The new Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has abolished the controversial 18-year admission benchmark for tertiary institutions in the country.

This is coming as the minister indicated interest in reviewing the nation’s education policy.

However, Alausa stated that there would be no reversal of the Federal Government’s decision to void over 22,700-degree certificates obtained by Nigerians from some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and the Benin Republic.

Alausa spoke on Tuesday at his inaugural ministerial press conference in Abuja.

He stated that practical education will help to address the unemployment situation in Nigeria, as tertiary institutions will not continue to churn out graduates every year without providing jobs for them.

He disclosed that the Federal Government will collaborate with private sector operators to train students in order to discover and unleash their potential.

Alausa added that universities of agriculture will be empowered to adopt commercial farming practices to combat food insecurity.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on Saturday, November 2, confiscated ₦23.1 million in pirated books from local shops, including Academic Needs and Zion Bookshop during a raid in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The raid was by the Deputy Director of Operations, Mr Macfoy Akachukwu, representing the NCC Director General, Dr. John Asein.

Akachukwu, who stated that the raid was a significant operation to combat the rampant sale of pirated books, listed the books seized during the raid to include: Basic Civic Education by Dr Merry Ukaegbu, Spectrum New Further Mathematics by T.R. Moses and Essential Christian Religious Study for Senior Secondary Schools by Orovwuje B.O and Okolie E.U.

Other books included Macmillan Brilliant English for Junior Secondary Schools by Wale Ossianwo, New General Basic Science for Junior Secondary Schools by S. Ajayi, New Oxford Secondary English Course for Secondary Schools by Ayo Banjo and New Concept Mathematics for Senior Secondary Schools by H.N. Odogwu among others.

Major publishers affected by the raid included Evans, UPL, Lantern, Longman, TONAD, and Pearson among others.

According to Asein, the operation is important as it was part of a nationwide initiative to protect authors’ rights.

“What we have done is part of the commissions mandate to protect and promote the rights of authors and other genuine investors in the copyright book industry,” he stated.

He reaffirmed that the NCC is committed to “eliminating the sale of pirated works and to establish a robust copyright framework in Nigeria”.

Asein emphasized that authors deserve to benefit from their creative work and not run into financial losses because of piracy.

“It is our duty to ensure that authors get rewards for their creative work. I have under my watch, zero tolerance for piracy and infringement of Copyright Laws,” Asein said.

While the Federal Government and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) continue to engage in discussions to end the ongoing strike, academic activities in the country have remained grounded leaving students in frustration.

Investors King in an earlier report detailed that the academic bodies directed its members to commence a nationwide indefinite strike from Monday over the nonpayment of four months withheld salaries.

The leaders of the two unions announced that the strike would start on Sunday, October 27, 2024.

JAC, in a circular to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU in the universities and inter-university centres, with the title: ‘Latest development in respect of the withheld four (4) months salaries’, and signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, explained that the timing of the action was for effective co-ordination and for both unions to be on the same page.

After discussions with the unions, the FG through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Saturday authorized a partial payment to the bodies and urged them to shelve the strike.

Reacting to this, JAC kicked against the FG’s approval of only one month out of the four months of withheld salaries.

The union officials, including SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, stated that the one-month salary is insufficient to meet their demands.

“Yes, they paid one month out of four months. We shall be meeting to appraise the situation, but not everyone has received their pay so far,” Ibrahim said.

The unions declared that the nationwide strike would continue until all demands are met and all withheld salaries paid.

JAC revealed that over 98 percent of union members across the country have complied with the strike.

Revealing the next step, Ibrahim said, “We plan to convene soon to determine further steps, and reaffirm our stance to remain on strike until the government fully addresses the salary backlog.”