"We are Fascinated by the Development in Lagos" - Leena

 

"We are Fascinated by the Development in Lagos"

Leena, Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria

Leena Pylvanainen is the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria. She is just a year in office as Finland Ambassador to Nigeria this month. Finland has been partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Education because of the quality of education offered in the country among other factors. The Honourable Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, Mrs Folashde Adefisayo paid a visit to the country recently along with her team. Leena, the Finland Ambassador was at the just-concluded two-day Lagos Education Summit at Eko Hotel, Lagos. Olugbenga Adebiyi who cornered Leena at the event quizzed the ambassador on issues bordering on the Finland Ministry partnership with the state's government, the Finland intervention on education, learning, the world of skills, need to revamp the current curriculum to meet the 21st century needs, the Comprehensive School project in Lagos State and other education issues. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Finland has been doing a lot of education partnership in Nigeria, why is Finland interested in education partnership in Nigeria especially with the Lagos state government? 

We are fascinated by the development in Lagos state because Lagos is one of the biggest, brightest and the most beautiful state and a business hub in Nigeria. We are interested in Lagos in Lagos state because it has ambitious plans, programmes in place to develop the city of the state in a smart city and many of the aids coincides very much the same challenges we face.

We are small; you are big. We are north, you are south. For many of the challenges, it’s the same mobile challenges that everyone is facing on how to make the society and our education future proof. The comments this morning is very commending because we have one of the best education systems in the world. as part of education, pedagogy, technology solution and innovations to offer and we have found in Lagos state a partner that is looking very much for the type of thing that we have to offer and it’s very much like a win-win-situation.

We are helping Lagos state achieve their aims and at this we are creating possibilities for our educational institutions and private companies. But mainly what unites us is aiming for the best possible education outcome for every child and Lagos state is setting an example in Nigeria as a number one priority for the government and it is also investing chunks into education.

We are only at the beginning of our partnership.

Finland has the best education in the world. What makes your education stands out globally? I am aware that the teaching profession is the most competitive because as a teacher you have to do continuous certificate to be on the job as a teacher.

Well, I think you have already one of the impact analyses that are training of our teacher and the qualitative standard we have put in place. The teaching profession is a very respected one in Finland. It is one of the hardest faculties to get into at the university level. Every single teacher in Finland has to have a master’s level to teach in the secondary school. Even at pre- primary, all the teachers have a bachelor’s degree and upward that keeps them at par. They are highly trained professionals and independent structure their own work in the classroom as teachers. They are free to structure their education in the classroom.

Yes, we have a national curriculum, and it is very broad and within those curriculums, they can structure their own teaching method. They can choose the books, etc they use. Professionals can have their own independent way of working. I think that is really one of the key factors. So looking at today’s world, I think what makes us stand out is education technology and the future challenges of the labour market into the curricula. 

Understanding what we discussed here this morning that the skill needed in the future labour force are very different from the one that is needed now. Technology also is another role. We have a lot of companies very good in mobile software, gaming, digital and mobile technology,

learning by playing (which makes learning fun), which makes it more and more interesting for other countries. So, teacher training and training is another aspect.

What specific area is the Finish Embassy collaborating with the Lagos State Ministry of Education to improve the quality delivery of education in Nigeria? 

I think we are only at the beginning of this beautiful relationship. So far as far as I know, focus has been on training the trainers’ curriculum development. A few on the teachers come to Finland and attending courses here and go back to their schools and districts teach their colleagues and I think the effort is a cascading one we also have for instance a mobile software company that has provided a learning module for the Comprehensive school project which is based on employment skill and entrepreneurship. It is contents that students can use on their mobile phones and this is now part of the curriculum of the total Comprehensive school project. Because as you know part of it is also focused on employment skills entrepreneurship and the soft skills needed for the labour market. We have on the one hand, Lagos State Ministry of Education collaborating with the Finnish Educational institutions especially in the city of Tampere with this teacher’s trainings and curriculum workshop. And we separate individual companies that have sold their products to the ministry. But we are engaging more and more into discussions for other forms of collaborations we could have in the future to going beyond education. We are talking to departments in Lagos state and other sectors.

Specifically what brought about the Comprehensive School Program partnership? Who initiated this?

Our cooperation with the Lagos Ministry of Education is based on close contacts over the past few years, both in the form of visits from Lagos state to Finland and contacts between the Ministry and the Embassy here in Nigeria. The cooperation initiated in the development and implementation of the Comprehensive School Project builds on this solid foundation. Besides the Comprehensive School Project, Finnish institutions and companies look forward to contributing also more broadly to the development of the education sector in Lagos state, to the ongoing reforms and to the ambitious Smart Lagos agenda of the Government overall.  

How long have you been an ambassador in Nigeria? I have been here almost a year. I arrived on the first of September. So September this year would make it one year. I have the pleasure of meeting the commissioner for education, who is the first official who I met in September and he went to Finland the next month. We are just trying to bring Finnish and the Lagos state together. I thank my predecessor what has been your experience so far in about a year now in the type of synergy you are building with the Lagos State Ministry of Education and what can you foresee in where our education is going?

Well, I think I am really not an educationist and I don’t attempt to do analysis. Looking at the aims set for education in Lagos State, I can only admire that from my perspective they are going in the right direction and doing what is right.

I am aware that getting a visa to go to Finland is very strict. How are you trying to improve the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Finland because Finland is becoming attractive in terms of education for many Nigerians going for study, visit, etc. because you have the best education and as a result of plans in place. Finland partnership especially with Lagos state? 

In terms of visa, we simply follow the same visa rules as other Schengen countries. We are most not stricter than any other less strict than any of our European counterparts. It is largely based on legislation and the rule for visa. We are very clear and everyone who fulfils the rule for visa. Besides, there are lots of checks that need to be made that require finance purpose of travel and so on. It is precisely the same procedures as other EU embassies. For students of course, it is not a question of visa, but a question of residence permit. If you have a study place in Finland, you show proof that you received been accepted into that institution. The only problem we have is time because we are working around the clock, like my team handling immigration and this season is a peak season because a lot of people are applying to study in Finland and a very high number of Nigerians have received places to study in Finnish institutions like University of Applied Sciences and we have received processing their residence permit and we have visa backlogs and the semester is starting now and students are waiting to receive their visas. But we are working as hard as we can in order to process their visa applications as fast as we can.

And we have quite a number of Nigerians who are studying in Finland and this is something that is encouraging. Our Embassy covers the whole of West Africa and we are very pleased last year to have official sent-forth of nine Nigerians to have an EU Erasmus Master’s course into Finland. They are 200 in total in about 27 countries in all. Nigeria being one of them. Nigeria is placed number two globally. Nigeria made a huge jump this year. The interest was stronger ever because of successful applicant. Pakistan ranked number 1. The EU is activating a number of education programmes in Nigeria and as member of the EU; we are contributing to developing this sector in Nigeria. What support is Finland giving for Scholarship to study in your country because the average tuition fee is about €11,000? I am not sure what the average tuition is, but I know Finland is considerate compared to other EU countries. That is one thing that makes our system to be attractive.

There are a number of scholarships. It is not from the government, but from each individual university I am aware that in the second year, there are huge number of scholarship that could cover tuition even in the third year. So, I would encourage Nigerian students to consider Finland as study destination.

Graduating Students of LAFROGRAMS advised to Shun Risky Behaviours

 Graduating Students of LAFROGRAMS advised to Shun Risky Behaviours

Young people have been advised to shun risky behaviours like: drug abuse, cultism, ritual killings, violence, kidnapping, sexual perversions, teenage pregnancies, insatiable quest for illicit wealth, pornography and other behaviours that would truncate their dreams in the future. This charge was given by Dr. Olusanya Dacosta who was a guest speaker at the prize-giving and valedictory service of the Lagos African Church Grammar School, Ifako, Agege, Lagos which was entitled his paper, “Signs of the Time”.

Dacosta said drug/substance abuse among young people today is becoming more alarming and the tide needed to be stemmed even as young people take all kinds of substance like “gutter water”, tramadol, codeine, cannabis, rohypnol, glue, petrol, sewage and urine as “inhalants”.

Speaking on the negative effect of drug/substance abuse, he said, “it affect you physically because it is very harmful to your body; it affects your studies due to loss of concentration; it degrades your mental health leading to depression and drains your parents finance apart from making you to lose self-esteem and control.

Apart from drug abuse, the speaker warned young people to stay off pre-marital sex, sodomy and sexual perversion which lead to HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, abortion, cervical career and so on. Buttressing this, he said “today HIV is behaving a teen disease. Every year, HIV finds its victims with younger people even most HIV may be caught during the years.

Having outlined the delinquent act associated with young people, Dacosta as a way of counsel told the listeners which comprise the graduating students and their parents on how to survive the time talking on the essence of proper guidance and the right type of association.

Making choice of the right type of friends is very important as most juvenile or delinquent behaviour are occasioned by the wrong type of friends. He narrated a sad incidence of a final year student who was found with drug in the first time in the university and was mistaken.

He also said that having the fear of God as their creator would make them to have the right direction and guidance as youths.

Furthermore, he advised them to stay focused and avoid distraction in whatever they do.

Lastly, the importance of skill acquisition was also emphasized. He said acquiring one vocational skill or other would make them to be both personal and socially responsible for themselves and the society.

Dacosta who was a former director with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) said the theme of his presentation was informed as a result of the happenings in the society lately which is a source of worry to him and hence young people needed to properly guided so they can fulfill their God-given purpose in life.

After the presentation, the principal of the school, Mrs. Mojisola Oyetayo thanked the speaker saying the lecturer was timely and impactful.

Group Harps on Multistakeholders Funding for Education

 Group Harps on Multistakeholders Funding for Education – Olugbenga Adebiyi

“The volume of funds available for education to a large extent will determine the quality and quantity of school objective that will be achieved”. This was the view of Mrs. Modupe Onabanjo, chairperson Education Group of Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) during a seminar on the “Effect of Low Government Funding on Education in Nigeria” at the LCCI, Alausa last week.

During her welcome address at the seminar, Modupe said, “low government funding in the education sector has severely affected many areas of our lives as education stakeholders. The most challenging recently is the security of school environment, students and teachers at large”.

To solve the problem of paucity of funds in education, she advised that the Federal Government should keep to his promise as vowed in the Education Summit of 2021 in the United Kingdom, through improved planning mechanism and resource allocations, through management of budget and allocation and stakeholders' involvement in education within the community.

Also speaking at the event, Professor Josiah Ajiboye Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) said, when it comes to issue of funding the questions to be asked are: “Is it that there are no funding, poor funding or misappropriation of funds? We need to get this clearly."

Going further, Prof. Ajiboye said overemphasis on Federal Government funding is making things worse in the sense that what the state and local authority are waiting endlessly for federal government intervention for their own state or local projects. He said that the state or local councils are not taking initiative on how to generate funds hence the overreliance on federal government funds or subventions. He said there are many ways the state could generate their own internal revenue without waiting for FG intervention.   

He lamented that Nigerian is not yet there in terms of funding as the UNESCO recommendation of 15-20% recommendation is not being followed. Pointing out that a review of the 2022 budget presented by the National Assembly to the President revealed that out of the ₦16.39 trillion of the total budgets, only ₦1.29 trillion amounting to 7.9 percent was allocated to education.

He also said that a lot of funds are lying fallow with TETFUND and UBEC that are not assessed because there is no political will on the part of the state to assess these funds, saying that the governors are more interested on how they can collect the money without their own counterpart funding not minding that the comatose and deplorable states of education in their states.

The erudite scholar said the major problem has been over-reliance on funding from the federal government allocation without looking at other sources like public-private partnership (PPP), donor agencies, adopt-a-school, individual contributions, stakeholders partnership/funding among other multi-sectoral approach to funding.

Ajiboye said the impact of poor funding has led to consistent ASUU strike, rise in insecurity, increase in tourism education, infrastructural decay, increased number of out-of-school children, poor quality teaching among others. He revealed that about 250 teachers have left the country this year January alone in search of greener pastures abroad. Hence, he advised that the issue should be tackled holistically.

Corroborating Prof. Ajiboye’s assertion, The Managing Director/CEO of EdFin Microfinance Mrs. Bunmi Lawson said that in the good old days community used to the part of schools development and funding of which she benefited a lot.

Lawson said “If the local governments are well-funded, they would be able to take care of the schools in the community”. She concluded that it is because there has been no participation in education that is why schools in the community are not doing well and have become shadow of themselves.

During the plenary session, Mr. Adegbola Adesina, Managing Director CSS Bookshop Lagos said, poor funding has affected the capacity building of teachers who he described as the “single most important factor in the school”.

Adegbola said during the Eko Project, an intervention fund with support from by the World Bank in Lagos State some years ago, teachers have the opportunity to travel abroad for training by the Eko Project but it is no more now.

Also the past president of ANCOPPS Lagos state, Mr. Isaac Olatunde said he applauded the government for providing funding through it has been minimal. He implored the government to do more because there are many areas in critical needs of funding in the education sector. He said without adequate funding, the education sector would not be able to develop a holistic person.

During a question and answer session, one of the participants, Engineer Twinkle Orimanye said Ghana education allocation is 26%, a little better than that of Nigeria. He further said that Nigeria should look more into technical education and ensure that she is not producing half-baked graduates who have nothing to offer saying that an air-conditioner technician in Ghana can also repair fix that of a car whereas the case is different in Nigeria as such person would be said to be a specialist in car alone.

Another participant, Oluwatoyin Camp bell asked how to correct the issue of lack of political will in the area of funding. So as to get funds that are lying fallow into the hands of the state.

At the end of the seminar, the group promised to issue a communiqué with a recommendation to the government on how to address this problem.

School Connect Trains more Students, Partner Donates Insurance Textbooks

As a bid to educate students on insurance, the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has donated Insurance textbook to students of Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior High School and Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Grammar School, Ojodu, Ikeja, Lagos. The donation of the 60 copies of textbook was made at the two-day Citizen Journalism training organized by School Connect Magazine yesterday.

During the two-day training Citizen Journalism workshop w for students of the two schools which commenced yesterday, Oluwaseun and Helene Fawehinmi representatives of the CIIN stressed on the importance of Insurance to everyday living. The first speaker, Adejumo Oluwaseun said 'life is all about risk and as such, 'we all need to prepare for eventualities to avert risk.'

Futher, Oluwaseun said with education insurance, a student's education can still go on even when such student loses his or parents to eventualities like accident or sudden death. 

As a way of catching the students young, the CIIN has been taking Insurance advocacy to secondary schools within and outside Lagos in order to give Insurance education and also to stimulate students interest in becoming students member of the CIIN. To make the advocacy more stronger, the CIIN has collaborated with School Connect Magazine, which provides Citizen Journalism training by heling students to take responsibility of reporting news happening in their school community.

The Editor of the School Connect Magazine, Olugbenga Adebiyi said the the School Connect Magazine came on board because there are many fantastic things happening in the school community that are not reported in conventional media and newspapers. So, in order to give schools a platform and the students opportunity to report school events and activities, School Connect was birthed to give students first-hand training. The Citizen Journalism (otherwise called the New Media is a situation, whereby citizens see the need to report news through the digital media and technologies like the mobile phones and the  social media like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc). School Connect Magazine started training students two years ago on Citizen Journalism, which was targeted at senior secondary school students from SS 1 and above.

The Citizen Journalism which is at is second phase now plans to reach all senior secondary schools students in both private and public schools in Lagos State and even outside the state. Through the CIIN partnership, Insurance advocacy would be spread further in schools and students will be able to be insurance advocates and become insurance professionals in the future even if they do not take insurance as a course initially.

At present, School Connect has trained about 200 students on Citizen Journalism and still will be training more students at the Government College Agege in the next two weeks.  

Africa: As Young Africans Push to Be Online, Data Cost Stands in the Way

 By Kim Harrisberg and Kent Mensah

Johannesburg / Accra — Nearly three-quarters of African youth see universal Wi-Fi as a human right, but sky-high data costs from Ghana to South Africa mean only one in eight can afford to be online all the time, new research shows

• Sub-Saharan Africa has world's most expensive data
• Many youth view internet access as a human right
• Jobs, education, security on the line, advocates say

Alongside the food, clothing and nappies gifted to a shelter for South African flood victims, one donation proved especially popular - a Wi-Fi router.

The router allowed the students to finish assignments, helped the unemployed find jobs and meant seamstresses could download dress patterns - tasks that had been tricky for many of them previously due to South Africa's high internet costs.

"Accessing internet is a human right, but it is one we couldn't afford before," said Nozipho Sithole, a former care home worker who quit her job to help fellow victims of the devastating floods that hit KwaZulu-Natal province in April.

South Africans pay up to 85 rand ($5.29) per gigabyte (GB) of data, a cost equivalent to nearly four hours work for people earning the minimum wage.

That compares with about $1.53 per gigabyte in North Africa and $2.47 in Western Europe, according to new research by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation charity that highlights, among other topics, sub-Saharan Africa's sky-high data costs.

The region has the world's most expensive mobile data prices, according to the Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2021 report.

Expensive internet services widen the so-called "digital divide" between the world's tech and internet haves and have-nots, according to the United Nations, which says about half the global population falls into the latter group.

As young Africans in particular increasingly see internet access as a basic right, the high price of data could become a hot-button issue, said Ivor Ichikowitz, chairman of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation.

A survey, carried out by the charity, compiled interviews with about 4,500 18- to 24-year-olds across the continent, showing that while 71% saw universal Wi-Fi as a fundamental human right, only one in eight could afford coverage at all times.

"If we look through the survey, there are probably four or five things that would bring young Africans out into the streets - and this is one of the top ones," said Ichikowitz.

"It's bizarre to think of this, but there's actually a security risk on the continent, a huge security risk, if this is not addressed," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video call.

SMARTPHONES AND COST SAVING

From homegrown social media platforms to grassroots internet providers, digital innovations are becoming more common across the continent, but tech entrepreneurs say the cost of data holds them back.

"There are a lot of things we can do here in Africa looking at the penetration of smartphones on the continent, but because of data costs we're limited," said Divine Puplampu, a Ghanaian software developer.

Smartphones are used widely on the continent, with 64% of Sub-Saharan Africans owning one in late 2021, a figure expected to grow to 75% by 2025, according to GSMA, an umbrella organization representing mobile operators globally.

But not everyone who has a smartphone will be online, due to the high cost and patchy availability of internet access.

Puplampu estimated that he was spending about 800 Ghanaian cedi ($100) on data each month, and that the cost had risen sharply in recent months.

"That alone is somebody's salary and higher than the wage of a national service personnel," Puplampu said.

A combination of poor infrastructure and the control that telecommunication operators have over consumer rates are among the leading causes of Africa's high data costs, said Ichikowitz.

"So it's not necessarily in the hands of government unless they change legislation ... to compel the telcos to make the investment required to get cost-effective high-speed data into as many hands as possible" he said.

Puplampu suggested policymakers needed to make it worthwhile for the telecommunications companies to cut their prices - for example, by reducing permit fees and allowing them to save money by using government-funded infrastructure.

"It will go a long way to improve on internet penetration in the country," he said, noting that Ghanaians were pushing back against a recent e-levy issued by government to raise revenue on mobile money transactions.

REMOTE WORKING

Making internet more affordable would be a huge boon for African economies, opening up one of the world's biggest pools of available labour, said Ichikowitz.

"There's no reason why young Africans can't be working remotely the same way as young Americans, Brazilians and Europeans are," he said.

In Kenya, which is dubbed "Silicon Savannah" for its hefty tech sector, 1GB of data is relatively cheaper - costing about 99 Kenyan shillings ($0.85).

But for young Kenyans hoping to break out of poverty into the country's flourishing tech industry, it is still more than they can afford on top of other essential costs.

Brighton, a 17-year-old student from an informal settlement called Kwangaware in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, finished secondary school in December and now wants to learn coding and become a software developer.

The problem is that by the time he has browsed a few sites to find out where he can learn coding, his data has run out.

"The data is too expensive," said Brighton, who has taken up a 300-shilling per month job on a construction site while he plans his next step.

Despite such hurdles, he is not giving up hope on a future in tech innovation.

"Everyone says that tech is the best sector to be in for young people," said Brighton, asking not to give his full name.

"I think I'm good with computers and see a future for myself in technology."

($1 = 15.8305 rand)

($1 = 7.7000 Ghanian cedi)

($1 = 117.2000 Kenyan shillings)

(Reporting and writing by Kim Harrisberg @KimHarrisberg in Johannesburg, Kent Mensah in Accra and Nita Bhalla in Nairobi; Editing by Helen Popper. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, and covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Nigeria Rejects Ulrainean Online Medical Degree

 "We wish to inform the General Public that Medical and Dental Degree Certificates issued by Medical Schools from Ukraine from 2022 will NOT be honoured by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria ..."

Nigeria will not accept medical and dental degrees from Ukrainian universities obtained from 2022, the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (MDCN) has said.

"We wish to inform the General Public that Medical and Dental Degree Certificates issued by Medical Schools from Ukraine from 2022 will NOT be honoured by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria until when normal academic activities resume," the council which regulates the medical profession in Nigeria said in a statement published on its official Twitter handle.

The decision is because of the ongoing war in Ukraine that has seen many of its higher institutions closed for physical classes. Many of them are still, however, holding online classes, something the MDCN is against for medical and dental programmes.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Council categorically states that online medical training done in any part of the world is short of acceptable standard and is not recognised by the MDCN," it said.

The council advised students currently studying medicine or dentistry in Ukrainian medical schools to seek transfer to other accredited institutions in other countries for the completion of their programmes.

Nigerian evacuees from Ukraine lament

PREMIUM TIMES reported howhundreds of Nigerian students were evacuated from Ukraine when the Russian invasion started.

Some of the returnees, who are affected by the stance of MDCN, have condemned it.

Esther Ebiru, who in June graduated from Dnipro Medical state Ukraine in an online graduation ceremony, called the MDCN's policy inhumane.

"This policy is inhumane. It is devastating because we did not study online for six years, it is only a few months in 2020 due to Covid which happened all over the world and the remaining three months," she told PREMIUM TIMES.

"I am clearly devastated and tired. I cannot imagine waiting for this war to be over or restarting again.

"I finished high school quite early, I joined the RSSDA scholarship two years after high school. Wrote every necessary exam. I was promised to start medicine in Germany.

"My parents even went ahead to pay for German classes. The scholarship was later cancelled due to the political instability in Rivers State at the time. My parents had to struggle to make my medical dreams come true and send me to Ukraine," Ms Ebiru narrated.

According to her, she left high school over 10 years ago "only for me to come back to the same limiting policy. It seems like the Nigerian govt and environment don't want me to move further."

Ms Ebiru said that unlike in Nigeria, her colleagues from Ghana and UK are moving on with their dreams just fine.

She told PREMIUM TIMES that in a bid to familiarise herself with the medical atmosphere in Nigeria, when she returned to the country in March, she paid for a clinical attachment which commenced in April.

"I did one month of gynaecology and one month of paediatrics. I am now on internal medicine which I opted for two weeks because I decided that by July 11th, I'll register for the MDCN exam tutorials before this news broke out last Friday," she said.

Another returnee medical student who sought anonymity asked this reporter rhetorically how a six-year programme can be cancelled because of three months of elective courses taken online.

"I was astonished and in reading the insensitive MDCN advertorial discrediting our medical degrees from Ukraine, China and other unspecified countries and thereby denying us the opportunity to practice in our country," he said.

MDCN reaffirms position

When contacted, Tajudeen Sanusi, MDCN's registrar, said the council's position was to protect Nigerians.

"Tell me anywhere in the world where they are studying medicine online. When you have your lectures in the classroom, you move to the hospital which is the most important... ," he said.

When this reporter reminded him that the online classes were as a result of the war in Ukraine, he asked again, "was there no war in Sierra Leone and Liberia before? Why did they not study online there?"

"We have made provision for whoever wants to transfer to Nigerian university medical college, so why are they doing online? You want to put the health of Nigerians and other people living in this country in jeopardy? I won't do that," Mr Sanusi said.

When this reporter asked him to shed more light on the provision to enrol the returnees in medical schools in Nigeria, he said, "I am not the one who will call them, they are the ones to apply."

He noted that the students should apply to the medical schools and if the institutions have spaces, they can be enrolled.

"When the students were going, did they tell anybody?... Did they tell me they were going anywhere? Do I have their record that they are anywhere?" Mr Sanusi asked rhetorically.

Over 100 Kidnapped girls still Missing

 

Mary Dauda and Hauwa Joseph, the two rescued girls abducted from the GGSS Chibok in Borno in 2014, have revealed that more than 20 missing others are still in Gazuwa camp in Sambisa Forest, eight years after being kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents.

NAN Reports that Gazuwa camp is the acclaimed Headquarters of the Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, Boko Haram faction, formerly known as Gabchari, Mantari and Mallum Masari, located about 9 kilometres to Bama Local Government Area of Borno.

They disclosed this while interacting with newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri, at a news conference at the Command and Control Centre Maimalari Cantonment.

Marry Dauda, who recounted her experience in the hands of the insurgents, said she could still vividly recall her compulsory marriage eight years ago after she was abducted at the age of 18 years.

Dauda said she walked through the deadly forest for many days before she found help.

Like the others conscripted by the militants, she had been told that she would be hunted down and killed if she deserted.

She said: "I took excuse from Malam Ahmed, that I will be visiting my relative from Chibok in the town of Ngoshe and he gave me one week. That is when I began my journey for freedom.

"I left Sabil Huda, popularly known as the camp of Abubakar Shekau, and proceeded towards Njimiya and Parisu, where I met some of the Mujahedeens. They asked where I was going and I told them I was given permission to visit my sister in Ngoshe.

"I finally arrived Gava village in Gwoza, after walking for many hours through the deadly forest under hardship condition. I asked some people to direct me to the home of daughter of Chibok.

"After meeting her, I told her of my plans to return home, she told me she had wanted to come with me but her husband has placed her on strict surveillance for attempting to run. I then left her and proceeded toward Ngoshe town.

"On my way, I met an old man who promised to help me to escape. But he told me that it won't be possible in the afternoon until the sun had set. At about 8 p.m., he took me to Ngoshe town and told me to pass the night in the outskirt of the town and proceed the next morning.

"When the day broke, I took myself to some soldiers where I was rescued with my baby," she said.

On her part, Hauwa Joseph said she was forcefully married to Amir Abbah, Commander of Boko Haram (Munzul), at Gazuwa camp, who was later killed during an encounter with the troops of the Nigerian Army.

She said she voluntarily escaped from the camp of the terrorists during a massive incursion of the troops of the Nigerian army into their camp in Gazuwa on June 12.

Ms Joseph said as people were running in the same direction where the sect members were hiding women and children, she took a separate route to escape from the terrorist camp.

She said on her way, she met with some of the insurgents who asked her where she was going, but she tricked them and told them that she was following some women to hide in the nearby forest.

"I slept under the tree with my child, then proceeded the next day until I arrived at the road where I approached a military checkpoint. Initially, they thought I was a suicide bomber, but when I explained myself, they took me along with them.

She thanked the military for rescuing her, saying that she hoped other girls still in the camps of the terrorists would be rescued.

Christopher Musa, a major general, who is The Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai North East Joint Operation, said that both girls were on the list of the missing Chibok girls.

Mr Musa said the girls were rescued due to a massive military operation in Sambisa Forest, Mandara Mountain, and the Lake Chad area.

"We are putting more efforts to ensure that the rest of the girls are rescued through the ongoing Operation Lake and Desert Sanity," he said.

Also, another Major General, Waidi Shuaibu, The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Army, said the girls were rescued between June 12 and 14, around Bama and Gwoza general area.

Mr Shuaibu said the girls had received necessary medical attention and would be handed over to the appropriate authorities shortly.

Boko Haram kidnapped 276 female students, aged between 16 and 18 from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.

Over 100 of the girls were still missing as of April 14, 2021, seven years after the initial kidnapping.

 Culled from Premium Times