Late Mrs Funmilola Ojelade

By Aderogba George

Mr Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), has advised members of the society to emulate the stewardship service of late Mrs Funmilola Ojelade, who was a member of the society.

The president gave the advice on Friday in Abuja at the funeral service organised in honour of the deceased by the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), a division of the NSE.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ojelade, a staff of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM), died on March 22 after a brief sickness.

Gidari-Wudil described Ojelade who was the 16th President of APWEN, as a woman who dedicated many parts of her live while on earth to the service of NSE.

He said that the deceased was a very strong woman, innovative in her leadership role with APWEN, and by extension NSE.

We cannot say we wont have a replacement of her but it will be difficult to have somebody like her, very innovative, her leadership was seen in running the APWEN, and by extension NSE, I will appeal to those of us who are still alive to emulate her.

Ojelade was a detribalized Nigerian, a devoted Christian because I always received her Friday prayers every Friday, this tells you how nationalistic she was, how patriotic she was.

I will urge everyone of us to emulate her and pray for her to be on the right side of the throne of God. I pray for the family because it is a sudden shock to us when we learnt of her demise.

We pray to God to give the immediate family the fortitude to bear the loss, the President stressed.

Mrs Elizabeth Eterigho, the current President of APWEN (17th), described the deceased as a humorous person whom everyone would like to be with, because she express her mind on issues straight.

She also described Ojelade as a woman who provided answers immediately to challenging issues, adding that many members of APWEN have drawn from her wealth of knowledge.

According to Eterigho, the deceased was a very close person to her because why she was the president of APWEN, herself was the vice-president, and by this they are always close together where she learnt a lot from her.

During COVID-19 when everything was silent with most associations, Funmilola never allowed our association to be silent, she was up and doing in the associations activities, her death was a huge lost to us, Eterigho stressed.

Mrs Valerie Agberagba, the Ninth President of APWEN who disclosed that she had known the deceased for almost 25 years, described her as her IT tutor whom she would miss a lot.

She also described Funmilola as a fellow of the NSE who mentored young Engineers, by impacting knowledge into them, and prayed to God to continue to be with the young peers of the society who will miss her most.

According to Agberagba, the deceased had always advised young engineers to be strong and to be ethical in the profession of whatever they are doing.

Mrs Comfort Emenyonu, a fellow of NSE and member of APWEN who gave the first Christian sermon, advised members to live a life that they would be remembered for.

Emenyonu who titled her sermon as What will you be remembered for, taking from the book of Ecclesiastes 9:5 and Hebrew 9:27, stated that everyone must die, but they should be remembered for something.

According to her, Funmilola played her role before she left this sinful world, and prayed to God for everyone to be able to walk in the way that will bring impact to peoples life.

You must live an indelible mark on this earth before you go, lets learn how to forgive one another, lets care for each other, concentrate on Gods works.

Also, Pastor Dan Ogu of Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Jesus Embassy Parish, Province 18, admonished Christians to prepare to meet God after death.

The pastor who titled his sermon as Truth be told, said all Christians need to know about death, adding that death is a constant and frequent occurrence which happens everyday.

He said that the holy book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 2 had testified that there are time to be born and there are time to die, saying that every living must taste death hen the time reaches.

He therefore encouraged everyone to prepare for death and prepare to meet their creator, and that after death, judgement follows. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Vincent Obi

Source: NAN News

Focal Person, Good Deeds, Kaduna State, Mrs Itama Okhuelegbe, addressing participants during the commemoration of 2023 Good Deeds Day in Kaduna on Thursday

By Philip Yatai

Good Deeds, a global movement of people dedicated to doing good, on Thursday, sensitised civil society organisations and humanitarian workers on mental health and self-care while providing humanitarian services.

The Focal Person of the group in Kaduna State, Mrs Itama Okhuelegbe, said at the event in Kaduna, that the exercise was to also appreciate civil society and humanitarian workers for their selfless service to humanity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised in collaboration with Thinkers Children Foundation, as part of activities to mark the 2023 Good Deeds Day.

Okhuelegbe explained that the Good Deeds Day sought to promote people giving back to their community, thereby promoting harmonious relationships among people.

She said that since 2007, Good Deeds Day had been uniting people from around the world with the aim of spuring them to help others and do good for their communities.

The act of charity and good deeds towards people in need, or communities in despair, is never forgotten by their recipients.

Today, we are celebrating civil society organisations, individuals and groups rendering humanitarian services as first responders to people in need, putting smiles on peoples faces and keeping families together.

We want to thank groups and individuals that have been rendering selfless help to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, marginalised, neglected, and exploited groups.

We want more people to become ambassadors of doing good things to those in need in whatever way they can feeding the hungry, providing shelter to the homeless, and clothing the poor, among other good deeds, she said.

While acknowledging the good deeds of humanitarian service providers, Okhuelegbe, however, stressed the need for humanitarian and development workers to also care for themselves to avoid mental breakdown.

On his part, Mr Peter Ebeh, Senior Psychologist with Neem Foundation, Kaduna Office, described mental health as emotional, psychological and social wellbeing of people.

According to him, mental health affects how people think, feel, and behave.

It particularly determines how people handle stress, anxiety, depression, and insecurity; how they relate to others and the kind of choices they make, he said.

He pointed out that with too much demand on the humanitarian workers, they could encounter stress, which in the long run, would affect their mental health.

People need to know that in the attempt to do good and extend a helping hand without taking care of themselves, they may end up in a dysfunctional mental state.

There is, therefore, the need for people to balance their work with self-care, to be able to function normally and maintain stable mental health, he said.

One of the participants, Mr Sunday Awulu, Secretary, Kaduna State Branch, Nigerian Red Cross, acknowledged the absence of a balance between humanitarian work in the field and the workers self-care.

Awulu identified psychological stress due to pressure to meet set targets as one of the major causes of mental breakdown among humanitarian workers. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Maureen Ojinaka

Source: NAN News

Cross section of participants at Nigeria off Grid Acceleration Programme (NoMAP) meeting in Abuja.

By Cecilia Ijuo

The

Mr Adedotun Eyinade, the Programme Director, NoMAP

The event was organised in partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) with funding from Shell Foundation, UKAid and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Oice (FCDO).

Eyinade said in view of the electricity gap in Nigeria, the institution had been working on ensuring access to energy.

He said this would help address barriers around access to finance, data and helping unbanked customers pay for solar.

He said the meeting was organised to find out how best to finance productive use assets,

According to him, productive use assets are appliances that consume electricity and also help improve livelihood.

The programme director said, in communities that are newly electrified, you have already existing businesses like shops, saw mills, and agro processing mills among others.

So, the question is, how do you provide access to financing for people who want to buy new assets like refrigerators to sell drinks, irrigation pumps to water their farms and the likes.

The idea is to bring all stakeholders, commercial banks, investors, mini grid developers, appliance distributors to reduce barriers to financing.

Eyinade said people do not only use electricity to power their homes but to power economic activities that would increase their income.

We are particularly interested in conversations around gender, internally displaced people and all of that.

So, we are happy that for the first time, some people are accessing financing and it has potential for jobs to be created, he said.

According to him, NoMAP is carrying out a pilot programme in three states, Oyo, Delta and Nasarawa to assist customers have access to finance for appliances.

He said the pilot was being undertaken in 21 communities in the three states.

Mr Ahmad Salihijo, the Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), commended efforts made by NoMAP and other stakeholders in helping to bridge electricity gap in Nigeria.

He said NoMAP had impacted lives by investing resources in the productive aspect of energy access.

The managing director, who, delivered the keynote address, said the agency on its part had explored projects that would have direct impact on end users.

Under the Nigeria Electrification project, we have successfully inaugurared full roll out of our productive use equipment component.

Under this project, we offer up to 60 per cent grant for cost of equipment.

We have projected potential disbursement of 2.4 million dollars in the first round of application to four shortlisted firms.

This will impact the lives of end users across eight existing mini grid sights, he said.

Salihijo said the agency would continue to support stakeholders to accelerate off grid electricity, particularly in rural areas.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that various stakeholders in their goodwill messages said they would continue to support access to renewable energy to meet growing demand.

Mr Wim JonkerKlunne, Household Solar Funders Group Coordinator, Shell Foundation, and Mr Akachukwu Okafor, UK PACT Senior Climate Change Officer, UK FCDO, said the meeting was apt.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Ese Eniola Williams

Source: NAN News

Census officials

By Aminu Garko

The National Population Commission (NPC) has clarified that the Census questionnaire has no column for religion and ethnicity.

The commission made the clarification on Friday in Kano when the National Publicity Committee on the 2023 Population and Housing Census paid an advocacy visit to Nigerian Television Authority, Kano.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit was led by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Chairman of the committee and Minister of Information and Culture, represented by the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr Garba Abari.

Speaking on the speculations that Nigerians would be asked questions on their faith and ethnic affiliation, a member of the committee, Dr Isiaka Yahaya, said the commission was not interested in such data.

Yahaya, who is also the commissions Director of Public Affairs, maintained that issues of religion and ethnicity being peddled on social media were mere distractions and without foundation.

Since 1991 when the National Population Commission has been conducting census, we have never asked questions on ethnicity and religion.

We didnt do it in 1991, we didnt do it in 2006 and we wont do it now.

The reason is obvious. The two issues are very sensitive and have the capacity to divert attention from the main issue of the census, he said.

Similarly, the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Mr Osita Okechukwu, urged Nigerians not to see the census as a contest among ethnic groups.

He said the census was only for planning purposes and not to confer advantage on any group.

For planning purposes, President Muhammadu Buhari said before he leaves office, he wants to deploy digital technology to conduct a headcount.

The incoming president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed, in planning with our resources, will know exactly how many Nigerians he is planning for, Okechukwu said.

Abari on his part commended the authorities of NTA for playing a critical role in the sensitisation campaign for the headcount.

He reiterated that the headcount was solely to obtain data for national development purposes and urged the media to help tackle the twin scourge of fake news and misinformation.

The General Manager of NTA Kano, Sani Yusuf, expressed the readiness of NTA to support the sensitisation campaign on census.

He gave an assurance that the media house would produce jingles to aid the campaign as well as provide coverage on the exercise.

NAN reports that the committee also visited Pyramid FM, Kano, Radio Kano and Triumph newspapers. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Mufutau Ojo

Source: NAN News

Buhari prays at Grand Mosque Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Source: NAN News

By Muhammad Nur Tijani

The Federal Government on Thursday urged Nigerians to make themselves available for the National Population and Housing Census billed for May.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the call at a townhall meeting in Kano organised by the National Publicity Committee on the census.

The minister, represented by the Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr Garba Abari, said the census was aimed at collating data for effective national planning.

He dismissed insinuations that the census questionnaire would ascertain the religion of respondents as falsely portrayed on some social media platforms.

Mohammed insisted that the data obtained were solely for national planning and development purposes as well as help in improving the nations security architecture.

The town hall meeting, he said, was organised to create the requisite awareness about the forthcoming exercise.

He stressed that the stakeholders were invited to obtain information and feedback from the grassroots in order to ensure a hitch-free exercise.

The minister also said that the publicity committee was working hard to tackle fake news and misinformation on the exercise.

Some of the participants, who spoke with NAN, advised the National Population Commission to embark on more sensitisation programmes.

The National Housing and Population Census would begin on May 3. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

(Edited by Chinyere Bassey/Mufutau Ojo)

Source: NAN News

Conference on promotion of African women rights

By Justina Auta

Baobab for Womens Human Rights (BAOBAB), an NGO, has called for the promotion of the human rights of women in Anglophone West-African (AWA) countries.

BAOBABs Executive Director, Ms Bunmi Dipo-Salami, made the call during a virtual regional convening of state and non-state actors in AWA with the theme, Changing the course of womens rights in West Africa with the Maputo Protocol.

Dipo-Salami noted that the Maputo Protocol (MP) recognised all human rights as womens rights including the right to life, dignity, integrity, security, health and reproductive rights, access to justice, womens political participation rights, among others.

The Protocol is against all forms of gender-based violence such as limited access to properties and Child marriage.

It also helps in access to education and health care for women in Africa.

The protocol has done much since it came into force. However, there is still much to be done to ensure that womens rights are fully protected and realised in practice, she said.

She added that to achieve the ultimate goal of the protocol which is that women and girls in Africa can fully enjoy their rights, it should be incorporated in domestic laws to enable its full implementation in the region.

Similarly, Ms Olamide Falana, Special Adviser to Ondo State Governor on Gender, attributed some of the challenges in acceptance and implementation of the protocol to issues around cultural divides.

Falana, while referring to Article 14 of the protocol on the rights of womens health, said that the discussion around safe abortion in Nigeria stemmed from cultural and religious perspectives where women did not have full autonomy over their bodies.

She said: It is one thing to have the protocol accepted, it is another for it to be a tool that everyone is willing to work with and use across cultural divides within a nation.

As such, women still require consent from a man over issues pertaining to their bodies.

Though the protocol also speaks to the right of access to medical care, several factors affect a womans access to medical care.

You can only demand medical care when it is available within your community. When it is not available, your right is limited, she said.

Also, Mrs Olubunmi Adelugba, Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, recalled that the MP was introduced to Nigeria by the African Union (AU) as an attempt to protect and promote womens rights in West Africa.

Adelugba stressed the importance of political will in domestication and implementation of laws that improved the lives of women and girls.

She noted that Ekiti had established some forms of laws for the protection of women as contained in the provisions of the MP.

These laws are always active but the only problem they face is lack of reporting by the victims of injustices who are mainly women and girls.

And this happens due to religious and cultural beliefs stigma. It is only when a case is reported that such laws will be in effect, she said.

Ms Hanna Forster, Executive Director, African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) from Gambia, said lack of technical knowledge and expertise on reporting was a challenge that persists across the five AWA countries.

Forster, therefore, urged CSOs to sharpen their skills and become conversant with the guidelines developed by the African Commission for shadow reporting.

She also stressed the need to simplify and translate the protocol, as well as litigate and bring cases to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights or the ECOWAS Court of Justice if member states fell short of their commitments.

Also, Ms Lilian Ibeh, Programme Officer, Alliances for Africa (AFA) Nigeria, harped on the need for more strategies that would help the domestication of the protocol leveraging data, the media, and partnerships to address the issues.

NAN reports that the meeting was organised by Baobab with support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) through Equality Now and the Solidarity for African Womens Rights (SOAWR).

The project is being implemented by the Initiative for Gender Equality and Development in Africa (IGED-Africa), Ghana; Young Liberian Women Organisation for Improvement (WOFIM), Liberia.

Others are Alliances for Africa (AfA), BAOBAB for Womens Human Rights and Womens Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), in Nigeria.

The virtual conference was part of a Joint Cluster Advocacy Campaign by the AWA member organisations of SOAWR, a coalition of over 80 civil society organisations working across 33 countries in Africa.

The regional convening had in attendance 50 participants from the five AWA countries The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa/Vivian Ihechu

Source: NAN News

Prof. Alewo Johnson-Akubo, VC Salem University Lokoja

The members of staff, students and Alumni Association of Salem University Lokoja on Thursday, lauded the pragmatic transformative visions and drive of their Vice Chancellor , Prof. Alewo Johnson-Akubo.

The Universitys Registrar, Dr. Emmanuel Adejoh, gave the commendation in a statement in Lokoja, to celebrate the records of Akubo who celebrated his 50th birthday.

The registrar said that the huge infrastructure development of Salem University was solely due to the visions and pragmatic efforts of the young and energetic Vice Chancellor.

Adejoh described Akubo as a fine administrator, disciplinarian and quintessential leader of tremendous impact, not only to Salem University, but to Kogi and Nigeria as a whole.

We, today felicitate our Vice Chancellor, whose Golden Age can best be described as Gods divine gift and grace upon him, looking at what he has so far attained in life.

Aside being a young administrator, Akubo is a Pastor in Gods Vineyard, working assiduously at spreading the gospel of Truth for the salvation of souls from the societal ills ravaging the entire globe as well as impacting on students by transforming them into global change agents.

At joining Salem University Lokoja, Akubo served as the pioneer Coordinator, Mass Communication Programme, Deputy Dean, College of Management and Social Sciences and Deputy Director, Academic Planning between August, 2016 and July 2017.

He said that with impactful leader, the institution had been able to have virtually all its courses accredited by the National University Commission (NUC).

The registrar, however, said that it was a thing of joy that the entire staff, students and Alumni Association of Salem University Lokoja joined other well wishers in celebrating such a man in Akubo.

He is truly a shining example to all Nigerian youths, the registrar said.

Adejoh said, on behalf of staff, students and Alumni Association of the Salem University Lokoja, I wish Prof. Akubo, more divine wisdom, knowledge, sound health, peace and joy as he celebrates his 50th birthday. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

Source: NAN News

Source: NAN News

By Ikenna Osuoha

The National Population Commission (NPC) has postponed indefinitely, the training for Enumerators and Supervisors earlier slated for April 13.

Dr Ipalibo Harry, Chairman Census Committee told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

Harry assured that the postponement would not affect the conduct of the Population and Housing Census scheduled to hold from May 3 to May 7.

He said that the commission was ready to conduct a credible census, adding that they had already concluded the training of Quality Data Managers and others.

The census committee chairman said a new date for the training of the enumerators and supervisors would be communicated as soon as possible. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

Source: NAN News