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Federal Govt to Train 45,000 Teachers In 24 States

February 23, 2022

The federal government of Nigeria has announced digital literacy training for 45,000 teachers across 24 states.

The Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Professor Josiah Ajiboye, announced this during the third phase of the Global Partnership Education (GPE), Digital Literacy Training and Remote Learning Strategies for Teachers.

The lead role of the teacher training sub-committee of the GPE programme was ceded to the council by the Federal Ministry of Education.

According to Ajiboye, the training was designed to bridge the gap created by the outbreak of the pandemic that affected the Nigerian education system.

He disclosed that Benue, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa and 10 other focal states were initially selected for the training.

He added that the digital literacy programme would train teachers and school leaders in emergency preparedness and response to provide safe school practices.

The TRCN registrar disclosed that each tranche of the training would involve 7,500 teachers.

“The first stage of this project was the training of 480 master trainers who would serve as facilitators in the upcoming training across Benue, Enugu, Kaduna and Sokoto,” he disclosed. “The minister of education added eight more states to the already selected 16 states making it 24, that means 45,000 teachers will now be trained overall. This will be the first phase of the GPE teachers training programme.”

After the circle of 16 focal states, he said 15,000 more teachers would be trained in eight focal states of Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Rivers.

Speaking on the one teacher one laptop initiative of the federal government, Ajiboye said the project was at the conclusive stage with the appraisal of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and a submitted document to the full adoption of the project.

Ekiti Varsity Promotes 71 Lecturers To Professorship, Readership Cadres

Rhoda Onuzulike

February 23, 2022

The Governing Council of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, has approved the promotion of 71 lecturers to professorship and readership cadres.

EKSU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eddy Olanipekun, said the measure was targeted at motivating the academic staff and strengthening their commitment to building intellectual capacities of students through their contributions to scholarship.

Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti, The VC gave the breakdown of the promoted academic staff, said that 30 new lecturers would earn professorial title while 41 would become readers.

Olanipekun also stated that scores of non-academic staff would be promoted based on the approval given by the council to buoy academic standard.

He said: “Council at its meeting held on February 10, 2022, approved the promotion of 30 new professors and 41 readers to strengthen academic performance of this university.

“It also gives the elevation of scores of non teaching staff to the positions of directors, deputy registrars, deputy bursars, deputy directors and senior chief technologists.”

Olanipekun said that the university’s leadership under his watch would not tolerate any act that could mar the reputation or debase the academic standard of the citadel of learning.

“Let it be known that the current administration in the university has zero tolerance for any act of misconduct.

“It is important to inform the general public that the current administration in the university places premium on the welfare of staff and students despite the paucity of funds,” he added.

School Principal Runs 3 Fake Institutions, Defrauds Admission Seekers

Rhoda Onuzulike

February 23, 2022

A Gombe State Secondary School Principal, Bello Muhammed Abubakar, has been arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), over alleged fraud.

In a two-count charge brought before Justice Halima S. Muhammed of Gombe State High Court 2, ICPC told the Court that the accused person had defrauded unsuspecting admission seekers to the tune of N3,884,200.

The charge accuses Abubakar of collecting money from people under the guise of offering them admission into the unregistered Mukhtar Polytechnic Gombe and Goni Mukhtar College of Education Gombe State.

ICPC says Abubakar obtained the money by false pretence when he illegally operated “Mukhtar Polytechnic, Goni, Mukhtar College of Education, and Goni Mukhtar Linguistic Centre.”

All the schools were in one block of three classrooms in Gombe State between 2009 and 2015.

Counsel to ICPC, Mashkur Salisu, informed the Court how the School Principal was perpetrating the said offences before he was nabbed by operatives of the Commission during an intelligence-led operation.

The Commission has since shut down the said illegal institutions in which the accused person was operating.

The defendant’s actions are contrary to Section 13 and punishable under Section 68 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and Section 1(i) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act, 2006.

When the accused person was admitted to take his plea, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read to him.

Counsel to the accused, A.B. Ebrany moved a bail application in favour of his client which was not opposed by the prosecution counsel.

The trial judge, therefore, granted the accused person bail in the sum of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) and two sureties in like sum who must be residents within the jurisdiction of the court and must depose to an affidavit of means.

Failure of which he would be remanded in Gombe Correctional Centre.

The case has been adjourned till 29th and 30th of March for hearing.

School Feeding: Nigerian Govt. Increases Consumption Per Child

Rhoda Onuzulike

February 23, 2022

The Federal Government if Nigeria says it has increased its National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme of N70 per day school feeding of a child in public primary school to N100.

The National Coordinator, National Social Investments Programme (NSIP), Umar Bindir said this at a two-day National Consultative meeting on public food procurement in the context of Nigeria’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Bindir, the programme which is under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

The coordinator stated the difficulties experienced implementing the N70 per child while the program started in 2016.

However, they believe Minister of Finance is giving a very good cooperation to ensure that this actually is implemented on time after President Mohammadu Buhari gave the approval to raise the feeding from N70 to N100 per a child.

Bindir used the occasion to advise the team from all the states of the federation to key into the presidential gesture and the cabinet commitment to ensure that the initiative was a sustainable one.

“We also hope that the state government through the governors and their cabinets will also realised the importance of this programme meant to tackle poverty. “

According to him, the programme is not just about feeding the children but engaging women to become entrepreneur and good food providers.

“It is also about enhancing the value, the commercial and entrepreneur value of our small scale farmers.

“So we hope that this presidential approval in the rise will be understood by the states so that we can strengthen the programme, “ he explained.

Bindir further explained that the consultative meeting was aimed at putting together the implementing team of the NHGSFP in the country to discuss issues that had to do with food and feeding procurement.

“The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme of Nigeria is recognised now globally as one of the most an ambitious programme of feeding our children in public schools.

“So the intention of this consultative programme is first to drive home the partnership works and to also establish that Nigeria is doing the right things.

“As well as to ensure that we enhance our implementation procedures so that we can go higher and become better,’’ he said.

In his contribution, the Country Representative, Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), Emmanuel Agogo said that it was not the cost of the food that made it quality but the content of the food.

Agogo said that a nutritious food must be balanced, less salt and saturated fat.

NALDA Empowers 500 Rehabilitated Drug Addicts In Kano

Olasunbo Okoromi

February 23, 2022

As part of efforts to empower women and discourage continuous substance abuse among Nigerian youths while ensuring that rehabilitated substance addicts are gainfully engaged, the National Agriculture Land Development Authority (NALDA) has empowered 500 rehabilitated drug addicts with livestock in Kano state North West Nigeria.

The Authority working in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Salamah Youth Empowerment and Enlightenment Initiative gave out cattle and goats to 300 men and women on at the Central Abattoir, Kofarmazugal, Kano.

The beneficiaries that got one cow each for the men and three goats each for the women would also be trained on Animal husbandry and financial capacity to enhance their ability to manage the business.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony, NALDA’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Paul Ikonne, explained that the first phase of the programme in Kano State will witness 500 rehabilitated youth and rural women being empowered.

On what makes the Kano empowerment different from the Authority’s other empowerment programmes across the country Prince Ikonne said it is the peculiarity of the targeted beneficiaries

“An organisation that has been rehabilitating children from drug is organizing them for empowerment, if they are left without empowerment, they would go back to drug taking. And it is President Muhammadu Buhari’s interest to ensure that we reduce drug addiction and create employment in the country. So, this is a way of keeping them away from drugs and engaging them meaningfully”

While breaking down the numbers, Ikonne said so far 300 youths have been empowered while the remaining 200 will be done in the first phase in Kano by March.

He said “This will be done in different states, and we want to encourage other organisations to reach out to these drug addicts in order to rehabilitate them and NALDA will engage them in meaningful means of income through agricultural value chains”

On supervision of the empowered men and women, he noted that since they are registered with the organisation, it makes it easier for monitoring.

The initiator of Salamah Youth Empowerment and Enlightenment Initiative, Senator Naja’tu Muhammed representing Kano Central Senatorial District, while commending NALDA’s intervention said the intervention is the best any government institution have ever done in Kano.

According to her, it is not enough to only rehabilitate substance abusers but also pertinent to give them a means of livelihood.

While commending NALDA’s efforts she said “They underwent training after which I empowered them with the little fund we have, but thank God that the President has finally see into this by introducing us to NALDA. I must say that NALDA as far as people of Kano are concerned is the best parastatal in the country; we have never seen any parastatal in Nigeria with such direct impact on the masses”

The NDLEA commandant in Kano, Alhaji Isah Mahammed, while also commending NALDA for the initiative said it has been discovered that youth idleness is one of the major causes of drug abuse.

One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Alima, Adamu, who spoke in Hausa appreciated NALDA and the foundation for the initiative, saying with the cow, he can now enjoy a new lease of financial life.

He however called for more organisations to emulate the gesture as more youths need such empowerment to enable them earn a living and discard drug abuse.

Lagos Lawmaker provides Free Medicare To Constituents

Olasunbo Okoromi

February 23, 2022

A member representing Surulere Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, in collaboration with the Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (ARD-LUTH), has provided a medical outreach to meet the health needs of his constituents, free of charge.

At the last count, the exercise has taken care of about 46 surgeries, ranging from cataract operations to fibroid, hernia and lipoma excisions, among others.

Other ailments that were handled during the two-day exercise, which last weekend, included screening for Hepatitis A, B and C, high blood pressure, eye defects and pap smear screening, among others. Also, 2,000 reading glasses were distributed to those who needed them.

Fielding questions from journalists during the event, Elliot said he had been doing medical programmes from time to time.

“In the last quarter of last year, we gave out health insurance coverage to 1,000 people. So, it is not a new thing; it is just that this one happens to be bigger because we added surgery to it. There is surgery going on daily, the doctors are amazing. They have already done about 46 surgeries so far,” he said.

He noted that the average cost of the surgery per patient ranged between N500,000 and N1 million, even as he cited a particular case that has already taken close to N1.2 million because the patient had to do the surgery twice.

He commended organizations like BetNaija, Nigeria Breweries, Express Solutions and others for their support, and urged other well-meaning individuals and organisations to also support him, as he alone could not shoulder the financial burden.

“I want to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians to support this project. The money goes straight to the account of the resident doctors, to create transparency. We have close to 100 cases. We don’t want to take life-threatening surgery here; we only do minor ones. The serious ones are transferred to hospital. BetNaija has given us a commitment that they will be sponsoring this periodically. I am just a legislator and you know I cannot do this with my funds alone. My own is just to harness corporate organisations to help us,” he stated.

Elliot lamented that Nigeria did not have a good health care system and said there should be more funds in the national budget to respond to the health needs of Nigerians.

“We need to beef up the health coverage scheme to be more robust. It shouldn’t be about malaria alone; it needs to be big so that hospitals can treat patients. I feel blessed and honoured seeing people healed from various ailments. People don’t trust politicians and you can’t force people to trust them, but let your activities show. By August/September, Surulere will boast of 16-hour power supply because the Injector Power Station will be ready by then,” he added.

The immediate past vice-president, ARD-LUTH, Dr. Awoniyi Adebayo, who led the resident doctors, said the programme was a way of giving back to society, since the essence of living as human beings was to help the people in need.

He also decried the void in the health sector, saying: “We are still a long way from achieving global health coverage because most of the patients have not really had good medical attention. Many of the surgeries we have had so far, we have had to transfuse blood to the patients. You can see somebody living with a blood level of 18 or 23 per cent; that is very low. The people are longing for health care and I feel that, one day, we will get there but for now, we still have a long way to go.”

He called on the Federal Government to emulate advanced countries like the United Kingdom and United States, where people access health care without paying because they have health insurance policies.

Health is something that any serious government should pay attention to because it is one of the things that the people need most in life,” he noted.

Dr. Adebayo also advised Nigerians to go for regular medical check ups. “I feel people should regularly go for blood pressure check, blood sugar check, oral hygiene check and others. These are basic check ups that people should go for. Aged people should also go for Pap smear screening to rule out cervical cancer,” he added.

Ifeanyi Nwafor, a beneficiary of the free medical outreach, described the programme as a blessing to the constituency. She benefited from the eye screening and free reading glasses. “I came for eye screening and I was well attended to. I also got medical eye glasses. We want Mr. Elliot to do more of this kind of programme for us in future. This should be held regularly; he should not relent. I pray that he should also look into other needs in the constituency and I pray that God will continue to bless him,” she stated.

Senate Approves Establishment Of Oxygen Plant In Ogun Hospital

Olasunbo Okoromi

February 23, 2022

To meet the demands of medical services, The Senate has approved the establishment of Oxygen plant in the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Abeokuta.

This was disclosed by the The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe during the inauguration of capital projects at the psychiatric hospital.

The capital projects that were commissioned included the newly expanded general medical practice clinic theatre room, rehabilitated network of roads within the hospital; the out-patient clinic building as well as the Infectious Disease Control and Treatment Center Building.

Others were the two male wards, two female wards; molecular laboratory building; ten bed Intensive Care Unit building; refurbished laundry building, refurbished and newly constructed industrial boreholes.

Oloriegbe who promised that the Oxygen plant would be ready for use before next year, stated that the National Assembly had allocated funds for the oxygen plant in the 2022 budget.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, added that the establishment of the oxygen plant was part of the Senate’s commitment to ensure adequate health delivery in the neuropsychiatric hospital.

Oloriegbe said the 2020/2021 budget had assisted about 61 per cent of hospitals across the country to develop its infrastructure.

“The National Assembly Health on Committee has about five sub-committees on health and I’m privileged to be the chairman of the joint committee. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that dreams of the hospital management towards improving lives of patients and members of staff become a reality.

“About 61 per cent of hospitals benefited through the 2020/2021 budget to be able to do several more infrastructure and specifically for this hospital, the National Assembly provided in the 2022 budget for the construction of oxygen plant in this institution.

“Apart from the regular budget that the hospital received, this is a special addition that we are able to provide to be able to support it in its ability to deliver general medical services. Because with the hospital having an intensive care unit, there will be a need for oxygen supply and as such we are able to provide that in the current 2022 budget, I am sure that by this time next year, this institution will have an oxygen plant” Oloriegbe stated.

Kano Teaching Hospital Invents Local Oxygen Splitter

Olasunbo Okoromi

February 23, 2022

The Maintenance Department of Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital has invented local oxygen splitter for speedy service delivery to patients in the facility.

HOD Maintenance Department of the Hospital, Engr. Abdulkadir Abdu Abba in a statement through the PRO of the board, Ibrahim Abdullahi explained that idea was conceived as a result of the training received from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) years back, where a German engineer trained participants on how to salvage the life of five children with single oxygen cylinder at once.

“In actualizing this dream, we joined hands together with medical doctors, nurses, community extension workers and other units and rubbed minds and mapped out strategies on how to come up with effective local oxygen splitter workable on one year child up to 100 year adult”, said the HOD.

He said the devise has yielded positive results as the hospital is now saving a lot of money in procuring the oxygen, assuring that the devise could be mounted on single cylinder and work on four patients simultaneously instead of one cylinder one patient.

Engr. Abba commended the moral and logistic supports of the Chief Medical Director of the hospital and his management team in actualizing the idea, calling on all other biomedical engineers of health facilities across the state to follow the suit so that more lives and funds used in purchasing oxygen would be saved significantly.

“For now, we have developed one splitter. We are determined to produce more using our local equipment. We are on top of the process”, assured Engr. Abba.

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Mustafa Shu’aibu Hikima, expressed utmost delight for the development, maintaining that the locally invented splitter will complement in reducing huge consumption of oxygen in the facility.

He applauded the biomedical engineers of the hospital for the judicious use of their intellect and experiences to bring such wonderful development to services of the facility.

Israeli Digital Company develops Platform for Brain Stroke Detection

Olasunbo Okoromi

February 23, 2022

A $4 million series A round has been completed by Israeli digital health company CVAid Medical, which has developed a platform for the identification, diagnosis and treatment of cerebrovascular accidents using artificial intelligence. The round was funded by the Israeli Rad Biomed investment fund, Sanara Capital and Phillips, among others.

CVAid enables medical teams to perform neurological examinations based on video and audio captured via smartphone as the data is processed in real time by the company’s AI algorithms. The AI’s analysis provides clinicians with the tools to make quick decisions in response to the stroke, reducing the potential damage suffered by patients.

CVAids platform also allows non-professionals to quickly and efficiently react to brain stroke events by filming patients when there is a suspected stroke, at which point the system’s artificial intelligence network produces a diagnosis and recommendation. After a number of clinical trials in Israel and Europe, CVAid’s platform boasts a nearly 90% accuracy rate in its ability to detect a stroke and its severity.

Patients receive follow-ups and monitoring from CVAid following strokes, which provide recovery progress data and watches out for signs of future additional strokes.

Established in 2018, CVAid’s platform was developed by a group of entrepreneurs who combine business, tech and medical experience, including Oren Dror, the company’s founder, partner and CEO, and Danny Farin, who serves as an executive chairman. A serial entrepreneur, Farin previously founded and led Eon Surgical, which developed an innovative system for micro-laparoscopic surgery and was sold in 2013 to Teleflex Medical (NASDAQ: TFX). He currently serves as CEO of Perflow Medical, which has developed an innovative technology for blood clot removal by mechanical thrombectomy, and was recently acquired by a private equity fund.

FG, ASUU To Reconvene Feb 28 Over Ongoing Strike- Ngige

February 23, 2022

The Federal Government of Nigeria says the meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will be reconvened on Feb. 28, with the hope of calling off the one-month warning strike embarked upon by the union.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige,said this on Wednesday while briefing newsmen at the end of a marathon meeting between the government’s side and ASUU in Abuja.

The union, ASUU had embarked on a one month nationwide warning strike to press home its members’ demands from Feb.14.

The demands include funding of the Revitalisation of Public Universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.

Others are the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

According to Ngige, the ongoing warning strike is illegal because the demands of the union were already being addressed since last year.

He said the strike was a clear breach of the law, adding that the union did not go through the normal process before embarking on the industrial action.

“ASUU did not give the Federal Government the minimum 14 days strike notice prescribed by the law, prior to the strike.

“I saw their letter in my office on Feb. 18, which is last Friday and as you know, they started their action on Monday, Feb.14. So, it is a clear breach of labour laws. There are violations.

“If you must notify us of intending strike action, you give us a minimum of 14 days notice. I pointed it out to them that we are a country guided by laws. Nobody is above the law. They should obey it,” he said.

The minister further said the Trade Disputes Act permits him to apprehend the strike and having done so, the industrial action should seize.

Ngige also noted that the meeting touched on all the five-point demands of the union and sorted out four of them with timelines for action.

He explained that the demands were not new areas, but issues already being addressed by the Federal Government.

“That is why I said we are shocked that they went on this strike. These issues were discussed in November/ December last year, up to the time we paid the monies for the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).

“It was done last year. We paid N22.172 billion. So, they have received the money.

“The second area is the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement. It talks about the renegotiation of their conditions of service, both salaries and allowances.

“I made it clear to them that there is a government process. The Federal Ministry of Education alone cannot wake up and increase your salaries.

“There was a committee we empanelled in the Federal Ministry of Education to take it up because they are their direct employer.

“There was a draft proposal, which education ministry has to agree on with them and then break it up to the higher bodies of the government, the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PSC) and from the PSC, it can then go to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval,’’ he said.

Ngige noted that there were known rates for allowances and any proposal not in sync with what the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) prescribed would not sail through.

He also made it clear to ASUU that they should follow the normal route and work with the NSIWC and PCS in pursuit of their demands.

“So, if you are talking about duty tour allowances of a lecturer in the university, who is also a public officer, it must not be above what is presently rolled out as the new guideline.

“If you are talking about hazard allowance, it must not be above what is obtainable for the university system. You have to benchmark everybody.

“That is why we benchmark even the doctors in that area of hazard allowance. If you have it that way, you will be able to push it through,’’ he added.

The minister advised ASUU not to intimidate the education ministry or its committee into coming up with things that were not in tandem with the normal rate, then the document would not fly.

He said the meeting agreed that the ministry of education should resuscitate the committee within two weeks to look at the proposal it had with ASUU; “so that they could come up with something for the PSC to have a look and then send it to the FEC.’’

Regarding the dispute over the payment platform for the lecturers, Ngige recalled that the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) finished its assessment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS) developed by ASUU.

He added that its supervising Minister, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy sent the report to him.

He said although it was not his duty, but he sent the report to ASUU for information and necessary action, saying that is how government works.

“I sent that on Dec. 12. They now replied to NITDA through me in Feb. 2. So, who has wasted time? I took their report, sent to NITDA, copied Finance, Education and the rest of them.

“Some of these things are not supposed to be done by my ministry but we are proactive about anything Education and Health.

“Now, that you have told NITDA that they have not done the right thing, the next logical thing to do like we agreed today is that the two technical teams of ASUU and NITDA should meet and iron out the differences,” he said.

He said, ”As far as I am concerned, I was doing what I am supposed to do and the government is doing what they are supposed to do. We have agreed on UTAS now.

“But, we are going to do a joint test of both technical teams and find areas of reconciliation because UTAS on its own is a home-grown system and Executive Orders 3 and 5 encourage local contents.

“So, we should be able to encourage them. That was what I told them but they have this phobia that government does not want anything other than IPPIS.

“I told them that no matter what solution you have, it must have a handshake with IPPIS so that government will monitor the movement of their funds,” he added.

On the outstanding issue of Revitalisation Fund 2022, he said the government’s side, comprising of the Finance and Education Ministers and the Chief of Staff would meet as directed by the President, to finalise grey areas on it.

Ngige urged ASUU to brief their members appropriately and call off the strike before the expiration of the one-month duration.

“By Monday, we would have dealt with some of the issues they are talking about and return to them for further discussion. We will meet again with them and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and we take it from there,” he said.

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