AccessNews Magazine - April 2022 Edition

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NIGERIA’S CREATIVE INDUSTRY GETS CAPACITY BOOST

NITDA, META Partner to Achieve 95% Digital Literacy By 2030 and End Fake News President Buhari Approves Re-appointment of NEXIM Bank’s Executive Mgt. Kabir Yagboyaju Emerges As FMBN’s Acting MD/CEO

Vincent Olatunji: Nigeria’s Data Security Officer

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KNOWING YOUR NHF Contribution is only A CLICK AWAY WITH FMBN Mobile Platform Solution You can use our USSD Service Web portal or Mobile App to: Check your contributions; Retrieve your NHF number; Request for your statement of account; Use our mortgage calculator; or Search for NHF related information on our bulletin board and more.

*219 # F M USS BN D CO

DE

For more information visit www.fmbn.gov.ng

To Access the USSD Service: Dial *219#

Follow the automated response to update your contact details check your contributions, use martgage calculator, retrieve your NHF Number or request statement of account.

To Retrieve NHF Number: Dial *219*3#

A response will be sent to you with your NHF number and total contributions to date

To Check last 5 Transactions: Dial *219*4*1# Your last 5 transactions will be sent to your registered email

To Check Statement of Account: Dial *219*4*2# Your Statement of Account will be sent to your registered email

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By conducting Townhall meetings before and during Agric projects, NIRSAL Plc ensures that all parties agree on key issues and modalities.

PHOTO NEWS - NIRSAL

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APRIL 2022

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People Centered Reporting - Covering every walk of Life Evermore authentic perspectives, exclusive chats, profiles and unique analysis.

Catch up on your latest news @ www.accessnews.ng @AccessNewsNg A Monthly Publication of Voices Synergy Nigeria Ltd.

VOL. 11 / ISSUE 4

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PUBLISHER Jamilu Yusuf Yola EDITOR IN CHIEF Ernest Ogezi

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Terna Kaaikyenge

MANAGING EDITOR Tasiu Mohammed

FEATURES Gabriel Onu

EDITOR & CONTENT COORDINATOR Gwendolyn C. Onyebuchi

GRAPHICS/PHOTO EDITOR Charles Achibi Esther Bagudu

HEAD, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

SECRETARY Amina Yusuf

STAFF WRITERS Mathew Eloyi Derrick Edward Bangura Shuaibu DanMallam Stella Alfa

PRODUCTION / DISTRIBUTION Femi Oluwaseun Samson Adams

CONTRIBUTORS / GUEST WRITERS Kayode Ajulo Esq Loni Prophet Spak Onyeka Chidube Percy Junaid Idris Baba Dr. Suleiman Lamurde Onyeka Chidube Percy

MARKETING & CORPORATE AFFAIRS Elisha Danladi Bridget Obiora

LOGISTICS: Danladi Elisha, Dahiru Suleiman, Samuel Attabor ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTION: Baba Abbo, Adamu Magaji, David Yusuf SPECIAL PROJECTS: Matthew Obioma, Chidiebere Ernest Onuoha CIRCULATION OFFICER: Abbas Nuhu, Samuel Birma EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS: Collins Andrew, Salamatu Imam IT CONSULTANTS: Musa Abdulraheem, Nura Bashir

Voices Synergy Nigeria Limited Suite D201 Sticks & Stones Plaza #60 Adetokubo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja Tel: +234 803 569 3509,+234 803 603 9862 Direct all correspondence to the Editor in Chief, AccessNews Email: info@accessnews.ng

Website: www.accessnews.ng

Agriculture is growing and our economy is getting better

Gradually our economy is reaping the fruits of agriculture, but we still have a long way to go.

That is why the Federal Government of Nigeria has directed the CBN to implement initiatives to provide the needed financing for the agricultural sector Tap into these initiatives today so together we can further build the nation’s economy.

COME, LET’S GROW NIGERIA TOGETHER Visit your bank to access any of the Agricultural and other initiatives CACS - Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme MSMEDF - Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises Development Fund NIRSAL (CRG) - Nigeria Insentive based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending. Credit Risk Guarantee ACGSF - Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund NIRSAL (IDP) - Nigeria Incentive based Risk Sharing for Agriculture Lending. Interest Drawback Program (RSSF) - Real Sector Support Fund RRS - Refinancing and Rediscounting Scheme EDC - Entrepreneurship Development Centre

20 NEXIM Bank Puts Up Assets Of Loan Defaulters Worth N7 Billion For Sale

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20 Nanotechnology Has Much To Offer Nigeria But Needs

CONTENTS

Support

21 War Against Corruption: EFCC To Partner CIFCFEN, Others 21 Alleged $1.6m Fraud: Court Dismisses Pastor’s No-Case Submission Against EFCC

22 Financial Institutions, Schemes

23 Kabir Yagboyaju Emerges As FMBN’s Acting MD/CEO

COVER STORY: Vincent Olatunji - Nigeria’s Chief Digital Officer

23 FMBN Set To Offer Non-Interest Mortgage Product To Boost Financial Inclusion CREDIT: WIKI-MEDIA

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24 SIM Linkage Required To Unblock Lines – NCC 25 NCC Provides N233 Million In Research Grants, Endows

12 THE NATION:

University Professorial Chairs

NITDA Clarifies Issues With ASUU, Says 156 Out Of 687 UTAS Test Cases Failed

26 NAICOM Approves 2021 Financial Statement Of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance

13 | NIRSAL to collaborate with Gombe State Government on Agriculture Value Chain, SMEs Development

26 NAICOM Collaborates With NCRIB To Intensify Insurance Policy Uptake

14 NITDA, Meta Partner To Achieve 95% Digital Literacy By 2030 And End Fake News

27 EU Ambassadors Visit NNPC, Seek To Strengthen Partnership In Energy Sector

15 | 27 NNPC Seeks Creation Of Special Courts For Prosecution 15 | NIRSAL MFB promises More Support For SMEs, Sports

Of Oil Thieves

16 TCN Upgrades Kaduna-Jos Power Transmission Project

28 Nigerian Government Identifies 300 Markets, Industrial Clusters For Electrification

16 | NIMASA Collaborates With Barge Operators To Ease Traffic Congestion On Port Access Roads

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30 AROUND THE CONTINENT: 17 NIMASA DG Provides Details On Port Reform Benefits

Malian Forces, Alleged Russian Troops Killed 300 Civilians Says, Human Right Group

18 NDE Disburses N14.6m Agric Loans To Akwa Ibom Youths In Five Months

31 South Africa Ends 750 Days Covid-19 State Of Disaster

19 President Buhari Approves Re-Appointment Of NEXIM

31 Russia, Ukraine War Deepens Food Insecurity In Africa

Bank’s Executive Management

32 Darfur People In South Sudan Applaud Icc’s Trial Of 19 NDE Organises Agric Training For 100 Youths In Zamfara APRIL 2022

Janjaweed Leader ACCESSNEWS.NG

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32 Rwandan Court Declines To Increase Sentence Of

68 Tell-Tale Signs It’s Time To Quit Your Job

‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero

69 Traits That Makes People See You As A Leader 33 Reports Of Many Killed In Mali ‘Extremely Disturbing’ Says The U.S

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72 ROMANCE: 34 African Refugees See Racial Bias As US Welcomes

CONTENTS

Are You Happy Or Just Comfortable In Your Relationship

Ukrainians

75 Being Happy Is Scary, And Being Comfortable Is Easy ..........................................................................................

58 INNOVATION

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Nigeria’s CredPal Secures $15m In Debt And Equity To Scale Its BNPL Product Across Africa

People Who Have Had Covid More Likely To Get Diabetes

78 HEALTH:

59 Nigeria’s Kwik Gets $2m To Add Financial

80 Preventing Miscarriages: What Every Expectant Mother Should

Services To Its Last-Mile Delivery Offerings

Be Aware Of

60 Nigerian Digital Bank Yep! Raises $1.5m Pre-Seed

81 Parkinson’s Disease: Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

For Its ‘Financial Super App’ Play

82 Dietary Supplement In Fruits, Vegetables May Fight Respiratory 62 Mecho Autotech Gets $2.15m To Expand Vehicle

Illnesses - Study

Maintenance And Repair Services In Nigeria ..................................................................................................

66 Technology Advancements That Improve Virtual

84 GLOBAL NEWS:

Events

Texas To Send Busloads Of Undocumented Immigrants To The US Capital

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85 Biden Sets Rule Banning Sale Of Untraceable Diy ‘Ghost Gun’ Kits

64 LIFEHACK: 86 Ukraine War In Maps: Tracking The Russian Invasion

Hidden Mental Health Hurdles That Threaten Productivity And Profit

87 88 Sri Lanka Warns It Will Default On Its Foreign Debt Amid Crisis ................................................................................................

94 ENTERTAINMENT: Nigeria’s Creative Industry Gets Capacity Boost With Phoenix Project

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| FEATURES:

Are ASUU Strikes A Relic From An Antiquated Period?

50 | The Politics Of Food Security

LEGEND: MKO Abiola

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CREDIT: EDWARD BANGURA

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53 | The Theory Of An Overpopulated Earth 55 | 2023 Elections: Is The Osinbajo / Zulum Ticket A Dream That Will Come True Or A Far-Fetched Fantasy?

APRIL 2022

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DATA PROTECTION BUREAU ENSURES PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY OF NIGERIANS The variance in the price of oil globally has shown how vulnerable a mono-economy such as ours can be, with the oil price in Nigeria currently pegged at $107.91 per barrel. There has been a call for the diversification of the economy from every quarter. In 1990 the information technology industry

exhaustive provisions on data protection and in some areas it was practically silent. These loopholes need to be clarified

other stakeholders who operate in the data protection and information technology space.

billion in revenue.

Over that fear decades, at an increasing rate recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic, digital transactions and online social interactions and the collection use and unauthorised sharing of personal information of customers and online platform users with third parties have grown exponentially. This has led many countries around the world to look at this development critically. Many have enacted laws to proresidents, of which Nigeria is no exemption.

Before the advent of Nigerian Data Protection Regulation, data privacy. NDPR created a functional accountability sys2018 to 635 in 2020. According to the privacy audit compliance conducted between 2018 and 2020, the top performing sectors are finance 41%, consultancy 9.2%, ICT and digital media 8.8%, and manufacturing 7.9%. To build the right quota indigenous capability for driving the digital sector, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami has officially launched the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau, a certified body on national data protection regulations tion in Nigeria, the NITDA which is a regulatory authority with the responsibility of coordinating and developing Nigeria’s information technology infrastructure to avoid any lacuna issued NDPR to provide the legal framework for data protection in Nigeria.

The NDPR was issued less than a year after the European Union issued its General Data Protection Regulation which came into effect in May 2018. Being the first regulation of general application on data protection in Nigeria and because of the speed at which it was issued, the NDPR did not contain

APRIL 2022

To address some of these gaps NITDA proactively issued the NDPR implementation framework on the 17th of November 2020. The essence of this was to provide clarity on the provisions of the NDPR and to enable data controllers, data administrators and processors to better understand and fully comply with their obligations at the NDPR. In January 25, 2019, the National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA released regulatory instruments to ensure a defined, world best practice for effective and efficient development of the Information Technology sector in Nigeria. The guidelines are the rulemaking process, regulation of NITDA, the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation NDPR, guidelines for IT clearance, guidelines for public interest access and framework for the use of social media in public institutions.

Nigeria Data Protection Regulation is a subsidiary of legislation, according to section 37 of NITDA’s Acts, 1999 Nigerirights and data as a form of fundamental human right. Proers the subsidiary legislation of the NITDA. The concept of NDPR in Nigeria is beyond personal data protection. It tends to leverage the potential of the digital economy in Nigeria in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s initiative on economic diversification.

It is a regulatory body that can protect personal data as well as create an industry on how to harness data because data fuels the digital economy. It is worthy to mention that NDPR generated N3 billion in revenue and over 8,000 jobs in addition to registering 103 data protection compliance officers, in its two year of implementation between 2019 and 2021.

Data privacy issues can mar or make a democratic socie-

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ty, or literally undermine a country’s national security and bring far reaching dire consequences to the country and its people. We are hopeful that the NDPR as an agency would pay more emphasis on enforcetion (DPCOs) to own our skills and develop that area.

In order to further dissuade breaches and encourage deterrence, the NDPB should strive to increase the penalties provided in the Data Protection Bill where necessary. In the meanwhile, the NDPB can increase enforcement by applying the stipulated sanctions uniformly to all defaulters. The NDPB should also explore taking legal action, such as presenting fresh arguments on areas where the NDPR appears to have flaws, in order to have the courts rule on such problems, so enhancing the data privacy jurisprudence.

As a result, potential defaulters will be deterred, and the NDPB’s profile and regulatory performance will improve.

While the march toward regulation through an Act of Parliament continues, the government has taken significant, practical actions to manage the steady rise of the data industry.

We anticipate operators and other stakeholders scrulaborations and opportunities.

Jamilu Yusuf Yola Publisher

ACCESSNEWS is published monthly

by Voices Synergy Ltd. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Voices Synergy Ltd or ACCESSNEWS. Information has been included in good faith by the publisher and is believed to be correct at the time of going to print. No responsibility can be accepted for errors and omissions. Prices are based on exchange rates at the time of going to press.

Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.

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APRIL 2022

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with the requirements of the Software Testing and Quality Assurance Framework and Guideline and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT. “It is common knowledge that ASUU has been engaging the Federal Government on a number of issues including payment of promotion arrears, earned academic allowance, funding for revitalisation of public universities, and adoption of UTAS as payment platform for universities.

“On October 14, 2020, NITDA was invited to participate in an interactive session between ASUU, Federal Government and the legislature. The session, held at the Confer-

THE NATION

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NITDA clarifies issues with ASUU, says 156 out of 687 UTAS test cases failed

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he National Information Technology Development Agen-

the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

It could be recalled that the leadership of ASUU had accused NITDA of “peddling lies” over the status of the UTAS. NITDA made its position known in a statement signed by Umar, and titled: ‘NITDA’s Engagement with ASUU on UTAS: Putting the Records Straight’.

According to the agency’s founding Act, it is responsible for developing a framework for planning, research, development, standregulation of Information Technology (IT) activities in Nigeria.

As a result, NITDA said it has issued a number of regulatory instruments throughout the years, including the Software Testing and Quality Assurance Framework and Guideline, which was published in 2016. This instrument, which is now being assessed, sets guidelines for the design, development, and testing of software projects in Nigeria, according to the statement.

The Agency also pointed out that Section 10 of the Standards for Nigerian Content Development in ICT, 2019, gave detailed guidelines and expectations for indigenous software development and software-enabled products and services.

NITDA said: “In line with its mandate, the agency has been registering indigenous software solutions. Part of the registration process requires that solutions are subjected to tests, in line

APRIL 2022

CREDIT: @NITDANigeria

Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations, NITDA

was to avail ASUU opportunity to demonstrate the UTAS platform.”

NITDA stated it was required to subject the platform to an integrity test and advise the government properly as part of the conditions for the Federal Government’s adoption of UTAS as a payment platform for public universities.

The agency opted to carry out three of the eight tests indicated in the Software Testing and Quality Assurance Framework and Guideline as a result of this.

User Acceptance Test (UAT), Stress Test, and Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Test (VAPT) are the tests in question.

22, 2020, and the discussion focused on the assessment’s modalities. NITDA further stated that documentation required for proper planning and execution of the tests were requested. Both the countant General of the Federation were involved as key players in the Solution’s implementation and deployment.

“Upon receipt of the documents from ASUU, as well as access details of the UTAS platform in January, 2021, the agency’s team carried out basic Functionality/User Acceptance Test on the platform. As NUC conducted UAT, NITDA felt it could use the report produced by NUC for its report. However, upon review, it was observed that the Solution was demonstrated to the principal of-

“The agency decided that further UAT be carried out with actual end-users from the university system. As a result, arrangeAccounts and Bursary participated in the UAT, held at NUC, on August 10, 2021.

“Although the UAT was carried out as planned, challenges were encountered that negatively impacted on outcome of the ACCESSNEWS.NG

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the tests carried out and issues idenof Communications and Digital Economy on December 3, 2021. This was, in turn, submitted to the chief conciliator, the Minister of Labour and Employment, as well as other stakeholders in ASUU,” the statement reads.

NITDA claimed that during a conciliation meeting convened at the request of the Minister of Labour and Employment on February 22, 2022, it was decided that NITDA will engage with ASUU and reassess UTAS. It was decided that important members of the conciliation team would be present as observers during the Technical Team’s sessions, according to the statement.

“It may interest the agency’s stakeholders to know that NITDA, as a responsible agency of government, made all arrangements to ensure that the exercise was carried out successfully. The interaction commenced on March 8, 2022, with discussion on the methodology to be used as specQuality Assurance Framework and Guideline.

“Upon reaching agreement and starting the actual test on the Solution, a critical error occurred and the test could not continue. As a result, the interaction had to be postponed to enable the ASUU team rectify the issue.

“Considering the challenge encountered, the assessment methodology had to be reviewed to facilitate daily remediation of critical issues as they occur. This, although not in NITDA’s Standard Operating Procedure for exercises such as this, was adopted. Consideration was made to the national importance attached to the exercise as well as the need to complete it in a reasonably shorter period of time,” the statement added. Q

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13 THE NATION

assessment. For instance, although the invitation emphasised the need for prospective participants to come with ICT tools for the exercise, very few of the participants had these tools. This resulted into grouping the participants and very limited handson interaction with the Solution was possible. Furthermore, there was limited connectivity, thereby, making it difficult for the participants with the relevant tools to follow the demonstration by ASUU. These issues were adequately reported to key stakeholders.

“The agency’s team also carried out series of Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Tests on the UTAS platform. One of these assessments revealed five high-risk vulnerabilities that are likely to negatively impact on the platform if exploited. Further, two low-risk vulnerabilities were identified. These were discussed with the ASUU team. And a further assessment carried out on the updated version of the Solution revealed that the HighRisk Vulnerabilities have been addressed. However, one medium risk, three low risks and 44 informational risks were identified. These, also, were adequately communicated to the relevant stakeholders including ASUU. “A detailed Functionality/User Acceptance Test on the platform was carried out by our team. A total of 687 test cases were generated, in which 529 passed, 156 failed and two had cautionary warnings. As some of the failed cases are critical to the overall functionality of the Solution, the agency could not recommend for the Solution to be deployed in production environment.

“ASUU was, therefore, requested to work on the Solution and submit it for further assessment. Furthermore, a comprehensive report outlining all

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overnor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has said that his administration is poised to collaborate with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to improve the agricultural and SMEs sectors.

The governor revealed this when he met with the Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr. Alito a press release issued by the Director-GenerMr. Ismaila Uba Misilli, and made available to newsmen in mid-March 2022.

Yahaya reminded his host that Gombe, as an agrarian state, wants to partner with NIRSAL to improve the agricultural sector, create more jobs, and improve the state’s food security.

In his words, “Agriculture remains a vital tating the introduction of several agricultural intervention initiatives in the state, including the one we are pursuing with NIRSAL.” cultural sector’s development is critical for the state’s economic development, food security, and long-term livelihoods.

Cooperative societies in Gombe are likely to gain from the collaboration with NIRSAL by clustering into parts of the agriculture value chain, resulting in increased productivity It was agreed at the end of the visit that a led by the governor and the NIRSAL team laboration and cooperation. Q APRIL 2022

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Further on Digital Technology, the Director-General stated that things have changed now, that there is no such thing as a Digital Space in reality, that what makes up that digital space is Physical Computers, Network Cables, Humans who use computers, and so on, but that the Digital Space does exist on a Sovereign Nation. He claimed that “what

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NITDA, META PARTNER TO ACHIEVE 95% DIGITAL LITERACY BY 2030 AND END FAKE NEWS

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he ongoing call for an end to the spread of fake news, particularly on social media platforms, will soon be cover measures to stop the nasty trend that is wreaking havoc on the country’s socio-economic and political environment.

To this end, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), an American multinational technology conglomerate, paid a visit to the National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters in March 2022 to discuss a number of areas of mutual interest and collaboration on how to move Nigeria’s ICT sector forward, particularly social media regulation.

According to the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, the collaboration between NITDA and Meta is appropriate, considering the ongoing distribution of Fake News and misinformation on social media, which he believes is a threat to the nation’s stability.

Kashifu stated that Meta is a key partner in this direction, mate the culprits’ excesses.

In his words, “How can we make it better to make sure that the menace of Fake News is reduced to the barest minimum?

Many people do not read their messages talk more of verifying Mechanism will reduce the spread of unsubstantiated news.”

APRIL 2022

“We need to look at the laws in our nation, what can we do to make sure everything you’re doing is obeying the rules and carrying our people along in constructing the Metaverse the same way you’re taking the EuropeThe NITDA head stated that the aim of achieving Digital Literacy by 2030 remains sacrosanct since it is vital to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration; however, he requested collaborative participation from Meta.

“We cannot do it alone; we have an ambitious target where we need partners like you to achieve that. It would help if you equally had people that will consume your services, and they need to be digitally literate before they can access your services,” he said.

While praising Meta’s support for broadband penetration, he also mentioned that NITDA and Meta are working together on other projects, particularly in the area of digital literacy, with an Online Massive Open Course Platform being established to facilitate courses in Nigerian native languages.

Earlier, the leader of the team and Head of Public Policy Principal Regulator in Nigeria.”

In her words, “We recognise the importance of this Agency, and as the catalyst for the sector and economic development in Nigeria, we equally recognise the importance of the vital regulatory role you are providing in this space.” ning of a more cooperative and collaborative relationship. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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President Buhari confirms Abdulaziz as TCN MD

NIRSAL MFB promises more support for SMEs, sports

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed the appointment of Mr Sule Abdu-

Director/Chief Executive Officer of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) with effect from April 4 2022.

TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said in a statement in Abuja that , until his the company’s Acting Managing Director since May 19, 2020. ager (Projects) at the company’s headquarters before becoming the acting managing director, according to Mbah.

In her words, “He was also in charge of coordination and supervision of equipment maintenance and repairs, transmission network reliability, security and expansion, inventory and stock management among others.” been responsible for the overall suny including transmission projects, transmission network operations and maintenance, system operations.

Other responsibilities he carried ACCESSNEWS.NG

out according to her are market administration, human resources management and chief accounting officer.

“Under his watch as the acting managing director, TCN made milestone achievements in projects execution and delivery, stable grid management, and human resources management that optimised personnel performance and productivity.

“Working with an executive management consisting of four Execuon initiatives and execution that sigfaltering successor company in the post-privatisation era to a viable national and sub-regional transmission company,” she added. also distinguished himself as a good human resources manager, who brought industrial unity to TCN and maintained a non-interference and non-divisive approach in dealing with labor unions and union issues.

She added that the TCN CEO boosted capacity development by ing and retraining to close skills gaps, among other things. Q

commemorate its third anniversary and to allow employees to mingle informally.

In his words, “This event is for us to informally meet, know ourselves better, network and also exercise with this novelty match, with the ultimate aim of improving our productivity.”

According to him, the bank will continue to encourage all employees to engage in physical activity and sports in order to improve their mental alertness.

Mr Darlington Lawson, the bank’s Executive Director, had previously stated that the event had served to enhance the bank’s personnel’s camaraderie.

Physical activity, he said, is beneficial to one’s health and productivity at work.

The event, according to Mrs Joy Nkwor, Director of Human Resources at the Bank, was an opportunity for the women to demonstrate their physical health on the field of play.

In an unusual novelty football match, Nkwor captained the female squad to a 3-2 victory over the male team.

In 2019, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL MFB) was developed to boost the flow agricultural value chain.

Q APRIL 2022

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r Abubakar Kure, the Managing Director of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, has stated that the bank would continue to help businesses in order to accelerate the growth of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

Kure made the remarks on the sidelines of a novelty football match in Abuja to commemorate the strategic bank’s third anniversary.

According to reports, the bank will continue to collaborate with key stakeholders to accelerate the growth of SMEs across the country.

The novelty match, according to Kure, was

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THE NATION

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TCN upgrades KadunaJos Power Transmission Project

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he Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that the final stage of construction of the new 330 kilovolt (kV) twin circuit transmission line connecting Kaduna and Jos has been completed.

The company also built eight multi-circuit towers at the crossing location of the new line to connect an existing single circuit 330kv transmission line, according to a statement released in mid-March 2022.

The goal of the project, according to TCN, is to increase the corridor of the lines and make stringing the triple circuit 330kv line conductors easier.

With the completion of the lines and connected to the grid, they will raise the total capacity of bulk power transmission in the axis from 500 megawatts (MW) to 1,500MW. “Mando 330/132kV substation can now receive supply through two independent sources, that is either through Shiroro- Kaduna line 1 and 2 or through Jos – Kaduna 330kV line 1 and 2.

“This will definitely provide system stability and reliability. This will boost power supply and socioeconomic activities in Kaduna, Jos and neighboring areas,” the statement said. Q

NIMASA collaborates with barge operators to port access roads

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r. Bashir Jamoh, Director General of the Nigerian Marine Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has stated that a well-regulated barge operating industry in the maritime sector

Jamoh said this when he hosted the Nigerian Barge Operators Association (BOAN) in March 2022.

The President of BOAN, Hon. Bunmi Olumekun, led the team to the head office of NIMASA in Lagos.

“Barge operations have helped to reduce gridlocks in Apapa, as they are involved with the transportation of container goods from one point to another within the inland waters, thereby putting less pressure on our roads, while also contributing their quota to national economic development,” Jamoh said.

The NIMASA DG also urged the operators to invest in contemporary, state-of-the-art barges that will allow them to compete favorably with their foreign rivals, as this will help them stay in business and protect them from foreigners taking their jobs.

While assuring them that the Agency will do everything possible to promote barge operations as an alternative mode of transportation, he advised them to beef up their training efforts for their employees, as this will help them meet modern-day challenges and encourage professionalism in the performance of their duties.

In his words, “Capacity development is good for the industry players in order to remain relevant while being able to compete favourably with operators in other climes. The business of shipping is evolving with an increase in technological advancement hence training cannot be toiled with, in order to remain valuable in the shipping market.”

He also stated that the Agency has commenced the wreck clearance exercise around the country, in accordance with the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) direction and approval, in order to ensure that the channels are clear for navigation while also avoiding mishaps on the waterways.

Earlier in his speech, the association’s President, Hon. Bunmi Olthe growth and development of the Nigerian maritime sector, and pledged the association’s continued support and cooperation with the Agency in achieving the current administration’s three-point agenda.

Hon. Olumekun, who observed foreigners’ engagement in barge operations in Nigeria, urged the Agency to make loans available at a single-digit interest rate to assist operators in acquiring state-ofthe-art boats.. Q

APRIL 2022

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NIMASA DG PROVIDES DETAILS ON PORT REFORM BENEFITS

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He praised NIMASA for entering the digital era of scheduling vessels for port state control, noting that the agency’s surveyor certifications must improve port and flag state functions, as well as bring Nigeria closer to compliance with international treaties.

Jamoh went on to say that the agency’s port state control (PSC) implementation was better this year, with 24.2 percent more inspections than in 2020.

A breakdown of the figures reveals that the agency conducted a condition survey of boats under Flag Registration for 276 vessels in 2020, and that number jumped to 489 in 2021, marking a 43.6 percent increase.

The agency, according to Jamoh, has reactivated the web platform enabling stakeholders to verify Nigerian Certificates of Competency (CoC) from anywhere in the globe.

In his words, “The online certificate

APRIL 2022

17 THE NATION

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r. Bashir Jamoh, Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has stated that the country’s ongoing changes in state and flag state administration have resulted in the country’s recent removal from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy list.

He also stated that his transformative leadership was altering the narrative of maritime safety in Nigerian waters, as he announced a 43.6 percent rise in the agency’s condition survey for flag registration in 2021 compared to the previous year’s performance.

Jamoh made the announcement during a press conference in Lagos, noting that, despite the problems posed by the COVID-19 outbreak, the agency has enhanced port and flag state management while adhering to the Merchant Shipping Act 2007’s safety criteria.

verification platform was reactivated last year to reduce falsification of Nigerian Seafarers Certificate and enhance the employment of Nigerian Seafarers.

“We experienced rejection of Nigerian Seafarers both locally and internationally and the Agency decided to introduce an online certificate verification platform which allows ship owners to easily authenticate CoCs from the comfort of their electronic devices.”

While expressing concern about the percentage of Nigerian seafarers who failed the Certificate of Competency exam last year, Jamoh revealed that the agency has begun a probe into the immediate and long-term reasons of the trend in order to address it holistically.

The NIMASA boss revealed that in 2021, NIMASA and the Maritime Transport Coordination Centre (MTCC) signed a memorandum of understanding for capacity development to address the need for greenhouse gas emission reduction in the maritime industry, with a focus on achieving 0.5 percent sulphur oxide in bunker fuel.

He also revealed that the agency had enlisted the help of recognized organizations to approve ship security plans and issue International Ship Security Certificates on behalf of Nigerian-flagged ships.

Jamoh stated that his leadership was fully committed to ensuring that the sector implemented reforms that would yield the desired results.. Q

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and now.

“The emphasis is on agriculture because it is the mainstay of the economy.

We are trying to arouse the interest of our youths to go into agriculture and its value chain. The first batch of recipients was empowered last year December.

“When we are talking about agriculture it is not only about planting crops. Buying and selling of agricultural produce is part of it. Not all of them are going to plant or going to rear livestock.

“The NDE under President Muhammadu Buhari has performed very well because financial allocations have been coming on time. That’s why we are able to carry this big load that we are carrying.”

Earlier, the State Coordinator of NDE, Mr Promise Eka, said the SADTS was aimed at creating job opportunities for youths in the Agricultural sector.

“The Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) is a training which places emphasis on the use of modern technology which ensures that Agricultural research and extension services are high-input for crops and animals production in which the state has great comparative advantage.

“The training has two components, the theoretical class for two weeks and adaptive experiential farm for 10 weeks,” Eka said.. Q

NDE disburses N14.6m agric loans to Akwa Ibom youths in five months

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he National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has disclosed that it has disbursed N14.6 million agricultural loans to 136 youths in Akwa Ibom within the last five months.

The Director-General of NDE, Malam Abubakar Fikpo, made the disclosure in Uyo during the orientation of the second phase agricultural loans disbursement and commencement of the Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) for beneficiaries in the state.

Fikpo, who was represented by a sensaid beneficiaries are entitled to N100,000 each at 9 percent interest rate.

He said the beneficiaries were captured under the Agricultural Enhancement Scheme (AES) and Community-Based Agricultural Empowerment

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Scheme (CBAES).

He added they were also under Graduate Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (GAES) and Sustainable Agricultural Development and Empowerment Scheme (SADES).

Fikpo said that six months moratoriwere expected to repay the loan in installments over a period of three years.

He expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the timely release of statutory allocations to the NDE, adding that it has enabled the directorate venture into several poverty alleviation and youth empowerment projects and programmes.

In his words, “They are expected to repay this loan in three years at nine percent interest. The amount was disbursed between December last year

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President Buhari Approves Re-appointment of NEXIM Bank’s Executive Mgt.

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the re-appointment of the entire executive management of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM).

Members of the management were appointed on April 10, 2017, and their first five-year term was due to expire on April 9, 2022.

Abba Bello, managing director; Bala Bello, executive director (corporate services); and Stella Erhuvwu Okotete, executive director (business development), were all involved in the re-appointment.

As their first term came to an end, it became important to evaluate their performance in order to consider re-appointment.

The appraisal found that the management team, with the help of the board, performed admirably, as evidenced by important accomplishments.

Evidently, the operational profit, which was previously negative (N8.030 billion) at the start of the management, grew to N3.825 billion in 2021, and returns on capital profits improved from -15.31 billion in 2016 to 2.72 billion in 2021.

Non-performing loans decreased from 94 percent in 2017 to 29 percent in December 2021, while the bank’s total assets increased by about N136.132 billion, or roughly 222 percent, from the beginning of the management in 2017 to December 31, 2021.

Additional funding of N103.755 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N3.936 billion from the federal ministry of finance, $50 million from the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB), and $25 million from the African Export-Import Bank has improved the bank’s liquidity position.

During the year under review, the bank disbursed a total of N144 billion in loans to non-oil export-oriented firms, accounting for about $375 million in export proceeds. Q

NDE organises agric training for 100 youths in Zamfara The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has selected 100 youths from Zamfara State to get training in agro business as part of the directorate’s Rural Employment Programme.

The NDE’s Director-General, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, had given his approval for the training to be implemented in the state.

Mr Mustapha Aliyu Gonori, the State Coordinator, noted that the effort was part of the directorate’s fundamental responsibility of creating jobs for Nigeria’s teeming youths, particularly in agriculture, to enable self-sufficiency and stimulate economic activity in the country.

Speaking at the flag-off training scheme on Sustainable Agricultural Development held in Gusau, Zamfara State capital, the coordinator added that the training was a step ahead in NDE’s ambition to bring agriculture to the fore and to its proper place in the national economy.

He noted that the training covers a wide range of topics in agriculture, including chicken production, fish farming, vegetable gardening, and sheep and goat production.

In his words, “The duration of the training is three months out of which one month will be spent in classrooms for theoretical and adaptive farm training and the remaining two months will be on practical attachment in well-established farms.

“Agriculture as a business is a potent vehicle for the creation of mass employment opportunities for our teeming unemployed people as well as sure means of boosting food production and ultimate increase in our gross domestic earnings.” Q

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20 THE NATION

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has disclosed that it recovered N10.2bn and $3.25m debt from delinquent customers between January 2017 and February 2022, and that it has put up for sale assets of loan defaulters worth N7bn.

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from Heritage Bank, stating that the funds were returned in whole to the Central Bank of Nigeria and were not mismanaged as claimed.

According to the report, the bank made all the facts known to the ‘House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots, Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by agencies of the he bank stated that its strategic plan aimed at boosting

by the company’s balance sheet increasing from N67.73 billion in 2017 to N202.03 billion in February 2022. billion in 2016, the lender made a profit of N1.09 billion in 2018, N2.13 billion in 2019, N1.28 billion in 2020, and N4.10 billion in 2021.

It blamed the profit drop in 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 ers an interest refund and a moratorium extension.

These were contained in a financial report made available to newsmen in early April 2022. The bank refuted a report that it did not account for $10 million and N1.36 billion recovered

June 21, 2021, and in subsequent engagements.

The bank stated that it had contributed to the Federal Government’s objectives under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan over the previous five years, and that it had improved relationships with stakeholders, manifesting in colfocus on the non-oil export sector.

“We also introduced aggressive debt recovery and proactive loan work out measures leading to an increase in overall recoveries from only N200m in December 2016 to N10.2bn and US$3.25m between January 2017 and February 2022. In addition, assets worth about N7bn are currently up for sale,” the report added. Q

Nanotechnology Has Much To Offer Nigeria But Needs Support

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igeria’s nanotechnology journey has been sluggish since it began with a national initiative in 2006. Uncertainties, inadequate nation have plagued it. Professor Agbaje Lateef of The Conversation writes that Nigerian scientists have continued to put the country on the map through research publications.

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Nanotechnology is the process of creating, using, and studying materials at the nanoscale (one nanometre equals one billionth of a metre). Some of these materials are found in nature, such as DNA, proteins, and viruses. technology in a variety of ways. Nanomaterials can be used in agriculture as -

tally friendly insect and disease control agents. Biofuels and solar panels have applications in sustainable and clean rity, nanomaterials in gadgets and vehicles might improve personnel protection and capacities, with the possibility of smart uniforms with ultraviolet protection, antibacterial qualities, camou-

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WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION: EFCC TO PARTNER CIFCFEN, OTHERS

Alleged $1.6m Fraud: Court dismisses pastor’s no-case submission against EFCC

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r Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has stated that his agency is willing to collaborate with the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria (CIFCFEN) and other organizations in a concerted effort to defeat corruption, financial crimes, fraud, and illicit financial flows.

He stated this while delivering a goodwill message at CIFCFEN combined graduation ceremony of 5th Proficiency Training, 3rd Direct Membership Training and 1st Fraud Certified Training at the EFFC Academy, Karu, Abuja.

Bawa stated that the investigation of economic and financial crimes, as well as other forms of corruption, necessitates collaboration, and that the EFCC would always work with other agencies to combat such crimes.

In his words, “Investigating fraud, economic and financial crimes is not just surface level activity, you have got to have the inner eye. That is why the EFCC will continue to partner with agencies, government and private sectors like CIFCFEN. We learnt that very soon, you will be establishing the first Nigerian College of Forensics and Fraud Examiners of Nigeria. EFCC is ready to partner with you on this.”

Bawa, who was represented by Ayo Peter Olowonihi, Commandant, EFCC Academy, bemoaned the rise in fraud-related crimes around the world and asked for increased measures to address the threat.

Dr Iliyasu Gashinbahi, Chairman of CIFCFEN, presented alarming figures to emphasize the urgent need to combat corruption.

In his words, “The world is losing 9 trillion US dollars at 10 percent of global GDP of 170 IMF countries to illicit financial flows, drugs and crimes and massive corruption with Nigeria particularly losing billions to corrupt practices. The GDP of Africa was pegged at 2.6 trillion US dollars as at 2021 while global fraud is estimated to be 3.6 times the entire GDP of Africa and 3000 times the United Nations budget of 3.12 billion US dollars for 2022.” Q

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“The prosecution called seven witnesses and tendered several documents. The evidence of the prosecution shows that the prosecution has sufficiently proven a prima facie case against the defendant.

“I hereby dismiss the application of the defence and order the defendant to open his defence,” Taiwo ruled.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the last proceedings, the defence counsel, Edoka Onyeke, had argued that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendant.

He had, therefore, asked the court to dismiss the charge against his client.

However, Samuel Daaji, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had asked APRIL 2022

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n Ikeja Special Offences Court has dismissed a no-case- submission filed by a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Ayodeji Oluokun, who is standing trial for alleged issuance of dud cheques of $1.6 million.

It was gathered that the judge, Oluwatoyin Taiwo, in her ruling, held that the prosecution had established a sufficient prima facie case against the defendant.

“After carefully considering the submissions of the prosecution and the defence, the court at this stage is not to review the evidence of the prosecution but to see whether the prosecution has put enough evidence before the court to warrant the defendant to defend his case.

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the court to determine whether the evidence adduced by the prosecution sufficiently linked the defendant to the offences to warrant him to be called upon to open his defence.

NAN also reports that the prosecution had closed its case in October 2021 after calling the seventh witness.

The EFCC had charged the defendant, an oil marketer and an assistant pastor of RCCG, City of David Parish, Victoria Island, um Industry Nigeria Ltd, before the court.

The defendant and his company were first arraigned before the court on January 21, 2019, on a six-count amended charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, stealing and issuance of dud cheques.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was admitted to bail.

The EFCC, in a charge, marked ID/8509c/19, alleged that the defendant and his company, had in 2014, approached the management of GOSL Nigeria Limited for a loan of $1.6 million to enable him to carry out operational activities in his comThe prosecution alleged that the defendant had assured the complainant that he would repay the money within 60 days.

Following the defendant’s failure to repay the loan as promised, he allegedly issued two post-dated Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited cheques dated June 26, 2014, for the sum of $1.6 million.

The EFCC stated that upon presentation of the cheques to the bank for withdrawal by the complainant on several occasions, they were returned because of insufficient funds.

According to the prosecution, the alleged offences contravened Section 1(1) (b) of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) Act, Cap, D 11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Mrs Taiwo adjourned the case until June 10 for the defendant to open defence. Q APRIL 2022

CBN warns individuals against

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned individuals to desist from cial schemes or with ille-

that are not licensed or recognised by it.

According to the apex bank, it is doing everything possible to stop any unlawful financial firms from operating in the country.

Mr Osita Nwanisobi, Director, CBN Communications Department, issued this warning during a CBN Sensitisation Fair titled “Promoting financial stability and economic development” in Akure, Ondo State.

In his words, “You should be wary of any institution that begins to ask you to bring your money for an extremely very high-interest rate. The CBN licenses institutions are recognised and they are regulated.

“So, it is your responsibility to ensure that wherever you put your money or Mr Fatai Adebare, Branch Controller of the CBN, Akure Branch, noted at the ceremony that the fair was created to allow regular interaction with members of the public.

“As part of our mandate, the CBN under the leadership of the governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has engaged in development finance activities and constantly intervened in the critical sectors of the economy to ensure the wellbeing of “The bank, in line with Its mandate had provided policy and financing support to about 40 interventions including the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, the MSME Development Fund; the Non-oil Export Simulation Facility, Anchor Borrowers’, My Main Line: ‘Programme, Targeted Credit Facility, 100 for 100 Policy on production and productivity and the recently introduced RT200 forex programme to mention a few.

“All these efforts are targeted at improving the productive capacity, foreign exchange rate management, and ensuring the diversification of the economy. It Is worthy of note that there have been remarkable success stories which should encourage those who are yet to participate in the programmes to key into it.

“We all agree that diversification of our economy is a key driver to sustained economic growth, and this is what the Central Bank has sought to achieve through its various timely development finance interventions and schemes in different sectors of our economy,” Adebare said. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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KABIR YAGBOYAJU EMERGES AS FMBN’S ACTING MD/CEO and Risk Management.

“He holds a B.Sc. degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Lagos State University, Ojo and University of Lagos, Akoka respectively.

“In addition, he has acquired various professional qualifications including those of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM – Chartered), Licensed International Financial Analyst (Canada), and Fellow Institute of Credit Administration. He has attended various training programs both within and outside the country, including but not limited to the following: Treasury Bourse Game (CitiBank, Turkey), EuroMoney Treasury Management Course, Wharton Business School Housing Finance Program, Senior Management Program (Lagos Business School) etc.

He is currently rounding-up with his Ph.D. programme in Marketing,” the statement added. Q

!"#$%&'(%()%)**'+%,),-.,('+'&(%/)+(010'%2+)345(% ()%6))&(%*.,1,5.17%.,574&.),

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he Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has disclosed its intention to boost financial inclusion with the introduction of a non-interest rent-to-own mortgage loan product.

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The housing product, which was recently approved by the FMBN Board of Directors, is designed to allow Nigerians to own their homes without paying interest.

According to the bank, the product was created to address the issues that eligible Nigerians who want to buy their homes under the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme encounter due to the interest-based structure of the Bank’s existing housing products.

“The product uses a rent-to-own model that allows beneficiaries to move into FMBN and non-FMBN funded homes and conveniently pay towards full ownership using monthly/quarterly or annual rentals,” said Lawal Isa, group head, Corporate Communications of FMBN. He said the product’s financing structure is based on the non-interest financing contract of ‘Ijarah Muntahia Bitamleek (Lease to Own).”

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abir Yagboyaju has emerged as the Acting Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

He emerged after the expiration of giwa-led Executive Management Team on Friday 8th April 2022.

The Group Head, Corporate Communications FMBN, Lawal K/Sauri, disclosed this in a statement.

According to the statement, prior to his appointment as Acting MD/CEO, Yagboyaju was the most senior General Manager and the Group Head, Risk Management.

“The new Acting MD/CE, FMBN nancial analyst, and customer service expert with almost 30 years of working experience in the banking industry involving commercial, merchant, and mortgage banking institutions. He has worked with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for almost 16 years and acquired vast experience in the management of the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme, FMBN Branch Operations, Treasury Services and Capital Market Operations, Human Resources Management, Loans and Mortgages,

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FMBN keeps ownership nancing term expires or the recipient decides to acquire the property at any moment throughout the lease period.

Nigerians who contribute to the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme are eligible for the FMBN non-interest rent to own product.

It applies to properties that are both FMBN and nonFMBN funded and have a maximum price of N15 milin monthly/quarterly or annual rental instalments over thirty (30) years to purchase the property, based on their age and years of service.

Ahmed Dangiwa, the then MD/CEO of FMBN, noted that the introduction of the non-interest mortgage product represents a historic milestone in the Bank’s drive to bolster access to inclusive mortgage In his words, “I am excited that we have been able lem. For over thirty years, a

who contribute to National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme have been prevented from taking advantage of their rights because of the interest-based nature of FMBN housing products.

What we have done with nancing arrangement that speaks to their genuine concerns for inclusion.” Q

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SIM linkage required to unblock lines – NCC

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he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telecoms customers whose subscriber identity module (SIM) cards have been blocked from making calls that the affected SIMs would not be unblocked until the users’ National Identification Numbers (NINs) are linked to SIMs. Given a viral online link –https://bit.ly/ cial media and several websites, this information has become vital.

The link and associated narrative contain patent inaccuracies and disinformation clearly intended to deceive the general public regarding SIM cards that are unable to make calls due to their failure to link with NIN by the deadline.

According to a statement signed by NCC Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ike Adinde, the viral message mischievously displays the Commission’s logo and ostensibly promises members of the public that by clicking the web link and following further instructions, subscribers with barred SIM cards can unbar such SIMs across mobile networks without a valid NIN. The statement read, “For the avoidance of doubt, the NCC wishes to state categorically

that it never issued such a statement, directing subscribers or indicating that subscribers can unbar their SIM without a NIN. As such, the originators and peddlers of the spurious message were out to mischievously mislead unsuspecting members of the public. Therefore, their message should be disregarded.

“The NCC is the national regulatory authority for telecommunications in Nigeria, and it is co-driving the process of the NINSIM linkage with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as directed by the Federal Government.

“The Commission will not, under any circumstance, act contrary to the Federal Government’s directive to MNOs to bar SIMs cards not linked to NINs at the expiration linkage exercise.

“For subscribers that have not registered for their NIN, what to do is to get their SIM registered at accredited centres across the country and then link the NIN with their SIM cards through channels provided by their service providers. Secondly, for subscribers with registered NINs, what to do is to simply go and link the NIN with their SIMs through channels provided by their service providers.” Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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Garba Danbatta, the commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, said the occasion demonstrated the commission’s strong resolve in advancing the impact of digital technologies on the national economy using indigenous products and solutions.

While delivering award letters to the head researchers of the 13 research grant recipients, Danbatta said tertiary institutions submit extensive and well-thought-out research proposals on specified theme areas provided by the commission under telecommunications-based research innovations,.

According to him, the proposals are expected to result in the creation of commercially feasible prototypes in the form of concrete harvests.

The EVC said the commission received 55 research proposals in response to the RfP for 2021, which foACCESSNEWS.NG

areas: 5G deployment; innovative clean energy; advanced method of quality of service (QoS)/quality of experience management and test mechanism; Internet of Things (IoT); Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology; “After thorough evaluations, 13 proposals were found to have met the stipulated criteria. Indeed, this is a clear testimony to the objectivity and painstaking approach to the evaluation process aimed at ensuring that the best quality is achieved and only researches that could produce prototypes with the potential of providing solutions to both local and global challenges were selected,” Danbatta said as he congratulated the 13 successful research awardees.

He also presented N20 million dummy cheques to the Vice Chancellors of three Nigerian universities, namely the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Usman Danfodio University in Sokoto, and Federal University of Technology in Minna, Niger State, who are recipients of the NCC’s Professorial Chair Endowments.

The three new endowments raise the total number of universities where the commission has endowed professorial chairs to seven. Professorial chairs had previously been established by the NCC at the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Imo State, Bayero University in Kano, Kano State, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi State, and University of Ibadan in Oyo State. Q

NCC is resolved to advance the impact of digital technologies on the national economy using indigenous products and solution

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he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has awarded new research grants and endowed professorial chairs in some Nigerian universities totaling N233 million, in line with its recognition of academia as a central stakeholder in its commitment to linkages and local development in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.

N172.5 million was given out of the total money to fund 13 ideas that were judged to meet the criteria in the published 2021 Request for Proposal (RfP) for Telecommunications-Based Research Innovations from Nigerian Tertiary Institutions (research grant) Programme.

In addition, the committee awarded N20 million to each of three universities for professorial chair endowments.

Speaking at the award ceremony which took place at the commission’s

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NAICOM approves 2021 financial statement of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance

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he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has aumark Insurance Plc’s 2021 financial statement for publication by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).

As a show of its commitment to regulatory compliance and shareholder information flow, the Company said it will continue to render and approve its operating results on a timely basis.

The Group’s financial report for 2021 indicates a Gross Premium Written of N10.5 billion, representing a 7.4% increase over the N9.8 billion recorded in the same time of 2020. Profit Before Tax increased by 26%, from N772.5 million in 2020 to N971.6 million in 2021, while Profit After Tax increased by 17%, from N677.9 million in 2020 to N790.6 million in 2021. Similarly, the Group’s total assets increased by around 10% from N14.3 billion in 2020 to N15.7 billion in 2021.

Mr. Eddie Efekoha, Group Managing Director/CEO of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, attributed the timely sults by the regulator to the diligence

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He also praised NAICOM’s constructive contribution to ensuring that firms achieve capital market reporting deadlines without sacrificing the quality of their financial reporting.

Efekoha was ecstatic with the Group’s sustained improvement in financial performance across its numerous member companies. He explained that the Group’s bottom line growth demonstrates sensible steps made to increase shareholder value.

He reassured investors and other stakeholders that the company’s efforts will continue to be focused on creating more value for its many stakeholders.

In his words, “Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc has become a one-stop-shop for insurance and other financial services with member companies having a bouquet of products in general insurance, micro life assurance, health management, finance and loans. With the approval of the results of the 2021 Financial Year, the plans for the Company’s Annual General Meeting becomes the next agenda and the details will be announced in due course.” Q

o grow the insurance sector, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has partnered with the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

During a courtesy visit to the Commission by NCRIB, the Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas stated that insurance brokers are an important segment of the business, and that their roles are being factored into the sector’s ongoing growth objectives.

Thomas mentioned a few issues that the council is addressing, one of which is the proper risk assessment.

He said that incorrect risk evaluation had resulted in a reduction in reserves and the industry’s collapse.

Rotimi Edu, the Council’s president, praised the Commission’s remarkable achievements in creating improved industry integration.

He informed the Commissioner of the council’s various activities aimed at growing the insurance market and ensuring broker professionalism.

Edu, in particular, stated that the Council would soon implement the usage of a professional seal as a distinguishing symbol for all NCRIB brokers, which the Commissioner for Insurance praised.

He also underlined the brokers’ commitment to collaborate and support the Web Aggregators project, stating that it will lead to more creativity and a stronger presence for brokers. Q

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EU Ambassadors Visit NNPC Sector

NNPC of Special Courts for 27

He voiced concern over the loss of crude oil output due to vandalism and oil theft, and said that strict security measures were being considered to increase production and revenue.

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mbassadors of the European Union (EU) in Nigeria paid a courtesy call on the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in early April 2022, hoping to strengthen their energy partnership with Nigeria.

This is according to a statement signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, the NNPC’s spokesman.

The EU Ambassador in Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, spoke on behalf of the group, saying that due to the current geopolitical scenario in Europe, the continent was interested in strengthening its cooperation with Nigeria, particularly in the area of

gress would be made within the next two months.

Vandals and thieves have rendered some of the facilities worthless, according to Kyari, and the NNPC had to shut down several facilities due to their actions.

The lawmakers, on the other hand, said it was necessary to declare a state of emergency in the transport of crude oil and imposed tight pipeline monitoring. Q

In his words, “Nigeria is the fourth gas supplier to Europe.

At least 40% of the Nigerian LNG is currently exported to Europe. We are not only major clients for Nigeria. We are also major partners in the Oil and Gas sector because some of the companies that are working with you are from Europe. So we share the same interest and same objectives.”

NNPC’s GMD/CEO, Mele Kyari, responded by assuring the European delegation that the company would continue to deepen its historical relationship with EU companies in Nigeria in order to add more value to its business, particularly in terms of increasing gas supply to the global market and im-

Ambassador of Portugal; Juan Sell, Ambassador of Spain; Stefano De Leo, Ambassador of Italy; and Olivier Chatelais, Deputy Head of Mission (France). Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd. has advocated for the creation of special courts to prosecute oil thieves in Nigeria.

Mr Mele Kyari, the NNPC Group Managing Director, made the statement in early April 2022 while testifying before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Upstream, which is looking into the theft of Nigerian crude oil production.

He revealed that between January and March 2022, the country lost about 1.5 billion dollars due to oil theft.

He stressed that special courts were required to expose in-

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FOLIO - SECOND

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The Federal Government of Nigeria in late March 2022 discomplexes and industrial clusters across the country for elec-

Agency (REA) at a roundtable meeting with EEI private power developers at the headquarters of the REA in Abuja.

The agency explained in a statement it issued in Abuja that the EEI was a Federal Government initiative being implemented by the REA.

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According to the statement, “The focus of the EEI is to electrify economic clusters in Nigeria, which intrial clusters in line with the Federal Government’s goal of increasing electricity access.”

The statement noted that the REA was tasked with putting the initiative into action by providing technical assistance to private project developers, which includes identifying and auditing economic clusters, facilitating engagement with key stakeholders, and providing technical support for project development and operation.

“Over 300 clusters have been identified for electrification across the country in different phases. So far, over 12,000 shops are now receiving clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity supply,” the REA stated.

The Sura Shopping Complex Independent Power Project in Lagos State, which powers 1,047 shops, and the Ariaria International Market (Independent Power Project) in Aba, Abia State, which powers over 4,000 shops, were both inaugurated during the pilot phase of the Energising Economies Initiative, according to the REA. According to the agency, the roundtable focused on identifying implementation gaps, enhancing service delivery, and ing reliable energy in economic clusters across the federation. Q

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MALIAN FORCES, ALLEGED RUSSIAN TROOPS KILLED 300 CIVILIANS SAYS, HUMAN RIGHT GROUP

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alian forces and suspected Russian fighters killed about 300 civilians in late March in the centre of the conflict-torn Sahel nation, Human Rights Watch said.

According to a report, the rights group suggested the alleged massacre perpetrated over four days, in the town of Moura in volatile central Mali, was a war crime.

Malian soldiers and white foreign fighters arrived in the town by helicopter on March 27 and exchanged fire with about 30 jihadis, several witnesses told Human Rights Watch (HRW). Some jihadis then attempted to blend in with the local population.

Over the ensuing days, Malian and foreign fighters allegedly rounded people up and executed them in small groups.

HRW estimated about 300 people were killed in total, with the vast majority of the victims being ethnic Fulanis.

“The incident is the worst single atrocity reported in Mali’s decade-long armed conflict,” the report said.

Mali’s army said on Friday that it killed 203 militants in Moura. However, that announcement followed widely shared social media reports of a civilian massacre in the area.

Faced with the multiplication of testimonies reported by the press, the army issued a new statement late Tuesday, dismissing the “unfounded allegations” which it said were aimed at “tarnishing the image” of the armed forces.

Without referring specifically to HRW, it reiterated that respect for rights was “a priority in the conduct (of) operations” and called for “restraint against defamatory speculation.”

ing in Moura, however.

The study was based on interviews with 27 people, including witnesses from the Moura area, foreign diplomats and security analysts, the rights group said.

“The Malian government is responsible for this atrocity, the worst in Mali in a decade, whether carried about by Malian forces or associated foreign soldiers,” said HRW Sahel Director Corinne Dufka, who urged an investigation.

Several witnesses and other sources identified the foreign soldiers as Russians to HRW. Russia has supplied what is officially described as military instructors to Mali, an impoverished country that has been battling a brutal jihadist conflict since 2012.

However, the United States, France and others say the instructors are operatives from the Russian private-security firm Wagner. gust 2020, denies the allegation. It also routinely defends the rights record of the armed forces.

The Malian army, in its statement published Tuesday evening, said troops had attacked a group of “terrorists” and engaged them in heavy fighting.

Once control of Moura was secured, the soldiers identified more “terrorists” hidden among the population, it said.

The statement mentioned military casualties but said nothing of any foreign soldiers. Q

The United States, European Union, United Nations and Mali’s former colonial power, France, have all raised concerns about the possible killing of civilians in Moura.

AFP was unable to independently confirm the Malian armed forces’ account or the social media reports.

HRW’s recent report attests to fears of a mass civilian kill-

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days have now been formally lifted.

However, some precautions are still in place.

Ramaphosa proposed a 30-day transition period in which the indoor mask mandate and the obligation to show imsults to attend major public meetings would remain in place.

International passengers will also need to be completely vaccinated or

ative.

Those who lost their jobs due to the epidemic will get a social stipend during the transition phase, after which all measures will expire.

The state of disaster was lifted about

With less than half of the adult population having received their vaccinations, Ramaphosa urged the people to do so. Q

detected the last major variety, omicron.

While the number of cases is large, Ramaphosa claims deaths are minimal.

With nearly 6 milSouth Africa is Africa’s

RUSSIA, UKRAINE WAR DEEPENS FOOD INSECURITY IN AFRICA

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any African countries will continue to endure food shortages and high costs, according to US government sources, as long as Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, the source of much of Africa’s wheat and cooking oil.

Cindy McCain, the United States’ envoy to United Nations agencies in Rome, told journalists online that Ukraine is the world’s breadbasket, and that the war on its land and people is spreading hunger around the world.

“The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that as many as 13 million more people worldwide will be pushed into food insecurity as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The truth of the matter is Putin’s war forces us to take from the hungry to feed the starving. As long as Russia continues its brutal campaign, innocent people are going to pay the price,” she said.

Ukraine sells 40% of its wheat and corn to Africa each year.

With the grain it receives from Europe, the World Food Program feeds 138 million people in 80 countries, including Ethiopia and Nigeria.

Food prices are rising across Africa as Ukrainian supplies are of fertilizers like phosphate, which are utilized in food production.

The high cost of living, according to Jim Barnhart, assistant to the administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food ACCESSNEWS.NG

Security, will make life tough for many African families.

“Reduced food supplies and subsequent price increases in these commodities make it harder for farmers in Zambia to access inputs they need to plant their crops, for families in Malawi to buy nutritious food for their children. So, if that is not mitigated, these price increases could result in significant increases in global poverty, hunger and malnutrition, particularly in regions like sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, over 346 million Africans are facing a food security crisis, forcing families to forgo meals daily.

To fight food shortages, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it will expand its operations in ten nations.

Dominik Stillhart, the head of the ICRC’s global operations, believes the conflict in Ukraine has had an impact on their hu“The other impact, which is more indirect, is that the rise in food and fuel prices, as well as supply chains that are seriously own capacity to scale up. Lead times are going to be longer, for instance, (and) food imports, and that’s also why we are increasingly resorting to cash transfers to support people in various countries in which we are operating,” he said.

Persistent drought, poor rains in some parts of Africa and conflicts have also exacerbated Africa’s food situation. Q APRIL 2022

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resident Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has declared the country’s state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic to be over.

Many restrictions on daily life and

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DARFUR PEOPLE IN SOUTH SUDAN APPLAUD ICC’S TRIAL OF JANJAWEED LEADER

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or many former residents of Sudan’s Darfur region now living in South Sudan, Ali Muhammad Ali Abdal-International Rahman’s Criminal Court trial, which began on April 05 2022, is a long-awaited event.

For actions allegedly committed in Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004, the former Janjaweed militia leader, also known as al-Kusayb, faces 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. tions sent to Darfur in 2003 by then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to put down a rebellion.

In 2007, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Kushayb. He handed himself in 2020 and has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands, since then.

Ibrahim Yaya Osman, a trader from Darfur working in Juba, said “If this man

ished because we need justice. My people were killed in Darfur and we want to know why they were killed,” he told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.

By July 2015, an estimated 300,000 civilians had been killed in Darfur, with another 2.7 million displaced. According to the ICC, the Janjaweed and Sudanese government forces were the main culprits.

Mohamed Hussein, whose family was forced to evacuate Darfur because of the war, told VOA that the Janjaweed killed some of his relatives.

“My family was forced to become refugees in another country because of the Janjaweed. My relatives were killed, so

by the court, then he has to be pun-

justice prevail,” said Hussein.

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Darfur to Chad. Now they are still refugees in Chad and we have waited for justice since 2003. It’s been nearly 20 years now as a refugee because of Janjaweed,

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RWANDAN COURT DECLINES TO INCREASE SENTENCE OF ‘HOTEL RWANDA’ HERO

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Rwandan court has determined that the Rwandan man portrayed as a hero in the film “Hotel Rwanda” should not have his 25-year sentence increased to life in jail.

For his membership in a group opposing President Paul Kagame, Paul Rusesabagina was convicted of eight terrorism counts in September.

Rusesabagina claimed to be a leader in the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change, but that he had no involvement with the group’s military side, the National Liberation Front, which had carried out attacks.

He declined to participate in the September trial, calling it a fraud, and he did not attend Monday’s ruling.

The 25-year sentence was deemed too light by prosecutors.

His family has pushed for his release, claiming that he is sick.

During the 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 people were killed, Rusesabagina saved over 1,200 people by concealing them in a hotel. Q

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REPORTS OF MANY KILLED IN MALI 'EXTREMELY DISTURBING' SAYS THE U.S

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he United States is following "extremely disturbing accounts" of large numbers of people killed in a village in central Mali, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said After the latest confrontation in a month of rising bloodshed, Mali's military reported it had killed more than 200 Islamist militants.

Tensions with the West have risen since Mali's ruling military junta decided to postpone democratic elections in February, as well as its engagement with Russia's Wagner Group's private military contractors. counts regarding who was responsible for the deaths in the town of Moura, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) northeast of Bamako, in late March.

"We are concerned that many reports suggest that the perpetrators were unaccountable forces from the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group. Other reports claim the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) had targeted elements of known violent extremist groups," he said. for the Malian transition authorities to give impartial investigators free, unfettered, and safe access to the area where these tragic events unfolded." clined immediate comment on reports of the Wagner Group's involvement.

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The European Union has imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, accusing it of clandestine operations on the Kremlin's behalf. President Vladimir Putin has said the group does not represent the Russian state, but that private military contractors have the right to work anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.

The United Nations has repeatedly accused Malian soldiers of summarily executing civilians and suspected militants throughout their decade-long

The United Nations has repeatedly accused Malian soldiers of summarily executing civilians and suspected militant throughout their

al-Qaida and Islamic State.

The military has in some cases acknowledged that its forces were implicated in executions and other abuses, but few soldiers have faced criminal charges.

Meanwhile, a surge in attacks since early March by an Islamic

and military sources.

Q

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AFRICAN REFUGEES SEE RACIAL BIAS AS US WELCOMES UKRAINIANS

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the U.S. for swiftly granting humanitarian protections to Ukrainians escaping Russia’s devastating invasion of their homeland.

But the 27-year-old, who fled Cameroon during its ongoing conflict, can’t help but wonder what would happen if the millions fleeing that Eastern Europe nation were a different hue.

As the U.S. prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, the country continues to deport scores of African and Caribbean refugees back to unstable and violent homelands where they’ve faced rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses.

“They do not care about a Black man,” the Columbus, Ohio, resident said, referring to U.S. politicians. “The difference is really clear. They know what is happening over there, and they have decided to close their eyes and ears.”

Tebah’s concerns echo protests of the swift expulsions of Haitian refugees crossing the border this summer without a chance to seek asylum, not to mention the frosty reception African and Middle Eastern refugees have faced in western Europe compared with how those nations have enthusiastically embraced displaced Ukrainians.

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In March, when President Joe Biden made a series of announcements welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, granting Temporary Protected Status to another 30,000 already in the U.S. and halting Ukrainian deportations, two Democratic tarian considerations for Haitians.

“There is every reason to extend the same level of compassion,” U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Mondaire Jones, of New York, wrote to the administration, noting more than 20,000 Haitians have been deported despite continued instability after the assassination of Haiti’s president and a powerful earthquake this summer.

Cameroonian advocates have similarly ratcheted up their calls for humanitarian relief, protesting in front of the Washington residence of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the offices of leading members of Congress this month.

Their calls come as hundreds of thousands in Cameroon have been displaced in recent years by the country’s civil war between its French-speaking government and English-speaking separatists, attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram and other regional conflicts.

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ity of the nearly 320,000 immigrants with Temporary Protected Status hail from El Salvador.

Lisa Parisio, who helped launch Catholics Against Racism in Immigration, argues the program could easily help protect millions more refugees fleeing danger but has historically

this month, said that’s a fate he hopes to avoid.

Hailing from the country’s English-speaking northwest, he said he was branded a separatist and apprehended by the government because of his activism as a college student.

Tebah said he managed to escape, as many Cameroonians have, by flying to Latin America, trekking overland to the U.S.-Mexico border and petitioning for asylum in 2019.

“I will be held in prison, tortured and even killed if I am deported,” he said. “I’m very scared. As a human, my life matters too.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TPS and other humanitarian programs, declined to respond to the complaints of racism in American immigration policy.

It also declined to say whether it was weighing granting TPS to Cameroonians or other African nationals, saying in a written statement only that it will “continue to monitor conditions in various countries.”

The agency noted, however, that it has recently issued TPS designations for Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan — all African or Caribbean nations — as well as to more than 75,000 Afghans living in the U.S. after the Taliban takeover of that Central Asian nation. Haitians are among the largest and longest-tenured beneficiaries of TPS, with more than 40,000 currently on the status.

Other TPS countries include Burma, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, -

TPS, which provides a work permit and staves off deportation for up to 18 months, doesn’t have limits for how many countries or people can be placed on it, said Parisio, who is the advocacy director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

Yet former President Donald Trump, in his broader efforts to restrict immigration, pared down TPS, allowing designations for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa to expire.

Although programs like TPS provide critical protections for vulnerable refugees, they can also leave many in legal limbo for years without providla Morales, a 24-year-old from El Salvador who has been on TPS nearly her whole life.

“It’s absurd to consider 20 years in this country temporary,” the University of Massachusetts Boston nursing student said. “We need validation that the work we’ve put in is appreciated and that our lives have value.”

At least in the case of Ukraine, Biden appears motivated by broader foreign policy goals in Europe, rather than racial bias, suggests María Cristina García, a history professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, focused on refugees and immigrants.

But Tom Wong, founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, said the racial disparities couldn’t be clearer.

“The U.S. has responded without hesitation by extending humanitarian protections to predominately white

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and European refugees,” he said. “All the while, predominately people of color from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia continue to languish.”

Besides Cameroon, immigrant advocates also argue that Congo and Ethiopia should qualify for humanitarian relief because of their ongoing conflicts, as should Mauritania, since slavery is still practiced there.

And they complain Ukrainian asylum seekers are being exempted from asylum limits meant to prevent the other nations are being turned away.

“Black pain and Black suffering do not get the same attention,” says Sylvie Bello, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Cameroon American Council. “The same anti-Blackness that permeates American life also permeates American immigration policy.”

Vera Arnot, a Ukrainian in Boston who is considering seeking TPS, says she didn’t know much about the special status until the war started and wasn’t aware of the concerns from immigrants of color. But the Berklee College of Music sophomore hopes the relief can be extended to other deserving nations.

Arnot says TPS could help her seek an off-campus job with better pay, so she doesn’t have to rely on her family’s support, as most in Ukraine have lost their jobs due to the war.

“Ukrainians as a people aren’t used to relying on others,” she said. “We want to work. We don’t want welfare.”

For Tebah, who is staying with relatives in Ohio, TPS would make it easier for him to open a bank account, get a driver’s license and seek better employment while he awaits a decision on his asylum case.

“We’ll continue to beg, to plead,” Tebah said. “We are in danger. I want to roon will help us be taken out of that danger. It is very necessary.”. Q APRIL 2022

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The advocacy group Human Rights Watch, in a February report, found many Cameroonians deported from the U.S. suffered persecution and human rights violations upon returning there.

Tebah, who is a leading member of the Cameroon American Council, an

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Prior to the establishment of NDPR, there existed provisions in a few laws which protected certain information or data from unlawful use. However, unlike the NDPR, these provisions were ambiguous, inadequate, and ineffective.

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Vincent Olatunji:

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Nigeria’s Data Security Officer

By Gwendoline Onyebuchi

The information and communication technology is one of the few sectors that can boast of being ready to take Nigeria to the desired level of global competitiveness, developmental strides that signal Nigeria’s repositioning as a digital economy and it’s readiness for the future. Dr Vincent Olatunji’s NDPB is at the forefront of this charge.

D

r. Olatunji is from Ekiti State and holds a doctorate degree in Geography and Planning from the University of Lagos.

Private Partnership Specialist (IP3 Specialist).

He has about 30 years of experience working in the public sector, gaining practical knowledge and a thorough grasp of government operations in Nigeria and other nations.

He provides extensive experience in team building, research, policy creation, and stra-

CREDIT: @NAICOMNG / TWITTER

As a talented negotiator, social networker, and public speaker, he also has tremendous capability in delivering high-value solutions as a negotiator. His personal concentration

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He began his career at NITDA in 2002 and has worked in a number of departments, eventually rising to Director in 2014 and Acting DG in 2016.

He was the Director of eGovernment Development and Regulations prior to President Buhari’s appointment.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji has held a variety of jobs throughout his career, including the following: Acting Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA Coordinated the development of executable programs for NITDA’s current strategic pillars, resulting in the agency’s repositioning as a regulator of Nigeria’s IT sector.

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He successfully mainstreamed the development and launch of various Policies, Guidelines, and Frameworks such as the Nigeria Inter-Operability Framework, Nigeria Enterprise Architecture, Cloud First Policy, Government Digital Service Policy, Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, and Smart Initiatives Framework to enhance Nigeria’s eGovernment and National ICT Transformation Agenda; and he coordinated the development of strategies and plans for the implementation and coordination of Nigeria’s eGovernment and National ICT Transformation Agenda.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji also serves as the chairman of the National Interoperability and Enterprise Architecture Committee, the Digital Transformation Technical Working Group, and the Nigeria Data Protection Implementation ComHe has participated in a variety of Capacity Building programs, including Public Sector Management, Project Planning and Management, Digital Transformation, and Data Protection, to name a few.

He has served on a number of expert committees and has even chaired a few of them. He has spoken on behalf of NITDA and Nigeria at a number of local and international events.

In April 2018, the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria named him one of the top 100 telecom and ICT personalities in Nigeria.

He has also received numerous honors from both the public and private sectors, including his Alma Maters; University of Lagos, UNILAG Alumni Association, Award of Outstanding Commitment to University of Lagos Alumni Association, July 2017 and Ekiti State UniAPRIL 2022

versity Alumni Association, Award of Eminent Personality, Ekiti State University, 22nd June 2018. On June 23, 2018, Ekiti State University awarded him a Doctor of Public Administration (HC) degree.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji is married and has two children.

able to be kept private. Data about our lives should be both private and secure and while these terms are related, privacy and security are not the same things.

Data security involves protecting data

The NDPB Information Protection is important to safeguard, and restrict access to data because data forms the backbone of many safeguard the privacy of data users and restrict access to data by third parties.

The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to privacy, the credit reporting which guarantees the right to information, the cybercrimes Act of 2011 as well as the freedom of information Act are all provisions made by the Nigerian Law towards data protection.

Data privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, and legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as Data protection. Before downloading an application or accessing a website, sometimes there is a long privacy policy or terms of service. Maybe there is a smidge of data scroll to the bottom and hit the “accept”, we have all done it.

We hand over a lot of data to people ing or grappling with how it might affect our lives. Devices, websites, and services are working their way into our lives and our data.

We have been focusing on understanding what story data is telling us and evaluating whether we should believe that story.

But we have also seen that we are part of the data, so we are part of the story. So researchers and Data protection compliance ying our data to ensure that we can trust how they are collecting and sharing their version of our story. Some data should be

Data privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, and legal and political issues from those who would use our information against us. For instance, an online retail company collected data from its buyers. The company may have a series of encrypted databases locked down by intense passwords to keep that data to themselves, so the data is secure. But if data on buyers was collected without their consent, like if your keystrokes are collected to try to identify you, if you visit the website again, the data itself might not follow data privacy requirements.

service providers is exposing them to the risk of individual thefts and risks.

The successful implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria has by dramatically increasing the adoption of data platforms As a result, establishing an institution that focuses on data protection and privacy has become increasingly important.

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CREDIT: PIXOTO MEDIA

National Commissioner of Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), Dr Vincent Olatunji, right, the Honourable Minister Dr Isa Pantami, alongside the NITDA DG’s Inuwa Kashifu’s representive, the Director of Finance Management Control Mr Ibrahim Ede, during the official launch of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) Logo, Website and Core Values taking place at the Communications and Digital Economy Complex, Abuja.

The issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), subsidiary legislation to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act 2007, increased awareness about the need for data protection and privacy.

She said that the NDPB would be responsible for consolidating the gains of NDPR and supporting the process for the development of primary legislation for data protection and privacy.

The NDPR was established to regulate those who have access to and control people’s data.

Prior to the establishment of NDPR, there existed provisions in a few laws which protected certain information or data from unlawful use. However, unlike the NDPR, these imposing sanctions and ensuring compliance in the event of a data breach.

According to NITDA, under part of the IT regulator’s commitment to implementing the National Digital economy policy for digital Nigeria, it is pushing forward to creACCESSNEWS.NG

ate a framework for the planning, research, development, standregulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria.

Data Privacy and protection remains one of NITDA’s priority areas including Developmental Regulation, Digital Literacy and Skills, Solid Infrastructure, Service Infrastructure, Digital Services Development and Promotion, Software Infrastructure, Digital Society, and Emerging Technologies & Indigenous Content Development and Adoption. Following the release of the NDPR, NITDA addresses some of the issues covered under data privacy and protection below:

The objectives of the NDPR are: data privacy protection; secure exchange of data; improve business environment and create sustainable jobs.

The NDPR applies to all residents of Nigeria; all Nigerians within and outside Nigeria.

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major advertorial was carried in four major national dailies on this. The grace period elapsed by 25th of July, 2019 and extended till 25th October, 2019.

ing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction”.

“NITDA is empowered to regulate electronic data use in Nigeria. Section 6(a and c) of the NITDA Act 2007 makes this clear.

This provision makes it clear that NITDA has the authority to regulate data from any electronic or digital platform. A breach of NITDA regulation is a breach of the NITDA Act as provided

by Section 17 and 18 of the Act. Therefore, a breach of this Regulation is enforceable in the Nigerian court”.

tions. Article 2.11 of the Regulation, which relates to Transfer to a Foreign Country, addresses this concern. To comply with the provision and other aspects of the Regulation, the Data Controller would provide the following: I. course of business.

II. The Data Protection laws and contact of National Data Proi) above.

III. The privacy policy of the Data Controller, compliant with the provisions of the NDPR. IV. Overview of encryption method and data security standard V. Any other detail that assures the privacy of personal data is adequately protected in the target country.

These information may be captured in the annual data audit report where the transfer is done in the regular course of business.

“The NDPR does not mandate private businesses to host data only on local servers, although this is highly encouraged.

Government data as well as critical national data in the custody of private organisations must however be hosted in-country. Where hosted abroad, the Data Controller, should however, provide NITDA with the countries where such servers are located and their data protection policies”.

“NITDA does not accept audit report by non-licensed third-party auditors. The Data Controller may encourage its auditors to obtain the Data Protection Compliance Organisation (DPCO) license or alternatively deal with NITDA licensed DPCOs. Every audit report required under the Regulation must be accompanied by a Verification Statement by a licensed DPCO”.

nually before the 15th of March of the following year”.

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Data Controllers do not require permission of the Attorney-General for every transfer of Data outside

NITDA shall relate with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to seek guidance on Nigerian legal position on any aspect of the Regulation or where there is a breach of private data in a foreign jurisdiction”.

extension, stating the processes already initiated and other information to show commitment to compliance.

means any entity duly licensed by NITDA for the purpose of training, auditing, consulting and rendering services and products for the purpose of compliance with the NDPR or any foreign Data Protection Law or Reguprotection service to Nigerian companies must acquire this license. Submission of annual audit report by Data ment by a licensed DPCO”.

Do Data Controllers wishing to transfer data abroad, obtain permission of the Attorney-General of the Federation before doing so?

“Article 2.11 of the NDPR provides: Any transfer of Personal Data which is undergoing processing or is intended for processing after transfer to a foreign country or to an international organisation shall take place subject to the other provisions of this Regulation and the supervision of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (HAGF)”.

“Data Controllers do not require permission of the Attorney-General for every transfer of Data outside Nigeria.

In transferring data abroad, Data Controllers shall provide the following information to NITDA through their annuI.

II.

-

conduct the audit for future reference.

The report, accompanied with requisite payment, is to be submitted through a DPCO to NITDA.

No! Organisations who implement demonstrable corrective measport which expires on 30th June, 2020.

Filing of Report of less than 5,000 Data Subjects N10,000 Filing of Report of more than 5,000 Data Subjects N20,000.

Pay into NITDA TSA account. In the Description, write- XXXXXX LTD AUDIT FILING. (Note that the GIFMIS number is not a manda-

“No! Filing of audit report must be done through a DPCO”.

ness.

The Data Protection laws and contact of Nation-

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41 COVER / VINCENT OLATUNJI

countries listed in i) above.

III. The privacy policy of the Data Controller, compliant with the provisions of the NDPR. IV. General overview of the data protection mechanism to protect

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“Yes, the NDPR applies to all sectors and every data controller and processor”.

view. Enjoy!

By Emmanuel Elebeke

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42 I.

II.

Breach of personal data by a non-compliant Controller or Processor would attract criminal and administrative sanctions Data Subjects have the right to take civil actions against the Controller on the basis of the NDPR

III. Business implication of non-compliance include brand image damage, loss of customers, restriction from international market opportunity; lack of support from national Supervisory Authority against foreign investigation of breach by an international authority”.

“No! Professionals are not restricted from performing their professional duties; however, only licensed DPCOs an audit report. Also, request for recognition of data protection training, services, or products is predicated on licensing as a DPCO except management deems otherwise”.

Dr Olatunji cut his teeth on data governance, data privacy, and data protection as the former Acting Director of NITDA; it’s no surprise that he’s been appointed to the new Bureau.

Olatunji granted Hi-Tech, arguably es that led to the founding of the agency.

He also exposes the bureau’s revenue creation objectives, stating that the revenue base will expand over N10 billion every year. It’s a no-holds-barred interAPRIL 2022

“ It is important to lay the foundation of what led to the creation of the Bureau. Everything is going digital now and there is hardly anything you do without going online”.

“Following the re-designation of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in 2019, the minister Dr Isa Pantami crafted the National Digital Economy and Strategy Policy, NDESP. To achieve that, needs additional legal framework to regulate the issue of data privacy in the country”.

“So, the National Data Protection Regulatory Policy, NDPR was established and there was an inter-agency committee to see to the implementation of the NDPR”.

“As the chair of the Committee, one of the major things we did that really brought us where we are today as a Bureau was to license Data Compliance

of the NDPR”.

“We started with the licensing of 15 DCOs, it was increased to 40 and to 70 and as at today, we have 103 DCOs in Nigeria”.

“The Bureau is tailored after the NDPR, which deals on peoples’ data and the rights of data subjects. With little efforts we have put in place in the last few years, and the modest achievements, we felt that it is important to have a Data Supervisory Authority in line with world best practice for Nigeria to be respected and counted among nation serious about digital economy”.

“As a bureau, we have duty to know what the duties of data processors and data controllers are doing and measures they must put in place to ensure that peoples’ data are protected.

Again, we need to let people know that when their data is breached, they have 72 hours to report to us for appropriate action to be taken.

infrastructures have been declared Critical National

We have advised DCOs to appoint will advise management on the kind of measures to put in place in order to ensure safety of data in their custody”.

“The NDPR is in place and we want to make sure it is fully implemented to the letter. NDPR is a subsidiary legislation of NITDA Act of 2007, which is as powerful as NITDA’s Act. But then, globally, we need an Act of the Parliament, which is why we are going to push for a bill to the National Assembly to be passed as an Act of the Parliament in line with global best practice.

But that does not take away the fact that the President has the right to create

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which is why he created the bureau”.

ing people’s data and within one year, the number doubled to over 1200 reports. That shows there is traction, and underscores the need to increase awareness”.

that you won’t put in your data but if you check they have their private policies but if there’s a breach on the data they collect-

“Although we are created out of NITDA, we are independent. However, we are under the supervision of the Minister of communications and Digital Economy”.

al reports, imagine they are paying N10, 000 each for that, it would be N10billion. it is something that will be convenient for everybody. But it is the volume that will determine the total revenue.

However, it is expected that the bureau will be funded for two years before the Bureau begins to sustain itself”.

“That is true. I just quoted what we can generate from report through data. Even the value of crypto currency is more than the value of our oil in Nigeria and that’s just a part of it. Some keeping quiet”.

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Now all ICT infrastructures have been declared Critical National Infrastructure. These are things we need to put together geria. All these are intangibles, capacity building has been ongoing across the country, and the Ease of Doing Business has improved as well”.

“The global digital economy worth over $11.5 trillion and we million Nigerians go online daily, we need to take our turn in that trillions dollar economy. A lot of talents in Nigerians, espenet. They need to be encouraged.

The establishment of the NDPB is a commendable governsome of the issues faced by the previous regime under NITDA. and avoid some of NITDA’s missteps in enforcing the NDPR, as stated in this article. However, given the lack of clarity on the NDPB’s particular mission and the lack of statutory underpinning for its inception, some speculate that the NDPB is merely a stop-gap measure.

This should not prevent the NDPB from attempting to be efficient and effective, as the achievements and successes it has accumulated will be invaluable to any successor agency and will undoubtedly assist to deepen Nigeria’s data privacy practice.

Consumer trust and growing use of digital tools are aided by a strong data protection environment, which can encourage investment, competitiveness, and innovation in the digital economy. Q APRIL 2022

43 COVER / VINCENT OLATUNJI

“Yes, we have the powers, we have done it before and we will continue to do it. In 2021, there was a data breach in one of the states and we wrote to the data controller and requested a report from them and resolved the issue. We can also impose

“From the last GDP report published by the NBS, the sector contributed the highest, 17.3 percent, above other sectors of the economy. The pillars in national Digital Economy and Strategy Policy, NDESP, regulation are number one, which is a major developmental concept”.

“We have done much in terms of value addition, job creation, saving of funds and international recognition. For the NDPB to be pulled out of NITDA, speaks volumes of what the sector is doing. Even at the level of FEC, there is a National Policy on Virtual FEC Meeting, which has save lots of money for the country”.

“In the area of broadband penetration, a new policy has been band penetration.

In terms of Right of Way, with the minister’s intervention, it has been reduced to N45 per linear meter from N145, 000;

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IS THE ASUU STRIKE A RELIC FROM THE ANTIQUATED PERIOD ByDerrick Bangura

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hy does Quality Education remain so elusive in a system where students pay so much tuition? What becomes of the money? Does it mean that they are paying for nothing? Does the money, at all, end up in the FederaAdministration and for running academic programmes?

Or is it possible, as conjecture would have it, that some powerful politicians have it stashed away in their pockets? Is it stowed away in Banks for future use? Does the Federal Government really subsidise Education, forcing for funds to run Academic programmes? Or Is it the case that those funds end up funding elections? tant fees, including tuition, admittance fees, Post exam fees, dormitory accommodation fees, and plenty of others too many to mention. Why do they pay so much fees if the money doesn’t go towards providing a good education? It is at all fair to students, or their parents or guardians?

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It is retrogressive that in an educationally backward country like Nigeria, the ASUU can embark on strikes regularly, suddenly, and apparently willingly at the slightest provocation, usually claiming, an administrative funds shortage as justification. So why isn’t everyone asking about the exorbitant fees and other taxes that fresh and returning students must pay in order to obtain a so-called education? Answers are needed. of University Teachers (NAUT) in 1978, ASUU was formed to salvage and correct the deteriorating quality of Nigerian University education. Among other things, the deteriorating state of education prompted ASUU to deploy the tool they know best to force the Federal Government to allocate adequate funds for the running of Universities: Industrial action. The question is whether ASUU’s incessant strikes are fruitful. Are there other Government other than strikes? This is a critical consideration, in order to avoid an additional rot in the university system and a prolonged period of inactivity ACCESSNEWS.NG

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HISTORY OF ASUU ASUU was formed in 1978, the period of the beginning of the decline in the oil boom, when the country faced the consequences of the failure by its rulers to use the oil wealth to generate production and a social welfare system. Military dictatorship had eroded deeply the basic freedoms in the society. Academic freedom and university autonomy were casualties of military dictatorship. The funding of education, and so of universities, became poorer. The factors required a changed orientation of the union of academics, from 1980.

ASUUs orientation became radical, more concerned with broad national issues, and stood firmly against oppressive, undemocratic policies of the country.

Throughout the 1980s, ASUU fought back against attacks on academic freedom. The Uthman Mohammed Commission Report of 1978 contained an instrument for the Federal Government’s assumption of Governing Council disciplinary functions. The federal government ordered certain councils to giving them a chance to be heard.

Through Babangida and Abacha, this practice was extended over into military governments. ASUU announced a Trade Dispute in 1980, and the topic of autonomy became a point of contention. Following the Justice Belonwus Visitation Panel Report, President Shehu Shagari authorized the University of Lagos Council to dismiss six senior members

cerned about funding, salaries, autonomy, and academic freedom, brain drain, and the university system’s sustainability. Separate industrial unions and NLC State Chapters collaborated with ASUU. It focused on national economic, educational, and other policies, as well as their direction and context.

1988, whereas there were issues with the Government and The university committee, ASUU was declared illegal on August 7, 1988, as a result of the strike. With Professor Jibril Aminu as Minister of Education, the Federal Government disbanded ASUU, seized all of its assets, and issued directives requiring all universities to pay the EUSS immediately, with payments backdated to January. ASUU retaliated by founding the UNIVERSITY LECTURERS ASSOCIATION (ULA) (ULA). The strike, however, was broken by the proscription.

Members resumed their duties. Dr. Attahiru Jega, the President, and Dr. Festus Iyayi, the Immediate Past President, cials’ passports were taken. Mr. F. Amade (Ag. Chairman and Secretary of the University of Benin, respectively) and Dr. F. Dimowo (late) were also held.

SSAUTURIAIA and NASU’s actions during the 1988 strike established the groundwork for the discord that has

The ASUU protested and pressed for their reinstatement. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the UNILAG

the 1990s. The NASU had withdrawn from the strike. When the Minister of Education issued his proclamation proscribing ASUU and threatening to sack all those who had not returned to work by Monday, August 11, 1988, SSAUTURIAIA, which had been working in collaboration with ASUU on the strike, unilaterally withdrew.

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position.

ASUU fought the Shagari government from 1980 to 1981. It was con-

1988 proscription. The leadership, on the other hand, continued to organize the ULA on college campuses.

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As part of the protest to the Babangida’s regime’s plan to obtain a $120 million loan from the World Bank, the ULA held an anti-World Bank Conference in 1990. The Conference was held at Obafemi Awolowo University with the participation of Civil Society Organisations such as CDHR, CLO, and NLC. On Sunday, April 22, as the Conference was coming to a close, the Gideon Orka Coup occurred. Professor Olorode and Dr. Awopetu were arrested by the military administration, which failed to arrest others. They were taken into custody.

According to the objectives of the founding members, the primary goal of ASUU is to negotiate with the Federal Government on the basis of the need to provide desirable welfare for Nigerian teachers at the tertiary level, particularly in universities. The Union’s objective is to prevent a large brain drain in the intellectual sector, in which persons in whom the country has invested high-quality academic resources migrate en masse to locations where they believe the working conditions are better. The Union is adamant that losing individuals to those places, due to the challenges of a lack of access to a good life as a result of the country’s poor welfare package, will inevitably retrograde or proportionally regress the nation’s knowledge production, rendering academics unfit for international competition. Meanwhile, providing decent benefits for those working at the tertiary level is more than just a matter of pay raises. Meeting emerging trends in the global educational society would be nearly impossible in situations where the country’s education system has a significant infrastructural deficit, and this would have disastrous consequences for the country’s academic conditions as those within the To be honest, the Union has had a number of achievements to its credit APRIL 2022

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for Nigerian university students.

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as a result of the group’s governing body’s consistent, persis-

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instances of undue obstinacy on the Union’s part, resulting in an open refusal to compromise, the Union has achieved significant strides in facilitating improved academic working circumstances for its members since its founding. Because of the information gap between them and the trade organisation, some people are frequently critical of the Union. Few outsiders realise that the body’s persistent and continual promise of a better working environment, which would undoubtedly fast-track their career advancement, is the source of the high reduction in the degree of migration of lecturers.

More than a simple verbal implication is required to persuade people to continue working for a government despite the poor conditions of intellectualism and competence, as well as the constant undermining of their social contributions.

It necessitates actively engaging the government as proof of their dedication to their common goals. ASUU has remained firm in its quest for better working conditions for its members and the creation of an environment conducive to academic competency through thick and thin.

Bala Muhammed Makosa (2007) in his article ‘The History and struggles of ASUU’ said its emergence was at, “the beginning of the decline in the oil boom when the country faced the consequences of the failure of its rulers to use the oil wealth to generate production and a social welfare system.

Military dictatorship had deeply eroded the basic freedoms in society. Academic freedom and universities grew poorer.”

the Obasanjo administration failed to implement the agreement. The strike lasted for only two weeks.

2003 In 2003, Nigerian university undergraduates had to stay at home again for six months as ASUU embarked on another industrial action due to the non-implementation of previous agreements, which covers poor university funding and disparity in salary and retirement age

2006 In April 2006 academic activities were paralysed in all public universities across the country when ASUU declared a 3-day warning strike. It eventually lasted for one week.

2007 The 2006 industrial action was followed by another on March 26, 2007. The strike lasted for three months. The reasons for the strike was pretty much the same reasons for the previous strike.

2008 In a bid to press home its demands, ASUU went on strike for one week in 2008. The demands included an improved salary scheme and reinstatement of 49 lecturers who were dismissed at the University of Ilorin.

2009 In 2009, lecturers in public universities across the country embarked on an industrial action that lasted for four months. The

1999 democracy and a government that promised to be people oriented. But it didn’t take long for Nigerian students to experience a disruption in their academic pursuit. Few months embarked on a nationwide strike and it lasted for five months.

2001 In 2001, ASUU declared another strike over the reinstatement of 49 lecturers sacked at the University of Ilorin. The industrial action was aggravated when the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo described Nigerian university lecturers as “a bunch of lazy and ungrateful people” The strike was called

2002 Having had an agreement with the Federal Government during the previous strike, the union was forced to embark on

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had an agreement. The 2009 ASUU/FG agreement would later become the reason for subsequent industrial action.

2010 The year 2010 also saw another setback for Nigerian university undergraduates in their academics as ASUU embarked on another indefinite strike that lasted for over five months. The strike

2011 Since the FG failed to honour its 2009 agreement to adequately fund universities in the country and implement the 70-year retirement age limit for ASUU members, the union again paralysed academic activities nationwide in December 2011. The

2013 Again, the government’s failure to review the retirement age for professors from 65 to 70; approve funding to revitalise the ACCESSNEWS.NG

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2017 On August 17, 2017, ASUU again declared an indefinite strike over unresolved and contentious issues with the Federal Government. The strike was

2018 Again, due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands, the Aca(ASUU) declared an indefinite nationwide strike.

The union announced the strike on National Executive Council meeting held at the Federal University of Tech-

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nology, Akure, Ondo State.

ASUU embarked on another strike

2013. Claims made by ASUU with regards to the strike are entered largely on funding and revitalisation of Nigerian public universities as well as a certainly earned allowance which it claims to be in arrears of 92 billion Naira at that time.

Presently the figure is far higher than that as a result of accumulated arrears up to 2016.

Another round of disagreement is brewing between the Federal Government and ASUU concerning the non-implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement and several other issues bordering on funding, the welfare of Universities in Nigeria. ASUU has already gone on a one-week warning strike between 16th and 22nd November 2016 to force the Government back to the negotiating table.

Negotiations have however commenced between the two parties but no

one knows what the outcome would be.

Since the 1980s, ASUU has been engaging the federal and state governments on the need to reposition the deliver on its mandate. This became imperative in the face of a massive exodus of seasoned academics particularly to European and American universities; the deplorable state of facilities for research, teaching, and learning; gross underfunding; and steady erosion of university autonomy and academic freedom by successive governments in Nigeria (Uzoh and Anigbogu, 2013).

ASUU has always insisted that the virtual complete domination of Nigeria’s economy and politics by the Bretton Woods Institutions (IMF and World), and the inevitable erosion of our national pride since 1960, are direct consequences of the mismanagement of national resources, leading essentially, to the virtual destruction of the economy and the educational system (ASUU,2013) The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) formerly Education Trust

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university system; increase the budgetary allocations to the education sector by 26% among other demands led to another industrial action.

The strike was embarked upon on July ber 17, 2013. It lasted for five months, 15 days.

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Fund (ETF) is a product of a challenge posed to ASUU by the Government in the early 1990s. The government then challenged ASUU to propose ‘other’ viable sources of generating funds that could be used to save tertiary education in Nigeria through interventions and extra-budgetary supports. ASUU worked out detailed policy formulation and managerial structure of ETF now (TETFund) which formed part of the FGN/ASUU Agreement of 1992 (ASUU, 2013). Although at its initial conception, the ETF the intervention was intended to be a special intervention in Tertiary Education only, the Military government enlarged its scope to cover all levels of Education- Primary, Secondary, and Higher Education. The intervention of the ETF did not make the intended significant changes in the educational system at any level (ASUU, 2013). In 2011, the ETF law was repealed and The tertiary Education Trust Fund Act was enacted as a transformative intervention agency for the rehabilitation, restoration, and consolidation of the tertiary education in Nigeria. TETFund had been making a visible impact in supporting tertiary education in terms of sponsoring academing conferences, workshops, and valuable research endeavours (ASUU, 2013).

The Federal Government is considering the call by the AcAgreement of 2009 to revitalise the public universities to meet national and international standards constituted the Committee on Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities (CNANU) in 2012 (Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC), 2014). The committee was saddled with the task of determining the actual status of Nigerian Public Universities in ing and enrolment, environment and utilities as well as the quality of delivery of teaching and learning; to determine the gap between existing status, skills, abilities, and capacities of the universities and those that are needed for the universities to function at an optimal level; and to make the right prioritisation and therefore optimise resource allocation which could lead to proper deployment of resources to get value for money, save cost while making a maximum impact, as well pact of the Needs Assessment Intervention Fund for Nigerian Public Universities is being felt in various ways including providing learning facilities and a conducive learning environFurthermore, the recent trends in wages and salaries administration in Nigeria have been clearly necessitated by the roles of the various trade unions in the country with ASUU playing a in Nigerian universities. Perhaps, one of the most interesting features of the current trends in the wage and salary adminisAPRIL 2022

tration with respect to the university system can be seen to reside in the realisation by the Nigerian government that the university academics represent the crucial mass of scholars in the society with the potential for transforming it. In the light of this, the government felt that academics deserve unique conditions of service which will motivate them like the intellectuals tiveness in service delivery, with regard to teaching, research and community service and thereby stem the tide of “brain drain”. The new university salary structure indicates that the basic pay has increased considerably and all the accolades go to ASUU (Agburu, 2012). Based on the most recent developbe paid a number of allowances. These allowances include those of postgraduate supervision; teaching practice/industrial supervision/field trip allowances; honoraria for external/internal examiner (postgraduate thesis); honoraria for external moderation of undergraduate and postgraduate examination, and postgraduate study grant. Apart from the foregoing, other allowances include those for external assessment of Readers and Professors; call duty/clinical hazard responsibility allowance; excess workload allowance and Earned Academic Allowance (Aguru, 2012). The theoretical thrust of this paper is the Marxian class theory associated with Karl Marx (1818– 1883).

Marx’s class theory rests on the premise that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. According to this view, ever since human society emerged from fundamentally divided between classes who clash in pursuit of class interests. Class interests and the confrontations of power that they bring in their wake are to Marx the central determinant of social and historical process (Coser, 1977; Marx and Engels,

Human Resource Development remains the key to national beings are properly developed through the instrumentality of education, they acquire the capacity to drive national

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scarce resources and scarce power. He notes that unequal access need not at all times and under all circumstances lead to active class struggle (Coser, 1977). Although he considered it axiomatic that the potential for class conflict ety, since such a society systematically generates conflicts of interest between ed within the social structure, and, more particularly, in relation to the means of production. Marx was concerned with the ways in which specific positions in the social structure tended to shape the social experiences of their incumbents and to predispose them to actions oriented to improve their collective fate (Coser,1977; Marx and Engels, 1998). A class is those who share common economic interests, are conscious of those interests, and engage in collective action which advances those interests (Edwards, 1983). Within Marxian class theory, the structure of the production process forms the basis of class construction. Marxian class theory adequately captures the situation in Nigeria where the political and administrative elites that constitute the ruling class appropriate more than their fair share of the commonwealth leaving the majority of the people to wallow in poverty.

This reflects the repressive character of the Nigerian state and the rigid class structure that is reinforced at every point in time. The people in Government want all the public Universities which the children of the poor people

from the public purse. They are not happy that the public Universities are still surviving because they want their own schools to be patronised. These explain why the educational sector in Nigerian is very poorly funded. ASUU representing the exploited class has therefore remained in the vanguard of the struggle to ensure that the public Universities in Nigeria do not collapse. ASUU must always go on strike to remind government of its responsibilities towards educational development in Nigeria. They continuously recycle themselves in power which explains why successive regimes in Nigeria show similar disdain for educational development especially for the benefit of the less privileged Nigerians.

Human Resource Development remains the key to national development. When human beings are properly developed through the instrumentality of education, they acquire the capacity to drive national development. Unfortunately, this not the way Nigerian leaders see it and that explains why education is not given a pride of place in our national budgets even with the recommendation of UNESCO that national governments should always allocate at least 26 per cent of their annual budgets to educa-

tion. This is why ASUU has continued to hammer on proper funding of public Universities in Nigeria and without the would have degenerated to the level where they can no longer be redeemed.

ASUU continues to ensure that the development of human resources within the ivory towers is not abandoned because of its negative consequences for national development. Unless we begin to have more responsible governments in Nigeria the struggle in this direction will continue. The significance of this study is that it has been able to bring out the numerous contriUniversities have been making and continue to make towards the growth, development and more importantly, the preservation of public Universities in Nigeria. Many undiscerning minds have already labeled ASUU a union that disrupts academic activities in Nigerian public Universities as result of the frequent strikes organised by the union, but strike remains the only weapon at the disposal of the union to gain concessions from Government. In Nigeria, the only language Government understands is that of strike. If not for ASUU many of the public Universities in Nigeria would have closed down. Q

their children do not attend these schools, because they train their children abroad from the public purse. They also set up their own private Universities

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1998) Marx’s analysis continually centres on how the relationships between men are shaped by their respective positions with regard to the means of production,

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THE POLITICS OF FOOD SECURITY

By Derrick Bangura

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t may seem as though the world’s population is higher than its available resources hence it is estimated that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020, and around 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030. But in reality, the world produces twice as much food as is needed to feed its population. Global food production has expanded at a higher rate than global population growth for the past two decades. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the globe produces more than 1 1/2 times enough food to feed everyone on the earth. That’s already enough to feed the world’s anticipated population peak of 10 billion people in 2050. Despite this abundance, hunger persists. How is this possible? The world’s inability to feed the entirety of its population is mostly due to food insecurity.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognizes availability, access, utilization, and stability as the four pillars of food security. It defines food security as when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic etary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy

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CREDIT: UNSPLASH / ANNIE SPRATT

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life.” In other words, food security refers to the availability of food and people’s ability to access it, while food insecurity is healthy meals on a consistent basis.

Food as a global resource has never really been scarce.

Human politics, distribution system, capitalism, speculation/ hoarding, power, war, and poor policy, are the factors of food insecurity in the world. The Bengal famine of 1943 is a perfect example of how war and distribution error contribute to food insecurity in the world. According to a study that provides empirical credence for assertions that Winston Churchill-era British policies were a crucial factor leading to the catastrophe, the Bengal famine of 1943 was the first one in modern Indian history that did not develop as a result of severe drought. In the words of the lead researcher, Vimal Mishra, “This was a unique famine, caused by policy failure instead of any monsoon failure.” Even though natural disasters, crop epidemics, and the fall of Burma – now Myanmar, which was a key source of rice imports, all curtailed food supplies to Bengal in the years leading up to 1943, Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen argued in 1981 that there should have been enough supACCESSNEWS.NG

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could lead to starvation, but he ignored the warnings and chose to continue shipping rice from India to other parts of the empire. In 1942-43, rice stocks continued to depart India despite London’s denial of India’s viceroy’s urgent plea for more than 1 million tonnes of emergency wheat supplies. Churchill is said to have blamed the famine on the fact that Indians were “breeding like rabbits” and questioned how Mahatma Gandhi was still alive despite the starvation. Mukerjee and others also point to Britain’s “denial policy” in the region, in which large quantities of rice and hundreds of boats were confiscated from Bengal’s coastal areas in order to deny the Japanese army resources in the event of an invasion.

The proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which led to the disappearance of native cultivars in most parts of the world, is also a major source of food insecurity. Foods that have been genetically modified have had additional genes added to them from other organisms. They’ve been around since 1994, and they’re made in a similar method as genetic engineering. The technique employed in this sort of crop management was developed to help farmers and merchants increase crop or food quality in a more technology will aid individuals in the agricultural industry in reducing the ACCESSNEWS.NG

quantity of crops and foods that are wasted. While there are numerous advantages to eating genetically modified foods, there are also potential drawbacks, which limit our choice of food.

According to research, people with allergies may be at danger from genetically modified foods. There are also claims that genetic modification frequently introduces or combines proteins not seen in the original animal or plant, potentially causing novel allergic reactions in our bodies. In other words, proteins from organisms to which you are allergic may be introduced to species to which you were not previously allergic. As a result, your choice of food will be limited. Also, GMOs are not 100% environmentally friendly. Despite the fact that many experts argue that genetically modified foods are safe for the environment, they nevertheless contain a number of ingredients that have yet to be demonstrated to be so.

What’s more, what’s the worst part?

These compounds are kept hidden from the general populace. Another significant possible disadvantage of some ecological creatures, resulting in a reduction in biodiversity. When we eradicate a pest that is detrimental to crops, we may be eliminating a food supply for a species. Furthermore, genetically engineered crops may be hazardous to other creatures, resulting in a reduction in their numbers or perhaps extinction.

Some genetically engineered foods, according to Iowa State University, have antibiotic characteristics integrated into them, making them resistant or immune to viruses, diseases, or infections. These antibiotic indicators will them, making antibiotic treatments vises that eating certain foods and being exposed to antibiotics on a frequent basis may cause antibiotics to lose

their potency, as seen in hospitals around the world. When compared to ordinary foods on the market, genetically modified foods are also said to have an unnatural flavour. This could be due to the substances that were added to their formula. Genetically modified foods contain compounds that have been shown in scientific studies to cause sickness and even death in a variety of species, including humans.

Mice and butterflies, for example, cannot subsist on these diets.

Economically, bringing a genetically modified crop to market can be a pricey and time-consuming procedure, and agricultural biotechnology companies, understandably, want to maximize their profits. Many novel plant genetic engineering technologies and products have been patented as a result, and patent infringement is a major worry in the agricultural industry. Furthermore, consumer advocates are concerned that this will drive up seed prices to the point that third-world countries and small farmers will be unable to purchase them, expanding the divide between the rich and the poor.

In Africa and rest of the third world, food insecurity results from poor policy and lack of continuity. The prospect of small farmers, who grow much of the world’s food, being hungry, is unsettling. Let’s take the Green Revolution policy as an example. Africa has experienced a boom in financing to help local food producers grow more of the region’s food since the 2007-8 food crises, when price hikes for global commodity crops increased the possibility of food shortages. African governments increased agricultural development spending, aided by international donors who recognized, for the first time in decades, that developing countries needed to grow more of their own food and that small-scale farmers could be a hindrance to growth. High internaAPRIL 2022

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plies to feed the region, and that the mass deaths were caused by a combination of wartime inflation, speculative buying, and panic hoarding, all of which combined to push the price of food out of reach of poor Bengalis.

According to recent research, especially one by a renowned Indian-American journalist and writer, Madhushree Mukerjee, Winston Churchill’s wartime cabinet in London aggravated the famine. According to Mukerjee, Churchill was frequently warned that using all of

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According to current projections, the world will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger by 2030, and most indicators, despite modest progress, will fail to fulfil tional crop prices lured private investment into agriculture for several years. The charge was driven by global philanthropies, which had recently been endowed with billions of dollars in technological earnings.

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation collaborated with the Rockefeller Foundation to start the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a well-funded international development organization. By 2020, AGRA aimed to double crop yield and incomes for 30 million small-scale farming

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households while also decreasing food insecurity in 20 African countries but it seemed to have failed. According to research, crop yield has slowed, poverty remains high, and the number of hungry people in Africa has increased. Only a few numbers of small-scale farmers have profited from the Green Revolution. Some people have become indebted as a result of the high costs of commercial seeds and synthetic fertilizer sold

by Green Revolution proponents. Despite $1 billion in funding for AGRA and $1 billion in annual subsidies from African governments to persuade farmers to purchase these high-priced inputs, AGRA has a poor track record.

According to current projections, the world will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger by 2030, and most indicators, despite modest progress, will fail to fulfil global nutrition targets. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 assessment, the health and socioeconomic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic are anticipated to worsen the food security and nutritional status of the world’s most vulnerable population groups. To avert this, governments are urged to include nutrition in their agricultural strategies; work to reduce cost-escalating factors in food production, storage, transportation, distribution, and marketing - including inefficiencies, food loss, and waste; support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and ensure their access to markets; prioritize children’s nutrition as the category most in need; and foster behaviour change through education. Q

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THE THEORY OF AN OVERPOPULATED EARTH

By Matthew Eloyi

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or so long, overpopulation has been blamed for almost everything including poverty, unemployment, scarce resources, birth control, abortion, and even the one-child policy that was once implemented in China. But is the earth really overpopulated? To answer this question, we probably need to remind ourselves of what overpopulation really means.

If my elementary school teachers ACCESSNEWS.NG

didn’t lie to me, then overpopulation is an unpleasant situation in which the existing human population exceeds the Earth’s carrying capacity. Also, in our high schools and colleges, we were/are taught in Economics that overpopulation is when a country’s population is higher than its available resources. However, according to research, the world population as of April 2022 stands at 7.9 billion while the earth can actually accommodate

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over 10 billion people given its spatial and resource base. If this is the case, then the claim that the earth is overpopulated is nothing but a mental conception.

For a very long time, the so-called international community has been bombarding us with incessant propaganda that “there are too many people” in the world. They claim that overpopulation is to blame for everything ranging from poverty to climate change to the extinction of rain forests.

Only a few have thought of the danger that population reduction can pose. Population decline is likely to contribute to international instability as nations struggle to acquire people to perform some jobs, operate infrastructure, and take care of the elderly. The Russian invasion of Ukraine may be the most recent example of this problem.

Russia is in desperate need of people. It has a population of only 146 million people, compared to 332 million in the US. Despite having a population slightly lower than Bangladesh, Russia has the biggest land mass of any country on the planet (6.3 million square miles). It’s also losing folks. It has a total fertility rate of 1.58, compared to 2.1 for replacement-level fertility. Its population is dwindling at a rate of roughly 100,000 people per year. According to United Nations figures, Russia had the world’s highest rate of abortions per woman of reproductive age in 2010. Russia’s population would have grown by about 30% if it had succeeded in absorbing Ukraine’s 43 million inhabitants (before the invasion). What makes it more appealing is that, according to Putin, the Ukrainians cannot racially be differentiated from Russians.

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China, in addition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is another example. Its one-child policy, which lasted till 2016, severely harmed the country’s fertility rate, which is now at an anemic 1.3. In 2021, only 10.6 million babies were born in a country of 1.4 billion people, a record low and down from 12.2 million in 2019. The number of working-age people is likely to fall to half of the population by 2050 while the percentage of those above the retirement age is projected to reach 39% of the population, according to demographers. As a result, China’s working-age population will be proportionally smaller, with the burden of caring for both the young and the elderly. There is already a labour shortage in China. Consider what the country would be like if there were less and fewer employees to maintain an aging population.

There had been a lot of conspiracy theories of deliberate population reduction. Top on the list is Malthusianism. This theory, which was named after the early nineteenth-century scholar Thomas Malthus, proposed that having too many people in the world causes a slew of problems, including hunger, malnutrition, disease, and conflict. According to the hypothesis, the world’s population rises exponentially while food supply does not, resulting in global hunger. Malthusianism has given the philosophical underpinnings of all later versions of population theory, and was not entirely refuted until the advent of modern farming techniques in the twentieth century.

Eugenics - the belief that not all races are equal and that the “bad” races must die out to make place for the “good,” was another conspiracy theory of deliberate population reduction. The “bad” races usually corresponded to those who were poorer and darker than eugenics proponents. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood who openly ership was an early proponent of this notion. Of course, the tion theory faded into obscurity, resurfaced in the 1950s with the approval of the American political and intellectual establishment. It was given a new term, the population explosion, which alluded to Malthus’ ideas but still targeted darker-skinned people in emerging countries. Rather than just stating that the world would run out of food, it was now proposed that the globe would run out of practically everything, including food, natural resources, and eventually space to roam around in. The movement was propelled by the “population bomb” notion from the 1960s to the early 1990s and beyond.

The so-called “Population Bomb” was never detonated.

Now we must cope with the issues of aging populations and worldwide instability brought on by the decline in birthrates.

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These issues will become apparent to everyone, even the most adamant secularists, sooner or later, and it will be clear that only people of religion had the foresight to perceive the problem – and the fortitude to address it. This is because religious people, such as traditional Catholics, evangelical Christians, Mormons, and Orthodox Jews, are the only set of people that have kept the very first mandate from God in the Book of Genesis that we should be fruitful and multiply.

And the truth is, whether you believe in God or not, people still believe that God holds all the Aces and He decides everything. So, it is high time we accepted the fact that there is little we can do to change the world or play God.

There had been a lot of conspiracy theories of deliberate Top on the list is

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2023 ELECTIONS: IS THE OSINBAJO/ZULUM TICKET A DREAM THAT WILL COME TRUE OR A FAR-FETCHED FANTASY?

By Matthew Eloyi

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s the 2023 presidential election draws closer, there has been a general concession that the combination of the current Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and the Executive Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Zulum as President and Vice President respectively will be the best for Nigerians, with many describing it as a truly citizen-centric arrangement.

However, even as Osinbajo has declared his intention to run for the ACCESSNEWS.NG

number one seat in 2023 under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), there are questions surrounding the prospects of the duo (Osinbajo and Zulum) as a national leadership pair and the possibility that they would get the party’s ticket.

This is more so as it is glaring that choosing between the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to lead the party in the 2023 presidential election will be a difficult decision for the

party’s leadership. Of course, one does not need a prophet to figure out that the two are the APC’s first eleven candidates in the presidential election, based on political strength and integrity tests that both can pass respectively.

Even though the APC has remained silent on the question of zoning, there are signs that the party has decided to hand over the presidency to the South, considering the fact that its National Chairman has emerged from APRIL 2022

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Even though the APC has remained silent on the question of zoning, there are signs that the party has decided to hand over the the North. Despite the fact that it is not guaranteed in the APC or any Nigerian political party’s constitution, it has always been the case that the President and the National Chairman of his political party should not come from the same region of the country; north or south. Regardless, a number of hopefuls from both South and North have expressed an interest in running for the party’s presidential ticket. They include Osinbajo, Tinubu, the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani Yerima; Governor Fayemi Kayode of Ekiti State; Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi amongst others.

However, among all the aspirants within the APC, Tinubu and Osinbajo appear to be the ones creating the greatest consternation.

Also, prominent members of Nigeria’s largest opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have made no secret of their desire to run for the highest elective office, each attempting to persuade the party why he is the best candidate for the job. Top of the list is Nigeria’s former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who clinched the PDP Presidential ticket but lost to President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling APC in the 2019 general election. According to reports, Atiku has again won the support of some members of the party who are going round the ticket to selling “the Atiku for President 2023” mantra to Nigerians.

A former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim has also declared his intention to contest for the number one office. Others are Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; a former President of the Senate, Dr. BuAPRIL 2022

kola Saraki; the CEO/Publisher of Ovation International, Chief Dele Momodu; and the former president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohambunwa.

On the glamour for the Osinbajo/Zulum ticket, it is pertinent for us to examine their potentials, achievements, mantras, policies and the direction they take leadership to. For Osinbajo, what more would you expect from a professor of law with a list of scholarship awards, academic laurels, and oratorical honours dating back to 1971 when he was in secondary school? Osinbajo became a professor of law at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) at the age of 40 in 1997, two years before becoming the first Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State in the Fourth Republic.

As Vice President, providence and presidential illness pushed Osinbajo to step up as substantive president, in acting capacity, on a few occasions during the Buhari-Osinbajo administration’s first tenure. Some people admired his quick moves and “body language” during those few moments, while others were concerned. One of his constitutional responsibilities as Vice President, with any kind of executive power, is to oversee the National Economic Council (NEC) and advise the president on effective proposals for steering the country into prosperity, and he has, to some extent, met the expectations of many Nigerians in that regard. However, despite his glowing attributes and compelling characteristics, which were especially evident during the brief moments when he was allowed to actually act for his principal during a few of the many absences, it is believed that Osinbajo would have a difficult time convincing some set of Nigerians that he is the “Messiah” they have been waiting for.

For Zulum, his name is well-known across the Borno and Nigerian landscapes. Many Nigerians have never met him, but his record of accomplishments centred on people-oriented programmes has made him a household figure in the country, attracting unending plaudits. Zulum arrived at a time when the morale and psyche of the people of Borno State had been thrashed by malicious elements who had continued to divert the polity’s attention, steal, and destroy whatever was of good report and worth to the citizens. The governor has had a tremendous impact in the areas of security, education, health, agriculture, and infrastructure in order to alleviate the suffering of those who have been subjected to incessant terrorist attacks in the state. Governor Zulum has proven to be a true leader via his hard work, devotion, and dedication to his people, and there is no doubt that that he will make a good vice president with Osinbajo as president. However, it is not yet certain that the Osinbajo/Zulum ticket dream will come true until the primary election is conducted. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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NIGERIA’S CREDPAL SECURES $15M IN DEBT AND EQUITY TO SCALE ITS BNPL PRODUCT ACROSS AFRICA

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he adoption of buy now, pay later (BNPL) in Nigeria as a payment option both online and at the point of sale is expected to record a CAGR of 20% from 2021 to 2028, per this report.

BNPL’s growth is further highlighted as GMV is predicted to increase from $204 million to over $1 billion by 2028. Key to this growth is the activities of providers whose platforms encourage consumers to make instantaneous purchases and pay over time.

To that effect, CredPal, one of the earliest pioneers of buy now, pay later in Nigeria, has closed a bridge round of $15 million in equity and debt — the latter constituting a very large chunk of the financing — to expand its consumer credit offerings across Africa.

Per a statement shared by the company, the investment will support its expansion into other African markets, mainly Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Cameroon.

In 2018, CredPal launched a point-of-sale consumer credit service plugged into e-commerce stores for lower-to-middle class income earners. The concept of BNPL was nascent

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at the time, at least in Nigeria, and because adoption wasn’t great, CredPal flirted with a new credit offering via cards which saw an uptake in usage, CEO Fehintolu Olaogun told TechCrunch.

“We launched the cards to increase the reach of our BNPL service and that caught on well,” he said. “But now people can shop in instalments by walking into a partner store or using our credit card.”

The credit card is one of two options — the second via the mobile app — consumers can use to access CredPal’s BNPL services when they visit a partner store to shop for items ranging from electronics, particularly smartphones, to furniture and groceries.

between a 30-day to 180 days after making a down payment of 30%. Interest rates range from 4% to 9%.

Olaogun said that in instances where consumers pay back before two months, they might not pay any interest — which is covered by fees the company charges merACCESSNEWS.NG

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commerce merchants. We are merchants agnostic and also our tech allows consumers to be able to interface with CredPal across a wide range of channels.”

The omnichannel merchant suite, CredPal Pay, allows businesses of all sizes and categories to accept buy now, pay later options. The platform serves as a point-of-sale infrastructure that enables BNPL through a credit payment link, checkout plugin, QR codes\ and a transaction management system. CredPal will face competition with ThankUCash in this segment of providing BNPL infrastructure to merchants.

As CredPal looks to expand both product-wise and geographically, the company said part of the new investment will also help it secure a partnership with telecom operator Airtel Nigeria to allow low to middle-income earners to purchase smartphones in instalments.

The debt financing was provided by Credit Direct, a subsidiary of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and a few unnamed financial institutions.

Greenhouse Capital, a fintech and embedded finance-focused venture capital firm, is one of the existing backers of CredPal. It participated in this equity bridge round which is coming two Pal raised $1.5 million in seed funding, money used to launch its credit card product.

New investors include Uncovered Fund, LongCommerce, First Circle Capital and Adii Pienaar, co-founder and former CEO of WooCommerce. Q

Nigeria’s Kwik Gets $2m To Add Financial Services To Its Last-Mile Delivery Offerings

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wik, a Nigeria and Frenchbased startup that provides logistics services to B2B merchants, from social vendors to e-commerce platforms, has raised $2 million in Series A funding.

a VC arm that invests in digital assets, among other types of startups. New and existing investors such as Humla Ventures, Nabuboto, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and Pulse Africa founder Leonard Stiegeler participated.

Kwik plays in a crowded logistics and delivery space with well-known providers in Nigeria such as Gokada — and other parts of Africa like Egypt’s YDS and Bosta. Its last-mile delivery service connects pendent delivery riders for transport of their products to business and individual customers.

According to founder and CEO Romain Poirot-Lellig, his company wants to “bring the informal economy into the formal economy,” focusing on last-mile delivery, e-commerce (warehousing and fulfilment) and financial services.

“Our goal is for Kwik to become the prime app choice for African social vendors and traditional merchants going digital. Integrating delivery, payment and e-commerce tools seamlessly in one easy-to-use mobile app is a catchy propwill enable us to expand across all three key verticals and select geographic areas”. way by providing last-mile delivery and chants. Since launching in Lagos in 2019 APRIL 2022

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chants. Speaking of merchants, CredPal has 20,000 merchant sign ups; however, it has onboarded more than 4,000, with only 600 being monthly active merchants. They serve a monthly active customer base of 85,000.

As one of the foremost providers of BNPL services on the continent, these numbers appear somewhat impressive — yet, knowing how early the sector is in Nigeria and most of Africa, YC-backed CredPal is barely scratching the surface.

But becoming a market leader in Nigeria or Africa isn’t CredPal’s for the taking. There’s Sympl, Carbon Zero, Shahry, Lipa Later, PayLater and CDCare, and newer entrants such as Klump and even big guns like Tabby eyeing different regions across the continent.

“One of the things that differentiate us is that we provide an omnichannel approach to BNPL,” said the CEO who founded the company with Olorunfemi Jegede, on how CredPal is positioning itself in the face of growing competition.

“We’ve built out a merchant suite to cater to those who have like fullfledged e-commerce websites to those with brick and mortar store and social

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and extending its presence to Abuja, the company has onboarded more than 100,000 merchants who use Kwik’s site and mobile apps to run cial needs of their businesses. More than 75% are weekly active users, Poirot-Lellig said.

“We’re not trying to build a customer super-like app. We want to do a merchant super app. We were building an app that merchants can use to run their online businesses, said the CEO, who put €200,000 of his money into the startup in 2019.

“We are purely a software company. We create a community and a matchmaking playground. We ensure that we enforce the rules of the playground, both on the merchants’ side and on the partners’ side.”

Kwik runs an asset-light and marketplace model where it liaises with third-party providers of bikes, trucks, vans and warehouses and connects them with merchants. Per information on its site, deliveries of packages — ranging from parcels to food items — take less than two hours.

The two-year-old company, which raised a $1.9 million seed round last March, takes an average commission of 20% for each delivery. financial services, took off toward the end of 2021 after it launched payment services, which, according to the company, now represent more than 10% of its GMV. But there’s more to be built around that, and the new investment helps fasttrack growth in that aspect.

“The financing part is the last part we’re building. For the moment, we connect riders and financing institutions that are willing to finance bikes. On top of that, we’re going to launch a B2B lending marketplace by the end of the year to enable merchants to get financing.”

Kwik will also use the funding for operations across Nigerian cities beyond Lagos and Abuja — Ibadan, Kano, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

Poirot-Lellig also said the company plans to increase the number of merchants on its platform to 800,000 by the end of the year. Q

Nigerian Digital Bank Yep! Raises $1.5m PreSeed For Its ‘Financial Super App’ Play

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gency banking is big business in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. It involves agents or merchants, who act

such as transfers, savings and payouts to the underbanked and unbanked that rarely visit bank branches.

Banks and telcos are heavy players, and so are some companies like E-Settlement, a holding company for different financial entities. Founded by Olaoluwa Awojoodu, the company’s agent banking platform, PayCentre Africa, is present in Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo.

Last year, the company said it had over 5 million customers transact more than $2 billion from its network of 100,000 merchants.

With this much firepower at his disposal, Awojoodu teamed up with Airende Ojeomogha and Garry Ottosen to start Yep!, a neobank that will leverage E-Settlement’s network and convert these underbanked customers online as well as target those online already.

Today, Yep!, a “financial super app” with payments, remittance and banking features, is announcing that it has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by pan-African VC Greenhouse Capital. The startup plans to go live across the five markets where E-Settlement is present, serving digital financial services to consumers, small business owners and merchants.

“We want to bank the guys in Lagos as well as bank the guys in a village at Ikot Ekpene.

And at the same time, not just Nigeria, we are also looking at a full African play,” said co-founder and CEO Awojoodu to TechCrunch over a call.

“So it’s just really that financial access for Africans, not just the guys that are digitally digital channels, we are going to bring everybody into the digital environment using both digital tools and agent networks.”

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In Nigeria, over 42 million adults who live in rural areas lack basic banking services. Agency banking does a great job in fostering financial inclusion, but at some point, the underserved need to be brought into an all-around digital ecosystem that provides access to the full spectrum of financial services.

The founders built Yep!’s solution with this in mind. Their first step was acquiring a microfinance license, a prerequisite for any fintech that wants to hold consumers’ money; in Yep!’s case, both agents’ and consumers’ money (something it couldn’t accomplish with E-Settlement). Thus, these agents can now offer cash in, cash out, digital accounts, cash issuance and bill payments.

“We can now start banking consumers because we now hold their money, and we can also bank our agents. So we kind of closed all the ecosystem, bringing agents and merchants, businesses and consumers all in one ecosystem,” said Ojeomogha on the call.

The San Francisco- and Lagos-headquartered startup will also go for customers who use banks and other digital-only platforms like Kuda, Carbon and FairMoney. It will provide account opening, debit card issuance, bill payments and credit financing services to these online consumers, and financial management services to both consumers and businesses.

But Yep!’s offline and online acquisition strategy isn’t exactly novel. OPay, known for providing financial services to underbanked customers, properly launched its digital banking arm in 2021 after converting millions of users it gained from a gamut of vertical services. TeamApt also teased a digital banking play for the underbanked last year; however, nothing concrete has surfaced yet.

What gives Yep! an edge, according to its founders, is a superior experience in raising debt capital for lending purposes — a practice where agency banking providers supply working capital to their agents who in turn lend to their end consumers. Ojeomogha and Ottosen will be pivotal to that.

Ojeomogha has experience as an investment banker and previously worked for fintechs like Oxygen and Tally in the U.S. Ottosen, on the other hand, has built lending programs, including consumer and business credit cards and small business instalment loans for several U.S. banks.

“We’ve offered agent lending in the past and got low single-digits default.

We’ve taken a different approach to some of these things more strategically.

Garry and I have raised hundreds of millions of debt, so access to credit facilities is an advantage for us, including the fact that we can raise those facilities pretty quickly,” said co-founder Ojeomogha.

“Another competitive advantage we have is we have a tonne of data,” added co-founder and board member Ottosen. “And I think one reason I was excited to come over is that I’ve spent years building credit sorts of models and helped build a couple of banks. We have a roadmap to start lending to our agents and because it’s a digital bank, we’ll be able to reach deep into both Nigeria and Francophone Africa.”

The company currently has a $500,000 credit facility to kickstart working capital loans to its existing merchants. The founders say they’re in discussions with international credit providers to increase this to $10 million by the end of 2022.

To further distinguish itself from similar platforms and materialize its super app plans, Yep! is testing out remittance products. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send money to, with remittance inflows reaching $45 billion. Yep! sees an opportunity in building on remittance flows where agents act as the middlemen in receiving money from the diaspora and distributing it to those on the continent. More on the diaspora play, the startup also plans to offer checking and saving accounts, a credit card and a physical bank for African migrants.

But that’s all in Yep!’s pipeline. For now, Yep! intends to use the pre-seed investment to double its agent network to over 200,000 by the end of 2022 as part of its goal to boost financial inclusion. The funding also provides ammunition to commence its digital banking services in Nigeria and the other four countries, which the founders believe is ripe for the taking since there’s less competition compared to Africa’s most prominent fintech market. Q

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Mecho Autotech gets $2.15M to expand vehicle maintenance and repair services in Nigeria

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igeria has more than 12 million registered vehicles, and approximately 90% of them are used cars that need frequent checkups to prevent recurring breakdowns. tenance to be standard in Nigeria. But that’s not the case: Most of the service providers in the country, usually auto mechanics, are inadequately trained and lack the needed tools to provide consistent, quality service.

A couple of startups like Y Combinator-backed Mecho Autotech are beginning to digitize this process. The company which connects car owners with quality vehicle repair and maintenance providers has raised a $2.15 million seed round.

The company, in a statement, said it will use the capital “to expand its multi-channel service capacity, engineering team, and marketing budget for B2C acquisition.”

In Nigeria, retail customers typically have three options for making vehicle repairs: use original equipment manufacturer

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or roadside mechanics. There are very few OEM mechanics, such as Elizade and Toyota. They provide quality but expensive services because car parts are manufactured in-house. On the quality varies; most times, it tilts to the flawed end.

Founded by Olusegun Owoade and Ayoola Akinkunmi, Mecho Autotech has created a network of vetted in-house and nesses and retail customers) in mind, Owoade told TechCrunch. “So what we did was create a network of vetted technicians across 35 states out in Nigeria to tackle the poor vehicle maintenance culture in Nigeria,” he said.

“We also created an insurance plan because we know that motor insurance is compulsory. So if we have an insurance ACCESSNEWS.NG

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people with brand new vehicles typically get.” ed maintenance plans for new cars. But in a country where most people buy used cars and hit the road with little or no regard to servicing — which causes repair and safety issues in the long run — Mecho Autotech’s proposition is appealing.

Owoade, a consultant for most of his professional career, noticed this problem during his time with pan-African trucking company Kobo360 as chief risk track incidents, including law enforcement stops, arrests and accidents. But from data Owoade compiled, over 90% of incidents reported on the platform were due to mechanical breakdown.

“I became highly interested in the problem trying to understand why, and then I narrowed that down to three key things: quality of mechanics drivers engaged, poor vehicle maintenance culture, and quality of spare parts. Repairs that are supposed to take a few days would take weeks to complete.”

He reached out to Akinkunmi, who has 10 years of experience as an automobile engineer and ran a Lagos-based vehicle maintenance outfit, to start Mecho. They started working on the project in 2019 but didn’t fully launch until April 2021. The company got into YC Summer 2021 batch and currently works with 40 business-to-business customers that own over 20,000 vehicles. It has serviced over 2,000 of these vehicles.

Owoade said that Mecho Autotech decided to work with business clients first because it gave the company time to fine-tune its service. He stated that these clients, who own large fleets, typically engage with several workshops and spend over $30 million on yearly ACCESSNEWS.NG

vehicle repairs and maintenance. But with Mecho Autotech, they get to deal with one single entity that coordinates these workshops for them.

To date, the company has onboarded over 7,000 third-party mechanics across three workshops in Lagos servicing B2B customers: Shuttlers, Moove, Tolaram Group and Kobo. It charges about 15% commission fees –10% from service charges and 5% from spare parts charges.

The company said it is developing a spare parts value chain that has already served over 100 third-party mechanics and several large ticket inventory purchases for B2B customers.

Part of the seed money would go into expanding this capacity. It will also help scale Mecho Autotech’s mobile application, which it launched for its B2C customers last month. The twoyear-old startup said it aims to reach 25,000 customers this year and charge them a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription fee.

To reach this scale, the chief executive said his company has a success-based arrangement on the Google Play Store where it’ll employ a pay-per-download model in exchange for the platform pushing Mecho’s app.

Another strategy is to use mobile services to meet retail customers at their location if they opt not to go to a Mecho

Autotech workshop or partner garages.

“With B2B, what is required is a good network of workshops that has the capacity to take care of their needs. And then for B2C, it is mobile. Consumers want convenience and so mobile services works perfectly fine for them,” he said.

“What we’ve done with mobile is that we’ve created subscription-based plans for things customers would typically do with their vehicles like the routine oil change, oil filters, brake pads and [then] send our mechanics to their preferred location in our branded minibus when need be. This is how we are trying to structure our supply base tailored towards B2B and the B2C side of the business.”

The company said its round was “oversubscribed by over 300%” and claims to be the largest investment to date for a vehicle maintenance startup in sub-Saharan Africa, which is mainly because Mecho Autotech plays in a niche market with relatively few competitors. However, one that comes to mind is Autochek, whose vehicle maintenance services are just one aspect of its all-encompassing automotive business.

Investors involved in Mecho’s seed round include Future Africa, HoaQ Capital, Cathexis Ventures, V8 Capital, Silver Squid and Tekedia Capital. Q

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plan that has an annual maintenance plan embedded, it’s more or less sub-

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HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH HURDLES THAT THREATEN PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFIT

By Derrick Bangura

Hidden mental health hurdles put your business at risk. If you’re unaware there’s a problem, what you don’t know can hurt you. Alternatively, you (or your employees) might rec-

CREDIT: PEXELS

Thankfully, no diagnosis is necessary to support mental health habits and instigate change.

search of a diagnosis that’s unattainable.

One reason this might not yet be diagnosable is that the Western medicine. Humans are generally hardwired to organof control, security and order. This perpetuates the belief that mental health issues are limited to the diagnosable … a mis-

illness This awareness can help us make changes that boost prochanges increase enjoyment of our lives.

The following three issues are hidden from the mental health scope because they’re currently not diagnosable. This and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition).

One major problem this causes for companies and employAPRIL 2022

has changed in both the online space and our understanding of human behavior since then.

LCMHCS, LPCS, LCAS, CCS, “Research on behavioral addictions has found evidence for internet, gaming, and social media addictions. What we know is that these activities all trigger the release of dopamine, a powerful brain chemical that causes the ‘high’ most people feel when they take an addictive drug. Over time, repeated use can create ‘addiction pathto control, cut back, or stop their use.”

In other words, social media and addictive substances trigger our brains’ reward systems in the same way. dictive in nature. Recent research has proven that getting ‘likes’ ACCESSNEWS.NG

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break from a stressful workday. (In comparison, 40% of employees who work

ing work. It was the mental fog and exhaustion caused by drinking the night before that muddled my performance.

Looking back on those times in my life through a better-informed lens, this isn’t too surprising. Alcohol use disrupts our sleep patterns, causing feelings of anger, sadness, mental exhaustion and stress. Alcohol also increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

include losses fueled by undiagnosed alcohol users.

This particular mental health hurdle is a paradox. It’s hidden by incessant

burnout. A report from Mental Health America, “Mind the Workplace,” states that “Most employees are experiencing the early signs of burnout” with nearly 83 percent of respondents agreeing with the statement, “I feel emotionally drained from my work.”

Whether burnout is a result of work or rooted elsewhere, two facts remain.

First, you and your people are your greatest assets in business. Burnedout leadership and/or employees wields direct blows to both productivity and profit.

Second, it’s another undiagnosable mental health hurdle. Harvard Business Review asserts that the psychological and physical problems of burnedout employees cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in healthcare spending in the U.S. alone.

Diagnosability is a big part of the

vered as a tonic for soothing frustrations and celebrating life events. We joke about secretly sipping wine from

medical treatment for a problem that’s impossible to diagnose. Burnout shares many symptoms with depression but doesn’t check all the boxes required

with occasional use. In addition, excessive alcohol use can worsen or trigger other mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety.

it is a known problem. Addiction costs companies $442 billion a year in health care costs, lost productivity and absen-

of policies use social media during the workday.) it’s easy to get a general idea of lost these statistics. Consider an employee working 40 hours per week and earning $30 per hour. Twelve percent of their working hours equates to 4.8 unproductive hours per week. This one employee’s non-work related social media use costs you almost $7,500 per year in lost productivity hours (not to mention resultant revenue loss).

At least two of 11 criteria listed in of “alcohol use disorder.” One of these criteria is Drinking that often interferes with taking care of your home or family, or causes job troubles or school problems.

There were many points in my own 30-year alcohol use journey where only this one applied. Even though I was never lost a job or clients over it. I was present and never drank before or durACCESSNEWS.NG

out can stem from a variety of circumstances, including work environment, neurotype and the two previous issues listed above. Perhaps the most recog-

Zoom fatigue. Yet stigma continues, rooted in the false belief that there are only two camps: diagnosable “alcoholics” in one and “normal drinkers” in the other.

What’s seldom understood is that the line between these is wide and blurred.

Instead of jumping into the popular blamegame conversation, let’s get one thing clear. BurnAPRIL 2022

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and comments on social media causes the release of dopamine, which is further proof of its addictive pull.”

Many people’s social media behavry (compulsive or obsessive use). However, the word addiction is fraught with negative connotations. It can put people on the defensive, pushing them to justify or hide their actions.

The average employee spends 12% of their working hours using unproductive social media applications, as per the job search website Zippia. More than half of companies surveyed have a social media policy in place, yet 30% of their workers admit to using social

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for that diagnosis. You or your employees might bounce from one provider to another, scrambling for answers.

The downsides to this include maxedproductivity while at work and more missed work due to medical appointments and/or unresolved symptoms.

What if we could avoid these threats the behaviors before they spiral into debilitating illness? It is possible through communication, collaboration and compassion for self and others.

Develop a company culture that supports stress relief and overall mental wellness. You might provide workday breaks for group meditation or yoga sessions facilitated by local or online providers. Meetings or team-building events could include activities that support mental health (physical ac-

tivity, being outdoors, aromatherapy, nap breaks can instigate dramatic upshifts to work energy.

These counterintuitive activities are proven to enhance mental agility, focus, innovation and happiness — the cornerstones of productivity at work. agnoses are not requisites for change Resolving any mental health matter, diagnosable or not, requires a multifaceted approach.

The most important thing is to not use workplace wellbeing techniques as a bandaid to cover up deeper issues. Rather, focus on emotionally

intelligent leadership. When leaders and employees openly discuss mental health hurdles without judgment — and receive support to manage them thrive..

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TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS THAT IMPROVE VIRTUAL EVENTS

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ech is always evolving — even in a pandemic. It’s clear that the impact of this evolution is apparent everywhere. However, the events industry is one of the most obvious areas impacted by the ongoing change.

The gathering of people in large quantities for protracted times is something that was diametrically opposed to the concept of shelter-in-place orders, quarantines and social distancing imperatives. This has led to an explosion of technological Some of these take care of the basics, while others enhance that have made virtual events not just possible but palatable.

Before looking at specific tools, it’s important to understand started, the crisis turned the remote-work concept into a necessity. The ability to work from home was no longer a perk reserved for fancy benefits packages or highfalutin jobs. It was APRIL 2022

something businesses were employing to stay alive.

Now that the initial wave of “survival” remote work is behind us, it’s become clear that remote work isn’t going anywhere. It’s become an expected perk, and it’s one that workers aren’t letting go of any time soon. When the pandemic started, 98% of remote workers said they wanted to work from home at least some of the time. A year later, the sentiment was still strong, with more than half of workers declaring that they would rather quit than be forced back into an office.

This has left C-suite executives struggling to figure out the right way forward. Many companies are scooping up office space and decking it out to lure workers back into a dedicated professional setting.

However, at the same time, there is a sincere understanding that remote work will, at the least, play a part in most businesses’ futures. The virtual tools are already in place thanks to the pandemic, and they can help if there is another pandemic-like emergency.

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How Businesses are Adapting So, in the same way that businesses are investing in bigger, better office spaces, if they’re going to keep their remote workers “in the fold,” they need to allocate similar resources toward maintaining their virtual activities.

In the case of an office or onboarding software, many companies can utilize third-party activities. You choose your provider and they keep things cyber-secure and up-to-date with the latest cutting-edge tech.

In the case of a virtual event, though, the responsibility falls to organizations to make sure that they’re keeping their virtual event experiences (and the variety of tools that it requires) contemporary and effective.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some technological advancements that are helping businesses not just host virtual events, but improve the experience, as well.

In the early days of the pandemic, there was a fair amount of grace for companies as they figured out how to host an online event in a smooth, productive manner. Now, event attendees no longer give grace to an unorganized virtual event. Furthermore, if companies do not ensure structured, well-organized, or productive virtual events, their attendees won’t stick around.

Using Communication Tech to Increase Engagement The ability for attendees to listen to lectures and training sessions after the fact means many will jump ship as soon as they feel bored. They know they can come back later to listen to the recording (often at 1.5X speed to get it over with faster.)

That’s why it’s important for companies to use the right communication tools to keep their events organized and on track. This starts with a good digital calendar. This can have an impact on multiple levels.

For instance, the obvious one is smaller meetings. When your event includes a handful of people, you can use a digital calendar to inform every-

one of the time of the event. Many calendar apps also allow you to add live-stream links, notes and guest lists. These tools can also instantly generate notifications if any event details change.

Along with smaller gatherings, a calendar is critical to larger events. As you begin to plan an event, you can use a calendar app to orchestrate logistical meetings and make sure that your team is staying closely connected. You can also, of course, use that app to help attendees remember when the event takes place.

From Zoom to GoToMeeting to Microend to the number of web conferencing tools out there. This is nice when it comes to selecting a platform that works for your particular needs. However, it consistent, quality events over time.

Remember, each event doesn’t just include your virtual meeting platform.

It also integrates dozens and even hundreds of different headsets, microphones, operating systems and end-

1. Communication tech A disorganized in-person event will leave attendees feeling they didn’t get what they paid for. A disorganized virtual event will lose those attendees completely before the event has ended (and in many cases before it’s even started.)

This is why you want to use high-quality communication tech to keep everyone on the same page — and this isn’t just referring to paying for a Zoom account. You want additional tools to help your event run smoothly.

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With that said, many virtual office spaces aren’t necessarily set up to thrive. Instead, they have tailored themselves to a “survival” attitude — and with the rapid pace of technological evolution, they’ll fall behind if nothing changes.

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less other factors. Even the physical condition of each attendees’ space can impact things like light and audio quality.

That’s why you need to consider technological advancements that can work behind the scenes to smooth out and improve the overall quality of the live portion. This is the virtual event equivalent of mixing and mastering separate musical tracks to create a unified end product.

Livestorm, a video engagement platform, offers a case study of this tech in action with their use of the Dolby.io call recording API to create comprehensive recordings of on-demand streaming events. The tool records high-quality A/V elements, but it goes further by helping capture additional things, like onscreen shared files, for participants to access in a playback feature.

We live in a world where it’s no longer okay to just connect everyone connected in a virtual room at the same time. If you want to create a quality event for your attendees, you need this kind of tech to unify things into a single, comprehensive experience.

So far, we’ve touched on the organizational and quality elements of virtual events. These are critical starting points. This is because logistics and basic quality are critical to making your event stand out against the competition.

Now it’s time to consider how to make your virtual experience not just impeccable but unique. This should focus on making your event as interactive as possible. Fortunately, there are multiple ways that tech can make that possible.

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spice things up. A good example of this is Immersive View. One of the biggest hurdles of virtual events is making it feel like the event is all happening in one single place.

Earlier in 2021, Zoom offered a fun way to address that problem with its Immersive View tech. This brings all of the virtual participants of a virtual event into a single “virtual space.”

The result is fun and restores a sense of togetherness for an event.

If your event feels perfunctory and dry, you can also turn to tech to make things a bit more interesting.

For instance, SnapBar allows companies to set up virtual photo booths. This provides an interactive element that enables participants to bond and better remember the experience.

world There are many factors that go into hosting a good virtual event.

This starts with basic things like picking out a web seminar platform, but it can’t stop there.

Companies around the world are getting in on the virtual event experience. This is quickly upping the ante and setting a higher standard that attendees will naturally expect. As technology develops, it’s important that teams find the best new tools to help keep their events at the forefront of the virtual experience. There are many ways to do this, from obvious organization to comprehensive quality to engaging experiences.

The critical factor is that companies shift away from a “virtual events are helping us survive” mentality.

Instead, they should foster a thriving mindset throughout every virtual event that they host. Only then can they expect to keep up and both survive and thrive with the times. Q

TELL-TALE SIGNS IT’S TIME TO QUIT YOUR JOB

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ave you considered resigning from your current position?

You’ve been at your job for a few years, maybe even a few months, and the thought has been nagging at you. Perhaps you’ve daydreamed about what it would be like if you wrote and submitted your resignation right now.

Accepting a position is a significant commitment, but boarding the ship to leave appears to be even more so.

Only temporarily reduces tension ranting about vexing job issues. The prospect of leaving can elicit emotions such as rage, dread, and uncertainty. You may second-guess yourself, wondering if you’re being ungrateful or if there’s something you might do more of to feel better about yourself.

If this describes you (or someone you know), here are four indicators it’s time to quit your job for good.

There’s nothing quite like the first day of a new job. That youthful, often naive viewpoint in which you are eager to meet new people and accomplish whatever is required of you. You’re just glad to be there.

Time has now passed. The culture isn’t what the recruiter promised, your team isn’t very collaborative, and there’s get your pulse pumping again.

You stop contributing to the conversation because you don’t feel heard at meetings. You cease offering unique ideas and handling challenges creatively because you are uninterested in initiatives.

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I’m referring to the feeling you get when your co-workers irritate you or when your supervisor speaks to you and you You know it’s unjust of you to disregard them, but you can’t help but sigh or huff.

It’s going to be exceedingly difficult to recover from this.

It’s difficult to see yourself in this situation when you first start a new career, but here you are.

You can’t seem to remain on track no matter how hard you try. You can’t seem to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes, and procrastination is at an all-time high. You may even believe that each task you accomplish consumes an enormous quantity of your energy.

When I felt overworked, I knew it was time to quit, but my actual workload, on the other hand, hadn’t altered in over a year. After a while, I couldn’t seem to finish a task without reaching for my phone, skyping a coworker, or selecting a music to keep me motivated. Except for me, almost nothing had changed.

There is no such thing as an easy job. Each one has its own set of highs and lows, as well as difficulties. It’s perfectly acceptable to consider leaving your job, but if you’re thinking about it all the time, something needs to change.

If you’ve been considering quitting and are seeking for a sign to do so, this is it.

Do it to make your workplace a better place to work. Do it for your own mental well-being. Do it to rekindle your sense of adventure. Do it for yourself, at the end of the day. Q

TRAITS THAT MAKES PEOPLE SEE YOU AS A LEADER (REGARDLESS OF YOUR POSITION) To be a leader, you don’t have to be in management. Obviously, whether they understand it or not, your company’s CEO and your supervisor will be perceived as leaders. However, regardless of your position in the company, you might be considered a leader.

And knowing this and acting on it will benefit your organization — as well as your personal career.

What can you do to be perceived as a leader even if you’re not in management? The six attributes that the McLeods believe you should have if you want to be viewed as a leader are as follows:

1. You pay attention. ever, this is not always the case.

Elizabeth McLeod said, “I’ll let you in on a little hidden secret.” “You can get greater authority without saying anything if you focus on careful listening.”

Mindful listening entails more than just nodding and keeping your lips shut. It entails paying attention to what the other person is saying, observing their body language, and maintaining eye contact. Although it appears to be simple, it is a skill that only a few pros possess.

“Mindful listening helps you sort and frame information and when you do speak, they listen because they know you’ve taken in everything including — most importantly, their point of view,” McLeod said. “If you want to be seen as an authority figure, stop talking, take a break and just listen.”

2. You make the most of your meetings.

Meetings allow your coworkers to observe you in action.

Understanding this and making meetings count is crucial to being recognized as a leader.

There are two sides to this story. To begin, it entails getting the most out of the meetings you call. That means only scheduling a meeting when it’s absolutely essential, establishing a meeting agenda, keeping everyone on track throughout the meeting, and having clear action items that you followed up The second point is to participate in meetings that you didn’t call or lead. This entails reading the pre-readings ahead of time, paying attention during meetings, asking pertinent questions, providing any relevant experience, and following “Not all meetings need to be a snoozefest,” Lisa Earle

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you don’t have a drink.

In the past, I’d find myself making reasons for why I couldn’t attend gatherings, and I’d attempt to avoid any and all meetings I could.

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McLeod said. “As an informal leader, you have the opportunity to set the tone. If you’re prepared, focused and action-oriented, meeting with your colleagues can be hugely productive.”

find a mentor.

One trait all great leaders share is they focus on developing their own skills. And one of the best ways to do that is to get a mentor, Lisa Earle McLeod said.

The most obvious and easiest person to start with is your boss. But perhaps your boss isn’t someone you’d pick to be your mentor or you’d like another. Then it’s time to look for someone else to be your mentor.

This sounds daunting — how do you convince someone to be your mentor, particularly if they have a far higher position than you? Well, it isn’t really that hard — start by asking them a specific question.

Lisa Earle McLeod shared her own story of a time earlier in her career when she was impressed by a high-profile executive who was running one of the largest news and entertainment platforms in the world.

McLeod started by just sending the exec a specific question via email. The exec responded, and then McLeod responded back saying how she implemented the suggestions and asked her if she could periodically ask the exec questions in the future.

The exec agreed and McLeod continued to do so. It led to a lasting relationship, including in-person meetings — she became McLeod’s mentor.

Are you looking for a mentor? You can follow the same playbook.

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4. You look for root causes, not When things go wrong, it’s easy to either gloss over the problem or look for a quick-fix. But, if you want to be seen as a leader, you need to transcend that and look for root causes.

This starts with being confident enough to admit a failure, which most people avoid. Next, it means looking beyond how to fix that one situation and rethinking processes to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“Look for patterns or recurring challenges and rack your brain on how to solve them,” Lisa Earle McLeod said. “This will save you from falling into purely reactive behavior down the road.”

5. When things go wrong, you speak the truth, without casting blame. between speaking the truth and casting blame. Speaking the truth means

blame is done to avoid responsibility, which only takes energy away from solving the problem.

“I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes, and it has stood me well in tough times,” Lisa Earle McLeod said. “Edwin Friedman said, ‘In any situation, the person who can most accurately describe reality, without laying blame. will emerge as the leader, whether designated or not.’ During difficult times, you need to think like a leader.”

To get to the truth, you need to actively listen and drill into the numbers to see what went wrong where. By doing this, you can calmly explain where the failings were, and then determine what to fix.

6. You share your passion.

Last but not least, don’t be a robot.

Hopefully, you are in a job you are passionate about. Don’t be afraid to share that with your colleagues.

Or, rather than always just throwing out metrics, tell a story. If a new product feature increases sales, don’t just highlight the numbers. Tell the story of why that product feature is making your customer’s lives better, which is leading to increased sales.

To illustrate the point, McLeod gave the example of a person who works for ACCESSNEWS.NG

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lot of stress on their new family but because we got those parts there on time, they were able to get back in their house in just two weeks. And they were confident that home was safe for their children. Now there are thousands of families just like the Jones’ who are depending on us to get these materials out on time.”

Clearly, the second. Having a passion for your job and then sharing that with your colleagues goes a long way to being seen as a leader. Q

the person who can most accurately describe reality, without laying

10 Creative Decluttering Tips If you’re struggling and need guidance on how to declutter, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here are several interesting decluttering tips to get you started on decluttering your home: Start with 5 minutes at a time. If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowGive one item away each day. This would remove 365 items every single year from your home. If you increased this to 2 per day, you would have given away 730 items you no longer needed. Increase this number once it gets too easy. things you can donate at Goodwill.

Donate clothes you never wear. To identify them, simply hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, face the hanger in the correct direction. Discard the clothes you never touched after a few months.

Create a decluttering checklist. It’s a lot easier to declutter when you have a visual representation of where you need to get started. You can use our decluttering checklist.

12 to be returned to their proper home. looks like to a new visitor. Enter your home as if you’re visiting the home the home is and make changes.

Take before and after photos of a small area. Choose one part of your home, like your kitchen counter, and take a photo of a small area. Quickly clean home could look, it becomes easier to start decluttering more of your home.

Get help from a friend. Have a friend or family member go through your home and suggest a handful of big items to throw away or give to someone else. If you defend the item and want to keep it, your friend has to agree with your reason. If they don’t agree, it’s time to get rid of it.

Use the Four-Box Method. Get four boxes and label them: trash, give away, keep, or re-locate. Enter any room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a single item, no matter how insigwill help you see how many items you really own and you’ll know exactly what to do with each item.

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a plumbing distribution company and is looking to get their colleagues to hit their deadlines. Which pitch to their colleagues will work better?

“Our customers are depending on us to get these orders out on time.” Or, “I remember hearing about the Jones family in Washington. They had 6-weekold twins when their basement flooded and the wife, Karen, was really, really nervous about the mold and the moisture in their house. And they were living in her mom’s basement waiting for their house to be fixed. With both babies and all their

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CREDIT: PEXELS-ANDRES AYRTON

t’s easy to fall into a pattern in a relationship. And I’m not suggesting that routine is a bad thing. It’s incredibly nice to be with someone who makes you feel so safe that you can go through life without being bothered by the nonsense.

However, with love, you must exercise caution. It’s easy to mix up being comfortable with cause we’re afraid of what might happen if we go, but we don’t have the energy to start over.

It’s easy to fall into a pattern in a relationship. And I’m not suggesting that routine is a bad thing.

Finding a companion who shares your values is one of the most rewarding aspects of being in a relationship.

Even if it isn’t always thrilling, a long-term relationship should be meaningful, not something you continue with out of habit. What you may not realize is that you can be comfortable in a relationship

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dissatisfied in the future.

Our daily routines make us complacent and satisfied, and we don’t recognize it until it’s too late.

“What’s wrong with being comfortable?” you’re presumably thinking.

While I agree that there’s nothing wrong with being comfortable at times in your life (especially after a long day at work), I’d want to focus on what occurs in your relationship when you get comfy and stay comfortable.

Even if Shakespeare didn’t intend a deceitful Tinder photo when he wrote “love is blind,” the term is nonetheless all too pertinent today. We’ve all had that one friend who stays in toxic relationships, APRIL 2022

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and we wonder what she sees in them! Maybe the connection isn’t necessarily harmful, but just comfy. To be clear, there is a significant distinction between being comfortable and being happy. The truth is that when you’re in a relationship with someone you care about, you might get caught up in it. years, or even decades and have no idea how you got there.

Though the distinctions between “happy” and “comfortable” are subtle, they are significant.

Comfortable denotes complacency, whereas happy means butterflies.

You’re in a state of ecstasy while you’re joyful. And “euphoria” does not necessarily imply unattainable love happiness. It simply means that every time you see your SO, your stomach flips. Because you’re so delighted, there’s a spark and an exhilaration that never goes away.

But when you’re at ease, you just go with the flow. You don’t even think about it. Your partEven if been kicked out.

You’re not exactly upset, but you’re also not overjoyed. You’re just... there.

However, if you “just exist” for an extended period of time, you will get entirely smothered.

Being content is not caring; being happy involves being unable to imagine life without your significant other.

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other person when you’re truly happy. Even thinking about it tears your heart into a million pieces. Your life would fall You’re aware that you’re physically powerful and theoretically capable of surviving on your own. The idea of someone else touching you, on the other hand, is positively revolting.

You’re not sure about a lot of things, but you’re certain about this. And it’s a great – yet terrifying – sensation.

But when you’re at ease, you just go with the flow.

Being at ease suggests you don’t want to put out any

it isn’t always thrilling, a long-term relationship should be meaningful, not something you continue with out of habit.

go for someone new when you’re happy with your current situation? When you screen option in front of you, why swipe right? (Perhaps your soulmate is on Tinder, but this seems improbable.)

For the time being, I doubt it.)

Your motivation for staying in this relationship is not because of your all-consuming, burning, can’t-live-without-itlove. You just don’t want to have to try.

Being happy means feeling safe; being comfortable means feeling ambivalent.

When you’re really happy, APRIL 2022

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ARE YOU HAPPY OR JUST COMFORTABLE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP

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your partner not because you want to, but because you need to check that he or she isn’t trying to cheat on you.

You aren’t reaching out because you’re dying for your SO’s touch; you’re touching base to keep up the lie of your commitment.

Being happy means being willing to grow; being comfortable means an unwillingness to change.

Being happy means you want to be your best self. You want to grow with -- and for -- your partner. You want to be everything he or she deserves.

Happiness means pushing the boundaries and expanding your limits. It means wanting to increase your and your partner’s joy by any means possible. When you’re happy, you see more possibilities.

Being comfortable means being in a relationship that isn’t demanding. It means being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t push you to be anything other than yourself.

The relationship doesn’t expand your horizons; it reinforces your old ones. You’re in it because it feels okay -- not because it feels challenging.

Being happy means living; being comfortable means watching life happen around you.

If you’re truly happy, you’re grabbing life by the balls. You’re living to the fullest, because every single day feels like an adventure. You embrace the thrill because you’re in love, and when you’re in love

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you feel safe. There is nowhere you’d rather be than in the arms of the one you love. Your lover’s scent is completely intoxicating.

You can’t get enough of your partner’s skin. It is overwhelming and beautiful to feel this way. It’s like being wrapped in a warm blanket while all your worries melt away.

When you’re comfortable, that feeling of safety is similar to that of boredom. The feeling isn’t draining, and it isn’t toxic; it’s vanilla, bland and homogenous.

The comfort isn’t inviting and loving; it’s insipid.

Being happy means having in-person conversations; being comfortable means trading thoughtless texts.

I know I find happiness in hours of conversation (the snorting laughter kind, but also the heart-to-hearts).

Happiness, to me, means being able to be yourself.

You’re goofy, ridiculous and absurd with your partner, because you’re with your best friend.

You never run out of things to talk about. Even when you’re just lying together reading, writing or relaxing, you’re still satisfied.

Being comfortable, on the other hand, means giving just enough of your time to keep things steady. You call

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Sex in a happy relationship is truly incredible. The orgasms are more intense and even more fulfilling than they are in a loveless relationship. Sex becomes about so much more than two people physically connecting; it brings two souls as close together as they can possibly be.

It’s not just sex; it’s truly “making love” -- and with the only person you want to make love with.

On the other hand, when you’re just comfortable, you’re having sex

nothing more than physical satisfaction.

It isn’t passionate, intense or surreal. It’s nice to have someone to bang regularly, but it isn’t some earth-shattering experience. It’s just something to satisfy you. Q

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BEING HAPPY IS SCARY, AND BEING COMFORTABLE IS EASY

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eing happy means giving someone your entire heart. You’re hopelessly wrapped around your SO’s finger -- whether you like it or not. This is so exciting and exhilarating, but it is f*cking scary. It is f*cking terrifying to be so vulnerable around another human being.

It feels so overwhelming to feel this happy. You can’t help but wonder what you did to deserve this. You’re hyper-conscious of how it would feel to lose everything.

You know how miserable you would be, and you don’t know if life could ever be this good again.

Yes, being comfortable may not be nerve-racking. But living without happiness means settling. It means not allowing yourself to experience the most beautiful levels of human existence.

Being happy may be risky, but it’s better than never risking anything -- and therefore never truly living.

Ways to know you’re in a happy relationship 1. Trust Of course this is an obvious factor of any good relationship, and is one of the py relationship, you should never worry about your partner’s intentions, feelings, or actions when they’re not with you. Neither person in the relationship should have negative feelings about what the other does on their own (and that includes dictating who they’re allowed to see and when they’re allowed to see them). In a happy relationship, you just know, without any verbal confirmation or discussion, that your partner will always have your back, always keep your secrets, and always believe you (and that goes vice versa).

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anything seems possible.

Your world is a ravishing spool of Technicolor. You feel like you can do anything.

When you’re comfortable, you’re just letting the world pass by. You aren’t truly living, because you’re living inside of a vacuous bubble.

You aren’t invested in your partner’s happiness or succeed; you’re just glad to have someone around.

Being happy is like making love; being

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2. Understanding one another’s love language A difference in love languages does not mean incompatibility, but understanding how to show your partner love as they feel it can make all the difference. You might show your love for your partner through cleaning up the house or making dinner, but if their love language is Words of Affirmation, they may go through the entire relationship feeling like they’re not valued.

Likewise, if spending alone time together is important to you, and your partner never seems to make time for dates anymore, you’re most likely feeling unhappy and unappreciated. In the happiest relationships, both partners not only show their appreciation for the other, but know to show appreciation in the way that makes their partner feel the most loved and valued.

3. The ability to argue, and argue well I’m sure you’ve heard before from every relationship psychologist that it’s a good thing to argue. It’s just humanly impossible to be around someone 24/7 and never argue or them (I mean, haven’t you had sibing that is too often or too heated, it’s typically unhealthy. Ideally, you derstand your loved one’s perspective, even if you don’t see eye-to-eye. I do not agree that “love means never having to say you’re sorry” (one of the few romance movie quotes that has ever let me down), but rather, love means caryou care about being right, and saying sorry when you’re wrong (sorry, Ali MacGraw). Relationships that have true intimacy are able to communicate all emotions, good or bad APRIL 2022

4. Communication Trust me, I’m the first to recommend that everyone has that tightknit, Sex and the City-level group of bffs to tell absolutely everything to, or maybe that one lifelong bestie to share all of your deepest darkest secrets (#bff necklaces included). Regardless of how happy a relationship is, everyone needs strong friendships outside of their partner. However, if you get exciting news at work and post it in your bff group chat but don’t care enough to tell your partner, if you tell your work friends every detail of your relationship issues but have trouble communicating your concerns with your sig oth, or if you feel like your partner just won’t “get it” so you don’t talk to them about certain things, it might be time to reevaluate what a happy relationship should be like. A happy relationship is like having a built-in best friend who you can talk to about everything and makes you feel excited to share big news. The girl talk can wait until brunch.

5. No judgment No matter what you’ve done or what you like, your partner should completely accept you for who you are. If you find yourself pretending that you didn’t love the fantasy movie he hated, but secretly you google when the sequel’s coming out, or if you pretend that you don’t know what she’s talking about when night in college for fear he’ll be mad or question your past decisions, it might not be as happy of a relationship as it should be. No matter how weird your interests may be or how questionable you think your past is, a good partner accepts everything that is you and brings out the best in you. To quote the ultimate relationship expert, Carrie Bradshaw,

Relationship experts say that the key to a long and happy relationship is to always be grateful for your partner, and to show that gratitude “if you can find someone to love the you that you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”

6. Eager to talk about your partner If you’re in a relationship, it’s just guaranteed that you’re going to get asked about your significant other all the time. Your mom, your best friend, your boss, everybody will constantly ask, “How’s so-and-so?” or “How’s the relationship going?” In a happy relationship, when you’re asked about that special someone, you will be so excited to brag about their latest promotion at work, or even just smile and blush at the mention of their name. You might even have to refrain yourself from going into the gush-so-hard-it’s-obnoxious phase.

In an unhappy relationship, you’d answer saying, “they’re fine,” “it’s going okay,” or trying to change the subject because you’re either disinterested or know that even your half-hearted “it’s fine” isn’t completely truthful.

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7. Gratitude Relationship experts say that the key to a long and happy relationship is to always be grateful for your partner, and to show that gratitude. Ideally, this should happen without trying, and every kind thing your partner does for you, big or small, or every little moment they do something to remind you why you fell in love, should make you feel grateful to have them.

But, as days turn into years, and the relationship turns into routine, it’s not always as easy as it once was to feel so much gratitude when adulting stressors get in the way, like chores, for a happy relationship. Each day, think of three things that make you grateful for your partner to keep the gratitude pertinent (and if you can’t think of three things, or anything at

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8. Excitement there should be a certain spark between you and your partner that never dies down. There doesn’t always have to be the kind of passion or unrealistic romance you see in the movies (even Ally and Noah can’t always have passionate kissing scenes in the rain!). But there should always be an excitement to get to spend you, should have the power to make you feel like you’re really living, and, to end on one of the most important love lessons of all time, “There are too many mediocre things in life to deal with. Love should not be one of them.” Q

APRIL 2022

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PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD COVID MORE LIKELY TO GET DIABETES

CREDIT: BIOTECHTIMES.ORG

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gone on to develop diabetes. But diabetes is relatively common, and COVID is too, so that doesn’t necessarily mean one leads to the other.

The question is whether people who have had COVID are more likely to develop diabetes than those who haven’t. And if so, is it COVID that’s causing diabetes, or is there something else that links the two?

NPR reports a new study suggests that those who experienced even a mild coronavirus infection face a heightened risk of contracting diabetes within one year of recovering from it.

Recent studies suggest there is an association between having COVID and going on to be diagnosed with diabetes. US data, based on records of more than 500,000 people aged under 18 who had COVID, found these young people were more likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis following their infection, compared APRIL 2022

to those who didn’t have COVID and those who’d had other respiratory infections prior to the pandemic. The study didn’t specify which types of diabetes people developed.

Another US study in an older age group found the same patterns in their analysis of over four million patients. In this case, most of the diabetes cases were type 2 A German study based on medical records of more than eight million patients again found people who had COVID were more likely to subsequently be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin.

Insulin controls the amount of sugar in our blood, so if we don’t produce enough of it, or it’s not working properly, our blood sugar goes up.

The most common type of diabetes by far is type 2 diabetes. It often comes on in adulthood and is charACCESSNEWS.NG

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There are many plausible theories about how COVID might cause diabetes, but none have been proven. One by the virus could bring about insulin resistance, which is a feature of type 2 diabetes.

Another possibility relates to ACE2, a protein found on the surface of cells, have shown that the coronavirus can enter and infect insulin-producing cells via ACE2, which might cause the cells to die or change how they work. This could mean people are not able to produce enough insulin, leading to diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells, but we don’t know why. One theory is that the immune system is triggered by something else – say, a virus – and then accidentally also attacks insulin-producing cells. It could be that COVID is causing some people’s immune systems to do just this.

Just because it appears people who have had COVID are more likely to develop diabetes, and there are plausible theories to explain this, it still doesn’t necessarily mean COVID causes diabetes.

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It could be that COVID is causing temporary rises in blood sugar, that then resolve over time. A US study of 594 people newly diagnosed with diabetes while hospitalised with COVID found that blood sugar levels often returned to normal after discharge from hospital, without treatment.

We also know that dexamethasone – a steroid used to treat people with severe COVID – causes temporary rises in blood sugar. Some scientists have questioned whether COVID is causing a new type of diabetes altogether, or whether as having diabetes after COVID. Further, a lot of diabetes tends to go undetected, especially type 2. It could be that people who are diagnosed with diabetes after having COVID actually had diabetes before getting COVID, but that the diabetes wasn’t picked up until they were being treated for COVID. Rising levels of diabetes could also tions, or changed behaviour as a result of infection or fear of infection, including delayed medical care and changes in diet and physical activity levels.

The four Ts Type 2 diabetes tends to develop slowly over time, and even type 1 diabetes can take months to years to show up. So it’s likely to be some time before anyone can say decrease in diabetes.

Regardless, it’s really important that people be aware of the signs and symptoms of this condition. Diabetes UK tells us to look out for the four Ts: toilet (going to the toilet a lot or wetting the bed), being thirsty, tired, and thinner.

These are typical symptoms of type 1 diabetes. For type 2, a lot of people don’t get symptoms, or don’t notice them. However, the four Ts still apply, with blurred vision and general itching or thrush also listed as symptoms.

If you suspect you or a family member may have diabetes, don’t delay seeking medical attention. A quick finger prick test by a healthcare provider can determine immediately if your blood sugar is high, and whether further investigations might be needed. Q

A lot of diabetes tends to go undetected, especially type 2. It could be that people who are diagnosed with diabetes after having COVID actually had diabetes before getting COVID, but that the diabetes wasn’t picked up until they were being treated for COVID APRIL 2022

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acterised by insulin resistance. In other words, people with type 2 diabetes are still producing insulin, but the insulin isn’t working properly. Treatments vary and include medication, changes to diet, and increased physical activity.

The next most common is type 1.

Type 1 diabetes often, but not always, comes on in childhood or adolescence. I was diagnosed at the age of ten. In type 1 diabetes, the body stops producing insulin altogether. People with type 1 diabetes need to take injections or infusions of insulin for the rest of their lives.

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PREVENTING MISCARRIAGES: WHAT EVERY EXPECTANT HEALTH - PREGNANCY

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MOTHER SHOULD BE AWARE OF

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miscarriage is when a pregnancy ends abruptly in the early weeks or months. Miscarriages are not uncommon, and they typically suggest that something went wrong in the carrying of the pregnancy or that the fetus isn’t developing normally. While factors that mostly lead to miscarriage are unavoidable, one can take steps to have a healthier pregnancy. Losing a baby is a traumatic experience; understanding the signs, causes, and risk factors of miscarriage is essential for a pregnant woman as it may lower the risk of a premature end to the pregnancy.

Some common signs and symptoms of a miscarriage include; Sudden spotting that lasts longer than three days Heavy bleeding that includes clots Severe cramps in the back and abdomen region Unexpected weight loss Vaginal discharge that in-

creased risk of miscarriage. Medical conditions such as certain uterine anomalies or other chronic conditions like uncontrolled diabetes and thyroid (either Hyperthyroidism or Hypothyroidism) have a higher risk of miscarriage. Moreover, women with a history of miscarriages are also at high risk.

are caused by chromosomal abnormalities. These abnormalities can either be hereditary or spontaneous. Miscarriages can also be caused by other factors such as:

Infections within the uterus or cervix can cause miscarriage. Chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood

Lack of signs of pregnancy, including breast tenderness, nausea, and vomiting If you experience any signs of miscarriage, it is recommended to seek emergency treatment the cause of the symptoms.

While women of any age can women over 40. The increase in age leads to the increased incidence of chromosomal abnormalities, which further causes miscarriages. Women who are heavy smokers, and drinkers are at a greater risk of miscarriage than their counterparts.

It is also important to be physor overweight can lead to an inAPRIL 2022

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Exposure to high levels of radiation, chemicals, and toxins can be dangerous for a pregnant woman.

Lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking, and drugs can harm the development of a fetus.

They should also avoid long exposure to electronic devices like laptops and mobile phones. Electromagproduce biological stress and free radicals. Long term exposure to eleclevels of oxidative stress. This makes the pregnant woman susceptible to tissue and cell damage and thus increases the risk of miscarriages.

How Can You Prevent In most cases, nothing can be done to prevent a miscarriage, however, taking good care of the baby and yourself can improve your chances of a healthy pregnancy and possibly reduce your risk for miscarriage.

Avoiding alcohol, cigarette smoking, and drug use can help you eliminate risk factors that can lead to miscarriage. It is crucial to reduce your caffeine intake during pregnancy.

Some other ways to improve your pregnancy health include exercising regularly, resting and eating a nutritious diet.

Women with medical issues such as diabetes, blood pressure, and autoimmune diseases should consult a doctor and get proper treatment to prevent any risks during pregnancy.

Being overweight or underweight, can cause problems during pregnancy and even lead to miscarriages.

Therefore, a woman must take care of her body by exercising and eating right to stay fit.

Washing your hands frequently and making sure you are vaccinated can help you avoid infections such as flu and pneumonia. The first step after finding out you are pregnant is to consult a professional about the ing pregnancy.

Disturbed and untimely sleeping patterns can cause pituitary hormonal disturbances and increase the risk of complications during pregnancy. Pregnant women need to ensure they get enough sleep. Q

PARKINSON’S DISEASE: SYMPTOMS, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

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arkinson’s disease is the most common movement males: the neurons, due to a drop in dopamine levels in a particular area of the brain, undergo slow but progressive neurodegeneration Alzheimer’s. around the age of 40 – are on the increase.

What is Parkinson’s disease Parkinson’s disease is a common neurological condition whose incidence increases with age and is the most common of the ‘movement disorders’.

Parkinson’s occurs when the production of dopamine in the brain drops considerably due to the degeneration of neuACCESSNEWS.NG

rons in an area called ‘black matter’.

Accumulations of alpha-synuclein, a protein thought to be potentially responsible for spreading the disease throughout the brain, then begin to appear from the marrow to the brain.

One of the characteristics of the disease is the slow and gradual onset of symptoms, which means that they are not noticed by the patient and family for a long time.

Symptoms occur when the black substance has lost about 60% of dopaminergic neurons and the residual dopamine is 80% of normal.

Parkinson’s disease: what are the symptoms?

Symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease include: tremor at rest rigidity; bradykinesia (slowness of automatic movements); APRIL 2022

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pressure can also put a pregnant woman at high risk of miscarriages if they are not appropriately treated.

Thyroid diseases, uterine abnormalities, congenital heart disease, and severe kidney diseases are just some other conditions that can cause miscarriage.

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postural instability (loss of balance, which can manifest itself in awkward gait and hunched posture); depression; slowness of speech.

What are the causes of Parkinson’s disease?

The causes of Parkinson’s disease are not completely known.

What is certain, however, is that it is a disease of multifactorial origin, in which environmental and genetic components interact.

Possible causes include mutations in specific genes (in about 20% of cases, Parkinson’s disease occurs in patients with a positive family history of the disease), brain lesions, infections, exposure to toxic substances such as hydrocarbon solvents and pesticides, and heavy metals (iron, zinc, copper).

Can Parkinson’s disease be To date, unfortunately, there are no substances or drugs that can prevent Parkinson’s disease.

However, leading an active life and eating a diet that is beneficial to the nervous system can help prevent the development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s.

The diet should include vegetables, especially green leafy ones, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, especially walnuts

which have the best ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, fish, white meat, eggs and extra virgin olive oil – all foods with a possible Many of these foods, particularly vegetables, fruit and whole grains, contain polyphenols, powerful activators of human genes, involved in the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes, modulation of anti-inflammatory pathways and switching on anti-ageing genes, as well as being key factors in maintaining a healthy gut microbiota, as the close gut-brain relationship is now known.

Parkinson’s disease: what tests to do for diagnosis The clinical diagnosis is made by assessing various aspects and by specific tests. Important are therefore the patient’s clinical and family history evaluation of neurological symptoms and signs, With regard to instrumental examinations, the specialist may require: High-field nuclear magnetic resonance; SPECT DATscan; brain PET scan; myocardial scintigraphy Neurophysiological tests of the autonomic nervous system.

How is Parkinson’s disease treated?

To date, there is no cure for this disease, but drug treatment, surgery and multidisciplinary management can provide relief from symptoms.

The main drugs include levodopa (usually in combination with a dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor and a COMT inhibitor), dopamine agonists and MAO-B (monoamine oxidase inhibitor) inhibitors. Q

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DIETARY SUPPLEMENT IN FRUITS, VEGETABLES MAY FIGHT RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES STUDY

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espiratory virus infections are responsible for a substantial number of deaths worldwide every year, with the most well-known of them being

A dietary supplement found in pumpkins, peas and an assortment of other fruits and vegetables es, a new study has discovered.

Entitled “Inhibition of Respiratory RNA Viruses by a Composition of Ionophoric Polyphenols with Metal Ions” and published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Pharmaceuticals, the study noids - polyphenolic compounds found in many fruits and vegetables - could have on combatting respiratory viruses, including The study was led by Prof. and Prof. Daniel Segal from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University’s Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, together with PhD stuZaguri and other researchers.

Respiratory virus infections are responsible for a substantial number of deaths worldwide every ACCESSNEWS.NG

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The researchers then combined several non-toxic die-

through the cell membrane. tively inhibited the replication of the virus in several cell types, notably in human lung cells. More than that, the supthan if a person had taken each component individually, demonstrating that each supplement worked to strengthen the other ones included in the combination. rus that targets the human respiratory system in a similar way medications. However because these viruses change rapidly, frequent updates must be made to the available vaccines in Therefore, alternative treatments that can work alongside these vaccinations and anti-viral medications are still in high demand, with constant research being undertaken in order to One such treatment option can be found in the form of medicinal plants and herbal formulations, and it was this option that the research team set out to study and explore. The scien-

on various viruses.

The active composition developed by the scientists started ciency of the element can lead to severe respiratory infection.

In addition to this, it has been proven that among other ase of coronavirus, viral polyprotein cleavage in Rhinovirus, Encephalomyocarditis virus, and foot and mouth disease virus, and it reduces the viral titer and plaque count of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). noids, a group of bioactive chemicals found in nature and commonly included in the human diet, would work in treating res-

most importantly, antiviral properties.

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to have had in the initial phases of experimentation, the study concludes that “Such an inexpensive combination of dietary supplements would be highly advantageous to have, alongRNA respiratory viruses.

“Advanced lab tests, including PCR, have shown that the new vaccines we developed did in fact reduce the viral load.

We found a 50%-95% decrease in the genomic replication of virus, and others,” Segal explained about the study results.

“These results are very promising, possibly enabling the development of an orally administered biological shelf treatment. eral types of viruses, including new mutations and variants – clearly an important step forward.”

However, the study’s author’s stress that is it important to note that all experiments so far have been conducted in vitro in a lab setting and have yet to be introduced in any form of a clinical trial. However, they hope that a clinical trial will be launched in the near future, leading to safe and accessible treatment against multiple viruses.

“We are all taught from a young age that good medicine includes preventive medicine. The product which we hope to offer will cover a wide range of winter illnesses, including COV-

he said in conclusion. “We believe that the product can serve ing anti-viral vaccines and medications.” Q APRIL 2022

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quercetin, taxifolin (dihydroquercetin), and naringenin,

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transported and show documentation from DHS” in order to board a bus or flight, according to a news release from the Abbott, who is up for reelection this year, has been a vocal critic of President Joe Biden’s White House, pinning an increase in migrants on its immigration policies, though there were by the governor is part of a string of initiatives in the last year to limit undocumented migrants entering the US from Mexico and to police the border.

exas will send busloads of undocumented immigrants to the steps of the US Capitol, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday, in response to the Biden admin-

Trump-era pandemic restrictions at the US border Trump-era pandemic restrictions at the US border When Title 42 ends, the federal government is planning for up to 18,000 illegal immigrants crossing the border each day, as a worst-case scenario, Abbott noted.

“That’s more than a half a million illegal immigrants every

blocked migrants from entering the US. Former President Donald Trump implemented the order, known as Title 42, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

His administration said the order was to help prevent the spread of the virus across the US’ borders with Mexico and Canada, but public health officials, at the time, suspected political motivations.

The Biden administration announced last week the order would end on May 23. whelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being

the globe,” the governor said. “That’s far beyond what Homeland Security Secretary Johnson said was a crisis. It is unprecedented and dangerous.”

The head of US Border Patrol told CNN last month that he’s getting ready for as many as 8,000 people to be apprehended daily this spring. Deteriorating conditions in Latin America, worsened by the pandemic, are among the reasons for the migrations.

Also on Wednesday, Abbott signed what he called a “zero-tolerance policy” for unsafe vehicles used to smuggle migrants across the border and said that it will be implemented immediately. The governor claims the policy is a byproduct of cartel crossings at the border and noted there may be more stopping

buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped said during a news conference Wednesday along the US-Mexico border in Weslaco, Texas.

The state has assembled a pool of up to 900 buses for the operation, according to Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, who joined the governor Wednesday.

A migrant who has been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security “must volunteer to be

CREDIT: CGTN

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Texas to send busloads of undocumented immigrants to the US Capitol

APRIL 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-migrant plan: Many arrested, many detained, few prosecuted In March 2021, Abbott launched “Operation Lone Star,” citing a crisis at the US southern border. The operation leaned on resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard to police the border. The operation at one point swelled to more than 10,000 service members.

As Abbott has deployed thousands of personnel to the US-Mexico border, the operation has been slammed as overtly political and a waste of resources by Democratic lawmakers and even some of the National Guard members participating in the mission.

Other Abbott initiatives have included plans to build a border wall.

The busing and unsafe vehicle policies will be added to Operation Lone Star, and Abbott said more directives will be announced soon. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

CREDIT: BBC.UK

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BIDEN SETS RULE BANNING SALE OF UNTRACEABLE DIY ‘GHOST GUN’ KITS

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of new regulations targeting untraceable “ghost guns”.

The new rules come as Mr Biden faces increasing political pressure to act against a rise in gun violence.

The rule bans businesses from selling kits that can be used to create a gun at home without serial numbers.

In remarks at the White House on Monday, Mr Biden also nominated a new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The new regulations - which are nearly a year in the making - are expected to face stiff legal resistance from lobbying groups that oppose new gun control regulations.

At the White House, Mr Biden showed the components of a 9mm semi-automatic pistol that he said had been made using a simple kit purchased online.

Ghost guns can be self-assembled and sometimes 3D printed, which means they do not contain a serial number and cannot be traced. Background checks have not previously been required to purchase the assembly kits.

The new rules require self-assembled “buy build shoot” kits to have serial numbers - legally making them a firearm. couch,” said Mr Biden said in his news conference.

“You buy the parts you need to build a functioning firearm, it’s still a gun.” numbers to any untraceable guns purchased through them.

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because of Republican opposition.

If confirmed, former US attorney for Ohio Steve Dettlebach will be the first to hold the office since 2013.

Gun control is an issue Democrats in Washington always talk about but seldom are able to do much about.

Part of this is the reality of congressional gridlock, which allows Republicans in the US Senate to block any substantive legislation on the topic. There is also a fear among Democrats that guns are an electoral liability. They worry that firearm-rights activists are more likely to punish them for new legislation than gun-control proponents are to reward them.

And so Democratic-backed changes, at least on the national level, are made on the margins. Such is the case with the administration move to regulate ghost guns, which at the moment play a relatively small part in the rise of US gun violence.

It is an area, however, where the Biden administration can act on its own, without congressional support. The president can tout an accomplishment that may placate supporters concerned that gun control has languished on the back-burner during the first half of his presidency.

Even here, however, the new rules will face almost certain legal challenge. And with the current conservative bent of the US Supreme Court, their fate may ultimately be in doubt. Q APRIL 2022

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Experts say that a fraction of violent crimes are being committed with ghost guns, but law enforcement authorities say they are being recovered more frequently at crime scenes.

In 2021, there were about 20,000 suspected ghost guns recovered by police and reported to the ATF - a tenfold increase from 2016, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the firearms business has seen record sales since the early days of the pandemic two years ago. In 2020, a record of about 22m guns were legally sold. Almost 19m guns were bought in 2021.

Also on Monday, Mr Biden an-

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UKRAINE WAR IN MAPS: TRACKING THE RUSSIAN INVASION

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ussia is now focusing on taking territory in the eastern regions of Ukraine, having fully withdrawn troops from north of the country.

Here are the latest developments on day 46 of the invasion: Ukraine and Russia are building up their military forces in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk The US and Britain say they are looking into reports that Russian forces have used chemical weapons in Mariupol Russian forces continue to capture ground in Mariupol, but pockets of Ukrainian resistance remain Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, but its forces have now fully withdrawn from around the capital Kyiv and northern Ukraine to Belarus and Russia.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine is expected to intensify in the coming weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there, according the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Russian units in Belarus are being redeployed to support those operations, the MoD says.

Russia targets full control in the east Russian officials have said that the focus of their forc-

es is now the “complete liberation” of the Donbas, which broadly refers to Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the invasion.

Western officials say they expect Russia to double or even possibly triple its troops numbers in the Donbas. Reports and satellite images suggest a build-up of Russian forces is underway on Ukraine’s border, in Russia’s Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions.

Reinforcements are also building up in the Kharkiv region to support the Russian push south. They are hoping to advance down from Izyum towards Slovyansk and encircle Ukrainian forces, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russian progress slows in the south Russian forces initially made rapid gains in the south, with their main objective being the creation of a land corridor between Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and areas held by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Standing in the way of that objective has been the port city of Mariupol, which has been encircled by Russian forces since the start of March.

Russian forces have been slowly pushing into the centre of the city, meeting fierce resistance from the Ukrainians. Pockets of Ukrainian fighters remain but Russian troops have now reached the port and divided the Ukrainian forces there into two areas.

Analysts say it is unclear how much longer the Ukrainians can hold on.

The US and Britain say they are looking into reports that chemical weapons have been used by Russian forces against Ukrainian militia guarding the city’s Azovstal steelworks.

To the west, Russia had been attempting to push towards Odesa, with the aim of cutting off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea. Their advances stalled at Mykolaiv, where a counter-attack by Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces back towards the city of Kherson.

The ISW believes that after successfully resisting Russian counter-attacks in the region, Ukrainian troops may attempt larger-push in the direction of Kherson city in the coming weeks.

in north Over the past week, after failing to reach or fully encircle the capital city of Kyiv, Russian forces have withdrawn from northern Ukraine.

Their retreat has allowed a clearer picture APRIL 2022

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HOW INDIA AND US AGREED TO DIFFER ON UKRAINE WAR

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ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting came on the back of their differing stands on Ukraine.

Days before their meeting, Mr Biden had called India’s stand “somewhat shaky” and one US official had warned that India had been informed that the consequences of a “more explicit strategic alignment” with Moscow would be “significant and long-term”.

But India stood firm in its stand despite what appeared to be growing pressure from the US. Delhi continued to promote dialogue to end the war. It didn’t criticise Russia directly but chose some strong words about the need to respect the sovereignty of each nation.

In that backdrop, the leaders’ summit - which was not planned and was requested by the White House - is significant for geopolitical developments.

It was followed by the planned annual 2+2 Dialogue between Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and their US counterparts Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin in Washington.

It’s evident from the statements that both sides have shown willingness to understand each other’s positions on Ukraine.

Pratyush Rao, director for South Asia at Control Risks consultancy, said the visit came at a sensitive time for the relationship.

Meanwhile, Russian troops continue to launch air and artillery attacks on Kharkiv and other cities. The Ukrainian governor of Donetsk said told the BBC there were battles all day, every day along the demarcation line between the two sides. Ukraine is also reported to be deploying reinforcements, but not on the same scale as the Russians.

The governor of Luhansk has called on all civilians to evacuate to safer regions in the centre or west of Ukraine.

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highest levels by both sides to the bilateral relationship, amidst all the media speculation about deepening strains over Russia and will unlikely bridge the gap, but won’t allow it to derail wider co-operation in the Indo-Pacific either,” he added.

While PM Modi and his ministers reaffirmed their stated policy of non-alignment on Ukraine, Mr Biden and his ministers appeared more understanding of Delhi’s position - a marked shift from some earlier strong statements of Washington officials.

Mr Blinken said India “has to make its own decisions about how it approaches this challenge”. He also noted that India had issued strong statements at the UN and it had called for an independent investigation into the killings of civilians in Ukraine’s Bucha.

In a candid remark, he said “India’s relationship with Russia has developed over decades at a time when the United States was not able to be a partner to India”.

He added that “times have changed” and the US was willing to be a partner of choice with India across virtually every realm - commerce, technology, education, and security.

Former Indian diplomat Anil Triguniyat said this statement showed that the US has understood India’s position in a broader geopolitical context.

“Both sides have too much to lose if the bilateral relations are strained. Their relationship is rich and the meetings just reaffirmed that,” he added.

Beyond Ukraine, the two sides also reaffirmed their commitment in continuing co-operation in the Indo-Pacific, and also in the trade, defence and security sectors.

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to emerge of the huge amount of damage and destruction to lives and property in towns and villages seized during their push towards the capital, with allegations of war crimes having been committed by Russian troops. Q

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The US said it saw India as “a net provider of security in the region”.

“China is seeking to refashion the region and the international system more broadly in ways that serve its interests,” Mr Blinken said.

Both the US and India agree on playing a bigger role in the region to counterbalance China’s growing influence.

India has a long disputed boundary with China. Their troops were involved in deadly clashes in the Galwan valley in 2020 that resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers.

China said later it lost four troops in the clash.

Mr Jaishankar acknowledged that the Quad - which includes India, the US, Japan and Australia - had emerged as “a powerful force for global good” and its “elevation benefits the entire Indo-Pacific”.

Mr Rao said India reposing its faith in the Quad was significant.

Russia, India’s time-tested ally, has criticised the Quad and called it a forum to target China. Both Moscow and Beijing have become closer and often jointly taken stands against the West.

In that context, Mr Rao said that the Indian foreign minister’s public and unequivocal endorsement of the Quad was important and will likely resonate among his audience in Washington.

Defence ties Washington also acknowledged that Russia is India’s biggest defence supplier - accounting for more than 50% of its imports.

In contrast, the US was India’s second-largest supplier between 2011 and 2015 after Russia, but fell behind France and Israel in the period between 2016 and 2021.

Former Indian diplomat Jitendra Nath Misra said India continued to import from Russia because it got good value for money, and, crucially, transfers of technology in some areas.

“The US needs to give commitments on technology transfers to be able to get a bigger share of India’s defence imports,” he said.

Crimea Defence Minister Singh talked about PM Modi’s “Make in India” campaign and invited US defence companies to set up shop in India.

But there hasn’t been any big-ticket announcement on this. However, a significant measure was announced about the two countries jointly developing air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles.

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“More such measures are needed to address India’s defence needs and help reduce its dependence on Moscow,” Mr Misra added.

But the crucial issue of India’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system remains unsolved.

The purchase has come under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Caatsa), which was introduced in 2017 to target Russia, Iran and North Korea with economic and political sanctions. It also prohibits any country from signing defence deals with these nations.

Mr Blinken said the “US had not made a determination regarding potential sanctions or potential waivers under the CAATSA law”.

There was also a veiled suggestion to India when Mr Blinken said the US was asking countries to avoid major new transactions for Russian weapons systems.

Mr Triguniyat says the ambiguity over the S-400 showed that the US wanted to keep its options open but it doesn’t want to rock the boat at the moment.

It’s clear that there is a lot more ground to cover for the US to replace Moscow as India’s largest defence supplier.

Meanwhile, Mr Blinken also talked about India’s human rights record, saying the US was “monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights The Indian ministers didn’t respond to this but analysts say Democrats, including former president Obama, have raised such issues in the past.

The statement may have caused discomfort to Indians but analysts say its unlikely that the issue will become a major irritant in the relationship.

Energy and trade Indian companies have been trying to circumvent sanctions to take advantage of the discounted oil prices being offered by Russian firms.

When this question was put to Mr Jaishankar, he denied that India was ramping up its oil imports from Russia.

“I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases [from Russia] for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So you might want to think about that,” he said.

The US has steadily increased its export of crude oil and refined petroleum products to India - accounting for 15% of India-US trade, which stood at $113bn in 2021.

The two countries believe that there is vast potential to take the bilateral trade to $500bn in the future. The two sides announced a series of measures, including restarting the US-India Commercial Dialogue and the US-India CEO Forum, to improve trade ties. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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SRI LANKA WARNS IT WILL DEFAULT ON ITS FOREIGN DEBT AMID CRISIS

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ri Lanka has said it will temporarily default on its foreign debts amid its worst economic crisis in over 70 years.

Officials said the impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine war made it “impossible” to pay its creditors.

The South Asian country has seen mass protests as it suffers food shortages, soaring prices and power cuts.

It is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week on a loan programme to get its economy back on track.

Sri Lanka’s finance ministry said it otherwise had an “unblemished record” of paying its dues since independence from the UK in 1948.

“Recent events, however... have eroded Sri Lanka’s fiscal position that continued normal servicing of ACCESSNEWS.NG

external public debt obligations has become impossible,” it said in a statement.

The IMF had assessed Sri Lanka’s debt to be unsustainable last month, the ministry noted.

“Although the government has taken extraordinary steps in an effort to remain current on all of its external indebtedness, it is now clear that this is no longer a tenable policy,” it said.

“A comprehensive restructuring of these obligations will be required.”

Credit rating agencies have not yet classified the move as a default.

S&P Global Ratings said it had “nothing to say at this stage” when approached by the BBC. In January, the firm lowered Sri Lanka’s rating to a classification

where it was “currently vulnerable and dependent on favourable business, financial and economic conditions to meet financial commitments”.

Moody’s and Fitch Ratings did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lakshini Fernando of Asia Securities welcomed the move by Sri Lanka’s government, and called it “the better option compared with a hard default”.

“We expect Sri Lanka’s current credit rating to be downgraded to ‘selective default’ or ‘restricted default’ following the announcement,” Ms Fernando said.

She noted that Sri Lanka had $78m (£60m) in international sovereign bond payments due next week.

Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves stood at $1.93bn at the end of March. However, it has around $4bn in foreign debt payments due this year.

The country recently named a new central bank chief and almost doubled its key interest rate to help tackle soaring prices and shortages of essential goods.

In recent weeks, demonstrators have taken to the streets of the capital Colombo as homes and businesses were hit with long power cuts.

Sri Lankans are faced with shortages and rising inflation after the country steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of talks with the IMF over a bailout. Q APRIL 2022

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L E G E N D

BUSINESSMAN, PUBLISHER, & POLITICIAN

M.K.O Abiola 1937 - 1998

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was a well-to-do individual. He had more money During his lifetime, Abiola had complete control over practically everything, from business, communications, and religion to politics, foreign affairs, and even sports.

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oshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola

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CREDIT: THETABLOID.NET

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His parents Salawu and Suliat were poor as they traded in cocoa and kola-nuts respectively, and he too sold firewoods at the age of nine to survive until he grew up with a passionate spirit to succeed, He had many wives with the prominent ones known to be the late Simbiat, Kudirat, Doyinsola, Modupe, and Remi, He had many children as well with the likes of the notable ones as Kola, Deji, Lola, Hafsat, Wura, and others, He was a secondary school classmate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, He became the

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peter as Obasanjo was the deputy editor, He joined the political party National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons eshad a degree in Accountancy from the University of Glasgow, Scotland through a scholarship from the Nigerian government,He was a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria,He was one of Nigeria’s finest business tycoons, philanthropist, politicians, and publisher, He had many investments contributing to the socio-economic developments of Nigeria which included Abiola Farms, Abiola Bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Wonder Bakeries, Summit Oil International Limited, Habib Bank, and Abiola Football Club among others, He was detained for four years by late Nigeria’s military dictator, Sani Abacha from 1994 to 1998, He was a personal friend to the ex-Military leader, Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled his election results, He started his professional career as a clerk in 1956 with Barclays Bank in Ibadan, the then old Western region headquarters and the modern Oyo state capital, He was actively involved in the formation and activities of the National Sharia Committee in 1980, He petitioned the United States and other European countries demanding compensations for their enslavement of African people in the 1980s, He supported the Southern African Liberation Movements from the 1970s, He was a Chairman of the G15 Business Council in 1980,He was once the President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the 1980s Abiola became a well-known public personality after making enormous donations to build schools, mosques, churches, libraries, and other development projects around Nigeria.

He also backed southern African liberation groups and demands for slavery reparations.

Moshood Abiola rose to national and international fame as a result of his humanitarian efforts. “Because of this man, there are both grounds for hope and conviction that the suffering and protests of people who endure injustice will give way to peace and human dignity,” the Congressional Black Caucus of the United States of America said in a tribute to Moshood Abiola. The world’s youngsters will be aware of this

Moshood Abiola was named World Businessman of the Year twice and received honorary doctorates from universities throughout the world. He was awarded the golden key to Washington, D.C. in 1987, as well as awards by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, in the United States, as well as the International Committee on Education for Teach-

The antics of every minority that oppresses the majority are always intimidate you with threats let us fear arrest ing, in France, among many others. The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland was bestowed upon the Oloye MKO Abiola in Ni-

right wrongs, do justice and serve humanity. Poverty, ignorance, disease, hunger, and racism are all foes that threaten future generations.

Moshood Abiola received 197 traditional titles from 68 different communities in Nigeria between 1972 and his death, in recognition of his financial support for the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques and churches, 41 libraries, 21 water projects in 24 Nigerian states, and as grand patron to 149 societies and associations.

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geria. It is the most notable chieftaincy titles available to ordinary Yoruba individuals, and it has only been bestowed 14 times throughout the tribe’s history.

Democratic elections were held in

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a decade of military dictatorship. In a two-party presidential election, and Chief MKO Abiola ran for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with Amb. Babagana Kingibe as his running mate in the general election held on June 12, 1993.

The election was considered the freest and fairest in Nigerian history by observers. Initial election results showed that Abiola, who had received votes from people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds, in a landslide lead, and the news of its anullment before the declaration of the final result by Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida was received by Nigerians with utmost dismay and despondency. This sparked widespread discontent and agitation resulting in political upheaval.

The support Abiola received both domestically and internationally in

Only real democracy can move our nation forward towards progress, and earn her the respect she deserves from the international community ACCESSNEWS.NG

his claim to the presidency caused a lot of consternation for the Gen. Sani Abacha-led Military Junta, leading to his arrest and detention in 1994 for alleged treason.

June 12 has become a marker, more than any other day, of the struggle and ans to establish democracy as our form of national governance. Chief MKO Abi-

election and should have been permitted to serve as our president as a result of that free and fair manifestation of the public will.

During the ceremony, President Muhammadu Buhari read; “In honour of his

that we might have democracy so that the people’s will would be sovereign and not crushed by the will of a few.

Chief Abiola’s posthumous award of Grand Commander of the federal republic (GCFR), usually only reserved for Nigerian Presidents, serves as recognition that he, indeed, won the 1993

for our democracy, is being honoured with the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic title. He was an exceptional industrialist, a reputable businessman, and a philanthropic leader.”

He died at the age of 60. Q

to the growth and development of commerce, agriculture, industry, sports, and political savvy. Chief MKO Abiola, GCFR,

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Nigeria’s creative industry gets capacity boost with Phoenix project

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igeria’s creative industry is set to experience capacity boost with Phoenix Project, a learning platform aimed at expanding the creative potential of Nigeria’s youthful population.

Recently unveiled by Accelerate, Nigeria’s digital, lifestyle, and entertainment platform, the new initiagap in the creative industry and provide the resources needed for individuals to succeed.

According to a report by Jobberman, the Nigerian creative industry is positioned as the country’s second-largest employer and has the potential to produce 2.7million jobs by 2025. Additionally, it is set to contriberate, commented on the launch of the Phoenix Prosourceful, creative, and energetic young people seeking opportunities to advance and build rewarding careers borne out of passion. As a result, through the Phoenix Project, we are committed to empowering the next generation of creatives by providing them with unique opOver the years, Accelerate has supported the creative industry through similar platforms such as the Accelerate Filmmakers Project, a platform that birthed success stories such as Michael ‘Ama Psalmist’ Akinrogun-

Otusheso said the Phoenix Project aims to support

leveraging the abundance of creative resources available to empower youths in the creative industry.

“The Phoenix Project covers 12 knowledge areas such APRIL 2022

as Social Media for Business, Entertainment Law, Advertising your brand, Graphic design, becoming an Inof Vlogging, Introduction to Songwriting, Introduction to Film Production, Business of Entertainment and the Business of Fashion.

“The knowledge areas are grouped into three buntainment, and social media for business, and they are built across the project’s beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels,” she said.

She explained that a seamless learning platform has been integrated into the Phoenix Project’s website to As a result, participants at the beginner level of the courses will be taught online, while the intermediate and advanced levels are learner-exclusive and will be taught in-person, in collaboration with the School of Media and Communication at the Pan-Atlantic University, School of Media and Communication, Lagos, she added.

According to her, participants who complete the adject even more interesting, adding that the advanced level, high-achieving individuals will have access to the Phoenix Den, a seed fund designed to help participants soar and expand their creative endeavours. has taken a deliberate approach to assemble an impactful line-up of facilitators from the creative industry to ensure a well-rounded learning experience for program participants.

“They include Kemi Lala Akindoju, Amaka Agbakoba, and Uche Ugo. Others include, Enioluwa Adeoluwa, Dapo Osaji, Adetoke Oluwo, Paul Okeugo, and Umeeta Rabiu. Everyone is welcome to be part of the Phoenix Project,” Otusheso said. Q ACCESSNEWS.NG

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a seamless learning platform has been integrated into the Phoenix Project’s website to provide participants with a unified learning experience

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ICONIC SPORTS PHOTO: Nojeem Maiyegun (Boxing)

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