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NiDCOM, Swiss embassy partner on diaspora re-integration

The Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has called for close collaboration with the Swiss Embassy for diaspora re-integration. The chairman of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, made the call in a statement by Gabriel Odu, Media, Public Relations and Protocols Officer of the commission in Abuja on Monday. Dabiri-Erewa was speaking with the Switzerland Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Georg Steiner, at an interactive session on Diaspora Reintegration, Diaspora Data Mapping and Capacity Building. She said that with the establishment of NiDCOM and ratification of the National Diaspora Policy by the Federal Executive Council, Nigerians in the Diaspora now had a one-stop agency to latch on for mutually beneficial engagement, encouragement and enablement for overall national development...

World Bank to construct 13.16km Lagos farm roads

Lagos State Government says its World Bank-assisted Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project will construct 13.16km Farm Access Roads (FARs) in four cluster areas. The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, said this on Thursday during the activities to commemorate the second year of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration. Olusanya noted that the four farm cluster areas were Igbodu in Epe, Araga also in Epe, Erinkorodo in Ikorodu and Afowo in Badagry. She said the access roads when completed would ensure smooth movement to and fro the farms. Olusanya added that it would reduce losses encountered by egg farmers as a result of the bad road. The commissioner said it would also improve productivity of the concerned farmers....

Report: Nigerian politicians own 800 assets worth $400 million in London, Dubai

File Photo An Associate Fellow of Chatham House, London, Mr. Matthew Page, said yesterday that 800 property worth $400 million and owned by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) in Nigeria were located in London and Dubai. The revelation is coming as the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanonye, said it dragged about 2,000 corporate entities into the country’s tax net. A statement issued by ICPC said Page made the disclosure in his paper presentation titled: “IFFs through the Real Estate and Education Sectors: Implications for Investigators,” at an event organised by the agency in Abuja. He urged the investigators of the ICPC to pay attention to real estate and education sectors-linked illicit financial flows. He noted ...

Jailbreaks: Nigerian Army to train NCoS armed squad

The Nigerian Army has accepted to assist the Nigerian Correctional Service in giving refresher training to its armed squad personnel. This is sequel to the increasing spate of invasion of custodial centres by armed hoodlums and the consequent jailbreaks. The acting Controller-General of Corrections, John Mrabure had, in a letter to the Chief of Army Staff, requested assistance in training the armed squad personnel in the low-intensity engagement of armed non-state actors who have made jail attack a regular feature. A statement on Wednesday by the NCoS spokesman, Francis Enobore, a controller of corrections, said the training, which was expected to commence soon, will cover relevant tactical components to strengthen the capacity of Correctional Service armed guards to engage invaders adequa...

WTO chief: ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ to stop abduction of students

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Wednesday expressed hope that the ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ will help stop the incessant abduction of students across Nigeria. Nigerian women on Wednesday came out en masse to welcome Okonjo-Iweala in her first homecoming since she became the director-general of WTO, during a visit to the Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja. Addressing the crowd which included Senators and members of the National Assembly, former Ministers, wives of former governors, women in the Armed Forces, women societies, female political aspirants, Civil Society Organisations, as well as students, Okonjo-Iweala expressed deep concern about the incessant abduction of girls and boys in schools. The WTO boss who noted that it is shamef...

Official: NASRDA to launch another satellite in June

IBTimes The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) says it is putting modalities in place to launch a Cubesat ‘Edusat-2’ within the first half of the year. The Acting Director-General of NASRDA, Dr Francis Chizea, said this at the ongoing Science and Technology Expo on Tuesday in Abuja, where the agency showcased its research works and achievements. The science expo is with the theme “Science, Technology and Innovation for Economic Recovery and Sustainability Amidst the COVID-19 Challenges” and is a platform to showcase innovation within agencies of government, private research institutions, the academia, among other participants. Chizea explained that EduSat-2 was a build-up on EduSat-1 which the agency built in collaboration with Federal University of Technology, Akure a...

NIRSAL partners NASENI to create 110,000 jobs in agric sector

The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) has entered into partnership with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) with a view to creating over 110,000 jobs in the nation’s agricultural value chain. NIRSAL said in a statement in Abuja Friday that the move is in “continuation of its mandate of providing end-to-end solutions aimed at fixing breakages along the Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) in Nigeria”. According to the statement, NIRSAL has engaged NASENI as its technical collaborative partner for the conceptualization, design, development, deployment, implementation and execution of various schemes/projects under the NIRSAL-NASENI Comprehensive Tractor Recovery Scheme, the NIRSAL Climate-Smart Modular Geo-Coopera...

AfDB approves $1.3 million grants for women’s access to digital finance

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants of $1.3 million for research aimed to increase African women’s access to a range of digital financial services, including loans and micro-insurance. According to a statement from the AfDB on Monday, the grants for $1 million and $300,000 respectively, will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI). ADFI is a pan-African initiative designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion throughout Africa. It is a blended finance facility of AfDB with two financial technology firms; Pula Advisors Kenya Ltd. and M-KOPA Kenya Ltd. Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social, cultural and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to micro-insurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Mor...

UNODC: General Marwa’s NDLEA appointment a positive sign

Oliver Stolpe, country representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), says he is confident Mohammed Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), will excel in his new position. According to a release signed by Jonah Achema of the public affairs unit of NDLEA, Stolpes said the appointment of Marwa is a positive sign and has renewed global confidence in Nigeria’s drug control capability. “We have every confidence in your ability to deliver,” Stolpe said during a courtesy visit to the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Monday. He said the UNODC is in support of the National Drug Control Master Plan and other drug control documents being developed by NDLEA in its bid to wipe out illicit drugs in the country. “As a technical assistance provider, whic...

NHIS: Sokoto received N518 million Health Intervention Fund

Nasir Sambo, the Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said the Buhari administration has disbursed N518 million to Sokoto State Government in 2020 as National Healthcare Intervention Fund aimed at enhancing the lives of vulnerable persons in the society. Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the official commencement of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), Mr. Sambo said the federal government remained committed to attainment of mandatory Universal Health Coverage (UHC) toward ensuring improved healthcare to citizens. He stressed that the federal authorities was committed to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The executive secretary noted that the National Health Act enshrined one percent from accrued consolidated national revenue f...

National park trains 1,200 officers on combat readiness

Dr. Ibrahim Goni, the Conservator-General of the National Park Service, says the agency has trained 1,200 officers on basic combat readiness paramilitary by the Nigeria Army. Goni, who disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the training was to help the officers and men to meet the current and future conservation requirements. “Training and re-training of officers is key to achieving success in the implementation of the service mandate. “Therefore, manpower development as a human capital function is responsible for developing the skills, knowledge and competence of the service,” he said. Goni said that the agency would focus more on manpower development to help the officers and men achieve the mandate of the service. He said that in spite of its limited resources...

Nigeria loses 250,000 babies to preventable, treatable causes annually – experts

Despite the global efforts to end preventable newborn deaths by 2030, through the Sustainable Development Goal 3.2, experts have raised the alarm that Nigeria loses over 250,000 babies yearly due to preventable and treatable causes, even as the country ranks second highest globally in infant deaths. According to a Professor of Paediatrics at the College of Medicine University of Lagos, and Clinical Lead, Newborn Essential Solution and Technologies, NEST360, Professor Chinyere Ezeaka, with current slow progress, it may take Nigerian 100 years to meet the goal. Ezeaka identified causes of newborn deaths in Nigeria to include prematurity, infections, birth asphyxia, congenital abnormalities among others, she said these would be reduced with the wide-scale adoption of comprehensive newborn car...

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