In response to the on-going Covid-19 Pandemic, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, in partnership with the public and private sector actors, has invited young Nigerians to participate in the 60 Day App Development Challenge aimed at engaging them to compete with one another in the art of mobile application design.
The Ministry, who announced this via a statement, said app developers interested in the project should be inspired by the desire to get their fellow Nigerians connecting seamlessly and safely with each other, and conducting their businesses even as the pandemic is still an ongoing concern. App submissions must solve a problem within the following fields: Edu-Tech, Agri-Tech, Sport, Health, Fin-Tech and Telecommunications.
“Through this competition, we hope to see a slew of highly innovative and easy-to-use apps, which can be used to improve a range of processes and increase the ease of accessibility to services available to the citizenry,” the statement said.
The best set of applications will attract multi-million naira prizes and training to further develop the applications. Modalities and rules for participation can be found at noya.ng or ministry of youthandsport website
The challenge kicked off on Wednesday 8th July, 2020. The project is supported by the Bank of Industry (BOI), Industrial Trust Fund (ITF), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), IBM, Microsoft, Afrilabs, 21st Century and NINE.
Signed
Media Office to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest-growing investment zones for financial technology companies according to new research says Forbes. The GSM Association says in its Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan Africa 2019 report that the region will remain the fastest growing worldwide. Predicting a total subscriber base of over 600 million by 2025, which represents approximately half the population, Sub-Saharan Africa will become a flagship for mobile disruption.
One of the driving forces behind this growth, according to Mike Smits, co-founder, uKheshe, a micro transaction platform, is the unbanked: “Mastercard reports that while around 1.2bn adults opened bank accounts for the first time over the past decade, 1.7bn remain outside the formal banking sector worldwide. Our challenge, as a continent, is to reach these “unbanked” individuals and better understand, as financial service providers, why they opt to stay in the informal sector.”
Smits says that since launching uKheshe 10 months ago, the plight for financial inclusion has become glaringly obvious: “While progress has been made in terms of mobile money, it’s become imperative that we move beyond that and look into digital payment solutions. What we have realised is that financial inclusion is not just about technology disruption, but more about solving greater economic problems.”
He says that consumers need simpler, more cost-effective ways to do simple tasks such as sending or receiving money and buying airtime as examples. Of course, financial inclusion goes beyond consumers and plays a far greater role in the lives of small-scale entrepreneurs: “The gains for these informal merchants is significant, bringing income for the community at large. We have seen this as so many of our users have trebled their businesses since using our platform to trade,” says Smits.
It’s ultimately about inclusive economic growth and how digital financial services can play a major role in the increase of financial inclusion in Africa. With an ever-growing mobile base, Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to lead the way, while also creating widespread economic prosperity.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his wife, Ibijoke, on Friday visited the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Broad Street and some other hospitals in different parts of the State, to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir with in-patients and health practitioners.
The Governor and his wife while at the various hospitals chatted with the patients and the medical personnel, cheering them up, encouraging them and also prayed for their recovery.
Speaking to journalists, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his unscheduled visit to Lagos Island Maternity, was to share Eid-el-Kabir moments with those in the hospital at a time when every other person is in joyous mood at home.
“It is really about the season. So, if you reflect, Eid-el-Kabir is about season of love. It is about season of remembering one another. So people are remembering Prophet Ibrahim; he slaughtered ram, which showed it is a season of giving.
“There are people on two sides, the medical officers on the frontline that are meant to be at work but more importantly are patients who for one reason or the other, cannot be with their loved ones,” he said.
Justifying his decision to pay unscheduled visit to health practitioners and in-patients at the hospitals, Sanwo-Olu said: “I felt that this is the best place to come and show love; not just to see them but to encourage them and to give them little support from myself and my government.
“Coming here, we would also see things around ourselves. It is an unscheduled visit. So, we didn’t prompt anything. I saw them in their natural habit. You can see so many doctors and nurses are on duty and patients are also happy.
“We have also seen several patients; mothers that gave birth overnight to fresh new born babies. So, it is just a season to come and thank God for them and their lives and for their families who are not here. For me, that is the most important thing.
The governor with a new born baby and the mother
“We all have to stay calm. It is a period we all need to understand that we need to stay calm and know that government cares. We might not be ‘A Star’ but we have a good conscience. We have a good heart to do something good to almost everybody. I just want my citizens to see that if we have more resources, we will do a lot for them. This is just simple way of saying thank you to everyone.”
Speaking on his response to a recent viral video of a boy begging his mother to calm down while punishing him for an offence he committed, Governor Sanwo-Olu said he believes strongly in paying attention and creating time to little things because there might be somebody somewhere who needs a help.
He said: “You look at big things but you need to certainly create time for little things as well. That is the difference. You know, you are going to build a bridge and it is nice but you have somebody who is just somewhere who needs a help.
“Just this morning (Friday), we rescued somebody who was planning to jump at the Third Mainland Bridge all because he said he has a debt of N500,000. We had to rescue him and we paid the debt. Those little details are what make the difference.
“I don’t have two heads, I don’t have 15 fingers. We are still same human beings. So, we need to show that human part of us while we are not losing sight of the big picture. The big picture is that we want to build roads, bridges and new schools. But we also need to pay attention to little one like the young boy on that video. By the way, I have spoken to him and his mother. They are doing great and I will see him one of these days very soon.”
The amiable and vocal wife of the President Buhari and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari observes the Eid as it is required by the Muslims. As a woman, she thanked the Muslim community for their compliance with the social distancing and used the opportunity to congratulating them.
The First Lady called in Nigeria to access the apex bank ,Central Bank of Nigeria credit tools to boost their business especially those who have been affected adversely by this Covid 19 pandemic.
Aisha Buhari and family members observing the Eid by praying to Allah
She took to her social media and prayed that we get over this pandemic soon and get back to our normal lives.
In her words,Aisha said “On this occasion of Eid el Adha, which signifies the spirit of sacrifice, I wish to congratulate Nigerian muslims and charge them to imbibe the lessons of the period. “
“I wish to use this opportunity to thank Nigerians for respecting the protocols designed for COVID19, and to call on them to remain resolute in ensuring that the pandemic is controlled. I also call on Nigerians to make best use of the financial support being provided through CBN to boost their businesses in order to cushion the effects of COVID”,She added.
“It is my ardent prayer that we overcome the pandemic as soon as possible so that we return to our normal lives in earnest”she prayed.
Globally, the Muslim world is in a joyous mood as they celebrates Eid Kabir, this is signified by killing ram and merryment. The Nigerian President , M. Buhari has encouraged the Muslim community to ensure that they conform with the social distance rules that is in place due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The President said, “I wish all Muslims a happy and fulfilling Eid El Kabir celebration. We can create the greatest impact by putting into practice the noble teachings of our religion. We must put the fear of God in our daily activities in order to make our society better. “
“I would like to call on Muslims and other faithfuls to continue to show more understanding with the government as we take steps to protect our people through social distancing and other guidelines”, Buhari added.
On the issue of health and safety of lives, the president said “The guidelines are dictated by necessity in order to safeguard public health, and should not be perceived as an infringement on people’s right to worship. These are challenging times for the entire world; COVID-19 has had devastating adverse impact on every aspect of our lives.”
“The preventive guidelines we have introduced to contain the spread of the Coronavirus have unfortunately limited people’s freedom to gather and worship in large numbers in Mosques and Churches. I call for continued patience and understanding from all. We will overcome this pandemic.”
The President ensure that his prayer was done indoors especially with his family as a way to show and demonstrate leadership by example and he reiterated the need for others to do so.
Nigeria and, the Yoruba people especially has lost a gem in the name of Senator Ayo Fasanmi who passed away lately at a ripe old age. Known as a cultural icon in the Yoruba space. The Vice President, Prof Osibanjo has been surprised on his demise.
In the words of the Vice President, he said”We received the news of the passing of Senator Ayo Fasanmi, with deep sadness and grief.”
“A founding leader of Afenifere, a true patriot, a forthright servant of, and interlocutor for the common man. He was a man of deep conviction who remained loyal to the end to compatriots and colleagues from the Action Group (AG) to the All Progressives Congress (APC)”, he also added.
In conclusion,the Vice President said “We thank God for giving him to us for 94 years, his legacy and consistent egalitarian beliefs, social justice and action will live on.”
According to his profile in Wikipedia,He was born in 1925 at Iye Ekiti, a local government area of Ekiti State, southwestern Nigeria. He attended St Paul’s primary school, Ebutte Metta and Government School, Ibadan before he proceeded to the Pharmacy School of Yaba where he received a diploma certificate in pharmacy.He practiced as a pharmacist at Oshogbo briefly before he joined the Nigerian politics.
“Life expectancy in Nigeria is 53 years; that is an upward movement from 49. If someone has lived up to 94, it is a good thing and we take solace in the fact that Baba lived a good life. Baba was a councillor, a member of the House of Representatives, a senator and an aspiring governorship candidate in the old Ondo State. We cannot, but give glory to God for his passing, which was very easy. He was not sick for long. He passed on peacefully” Fola Fasanmi, the last child of the demise Ayo .
The contribution of the country’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to our Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) has increased by almost one percent in the first quarter of the year, the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA ), Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCE has said.
The DG made this statement while delivering his remarks at the International Webinar meeting organized by the Information Technology (Industry) Association Nigeria (ITAN) Kano and Abuja Chapters on Tuesday.
He said that despite the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic on all economies of the world, the country’s ICT grew by 14 per cent compared to growth of 13.12 per cent in the previous quarter as people relied more on digital platforms during the lockdown.
Abdullahi who was represented by the Director e-Government Development and Regulations, Dr. Vincent Olatunji said, “NITDA, as the agency with the responsibility to oversee the IT sector, is at the forefront of creating initiatives and schemes to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s ICT sector, particularly the startup ecosystem.”
He noted that NITDA, with its two special purpose vehicles; The Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) and the Office for Nigerian Content Development (ONC) are working hard at achieving their mandates of fostering the growth of technology Startup ecosystem and ensuring patronage of local content in ICT.
Some of these initiatives, according to the DG, include Work Permit for Technology Startups during lockdown; The Nigeria COVID-19 Innovation Challenge where three startups with the following solutions emerged winners: locally made ventilator, decontamination chamber and e-Health monitor Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Scheme (TIESS) which have the following schemes; Incubation Programme; Technical Capacity Building, Internship Programme, Hub Upscaling.
These schemes are designed to target various aspect for the ecosystems to achieve maximum positive effect on the ICT ecosystem. Another programme in the pipeline is Startup Workspace Voucher programme aimed at supporting young startup to overcome their financial challenges.
While thanking the organisers of the Webinar event, Abdullahi added that, “We at NITDA believes that with strategic partnership and collaborations with stakeholders, we can build a new Nigeria with a robust digital economy.”
Participants at the event include, the Executive Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the Minister of the FCT, Malam Musa Bello were both co–hosts, other International Participants and Presenters at the webinar are: Ahmad Hashim, CEO of Pen Test Digital Services, Engineer Titus Olowokere, based in Atlanta, Georgia ,US, Dr Amado Espinosa, US-based, Professor Sou Mita Dutta of Cornell University, US, and Professor Abdullahi Adamu, Vice Chancellor of the National Open University, Abuja.
In line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM today participated virtually in the closing ceremony of a 5-day specialized Training for Persons Living with Disabilities.
The 5 Day Capacity Development Programme on Office Automation and Technoprenuership is in tune with the second pillar of the National Digital Economy Policy (Digital Literacy and Skills). The training was organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), an Agency under the supervision of the Ministry.
In his remarks, the Honourable Minister, Dr Pantami encouraged the participants to build on the basic skills they have acquired, challenge their previous successes and be very ambitious.
The Minister stated that as entrepreneurs, they will face a lot of challenges and encouraged them to be focused and chase their passion diligently. He went further to cite an example of Jeff Bezos who founded Amazon in his garage in the year 1994 without making a profit for years.
Pantami also advised the participants trained to make good use of the ICT gadgets provided for them and desist from selling them.
The convoy of the Executive Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Gana Zulum came under Boko Haram Terrorists fire while visiting Baga Town on the 29th of July 2020. The Executive Governor had earlier paid a visit to the Commander, 19 Brigade at the Nigerian Army Super Camp Baga where he was fully briefed about the prevailing security situation in the general area. The unfortunate incident occurred shortly after the Governor and his entourage departed the Super Camp to visit other parts of Baga town. The incident forced the Governor to abort his planned movement to Baga.
Although, details of the unfortunate incident is sketchy and under investigation, efforts are ongoing to comb the area where the incident occurred with a view to track down and deal decisively with the attackers. An investigation is also in progress to identify the circumstances that led to the attack.
Regretably, this is an isolated and most unfortunate incident that occurred in a territory where normalcy has since been restored with socio-economic activities picking up. The Nigerian Army wants to reassure the general public that this will be interrogated with a view to forestalling future re-occurance.
Additionally, Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that it will continue to discharge its responsibilities professionally with respect for the fundamental human rights of all Nigerians and in compliance with the extant rules of engagement. The good people of Baga town and indeed the entire Borno State are enjoined to continue to provide credible information that will assist the security agencies to successfully combat terrorism as well as apprehend and flush out the perpetrators of the attack.
SAGIR MUSA Colonel Acting Director Army Public Relations
The biggest lie ever sold and bought in the Southern part of Nigeria is that the North is the cause of the under-development of the South. Sadly, for decades, this lie has been swallowed hook line and sinker by less discerning youths down South who are too naive to understand that their thieving political class remains the real authors of their misfortune, the same misfortune which is being nurtured and nurished by their deliberate ignorance and refusal to look in the mirror.
But wait first, have you been following the revelation coming from the on-going public hearing on how the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) spent over 80 BILLION NAIRA meant to develop the Niger Delta mostly on themselves in less than a year?? If you haven’t, please pause here and go to Google and YouTube to read and watch for yourself, then come back to continue reading. NOTE, almost everyone at the leadership of the NDDC comes from the Niger Delta. And for over 16 years, the MDs of the Commission have always come from the region. Even the current minister is from the Niger Delta. Meanwhile, as these Niger Delta indigens were sharing the money meant to develop THEIR OWN REGION amongst themselves ( 3.14 BILLION was shared among themselves as COVID-19 palliatives with a single staff getting 10 million as COVID-19 welfare package, as attested to by the NDDC IMC chairman, Prof. Keme Pondei before the public hearing), students from the same Niger Delta who were on NDDC scholarship abroad were being ejected from their schools over non payment of their school fees.
And remember, we are not talking of the BILLIONS of dollars budgeted for the Commission under Obasanjo and Jonathan. This 81 BILLION is just the money cornered to private pockets between October last year and now. Go to the core oil producing villages and communities in the Niger Delta today and you will cry yourself to sleep at the level of unutterable poverty and lack of development in the region. The same region that is feeding virtually the whole country.
Tomorrow, some people from this same region will expect Charles Ogbu to join them in blaming the North for the under-development of the Niger Delta.
Coming to the Southeast, during the last two govts of Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, notable Igbo sons and daughters occupied strategic position in the federal govt. We had the post of the CBN governor, the secretary to the federal govt, the very powerful Coordinating minister of the economy, the chairman of both Chambers of the National Assembly Committee on works, the deputy Senate President and the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Aviation minister amongst others. Yet, all through the 8 years of Obasanjo and 5 years of Jonathan, none of those Igbo sons and daughters (except a few) remembered that their people have always yearned for sea Port, Rail lines, STANDARD International Airport, 2nd Niger Bridge, dredging of the river Niger and renovation of federal roads in their region, provision of which would see Igbo land witness unprecedented development and get a reprieve from the long years of DELIBERATE economic strangulation imposed on her by the Nigerian state as a hangover of the Biafran war. Today, those PDP thieving political elites who didn’t remember Ala-Igbo when they had the time are on almost all Igbo WhatSapp fora brainwashing less discerning youths that the North is the cause of our under-development. When they were there, what did they do????
Is it not a thing of shame, ridicule, even, that Buhari – a man who is of a distant relation with fairness and justice – is now the one building the 2nd Niger bridge and transforming the Enugu airport into a truly International airport, the snail speed of work in those two projects notwithstanding???
Sometimes, we just have to hurt ourselves with the bitter truth instead of comforting ourselves with lies. Southern youths must stop being fooled by their dishonest thieving political elites. We must do away with the culture of defending Southern thieves who steal not from the National purse but from the little allocation mapped out for the development of the South. A politician who stole to buy mansions in Dubai cannot suddenly become “our thief” worthy of our support simply because he comes from our ethnic stock.
Whether you are agitating for Resource Control, separate independent Nation or Restructuring, you must learn to start holding your own political , Angels will not come down to run those independent units. It is still those politicians who are our own people that will run things and if we don’t cultivate the culture of holding them to account now, we may not be able to do it then because in my place, there is a saying that one does not learn how to be left handed at old age.
