Southwest governors should therefore engage them, along with similar indigenous security groups and other well-meaning persons and organizations in the Southwest, to spread their dragnet in the protection of our territories,” YCE said.

The group further called on the Governor of Oyo State to quickly establish a joint security task force for real-time intelligence sharing across the six states to prevent cross-border movement of criminals.

YCE also recommended the deployment of Armed School Protection Units in high-risk Local Government Areas, especially those bordering forest reserves.

“Our children all over Yorubaland are not to be used as collateral damage. Every day we delay on this decisive action, we may lose another child’s future and another parent’s peace of mind,” the statement added.

The Council said it stands with the families of the abducted students and sympathizes with the family of the Mathematics teacher who was reportedly killed by the bandits during the attack.

YCE prayed that the Almighty God would grant all those directly affected strength and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

The abductions have renewed calls for urgent reforms in school security and regional collaboration across the Southwest.

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Prof Segun Aina as the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

Aina, who will be 40 in July, succeeds Professor Is-haq Oloyede, whose two-term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.

A statement by Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, described Aina as a distinguished academic and systems expert with extensive experience in national examination systems, digital infrastructure and public-sector institutional reform.

“He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Kent, an MSc in Internet Computing and Network Security, and a PhD in Digital Signal Processing, both from Loughborough University, United Kingdom.

“He has also completed the Senior Management Programme at Lagos Business School.

“A Professor of Computer Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Aina began his career with JAMB during his National Youth Service, gaining foundational experience in national admissions and data-driven institutional processes.

“These insights have shaped his ongoing contributions to examination reform and systems optimisation.

“Professor Aina is a member of several professional bodies, including the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET),” the statement said.