General News
GEJ vs GMB: Embarrassment of Choices ahead of Tomorrow’s Election

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo are in a tight contest for Saturday’s election with main opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate, Yemi Osinbajo, according to Reuters.
The vote is widely expected to be the closest presidential poll Africa’s most populous nation and biggest economy has seen since it returned to civilian rule in 1999.
Reuters said that in all, there are 14 presidential candidates but Jonathan and Buhari are well ahead of the rest.
Here are details on the main presidential and vice presidential aspirants of their parties.
PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP)
Presidential candidate: GOODLUCK JONATHAN
— Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was born in the Niger Delta in November 1957 to a family of canoe makers. He studied zoology and worked as an education inspector, lecturer and environmental protection officer before going into politics in 1998.
— Usually dressed in his trademark fedora hat and traditional caftan-like attire, he has a PhD in zoology.
— Jonathan won election in 1999 as deputy governor of Bayelsa, one of three main states in the oil-producing Niger Delta, as a member of the PDP. He became state governor in 2005, then vice president in 2007 alongside President Umaru Yar’Adua.
— Jonathan was sworn in as president, vowing to fight corruption, on May 6, 2010, a day after Yar’Adua died.
— His 2011 election upset northern elites due to an informal pact within the PDP that power should rotate between the mostly Muslim north and the largely Christian south every two terms.
— Jonathan’s administration has been dogged by several corruption scandals in the oil sector. In early 2013, the president dismissed the then central bank governor Lamido Sanusi after the latter accused the state oil company of failing to remit billions of dollars of oil revenues it owed the state.
— The Christian southerner has been criticized for failing to tackle a six-year Boko Haram insurgency, during which the militant group killed thousands in its attempt to set up an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, and kidnapped hundreds.
Vice presidential candidate: NAMADI SAMBO
— Mohammed Namadi Sambo was born in August 1954 in northern Kaduna state. Jonathan will hope his Muslim running mate will attract votes in the north where the president is least popular.
— Sambo is a qualified architect. He held positions in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Housing in the 1980s, left to pursue private practice in the 1990s before returning to politics as governor of Kaduna state in 2007.
— His main achievement as governor was on security, a major problem in Kaduna which has suffered from sectarian clashes.
ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC)
Presidential candidate: MUHAMMADU BUHARI
— Buhari, born in December 1942, was military ruler of Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985. He was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2003 and 2011 elections.
— A major general, he was selected to lead the country by military officers after an almost bloodless New Year’s eve coup in 1983 ended Nigeria’s second attempt at democracy.
— His iron-fisted administration is remembered for the jailing of politicians for corruption and executing of drug traffickers.
— Buhari himself was overthrown in a 1985 coup.
— His reputation as a disciplinarian, and a popular perception that he is cleaner than many in the political elite, has played well with voters fed up with worsening corruption.
–The bloody Boko Haram insurgency has made security a major campaign issue for Buhari. He points to his achievements as a military ruler against Chadian militia.
Vice presidential candidate: YEMI OSINBAJO
— Osinbajo, a southern lawyer, was announced as Buhari’s running mate in December 2014.
— He is also a Christian pastor, a move aimed at wooing Christians who might be unhappy with a Muslim northern presidential candidate, a pattern in Nigerian elections in which aspirants try to balance the two religions.
— The selection of Osinbajo as a vice presidential candidate is also likely to be an attempt to win over voters in the southwest – where he is from, seen as the major swing block.
General News
IHS Nigeria, Osun State partner to transform technical education

IHS Nigeria has partnered with the Osun State Government on Osun Teacher-Shift 2025, a programme aimed at transforming technical and vocational school teachers into digital-ready educators capable of driving innovation in classrooms.
The IHS Nigeria sponsored initiative, implemented by Focus Teens Foundation in collaboration with the Osun State Board of Technical and Vocational Education, targets about 200 teachers across the State’s nine technical colleges. The training will run in batches over a two-day period, with participants expected to acquire modern skills, and innovative teaching techniques.
Speaking at the opening ceremony which held in Osogbo yesterday, Titilope Oguntuga, Director of Sustainability at IHS Nigeria, explained that the project was developed to prepare teachers for the opportunities and challenges of a fast-evolving world.
She said, “Today is not just the launch of a programme — it is the beginning of a movement. This is more than training, it is a mindset shift. It is about rethinking how we prepare teachers, students, and our communities for the opportunities and challenges of a fast-evolving world.”
Oguntuga emphasised that teachers remain at the centre of national development but face increasing demands to inspire creativity, nurture innovation, and equip young people with practical and technology-driven skills.
She noted that the initiative also reflects IHS Nigeria’s four sustainability pillars — ethics and governance, environment and climate change, people and communities, and education and economic growth.
The IHS official said, “education remains the strongest catalyst for national development. But we cannot achieve this without empowering the people who will empower the next generation. With this programme, teachers and beneficiaries from the nine technical colleges will begin to think more innovatively and incorporate new systems that support STEM for the advancement of our nation.”
Oguntuga added that each school would be given routers with one year subscription.
Adedapo Ademola-Adesina, Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical and Vocational Education, noted that the State Government believes in private sector collaboration to achieve its goals for technical and vocational education, leading to the partnership with IHS Nigeria.
“We must begin by changing the mindset of our teachers. They are the ones who shape future leaders. That is why we tagged the program “Osun Teacher-Shift 2025” — shifting from the old ways to new digital teaching”, he said.
Also speaking, Sunday Eluwole, the Osun State Commissioner for Education, acknowledged that the training was both timely and necessary, saying; “this is the 21st century, and Nigeria cannot be left behind. Our schools, teachers, and classrooms must be digitalised. Teachers must first be trained in digital methods before they can pass the knowledge on to students.”
Eluwole added that Osun State, which has the highest number of technical colleges in the Country, is committed to making its schools models of digital and vocational learning.
Earlier, Muritala Jimoh, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, said that Osun State teachers are ready to shift. Jimoh noted that Governor Ademola Adeleke is prioritising teachers’ welfare in the state, hence their readiness to embrace the shift.
He called on teachers to reciprocate government’s efforts by making their minds flexible to change.
General News
Passengers Must Switch Off Phones during Flights — NCAA

Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed all airlines operating in the country to ensure that passengers completely switch off their mobile phones during aircraft take-off and landing.
Michael Achimugu, director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCCA, disclosed the directive in a post on X on Tuesday.
He said the measure was part of a harmonisation of existing rules on the use of electronic devices onboard.
“Henceforth, the regulation per phones and other electronic devices in Nigeria has been unified: ALL PHONES MUST BE SWITCHED OFF DURING THE CRITICAL ASPECTS OF TAKE-OFF AND LANDING,” Achimugu wrote.
“All airlines must amend their security programmes to reflect this if different in their current programmes. No more airplane mode until regulations are reviewed to reflect evolving technological situations.”
The directive means that all airlines will have to adjust their operational manuals and cabin crew instructions to enforce the policy.
Reactions to the announcement have been mixed on social media, with some Nigerians questioning the relevance of the rule in light of advances in aircraft technology and onboard connectivity.
General News
TETFUND Tasks Tertiary Institutions on Use of ICT for Teaching

Sonny Echono, executive secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has called on Nigerian tertiary institutions to urgently embrace technology in teaching, research, and administration, warning that billions of naira already invested in ICT infrastructure risk being wasted due to underutilization.
Echono made the call in Abuja, Nigeria while delivering remarks at a 2-Day Workshop on Blackboard/TERAS Adoption and Usage in Beneficiary Institutions, organized by TETFund for Registrars, Bursars, Directors of Academic Planning and ICT and Thesis Project Repository Managers of beneficiary institutions.
He lamented that despite TETFund’s early investment in digital learning platforms such as the Tertiary Education, Research, Applications and Services, TERAS, many universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education were still lagging behind in ICT adoption.
According to him, Nigeria’s rapidly growing population and limited availability of classrooms make technology the only viable pathway to expanding access to quality education.
“We are no longer confined to the four walls of classrooms. With just an android phone or a device, students should be able to access content, participate in learning, and acquire skills. There is no alternative to technology if we must prepare our youths for the opportunities ahead,” Echono said.
He decried the slow pace of transition to digital platforms in many institutions, some of which still send hardcopy requests to TETFund despite clear directives for e-submissions.
The TETFund boss stressed that robust and regularly updated institutional websites should be a minimum requirement in the digital age, describing many schools’ online presence as “embarrassingly outdated.”
Echono also cited the successes recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown when TETFund partnered states, the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, and radio stations to broadcast WAEC syllabus-based lessons.
According to him, that year produced one of Nigeria’s best WAEC results, indicating the potential of technology to revolutionise learning.
He expressed concern that Nigeria now ranks 189th globally and 25th in Africa in education competitiveness, behind smaller countries like Rwanda and Mauritius that have leveraged ICT to transform their systems.
“Government has done its part by providing the infrastructure. But when equipment is procured and platforms created and they are not being used, that is the very definition of waste,” he warned.
The TETFund boss urged heads of institutions to champion the use of digital platforms like TERAS by lecturers and students, stressing that over time, more than half of TETFund’s education investments would have to go into ICT rather than physical infrastructure.
Echono also linked Nigeria’s underdevelopment to its failure to leverage technology in sectors such as oil, agriculture, and manufacturing, contrasting the country’s struggles with China’s rapid transformation through deliberate investment in knowledge and innovation.
“We can do the same if we decide to do the right thing. The right thing starts with our education system. The building block of every nation is knowledge,” he said.
He appealed to tertiary institutions to seize the opportunity, populate their websites with relevant data, and ensure students and staff are fully onboarded onto TERAS platform.
Earlier, Mr. Joseph Odo, director of ICT, TETFund, said interactive sessions at the workshop were designed to deepen understanding of the Fund’s digital platforms and improve collaboration among beneficiary institutions.
“This is part of our engagements with key stakeholders, registrars, librarians, ICT directors, repository managers, and academic planners, to ensure that everyone understands the interventions we are providing. The world is moving fast technology-wise, and we cannot afford to be left behind,” Odo said.
He explained that the sessions, which will hold across all six geopolitical zones, are focused on strengthening the use of TETFund-funded learning platforms, which aggregate data for planning and improve teaching, research, and learning outcomes.
Odo added that TERAS is evolving into “an educational lifestyle” that caters to students, lecturers, administrators, and even government planners.
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