President Muhammadu Buhari is also expected to visit the Lamido of Adamawa
President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived at the Yola International Airport, Adamawa to pay a condolence visit to the family of the late Ahmed Joda.
The late Joda was the Chairman of the Buhari Transition Committee in 2015.
Buhari is also expected to first visit the palace of the Lamido of Adamawa, Mohammadu Aliu Barkin.
On the ground to receive the President was the Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintri; Chief of Staff, Prof Maxwell Gidado; minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello; heads of security agencies in the state and members of the State Executive Council.
Buhari had earlier in a condolence message, described the late Joda as a trustworthy and loyal companion “who steadfastly stood for the interest of the nation through highs and lows”.
He said his demise is a great loss to Adamawa State and the country at large.
The University of Ibadan’s contingent at the 2020 edition of Huawei ICT Global Challenge has emerged as one of the Global Champions in the National and Cloud Categories.
The University’s Public Communications Director, Office of the Vice Chancellor, Tunji Oladejo, said this in a statement in Ibadan.
Tunji said that the Country Manager, Talent Ecosystem Development, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Kenneth Igwe, commended the University during a courtesy call on the Acting Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Adebola Ekanola
Igwe said the excellent performance of the UI students at the competition showed they were talented, skilled, creative, gifted, passionate and zealous for information and communication technology toward sustainable development.
He further said that due to the excellent performance of UI delegation at the edition, he would coach the next set of students on the requirements for the 2021 Challenge.
“In the 2020 edition of the competition, the University of Ibadan, alongside Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Port Harcourt emerged as global champions in the National and Cloud Categories.
“The three champions from the University of Ibadan: Toheeb Adeniyi Badiru, Bolaji Olaide Abideen and Sulaiman Damilare Olubiyi, all of the Department of Electrical Electronics, Faculty of Technology, currently participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme displayed outstanding digital skills and values impacted in UI’s students.
“Collaborating with UI on the project tagged ‘Huawei Partners’ will involve at least ten other companies, not only Huawei,” Igwe said
He said the project would tap into the talent resources abundant at the university, giving the students internship, graduate training and employment opportunities.
In his response, the Acting Vice-Chancellor UI, Prof. Adebola Babatunde Ekanola, indicated the keenness of the University of Ibadan to collaborate with Huawei in programme.
He said this would bolster the institution’s effort in promoting teaching, learning and research through information and communication technology.
The acting Vice-Chancellor also said “UI is willing to collaborate with Huawei in achieving and sustaining the goal, since IT is now a great tool for teaching, learning, research and administrative work.”
He, however, urged the company to make known to UI management the needs and challenges facing the company so that it could form the thrust of future research efforts at the university.
“I specially thank Huawei for partnering with the University in the past, for taking cognisance of the excellent performance of UI students in the 2020 Huawei competition, and for being anxious to have an enduring relationship with UI,” Ekanola said.
The Ogun State Government has said the implementation of universal health coverage within its domain will start with the informal sector so as to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure and increase access to quality health care irrespective of socioeconomic status.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker said this in a statement on Thursday.
She was cited to have said this amid the pre-inauguration press briefing of the state’s informal sector health insurance scheme in Abeokuta.
Coker said it was sad that individuals spend a high proportion of their wage on health care which numerous may not afford, saying the result of out-of-pocket use was poor health results such as high maternal and under-five mortality rates as well as a ineffectively used health service.
She said, “According to the National Health Account of 2017, no fewer than 76.6 per cent of Nigerians pay out-of-pocket for their health care expenditure. Of particular note are the vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, children under five and elderly who do not have the means to pay for the healthcare they need.
“The present administration in Ogun State having understood the prevailing economic constraints in the country is aligning with the global and national agenda of pursuing the goal of Universal Health Coverage by the year 2025, thereby establishing the Ogun State Health Insurance Scheme.
“The Ogun State Health Insurance Agency will be responsible for mobilising financial resources for the scheme, pooling of risks, purchase of health care services for the beneficiaries and performing general oversight functions.”
The Commissioner expressed that the fundamental advantage of the scheme would cut across both preventive and curative health administrations, taking into cognisance the prevailing local morbidity and mortality profile, counting pre and post-natal care as well as normal delivery.
She stated that access to basic health care would be through public and private facilities offering primary health care services.
“Our prospective clients can start registering for the scheme at different locations through the OGSHIA website, the designated third-party administrators and Primary Health Centres in their communities across the twenty Local Government Areas of the state,”
“There shall be a clearly defined procedure for registering enrollees as well as a form of identification, including membership and insurance card to assist in identification of members at the point of care.
Lagos State House of Assembly lawmakers have raised concern on the threat of drug abuse in the country, stating that the prevalence of drug abuse among adults and youths, if not addressed and checked, would jeopardise the entire efforts of the Assembly in the establishment of a safe, peaceful and livable society.
This concern was raised during the seventh yearly constituency stakeholders’ meeting held simultaneously in all the 40 constituencies of the state, tagged: “Increasing wave of drug abuse: A threat to nation building.”
A lawmaker, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency II, Oshun Olanrewaju, urged all stakeholders, residents, parents, academia, students, religious organisations, celebrities, social media influencers, among others, to work in line with the government for the common good of the society by saying ‘No to drug abuse and drug trafficking.’
He said that the welfare of the youths must be given utmost concern as they are the future of the country, stressing that they are the hope of the next generation who can build the state and indeed the nation through positive contributions in sports, politics, education, arts, science, technology and innovations.
Olanrewaju noted that without these, there could never be any meaningful development in the state and the country. On his part, a lawyer, Martin Akpaka from the Centre for Corrections and Human Development, urged private organisations to show interest in the fight against drug abuse, adding that education on drug use should start from primary and secondary schools to enable the society understand the effect of drug abuse early.
Also, Chairman of Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Olakunle Oladotun, who spoke at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos, said the stakeholders’ meeting had become a norm.
In his keynote speech, Mohammed Jubril, member of the Assembly representing Ikeja I Constituency, said that drug abuse in the society had long been a source of grave concern to the leadership and members of the House, for which they had thoroughly discussed and passed various resolutions to address same.
In the same vein, Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshilokun Sanni, has appealed to parents to support government’s war against drug abuse by ensuring that they prevent their children or wards from indulging in vices that may truncate or alter the attainment of their destiny.
He enjoined all stakeholders to partner with the Lagos State Government to rid the state of social vices by ensuring that as many youths as possible are taken away from the jaws of drug abuse that may end up wasting their lives and dreams.
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday in Abuja, confirmed and ratified International Coffee Agreement 2007, following the Federal Executive Council (FEC), approval of Nigeria’s membership of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO).
Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this in a statement, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
‘“The FEC meeting had drawn a conclusion on the agreement on October 21, 2020, with emphasis on Conclusion 10, which approved the preparation of the Instrument of Ratification of Nigeria’s membership of the International Coffee Organisation and International Coffee Agreement of 2007.
‘“The 2007 Agreement will strengthen the ICO’s role as a forum for intergovernmental consultations, facilitate international trade through increased transparency and access to relevant information,” Shehu said.
The president’s spokesman added that the agreement would also promote a sustainable coffee economy for the benefit of all stakeholders, and particularly, of small-scale farmers in coffee producing countries.
According to Shehu, the agreement is an important instrument for development cooperation, and will provide the legal framework for core activities undertaken by the Organisation in future.
He disclosed that the Instrument of Ratification was prepared by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) on Wednesday signed a virtual Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Earth Networks, U.S. to advance weather observation across the globe.
NiMet`s Director-General, Prof. Mansur Matazu said the purpose of the MOU was to enter into a mutual beneficial collaboration for Network and Data Services Agreement between the two organisations.
According to him, the realisation of the MOU is preceded by a formal request for collaboration from Earth Networks Inc. by its International Director, Mr Ari Davidou through a draft MoU to the Agency.
“Earth Networks (EN) developed a lightning detection and surface weather monitoring technology that detects a large portion of in-cloud (IC) and Cloud to Ground (CG) lightning.
“EN utilises data to enhance weather forecast and enable its proprietary products known as dangerous ‘Thunderstorm Alerts’ and pulse raid respectively.
”EN also produces and delivers high resolution proof forecasts known as ENcast and other derivative products.
“ NiMet desires to improve its high impact weather forecasting capacity through the utilisation of total lightening data and latest point forecasting techniques to provide related services to its customers and stakeholders,“ he said.
Matazu said the objective of the collaboration was to support the capacity of NiMet to further develop its service delivery through working together to deploy EN Stations in various locations.
He said that the move would contribute to the Nigeria Total Lightning and Mesoscale AWS Network (NTLMAN) and enable EN forecasting services (ENcast).
According to him, through the collaboration, NiMet will be able to access EN data for its internal use and public display in degraded form and to resell sensor data and derivative works to its customers.
The Management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc, has said it had so far installed 40,000 pre-paid meters across Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo, its franchise states.
Mrs Funke Osibodu, the Managing Director/CEO, BEDC disclosed this at a media parley with newsmen in Benin, on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari initiated the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) to meter about one million electricity customers nationwide.
Osibodu told journalists that each distribution company (Disco) was allocated a number of meters to be installed for its customers, saying that BEDC had taken delivery of 54,198 out the 75,870 allocated to its customers under the NMMP phase zero level.
She explained that the meters were being installed on the pole, to reduce the incidence of bypass and other forms of energy theft prevalent on the network.
“Generally, the NMMP has been working well but slowed down a bit during this rainy season. The next phase called phase one, will commence soon.
”BEDC has been improving on the power supply arrangements for the five classes of customers categorisation,” she said.
The Managing Director also disclosed that between 2019 to date, BEDC had inaugurated several projects to boost its network infrastructure, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She listed the projects to include: the UNIBEN 15MVA-the UNIBEN 33/11KVA injection substation which, she said, had stabilised power supply to the institution and its environs.
“33/11KV injection substation Benin in Edo, DDPA Warri 7.5MVA, 33/11KV injection substation in Delta and 33KV LILO at Evbuabogun injection substation Benin in Edo, among others,” she said.
According to her, BEDC had also reconnected a total of 108 transformers back to the national grid across it’s franchise state of Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo.
“Out of this figure, 34 were reconnected in Edo, 55 in Delta, 12 in Ondo and seven in Ekiti.
“Recognising the financial difficulties that customers are going through, especially during this COVID-19 period, BEDC has also begun a debt repayment scheme for customers in its coverage areas.
“It is a soft landing for customers to settle their outstanding debts. The scheme offers discounts ranging from five per cent to 25 per cent”, she said.
Osibodu added that customers under the scheme, are required to make a 25 per cent down payment and spread the balance over four years.
She disclosed that BEDC had increased the number of its Point of Sale (POS) terminals from 1,175 to 1,341 and had concluded plans to introduce Electronic Billing (e-billing) platforms across it’s franchise areas.
Maritime stakeholders on Thursday disclosed that an improved ease of doing business is a criteria for Nigeria to be eligible as member of the International Maritime Organisations (IMO) council.
They made the call at the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association, Nigeria (WISTA.NG) summit with theme as : “Objective Appraisal of Nigerians’ Eligibility for International Maritime Organisations (IMO) Council Membership”.
They added that though, the Federal Government had an executive order on ease of doing business, the turnaround time for vessels, bottlenecks faced at ports and many other issues negate the order, giving the country a bad image.
Ms Adaora Nwonu, Assistant Director, Special Duties, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), noted that the country should look into other issues including quality of the country’s representation, last meeting preparation, non-automation of system among others.
“Since 2011, we have been contesting and losing. We need to do a post-mortem to see if steps taken to improve our chances works and work on some issues that worked against us.
“We need to be objective and tell ourselves the truth, is the country really ready for the next IMO election coming up or do we wait for 2023.
“We need to do some detailed assessment on where we want to be, doing a shoddy and poor preparation just months or a year to the election will not help the country,” she said.
Nwonu said that government came up with ease of doing business to change things, but government agencies had also been accused of defaulting the executive orders.
Mr Emeka Akabogu, Senior Partner, Akabogu and Associates, called for a coordinated trade merchant strategy to provide experience that would push Nigeria’s perception for eligibility in IMO seat.
“The problem Nigeria is facing is more of issues of perception by countries who are voting due to issues in our international trade as IMO pushes for speedy trade facilitation.
“Ship owners spend millions of dollars to get their vessels berth in our ports.
“Treatment of vessels that have issue like the MT San Padre Pio vessel that stayed three years on Nigerian waters on allegation of bunkering despite proof to the contrary and even interventions,” he said.
Akabogu noted that being a member of IMO might not improve the country’s maritime space if the needful such as having a single window, trade portal was not addressed.
Ms Sharon Amu, Manager, Pollution Control Nigerian Ports Authority, said that it was good to consider waiting till 2023 to ensure all papers are implemented and reflect in the ease of doing business in the country.
“All maritime government agencies must stand as one and there is need to work on our political strength so that we improve our chances,” she said.
Mrs Nneka Obianyor, a Ship Registrar and Deputy Director at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), noted that Nigeria’s biggest challenge was piracy.
Obianyor added that the deep blue assets and the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act tackled this.
“Getting into the IMO council required lots of effort, commitment and strategic planning.
“With the right support and collective efforts by all stakeholders and full backing of government, Nigeria will surely get into the council for the 2022 to 2023 biennium,” she said.
Earlier, Mrs Eunice Ezeoke, WISTA.NG President , noted that the way forward was for Nigeria to look inward and further develop capacity and infrastructure to change the perception of the country.
According to her, regulatory agencies need to enhance the sector reforms to conform with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Nigeria as a nation must consider the acquisition of a national career with her flag and this will provide sea-time experience for her teeming cadets and seafarers,” she said.
Japanese space agency scientists says they plan to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the United States and China, which started Mars missions last year, in hopes of finding clues to the planet’s origin and traces of possible life.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to launch an explorer in 2024 to land on Phobos, a Martian moon, to collect 10 grams (0.35 ounce) of soil and bring it back to Earth in 2029.
The rapid return trip is expected to put Japan ahead of the United States and China in bringing back samples from the Martian region despite starting later, project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu said in an online news conference.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed in a Mars crater where it is to collect 31 samples that are to be returned to Earth with help from the European Space Agency as early as 2031. China in May became the second country to land and operate a spacecraft on Mars and plans to bring back samples around 2030.
JAXA scientists believe about 0.1% of the surface soil on Phobos came from Mars, and 10 grams could contain about 30 granules, depending on the consistency of the soil, Kawakatsu said.
Tomohiro Usui, professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, said soil on Phobos is likely to be a mixture of material from the moon itself and material from Mars.
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