society
GBAJABIAMILA: THE MAN WHOSE LEGISLATIVE WORK IS CHANGING NIGERIA’S EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE
*GBAJABIAMILA: THE MAN WHOSE LEGISLATIVE WORK IS CHANGING NIGERIA’S EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE*
By Toby Prince
In the very words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
This same view was echoed by Malcolm X, who asserted that “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
While these quotes capture the essence of education as a tool for personal growth, societal change, and empowerment, they perhaps informed Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s drive towards leveraging legislative representation as a viable tool for societal reconfiguration and educational reformation.
Today, the facts, as they say, speak for themselves.
Indeed, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila is no stranger to lawmaking. He has been making positive impact and driving national development for several years through effective legislation.
Fundamentally, Chief Femi has been instrumental in the sponsorship of numerous and wide-ranging Bills, with many already passed into law. During the 9th Assembly, as an astute and patriotic legislator, he sponsored a number of people-oriented Bills within his first year.
Notable among those Bills were the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill 2020 (Quarantine Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2020), and the Nigeria Local Content Development and Enforcement Bill, 2020.
Instrumentally, he also sponsored a number of Constitution alteration Bills, such as the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Physically-Challenged (Empowerment) Bill 2019, and the Presidential (Transition) Bill 2019.
Others include the Labour Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Employees (Unpaid Wages Prohibition) Bill 2019, and the Federal Highways Act (Amendment) Bill 2019.
Although it did not see the light of day at the time, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila in 2016 first introduced what is known as the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, later adding security-focused legislation such as the Armed Forces Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Police Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
Very few Nigerians, especially those outside certain circles, are aware that Rt. Hon. Femi was instrumental in the establishment of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps through his sponsorship of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Act (Amendment) Bills 2021.
An ardent anti-corruption fighter, he introduced the EFCC Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, the ICPC Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, along with the Customs and Excise Management Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, the ECOWAS Small Arms Convention (Ratification and Enforcement) Bill 2021, and the National Security Agencies Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
A committed social justice and security advocate, he pushed for the empowerment and reinvigoration of the Armed Forces through the Armed Forces of Nigeria Trust Fund Bill 2021.
Irked by the funding deficit in the agricultural value chain, Rt. Hon. Femi sponsored the National Agricultural Development Fund Bill 2021.
An objective patriot, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila sponsored the South West, North Central, North West, and South East Development Commission Bills 2021. He was also the first to design a technologically driven archive and study centre for the National Assembly, through the establishment of a National Assembly Library by sponsoring the National Assembly Library Trust Fund Bill 2021.
Rt. Hon. Femi’s diverse legislative inputs, with solid impacts, also include contributions to the reformation of the health sector, sponsoring legislations such as the National Electronic Health Record System Bill, and strong advocacy for the amendment of the NAFDAC Act to include provisions for a Nigeria Food Safety and Hygiene Surveillance Corps, as well as an amendment to the National Health Act of 2014—laws he believed were obsolete.
Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila’s legislative impact is made even more profound by his flagship sponsorship of the Student Loan Scheme.
The bill, first introduced in 2016 and signed into law in June 2023, created the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, offering interest-free loans to indigent students in public tertiary institutions.
It covers tuition, textbooks, and other essential fees, with repayment starting two years after employment, thereby easing the financial burden on families across the country. It has greatly mitigated the difficulties faced by both students and parents in the pursuit of higher education in the country.
Through the introduction of the Student Loan Fund, the pursuit of education has become accessible and inclusive for all citizens, without discrimination of any kind and the elimination of socioeconomic barriers.
Weaving an intricate tapestry of national governance and influencing rapid catalytic social change, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, through a confluence of insightful and visionary leadership, has, by his initiative and resilience, eliminated the harsh financial conditions that precariously remained a stumbling block to the pursuit of education by millions of Nigerians.
He has also brought enduring substantial leverage, solace, and a sustainable financial lifeline to millions of families, resonating renewed hope.
His visionary reform initiative through the Students Loan Fund implicates all conversations surrounding the entire educational sector, changing narratives from ‘whether’ a child should go to school to ‘how’ the country can consistently fund an all-inclusive higher education, making Rt. Hon.
Femi a beacon and cornerstone of definitive equity, a reason for assured skills for future generations of Nigeria, and a vanguard for predictable development for a prosperous Nigeria.
His paradigm shift in educational funding—where the burden of payment is on the government—underscores the socialist posture of the All Progressives Congress and aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Tinubu administration, as it also makes way for more citizens to pursue higher-quality education, devoid of the constraints of inordinate financial demands, ensuring that education, in the context of the President Tinubu-led government, becomes instead of a privilege a fundamental right accessible to all, thereby emboldening the concept of free higher education.
His dedication and strong commitment resonate with the imperatives of education as a cornerstone of national development, the empowerment of future generations, and a necessary tool for fostering accountability, responsibility, and patriotism, while ensuring the elimination of vices and insecurity.
The involvement of university authorities in the entire process is not just industrious and innovative but reawakens a stronger sense of responsibility, while students become direct stakeholders in the education project, demystifying any hidden agenda in the training of Nigerian children and promoting adaptive synergy.
To mitigate the risk of default in a high-unemployment environment such as ours, the law has introduced inbuilt, workable, time-tested safeguards, recovery mechanisms, and phased repayment schedules, implementable only after the graduand is employed.
Presently, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila has become a defining force in Nigeria’s education reform, and his Student Loan Act is the flagship of that legacy.
The impact is not just visible but far-reaching, with the consensus that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is successful, given the disbursement of over ₦161 billion to more than 864,000 students, with over 1.3 million applications recorded, showing massive demand and a growing sense of hope for access to higher education.
The 2024 amendment removed the stringent family income cap and guarantor requirements, expanded the scope to include living expenses (upkeep allowances), and introduced loan forgiveness in cases of death or misfortune, making the scheme more inclusive and humane.
Regionally, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has recorded unbiased impact, with disbursements reaching institutions nationwide.
The North has been among the biggest beneficiaries, while the South East has lagged in some cases due to verification delays in certain institutions. The South West and South South have seen appreciable disbursements, with leading universities recording substantial allocations for thousands of students.
Aside from NELFUND, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila has been a consistent advocate for girl-child education and higher academic standards for public officers. His aim is to eliminate mediocrity from public offices and entrench standardization capable of leading to holistic development.
Consequently, he has promoted the Back to School JumpStart, a digital learning initiative that provides laptops, tablets, and sanitation tools to various schools in Surulere and other zones.
Certainly, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila is a beacon of educational renaissance, whose advocacy goes far beyond granting just loans to students but creating a desirable ambience for learning—such as improving educational infrastructure, enhancing teacher training and retraining, and increasing sustained funding for the sector—all leading to a robust and more holistic transformation that aligns with 21st-century global benchmarks.
Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s leadership inspires confidence that our nation, in all areas of national development, is capable of navigating the complexities of implementing any ambitious program successfully, thereby redefining the future prospects of the country and our perspectives.
*Prince writes from Abuja
TO THE BUTCHER OF KAIAMA
BY Chief Femi Fani-Kayode
“His words were as smooth as butter yet war was in his heart”- Psalm 55: 21.
To Sadiku, the Butcher of Kaiama, I write the following.
I watched a video that provided graphic and disturbing evidence of your murderous activities.
You are the homicidal maniac and accursed soul that led the cowardly attack on our people in Kaiama where you massacred over 200 innocent Nigerians of both the Muslim and Christian faith even as they were praying.
Christians were burnt in their Churches and Muslims were burnt in their mosques.
People that ran to hide in their houses were hacked into pieces and burnt in their homes with their families.
Women and children were shot, macheted and burnt alive even as they prayed.
You used up all your bullets then you resorted to using machetes and cudgels to finish the job.
We know the vampiric forces and satanic entities that you serve, what they do with the blood, what they gain from it’s shedding and what they seek to achieve.
We know the dark spirits and demonic cult that use and possess you, that operate in the astral plain and that are known as the hidden hand.
You are not a leader and you are nowhere near the top of your Luciferean high command.
You are nothing but a low-level enforcer, a useful idiot, a shape-shifting reptilian, an expendable tool, an inconsequential pawn and a genocidal butcher that does their bidding and that will burn in hell forever.
Yet despite all your unrelenting wickedness and unprecedented cruelty, not just in Kaiama but everywhere else that you and yours have killed, pillaged, plundered and abducted in our nation, you will NEVER conquer or break the spirit of our people or dismember our nation because God is against you and the ancient boundaries cannot be broken.
You are a servant of Shaitan, the Prince of Darkness yet you know that darkness cannot overcome light and that your time is short.
Now hear this: your end will come soon and it will be worse than that of Abubakar Shekau, Osama Bin Ladin, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, Abu Musa Al Barnawi and all the other genocidal maniacs and terrorists put together.
You are a man of blood and you will end in blood. You lived by the sword and you will die by the sword.
You killed our people though they did you no harm and though they were innocent and defenceless.
You slaughteted our women and children without pity or mercy.
You killed our soldiers with impunity despite their courage and gallantry.
You targetted our elders and traditional rulers despite their appeals and in spite of all their efforts.
You killed the Christians and you killed the Muslims even as they worshipped and prayed to God.
It is in the same way that you and the cruel hordes of Mordor that march with you shall be killed without mercy.
The innocent blood you have shed shall speak against you and yours before God in Heaven, the Sword of the Lord shall cut you and yours to pieces and the East Wind of destruction shall scatter and blow you and yours away from generation to generation.
The Bible says there is no peace for the wicked and therefore you shall have no peace: neither shall your lineage or anyone that has your blood excel.
The Bible says “touch not my anointed and do my Prophets no harm”: you have touched the anointed of the Lord and done His Prophets harm therefore you shall reap what you have sown.
The Creator of the Universe, the God of Heaven and Earth, the Lord God of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, He that is high and lifted up who holds the world together by the power of His word and He who is irresistible and mighty in battle WILL avenge us and strike you down.
These words are sealed by the Blood of Yeshua and cannot be altered or resisted.
Your end shall be worse than that of Sennacherub, Pharaoh, Herod, Jezebel and Goliath.
I say to you today that you are the uncircumcised Philistine that has chosen to defy the Armies of the Living God and like the uncircumcised Philistine that David slew you shall be slain before the eyes of the world, we shall see your rotting corpse spread across the field of battle and your entire bloodline shall be brought to an end.
I, Sadauki, have spoken these words and so it shall be in the mighty name of Yeshua HaMashiach, the God whose I am and the God whom I serve.
To our people I say do not be detered, do not be dismayed and do not be afraid for the Lord our God is with us.
I say the Egyptians we see today, we shall see them no more.
I say fight the good fight with all thy might without regret or relenting in the knowledge that good always prevails over evil.
I say seek victory and achieve it for our nation, for our women, for our children and for future generations yet unborn.
This we must do and God will give us the strength and courage to do it.
For our great nation Nigeria it is LIFE, VICTORY and a NEW and GREAT beginning but for ISWAP, Ansaru, Boko Haram, Lakurawa and the Legions of Hell behind them, it is DEATH, DEFEAT and DESTRUCTION.
Peace, joy, abundance, prosperity, hope, strength, courage, love, unity, long life, all manner of blessings and a glorious and expected end is our future and our portion and nothing can change it.
Whether it be affliction, trial, tribulation, persecution, infirmity, pain, loss, suffering, lack, incarceration, torture, humiliation or even death, as the Book of Romans 8: 31-39 said, NOTHING can separate us from the love of the Lord and nothing can negate or break the sure word and promises of Christ Jesus.
He is is our strength, our shield, our glory and the lifter of our heads.
He SHALL see us through and deliver us from the hand of the heathen and bloodthirsty and evil men.
I conclude with the words of Psalm 35:1,
“O Lord, contend against those who contend against us, fight against those who fight against us, take hold of shield and buckler and rise for our help, draw the spear and javelin against our pursuers, say to our souls I am your deliverance”.
So it is and so it shall be in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ of Nazareth, son of the Living God!
(Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, a former Minister of Aviation, the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, the Otunba of Joga Orile, the Aare Ajagunla of Otun Ekiti and a legal practitioner)
Awujale Succession: Traditionalists Back Gov Abiodun’s Intervention
…Harps On Sanctity, Integrity of The Selection Process
A group of traditionalists in all the towns and villages across Ijebuland has commended the Ogun state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for his timely intervention in halting the selection process of the Awujale vacant stool.
The socio-cultural group said the temporary suspension of the process would allow room for critical assessment of the exercise in order to uphold the sanctity and integrity of the highly revered throne.
They made their stance known on Tuesday, January 10, 2026 while addressing journalists at their secretariat in Ijebu Ode.
The traditionalists added that the Governor’s decision was in strict compliance with the 2021 Ogun State Chieftaincy Law “which clearly empowers the government to intervene whenever there are issues capable of undermining the process, fairness and public confidence”.
Speaking at the meeting, Iyalorisa General of Ijebuland, Chief (Mrs) Osoteku Alawiye expressed confidence in the Governor’s action, but noted that a credible and qualified candidate from the ruling house must emerge at the end of the selection process.
According to her, the Awujale stool is one of the most revered traditional institutions in Yoruba land and a paramount stool in Ogun State, and should be accorded a high level dignity it really deserves”, Chief (Mrs) Alawiye added .
They appealed to Gov Abiodun not to listen to detractors who were hell-bent in scuttling the selection process, stressing that as traditionalists, they are also closely monitoring the process so far for the betterment of the entire sons and daughters of Ijebuland.
Funke Akindele, Toyin Abraham’s Box Office Success Result Of Strategic Marketing- Banwo
Dr. Ope Banwo has offered a business-focused explanation for the sustained box-office success of Funke Akindele and Toyin Abraham, arguing that their dominance is the result of strategic market alignment rather than luck or social media gimmicks.
Responding to criticism from some veteran actors and filmmakers over cinema promotion styles, Banwo explained that film marketing is ultimately about driving human behaviour—ticket purchases—not preserving dignity or tradition.
“Cinema marketing is not about what feels respectable to producers,” Banwo said. “It’s about what moves people to show up and pay.”
He described Akindele’s success as a textbook example of systems thinking, noting that she combined acting talent with production control, distribution knowledge, audience intelligence, and aggressive marketing.
The result, he said, includes five straight years of box-office leadership, multiple billion-naira cinema runs, and ownership of four of the top five highest-grossing Nollywood films of all time.
Banwo placed Toyin Abraham just behind Akindele, describing her as Gen-Z-literate by strategy rather than age, with a strong grasp of market psychology and audience engagement.
He noted that while some producers rely on third-party funding and pre-sales to streaming platforms, others must recoup investments directly from cinema audiences, making marketing hustle unavoidable.
“The women being criticised are accountable to the market,” Banwo said. “They face the audience directly, and the audience keeps rewarding them.”
Banwo concluded that until alternative strategies consistently outperform the current box-office leaders, criticism should give way to data-driven analysis.
“In cinema, the scoreboard does not lie,” he said. “And right now, the market has spoken.”
-
celebrity radar - gossips6 months agoWhy Babangida’s Hilltop Home Became Nigeria’s Political “Mecca”
-
society6 months agoPower is a Loan, Not a Possession: The Sacred Duty of Planting People
-
news6 months agoTHE APPOINTMENT OF WASIU AYINDE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS AN AMBASSADOR SOUNDS EMBARRASSING
-
Business6 months agoBatsumi Travel CEO Lisa Sebogodi Wins Prestigious Africa Travel 100 Women Award