SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
Try "researchers"
Home Blog Page 2631

Kwara State: 170 young business owners receive interest-free loan

Mercy Chukwudiebere
-
0

No fewer than 170 young people with businesses have received interest-free loans from the Kwara State government.

The loan is an initiative of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, geared towards empowering young people and driving inclusive growth.

The winners got between N250,000 and N3m to start or strengthen their businesses after some rigorous, private sector-led screening processes that began with at least 7,202 applicants.

Amounts awarded depended on the scale and viability of their business proposals, according to the Kwara State Social Investment Programme office, which coordinated the initiative alongside Fidelity Bank.

Applicants Umar Faruk (Rice processing); Oluwatosin Adedoyin (Fish smoking); Courage Balogun (Waste evacuation); Jubril Bello (Plastic waste); and Mutolib ISSA (Locust beans) presented the best five pitches which won N3m interest-free loan apiece.

Others whose business pitches came next were; Femi Olanrewaju (N2.5m for his fish Pond); Alabi Michael (N1m, Cashew); Akpem Micheal (N1m, UBER); Nasir Ajala (N1m, Agro farm); and Yusuf Mohammed (N1m, Rice processing).

The loans were awarded under Kwapreneurs, a state government’s entrepreneurial platform designed to support initiatives of people not more than 35 years of age with seed funds.

“Kwapreneurs is a revolution and the essence is to ensure that public funds are allocated to serve the best interest of the people, especially the young people below 35 years who have been underserved for many years. This is in line with our commitment to promote innovation, industry and enterprise,” Governor AbdulRazaq said.

Commendation
He commended the youngsters for their brilliant ideas and their courage to have their pitches assessed by an independent panel of judges, assuring them of continuous government’s support and mentorship as their businesses grow.

The Governor said; “We made sure this was not business as usual. It was fair, open, thorough, and nonpartisan. A total of 170 businesses out of 7, 202 applicants have emerged from a rigorous screening process, which included online applications, verification of businesses/ideas and physical interviews (pitching).

“It is an unprecedented experience to see our young people pitching for funds for businesses. This was not the case before. But I am glad to note that our administration has succeeded in encouraging enterprise and dignity by introducing Kwaprenuers. This initiative aligns with the global demands for sustainable youths engagement and empowerment to widen the economic base of the state.

“I do not doubt that this crop of young people will succeed with the arrays of training they have undergone on business management, growth and development, strategies and sustainability among others and ultimately become employers of labour to drive improved revenue and economic development of the state. We appreciate Fidelity Bank and Wootlab Innovations for their support every step of the way.”

According to him, the plan of the government remains to build on the success of the first phase, thereby promoting commerce and trading, as part of our grand strategy on youths engagements and inclusive growth.

“However, its fundamentals are dictated by the global economic realities, revenue projections, and the sincerity of the beneficiaries to repay the non-interest loans as and when due. We urge our young people to use the funds judiciously and repay the loans for others to benefit from the scheme.

“Our commitment to prudent management of public resources remains unshaken. We will at all time prioritise the welfare of the people who have entrusted us with their mandate, while every segment of our society is accorded their right and privileges. I congratulate all the successful businesses and wish them the best,” the Governor explained.

The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was speaking at the grand finale of the programme attended by top government functionaries, party leaders and business leaders, including Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

 

 

Senate rejects Electronic transmission of election results

Mercy Chukwudiebere
-
0

The Nigerian Senate has passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021, after a lengthy debate and voting on some critical provisions in the new Bill.

One of the major highlights of Thursday’s plenary was Senate’s rejection of the use of electronic transmission of election results.

 

Details soon…

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

Navy alerts Nigerians on fake supplementary list of recruitment

Mercy Chukwudiebere
-
0

The Nigeria Navy, NN has described as ”fake” a purported sectional list of supplementary candidates in its recruitment exercise which is trending online.

The Navy said the list was amplified by an online newspaper of questionable integrity.

According to the Navy Spokesman, Commodore Suleman Dahun, the Chief of the Naval Staff said; “for the avoidance of doubt, the list is fake and did not emanate from the Naval Headquarters.”

”The public is therefore advised to treat the list as a pitiable ploy of mischief makers and idle minds intent on creating ill feelings amongst the Nigerian public thereby stoking sectional and religion sensibilities,” the Naval Chief said.

He noted that the Nigerian Navy is currently exploring legal means of seeking redress over this mischievous story.

Additionally, members of the public were advised to visit www.joinnigeriannavy.com for authentic information on Nigerian Navy recruitment exercises.

 

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

President Buhari to commission NALDA first farm estate

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

All is now set for the official commissioning of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority NALDA’s first Integrated Farm Estate by President Muhammadu Buhari in his hometown of Katsina State North-West Nigeria on Monday July 19, 2021.

The NALDA disclosed this in a media release.

The Integrated Farm Estate is the first of its kind in the country in recent times.

The farm estate would comprise different agricultural activities, commodity market, residential areas, access roads, water and schools.

It would create employment opportunities for over a thousand youths and rural women in the state.

So far, NALDA’s Integrated Farm Estate has since started in Ogun, Anambra, Ekiti, Imo and Ebonyi States with land clearing ongoing while in Katsina state the project is ready for commissioning and at well over 30% completion level in Borno State.

The project would be replicated in all the 109 Senatorial zones in the country in due course.

NALDA was resuscitated in June 2021 with the clear mandate to develop the rural communities in the country through agriculture.

Nneka Ukachukwu

Mental healthcare: Foundation seeks Government support  

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

A mental health foundation, Jars Education Group has called on the government and critical stakeholders to support in the provision of community mental healthcare delivery to the people.

Speaking at the launch of Lagos Community Trauma Care initiative, the Chief Executive officer of the foundation, Prof. Akindotun Merino said that it has become imperative for proper collaboration to address the issues of mental wellness across the country.

Merino who explained that efforts must be intensified towards the management of mental health of Nigerians, said that this would help to sustain the social and economic development.

Psychological management
Prof. Merino decried the rate of mental disorder in Nigeria and emphasized that there is an urgent need for a cohesive action to better manage the psychological health of the citizens.

“Our first goal is trauma awareness and today we are launching a community trauma care center for Lagos and the goal is to introduce community mental health in Nigeria as an affordable place that people can go to where they can cater for their emotional and psychological health.

“The initiative is very important because trauma is pervasive in the community which goes beyond accident. It involves high stress, emotional stress, it could rape, suicide, high rate of depression, even traffic alone could be traumatic. Adverse childhood experiences, anything that has come to disrupt your life, it could divorce, domestic violence, and many more,” she said

Some of the participants at the unveiling of the Lagos Community Trauma Care initiative.

Loss due to mental health
Merino mentioned that Nigeria has as a result of its low awareness on mental health, lost copious resources to develop its frontiers.

According to her, “Nigeria looses over 57 billion naira per year on mental issues because some people may not go to work and cannot perform at their best because they were challenged by some kind of depressed state. Mental health is not all about someone on the street naked, it is about us to be psychologically sane, emotionally healthy, financially viable and socially connected and we are a community helping each other.

No matter how intelligent you are, if you are not mentally well, you will not give the best of yourself.”

She said that Jars initiative is not for those in the psychiatric wards. “What we are doing is for the community, it is for someone who does not need to have medication, but they know something is wrong with them; we have Trauma trained specialists who will cater for them”

She said the foundation is working to bridge the gap in the area of addressing those in the middle by providing affordable care for them, while Government takes charge of the mentally-ill patients.

She therefore canvassed for more Trauma trained personnel in order to drop the rate of mental disorder in the country.

More awareness
The Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu who was represented at the occasion stressed the need to create more awareness about the health challenge.

Sanwo-Olu, represented by Dr. Olayinka Jibuna commended the initiative which according to her was geared towards a healthy State, while she urged citizens of the country to avail themselves the opportunity to receive the mental care.

According to her, a report conducted by the World Health Organization shows that Nigeria has Africa’s highest case of depression and it is ranked 15th in the world in the frequency of suicidal cases. She however called for training of personnel in that field.

“Mental health is so important and the awareness is very low and this necessitated the measure to bring to the front burner.

This staggering reality is a pointer to the fact that all hands have to be on deck towards improving the help-seeking behaviour on matters that trigger depression among Nigerians and ultimately ramp up mental health awareness in the country,” she said

She added that the Office of the first lady had in the past done a pilot study on mental health in some part of Lagos which will help to generate data that will facilitate planning on the issues of mental health.

Prof. Akindotun Merino, making her presentation

Identifying trauma
Jibuna said “if we say that everything is trauma, then nothing is trauma; it signifies stressful-like event that happens to an individual and he doesn’t have the human and cognitive and emotional resources to cope with the trauma.

“Trauma or depression differs from age, gender, social status, previous state of mind.

“A deviation from the norm is a pointer to know that such a person is having trouble; how they behave, sleeping more or less, becoming aggressive, turning to copping strategies like drinking, smoking. People must realize that if you are traumatized, you can get help, you can get physical fist aid.”

Others who spoke at the event called on the government, schools, NGOs, philanthropists and other stakeholders not to relent in investing towards the welfare of those who have active mental issues even as Jars Therapeutics give their best towards counselling and treating Nigerians because mental health is community health which is the nation’s wealth.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

WTO: Nigeria seeks exemption of Small Scale Fishers from Subsidies Discipline

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

The Nigerian Government has called for the exemption of small scale and artisanal fishers from the scope of the fisheries subsidies discipline under negotiation at the World Trade Organisation, WTO by member nations.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo at the one-day virtual meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee at the Ministerial Level on Fisheries Subsidies, affirmed Nigeria’s commitment and support to the agreement to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that have resulted in rapid depletion of global marine fish stocks.

The Minister said “I wish to assure you of Nigeria’s support and commitment to proactively engage with all Members towards achieving a balanced outcome in line with our mandate.

“To conclude an agreement to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognising that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing countries and least developed countries should be an integral part of the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation”.

The Minister stated that Nigeria would be happy to negotiate on appropriate special and differential treatment provisions for developing countries and least developed countries.

He stressed that the sustainable development of the fisheries sector would be a viable route to member states socioeconomic development given the sector contribution to food and livelihood security improvement.

Unsustainable practices
Mr Adebayo noted that illegal fishing, overfishing and overcapacity, as well as other unsustainable fishing and fishing related activities incentivized by heavy subsidization poses threat to the ongoing efforts towards sustainable development of the sector.

“These unsustainable practices have resulted in rapid depletion of global marine fish stocks,” he said.

He added that “after 20 years of negotiations, I believe it is time for us to draw the curtain on the Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations. Nigeria would continue to support WTO and show requisite flexibilities so we can collectively achieve balanced outcomes consistent with SDG 14.6 and our mandate.”

He assured the WTO DG that in view of the technicalities involved in the fisheries subsidies negotiations, as well as the urgency to expeditiously make progress, Nigeria’s participation would from now on, also involve engagement by senior officials from the Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The meeting was attended by the Director General of WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Amb. Santiago Wills of Colombia, 164 Trade Ministers of the WTO members and ambassadors including Nigeria’s ambassador to WTO, Dr A. M. Abdulhamid.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

“We have allotted over 800 road contracts” – Minister

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

The Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has so far issued over 800 road contracts across the country.

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, made the disclosure on Thursday at the weekly media briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team.

He said the move by the government was aimed at addressing the problem of decayed road infrastructure it met on assumption of office.

According to him: “It is 800 contracts not 800 projects and the number of contracts are growing; just yesterday, I briefed about five different roads each one of them is a contract.

“Sometimes within a road you can have multiple contracts. For instance, Kano-Maiduguri highway is 560 kilometers so there are five different contractors there and each one has a unique contract. The same thing for Lagos-Ibadan highway, there are two contracts there, Enugu-Portharcourt has five contracts there. Each one has a designated supervising project officer and so on. So in that sense, we have 800 plus contracts.”

He said the work done consists of highway bridges, covering a distance of over 13, 000 kilometers.

The Minister said based on the 2015 budget which the current administration met, the sum of N18billion was allocated for roads construction but that had since been increased significantly.

He said: “The budget for roads in Nigeria in 2015 that we inherited was N18 billion for all Nigerian roads. 2015 was also the year that I left office as Governor of Lagos so the budget for Lagos State roads for that year was about N70 billion and it was not enough so I don’t see how 18 would have been enough for the whole of Nigeria.

“But the first roads budget for the Buhari administration was N260 billion the next, N240 billion, next N356 billion then we have come down to N233, N237 and so on and so forth. We are doing a lot more with fewer resources.”

Construction of secretariats
The Minister, who used the occasion to highlight what his Ministry has done in the past six years, disclosed that his ministry is also constructing six new federal secretariats arising from the creation of new states where assets were separated.

“The ones in Anambra and Zamfara are the most likely to be finished this year. The one in Nasarawa and Bayelsa will probably run into next year while Ekiti is in the race to finish next year,” headed.

Housing
On housing, the Minister said already there are various housing projects spread across 34 States.

Road rehabilitation
He added that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is currently rehabilitating about 13, 000 kilometers of road in various parts of the country.

“FERMA, our maintenance agency, is already acting on over 5000 kilometers of road and 8000 kilometers of highway maintenance which is part of job creation as well,” he said.

The Works and Housing Minister also stated that the administration has been able to confront roads that he tagged as stubborn, which are now being used by Nigerians.

“We have been able to execute some of Nigeria’s most difficult projects that have defied solution from previous administrations and one of them is the Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan expressway, which has been there for long since 1999 and it was under this administration that construction started and I say that emphatically. Before that it was maintenance but we are nearing completion now.

“Bodo Bonny was awarded three times unsuccessfully but this is the first time that actual construction is now going on; one bridge has been finished, second one is in progress and several kilometers of road network are already being constructed.

“And of course the 2nd Niger Bridge has been in the news for a long time especially during election campaign period but now all of the structures, piles, everything is complete now it’s just to finish the deck and the link road to Owerri. Abuja-Kano-Kaduna highway was last acted upon in 1991; it was awarded I think in 1985 by the Babangida administration and since 1991 no action has been taken there but we are working on that now. Then who can forget the Apapa-Oworonshoki expressway where many containers had fallen down killing people and damaging properties in the process. Since 1975 when it was completed, nothing of substance has been done but now we have a final solution because it is now being fully reconstructed with concrete and 29 out of 35 kilometers have been completed,” Fashola said.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

 

COVID-19: NAFDAC approves Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V vaccines for emergency use

Mosunmola Ore
-
0

 

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has granted emergency-use-authorisation for Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC grants conditional approval for Janssen COVID-19 vaccine

The NAFDAC director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, announced this at a briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

The AstraZeneca approved is from the Republic of Korea (SK Bioscience Co Limited) as a result of the stall in the procurement of AstraZeneca vaccine, also known as Covishield, manufactured under licence by Serum Institute of India, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Moderna is produced by Rovi Pharma Madrid, Spain while Sputnik V from Russia is by Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

The NAFDAC had previously approved AstraZeneca (India), Pfizer bioNTech as well as Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in February and May 2021.

“While Moderna and AstraZeneca AZD1222 vaccines have received WHO emergency use listing (EUL) and were given expedited approvals, Sputnik V is yet to receive the EUL approval and the was subjected to full six-month review.

“NAFDAC is announcing the approval of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines and conditional approval of Sputnik V vaccine. The NAFDAC Vaccine Committee has been carefully assessing several vaccines despite the fact the vaccines have been approved by stringent regulatory countries or have received WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

“A COVID-19 vaccine that has gone through the prior approval from either of these two sources had gone through quality, safety and efficacy evaluation which is a prerequisite for acceptance by COVAX Facility. Most regulatory agencies across the world use this mechanism to expedite their own regulatory approval to import and administer COVID-19 vaccines.

“The agency spends at least 15 days to thoroughly examine the dossier or submission package of the vaccine to ensure that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks and any side effects are well noted for monitoring after vaccination by respective NAFDAC and Primary Health Officers.

“The EUL will allow Nigeria to receive supplies of the vaccines from the COVAX Facility. COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Is jointly led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access to low-middle income countries (LMIC) of which Nigeria is one.

“National Agency for Food and Drug Administration also gives full reviews for vaccines that have not gone through the EUL route. This mechanism is explained in our guidance developed by the COVID-19 Vaccine Committee.

“NAFDAC is the first National Regulatory Agency in Africa to have Guidance on Regulatory Preparedness for EUA, Licensing or Access to COVID-19 Vaccines,” Adeyeye stated.

MTO/The Nation

NIPOST, EFCC to strengthen collaboration

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

The Post Master General and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Postal Service NIPOST, Mr Ismail Adebayo Adewusi has reiterated his desire to strengthen ties with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, for the mutual benefit of the Agencies and the country.

Adewusi who stated this during a courtesy visit to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, noted that the NIPOST has over the years, worked closely with the EFCC.

“We have recovered many financial instruments including fake Credit Cards and counterfeit currencies which were impounded and returned to the EFCC”, he said.

He said though NIPOST has recorded tremendous growth, it is still beset by challenges occasioned by technological changes which disrupted its services as it also created opportunities.

The NIPOST boss disclosed that his agency recently perfected address verification which he said will help security agencies in checking the address of suspects.

Adewusi further sought the intervention of the EFCC boss in tracking and reporting on the status of cases of theft by officials of the agency which were reported to the Commission

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa expressed appreciation to the Post Master General for his visit and good wishes.

Recalling the history of collaboration between the EFCC and NIPOST, Bawa said he could remember as a young officer in Lagos that the Commission (NIPOST) and the US Postal Inspection Service usually carried out mail interdiction exercises which led to the recovery of several scam mails and the impounding of counterfeit financial instruments.

He however observed that unlike in the past, when NIPOST would intercept scam mails and counterfeit financial instruments and send them to the Commission, “we are not seeing them again. Look at this for us, so that we can reap the benefit of your international mail processing centre”.

Challenges
Bawa also noted certain challenges in mail handing which he would like the Post Master General to address.

This he said, include delays in the delivery of mail and the non-delivery of others on the grounds that address could not be traced.

The EFCC Chairman commended the innovation by the NIPOST in the verification of addresses, saying that the Commission would key into the programme to verify address of suspects and even staff members.

He assured that the Commission will continue to patronize NIPOST.

“It is our desire to patronize government organizations and we are glad that you are here to strengthen our relationship which has been around for years. We will have to work on some strategic ways to sustain the benefit of our collaboration to enable us achieve our mandate with ease,” Bawa said.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

CAC receives boost on Companies Registration Portal

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

The Corporate Affairs Commission CAC has received a boost in its attempt to establish and integrate a platform for filing audited accounts on its business software known as the Companies Registration Portal CRP.

The progress occurred following the successful selection and initiation of the developer of the accounting software: CENTRIFUGE GROUP to effectively drive the process.

The Registrar General/CEO of the Corporate Affairs Commission Mr Garba Abubakar during an initiation meeting held between the CAC and its development partner; the Agents for Citizen Driven Transformation,  expressed satisfaction over the level of progress so far witnessed by the project.

Represented by his Technical Assistant, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, the Registrar General said the full deployment of the software will afford customers the opportunity to seamlessly file annual financial accounts and bi-annual statements for companies and incorporated trustees amongst others.

Previous collaboration
The National Programme Manager, European Union Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation, Mr Damilare Babalola said the event was a continuation of earlier collaboration with the CAC.

He stressed that Messrs Centrifuge was eminently qualified for the assignment and therefore brought on board to speed up the project which aims to improve on CAC’s existing structure, make it more effective and to increase compliance particularly for the civil society organizations.

Also speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director of CENTRIFUGE GROUP, Damilola Awe thanked the European Union Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation, and the CAC for finding them worthy to undertake the project and assured of their commitment to deliver on the mandate between six to eight weeks from commencement.

CAC News recalls that the CAC and the Agents for Citizen Driven Transformation had on March 1, 2021 signed a memorandum of understanding to further complement the efforts of the Commission towards achieving full implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA 2020.

 

Nneka Ukachukwu

1...2,6302,6312,632...3,663Page 2,631 of 3,663

HEALTH

ENTERTAINMENT & TOURISM

WORLD

NEWS COMMENTARY

NEWS FEATURE

Voice Of Nigeria Mission is “Reflecting Nigerian and African perspectives in our broadcasts, winning and sustaining the attention, respect and goodwill of listeners worldwide, particularly Nigerians and Africans in the Diaspora … making Nigeria’s voice to be heard more positively in the shaping of our world.”

More from CN

Contact

© Voice of Nigeria Broadcasting Service