NGOs
UNN vice chancellor: Coronavirus pandemic most global challenge since World War II
Prof. Charles Igwe, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has said that COVID-19 pandemic is arguably the most global challenge since world war II. Igwe said this in Nsukka on Monday during UNN 1st Annual International Conference titled: “A Whole New World; Research, Development and Innovation in the Pandemic Era.” He said that COVID-19 which has killed many people across the globe as well as infected many others has affected the economy, lives, people’s ways of living in virtually every country of the world. “COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious global challenge since the world war II the world has witnessed. “As this has affected the economy, people’s ways of life and behaviour of entire people of the world,” he said. He commended federal government on handling the ...
Sustaining economic empowerment through financial inclusion, energy access
Financial inclusion and provision of sustainable energy is at a turning point in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. With a population of over 200 million, about 50 per cent of the total population live in rural areas, and only 39 per cent of those living in rural communities have access to electricity. This is in addition to over 40 per cent of the entire population who are financially excluded or underserved. However, the proliferation of digital financial services in Nigeria – powered largely by growth in fin-tech companies – has catalysed an unparalleled increase in the current number of people with access to formal financial services, while further opening up opportunities to address power supply challenges across rural communities; a major feat instrumental towards achieving the broad...
APC chieftain writes on ’21 political lies in Nigeria’
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, says his book on “21 political lies in Nigeria” is to educate the electorate on the antics of politicians during elections. Oyedepo said this on Monday in Ilorin while speaking at the presentation of the book. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 21 chapter, 140 pages book chronicled many lies told by politicians to win votes during campaigns. According to Iyiola, the book is targeted mainly to educate the electorate on how to vote for candidates seeking their franchise, adding that if the electorate votes wrongly, it will live with them for another four years. He said: “I sat down and examined issues through which we win election and I discovered that some of these issues may be there. “They are imp...
Okomu Oil Palm wants central bank to review anchor borrowers programme
Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc. wants a review of CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) to accommodate more farmers and to shore up the nation’s foreign earnings from agriculture. The ABP is targeted at smallholder farmers engaged in the production of rice, maize, wheat and cash crops like oil palm, cocoa and rubber, among others. Speaking with newsmen on Monday in Benin, Okomu Oil’s Managing Director, Dr Graham Hefer, noted that cash crop farmers were yet to fully benefit from the programme. He said food crop farmers had an edge because they could cultivate, harvest, sell and repay their loans within the specified one year period. “It is easy for farmers engaged in annual crops to meet their targets. “This doesn’t happen with cash crops because in the first three years of oil palm production...
Investigations set to begin in DR Congo following the death of Italian envoy
Congolese investigators arrived in Goma on Thursday to try to clarify the circumstances in which the Italian ambassador, his guard – a carabinieri – and a driver working for the World Food Program were killed earlier this week. The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo also sent a delegation to the region to meet with members of the United Nations and other NGOs acting in the east of the country where the attack against the UN convoy took place. “The purpose of today’s meeting with the humanitarian workers based in Goma was to plan what to do next,” Christian Bushiri, Senior Advisor of the DRC presidency, told journalists. “It’s necessary to have a close collaboration between humanitarians and officials, between the State and NGOs,” he said, According to Bushiri, the government h...
Insecurity: Nigerian governemtn to hold nationwide town hall meetings
In view of the security challenges confronting the nation, the Federal Government is set to convene town hall meetings in the six geo-political zones. Government is expected to confer with state chief executives, religious leaders, women and youth groups in a bid to find lasting solutions to the spiralling, multiple security threats in the country. A statement issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said the move was in furtherance of Federal Government’s commitment to address multiple security threats facing Nigeria. It said the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd) convened a meeting of the General Security Appraisal Committee (GSAC) on 11th February, 2021. The meeting, which was attended by the service chiefs and heads of law enforcem...
NIMC insists on deadline for linking of NIN to mobile numbers
File Photo Despite criticisms from many Nigerians of the two-week ultimatum for the registration and linking of National Identity Number (NIN) to mobile numbers, the federal government has insisted on the deadline. The director-general of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar, in an interview with newsmen on Friday said there was no extension for the announced deadline. “Right now, the way it is, there is no extension. We should not be complaining, rather we should see how it can be done,” he said. “It is until after 10 to 12 days then we will see how far it has gone before we beg the government for anything.” When the agency issued a two-week ultimatum for the enrolment, Nigerians took to social media platforms to kick against such a deadline. “In the whole o...
NHRC: Ending gender-based violence is responsibility of all
In commemoration of the International Human Rights Day, the National Human Rights Commission, Ebonyi State Chapter, Thursday, called on all citizens to join hands to put an end to all forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, SGBV. The Commission in collaboration with other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)/Community and Social Organizations (CSOs) made this call at a seminar organized at Pinnacle Hotels, Abakaliki, to mark the world’s Human Rights Day and the end of the 16 days of activism of campaign against violation of human rights. Speaking on the year’s theme “Recover better – Stand Up for Human Rights,” the National Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (Esq) said the selection was made considering the need to recover fully from COVID-19 pandemic and restore the sit...
Minister presents draft national biosecurity policy to stakeholders
The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, formally presented zero draft National Biosecurity Policy to stakeholders. The Minister, who made the presentation in Abuja today, said the Zero draft National Biosecurity Policy has been developed with the full recognition of Biosecurity as a multi sectoral discipline, with all efforts geared towards a one health approach, collaborative approach and an understanding of the responsibilities of various sectors which include governments, NGOs, CSOs, communities and individuals. The honourable Minister said ” to maintain Biosecurity, significant attention should be paid to strategies for the prevention and early detection of, as well as rapid response to, harmful and potentially harmful organisms. She noted that to afford true protection,...
Bauchi reassures on timely release of counterpart funds to development partners
Bauchi State Government has reassured development partners and other stakeholders in the health sector that, it will not relent in its effort of providing a safe and habitable environment in hospitals across the state. The reassurance was given on Sunday by Governor Bala Mohammed who also reassured development partners on the desire of his administration towards the timely release of counterpart funding for the fulfilment of all the agreements and commitments signed. The governor was speaking at the commissioning of an upgraded Hospital Sanitation Facility at Specialist Hospital Bauchi executed by the State Government in partnership with Water is Right Foundation, a German-based organisation. Bala Mohammed who described upgrading of the sanitation facilities as timely said that his adminis...
#EndSARS: Let those who lost relatives at Lekki toll plaza speak up – Omotola
Veteran Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has asked families who lost their relatives during the Lekki tollgate incident to speak up. The actress disclosed this on Friday as she took to her Twitter account to enjoin Nigerians to desist from sensationalizing the story if there were no deaths. She said: “It is a Crime of Human Rights to shoot someone not pointing a gun at you or running from you.” “Now that the whirlwind is settling, let’s see clearly and sieve the facts from the sensation. “Remember that the Main Reason is to Stop Police Brutality in Nigeria and we still demand to know who ordered the Terror on Peaceful protesters while there’s Still No known arrests of killer MIU. “Who sent the Military and started the VIOLENCE and HOOLIGANISM. “We Demand to know who brought touts...
UN condemns use of schools as isolation centres, IDP camps, military bases
The United Nations has condemned the repurposing of schools for use as markets, military bases, isolation centres and camps for internally displaced persons, IDPs, saying schools must remain safe places free of conflict and violence. It also warned against further attacks on educational institutions and students, lamenting that between 2009 and December 2018, about 611 teachers were killed in the Northeast due to the wave of insurgency in the region. In a statement marking the first International Day to Protect Education from Attack, the UN urged Nigeria to prioritise school safety as well as learners’ protection. It said while 910 schools were destroyed in the region within the period, 1, 500 schools were forcefully closed, with 4.2 million children at the risk of missing out on an educat...
- 1
- 2
