Voice of Nigeria Broadcasting Service

President Buhari Mourns Emir of Dutse

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February 1, 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari is mourning the demise of Dr. Nuhu Muhammadu Sanusi, the first-class traditional ruler (Emir) of Dutse, the capital city of Jigawa State.

He was recognized as one of Northern Nigeria’s modernizing leaders.

Before his death, the Emir was the Chancellor of Sokoto State University.

He was considered as an exemplary leader in the global quest for a sustainable living environment and a lead advocate for afforestation and the green ecosystem.

The late Emir’s official biography equally puts him up as an advocate of the mitigation of climate change, prompting him to build the Dutse Royal Golf Course which is reputed to be one of the largest in Nigeria with lush vegetation, exotic flora and rare fauna.

Expressing sadness on the passing of the Emir, President Buhari said:

‘‘He was instrumental to the progress Dutse had achieved in the last three decades under his watch. He was a grassroots person who was loved by all.”

The President conveys his condolences and that of the nation to the Dutse Emirate, the government and people of Jigawa State over the sad loss.

Nigeria’s Digital Economy Policy On Course – World Bank

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja

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February 1, 2023

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The World bank says with what Nigeria has done so far in the area of broadband penetration and internet connectivity; the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy of the country (NDEPS), is on course.

The World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri stated this while speaking on the sidelines of the maiden Digital Economy Regional Conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The two-day conference has as its theme: “Positioning West African Digital Economy for the Future.”

Chaudhuri said: “The minister also did talk about broadband penetration. It is really making sure that no one is left behind so if you are talking about poor families, some place in the northern states, in a remote rural area, I think the key is, how do we make sure that every person, no matter where they are in Nigeria has that same access to the digital economy.

“Nigeria’s young population has tremendous potential but you have to ensure that there is equal access. In places like Lagos, Abuja there is a lot of dynamism already but what the Minister has said is getting that access out to the rural areas so that every child, every young person has that access.

“That is going to be key. And I think the telecom sector, the digitally enabled sector has been quite key to Nigeria’s resilience in the last two to three years,” he said.

The World Bank Country Director, further said there was great potential in Nigeria’s digital economy but emphasised the need for more reforms going forward.

“One, is for states to make it easy for private firms to lay the fibers, to actually invest and the second is digital skills which is making sure that young children from ealier on and especially the girl child has access to digital skills so that they can be able to contribute to areas of growth going forward,” he added.

Nigeria’s Minister of Comminications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami,

while speaking, stated that by April this year, every state in Nigeria would have federal government optic fiber cable coverage.

Professor Pantami further said that the price of data in the country has in the last two years been reduced by 70 percent despite rising cost of production.

“As of today, we are providing federal government optic fiber cable to every state. We have them in nothing less than 34 states and by April this year, it will be available in each and every state.

“In Nigeria’s National Broadband plan we have a target to reduce the price of 1 gigabyte from 1200 to 390 Naira but as of today, two years before the deadline, the current price of 1 gigabyte is 350.

“The reduction of more than 70 per cent is a huge achievement because the price of every other commodity increases.

“If you complain about diesel the ICT sector consume more diesel than any other sector. We are affected by cost of diesel, we are being affected by forex, but yet the price is coming down, why? Because we always work harder to ensure that we reduce the cost of production.”

The Minister said the Digital Conference was necessitated by the need for the various West African countries to converge and brainstorm on how to boost the continent’s economy using Information Communication Technology (ICT).

“If you look at our economy growth, it is lower than our population growth. There are situations where the population growth is higher than the economic growth.

“This by implication if care is not taken, means the poverty will continue to increase within that population and in this context within the Africa continent.

“It is because of this we feel it is necessary to be proactive to organise the West African region so that we can come together and see how we can compliment each other.

“This is to make sure that our sub-region is specific and our continent in general is very successful.”

President Buhari unveils Galaxy Backbone National Tier IV Data Centre

Bilkisu Halilu Pai

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February 1, 2023

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The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the Galaxy Backbone (GBB) National Tier IV Data Centre in Kano state, North-West Nigeria.

He was accompanied by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the Managing Director Galaxy Backbone Limited, Prof. Abubakar Bello.

The Tier IV Data Centre has been designed, built to support private businesses and public sector organisations. The new digital infrastructure in Kano will serve as a first level backup to the Tier III data centre in Abuja.

The new facility will also serve as the North West Regional Office of Galaxy Backbone in Kano.

The Minister, Prof Pantami who conducted the President around the multi-million naira infrastructure, said the President had directed his ministry to complete the project as part of the National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone (NIPTIP 2). The NIPTIP 2 covers north of Nigeria and some southern parts of the country.

“The President came here today to launch the project and it is one of the great achievements of his administration in ICT. The Data Centre is established under Galaxy Backbone Limited, which is the Federal Government owned agency,” he said

The Managing Director of GBB, Prof Muhammad Abubakar, said the Kano Data Centre will offer an enabling environment for ease of doing business to boost Nigeria’s GDP.

Tier 4 data centres: What you need to know

All Tier 4 data centres add fault tolerance mechanisms to the tier 3 list of requirements. They have multiple physically isolated systems that act as redundant components and distribution paths. Besides all the Tier 3 conditions, a Tier 4 facility must ensure:

All components have the support of two generators, two UPS systems, and two cooling systems.

Each distribution path is independent so that a single failure in one does not cause a domino effect with other components.

Operations continue to run for a minimum of 96 hours following a local or regional power outage.

The power source does not connect to any external source.

The separation between redundant components is vital for a tier 4 data center. Physical separation prevents a local event from compromising both systems.

Tier 4 data centers either have 2N or 2N+1 redundancy: 2N redundancy (or N+N) means the facility has a wholly mirrored, independent system on stand-by. If anything happens to a primary component, an identical backup replica starts operating to ensure continued operations.

The 2N+1 model provides twice the operational capacity (2N) and an additional backup component (+1) in case a failure happens while a secondary system is active.

The GBB’s Tier 4 facility can ensure clients do not experience more than 26.3 minutes of downtime annually. In addition, customers are guaranteed a Tier 4 service level agreement (SLAs) that is near 100% uptime even in the face of required maintenance of redundant counterparts.

NNPC Takes Over Operations of PSC Assets

Business and Tech

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja

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February 1, 2023

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The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPC Ltd. and Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Limited have amicably terminated their 24-Year Production Sharing Contract Relationship after fulfilling closing obligations.

In a statement issued by Garba Deen Muhammad , Chief Corporate Communication Officer, NNPC limited, confirmed that both companies reached an agreement after proper negotiations.

“Three months after the execution of the Addax Transfer, Settlement, and Exit Agreement (ATSEA) for the PSC Oil blocks, OMLs 123/124 & 126/137, operated by Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Limited, all closing obligations have been concluded and the Assets have been transferred to the Concessionaire, NNPC Limited”, he said.

According to Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC has taken necessary steps to take over the assets and oversee a clean, amicable, and speedy exit for Addax Petroleum Ltd., and will operate the asset on interim basis as a first step and subsequently appoint a competent replacement PSC contractor.

He added that NNPC Limited continues to remain the Concessionaire of the assets in line with extant laws and regulations.

“Exit negotiations and formalities have been concluded and NNPC Ltd. in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, NUPRC, NMDPRA, FIRS, EFCC, and the FCCPC have agreed on the clean and amicable exit for Addax by resolving all the PSC contractual issues, including litigations that culminated in the execution of a Transfer, Settlement, and Exit Agreement (TSEA) on the 1st of November 2022”, he said.

He added that with the fulfilment of the closing obligations by the parties and effective January 31, 2023, Addax transfers the operatorship of OMLs 123/124 and 126/137 to Antan Producing Limited on interim basis through the transition period pending the emplacement of a substantive replacement PSC in compliance with the directive of Mr. President.

“Already NNPC Ltd. has announced the appointment of the Transition Team lead, Mr Sagiru Jajere, as the Managing Director of Antan Producing Limited. Mr Jajere was, before his appointment, the Head of PSC Investment Management at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS)”, he revealed.

He will be supported by a team of highly competent personnel with in-depth knowledge of the peculiarities of the Addax Assets.As the Addax Assets return to NNPC Limited, it is expected that the much-needed investments will be deployed to the Assets while prudently conducting petroleum activities and creating value for the PSC, Government, and other stakeholders.

Senate Chief Whip Extols Virtues of Late Emir of Dutse

Politics

Amaka Nliam

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February 1, 2023

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The Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, has extolled the virtues of the late Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Nuhu Sanusi, while commiserating with the government and people of Jigawa state over the death of the traditional ruler.

Kalu, in a condolence message, conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the Dutse Emirate Council and prayed to Allah to forgive the shortcomings of the late Emir, who died at a hospital in Abuja at the age of 78 after a brief illness.

“Tinubu is Capable of Leading Nigeria” – Emir of Dutse

Acknowledging the noble contributions of the late Emir to his community, Jigawa and Nigeria, Kalu said that the late royal father would be remembered for his exemplary leadership style.

Kalu, who recalled his visit to the Emir a few years ago, described him as compassionate, generous and humble.

“The demise of the Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Nuhu Sanusi is a big loss to Jigawa and Nigeria in general.

“The late Emir was a patriotic and selfless leader, who used his position to advance the cause of the people.

“He was passionate about the growth and progress of his domain. The late Emir demonstrated outstanding leadership attributes in various capacities.

“He was a rallying point for his contemporaries and the younger generation in view of his impeccable personality,” he said.

Kalu prayed to Allah to make Al-Jannah Firdaus the final abode for the late Emir.

NAN/ Amaka E. Nliam

Nasarawa, Niger state stakeholders engage in At-Risk-Children Initiative Program

Nigeria

Bilkisu Halilu Pai

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February 1, 2023

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The Federal Government has engaged critical stakeholders toward the commencement of its At-Risk-Children Programme (ARC-P) in Nasarawa and Niger States.

The consultant in charge of the project, Mr. Suleiman Mukthar, disclosed this to journalists in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital.

Mukthar explained that the project is aimed at addressing the challenges of out-of-school children and other socio-economic menaces in the country.

”ARC-P is an initiative of the federal government designed to comprehensively address cross-cutting concerns of children and young adults at risk, thereby providing them with a life of hope and dignity.

”This program which is a crucial component of the government’s poverty reduction with growth strategy seeks to, among other things, instill a sense of belonging, good values and a passion for hard work and service in children and youth exposed to diverse forms of vulnerability.

”Before now, a lot of work has been done in line with the program’s coordination strategy at the national level, which includes training of educated youth who reside in the communities, across many spheres of endeavor, to be assigned the responsibility of training, mentoring and monitoring the out of school children in their vicinity after securing parental consent.

”So, we organized this social dialogue with key stakeholders to discuss priority settings of the project and its overall impact,” he said.

The consultant explained that the project is anchored on seven pillars, which includes; basic literacy and numeracy, health and nutrition, Entrepreneurial, Financial literacy, and Vocational skills.

Others, he said are; creativity and digital skills, agriculture, environment and climate change, security, sports and life skills and incentive interventions for caregivers and gatekeepers.

Mukthar explained that participants were drawn from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), community leaders, Almajiri Children and their teachers, among others.

It could be recalled that Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, whose office implements the ARC-P, through the Special Advisor to the President on Social Investments, had on Feb. 10, 2022, inaugurated the program in Abuja, Nigeria.

FCTA adopts Staff emolument exercise to improve teaching process

Nigeria

Bilkisu Halilu Pai

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February 1, 2023

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The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Secondary Education Board, (SEB), says Staff Emolument Verification Exercise is another initiative the Board has embarked upon in order to verify Staff’s presence and credibility at their various Schools of primary assignment.

Director of the board, Sani Mohammed Ladan said the exercise is to ensure that staff remain committed and productive with improved Academic performance of the Students in the teaching and learning system.

Speaking at one of the verification centre at Government Secondary School, kagini,

Dr. Ladan, who led the management team on the verification exercise explained that, “this on the spot assessment verification is a valuable tool for background checks of staff both in the city and rural areas where the Senior Secondary Schools are located to avoid some lapses such as issues of Ghost workers who received monthly salaries and allowances but are not on ground physically to render the teaching services they have been employed for.”

In his visit to Schools in the Bwari Area Council, he said the verification procedures involve thorough checks of correct filling of the Emolument forms with particular attention to the Tax Identification number, National Housing Scheme Identification, Contributory Pension Pin number and Staff Attendance records for punctuality and efficiency on the Job.

He added that the verification exercise will help the Board to know the appropriate data of teaching and non-teaching Staff in Schools for proper planning and avoid wasteing resources, time and the wrong person on the teaching job as the teaching job is an organized profession with ethical values guiding its operations.

The Director revealed that Orientation exercise for both old and new Staff will soon commence to help them in the discharge of their duties.

He reminded the Staff of their responsibility as Teachers and role models, urging them to continue to add values to the teaching system by impacting positive knowledge and molding the Students in their custody for a brighter future.

He warned them against irresponsible attitudes or encouraging negative vices among the students as anyone caught will be sanctioned.

The Education Boss commended School Principals for their cooperation and the Verification Team who moved round the SEB Schools in the Six Area Councils to ensure its success assuring them of provision of necessary working tools for effectiveness and efficiency on the job.

In their various responses, the verified Staff said the Staff School verification exercise is a welcome development as it helps the Board to validate Staff records while the Staff also provide proof of their productivity at their various Schools.

They commended the Director for his leadership skills and effort towards protecting the reputation of the Board and building the Staff confidence promising to continue to put in their best on the Job.

The intensive Staff Emolument Verification Exercise which was carried out in all the 88 Senior Secondary Schools in FCT lasted for a week.

South Africa: higher grades boost Q2 Production-Harmony

Africa

Hauwa Mustapha

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February 1, 2023

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Harmony Gold (HARJ.J) said on Wednesday improved metal grades at its underground mines during the second quarter helped it meet production targets and offset the impact of ongoing power cuts in South Africa and global supply chain disruptions.

The South African miner, which also has operations in Papua New Guinea, expects to report gold production between 720,000 ounces and 745,000 ounces for the six months to December 2022.

Harmony said “it was on track to meet its annual production guidance between 1.4 and 1.5 million ounces in the full year to June 2023”.

The company will release its financial results for the half year on 1^st March.

Reuters

Authorities Arrest More Suspects For Sale of New Naira Notes

Business and Tech

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja

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February 1, 2023

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In its efforts to ensure compliance to the new Naira Redesign Policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in collaboration with Econimic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, visited some Deposit Money Banks and public spaces to investigate and ascertain level of compliance.

The joint task force led by Dr. Abubakar Abdullahi Kure, a CBN Director and MD NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, responded to a secret information of racketeering of the new naira notes around some banks in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital.

Three people were arrested in connection with the sales of the new notes.

The Team Leader said they will continue to monitor and take necessary action to deal with persons or groups involved in racketeering.

Ivorian Sacred drum in France to return home

Africa

Hauwa Mustapha

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February 1, 2023

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An Ivorian drum seized by France during colonization is about to be returned to the Ivory Coast.

The sacred Djidji Ayokwe drum was used to communicate warning messages up to thirty kilometres around villages.

In 1916 the drum was confiscated by the French colonial administration and transferred to France in 1930.

The “talking drum”, as it was nick named, has been restored in a workshop near Paris under the supervision of the Quay Branly Museum.

“You can see that it has been quite badly affected by wood-eating insects which have dug galleries, certainly repeatedly, and that this has structurally weakened the drum”, said Nathalie Richard, head of the conservation-restoration department at the Quai Branly Museum.

“We consolidated the material, the wood itself, by impregnating it with a resin carried by a solvent. So the resin makes it possible to regain a slightly solid structure and to avoid small breakages on the edges, on the edges of the galleries, on the edges of the gaps, and so that vibrations and handling do not damage the drum any more”, concluded the head of conservation.

The drum is three metres long and weighs 430 kg, this wooden instrument is seen as carrying mystical properties and was used to warn of dangers, mobilise for war or summon villages to ceremonies or festivals.

It is the first of a list of 148 works that Ivory Coast officially requested the restitution to France in late 2018.

“The drum made it possible to transmit messages over long distances – up to 30 kilometres in all directions – to villages neighbouring the village of Adjamé where it was located and which were therefore interpreted by those who heard them through sound, since the Ebrié language is a tonal language”, said Hélène Joubert, head of the heritage unit of the Africa collections at the Quai Branly Museum.

This traditional object, long claimed by Abidjan, is a central piece of the musical art of the Ebriés, an ethnic group in Ivory Coast.

“This loss was extremely important psychologically, felt as a loss of identity and freedom. And to recover the drum is to recover one’s identity and freedom”, concluded the head of African collections.

The arrival of the Djidji Ayokwe at the Museum of Civilisation in Abidjan can only be confirmed once the French Parliament has voted on a law allowing its official return, similar to the restitution of historical pieces to Benin approved by the French parliament in December 2020.

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