Former Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has broken his long silence ahead of the 2023 polls.
The 58-year-old, governed Lagos from 2015 to 2019 but lost his second term bid to the current Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the APC primary.
Although Ambode has not announced his intention to contest any political office in 2023, many are insinuating he may vie for an unknown office.
Last year, Ambode revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Epe ward and was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the South-West subcommittee of the Contact and Strategy Committee of the Party.
On Tuesday, Ambode asked Nigerian youths to register and get their permanent voter cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2023 Election.
The former Lagos governor, in a brief statement shared on his verified social media platforms, thanked supporters for the “overwhelming endorsement” over his “modest contributions” to the growth of Lagos.
“After all we have been through, God has been faithful. Thank you for the overwhelming endorsement of our modest contributions to the growth of Lagos. It can only get better for Lagos, and indeed Nigeria. The youths are coming. The power is in their hands. Go and get your Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ready. Your future is NOW!”
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to commence daily feeding of school children as part of measures to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.
In addition to the feeding, the government also said the parents of children who are out of school will be given a monthly stipend under its Conditional Cash Transfer scheme to boost the participation of the kids.
From the recent UNICEF report, it is estimated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children with about 12million kids.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at the 5th meeting of the Alternate School Programme National Steering Committee.
She said, “As we are aware, developmental issues and challenges are interrelated, one example is the inability of out-of-school children to access education in part due to their socio-economic obstacles.
“As such, we have aimed to tackle this problem in a multi-pronged fashion by not only providing educational opportunities to this children but simultaneously providing them buffers against challenges that impede their ability to access education; for example, daily feeding for them when they are being educated by us and Conditional Cash Transfers for their parents to enable their active participation.
“This will be done through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) under my Ministry and is a much-needed intervention for this vulnerable section of the population.”
The Minister, while acknowledging the impact of out-of-school children on society, said it will take the intervention of all stakeholders to address the challenge.
Farouq added, “The issue of Out of School Children (OOSC) affects us all as Nigerians and crafting a solution is an investment into all of our futures.
Saudi Arabia has launched investments worth $6.4 billion in future technologies, the Saudi minister of communication and information technology said on Tuesday, as the kingdom races to diversify its economy from oil in the face of fierce regional competition.
Wealthy Gulf countries have launched initiatives to boost non-oil growth and reduce dependence on crude oil as climate change campaigners and volatility in oil prices have put pressure on government finances.
The kingdom has already announced it is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into an economic transformation, known as Vision 2030, led by its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The investments announced on Tuesday include a $2 billion joint venture between eWTP Arabia Capital, a fund backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Alibaba, and China’s J&T Express Group, minister Abdullah Alswaha said.
Saudi oil giant Aramco will inject, via its fund Prosperity7 Ventures, $1 billion to help entrepreneurs across the globe build transformative start-ups, while Saudi Telecom Co (STC) will invest $1 billion in the infrastructure of submarine cables and data centres, he said.
“Right now, the tech and digital market in the kingdom is around $40 billion which is the largest by far in the region. We’re very proud of the growth that we have seen in the region, specifically in areas around e-commerce, gaming, digital content and cloud,” Alswaha said in an interview.
The minister, who was speaking on the margins of LEAP, an international technology platform taking place in Riyadh, said Armaco Prosperity7’s initiative will focus on green technologies while logistics company J&T Express Group’s joint venture will build a smart hub for the region that will improve efficiency by up to 100%.
Alswaha said NEOM, a futuristic megacity that the crown prince is building on the Red Sea coast, has launched $1 billion of investments in a metaverse to serve the city’s residents and visitors, in addition to another platform that would help users to take control of their personal data.
“We project over the next eight years, a minimum of another 100,000 to 250,000 jobs, which will effectively mean doubling the number of coders that we have today, in some cases will triple (the number),” he said.
The government also expects $1.4 billion to be spent in entrepreneurship and allocated to funds to support digital content, including an initiative known as The Garage, a space in the capital Riyadh that will host start-ups specialised in new technologies.
“All the numbers … are vetted and validated by third parties. Again, we are not in the business of any showmanship, we’re in the business of committing and delivering,” the minister said.
A Speech Therapist, Maryam Ibrahim-Maifada, has advised parents with a history of cleft lips to seek genetic counselling to prevent giving birth to a child with the condition.
She stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna on Monday.
Cleft lip or cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth does not form properly during pregnancy.
It is a condition in which the two plates of the skull that form the hard palate (roof of the mouth) are not completely joined and a baby is born with an opening in the roof of the mouth, leaving a hole between the nose and the mouth.
The therapist, who said that cleft lip can occur on one or both sides of the mouth, added that “this is because the lip and the palate
develop separately, and it is possible to have a cleft lip without a cleft palate, a cleft palate without a cleft lip, or both.
“If you have a family history of cleft lip and cleft palate, consult a doctor before you become pregnant. The doctor may refer you
to a genetic counselor who can help determine your risk of having children with cleft lip and cleft palate.”
According to her, cleft lip and cleft palate are facial and oral malformations that occur early in pregnancy, while the baby
is developing inside the mother.
She, therefore, advised mothers to avoid the use of tobacco or alcohol, stressing that “alcohol or tobacco during pregnancy
increase the risk of having a baby with a birth defect.
“A cleft lip is a physical split or separation of the two sides of the upper lip and appears as a narrow opening or gap in the skin
of the upper lip. This separation often extends beyond the base of the nose and includes the bones of the upper jaw and/or upper gum.
“In most cases, the cause of the cleft lip and cleft palate is unknown. These conditions cannot be prevented. Most scientists believe
clefts are due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. There appears to be a greater chance of clefting in a newborn if a sibling, parent, or relative has had the problem.
“Another potential cause may be related to a medication a mother may have taken during pregnancy. Some drugs may also cause
cleft lip and cleft palate. Among them are anti-seizure/anticonvulsant drugs, acne drugs containing Accutane, and methotrexate,
a drug commonly used for treating cancer, arthritis, and psoriasis.”
She said cleft lip may also occur as a result of exposure to viruses or chemicals while the fetus was developing in the womb.
Cleft lip and cleft palate, also known as orofacial is a group of conditions that includes cleft lip
In other situations, cleft lip and cleft palate may be part of another medical condition, she noted.
She explained that cleft lip may require one or two surgeries, depending on the extent of the repair needed.
She said, “repair of a cleft lip often requires multiple surgeries over 18 years. The initial surgery is usually performed when
the baby is three months old. This is to create a functional palate, reduce the chance that fluid will develop in the middle ears, and aids
in the proper development of the teeth and facial bones.
“Children with a cleft palate may also need a bone graft when they are about eight years old to fill in the upper gum
line so that it can support permanent teeth and stabilise the upper jaw.“However, about 20 per cent of children with the condition require further surgeries to help improve their speech.”
The European Union has agreed to impose travel bans and asset freezes on five members of Mali’s junta after the military rulers went back on an agreement to organise elections in February, three diplomats said.
The measures, which have political support of all 27 EU governments and should take effect later this month, follow a raft of restrictions against Mali by the ECOWAS grouping of West African states that has condemned the transitional military government’s attempts to extend its rule.
The bloc is struggling to stabilise the broader Sahel region after a series of coups in Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso, despite military support, high-level political attention and development aid. As Islamist militants grow in strength, local sentiment has hardened against European involvement.
The names of the five individuals to be sanctioned were not immediately available. The diplomats said they were junta officials also targeted by ECOWAS. Mali’s foreign and defence ministers will not be targeted in order to keep diplomatic channels open, the diplomats said.
The EU travel bans and asset freezes are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the junta in Bamako but seek to make good on the bloc’s promise to support ECOWAS, even if the measures are more limited than those of the regional bloc.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that Mali’s junta was “illegitimate” amid escalating tensions between the West African state and its European partners following two coups.
That prompted Mali to expel France’s ambassador on Monday, giving him 72 hours to leave, and marking a low in relations after the junta went back on its agreement to organise elections in February. It proposes holding power until 2025.
The junta has also deployed Russian private military contractors, which some European countries have said is incompatible with their mission.
France’s government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday that Paris was consulting with its partners to re-adapt its strategy in the region within two weeks. “What’s certain is things can’t stay the way they are,” he told Franceinfo radio.
Mali last week asked Denmark to withdraw its troops belonging to a European task force in the country. France asked Mali to let the Danish troops stay, and Mali’s government spokesman told France to keep its “colonial reflexes” to itself.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Monday, stated that leprosy was still endemic in 18 states of the federation and that 1,508 new cases had been reported as of the last count.
Leprosy is a mildly infectious disease caused by a slow multiplying bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, with an incubation period of about five years. Symptoms can take as long as 20 years to appear. The disease mainly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes.
Leprosy is transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated cases. Untreated leprosy can lead to life-long disabilities affecting the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes.
The minister, during a press briefing organised by the Federal Ministry of Health to mark World Leprosy Day, said, “Leprosy is still a public health problem in Nigeria as we are among the few countries in the world that are still reporting greater than 1,000 new cases annually.
“According to the report of the 2015 National Leprosy Review, 18 states in the federation are still endemic to leprosy, although anecdotal evidence suggests pockets of leprosy endemicity in almost every state of the federation. In 2020, Nigeria notified 1,508 new Leprosy cases.”
Ehanire, however, noted that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to cater to infected individuals in the society.
He said, “Permit me to highlight some notable achievements of the Federal Ministry of Health through the National TB, Leprosy & Buruli Ulcer Control Programme with the support of partners since inception.
“Over 33,000 leprosy patients, including adults and children, have been treated successfully from 2009 till date.
“Nigeria was among the countries that attained the World Health Organisation elimination target of less than one leprosy case per 10,000 populations at the national level in the year 2000. Twenty-five referral/rehabilitation centres for persons affected by leprosy have been established nationwide.
“The National TB, Leprosy & Buruli Ulcer Training Centre, Zaria, was established to undertake human resource development as it relates to TB, leprosy and Buruli ulcer control.”
The Senate in Nigeria has passed a bill to establish the School of Mines and Geological Studies, Guyuk. Also passed was the Federal Universities of Technology Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The chamber, with the passage of the FUTA (Amendment) bill, gave approval for the upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, from a Diploma awarding institution to a full-fledged Degree awarding Federal University of Technology.
The passage of both bills followed the consideration of two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, in his presentation, said that establishing the school of mines and geological studies would provide for the training of middles and junior level manpower for the mineral and mining sector.
He added that it would also facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions involved in the general exploration and mining of precious stones and ore as well as encourage teacher training, research, and general development of teacher education.
Ethiopian Airlines is due to resume flying the Boeing 737 MAX plane on Tuesday, but opinions are divided on the airline’s first flight using the model since a crash nearly three years ago forced regulators to ground the fleet globally.
In March 2019, a flight to Nairobi crashed in a field six minutes after take-off from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa killing all 157 passengers and crew. The accident followed another incident five months earlier, when the same model crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.
The accidents exposed a problem with a system on the plane, and the model was grounded worldwide, costing Boeing some $20 billion and triggering court cases that exposed shortcomings with the certification process.
The airline will fly a demonstration flight around Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, and return to Addis Ababa with journalists, diplomats and officials onboard, the airline said.
Some relatives of those killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash were angered by the decision to resume flying the 737 MAX.
“I will never fly in a MAX and certainly if I find myself booked into a MAX, I will have to cancel that flight,” said Tom Kabau, a Kenyan lawyer who lost his 29-year-old brother George in the crash.
Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement on Jan. 22 that the decision came “after intense recertification” by multiple regulatory bodies.
Ethiopia is among the last countries to return the 737 MAX to service; it is already flying in the United States, Europe, China, Australia, Japan and Indonesia.
“We have taken enough time to monitor the design modification work and the more than 20 months of rigorous rectification process … our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, cabin crew are confident of the safety of the fleet,” the airline’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said in a December statement.
TotalEnergies and its partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation have reached a deal with Uganda and Tanzania to invest more than $10-billion in developing crude oil production in East Africa. The project will cover the development of oil fields, processing facilities, and a pipeline network in Uganda, plus an export pipeline through Tanzania to carry landlocked Uganda’s crude to a port on the Indian Ocean.
Uganda discovered crude oil reserves near its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, but production has been repeatedly delayed by disagreements between the government and oil firms over tax and development strategy, and a lack of infrastructure.
TotalEnergies said on its Twitter account earlier on Tuesday that the announcement signified a commitment by the oil companies to invest upwards of $10-billion in the project.
“This milestone puts us on the path to first oil in 2025,” Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu said in a speech ahead of the signing.
Close to 160,000 jobs are expected to be created during the project’s development, Ssentamu said.
Government geologists estimate that the country’s gross reserves stand at 6-billion barrels, while recoverable oil is seen at 1.4-billion barrels.
The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to establish the School of Mines and Geological Studies, Guyuk.
The Federal Universities of Technology Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was also passed.
The chamber, with the passage of the FUTA (Amendment) bill, gave approval for the upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, from a Diploma awarding institution to a full-fledged Degree awarding Federal University of Technology.
The passage of both bills came after two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND was considered.
In his remarks, The chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, said that establishing the school of mines and geological studies would provide for the training of middles and junior level manpower for the mineral and mining sector.
He added that it would also facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions involved in general exploration and mining of precious stones and ore as well as encourage teacher training, research, and general development of teacher education.
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