Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has banned all forms of payments in primary and secondary schools in the state, marking the enforcement of compulsory school attendance for children of school age.

The governor introduced an imprest account system for school principals and headteachers to manage the running of schools, with specific monthly allowances for their operations.

Otti made this announcement in his New Year speech on Wednesday, stating, “We have stopped all forms of payments in primary and secondary schools. Not even PTA levies should be charged to any parent or guardian in any public school in the state.

“We have introduced an imprest account system for the running of schools. Headteachers and school principals are now entitled to specific sums every month for managing the day-to-day operations of their schools.

“There is, therefore, no excuse to extort or deny any child the opportunities that come with learning and enlightenment. We shall be strict with enforcement and it will be a grievous mistake to test our will.”

The governor also emphasised the state’s commitment to enforcing compulsory attendance for children of school age in schools across Abia.

He added that his administration was set to allocate 35 per cent of the entire budget to interventions in the education and health sectors.

Otti said, “We shall fast-track efforts to remake our schools into centres of excellence in effective teaching and learning.

“As you may know, the law mandating all children of school age to be in school every school day comes into effect today. As soon as the new school term begins later in the month, it will be unlawful to find any child outside the walls of the classroom during school hours.”

The governor also shared his administration’s urgency to build systems, rebuild the state, and realign governance priorities to reflect the true aspirations of the people.

“We have since evolved a system that prioritises the needs of the downtrodden by paying attention, listening carefully and channelling public resources to where they yield the highest social and economic dividends to the majority by taking on very difficult but economically and socially significant projects in road infrastructure development, health and education, waste management and environmental recoveries,” he said.

Governor Otti reiterated the state’s focus on security, warning that his government would not hesitate to deploy its full might against any individual or group posing a threat to the safety of residents.

“We shall also continue to prioritise the security of lives and property, adopting necessary measures to keep criminals and their sponsors out of the state. Again, I would like to restate that we shall not hesitate to deploy the full might of the government against any individual or group whose activities pose a threat to the safety of our people,” he emphasised.

In line with the New Year plans, Otti announced a provision of N18.9bn to support economically vulnerable individuals and families.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed for calm following the appointment of Aisha Maikudi as the vice-chancellor of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja).

Maikudi, formerly the acting VC, was confirmed as the substantive on December 31 after being shortlisted from among 10 candidates.

She was interviewed by the joint council and senate selection board (JCSSB) of the university.

The appointment, which took effect on January 1, 2025, is for a nonrenewable tenure of five years.

It came after a series of months-long controversies surrounding eligibility and the selection process.

In Lagos on Thursday, Ishaq Akintola, MURIC’s executive director, condemned the disagreement leading up to the appointment.

This includes a professor’s walkout from the selection board meeting and an aborted senate meeting.

Akintola stated that Maikudi was duly appointed according to university regulations.

He urged the academic community at UniAbuja to respect the decision and focus on academic excellence.

“A VC has emerged. Let us squarely face the tangential from now on. Allow peace on the UniAbuja campus,” Akintola concluded.

Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, says President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed that history should and will be reintroduced as a subject in Nigeria’s basic schools.

History, reports indicate, was removed from Nigeria’s basic school curriculum in 2007, eliciting sharp criticism that spanned years.

In many cases from then on, historical topics were taught with little depth as part of “social studies”.

In 2018, the federal government ordered the nationwide re-introduction of history as an independent subject in the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in the country.

Adamu Adamu, the then minister of education, had stated that the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) would need to first carry out a disarticulation of history from the social studies curriculum.

He said a curriculum would be designed with topics to help students appreciate history as a national integration and nation-building tool.

The ex-minister said a total of 3,700 history teachers were shortlisted for the first round of training to enhance the teaching of history.

Education ministries at the state level, including those of Lagos and Taraba, have since been moving to implement the federal policy.

Tunji Alausa spoke on a Tuesday Channels TV show where he expressed concern that Nigeria’s youth are disconnected from its history.

“Let me go to basic education, the curriculum is good. What has been missing in the past is Nigerian history. We now have people of 30 years disconnected from our history. It doesn’t happen in any part of the world,” the minister said.

“President Bola Tinubu has mandated that we put that back in our curriculum and that is back. From 2025 our students in primary and secondary schools will have that as part of their studies.”