The Lagos State Government has ordered the closure of all Chrisland Schools in the state.
This was contained in a statement on Monday following the revelation of the rape of a 10-year-old pupil of the school.
According to available information, the incident occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates during an excursion for the students.
The closure order by the Lagos State Government was signed by the Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance; Ministry of Youth and Social Development; and Ministry of Justice.
The statement said: “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland school which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“It is pertinent to note that all allegations are being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State Domestic & Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegations have been escalated to the Commissioner of Police.
“In view of the allegations, we are committed to ensuring that adequate medical and pscyho social support is provided.
“This is to reassure members of the public of the State Government’s commitment to safety and child protection, especially in ensuring that all child-centered institutions within the state, formulate and implement policies and systems that are compliant with the Executive Order (NO.EO/AA08 of 2016), Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Program.
“We also use this medium to remind the general public that any person who engages in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child, commits an offence and is liable to custodial sentence of fourteen (14) years. This includes “producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography”.
“In the meantime, all Chrisland schools within Lagos State are hereby closed, pending further investigations.”
PTDF trains 9,659 Nigerians on overseas, local scholarships
Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) says it has trained 9,659 Nigerians on its overseas and in-country scholarships since its inception.
The Executive Secretary of PTDF, Dr Bello Gusau, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, said that the beneficiaries had acquired first degrees as well as Master and Doctoral (PhD) degrees.
According to Gusau, PTDF, under its fund’s strategic direction, provides scholarships to Master and PhD degree applicants in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China and Malaysia.
He said that the fund sponsored students/awardees in all major disciplines related to oil and gas and energy industries, including engineering, geosciences, environmental studies, computing and management.
“This has enhanced the upward shift of local content contribution to the industry, facilitated knowledge transfer and driven the development of indigenous research and the growth of Nigerian companies,” Gusau said.
He explained that going by the terms and conditions of the scholarships granted, successful scholars were mandated to return to Nigeria to add value to its economy.
The executive secretary stated that the impacts of the training on the nation’s economy, upon their return, had been nothing but positive, adding that to a large extent, the beneficiaries were more knowledgeable in their respective fields.
He said that it was the utmost desire of the fund that the knowledge acquired was transferred to others, both in the public and private sectors so as to develop specialised indigenous human capital expected to take over from the expatriates.
The PTDF boss said that the fund had committed hundreds of millions of dollars on sponsoring Nigerians over the years on various training programmes, while striving to achieve its mandate since its inception in 2002.
“Information related to the funds’ spending, as detailed in our audited accounts, can be accessed by any interested party under the provisions of the Public Information Act and other extant regulations.
Gusau, while reacting to the impression that many students, after getting PTDF grants to study overseas, never returned home, thereby defeating the purpose of the investment, said that the beneficiaries were expected to return and contribute meaningfully to national development.
He added that the purpose of the scholarships was to train and equip Nigerians to participate in and contribute to the country’s oil and gas industry, either directly or indirectly, through the academia.
“While we are not averse to our awardees remaining temporarily in their countries of study to gain relevant experiences, it is our expectation that PTDF awardees will eventually return to Nigeria and contribute their quota to national development.
“Awardees, especially at PhD level, who are drawn from the academia and industry, are bonded to ensure that they return to the country and their places of employment after their studies,” he said.
