The Lagos State Government has commenced its maiden NEEDS Assessment Project for all public primary schools across the state.

According to a statement on Friday by the Deputy Director, Information, LASUBEB, Abe Adunola, the initiative, spearheaded by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, was unveiled on Thursday during a stakeholders’ engagement session.

The NEEDS Assessment Project is an evidence-gathering exercise designed to identify gaps in infrastructure, teaching capacity, and learning resources in public schools. It provides government with data to plan targeted interventions and allocate resources more effectively.

According to the board, the project will cover 1,238 public primary schools, vocational centres, inclusive units, and Local Government Education Authorities.

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Board member of LASUBEB, Owolabi Falana, said the exercise was a major step in strengthening the foundation of basic education in Lagos.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Project Implementation and Monitoring, Mr. Olusegun Sanwo-Olu, noted that the initiative reflected the state government’s resolve to drive education reform with data-driven interventions.

“This project is about clarity and intentionality. By understanding the realities in our schools, we are laying a solid foundation for smart planning, equitable resource allocation, and sustainable reforms. It is a bold step that will ultimately improve the quality of teaching, enhance learning outcomes, and prepare Lagos children to thrive in this fast-changing world,” he said.

LASUBEB Chairman, Dr. Hakeem Shittu, described the initiative as the first in a series of continuous exercises aimed at transforming Lagos public schools.

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“This maiden edition of the Needs Assessment Project is only the beginning. It will be sustained as a continuous initiative to ensure our schools, teachers, and learners are never left behind,” he affirmed.

Highlighting the project’s benefits, Shittu explained that the assessment would lead to safer classrooms, improved facilities, empowered teachers, and better learning outcomes for pupils.

“The future of Lagos depends on how much we invest in our children today. This initiative gives us the clarity and direction to act decisively,” he said.

He further stressed that the project was not only about identifying gaps but also about developing practical solutions that would create conducive learning environments, improve teachers’ working conditions, and strengthen administrative capacity across schools.

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Shittu also commended the contributions of teachers, administrators, and Local Government Education Authorities, while emphasising collaboration with the Project Implementation and Monitoring Unit for credible data collection.

He urged teachers, parents, and community leaders to support the exercise.

“The success of this project depends on our collective effort. Together, we can build a school system that empowers our children with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to compete globally,” he said.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of several education reforms introduced in Lagos in recent years. Through the EKOEXCEL programme launched in 2019, the state government deployed digital learning devices and retrained teachers to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes in public schools.

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The state has also embarked on school rehabilitation projects, the construction of new classrooms, and the expansion of inclusive education centres to accommodate children with special needs.

Despite these efforts, public primary schools in Lagos have faced challenges of overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure, and uneven access to quality teaching.

Education experts have long called for systematic assessments to guide interventions, making the NEEDS project the first coordinated attempt to collect comprehensive data for policy decisions in the state’s basic education sector.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the creation of a dedicated Compliance Department aimed at enhancing oversight of non-prudential risks across the country’s financial system.

This new unit reflects the apex bank’s commitment to strengthening regulatory frameworks in response to evolving threats and compliance challenges.

In a circular issued to regulated financial institutions on Thursday, the CBN stated that the department was established in the first quarter of 2025 and became fully operational in the second quarter.

The move is part of broader structural reforms designed to improve regulatory efficiency, define institutional roles more clearly, and ensure focused supervision of emerging and non-traditional risks.

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In recent years, the Nigerian financial sector has faced increasing pressure from global regulatory standards, technological threats, and evolving financial crimes.

Non-prudential risks—such as money laundering, cyberattacks, poor market conduct, and weak corporate governance—pose significant threats to financial stability and investor confidence.

“This structural reform forms part of the Bank’s broader efforts to consolidate and embed regulatory effectiveness within existing supervisory frameworks, clarify institutional responsibilities, and maintain focused oversight of non-prudential and emerging risks,” CBN said.

With its creation, the apex bank said the compliance department has taken over responsibilities in four key areas.

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“Financial crime supervision, covering anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, and sanctions compliance,” CBN said.

“Market conduct supervision, including disclosure practices, complaints management, and advertising standards;

“Enterprise security supervision covering cybersecurity, data protection, and third-party risk management; and corporate governance and ESG supervision focusing on board effectiveness and oversight of environmental, social, and governance oversight,” it added.

The financial regulator further said all regulatory reports, correspondence, and related inquiries concerning the matters should be directed to the director of, compliance department, through the established communication channels.

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The apex bank added that institutions will receive direct guidance on specific points of contact and submission procedures.

CBN said it looks forward to continued cooperation from all institutions to ensure a smooth transition and to uphold the highest standards of compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

The PUNCH reports that the apex bank is clamping down on PoS fraud with geo-tagging and global payment standards, aiming to make every digital transaction traceable and trustworthy.

A Nigerian scholar, Raphael Ebiefung, has been awarded the prestigious Grace Jordan McFadden Professor Programme Fellowship at the University of South Carolina.

A statement issued by the Institution noted that the “highly competitive fellowship” recognises academic leaders who advance knowledge and address pressing social challenges.

Ebiefung, a doctoral researcher and a one-time assistant lecturer and librarian at Top-Faith University, Nigeria, who specialises in human-AI interaction and information behaviour, is expected to join “an elite group of scholars shaping the future of higher education and interdisciplinary inquiry,” the University said.

Ebiefung, in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Friday, described the award as a “milestone that underscores Nigeria’s capacity to produce world-class scholars.”

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He said, “I am deeply honoured to receive the Grace Jordan McFadden Fellowship. It is a testament to the resilience and potential of young Nigerian academics striving to make a global impact.

“My research seeks to understand the dynamics of human behaviour in relation to AI systems. This area is critical as we move deeper into the digital age,” he explained.

Nigerian scholars have continued to leave an impressive intellectual footprint across the world.

The PUNCH reported how, in August, a Nigerian scientist, Deborah Agbakwuru, was awarded the prestigious Besancon scholarship at the University of Montana.

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The scholarship is one of the most distinguished graduate recognitions at the university and is awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the biological, physical, and mathematical sciences.

Similarly, Nigerian-born researcher, Peter Ngene, won a €2m grant from the European Research Council for his project in 2024.

Ngene, an associate professor at the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, was among seven researchers from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, who won the grant. According to a statement by his university, Ngene’s work focused on the “interface-mediated fast ionic conductivity in nanocomposite solid-state electrolytes.”

He said the goal was to unravel the reason why the ionic conductivity of certain solids can increase or decrease by thousands of fold at their interface with other solids.