- ASUU protests on campuses over outstanding demands
- NELFUND postpones application of student loan for state varsities
- Nigeria secures $45.5m World Bank funding for NIN push
We have highlighted the five most important developments in the news today, Wednesday, June 26, and present them below.
5 issues in the news that should matter to you today
1. ASUU protests on campuses over outstanding demands: Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, on Tuesday, June 25, staged protests nationwide and warned of impending strike if the government refused to act on agreements signed with the union.
On assumption of office, President Bola Tinubu promised to look into the payment of the withheld salaries of the lecturers, and on February 19, 2024, the Federal Government began the payment of four-month withheld salaries to members of the union. Not satisfied, the union demanded the full payment of their salaries for the eight months, rejected the newly constituted governing councils, and also called on the Federal Government to implement the 2009 Nimi Briggs committee’s renegotiated 2009 agreement.
2. FG bans single-use plastics in MDAs: The Federal Government has announced a ban on single-use plastics across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), in a significant move towards environmental sustainability. This decision was revealed by the minister of state for environment, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, following a Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
The minister highlighted the severity of plastic pollution in Nigeria, describing it as “a major issue in our country.” and emphasised that this ban aligns with the government’s broader plastic waste management strategy.
He further explained that the ban is part of the administration’s efforts to promote responsible plastic waste management by refusing, reducing, reusing, repurposing, and recycling.
3. FG provides 107 LGAs logistics, Ogun denies new cholera cases: The Federal Government has provided states with human capital, logistics and others across the 107 Local Government Areas and 31 states where cholera cases were reported. The current outbreak of cholera has spread to 107 local government areas in the country with 1,528 suspected cases and 53 deaths recorded from 31 states.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, on Tuesday, June 25, said the viral video announcing the outbreak of cholera in Magboro, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in the Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of the state, was not a fresh case of the epidemic disease. She said the two cases mentioned in the short video were not new but part of the cases reported last week, adding that the patients were discharged two days ago.
4. NELFUND postpones application of student loans for state varsities: The management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Tuesday, June 25, announced a 14-day postponement of the application process for student loans for state institutions. NELFUND said the decision was necessitated by the failure of several state-owned institutions to upload the required student data and fee information to its Student Verification System.
5. Nigeria secures $45.5m World Bank funding for NIN push: The World Bank has provided $45.5m to Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission as part of the Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project. According to the World Bank’s implementation report, the funds were disbursed in several tranches between December 2021 and April 2024, with disbursement still ongoing.