Point One

Pope Leo XIV formally began his papacy on 18th May, 2025, with an inauguration mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. World leaders, including Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, made the event that offered a rare platform for diverse – even adversarial – interests across the world to come together for a common purpose. The ascension of the 267th Catholic pontiff heralds a papacy dedicated to world peace, as Leo has made clear that would form his major agenda. The new pope took to the world stage soon after his election on 8th May with the message of peace. He has his mission cut out. The church under his leadership, as he envisions, will play the conciliator in a world ridden with conflict and hatred. His first words to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square on the day he was elected pope were: “Peace be with all of you.” His utterances ever since echoed that theme.  In an audience few days after his election with members of the eastern Catholic churches, many of them based ...

Frontline examination body, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has doubtless achieved much mileage in dealing malpractices in exams a fatal blow. This it has done with the use of technology by way of computer-based testing in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). The body, last weekend, formally announced the results of the 2025 UTME sat by some 1.9 million candidates between 24th April and 5th May, this year. Its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said results of 39,834 candidates were being withheld over suspicion of infractions that were undergoing interrogation by the board. He reaffirmed JAMB’s commitment to eliminate all forms of malpractice, stating that 1,957,000 candidates were verified to sit for the exam while 71,705 were absent. “The 2025 UTME showed a prevalence of some particular types of infractions, which suggests systemic vulnerabilities or gaps in registration and examination administration and/or monitoring,” Oloyede said inter al...