President Bola Tinubu has expressed profound joy at the successful rescue of the children and teachers from Oriire community in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, by the security forces. 

  Tinubu praised the heroic efforts of the security agencies, especially the military, the Department  for State Service(DSS) and the Police, for working round the clock in the last 56 days to secure the release of the abducted children and their teachers without any collateral damage and for arresting eight of the abductors and neutralising others.

Spokesman to the President, Bayo Onanuga in a statement said  Tinubu regretted the anguish that the children and their teachers, as well as members of their families and the entire nation, have experienced since the sad occurrence.

For cooperating with the Federal Government in all rescue efforts, President Tinubu commended the Oyo State Government and charged it to ensure adequate security around schools across the state. 

“I am profoundly happy that our security forces successfully rescued the abducted pupils and teachers from Orire, Ogbomoso in Oyo State today after a military, police and intelligence-driven operation that neutralised some of the terrorists that perpetrated the evil act and the arrest of eight of them. 

“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular. On behalf of the country, I express my gratitude to the officers and men of our armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the police for the safe rescue of the children and their teachers. 

“My government will get justice for these children and their teachers and for the family of Mr Oyedokun, who the terrorists gruesomely murdered. 

“I must commend the government of Oyo State for working cooperatively with us in bringing this unfortunate incident to a successful end,” the President said. 

President Tinubu has also directed that the emergency agencies work with the Oyo State Government to provide all necessary medical and relief support to the children and the teachers. 

The Federal Ministry of Education said it will officially unveil the Digital National Education Management Information System (DNEMIS) on July 1 to strengthen education planning, governance and service delivery through reliable data.

National Project Coordinator, Special Programmes Operations and Implementation Unit (SPOIU), Office of the Minister of Education, Adebayo Onigbanjo made this known on Monday at a news conference in Abuja ahead of the unveiling.

Onigbanjo said the initiative was a key component of the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), being implemented under the leadership of the Minister of Education, Dr.

He said the ministry had prioritised education data as a strategic national asset to improve governance, accountability and evidence-based decision-making.

“For many years, education planning and administration relied on fragmented systems, inconsistent reporting processes and limited access to reliable and timely data.

“These challenges constrained effective planning, weakened accountability and limited the sector’s ability to respond to emerging realities,” he said.

He explained that the ministry developed the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) to coordinate, standardise and strengthen education data management across all levels of education.

According to him, DNEMIS is a flagship component of NEDI, designed to provide timely, reliable and accessible information to support planning, policymaking, budgeting, monitoring and service delivery.

He added that the platform would ensure every learner, school, teacher and education investment was captured in a system that supports evidence-based decision-making.

“The progress recorded through NEDI and the implementation of DNEMIS reflects the ministry’s broader commitment to ensuring that reforms are not only announced but effectively coordinated, implemented and measured.

“Data is no longer a back-office function. It is becoming the engine of education reform in Nigeria,” Onigbanjo said.

Also speaking, the Special Assistant to the Minister on Digital Communications and E-Learning, Ms Mojoyin Adebajo, said DNEMIS marked a major milestone in Nigeria’s digital education transformation.

Adebajo said the platform would digitise the Annual School Census process and provide government with timely information to support planning, budgeting, policymaking and improved service delivery.

She explained that the portal would, for the first time, make selected official education data publicly accessible through an interactive platform.

According to her, the portal would enable government institutions, researchers, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector, journalists and members of the public to access and engage with education information.

“This represents an important step towards expanding access to information and encouraging broader participation in conversations that shape the future of education in Nigeria,” she said.

She added that the ministry remained committed to leveraging technology and innovation to strengthen education governance and improve learning outcomes across the country.

The NEDI Coordinator, Abubakar Isah, said the ministry had taken adequate measures to ensure compliance with Nigeria’s data protection laws and safeguard education data.

Also, Saka Ibraheem, Education Specialist, Planning, Monitoring, Data and Research at UNICEF, said the goal was to integrate all education management platforms into a single system.

“Before next year, we hope to have the Education Management Information System (EMIS), Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) and individual learner records in one system.

“One system for education and one system for Nigeria,” he said.

He added that the integrated system would have a unique identifier to track school enrolment and out-of-school children across the country.

According to him, the system would help reduce school dropouts by enabling seamless tracking of learners as they move through the education system.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has abolished admissions into affiliated degree programmes run by Colleges of Education nationwide, effectively making the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) the only admission pathway into the institutions from the 2026/2027 academic session.

The decision, contained in JAMB’s newly released NCE/ND Agric Registration Guidelines issued by the Office of the Registrar in June 2026, marks a major policy shift in Nigeria’s teacher education system and brings to an end the long-standing arrangement that allowed Colleges of Education to award university degrees through affiliations with conventional universities.

Under the new policy, JAMB declared that no admission would be conducted into any affiliated degree programme in Colleges of Education from the 2026/2027 session. The Board also ruled out direct admission into 100 and 200 levels, insisting that all fresh entrants into Colleges of Education must now come through the NCE programme.

The development is expected to affect thousands of candidates who applied for degree programmes in affiliated Colleges of Education during the 2026 admission exercise.

To mitigate the impact, JAMB outlined several options for affected candidates. Direct Entry applicants may change institutions at no cost, transfer to the parent university overseeing the affiliated degree programme, or allow their second-choice institution to become their first choice for admission processing.

Similarly, UTME candidates seeking admission into affiliated degree programmes may change institutions, elevate their second-choice institution to first choice status, or opt for admission into the NCE programme.

According to the Board, candidates choosing the NCE route will be required to obtain an O’Level verification code from the relevant examination body and pay a registration fee of ₦700 through the JAMB portal.

JAMB further explained that candidates who elect to pursue the NCE programme and are subsequently recommended for admission will have any ongoing UTME or Direct Entry admission process suspended.

The Board fixed June 22 as the deadline for affected candidates wishing to make changes to their admission choices.

In addition, JAMB announced that details of candidates who applied through the 2026 UTME would be automatically migrated to their selected first-choice Colleges of Education or Agric-related Non-Technology National Diploma programmes where applicable.

As part of the new admission framework, the Board introduced compulsory O’Level verification for all NCE applicants, with fees pegged at ₦1,500 for one sitting and ₦2,000 for two sittings.

JAMB directed Colleges of Education, Institutional Professional Registration Centres (IPRCs), accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and its officials nationwide to study the new guidelines and ensure strict compliance.

The policy effectively ends decades of university-affiliated degree admissions in Colleges of Education and reinforces the NCE as the foundational qualification for teacher education in Nigeria.