The call by President Goodluck Jonathan last Sunday on state governors to sign death warrants of condemned inmates in prisons across the country has again brought to the fore the lingering controversy on the issue.

IT is longer news that those recently paraded as members of a child trafficking syndicate at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, were arraigned at the Apapa Family court on Thursday, May 30, 2013.

FOR over a decade, the office of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung has been a rallying point for non-governmental organizations. FES assignment in Nigeria has been essentially about promoting and sustaining democracy and this it has done by working with non-governmental organizations, the media, trade unions, women and other civil society groups. It was therefore not surprising when a similar programme was organized to bid farewell to the former resident representative, Mr. Thomas Mattig and welcome Mrs. Seija Sturies, the first female resident representative of the FES in Nigeria.

It would be intellectually dishonest to attempt a summation of what transpired at this epic summit, considering the sheer breath and scope of the ideas which were freely exchanged at the intellectual market place.

Barely two weeks ago, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, declared that about 10.5m Nigerian children are out of school and are given to street begging, hawking for their parents and serving as house helps at various homes in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

The dismal performance of Nigerian students in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations has sparked a round of blame games from the Federal Ministry of Education to the state governments and even to the previous administration. Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqquatu Rufai at the Ministerial platform held in Abuja recently implied that the Federal Government is not to be held responsible for poor performance at the basic/secondary level.

Determined to eradicate what he termed ‘unmarketable degree awards’, the President/Vice-Chancellor, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, Professor James Makinde, at the institution’s 11th convocation ceremony, reiterated the university’s commitment of not giving room for third class or Common Pass graduates during convocations.

Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufai has called on organised private sector to continue to partner with the Federal Government in creating access to education by establishing private institutions.

The war to save the planet cannot be won without plants as they play a very crucial role. Plants, along with algae and cyanobacteria, are essential for the planet to function properly hence the need to ensure their survival and conservation. Apart from providing food for us, they also provide oxygen which is essential to human life. They take up the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.

Last week, teachers from public and private senior secondary schools in Ondo State were equipped with new skills and techniques of implementing the new Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC) at a six-day rigorous training programme which was organised by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) in collaboration with Ondo State Ministry of Education. The capacity-building workshop took place in three major towns in the state namely; Akure, Ikare and Okitipupa, with close to 800 teachers in attendance.