This initiative, known as the Blueprint-ICT-Dev Project, aims to upgrade digital infrastructure, strengthen ICT capabilities, and promote digital literacy in these institutions.

The National Universities Commission says it has received €3m as the first tranche of the $40 million loan secured from the French Development Agency to support Information, Communication and Technology projects in 10 selected universities across the country.

Executive Secretary of the commission, Abdullahi Ribadu, announced this during the inaugural meeting of the 13th NUC Board on Wednesday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Ribadu noted that since he assumed office about a year ago, the commission has pushed forward initiatives centred on research, entrepreneurship, digital transformation and skills development across Nigerian universities.

“We have secured $40 million loan from the French Development Agency for the ICT Blueprint Project in 10 selected universities. We have strengthened – only yesterday, the director confirmed to me that the first tranche of €3m has been deposited in our CBN account to kick-start the process.

“We have strengthened internal financial management, expanded access to university education through the licensing of new private universities, and approved new programmes and units.

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“We have also supported the take-off of publicly funded universities, expanded open and distance learning centres, and continued system-wide quality assurance exercises. Currently, the 2025 Accreditation Exercise is ongoing.

“These priorities continue to form the foundation of the Commission’s direction, and I am seeking your support in advancing them,” he said.

Ribadu assured the board of the commission’s full cooperation, saying the management stands ready to draw from the members’ expertise.

“We will rely on your wisdom to guide us as we carry out our duties. I am confident that your collective experience will strengthen the commission’s capacity to guide the Nigerian university system at a time when higher education continues to evolve.

“We also look forward to using your networks to help advance projects and partnerships that will benefit the Commission and the entire university system,” he added.

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On his part, Chairman of the 13th NUC Board, Emeritus Professor Oluremi Aina, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his sustained support for the university sector.

He said the board is assuming its mandate at a time of transition for higher education, with global standards rising and expectations increasing.

Aina outlined five central pillars that will guide the Board’s work, covering performance evaluation, improved university rankings, digital literacy, research and institutional reforms.

He said, “As we settle into this assignment, but permit me to present what I call five pillars that I believe will help guide our stewardship. One, evaluation of NUC performance.

“We must examine in detail the Act that buffered and laid the foundation for the NUC. We also need to be conversant with the various amendments to the act, its vision and mission, guiding principles and ethics.

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“Then we must study the commission’s operational challenges and landmark achievements. Going forward, we should compare ourselves against global standards, not sentiments, not history, and where we fall short, how we fall short, and why we must adjust boldly. Two, aligning with the renewed hope agenda of the present administration, the president has made education a pillar of national rebirth with the establishment of the fund and other initiatives.

“The signal sent to the world is that Nigeria is ready to reset and rebuild. Through our assignment, we must lead other key stakeholders in the higher education sector. In pragmatically resolving the naughty and nagging agitation of the academic staff union and other university unions.

“Advancements must also be made to enhance digital literacy and especially the use of artificial intelligence, AI, as tools to strategically reposition the universities nationally and internationally. Overall, it will also be a priority for the 13th board to work with the management for radical improvements in both the global and webometric ranking of our universities.”

He added, “Three, identifying and dismantling obstacles to university quality. Governance deficiencies, fund constraints, research stagnation, et cetera, must no longer be accepted as normal. Our duty is to reform and make progress, not to manage decline.

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“Four, reviewing existing funding and exploring new channels for sustainable funding. Nigerian universities cannot thrive on ingenuity alone. The board must intensify the research for alternative funding sources. Strengthen utilisation and explore emerging and local opportunities.

“And five, investing in the welfare and capacity of NUC staff and regulatory infrastructure. The system cannot overperform its operators. Credible accreditation and monitoring require strengthened conditions of service and protected regulatory independence.”

Aina added that the board would fully leverage technology in its operations.

“We will seek to leverage technology to ease our burden through the adoption of digital platforms for the advancement of our collective objectives. And I have a charge for the board.

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“This board, in whom I am well-pleased, carries with it the weight of expectations and aspirations of the Nigerian people,” he said.

Earlier this year, the French Development Agency provided a €38 million credit facility to the National Universities Commission to support the digital transformation of 10 federal universities in Nigeria.

This initiative, known as the Blueprint-ICT-Dev Project, aims to upgrade digital infrastructure, strengthen ICT capabilities, and promote digital literacy in these institutions.

The founder of One Love Family, Satguru Maharaj Ji, has vowed to get the incarcerated leader of the proscribed Igbo group, Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, released if the Biafra radio and sit-at-home order are stopped.

Maharaj Ji stated this while speaking in an interview granted to his temple’s in-house radio on Wednesday.

According to him, the IPOB leader was culpable of the terrorism charges levelled against him, and anyone guilty is liable to a death sentence.

He said, “We are, however, grateful that the matter has been put on hold in the sense that, by the accusations, it is always going to be death, looking at the level of crimes attached to him, with the way and manner the constitution is written. Anybody who is accused of doing such a thing (terrorism) is sentenced to death. It is only out of grace that Kanu was able to escape.

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“So now it has to be by political settlement before he (Kanu) can be released, and it will be addressed in so many ways. For anyone advocating for his pardon, they have to take positive steps. In other words, they must not do so with empty hands; they should stop the Biafra radio wherever it is. Secondly, the sit-at-home order should be stopped, and the judgment should be accepted while the Igbo elders go behind the scenes to analyse and explain to the President.

“Today, the Igbos have been brought to the central realms of politics by Tinubu. And the Northern caliphate is not happy about it. They are not excited about the commission they were given…They should stop the propaganda that the East is about to be Islamised. When those are done, I know how to watch it out, Kanu will come out. I will help facilitate his release.“

The cleric joined the likes of Abia State governor, Alex Otti, activist Omoyele Sowore, and other South-East leaders to intensify efforts to secure the release of detained Kanu through a political arrangement, assuring residents of the region that “all hope is not lost.”

On Tuesday, Otti met Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, after visiting Kanu in the Sokoto prison facility, where the IPOB leader is serving his sentence.

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Otti’s meeting with the President is believed to be part of ongoing engagements aimed at securing the release of the detained Kanu.

Recall that Kanu bagged a life sentence instead of the death penalty after the presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, handed down the sentence on counts one, two, four, five, and six.

The judge also handed Kanu a 20-year jail term on count three, with no option of fine, and a five-year jail term on count seven, with no option of fine.

Justice Omotosho delivered the judgment after convicting Kanu on all seven counts of terrorism offences.

The Senate on Wednesday moved to tighten Nigeria’s anti-kidnapping laws by pushing for the death penalty for kidnappers — and anyone who finances, enables, or provides information to them — as lawmakers debated amendments to the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.

The proposal, sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, seeks to classify kidnapping, hostage-taking, and related crimes as terrorism, giving security agencies wider powers to track, disrupt, and prosecute criminal networks across the country.

The debate dominated Wednesday’s plenary, drawing contributions from key senators including Adams Oshiomhole, Orji Uzor Kalu, and Minority Leader Abba Moro.

The session was presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

After hours of deliberation, the Senate unanimously approved the amendment bill for further legislative work and referred it to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters (lead committee), National Security and Intelligence, and Interior.

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The committees are expected to report back within two weeks.

Leading debate on the bill, Bamidele said the purpose was to “designate kidnapping, hostage-taking and related offences as acts of terrorism and prescribe the death penalty for such offences without option of fine or alternative sentence.”

He warned that kidnapping had evolved into “coordinated, commercialised and militarised acts of violence perpetrated by organised criminal groups.”

“Kidnapping has instilled widespread fear in communities; undermined national economic activities and agricultural output; interrupted children’s education; bankrupted families forced to pay ransom; overstretched our security forces, and claimed countless innocent lives,” the Senate leader lamented.

According to him, the patterns of brutality associated with kidnapping “now carry all the characteristics of terrorism,” making it necessary to treat the offence under the counter-terrorism framework.

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Bamidele added that the bill would empower security agencies with “broader operational authority, intelligence capabilities, and prosecutorial tools” to pursue terrorists and their enablers.

He stressed that the death penalty would apply not only to kidnappers but also to “their informants, logistics providers, harbourers, transporters, and anyone who knowingly assists, facilitates, or supports kidnapping operations,” adding that “attempt, conspiracy or incitement to kidnap attracts the same penalty.”

“Nigerians are kidnapped on highways, in schools, in homes, on farms and in markets,” he said. “This is not a mere crime. It is terrorism in its purest form.”

Backing the amendment, Oshiomhole criticised deradicalisation programmes for terror suspects, arguing that many offenders returned to crime.

“We should not continue with deradicalisation programmes again,” he said. “No more de-radicalisation. If you are caught and convicted for acts of terrorism, then the penalty should be death.”

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Kalu also supported the bill, insisting that informants and sponsors of kidnappers must “face the consequence.”

“Nigerians have suffered at the hands of kidnappers. Young girls have been raped. Women have become widows for no reason. This must not continue again,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Moro described the bill as “a unanimous decision of the Senate,” noting that it was necessary to impose capital punishment “with the hope that kidnappers will face the penalty.”

Senator Victor Umeh, in his contribution, condemned the rising trend of abductions and the killing of victims even after ransom payments. He said financial institutions aiding such crimes must also be scrutinised.

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Last week, the Senate took a similarly tough stance as it debated a motion following the November 18 attack on Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, in Ekiti LGA of Kwara State, where gunmen killed two worshippers and abducted 38 others.

Although all victims were later rescued, lawmakers said the incident exposed the spread of insurgent cells into the South and worsening insecurity in rural communities.

The debate stemmed from a motion by Senator Yisa Ashiru titled ‘Urgent Need to Address Escalating Insecurity in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger States and Strengthen National Security Frameworks.’

Senators also raised concerns over rising school abductions, which have led to shutdowns in parts of Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, and all 47 Federal Unity Colleges nationwide.

The latest amendment effort signals a tougher legislative push as insecurity — particularly kidnapping for ransom — continues to devastate communities across the country.