Ghana’s Black Queens, today, Wednesday, held the reigning Champions, Nigeria’s Falcons to a 1 -1 draw in one of the group phase matches of the ongoing 10th Women Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon. The Falcons began the campaign on a bright note as Asisat Oshoala scored her fifth of the tournament in the 19th minute at the Stade Omnisports Limbe. Ghana came out smoking with revenge mission and got it two minutes before recess, as Ugo Njoku committed a foul in the box and Elizabeth Addo connected it from the spot. In the second half, the reigning champions piled much pressure on their West African counterparts, but the Black Queens were well organized at the rear and kept the shoreline even. Oshoala should have put Nigeria ahead in the 63rd minute but failed to connect a cross by Francisca Ordega, and in the 77th minute.
Substitute Florence Dadson came close at the other end, but goalkeeper Alaba Jonathan timed her run well. A brilliant move by Faith Ikidi pierced the Ghanaian defence with two minutes left, only for Ordega to fluff the opportunity with Desire Oparanozie unmarked behind her. The Falcons remain top of Group B on goals difference from the Black Queens, and will play Kenya on Sunday. The Black Queens will slug it out with Mali, who had earlier been clubbed 6-0 by Nigeria. [myad]
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Saturday Ondo governorship election before today, Wednesday, Jimoh Ibrahim, has been shoved aside by both the court and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While the Court of Appeal, today, quashed his candidacy and handed it to his rival in the PDP, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), INEC had quickly turned to recognize Jegede as the PDP candidate in the Saturday governorship election in the state.
The appellate court resolved all the seven issued raised in the appeal in favour of Jegede.
The ruling followed the order on Tuesday by Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Samuel Walter Nkanu Onnoghen, for the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal to proceed with the hearing of appeals in all applications concerning the PDP leadership and the PDP Ondo State crises.
This was even as the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, said shortly after the Court ruling: “yes, the judgment as we followed it shows that we must replace the name of Ibrahim with that of Jegede.
“We will obey the judgment because this is an order coming from a superior court. We will abide by that decision.
“However, we will expect that the judgment be served on us before Friday to enable us comply. When we are served, we will comply immediately.
“But we are not going to shift the date of the election. We have passed that stage. The election is going to hold on Saturday, November 24 as scheduled.”
Meanwhile, Jimoh Ibrahim has, in a statement shortly after the judgment today, said that he would head to Supreme Court and is sure that he would get justice there.
His statement reads: “I have read the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered today. We have nothing to lose as the Supreme Court seat on the same case tomorrow. We shall get justice at the Supreme Court and if PDP wins Saturday election we shall have our four years mandate to rule Ondo State. “Let me advise you not to abuse anyone or fight over this one day ruling, which was paid for from the state treasury. Mimiko will not succeed himself with Jegede. This is too sure. “We will continue with our work and remain in our great party PDP. “I love the great people of Ondo state and i thank you all for continuous support.” Jimoh Ibrahim OFR, CFR 2016 PDP Candidate for Governorship Election Ondo state. [myad]
Wife of the former President, Dame Patience Jonathan
A Federal High Court in Lagos has turned down an application by Patience Jonathan, wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, seeking to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from tampering with a sum of $15.591 frozen in four Skye Bank accounts.
In a brief ruling before adjourned the case to December 7, 2016 for the hearing, Justice Mohammed Idris said that he would rather grant an accelerated hearing of the case than make any order that would prejudice the outcome of the main case.
The Judge acknowledged a letter from Skye Bank’s lawyer, Lanre Ogunlesi, stating that he was indisposed and would not be able to come to court.
The EFCC had placed a ‘No Debit Order’ on the four bank accounts in July while probing Jonathan’s former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, for money laundering.
Patience, who had laid claim to the money, filed a fundamental rights enforcement action against the EFCC, Skye Bank, Dudafa and the four companies in whose names the accounts were opened. She is urging the court to order the EFCC to remove the ‘No Debit Order’ on the accounts and to release the $15.5m to her.
At the Tuesday’s proceedings in the case, Patience’s lawyer, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), made an oral application, urging the judge to restrain the EFCC from tampering with the money pending the final determination of the case.
But the EFCC lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, opposed him, arguing that the four companies who owned the four bank accounts had been convicted of money laundering by Justice Babs Kuewumi of the same court.
“We pray the court to dismiss the application with a wave of hand. There is an order of the court that has convicted the fourth to seventh defendants for warehousing the proceeds of crime,” Oyedepo said.
He argued that the case before Justice Kuewumi would be prejudiced should Justice Idris restrain the EFCC from tampering with the money.
Oyedepo also contended that Patience did not have the locus standi to make such an application, and expressed doubt as to the validity of the addresses of the fourth to seventh defendants where Patience claimed to have served the originating summons.
Dudafa’s lawyer, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole, however, said the court bailiff had already deposed to an affidavit that the fourth to seventh defendants had been served. [myad]
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse has said that with the discovery of thousands of ghost workers in various ministries an departments, the Federal Government has been able to save about N20 billion monthly.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on the sideline of a workshop on cost management, organized for Directors and top civil servants of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies by the Efficiency Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud said that the drastic reduction in the cost of monthly wages was from N165 billion to N145 billion. He said that this was done with the assistance of the Presidential Committee on Audit of MDAs, adding that the committee had the responsibility of continuous auditing of MDAs’ salaries and wages. Mahmoud had earlier declared the workshop open on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun during which time the minister said that the present administration is interested in cutting costs and giving value for money spent. Adeosun said that the main aim of the workshop was to sensitize public officials to cost and share with them some tools to manage the cost, adding: “it is basically to train on how, as a government, we can manage our cost better. “It is not only imperative that we look at ways to generate more money for government, but at the same time we must also manage our cost more efficiently. “As we have seen even though revenue has gone down in the last couple of years, expenditure, particularly overhead has not gone down correspondingly and that has created fiscal pressures for government. ” What we are doing is to look at whatever ways we can to generate more savings for government to be run more efficiently. “We want the savings realised from the efficiencies to be channeled into higher priority areas like infrastructure and social welfare spending.” Head of the Efficiency Unit, Patience Oniha, said that in the last one year the unit had saved the government about N15 billion, adding that savings were from overheads and reduction in excessive foreign travels and other allowances. The Head of the Efficiency Unit said that more funds would be saved by consciously eliminating waste of government resources. She said that the unit was working on several other items to be added to the list of cost cutting items. [myad]
The new Chairman of the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON), John Momoh has promised to establish the BON Education Foundation and engage with international organizations as a way of providing a sustained funding for training. Momoh, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Channels Television, said at the 66th General Assembly of the BON in Abuja that he will focus on education and continuous training of members during his tenure. He said that BON needed to be more creative, innovative and responsive due to the rapidly changing circumstances in the industry, promising that he will deliver on his campaign promises of technology, advocacy, innovation and training. Momoh said that his administration would look into the issue of funding of broadcasting by advocating for an amendment that radio and television licenses be removed as part of the functions of local government councils. “The National Broadcasting Commission should be made to collect the licence fees in trust for and on behalf of public radio and television broadcasting stations. “The proviso will then be that the public broadcasters will stop collecting adverts and instead make the exclusive preserve of private broadcasters.” The chairman said that there is the need to resuscitate the Society of Nigerian broadcasters in order to have a regulatory authority to regulate the profession and practice of broadcasting in Nigeria. Momoh said that the draft Bill of the Society of Nigerian broadcasters was presented on the floor of the Senate in 2013 but had not been passed, saying that his administration would intensify efforts to ensure passage of the Bill in the life of the present National Assembly. He said that the digital switch-over should be concluded and the interest of members should be adequately protected. This was even as the outgoing Chairman, Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, said that BON had yielded good returns from its collaborative efforts which had resulted in enhanced training for staffers. According to him, the collaborative efforts have also stabilized digital switch over across the country. Yakubu, however, said that more needed to be done, especially in the core professional areas of broadcasting. “So much more has been done, but more needs to be done, especially in the core professional areas of broadcasting, such as joint and co-production, personnel exchange, technical support and peer review. “There is also the need to avoid sectarian, sectional and cabalistic tendencies and manifestations within this grand coalition.” He called on members of BON to jealously guard the harmony, comradeship and professionalism that had been built in order to eliminate incidences of acrimony for the future of its succession plans
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the assembly has as its theme: “Concept of Change: The Media and Nation Building.” [myad]
The Royal father, Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon has commended the Federal Government for constituting the Board of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), saying that he is confident in the calibre of personalities in the Board to take the industry to greater height.
The Obong, who spoke while receiving the Board of NIMASA in his palace, described the maritime industry as great facilitator of trade and called on the Board to develop a master plan for the advancement of the Nigerian maritime industry.
Edidem Ekpo Okon advised NIMASA to establish a zonal office in Calabar to engender greater maritime activities in the area and to support the development of the Bakassi deep sea port.
He challenged the Federal Government to dredge the Calabar channel which he described as the longest channel linking Nigeria’s coast to the Atlantic Ocean to enable bigger vessels call the Calabar Port.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the NIMASA, General Jonathan India Garba, had commended the Obong for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere in his domain.
The NIMASA Board chairman said that Calabar is an important Port City, adding that the new management at NIMASA will partner other stakeholders to make the Calabar port viable again.
Also speaking, the Director General of the Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside said that Calabar has always played a strategic role in the development of the Nigerian maritime industry and assured the Royal Father that NIMASA will do all that is necessary to restore the Calabar Port to its pride of place.
The members of the Board of NIMASA who were led by General Garba to pay homage on the Royal Father in his palace, are in Calabar for strategic retreat on the repositioning of NIMASA and the Nigerian maritime industry.
The Board members who are in Calabar for a three day strategy retreat had earlier paid a courtesy visit on the Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade.
Meanwhile, Dr. Peterside has said that to achieve the Agency’s vision of becoming the leading maritime administration in Africa advancing Nigeria’s global maritime goals, it is important that there is no disconnect between policy formulation and policy implementation.
Speaking at the opening of a strategy retreat for members of the Board of NIMASA holding in Calabar, Cross River State, Peterside described the Board as the bridge between policy formulation and policy implementation, the NIMASA He is happy that the Board is made up of individuals with proven integrity and a commitment to the service of the nation who will support the re-invention of NIMASA.
“The Governing Board of this Agency as the bridge between policy making and policy implementation is most suited to drive this process of NIMASA and maritime industry self -reinvention. We are privileged that the supervising ministry and the President of our country have absolute confidence in the Board and its ability to help Management achieve the much-desired ‘acceleration’ NIMASA and the industry needs.”
He said that the strategy retreat is aimed at serving as a melting pot of ideas between the Board and the Management of the Agency with the objective of making NIMASA the most efficient, effective and responsive regulatory institution in Nigeria, that contributes in diverse ways to the economic growth of the country.
To achieve this, the Director General said that information flow must be seamless. “We must do all that is necessary to eliminate poor communication flow. Both Board and Management must always have their eyes on the big picture and not allow distractions clothed in short term pecuniary benefits”.
While highlighting the strategic importance of marine transportation to Nigeria’s economy, Dr. Peterside emphasized that marine transportation depends on enforcement of laws, rules, conventions and regulations to guarantee safe, secure and environmentally responsible shipping.
“It is thus our fate that our Agency, NIMASA must be an accelerator rather than a brake, in this economic engine. To this end, the Governing Board of NIMASA, Management of the Agency, industry stakeholders, our partners in the military services, other collaborating Federal Agencies, international regulators, and our supervising ministry (Ministry of Transportation) should work collaboratively to optimize marine transportation and lead the development of indigenous commercial shipping, which is our mandate.”
He commended the resource persons at the retreat who he said will assist members of the Board in understanding more deeply, the industry they have been called to give direction at this time of national economic challenge. [myad]
The Nigeria Resilient Cities Network (NRCN) held an intensive one-day interactive workshop in Abuja over the weekend as part of the effort for better planning and management of the Capital and other major cities in the country. The workshop, which is the second by NRCN, was opened by the FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, represented by the Director of the Urban and Regional Planning, Zalih’au Ahmed. Also in attendance were representatives of the Ministers of Power, Works and Housing and Environment, as well as the Office of the Head of Service of the Federal Government. NRCN is domiciled at the Centre for Spatial Information Sciences (CSIS), of the Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which hosted the maiden workshop in July, 2016, during which the ‘Draft Zaria Declaration on Resilient Cities in Nigeria’ was agreed. The Abuja workshop had as its theme – ‘Building Capacity for Coordinating Sustainable Growth in Nigerian Cities’ – and was attended by 64 public and private sector delegates representing nine major cities: Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Minna, Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt and host, Abuja. The keynote address was delivered by the Special Guest, Ms. Liz Agbor-Tabi, Associate Director (Africa) for the international 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) programme of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York and she drew on the experience of 100RC to share with the workshop the fundamentals required to institutionalize urban resilience for better city management. Lagos and Enugu are already adopted 100RC cities. The NRCN adopted the 100RC definition of Urban Resilience, which is “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.” A communique issued at the end of the workshop by NRCN’s chairman, Prof. Michael Mutter, and its Organizing Secretary, Simon Gusah, said: ”Nigerian cities, and indeed Nigeria as a whole, had experienced an economic shock with the fall in oil prices, which has caused the current recession. “Nigeria’s capacity to not only cope, but adapt to a more diversified economy and thrive through adversity, will require resilience from our people, businesses and government.” NRCN was set up by the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF), a programme funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID), to provide continuity for the ‘Effective Cities’ Workstream, as NIAF comes to an end this December after five years of support operations to various State Governments. NIAF funded both National Workshops, the design and development phase, as well as the registration of NRCN as an NGO. The Interim Board of Trustees appointed by NIAF to steer the affairs of NRCN through the initial, start-up phase are; Prof Mike Mutter OBE, Interim Chair, Prof Adamu Ahmed, Tpl I.D. Suleiman, Tpl Kabir Yari and Interim Organising Secretary, Simon Gusah. Presentations at the workshop were made by several stakeholders. ActionAid’s Tasallah Chibok spoke on their ‘Safer Cities for Women and Girls’ initiative, and Professor Charles Inyangete, CEO of Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC), spoke on ‘Connecting Affordable Housing Finance to the Capital Markets’. Other presentations included: Dr Abdul Husaini, GM Niger GIS, who updated the meeting about the World Council on City Data (WCCD) data standards for smarter, more resilient cities. Usman Gumi, CEO of Eco-Challenge, shared with delegates his proposal to the President, Muhammudu Buhari, for a two-data community mobilization campaign to fill pot holes. The presentations by stakeholders thus cut across civil society advocacy, financial strategies and community-action, demonstrating the breadth of issues in city resilience. A major talking point at the workshop was the presentation on the need for readily available, standardized data for better planning and management of cities, which emerged from Dr Abdul Husaini’s presentation. The meeting agreed that this should be an urgent priority and focal-point of action for NRCN, going forward. Other presentations came from the facilitators of NRCN. Prof Mike Mutter shared on the place of regional city planning, using the case study of the FCT Regional Plan, and Prof Adamu Ahmed outlined a framework for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for city managers, which NRCN will be developing with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Simon Gusah made a presentation on financing affordable housing, a case study of the proposed ‘Katsina HELP’ initiative (Housing Empowerment Loan Programme). Kabir Yari, Programme Manager for UN-HABITAT Nigeria, Chaired a panel discussion on the international dimensions of urban resilience, with a focus on the ‘New Urban Agenda’, recently agreed at the Habitat 3 conference in Quito, Ecuador. The workshop delegates agreed to approve and formalise the ‘Draft Zaria Declaration’ of 14th July, 2016, unchanged, and it has now become the ‘Approved Zaria Declaration’ of 14th November, 2016. They also pledged to ensure that this laudable, overdue initiative, which seeks to fill the gap in city management in Nigeria, must be sustained and expanded. It is believed that 2017 will be a pivotal year for NRCN, as it becomes an independent body after NIAF/DFID’s support ceases. [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that whether anybody likes or not, technology will soon render crude oil which the world so much depends on obsolete. “Our dependence on oil for example, simply cannot continue whether we like it or not.
“As the years go by, oil is becoming less and less important. Cars are some of the largest users of petrol. But technology is changing all of that and if you look at what is happening today, the birth of the electric car, with all what have gone into the technology, just shows us that, whether we like it or not, we may not be depending on oil for much longer.”
Osinbajo who spoke today at the e-Nigeria Summit, organized by the National Information Technology Development Agecy (NITDA), with theme: “Leveraging I.T. Innovation for Economic Diversification ” at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, said that digital technology has created a situation where whether we like it or not diversification will be forced upon us.”
We reproduce here the full text of the Vice President’s speech at the occasion:
(I think already so much has been said here today and you can already see that we are well on our way to diversifying our economy with the kinds of innovation and the kinds of thoughts and ideas that we’ve seen on display today.)
It is my pleasure to be with you today at this 9th edition of the e-Nigeria summit. I don’t think there is any subject of greater importance in Nigeria today than the theme of this summit which is Leveraging IT Innovation for Economic Diversification. The Director General of NITDA, Mr Musa Ali Ibrahim and his team truly deserved to be commended for this excellent and innovative idea. Their choice of subject and task that they’ve set for themselves are entirely spot on.
Every once in several centuries comes an innovation that completely redefines every aspect of human life and experience. The printing press for example is described as the turning point at which knowledge began freely replicating, and quickly assumed a life of its own. The invention of the telegraph was so revolutionary that a notable commentator said that before it “information was moving only as quickly as a man on a horseback.”
Electricity is yet another innovation that has completely transformed everything.The internal combustion engine. There is so much talk about how that transformed all that there is to know about mechanical devices, the automobiles and all of that.
But the invention of the innovation of Information Technology has certainly changed everything, we have a new world paradigm and this is why it is that, whether we like it or not, there is a new reality, the virtual world, a new world in every sense.
The implications are varied and profound. They compel diversification and the creation of new opportunities in practically every aspect of human endeavor.
To put it differently, digital technology has created a situation where whether we like it or not diversification will be forced upon us. Our dependence on oil for example, simply cannot continue whether we like it or not.
As the years go by, oil is becoming less and less important. Cars are some of the largest users of petrol. But technology is changing all of that and if you look at what is happening today, the birth of the electric car, with all what have gone into the technology, just shows us that, whether we like it or not, we may not be depending on oil for much longer.
Last year, Electric Vehicles or EVs as they are called grew by 60%. Japan has more electric car charge points than petrol stations. Both Japan and China are aggressively investing and encouraging the use of Electric cars and both offer subsidies to buyers of Electric cars. Fairly conservative analysis indicate that by 2040, long-range electric cars will cost less than $22,000, according to the projections and thirty-five percent of new cars worldwide will be electric cars.
So the most frightening implication for us who are oil producing countries is that there will be far less oil consumption especially from the Asian countries, who today, are our major oil markets.
Bloomberg estimates that electric vehicles could displace oil demand of 2 million barrels a day as early as 2023. Now, that would be equivalent to what created the glut of oil, to what triggered the 2014 oil crisis. How about self-driving cars? Technology can now produce self-driving cars; Toyota, Mercedes for example. And all of those are very quickly expanding in operation, there are now self-parking, and of course cruise control. Google, by the way, is one of the most aggressive innovators in the self-driving car category. The company has in fact indicated that the driverless car technology in development within its Google X research lab is from two to five years from being ready for widespread use.
Chris Urmson, the Google executive who was in charge of the project, discussed the imminent possibility of autonomous vehicles patrolling neighborhoods to pick up and drop off passengers. Clearly, whether we like it or not technology is forcing diversification, as innovation opens up new vistas, new business opportunities and greater access to benefits that were once exclusive.
In medicine for example, some of the most incredible innovations and futuristic ideas are already happening. If you look at what digital technology has done to accelerate medical advances in diagnosis, treatment, and health preservation, from electronic aspirin for people suffering from migraines or other chronic head or facial pains (Autonomic Technologies), to needle free diabetic injections, it is clear that the next few years promise astonishing leaps in healthcare. Telemedicine, the system of health care delivery in which physicians examine distant patients through the use of telecommunications technology is becoming more available.
There is a geneticist called Eric Topol, he said that doctors can remotely and continuously monitor each heartbeat, moment-to-moment blood pressure readings, the rate and depth of breathing, body temperature, oxygen concentration in the blood, glucose, brain waves, activity mood, practically everything. For the first time, he said we can actually digitize human beings. Technology now makes it possible for a cancer patient in Nigeria to access expert diagnosis or even consult with experts across the world on video platforms. Tele-psychiatry enables psychiatrists anywhere in the world to provide treatment to patients remotely. Just this last May, some publicity came for a software called Proximie which enables surgeons to lead surgical operations from thousands of miles away. The software could be loaded on an IPAD or a smartphone. The software enables the doctors to see a live camera feed of the operation. The surgeon sees this and can then mark the exact point where an incision needs to be done on his own device which then appears on the device of the doctors on location. Telesurgery can now literally bring the surgeon into a theatre thousands of miles away.
For the average person with no serious health challenges requiring sophisticated processes, the future is also here. Portable diagnostic technology allows anyone to generate their own reliable health diagnosis.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge in 2014 developed a mobile application which could make diagnosis and monitoring of Kidney disease, Urinary Tract Infections, HIV, Malaria and Diabetes easier. It can also facilitate the speedy transfer of medical data from the field to doctors or centralised laboratories.
The morale of this narrative is that the business of medicine is expanding, opportunities are multiplying and technology is both the subject and the facilitator of access to the new opportunities.
Look at the way that in just 10 years banking in Nigeria is diversifying so rapidly. Fewer people go to banking halls to collect cash, e-payment and mobile payment platforms are coming up daily.
A few of our exhibitors just came up to talk about some of the payment systems and so on. Looking at the incredible ideas and the exciting things, the interesting thing about them is that payments can be made in cash or kind using a phone or any other electronic devise. There are new e-opportunities for various financial services being created daily. And most of these new services are owned by innovators not the banks themselves.
Formal Education, both in terms of content and delivery is certainly another area that has been radically impacted by technology and innovation in this decade. The changes that we are seeing even locally are as dramatic as they are profound. Take a secondary school for example, a student had to buy several textbooks and a few years of past question papers. However in 2013, Osun State introduced the Opon Imo, an electronic learning tablet, which enables self-paced learning. The tablet provides three major content categories, namely, E-Library, Virtual Classroom and an Integrated Zone. The virtual classroom contains 63 e-books covering 17 academic subjects for examinations conducted by NECO, WAEC, and JAMB as well as material on enterprise education, civics and even sexuality education. The Integrated Test Zone has over 40,000 JAMB and WAEC practice questions dating back twenty years. The device will save the state of Osun N8.4Billion extra it would have spent to provide hard copies of the textbooks. The tablet can record audio lessons. The tablet has clearly revolutionized learning, making it cheaper and far more effective. It gives the student more control allowing him to pace himself in his learning. The E-Library that it contains, bridges the huge gap of lack of libraries and books by making books available electronically. By simply enabling Internet facilities on the device the student can access useful e-libraries all over the world. It certainly is a new day.
Incidentally in one of the youth employment initiatives of the Federal Government called N-Power which started last Friday; we are engaging in the first phase about 200,000 graduates. That particular programme has opportunities for the training of volunteer teachers, agricultural extension workers and public health officials. Each successful applicant will get a device. Now, that device is a teaching tool which contains a broad range of teaching materials, including technology training materials, software writing, and access to several electronic learning sources. The devise will enjoy free Internet access.
The result is that we will for the first time be conducting the largest completely on-line training and empowerment, as well as monitoring and evaluation in Nigeria. Without technology it would have been impossible to train over 500,000 persons within a few months, given the cost and space constraints of such a venture.
Applications for JAMB, as you know, are now on-line, results are also electronically generated. The automation of education has moved faster than we imagined even here in Nigeria. So it is evident that the quantum leap that we have seen in technology is only delayed by the current deficit, in power, bandwidth and other infrastructure.
So, the Federal Government is investing aggressively in technology. We have budgeted for the training of 65,000 young Nigerians in hardware and software services as part of the social investment programme of the Federal Government which has a very active collaboration of the Ministry of Communications and of course NITDA. This will mean that we will be building more local capacity to build, assemble hardware, and to write innovative programmes. We also will be focusing on technology for media and entertainment. We intend to create a reservoir of human capacity in technology that can be exported internationally. Nigeria can lead India as a market for technology and innovation talent.
Just three months ago, we demonstrated our resolve to encourage young, innovative Nigerians by hosting an Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD) to showcase various solutions developed by young Nigerians. We hosted Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, who simply expressed his amazement at the wealth of talent in the country, both the talent at the event and those he interacted with during his visit to various parts of the country.
During the Aso Villa Demo Day, our recently concluded government led innovation competition, we saw how some of these young people using smart technology, startups and all of that, were able to achieve all manners of milestone in technology in the areas of Transportation Management, Waste Recycling, Payment Processing, Tracking and Verification System, Human Resources Management System, Medical Health Record Management System, amongst others.
The top three finalists of the competition were:
The first was Ms Damilola Olokesusi, 26-year-old founder of ShuttlersNG Limited – A startup company with less than 5 employees started by two young ladies. Their technology application brings professionals together to share transportation systems based on proximity to their respective places of work, which will drastically help reduce the traffic challenges in metropolitan cities like Lagos and Abuja.
In the second position was Mr. Emmanuel Okena, 38-year-old founder of Tracology – A startup company founded in 2014, currently with 4 employees. The company developed and patented a smart payment process for tracking and verifying user payments by utility companies and government, which will help increase revenue generation and collection by utility companies as well as local, state and federal governments. It will also reduce inefficiencies in the revenue management process.
The third is Mr. Alison Ukonu, 36-year old founder of Recycle Points – A startup company founded in 2013 currently with 50 employees. The company developed a solution for motivating waste management and recycling as a social benefit venture. The company encourages citizens to gain value from proper disposal of their everyday waste and this in turn has benefits for the environment. In addition, the company exports the recycled waste to China, which in turn helps to generate foreign exchange for Nigeria.
These innovators and many others like them, provide abundant proof that with sheer determination and an enabling environment our young entrepreneurs are set for world-class achievements.
And what this just tells us is that we are well on the way, and what have we left to do. I think that the important things have already been highlighted by Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo-(the keynote speaker). Those important things are policy and incentives. A policy and incentive regime that enables all that we have been talking about and unleashes the talents and the hard work that have been put in place by these young people.
The important thing is that we have the willing government that has very creative people, and very creative people in the private sector. So what is required of us now to be on our feet, there are all manners of policies that we are doing and we need to be able to identify these policies that will make a big difference and that way we need to develop the collaboration between the private and public sector to define thoroughly, what is it that we need.
What are those incentives that we require for this time? And when we are able to identify them, we should be able to put them in place very quickly. We already have an Ease of Doing Business Council which basically looks at the incentive regimes, the different aspects of industry and that Council helps in pushing forward the promises and incentives that will very quickly bring all the results that we expect from the active sector.
Today we say collaboration is the key. There is nowhere in the world where technology is developing without collaboration. Collaboration between the private and the public sector, even within the private sector, everyone is working in collaboration.
Development in chemical technology today means that several people from across the world together are working online to ensure that they share awareness and innovations in the field. There is another kind of collaboration also between the private and the public sector. The public sector today is willing to collaborate with the private sector, that willingness is evidenced in practically everything and the investments that we are making in technology.
This is a great moment for our country; it is a great moment for technology in our country. I think that we have everything that is required to make things happen, we have an Honourable Minister that is ready to do the work, a NITDA Director-General that are ready to do the work, a President that has opened up the Villa for an annual Demo Day. Everything is right and I believe that our country is set for greater achievements in technology.
On that note I like to thank you very much and officially declare this e-Nigeria summit open. [myad]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ignored calls by many political parties for it to postpone the Ondo governorship election scheduled for this week’s Saturday, November 26.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ondo State, Olusegun Agbaje said that the Commission has finalized preparations for the election and it won’t be ideal to postpone the poll because of one party.
“With this level of preparation, we cannot be talking about postponement. There are 28 political parties contesting the election, we cannot postpone it because of just one party.”
“This is a pre-election issue, it can go on even up to the Supreme Court, so we cannot wait for that. The election must go.”
He said that it is not reasonable to shift the election now because all the insensitive materials have been received in Akure, adding that the sensitive materials were also ready and now with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“Let them go and put their house in order, and settle their problems, we cannot allow that to hold us back.”
The Ondo chapter of the PDP was thrown into crisis following INEC’s decision to replace Eyitayo Jegede with Jimoh Ibrahim. Both men are candidates of different factions of the PDP.
Jegede is the candidate of the Ahmed Markafi led faction of PDP while Ibrahim is the candidate of the Ali-Modu Sheriff faction.
Jegede however challenged the judgment of the High Court, which ordered his replacement.
His appeal is still pending at the Abuja Court of Appeal which has adjourned its sitting on the case indefinitely. [myad]
Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State has asked the Fulani community in Chawai, Kauru Local Government of the, to produce one Haruna, who was suspected to be the kingpin in the recent attack on three communities in the area. The governor, who gave the order when he visited the area to condole with victims of the attack, said the suspect must be produced or be arrested by security agencies. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the recent attack might have been a retaliation by Haruna, whose house and cattle were said to have been attacked earlier by villagers, when he allegedly encroached into a farm. Governor El-Rufa’i said that it is important for Haruna to present himself to the government, “so that we know what his grievances are and find a way to listen to his side of story. But if he doesn’t come forward, the security agencies have a very clear instruction to hunt and apprehend him and bring to justice. “We will not accept the situation in which people result to self help that lead to loss of lives and property in Kaduna state.” He warned that the government would not condone any attempt to take advantage of the current situation in the area by self serving interests to whip up sentiments and further enflame more crisis. “As you can see, there are always people that try take advantage of such situation and it is our duty to ensure we don’t succumb to that. We insist on law enforcement, fairness and justice to everyone.” The governor appealed to the people of Southern Kaduna to live in peace with another, to ensure development and progress, saying thatthe security of any community begins with the people themselves who must agree to shun violence and settle differences through dialogue. “It is necessary to live in peace because security is not just in the hands of leaders or traditional rulers or security agencies, ultimately we can only be secure if we choose to live in peace with one another. “Leaders and law enforcement agencies can only come in to settle disputes or prosecute those that committed crimes, but living in peace is the responsibility of everyone. “If communities that have lived for a hundred years wake up one morning and say this one is a stranger, this one is an indigene or settler, this speaks of trouble. “That is why in this state, this government has given very top attention to the issue of indigeneship. “We believe that anyone that comes and live in Kaduna and is contributing to development of this state is a citizen of Kaduna state, and he will have equal right as everyone. “We don’t believe that any Nigerian can be a stranger in Kaduna. So I appeal to the people to continue to live in peace, to respect one another.” He assured that people of the area, that the government would provide necessary infrastructure to guarantee development. “We have resources constraints, because all states are going through difficult times, but we are going to do our best. “Kauru is the only Federal constituency that voted for president Buhari is southern Kaduna. “So it is a very special constituency for us and any time I see the President, he always asks me what are you doing for Kauru, because this is a local government very special to him. “We are working on ensuring the telecom infrastructure here works well, because many parts of the local government are not covered by GSM services, we are working on that.” The governor commended traditional rulers in the area, including leaders of the Fulani community for their maturity and push for dialogue and peaceful settlement of the crisis. NAN recalls that three communities in the area were attacked on Sunday, November 10, leaving behind 38 people dead. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has provided Maize, mattresses, blankets, women, men and children wears, among others to victims of the attack. [myad]
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The Nigeria Resilient Cities Network (NRCN) held an intensive one-day interactive workshop in Abuja over the weekend as part of the effort for better planning and management of the Capital and other major cities in the country.
