Stakeholders call for establishment of sexual offenders register
News & Trends •
by ikenna uwadileke3 others are stalking abandonment of spouse children and other dependents without sustenance among others1 the stakeholders consultation held in abuja was facilitated by the rule of law and anti-corruption rolac programme of the british council and funded by the european union1 mrs amina salihu consultant to rolac said the development of sexual offenders register was crucial in advancing the implementation of violence against persons prohibition vapp act 20151 salihu who expressed worry over incidences of sexual assault in the country said the register would serve as a measure to stop and prevent sexual offences as it intends to name and shame offenders1 according to her it will serve as a source to verify profiles of would be employees in sensitive positions such as child care1 she explained that the register would provide biometric database that would share verifiable information of offenders in order to prevent repeat offending1 on her part the component manager of rolac mrs priscilla ankut said that while the register would go a long way to assist in tracking offenders it would also protect victims of violence1 the reason we are here is to make sure that national agency for prohibition of trafficking in persons naptip which is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the act should maintain and display publicly sex offenders register1 stakeholders have engaged in conversation to fashion out ways to facilitate the development of sexual offenders register in the country1 what we have today is a template of what sexual offenders register should look like and what we will do with the information that are contained in it she said1 ankut further explained that information contained in the register would provide victims the needed guide to know where to go for succour1 what that register seeks to do is to ensure we collate data of all the relevant agencies put it out in the public so that people will know where they need to go if there is violation1 and if they go there they are treated in confidence they get the kind of treatment they need and resources are available to provide them the needed assistance1 there are those that are confident enough to pursue a legal track and there are those who need legal help so this register will help victims to know where they go to get such help1 representative of international federation of women lawyers fida mrs ezinwa obiajunwa canvassed for the establishment of a special court for speedy dispensation of justice on cases of violence against persons in the country1 the vapp act 2015 prohibits all forms of violence against persons in private and public life and provides maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders1 development of sexual offenders register is a provision of the vapp act designed to aid in preventing some violence against persons including rape willfully placing a person in fear of physical injury coercion and harmful widowhood practice1 this is to name and shame offenders and to create database for different agencies to track offenders and to deter those who practice sexual assault in our society1

Group introduces lottery programme to fund education
News & Trends •
by ikenna uwadileke3 the school fund initiative will create a pool of enlightened and educated citizens that will form the base of human capital resources for the development of our country nigeria1 the organisation made the call on tuesday in abuja while unveiling the schoolme scholarship lottery programme1 representative of the foundation mr jacob momoh said that the educational support programme was designed to provide financial aid to young people and also fund educational projects across the country via lottery1 according to him the lack of fund should never be a reason for not getting quality education1 pooling resources from the public to make funds available to anyone who is interested in going to school is our main focus at the same time we are rewarding players through the lottery1 the idea is to give everyone a chance to make a little sacrifice by playing the lottery which will help fund education for others there is the possibility of winning some cash momoh said1 he further explained that the education funding initiative will not only check the increasing financial constrains mitigating against students dreams but would go a long way in addressing the dwindling access to quality education in nigeria1 the initiative is designed to creatively raise funds to mitigate the high cost education and support the academic dreams of the citizenry1 a non-governmental organisation the schoolme foundation has called for increased private sector participation in the provision of quality education for nigerians to support governments efforts1 in his remark prof. damian ogbonnaya of engineering science department state university new york urged nigerians to participate in the programme in order to generate income to promote academic goals of young nigerians1 according to him the cost of education is getting astronomically high and many are finding it very difficult to access quality education1 some who have accessed are finding it difficult to go through school because of financial constraints1 countless numbers are dropping out of school others want to further their studies but do not have the means1 this has led to increased number of miscreants who become a menace to the society ogbonnaya said1 similarly a nollywood actor francis duru while commending the initiators of the project urged nigerians to explore the opportunity to liberate themselves from poverty1 duru said education is the most powerful tool in which you can use to change the society1 there exists a parallel correlation between education and development1 the schoolme scholarship lottery is poised to provide a viable scholarship initiative with a two-prong approach which are instant financial reward and scholarship momoh said1

NIPOSTs What3Words: ICT expert alleges intellectual property infringement
News & Trends •
by ikenna uwadileke3 this is the first time i am hearing of this and i can assure you that this allegation is false alao said1 amoo chief executive officer arbel energy and logistics made the allegation in abuja1 he said niposts intention to use a foreign technology to increase the number of homes it could deliver to and improve delivery services in preparation for the take-off of nigerias e-commerce violated presidential executive order no. 51 item 6 contained in the executive order provides that ministries departments and agencies shall adopt local technologies to replace foreign ones where they met set standards1 he however said that niposts adoption of the uk technology what3words not only violated the order in promoting indigenous innovations to replace foreign ones but infringed on intellectual property right1 he said that nipost poached and disenfranchised his indigenous app gridcodes needed for effective codification of addresses in nigeria1 amoo urged the federal government to cancel the moves by nipost as it infringed on his patent right1 he said this app has the potential to offer the needed service free of charge1 i began to offer gridcodes to the federal government for adoption as the national system for codification of physical addresses in nigeria also for free1 i made this offer through a letter to mr bisi adegbuyi the director-general of nipost and the letter was received on jan. 18 20181 an ict expert mr adefolajuwon amoo has accused nigeria postal service nipost of intellectual property infringement by adopting a foreign technology what3words as the national system for codification of physical addresses in nigeria1 not only did nipost unethically hack my technology it is also misleading the federal government into promoting foreign technology called what3words he said1 amoo emphasised that gridcodes would benefit governance security and commerce in nigeria1 according to him it will make nigeria future-ready for technologies such as integration of drones into the business of parcel delivery1 he said that nipost in concert with the uk technology had asked nigerians to pay n1000 annually each for their addresses to be accessible to business and government1 this is unfair unethical and exploitative of nigerians. the gridcodes are 100 per cent free and do exactly what the uk technology does1 to charge every nigerian money for what is free is unbecoming use of the enablement of a privileged government office1 the playing field for national development has never been more level than it is today1 the future is information technology digitisation and artificial intelligence. we have the skills and the knowledge to end nipost app that will bring unknown people to our doorsteps every day1 an app that makes us pay 180 billion naira annually when it is free a nipost app that will lock 75 per cent of nigerians out of a digital transformation because they are too poor amoo said1 in his reaction the nipost corporate communications officer mr franklin alao denied the allegation saying that it was false1 however rather than contact me i found out to my consternation that nipost had on july 31 2018 released an app that both poached and attempted to disenfranchise my own product1