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Collaborations Between NSSEC, SSEB Will Improve Qualities Of secondary Schools- Executive Secretary

Published

4 years ago

October 21, 2021

Editor

Mr Benjamin Abakpa, the Executive Secretary, National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) says collaborations and synergy between the commission and State Senior Secondary Education Boards (SSSEB) would improve the qualities of Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.

Abakpa stated this in Bauchi on Thursday, during National Advocacy and Sensitisation Forum on the Establishment of National Senior Secondary Education Commission for Education Stakeholders from the North-East Geo Political Zone.

He explained that in order to bring all the relevant stakeholders on board, NSSEC had embarked on a national advocacy and Sensitisation Forum in the six Geo-political zones of the country so as to keep all abreast of its mandate and functions.

“I have no doubt in my mind that the collaboration and synergy between the new NSSEC and the SSSEB would undoubtedly improve the quality of our Senior Secondary Schools, especially in the areas of Science, Technical, Vocational and entrepreneurial education.

“The commission in its resolve to bring all the relevant stakeholders on board, has embarked on a National Advocacy and sensitisation forum in the six geo-political zones of the country to keep all abreast of its mandate and functions.

“To achieve this goal, we have invited experienced resource persons to educate us on the journey towards the actualisation of NSSEC, its mandate and functions as well as the various sources of funding available to the commission and our Senior Secondary Schools,” he said.

The Executive Secretary further said that only the Senior Secondary Education has no functional regulatory and intervention agency, hence the establishment of NSSEC with the effort of the Minister for Education, Malam Adamu Adamu.

He explained that basic education comprising both primary and Junior Secondary Education has the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) as its regulatory and intervention body.

He added that the National Commission for Colleges of Education, National Board for Technical Education and the National Universities Commission regulate the Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities respectively.

“From this analogy, only the Senior Secondary Education has no functional regulatory and intervention agency.

Cross session of Secondary school students dancing as part of activities to grace the occasion

“Consequently, the Honourable Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu in his resolve and determination to reposition the Education sector, sought and obtained the approval of President Mohammadu Buhari to establish the National Senior Secondary Education Commission.

“This gesture was actualised with the appointment of myself as the Executive Secretary of the commission and the appointment of the Governing Board.

“The Commission serves as a Regulatory and Intervention Agency for Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Aliyu Tilde, Bauchi state Commissioner for Education, said NSSEC would be the UBEC of senior secondary schools, adding that Its subordinate organs such as SSSEB would soon be formed in states to take care of the activities of senior secondary schools.

He said the commission would take over 95 per cent of the work of State Ministries of Education (SMEs) in senior secondary Schools, adding that SMEs would henceforth not be involved in running secondary schools but SSSEB.

Tilde, who lamented the roles of corrupt officials and politicians in handling contracts, said “But as far as contracts are concerned, many officials and politicians will smile at the banks.

“Unfortunately, this is the same money that has overwhelmed SUBEBs with unnecessary attention from politicians, corrupted its officials and diverted it from critical education management work, thereby leaving our basic schools unattended to.

“For the politicians and corrupt officials, a new portal is open. Rush there to seek for posting and grab all manna of contracts that will fall as they do in SUBEBs,” he said.

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Syrian Ex-leader Assad Faces War Crime Charges For Killing Journalists

Published

9 hours ago

September 2, 2025

Editor

French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday.

Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012, by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity as well as a war crime.

British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier, and Syrian translator Wael Omar were wounded in the attack on the informal press centre where they had been working.

Assad escaped with his family to Russia after being ousted by Islamist rebels at the end of 2024, although his precise whereabouts have not been confirmed.

Other than Assad, the warrants notably target his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub.

“The issuing of the seven arrest warrants is a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” said Clemence Bectarte, lawyer for the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Ochlik’s parents.

The FIDH said the journalists had clandestinely entered the besieged city to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.

“The investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, lawyer and director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

Colvin was known for her fearless reporting and signature black eye patch, which she wore after losing sight in one eye in an explosion during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Her career was celebrated in a Golden Globe-nominated film, “A Private War”.

AFP

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Ghana’s President Sacks Chief Justice Over Corruption Allegations

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed the Chief Justice of Ghana following the outcome of a high-level investigation into allegations of falsifying judicial records and misusing public funds.

A five-member commission, chaired by a Supreme Court judge and set up by Mahama, concluded that the allegations against the country’s top judicial officer were substantiated and recommended her removal.

“After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office,” said the spokesperson to the President, Felix Ofosu, in a statement on Monday.

“President John Dramani Mahama has accordingly removed the Chief Justice from office with immediate effect.”

The dismissal marks the first time a sitting Chief Justice in Ghana has been investigated and dismissed from office.

While Mahama, who took office in January, has repeatedly pledged to intensify the fight against corruption, it remains unclear whether the embattled Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, will face criminal prosecution.

Headline

Danish Court Sentences Ex-minister To Prison For Child Abuse Material

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

A former Danish government minister was jailed for four months on Monday for possession of thousands of images of child sexual abuse.

Henrik Sass Larsen, once a senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister, admitted to having more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos on his computer depicting sexual abuse of children.

He had denied the charges, saying he had the material because he was trying to find out who had abused him as a child.

Prosecutor Maria Cingari said she was “satisfied” with the verdict but added that it was sad that someone “who managed to make the most out of their life despite a bad start finds himself in such a situation.”

“You should never be in possession of child pornography, no matter the reason,” Cingari added.

During his trial, the 59-year-old told the court he had received a link in 2018 to a 50-year-old video showing him being sexually abused when he was three years old.

He testified that he received another video clip in 2020, in which a three-year-old girl was raped in his presence when he was around the same age.

The two videos disappeared after he viewed them, he said.

He told the court he regretted not having contacted the police when he received the videos.

Sass Larsen was also accused of being in possession of a child sex doll, but the court did not find him guilty on that charge.

His lawyer, Berit Ernst, told reporters that “we’ll see if it is a definitive end or if we will appeal.”

The scandal came to light last March and led to his expulsion from the Social Democratic Party.

At the time, Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her shock over the case.

AFP