The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has vowed that the Federal Government will get more Nigerian universities in Africa’s first 1,000 list, stating its commitment to revamp the educational system in Nigeria and giving the public university system a pride of place (sic), so that when (the) next global assessment is done, more Nigerian universities will be in the first 1,000 in Africa.

The labour minister, during the reconvened meeting between the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ leadership and the federal government on Thursday in Abuja, Said “I am a firm believer in the public university system, that is why my children are there. I didn’t send them to private ones. One graduated from Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Awka, and my daughter from UNILAG,” Ngige said.

He added, ”My third child will also come out possibly next month from a public university again. I don’t believe that public universities are going to be abandoned.

He further assured the union that Buhari’s regime would not abandon the public universities despite dwindling resources.

Ngige added that the government would be happy to concentrate its limited resources on areas that would produce good effects.

“If the private sector can bring excellence to our universities, (the) government can as well do the same. So, working hand in hand with ASUU as we are currently doing is a model we must keep,” Ngige further noted. “We will not be going to war with ASUU all the time. We can do constructive engagement. If there is something that the government can do and it says it can’t, I am here to say no, you can because I am privy to some information.”

Lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial district, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, has awarded bursary worth 30m to 600 students across the district.

The event, which held at the Lagos State Polytechnic, comprised of dignitaries from the Lagos State house of assembly, former deputy governor, vice chancellor, cleric and traditional rulere in the district.

Abiru,  stating the objective of this scheme said it is to promote higher qualitative education and supporting brilliant students but who have challenges funding their education  in furtherance of their academic pursuit.

“In this maiden edition, 600 eligible students across the 98 wards in the 16 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas in the Lagos East Senatorial District, were shortlisted and screened by the TACT Bursary Advisory Board.

“The minimum we can do as leaders and in fidelity with our social contract with the esteemed constituents who majorly fall within this demography is to provide support for their dreams to have full and maximum expression.

“I am passionate about ensuring ‘greater good for greater number’. This mantra guides my philosophy and strategy in giving a lease of life to our people as much as is within my power.

“The tactics to drive home this strategy is encapsulated in the resonating and reassuring ‘DOING GOOD’ drive.

“One of the major agenda on my social contract with the good people of Lagos East Senatorial District is youth development for global readiness.

“This, I have sought to achieve with multi-dimensional approaches, which include: collaborations; co-creations; funding; infrastructural interventions, capacity building; etc.

“It is a part of this that has given birth to the annual ‘’Senator Tokunbo Abiru Bursary endowment fund’’ to support and encourage our star students in their respective tertiary Institutions of learning- the reason we are all here today”

Abiru said he was committed to improving the skills of the youth to be relevant in the job and entrepreneurship spaces.

“In partnership with Co-Creation Hub, CcHub, Africa’s leading innovation hub space, we are setting a Community Innovation Centre in our district.

“This concept will leverage on social capital and technology in accelerating economic prosperity for our teeming youth population. It will be up and running in a few months from now.

He added that the 600 beneficiaries were selected on merit.

MLJ Marine Oil & Gas Limited has said education helps to produce patriotic citizens.

A statement by the company said educating Nigerians, especially the indigents would help achieve a stable and orderly society.

The statement reads, “Education helps people to become better citizens, get a better-paid job, shows the difference between good and bad. It also shows us the importance of hard work and, at the same time, helps us grow and develop.

“We have trained several persons who are less privileged over the years.

“We have assisted them and today, some are graduates. We have extended the gesture to others, through an open award of scholarship to verified indigent persons. It has been eight years now, and we have not relented in doing our best for people. This is our little way of giving back to the society.”

Former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, and other stakeholders will be speaking at the fifth edition of Edusko Africa Business of Education Summit aimed at proffering actionable solutions to the problems in Africa’s education system.

According to a statement, the summit will have subject matter experts and renowned innovators dissect how to place science, technology and innovation at the epicentre of Africa’s socio-economic development and growth through the education system.

The Chief Executive Officer, Edusko Africa, Jide Ayebusi said the summit, scheduled to hold this month, would focus on how to open up the possibilities of science, technology and innovation in schools.

Aiyebusi said, “While advanced economies have used their education system to champion STI development, African schools appear to be playing no active role in the development of STI.

“We will discuss the impact of STI on critical sectors and how our education system can be an enabler.”

According to the statement, other confirmed speakers and panellists for this year’s edition are the Senior Vice President, WPI USA, Prof. Wole Soboyejo; Professor of Management and former founding Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, New York, Soumitra Dutta; the Executive Director, SystemSpecs, Nigeria, DeRemi Atanda; the Executive Chairman at Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd, Dr Akintoye Akindele, and the Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, Dr Olubayo Adekanmbi, among others.

The National Assembly has passed a bill to upgrade Adeyemi College of Education to a full-fledged university.

The development followed the concurrence of the Senate to the House of Representatives Bill which was earlier passed at the Green Chamber.

The institution will now be known as Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo after the Senate passed the bill for third reading.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said the bill has repealed the Act that established Adeyemi College of Education and re-enacted a new one for the establishment of the Adeyemi Federal College of Education. The Bill for the upgrade of the foremost college of Education was passed in the Eight National Assembly but the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has declined assent to it.

The bill is now expected to be transmitted to the presidency for the president’s approval.

Tanzania’s higher learning institutions have continued to feature poorly in international key ranking reports, with stakeholders citing budgetary constraints and low number of publications in internationally recognized journals as some of the key factors.

In a recent Webometrics Ranking of World Universities’ report, the only local university that has managed to secure a place in the first 50 best institutions in Africa is the University of Dar es Salaam, at position 42.

In the top 100 slots, Tanzania is represented by three universities: University of Dar es Salaam (position 42), Sokoine University of Agriculture (position 51) and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (position 91).

In the East African region, the University of Nairobi is ranked 13th, followed by Makerere University in 14th place and then comes University of Dar es Salaam at position 42. The gap between the institutions also left stakeholders wondering as to what the reasons could be.

Former lecturer at Mzumbe University, Dr Anastella Simboja, in an interview said “Our universities should compete with other international institutions in taking these positions as we currently have the technology, they just have to aim higher,”.

Ranking of universities is accepted as one of the recent developments in quality assurance processes in the quest to compare universities regarding their national, regional, continental or international quality standing. Despite the resentment on the ranking results by many universities particularly in Africa, universities have continued to privately aspire to improve their international rankings.

However, Dr Simboja said low online presence and visibility were among the reasons why Tanzanian universities consistently struggled in international rankings.

She said Global agencies rank universities according to the volume of their web-based material and visibility and impact of the publications.

However, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof William Anangisye said that his university was not satisfied with the position and they were in the process of upgrading their status so they could take the position that they truly deserve.

“In terms of improving our online presence, we have created a management team that will deal with IT matters only, now we have a director for this, including ensuring that we are more visible,” he said.

He said that they have been urging their staff to ensure that they publish in international journals which has led the institution to allocate more than Sh2 billion for research.