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First Lady Oluremi Tinubu said yesterday that democracy can only thrive when the rights, dignity and freedoms of citizens are respected and protected.

The First Lady, in a message commemorating the 2026 International Day of Democracy, also called on Nigerians to work collectively towards strengthening the country’s democratic institutions.

This year’s International Day of Democracy, marked on September 15, has the theme, ‘Bring Human Rights into Focus.’

‘The International Day of Democracy 2026, with the theme ‘Bring Human Rights into Focus,’ reminds us that democracy thrives when the rights, dignity, and freedoms of every citizen are respected and protected’, Senator Tinubu said.

The First Lady noted that Nigeria had recorded significant democratic progress since independence, particularly during more than 25 years of uninterrupted civilian rule.

She identified stronger institutions, peaceful transitions of power and increased participation of citizens in governance as some of the gains recorded by the country.

‘Sixty-five (65) years after independence and over twenty-five (25) years of uninterrupted democratic rule, Nigeria has made significant progress through stronger institutions, peaceful transitions of power and greater citizen participation in governance’, the First Lady said.

Senator Tinubu, however, stressed the need for continued collective efforts to consolidate the gains and ensure that democracy delivers peace and prosperity to Nigerians.

She urged citizens and other stakeholders to remain committed to strengthening the country’s democratic system and making it more responsive to the interests and aspirations of the people.

‘Let us collectively continue to work together to strengthen our democracy, ensure that it serves the interests of all Nigerians, and build a more peaceful and prosperous nation.”

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has mourned the passing of veteran actor, Oludotun Jacobs, MFR, describing him as a titan of Nigerian and African cinema and theatre.

In a tribute issued on Wednesday, the Board said it joins millions of fans worldwide in mourning the late icon, popularly known as ‘Uncle Olu’ by younger colleagues.

‘For over five decades, Uncle Olu did not just act; he commanded both stage and screen. His rich, booming voice, impeccable diction and unmatched gravitas set the gold standard for acting across the continent,’ the statement said.

The NFVCB noted that from his classical training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London to his appearances on international stages and his foundational role in modern Nigerian theatre and Nollywood, Jacobs’ career was a masterclass in artistic excellence.

According to the Board, his contributions went beyond individual performances, as he elevated the cultural prestige of Nigerian film and proved that Nigerian stories deserve the grandest stages.

‘He portrayed royalty with unmatched dignity and left an indelible mark on generations of filmmakers, actors and audiences alike,’ the Board added.

The regulatory body described the late actor, also known as the ‘Lion of Lufodo,’ as having completed his final act but leaving footprints permanently etched in the history of global cinema and theatre.

‘We say goodnight to an incomparable legend and a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace,’ the NFVCB stated.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has begun efforts to introduce life skills and critical thinking into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), aligning the admission test with changing demands in higher education.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of a committee of stakeholders and experts to develop a framework for integrating the skills into the UTME.

Aina said the proposed reform was necessary because UTME primarily ranks candidates who already possess O-Level qualifications and should not duplicate the subject-based assessments conducted by examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council.

He said that candidates sitting for UTME have already demonstrated their subject-matter knowledge through their O-Level examinations.

‘So ours is a ranking task. It’s not necessarily to test your subject matter expertise. So we feel that making the UTME examination purely subject matter is a duplication of effort of sorts,’ he said.

The registrar said JAMB was seeking to incorporate skills that candidates deploy in real-life situations, adding that the board needed to review whether its current methods remained effective in predicting candidates’ performance at the tertiary level.

‘Are the methods that we are employing to check and predict who will do well in the university or the polytechnic or the college of education still valid? Are they good enough?’ Aina asked.

He noted that the UTME format had remained largely unchanged for more than three decades, stressing the need for the board to determine whether its assessment methods were still relevant to the changing education environment.

‘The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement. So we want the committee to help us take a look at this,’ he said.

Aina said the committee was deliberately constituted with stakeholders from different segments of the education sector because JAMB could not independently determine the best approach without considering the views of those affected by the proposed reforms.

‘We cannot be judges in our own matter. So we have assembled a team of stakeholders who are also experts in their own right to join us in taking a look at this issue, to guide us and to make sure that any decision we take is one that is broadly acceptable to all the stakeholders who will be affected by these decisions,’ he said.

The registrar described the assignment as a national responsibility, saying the committee had an initial four-week period to examine the proposal conceptually.

Also speaking, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, represented by the Technical Assistant to the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Oni Adedeji, said the initiative was consistent with the Federal Government’s efforts to reform assessment in the education sector.

Alausa charged the committee with developing standardised, fair, and transparent assessment modalities capable of measuring candidates’ analytical, logical, and verbal reasoning abilities beyond the recall of subject content.

He said the committee would determine how to deploy the proposed components, including whether to assess them through a standardised examination or embed them within existing UTME subjects.

The minister said the reform was intended to create an assessment system that would test not only what young Nigerians know but also how effectively they could think, reason and solve problems.

‘I strongly believe getting these rights will shape how Nigeria evaluates readiness for tertiary education now and in years to come,’ Alausa said.

The committee chairman, Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said the effectiveness of UTME should ultimately be measured by its ability to identify candidates with the strongest prospects of succeeding in tertiary education.

Nworgu explained that JAMB conducts a selection examination rather than a certificate examination, so the test must accurately predict candidates’ potential for academic success.

‘What JAMB is expected to do and what it is doing is to look at those measures that can help us to select the candidates that have the highest promise of succeeding in academic tasks at the tertiary education level,’ he said.

He said the validity of UTME must be continuously reviewed as the curriculum and skills requirements of tertiary institutions have changed considerably over the years.

Nworgu noted that the transition from the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards to the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards had placed greater emphasis on skills and critical thinking.

‘The focus now is the area of skills and then critical thinking. So, what JAMB is trying to do is understandable from that perspective,’ he said.

He added that the committee would consider other measures to improve the predictive validity of UTME if such issues emerged during its deliberations.

Nworgu also promised that the committee would rely on evidence in determining whether proposed changes achieved their intended objectives.

He said any modified UTME should be assessed against evidence to establish whether the reforms were effective and represented value for taxpayers’ money.

The committee comprises representatives of universities, examination bodies, professional regulatory councils, students’ groups, secondary schools and development organisations.

Members include representatives of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Bayero University, Kano; WAEC; Medical and Dental Council; Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria; National Board for Technical Education; Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology; Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council; Nursing and Midwifery Council; Teachers Registration Council; National Universities Commission; Committee of Vice-Chancellors; National Association of Nigerian Students and the United Nations Development Programme, among others.

The committee is expected to submit its initial recommendations within four weeks, after which JAMB may proceed to a further stage involving assessment experts to develop or implement the details of any adopted framework.