The German Agency for International Corporation (GIZ) is collaborating with the Lagos State Government to promote circular economy by boosting the activities of Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre, Mr Bankole Oloruntoba said that the strategic collaboration was to proffer innovative solutions to the various challenges facing Lagos State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oloruntoba made the assertion at the circular Lagos Challenge Grand Finale, held on Wednesday in Lagos.

A circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.

NAN reports that the Circular project was launched by the Lagos State government with the support of the GIZ.

Oloruntoba said about 1,000 applications were received in January from individuals who wanted to take part in the innovation challenge before being reduced to 12 after two stages of screening.

The CEO added that the dynamism of Lagos also contributed to the fact that the innovation challenge is holding in Lagos, adding that whatever innovation carried out would serve as a model to other states.

The will and passion to demonstrate innovation led to the journey that brought us here. The aim is to create dynamic growth economy in Lagos.

We welcome you all and thank you for being here, working with us to find an alternative in solving problems in Lagos. he said.

Mrs Toyin Odutola, an Assistant Director who represented the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, said the state government would continue supporting innovative ideas.

Lagos State Government is interested in circularity of the state. We want to make sure all our recyclables are recycled and wastes effectively managed.

We implore anyone with innovative ideas to share with the state government which is always ready to make the environment more habitable. she said.

Jennifer Seydel, representative of GIZ Nigeria said the Circular Lagos Challenge seeks to grow the market for circular economy businesses in ways that benefit producers, consumers, and communities across Lagos.

She said circular businesses are also expected to reap the monetary benefits, stimulate local economic growth and create meaningful job opportunities.

NAN gathered that Circular Lagos is organized as bottom up initiative, which focuses on experimenting with small-scale projects with a view to learn from practice.

It also aimed at building institutional capabilities and develop an engaged and committed network of Circular Economy professionals in Lagos.

For the challenge, circular businesses submitted innovative solutions that can fundamentally change the way people design, change and use the things they need.

The winners of the most promising innovation undergo an incubation programme where they receive educational input and introduced to circular economy tools such as entrepreneurship, finance and policy.

Their application is developed to pilotable prototypes of solutions.

The challenge is guided by Circular market leaders that have urgent business needs and an interest to support entrepreneurs from ideation to project implementation.

The sponsors include BASF Sweepsmart, Coca-Cola

The Federal Government on Wednesday in Abuja said that it would invest more in meteorological services for accurate, timely and reliable weather prediction.

Prof. Mansur Matazu, Director-General, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet), said this at the 2022 World Meteorological Day, organised by the Agency.

According to him, such efforts will reposition NiMet and its products and services to further influence society positively.

Matazu said that the agency had decided to improve on infrastructure and creatively disseminate weather forecast to as many Nigerians as possible.

He said: NiMet is the organisation saddled with the responsibility of advising the government and people of Nigeria on every aspect of meteorology, including the socio-economic impacts of climate and weather.

That is why we join the rest of the world to celebrate this years atmosphere and our role in protecting it.

This day connects NiMet with sister agencies across the globe by bringing to fore activities of agencies like ours and the WMO that coordinates all activities among the Members States, he said. (NAN

Source: NAN News

By Diana Omueza

The Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), has advised the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to partner with the Federal Civil Service Commission in its recruitment, to ensure that it inclusive, open and transparent.

Mr David Anyaele, the Executive Director of the group gave the advice in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Anyaele said that it was imperative for the commission to partner with the FCSC to ensure that no individual was left behind on the ground of disabilities.

The partnership is imperative to ensure that any recruitment by the commission is open, transparent and no qualified person is schemed out of the opportunity on the grounds of disabilities.

CCD is calling on the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in collaboration with Federal Civil Service Commission and the Federal Character Commission to apply appropriate policy to ensure that no section of the country dominates the commission.

The NCPWDs should pursue approval for the recruitment of an all-inclusive member of staff to enhance its capacity and capabilities to discharge their mandate and mission.

It is imperative for the commission to collaborate with the federal civil service commission to ensure that every recruitment exercise is open, transparent and no qualified person with a disability is schemed out of the opportunity on the grounds of disability.

This is important because applicants with disabilities are painfully discriminated by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA) to the extent that citizens with disabilities have been picketing MDAs with a demand to offer them employment.

As such an agency that focuses on disability matters must ensure that qualified persons with disabilities have a greater majority in the staffing of the commission, he said.

Anyaele said that the advice was also based on the lopsided composition of the staff of the commission in which out of about 61 members staff, 48 were persons without disabilities, while only 13 were persons with disabilities and others were volunteers.

This disability unfriendly composition of the staff of the commission is unacceptable for an agency that is vested with the responsibilities for the education, health care, and the protection and promotion of the social, economic, and civil rights of citizens with disabilities in Nigeria.

We are mindful of the endemic politics of recruitment in the public service in Nigeria, whereby politicians, ministers, national assembly members, governors down to councilors use their proximity to the ruling party to gain employment.

The NCPWDs should be free from recruitment of none professionals as the commission is a specialist government agency that requires competent staff to deliver on its mandate, he said.

Anyaele said that many career professionals were within the disability community and suitable for employment and should first be considered in any recruitment by the commission.

He called on disability activists across the country to ensure that discrimination and other harmful practices against PWDs were brought to end in all spheres and across the country.

Anyaele also reiterated the commitment of CCD to continue to monitor trends in the polity to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities were protected against discrimination and other harmful practices. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

Ahead of the 2023 general election, a group of indigenes of Zamfara on Tuesday purchased the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship nomination and expression of interest forms for Malam Abubakar Gusau.

The group, Zamfara Rescue Initiative, comprised people of diverse backgrounds cutting across party lines, including top business leaders, youth leaders, Zamfara indigenes abroad, friends and well-wishers of the people of Zamfara.

The groups Coordinator, Mr Musa Bello, while presenting the forms to Gusau in Abuja, said that the dire condition of the state motivated the patriotic citizens to rally round with the sole aim of rescuing the state from underdevelopment.

Bello said that the initiative believed that the only way to re-engineer Zamfara was by identifying and supporting a credible candidate to run as governor, regardless of political affiliation.

He said that after a painstaking process that involved considering several prospective candidates, they settled for Gusau to run as governor of the state in the 2023 on the platform of the PDP.

Bello said: In giving effect to this resolution, the initiative sought for contributions from its members and raised funds to purchase the forms from the PDP National Secretariat earlier today.

There is no gainsaying that since its creation in 1996, Zamfara has fallen short of all expectations owing to lack of meaningful progress, largely due to a deeply entrenched leadership deficit.

Indeed, the vision of Zamfaras founding fathers has been destroyed beyond comprehension. Prior to its creation, Zamfara was one of the top three commercial centres in the North.

Indeed, there were textile industries, cotton ginneries, confectionaries factories, oil mills, etc, that provided employment to our teeming youth population.

Unfortunately, all of these have now become historical artefacts, with the states economy virtually grinding to a halt, resulting in unprecedented levels of poverty and deprivation across the society.

In addition to this, even more critical aspects of development have been negatively affected by the lack of leadership.

Bello added that the insecurity pervading the state through the activities of armed bandits had brought untold misery to Zamafara people, denying them peace and livelihood through farming.

The poor infrastructure across our schools that have neither qualified teachers nor teaching facilities is also worrisome.

The health sector is also grappling with lack of a conducive environment, trained personnel and drugs to serve the population. The litany of woes is endless, but we at the Zamfara Initiative have not lost hope in our state.

We believe that with the support of other patriotic citizens, Gusau is the right person to lead the transformation of Zamfara in 2023, he said.

According to the group leader, Gusau is not just a pioneer member of the PDP from 1998 to date, but a man who possessed the required experience and skills to develop the state.

He said that Gusau had impacted on many, over an illustrious carreer spanning the public and private sector.

He served in the Ministries of Transport, Education and Health, as Personal and Special Assistants to two Honourable Ministers from Zamfara state.

He also served in a top position at the Nigerian Maritime Authority. As the Zamfara State SURE-P Co-ordinator, and ensured the empowerment of our youth.

During a stint in the private sector, he served as the Regional Manager of V-Mobile Networks. His struggle for people emancipation began since his university days where he served as President of the Students Union Government.

These, among other qualities, make him a unique candidate and a rallying point for the Zamfara Rescue Initiative, he asserted.

Receiving the forms, Gusau commended members of the initiative, describing their gesture as a challenge and clarion call to service.

Gusau, who said he only got the invitation for the presentation two days ago, however said that he was going to continue with his wider consultations with stakeholders before making his final decision on whether to contest or decline.

He expressed confidence that the PDP would reclaim the governorship seat in 2023.

The PDP in Zamfara has always had the strength and the power to win elections, but what has been absent and lacking is deliberate strategic efforts to win.

In 1999 PDP won elections, unfortunately due to other reasons, which we all know, the efforts of some of us who were part of, were thwarted, he recalled.

Gasau said that the party would adopt a winning approach this time around, including the use of campaign of substance and engagement of critical stakeholders.

He advised people of the state to ensure that a credible candidate emerged as the state governor in 2023 to address the problems facing the state.

It is high time the people of Zamfara began to vote credible people into various offices. It is high time we ignored all those ballot stuffing, ballot buying and face developmental projects.

Zamfara is, in fact, at the zero level of development at the moment, Gusau said.

Many of the initiative members who spoke at the event expressed their support for Gusau, stating that he has what it takes to develop the state.

One of the leaders of the initiative, Malam Sanusi Gumi, said members of the group collectively made the decision in response to the approval of stakeholders, believing that if Gusau emerged as governor he will change the narrative of the state for the better.

He is someone who has the popularity, capability and at the civil service he rose up to the level of a Director.

He is a manager of resources who is well connected to people at the grassroots and recognises the problems facing the state, Gumi added.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Sylvester Thompson

The National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) says it is considering developing a database of indigenous technologies to address issues relating to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.

Prof. Okechukwu Ukwuoma, Director-General, NACETEM, disclosed this at a sensitisation workshop on survey and development of data on indigenous technologies aimed at addressing SGDs in Owerri, on Wednesday.

Okwuoma said that a database to this effect would make it easy for practitioners to know about knowledge available locally and how to maximize such to achieve the goals.

He noted that the agency had, previously beamed its searchlight on indigenous technologies by conducting research on bronze casting, pottery making, leather tanning, among others.

He said for Nigeria to compete in an era of globalisation, there was an urgent need to identify areas and build on them by the application of scientific methods.

In fact, it has been argued that indigenous knowledge and technologies present excellent possibilities in this regard, he said.

The NACETEM director-general said that similar workshops held in the past revealed the potential of indigenous technologies for the growth of the nations economy.

Ukwuoma said they were in Imo to harness the avalanche of indigenous technologies present in the eastern parts of the country.

Harnessing all that we have without leaving any part of the country unexplored, so as to take full advantage of the abundant indigenous technologies in Nigeria is considered highly critical, he said.

Ukwuoma described indigenous knowledge as the unique knowledge confined to a particular culture or society.

He said such knowledge is generated and transmitted by communities, over time, in an effort to cope with their own socio-economic environments.

As a people, we cannot afford to lose sight of knowledge that is indigenous to us, so as to remain relevant in the scheme of things globally, he said.

He said, By knowing what was available, it would be easy to know how best to deploy them in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as economic growth, zero hunger and quality education, among others.

Dr Tosin Lievbare, Assistant Chief Research Officer of NACETEM, also made a presentation on, Survey and development of data on indigenous technologies that address the goals.

Lievbare said that Nigeria has diverse indigenous knowledge systems that had been transferred over a long period of time and are still in use in spite of the advent of modern knowledge systems.

He mentioned these to include, agriculture and agricultural tools and practices, aluminum fabrication, drum making, agro-processing machineries, bronze artifacts, local fabric weaving, and iron smelting, among others.

Source: NAN News

By Vivian Emoni

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has supported 29 states in tackling environmental projects across the country, through the Global Environmental Facilities and Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP).

The GEF-SGP National Coordinator, Mrs Ibironke Olubamise, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday

Olubamise said that the organisation supported over 170 projects in about 200 communities in the beneficiary states.

She said that the environmental challenges addressed by the organisation include climate change, land degradation, chemicals and international waters.

As a strong development partner, from 2009 till date, the GEF/SGP implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has continued to support community environmental initiatives.

The support is focused mainly in remote communities through Civil Society Organisations. The UNDP GEF/SGP is the only development support agency that has reached more remote communities in Nigeria.

The organisation has supported over 170 community projects in over 200 communities in 29 states and tackles

The national coordinator said that the organisation had also intervened on protection and restoration of over 800,000 to one million hectares of land respectively, with over 800,000 direct beneficiaries.

She noted that the GEF/SGP had impacted on some specific projects which include development of community seed bank to conserve indigenous plants species.

She said that the organisation had trained over 2,000 teachers and students as climate change champions in 70 government schools in the FCT.

Olubamise said that the organisation also protected some endangered monkeys scattered in Akwa Ibom and supported over 25 community forest management projects in Cross River.

According to her, the organisation promotes leaf used in the wrapping of food, restore biodiversity and reduce plastic pollution in Osun as well as

Others are establishment of orchards; enhancing traditional knowledge of species; nurseries and tree planting, training of over 20 community forest scouts for forest management among others, he said.

The national coordinator added that most of the environmental initiatives had attracted national and international attention, adding that over 17 awards have been recorded so far.

She said that one of the awards was the UNDP Equator Award, which honoured local and indigenous groups that were charting a path toward sustainable development.

Source: NAN News

By Naomi Sharang

The Senate has passed a reworked version of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022, after amending the provision of clause 74.

The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Joint Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters; and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Senate had, on March 15, while relying on Orders 1(b) and 52(6) reconsidered its decision on clause 74 of the bill as passed.

The upper chamber had re-committed same to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes.

Chairman, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters Committee, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, in his presentation said after the passage of the bill, series of reactions trailed its passage with respect to clause 74 which was amended in the course of deliberations.

He said, In the original bill, clause 74 provides that, Subject to the provisions of this Act, the defendant in any proceedings under this Act bears the burden of proving that he is is legitimate owner of the assets suspected to be proceeds of crime or derived from unlawful activity or that the assets is of legitimate origin and is not proceeds of unlawful activity.

The Senate, however, amended the clause during consideration to provide that: The burden of proof shall be on the investigating agencies and there shall be conviction before the property can be finally seized or forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Opeyemi stated that the joint committee while engaging with the investigating agencies was told that maintaining the original provision of clause 74, as recommended was in the best interest of the country.

He said the agencies assured the committee that they would not abuse the powers conferred on them by the provision as they (agencies) were subject to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

As well as the guiding principles of Chapter IV on Human Rights in the 1999 Constitution as amended, he said.

The lawmaker emphasised that one of the salient intendments of clause 74 was that it ensures the recovery of proceeds of crime with or without conviction.

Source: NAN News

By Lucy Ogalue

Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday expressed satisfaction at the progress of work made so far within two weeks of inspecting the Lekki Deep Seaport.

Amaechi, who showed excitement during the visit to the port, said the speed of work was engendered by the knowledge of President Muhammadu Buharis intended visit to the site.

The president visited the port on Monday after the inauguration of the new international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos with a capacity to process 14 million passengers per annum.

When I was making the case for the President on why he needed to come to the seaport, most people did not understand why. Do you see the huge difference between when we came two weeks ago and now?

There are two reasons why I asked the president to visit the seaport. The first one is to publicise the seaport so that people will know that this government is building a seaport which is the first in Nigeria.

The other ports you have in Nigeria are all river ports because they tilt off the sea.

The second reason was to put the heat on them and with that, we are almost ready. If not for the equipment, they can actually get this place ready before June

But they said all the equipment are arriving by June and installation will take them till September and it can be commissioned by September.

You see the miracle of bringing a president to this place. That is why the president must also inspect projects. It will hasten the process if there is money for completion, Amaechi said.

On the relocation of about 5,000 inhabitants around the port, the minister said he would communicate with the Lagos State government on measures to acquire the land.

According to Amaechi, the traffic witnessed at other ports like the Apapa port, will not be witnessed in Lekki as all goods will not be brought to the Lekki port.

This is a private port; no agency will run here. They will be present but they will not run it because it is a private port. It is also an automated port, so the traffic witnessed at Apapa will not be here.

Also, all goods wont come to Lagos. Goods will go to Warri, and Port Harcourt, so what government needs to do is to either rehabilitate those ports or build new ones.

I am convinced that we will commence work on Bonny deep seaport before we leave office, he said.

The Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko, reiterated that the Lekki port would ensure speedy delivery and clearing of goods and cargoes.

So what it means is that there will be a reduction in the traffic and the pressure on Tin Can an and Apapa ports, so we are very happy at the NPA that this is happening.

Dont forget also that therell be ship to shore crane at these ports location. What this means is that more goods will be able to process faster, the draft is about 16. 5 meters.

There is no port with that kind of draft in this country currently, so it means bigger vessels will come in, it also means that we are going to get back some of the businesses we have lost to the neighboring countries because of the draft limitation at the existing ports, he said.

According to Bello-Koko, the port will generate more employment to the value chain, add to the GDP of the country and increase revenue for the NPA.

He said that the Lekki port when operational would result in healthy competition for other terminal operators as they would be forced to up their game.

Bello-Koko said plans were underway to link the Lagos-Ibadan rail to the Lekki port.

He also said that the government intended to rehabilitate the Tin Can port and possibly increase its depth.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari visited to inspect ongoing work at the port in company of some Governors, Heads of government parastatals and other key stakeholders. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Afonne

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) says 1,500 graduates of its law programme are currently studying in campuses of the Nigerian Law School (NLS).

NOUN Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, disclosed this at news conference heralding the 11th convocation of the institution scheduled to hold on March 26 in Abuja.

Peters said that the relationship between the management of the NLS and NOUN made the admission possible.

The law school was not sure of the kind of graduates we are producing and the idea is for them to try us first.

They have found us to be extremely competent because the people that we produced are of good quality.

According to Peters, 48 out of the universitys 107 study centres will be used to beam the convocation to enable graduating students outside Abuja to be part of it.

He said that 22,250 students would be graduating on that day, out of which 16,681 are undergraduates, while 5,569 are postgraduate students.

Peters said the convocation was an indication that the institution was fulfilling its mandate.

We have about 500,000 students in the nominal roll but about 130,000 are active students.

The vice chancellor disclosed that 25 inmates of the Nigeria Correctional Centre would be graduating, with one of them bagging a Masters.

These inmates are sponsored free by the university. This is our own corporate social responsibility. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News

By Kelechi Ogunleye

Tourism Plus Nigeria, a private tourist organisation, has advocated practice of domestic tourism in Nigeria to promote her cultural heritage.

Founder of the organisation, Mr Kayode Adeshola, said this on Tuesday, in Abuja, during the Naija (Ibile) Tourism Summit, themed Nigerias Domestic Tourism Development: All Hands on Deck.

He said domestic tourism was a key component of human existence, especially in Nigeria, due to the countrys cultural diversity.

Domestic tourism will showcase Nigerias rich cultural heritage, art exhibitions, traditional cultural display and other outstanding activities, he said.

According to him, there are countless inhibitions deterring the growth and development of domestic tourism in Nigeria, which should be addressed and corrected.

He said it was important to also catch them young, by introducing children and young adults to the promotion of Nigerias culture.

Adeshola said his organisation alongside other major stakeholders, had already signed a Public-Private Partnership agreement with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture (FMIC) in 2021.

The private sector, as stakeholders of the tourism industry, possesses the technical prowess to derive domestic tourism.

It has therefore been the priority of the private sector to partner the Federal Government, in achieving grassroot development in key areas of economy; particularly the tourism sector, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organisation, also unveiled the Naija Ibile Tourism logo at the event.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Source: NAN News