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USAID partners FG on accountable financial system for quality education, others

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United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) project, is partnering with the Federal Government for a transparent financial management system in 36 states in Nigeria.

Mr John Onyeukwu, Deputy Chief of Party of the State2State project, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, at the sideline of a three day workshop for six focal states.

The focal states are Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Sokoto.

Onyeukwu said that part of the focus of the project was to enable states of the federation to run accountable financial systems that would provide quality service in basic education, health and other priority sectors.

He further said that State2State, a five year project, meant to run from 2020 to 2025, was to ensure that public finance management was not only transparent but inclusive.

“When there is public finance management and citizens are involved, there is less conflict, there will be development and states will be able to make the right investments.

“Also, citizens will be able to have quality services in basic education, primary healthcare as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH).

“We know states have their priority projects but in the hierarchy of human needs, you will realise that education, health and WaSH are things that can pull us out of poverty,” he said.

The chief of party noted that the project was designed to ensure that states were major stakeholders.

He added that governors of the six focal states had been briefed on the project and had registered their commitment to making it achieve its aim.

While explaining the activities of the project, Onyeukwu said one of the major focuses was helping states develop the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) of between 2022 and 2025.

“In this project, the budget cycle is an important factor, where there has to be a Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is a three year plan, from which budget is derived every year.

“So, all our benefitting states are in the process of initiating their budget for the year 2022.

“What USAID is doing is to help the states prepare the MTEF so that it will be an easy ride for them,” he said.

He disclosed that besides State2State, there was a 750 million dollars World Bank project called State Financial Transparency Programme, which states could benefit from.

He said, “our ambition is to ensure that the states we are working with will be the top six states in that process in the next programme.

“The project is designed in a way that states, which base their performance on certain indices like publishing their budget, will have access to the fund.

“This is another source of resources for states to pay bills, particularly now that federal revenue share is reducing.

“So states are very anxious to have additional revenue and manage what they have very well as well as make the citizens happy.”

NAN reports some of the focal points of the workshop are, identifying fiscal risks and mitigation actions as well as sector and MDAs allocations and explanations.

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Education

WAEC Releases WASSCE Results, Says 44.29% Scored Credit In Five Subjects

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The West African Examinations Council has released the results of the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates across the country.

This was made known in a statement made available by the acting Head, Public Affairs, WAEC Nigeria, Moyosola Adesina, on Tuesday evening.

According to her, only 46,267 out of the 80,904 candidates who sat for the examination scored a minimum of five credits.

She said this translates to 57.19% of candidates obtaining credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

She added that 35,830 candidates, representing 44.29%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

The statement read, “The examination was conducted in Nigeria between Friday, October 27, 2023 and Wednesday, December 20, 2023. The Coordination of Examiners and Marking of Candidates’ Scripts were carried out at SEVEN (7) Marking Venues in Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, Benin, Enugu, Uyo, and Kaduna from Tuesday, January 16, to Tuesday, January 30, 2024. A total of 4,162 examiners participated in the coordination and marking Exercise.

“85,600 candidates, representing 10.07% increase, when compared with the 2022 entry figure of 77,768) entered for the examination, while 80,904 candidates sat the examination at 568 centers spread across the nooks and crannies of the country.

“Amongst the candidates that sat the examination, (211) candidates, with varying degrees of special needs, were registered for the examination.

“Out of this number, 33 were visually challenged, 21 had impaired hearing and 30 were Albinos. All these candidates with special needs were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination.”

The regional examination body management urged candidates to check their results by visiting www.waecdirect.org and ascertain their status before visiting the Digital Certificate platform (www.waec.org) to access the digital copies of their certificates, which have been released along with their results.

 

 

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You’re Senator for all, Kano students declare Senator Barau

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Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin
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Students under the umbrella of the National Association of Kano State Students (NAKSS) have described the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin as a ” Senator for all” who carries all his people irrespective of their political parties.

President of NAKSS, Comrade Yahaya Usman Kabo and a former secretary-general of the Zone A of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Abdullahi Muhammad Sale (Game Changer) led the students to pay a courtesy call on Senator Barau at the National Assembly, Abuja.

Speaking through one of their leader, Abdullahi Muhammad Sale, the students said in the entire history of the state, there was no Senator that carried along the youths and students like Senator Barau in his various intervention programmes.

Sale said: ” We are proud to have you as our Senator. Your interventions and support across all sectors have endeared you to all. We are proud of you distinguished Senator.

“With this, we want to assure you that we are emulating the good path you are putting us on. You are our mentor. We pray for Almighty God to guide and protect you to attain higher positions to serve our country,” he said.

At the end of the event, the students presented an award of excellence to the Deputy President of the Senate.

Responding, the Deputy President of the Senate urged the students to remain resolute and committed to their academic pursuits.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, he said he has been engaging students in Kano and beyond to prepare them for leadership positions.

“All the interventions we have been doing for students were distributed by your association. We know how to do it in our best way, but we are doing this to make you ready and guide you to the path of leadership. That is why we said you should handle it. And you have performed excellently.

“The youths are the future leaders of the country, as such they should be groomed towards being fair and just. All that we are doing is to make you ready for leadership in various sectors across the nation. As such, you too should extend the same to the future leaders of the student unions and across all students,” he said.

He promised to continue to support education and empower students, saying ” A student is the child of all. The issues of elections are over, we are now committed to working for our people. Everybody is mine, irrespective of political parties or groups.”

“We have many plans for the future. We have done a lot in the past and we are still doing more. The scholarship scheme is still ongoing. We are also coming with more interventions,” he said.

 

 

 

 

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Barau Offers Scholarship To 628 Students In BUK

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Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin
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Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau  Jibrin, has offered scholarships to 628 students of the Bayero University Kano (BUK).

The students, who were selected from Kano North Senatorial District, where the lawmaker represents, were given N50,000 each.

Flagging off the scheme at the School of Continuing Education, BUK, on Monday, the Chief of Staff to the Deputy President of the Senate, Professor Muhammad Ibn Abdullahi, said the scheme was conceived by the Deputy President of the Senate to support his constituents to pursue their studies in various tertiary institutions in the country.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, said the gesture would be extended to all students from Kano North Senatorial District in all tertiary institutions in the country.

“This scholarship scheme was conceived to empower undergraduates from Kano North Senatorial District. Each of the students will receive N50,000 courtesy of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin.

” This gesture is not only for the students of BUK, every student from Kano North that is studying in Nigeria will benefit from this scheme. This is not the first time, he has been doing it. He has given similar support to farmers, and others in the society,” he said.

He urged the beneficiaries to take advantage of the gesture and study hard for them to excel in their academic pursuit.

One of the beneficiaries, Adama Iliyasu Rabiu, a level 400 student thanked the Deputy President of the Senate for the gesture.

” We are grateful for this. With this gesture, I will proceed with my registration. I thank Senator Barau Jibrin for this support. May Almighty Allah reward him,” he said.

Another beneficiary, Shamsuddeen Usman said “I have received the N50, 000. I am in the 300 level. Yearly, I struggle to pay for my school fees. We appreciate him.”

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