DAILY LEGENDng

…….Stakeholders hail Gov. Sule, State Assembly’s efforts over quality education as Speaker declare exercise open, re-affirm commitment on standard education.

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has conducted a public hearing on a Bill for a Law to Regulate the Establishment and Operations of Private Nursery, Primary, Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions in Nasarawa State.

This, the House said, is to ensure good and quality education in the state.

Rt. Hon. Dr. Danladi Jatau, the Speaker of the House declared open the Public Hearing today in Lafia.

It would be reported that the Public Hearing was organized by the House Standing Committee on Education, Science and Technology.

Speaker Jatau said that the bill, if passed would curtail the proliferation of private schools across the state.

He said that the public hearing is to get inputs from educationists and other stakeholders on the bill for its smooth and good passage.

Jatau said that the legislation is seeking to empower the Ministry of Education to checkmate the proliferation of private schools, eliminate quackery, set quality standards, and provide clear operational guidelines.

The Speaker further said that the bill would help to reduce the level of decay in the education system as well as promote and enhance education standard in line with global best practices in the State.

“I want to appreciate the State Government for initiating this bill towards ensuring quality education in the state.

“I have subjected the bill to Public Hearing in order to get inputs from you so that we will have a good law that will regulate the establishment of private schools for quality education in the state” he said.

He urged stakeholders to contribute positively on the bill while assuring of the House readiness to pass law for quality education in the state.

Besides, the Speaker appreciated Gov. Abdullahi Sule for his efforts in the education sector in the state.

In his vote of thanks, Rt.. Hon. Abel Yakubu Bala, Chairman, House Committee on Education, Science and Technology appreciated the Speaker and other stakeholders for attending the Public Hearing.

Abel said that the bill, if passed would ensure that private schools are established in line with global best practices, adding that no nation would achieve speedy development without sound education.

“This bill, if passed would tackle quackery and promote quality and sound education in the State” he said.

He appreciated educationists and other stakeholders for their positive inputs and contributions on the bill.

The Chairman of the committee assured that the committee would ensure that stakeholders inputs and contributions are put into consideration for good law.

In their Contributions, Hajiya Khadijat Suleiman, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. Damina John Ali, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tertiary and Technical Education, Dr. Kassim Mohammed Kassim, Executive Chairman, Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), Mr Odey Elijah of Nasarawa State Education Trust Fund, Dr. Vincent Aya, Deputy Rector, College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia, Dr. Kwakipi Akodos Egga of Isa Mustapha Agwai 1 Polytechnic, Lafia, Mr Bello Hamidu Kwara, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Mr Aloko Williams, Chairman, All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Mr David Habila, Chairman, Parent Teacher Assocation (PTA) Nasarawa State, and Alaku Dennis Dauda Esq, the Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Lafia, all participated in the exercise.

Others are Hajiya Amira Mbia, Chairperson, Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Mr. Abdullahi Amwe Permanent Member One, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Mr. Ogah Omaku Ogiri of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) among others, all supported the bill in order to regulate the establishment of private schools in the state.

They said that the bill was apt and timely considering the proliferation of private schools across the state.

They said that the bill would tackle quackery and promote good education in the state.

By Joan Nwagwu

The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has called for better wages, social protection and decent working conditions for care workers across Africa.
This is contained in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Mr Joel Odigie, to commemorate the 2026 International Day of Care and Support on Thursday.
The day is marked under the theme, “Building sustainable care and support systems through decent work.”
Odigie said paid and unpaid care work remained undervalued, underpaid and largely overlooked in public policies and national budgets, despite its significant contributions to African economies and societies.
“Care sustains every economy and society. Yet, paid and unpaid care work remains undervalued, underpaid and largely overlooked in public policies and national budgets, despite its vital social and economic contributions.
“Poor working conditions for care workers mean poor-quality care for everyone.
“We must huarantee decent work for all care workers: living wages, equal pay for work of equal value, formal contracts, safe workplaces, social protection, and the rights to organise and bargain collectively,” he said.
He said women and girls bore a disproportionate share of unpaid care responsibilities, limiting their access to education, vocational training, decent employment and trade union participation.
According to him, women in Africa spent more than three times as many hours as men on unpaid care work, while care responsibilities prevented many women from entering employment.
Odigie said domestic workers, community health workers, nurses, early childhood educators and home-based carers often faced informal employment, poverty wages, inadequate social protection, violence and harassment.
He urged African governments, the African Union and Regional Economic Communities to invest in accessible public care systems, including childcare, healthcare, long-term care and infrastructure to reduce unpaid work.
The general secretary also called for the implementation of the International Labour Organisation’s 5R framework and its 2024 resolution on decent work and the care economy through national policies.
He urged governments to ratify and implement relevant ILO conventions on domestic work, family responsibilities, maternity protection, violence and harassment, and social security.
Odigie further called for social protection for informal economy workers and unpaid carers, as well as paid parental leave for both women and men.
He reaffirmed ITUC-Africa’s commitment to organising care workers, particularly young women and informal economy workers, to strengthen their collective voice and advance social justice across the continent.

By Joan Nwagwu

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has rejected bilateral negotiations on the national minimum wage, insisting on an inclusive tripartite process involving government, employers and workers.
The association’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, stated this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Oyerinde urged stakeholders against treating the National Minimum Wage (NMW) as an automatic, across-the-board salary increase, describing it as a statutory wage floor for covered workers.
He acknowledged workers’ concerns over rising living costs and declining purchasing power but maintained that employers must participate fully in minimum wage negotiations.
“While NECA respects the right of the Government and Organised Labour to hold bilateral discussions, such engagements cannot substitute for the statutory tripartite process,” he said.
Oyerinde said employers could not be bound by agreements reached without their participation and concurrence, although they remained obligated to comply with minimum wage laws validly established.
He said NECA was not opposed to reviewing the minimum wage but insisted that negotiations must be inclusive, transparent, evidence-based and consistent with International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards.
“Consequently, any credible minimum wage determination must take into account the cost of living, workers’ welfare, productivity, enterprise sustainability and ability to pay,” he said.
He added that employment generation, job retention, prevailing economic conditions, high energy costs, inflation and expensive access to funds must also inform wage decisions.
Oyerinde cited ILO Convention No. 131, Recommendation No. 135 and Convention No. 144 as instruments supporting consultation and social dialogue in wage determination.
He explained that consequential salary adjustments and general wage increases differed from the statutory minimum wage and should be addressed through collective bargaining, contractual arrangements and enterprise-level negotiations.
The NECA director-general also expressed concern over threats of industrial disruption, warning that avoidable work stoppages could undermine business recovery, job security and investor confidence.
He said small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were particularly vulnerable to disruptions amid prevailing economic pressures and efforts to sustain productive activities.
“We, therefore, call for constructive social dialogue, mutual respect and the use of established lawful dispute-resolution mechanisms to preserve industrial harmony,” he said.
Oyerinde urged the Federal Government and other social partners to uphold tripartism and relevant ILO standards when formal minimum wage negotiations commenced.
He said the outcome should balance workers’ welfare with productivity, enterprise sustainability, employment considerations and prevailing national economic conditions.
“We firmly believe that workers’ welfare and business survival are complementary objectives that must be pursued concurrently in the interest of national development,” he said.
He reaffirmed NECA’s commitment to decent work, fair remuneration, sustainable enterprises and productive employment, stressing that a fair minimum wage should protect workers, preserve jobs and support economic growth.

The West African Health Organization (WAHO) has called for harmonised accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions across ECOWAS member states to improve educational standards and strengthen the region’s health workforce.

Prof. Palokinam Pitche, Director-General of WAHO, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a workshop to finalise harmonised regional accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions.

Pitche, represented by Prof. Joseph Olorunda, Head of Training and Human Resources for Health at WAHO, said the initiative would promote quality education, regulatory consistency and a competent health workforce.

He said the harmonisation would also facilitate the movement of qualified health professionals across West African countries.

Pitche said persistent regional health challenges, including inadequate financing, weak surveillance systems, poor public health infrastructure and shortages of skilled personnel, required urgent and coordinated interventions.

According to him, the shortage of health professionals remained a major obstacle to improving health outcomes and achieving regional health development objectives.

He recalled that a 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) survey identified all 15 ECOWAS member states among 57 countries facing critical health workforce shortages globally.

He said the survey, which used a minimum threshold of 2.28 healthcare professionals per 1,000 people, put the average density across the ECOWAS region at 0.73 per 1,000.

Pitche said the regional average ranged from 0.05 to 1.97 healthcare professionals per 1,000 people, highlighting the scale of the workforce gap.

He said addressing the shortage required stronger policies on professional education, curriculum relevance, continuing professional development, interprofessional collaboration and staff retention across member states.

The WAHO director-general emphasised that accreditation should not be treated as a mere administrative procedure but as a strategic investment in national development and stronger healthcare systems.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated that universal health coverage and health security depended on a competent and adequately distributed nursing and midwifery workforce.

According to him, harmonised accreditation will ensure that training institutions met agreed standards for curricula, faculty qualifications, infrastructure, clinical facilities and practical training.

He said the framework would be guided by quality assurance, regulatory alignment, institutional readiness, transparency and accountability.

Pitche explained that lessons from existing national accreditation systems could provide a foundation for a consistent regional approach to assessing nursing and midwifery training institutions.

He outlined the accreditation process to include formal applications, verification of minimum programme requirements, pre-accreditation advisory visits, implementation of recommendations and comprehensive accreditation assessments.

He added that institutions could receive interim or final accreditation, with periodic reviews conducted every two or five years, depending on their accreditation status.

Pitche said the process would strengthen institutional accountability and ensure nursing and midwifery graduates acquired the competencies required to deliver quality healthcare services.

He said WAHO had undertaken several initiatives to address critical health workforce shortages, including harmonising training curricula across medical, pharmaceutical, allied health, nursing and midwifery disciplines.

According to him, the organisation had also developed training manuals for community-based health workers and trainers, alongside a regional training plan to support the implementation of harmonised curricula.

Pitche said WAHO had provided financial support to member states implementing the curricula and offered scholarships to health workers in specialties experiencing critical shortages.

He added that the organisation had developed a regional work plan to motivate and retain health workers in rural communities and areas with difficult terrain.

The director-general highlighted WAHO’s Engaging Medical Experts in the Diaspora (E-MED) programme, designed to address workforce gaps through short- and medium-term expert support.

He said the programme would also support the training and retraining of health professionals and enable diaspora experts to mentor colleagues across the region.

Pitche called for closer alignment of national accreditation standards with regional and global priorities, alongside stronger inspection systems to ensure continuous monitoring and compliance.

He urged stakeholders to explore digital tools, including accreditation management systems, to streamline assessment processes, improve transparency and strengthen institutional oversight.

He also emphasised the need for safe and conducive clinical training environments to ensure students acquired the practical skills and competencies required for effective healthcare delivery.

Pitche said the regional framework should establish common approaches to professional regulation, educational preparation and clinical practice, including clearly defined scopes of practice for generalist and specialist nurses and midwives.

He challenged participants to develop competency-based accreditation criteria that would strengthen nursing and midwifery professions and support the movement of qualified health professionals across ECOWAS member states.

He said the framework should also encourage accreditation and networking among health facilities, including hospitals, laboratories, training institutions and research centres, to strengthen regional cooperation.

Pitche expressed appreciation to the Nigerian Government for hosting the workshop and supporting WAHO’s efforts to improve health workforce development across West Africa.

He urged participants to produce a robust and harmonised accreditation framework to improve nursing and midwifery education and contribute to stronger, more resilient health systems across ECOWAS.

Also speaking, Senegalese President Bassirou Faye called for harmonised nursing and midwifery training programmes across ECOWAS member states to improve healthcare delivery and facilitate the movement of health professionals.

Faye, represented by Prof. Awa Coll-Seck, a Senegalese infectious disease specialist, said harmonising training programmes and accreditation criteria would address inconsistencies arising from the increasing liberalisation of nursing and midwifery education.

He said WAHO had developed training modules for nurses and midwives, which had been tested, implemented, evaluated and revised, with the revised programmes currently being implemented.

According to him, common standards for authorising and accrediting training institutions would ensure that nursing and midwifery programmes met acceptable quality requirements across the region.

Faye said the initiative was particularly important to Senegal, which currently holds the ECOWAS presidency, adding that harmonised programmes would support the regional body’s vision for nursing and midwifery education.

He said common training standards would facilitate the movement of nurses and midwives between member states while helping address differences in workforce availability and unemployment across countries.

Faye said that some countries trained more nurses and midwives than their health systems could absorb, while others faced shortages of qualified personnel.

He said a common framework for training programmes and institutional accreditation would help ensure the availability of competent and committed nurses and midwives capable of delivering quality healthcare services.

Faye described nurses and midwives as frontline health workers who often served as the first, and sometimes only, point of contact between communities and the healthcare system.

He said investing in quality training based on performance standards would strengthen the capacity of these professionals and improve access to quality healthcare across West Africa.

FG seeks harmonised nursing, midwifery standards in ECOWAS

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to harmonising nursing and midwifery training standards across ECOWAS member states to improve healthcare quality, promote professional mobility and strengthen regional health systems.

Prof. Muhammad Pate, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said this on Thursday in Abuja at a regional workshop on harmonised accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions.

Pate, represented by Dr Dakum Londji, Nigeria’s Liaison Officer to WAHO/African Union at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, declared open the workshop.

The workshop was organised by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) to finalise regional accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions.

He said the initiative would strengthen professional standards, promote regional collaboration and improve healthcare delivery by ensuring nursing and midwifery institutions provided quality education and produced competent graduates.

According to him, nurses and midwives remain the backbone of healthcare systems, with their knowledge, compassion and dedication essential to improving population health and well-being across communities.

He said harmonised accreditation standards would ensure training institutions met established educational requirements and produced graduates with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to provide safe, effective healthcare.

Pate described accreditation as more than a regulatory requirement, saying it represented a strategic investment in patient safety, quality healthcare and the future of health systems across West Africa.

He added that common accreditation standards across ECOWAS member states would promote professional mobility, strengthen regional cooperation and enhance public confidence in healthcare services throughout the sub-region.

The minister emphasised that investing in nursing and midwifery education was essential to building healthier communities, safer healthcare systems and a stronger future for the West African region.

He commended WAHO leadership, representatives of ECOWAS member states and other stakeholders for participating in efforts to strengthen nursing, midwifery and health professional education across the region.

Pate urged participants to work collectively towards achieving the workshop’s objectives, emphasising that unity and collaboration were essential to sustainable progress in regional healthcare development and professional training.

Also, Dr Bosede Arogundade, WAHO Professional Officer for Nursing and Midwifery, said the organisation was working to harmonise training curricula and establish common accreditation standards across ECOWAS member states.

Arogundade said this during a presentation on WAHO’s efforts to harmonise nursing and midwifery education, explaining that the initiative aimed to improve training quality and address disparities across countries.

She said the workshop sought to review, harmonise and finalise minimum regional accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery institutions to promote quality assurance and comparable educational standards across member states.

According to her, the initiative formed part of WAHO’s mandate to strengthen health workforce development, improve professional recognition and facilitate movement of qualified health workers across member states and countries.

Arogundade said the harmonisation process was rooted in regional commitments to strengthen cooperation in education, training, employment and human resource development across West Africa and its member countries.

She cited Article 60 of the revised ECOWAS Treaty, which encouraged member states to cooperate in developing human resources and harmonising education and training policies and programmes across the region.

She added that the treaty encouraged exchanges among educational institutions, recognition of academic and professional qualifications, and establishment of regional centres of excellence in specialised disciplines across West Africa.

According to her, these provisions supported mutual recognition of professional qualifications, facilitating freedom of movement, residence and establishment for skilled health workers across the region and its member states.

Arogundade said the initiative was increasingly important because of persistent health workforce shortages, differences in training standards and continuing brain drain across West Africa and neighbouring countries.

She explained that the process gained momentum in 2006 following a special resolution of the 59th World Health Assembly on rapidly strengthening human resources for health across member states.

She said ECOWAS health ministers subsequently adopted a resolution calling for harmonised curricula for health professionals across member states, laying the foundation for WAHO’s regional programme and future interventions.

Arogundade said WAHO began implementing the programme in 2007 with a workshop on diploma and certificate equivalencies, followed by a health workforce assessment meeting in 2008 across the region.

She said the first multidisciplinary curriculum harmonisation exercise took place in 2009, with the initial review completed in 2010 and subsequent reviews conducted at five-year intervals across participating countries.

Arogundade said nursing and midwifery education initially faced significant disparities, including differences in qualification titles, duration of study, admission requirements and regulatory arrangements across member states and training institutions.

She said that some countries lacked regulatory bodies for the professions, making it difficult to establish consistent standards and ensure comparable nursing and midwifery qualifications across the sub-region.

She said WAHO subsequently harmonised basic and post-basic nursing and midwifery curricula, establishing equivalencies between Francophone and Anglophone training programmes in spite of differences in their educational structures and systems.

According to her, the process established equivalence between six-year training programmes in Francophone countries and five-year programmes in Anglophone countries to promote comparable professional standards across the region.

She said the initiative also identified essential competencies nurses and midwives needed to provide safe, effective and high-quality care across different healthcare settings in the region and communities.

These competencies included managing clinical conditions, supporting community health interventions, applying nursing and midwifery research methods, and providing preventive, promotional and rehabilitative care for mothers and children across communities.

Arogundade said the framework also emphasised managing medical and surgical conditions and providing culturally appropriate care during pregnancy, labour and childbirth to improve outcomes for women and newborns across the region.

She emphasised that strengthening nursing and midwifery education was critical to reducing maternal and newborn deaths, particularly given the continuing burden of maternal mortality across West African countries and communities.

According to her, properly trained nurses and midwives should be equipped to manage obstetric and neonatal emergencies, including postpartum haemorrhage, and provide timely interventions to save lives across communities.

She explained that WAHO’s harmonisation process began with a situational analysis to identify differences in national training systems and determine gaps requiring regional intervention across member states.

She said the organisation subsequently developed a common regional framework with stakeholders, including professional bodies, training institutions, regulatory authorities and regional and international organisations across West Africa.

Arogundade listed WAHO’s achievements to include minimum training benchmarks, equivalencies for nursing and midwifery qualifications, continuing professional development programmes and e-learning opportunities for rural health workers across the region.

She added that the organisation continued training trainers in critical intervention areas and developing implementation roadmaps to strengthen professional development, improve retention and reduce health worker migration across member states.

She said collaboration among member states had facilitated exchanges of skills, knowledge, teaching resources and equipment while encouraging partnerships between public and private institutions involved in health workforce development across West Africa.

According to her, the harmonisation initiative had become a flagship regional integration programme, with WAHO increasingly sharing its experience with stakeholders interested in harmonising health professional curricula across the region.

In spite of progress, she identified inadequate funding, insufficient training and retraining opportunities, workforce attrition, and persistent difficulties motivating and retaining health professionals as major challenges facing member states.

She added that further harmonisation of postgraduate specialities remained necessary, while limited financial support from member states and a shortage of development partners constrained health workforce capacity development across the region.

Arogundade said WAHO intended to train more health professionals, maximise existing training facilities, strengthen South-South collaboration and support countries implementing harmonised curricula across nursing and midwifery institutions throughout West Africa.

She said the organisation would also advocate improved employment packages for health workers in rural and hard-to-reach communities while evaluating implementation of curricula harmonised over the years across member states.

She urged stakeholders to support finalisation and implementation of regional accreditation criteria, emphasising that common standards would strengthen quality assurance and improve comparability in nursing and midwifery education across the region.

Arogundade said the workshop’s objectives included reviewing proposed accreditation criteria, ensuring consistency and applicability across member states, and consolidating minimum standards for nursing and midwifery training institutions throughout the region.

She expressed optimism that the workshop would produce a harmonised, finalised accreditation framework for dissemination and adoption by nursing and midwifery training institutions throughout the ECOWAS region and its member states.

She reaffirmed WAHO’s commitment to strengthening health workforce training, development, motivation and retention, adding that regional cooperation would improve healthcare quality and advance universal health coverage across West Africa.

Arogundade called on stakeholders to sustain collaboration in nursing and midwifery education, noting that coordinated action was essential to professional mobility, knowledge exchange and stronger regional health systems across member states.