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UNICEF raises alarm as out-of-school children hit 2m in three Nigerian states

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised the alarm following a discovery of over two million out-of-children in three Nigerian states, namely Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, all in the northeast of the country.

UNICEF Country Communications Officer, Safiya Yoba Akau, who revealed this in a statement on Friday, said the global agency, as a grant agent of the Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding GPE-AF, project, is “supporting two million out-of-school children in northeast Nigeria to enroll in school and access quality learning opportunities”.

“The project is in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the governments of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, and the Global Partnership for Education,” Akau said.

“UNICEF will strengthen government capacity and enhance the resilience of the education system.

“The project aims to expand access to education for displaced children, improve teaching and learning quality, and address the ongoing learning crisis in the region.

“Prolonged armed conflict and climate-related disasters in the northeast have severely disrupted essential services, including education.

“Fourteen years after the conflict began, children and families continue to face the devastating effects of multiple displacements, loss of livelihoods, poverty, insecurity, and limited access to basic services.

“In these states, 56 per cent of displaced children do not attend school, and only 29 per cent of schools have teachers who meet the minimum qualification standards.

“Building on the successes of a previous GPE-AF intervention, which improved access to formal and non-formal education and learning outcomes for over 180,000 vulnerable children across 24 local government areas, the new project (2024-2025) will aim to ensure more children, especially those displaced by conflict, enroll in and complete school; enhance the quality of teaching and learning through teacher training and provision of learning mater and strengthen education systems to promote equity and resilience.

“UNICEF is grateful for this new funding phase that will guarantee access to education for some of the world’s most disadvantaged children and improve the quality of education services available to them.

“Education is a right for all children, including those affected by conflict, and it should never be denied. As the world grapples with competing priorities, the new GPE-AF education funding will help ensure that children affected by conflict in northeast Nigeria are not left behind.

“UNICEF will continue to collaborate with global and local partners, including the governments of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, to provide access to quality education and strengthen education delivery systems,” she added.

Metro

10 persons on FBI wanted list arrested in Nigeria– FG

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The Nigerian government has confirmed that at least 10 persons who were on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and on the watchlist of the Interpol have been arrested while attempting to sneak into Nigeria.

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who revealed this during the unveiling of the Technology Innovation Complex at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu, said the wanted persons were arrested after intense intelligence.

The minister said the newly-installed facility at the centre would ascertain the risk level of persons entering the country, detect irregular migration patterns, and monitor unmanned borders in hard-to-reach areas nationwide.

“In the last couple of days, there were 10 people who were on the interpol and immigration wanted list who were apprehended in one week,” Tunji-Ojo told the President.

“Before now, those people would have entered Nigeria, caused terror. But we have now told them that under the new leadership, Nigeria is a no-go area for any criminal element,” he explained.

Tunji-Ojo further stated that aside from an installed solar power plant of 0.5KWs, 250 trained officers maintain eight-hour shifts to monitor the borders round the clock.

“We decided to do an end-to-end solution. One that has an energy solution to power this facility. The 0.5KW solar power plant is 100 per cent ready here and it has been connected to the facility to power it.

“Also, the human factor is fundamental because you can build a structure, but how about the human element?

“What we’ve been able to do is to train 250 officers. As I speak, we run shifts of eight hours three times a day which is 24/7 surveillance,” he said.

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Zambia: Ex-President Lungu alleges political manipulation after barring from 2026 poll

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Former Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, has described his ban from participating in the 2026 presidential election by the Constitutional Court as political manipulation rather than constitutional principles.

Lungu who reacted to the decision of the court to bar him from future elections, described the verdict as anticipated but reflective of political interference but vowed to focus on a ‘Plan B’ strategy following the Constitutional Court judgment.

Lungu who bared his mind in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lusaka, said the verdict was anticipated but reflective of political interference.

“We find ourselves at a critical juncture in our nation’s history, a moment marked by deep reflection and, I dare say, a profound sense of our common identity and destiny. The verdict rendered today was expected,” Lungu stated.

“For months, the hands of political manipulation have, with undeniable force, steered us toward a conclusion foreseen not by the merits of reasoned argument or constitutional fidelity but by the weight of orchestrated design and political machinations.”

Lungu however, urged Zambians to revisit the sequence of events leading up to the judgment, claiming his exclusion from politics was driven by calculated political interventions.

“It began with a petition that sought to exclude me from the political arena—not through the natural verdict of the people on the ballot paper, but by the calculated intervention of political forces sponsored by political players,” he explained.

The former president also accused unnamed actors of restructuring the judiciary to achieve their objectives.

“Yes, specific judges were expelled in order to retain specific judges specifically for today’s judgment! We saw decisions cloaked in procedural justifications concocted by that same unmistakable hand of expediency.

“Of course, we all witnessed calculated judicial reshuffles by politicians for their plan to land here today.

“Democracy, my fellow citizens, is not merely a system of governance but the lifeblood of our national identity.”

Lungu also announced that a “Plan B” had been initiated and would focus on upholding the power of the people.

“Plan B will prove that no machination can extinguish the power of the Zambian people and that institutions must serve the public, not the ambitions of a few,” he emphasized.

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