The Federal Government, through the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and the United Kingdom-funded Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria, on Monday unveiled the TRCN portal to strengthen the Nigerian teaching workforce.

Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, noted that the launch of the portal will not only lead to the digitisation of records, she noted that it will also provide a credible database of Nigerian teachers.

She said, “Today, we are not merely unveiling a portal; we are opening a new chapter. A chapter where technology, innovation, and efficiency become the heartbeat of teacher professionalism in our country.

“In a world that is increasingly digital, where knowledge travels at the speed of light and where nations are competing through ideas, skills, and creativity, Nigeria cannot afford to remain behind.

“To build the future we dream of, we must embrace the tools of the 21st century.

“Through the creation of this portal, TRCN is not merely digitising records; it is redefining the narrative of the Nigerian teaching profession.

“With this innovation, we will now: ensure seamless registration and licensing of teachers nationwide; provide a transparent and credible database of qualified professionals; enable real-time access to professional development opportunities and strengthen accountability and restore dignity in the teaching profession.”

Also speaking at the event, Senior Education Advisor, British High Commission, Ian Attfield, stressed the need to ensure that teachers are adequately trained and motivated in the course of duty.

He said, “The UK government, through the FCDO PLANE programme, has been delighted to work with TRCN on the development of the portal, but also, I think more broadly, looking at their strategic vision and plan over the next few years.

There are lots of different types of teachers, Suban teachers, teachers, communities, volunteering in faith-based education, lots of teachers who are under- or unqualified at teaching in various forms of low-cost private schools.

“So, the diversity means that these systems need to be integrated, they need to be smart, but they also need to be motivated.”

He further noted that the UK government will continue to offer support to Nigeria’s education sector.

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Some operators of Computer-Based Test centres accredited by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board have been alleged to be involved in large-scale malpractices during the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

Investigations showed that the operators supplied technical information to tech-savvy individuals, who then hacked into servers and manipulated the conduct of the examination.

JAMB had in May experienced technical glitches that marred the 2025 UTME, resulting in mass failure as 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the exam scored below 200 out of the total 400 marks.

The development generated outrage as the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, broke down in tears on May 14 while admitting that technical errors had affected some candidates’ scores.

No fewer than 20 suspects were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja for hacking some CBT centres.

Following this, in June, JAMB raised the alarm over candidates using Artificial Intelligence to impersonate others and falsely claim albinism as a means of cheating.

By July, data presented at the board’s 2025 policy meeting revealed that CBT centres in Imo and Anambra states topped the list of places caught engaging in finger-pairing malpractices.

Overall, 19 centres were exposed nationwide: Anambra accounted for six, Imo had four, Abia and Edo recorded one each, Kano had two, while Ebonyi, Delta, Kaduna, Rivers, and Enugu recorded one centre apiece.

In August, JAMB announced that 6,458 admission seekers were under investigation for involvement in technology-enabled examination malpractice during the 2025 UTME.

The board inaugurated a 23-member Special Committee on Examination Infraction to investigate the cases and submit its report within 21 days.

It was gathered that operators of the “miracle centres,” who usually guaranteed success to desperate candidates, contributed to the technical glitches of the exam.

Speaking on how CBT servers were breached, a hacker who identified himself only as Ahmed and has been in the business for 10 years, said there was little JAMB could do to curb exam malpractice because some of the centre operators were actively involved in the process.

Ahmed disclosed that centre operators released the Internet Protocol address to hackers to log into servers undetected, while mercenaries would write exams for some candidates.

Mercenaries are regarded as persons who illegally take exams for candidates.

An IP address is a unique set of numbers assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.

He said, “There are some centres that make their IPs available to hackers. With this, they are able to penetrate and gain access to questions and login details of candidates. There is no way they can monitor all the IP addresses in Nigeria.

“While candidates are physically present at CBT centres, hired mercenaries remain outside with remote access to the centres’ servers to write the exams on their behalf.”

He said candidates who initially logged in at centres would be deliberately logged out to enable mercenaries outside to take over.

Ahmed added that the candidates would have been instructed to remain silent whenever their systems were logged out.

He said, “While the questions are being answered by the mercenaries, we ask the candidates to time themselves for 20 or 25 minutes, then complain that their systems logged them out. During this period, we already have access to their portals and are helping them attempt the questions with mercenaries.

“By the time they notify the examiners at the centres, we are already done answering the questions for them. When they are logged in again, they will see that all the questions have been answered. They only need to click on ‘Submit,’ and that is the end.

“The only thing we use to run this is just to get the IP address and insert some codes, which are simply numeric. After that, we input the digits, and that is all. This enables us to have access to anything related to the JAMB server.”

An education consultant, who runs a coaching centre at Badagry, Lagos, corroborated Ahmed’s claim, saying many of the centres had compromised operators, who enabled exam malpractices.

The consultant confirmed that hackers breach servers of identified CBT centres by compromising the IP address supplied by the operators.

He said, “This would be impossible without an insider from the centres. Without an insider, there is no way we could get the IP address to get it done. These are the backdoors to this activity. These people are being paid millions of naira. The parents of these candidates have already paid everything to the centres.

“There is nothing they can do to curb this malpractice; there will always be an insider who will show how to penetrate the server. Once we gain access to the server, our candidates already pass their exams because we will do it for them remotely.”

A CBT operator based in Lagos who was also involved in the business revealed that the centres were usually aware that their servers had been compromised but would not act.

He said, “The owners of the centres know that their servers are compromised but they wouldn’t do anything about it because they are profiting from the fraudulent activities. The mercenaries are paying them huge amounts of money.

“These centres also have their contact persons in JAMB, who are like a backbone to them. The claim that JAMB’s technology is working against malpractice is not true. There are many students still being helped to pass their exams. What these people do is use the backdoor of a particular centre’s server to carry out their work seamlessly, using mercenaries to write the exams.

“JAMB is not even able to detect their faces or anything. Some of these people do not rely on insiders; they hack directly into the centre’s database.”

But JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said hacking the board’s website was not possible, adding that it did not host questions on its website.

“Our systems are locally connected. It is through a Local Area Network, not Internet-enabled. So, no one can see it anywhere. No question has ever been on our website. The examination is not internet-enabled,” he added.

He clarified that what some individuals claimed to hack was the local server of some centres in connivance with owners of such places.

Fabian said, “There is no way somebody will see our questions, because they are like a text message in speed and delivery. We transmit our questions via a model to the centres, similar to that of a text message. It is a candidate’s biometric that grants access to the questions.”

Also, the National President of the Computer Based Test Centre Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Austin Ohaekelem, while applauding the JAMB registrar for reducing exam malpractices, said not all CBT centres were involved in exam fraud.

He noted that some genuine exam glitches were being erroneously tagged as fraud.

Ohaekelem stated, “Somehow, there are still some glitches along the line either at the point of exam registration or during the exam that happened inadvertently. It is now being seen as a fraud and a deliberate act to sabotage the examination.”

Explaining the cases of JAMB’s technical glitches, the national president expressed concern over the blacklisting of innocent centres over the issues.

He said, “There is a centre in Anambra State which was registering a candidate and the network went off, but the candidate picture had been captured. Because the network had a problem, it didn’t submit.

“The next candidate came to register and the person registering the former candidate started to register the new candidate, not knowing that the details of the first candidate were still there. The picture of the second person was used on the details of the first person. It was not deliberate. They got to know at the close of registration when they wanted to print a notification slip.

“There are other issues like biometric capture where each candidate will come and the scanner is not picking it and they keep trying, and the candidates are usually apprehensive. What should be the target of what is called fraud is when a person has the intention of undermining or compromising the examination.”

Commenting on the matter, the Secretary of the Association of Tutorial School Operators in Oyo State, Ogundokun Olufunso, raised concerns over desperate tactics employed by candidates to beat the system during examinations.

Olufunso said some students connived with technology experts to manipulate biometrics, while others fell victim to errors beyond their control.

“Sometimes, some students, out of desperation, connive with tech engineers. Sometimes, they do biometric manipulation. Other students fall victim without doing anything because when their biometric is not accepted, they will assume such a candidate is among those being investigated, and they will not let them sit the examination.”

Olufunso stressed that while eradication of exam malpractice might be difficult, it could be reduced significantly if proper checks were maintained.

On the issue of “miracle centres,” he stated that most tutorial centres in the state had distanced themselves from such practices because of the risks involved.

He said, “I can categorically tell you that most tutorial centres are no longer involved in such things because it is risky, and we warn against it. How much will a student offer you to risk your future and career, and risk going to jail? If you go to jail, these students will continue their lives. So, all tutorial centres now have that mentality that it is better.”

He, however, urged JAMB to carry out internal reviews and ensure loopholes in its system were blocked to prevent manipulation.

Similarly, the Director of Toppers Coaching Centre, Ogun State, Emehinola Omodara, urged JAMB to re-examine its system and close loopholes that could encourage exam malpractice.

Omodara said, “You can’t come up with allegations without evidence. JAMB should go back to the drawing board and reappraise their system. They are trying, but all these loopholes should be worked on so that they can get a vote of confidence from the people.

“If they put their things in order, miracle centres will not exist. They should not be shifting blame, but look inward at their staff members and how the leakages are happening.”

Also speaking, the founder of Campusinfo Consult Limited, Taiwo Folorunsho, emphasised the need for a comprehensive upgrade of the JAMB’s technology to effectively curb malpractice and address its operational shortcomings.

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The Federal Government has set a target of reaching 20 million children through the Homegrown School Feeding Programme by 2026, describing it as both an educational investment and a national security strategy.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, announced this on Friday at the National Policy Forum on the Institutionalisation and Implementation of the Renewed Hope National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, held in Abuja.

The forum was hosted by the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion, in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria and other stakeholders.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Office of the Vice President, Dr. Kolade Fasua, Shettima said the expansion under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, was the boldest yet in the history of the intervention.

He explained that the programme, relaunched earlier this year, is designed to improve school enrollment and learning outcomes while creating a guaranteed daily market for smallholder farmers, women entrepreneurs, and local processors.

“This year, the federal government relaunched the Renewed Hope National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, signalling a decisive return to scale and systemisation. The programme is designed to boost enrollment and attendance, improve academic performance, and raise smallholder incomes through stable local procurement.

“Alongside the core programme, the government has inaugurated the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope School Feeding Project, an expansion that targets out-of-school and highly vulnerable children, with the ambition of reaching up to 20 million by 2026”, he said.

With the integration of the National Identity Management Commission system, Shettima added, transparency would be assured so that “real pupils receive real meals, and every naira spent works twice—once for the child, and once for the local economy.”

While acknowledging that sustaining nationwide coverage could cost as much as one trillion naira, the Vice President argued that the initiative should not be seen as a drain on public finances but as a nation-building investment.

“Ambition requires investment, and the federal government has acknowledged that sustaining national coverage may require around one trillion naira.

“But this is not a cost. It is a nation-building investment with high social, economic, and security return. This is why the school feeding must be understood not just as a social intervention but as a national security investment”, he stressed.

According to him, every hot meal served in a classroom also acts as a barrier against recruitment into violent groups, a reinforcement of the state’s presence, and a source of hope in conflict-prone communities.

“A child with knowledge is less vulnerable to exploitation. A farmer linked to a market is less vulnerable to despair. Communities where youth are engaged are less vulnerable to insecurity

“By bringing MSMEs, women, and vulnerable households into the financial system, we shrink the shadows in which insecurity grows. When local markets thrive, when farmers see guarantees in demand, when cooks receive fair and timely pay, and when women micro-entrepreneurs build assets, the drivers of conflict weaken,” Shettima said.

He urged development partners, private investors, and state governments to align with the federal government’s vision, saying the success of the scheme would be measured not just in hunger-free classrooms but also in safer, more resilient communities.

In his keynote address, the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Tanko Sununu, represented by Director, Social Development, Mr. Valebtine Ezulu, called for a National Home Grown School Feeding Act that will provide legal backing for the programme.

He further recommended the development of a nutrition guideline, in line with global best practices, to ensure safe and healthy feeding for the children.

“We must work towards enacting a National Home Grown School Feeding Act that guarantees continuity across political cycles, while clearly defining federal, state, and local roles within a cost-sharing framework.

“A National Nutrition Guideline for Home Grown School Meals, aligned with international best practices, must be developed and enforced to guarantee safe, balanced, and quality meals for every child”, Ezulu said.

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