City Crime
Still On Poor JAMB, O’Level Results
It often seems amusing when I hear people complain about the abysmal performance of candidates in Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), West African School Certificate (WASC), National Examination Council (NECO) and other similar examinations across the country.
This is because anybody who has been following the trend in our education sector, should know and appreciate that there is an appalling fall in the standard of our education.
The result of entrance examination into the tertiary institutions across the country for 2012 released by JAMB a few days ago indicated that out of over 1.5 million candidates who sat for the examination, only three scored 300 and above, 72, 243 scored 250 and above, while 601, 151 got marks ranging from 200 to 249. In all only 673,397 scored above 200 which could enable them gain admission into universities.
In a similar way, the last year’s Novovember/December O’level results showed abysmal performance rate of about 70 percent failure.
Honestly, contrary to some people’s expression of disappointment over these results, I am not surprised at all.
As a matter of fact, I think these results are very impressive compared to the standard of education in the country and if something is not done urgently, we may be in for worse situations.
Records show that a particular school in Ghana has half of its population made up of Nigerian students. Many Nigerians today send their children and wards to different African countries, Europe, America and even Asia, in search of quality education, thereby enriching those countries.
But don’t be quick to condemn them. A tour of some public schools in the country would reveal complete the infrastructural decay. What of the quality of teaching and instructional materials? Gone were the days when people took to teaching due to their love for the profession. Today, many people go into teaching due to unemployment or lack of better things to do. This is almost peculiar with private schools who employ people with any qualification and pay them meagerly. Stories have it that some school certificate holders, or even school drop-outs who were engaged by some private nursery schools are also used as nursery schools teachers.
In this case, you begin to wonder what those children were being taught. The fact that Half of the students who sat for a university entrance examination failed raises questions on the quality of teachers that prepared them for the examination.
Teachers may want to accuse the students of laziness and for not taking their academic work seriously. They will blame students for spending most of their time on social networking, playing computer games and watching films. But the teachers can do better if they put more efforts and show more commitment, interest and zeal to their duties.
But then, it is impossible for one to give what he does not have. The quality of the teachers nowadays is becoming disturbing. A recent newspaper report has it that some school proprietors raised alarm over the poor quality of students coming out of higher institutions.
Indeed, the falling standard of education can be traced to so many factors. Education in Nigeria is poorly funded.
This has led to poor infrastructure, inadequate hostel accommodation for undergraduates, poor laboratory facilities and outdated teaching aids in the tertiary institutions. The direct results are the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), poor academic and research work which translate to chunning out of half-baked graduates.
In the past, pupils who did not perform well in examinations were asked to repeat some classes. Today, the situation is different.
Mass promotion is the new trend. Every proprietor wants to prove that his pupils are the most brilliant; and to prove it, theyembarked on mass promotion even when some of them barely know their left from their rights
What of the parents? What are they doing towards ensuring that their children get quality education? Parents, particularly the fathers believe that having paid their children’s school fees, they have discharged their duties. Some parents don’t even care whether their children do their home work or not, or even take time to go through their school work. All their interest is in making money, believing that with money, their children can buy quality education.
That probably explain why some parents, especially mothers go the extent of buying question papers or machineries to write exams for their children. I wonder what the future of such children will be like.
Obviously, the problem of education sector in Nigeria is multi-faceted and it needs a multi-faceted effort to tackle it if we must achieve vision 20; 20; 20 we’re talking about. From the family up to the government, we all have a role to play. Unless we stop paying lip service to education, we will continue to have more failures.
It will amount to wishful thinking if parents think their children and wards will perform better in future examinations if they do not start now to pay attention to their academic works and guide them right.
Calista Ezeaku
A former staff of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, publisher of The Tide Newspapers, Idongpee Akwaowo Reuben, has been appointed the Acting Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON) by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Akwaowo’s appointment follows the expiration of the second tenure of the former Registrar, Chemist Jwalshik Wilford.
According to a letter released from the office of the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare dated August 5, 2026, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said the appointment was with immediate effect.
The minister had earlier announced Akwaowo’s appointment during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Heads of Departments, and Directors in June 10, 2026 in the Minister’s Conference Room.
He said the appointment was automatic and effective 1st June, 2026 following the satisfactory handover that followed the succession procedure.
The Minister nullified the earlier process put in place for a substantive appointment, citing it as a contravention of the provision of the ICCON Act.
He further directed that the appointment letter be issued without further delay.
The Minister admonished the new ICCON Chief Executive to take charge and ensure that the Institute is on the path of peace and progress to deliver her mandates.
In his response, Akwaowo thanked the the Federal Government for the appointment which, he said, has laid every uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the Institute to rest.
He pledged his unalloyed loyalty to the Federal Government and the Minister and promised to work with his Management Team to align with the policy directives of the Ministry as well as the renewed hope agenda of the Federal Government.
Akwaowo joined ICCON in 2005 as a pioneer staff, rose through the ranks and served in many capacities transcending virtually all the departments in the Institute including HOD, Administration/Accounts & Finance.
Most recently, he served as the pioneer Team Lead and the Registrar/CEO Representative in the National Chemical Personnel Audit excercise to Chemical companies and Chemistry Departments in Tertiary Institutions as part of the Institute’s regulatory mandates.
He has attended several courses and workshops and represented the Institute at various conferences and fora.
Akwaowo is a Chartered Chemist and also a member of a number of professional bodies.
He rose to the rank of Director, Scientific in 2025, and was until his appointment, the Coordinator, Zonal Offices of ICCON.
City Crime
Bayelsa Water Coys Raise Alarm Over Business Threats …Set To Resist Multiple Levies Amid High Production Cost
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the National Assembly to immediately withdraw the proposed Nigeria Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, describing it as a backdoor attempt to regulate social media and expand government control over online expression.
SERAP warned that it would institute legal action if the bill is passed in its current or substantially similar form.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), seeks to compel social media platforms, data controllers and data processors operating in Nigeria to establish physical offices in the country.
It also empowers the Nigeria Data Protection Commission to shut down or prohibit the operations of any entity that fails to comply within 30 days.
In a letter dated July 18, 2026, and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, SERAP said the proposed amendment posed a threat to constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The letter, signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare and issued on Sunday, read in part, “Requirements compelling technology companies to establish local offices would increase government leverage over platforms, facilitate political pressure, make censorship demands easier and expose local employees to retaliation.
“The Bill would create sweeping powers capable of shutting down or excluding social media platforms from the Nigerian market and expose millions of Nigerians to serious violations of their constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights.”
SERAP argued that the bill revives previous attempts to regulate social media that attracted widespread public opposition.
“The current Bill revives substantially similar proposals previously introduced by Senator Nwoko, raising renewed concerns that localisation requirements are being used as a vehicle for expanding governmental control over digital platforms and online expression,” it said.
The organisation warned that it would challenge the legislation in court if enacted.
“Should the Bill be enacted into law in its current or substantially similar form, SERAP shall promptly take all appropriate legal actions to challenge its legality in the public interest and to ensure that Nigerians’ fundamental rights are fully protected,” the letter stated.
According to SERAP, the proposed legislation would give the Nigeria Data Protection Commission excessive powers to block digital platforms without adequate procedural safeguards.
“The Bill constitutes a backdoor attempt to regulate social media and increase governmental control over online expression through corporate localisation requirements rather than through transparent and constitutionally permissible regulation,” it said.
The group argued that the bill lacks provisions for prior judicial authorisation, meaningful opportunities for compliance beyond the proposed 30-day period, and safeguards to protect the rights of millions of Nigerians who rely on digital platforms.
SERAP also cited the judgment of the ECOWAS Court of Justice on Nigeria’s suspension of Twitter, arguing that the proposed amendment could produce similar consequences by indirectly excluding social media platforms from operating in the country.
“The Bill also risks recreating the very dangers previously condemned by the ECOWAS Court of Justice. In SERAP and Others v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Court held that the suspension of Twitter violated the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom protected under the African Charter.
“Although the present Bill differs from the Twitter suspension in form, it creates the possibility of achieving the same result indirectly by empowering regulators to prohibit digital platforms from operating in Nigeria.
“The National Assembly should not enact legislation capable of producing, through indirect regulatory means, the very restrictions on fundamental rights that regional human rights law prohibits,” the organisation said.
It maintained that while governments have a legitimate interest in regulating digital platforms, such measures must comply with constitutional guarantees and international human rights standards.
The organisation further warned that mandatory localisation requirements would increase compliance costs for technology companies, startups, educational institutions and artificial intelligence developers.
“The proposed amendment conflicts directly with the objectives of the Nigeria Startup Act 2022 and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy.
“Mandatory localisation requirements substantially increase compliance costs, particularly for startups, open-source projects, educational institutions, research organisations, AI developers and smaller technology companies, while reducing Nigeria’s attractiveness as a destination for innovation and investment.
“No major democratic jurisdiction requires every social media platform to establish a physical office as a blanket precondition for providing services.”
SERAP added, “The National Assembly should immediately reject and withdraw the Bill, as it is manifestly incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution and Nigeria’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”