The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has announced Wednesday, September 30, 2026, as the commencement date for the 2026 Batch ‘C’ Stream One Orientation Course across the country.

The NYSC Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, urging prospective Corps members to take note of the schedule and make necessary preparations.

According to the statement, the three-week orientation exercise will run from Wednesday, September 30, to Tuesday, October 20, 2026, across NYSC orientation camps in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Registration of prospective Corps members will commence on September 30 and close on Friday, October 2, while the official swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2026.

The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, wished prospective Corps members and course officials safe journeys to their respective orientation camps.

He also advised Corps members to prioritise their safety by avoiding night journeys and using vehicles from designated motor parks when travelling to their camps.

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, FCA, has challenged the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to deepen its investment in research and innovation capable of producing practical solutions to Nigeria’s developmental challenges, declaring that the future of the nation’s economy depends largely on the strength of its educational institutions.

Governor Ododo stated this on Thursday at the 2026 TETFund North Central Stakeholders’ Town Hall Meeting held at the Glass House of the Kogi State Government House, Lokoja, with the theme, “The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and Its Impact on Tertiary Institutions in North Central Nigeria.”

The Governor, who served as Chief Host, described education as the foundation upon which prosperous societies are built, stressing that investment in the sector remains one of the most enduring investments any nation can make. According to him, “Every prosperous nation is first built in the classroom before it is built in the marketplace.” He said education develops the human mind, unlocks innovation and prepares citizens to solve contemporary challenges.

Ododo particularly urged TETFund to devote greater resources to research in agriculture, mining, healthcare, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and security. He said tertiary institutions must move beyond theoretical research and become solution centres capable of providing governments and industries with ideas that can translate the North Central’s agricultural, mineral and human resources into food security, industrial growth, employment and sustainable prosperity.

The Governor commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for strengthening TETFund under the Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that the Federal Government’s commitment demonstrates an understanding that education is not merely a social service but a strategic investment in national development. He also praised TETFund for its interventions in infrastructure, research, academic staff development and institutional capacity building, assuring that Kogi State would continue to provide an enabling environment for programmes that strengthen teaching, research, innovation and skills development.

Governor Ododo specially congratulated Dr. Abdulrahman Hassan Ocholi, the TETFund Board of Trustees Member representing the North Central Zone, for initiating the stakeholders’ Town Hall shortly after his appointment. He described the initiative as a demonstration of purposeful leadership, accountability and genuine commitment to tertiary education, noting that bringing together Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts, education commissioners, students, traditional rulers and other stakeholders would help produce practical solutions to the challenges confronting the sector. He said no single institution or individual could provide all the answers, stressing that progress requires collaboration.

In his welcome address, Dr. Ocholi said the meeting was designed to provide a strategic platform for dialogue, accountability and collaboration among TETFund, beneficiary institutions, governments, students and host communities. He highlighted interventions under the Renewed Hope Agenda, including academic staff development, innovation and entrepreneurship hubs, research, digital transformation, postgraduate scholarships, infrastructure, robotics and coding facilities, artificial intelligence laboratories and renewable energy projects.

The stakeholders subsequently endorsed President Tinubu for a second term, citing his interventions and reforms in education, and also endorsed Governor Ododo for a second term while supporting APC governorship candidates across the North Central Zone.

The forum appointed Governor Ododo as Patron of the Group, resolved to commence peaceful grassroots mobilisation, commended the Federal Government’s support for TETFund and NELFUND, and called for increased funding for TETFund. Votes of confidence were also passed in SGF Senator George Akume, Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of Information Mohammed Idris, TETFund Chairman Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari and Executive Secretary Arc. Sonny St. Echono.

–FG Increases TETFund research Grants from N64.2 bn to N10 bn

_FG begins payment of salary arrears owed staff of Unity Schs

The Tertiary Education Trust fund tetfund has announced the opening of its portal for concept-note submissions on Monday, August 31, 2026, with a submission deadline of October 15, 2026.

The Federal Government has approved N10 billion for the 2026 Grant Cycle of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF), representing a 64.2 per cent increase over the N6.09 billion committed to 174 research projects in the 2025 cycle.

TETFund disclosed this in its 2026 NRF Grant Cycle Call for Concept Notes, signed by its Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono.

According to Echono, the increased funding aims to strengthen research and boost the capacity of Nigerian researchers.

It stressed that “there will be no extension” when the October deadline expires.

The Fund said the N10 billion would support research across 30 prioritised thematic areas, grouped under Humanities and Social Sciences; Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation; and Cross-Cutting research areas.

According to the Fund, access to the grant would begin with Principal Investigators (PIs) submitting concept notes, with only applicants whose projects are deemed fundable proceeding to the full proposal stage.

It said lecturers in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria were eligible to apply, while multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research involving scholars from different disciplines would be encouraged.

“The PI must be institution-based, with the PI’s institution regarded as the Coordinating Institution and guarantor of proper application of the funds for the project.

“Thereafter, the successful proposals for the award of grant will be presented to the Board of Trustees of TETFund for approval and disbursement of funds,” it said.

The Fund added that the PI must be institution-based, with the PI’s institution serving as the coordinating institution and guarantor of the proper application of funds.

The application process, TETFund explained, would be conducted entirely online through the NRF portal.

It stressed that all submitted concept notes would be evaluated by the National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC), after which successful PIs would be invited to develop and submit full proposals.

Relatedly, the Federal Government has resumed the payment of three years’ outstanding salary arrears owed to teachers and education officers in the Federal Unity Colleges.

More than 2,000 affected workers began receiving the payments on August 28, 2026, following years of waiting for the government to clear the backlog.

The affected employees were among those recruited into the Federal Government Unity Colleges between 2019 and 2021, whose salaries subsequently accumulated into arrears.

Recall that the Nigerian government had commenced payment of the arrears in November 2025.

The development comes three years after the affected teachers protested at the Federal Ministry of Education, demanding payment of their outstanding salaries after several appeals to the government allegedly went unacknowledged.

However, a credible source at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation confirmed that the payments had resumed, saying bank alerts had started reaching the accounts of the affected workers.