Author: Sodiq Mojibola

As Nigeria marks 66 years of independence, the Adunni Foundation has renewed its call for greater access to safe, quality and effective basic education, while announcing the 2026 edition of its Basic Education Torchbearers Awards (BETA). The social impact organisation said its #Edupendent Campaign, launched in 2025, is built around the conviction that education is fundamental to freedom and national development, and seeks to promote greater access to basic education, reduce the number of out-of-school children and strengthen accountability for the provision of compulsory basic education. The campaign, according to the Foundation, highlights a less visible dimension of independence, whether…

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, a professor of botany, has called for clearer boundaries and stronger coordination between the NUC and professional regulatory bodies to reduce overlapping accreditation demands and cut avoidable costs for Nigerian universities and students. Mr Ogundipe made the call on Thursday, 24 September, while delivering the 16th convocation lecture of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, titled “Coping with Double Oversight: Harmonising the NUC and Professional Bodies for a Sustainable University System”. The lecture examined the challenges created by the parallel regulatory responsibilities of the NUC and professional…

Researchers, farmers, environmental advocates and Lagos State officials are calling for a shift from waste collection and disposal to community-based systems that turn food and other discarded materials into resources that can create livelihoods, protect public health, reduce flooding and support urban farming.  The call was made during the 2026 World Cleanup Day, themed “From Clean Plates to Clean Cities”. Findings from an African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) study in Ajegunle-Ikorodu showed that food waste, although often overshadowed by plastic, poses significant health and environmental risks in communities with limited access to formal waste collection.  The study found that rapidly…

A final-year student of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Oluwole Oluwaseun has died. In a press release dated 16 September, the university described the incident as suicide and said the police had commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. The incident comes months after the university mourned two students in separate incidents in April, renewing concerns about student welfare and the support available to those facing personal and emotional difficulties. Against this backdrop, the university urged students experiencing emotional distress, financial pressures, relationship difficulties and other personal challenges to seek…

Journalists in Nigeria say poor access to reliable data, inadequate newsroom funding and weak collaboration among key stakeholders are making it harder to effectively investigate school safety and hold authorities accountable. They said reporting on school safety should go beyond documenting attacks after they occur to examining whether schools have been mapped, security commitments implemented and communities consulted about risks facing children. The concerns were raised on Tuesday at the September edition of the Journalism & Society Conversations organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). Themed “Literacy Under Attack: The Responsibility of Protecting Education Through Safer Schools,”…

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has asked schools and candidates dissatisfied with the recently released 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results to apply for a review, saying outstanding review requests will be processed within two weeks. The Head of the Nigerian Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, disclosed this on Thursday during the monthly dialogue organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), themed “One-on-One with WAEC HNO: Addressing Concerns over WASSCE Results, Other Matters.” EWAN is a network of journalists committed to advancing education reportage across Nigeria’s print, broadcast and digital media. He gave the…

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed delays experienced during the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to late registration by schools, logistical challenges and insecurity. The Head of the Nigerian Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, stated this on Thursday during the monthly dialogue organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), themed “One-on-One with WAEC HNO: Addressing Concerns over WASSCE Results, other Matters.” EWAN is a network of journalists committed to advancing education reportage across Nigeria’s print, broadcast and digital media. The dialogue came amid concerns over the conduct of the 2026 WASSCE, including poor…

A non-partisan civic and socio-development platform, Oganihu has called for an immediate audit of security checkpoints across the five states in the region amid allegations of extortion, harassment and prolonged detention of citizens. The group also called for accountability for security personnel accused of extortion, greater protection of citizens’ rights, and the implementation of recommendations of the Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission. Oganihu made the demands in a public statement issued on 30 August, following its meeting on 29 August, where it received a briefing from Emeka Umeagbalasi of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law…

Research involving 318 solar technicians in Lagos has exposed significant gaps in training and certification, raising concerns about the safety and quality of installations as solar adoption grows. As more households and businesses in Lagos increasingly turn to solar energy amid unreliable electricity and rising generator costs, a new study has found that only 49 per cent of surveyed technicians possess certificates related to their technical work, raising concerns about the safety and quality of solar installations. The research, conducted by Eghosa Igudia, a researcher and lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, involved 318 technicians and found that…

When Funmi Adewara, a physician, fell seriously ill as a child in Kaduna State, the medicine that would save her life was not available in the city. Doctors were on strike, and the drug had to be brought from Lagos State before she could receive treatment. “I could hear the wailing of mothers, families who lost their loved ones, the smell of the hospital and the sight of corpses wheeled out” “Imagine these conflicts. But if we didn’t make it. I would have become one of the statistics today,” she said. That experience, Ms Adewara said, shaped her decision to…