The Federal Government has released the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) for academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, covering the period from January to August 2026.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday shortly after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation.

Alausa said the payment was made in line with the provisions of the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

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CATA is a financial allowance designed to support academic staff in purchasing essential tools and materials required for teaching, research and other academic activities.

The minister said the funds had been released to the affected institutions and that they had been notified to commence payment to their academic staff.

“The full CATA payment has now been released by the Federal Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, all polytechnics and colleges of education,” Alausa said.

He also disclosed that payment to non-academic staff was being processed, adding that the funds were expected to become available within the next few weeks.

According to the minister, the release of the allowance demonstrates President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the welfare of academic and non-academic workers in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Alausa said the administration’s education reforms extended beyond staff welfare, noting that the government was also investing significantly in infrastructure across tertiary institutions, as well as basic and postgraduate education.

He maintained that the administration was committed to improving the quality of education available to Nigerian children and ensuring that the country’s education system could compete with global standards.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned that indiscriminate alcohol consumption poses a serious threat to Nigerians, linking alcohol use to banditry and warning of its damaging effects on the body.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, raised the alarm during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

According to Adeyeye, alcohol can damage vital organs, including the brain, lungs, kidneys and liver, while also posing a threat to the future of Nigerian children and the country’s workforce.

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The NAFDAC boss was speaking in defence of the agency’s enforcement of the ban on alcoholic drinks sold in sachets and PET bottles of less than 200 millilitres.

She explained that sachet alcohol was approved about three decades ago but eventually became difficult to control.

“But this monster became uncontrollable. This monster stood out to destroy the future of our workforce, of our children.”

Adeyeye said NAFDAC had taken decisive action to curb the production and distribution of such products, including shutting down three major companies for three weeks and taking enforcement action against individuals involved.

She acknowledged that the ban had faced resistance from some stakeholders, noting that some people demonstrated against the policy in Ibadan.

However, she maintained that the agency’s priority was to protect public health and prevent the long-term consequences of alcohol abuse.

The NAFDAC DG said the National Alcohol Policy launched by the Ministry of Health also includes a ban on sachet alcohol and alcohol sold in PET bottles below 200ml.

She said some Nigerians were focused on the immediate economic impact of the restrictions without considering the long-term consequences.

“They were demonstrating because they are seeing the situation now; they are not seeing into the future that alcohol destroys the brain, it destroys the lungs, it destroys the kidneys, the liver; it encourages banditry,” Adeyeye said.

She added that manufacturers had been required to sign undertakings not to produce alcoholic drinks in sachets or small bottles below the approved threshold.

Adeyeye maintained that although the measures had generated pushback, the agency would continue enforcing the restrictions in what she described as an effort to safeguard the health and future of Nigerians.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has clarified that fresh farm produce such as yam, oranges and apples are not under the agency’s direct regulatory control.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, explained that the agency regulates processed and semi-processed products, while naturally grown agricultural produce falls under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Adeyeye made the clarification during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

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“In terms of sister agencies, the civil service is amazing; people like to work in silos. ‘This is my turf, don’t go there.’ No, we are supposed to work corporately.

“For example, the National Food and Safety Policy said that produce from the farm is not under the control of NAFDAC. NAFDAC is in control of semi-processed products,” the NAFDAC DG stated.

She further explained that fresh agricultural products such as apples and oranges are not within NAFDAC’s direct mandate at the farm-produce stage.

“So, in the social media thing that we responded to, they said apples, NAFDAC; oranges, NAFDAC. No, that is under the Ministry of Agriculture, but we are supposed to work together because it is that produce that can be processed, which is under our control.”

Adeyeye, a professor, added: “So, when you take your oranges in the morning, you take your apple, that is not NAFDAC, but everything is about NAFDAC — yam is NAFDAC; fufu is NAFDAC. No.”

The clarification comes amid growing concerns over food safety in Nigeria, particularly allegations surrounding the use of potentially harmful chemicals in the production, preservation and processing of food items.

The NAFDAC DG’s comments also came days after former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recalled in a viral video how laboratory testing reportedly showed that fresh juice squeezed from oranges by his wife was unsafe for consumption.

While speaking at an Open Day for Gardeners’ seminar themed “Leaving The Earth Better Than We Found It,” Osinbajo reportedly recounted that his wife began experiencing strange headaches after drinking her fresh orange juice every day.