The government of Kano has inaugurated a committee to investigate the mass failure in the recently concluded qualifying examinations for senior secondary schools in the state.

Balarabe Kiru, the director of public enlightenment at the state’s ministry of education, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday.

According to NAN, Kiru said the committee’s mandate included determining the extent and causes of the failure.

“The committee will also assess whether there was compliance with the established procedure for releasing results,” he said.

“It is also part of the committee’s responsibility to advise the government on the best ways to conduct future examinations.”

Kiru said the committee has one week to submit its report. He said the panel would be headed by Tajuddeen Gambo, special adviser to the governor on education.

Kiru listed members of the committee including Kabiru Zakirai, the executive secretary of the Kano State Senior Secondary School Management Board; and Baba Umar, the executive secretary of the Private and Voluntary Schools Board.

Also on the committee are Nura Ma’aji, the special adviser to the governor on student matters; Rabi Hussain, the director of the Kano Educational Resources Department (KERD); and Rabiu Mijinyawa, the former director of the Kano Educational Resources Department.

Kiru said the senior special assistant to the governor on girl child education Hafsat Adhama would serve as the secretary.

he house of representatives has passed a bill seeking to reintroduce the old national anthem.

The old national anthem is themed: ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’.

The house speedily passed the bill for first, second, and third readings during plenary on Thursday.

More to follow…

A tragic incident occurred on Wednesday in Jos, Plateau State, when a policeman accidentally shot and killed his colleague during an enforcement operation.

The deceased officer, identified as Tanko Emmanuel, was part of a team deployed by the state government to clear traders from Ahmadu Bello Way.

According to a source who spoke to SaharaReporters, the incident took place while the 48-year-old Tanko Emmanuel, who was attached to the Akwanga division, was engaged in an argument with a civilian. In the midst of the confrontation, another officer on the team, led by Inspector Haruna, fired a shot that accidentally hit Tanko Emmanuel.

The source expressed condolences, stating, “May Almighty God give his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss and may the Almighty Allah continue to protect security operatives from catastrophic incidents like this.”

Efforts to reach the Plateau State Police Command spokesperson, Alabo Alfred, for comment were unsuccessful, as he did not answer calls or respond to a text message sent to his mobile line.

This unfortunate incident highlights the risks faced by security operatives in the line of duty and underscores the need for proper training and safety measures to prevent such accidents from occurring.

Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman has attributed his career and personality evolution to his decision to play for Nigeria.

Ademola Lookman was born in Wandsworth England on October 20, 1997, to Nigerian parents which makes him eligible to play for both countries.

The 26-year-old striker has played for England’s under-19, 20, and 21 levels before he decided to settle for Nigeria at the senior level in 2022 after failing to get the Three Lions of England invite.

Since then, the tricky winger has made himself a very important member of the national team which he has scored 6 goals in 21 games.

“It’s incredible [to play for Nigeria]. The support and the love I get back home from the people is unbelievable,” Lookman told the UEFA official website.

“It gives me the motivation to evolve in different areas – as a person, not just in my game.”

Just like at the 2023 AFCON where Ademola Lookman recorded some brilliant moments as he helped Nigeria to reach the final of the tournament, Lookman has enjoyed some unforgettable moments at Atalanta this season.

The best of them all was his performance in the Europa League final on May 22, 2024, where he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final.

The most mind-blowing aspect of that achievement is that Ademola Lookman achieved the feat against newly crowned German Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen who were enjoying a 51-game unbeaten run before the final.

Meanwhile, Lookman’s national teammate, Kenneth Omeruo has urged the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) to make Atalanta winger the 2024 Africa player of the year.

”@CAF_Online your Arica Player of the Year..@ALookman_ top player”, Kenneth Omeruo wrote on X after Ademola Lookman helped Atalanta to win the Europa League with a hat-trick on Wednesday.

The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to keep contesting as long as he’s healthy.

Atiku spoke during an interview on the Hausa service of the Voice of America in Abuja.

Asked if he will contest again, Atiku said: “Of course, I will keep contesting again and again as long as I am alive and healthy.

“Even the former US President Abraham Lincoln contested seven times before finally winning.

“However, given the current state of the PDP, it is clear that a single-handed effort will not suffice to win the election. Strong support and collaboration with other parties are required.”

The former Vice President will be 81 by the time the next presidential election comes around in 2027.

Atiku has run for the presidency six times but has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions — 2007, 2019, and 2023.

Abubakar said he is consoled by the fact that former United States President Abraham Lincoln did not win the presidential vote on the first time of asking.

He also spoke about the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party needs to be united and forge alliances with other political groups to win the presidential election in 2027.

This is coming amid speculation of him forming a coalition with other political parties.

Last week, Atiku had met with his counterpart from the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

“This is to anybody that thinks there is going to be a misunderstanding between me and Obi, let me assure you that not even a small issue is going to happen between us.

“Also, we are going to be behind anybody that will be chosen to represent us in the forthcoming elections,” he said about the meeting.

The Federal Government, Organised Labour, and the Private Sector have postponed the new minimum wage tripartite committee meeting until next Tuesday.

Naija News reports that the parties decided to postpone the meeting on Wednesday after organized labour rejected the federal government’s fresh offer of ₦57,000 minimum wage.

Recall the government increased its offer from ₦54,000 to ₦57,000 at the meeting but was rejected by the labour unions. Also, labour reduced its demand from ₦615, 000 to ₦497, 000.

However, a source privy to discussions at the meeting told Vanguard that the government team stuck to their offer of ₦57,000, and there is no sign of increasing the latest offer.

The source stated that it is a problem if the government cannot pay an appreciable salary increase, adding that the meeting has adjourned till next Tuesday.

The Labour member said the government’s offer was once again presented by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

He said: “They are crying now. They are stuck at N57,000. There is a problem if the government cannot pay an appreciable salary increase. There is no sign that there is no money. We adjourned until next Tuesday.

“The government is insisting on N57,000, which is like wage reduction, how can you go and negotiate wage reduction because there’s nobody that is earning N57,000 now?

“We came down from N500,000 to N497,000 because when they increased by N3,000, we now came down by N3,000 too so that if they are joking, we also decided to joke, they are not the only ones who know how to joke. We came down to N497,000 when they came up to N57,000. We told them straight away that we didn’t accept the N57,000 offer.

“They pleaded with labour to accept their offer, we told them there was nothing to plead about. We told them to break down the N57,000 offer, so we will know how much they are allocating to transport, how much to accommodation, how much to health so that we know and not lump everything but they didn’t do that.”

Some of the government team members at the meeting included the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun, and Budget, Atiku Bagudu, and Onyejeocha.

The Zamfara State government has announced that ₦30,000 will be the new minimum wage for workers in the state instead of ₦7,000.

The state governor, Dauda Lawal, who made the announcement yesterday, added that the ₦30,000 minimum wage for civil servants in the state will begin in June.

The Governor revealed this during a meeting with the leadership of the Zamfara State chapter of the Labour Union in Gusau, the state capital.

A statement from the spokesperson of the governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said the implementation of the minimum wage demonstrates the state government’s commitment to improving the well-being of employees.

He said, “The Zamfara State government will start paying a minimum wage of N30,000 instead of N7,000 effective June this year.”

Organised Labour has accused the Bola Tinubu-led federal government of deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.

The labour movement made the accusation on Wednesday after it rejected the fresh offer of ₦57,000 minimum wage from the federal government.

Naija News reports that the Tinubu government proposed the amount during Wednesday’s meeting of the minimum wage tripartite committee in Abuja.

Recall the federal government increased its offer from ₦54,000 to ₦57,000, while labour reduced its demand from ₦615, 000 to ₦497, 000.

Speaking with Vanguard after the meeting, one of the labour leaders expressed his anger over the government’s attitude toward negotiating the new minimum wage.

The labour leader asserted that the government was not ready to negotiate or was not prepared for negotiation, saying that it was deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.

He added that the government inflicted hardship on Nigerians with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency.

He said: “Government cannot be telling us that there is no money; this is an insult. We did not remove subsidies or float the national currency. The government created this problem. Since the removal of the petrol subsidy and floating of the naira, has the government shown proof that the country has no money, no?

“We are aware that the government gave members of the National Assembly no less than N160 million each to buy cars, the same government has released N90 billion to subsidise hajj operations.

‘’The government has renovated the Senate chambers, and the vice president’s office, and it is buying luxury buses for Customs in millions of naira.

‘’They are also buying all manner of SUVs for government officers. Since the removal of subsidies, the government has been making life better for political elites who have been feeding fat on workers.

“Crude oil sales have increased considerably, and it has been getting more money in dollars while workers have been suffering and going deeper into poverty.

“The state governors have been receiving three times more than they were receiving before the removal of subsidy. We cannot accept this. We did not cause the socio-economic challenges the country is facing.

“The government inflicted these problems on the country with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency. If the country has no money, let it reflect in the lives of government officials, their aides and cronies.

“It is becoming obvious that the government does not want industrial peace. And it is clearly evident that the government is not ready to negotiate. Well, if it is industrial unrest that will make the government do the right thing, we shall give it to them after the end of May.”