Nigeria Prize for Science 2025: No winner, but standards and hope endure by Remmy Nweke

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The 2025 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Science closed without a winner, as the Advisory Board and judges concluded that none of the 112 entries submitted met the rigorous benchmarks of excellence demanded by Africa’s most prestigious scientific award.

At a press conference in Lagos, Professor Barth Nnaji, Chairman of the Advisory Board, said the decision was not taken lightly but was necessary to protect the credibility of the Prize, which is sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG).

Afinni empowers 620 residents, reiterates commitment to renewed hope agenda - ITREALMS

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The lawmaker representing Lagos Island Constituency II at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Suleiman Olanrewaju Afinni, has distributed capital equipment to artisans and cash support of ₦50,000 each to some 500 petty traders in his constituency, reports ITREALMS.

This, ITREALMS gathered was in a move aimed at boosting small businesses and alleviating the economic hardship faced by residents.

Enugu Governor applauds FG’s Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme - ITREALMS

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The Executive Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has applauded the recently launched Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme of the Federal Government, an initiative designed to advance inclusive development across the 8,809 wards of the country.

Governor Mbah stated this when a Federal Government delegation on a Citizens’ Engagement tour of the South East, led by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, paid him a courtesy visit.

Tinubu The Audacity to Hope: One year after by Segun Adeleye - ITREALMS

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See how time flies!

It’s a year since that symbolical declaration in his inaugural speech “….that these things are within our proximate reach because my name is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I am the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

A lot can be said about the confidence that President Tinubu exuded, that everything he promised are within reach because of who he is.

NCC: A digital enabler of renewed hope agenda - ITREALMS

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In Nigeria, a young tech-savvy and upwardly mobile population is teeming, and exploring derivable benefits of digital technologies. They are propelled by rapidly expanding internet access and steady broadband penetration, currently about 43 per cent. Our digital economy is poised for significant growth, positively impacting various sectors and benefiting the nation through enhanced connectivity and digital skills.

Digital transformation is happening globally at a record pace. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, remote work and virtual collaboration tools took centre stage; platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet became—and still are—essential for meetings, conferences and team collaboration. E-commerce and online retail have transformed how consumers seamlessly order and receive goods and services.

Fighting terrorism in Nigeria: Hope for a safer future by Ahmed Mustapha - ITREALMS

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Three weeks ago, a high-level UN counter-terrorism summit in Abuja concluded that a new approach to fighting terrorism was needed across Africa.

As the head of one of Nigeria’s largest NGOs dealing with this problem, I strongly agree and hope that the conclusions of this meeting will herald new and exciting approaches to reducing the risk of more violence and its terrifying consequences for the people of this country and the continent of Africa.

Nigeria: May our renewed hope not become renewed captivity - ITREALMS

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Forces that have kept Nigeria in chains are stronger than the Prince of Persia that withheld Daniel's answers for 21 days.

Tell me how else to describe the frustration faced by candidates who seek redress in court after INEC had declared winners in an election fraught with bare-faced irregularities and deliberate manipulations?

‘My Konga.com experience shows there’s hope for Nigeria’ - ITREALMS

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At the height of the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I had been resident in the United States of America as a visiting researcher.

The opportunity, I must confess, opened my eyes to the power and relevance of e-commerce.

Dickson, hope for Nigeria says Ekweremadu

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The Deputy Senate President, ‎Chief Ike Ekweremadu on Saturday commissioned the interns and house officers’ quarters at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Bayelsa State built by the Governor Henry Seriake Dickson's administration, reports ITRealms.

Ekweremadu said he was delighted to be given the honour to commission the project‎, adding that every investment in the health sector were not a waste as it borders on the wellbeing of the people.

He thanked Dickson for using the resources of the state for the benefit of the people, saying with such landmark project in a federal institution, the governor is making a strong statement for democracy.

Ekweremadu asked visitors to the state, especially guests in the 74th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region) Executive Committee meeting to take the message to the world that democracy is indeed working in Bayelsa State.

“Today I feel happy and satisfied and let me say here that I am happy to be associated with Governor Dickson because he represents the hope for a New Nigeria. When I listened to the governor earlier and the health commissioner as well as the CMD I was close to shedding tears of joy. 

"Investments like this will reduce cases of infant and maternal mortality. God has raised Governor Dickson at this time to serve his people which he is doing and I congratulate you for this. You are changing the narrative of this state.

"No matter how disadvantaged Bayelsa is, geographical wise, you are not relenting to put it on the global map. Some of us are convinced that when we come here for any purpose and have any health challenge, we will be properly attended to" he said.

While congratulating the beneficiaries of the magnificent structure, Ekweremadu said the place of Dickson in history is already assured and urged him to continue in the current trajectory.

Earlier Governor Dickson stated that he saw the need to build the quarters despite its location in a federal establishment as it will on the long run serve the generality of Bayelsans which according to him is paramount.

Dickson used the opportunity to restate the commitment of his government to offer quality service to the people and stressed that the investment in the health sector has made it a prime destination for medical tourism.

In their separate remarks, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu and the Chief Medical Director of the FMC, Dr. Dennis Alagoa described the building of the quarters as a dream come true ‎and expressed appreciation to the governor.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Return of Chibok schoolgirl renews hope - HRW

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After more than two years, Amina Ali, one of the 276 schoolgirls Boko Haram fighters abducted from a Chibok school in a 2014 attack that sparked lasting international outrage, was found this week. She was reportedly identified by a member of a civilian vigilante group assisting Nigerian soldiers in the fight against Boko Haram.

Amina’s abduction with 275 other classmates from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, became the symbol of Boko Haram’s capture of at least 2000 women and children over the course of the seven-year long insurgency in northeast Nigeria sparking international outrage as voiced though the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag, started by local activists. Since their abduction on April 14, 2014, only 57 of the girls had managed to escape at various stages of being captured; 219 remained hostages.

Until three days ago:

Just as Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had boasted, Amina appeared to have been married (by force) and was found with her four-month-old child. The Nigerian army confirmed that a Boko Haram suspect found with her, Mohammed Hayatu, claimed to be her husband.

The return of one of the long missing girls is the best “proof of life,” and might provide the Nigerian authorities with some momentary relief from the unrelenting pressure they face over their failure to secure the girls’ return. That respite can only be temporary, however, not only because – despite the military’s claims of “rescuing” over 11,595 Boko Haram hostages – 218 of the Chibok girls remain missing, but also because of the challenges Amina and her baby will likely face.

While Amina may enjoy the same mental, medical, and educational support as her 57 classmates who escaped earlier, the length of her stay and the intensity of her experiences would require particular attention and treatment. The culture of silence, stigma, and shame around sexual abuse in the religiously conservative areas of northern Nigeria is likely to add to Amina’s trauma.

In 2014, Human Rights Watch documented the range of abuses Boko Haram abductees are subjected to in captivity, including forced conversion and forced marriage, as well as rape and other abuses. More recently, in an April 2016 report, Human Rights Watch cited an interview with a woman who saw 11 of the Chibok girls working at a hospital in Gwoza, Borno state. She said the girls had been forcibly married, with some either pregnant or with babies.

UNICEF and International Alert warned in a February 2016 report about the mistrust and persecution that women and girls who return from abduction with children face upon return to their communities.

The Nigerian authorities should intensify efforts to find the remaining missing girls, as President Muhammadu Buhari recently promised to do. But they should also take urgent steps to ensure that those who do return home find peaceful acceptance, support, and reintegration.


*Mausi Segun
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Lawson advises Nigerian youths to shun cultism

ITRealms:

The National Coordinator of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative (RNI), Chief Hope Rex Lawson has advised Nigerian youths to shun cultism and embrace peace in order to secure their future, reports ITRealms.

Lawson gave this advice, weekend, in an address to a youth gathering in Calabar, argued that cultism and other acts of violence are short cuts to destruction, even as he tasked them to be good ambassadors of their families.

“The menace of cultism is such that every young person must avoid. Cultism and other forms of violent activities are short cuts to destruction. I wonder why it is difficult for the young people to understand this. Government must also introduce programmes that will enable the repented cultists get rehabilitated,” Lawson said.

On the violent activities of Fulani herdsmen across the country, Lawson described it as unacceptable, the unprovoked attacks on innocent Nigerians and charged law enforcement agencies to rise to the challenge.

“The primary function of government is the protection of lives and property. It is unacceptable that any group, under whatever guise will wake up any day and begin to slaughter innocent people. Government must rise to the challenge before the situation gets out of hands. We need peace in this country and nobody, no matter the tribe or how highly placed has the right to take the law into their hands. Security agencies must increase their intelligence gathering capacity and ensure that all such evil attacks are nipped on the bud,” Lawson said.

He, however, urged the government to implement policies that will enhance the socio-economic wellbeing of the people, while charging the youths to be creative in order to survive the present economic reality.

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Pix: Rex Lawson