ELP: FG, Nokia enter MoU to train 200 students - ITREALMS

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The Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria has advanced plans to set up an Entrepreneur Learning Programme (ELP) to deliver high-quality vocational trainings to some 200 Nigerian students, reports ITREALMS.

The selected students will come from across the six geo political zones of of the country.

Financial Literacy: NNPC Foundation trains over 200,000 youths corps members - ITREALMS

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In its bid to build the capacity of youth towards making them employers of labour, the NNPC Foundation, in partnership with Kudimata Nigeria Limited, a financial education outfit, have trained the Batch C members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in basic financial literacy skills.

The training, which aligned with the objectives of Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) scheme of NYSC had its maiden edition featuring Batch B stream in the past months. So far over 118,000 youth corps members have been trained in financial literacy, while about 70,000 are being trained across the 37 NYSC orientation camps in the country.

New Year babies: Nigeria, eight other countries record 200,390 newborns

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Estimated 200,390 babies were reportedly born on the 2018 New Year’s day globally, reports ITRealms.

The Acting Representative of UNICEF Nigeria, Mr. Terry Durnnian, made this disclosure to ITRealms, saying that the record represents some nine countries under surveillance, just as UNICEF urges nations around the world to ensure the newborns survive their first days of life.

UNICEF pointed out that Kiribati’s Christmas Island, a small island in the Pacific, welcomed 2018’s first baby while the United States, was the last.

Over half of these births, UNICEF noted are estimated to take place in nine countries comprising Nigeria -20,210; India - 69,070, China — 44,760, Pakistan — 14,910, Indonesia — 13,370, United States of America — 11,280, Democratic Republic of Congo — 9,400, Ethiopia — 9,020 and Bangladesh — 8,370.

While many babies will survive, some will not make it past their first day. In 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died every day of the year, on the day they were born. For almost 2 million newborns, their first week was also their last. In all, 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month. Among those children, more than 80 per cent of all newborn deaths are due to preventable and treatable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

 “This New Year, UNICEF’s global resolution is to help give every child more than an hour, more than a day, more than a month - more than survival. We call on the government and partners to join the fight to save the lives of millions children by providing proven, low-cost solutions,” he said.

Over the past two decades, the world has seen unprecedented progress in child survival, halving the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday to 5.6 million in 2016. But despite these advances, there has been slower progress for newborns. Babies dying in the first month account for 46 per cent of all deaths among children under five.

Further, ITRealms reports that next month, UNICEF will launch Every Child Alive, a global campaign to demand and deliver affordable, quality health care solutions for every mother and newborn. These include a steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, the presence of a skilled health attendant during birth, disinfecting the umbilical cord, breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, and skin-to-skin contact between the mother and child.

 “We are now entering the era when the entire world’s newborns should have the opportunity to see the 22nd Century. Unfortunately, nearly half of the children born this year likely won’t. A child born in Sweden in January 2018 is most likely to live to 2100, while a child from Nigeria would be unlikely to live beyond year 2072,” Durnnian said.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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INEC says over 200,000 Permanent Voters Card ready for collection

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The Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that over 200,000 Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) is now ready for collection across the country, reports ITRealms.

The National Commissioner in-charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC) at INEC, Prince Soyebi Adedeji Solomon made this revelation during a session on Focus Nigeria, a programme of African Independent Television (AIT) monitored in Lagos.

According to him, the completed Permanent Voters Cards are being dispatched to various state headquarters and would be ready for collection by next week.

He insisted that INEC does not distribute voter’s cards to individuals, and advised eligible Nigerians to visit the nearest centre or local government headquarters to collect their permanent voters card.

This, he said, is an ongoing exercise across the country, adding that those who have relocated from where they were when the registration took place, should update their records with INEC office so as to enable them get viable PVC they can use at their current location.

Prince Soyebi further cautioned that double registration is an office before the law and advised people to desist from such act.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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NCAC, BoI deal targets 200,000 Jobs – Minister

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and the Bank of Industry (BoI), which makes available 300 million Naira loan for stakeholders in the Creative Industry, will create 200,000 jobs in the sector, reports ITRealms.

Speaking in Abuja on Friday when the Director General of the Council, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, presented to him the MoU, which was signed earlier in the day.

"I have been reliably informed that top on the list of the benefits that will accrue from this landmark MoU is that it will create over 200,000 jobs for the sector. This is epochal, and it is in line with one of the cardinal programmes of this administration, which is job creation and empowerment.

''The MoU will also act as a catalyst for the development of the country's craft industries, create a financing window and make available loanable funds to be accessed by all NCAC stakeholders, as well as assist the stakeholders in capacity building," he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the MoU will equally enhance the capacity of producers of cultural products and services to work towards attaining the standard of modern practice in the packaging of their cultural products, to enable them compete favourably at the global markets and earn the nation's Artists a decent living.

The Minister commended Otunba Runsewe for putting together ''this momentous event'' just a few days after assuming office as the NCAC DG, and also thanked the Acting MD of BoI, Mr Waheed Olagunju, for his support for the Creative Industry.

"As you may all be aware, one of the factors militating against the promotion of the Nigerian creative industries has been lack of access to funding for the Artists to develop their creative works as well as weak access to international markets, due to poor packaging and standard. I am therefore happy to say that with the signing of this MoU, Nigerian Artists can heave a sigh of relief," he said.

In his remarks, Otunba Runsewe described the MOU as a milestone in the creative sector, being the first time in history that the sector will access funds from a financial institution with a single digit interest rate.

"Today, we have come to make a history-making presentation to the Honourable Minister. Today happens to be a day that will create a change and we are going to tell our story the way it should have been told some few years ago," he said.

The NCAC DG acknowledged the leadership role of the Minister, particularly in leveraging on the unique potential of the Creative Industry to drive the diversification of the economy away from oil.

The Minister used the occasion to decorate some journalists with a special pin with the inscription: "Our Culture, Our Pride", as part of a conscious strategy to mobilise the media to promote the nation's creative industry.

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Pix: The Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, presenting a Memorandum of Understanding between the Council and the Bank of Industry to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja on Friday.