Education

Oyebanji splashes N47.8m gift on best teachers, berates exam fraud

.…Ekiti teachers back Governor’s 2026 re-election

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji on Saturday presented a total 47.8 million naira as gifts to teachers who emerged best in different categories during this year’s Teachers’ Day celebrations in Ado- Ekiti, the state capital.

In a stern fashion, the Governor also stressed the resolve of his administration to stamp out examination malpractices in whatever form in order to maintain the integrity of the educational sector in the state.

The teachers also used the opportunity of the World Teachers Day celebration, which took place at Ekito Parapo Pavilion, Ado Ekiti to pass a vote of confidence in the education policies of the Oyebanji administration and endorsed the Governor for a second term in office.

They hinged their endorsement for the Governor on the need to further give him an unfettered opportunity to consolidate on the various programme and policies being implemented to revamp education in the state.

At the event with the theme: ‘Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education”, Mrs Modupe Folayemi of Saint Francis’ Primary school, Igbara Odo and Mr. Odunayo Oriloye of Notre Dame Grammar School, Usi Ekiti, received a whopping sum of N6 million each, as the best teachers in primary and secondary schools respectively.

Two teachers got the sum of N3 million each as first runners up, four received a sum of N1.5m each as second runners up, while 26 teachers were rewarded with N200,000 each as consolation prize.

The venue of the event was turned into a carnival, as teachers across educational cadres, adorned in Aso Ebi, electrified the arena in celebration of the annual event and praised the Governor for what they described as his teacher-friendly policies.

In his address at the event, the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Teachers(NUT), Ekiti State, Com. Daodu Bamidele, announced that all the teachers are appreciative of the governor’s positively impactful educational policies and pronounced that they are solidly backing his reelection in 2026.

Daodu commended Oyebanji for his positive contributions to strengthen the sector, urging the government to initiate policies that will checkmate brain- drain in education and retain the best brains within the system.

To accomplish the foregoing, he sought immediate implementation of 65 years retirement for teachers, as obtainable in some states of the federation to give his colleagues job security and relevance in the scheme of things.

“All the teachers in our dear state are appreciative of what the Governor has done. He has paid some of the arrears owed by the past administration and also initiated new ones. For the 2026 governorship election, we want to say that we are solidly behind him”, he said.

In his submission, his counterpart in Academic Staff Union of Secondary School( ASUSS), Com Sola Adigun, advocated that the secondary school teachers should be given the leeway to ascend grade level 17 for better career progression.

In his address, Governor Oyebanji, represented by the Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, said his government has ensured expeditious and timely payment of salaries, deductions, and approval of multimillion naira worth of housing and vehicle loans to motivate the teachers and shore up their outputs.

The governor, who described the teachers as the fortress of the education sector, promised to provide all the necessary incentives that could propel and buoy Ekiti’s rating in educational advancement of the country.

Miffed by reported cases of examination malfeasance in the system, the Governor warned that his government would not tolerate examination malpractices under any guise, promising to wield the big stick against promoters of such sordid action in the state.

“I want to sternly warn school managers at all levels that government has zero tolerance for examination malpractice and investigations are ongoing to look into some of the allegations of connivance in the promotion of examination malpractice in some schools which led to seizure of SSCE certificate examination.

“I haven’t sent any school manager to impress me with bogus result to prove anything to me. We are not in phony competition to earn fake glory that is cancerous to the future of our young ones.

“Ekiti has a great name as a land of scholarship, learning and integrity, we will not tolerate any unwholesome and unethical practice from ant school or staff that could tarnish this glorious reputation”, Oyebanji stated.

On efforts being devised to fortify the sector, Oyebanji said besides payment of salaries and other emoluments, that teachers were being trained locally and internationally to sharpen their mental horizons and increase propensity for better delivery.

The governor applauded the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary schools and Association of Public Schools Head teachers of Nigeria for their partnership, professionalism and cooperation at all times.

“It is on record that our administration has initiated car and housing loans for primary school teachers, ensured distribution of laptop computers to public secondary schools, colleges and special schools to mitigate the consequential personnel gap and regular disbursement of car/housing loans to eligible secondary school teachers, among others.

“Through the adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, a World Bank assured project, many of our public schools have been refurbished and perimeter fences have been constructed in line with our safe school initiative.

“We have also fulfilled our promise to address the issue of career progression for graduate teachers in primary schools by approving their advancement from grade level 15 to 16, so as to bring them to a parallel peak with their counterparts in the Civil Service”, he added.

Education

NECO releases 2025 BECE results, set resit exams for July 23-24

The National Examinations Council, NECO, on Wednesday, announced the release of Results of the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE.

A statement by Azeez Sani, Ag. Director, Information and Public Relations of NECO, noted that one hundred and seventy nine thousand, two hundred and one, 179,201, candidates registered for the examination in 12 subjects.

Although the statement did not reveal the performance of the candidates, it indicated that the examination commenced on 12th May, 2025, and was successfully concluded on 23rd May, 2025.

Azeez said the results of the examination was released following the successful conclusion of the 2025 BECE Award Committee Meeting held at the Council’s Headquarters in Minna.

He explained that during the meeting, the chairperson of the Award Committee, Dr Folake Olatunji David, Director, Basic Education, Federal Ministry of Education expressed satisfaction with the processes leading to the successful release of the results.

The NECO spokesman also indicated that the Award committee meeting was attended by some Secondary School Principals from across the Country as well as NECO Management.

He said the Award Committee has approved the Date and Timetable for the 2025 BECE Re-sit examination.

According to NECO, “The Re-sit examination is scheduled to hold on 23rd and 24th July, 2025 for Mathematics and English Studies”

Education

2025 UTME: JAMB faults result of highest scorer

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has “suspected” foul play in the results of Chinedu Okeke, the best candidate in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, at the 2025 policy meeting of the board on Tuesday in Abuja, announced that Okeke, an indigene of Anambra, emerged the best candidate with 375 score, in the examinations.

Oloyede, however, said that the board made some discoveries regarding Okeke, who applied for Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos.

Oloyede explained that data from JAMB revealed that Okeke was admitted a year ago, in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), in the School of Medicine.

He said that JAMB wrote UNN for clarification about the candidate, and the school revealed that Okeke is a student of the institution, and he is doing fine.

Speaking with NAN on the development, JAMB Public Communications Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin said the board suspected foul play.

“The law does not allow a student to matriculate twice, and as an undergraduate, he has an advantage over other candidates in the examinations.

“In his records, he claimed he is from the South-East, while the other record is reading that he is from Lagos State.

“We are suspecting that he is a mercenary in the examination,” Benjamin told NAN in a telephone interview.

The board also announced that John Ayuba from Gombe state came second in the examinations scoring 374, while Olayinka Jimoh from Kwara state scored 373.

Other top scorers are Ayibo Roberts from Rivers, Chibueze Omonugbo from Enugu state Tunmise Olawepo from Kwara and Leslie Afinotan, from Delta, all scoring 373.

Also in the list of top scorers are Chukwuemeka Azoyenime from Delta, Emmanuel Oyebode from Ogun and Cecil Omigie from Edo, all scoring 372 in the examinations.

Education

FG officially pegs university admission age at 16

The Federal Government has pegged the minimum admissible age for candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria at 16 years.

Minister of Education Tunji Alausa announced this on Tuesday during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.

The 16-year age requirement will be enforced through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), with efforts made to accommodate candidates who would turn 16 by 31st August 2025.

However, JAMB expressed concern that some institutions had violated this directive by admitting underage candidates through channels outside CAPS and collecting substantial amounts from them as tuition fees.

“The Board implemented the 16-year admissible age on its CAPS platform and even bent backwards to accommodate candidates who would be 16 as of 31st August 2025.

“However, some institutions admitted candidates who were not up to the admissible age of 16 outside CAPS and even collected huge sums of money from them as tuition fees,” JAMB stated.

The Board noted that all such admissions were illegal and could not be processed through CAPS, adding that some of these cases had led to litigation against the offending institutions.

The 16-year minimum admission age comes after last year’s controversy, when former Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, faced backlash from stakeholders over his attempt to raise the benchmark to 18, a move many said was criticised.

In a related development, JAMB announced that beginning with the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), each candidate’s result slip will now include their national ranking among peers.

The initiative, according to the Board, is aimed at discouraging the celebration of high UTME scores in isolation and curbing the spread of fake scores.

“To curb the menace of celebrating top scorers of UTME, candidates’ ranking (position) will be indicated on the result slip for each candidate,” the Board explained.

JAMB stated that this measure would assist institutions in better evaluating the quality of applicants and provide a standardised reference point across cohorts.

It further questioned the logic of calls to extend the validity of UTME results, noting that such an extension would raise complications regarding the comparability of scores.

By publishing ranking information, JAMB believes that candidates parading falsified scores would also be discouraged, and institutions would gain a clearer sense of the academic standing of each applicant.

For context, the Board revealed that in the 2025 UTME, out of a total of 1,905,539 candidates, a score of 370 is ranked 16th, 320 is ranked 5,806th, 250 is ranked 107,819th, 200 is ranked 533,805th, 180 is ranked 948,025th, 140 is ranked 1,855,607th, 120 is ranked 1,900,872nd, while 100 is ranked 1,903,661st.

JAMB reiterated its commitment to equity, transparency, and merit-based admissions in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.

The ongoing policy meeting, attended by vice-chancellors, registrars, and provosts of tertiary institutions nationwide, is expected to conclude with the approval of admission cut-off marks and other regulatory guidelines for the 2025 academic session.