North-East Nigeria: Japan votes N750m on UNICEF for life-saving emergency interventions

ITRealms:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today received a vote worth US $ 3.4 million (about N750 million) for Integrated Provision of Life-Saving Emergency Interventions for Vulnerable Populations in the north east part of Nigeria, from the Government of Japan, ITRealms reports.

The grant, ITRealms also reports, will be used for interventions focused on the Internally Displaced Persons and conflict affected populations in the north east of Nigeria in the sectors of Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health, Nutrition, Child Protection and Education.

ITRealms recalls that the conflict in the north east of Nigeria especially in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa has caused large scale human suffering for the populations in the areas especially children and women. The conflict has triggered major population movements and the number of IDPs in the north east has almost doubled in less than a year, from an estimated 647,000 in May 2014 to what International Office of Migration reports is now around 1.2 million.  Children make up about 56 per cent of those who have been internally displaced, with over half of them being five-years or younger. 

 “This grant is timely and will further boost the work UNICEF is doing in the northeast. It will make a significant lifesaving contribution to alleviate the suffering of the affected populations in the northeast especially children and women” said the Officer in charge UNICEF in Nigeria Mr. Samuel Momanyi.

Since 2000, the Government of Japan has been a major donor to UNICEF supporting interventions in child survival, prevention of infectious diseases in children and emergency interventions in Nigeria, through the UNICEF/Federal Government of Nigeria Programme of Cooperation.

“I earnestly hope that this grant aid will bring humanitarian assistance to the affected populations, especially children in the northeast of Nigeria” said Mr. Masaya Otsuka, Chargés d’Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria.

He also stressed the fact that the Government of Japan will continue to cooperate with the people and Government of Nigeria and the international community to mitigate the conflict through nonmilitary assistance, and to support Nigerian people affected by the conflict.

  +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)
ITREALMS ... delivering news for development

Pix: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Microsoft Nigeria unveils Cloudprenuer academy, application opens

ITRealms

Microsoft Nigeria has unveiled Cloudpreneur, a startup academy with ISO 27018 Cloud Privacy Certification, even as the applications for the Cloudpreneur Project opens today, Friday 20th of March through Sunday 19th of April 2015, ITRealms.

These were disclosed at a media parley in Lagos by officials of Microsoft Nigeria, noting, there are more than 4 million youths that are out of school and jobless, hence the company wants to assist them using cloud technology to make them Microsoft cloud marketers, with support from Faith Foundation and Maramentors. 

Kabelo Makwane, Managing Director of Microsoft Nigeria informed ITRealms that at the end of the project, the 20 best performing participants will receive mentorship to manage their own profitable businesses based on Cloud technology.

“Microsoft is committed to improving youth skills for both entrepreneurship and employability across Africa. Our efforts in Nigeria started with the launch of the Employability Portal in 2013, which provides a platform for youth to learn leadership skills and network with other leaders. Now through the Cloudpreneur Project, we hope to enable and empower young business owners, so that they can contribute to the social and economic growth of Nigeria,” he said.

The Project, he explained will be open to 1,000 applicants who have been in business for 1 – 3 years. From these applications, 100 successful participants will be chosen. These participants will receive a four-week long training on business management, including training on: sales, technology, entrepreneurship, marketing, communication and start-ups management. Following this, 30 of these 100 participants will be provided with startup models and, finally, the top 20 performers will be mentored on how to build their own Cloud-based business.

“Cloud technology has the potential to transform competitiveness amongst startups and SMEs, which is why we’re encouraging adoption of the Cloud through this Project,” adds Kabelo. “It delivers easier access to IT, slashes costs, improves productivity and enables more agile, innovative business models, where everything startups need can be accessed and done on the web anywhere, anytime and off any device.”

The Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Habiba Balogun said “Fate Foundation is delighted to partner and support Microsoft in its Cloudpreneur initiative which aims to empower entrepreneurs in the Tech-related business to not only improve and hone their skills and knowledge via an intensive training under the assured guidance of Microsoft but also to be equipped to run successful businesses and create employment via Fate Foundation's proven Entrepreneurship Training. Technological Innovation translated into economic activity is the future for Nigeria and we commend Microsoft for being part of enabling wealth creation in Nigeria.” She said. 

A similar initiative, known as the Cloud Startup Academy, was launched by Microsoft, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Morocco (AFEM) and INWI in Morocco in June 2014. The Academy takes 50 Moroccan women through a six-month programme, where they receive accelerated training on the Cloud to help them launched Cloud-based solutions. While the Academy is open only to women – particularly young graduates and job seekers – the Cloudpreneur Project is open to both male and female startups across Nigeria.

“Mara Mentor is proud to bring our expertise in entrepreneurship support and mentorship to the Cloudpreneurs Project,” says Hetal Shah, Director of Operations at Mara. “As an initiative focused on enabling, empowering and inspiring entrepreneurs, we believe this is an opportunity for young Nigerians in technology to get the training, support, and mentorship needed to build or grow cloud-based businesses.” 

“It is pertinent that young people embrace the culture entrepreneurship in line with global trends, and with increasing wave of cloud computing, Mara Mentor is happy to partner with Microsoft to empower cloud-based entrepreneurs and their ideas,” he adds.

Correspondent/GEE   

 

ITREALMS ... delivering news for development

Naija AgroNet: 2.5m Nigerians now have access to safe water in ru...

Naija AgroNet: 2.5m Nigerians now have access to safe water in ru...: NaijaAgroNet : Estimated 2.3 billion Nigerians now have access to enhanced drinking water since 1990, according to the United Nat... ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Twitter marks 9th birthday with 288m monthly active users

ITRealms:

Imagine how time flies that today March 20^th 2015 is the 9^th anniversary of Twitter as it garners over 288 million monthly active users, reports ITRealms.

For the management of Twitter, “we continue to say that Twitter is what it is because of the people who use it.”

After all, they insisted that “it’s because of you that we have product features” like hashtags and best practices such as live-Tweeting. Today, these are deeply rooted elements of Twitter and part of mainstream cultural vernacular.

According to Twitter officials, “today, we look back at some of the landmark moments you’ve created – moments that define our history, and perhaps yours.”

ITRealms, gathered that starting in 2006 when co-founder Jack Dorsey made his first Tweet, when the platform was simply called “Twttr” to the population of the hashtag which helps in aggregation of similar topic or event as proposed by Chris Messina, to role escalation during the French magazine @Charlie_Hebdo campaign to name a few.

Twitter, ITRealms recalls has become a global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time. 

By developing a fundamentally new way for people to consume, create, distribute and discover content, Twitter enables any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered. The service can be accessed at Twitter.com, via Twitter mobile applications for a variety of devices, and by text message. 

“Available in more than 35 languages, Twitter has over 288 million monthly active users,” official revealed.

 
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 
ITREALMS ... delivering news for development

Non-endorsement of Child Rights Act by Enugu State worries online publishers

ITRealms:

The inability to sign the Child Rights Act into Law in Enugu State took a front row Thursday at the commencement of a two-day media dialogue with stakeholders in the coal city capital, Enugu, ITRealms reports.

This revelation came on stream at the two-day media dialogue organized by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for online editors as part of efforts to mainstream child rights in web-based news item at Tuscana Hotel, Independence Avenue, Enugu.

According to the UNICEF Communication Specialist for Media and External Relations, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, 23 out of the 36 States respectively, while Enugu State remain the only proverbial black-leg in the southern part of the country as its yet to endorse the Child Rights Act into law in the state.

ITRealms notes that the Child Rights Act was signed into existence by the President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of November 20, 1989, while it entered into force on September 2, 1990 in accordance with Article 49, whereas it has been ratified by some 193 countries.

Mr. Njoku also said that the Child Rights Act has largely not been endorsed by northern states with exception of Jigawa, which retracted it after signing the CRA into law with the excuse for further fine-tuning.

He also called on Civil Society-based organisations to join forces with the forth estate members like the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) to create relevant awareness to enable states to embrace the CRA and sign same into laws.

Mr. Njoku explained that why UNICEF and CRIB decided to bring media online stakeholders together includes sensitizing online journalists and editors on the contents of the convention on the rights of the child and the child's rights Act 2003.

In addition to establishing partnership with the online media practitioners on child rights media advocacy initiatives, Njoku the dialogue would throw-up some development story angles.

He expressed that expected outcome include that the partnership established this crop of media practitioners would pave the way for them to have knowledge on child rights, thus becoming advocates of child rights using their platforms.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 

ITREALMS ... delivering news for development

Apple iStore, Uber joint free iPhone 6 offer, plus free ride

ITRealms:

Home of everything Apple in Nigeria, the Apple iStore at Ikeja Mall has formed a strategic partnership with mobile taxi App Uber, to give away the iPhone 6 throughout the month of March, reports ITRealms.

Tagged "A Match made Heaven", ITRealms reports that the offer allows any customer to sign up for Uber by downloading the Uber App on iPhone to receive two 2 Uber rides with ₦2000 credit and finally stand a chance in 1 out of 5 lucky customers to win an iPhone 6.

“This initiative is exclusive for iPhone users. The  iPhone Uber app is already redefining Lagos transportation by providing the most efficient way to request a safe, reliable, convenient and affordable ride within minutes, right on the palm of your hand,” officials revealed to ITRealms.

Equally, ITRealms gathered that the uniqueness of iOS operating system on an iPhone allows smooth surfing of the Internet and connects faster on preferred networks. It gives maximum performance, security and reliability while on Uber app.

“This unique mobile is embedded with full web browser that is highly efficient and powerful in accessing latest data, while also connecting Uber cab,” official explained in a press statement made available to ITRealms.

In addition, ITRealms reports that with upgraded version on iPhone 6, Uber easily links the user with a private driver at the tap of a button. It fast tracks driver request any time, using the Uber iPhone app and tracking the arrival of preferred ride with cashless payments and to finalize the process. The user will receive an authenticity message at the arrival of the driver. Uber, is affordable and more convenient than a local car service as customers experience stress free routed service.

ITRealms recalls that Uber is the mobile App that connects you with a private driver at the tap of a button. Once the request for a driver is made, the exact arrival of the car can be tracked on the clients' iPhone. Payment is also cashless and a confirmation text is sent immediately once the driver arrives. 

To participate in this special offer, ITRealms reports, all the customer has to do is to click log on to iStoreLagos to create account with promo code iStoreLagos.

Once the account is created, and the free Uber app downloaded, from the iPhone App Store, the user is all ready to go Request a ride, sit back and relax. At the given customer destination, if there is an additional cost above the ₦2000 bonus credit per ride, Uber charges user card on file and emails a receipt instantly.

 Core Group Africa, the official Value Adding Distributor and dedicated full-service brand custodians for Apple in Nigeria and sub- Saharan Africa encourages Nigerians to buy genuine Apple products through its Apple iStore in Ikeja mall and its other official partner channels. That way, customers can enjoy product security, total quality assurance, two-year warranty, world class after sales support from well trained personnel, product set up and education, speedy access to accessories and phone hard wares, as well as complete peace of mind.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +iStore.ua - Apple Premium Reseller в Украине +Apple Apple I am Apple +Apple iFans 

ITREALMS ... delivering news for development