Headline

UK Varsities Seek NUC’s Approval To Run Degree Programmes

Published

2 years ago

October 12, 2023

In a bid to help Nigerian students that are unable to meet up with the financial requirements to study in the United Kingdom, officials from the London Academy Business School, LABS, and University of Sunderland are seeking approval from the National Universities Commission, NUC, to run degree programmes in Nigeria.

A delegation from the University of Sunderland led by Dr. Derek Watson confirmed this after a meeting with the Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki on Wednesday in Abuja.

The university is expected to commence academic activities from January, 2024 if it certifies all the requirements from the NUC, which is the regulatory agency of universities in Nigeria.

The prospective students according to the delegation are expected to pay half of what their colleagues in the UK are paying as tuition fee.

Already the officials from LABS and Sunderland University have visited the management of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, located at Kubwa road in Abuja, to inspect the facilities at the institute.

Speaking after meeting with the NUC Executive Secretary, Watson, an associate professor from the faculty of business law and tourism assured that students in Nigeria would have the same academic standards with their counterparts in the United Kingdom, while the management at the same time promised to respect the environment and guidelines from the NUC.

Speaking after the meeting with NUC, he said: “The meeting with the Executive Secretary was very productive, the university of Sunderland has over 30 years of experience.

“We were the first UK university to market. What we have agreed on today is the criticality in following the compliance procedures. In addition to that we would source credible academics to deliver our programmes from LABS who are qualified teachers and also practicing consultants. The student will get the same experience as those students studying in England.”

President/Director of Studies, London Academy Business School, (LABS), Dr. Larry Jones-Esan, explained that the visit to NUC was to get the nod to run programmes in Nigeria.

He said: “The meeting with the NUC today is for us to get the recognition that we are allowed to run the Sunderland courses in Nigeria so, we do not need the NUC accreditation, what we need is recognition, that is very important because if we run any courses in Nigeria without them recognizing it, that degree is useless and they cannot do NYSC, so we do not want that to be the case.

“So for us to do that, we have to get their permission first before we go out there and start recruiting students otherwise we will be shooting ourselves in the foot. If they come here and say you are doing something illegal, you will pay fine and before you get out of that it will be too much.

“So what we have done is that we bring those people in and come in myself as the CEO of the London Academy Business School, make sure that we have them aware of what we are doing.

“Today is a very important day for the London Academy Business School in partnership with the University of Sunderland. We met with the Executive Secretary of the National University Commission and discussions went as planned, making sure that we do things right.

“One thing that came out very clear is that they want people work with them but work in a way that they respect the authority and respect the system and the environment.

“So we are going to make sure that everything we do follows the guidelines. We have a very beautiful guidelines but if you fail to follow them you might run into trouble. If two million people apply for university admissions every year in Nigeria and only 700 hundred thousand are getting a place, that is a problem and that is a challenge and they want to solve that problem and we think we have came at the right time.

“We thank the delegates from the University of Sunderland working with the London Academy Business School in making sure that this gives result as quickly as possible.”

Earlier, the team visited the Public Service Institute of Nigeria along Kubwa road Abuja which is going to serve as the study center and they were received by the Administrator and CEO of the institute, Abdul-Ganiyu Obatayinbo.

The Administrator said the environment was far better than what the University of Sunderland has in the UK, adding that the institute was saddled with the responsibility of building the capacity of public/civil servants.

He said that the institute has a 500 seat auditorium, 12 different halls of 30 seater capacity each, hostels with 202 bedrooms, hospital, security quarters, sports complex, entrepreneurship center among other facilities that would make teaching and learning conducive.

Some of the courses to be offered at the undergraduate level included, computer science, business and management, network system engineering among others, while business administration, international business management, education leadership among others will be offered at the masters level.

Headline

FULL LIST: Nigeria Emerges As Africa’s Third Most Formidable Military Force

Published

1 hour ago

June 23, 2025

Editor

Nigeria has secured the third position among African nations with the most formidable military forces in the 2025 Global Firepower Military Strength Index, according to Global Firepower’s annual report cited by The PUNCH on Monday.

The index evaluates 145 countries based on over 60 metrics, including troop numbers, equipment capabilities, financial resources, logistical efficiency, and geographical advantages to assess military strength.

In the 2025 rankings, Egypt maintains its lead as Africa’s top military power, followed by Algeria in second place and South Africa in fourth. Nigeria’s rise to third underscores its growing military capabilities, driven by investments in personnel, equipment, and counter-terrorism efforts.

Here is a list of African countries ranked in the 2025 Global Firepower Index.

1. Egypt (19)

2. Algeria (26)

3. Nigeria (31)

4. South Africa (40)

5. Ethiopia (52)

6. Angola (56)

7. Morocco (59)

8. Democratic Republic of the Congo (66)

9. Sudan (73)

10. Libya (76)

11. Kenya (83)

12. Chad (84)

13. Mozambique (89)

14. Tunisia (90)

15. Tanzania (92)

16. Cameroon (93)

17. Ivory Coast (102)

18. Mali (104)

19. Zambia (109)

20. Ghana (110)

21. Zimbabwe (111)

22. South Sudan (113)

23. Uganda (114)

24. Namibia (116)

25. Niger (119)

26. Eritrea (120)

27. Republic of the Congo (121)

28. Botswana (122)

29. Mauritania (123)

30. Senegal (125)

31. Burkina Faso (129)

32. Madagascar (130)

33. Gabon (133)

34. Liberia (138)

35. Sierra Leone (140)

36. Somalia (142)

37. Central African Republic (143)

38. Benin (144)

Headline

Middle East Crisis Dominates EU Foreign Ministers’ Brussels Meeting

Published

2 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Editor

The foreign ministers of EU member states on Monday were set to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East at their June meeting in Brussels.

The talks come amid growing international alarm after the United States joined Israel in launching strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

A key question for the ministers will be whether Europe can help steer the crisis back towards diplomacy.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Sunday urged all sides “to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” in a statement posted on X.

Headline

US Says Strikes ‘Devastated’ Iran’s Nuclear Program

Published

17 hours ago

June 22, 2025

Editor

Unprecedented US strikes have wrecked Iran’s nuclear program, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday as Washington sought to assess what remained of the three targeted sites.

The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement.

But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.

“We devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”

Trump “seeks peace, and Iran should take that path”, Hegseth said. “This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change.”

Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that “it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”

“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he told reporters.

– Protests in Tehran –

People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed.

Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning.

“We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it’s years or beyond,” he told ABC.

“We’re not at war with Iran — we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he added. “The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night.”

In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel’s initial attacks.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had “crossed a very big red line,” asserting Iran would continue to defend itself “by all means necessary.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump’s decision to “target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”

The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was “too soon” to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site.

The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said.

– Global concern –

In response to the US attack, Iran’s armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.

Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded.

In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.

“Israel by itself would not stop… and it would take longer,” he said.

Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city’s north.

The Israeli military said it had “struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory.”

Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported that a “massive explosion was heard” Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province.

The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation.

The European Union called on all sides “to step back,” while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships.

The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”