The Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) has released the lists of Primary six pupils to all the six education districts in the State.

LASUBEB Chairman, Wahab Alawiye-King, said in a statement that pupils whose names appear in the lists were qualified for placement into public Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

He said parents and guardians could check what schools their wards have been placed at the various primary schools they attended.

The statement titled “Placement of Primary Six pupils into Junior Secondary Schools” reads: “This is to announce that the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board has released the lists of Primary Six Pupils to all the Six Education Districts in the State for Placement into Public Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

” Parents/Guardians are advised to kindly check their wards’ Placement at the various Primary Schools they attended.”

Agency Reporter

A member of the House of Representatives from Kogi, Tajudeen Yusuf, has appealed to Federal Government to reopen the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, in the interest of the people of the state.

The lawmaker, representing Kabba-Bunu/ Ijumu Federal Constituency, made the appeal in a statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lokoja.

He said that the closure of the facility for the past four months had affected the health of the people, saying that so many innocent lives have been lost due to the prolonged closure.

Yusuf appealed to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, to use his good office by ordering the reopening of the centre to save residents from avoidable deaths.

“The continued closure has meant more deaths for patients whose health complications would have been better managed at FMC Lokoja,” the lawmaker said.

It would be recalled that armed thugs had in July invaded the hospital and attacked staff, vandalised equipment, furniture and other property of the centre.

The incident forced the management to order the closure of the facility which was also at the centre of a disagreement with the state government over the COVID-19 status of the Chief Imam of Kabba, Alhaji Abubakar Ejibunu

The FMC had referred Ejibunu to the National Hospital Abuja where he tested positive for COVID-19, a development which resulted in a dispute between the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the state government.

The state government immediately rejected the result, saying its Ministry of Health was not carried along in the series of tests conducted on the patient.

But Yusuf, however, argued that the ordinary citizens should not be made to continue to suffer for this, and urged the Federal Ministry of Health to reopen the hospital in the interest of justice and fairness.

“The FMC, Lokoja, the only tertiary federal health facility in the confluence state, offering quality, professional services to indigenes and residents in the state, was closed on the order of the Federal Ministry of Health, following an alleged invasion of the hospital by thugs.

READ ALSO: Minister condemns destruction of medical equipment in Kogi

“Since then, our people have been travelling all the way to Abuja or Akure, Ibadan and Lagos for health conditions that could otherwise be treated at FMC, Lokoja.

“Patients with prior medical appointments now face the rigours of travelling, even at the risk of further complicating their health challenges.

“Many indigent patients are now forced to live in precarious conditions and several of those who can afford the trips to Abuja or other cities face increased likelihood of death.

“People from all the three senatorial districts and seven federal constituencies in Kogi State are stridently appealing to the conscience of the minister and others in authority for the reopening of FMC, Lokoja,” the lawmaker said in the statement.

According to him, the senselessness of a few irrational elements should not be the basis for which Kogi residents are punished.

(NAN)

By Toba Adedeji, Osogbo

Osun has announced resumption for all public and private schools across the state.

The government noted the schools should resume academic activities on Monday November 2, 2020 to conclude the extended 3rd term.

This was contained in an announcement by the Coordinating Director, Ministry of Education, Mrs. C.K Olaniyan.

Read Also; Ondo reopens all schools

The statement reads: “This is to inform the general public, particularly all stakeholders in the State of Osun Education Sector that Mr Governor has graciously approved that the 3rd term be extended by one week.

“Consequent upon the extension approval, the current term will no longer end on the 30th October, 2020 but will now terminate on 6th November, 2020.

“In view of the lifting of the daytime curfew by the state government, all public and private schools in the state are to resume academic activities on Monday 2nd November, 2020 to conclude the extended 3rd term.

“A reviewed academic calendar for 2020/2021 academic session will be released soon.”

By Emmanuel Udodinma

The Delta State University, Abraka (DELSU) has honoured  Hon. Ned Nwoko, a member of the House of Representatives from 1999-2003, for his dedication to humanitarian endeavours, education and malaria eradication in Africa.

At the event, which held  in Abraka, Delta State, Nwoko, was lauded by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, for his  support for  a multi-million dollar research for the development of an anti-malaria vaccine.

The VC noted that the university must be innovative in its approach to solving problems.

The awardee expressed gratitude for the honour, noting that he was inspired by such recognitions and pledged that the malaria eradication campaign would succeed.

“I believe that malaria is an African problem and it must be addressed by Africans,”he said.

Read Also: Senate honours slain #EndSARS protesters

Citing  the World Health Organisation (WHO) , the former lawmaker noted  that malaria claims about half a million lives yearly, much higher than the dreaded COVID- 19 could claim in Africa within the same period.

He said malaria eradication campaign took him to the Antarctica, which he described as the most difficult part of the world because of the cold weather of the region.

He noted that dirty environment encourages the breeding of mosquitoes which are carriers of the disease. He has, therefore, decided to take the campaign further by embarking on a clean Nigeria advocacy, with the value chain that would create about three million jobs.

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

 

Two volunteer teachers recruited by teacher-supply organisation, Teach For Nigeria (TFN), to teach in underserved communities for a two-year period have won the Most Outstanding Lockdown Teacher Competition.

Gideon Ogungeyimi, a 2018 TFN alumnus and Precious Adegunle, a 2019 Fellow won in the contest organised by Educational Aid Global Initiative (Edu-Aid) of the Covenant Christian Centre.

Ogungeyimi won N500,000, while Precious got N300,000 from the competition organised to reward teachers for their selflessness and innovative  efforts to help children learn while schools were shut.

The teachers were required to submit a one-minute video detailing the work they did; these submissions were independently assessed to determine the winners.

To win the N500,000, Gideon created and printed worksheets in English and Mathematics and delivered to his pupils’homes as well as launched ‘Project Feed100’ with two other Fellows to provide financial palliatives to 100 needy families.

Read Also: Writing contest winners emerge

 

On her part, Precious raised funds to purchase tablets for her pupils and began a project to digitise the Nigerian curriculum in indigenous languages, particularly Yoruba. She preinstalled the educational content and games, movies, books and worksheets in the tablets which she distributed to her pupils for free.

CEO, Teach For Nigeria, Folawe Omikunle, said the winners demonstrated the leadership qualities that TFN imbues in its fellows.

She said: “We are tremendously proud to see not only the winner of this contest emerge from Teach For Nigeria, but also the 1st runner up. This is evident of the leadership quality that exists in our teacher leaders. The pandemic widened the gap of inequity, and as leaders who understand the challenges in underserved schools, our teacher leaders did not only identify the challenges, but they also displayed a great sense of responsibility and urgency  to ensure that learning didn’t stop despite the school closure. We are inspired to see the possibilities of the future of education beyond the classrooms within low-income communities.”

Agency Reporter

Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, on Tuesday in Abuja has expressed concern over the increasing rate of breast cancer in the country and urged women to go for regular screening.

Ehanire made the call at the opening of the 2020 edition of the Annual International Cancer Week where he said reports from the Nigerian National System of Cancer Registries showed that breast cancer in Nigeria increased significantly between 1960 and 2016.

“Between 1960 and 1969 only 13.7 percent out of 100,000 women in Nigeria had breast cancer; the figure rose to 24.7 percent women out of 100,000 women between 1990 and 1999.

“An average of 26.1 percent in 100,000 women in the country had breast cancer between 2000 and 2016.

“These gory statistics have shown that cancer has become an emerging disease in Nigeria and it is of serious public health concern.

“Breast cancer has remained the commonest cancer in Nigeria for a long time now and the incidence is still on the increase.

“Therefore, well thought out steps must be taken to forestall the unacceptable growing trend,’’ the minister said.

“This development made the Federal Ministry of Health to take the leadership role and harness all available materials and human resources within its domain to disrupt this pattern from gaining grounds or becoming established.

“I am particularly glad that as part of activities marking the 2020 edition of the International Cancer Week is the launch of a very important document – “The National Training Manual, Data tools and Job Aids for Secondary Prevention of Cervical Cancer in Nigeria.’’

The minister said the resource material was very crucial for the effective implementation of the National Strategic Plan for the Control and Prevention of Cancer of the Cervix (2017-2021).

He commended the Clinton Health Access Initiative, a non-governmental organisation and the WHO for supporting Nigeria to develop the valuable tools.

“It is my hope that all the stakeholders will find them useful as we all work together to actualise the goal of elimination of cervical cancer by the year 2030 in line with the WHO declaration, the minister added.

Ehanire also said that the ministry had approved the development of a ChemoSafe and Hospice and Palliative Care Policies in line with the National Cancer Control Plan (2018-2022).

“It is also worthy of note that the American Cancer Society has offered to support the Ministry of Health in implementing some key areas of the ChemoSafe Policy.

“This is a commendable gesture and I hereby call on all other partners to express their areas of interests and reach out to support the government in the fight against cancers,’’ he said.

In her address, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs said the ministry would continue to provide awareness for women and girls and work with all relevant bodies in the fight against cancers.

Tallen, represented by Mrs. Funke Oladipo, Acting Director, Women Affairs, in the ministry, said it was committed to improving the social health status of women, girls and children.

“We will continue to partner with relevant bodies in the development of programmes and projects aimed at enhancing the health status of women,’’ she said.

The minister thanked the Ministry of Health for its partnership in hosting a two-day Breast Cancer Screening as part of activities to commemorate the 2020 cancer week.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdulaziz Abdullahi said cancers resulted in more than 70,000 deaths in Nigeria annually.

He said this was further compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health system.

“Cancer invariably contributed to the number of mortalities in the wake of the pandemic because the patients are more at risk of being seriously ill or dying if they develop COVID-19 infection.

“That means they are extremely vulnerable and therefore, a lot needs to be done to prevent them from getting the infection,’’ he said.

READ ALSO: Women get breast cancer screening

Abdullahi said activities planned for the cancer week were expected to spur and galvanise action by all stakeholders towards the prevention of cancer and COVID-19 infection among cancer patients in Nigeria.

“Prevention, early detection of COVID-19 infection and prompt intervention is critical for the survival of cancer patients in the COVID-19 era and beyond,’’ he stressed.

The permanent secretary urged all stakeholders to live a more physically active life, control their body weight mass and eat healthy among other healthy lifestyles to avoid cancer

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that highlights of the event were the launch of the National Training Manual for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Nigeria and the launch of the Costed-Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Nigeria.

The theme of the 2020 edition of the International Cancer Week is “Cancer in Nigeria in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond’’.

(NAN)