NNPC, SPDC lift Borno flood victims with US$1m - ITREALMS

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The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC JV) - Operator of the NNPC Limited, SPDC, TotalEnergies and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Joint Venture– has, announced the donation of US$1 million to support efforts to provide relief to over half a million people displaced in flood impacted communities of Borno State.

“The donation will go into the procurement and distribution of relief materials and medical supplies for displaced residents who are now in urgent need of critical aid,” said Managing Director, SPDC, and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, adding that a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), local to the region with understanding of working with displaced people, will manage the distribution of the materials in collaboration with the Borno State Emergency Management Agency.

Borno Flood Disaster: Akpabio applauds Tinubu’s swift response - ITREALMS

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The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for his timely intervention in the deadly floods that affected Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State and other states as a result of devastating rainfall that occasioned the over flow from the Alau Dam.

Akpabio gave the applause in Government House, Maiduguri during the President's condolence visit to Borno State and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garba Al Amin El-Kanemi.

Borno: Aliko Dangote Foundation donates N1bn to Maiduguri Flood Victims

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...Presidential Committee on Flooding also donates N1bn

Chairman of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) and Chairman, National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr. Aliko Dangote, has donated a whopping sum of one billion Naira to help assuage the pains of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State.

The Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation (PCFRR), which Dangote heads, also donated another sum of one billion naira to the cause, to help the Maiduguri victims of the flooding.

‘A peak at Borno: A visual journal’

Commentary@ITRealms:

At the foot of the Borno International Hotel, a symbol among many of the destruction caused by the insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, stood another symbol; 2600 internally displaced persons, male and female all lined up. However, instead of looking grim and sad as we have seen many times on the news, they were smiling and mostly dressed pleasantly.

But suffering on this scale cannot be hidden. It was behind the smiles, behind the moment of brief relief, just beneath the surface, in the unheard voices there was something or someone missing. This scourge had cost them their homes, the lives of those dear to them, their dignity, their sanity. This was a happy day in a sad life.

The lines were endless and the sun was relentless. But not as relentless as these faces; the faces of the people whose homes were taken in a war that showed the worst of humanity. A war where both sides are unforgivable and consequences that will last for generations.

My father used to tell me about oil tankers in Scotland, how they start pressing the brakes 8 kilometres before the port. Every major crash in our lives, in civilisation did not just start out of nowhere, it started long before it hit.

So what characteristics of our culture, our environment, our mindset, our religion could have led to this? Is it poverty, faith, ignorance, injustice? What about us needs to be reassessed to avoid this from ever repeating itself?

The Likeminds Project Team and Volunteers, sponsored by the Dangote Foundation

Will it take some like minds to turn the tide? Will humanity and all that is good heal these wounds that have dug so deep? I believe they will, and time will be the doctor. But we are the medicine, and that is why we must use our shared humanity to show that suffering is nothing, and love is everything.

My Peak at Borno has given me a broader perspective on the things we take for granted, most especially this life. My Peak at Borno DID NOT show me people who were beat down, but a noble, dignified people, desperately trying to close a chapter of there story; to start again, to smile gain, to be free again, to be the home of peace again.

But it will take all of us, and it will not be easy. However, I refuse to believe that Borno can be taken down for good, I refuse to believe that Nigeria can be taken down at all. The people of Borno themselves inspired me to write this, I hope it inspires you to help. 

Dangote Foundation, The Likeminds Project and various development partners have opened the doors, each of us should do our bit to walk through.

There is hope for Borno, there is hope for the Northeast, there is hope for Nigeria, there is hope for the world and that hope is you and I.

***

Contributed by Hamza Ajijola ; twitter @hamza_a_g ; instagram @life_of_the_lens; Facebook: Hamza Ajijola; email; haajijola@gmail.com

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Pix: a cross section

Etisalat boosts primary education in North East with kits

ITRealms:

In efforts towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education in the country, Etisalat Nigeria, has partnered with a non-governmental organisation, Abuja Global Shapers Community and the Governments of North-Eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to provide free educational support to primary school pupils in the states, reports ITRealms.

The initiative tagged, “Community School Support Programme (CSSP)” features donation of Back-to-School kits, including school uniforms and bags, to pupils drawn from 10 primary schools in the states.

This, ITRealms gathered, is part of the company’s multi-faceted CSR programme that is committed to giving value to communities through various intervention programmes covering education, health, among others.

The benefiting schools are Yerwa Practising Primary School, Abbaganaram Primary School and Bulumkutu Primary School all in Borno State; Katuzu Community School, Gashua, Central Primary School, Potiskum and Lawan Kawuri Primary School, Geidam, all in Yobe State; and, Wuro Hausa Primary School, Yola Town, Community School, Demsa and Tudun Wada Primary School, Mayo Belwa in Adamawa State.

Speaking at the formal presentation of the kits to these schools in Maiduguri, Borno state on Monday, the Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko, said the partnership is intended to enhance ongoing efforts aimed at making basic education available and sustainable.

Mr. Dikko, who was represented by the company’s Head, Government and Community Relations, Mohammed Suleh-Yusuf, reiterated the commitment of the telecommunications giant to sustainable development initiatives that impact on the wellbeing of the populace across various sectors.

“Etisalat Nigeria is committed to delivering sustainable community support programmes that will complement public services and extend benefits to the grassroots across Nigeria. We are proud to be able to contribute positively to achieving the objective of improving our partner states especially in the area of Education. We will continue to collaborate to move the states and indeed the nation forward,” he assured.

Also speaking, the Borno State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Musa Inuwa Kobo represented by the Permanent Secretary, Borno State Ministry of Education, commended Etisalat for pursuing causes that serve the interest of the societies in which it operates. He identified investment in education as one fundamental way to secure a progressive future while advancing the cause of the larger society.

“Today, if we are not mindful of the education sector, tomorrow, we will have incompetent lawyers and as a result, people will lose their liberty, we are going to have incompetent doctors, and as a result, people will lose their lives, we are going to have incompetent engineers  and as result, bridges will collapse, roads will fail. If we are to be called a civilized society, we should take time and make sacrifices for the future. This is the lesson Etisalat is teaching us. Etisalat as a corporate organisation is mindful of its social responsibility,” he said.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Pix: (L-R) Head, Government and Community Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Mohammed Suley-Yusuf; Permanent Secretary, Borno State Ministry of Education and Member, Borno State Education Board, Engr. Mohammed Gamboni presenting to a pupil of Yerwa Practising Primary School, Borno, one of the Back-to-School kits donated by Etisalat Nigeria in Maiduguri on Monday.

Buhari appoints Lawal SGF, five others, sidelines South East

ITRealms

The Nigerian President, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rted) Thursday, appointed Babachir David Lawal, from Adamawa State, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Abba Kyari, from Borno, as his Chief of Staff, reports ITRealms.

Other appointments include Hameed Ali, a retired colonel, as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, interestingly overlooking competent career customs official as not suitable enough for the post.

He also named Kure Martin Abeshi as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Messrs. Ali and Abeshi are from Kano and Nasarawa states respectively.

ITRealms gathered that a former Senator, Ita Enang, from Akwa Ibom was appointed senior special assistant to the president on Senate affairs, while Suleiman Kawu of Kano, who is a former House of Representatives member, was named the president’s senior special assistant on House of Representatives.

In all, the six officials brought to 29 the total number of key staffers who will man the economy from energy, defense to other important sectors of governance for an administration that is already 100-day old.

The appointments made by the president so far have been adjudged lopsided as no single person from the South East of Igbo extraction has been found worthy to be part of Buhari’s administration, reports
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