First Term AS 2013/14

13.09.2013: Week 01
This is the first weekly report of the new academic session 2013/14. Resumption date after the summer break was the 9th of September 2013. Mrs Obiageli Okafor and Ms Monica Johnson had already returned to the school on Saturday in order to register the boarding children and help them to move in. Almost all the teachers living in the teachers’ quarters came back Sunday evening in order to settle down and prepare for the resumption day. And on Monday morning, for the first time in NPS history, the complete team of teachers was present before 07:30am on a resumption day after summer break. This is a real sign of the ongoing efforts to further professionalise the school and shows how serious the teachers are. Congratulations for this achievement to all the teachers! The five LVT teachers brought along the candidates who will replace them for the one month of their absence due to their further education, which is being supported by the school. Also about 85% of the pupils and students reported back to school on the resumption day, which is also a good rate, especially during rainy season. Still, the aim remains 100%, and with the teachers being such a good example, we are confident to reach this goal very soon. The normal activities of the school started immediately after the sweeping and cleaning of the classrooms and the school surroundings. The students and pupils who came back on the resumption day had an advantage compared to the latecomers because lessons were delivered as normal even this first Monday afternoon. The members of Agriculture Club started their activity of tending to their farms, and their crops are doing well. The members of the Press Club also resumed their work of news casting. The villagers of the committee for road maintenance have started repairing the road in preparation of the coming construction work in October. It is still raining daily, but they are doing their best to make sure the road is at least drivable so that construction can go on without delay. Adding to the problem of the strike at Ahmadu Bello University, the Federal College of Education in Zaria has announced that it will join in and be on a warning strike for at least one week. This will also affect the LVT program of the teachers doing their further education. Because of this, they will come back next week to resume their work at Najude Pioneer School. They will return to Zaria when the strike is called off and the program resumes.

20.09.2013: Week 02
During the second week of the new academic session, building material and construction equipment were being brought to the school, among them the block moulding machine which will produce all the blocks needed for the new buildings. The labourers have already started with the excavation of some of the new buildings, and construction will begin next week. It will be the biggest extension of the school in the entire history of the project. During the next months, the following new buildings will be erected: Two new school buildings (each of them housing three classrooms, an office and a laboratory), a school kitchen and restaurant, a new teacher house with five apartments, and four new toilets. On top of that, a solar array will be installed. It will produce enough electricity for the entire school, and it will also be used to power the water pump providing all the water to the teachers and the school in general. With this, there is no longer any need to buy fuel for the generators, resulting in big savings which can be used in other areas of the school. After all this, the school will look completely different, and everybody is looking forward to these improvements. On Wednesday, the NPS teachers’ refresher course was held and the teachers of the day were Caleb Marok Dodo and Samuel Macauley. Mr Marok treated the psychology of teaching and teaching methodology while Mr Macauley handled mathematics. During the NPS press club’s weekly news presentation, the students interviewed the newly employed teacher Mohammed Abubakar on his teaching experience prior to coming to NPS, his reasons of coming to teach here and how he personally hopes to improve the academic standard of the school. The members of the road committee of the school’s PTA (parent-teacher association) have successfully constructed a culvert for the road leading to Najude and the neighbouring villages, and they are repairing other places where the road was damaged due to erosion during rainy season. They will make sure that the road is driveable before construction will fully start next week. On instruction by the director of the school, the NPS scholarship students, who are studying at the Federal College of Education in Zaria and presently on vacation, were invited for a meeting. They were told that henceforth during their holidays, they shall report to the school in order to help out the teachers and assist them with different activities in the school. This will help them to directly apply the theory they are learning in the college, and at the same time they are helping their younger ones and are beginning to carry responsibility for the school. The aim is that some of them will be employed as teachers once they finish their teacher education in 2015. Among other things, they were instructed to compose new marching songs for the primary pupils and organise evening lessons at least three days a week. Finally, a background check was carried out on the newly employed teacher Mohammed Abubakar, as it is done with all new teachers. The headmaster and school treasurer went to his village Auchan and talked to his family members and friends. Mohammed’s father is a teacher himself, while his mother is a tradeswoman, and he has eighteen brothers and sisters. Also, some hunters from the neighbouring village Kuya returned home with plenty bush meat which they sold to some of the NPS teachers.

27.09.2013: Week 03
This week, the pupils and students of the agriculture club harvested the onions from their fields. They are planning to sell them next week in the local market in order to generate some funds for the club. Similarly, the harvest of crops continues amongst the villagers: They are harvesting pepper, maize, rice, groundnuts and beans, among many other products. On Tuesday, an academic meeting was being held in order to further fine tune and strengthen the robust academic policies and programs in the school. Since this is the beginning of a new school year, an orientation for the new pupils and students was held in the community hall. The event was opened with the reading of the school rules and regulations. Various faculty members spoke on different topics such as the importance of education, reading skills and problems militating against effective reading, making friends in the school and examination malpractice and its effects and consequences. In another development, Mr Ezra Maikasuwa, the school nurse, went to Kano and purchased drugs for the school clinic as pupils and students as well as villagers continue to troop into the clinic for medication. One of the temporary teachers, Ms Philomena Chukwu, also fell sick and was equally treated in the clinic. Mr Simon Ishaya, one of our prolific science teachers, undertook a market survey this week as regards the science laboratory apparatus needed for the practical work of the science students in senior secondary school. After the construction of the laboratory as part of the new school buildings, all the necessary items will be purchased and installed there. During the week, there was another PTA meeting in the NPS community hall. It was decided that while PTA members living in close range of the school help in repairing the road, members from outside communities are to pay the compensatory sum of 300 Naira each. Furthermore, the road repair committee gave a breakdown of what has been spent so far on the road. Practical work on the topic of the variety of soil was done in Primary 4 by the class teacher Mr Haggai Marok. The task was to find the water retention capacity of each type of soil such as sandy, loamy and clay soil. On Friday, the NPS press club presented the weekly news during the assembly. Mrs Angelina Tanko was interviewed about the orientation this week, and Mr Samuel Macaulay was asked about the development of sport facilities in the school.

04.10.2013: Week 04
Tuesday this week was a national holiday, as we celebrated the 53rd birthday of Nigeria since her independence in 1960. Mr Pever Tersoo took his JSS2 students on an excursion to the school clinic in an integrated science topic treating temperature and instruments used in measuring temperature. The teachers’ refresher course was held with Mr Felix Solomon treating the subject of diabetes and it’s cause and prevention, and Mr Amos Ibrahim lecturing on the importance of agriculture in the society and it’s economical impact. The following teachers submitted their lesson plans and notes: Simon Ishaya, Mohammed Abubakar, Bitrus Zakaria, Marok Caleb Dodo, Monica Johnson, Angelina Tanko and Deborah Ambi. As usual, the members of the NPS press club presented their end of the week press release which covered the public holidays, the progress of the road construction and the development of the school library, among other things. There was also musical interlude, advertisement and interviews: Mr Lukman Magaji, the school’s public relations officer, was being interviewed on the ongoing Dogon Awo road rehabilitation by the future journalists. Meanwhile, invitation letters for the NPS academic workshop scheduled on the 14th of October were distributed to the invited school officers. Concerning the scholarship students in Zaria attending the Federal College of Education, we were able to secure a new apartment for them. The payment for one of the rooms has been made already, while payment for the remaining room will be completed next week. On Thursday, the villagers from Najude and all the settlements in Dogon Awo and environs came out in mass to participate in the current community effort to repair the road. As preparations have been completed, the construction of the new buildings will be in full swing by next week.

11.10.2013: Week 05
The director of NPS, Mr Linus Frey, arrived at the school premises on Tuesday, the 10th of October 2013, amidst joyful screams and jubilations by pupils and students while the elders beat their drums and danced heavily to the rhythms. Just like every year since 2005, he will spend one month together with us here in the school and work for the further progress and development of Najude Pioneer School. Among other things, he will supervise and document the construction work which is now seriously in progress: Two new classroom blocks for secondary school with offices and laboratories, new accommodations for teachers, a block wall surrounding the school premises, the solar array and the new school kitchen/restaurant. The ongoing project is the biggest since the establishment of the school. During the week, the school director held several meetings with the teachers and the villagers and a send forth party for the NPS students who are on scholarship in FCE Zaria (Federal College of Education). During their long holiday, these students had the opportunity to assist the teachers of NPS, and they are now preparing to go back to Zaria to continue their own studies. On Wednesday, the NPS Drama club held its meeting and did rehearsals. The chairlady in the person of Mrs Angelina Tanko selected the people that would dramatize the new play which the club just wrote. Since some of the old members refused to do their duties due to laziness, she selected new participants. On Thursday, the school librarian Ms Monica Johnson gave a serious warning to students who are misusing the school library. Ms Johnson warned against noise making and none rearrangement of seats after using the library. She also encouraged all the pupils and students to regularly use the library to improve their reading abilities. Similarly, the principal of the school Ms Rita Muolokwu expressed her displeasure over a few pupils and students who often come late to school. The principal promised to serve them with a warning letter which they are expected to give to their parents. In the same vein, she informed them that Friday was the last day to buy the textbooks for those who haven’t yet done so. On Friday, the school press club presented its weekly news which featured the interviews of the student teachers who are about to leave. Also this week, the Sarki of Auchan visited the community men who were fixing the Dogon Awo road. This is the only road leading to Unguwar Najude where our school is situated. During the visit, the royal father apologized to the villagers for the inability of his younger brother who has been opportuned to serve as the chairman of Ikara Local Government but refused to seize the opportunity to fix the road. In the NPS school clinic, 38 pupils and students were treated this week, according to the school nurse, Mr Ezra Maikasuwa. This week also witnessed the writing of the term’s first continuous assessment test. Finally, there was a car accident on the Kano-Zaria express way. Fourteen goats were killed, which brought a lot of meat for people who living alongside the highway.

18.10.2013: Week 06
On Monday, three lecturers from the Federal College of Education (FCE) in Zaria visited the school. Their purpose of coming was to hold a workshop for the teachers of the school in order to improve their teaching skills. This was organized as part of the general efforts to improve the quality of education in NPS, and other workshops will follow. In charge of this is the head teacher of the school. The lecturers spoke on teaching methodologies, curriculum innovation and more, and the teachers were allowed to ask many questions. It was very instructive for all of them, and at the end they were given certifications of having attended this workshop. Tuesday and Wednesday were public holiday because of Eid al-Kabir. On Thursday, Mr Tersoo organized the students to clear the piece of land behind the school community hall. This is where the solar array will be set up. Concerning non school-related news, a man from the neighboring village of Kuya went to Kano to buy shoes. Unfortunately on his way back home his vehicle was attacked by armed robbers and he happened to be one of the victims. He was badly beaten up and his money and belongings were stolen. The man is still lying unconscious in the hospital.

25.10.2013: Week 07
The director employed a new school typist, Mrs Ekeatte Akpan. She will also work as the school librarian. With her typing and computer skills, she can also help the students and the teachers with the computers that will be installed in the library and assist them in the computer classes. Apart from that, the school now has, for the first time, a facility manager in the person of Mr Sylvester Okpe. He will be in charge of maintaining all the school buildings, the wiring and the plumbing, including the solar array and the automatic water pump. Also, an additional security man was employed to boast the morale of the already existing two security men: Istifanus Markus is a young man and he will be a versatile worker for the school. He will also be the person to operate the grinding engine. During the week, the school director held several meetings with the staff, and many issues were discussed. He made a lot of improvements ranging from starting the revenue generating projects (RGPs) like the school shops, the grinding engine and the school kitchen to the introduction of the NPS Alumni Association and the pupils’ parliament. On Wednesday the workers of Safe Energy Resources arrived with all their material and commenced the installation of the solar array. The NPS Alumni Association (NPSAA) held its first general meeting in the school multipurpose hall on Thursday. It was attended by about 40 ex-students of the school. Also in attendance were the school director, the school principal, the head teacher and other school officials. The young men and women successfully elected the first president of the NPSAA, along with the secretary, the treasurer, the PRO and the respective assistants of those officers. The purpose of the NPSAA is to promote connections among school alumni after their graduation from NPS and to serve as an additional financial support for the school, especially in the future. Also on Thursday, a cow was brought by the school director. It is to be given to the villagers for the celebration of an official peace party, which shall heal wounds inflicted knowingly and unknowingly between the villagers and the teachers. All problems between the villagers and the school shall be set aside in order to start afresh into a peaceful future. Any future misunderstandings or problems between the villagers and the teachers will be solved in the NPS Mediation Committee, which was established exactly for this purpose.

01.11.2013: Week 08
Again this week, the director called for several staff meetings. Among other things, it was decided that the eight different school clubs (agriculture, press, drama, literature and debate, sports, art, music and jets club) are to play an even more important role in the NPS school curriculum, because they promote and encourage practical skills, which will be of good use when the students leave school. To this end, two of the weekly timetable periods will be reserved for club activities from now on, in addition to the afternoon and evening activities. And it will be compulsory for every primary 4-6 pupil and every secondary school student to join at least one of the clubs. The chairmen of the music club, the drama club and the press club were asked to carry out a market survey on the material they need for their various club activities. Another important issue that was discussed were the changes in the organizational structure of the school that will soon take place. As we all know, Mrs Rita Muolokwu, our headmistress and principal since the establishment of the school, will leave us after Christmas holidays, as she wants to relocate to her area and continue her studies. For the past several months, she has been working together with Mr Aniah Ashang, who will take over the principal’s office from her after holidays. She introduced him to all aspects of the work in order for the handing order to be as smooth as possible. During one of the meetings this week, Mr Linus Frey announced that alongside the replacement of the principal, a new administrative structure will be introduced, with new posts and offices and some new names in those positions. This is the new organizational chart of the school, which will take effect after holidays: The new principal, as stated above, will be Mr Aniah Ashang, and the post of the vice principal will be held by Mr David Akpan. In primary school, we will have Mrs Angelina Tanko as the headteacher and Mr Bitrus Zakariah as the assistant headteacher. Mr Lukman Magaji as the school bursar will be in charge of all the financial issues of the school, in collaboration with the principal. And in another new development, there will be a head of department humanities in the person of Mr Marok Caleb Dodo (who is also the school secretary) and a head of department sciences in the person of Mr Simon Ishaya. Mr Tersoo will continue to serve as the examination officer and Mrs Obiageli Okafor as the hostel mistress. Instead of one person to be in charge of everything, the work will be shared among many teachers, and they will be working together as a team. On Thursday afternoon, a general PTA meeting was held. During the meeting, Mr Frey informed the parents in detail about the financial situation of the school: He explained to them how much money is being collected through school fees and then how this money is being spent again. He also told them that the project heavily depends on outside support from donations in order to pay for the staff salaries. He let them understand that because of this, the school now has to focus on how to become more independent. After having completed all the construction work, this will be the biggest goal in the years to come. So he told them about the revenue generating projects (RGPs) like the grinding engine, the provision shop etc., and about the introduction of the NPS Alumni Association (NPSAA) which should also generate some revenue in the future. He also showed them the above mentioned new organizational chart of the school, and they accepted everything and were happy about the more professional way in which the school will be managed. It was also discussed that elections should be held for new PTA officials next year.

08.11.2013: Week 09
As mentioned in last week’s report, one of the current aims is to improve the quality of the school clubs and their impact in the school curriculum. In order to achieve this, we invited some outside professionals to come to the school and educate the pupils and students in a certain club about their own field and to work together with them. For example, the members of the press club attended a two day seminar this week held by Mrs Mercy Jamila Aliyu. She’s a radio journalist from Zaria, working for Radio Kaduna, but she also worked as a newspaper journalist before. She delivered a speech on journalism and the procedures of writing news. At the same time, the school bought some radio studio equipment for the press club, advised by Mrs Aliyu. We hope that in the near future, it will be possible to establish a small radio station in the school, which could broadcast local news and school information. Since every family in the area has at least one radio, this would be a very good means of communication. Another development concerns the video camera which was given to the school by Mr Linus Frey. The press club can use it for different purposes: For example it could collaborate with the drama club and cover the stage plays. Or it could even produce a movie that plays in the school or in the surrounding villages. But they could also use the camera to make a report about a certain topic that is of interest in the villages. The drama club also had a seminar: In an attempt to encourage them and to improve their acting skills, they were trained for two days by a professional film actor, Mrs Anthony Magdalene from Kaduna. And the newly launched music club bought a lot of drums, flutes and other musical instruments for the school band. They can also be used by the drama club for background music. Meanwhile, the construction of the solar array was finally finished. Mr Alex of Safe Energy Resources also installed all the eleven computer terminals in the school library and connected them to the server. The school is now completely powered by solar power, which is great: All the computers, laptops and printers, and all the other electrical appliances can now run around the clock. And there is light for the entire night because of the big batteries being charged by the solar array during daytime. This enables the boarding students and the teachers to study even in the evening. Also, a lot of money is being saved, because we don’t have to spend anything on generator fuel. What remains now is to get a reliable internet connection for the library. As soon as we have that, it is no longer a normal library, but an e-library! The construction work for the new classroom buildings, the staff quarter, the school kitchen and restaurant, the toilets and the wall are still going on. Sadly at the end of this week, our school director Mr Linus Frey had to leave us, as he returned to his country. A sentforth party was organized and it was very successful. A cow was slaughtered and all the staff and boarding students got to enjoy a lot of meat. On Friday, the director made his farewell speech to the students and pupils during the general assembly. He told them to study hard and that he will see them again next year. We wish him all the best and pray for his safe journey back to his family.

15.11.2013: Week 10
Like usual at this time of the year, the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the WHO and UNICEF are vaccinating Nigerians against meningitis. Fur this purpose, a delegation of health workers were dispatched to the school on Monday for the vaccination of all the NPS students and pupils and the villagers. The exercise lasted for the whole day. The students came out class after class to have their vaccination. At the end of the exercise, the health officers commended the high level of coordination and the disciplinary characters of the pupils and students. A sheep was being slaughtered by the constructing workers. The sheep was bought for them by the director of the school in order to show his profound gratitude to them for their hard work. The NPS students’ parliament held a very crucial meeting on Tuesday. The photographer of Shaba Photos brought the printed copies of the photographs he took during the last week’s farewell party of our director Mr Linus Frey. As a result the students, especially members of the NPS drama club, were filled with joy as their pictures were given to them. It was decided that henceforth, coming to school with cell phones will be prohibited, as they distract the students from concentrating on their studies. Mr Mohammed Abubakar announced this during the general assembly. He said if any pupil or student should be caught with a handset, it would be seized immediately. Mr Marok Caleb Dodo, one of the English teachers, took his SSS2 class on an excursion to the construction site, the topic being the vocabulary of building. The students and their teacher were conducted round the site where heads of each department gave a lecture to the students. And there were some changes in the distribution of subjects among the teachers: Mr Abba Shehu Mohammed has resumed the teaching of physics in SSS1 and 2 as Mr Chidozie dropped the physics and further mathematics and returned to Primary 6. Mr Simon Ishaya picked up further mathematics. During the week, 23 pupils were treated in the school clinic.

22.11.2013: Week 11
This week, all the students and teachers are in mourning as a former student of NPS died on Sunday. The late Agnes Luka obtained her Junior Secondary School certificate in June this year, but was yet to register herself into Senior Secondary School due to ill health. Sadly, she now surprisingly succumbed to her lung disease. School was suspended on Monday, and the pupils and teachers went for condolence visits to the parents. May her gentle soul rest in eternal peace, amen. The eastern gate of the school has been mounted this week. Similarly, work on the sports field has also commenced with the mounting of iron frames for the fixing of the chain link which will encompass the entire field. And three offices were also being renovated, as doors were replaced and floor tiles fixed. On Wednesday, the incoming school officials of NPS held their first ever meeting since their appointment. The aim of the meeting was to develop a road map towards achieving the objectives of the new administration. The most important of these are improved administrative and management efficiency, improving the academic level and professionalism in financial management, communication and health. Equally, the committee for the farewell party of the outgoing principal of NPS also met to fine tune the arrangements for a successful celebration. In the meeting the PTA released twenty thousand naira to the committee in order to support the party, which was applauded by the members of the committee. The first term examinations have also commenced this week in SSS1, while the rest of the school will begin their exams next week. As part of the resolutions of the incoming administration, all qualified students in secondary school were attached to one of the school clubs. This is done to ensure effective and active participation of every qualified student.

29.11.2013: Week 12
The end of term examinations are still in progress with all the classes involved. On Wednesday, which was the 27th of November, the contractor who is handling the land mark construction projects, Mr Fidelis, marked his birthday with a light celebration. He bought drinks and juice, which he distributed to the staff of the school and his labourers. The conducting of interviews for the employment of new teachers commenced on Thursday. The internet service in the newly established e-library of NPS commenced full operation this week. Several students, especially the hostel students, made use of their first opportunity to browse in the internet, under supervision of the school librarian, Mrs Ekaette Akpan. Concerning non school-related news, a fight occurred in Auchan, a neighboring village of the school. The fight started because a young man of about 28 years was dating a lady despite her father being seriously against it. Whilst the young man was standing with the girl close to her house, the father of the girl appeared with a sharp machete and placed it on the boy’s neck. Immediately, blood was flowing freely. The boy survived, but he is still lying in the hospital unconscious.

06.12.2013: Week 13
The first term examinations came to an end on Wednesday, as marking of papers and the computation of results took the center stage. On Wednesday, some members of the committee for the farewell party of the outgoing principal of the school went to the market to buy all the things necessary for the successful hosting of the event. The school clubs involved in the occasion began full preparations toward the party on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. The massive construction work is still in progress. The facility manager of the school has started to work on the plumbing and to repair the sewerage in different areas, such as the new school toilet, the new laboratory, the school clinic, the new staff quarters, the school kitchen and the hostel. Furthermore, the excavation of the new soak away in the staff quarters has also gone far. Also, three new teachers were employed who will commence work after the Christmas holidays. Two of them are degree holders, one of them a NCE holder. When the final day of the term came, assembly was held as usual. During the assembly, the outgoing principal, Mrs Rita Muolokwu, used the opportunity to give her final address to the students and they bided her farewell. After that, results were given out to all students and gifts were issued out to the first, second and third best pupils and students of each class. Then everybody flocked to the school community hall for the farewell party of Mrs Rita Muolokwu. She was the first teacher in NPS when the project started in the year 2000 with the first primary 1 class. She has served the school for full 13 years as a teacher, a headmistress and finally as the school principal. Mrs Muolokwu was the one to build up this school, and without her we wouldn’t have come to the point where we stand today. The reason for her leaving now is based on her own choice, as she wants to further educate herself and relocate to her area. She will be missed by all the staff, the pupils and students, as well as the villagers. But as she had enough time to hand over her work to the incoming principal, Mr Sylvanus Aniah and the other school officers, she can rest assured that her work is now in good hands, and her legacy will be carried on. The farewell party witnessed a large turnout of parents and other invited guests, and many speeches were being held to acknowledge the work of Mrs Muolokwu. The pupils and students made their presentations, and many gifts were given to her, among them a refrigerator from the school management. Finally Mrs Muolokwu held her own speech, expressed her gratitude over the successful party and said goodbye to everybody. Immediately after the party, the NPS teachers held their last meeting for the term, and the new team of school officers advised everybody to resume on the resumption day without delay.



Second Term AS 2013/14


10.01.2014, Week 01

School Report: The first week of the second term of the academic session 2013/14 began on the 6th of January 2014. The school opened at 07:30 with all the staff members of the school in attendance. We started with cleaning the compound and the class rooms, and during the first general assembly, the new principal of NPS, Mr Sylvanus Aniah, officially welcomed everybody back to school. The new school secretary Mr Caleb Dodo again read out all the school rules and regulations to the pupils and students, especially the penalty fines for late resumption and speaking vernacular in the school. He also introduced the three newly employed teachers. Immediately after the assembly, normal school lessons began and the school was closed at the usual time which is 2pm for the lower primary and 2:40pm for the higher primary school, and 3:20pm for the junior and 4pm for the senior secondary school. On the first day of resumption the staff equally had a brief meeting which was presided over by the new principal. Another meeting was held on Wednesday by the new head teacher of the school, Mrs Angelina Tanko. Some of the staff held a meeting with the NPS scholarship students and the parents on Thursday. The meeting was to brief the parents on their children’s academic and moral performances in Zaria. The decisions reached by both parents and teachers are as follows: The use of cell phones in the hostel is no longer allowed, a time book will be kept, and the wearing of the house uniforms will be compulsory as personal clothes will not be allowed in the hostel again. Another boarding uniform will be sown for the students to allow them to go out, for example going to church. Visiting days have been fixed twice a month, on the second and last Sunday of the month. And all the phone calls from the parents must be through the matron. An orientation for the newly employed NPS teachers was held and the teachers’ rules and regulations as well as the conditions of service were issued to them.

Press Club Report: A young man called Balarabe was getting married this week. He is a well known hunter in Kuya town. So on the day of the wedding many of his hunter colleagues from different places came along to celebrate with him. They made some performances to entertain the guests: One man called Usaini carried his son and pretended to try to slaughter him, but the other hunters stopped him. Furthermore, some of the hunters played with their knives and swords. The event was done successfully with joy and happiness, and the couple was given many presents.


17.01.2014, Week 02

School Report: The second week of the term began with public holidays on Monday and Tuesday because of Eid Al Maulud. The school reopened on Wednesday with all the staff and students in attendance, and all normal activities resumed as usual. On the same Wednesday all students and the entire staff attended the evening games organized by the games master Mr Samuel Macauley. The school bursar, the facility manager and the kitchen mistress travelled to Zaria with the school car in order to buy food items for the school’s provision shop. The trio returned very late on this day due to some hitches beyond their control. Supervisors of the Kaduna State Ministry of Education and the zonal office in Anchau paid a preliminary visit to the school in order to evaluate our chances of becoming a WAEC examination centre in the future. The supervisors marveled at the infrastructural facilities of the school and told us that we will stand a good chance when the final supervisions will be carried out. They informed us that in order to finally get the approval for the centre, there have to be at least 300 students attending secondary school. Secondly, at least 450 candidates must be ready to write the exams with us. And thirdly, that we must have the national curriculum on all subjects. They advised us to write officially to the WAEC authorities and that we should admit more students into secondary school in the next session. On Thursday, the school nurse travelled to Kano to purchase new drugs for the school clinic. The teacher refresher course was also held on Thursday with Mohammed Abubakar lecturing on the topic of democracy and Monica Johnson on library science.

Press Club Report: On Tuesday, the Anglican church of Ungwuar Najude was beautifully painted. The painting work began around 10:20am and ended around 4:32pm. After the work, the painters were served with good food and kunnun zaki provided by the church elders. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the 14th of January 2014, a former NPS student got married. Her name is Alisabatu Yohana from Najude community. She dropped out of the school from JSS II without writing her JSSCE WAEC exam. Before the wedding, the husband of Alisabatu burnt his body with hot water. So all the people were not happy, because his body was seriously damaged. As a result of that he couldn’t attend the wedding ceremony. So his elders asked his friend to attend the marriage on his behalf. Concerning the ongoing construction work in Najude Pioneer School, the boarding students and pupils were very happy this week, because their water tank has been connected to the automatic water supply. So now they don’t have to fetch the water from the borehole themselves any longer, and they have more time to study and to play.


24.01.2014, Week 03

School Report: The NPS scholarship students presently in SSS3 have come back to NPS, where there will be prepared for the external examinations (WAEC, JAMB and NECO exams). Similarly, as the Federal College of Education in Zaria is on strike, the scholarship students from FCE are also in the school, supporting the teachers. Two candidates applying as accounting, economics and business studies teachers sat for the tests and interview on the same Tuesday. Mr Emmanuel Amaryok, who scored the better result, has been employed for the three months probation period and will start work next week. The teachers began their computer literate training and they are being educated and coached by the school typist and librarian, Mrs Ekaette Akpan. Equally, the adult education training has fully taken off in the school. A good number of the village women are seen receiving classes as expected, and they are being taught in Hausa, English and Mathematics by three teachers. The total number of lessons in a week is nine. On Thursday, the school went for the annual excursion. This time around, only the students in secondary school were participating, along with all the teachers of the school. We went to see two companies active in the field of renewable energies and environment protection in Kaduna: SOSAI and DARE, which stands for Developmental Association for Renewable Energies. The heads of those companies, Mr and Mrs Yahaya Ahmed, had already come to NPS in October 2013 to present some of their products to the students and the villagers. One of their most interesting products is the efficient fuel woodstove, which is saving up to 80% of wood compared to a normal fire for cooking. If used by many villagers, this could be an important part of a solution that could prevent further desertification, which is a real problem in northern Nigeria, especially in Kano State. The reason for going to see those companies in Kaduna was to see how they operate and how they assemble their products. And we were not disappointed: The tour was very interesting and educational for both the students and the teachers. It was also decided that twenty students would go back to DARE to attend a workshop where they will learn how to assemble solar lamps powered by small solar panels. Pictures of the excursion can be seen on the photo diary page. As a present, the students were given water filters by Mrs Ahmed. After a successful and interesting excursion, everybody arrived at home safely.

Press Club Report: On Monday, a man called Sunday ’Danlami, who resides in a settlement near Najude called ’Ya’Yan Yalo, was coming back from Kunkummi with his car. As he was driving on the narrow road, an okada man on his motorcycle was trying to overtake him, but unfortunately another car was coming from the other side. The okada man was speeding and didn’t leave the other car a chance to pass. Unconsciously, Sunday ’Danlami was speeding too, and in order not to crash with the oncoming car, he pushed the okada man into the bush. The man fell and got seriously injured. Before Sunday came out of his car, the other driver had already ran away. Later on people from Auchan and Rafin Rogo gathered around the place where the accident occurred. They were asking for the owner of the car who hit the okada man, so Sunday ’Danlami just kept quite and asked one boy from Dogon Awo to go inside the car and pick his money and his phone. The people then tried to push the car into the ditch but a man from Auchan told them not to do so because it was not his fault. There were a lot of weddings this week. In ’Ku’Koki there were two brides getting married, and also in Kuya town. One of the brides from ’Ku’Koki was taken to Alhaji Magaji’s residence in Kuya while the other bride was taken to Gangarida. And the first bride from Kuya was brought to Karaye Local Government, while the second one settled in Kwanar ’Dangora. And on Wednesday, a bull in Unguwar Najude pierced a sheep in its stomach with his horns. The bull was tired and had been resting under a tree called marke. The sheep got near to the bull while grazing when suddenly the bull pierced its stomach. Then the owner of the bull immediately rushed to the market and sold it. He sold it at a give-away price of N35,500 only.


31.01.2014, Week 04

School Report: This week, the evening lessons for SSS3 have started in earnest. On Tuesday, as usual, all the school clubs held their meetings. The members of JETS club (Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists) made some plates with the use of papers and starch, being the first project since the club was formed. Other projects like the production of soap and other detergents will follow soon. The SSS3 students received an urgent call from Unity School in Zaria, where they registered for their WAEC and NECO examinations, because they had to do their thumb print registration, which is the last phase of the registration process. On Wednesday, all the students and staff returned to the school for evening games in order to prepare for the forthcoming inter-house games in the following disciplines: 400m race, 200m race, football and volley ball. On Thursday, the second phase of the NPS primary school spelling competition was held in the multi-purpose hall. The competition was started with the lower primary classes, after which the upper primary classes started theirs. Finally six students emerged for the third stage of the competition, which is billed for next week according to the spelling committee which is led by Mr Isaac Musa. The Agriculture club has opened a small chicken farm to gather some experience in rearing chickens. So when the construction of the professional chicken farm will begin later this year, we will not go into this with zero knowledge. So far, there are 20 chicks, and all of them are doing fine. The drama club is rehearsing a play on the dangers and consequences of polio and the importance of parents having their children vaccinated. It is a community awareness play that will be performed in the villages surrounding the school. The music club is supporting the performance with traditional drum beating. This week also came with a lot of excursions around the school. Mr David Akpan took the JSS33 students to the welders working in the new buildings, who showed them how they are producing doors, gates and windows. Mr Marok Dodo took the SSS2 students to examine the school car where Mr Sylvester, the facility manager, introduced them to the vocabulary and functions of all the parts that make up a car, especially the engine. Mr Tersoo took his JSS2 class to a nearby hill for a lecture on ecology during an integrated science lesson. On Friday the NPS officials held a crucial meeting with the principal Mr Aniah Ashang to asses the progress achieved in the first month by the new administration. It was decided that in order to further improve the quality of education, a comprehensive questionnaire on the performance of each teacher should be given to the pupils and students at the end of each term. This tool can be used by the principal and the head teacher to assess the attitude towards work of all the teachers, and at the same time it is a good feedback for each teacher.

Press Club Report: On Monday, the football team of Kuya played a football match against the football team of Rumi. The game started at about 5:30pm with much joy and happiness. Just after some minutes one of the players of the Rumi team tried to beat the referee, but the Kuya players did not allow that to happen. The place turned into a fighting ground and with this, the game was stopped. On Tuesday, a man from the Najude community, Mr Luka, was involved in an accident with his motorcycle on his way coming back from the Makarfi market at about 8:00pm. The accident occurred as a result of a car driver flashing his head lights, so that Luka couldn’t see the road. The car driver ran away. Luka was badly injured and lost consciousness. Some people from Kafi town saw him laying down on the ground and they took him back home. His people very were grateful and thanked them. He was later admitted to the Kuya infirmary, where he is recovering now.


07.02.2014, Week 05

School Report: On Monday this week, the pupils, students and all the staff returned to school for the evening sport training in preparation for the forthcoming inter-house competition. During the press club meeting on Tuesday, some of the members were selected to go round the school and record what the other clubs were doing. One of the two timetable periods reserved for the school club activities this week was used to show the pupils a spelling video in the community hall. This was done as a preparation for the finals of the primary school spelling competition, which will come up on Thursday next week. The first continuous assessment test of this term is in progress. In another development, exit cards for the boarding students have been produced. This card will be issued out to any boarding student that is authorized to leave the boarding house because of a genuine reason. Without this card, they are no longer permitted to leave the boarding house. On Wednesday, the computer literate class given by Mrs Ekaette Akpan for the teachers took place in the e-library. Three teachers were in attendance: Umaru Salisu, Mvendega Baaki and Obiageli Okafor. On Thursday, there was a meeting between the PTA officials and some of the school officials. The issues discussed during the session were the upcoming PTA elections, the new uniforms for primary school, the inter-house sport competition and the mini launching of the new school facilities. Also on Thursday, the press club members went to film the practice of traditional wrestling in a village called Dorayi. They also interviewed the different fighters. Some of the pictures will be uploaded to the photo diary.

Press Club Report: On Monday, a young man called Mansir from ’Ku’koki fell down from a tamarind tree, which is called "tsamiya" in Hausa. Tamarind trees (botanical name Tamarindus indica) are indigenous to tropical areas and widespread in Africa. They produce edible pod-like fruits which are used extensively in cooking, for example in making local drinks like kunu in northern Nigeria, which everybody loves to drink. Mansir climbed the tree in order to plug the fruits used in making local herbs for medical purposes. Meanwhile the people of the Najude community and the staff of the school are living together peacefully. Mr Marok Caleb Dodo, one of the teachers in the school, did his wedding party and all the villagers from Najude and other villages came and celebrated with him. Different kinds of food and drinks were served. All the people were very happy. Wednesday and Friday are the main market days in the local communities. On Wednesday this week, we sent out our market correspondents to find out the prices of different farm products. This is what they found: A bag of rice is currently sold at 3’500 Naira, a bag of pepper goes for N6’000, and a bag of soya-beans costs N9’000, as does a bag of dry okra, the main ingredient of draw soup. Our correspondents ended by saying that prices have decreased and that they pray for an increase to help their parents. On Thursday, the 6th of February 2014, two members of the NPS press club and in collaboration with the IT department of the school and some staff members went to make a small documentary film on local wrestling of the Hausa people in a small community in Dorayi District, Makarfi Local Government: The journey started at about 4:15pm and we arrived at the venue at about 5:00pm. We started by interviewing the wrestlers about the rules of the game, and they also told us about the history of the game. We then interviewed the game master in the person of Mr Aliyu Ahmed and asked him what price is given to the winner of the competition. He said the winner of each match wins the game by throwing his partner to the ground and the gift is given to him by the spectators who spray money on him. The final winner of the tournament is given a big bull which cost about N80’000 and sometimes even a new motorbike. Furthermore we interviewed the drummer Shekarau Samaila from Makarfi. We asked him so many questions about the drums, and he explained to us that one of the drums called "Gundawa" is made from the maje tree and animal skin. He said that he inherited the craftsmanship to produce the drums and the art of beating them from his father. Lastly we recorded all the activities with the video camera and also took some pictures of the wrestlers. All the people were happy about our visit and our interest in this old Hausa tradition. We too were happy about the successful trip. We arrived back at the school at about 8:00pm.


14.02.2014, Week 06

School Report: A PTA meeting took place this week. It lasted for three hours, and various important issues were discussed. Among other things, the parents were warned against giving their children money for school fees that the school in reality is not collecting. Unfortunately, there were cases of pupils asking their parents for fake school fees and then using the money for themselves, which is very bad. The parents were reminded to always consult the list of school fees which is given to them each year. As an additional precaution, all the parents were now given the phone number of the school bursar, Mr Lukman Magaji. If they suspect that something is wrong, they can simply call him and find out whether or not the fee is actually real. Another agenda item was the appointment of the interim PTA officials, as the tenure of the old ones is running out after serving the school for three years. The election of the new officials for the next three years will take place next term at the general PTA meeting. For the meantime, these are the interim officials: Mr Umaru Chizo will function as the chairman, with Mr Zubairu Sabo as the Vice Chairman. Daniel Bulus from Najude will be in office as the treasurer, while Yusuf Abdu and Amos Ibrahim will be the new public relation officers (PROs). On Tuesday and Thursday respectively, the spelling competition finals in the lower primary and upper primary section were held in the multipurpose hall. Saratu Ibrahim from primary six emerged as the overall winner in the upper primary section, while Regina Adamu won in the lower primary section, congratulations to them! Also during this week, all the teachers submitted their examination questions to the examination officer.

Press Club Report: On, Tuesday the 11th of February 2014, some shepherds from Nigeria’s neighboring country Niger passed by near to our school with their cattle. This happened when the students and pupils were packing sands and stones from the new football field to make it better for playing. The shepherds had camels, horses, cows and bulls, donkeys, goats and sheep. They were also with their cooking material. They divided themselves into two groups, one went in front with the camels, horses and donkeys, and the other group followed with the cows and bulls, the sheep and goats. On Friday, the 14th of February 2014, an elderly person in ’Ku’koki died as a result of an accident. He left his wife, eight children and many grandchildren. The accident occurred in Kura Local Government Area, Kano State. He was buried according to the teachings of Islam.


21.02.2014, Week 07

School Report: This seventh week of the term witnessed the big inter-house competition with different sport activites, which took place on the new football field of the school. The field was agog with joy as hails, shouts, screams and drum sounds rent the air. Before the kicking off of the event, there was a parade of all the houses with their different flags and mottos. First were the football matches between the different houses, and Najude house won this tournament. There was also a match between the students and the NPS staff, and the students won 3:0, which is the highest victory so far in the students against staff matches in the history of the school. For the first time since the inter-house sport competitions take place, running tracks for different running events were prepared. The track events featured were 100, 200 and 400 meters for boys and girls each, and a relay race also for both boys and girls. The school also invited a lot of guests to witness the occasion, among them the former and current PTA officials. Many village women and children were also present. Also this week, the principal and the head teacher checked the class forms designed to monitor the time every teacher reports to the class. They also assessed the impact of the evening lessons organized for the SSS 3 students as preparation for the oncoming national exams. And a meeting of the school officials was held, during which it was unanimously agreed upon that, according to the school rules and regulations, some of the staff members who had reported late to school on Monday must face punishment. The penalty fine is 500 Naira, which will be deducted directly from their monthly salaries. The school bursar was directed to do that.

Press Club Report: On Thursday this week, all the men and women of the community started preparations for the Saulawa deanery’s women conference which will take place during the weekend. They also practiced for the conference, because there would be a choir singing competition. Also, a man from Tashan Yari planted his crops when it first rained in Kaduna state on the 28th of January 2014, which is unusually early in the year. The man saw that it rained heavily, and since his storage was almost finished, he decided to plant his crops and hoped the rain would continue. But since then it hasn’t rained again and all his crops have now burnt and died.


28.02.2014, Week 08

School Report: The week began smoothly with all academic activities going on as usual. The weekly meetings of all the clubs were held and properly supervised by the club coordinators Simon Ishaya and Amos Ibrahim. On Wednesday, a teacher refresher course was held. The lecturers of the day were Mr Ezra Irimiya and Mr Mvendega Baaki. Irimiya, one of the agricultural science teachers of the school, treated the topic of farm machinery. It was a very interesting class because a lot of questions were asked and good answers were provided. Mvendega Baaki, who is one of the science teachers and teaches biology in senior secondary school, introduced his own class as soon as Irimiya finished his. He lectured on the topic of marriage, courtship and criteria for choosing a life partner. The SSS3 students who are preparing for their various external examinations (West Africa Examinations Council WAEC and National Examinations Council NECO), went to snap passport photographs for their registration. The members of the students parliament held a meeting on Friday in order discuss about their duties. During the teacher meeting this week, it was decided that the FCE students who are presently staying in NPS should be assigned to a particular class, where they will assist the class teachers. So far, they have been teaching where there was chance. The first classroom block with three classes and two offices is finally ready, and the work on the second classroom block with another three classrooms, an office and a laboratory is scheduled to be finished next week. Because of late coming during the month, there will be a penalty fee (directly deducted from the salaries) for the following staff: 1’500 Naira for Isaac Samuel, N1’500 for Salisu Umar and N500 for Ekaette Akpan. Finally some of the school club members decided to produce an album which will cover all the events that have occurred so far since the school was established and show all the pictures taken with the school cameras.

Press Club Report: On Monday, a serious accident occurred at Saulawa at around 4:52pm. On their way coming back from their friend’s wedding ceremony in a car, six people died. Three passengers survived with serious injuries and are now being treated in Shika Teaching Hospital in Zaria. We pray that they will recover soon. On Thursday, a passenger train spoiled close to Kuya. According to our correspondent, this happened in the night, around 10:40pm, and the reason for the incident is that one of the old and overused metal parts broke. Some of the parts are in use ever since the trains were introduced to Nigeria. Some railway workers pulled the train to the Kano workshop, where it will be repaired.


07.03.2014, Week 09

School Report: As the construction work is entering the last phase, three teachers (David Akpan, Chidozie Onyekaba and Abba Ahmed Shehu) could finally move into the new teachers quarters. Similarly, the new secondary school classroom buildings are almost completed, although finishing touches are still going on. The wooden desks and benches have been fixed in all the six new classes, and all the doors and windows in the new school kitchen and restaurant have also been fixed. The second continuous assessment tests (C.A.) of this term began on Monday this week. As usual, all the eight school clubs held their meetings on Tuesday, and some of them conducted their tests so that it could be reflected in the score sheets. The drama and the press clubs held a joint meeting. They rehearsed a play written by the drama club members to be played around the villages of Najude and Kuya. It is a community awareness play about the dangers of polio and the need for vaccination. On Thursday afternoon the NPS staff conducted their monthly refresher course class. Yahaya Bogo, who is a primary school class teacher and also teaches religious studies in the senior secondary school classes, treated the subject of moral instruction of the school staff and the evil of a teacher having romantic affairs with his students, which is highly condemnable and also absolutely forbidden by the school rules and regulations. David Akpan took his colleagues on the importance of instructional materials (teaching aids) and the methodology of teaching partially or completely handicapped children. Also this week, it was discovered that the new facility manager had embezzled school money by not giving the correct prices for materials he was sent to buy in Zaria. This practice is completely unacceptable in Najude Pioneer School, and therefore the director sacked the facility manager with immediate effect. He has left the school on Wednesday, and his duties will be assigned to different teachers until a new facility manager will be employed. It is hoped that this will also serve as a sound warning to all the other staff members that money embezzlement and other corrupt practices are not tolerated in this institution. David Akpan and Lukman Magaji have been fined with a penalty fee as they failed to write and hand in their duty reports. And during the prep-class on Thursday night, a snake was killed in the primary 2A classroom.

Press Club Report: On Sunday, the 2nd of March 2014, a serious accident occurred at Kunkumi at around 11:45am. An okada man was trying to cross the express road which passes through Kunkumi (the highway between Zaria and Kano) without looking left and right. This was a deadly mistake, as it is so often in these kind of accidents on the highway passing trough small villages. As the okada man was crossing the road, a fuel tanker was approaching with full speed. As it was too late to break, the driver tried to dodge the okada man, but he immediately lost control over the vehicle. It hit some women coming back from a wedding ceremony, waiting for a car at the side of the road to come and take them back to their destinations. Unfortunately six of them were killed, together with the okada man who was the cause for this terrible accident. The driver of the fuel tanker left the vehicle and ran away into the market. He left the fuel tanker at the place were the event occurred, so it was taken to the local police station in Gangarida. Meanwhile, the Ikara Local Government started digging a new borehole for Fulani people who live very close to Kuya. Our correspondent interviewed one of the members of this settlement, who happens to be one of our fellow NPS students. According to him, the government is doing this because they lack water. He said that before they get clean drinking water they must trek to a far place. The work is still in progress.


14.03.2014, Week 10

School Report: The preparation classes and evening lessons for the SSS3 students ended on Thursday this week, because they were sent back to Zaria, as the national examinations will soon begin. The principal of the school delivered a sent forth speech for them in the assembly ground and in presence of all the other students and pupils. They offered a special prayer for the finalist students, and they delivered a song in respect to them. Also this week, some of the school officials went to see Nuhu Markus in his home village, who has been absent from school for two terms due to a serious leg injury. Luckily, he is finally recuperating and has promised to return to school as soon as he’s fully recovered. Also, there was a meeting between the press and the drama clubs to rehearse the community awareness play on polio vaccination, and some members of other clubs were also invited to watch. During this final rehearsal, many observations were made and corrections were taken to strengthen the play. Hopefully it will be presented later next week in Kuya. Letters of notification were sent to the village head of Kuya and to the owner of the only clinic in Kuya, where the play is going to be staged. The play is about polio vaccination of young children. There is a need for such a community awareness play as many Hausa people believe that the vaccination is meant to reduce the fertility of their people by injecting dangerous substances. As a result of that, most of them prevent health workers from administering the vaccine to their children. This week, the chairperson of the Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Rape in NPS, Mrs Angelina Tanko, held a meeting with some of the female students in the upper secondary school classes. This was to find out if there has been any form of harassment or unlawful behaviour so far by any teacher, other staff members, villagers or visitors, and also to remind them to always report any such case to her immediately. The male bathrooms and toilet doors in the teachers’ quarters and a Primary One window were being serviced by the welder who is in the school working on the new buildings. As part of the new school policy calling for a more serious involvement of the villagers in the maintenance of the school buildings and infrastructure, some villagers will work for the school next week. They were shown a place close to the northern edge of the chain link fence, where they are to dig a canal for proper water passage, so that erosion will not cut into the football field during rainy season. The second term examinations will begin on the 24th of March.

Press Club Report: On Tuesday this week, a bouncing baby boy was born to Mr and Mrs Audu Ibrahim in the community of Dogon Awo in Gidan Na Audu, at around 1:36pm. She was taken to the hospital at Makarfi where she had a safe delivery. The naming ceremony of the baby will be done after seven days. All the people from Dogon Awo are very happy. In Kuya, Mr Usman’s wife also delivered a bouncing baby boy this week, and they are very happy. And there was a marriage ceremony in Dogon Awo. The bridegroom had lost his first wife to the silent world last year, so he decided to marry again. His new wife had also been married before, but her former husband is currently out of his senses, meaning he has gone mad. Meanwhile, the villagers of Najude and other nearby settlements have started clearing their farms in order to prepare them for the coming farming activities, which will start as soon as the first rain drops fall. A boy from a neighboring village was involved in an accident in Zaria. He was on his way coming back from Kaduna where he went to earn money as an okada man (motorcycle taxi). He was rushed to a government hospital in Zaria, but unfortunately all the government medical centers are presently on strike. So he had to be brought to the village and is currently being treated by our school nurse Mr Maikasuwa Ezra.


21.03.2013, Week 11

School Report: Everybody was very happy this week because the installation of the benches, tables and whiteboards in the six new secondary school classrooms has finally been completed. The classrooms were washed by the students, and on Tuesday, they were used for the first time by the students and teachers. The secondary school students were full of joy and happiness and are proud of their brand new classrooms. Najude Pioneer School is now officially separated into a primary school section with eleven classrooms and a secondary school section with six classrooms, making 17 classrooms in total. The revision of the subject material for the second term examinations started on Wednesday. A school officials meeting was held, and it was discussed that starting from this term, a questionnaire on the teachers’ performance will be introduced, to be filled out by the pupils and students. This will enable the teachers to receive a feedback from the pupils and students, which will help them to improve their classroom performance and work on their weak areas. Also, it will provide the school principal and the head teacher with a tool to adequately assess their teachers. The villagers of Najude came out to work for the school. They created a gutter on the roadside which will channel the rain water to a close by river, thereby protecting the sports field against erosion. This noble community effort will further enhance the healthy relationship between the school and the community. The most important event this week was the presentation of the community awareness play on the importance of poliomyelitis vaccination on Thursday, the 20th of March 2014, which is a milestone in the history of the school. The NPS Drama Club presented their play in the neighboring town of Kuya in the local clinic. Many villagers, men, women and children came to watch it and they were very happy about it. The event was also recorded with the school’s video camera, and pictures of it can be seen in the photo diary. The play will also be presented in other villages around the school, so that as many people as possible will be reached. The NPS agriculture club has started the sale of its chickens. Almost all the teachers bought at least one chicken, so that all the chickens were sold off successfully. The Agriculture Club managed to make a profit of 5’000 Naira, which will be paid into the school account. With the building of a bigger chicken farm, this profit will multiply, and the business looks very promising. Just like the other revenue generating projects (RGPs), this will help the school to become more independent of donations. The second term examinations will start on Monday, the 24 of March, and will end on the 2nd of April.

Press Club Report: On Saturday, the 15th of March 2014, a fire disaster occurred at the house of a Fulani man, who is residing near ’Ya’Yan Yalo and Najude community. According to our correspondent, the fire was caused by a boy playing with matches. As the thatch roof of the building caught alight very quickly, there was nothing they could do to save the house. All the food such as rice, guinea corn, maize and millet, as well as his bicycle were destroyed. People from ‘Ya’Yan Yalo and Najude ran to help him but they were too late. The Fulani man and his family were left with nothing more than ashes, but luckily nobody was injured.


28.03.2014, Week 12

School Report: The end of the term examinations began on Monday, the 24th of March with the secondary school section because of the higher number of subjects there. The first exams in the primary school section followed on Wednesday, and both sections will be through with all the exams on Wednesday next week. The preparation classes this week had a very large turnout: Almost every pupil and student living in Najude and other close by villages returned to school in the evening to read for the ongoing examinations. The teachers of NPS are busy with the marking and computation of examination papers. Hopefully this examination period is going to be the finest the school ever conducted: The exams papers are all ready and printed out on time on the day of the exams and there are no hitches whatsoever so far. This is one of the biggest achievements of the new school administration under the new principal Mr Sylvanus Aniah to date. A notification letter was sent to the neighboring village of Dogon Awo by the NPS drama club. This was to inform them that on Wednesday next week the club will stage their community awareness drama on poliomyelitis in the area, just as they did in the neighboring village of Kuya last week. The drama club has developed similar community awareness dramas that will be staged after holidays, for example about HIV and its causes and transmission route and the need to eliminate stigmatization against people living with the virus, or about how the rampant corruption in politics and economy is marring the development of society. On Thursday, another milestone was set in the history of NPS: For the first time, the students of secondary school were given the possibility to asses the classroom performance of their teachers with the NPS Secondary School Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Teacher Performance. With the help of an instructor in every class, they answered all the questions about their teachers. The primary school pupils will follow next week with the NPS Primary School Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Teacher Performance. This is another brain child of the new school administration which will further improve the level of education in our school, alongside with the recent massive infrastructural developments. These questionnaires serve as unique and very useful tools for the teachers to receive a feedback from the students and pupils, which will help them to improve and refine their teaching. It also gives to school administration the means to properly assess the performance of individual teachers and to indentify their weak areas. The head teacher Mrs Angelina Tanko held a meeting with all the primary school teachers on Friday. Among other things, she briefed them on exams issues and how to care for their pupils books.

Press Club Report: On Sunday, the 23th of March 2014, a naming ceremony was done in Gidan Na Audu for the bouncing baby boy of the family of Mr and Mrs Usman, and the boy was named Saminu Adamu. Different types of food were being cooked to celebrate this occasion, and all the people were very happy. And on Wednesday, the 26th of March 2014 at around 11am, a baby girl was born to the family of Mr Magaji Lukman, our very own NPS teacher and school bursar. Mrs Lukman delivered her baby at home without complications, and both mother and child are healthy and sound. So we want to seize this opportunity to congratulate Mr Lukman and his wife for their third child to date, may God continue to bless your family abundantly, Amen! At the time of compiling this report, the father, the mother and the new born child are all doing fine. As customs demand, the naming ceremony will take place next week. Where there is life, there is also death. Two sad incidents took place in the communities of Dogon Awo and Kuya this week. On Saturday, the 20th of March 2014, a young man from Gidan Sarki was killed on the highway on his way coming back from Kaduna on his motorcycle. He met his death when he was hit by a speeding car at a place called Jaji, between Kaduna and Zaria. The force of the collision was such that the man was kicked off the highway. He was rushed to the hospital but died on their way there. He was buried at home. And on Sunday, the 23th of March 2014, a man was beaten to death by three of his friends at around 3:20pm. He was killed because of seven thousand Naira he owed to the persons who killed him. He was rushed to the hospital in Kuya, but unfortunately he died there. As a result of this, police raided the area of Dogon Awo and a lot of men were picked up and are detained in the police station as at when this report was compiled. One of the three persons involved seems to have gotten away with a motorcycle he stole. The victim and his murderers have been working together in the okada (motorcycle taxi) business in Kaduna, and this is where the argument has originated from.


04.04.2014, Week 13

School Report: The second term examinations ended on Wednesday. A general staff meeting was held on Thursday, during which examinations issues, the questionnaires on teacher performance and next term’s resumption topped the agenda. Similarly, the PTA’s old and new officials held a meeting with some of the school officials to prepare the handing over of leadership and documents which is scheduled to take place on Monday next week. The primary school pupils who won the NPS primary school spelling competition were given their prizes during the vacation assembly on Friday. And the pupils and students who took first to third positions in their classes were lined up in front of the assembly and also received their prices as usual. After that, all the pupils and students received their report sheets and were dismissed at noon. The school will resume on the 5th of May 2014, and so the next school report will be due on Friday, the 9th of May 2014. We wish all the pupils, students and teachers a safe journey to their various destinations and happy holidays!

Press Club Report: On Monday, the 31st of March 2014, pottery production began in ’Ku’koki town. According to our correspondent, the people who are moulding those pots are earning their livelihood with this work. On Wednesday, the 2nd of April 2014, the drilling of a new borehole in the Dogon Awo area began. The people are very happy, because the new borehole will bring more progress to the community. The drilling machine and a lot of other equipment was put in place in order to support the work. Meanwhile, the fetching of wild honey is in progress. Normally it is being done during night hours by using fire and smoke in order to prevent the bees from stinging, which can be dangerous. So all the students and pupils are advised to be careful while fetching honey. And now, we wish everybody happy holidays! Our next report will be out on Friday, the 9th of May 2014.



Third Term AS 2013/14


09.05.2014, Week 01

School Report:The third term of the 2013/2014 academic session started on the 5th of May 2014. As last term, all the teachers were present except Abba Shehu who claimed to have fallen sick. Also, 300 students were present on the very first day after holidays, which is very good. Even the number of boarding students who came back to the hostel the previous Saturday was almost complete. The parents are trooping into the school to pay the school fees of their children in the bursar’s office. During the first assembly, the principal Mr Aniah Ashang formally welcomed all the pupils and students back to school and thanked God for returning them safely. He urged them to continue to remain disciplined and abide by all school rules and regulations. In addition, he informed them that from now on, the pupils and students are no longer allowed to leave the school premises during the break times. Since there is now a wall encompassing the entire school premises, the gates will be closed at 7:30am and opened when the school closes again in the afternoon. He said that until the school kitchen/restaurant is fully operational, the students should bring along food and snacks for break time from home. The acting principal also warned the hostel pupils that it is now prohibited for them to leave the school premises to go to farm and work there in order to earn some money. If any student is henceforth caught outside the school premises, they will have to face consequences. After the roll call, the general cleaning of the compound, the classrooms and offices was done. Lessons then commenced immediately after the 12pm break. The school closed at the usual time, which is at 2pm for lower primary classes, 2:40pm for upper primary classes, 3:20pm for junior secondary school and 4pm for senior secondary school. All the school clubs held their weekly meetings on Tuesday and were supervised by their clubs coordinators. Also on Tuesday, the teachers and students fixed the areas where erosion is threatening to carry away a lot of soil. There were two staff meetings in this first week of the term. Some of the issues discussed were the drawing of the action plan for this term, a warning against late coming and the fine involved and the director’s message concerning the recent teacher evaluation via the questionnaires. The principal again told the male teachers to be careful when they play with the school children. He urged them to see them as their own children and younger ones. Similarly, the chairperson of the NPS commission for the prevention of sexual harassment and rape, Mrs Angelina Tanko, warned if any teacher is found guilty of trespassing against the rules and regulations concerning the teacher-student relationships, they will be relieved of their job with immediate effect. The agriculture club has started with the cultivation of okra seeds in their garden, and the drama club members have also resumed the rehearsal of their next drama.

Press Club Report: On the 20th April 2014, the raining season started fully. This means that the rainfall started very early this year as compared to other year in the past, which is strange. There is also a lot of very strong wind, which is even destroying a lot of houses by pulling down roofs and even walls. Luckily no one was hurt so far in the local communities around the school. On the 23rd of April 2014 during the school holidays, the boys brigade battalion council of Kaduna state held their state wide conference at Pampaida, not too far away from Najude. The conference consisted of many battalions such as the Ikara battalion, the Sabon Gari Zaria battalion and the Kubau battalion, among others. The council started at about 2pm with opening prayers by the resident boys brigade commandant. On the second day of the conference, many parades and exercises were being performed. All the battalions that participated in the competition impressed their audience. The Kubau battalion took first position, while the Ikara battalion scored the second best result. The conference ended successfully on the 27th of April. On Friday, the 2nd of May 2014, a Fulani man know as Malam Rimi from Kuya was going to Abuja with his cattle to graze there. Unfortunately he was attacked by some men who stole some of his cows. Malam Rimi said the men promised to kill him if he refused to give them the cows. Also that week, an announcement was made that nobody should steal mangoes from another person’s trees. If they are caught in the act, they will be brought to the police station in Ikara and will have to pay a penalty of 5’000 Naira for each mango.

Press Club Special Report: The tattoos of the old women in Najude community
This week, the future journalists of NPS decided to cover a special story withing the Najude community. They interviewed some of the old age women in the village in order to find out more about the importance and the meaning of the tattoos that cover their whole bodies. The women we interviewed were Mrs Baici Dangai and Mrs Salama Tambai. They said the tattoos were made when they were very young in order to beautify their bodies and that they were also important for marriage. They showed us the different tattoos such as agogo (clock), which is drawn on their hand; kadangaruwa (lizards) on  their arm; kibiya (arrow) on the middle of their chest; ’yar kirji (that of the chest); allo (slate) on their breasts; ’yar wuya (that of the neck); and ’yar kanzau wich is an incision on their chin (pictures of these tattoos can be seen here). Speaking further, they said by the time they were young, any lady who refused to beautify herself with tattoos was referred to as a lady filled with fear among her friends. It was even the case that the whole society used to separate themselves from such a lady. For example, if such girls attended a conference or any other social gathering, other women did not carry out some activities with them such as eating and dancing. Other girls would not play with such a girl if she was playing, and they would refer to her as a lazy and fearful person and even sing songs about her. One of the songs goes like this:

Budurwa mai tsoro,
Ba za a je gidanta ba,
Tana gudu kamar barewa.

(A young girl who is always scared,
She will not be visited in her house,
She runs like a squirrel.)


16.05.2014, Week 02

School Report: On Monday, the 12th of May 2014, the PTA officials held a crucial meeting. They tried to find new ways of working together with the school administration in order to achieve the best results possible. The PTA officials completely agreed with the decision of the school administration not to allow students to leave the school premises during the breaks. They promised to make it known to other parents in the general meeting which is coming up on Thursday next week. Also this week, the West Africa Examination Certificate (WAEC) timetable for Junior Secondary School (JSS) came out and was brought to NPS by the school examination officer Mr Tersoo Pever from the Zonal Education Office in Anchau. The examination will last for nine days, and it will begin on the 10th of July 2014. On Thursday, it was brought to the attention of the school administration that some students are sewing new school uniforms at home instead of buying them from the school. This prompted us to place a fine of three hundred Naira on all those who did this, and they also have to pay for a new school uniform in the bursar’s office. The PTA officials condemned this too and said that this will also be on their agenda during the next meeting. On Saturday, the 17th of May 2014, a NPS Alumni Association meeting will take place. This will be the second general assembly of the alumni since the association was formed late last year. Some of the agenda items are to write the final form the constitution, to update the member list and to open a bank account in Zaria where the NPSAA can deposit the member fees and the donations of the members and supporters.

Press Club Report: On Wednesday, the 14th of May 2014, the members of the NPS press club went to Gidan Alhaji Barno for a special report on the Fulani people living in the area around Najude Pioneer School. We wanted to cover the topic of how Fulani people live and how they earn their living. We started the journey at around 1:30pm and arrived at the Fulani house at around 2:15pm. Upon our arrival, we greeted the Fulani people and they welcomed us. We told them the reason of our coming and began our interview with Alhaji Barno Danfulani, the oldest person in the settlement. We started by asking him how many days it takes to get to the place where they normally feed their animals. He answered by saying that there is no specific number of days, because they will not stop moving with their animals until they reach a place where pasture is available for them to graze on. He said that sometimes it can even take them up to two months before they reach a destination where there is available pasture. Secondly, we asked him about the preparations they make for the journey in search for pasture. Alhaji Barno said that before the journey commences, they prepare and carry all the necessary things needed for cooking such as pots, plates, calabashes, maize, guinea corn, millet and gallons for fetching drinking water. Their best food is fura da nono. He also said that they used to travel for twelve hours a day: If they commenced their journey in the morning at round 7:00am, they continue till 7:00pm before they would stop, cook their food, rest and wait for the next day. We also asked him what they do if one of them falls sick. He answered that if any of them falls sick, they used to wait and get medicine like herbs. They would give it to the sick person and wait for him to get better before they would continue their journey. But if the died that they would be buried in that very place. There are some Fulani people nowadays that don’t use to go far to graze their animals, and Alhaji Barno said that such people are regarded as very lazy Fulani. That they are just doing that because they don’t want to suffer themselves for their animals. He also proved to us that Fulani people like living in bushy areas with their animals. Because their animals like places where there is much vegetation so they won’t be disturbed by anybody. He said that if you happen to see a Fulani man in the city or town, he may doesn’t have animals to rear. Sometimes, when dangerous wild animals attack them in the bush, they are driven away using a stick that is lit with fire. That is why they are not afraid of wild animals from any direction. We also asked him about Fulani people that can be seen passing the school with their wives, children, animals and all the necessary things that can be found at home as if they are migrating to another place. He said that in such a situation, they may be going back to their former location where they have once lived a long time ago while some are changing location to a new place. At last we asked him why Fulani people don’t allow their children to go to school. He answered that if the children were allowed to go to school, nobody would be there to rear their animals. So they prefer to send their children to go and rear their animals instead of sending them to school. Pictures of the Fulani village and Alhaji Barno Danfulani can be seen here.


23.05.2014, Week 03

School Report: This week, the newly purchased grinding engine was installed. The cement still has to dry, but hopefully we can start using it next week. This grinding engine is one of the revenue generating projects (RGPs) of the school, which will generate a regular income for the school. This will help us to become more independent from outside donations. At the same time, it will be really helpful for the villagers. They can now grind and thresh their grains like corn and rice etc. without having to trek for a long distance like before. The new school toilets are now fully in use. Also, the school kitchen has started operating. This is helping both the students and teachers to keep fit throughout the school hours, as they can buy food from the kitchen now. The students parliament met the principal Mr Aniah Ashang on Wednesday. The parliamentarians clamored for the removal of the law which banned the students from going out of the school during the breaks. The principal told them that the law which stops them from leaving the school compound during the breaks is necessary. Because in the past, the pupils and students who went home during break normally missed part of the lessons because they returned late. Last Saturday, the 17th of May 2014, the NPS Alumni Association (NPSAA) held their second meeting in the school’s multipurpose hall. The constitution of the association was finalized and made available to all the members. On Thursday, the 22nd of May 2014, the PTA held a general meeting. The parents were informed that the school restaurant has been partially opened, that the students will no longer be allowed to leave the school compound during breaks and that there is a fine on the students who produce their uniforms outside the school. After the PTA meeting, the youth of Najude and Gidan ’Yan’yalo held their own meeting with the school administration in order to foster the good relationship between the host communities in the area and the school. As a result, the youth and the staff of NPS are to play a friendly football match on Sunday, the 8th of June 2014. In the first quiz of the term, Primary 5A defeated primary 5B. The second quiz is coming up in three weeks between primary 5A and primary 6A. And next week’s Tuesday, the 27th of May 2014, will mark the world children’s day. The school has already organized many activities to mark that day and for the children to enjoy and play.

Press Club Report: On Tuesday, the 20th of May 2014, the NPS press club members went to Unguwar Sarki Gwanki in order to interview the Sarkin Arna (traditional cultural leader) to find out more about the traditional lifestyle. We started our journey at around 2:00pm and reached the house of the Sarkin Arna at around 2:50pm. As we reached, we entered the house and greeted the family members. As we were in the presence of the king, we greeted him and he welcomed us. First of all we introduced ourselves, and we started asking questions: Where did he rule when he was the king? He said that he ruled all of Makarfi Local Government area which included Gwanki, Sabon Gari, Maigadi, Gangara, Tashan Yari, Ruma, Gazara, Kudan etc. So before the arrival of the modern lifestyle, he was the Sarkin Arna (head of the pagans) in all these places. We also asked him about their food by then, and he said that the major foods by that time were tuwo, dambu, burkutu, giya and mushe. He also said that there were rules in the society and some things were prohibited, such as stealing and adultery. If somebody was caught breaking these laws they would be arrested and taken to the king, where they would face serious judgment. If somebody was caught with another man’s wife, their clothes would be removed by the people who caught them, and the woman’s head scarf would also be collected so that they couldn’t deny themselves during judgment at the king’s house. He also said that a man could marry as many wives as he could take care of. He told us that he himself had married up to 19 wives, but today only seven are still with him. If a man wanted to marry, he had to take some things such as kola nuts, a big ram, chicken etc. to the bride’s house. On the day of the wedding ceremony the bride would go to the bridegroom’s house together with his people. He hold us that he had inherited this kingdom from his father and that he ruled for about 70 years. But that now he is old so he has passed the kingdom down to his son Ishaku Sarki. He had ruled as both Sarkin Arna (head of the pagans) and Sarkin Noma (head of farming). With the arrival of the modern lifestyle, he stopped all those kind of behaviors, such as drinking burkutu and giya (locally brewed beer and hard liquor) and eating mushe (dead meat). Pictures of the old Sarkin Arna and his son Ishaku Sarki can be seen here.


30.05.2014, Week 04

School Report: On Monday, the principal and the head teacher held a meeting with the school’s security men. It was observed that the men usually leave the school compound as soon as school is over and the pupils and students have left. The two officials reminded them that they have to continue their work throughout the day as they are employed to not only protect the children but the whole school. They were also told to reschedule their duty roster so that it will allow one of them to operate the new grinding engine. During the general staff meeting this week, the principal continued to encourage the teachers to get smart phones so that they could join the NPS staff chat on WhatsApp. The NPS staff team has commenced training to prepare for the upcoming football match against the youths of the host communities and they return to the school every evening. For the first time, the school organized activities this week to celebrate the world children’s day which was marked on Tuesday, the 27th of May 2014. The celebration started with a football match between the junior secondary and the senior secondary section in which the seniors proved their superiority over their juniors by winning 2:1. The junior secondary students on their part later defeated the upper primary pupils in a snooker competition. In the table tennis competition, the senior secondary emerged the overall winner. And in the dancing competition, pupils and students of all classes danced and had full fun.

Press Club Report: This week, we wanted to talk about the history and purpose of the popular Hausa folk tales. In order to get more information about this topic, we asked an old women in Gidan Najude called Tata Tambai. She told us that in most of the Hausa fairy tales, the main characters are Gizo and his wife Koki, and that these names are never given to real persons. She said that these folk tales were told among families and friends just to entertain people and make them happy. The stories of Gizo and Koki were normally told in the evening and at night hours during leisure time, at naming ceremonies, wedding ceremonies and other such occasions. She also said that this was mostly done in the olden days, when she was still young. Unfortunately, nowadays there is not enough time for people to gather at night like before, instead they are watching television or listening to radio or music. Besides being entertaining, the stories also had a message they wanted to share: For example, they tried to show to people the benefits of hard work, that it is good to live peacefully and to be courageous in everything you do. Tata Tambai then also gave us a short example of an actual Gizo da Koki folk tale:

Once upon a time there was a man called Gizo and his wife called Koki. Gizo had a friend called Masho, who also had a wife. One day Koki went to Masho’s house to fetch fire. When she reached there, she met him eating meat together with his wife. She greeted them and they gave her some of the meat. But Masho told her not to tell her husband Gizo where she got the meat. She collected the meat, fetched her fire, thanked them and went back home. When she got home, her husband Gizo asked her where she got the meat from. She answered him by saying that it was his friend Masho who gave her the meat, and that he told her not to tell him about it. Gizo angrily went to his friend’s house and said to Masho: “So you have a way of getting meat and you refuse to inform me?” Then Masho said: “Gizo, you are a troublesome person. If I tell you where I am getting the meat for me and my family, I know that you would not be careful enough while getting it for you and your own family. That’s why I didn’t tell you.” So Gizo promised to Masho that he would be very careful. Masho then told Gizo that he got the meat from the inside of a very big and mighty cow. Whenever he wants to enter the inside of that big cow to fetch some meat he sings “Saniya-saniya open your vulva for me to enter”. The cow then opens its vulva and he enters. So they went together to the cow. Masho showed Gizo how to sing the song, and they entered and fetched meat as much as they were able to carry. As they came out, Masho sang again: “Saniya-Saniya close your vulva”. It closed, and they went back home successfully. Gizo was very happy because now there was no more eating food without meat. Then after some days, when Gizo’s meat had finished, he decided to go back to the cow alone without informing his friend, so that he didn’t have to share the meat with him. As he reached the cow, he sang just as his friend had taught him, and he entered the cow and fetched meat again. He fetched, fetched and fetched, as much as he could possibly carry. But as he tried to come out he had forgotten the song necessary to come out. He tried, tried and tried, but no matter what he did, it didn’t work. So he had no choice and had to stay inside the cow for up to seven months. He was eating and drinking what the cow was eating and drinking. On the day of the slaughtering of the cow, Gizo was still inside it. As they where slaughtering it, his friend Masho happened to be together with the slaughtermen. He had found out that Gizo was still inside the cow and talked to him. He told Gizo: “Enter the ruminant stomach and hide there if you don’t want to be killed!” Gizo heard his friend’s voice and did as he was told. As the cow was slaughtered the ruminant stomach was given to a boy to go and wash it. The boy collected it and used a sharp knife to open the stomach, and he poured the remaining dung on the ground, together with Gizo. When Gizo found himself on the ground he immediately got up and slapped the boy. He started abusing him: “Why did you pour the cow dung on my body? All my clothes and my body are spoiled, so what do you want me to do now?” So that’s how Gizo came out of the cow, because he was too greedy and he didn’t remember the song to come out of the cow. That’s the end of this Gizo da Koki fold tale. Pictures of Tata Tambai as she is telling the story can be seen here.


06.06.2014, Week 05

School Report: In the NPS meeting this week, the following decisions were taken: To change the school cap to a beret cap, to omit the jacket from the uniform, to produce a tie for the boys, to change the general assembly ground to the front of the multipurpose hall, to get a resource person to hold a seminar with the teachers on teaching methods and techniques on how to set examination questions, to send some teachers to attend educative seminars outside the school, to make an English dictionary a compulsory textbook together with the English and mathematics textbooks and to include them in the school fees, to include a Hausa reading and writing book in the primary one school fees and to choose a place to attend the staff excursion (staff outing). The NPS Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Rape organized a lecture for the students. The resource persons who presented the lectures were Ms Jamila Mercy and Ms Lydia Jama’a. Ms Jamila Mercy is a radio presenter and works with the Ray Power FM Radio in Katsina State, and she spoke on social aspects. Among other things, she condemned in strong terms the act of a male teacher calling his female students love names. She said any male teacher who shows such a devilish attitude is irresponsible and does not qualify to be a teacher. Ms Lydia Jama’a is a nurse, and she is working with the general hospital in Makarfi. She spoke on the dangers of abortion and sexually transmitted diseases and their complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). She spoke very well on her topics with clear examples to the students, who were listening attentively and who learned a lot from these lectures. The Prevention Committee will organize such events twice every school year. The NPS press club will go on an expedition trip to some broadcasting houses on Wednesday, the 11th of June 2014. They will be visiting the Kaduna State Media Cooperation (KSMC) and the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in Zaria. The students are really looking forward to this day. Furthermore the club has carried out one of the most difficult interviews since they began their community journalism. They had an interview with some spirits that exist inside some human beings. The details can be found in the press club report. The grinding engine that was in the hostel has been relocated to the new engine room. Some teachers were mobilized to provide a place where the machine will be kept. The registration process for the admission of new pupils is to start on Monday the 9th of June 2014. The time for registration of applicants is 4pm to 6pm daily. The requirements for registration is a birth certificate, and the applicant must be between 6 and 7 years of age. Admission into JSS 1 will commence immediately after the primary 1 exercise. And the successful candidates must take their passport photographs to the school. The JSS examinations will start on Tuesday, the 10th of June 2014, to 19th of June 2014. The examination officer of NPS, Mr Tersoo Pever, went to the local government zonal education office on Wednesday for the examination papers. The common entrance examinations for primary six pupils are scheduled for Saturday, the 14th of June 2014. The agriculture club has started the brooding of chickens in their farm. They have 25 chicks in the nest now. There will be a football match between the NPS staff and the youth of the host communities on Sunday, the 8th of June. The game will further strengthen the friendly relations between the school and the surrounding communities.


13.06.2014, Week 06

School Report: The Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE) has started nationwide on Tuesday the 9th of June 2014. Our JSS 3 students are also part of the examination. The common entrance examination will come up on Saturday, the 14th of June 2014 and will start at 9am. Internal candidates are to pay N200, while external candidates are to pay N500 as examination fees. On Wednesday this week, the NPS press club embarked on an excursion trip to some media houses in the city of Zaria. They visited the Kaduna State Media Cooperation (KSMC) and the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). This was a real life experience for the students and a great motivation for them to continue their efforts in the club. Some of our scholarship students in Zaria who intend to study mass communication also came along. Also this week, the NPS secondary school spelling competition was held, and Zachariah Adamu from JSS 2 emerged as the overall winner. The 2nd position was taken by Samaila Adamu from SSS 2, and the 3rd position goes to Alhamdu Habila from JSS 3. Congratulations to all of them. As the overall winner of the competition, Zachariah Adamu will receive a bicycle as his price, which will be very useful to him as he comes from a neighboring village that is far away from the school. The teachers of the primary school section held a meeting during the first break on Thursday, and these were some of the issues discussed: To submit the list of repeaters in each class, to continue to use teaching aids, that all the teachers have to summit their lesson plans and notes, and the selection of teachers for organizing the common entrance examinations.


20.06.2014, Week 07

School Report: The admission list for the 2014/2015 academic session was placed on the school’s notice board on Monday, and the successful candidates have already commenced registration. 50 new pupils were admitted into primary 1. Ten pupils are repeating the class, which means that sixty pupils will be in the two primary 1 classes, 30 in 1A and 30 in 1B. Several teachers were interviewed during the week as we are trying to find a new teacher for primary 2. In the end, Ms Lydia Ahu came first in the test. She is a NCE holder in Business studies. She did her studies in the Federal College of Education in Zaria (FCE), and she resumed full duty on Tuesday, the 17th of June. On Wednesday, a general labor day was conducted. All the over grown grasses were trimmed and the areas where erosion is trying to encroach were being controlled. On Saturday, the 14th of June 2014, the transfer entrance examinations into Junior Secondary School (JSS1) were conducted. 29 internal and 19 external candidates sat for the exams. The examination fee for the external candidates was 500N each.


27.06.2014, Week 08

School Report: During this week’s teacher meeting, the new class 2 teacher, Ms Lydia Ahu, was formally introduced to the team. The school rules and regulations were being read to her by the school secretary. After the reading a copy of the rules and regulations was handed to her. The principal urged the staff to support her and to help her to adapt quickly to the environment. The examination officer was directed to give her a general orientation on examination matters. Furthermore the school examiner reminded the teachers that the third term examination questions must cover the 1st, 2nd and 3rd term. The school bursar briefed the rest of the staff on the collection of admission form and examination fees. As part of the administration’s transparency agenda, the bursar concluded that anyone who wishes to check the school account book to see how the money is spent should feel free to do so. Samuel Macauley, the sport master of the school thanked the staff who participated in the last game against the villagers, which had ended 5:0 against the NPS staff. Samuel also announced the forthcoming game between the primary and secondary sections. The principal directed the two HODs to submit a comprehensive report on the performance of each teacher from their respective departments. He stressed that this will form part of the assessment in awarding the best teacher of the year. Meanwhile the NPS club coordinators have submitted their own report as earlier directed. On the 3rd of July all the clubs are to present a report of their activities that they have done so far. Mohammed Abubakar, Ezra Irimiya, Simon Ishaya and Aniah Sylvanus were selected to present a talk on patriotism to the students before the term ends. The NPS refresher course was held on Wednesday, the 25th of June, during which Tersoo Pever and Samuel Macauley presented their separate lectures. The art club has started painting parts of the school wall, which is a very interesting activity for the students. The painting is solely carried out by the students but under the guidance of the club master Mr Isaac Musa. The Agric club has planted onions on their farm which is located at the back of the new class buildings. Three orange trees were planted at the back of the new classroom buildings, and one palm tree was planted in front of the JSS 2 classroom.


04.07.2014, Week 09

School Report: The club coordinators, the principal and the head teacher decided to transfer some students from one club to another. This was done after careful observation of the members of each club, during which it was discovered that some students were inactive in their club. If they are transferred to a club that suits them better and that picks their personal interest, this may change. It was also observed that the literature and debate club has been silent since it was formed. So the chairman of the club, Mr Marok Caleb Dodo, was urged to step up his efforts in order to change the club to the better. Some JSS 3 students who refused to return to school for three to five days after writing their junior WAEC were severely punished. New school prefects were elected. The new school head boy is Balaraba Sule and the new head girl is Safiratu Solomon. The presentation of the junior secondary school’s short plays also took place this week. The topics of the different groups in JSS1 and JSS 2 were “Dangers of Exam Malpractice”, “Disobedient Students”, “Indiscipline in School” and “Corruption in School”. In addition, oral tests in all the junior secondary classes were conducted. During this tests, each student came to the front of the class and introduced themselves to the other students and told them what they want to do after school, etc. Their mates then asked them several questions based on what they said, which the tested students had do answer. The Kaduna State secondary school unified examination will commence on the 8th of July 2014 and will end on the 22nd of the same month. Meanwhile, the school’s internal examination will begin on the 17th of July and end on the 28th of July 2014. The academic session 2013/14 will then end on the 8th of August, when we will vacate for the summer break. The collection of a penalty fee in case of speaking vernacular during school hours has now officially begun in all classes except in primary one to three, where Hausa is accepted as the language in which the lessons are conducted. The students have to submit the penalty fee to the class teacher who will keep the money, which will be used to buy biscuits for the whole class at the end of the term. A debate competition will come up on Thursday next week. The contest will be between JSS 3 and SSS 1. The topic of the debate will be “Is it better to go to a nearby local school or to an outside school?”. Next Friday will be the school’s club day. During this time each club will give a detailed report on what they have been doing during the term and they will present their vision for the future. After that there will a presentation of programs by all the clubs.


11.07.2014, Week 10

School Report: The Kaduna State unified examinations began on Monday the 7th of July 2014. The school’s examination officer Mr Tersoo Pever has already collected all the question papers for the internal examinations of NPS, which will begin on the 18th. The orientation of the new primary 2A class teacher Ms Lydia Ahu was conducted successfully, and the school rules and regulations booklet was given to her after the orientation. The orientation for the new prefects will come up next week. On Wednesday, a bicycle and two Oxford dictionaries were given out as prizes to the winners of the 2014 NPS spelling competition. Zachariah Adamu as the overall winner of the competition was given the bicycle, while Samaila Adamu and Alhamdu Habila were given the Oxford dictionaries. In the second term of the next academic session, the primary section will host their own spelling competition. The regular teacher’s refresher course was held on Thursday this week. Amos Ibrahim, who is the JSS3 class teacher and the geography teacher in all the SSS classes, treated the topic of rivers and lakes in Nigeria, while Salisu Umar, the Hausa teacher, taught phonetics and phonology. A general staff meeting was held this week, and these were some of the things we discussed: That preparatory classes should be made compulsory for all the SSS3 students, while some teachers should still hold regular lessons with them in the most important subjects (mathematics, English, chemistry, physics and economics) and that the school nurse should give a general health lecture to the entire staff next week. On Friday, there was a very big occasion as the NPS 2014 club day was being celebrated. All the eight school clubs presented their terminal reports and their activities over the school year. The drama club sang the welcoming song and presented a play titled “The importance of socialization in mixed schools”, and the press club gave a short news presentation and a play called “The dangers of illiteracy”. The literature and debate club presented a heated debate on whether public or private schools are better. Both sides presented well stated points for their own position and against the other. The JETS club demonstrated to the audience how electricity can be generated from raw materials. The art club presented all the products which they have produced so far, including the automatic stage which was launched today to the amusement of the children. Members of the agricultural club gave a brief lecture on the importance of agriculture to man. They also showcased some farm products like yam and onions and finally presented their own products produced by them here in the school. Among other things they also showed the white chickens from the school’s poultry farm. The music club sang two sweet melodies by themselves and mimed one from the deck. To crown it all, the sport club hosted a soccer game between the primary and the secondary sections, which ended 1:1. A return leg football match between the NPS staff and the host communities is scheduled for Sunday, the 13th of July 2014. So all the teachers who are going for weekend are urged to return Sunday afternoon.


18.07.2014, Week 11

School Report: On Sunday, the NPS staff and the host communities played a unity game. It was a return game following the first game which was played two weeks ago. By that time, the NPS staff suffered a 0:5 defeat. In this returning leg, the staff managed to win 1:0. An orientation was organized this week for the newly appointed prefects. During the orientation each prefect was briefed on their duties and portfolio. The third term examinations started on Thursday, the 17th of July 2014 with the secondary section, because they have more subjects to cover. The primary section will join on Monday next week. The examination will end on the 31st of July, and the school will vacate on the 1st of August. The last lecture of the Teacher Refresher Course (TRC) for this term was held on Wednesday. The lecture was handled by the school nurse, Mr Ezra Maikasuwa and the topic was malaria disease. He lectured on how malaria can affect humans, and he talked about the signs and symptoms of malaria and how it can be prevented. He also differentiated between the symptoms of malaria and typhoid fever. On Thursday evening, the Parent’s Teacher Association (PTA) donated 26 fruit trees to the school. The trees have already been planted around the school premises. They include orange, guava, cocoa nut and mango trees as well as umbrella trees. The two best NPS teachers of the year were chosen this week: Amos Ibrahim from the primary section and Samuel Macauley from the secondary section. They were chosen based on merit, because of their excellent and inspiring work. The assessment was based on their classroom performance as well as their other duties in the school and their efforts in extra curricular activities. Amos Ibrahim is the geography teacher in senior secondary school, and he also teaches religious studies in junior secondary school. He has never taken any excuse since he was employed, he is very serious with his job and he marks and summits his class register regularly and promptly as well. Amos has never attended school late since he was employed and he participates in any extra work in the school without complaining. He’s an active member of the welfare committee, a co-coordinator of the NPS clubs and the secretary to the PTA. Samuel Macauley is the class teacher of Primary 5. He is very dedicated to his duties, he often prepares teaching aids for his lessons, and his pupils are very smart. Samuel comes to school early. He is the quiz master and as the sports master of the school he has successfully hosted several sport competitions and football matches in the school. During dry season in this academic session, both teachers and students used to return to school in the evening for games, and he has proudly organized the biggest inter-house sport competitions in NPS history last term. He has exhibited an unending zeal to draw the host communities and environs closer to the school by regularly organizing soccer games with them and we all know what that means to the well being of the school. Similarly three student teachers were chosen as the most hardworking student teachers: They are Istifanus Yakubu, Istifanus Yusuf and Saratu Andrawus.


25.07.2014, Week 12

School Report: The third term examinations have ended on Friday, the 25 of July 2014. The marking and computation of results by the class and subject teachers are going on smoothly. The school will vacate next week on Friday, the 1st of August. The resumption date for the 2014/15 academic session is 08/09/2014. The resource persons who are invited from the Federal College of Education (FCE) Zaria to hold a two day seminar for the teachers and senior students of NPS are to start on Wednesday next week. The first lecture for the teachers will begin 9:00 am and will cover the new method of designing lesson plans and lesson notes, teaching methodology and classroom management,  the national policy on education etc. The seminar on Thursday will feature career guidance talks with the secondary school students. Maintenance work was carried out in the classes and in the hostel as well. The school’s acting facility manager Lukman Magaji repaired the damaged toilets in the school hostel, and the bathroom floor was also newly cemented. Some damaged doors and windows in the classes and the doors and windows inside the hostel were all fixed by a welder. Meanwhile, the school’s solar borehole suddenly stopped working again on Thursday and the contractor was contacted immediately. He promised to send a plumber to come and fix it. The preparatory class has come to an end on Thursday night. The school’s examination officer Mr Tersoo was asked to go and look for a WAEC centre where we are going to register our SSS 3 students. On Thursday, the school official’s meeting was held and the following issues were discussed: The staff outing to the Treasure of the Universe Park in Kaduna, the state capital, the end of the academic session party and prizes to be given to the outstanding students and pupils and the best teachers from the primary and secondary section. During the assembly the acting principal tasked the Head of Departments to wake up and to come up with creative ideas and bring about meaningful development in their various departments. He told them that since their appointment their impact has never been felt. He told them to try and organize departmental meetings with their teachers and to arrange for academic competition by having departmental debates, reading competitions etc.


01.08.2014, Week 13

School Report: This week the school was closed on Monday and Tuesday because of public holidays. When we resumed, all the teachers were busy with the computation of examination results. On Wednesday, a workshop on designing examinations and lesson plans was held. The guest teacher who organized the workshop was Dr Dantani, the dean of the federal college of education (FCE) Zaria. Some of the topics discussed during the workshop were: Knowledge testing methods in education, for example observation, pupils’ records and interviews etc. and types of test questions such as matching questions and open questions. Dantani also suggested some solutions that will lead to a higher academic performance of the pupils and students in our school: He said teachers should administer weekly assessments, award prizes at the end of the term based on the specific performance in the different subjects instead of on the overall result. He said that guidance services should be implemented and performance records should be taken. Finally he advised that employment of teaching staff into the school should not be based on paper qualification only but the character and attitude towards work should be properly checked too through a probation program. He promised to continue to help and support NPS. On Thursday, the NPS staff held their usual end of the session party in the school’s multipurpose hall. The occasion was used to present the awards to the best teachers of the 2013/14 academic session. As mentioned last week, the awardees were Amos Ibrahim as the best teacher in the secondary section and Samuel Macauley as the best teacher in the primary section. In their separate speeches the excited winners expressed their heartfelt happiness. The principal thanked them for their zeal and their will to do their job with all seriousness. As usual the head of departments collected all the instructional material like textbooks and calculators that were with the teachers during the term. On Friday morning, the school was closed for holidays, and all the pupils and students were sent home with good wishes and prayers for safe journey. After closing, all the teachers of NPS went to Zaria for a condolence visit to the house of the former principal of the school, Mrs Rita Muolokwu. Sadly, she had lost her beloved husband Chidi Muolokwu on Sunday, the 27th of July 2014. May his soul rest in perfect and eternal peace, Amen. The school will reopen for the academic session 2014/15 on Monday, the 8th of September 2014, which means that there will be no weekly reports until then. We wish everybody happy holidays!

Because of the ongoing epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa and the Ebola cases in Lagos and Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, all the primary and secondary schools in Nigeria have been ordered to extend their holidays for two additional weeks. So the new resumption date for the academic session 2014/15 is now the 22nd of September 2014.

First Term AS 2014/15


26.09.2014: Week 01

School Report: This Monday, the 22nd of September 2014, the school finally resumed after two additional weeks of holidays that were dictated by the federal government for all primary and secondary schools in the country because of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa and southern Nigeria. During the holidays, a teacher and the school nurse attended a seminar in Anchau to learn more about the outbreak of the disease and the means of prevention and protection against it. In this first week of school in the new academic session 2014/15, they are now sharing their knowledge with their fellow teachers. Next week, we are going to organize a venue for the students and all the villagers of the surrounding communities to equally inform them about the steps they can take to prevent the spread of the disease in case it should ever reach northern Nigeria in the future. For now, however, Nigeria was declared Ebola-free by the president, and hopefully it will stay like that. For the sake of prevention and information, the school’s drama club will organize a play on this issue for their community awareness program. On Monday, all the teachers appeared on time, unless two of them who will have a penalty fee deducted from their salaries this month. Five of our teachers are excused until October because they are attending their long vacation training (LVT) at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria to further their education. What they are learning there will ultimately benefit the pupils and students of NPS, so the other teachers are covering up for them for the meantime. A staff meeting was held on Wednesday to plan the school’s activities for this term. Also, the 2013/2014 Junior WAEC results were released this week, and our students performed excellently well: All of them had credit in the English language and mathematics subjects, and in technology they all had a straight A excluding two student who scored a C. We are proud of them and say congratulation to all of them. The PTA executives also met and prepared the agenda for the PTA meeting which is scheduled to take place next week. On Thursday, the school nurse was given the sum of 82’000 Naira to buy drugs for the school clinic. These include the drugs for the pupils, students and teachers and those for the treatment of outside patients, who have to pay for it. Also on Thursday, a parent came into the school compound aggressively, because he was angry that his daughter has to repeat primary 4. It took the security man on duty about 20 minutes to take the parent out of the school compound.

Press Club Report: This week, the Kukoki community has started to catch fish in their small river which also passes by Unguwar Najude. Many people, especially boys from the village, came out and harvested the fish. This additional food supply helps them to enjoy their village life. This event usually happens every year at the end of the raining season. On Monday, a wedding ceremony took place in Kuya town. The husband was Sallau Namina and the wife was Aisha from Nabai village, nearby Kuya. On the day of the wedding many people from the neighboring houses came and celebrated with them. On Wednesday, a death occurred at Gidan Tambai in Najude community at around 2:10 am in the night. Salomi Bulus (Tata), whom we had interviewed last term about the Hausa folk tales, died at the age of 80 years. She left behind three children (Habila, Iliya and Mika Tambai) and 19 grand children. We, the entire press club, are saying may God sustain her soul in perfect peace, Amen. We will remember her and she will live on in the stories she passed on to her children and grandchildren.


03.10.2014: Week 02

School Report: On the 29th of October the staff of Najude Pioneer School were lectured on the Ebola virus disease and preventive measures to stop the spread. The main objective of the lecture was to inform about the role of teachers to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus. Regarding not only the Ebola virus disease, but infectious diseases in general, it was once again emphasized on the importance of good personal hygiene and sanitation, especially the practice of frequent hand washing with detergents or antiseptics. On Tuesday this week, the school nurse Mr Ezra Maikasuwa then taught all the students and pupils the same things. He also went on to demonstrate to the pupils and students how to wash their hands properly before eating and after going to the bathroom, using the detergents and hand sanitizers provided by the school. The ebola virus seminar for the community is scheduled to take place next week on the 11th of October in the school’s multipurpose hall. On Wednesday, the 1st of October, we observed the national holiday, and there was no school. On Thursday, there was a meeting of the school officials in which it was decided that the school’s exam answer booklets will start being used next week  during the first continuous assessment test of this term. A PTA meeting was also held and among the issues discussed was the issue of buying a plot of land in order to build an additional school hostel there, which would be run by the PTA. On Friday during assembly the school nurse again demonstrated the use of hand sanitizers to the students and pupils.

Press Club Report: One of our correspondents went to find out about the prices of some goods in the market, and this is what he found: Onions are sold at the price of 5’000 Naira, and sometimes N6’000 or 7’000. Maize is being sold at the price of N3’000 or 4’000, and guinea corn at the outstanding price of N5’000. The price of ’Danzagade semi pepper is N5’000. Our correspondent concluded by saying that all crops are being sold according to their quality and quantity, and that all the farmers are still hoping for the increment of the prices. We all know that life is good with the presence of music. The “New life singers” of the Samalawa area are struggling and hoping to buy one musical instrument called “Molo” in Hausa, which could be used during practices and for zonal conferences. This musical instrument is being sold at the price of N30’000 to 40’000 only and it is now available in Bono, Ikara Local Government Area.


10.10.2014: Week 03

School Report: On Monday and Tuesday this week, we observed the public holiday of Id-el-Kabir, so there was no school. Id-el-Kabir is an Islamic festival to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his only son Ishmael, following God’s command. On Wednesday, activities in the school continued, and the teachers were all going about their normal classroom duties. The first continuous assessment (CA) tests of this term were conducted. There was also a staff meeting which was chaired by the principal and during which important issues were discussed. On Thursday, there was an orientation on career guidance for the secondary school students organized by the heads of departments. The aim of this is to prepare the students to make a good choice of subject combination, especially for the senior secondary students in SS I. Later that day the primary one pupils moved to the school’s multipurpose hall where they watched educational videos such as ABC songs for the beginners, and they were all happy. This should serve to encourage the pupils and it should also make them to like coming to school because it catches their interest.

Press Club Report: On Sunday, the 5th of October, some hunters had a celebration in Babbassaura in an open market called Kasuwar Dutse which is usually attended on Sundays only. The event was purposely organized for this year’s sallah celebration (Id-el-Kabir). Many hunters were invited from near and far places and traditional drummers also attended the occasion. Hunting materials such as cutlasses, guns, dogs, sticks and arrows were brought. Many people attended the event and watched. The spectators were well entertained and surprised, so they gave out some money for the hunters. And on Friday, three cows were stolen in ’Yelwan Pegi at midnight. Unfortunately the owners didn’t notice that their cows were stolen until around 2 am. As soon as they found out they started shouting and begging people for help. Within a short time the people of the area came out with the hope of helping them, but unfortunately the cows very nowhere to be found because the thieves had carried them away already.


17.10.2014: Week 04

School Report: The continuous assessment tests continued this week from Monday to Friday. On Tuesday afternoon, the normal school club meetings took place. During the meeting of the agriculture club, some of the club members decided to decamp in order to join another club. When asked for their reasons to leave the agriculture club they said that they were are always rearing chicken without eating any chicken. So they were promised one chicken at the end of the term, and this is how a solution was found. On Thursday, the NPS Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Rape organized a lecture on the dangers of early marriage. The lecture was headed by the chair lady of the committee Mrs Angelina Tanko, who is also the head teacher of NPS. She advised the students to say no to early marriage and to avoid any unhealthy relationship that would mar their studies and destroy their future. Furthermore the school nurse Mr Maikasuwa Ezra lectured on the dangers early marriage. He stated the possibility of abortions and that pregnancy and childbirth in young women can cause fistula which will totally destroy their health and their normal life. Among other additional topics, a healthy study relationship was encouraged among the female and male students. The school nurse was up and doing throughout this week. He spent two days without going home to change due to the patients on admission in the school clinic. He treated the patients and discharged them successfully. News of his competence has led to an increase of patients coming for treatment to the NPS clinic. And the head of science department Mr Simon Yohana has started preparing the students for the forth coming WAEC and NECO exams.

Press Club Report: On Monday, a small girl of 4 years died at Unguwar Kurmi, Gidan ’Danbanza. According to our correspondent, she fell into a deep hole filled with water at the side of her family’s house. The girl was not wise enough to understand the dangerous situation. Also on Monday, the community of Kuya and all other villages in the area joined hands in repairing their road which leads from Kuya to Gangarida at the Zaria-Kano highway. Many people from different places attended the event which made the work to go on perfectly and with much joy and happiness. As a result of that many of the villagers took drugs which according to them would make them to work harder. The aim of the event was to repair the road for easier and more comfortable transportation of people and goods to the highway which leads to Kano and Zaria. The work started around 7:00am and ended around 6:30pm. On Wednesday, the women fellowship of Dogon Awo was supposed to hold their conference. Due to a little problem the conference was fully opened on Thursday and ended successfully on Friday. All the LCB, which include ’Ya’yanyalo, Unguwar Barka, Gidan Hassan and Dogon Awo, participated and brought their money. At last Gidan ’Danlami of ’Ya’yanyalo became the winner, followed by Gidan Hassan and Dogon Awo. The event ended successfully and with much understanding. Groundnut (Macrotyloma geocarpum), also known as Hausa groundnut, is among the sweetest and most important crops planted in the area of Unguwar Najude, Auchan, Ikara LGA, Kaduna State and even in the whole of Nigeria. The groundnut which was planted at the beginning of this raining season is now ready for harvesting. That is why all the villagers of Najude, Dogon Awo, Kuya and other villages are now seen running to their farms to harvest their groundnut before the rainfall will totally stop. The groundnut of this year is very good and of high quality. It is a very big harvest, which is why all the farmers of groundnut are very glad this year.


24.10.2014: Week 05

School Report: On Monday morning, the 20th of October, one of our teachers Mr Marok Caleb Dodo sadly lost his newborn baby girl who was put to bed only the day before. It was really shocking to everyone around, and it was a sad day for the entire school. Even the villagers trooped in to condole with the parents of the late baby girl who was still nameless before she gave up the ghost. May she rest in peace, Amen. All the NPS teachers who went for their Long-Vacation Term (LVT) programs have returned to school. Those programs take part once a year during the long vacation school holidays at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. At presently, five of the teachers and school officials of NPS, including the principal and the head teacher, are enrolled in the program. All of them are sponsored by Najude Pioneer School as part of the school’s efforts to support the further education of its staff. On Monday this week, two new staff members commenced their work with us. One is the new facility manager Philip Moses, whose job it will be to maintain all the school buildings, the wiring including the solar array that supplies electricity to the school, the water pump, the sanitary installations, the sports area, the school garden, the teacher’s quarters and the hostel facilities. In addition to that, he will also give lessons in secondary school in the technical subjects such as intro tech, and he can support the JETS club (Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists). And we employed Martha Duniya, an additional teacher for junior and senior secondary school who will teach business studies, accounting and economics. The school kitchen has commenced full operation. The kitchen mistress has started preparing rice and fried potatoes for the students and teachers and everybody is happy about this development. On Tuesday this week, the NPS press club visited a blacksmith company in the neighboring village of Kuya, which is producing most of the farm implements the people of Kuya and the neighboring villages use for farming. The usual general meeting was held on Wednesday. One of the issues discussed during the meeting was the general submission of lesson plans and notes to the principal, and the fact that there will be consequences if a teacher is not doing this. The staff was also officially informed that all excuses of being absent must be through the principal and nobody else. In case the principal is not around the vice principal can collect the excuse letter, but must reach the principal on phone before granting the excuse. The club masters were urged to step up their efforts in their respective clubs to enhance the creativity of the students. The first ever staff outing of NPS will take place on Saturday, the 1st of November 2014. The staff outing is organized to enable our staff to meet and interact outside their usual work environment, which will further strengthen their relationships and make them even stronger as a team. The teachers and other staff will travel to the Kaduna state capital, where they will visit the Treasure of the Universe Park, one of the newest relaxation parks in the state. Finally, the principal introduced the two new staff members to the team and everyone made a self-introduction to their new colleagues. During general labor on Thursday, the front view of the school kitchen and the back of all the primary school classes were thoroughly swept and cleaned. On Friday it was discovered that two SSS II students had resumed four weeks after the official resumption date. As a punishment, they were given a large portion of the assembly ground where they had to cut the grasses.

Press Club Report: On Sunday, a local wrestling event took place at Kasuwar Dutse, as it is done every Sunday at this time of the year. It is done in order to test the skills and the strength of the wrestlers. A man called ’Dan Kuga is the strongest wrestler of the year in the community. On Tuesday, some members of the NPS press club went for an interview to the local blacksmith in Kuya in order to get some information about the business of blacksmithing. Our questions were answered by Mallam Shuaibu Kalu, one of the greatest local blacksmiths. He said that the business of a blacksmith is to create tools such as knifes, sickles, hoes and others by heating metal and then molding it into the desired shape. You can then sell the product and generate an income to take care of your family and to solve your daily problems. Mallam Shafin Kalu, the brother of Shuaibu, said that they inherited this business from their late father Mallam Kalu Kuya, who had bought three cars with the money he had earned with his trade. He also told us that they are also teaching this business to other people. They explained that there are two different types of blacksmiths: The Makeran Furkaku who make knifes, scissors etc., and the Makeran Babbaku, who make hoes, axes, sickles etc. The most important things needed for local blacksmithing include a hammer (guduma) and a lot of charcoal for a hot fire, which is the most important thing of all.


31.10.2014: Week 06

School Report: WAEC registration has started this week. The school is planning to start evening lessons with the SSS 3 students in order to prepare them for the forthcoming exams. The lessons are to take place from 6 to 8pm from Monday to Thursday. We have fixed an urgent meeting with the parents of the candidates so that we can brief them on these developments. All the new science laboratory equipment and chemicals were purchased on Wednesday by the HOD science Mr Simon Yohana and the school bursar Mr Lukman Magaji. This new equipment will really help our SSS 3 students to practice and to know how to handle laboratory equipment and chemicals before their forthcoming WAEC and NECO examinations. The new facility manager has started with repairing chairs and tables in some of the classrooms. He also replaced spoiled ceiling boards in the community hall and sprayed chemicals on the wood of the roof construction to avoid damage by termites. A welder came to the school and fixed some of the doors and windows that were damaged in both the classes and the hostel. The school’s first official staff outing will take place on Saturday, the 1st of October 2014. And Mr Isaac Musa, our art teacher, has produced an educative game for the members of the Literature and Debate Club.

Press Club Report: Our correspondent from Saulawa reports the death of a woman who was mentally ill. She had severe diarrhea and vomiting, which lead to her death after a brief illness. The doctors who took care of her said that when eating contaminated food, vegetables and fruits, any person can get diarrhea. On Saturday, the 25th of October 2014, the LCC Kuya hosted a very exciting and interesting program. The program started at around 9:00am and ended successfully at around 2:00pm of that same day, and members of different DCCs attended the conference. The activities included a choir singing competition and other things. The people of Gidan ’Ya’yan Yalo which is popularly known as Gidan ’Dan Lami have lots of vehicles. Because in addition to a large number of cars, lorries, and buses there, a man called Mallam Bala Yakubu bought another brand new brand car, which he added to the one he already had before.