The founder, Bafuto Institute of Management and Information Technology, Lagos, Banjo Adekunle, has called on government at all levels to support the funding of Information and Communication Technology in the education sector.
Adekunle who is also the Director of Studies, stated this at the 18th convocation and award presentation of the institution, where about 103 students graduated with diploma in various fields of computer operations.
He added that ICT was essential to every sector of the economy particularly the education sector, adding that a large population of young people had proven that they could contribute immensely to the expansion of Nigeria’s economy through technology.
“With the prevalence and emergence of new technologies like Block chain, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and so many others, ICT now has something to offer to every field, and take them to a whole new level. This will, in turn, create more job opportunities, generate more revenue, boost the economy, solve pressing problems and in the long term, make the world a better place.
The convocation lecture titled, ‘ICT: Panacea to Institutional Maladministration’ was delivered by the Director, Centre for Information, Technology and Management, Yaba College of Technology, Dr Ranmi Adigun.
Adigun noted that technology was helping to expose corruption, fraud, injustice, saying it could also help the country fight insecurity.
He said, “We can use ICT tools to identify Boko Haram, enhance teaching of students as it will invariably appeal to their senses which will help them to comprehend better.”
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has stopped universities and other tertiary institutions in the country running degree programmes from directly admitting candidates on their sandwich, distance learning, part-time and other programmes.
The board insisted that henceforth, all admissions to the various programmes in the nation’s higher institutions must be processed through JAMB, warning the institutions against flouting the new rule.
“The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board would no longer condone any illegal/ irregular admission by any institution,”
This was made known to the public in JAMB weekly news bulletin, released on Monday through its Head of Media and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin.
According to the bulletin, the cessation of the” illegal admissions” was contained in an advisory issued by the Board.”
“The advisory further made it clear that the new hardline position taken by the Board was informed by the quantum of applications received for candidates for condonement of illegal admissions popularly known by candidates as ‘Regularisation’ adding that such ignoble acts would no longer be tolerated by the Board.
“The advisory further reiterated that all applications for admissions to First Degree, National Diploma, National Innovation Diploma and the Nigeria Certificate in Education into Full-Time, Distance Learning, Part-Time, Outreach, Sandwich, etc., must be processed only through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
Consequently, institutions which are still involved in advertising or selling “application forms” for admissions into the programmes listed above were advised to desist forthwith.”
“The advisory, therefore, enjoined institutions to advise their candidates to apply to them through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), adding that duplication of application forms is also not allowed.
On the other hand, candidates are to ensure that any admission issued to them by any institution is routed through the Board even before considering to accept such offers.
“The advisory stated that the Board would not succumb to pressure from any quarter to clear any candidate for the NYSC or other essential needs if he/she had accepted any admission from any institution which did not follow laid down regulations as emphasized above.
“The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the three Regulatory Agencies: (National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) will ensure that all Tertiary Institutions comply with this policy directive.
“Other Professional Regulatory Agencies are also expected to play critical roles in sanitising the process. In the same vein, the Board restated the need to streamline academic standards and maintained that the duration of all Non- Full Time Studies must be maintained as approved by the Regulatory Agencies.
The Lagos State Government has said both private and public schools in the state will observe the 2021/2022 academic session mid-term break from November 1 to November 5, 2021.
A statement by the Public Affairs Officer, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Emmanuel Olaniran, on Tuesday explained that the Director-General, OEQA, Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, said the one-week break would allow schools to train their teachers in various educational and developmental programmes.
“Schools are to resume on November 8, 2021 for instructional learning hours in accordance with the 2021/2022 harmonised school calendar by the Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Education,” the statement reads
Seriki-Ayeni, in the statement, urged school administrators and leaders in the state to comply strictly with the directives of the state government for a hitch-free mid-term break.
She said, “They should also ensure they professionally enrich teachers to aid improved staff performance, effectiveness and efficiency as training and retraining is key to professional development in the 21st century.
“Parents/guardians should make use of the mid-term break in engaging their children/wards productively as well as spend meaningful time with them to boost a cordial relationship that will foster a peaceful communal society.”
The Federal Government, on Monday, flagged the training of 350 mobile money agents in the North-West geopolitical region of the federation, as part of ongoing efforts geared toward youth empowerment across the country.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, who flagged off the training programme, reiterated the present administration’s resolve towards addressing youth restiveness, generating gainful employment and wealth creation nationwide.
Umar Farouq added that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has paid more attention towards alleviating poverty amongst the vulnerable in the country.
“In the last 5 years, over 12 million households have benefitted from NSIP interventions. In view of the life-changing experience of beneficiaries of NSIP, President Buhari has graciously approved the expansion of the programme in all the clusters mainly to ensure that more lives are lifted out of poverty.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said that his regime plans to create up to 250,000 jobs from its efforts to connect up to five million households to solar power.
This is as he said growth figures were meaningless if they do not translate to good-paying jobs and improved standard of living for Nigerians.
Buhari who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated this in an address delivered virtually at the opening of the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit, themed ‘Securing our future: The fierce urgency of now’.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement titled ‘We have to take timely actions, immediate steps to achieve national goals, says Buhari’.
According to the President, to tackle existing problems and at the same time benefit from domestic and global trends, stakeholders both in the public and private sectors must take timely actions and immediate steps for Nigeria to achieve the desired national goals.
Buhari was quoted to have said, “The need for urgent action is even more pressing if we take account of the fact that we are now part of the African Continental Free Trade Area which calls for actions to position the economy to benefit from the opportunity that this regional integration grouping presents while at the same time protecting our industries and businesses from unfair competition.
“The Federal Government is responding to the challenges and opportunities of the moment by articulating forward-looking policies and strategies and implementing a coherent, clear and consistent set of actions to achieve our desired objectives.
The intention is to achieve broad-based and inclusive GDP growth to create 21 million jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025.”
Speaking on the Solar Power Naija Project, the President said, “It is another project of the Economic Sustainability Plan that will lead to the creation of a large number of jobs.
“We expect up to 250,000 jobs to be created from this effort to connect up to five million households to solar power.
“This project is particularly important in the context of climate change and in enabling Nigeria to generate renewable electric power against the background of its nationally determined contribution towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
He called for more public-private partnerships in the transport sector, saying the efforts of the Federal Government were evident and yielding results.
Also in his remark, a former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Boshe, commended the leadership provided by Nigeria in improving the lives of the people through effective policy implementation and inclusive governance.
A gold mine hidden in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon generated nearly $200 million in revenue in just over a year for Gana Gold Mineração, according to Brazil’s National Mining Agency (ANM).
In addition to the unusually high earnings, Gana Gold is also suspect for extracting 32 times more gold than their projected estimates.
Now under investigation by the Federal Police, Gana Gold is only able to operate because the municipality of Itaituba where it is located overruled state and federal legislation to license it — and because the ANM turned a blind eye to its operations.
The case is an example of the discord between the institutions that should be protecting the Amazon, the permissiveness of governments focused on facilitating mining in the region, and the success of lobbies in Brasilia on the part of federal senators and congressmen in the Bolsonaro administration.
A six-month investigation of Gana Gold as it hit its first billion led to the company’s mine in the Amazon.
A leader in gold extraction in Brazil’s northern region, Gana Gold is responsible for 18% of all gold mined in the state of Pará, according to the company’s website.
Its high level of productivity stands out simply because the operation was slated to extract only 96.53 kilograms of gold, according to information provided by Gana Gold to the sector’s regulating agency.
By the company’s own reckoning, its operations should be producing annual revenues of around R$ 30 million ($6 million) if operating within licensing limits.
But the company has declared income of over R$ 1 billion ($200 million) since 2020. In the first eight months of 2021, it surpassed the estimates provided to the regulating agency for the year by 32 times.
The level of productivity is uncommon: if accurate, it would rank the Gana Gold mine above the planet’s most profitable operations.
The average grade (the geological measure of the number of grams of ore per ton of raw material extracted from the earth) would be much higher than those found at neighboring mines.
Indonesia and China have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study of a $560 million coal-to-methanol plant.
Indonesia’s Industry Minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, said in a statement.
The MOU was signed, by the Industry Minister and representatives from PT Powerindo Cipta Energy and China National Chemical Engineering Corporation, in Jakarta.
According to him, the cooperation to build a coal-to-methanol plant is very important for the industrial sector.
He said the Industry Ministry really appreciates companies with a vision to initiate coal gasification projects and support this pioneering industrial investment plan.
He stated that the plant is expected to be built in Meulaboh city situated in the country’s westernmost province of Aceh.
“With an investment value of $560 million, the plant will process 1.1 million tons of coal into 600,000 tons of methanol per year.
“This project will absorb 600 to 700 workers, base on the plan the project will enter the construction stage in mid-2022.”
Winners of 2021 Nigeria Energy Awards have been announced. This was done at a virtual ceremony held October 19, 2021, on the sideline of the Nigeria Alternative Energy Expo, believed to be Nigeria’s leading and longest-running clean energy conference and exhibition platform.
For more than 10 years, the Nigeria Energy Awards has recognised the achievements of the companies that have faced complex challenges as well as capitalised on unique opportunities in the energy sector, to bring about innovations and service that has contributed to the industry’s growth.
Prof Emmanuel Onyejeose, one of the winners, said in a statement: “The industry continues to be tested, and through these tribulations emerge authentic leaders. We are most proud to stand by our communities and acknowledge the incredible success stories from unyielding leaders and dynamic companies.”
The winners are listed to include:
Award of Excellence – Mini-Grid – Blue Camel Energy
Award of Excellence – C & I – Greenage Energy Ltd
Award of Excellence – Residential – Multi-Power Global Solution Ltd
Award of Excellence – Women in Energy – Dr Amina Batagarawa
Award of Excellence – Education – Astevens Renewable Energy Academy
Award of Excellence – SHS – Greenlight Planet
Award of Excellence – Government – Kaduna State
Award of Excellence – Manufacturing – Auxano Solar
Award of Excellence – Storage – Multi-Power Global Solution Ltd
Award of Excellence – Agriculture – SolarCool
Young Energy Professional of the Year – Sam Nwosu
Lifetime Achievement Award – Prof. Emmanuel Onyejeose
Outstanding Contributor of Knowledge in Green Innovation – Prof. Magnus Onuoha
Outstanding Contribution to Industry – Samzuga Business Empire Ltd
Engineering Solution of the Year – Renewsys Industries Ltd.
“These winners emerged from a totally transparent process undertaken through public nomination on our website and social media platforms. They represent a diversity of purpose, representation and innovative contributions to the industry,” said the organisers.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) are trading words over the discovery of an alleged toxic waste dumpsite in K-Dere, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, South-South, Nigeria.
ERA/FoEN through its Programme Director, Mike Karikpo, stated that a team of its Environmental Field Monitors visited Lot 13 and Lot 14 on September 28, 2021, unearthed toxic waste dumpsite buried by the company in K-dere community, while Shell said the allegation is baseless and unsubstantiated.
According to the group, some workers of Centennial Development and Investment Limited, the contractor assigned to cleanup and remediate Lot 13, phase 1 batch 1 of the HYPREP delineated cleanup sites had also complained of a powerful stench oozing from the Lot.
ERA /FoEN disclosed that its field monitors noticed coloured creamy substances in the soil within the excavated pit. ERA further stated that an environmental scientist in the team disclosed that the stench and the colour of the groundwater in the pit are telltale signs that the site could be a toxic waste dump site.
The excavated area has been cordoned off but despite the possible health and safety implications of working in such deleterious environment as work was still ongoing at the different sections of the site and many of the workers did not have the benefit of protective face masks or other protective gear needed for such harmful site work.
No one knows when the toxic substance excavated by this cleanup contractor was buried but fingers are pointing inexorably to shell as the architect of the heinous crime.
ERA/FoEN recalled that in 2018, similar substances with heavily offensive odours were discovered at oil well No. 39 in Kdere community, and subsequent laboratory analysis confirmed that the substances were toxic wastes buried there by Shell.
Oil well 39 where the toxic substances were removed in 2018 by Shell was neither cleaned up and compensation paid to persons from the community who suffered any effects on their crop farming, nor their health status medically assessed.
ERA field monitors and some members of the community also recalled another incident of massive oil spill in Lot 13 and Lot 14 that occurred in 2008, with crude oil shooting up into the sky and across the nearby tarred road.
Lamenting the situation, ERA/FOEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, condemned Shell’s frequent acts of secret cocktails of toxic chemicals with repugnant smell dumped in Ogoni.
He said: “This is a major source of soil contamination and water pollution with serious health hazards, and community folks die off in installments owing to no fault of theirs but the greed and plunder of an oil company that will not play to the rules but has perfected the art of repeatedly violating the people of Ogoniland and their environment.”
To this end, Ojo called for the “immediate investigation by relevant agencies, especially NOSDRA on the alleged waste dump by Shell to ascertain the level of toxicity and harm to the people, environment, livelihoods and provide appropriate remediation.”
Karikpo stated that, “proper evacuation of the hidden cargo of toxic materials from Lot 13 should be conducted by experts and in a transparent manner and should involve relevant government agencies, impacted communities and civil society that are interested in tracking the movement of this likely cargo of death.”
Shell Nigeria Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan told The Guardian: “The allegation that the water-based bentonite mud with a mixture of drill cuttings and sand excavated by an SPDC remediation contractor in K-Dere community of Ogoni in November 2017 is toxic waste is untrue and unfounded.
“The material, lying within the SPDC JV right of way, is essentially water-based mud with drill cuttings and sand with hydrocarbon content in some samples. The allegation was first made in 2018, investigated by the industry regulator and found to be untrue.”
1277 – Walter Of Merton gave England Its Education System
1775 Phillis Wheatley, a slave in Boston who has written Christian poems, sends George Washington a few lines in which she describes him as “first in peace and honors.”
1850 Robert McClure sights the fabled Northwest Passage for the first time (from Banks Island towards Melville Island)
1861 Pony Express (Missouri to California) ends after 19 months
1863 International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields – beginning of the Red Cross
1977 Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination
2019 Raid by US Special Forces kills ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria
Today’s Historical Events Today in Film & TV 1984 “The Terminator” directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton is released in the US
Today in Music 1919 Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, premieres in Queen’s Hall London
Today in Sport 1863 Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby
Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?
Gunfight at the OK Corral: The most famous shootout in the Wild West occurs, between lawmen (including Wyatt Earp) and the Cowboys, with Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton killed, on this day in 1881
Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?
First recorded use of “getaway car” occurs after holding up a shop in Paris, on this day in 1901
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