TOBI'S DESK

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian girls have the right to wear the hijab headscarf to school, an appeals court has ruled in a country where suicide bombers have abused Islamic dress to hide their deadly weapons. The ruling by the Lagos division of Nigeria's Court of Appeal "has restored hope in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man," said the director of the Muslim Rights Concern group, Ishaq Akintola. The unanimous decision, overturning a 2013 ruling which banned hijabs in Lagos government schools, has added authority since three of the five judges are not Muslim, Akintola said. The headscarf issue has ignited passions in a country suffering from Boko Haram's Islamic uprising in the northeast. Some suicide bombers, including men disguised as women wearing full hijab, have hidden explosives under their robes. Africa's most populous nation of about 170 million people is almost equally divided between a mainly Muslim north and a predomina...

Statement shared via their official Twitter handle.. The NYSC Management wishes to inform all prospective Corps members that President Buhari has approved and released funds to the Scheme to hold its planned Orientation course. Consequently, Management of the Scheme has scheduled the 2016 Batch A Stream II Orientation course to commence from Monday 13th June to Wednesday 29th June 2016Nationwide. Prospective Corps members are expected to log on to d NYSC Portal to commence printing of their Call-up letters from TUESDAY (7/6/16) by 12noon as the Call-up letters printed earlier are now invalid.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, today announced the scrapping of post UTME examinations organized by various Universities for prospective students who partake in JAMB examinations. Speaking at the opening of the 2016 Combined Policy Meeting on Admissions to Universities, Polytechnics and other higher institutions in Nigeria, Adamu said the Federal government had confidence in the examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), adding that there was no need for other examination to be conducted by universities after JAMB.  “As far as I am concerned, the nation has confidence in what JAMB is doing. The universities should not be holding another examination and if the universities have any complain against JAMB let them bring it and then we address it. If JAMB is qualified enough to conduct tests and they have conducted test then there will be no need to conduct another test for students to gain admission”he said Meanwhile JAMB authorities ha...

Nigeria’s premier university, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, is enmeshed in a convocation preparations scandal as a graduating gown is shared by five students. The university, which is today concluding its 45th convocation ceremonies, is reportedly entangled in a convocation mess as students literally fought over convocation gowns, caps, hoods and scrolls – which are in very short supply at the institution. It was also gathered that after the students paid N10,000 each as convocation fee, which would ordinarily take care of the convocation materials, almost all the departments were hard hit by the acute scarcity of the materials. To pacify the angry students, the school authority allegedly made an ad hoc arrangement in which one gown would be worn by five different students. Enugu campus Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr Joseph Onah, confirmed the scarcity but said it was caused by the high population of students. However,...

Kashmea Wahi, an 11-year-old student from the UK, just earned a place among the world’s intellectual 1 percent by getting a perfect score on her IQ test. The test’s maximum score is 161 for adults and 162 for test-takers below the age of 18. To make her achievement even more impressive, her score of 162 puts her two points higher than the likes of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. After stumbling upon the Mensa test while surfing on her iPad, Wahi decided to test herself as a way of proving a point to her parents, both IT management consultants at the Deutsche Bank in London. She figured an impressive score might be an effective way to stop her parents from nagging her to study. Wahi is currently a student at West London’s Notting Hill and Ealing Junior School, where she helped her team secure third place at last year’s Oxford Maths challenge. She plays chess amongst other hobbies and has competed on the national level. She is thought to be one of the youngest test takers eve...