THE Lagos State Government is not happy that 31,596 students in public secondary schools in the state failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE.

This was despite the government’s spending of N1,577,794,000 to cover examination fees for 58,188 bona fide students under its free education initiative.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, disclosed this during the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.

In the presentation of the education sector’s scorecard of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, the commissioner stated that despite this significant investment, more than half of the sponsored candidates failed the examination, raising questions about the quality of instruction and student preparedness in Lagos public schools.

Alli-Balogun said: “The state government is committed to relieving parents of the burden of exam fees. But we must also prevent wastage by ensuring only qualified students benefit from this programme.”

Digital photography is much more enduring than its predecessor, analogue photography, but, at least when you expose a roll of old film to the light, the worst you can do is lose a week’s worth of holiday photos or a day’s worth of wedding shots that can never be replaced.

When a plastic SD memory card is dropped, cracked, or bent, it is potentially much more devastating.

You could lose a year’s worth of memories. That’s why photographers across the world are welcoming the launch of the first-ever stainless steel SD memory cards.

Lexar has bought two new products to market, the ARMOR GOLD SDXC™ UHS-II Card and the ARMOR SILVER PRO SDXC™ UHS-II Card.

These two new SD memory cards are the first in the world to be crafted from stainless steel, and using this metal means that they are 37 times stronger than regular SD cards, drop-resistant up to 5m, and meet IP68 for dust and water resistance.

These new memory cards were designed following consultations with professional photographers who complained about the physical damage and wear they experienced with traditional plastic SD cards. Using stainless steel makes the SD cards much stronger and more resilient to bending, snaping and everyday wear and able to withstand the most challenging situations that photographers find themselves in.

Despite being made from stainless steel, the cards still meet the standard size requirements for SD cards so they fit easily into the SD slot in any camera without causing damage to the camera slot and they have undergone extensive testing in Lexar’s quality laboratory to ensure that they don’t overheat or have issues with static electricity.

The design of the cards has also been simplified to eliminate ribs and the write-protection switch, which enhances their strength.

The ARMOR GOLD SD card also has an incredibly fast write speed of up to 210MB/s, while the ARMOR SILVER PRO SD card offers a maximum write speed of 160MB/s (all speeds are based on internal testing, actual performance may vary).

Both cards feature a Video Speed Class 60 (V60), which allows users to seamlessly capture 6K footage without interruptions.

Although much more expensive than their plastic equivalents, starting at around €83, they are affordable and probably worth the extra investment for peace of mind.

Source: Worldsteel.org

The Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board says it has begun the compilation of list of retired civil servants who have defaulted on the full repayment of housing loans obtained.

Head of Information and Public Relations, FGSHLB, Mrs Ngozi Obiechina, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Obiechina quoted the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mrs Salamatu Ahmed, as saying that the move was aimed at recovering mortgaged properties from retirees who failed to meet their loan obligations.

Ahmed noted that the decision followed a recent memo issued by Mrs Patience Oyekunle, Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

According to her the memo reminded public servants of the mandatory requirement to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness to the FGSHLB and MDA Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society as a precondition for retirement.

The executive secretary said that the board would take necessary legal steps to repossess properties where applicable, in line with the terms of the loan agreements.

She said this was in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules 021002 (p), issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

”I am directed to bring to your attention the provision of Public Service Rule (PSR) 021002 (p), which mandates all public servants to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness as a prerequisite for retirement.”

“The Federal Government will commence the seizure of mortgaged properties belonging to retiring federal public servants who have failed to fully repay housing loans obtained from the board,” she said.

Ahmed explained that the FGSHLB reserves the legal right to repossess any mortgaged property in cases where a public servant exits service without fully repaying the loan.

She reiterated that the directive also applied to already retired officers who were still indebted.

She urged all affected public servants to regularise their loan status and obtain the required clearance certificate without delay.

“The board is currently compiling a list of such retirees, which will be forwarded to relevant regulatory agencies for debt recovery.

“The FGSHLB remains committed to enforcing compliance and ensuring proper loan recovery procedures are followed, ” she added.

NAN