By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mandate Secretary, of women Affairs secretariat, Dr Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, on Monday, said the registration of every child born in Abuja would give them the important legal identity they deserve.

The Mandate Secretary Women Affairs Secretariats stated this at the , mobilisation of residents for birth registration, through the traditional rulers in Abuja Municipal Area Council, (AMAC).

At the Palace of Sapeyi (Chief) of Garki, Alh. Usman Nga-Kupi, in Abuja, she said the exercise is meant for all children from Zero to five years.

Benjamins-Laniyi, said the social mobilisation was to ensure all children between the ages of zero to five years were registered and issued a birth certificate as a legal means of identification.

She stressed that, the move is to ensure that no child is left behind in the efforts to ensure absolute protection of all children.

She said that the birth registration campaign was being coordinated by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu across the country.

She said that the mobilisation of the traditional leaders and community members began on March 28 in Abaji Area Council and extended to the remaining five area councils of the FCT.

The mandate secretary said that the women affairs secretariat and its partners had received the blessing and cooperation of the royal fathers in the 17 Chiefdoms of the FCT.

According to her, “Through this partnership, we have taken the message of birth registration into palaces, homes, and communities across the FCT.

“Together, under the watch of our royal fathers, we are restoring the dignity of our children by ensuring that every child in the FCT is seen, counted, registered and protected.

“When a child is registered, the child is recognised; and when a child is recognised, the child can thrive,” she said.

She said that the mobilisation was being implemented with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the National Population Commission (NPC) and National Orientation Agency.

She identified other partners as the National Identity Management Commission, FCT Primary Healthcare Board, FCT Area Council Secretariat and the Association of Local Government Employees of Nigeria.

The Director, Child Development in the secretariat, Dr Idris Attah, explained that the mobilisation was to scale up birth registration in all the nukes and crannies of the FCT.

Attah added that the move was to ensure immediate issuance of the new digital birth certificates to children between ages zero to one year and ages between ages one to five years.

According to him, the registration is free to all children under five years in the FCT.

Mr Charlse Awuna, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF, said that the social mobilization for the birth registration would ensure that every child in the FCT has a legal identity.

According to Awuna, without a birth certificate, the child is not counted as a member of the community and as a citizen of the country.

“This is in line with the Renewed Hope Initiative of the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, and this is why we are partnering with FCT women affairs secretariat to ensure that all children are captured in the population database.”

Also, Alh. Sulaiman Gada, NPC Director, FCT, noted that FCT was left behind in the birth registration of children under five years and commended FCT Administration for the efforts.

Gada stressed the need to effectively use traditional structures in every community “to ensure that every child is reached, registered and issued with a birth certificate.

He advised caregivers against laminating the certificate to prevent loss of data when uploading the document but preserve and protect the legal document.

Giving his royal blessings, Nga-Kupi welcomed the development and promised to mobilise all ward, village and district heads to ensure that all children in their domain were registered.

​The success of the mobilization was highlighted by the immediate registration of King David Agazor, a three-month-old infant. His mother, Uchechukwu Ikechukwu, expressed her delight at the ease of the process.

​”I’ve been trying since the first day that I gave birth… but my husband has been procrastinating about it.

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“When my neighbor told me that they are giving it for free, I rushed here—even without bathing the baby—and it was just easy. I’m very happy”, she shared

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced a slight adjustment to the arrival time for candidates sitting the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, particularly those scheduled for the first session.

In a notice issued via its official X handle on Monday, the board stated that candidates for the first session are now expected to arrive at their examination centres by 7:00 a.

JAMB added that the examination will commence at 8:30 a.m. and end at 10:30 a.m.

“Attention 2026 UTME Candidates: This is to notify you of a slight adjustment to the arrival scheduled time, particularly for the first session, which is now 7:00am as against the earlier published 6:30am, while the scheduled start time for the session is now 8:30 am and end time 10:30 am,” the notice read.

The board also clarified that candidates are not required to reprint their examination slips following the adjustment.

The full daily timetable, as shared by JAMB, includes four sessions running from Monday to Friday, with adjusted timings across all batches to ensure smoother operations at Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.

This adjustment comes in response to long-standing feedback from candidates and parents regarding the challenges of very early morning travel, including safety concerns on roads before dawn and logistical difficulties for those coming from distant locations.

The UTME is scheduled to be held from Thursday, April 16, to Saturday, April 25, 2026.

Pope Leo XIV wants to “turn the world’s attention to Africa”, according to a senior Vatican official, as he embarks on a significant tour of the continent addressing themes of peace, migration and dialogue between religions.

The 11-day trip, which starts on Monday, is Pope Leo’s second major foreign visit since being elected to the papacy in May last year, and is a reflection of Africa’s increasing importance to Catholicism.

More than a fifth of the world’s Catholics are in Africa, some 288 million people, according to figures from 2024. It is one of the fastest-growing regions for the Church.

The Vatican said its latest survey shows a “remarkable increase” in the number of baptised Catholics on the continent.

Little wonder then that the trip is regarded as a personal priority for Pope Leo.

The wide-ranging tour will include stop-offs in 11 cities in four countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. In all, the Pope will travel nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles), clocking up most of the distance on 18 flights.

All but one of the countries have large Catholic populations, but he has chosen a non-Catholic country – Algeria – as his first stop, as it holds deep significance for him.

It is the birthplace of St Augustine, and Pope Leo XIV is the first pontiff from the order that follows his teachings.

The ideas of the 4th Century North African theologian, such as community and humility, have helped shape the current leader of the Catholic Church.

The Pope will go to the region where St Augustine was a bishop – formerly known as Hippo, now called Annaba – where he will celebrate Mass.

This marks the first visit by any pope to Algeria. After arriving in the capital city Algiers, Pope Leo visited the Martyrs’ Memorial, where he paid tribute to the victims of Algeria’s independence war against France.

He also used his speech to call for “forgiveness”, saying it was the only way that peace can be achieved.

Dialogue with the Islamic world is also expected to be a key focus, with a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers being an important moment.

So too will a stop at a place of pilgrimage and prayer for both Muslims and Christians – the Basilica of our Lady of Africa – also in Algeria’s capital.

Behind the statue depicting a black Virgin Mary – venerated in both religions – are the words “pray for us and pray for the Muslims”.

The Rector of the Basilica, Father Peter Claver Kogh, said that he expected Pope Leo would “encourage us in our faith and in our mission to build a new world.

“A world where there is peace and where people live together in harmony.”

But the trip comes as rights groups express their concern over Algeria’s treatment of religious minorities.

Algeria has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population. In the past, courts in the North Africa nation have imprisoned Christians and Ahmadi Muslims for what had been described as “unauthorised worship” or offence to Islam.

After Algeria, Pope Leo will go on to Cameroon, where the conflict in its two anglophone regions will provide a backdrop.

The UN estimates at least 6,000 people have been killed and over half a million forced from their homes in the violence that has spanned nearly a decade, sparked by tensions between English-speaking separatists and the francophone-dominated government.

Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s North-West region, has been at the centre of the conflict.

It is here that the Pope will hold a Mass for peace and justice at the airport. Local residents hope it might act as a catalyst for reconciliation.

Ernestine Afanwi, a 45-year-old woman who fled Bamenda after her house and shop were destroyed, said that because the Pope was God’s representative on earth, “I know that everything will be solved”.

For the last three years, she and her six children have been living with other internally displaced people at a ramshackle old feed processing plant in the capital, Yaoundé.

“If I was face-to-face with the Pope, I would tell him all my problems [and ask] him to anoint the land,” she said.

The impact of conflict will also be a focus of the stop in Angola, a country which experienced decades of bloody civil war between the mid-1970s and 2002. A key theme will be peace and reconstruction.

In addition to meeting bishops, the pontiff will celebrate Mass with some 200,000 faithful, in a country where between 40% and 55% of the population identify as Catholic.

The presence of the Catholic Church in Angola dates back to the late 15th Century, when Portuguese explorers and missionaries arrived along the Angolan coast.

In Equatorial Guinea, the last country on the tour, more than 70% of people identify as Catholic.

Social justice is among the issues that the Pope is expected to address in a country whose president has been in power for almost 50 years, making him one of the world’s longest-serving heads of state.

Critics say President Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s government is one of the most oppressive in the region, and accuse the regime of human rights abuses – allegations which the government denies.

In addition to meeting authorities, Pope Leo is expected to visit a psychiatric hospital and a prison, as well as meeting young people.

While this will be his first pastoral visit to Africa since assuming the leadership of the Catholic Church last year, the Pope is no stranger to the continent.

As Cardinal Robert Prevost, he visited several countries including Kenya and Tanzania.

The 70-year-old pontiff will deliver around 25 speeches, as well as meeting political leaders, local Catholic communities and holding interfaith events.

The intensity of the tour is an indication of how the Vatican is prioritising its broader engagement with the continent.

By selecting Africa for this extensive itinerary, says the Vatican, Pope Leo will reinforce the continent’s role in global Catholic life, showcasing it as a place of faith, resilience and future growth.