By Olusegun Rapheal

The ambition of fast rising musician, Ajayi Solomon aka SPECDO to become a music superstar had received a boost with the release of a single titled ginger.

In the song, he combines perfectly with Solshynbeat to deliver ‘ginger’, an extraordinary tune served out of the music kitchen as a testament to his undeniable talent, justifying his rating as one for the future in the Nigerian music space.

Ginger is an Afrobeats number, produced by Solshynbeat mix mastered by Indomix.

It comes just in time for the summer where ‘afrobeats to the world’ has gained solid grounds across the globe.

The artiste said: “It is just a matter of time for me to rule the Afro Pop genre of music in Nigeria.”

After impressing heavily with songs like ‘Oyoyo’, ‘Manya’, Blow My Mind and Branama, emerging Afro-Pop Superstar – SPECDO comes through yet again with soul inspiring Ginger, which has since take the market with a bang.

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According to SPECDO, a singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, ginger is music for any situation, adding the new single is a major motivation for any listener, even as he sees the song as the right tonic for any situation.

Born in Ogun State, the singer hails from Oghara in Delta State, SPECDO has collaborated with Edem Aigbe from Ghana and Omotena crooner, Solidstar.

His favorite stage performance was in Kumasi, Ghana and it was spectacular with many of the fans showing him love.

Speaking about his family, SPECDO revealed that he lost his dad, Prophet Polo John Ajayi 14 years ago at 69.

“He was a great man. I always remember my dad because he was a backbone to me up till date.

“He never leaves me alone, as I always feel his presence around me. He was a man of peace and dignity.

“I always wished my dad is alive; I could have made him the best dad in the world.

“To honour him, I spent over N15 million to build a house for my dad just to make him feel happy in heaven but yet I want to do more, but he had died already.

” I have a great family, my mother is the best mother in the world, we are not the poorest, we just an average family who is able to afford our meal,” SPECDO said.

SPECDO owns Tmy Records and Tmy Media Group set up to add values to the music industry.

Success in business cannot always be a one-man show as SPECDO has resourceful people around him as staff members.

“My teams are the best teams. I always appreciate my managers King Okoye, Naomi Adams and Chuchi, they are playing big roles in Tmy Group.

“They are great supportive and a wonderful family. They make things work smartly and smoothly for me,” he said.

By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

Anambra State Government has commenced recruitment of 500 teachers into primary schools across the state to enhance teaching and learning.

Chairman, State House of Assembly committee on Basic Education, Hon. Ejike Okechukwu disclosed this at the House of Assembly complex in Awka during an interactive session between the committee and Head Teachers in Aguata Local Government Education Authority.

He explained that the recruitment exercise would fill the gap created by primary school teachers who had retired from active service and improve the standard of primary education in the state.

He assured that all challenges outlined by the Head teachers hindering the progress of primary schools across the state would be tackled to the barest minimum to ensure the upliftment of education standard in the state.

Okechukwu encouraged the teachers to remain dedicated to duty and shun all forms of sharp practices that could portray the state in bad light.

Reacting, Education Secretary, Aguata Local Government Education Authority, Lady Ijeabalum Obi commended government’s performance in education sector.

She explained that the meeting offered the teachers and the committee the opportunity to brainstorm on ways to sustain the state’s legendary performance in education and tackle issues bordering on teachers welfare.

In a vote of thanks, Mrs. Ebere Nwankwo from Eziagulu Primary School, Ekwulobia appreciated the committee for living up to expectations, pledging the teachers’ preparedness to follow the lawmakers’ directives.

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

Going to secondary school is a big step after primary education and not many pupils are prepared for it.

However, Bridge Academy, a network of nursery and primary schools in underserved communities in Lagos and Osun State, made it part of graduation rituals this year to prepare its Primary Six pupils who would be resuming JSS1 Class in various  secondary schools by September.

During an Orientation event tagged: “Leaving for Secondary School: Developing Self Responsibility, Character and Excellence”, the pupils were enlightened about what to expect in secondary school.

The session exposed them to the changes that would occur – like change in the teaching methodology and learning environment, physical development, social, peer and culture pressure, social vices and misdemeanour, meeting people from diverse backgrounds and making new friends.

A facilitator at the event held for Bridge pupils in Ikorodu, Mrs. Amina Lawal, said the pupils needed to learn to adapt and be independent, especially those going to the boarding facilities of Federal Government Colleges or private secondary schools.

Mrs. Lawal also said the pupils needed to learn to be self-reliant and take responsibility for self as monitoring by parents, teachers and other adults would reduce.

She said having these qualities, in addition to learning teamwork, would give them an edge over others less prepared.

“As much as self-responsibility is required, a needed characteristic for success is interdependence: being able to work with others to achieve a set goal without being exposed to wrong influences.” she noted.

The overall best pupil for the 2019/2020 academic session, Shiji Sowemimo, was a special guest at the event.  Now in JSS1 (going to JSS2), Sowemimo shared how his experiences at Bridge helped him to excel in his secondary school.

He urged all Bridge pupils to continue to be worthy ambassadors of the school, be resourceful, plan to succeed and never get tired of making a difference.

“I am privileged to stand before you to share my experiences and successes with you. This is only possible because of the support I have received from my mother, teachers and level of hard work and dedication I have put into my studies,” he said.

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

The Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) took safety in schools a notch higher with the acquisition of first aid boxes for its 1,016 primary schools.

However, health officers say it should go a step further by training teachers and others in the school environment to put them to effective use – a move the permanent board member in charge of co-curricular activities, Mrs. Sherifat Adedoyin, said is in the works.

She said the boxes contained iodine, glucose, paracetamol, hand sanitizers, hand gloves, moko lubricant and many other items.

Speaking at the presentation/distribution of the boxes to the schools last Thursday in Lagos, the SUBEB Chairman, Mr. Wahab Alawiye-King, who was represented by board member in charge of Quality Assurance, Dayo Israel, thanked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for approving the project.

“The chairman followed the approval of the project with his excellence because of the significance of equipping our schools with first aid boxes.  With this significant activity, we will see that our children are going to receive healthcare in school. The chairman would like to appreciate the education secretaries and head teachers and hopes that the boxes would be well utilized,” he said.

In an interview, the desk officer in charge of health at Agege LGEA, Bakare Adebayo, praised the board for the initiative, saying the first aid boxes would make the schools safer and able to manage injuries among the pupils, especially during sporting activities.

“I would say an appreciation to the governor to start with because he has shown concern for safety. The pupils are up and doing; they engage in sporting activities so there is no how they can afford not to experience injuries when they play around in the school.  So there is a very good reason for us to have a well-equipped first aid box to cushion the effect of injuries before the arrival of medical personnel,” he said.

I will implore SUBEB to train the head officers how to use the first aid and after training is we are going to step down for our health teachers. We are now going to train them how to use first aid it is necessary you know the times to apply spirit, iodine and some other things like that because if they don’t train them they may not know the way it is and they may most likely have expired drugs there.

On her part, Desk Officer in charge of health at Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Education Authority (LGEA), Mojisola Ajayi said training of desk officers and school-based health officers was necessary so they learn how to respond to emergencies.

“I would implore SUBEB to train the health officers how to use the first aid and after training, we would train school health officers how to use first aid. It is necessary you know the times to apply spirit, iodine and some other things.  If they are not trained, they may not know the way it is and may most likely have expired drugs,” she said.

Speaking on plans to keep the boxes well utilized and maintained, Mrs. Adedoyin said LASUBEB would monitor all schools and replenish the consumables regularly.

“We monitor schools from time to time and one of the things we will demand to see is the first aid box. We will open and check all the items there; and then we do replacement. When necessary, we will also check for expired items.  All the ones you see here the one that will expire so soon is 2023,” she said.

She added that the health officers would soon be trained.

“We train them from time to time. We train all our health officers and we are organizing another one very soon to teach them and educate them on the proper use of these items,” she said.