President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his decision to retain cabinet ministers in the last three and half years in spite of pressures from some quarters was because of their unique skills, strengths and leadership qualities.

The president made this known during a valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.

He observed that the ministers, who exhibited spirit of team work, were more rational in taking decisions aimed at tackling the numerous challenges facing the country.

President Buhari described the cabinet members as “a reflection of the Nigeria we aspire to achieve.’’

“You will recall that when we started this journey, our country was facing numerous challenges.

“We inherited a broken economy which eventually went into recession in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2016. The situation was further compounded by insecurity and massive corruption.

“Many would have given up. Indeed, many outside commentators said our situation was well nigh hopeless. However, we all came together and pushed forward to deliver our campaign promise to rescue our country from its parlous state.

“Although we all had a common vision, we frequently had heated debates in this room on the best way to achieve our goals. These differing views are what made the decisions we took all the more rational.

“It is this quality that made me retain my cabinet for the full term. Each of you in this room has a unique skill and strength.

“We are a reflection of the Nigeria we aspire to achieve – A diverse but tolerant nation where no one is silenced and where every opinion should be heard and considered.’’

President Buhari, who thanked the ministers for agreeing to serve the nation, urged them to be happy for contributing their quota in various ways to the development of the nation.

`I want you all to leave this meeting proud to have served your nation to the best of your ability.

“You should be proud to have been part of the government that liberated the local governments previously under Boko Haram rule.

“You should be proud to have contributed to our food security and economic diversification agenda which led to the revival of our rural agrarian economy

“You should be proud to have been part of the team that developed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which led Nigeria exiting its worst recession in decades.

“You should be proud to have introduced the social investment programme that enhanced livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.

“You should be proud to have participated in settling outstanding pensions of many senior citizens abandoned by previous governments while supporting state governments to meet their salary arrears.

“And of course, you should all be proud to have overseen the most ambitious road, rail and airport rehabilitation programmes in the history of our country,’’ the president added.

According to the president, the ministers’ achievements within the period had guaranteed their position in the history books of the nation.

He maintained that the ministers had succeeded in building the foundations for an improved economy and a more purposeful government.

The president, therefore, directed all ministers to remain in office until May 28.

“Although today is our last council meeting, I expect all of you to continue working until Tuesday, May 28, 2019 when you will officially hand over your schedules to your respective Permanent Secretaries.

“Your handing over letters should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,’’ he said.

In his remarks, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo thanked President Buhari for trusting him with various responsibilities, especially when he acted as president.

He said “My deepest gratitude comes from the great trust that you reposed in me at all times.

“I will never forget when you were going on medical leave in May 2017 and you said to me in the course of conversation that evening that you would not meddle in my discretion as acting President in anyway.

“And in keeping with your character and style you kept your words.’’

Earlier, the ministers, who took turns to recount their experiences lauded President Buhari’s humility, integrity and hard work.

They expressed appreciation for his kind gesture and pledged to do more for the country when called upon to serve the nation.

The president and the out-going ministers later had a group photograph, as the cabinet members prepare to bow out of office on May 28.

*NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed all outgoing ministers to handover their portfolios on the 28th of May, 2019.

He gave the directed during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) valedictory session at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that the valedictory FEC meeting was the last for the outgoing cabinet before the inauguration of his second term on the 29th of May,

He added that they should continue working in their capacity till Tuesday 28th of May, 2019.

Handover notes, he said, should be submitted to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

All the 31 ministers in the Council chamber took turns to thank the President for finding them worthy of the appointment in the past three and half years.

Source: NAN

Appeal Court President Justice Zainadine Bulkachuwa recuses herself from 2019 Presidential Election Tribunal. (NAN)

More details later

Source: NAN

By Yashim Katurak

The World Health Organisation (WHO), says Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) initiative has helped to protect 94.9 per cent infants exposed to HIV by their mothers in Nigeria.

The organisation said this in a statement signed by the WHO Nigeria Officer-in-Charge (OiC), Dr Clement Peter, in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that the initiative was established by the organisation, donors and partners.

Peter said the body achieved this by providing technical support, evidence-based guidance and recommendations to the Federal Government to help eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV and syphilis in the country.

He said that the organisation had also through the initiative, built the capacity of government to offer quality HIV service delivery.

The WHO Officer-in-Charge, said that the PMTCT initiative was established to help address growing HIV statistics of infants in the country.

He said that the figure obtained from the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) indicated that Nigeria had more HIV-infected babies than any country in the world.

In 2016, Nigeria accounted for 37,000 of the worlds 160,000 new cases of babies born with HIV.

However, since 2017, an estimated 94.9 per cent of infants exposed to HIV by their mothers have been saved from infection through the implementation of the PMTCT intervention under the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infection Control Programme (NASCP).

Across the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory, there are currently a total of 6,301 PMTCT sites.

WHO Nigeria in March donated a vehicle and refurbished NASCP offices towards strengthening the re-established National Treatment and PMTCT which was launched in Feb. 2018.

First introduced in 2001 in Nigeria, the overall goal of the PMTCT is to contribute to the reduction of HIV and AIDS incidences.

The PMTCT aims at ensuring at least 95 per cent of all HIV positive pregnant women and HIV exposed infants have access to effective antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis by 2021, Peter said.

He said PMTCT also aimed at ensuring at least 80 per cent of HIV positive pregnant women had access to quality infant feeding counselling and 95 per cent HIV exposed infants had access to Early Infant Diagnosis (EID).

Peter promised that the organisation would continue to support the Nigerian government to end the spread of HIV and promote person-centred HIV service delivery as a way to improve service efficiency and impact.

The statement quoted the NACA Director General, Dr Sani Aliyu as saying Through the PMTCT intervention, prevention of HIV from mother to child has definitely increased.

However, we still have a large chunk of women who do not go to primary health care facilities to deliver.

Aliyu said that poverty played a major role in this stating that the only way to address the problem was to engage traditional birth attendants.

The NACA director general said that there was also the need to train them in HIV testing, provide them with self-test kits and give them incentives to bring HIV positive women to primary healthcare centres for proper attention.

Source: NAN

By Ijeoma Olorunfemi

Alex Ekwueme Federal Univeristy, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo (AE-FUNAI) in Ebonyi has urged
tertiary institutions, scientists and researchers to use its facility for characterisation research.

The institutions Dean of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Onuegbu Ugwu, made the call on Tuesday in an interview with
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Characterisation refers to the broad and general process by which a materials structure and properties are probed and measured.

It is a fundamental process in the field of materials science, without which no scientific understanding of engineering materials can be ascertained.

Ugwu recalled that the school acquired the characterisation equipment in February through the intervention of the National Office for
Technology Acquisition and Promotion, in collaboration with PZ and supported by Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

The equipment included Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, Fourier Infrared Spectroscopy and Ultra Violet Visible Spectroscopy.

He said just like most tertiary institutions in some countries and in Nigeria in particular, most times we lack critical infrastructure
needed for research and it affects universities in performing state-of-the-art research.

At the moment, such equipment exists only in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State and that means researchers from
other parts of the country must travel to Kaduna State to conduct research.

With this intervention however, it places us in good position to conduct research and to make it available to our colleagues in
other institutions around us because it has universal application.

The facilities are major equipment that will boost capacity building and compete with any of such equipment from any part of the world.

The dean commended NOTAP and PZ for the support, saying the institution needed more collaboration from industry operators and the
academia to bridge the gap between them.

Research collaboration between universities and the academia is to make sure that universities provide relevant findings to
industrial needs and also for the industry to support the university system in that process, he added.

Source: NAN

About

This is a meetup for building data science competence and networking for budding, aspiring and professional data scientists on the island in Lagos, Nigeria. If you are interested in growing your data science competence and networking with other data scientist - aspiring and practitioners or you live on the island or can make it to the meetings then lets come together and grow our data science career together.

Why Lekki? Lekki is just a way of saying the meetup venue would be on the Island, Lagos. The island also deserves a meetup group around emerging technologies just like we have on the mainland (great job mainlanders). One reason - to facilitate participation and networking.

Commenced: Monday March 6 2017

Member Strength: 1596

Meetup City: Lagos

Join Mode: open

Open To: public

Web Address:

Organizer: Adebayo Aderibigbe

Source: Meetup

The 20th NIIT NIGERIA NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP is being announced to provide Scholarship assistance to deserving and meritorious students across various disciplines – School Leavers, Under Graduates, Graduates [Unemployed, Under-Employed], Individuals desirous of enhancing their technical skill-sets and students in general who aspire to know about I.T. and career in I.T. The offer is to enable them realize their dream of a successful career in the field of Information Technology and related Industries.

For the first time on the occasion of 20th Scholarship NIIT is offering 100 % Free scholarship to 20 Digital Star of Nigeria.

NIIT Scholarship Objectives.

• To Attract, Reward and Retain the Meritorious and Deserving Students to Supply to the IT-Industry

• Facilitate the “achievement” oriented and ambitious with the scholarship towards IT careers

• Offer Courses from NIIT Product Portfolio that have greater job opportunities

The 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP from NIIT WILL GIVE YOUR LIFE A NEW COURSE, TO FLY HIGH.

Why NIIT Scholarship?

• The 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP is designed to encourage students to take up NIIT program with deserving scholarships.

• However, it also recognizes aptitude of the student as a key attribute through the 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP test performance in the award of scholarship.

• The 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP will be awarded on the basis of Merit Ranking arrived at using the score of 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP exam.

Eligibility Criteria

Want to find out if your eligible? All the candidates that falls within the under-listed classification are eligible to apply:

• “O” Level / “A” Level Certification

• School Leavers

• Undergraduates (those pursuing Graduation)

• Graduates
  a. Individual Professionals who are working and seek Re-skilling programs,
  b. Un-employed
  c. Under-employed Graduates

• and Entrepreneurs

NIIT Scholarship Examination Date.

NATIONAL LEVEL (NIGERIA): 13th July 2019, Saturday [across multiple venues across Nigeria]

Check: NIIT Nigeria Scholarship Examination Sample Question.

In order to appear for the examination, the Candidates is required to follow the 3 Simple Steps:

• Submit the Completed Application Form

• Collect the Hall Ticket

• Appear for the Scholarship Exam as per the specified date given above.

Method of Application

Applications for 20th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP is currently on. Follow the link below to apply:

APPLY HERE

OFFICIAL LINK

NOTE:

• Last Date for 19th NIIT NIGERIA SCHOLARSHIP Application is 12th July 2019

• Application form is FREE

• Every piece of information on the Application form has to be filled in completely and accurately.

The University College London, UK is offering the International Bursary to Interested applicants who are willing to study for a degree program at the Institution.

The university will continue to fund students throughout the duration of their studies with 2,500, 1,500, 1,000, and 500 according to candidates household income.

Eligible Countries:UK & EU

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: To be eligible, applicants must have to be domiciled in the UK/EU, in their first year of study, and have a household income of less than £42,875.

Application Process: Applicants are suggested to register themselves in an undergraduate degree college at UCL and then complete the student finance section for this grant.

Visit The Official Website For More Information

Application Deadline: July 5, 2019

The University of Sussex UK is offering theCate Haste Award Scholarships to Individuals interested in pursuing a degree program at the Institution.

This scholarship programaims to support those high potential applicants from any nationality who wants to complete their studies but cannot able to complete because of the financial problems.

Eligible Countries:International

Type:Masters

Value Of Scholarships:Only one aspirant will be awarded 3,000 as a tuition fee reduction for this course.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be International Students
• Applicants mustneed to show their English language ability by taking IELTS or TOEFL test.
• Applicants must have accepted an offer to study either Contemporary History MA or Intellectual History MA at the University of Sussex, commencing in 2019.

Application Process: Click Here To Apply

Visit The Scholarship Webpage For More Information

Scholarship Application Deadline:July 1, 2019

Source: Scholarships And Aid

Graduate Award for the US Citizen At Fulbright-Tampere University in Finland

The Finland foundation and the university are working together on this award to support students from the USA who wish to complete a masters degree program in Finland.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Countries:The competition is open only for the citizens of the U.S.
• Acceptable Course or Subjects: Activated to pursue a masters degree program at the university.
• Admissible Criteria: Must not hold any other award from any other university in Finland.

Method of Application:Applicants must have to be a part of a masters degree course and then complete the online application form for the grant.

• Supporting Documents:No supporting documents are asked right now but it can be asked by the university at the time of admission.
• Admission Requirements:A bachelors degree is essential for this course.
• Language Requirement:Students must have very good proficiency in the English language to study this program.

Benefits:This bursary will give a monthly grant of 1000 and also provides for travel as well as cover the annual tuition fee maximum of 12 000.

Scholarship Application Deadline:October 8, 2019

Source: Scholarships And Aid