The Nigeria Aquatics Federation (NAqF), says preparations are in top gear for the 12th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Swimming Championship slated for the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, from July 15 to July 19.

Chinoye Aliyu, president of the federation, said this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja adding that the tournament will discover talents to represent the country.

“This championship is a cornerstone of our strategic plan to identify, nurture and prepare elite athletes who will represent Nigeria at international events.

“Recently, Nigeria made history by breaking two African records in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle events at the Africa Junior Swimming Championships earlier this month (May).

“It is on the backdrop of these that we encourage swimmers below 18 years of age to register as the CNS tournament has both junior and senior or elite categories.

“We are also expecting a wide range of swimmers; from tertiary institutions, the para-military, states and clubs to register and participate in the tournament.

“The federation’s technical committee and national scouts will be on ground to evaluate performances and select exceptional swimmers for advanced training,’’ Aliyu said.

The President also lauded efforts of the Nigerian Navy and the CNS Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla for his continued support and collaboration towards discovering young talents in the sport.

“I want to particularly thank the Nigerian Navy for restoring the lost glory of swimming in Nigeria.

“Like I said earlier, we broke two records in Egypt, eventually clinching three golds and one bronze medal—an unprecedented feat in the nation’s swimming history.

“This was also due to the support from the CNS who released to us Lt.-Cdr. Labake Oriretan, a former champion and seasoned coach to guide the national team during the competition,” she said.

On his part, Rear Adm. Patrick Nwatu, the chairman, Nigerian Navy Swimming Association, said the partnership has been worthwhile, stressing their continued support for the sport.

“We see supporting NAqF as one of our corporate social responsibility to the nation.

“For almost 14 years now, the Nigerian Navy has been part of this endeavour and we are constantly looking for ways to see how we can improve and contribute our quota.

“We will see how we can identify athletes to be able to participate in international events and also encourage open water swimming.

“Over the years, the collaboration has been worthwhile and we look forward to other areas we can support and partner in the future.

“The last edition was well attended and we look forward to a greater participation this year where we can have our youths express themselves,” Nwatu added.

Also in attendance at the event are Rear Adm. Yusuf Idris, the director of sports Nigerian Navy, Taiwo Oriss, the secretary general of NAqF, Dauda Usman, the vice president of NAqF, amongst others. (NAN)

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) branch, has threatened to sue the Joint Matriculation Board (JAMB) over massive failure recorded in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME).

The Chairman of ASUU-UNN, Comrade Óyibo Eze, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Nsukka on Wednesday.

Oyibo said the massive failure which mostly affected candidates from the South East, was a deliberate attempt by JAMB to stop children from the zone from getting admission.

“My office has been inundated with protests, calls and visits by parents and the general public on this deliberate massive failure in 2025 JAMB examination.

“ASUU will challenge this result in High Court if JAMB fails to review the result and give candidates their merited scores .

“JAMB knows that children from South East must score higher before they can get admission whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use 120 JAMB score to get admission to read medicine in universities in their area.

“In the JAMB recently released result, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 examination, over 1.5 million candidates scored less than 200 and majority of these are from the South East and Lagos State where many Igbos reside,” he said.

He called on governors from the South East to rise up and challenge this injustice targeted towards preventing children from the zone from gaining admission into higher institutions in the country.

“The governors in the zone should not sit and watch JAMB toy with academic future of our children.

” I am not against the board punishing those found guilty of exam malpractice but JAMB should not, because of these few candidates, fail the whole candidates in an exam centre,” he said.

The ASUU boss said that it was unbelievable and unacceptable that in the whole University Secondary School, Nsukka, no candidate that sat for the exam scored up to 200 in the UTME.

“This school has superlative students who have excelled in academics both inside and outside the school, how come all of them scored less than 200 in the exam.

“Even if JAMB discovered one or two candidates for exam malpractice, is that enough reason to fail all others who have prepared very hard for that exam,” he said.

Oyibo advised JAMB to act fast to do the needful by reviewing the result as that massive failure had become a national issue which might attract national protest if nothing urgent was done. (NAN)

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Wednesday betrayed emotion and broke into tears as he Apologised the errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.Oloyede, during a news conference in Bwari, took responsibility of the errors in the just concluded examinations.

Details later