Education

Vatican library opens prayer room for Muslim scholars

Published

6 months ago

October 17, 2025

A Muslim prayer room has been set up in the heart of the Vatican City’s 500-year-old library.

Islamic scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library had requested a “room with a carpet to pray on” and staff heeded their request.

The Vatican Apostolic Library was founded in the 15th century and is thought of as the intellectual epicentre of the Catholic Church.

It boasts around 80,000 manuscripts, 50,000 archival items and almost two million books.

The library’s Vice Prefect, Giacomo Cardinali, told Italian outlet La Repubblica: “Muslim scholars asked us for a room with a carpet to pray on, and we gave it to them: we have incredible ancient Korans.

“We are a universal library, with Arabic, Jewish and Ethiopian collections, as well as unique Chinese pieces.

“Years ago, we discovered that we had the oldest medieval Japanese archive outside of Japan.”

In addition to the enormous number of texts, the library also contains hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, engravings, and prints.

This is in contrast to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia takes a much harder stance on inter-faith acceptance.

Islam’s holy city receives nine million visitors each year – none of whom are non-Muslims.

Those of other or no faith are strictly prohibited from entering the city under Saudi law.

Non-Muslims found inside the city are subject to heavy fines, imprisonment and deportation.

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Education

Tinubu Makes Fresh Appointment In Education Sector (Full List)

Published

15 minutes ago

April 22, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Prof. Modupe Adeola Adelabu as Chairman of the Governing Board for the National Examination Council (NECO) and retained the current registrar, Professor Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi.

It was reports that the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Wednesday, disclosed that Tinubu made new appointments in the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE), the Federal Polytechnic in N’yak Shendam, Plateau State, and the National Library of Nigeria, all institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education.

According to the statement, Dr Bongfa Binfa was appointed as Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, N’yak-Shendam, Plateau State, while the tenure of Prof. Chinwe Veronica Anunobi was renewed as Director/Chief Executive of the National Library of Nigeria.

Tinubu approved the appointment of Binfa to succeed the pioneer Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, N’yak-Shendam, Dr Mukaila Zakari Ya’u, whose tenure expired on March 16, 2026.

Binfa’s appointment will be for a single term of five years, following the conclusion of the process for appointing a new Rector through a public advertisement in national dailies in September 2025.

Tinubu also appointed Professor Babatunde Salako as the NBTE chairman and reappointed the incumbent executive secretary, Prof Idris M Bugaje, for a second and final five-year term.

The statement stressed, “Professor Adelabu, who chairs NECO, is a retired Professor of educational administration who rose through the ranks to full professorship at the Obafemi Awolowo University. She was a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State (2013- 2014) and the Chairman of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) between 2018 and 2021.

“Prof. Babatunde Salako, the new chair of NBTE, is a globally respected researcher with decades of experience in higher education, institutional governance and national policy leadership.

“He previously served as the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) from 2016 to 2024, a period during which the institute experienced significant revitalisation, enhanced research governance, expanded international collaborations, and improved infrastructure and research outputs.

“Dr Binfa holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Mechanical Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Before this appointment, Dr Binfa was Deputy Rector (Academic) at the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny. He was also a Lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Federal Polytechnic, Idah.”

President Tinubu also approved the renewal of the tenure of Prof. Chinwe Veronica Anunobi as CEO of the National Library of Nigeria for a final term of five years.

Anunobi was first appointed on September 2, 2021, and since assuming office, has led several institutional reforms aimed at repositioning the National Library as a modern technology-driven knowledge institution, including the development and operationalisation of the National Repository of Nigeria, the Newspaper and Magazine Locator, the Index and Abstract to Nigerian Newspapers, and the National Virtual Library of Nigeria.

The statement added, “She has also played a strategic role in advancing the long-awaited completion of the National Library Headquarters project and in initiating plans to migrate heritage collections from the 34 state branches to the new headquarters in Abuja.

“The President expects that the renewal of her tenure would ensure continuity in the implementation of ongoing reforms, completion of the National Library Headquarters project, and execution of the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan of the institution.”

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Education

Tinubu appoints NECO, NBTE chairmen, names poly rector, renews library DG tenure

Published

7 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Newsbreak365_Admin

President Bola Tinubu has approved new appointments across key education agencies, including the National Examinations Council and the National Board for Technical Education.

According to a statement on Wednesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the appointments are part of efforts to strengthen institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education.

The President appointed Prof. Modupe Adeola Adelabu as Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Examinations Council, while retaining the Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi.

He also named Prof. Babatunde Salako as Chairman of the National Board for Technical Education, while earlier reappointing the Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris Bugaje, for a second and final term of five years.

In the polytechnic sector, Tinubu appointed Dr Bongfa Binfa as Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, N’yak-Shendam, Plateau State, for a single term of five years. Binfa succeeds the pioneer rector, Dr Mukaila Zakari Ya’u, whose tenure ended in March 2026.

Until his appointment, Binfa was the Deputy Rector (Academic) at the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny, and previously lectured at the Federal Polytechnic, Idah.

The President also renewed the tenure of Prof. Chinwe Veronica Anunobi as Director-General of the National Library of Nigeria for a final term of five years.

Anunobi, who was first appointed in September 2021, has led “several institutional reforms aimed at repositioning the National Library as a modern technology-driven knowledge institution” including the development of digital platforms such as the National Repository of Nigeria and the National Virtual Library.

The statement noted that Adelabu, a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State and ex-chairman of the NBTE, brings extensive experience in educational administration, while Salako is a former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.

It added that the renewal of Anunobi’s tenure is expected to ensure continuity in ongoing reforms and the completion of the National Library headquarters project in Abuja.

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Education

JAMB releases Monday’s UTME results

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2026

Newsbreak365_Admin

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of candidates who sat the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination on Monday, April 20.

Its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement released on Tuesday, directing affected candidates to the board’s standard result-checking channels.

“The results for Monday, 20th, have been released. Candidates can view their results using the usual process,” the statement read.

Candidates can access their scores by sending “UTMERESULT” to 55019 or 66019 via SMS, using the phone number with which they registered for the examination.

Monday’s release is the latest in a series of daily result announcements that JAMB has been making since the 2026 UTME commenced on Thursday, April 16.

The exercise, which involves over two million candidates sitting computer-based tests at centres across the country, has seen the board publish results in batches corresponding to each examination day.

The board started the process by releasing results for Thursday’s candidates, followed by a combined batch covering Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18.

The Friday-Saturday release, however, came later than candidates had expected. JAMB had initially indicated the results would be available on Saturday but failed to meet that timeline, drawing frustration from candidates who waited through the night.

The board subsequently apologised, attributing the delay to the absence of its chief executive, who was occupied with an official engagement.

The results were eventually published on Sunday, April 19, before the board moved on to process and release the Monday batch.

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