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NITDA Participates At 28th Edition of National MSME Clinic

NITDA Participates At 28th Edition of National MSME Clinic

As part of its effort to support the Federal Government’s ease of doing business initiative, the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, yesterday, participated at the 28th Edition of the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinic held in Dutse, Jigawa State Capital.

The event was graced by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Jigawa State Governor, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, Minsiter of state of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Maryam Katagum, Director General NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi and other top government officials.

While addressing the gathering, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, given the priority it attaches to the MSME sector over the years, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration has supported MSMEs in various ways including through the MSME Clinics Initiative which is being conducted through partnership of relevant MDAs.

He stated that over the past few years, Federal Government have held a national MSME day in tandem with World MSME Day in order to further build the profile of MSMEs and promote understanding of the sector.

On his part, Governor Badaru of Jigawa State commended all the MDAs that collaborated to bring together MSMEs under one roof to interact with the aim of proffering solutions to factors hindering the growth of their ventures.

He said his administration, with the support of Federal Government, introduced small scale mechanization on farming process to improve efficiency in production, by providing hand held harvesters, planters, tractors, combined harvesters, over 500 mini threshers, sprayers and pesticide to thousand beneficiaries.

Speaking of behalf of NITDA during the MSME Town Hall meeting, Mr Bello Mele of Department of Digital Economy, said Agency is at the event to strengthen partnership and provide Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with IT knowledge in line with Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.

He said NITDA has been partnering with the office of the Vice President, Prof Osinbajo’s on the MSME Clinic and have participated in all past editions, adding that, “the major reasons NITDA is attending MSMEs Clinic is to provide an avenue for small businesses with required IT knowledge to drive their day-to-day businesses online through the use of digital platforms, while supporting them with free domain registration.”

MSME Clinics was introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria to bring together key frontline Government Agencies and Stakeholders to interact with a view of removing impending business challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises.

The MSME Clinics is a collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, State Governments, and key federal agencies such as; Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Bank of Industry (BOI), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Industry Training Funds (ITF), Small and Medium Enterprise Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), NEXIM Bank, The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and many others.

OUTSOURCING AS A WAY OF CREATING JOBS IN NICHE AREAS FOR NIGERIAN GRADUATES

OUTSOURCING AS A WAY OF CREATING JOBS IN NICHE AREAS FOR NIGERIAN GRADUATES

There are no jobs, oh yes, I agree but there is so much opportunities in outsourcing especially in the area of capacity and skills. Many organizations and private homes are looking for some sort of skillsets and it is creativity that is needed to fill these niches. As a young NYSC leaver, why hang around jobs that you might not scale, why don’t you get your organization registered and look for a niche area you can fit into. It is cheaper to enter must you must abide with the standards.

Let take outsourcing of labour that requires no skills, I stay in Lagos and Lagos is such a busy place, mums are on the move, dads have moved and the kids are just there either in school learning or at home moping until mummy and daddy are home. Now ask most women that loves their kids, well almost claim that they love their kids, one of the greatest challenges they have is getting a house help or domestic help. Now this is where you come in with your business dexterity and sagacity.

Outsourcing can bring big benefits to your business, but there are significant risks and challenges when negotiating and managing outsourcing relationships. What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is a business practice in which services or job functions are farmed out to a third party.

Let me give you a layman example, you have a wife and you love your wife very well and she loves you so much, now she is heavily pregnant maybe around the trimester, you know miscarriage is high within that period, now you as a husband would love to go on celibacy path but your wife loves you so much remember and she read up that lack of sex can make a man develop prostrate cancer in his early 50s and she doesn’t want to be a widow either. Being a widow is stressful and she can’t also do her wifely duties due to her pregnancy now what she would do as a reasonable woman is to find a lady that would keep the husband company for a period of time. In economics that 3rd party lady that would be providing comfort for her husband for a time being is called outsourcing. She has outsourced her role to the 3rd party in the interim.  

You have a village, right? Hope you go to village, if you do not go to village, shame on you! If you are not local like me, you should be embarrassed! Now as a local you, you can look around villages, have a value proposition for the village folks (rural urban migration is real and we entered the train) sell a good picture of life in an urban area, get their dossier now when done, you can engage those thick madams in cities that will want a househelp, a baby sitter or domestic hand …tell them how much they will pay monthly to your company account (get it registered)  and get a binding agreement on what they will do for the house help like training in fashion, sending her to school  or learning a trade.

Then you can go into agreement with the househelp (let me use the word partner because madam is client here) and tell her the percentage you will be deducting from her salary maybe you can do 30%, so if madam pays househelp 40k a month and 30% is basically 12k and if you have 10 of these helps you are making 120k a month. So why carry files around looking for 25k jobs with your master’s degree?

This domestic help outsourcing fits women most, women can run it as a business, have an office, dress to work, have a customer complaint unit and take calls. It is a good job.

ANTHONY NWOSU

NCC BRINGS RESPITE TO NIGERIANS THROUGH NIM – SIM REGISTERATION EXTENSION

NCC BRINGS RESPITE TO NIGERIANS THROUGH NIM – SIM REGISTERATION EXTENSION

The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) an agency saddled with regulating and putting sanity in the Nigerian telecommunication ecosystem recently announce the extension of National Identity Number (NIN) exercise, SIM registration and integration with the NIN Numbers by extending the deadline to July 26th 2021. This announcement has brought respite and relieve to Nigeria trying to get their NIN numbers integrated to their mobile phones SIM Cards.  

In line with what is applicable in other nations that are forward looking in areas such as data management, security and economic planning. The SIM card integration with the NIN number will avail the government the ability to secure her citizens through cards, gather critical data for economic development and most importantly have a good idea of those in Nigeria.

Having made some great strides with a such time, presently, there are now a total of 57.3 million unique National Identification Number (NIN) enrolments. Not resting on their oars, NCC has encouraged Nigerians through sensitization, publicity and engagement to ensure that they comply with the SIM registration which has been extend to July 26, 2021.

NIMC Arrests Illegal NIN Enrolment Agents in KanoTHISDAYLIVE

As at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM. It is worthy of note that there were only about 800 such enrolment systems as at December 2020

Showing how proactive the commission has been lately, as of November 2020, the commission was one of the few regulators in Africa that approved electronic sim known as eSim. An e-SIM is a small chip that is embedded on a mobile phone or smart devices. It is designed for convenience, flexibility and simplicity. The e-SIM makes it easier for subscribers to choose a pre-paid plan provider and switch between network operators.

ANTHONY NWOSU

In line with what is applicable in other nations that are forward looking in areas such as data management, security and economic planning. The SIM card integration with the NIN number will avail the government the ability to secure her citizens through cards, gather critical data for economic development and most importantly have a good idea of those in Nigeria.

The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB will serve as a very big lesson to all the secessionist Groups – Ngige.

The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB will serve as a very big lesson to all the secessionist Groups – Ngige.

“The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu the Self acclaimed leader of IPOB will serve as a very big lesson to all the secessionist Groups in Nigeria.

“Nnamdi Kanu did an abominable act in Nigeria ranging from the killing of innocent Fulani cattle rearers, burning of Police Stations and killing of Nigerian Force members, hijacking the end SARS protest thereby the setting the whole country on fire.

“Today, nemesis has caught up with him, he should face the law and justice be melted on him to serve as a lesson to those supporting him directly and indirectly.

“What the APC government has done in the Eastern part of Nigeria, no government has ever done it in the history of Nigeria. Yet, IPOB members are not satisfied. Today, let us see who will bail the cat again. The matter is taking another dimension and this time around he will never escape judgement.

“Its obvious Igbo elites are strongly behind the Federal Government and we say capital “YES” to one Nigeria. With the current scenario now, Igbos are now united to produce the next President of Nigeria come 2023″

~ Chris Ngige

FG Approves July 26 as NIN-SIM Verification Deadline, as Enrolment Systems Hit 5,410

FG Approves July 26 as NIN-SIM Verification Deadline, as Enrolment Systems Hit 5,410

The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to July 26, 2021.

The decision to extend the deadline was made after a request by stakeholders on the need to consolidate the enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process following the rapid increase in the number of enrolment systems across the country.

As at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM. It is worthy of note that there were only about 800 such enrolment systems as at December 2020.

The Federal Government has approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension.

There are now a total of 57.3 million unique NIN enrolments, with average of 3 to 4 SIMs per NIN. With the great number of enrolment centres across the country, every citizen and legal resident should be able to obtain their NINs.

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, on behalf of the Federal Government, appreciates Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise.


The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Dambatta, and the Director-General/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Aliyu Azeez, urge citizens and legal residents to make sure they use the opportunity to complete the process of enrolment and verification.

PTAD Commences Payment of the Consequential Pension Increment

PTAD Commences Payment of the Consequential Pension Increment

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has commenced the payment of the consequential adjustment to the pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

This is in fulfilment of the Executive Secretary, PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme’s promise made when she announced President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval for the implementation of the consequential adjustment to the pension benefits occasioned by the new minimum wage increase of 2019. She promised that the upward adjustment of Pensioner’s benefit will take effect from May 2021.

Consequently, Pensioners in the four operational departments of the Directorate namely: Civil Service Pension Department (CSPD), Parastatals Pension Department (PaPD), Police Pension Department (PPD), and Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Department (CIPPD), have begun to receive their accrued arrears.

While reacting to the messages of gratitude received from some pensioners, the Executive Secretary assured them of PTAD’s commitment to the welfare of the DBS Pensioners.


She cautioned them to beware of pension fraudsters who call pensioners pretending to be staff of PTAD, reminding them that no staff of the Directorate will request for gratification before processing their pension payment.

The PTAD boss further urged the pensioners to report such phone calls and other activities of the scammers to PTAD for adequate investigations and possible prosecution. Signed Management.

US$700m ACE cable lands, adding to the diversity of hyper-connected hubs in Teraco data centres

US$700m ACE cable lands, adding to the diversity of hyper-connected hubs in Teraco data centres

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable is now live and available for interconnection at all three of Teraco’s data centres across South Africa, expanding access to broadband connectivity and digital services in Africa. ACE is the eighth submarine cable system to connect at Teraco, highlighting its position as the leading hyper-connected digital hub on the African continent. Spanning approximately 17,000 km along the West Coast of Africa, ACE connects to 24 countries before backhauling via MTN South Africa, the landing partner, into Africa’s home of the cloud, Teraco.

Michelle McCann, Head of Interconnection and Peering, Teraco, says that South Africa is a critical hub for access to services for sub-Saharan Africa: “Our position as the hyperconnected colocation provider in Africa allows us to address the increasingly demanding level of global data transit. This platform sets us apart as one of Africa’s leading modern hybrid architecture platforms.”

She says that there is a notable shift towards a more interconnected offering, making Teraco’s African Cloud Exchange vital as it links enterprise systems and data with networks, cloud providers, platforms and cable systems: “Data centres like ours acts as the perfect neutral hub for interconnection and data exchange. It’s here that onramps and switching points from many different cloud providers and network operators meet, and as companies increasingly embrace a hybrid infrastructure, the integration and interconnection between the different systems and platforms play a much more important role.”

According to McCann, this interconnectedness within data centres now provides organisations with opportunities to more effectively address their digital transformation and the speed within which this is done: “ACE is now equipped to offer 100 Gbps, maximising possibilities of interconnection to the Internet. This increased capacity and reach across Africa will bring a direct benefit to data-driven organisations while also supporting further development across the Internet ecosystem.”

McCann also says that the timing is key as South Africa’s cloud uptake consistently increases due to the digital transformation taking place across most business sectors: “ACE is playing a critical role in the infrastructure development of the continent. Using the most advanced high-speed broadband fibre-optic technology enables the cable capacity to be increased as and when needed without additional submarine work required.”

Commissioned to support the cost-effective delivery of broadband services and digital applications for education, healthcare and other e-services, ACE reaches an estimated 410 million people, equivalent to 5.16% of the total world population. 13 of the 16 countries connected by ACE are in Africa. Of those 13, seven were connected to the global Internet backbone for the first time by the cable system.

ACE represents a total investment of approximately USD 700 million and consists of two fibre pairs with a design capacity of 20Tbps. Latency is 145 milliseconds from Paris to Cape Town and 135 milliseconds from Lisbon to Cape Town.

Teraco regional interconnection hubs further enhanced by the addition of the Africa Coast to Europe Subsea Cable (ACE)

Teraco regional interconnection hubs further enhanced by the addition of the Africa Coast to Europe Subsea Cable (ACE)

The ACE submarine cable is now live and available for interconnection at three of Teraco’s data centres across South Africa, expanding access to broadband connectivity and digital services in Africa. ACE is the eighth submarine cable system to connect at Teraco, highlighting Teraco’s position as the leading interconnection hub on the African continent. Spanning approximately 17,000 km along the West Coast of Africa, ACE lands in 19 countries before being backhauled by MTN South Africa, the landing partner, into Teraco’s data centre facilities.

Michele McCann, Head of Interconnection and Peering, Teraco, says South Africa is a critical hub for access to digital services in the region: “Our position as the interconnection hub in Africa allows us to address the increasing demands for global data transit. Users of ACE now have direct access to Teraco’s ecosystem of over 350 networks, 130 IT service providers, 50 global content providers, and the key global cloud providers via their cloud onramps located in Teraco.”

She says that there is a shift to a more interconnected offering, making Teraco’s African Cloud Exchange vital as it links enterprise systems and data with networks, cloud providers, platforms and cable systems: “Data centres like ours act as the perfect neutral hub for interconnection and data exchange. It’s here that cloud onramps and switching points from many different cloud providers and network operators meet. As companies increasingly embrace a hybrid infrastructure, the integration and interconnection between the different systems and platforms play a vital role.”

According to McCann, this interconnectedness within data centres provides organisations with opportunities to address their digital transformation through choice and access speeds effectively. This increased capacity and reach across Africa will bring a direct benefit to data-driven organisations whilst also supporting further development across the Internet ecosystem.”

McCann also says that the timing is key as the regions’ cloud uptake consistently increases due to the digital transformation occurring across most business sectors: “ACE is playing a critical role in the continent’s infrastructure development. Using the most advanced high-speed broadband fibre-optic technology enables the cable capacity to be increased as and when needed without additional submarine work required.”

ACE connects Europe to Africa’s West and Southern coast through a high-speed fibre optic system, which has been extended to South Africa. Commissioned to support the cost-effective delivery of broadband services and digital applications for education, healthcare and other e-services, ACE reaches an estimated 450 million people, equivalent to 5.8% of the world’s population. 16 of the 19 countries connected are on African soil – and in the case of Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sao Tomé e Príncipe and Sierra Leone, ACE is the first international submarine cable to land on their shores.

Errand360HQ:Meet Abanofor Chibuzor Gideon, one of our riders operating from The Victoria Island Hub

Errand360HQ:Meet Abanofor Chibuzor Gideon, one of our riders operating from The Victoria Island Hub

Chibuzor is a committed and passionate rider, always looking very neat, he follows instructions and discharges his duties to the best of his abilities.

Chibuzor goes the extra mile to ensure he upholds the value of Errand360 and he would do just about anything “legal” to please our partners and also put a smile on the customers’ faces.

Chibuzor works from Monday to Friday weekly and rests on Saturdays and Sundays.
He successfully fulfilled a total of 95 orders this month, June 2021.
Chibuzor is Errand360’s Rider of the Month of June.

Chibuzor is our MVP and the entire Errand360 Management says “THANK YOU TO A TRUE ERRAND360 HERO”

Errand360 is a community delivery hub tailored to serve users with demand for quick short errands and delivery services. Our aim is to make all our users have access to affordable delivery services and also promote Eco-Friendliness.

Errand360HQ

AMANDAZ KITCHEN: WE DON’T JUST SERVE FOOD, WE SERVE WELLNESS

AMANDAZ KITCHEN: WE DON’T JUST SERVE FOOD, WE SERVE WELLNESS

Tucked in the ever-busy Pepple Street, beside Zenith Bank, Ikeja Computer Village, which is the biggest information technology market in the whole sub-Saharan Africa, Amandaz Kitchen has been dishing out finest cuisines in the whole of Ikeja. Focusing strictly on traditional African cuisines but presented in a modern atmosphere and ambiance, the food outlet of these past few years since it was established has catered not for everybody but for those tat value quality food, cooked with 100% organic ingredients, focusing on health not on filling the tummy, at Amandaz, they have evolved literally speaking, they are looking at healthy foods not just food!

In Amandaz Kitchen, they said they do not serve just foods, they serve wellness and wholesome cuisines. Founded by Amaka Onyebuchi, a seasoned banker turned caterer per excellence, speaking with the media crew, she said “having worked in the banking sector for over 10 years, one thing that we found difficult getting is good food during break. Considering the nature of our jobs then in the financial space, we needed to get quality foods at affordable price, this was extremely difficult, there I found the niche and decided to fill it. I simply resigned to follow my passion. Though, I studied accounting but cooking has always been something that has been my own, that was why I established Amandaz to cater for those that are desirous of quality food in a good atmosphere.”

“People think we cater for the high end, no ours is a place where we are particular about health, neatness and above all we have it as a policy to deliver foods that are cooked with organic ingredients. We go as far as possible to source these ingredients all the way from Akwa Ibom to Anambra and anywhere we can find. We are happy that we have been getting great feedbacks.”

Having presented her skills in various media houses like TVC and others, it has shown the confidence the people in Ikeja and environs have bestowed on the on the brand. In line with the current technology, the food outlet has deployed logistic solutions and services that will get to people outside the huge computer market. This can be done via simple WhatsApp number.

“Here in Amandaz, we are not only focused on just the folks in the Computer Village, we are open to outdoor services, we also do home service. We are just too careful on our process and ingredients. We also do corporate catering, we have some of our staff that supply lunch to corporate outfits in Ikeja, Victoria Island and all the way to Lekki. We strongly believe that quality food should be accessible to Nigerians”, Amaka concluded.

Here in Amandaz, we are not only focused on just the folks in the Computer Village, we are open to outdoor services, we also do home service. We are just too careful on our process and ingredients. We also do corporate catering, we have some of our staff that supply lunch to corporate outfits in Ikeja, Victoria Island and all the way to Lekki. We strongly believe that quality food should be accessible to Nigerians”