The Commander of 3 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Kano, Brig.-Gen. Saka Jimoh, has urged students to embrace discipline, hard work, and academic excellence as essential foundations for success in life.

Jimoh made the call during a public speaking engagement at Tony Cheta Secondary School, Sabon-Gari, Kano, organised by the brigade as part of activities marking the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) 2026.

He emphasised the critical role of teachers in shaping the character and future of young people, describing them as indispensable to nation-building.

Recalling his own secondary school experience, Jimoh noted that discipline and guidance from his teachers played a major role in his personal and professional development.

The commander cautioned students against examination malpractice, age falsification, and other forms of dishonesty, warning that such practices undermine future success.

He advised them to focus on building their knowledge base, stressing that secondary school education remains the foundation for future achievements.

Jimoh further urged students to avoid social vices such as drug abuse and internet fraud, while promoting patriotism and commitment to national development.

He called on teachers, parents, and stakeholders to work together to strengthen the education system and eliminate malpractice.

Reaffirming his commitment to youth development and national service, Jimoh said his military experience across different countries had deepened his belief in discipline and patriotism.

Earlier, Lt.-Col. Gbenga Adekunle and Maj. Hassan Abdullahi, in separate presentations, encouraged students to embrace honesty, integrity, and patriotism while shunning crime, cultism, and drug abuse.

They explained that such behaviours undermine personal growth and national security.

The officers highlighted career opportunities in the Nigerian Army, including engineering, medical services, logistics, intelligence, and communications.

They noted that the outreach aimed to strengthen civil-military relations and sensitise students on the Army’s role in national defence and development.

The Nigerian Army reaffirmed its commitment to civil-military relations through community engagement, medical outreach, infrastructure support, and disaster response activities nationwide.

In his remarks, the Director of the school, Mr. Tony Emecheta, commended the Army for its dedication to national security, youth development, and mentorship through educational outreach programmes.

He said the engagement demonstrated the Army’s role not only in protecting the country but also in shaping the future of young people through guidance and exposure to military values.

Emecheta added that the programme provided students with direct interaction with officers, helping them learn discipline, leadership, service, and possible career paths in the Armed Forces.

He expressed appreciation to the visiting officers for their sacrifices in maintaining peace and security across the country.

The highlight of the occasion was the presentation of souvenirs and learning materials to the school by the commander of 3 Brigade.

A claim currently circulating on social media that the “University of Paris” has ranked Kano State Government as the highest spending state across West Africa has been found to be unsubstantiated.

Recent investigations have shown that there is no verifiable record to support the viral claim that the “University of Paris” ranked Kano State as the highest spender on education in West Africa.

Checks of official websites and publications of Sorbonne University, Université Paris Cité, and other institutions under the University of Paris system show no such ranking, report, or statement.

According to investigation, there is no academic paper or press release from any Paris-based university mentions Kano State in relation to government expenditure across West Africa.

A review of the latest 2026 rankings shows that mentions of Nigeria focus on universities such as Bayero University Kano, which was ranked 4th in West Africa, and not on state government spending.

An educationist Hassan Usman has said that global comparative data on government spending across nations are usually issued by international bodies such as UNESCO, the World Bank, or the IMF through their education, finance, and governance reports.

According to him, University rankings released by French and international academic bodies are typically limited to academic performance, research output, and institutional reputation.

Usman urged members of the public, especially journalists, to always verify information from credible sources before sharing to avoid the spread of misinformation and fake news.

However, a check of recent UNESCO publications, including the Global Education Monitoring Report and Institute for Statistics database, showed that no such ranking placing Kano State or any Nigerian state as the highest spender in West Africa has been released.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The House of Representatives Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft has called for the establishment of a special court to fast-track the prosecution of crude oil thieves and other economic saboteurs, saying weak laws and delays in the judicial process have continued to undermine efforts to curb oil theft in Nigeria.

The proposal was made at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Thursday, where lawmakers, security agencies and officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser reviewed the country’s legal framework for tackling crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and related offences.

The meeting forms part of the committee’s ongoing consultations on legislative and institutional measures to address crude oil theft, which has continued to reduce government revenue, cut oil production, discourage investment and threaten Nigeria’s energy security despite years of security operations.

Chairman of the committee, Alhassan Doguwa, said participants agreed on the need to review existing laws, arguing that many of the statutes governing the sector date back to the military era and no longer provide adequate deterrence against increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.

“We have also recommended in previous bills before the House the possibility of establishing a special court for these kinds of crimes because the crimes themselves are special.

“If we allow these criminal cases to go through the conventional court system, considering the delays involved, many of them will remain unresolved while the criminals escape appropriate punishment,” he said.

He said the committee and stakeholders had agreed to work together to address legal and institutional bottlenecks hampering the fight against crude oil theft.

“The global oil and gas economy is now in an advanced stage. Virtually all oil-producing countries are making progress because they have provided effective legal instruments to address their challenges. For this reason, we believe Nigeria should also review some of its laws,” he added.

Doguwa noted that courts are still relying on outdated legislation enacted during military rule to prosecute offences in the oil and gas sector.

“Unless we provide new measures, new laws and a new legal framework, the courts will continue to rely on this obsolete legislation in handling serious criminality within Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

“I want to assure Nigerians that the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives through this committee, will partner with the Office of the National Security Adviser to effectively combat crude oil theft and every other criminal activity within the oil and gas environment,” he added.

The lawmaker said Nigeria’s crude oil production remains below budget projections because of persistent theft and pipeline vandalism, stressing that reversing the trend is essential to improving government revenue and restoring investor confidence.

He noted that representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps attended the meeting, describing inter-agency collaboration as critical to addressing the challenge.

Doguwa, however, criticised the absence of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission from the meeting, describing it as disappointing.

“It was rather unfortunate that some of the critical regulatory agencies in the oil and gas sector, particularly the NUPRC, neither attended nor sent representatives.

“We frown at that action and have directed the Clerk of the Committee to write to them, requiring them to appear before the committee because they are key stakeholders in the fight against this serious problem bedevilling our country,” he added.

A member of the committee, Cyril Hart, said the committee’s mandate extends beyond tackling crude oil theft to ensuring Nigeria’s oil assets are fully developed for national benefit.

He said operators that fail to develop oil blocks within stipulated timelines should also be held accountable.

Representing the National Security Adviser, the Director of Energy Security in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Goodluck Ilajufi, said stronger legislation had become necessary because existing penalties were no longer serving as effective deterrents.