NNPC/Shell vision first outreach: Over 2,000 benefit @Lagos community - ITREALMS

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A recent outreach program organized by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) as part of their Vision First initiative has brought joy to over 2,000 individuals in a Lagos community, with many beneficiaries testifying to restored sight after receiving medical attention.

The five-day outreach, which took place in the Mushin Local Council Development Area, was the fourth in Lagos since the introduction of the Vision First initiative in 2022. During the program, a medical team performed 245 eye surgeries, including 198 cataract and 47 Pterygium surgeries. 

170 graduates benefit @Shell, partners internship scheme - ITREALMS

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Some 170 young graduates have benefitted from the NCDMB/PETAN/SPDC JV Graduate Internship programme, in which they were attached to indigenous technical oilfield service companies in the upstream and downstream sectors for hands-on experience.

Out of the 170, some 133 of the interns have been employed by the companies indicating the success of the programme as a talent pipeline for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

Over 300 youths benefit, NLNG begins Nigerian Content HCD trainings - ITREALMS

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NLNG, last week, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, kicked off its Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development (NC-HCD) Basic Training Programme for the NLNG Train 7 Project, a major NC programme aimed at reskilling young graduates and developing human capital.

A total of 331 young graduates from diverse academic disciplines who emerged successful out of 848 previously shortlisted from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content (NOGIC) Joint Qualification System (JQS) portal of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), are undergoing the 12-month programme.

Microsoft resellers to benefit from TD cross-border licensing - ITREALMS

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In a bid to unlock new growth and profitability opportunities for businesses of all sizes, TD Africa has pulled wraps off its fully automated Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) platform.

Through this innovative automated portal, Microsoft's indirect resellers can now resell Microsoft licenses in 47 African countries and enjoy security, profitability, increased productivity, collaboration, and flexibility, courtesy, TD Africa.

ICT centres: 2,500 Lagos pupils to benefit @Dangote Cement infrastructure rehabilitation - ITREALMS

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Estimated 2,500 Lagos pupils are to benefit from the Educational Support programme under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), of the Dangote Cement Plc, as they deploy Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centres, reports ITREALMS.

The company commissioned these centres at the weekend and handed over several multi-million naira rehabilitated educational infrastructure in Lagos Island, Lagos State.

ID4Inclusion: Trinidad and Tobago to benefit from UNCTAD supports - ITREALMS

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Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean country with over 1.5 million people, is about to launch its national digital identity system, reports ITREALMS.

The government-owned system, known as e-ID, will provide Trinidadians and Tobagonians with unique digital identifiers to enable digital signing and expand access to financial, education, health and private-sector services.

AfCFTA: Ajayi calls for full implementation to benefit all workers - ITREALMS

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The Chairman, Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Adeleye Ajayi has called for the full implementation of the AfCFTA that is beneficial to all and sundry, especially the workers, reports ITREALMS.

Ajayi made this call in his opening speech at a one –day workshop on Challenges of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) on Nigeria businesses at Lagos Airport on Tuesday.

Kyari: NNPC to stop running refineries, removal of subsidy to benefit ordinary Nigerians - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will soon stop its involvement in the management of the nation’s refineries after their rehabilitation, according to the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, reports ITREALMS.

He made this disclosure Wednesday during an interview on Arise TV breakfast programme, The Morning Show, saying that upon completion of the ongoing rehabilitation exercise, the services of a company world be procured to manage the plants on an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) basis.

“We are going to get an O&M contract, NNPC won’t run it. We are going to get a firm that will guarantee that this plant would run for some time. We want to try a different model of getting this refinery to run. And we are going to apply this process for the running of the other two refineries”, he stated.

He explained that the plan, ultimately, is to get private partners to invest in the refineries and get them to run on the NLNG model where the shareholders would be free to decide the fate of the refineries going forward.

Mallam Kyari was quoted in a press statement made available to ITREALMS by the NNPC Group Public Affairs Division, Group General Manager, Dr. Kennie Obateru, as saying that this model, which is totally different from previous approach, would guarantee the desired outcome for the refineries.

Equally speaking on a Channels TV breakfast talk show, Sunrise Daily, earlier in the day, the NNPC’s helmsman said the decision to finally end the fuel subsidy regime is in the interest of ordinary Nigerians as it would free up funds for the various tiers of government to develop basic infrastructure in the education, health, transport, and other sectors for their benefit.

"Subsidy is elitist because it is the elites that benefit from it. They are the ones that have SUVs, four, five cars in their garages. The masses should be the ones to benefit. There are many things wrong with the under-recovery because it makes us to supply more than is needed. This makes the under-recovery to be bloated because we unwittingly subsidize fuel for the whole of West Africa. That has to stop," the NNPC boss submitted.

He explained that the removal of subsidy would automatically correct the distortions it created in the market such as products arbitrage and smuggling, stressing that it would also provide the needed impetus for the NNPC to establish retail outlets in neighbouring countries.

On the agitation in some quarters for a reduction in the price of kerosene, he said the corporation’s focus was rather on how to migrate all those who were still using kerosene for domestic cooking to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is popularly referred to as cooking gas.

According to him, apart from LPG being a cheaper fuel than kerosene, it is also safer and more environment-friendly.

He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, was championing policies to deepen the adoption of LPG for domestic consumption, adding that widespread adoption of LPG usage was the best solution to kerosene supply challenges in the long term.

On the situation with global crude oil price and supply, the GMD said things were shaping up.

"Crude oil price is improving by the day. Last week, it was $15 per barrel. Today, it is $32.79 per barrel. We believe the ongoing engagements between global oil producers will bring back demand and once that happens, the market will balance and fully recover by year-end”, he said optimistically.

On the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Mallam Kyari who put the current total donations by players in the Oil and Gas Industry at N21billion said the sector was obliged to support the Federal Government in its efforts to bring relief to Nigerians.

He maintained that the donations were in kind and were designed to address three key areas of: provision of hospital consumables (face masks, test kits, etc.); provision of support services and facilities for patients (beds, ventilators, etc.); and provision and upgrade of health infrastructure that will outlive the Covid-19 pandemic.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Odetola, 199 others benefit from AfDB's digital skills training - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

As a graduate from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria with a degree in Communication and Language Arts in 2016, Olashile Odetola could not find a job. But an online learning program piloted by the African Development Bank has given her two 'gifts': digital skills and a sense of confidence. Odetola, 31, was one of two thousand students who took part in the ‘Coding for Employment’ digital training programme launched by the African Development Bank in partnership with technology firm Microsoft in April 2019 after successful pilots in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. 46% of the students have been women. Odetola said the skills she acquired from the coding program have made her more competitive in the job market. She was permitted to attend the training class with kids in tow – and was even nursing her last child. “Never in my life would I have thought that I will have this opportunity. For the first time in my life, I feel confident in myself. I am now working from the comfort of my home in the digital field,”she told a packed auditorium at this year’s African Economic Conference (AEC), held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. After completing the five-week programme, Odetola now works providing annotation and labelling for an online company. “It’s helped me to support the family,” she said. “When I saw this opportunity from the Bank, I jumped at it,” she said. Her testimony drew cheers from scores of hopeful young people who had been invited to attend the conference. Her testimony was an illustration of the Bank’s ‘Jobs for Youth in Africa’ strategy, which aims to create 25 million jobs by 2025 and to equip 50 million African youth with competitive skills. “Jobs for Youth is operational and we seek to create impact. Not just any impact but impact that can be scaled. African youth deserve value -- that is what the African Development Bank and her partners sought to create,” Uyoyo Edosio, program task manager at the African Development Bank, told the conference. “We placed all our bets on the youth and for the first time, the private sector, non-governmental bodies and development institutions like the Bank were not speaking profit margin, we were speaking development,” Edosio said. Overall, the goal is to expand the program to 130 centres of excellence across Africa over a 10-year period. The aim is to create nine million jobs and to empower young people to become innovative players in the digital economy. “This is just one step on that journey to empower our youth in Africa to get the greatest jobs in computer science,” Rich Reynolds, General Manager at Microsoft Philanthropies Strategy, said of the Coding for Employment program. Government ministers from Nigeria, Liberia, South Sudan and Eswatini attending the conference, commended the initiative as a pacesetter in tackling the enormous youth unemployment challenge the continent is grappling with. They outlined policies being pursued in their respective countries to address youth employment. The AEC is hosted by the African Development Bank, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. This year’s theme was: Jobs, Entrepreneurship, and Capacity Development for African Youth.” *Correspondent/Editor

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*Pix: Olashile

Nigerian, Kenyan children to benefit from Google’s Digital Skills - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

Children in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are billed to benefit from the Google’s Digital Skills for Africa programme, reports ITREALMS.

Google, ITREALMS gathered, is engaging local organisations via its partnership with the Cape Town Science Centre to train 200,000 students in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa within 1 year.

CS First is a Google program aimed at children aged 9 to 16. Created by educators and computer scientists, CS First introduces coding and computer science to students in a collaborative and creative club environment. CS First club members build projects in Scratch (scratch.mit.edu), a blocks-based programming language. The training will be delivered through 26 collaborating organisations across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. For areas with limited access to the internet and limited devices, CS First may be delivered through CS Unplugged.

In addition, Google also aims to reach students through an Online Safety Roadshow project building on itś work with the Web Rangers program. This project will reach parents, teachers and students in all three countries.

Google is once again joining forces with SAP and UNESCO as part of Africa Code Week 2019 to engage community-focused organisations across Africa to enable them to host coding workshops for children (aged 11-18) in their local communities during Africa Code Week this month. Some 55 organisations have been identified across the continent.

These activities form part of Google’s commitment to train 10 million Africans in digital skills by 2022.

“The training programmes promise to improve the children’s confidence in interacting with computers and their overall confidence and willingness to try new things,” says Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Head of Brand and Reputation, SSA. 

“With growing internet penetration across Africa, and the increasing trend of kids interacting online, Google believes it is important to provide helpful information to children and parents to enable children to take appropriate measures to stay safe online while exploring the internet with confidence. The training takes learnings from Google ́s Be Internet Awesome campaign and the content is carefully drafted to provide helpful tips to kids and parents, and information on useful tools like Google’s Family Link,” Makind said.

Chuks Egbuna/Editor

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Fayemi's free health programme kicks off, 50,000 residents to benefit from medicare outreach - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said that his administration has begun the process of reversing the poor health indices of the State’s in order to produce good health outcomes for the citizenry, reports ITREALMS.

Speaking in Ikere -Ekiti at the flag off of the quarterly free health mission, the Governor said he would provide the leadership required to stop the “sobering decline in Ekiti State health indices from 2016 to 2018”.

No fewer than 50,000 residents are expected to benefit from medical attention, including corrective surgeries, eye treatment in the first phase of the programme which is designed to hold on quarterly basis.

Fayemi who expressed determination to ensure that the state does not lag behind in the delivery of quality and effective health care service, said the goal of his government is to ensure that Ekiti State “regains its place in the comity of states by reworking our health system to deliver improved health indices as marker of a healthy society”.

“In Ekiti State as at 2018, mortality rate among children was 49 deaths per 1000 population in the first month of life. 69 deaths per 1000 in the first year of life while it is 86 deaths in the first five years of life of the children. Ekiti State skilled birth attendants also dropped from being the first in the southwest region in 2015 now to being the 5th in position among the southwest States”, Fayemi said.

While speaking on the free health mission, the Governor said the programme is a vehicle to expand access to basic health interventions that have been proven to improve the health of women of reproductive age and children.

Fayemi who administered immunization to some babies at the programme said no fewer than 50,000 Ekiti residents would have received free healthcare services in the first phase of the programme; noting that over 500,000 people participated in the mission during his first tenure as governor between 2010 and 2014.

“By the account from the first 2 days of this mission, we believe that by the end of this first phase, we would have been able to serve over 50,000 residents of Ekiti State.  This mission is a first instalment of a revolutionary health programme portfolio that will ensure that healthcare can be delivered quantitatively and sustainably”, he said.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Folake Olomojobi had said that 10,246 people had received free treatment in general outpatient cases, dental surgeries, HIV/AIDS test, family planning and other health issues within the first two days of the mission.

Olomojobi noted that the Basic Healthcare Fund recently launched by the President is an endorsement of Fayemi’s “Facility based free health programme” funded and implemented between 2011 and 2014.

Also speaking at the flag off ceremony, the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti, Oba Adejimi Adu commended Governor Fayemi for initiating the programme; calling on Ekiti residents to troop out and benefit from the health mission.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Pix: Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, presenting an eye glasses to an elderly citizen, Madam Maria Ajayi, at the flag off of the quarterly Free Medical Mission of the state government in Iker-Ekiti…on Wednesday

Six ways children can benefit from early exposure to technology

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New and emerging technologies have always been associated with the younger generations. Older people tend to be set in their ways, leaving tech-savvy millennials in the forefront of discovering and embracing new devices as they arrive on the scene. Younger people learn more quickly and that goes for technology in the same way it goes for everything else.

A major question posed by the Research and Development Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing online and offline e-commerce outfit is: what age is suitable for kids to be exposed to technology?

This is a question all parents have to answer during their children’s formative years: the decision on when a child can be allowed access to technological gadgets such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Instructively, recent studies show that active or interactive technology and screen time can actually help develop and improve your kid’s learning, when used appropriately. After a review of the Kids Legacy Tab, a new product designed by Nigeria’s foremost technology company, Zinox Technologies Ltd., the Research and Development Unit of Yudala arrived at a number of ways children can benefit from early exposure to modern technology:

1.Develop Maths Skills: Research show that younger children are more interested in the short-term goals of games, which are essential in problem solving. Logic games, obstacle courses and other applications on tech devices go a long way to help build your child’s basic mathematic skills by imbuing them with the capacity for quantitative reasoning. For parents, this is very important as the phobia or apathy often expressed by most people for Mathematics is often a result of wrong or late to exposure to its usefulness in the analysis and interpretation of real-world quantitative information.

2.Improve Language Skills: The benefits of technology for kids especially at an early age are numerous. One of such areas is in the aspect of developing their language skills. Designed as a critical foundational tool targeted at children from the ages of 3 – 13, the Kids Legacy Tab ranks as one of the most fitting gadgets to introduce kids to technology and new ways of learning such as word pronunciation. There are many such applications and games to help boost their vocabulary and teach them to look for word meanings when they come across an unfamiliar word.

3.More Visually Attentive Kids: Exposure to games and other relevant applications on tech devices can help raise a generation of more visually attentive kids. This is because a significant amount of attention to detail is required on the part of kids when exposed to visually-stimulating contents on tablets and other entry-level gadgets. A device such as the Kids Legacy Tab which comes pre-loaded with over 50 educational and fun games can help build the requisite attention to detail and capacity for visual attention in children.

4.Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is a buzzword that is becoming increasingly relevant in the contemporary work-place. Most organizations today prioritize the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. This quality can be developed in your child right from an early age through exposure to technology. There are numerous emotional intelligence apps pre-loaded on tablets which teach kids what emotions are, how they work, and how to use them and manage them for social interaction and learning. Among other things, these applications teach a child how to recognize other people's emotions, to discriminate among the different feelings, and to label them appropriately. Armed with this insight, your child can learn from an early age how to refrain from emotional outbursts and undisciplined loss of self-control, thus leading to a well-rounded personality.

5.Build discipline and self-motivation: Exposing your child to technology from an early age is a sure way of building discipline and self-motivation, two qualities that are ultimately crucial to your child’s future development. A lot of games and activities on tech devices such as the Kids Legacy Tab often require the user to complete a task in order to progress to another level. To complete the entire course requires a huge dose of mental discipline and personal resolve. As a result, exposure to these learning apps inadvertently challenges a child and pushes him/her to strive to go the extra lengths in order to enjoy the thrill and satisfaction that comes from achieving. Your child, therefore, develops a disciplined mindset that sees challenges as surmountable as long as he/she keeps trying to overcome them. This is effortlessly transferred to real-life situations.

6.Develop New Talents: Technology can help unearth hitherto-hidden skills and talents in your child. From being exposed to playing certain musical instruments or skills such as painting on the screen of a tablet, for instance, your child can develop a keen interest which may see him/her becoming proficient at these activities. With the aid of technology which bridges the gap, you may not even have to pay the hefty fees of enrolling your child in a physical music or painting class to learn. There are loads of apps that your child can take advantage of to learn and become the next Mozart or Leonardo da Vinci. Early exposure to technology has the potential to unlock amazing new interests in your child which, coupled with the natural curiosity in kids, can transform your child into a whiz-kid.

A note of caution: It is important to mention that parental supervision is key. A child should not be given a tablet without supervision. Handing over a tech device to your child requires a great level of responsibility so, as a parent, be sure to trust your instinct. However, the fact is allowing children have access to tech devices can benefit them in many ways. As a parent, you may understandably be nervous at first, but there are some real, tangible benefits to be had from exposing your child to tech devices such as tablets. Most experts recommend not more than a half hour of screen time per sitting for a child. This is bearing in mind that tablets may be addictive for children because it allows quick, instant access to everything in the real world. As long as parents do their best to monitor, protect, and prepare their children and usage doesn’t get out of hand, technology exposure can provide great opportunities for children to grow and develop that you may not have anticipated.

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5m youths to benefit from job-ready digital skills by ITU, ILO

ITRealms:

The InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU) and International Labour Organization (ILO) partnering for a campaign to train five million young people globally in the next 13 years, reports ITRealms.

This was made to ITRealms at the ongoing World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2017 being held 12-16 June 2017, in Geneva.

The "Digital Skills for Decent Jobs Campaign" is part of the "Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth", the first-ever, comprehensive United Nations system-wide effort for the promotion of youth employment worldwide.

"ITU is proud to be one of the founding members of the 'Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth'," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. "The 'Digital Skills for Decent Jobs for Youth Campaign' seeks to encourage the global community to provide youth worldwide with digital skills training in order to foster decent and inclusive employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Acquiring digital skills is crucial for young job seekers worldwide as it can lead to higher salaries and better employment conditions."

Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) said, "Digital skills will connect young people with unprecedented job opportunities and contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Estimates show there will be at least 10 million vacant jobs globally for people with advanced digital skills between now and 2030."

The campaign will engage with governments, the private sector and other stakeholders in the information and communication technology sector to realize commitments to train young men and women in basic and advanced digital skills. The campaign will also encourage widespread sharing of data on job openings for youth with digital skills, and help to identify training programmes and resource mobilization opportunities.

The "Digital Skills for Decent Jobs for Youth Campaign" is part of the ILO's "Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth" – a multi-stakeholder partnership for the promotion of youth employment worldwide, through which 22 United Nations entities are joining hands in support of the realization of the 2030 development agenda.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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20 African digital start-ups to benefit from World Bank

ITRealms:

Twenty African digital start-ups will benefit from the World Bank Group under its XL Africa initiative attracting early stage capital between $250,000 and $1.5 million, reports ITRealms.

The programme, ITRealms gathered is a five-month business acceleration scheme designed to support the 20 most promising digital start-ups from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Start-ups, ITRealms also gathered will receive mentoring from global and local experts, learn through a tailor-made curriculum, increase their regional visibility, and get access to potential corporate partners and investors.

Vice President, Africa Region at the World Bank, Makhtar Diop, said that digital start-ups are important drivers of innovation in Africa.

“To scale and spread new technologies and services beyond borders, they need an integrated ecosystem that provides access to regional markets and global finance; pan-African initiatives like XL Africa play a critical role by linking local start-ups with corporations and investors across the continent,” he said.

In addition, ITRealms gathered that the programme, comes at a time of increasing interest in the African digital sector.

According to a recent report by Disrupt Africa, in 2016, the number of tech start-ups that secured funding increased by 16.8 per cent compared to 2015.

Director of the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Klaus Tilmes, said that XL Africa aims to put a spotlight on the continent’s growing digital economy by scouting for and supporting the most innovative tech start-ups.

“The success of these ventures will create a demonstration effect that can attract much-needed growth investment in the sector and catalyze scaling of transnational businesses in the region,” he said.

Further, ITRealms reports that the programme’s flagship activity includes a two-week residency in Cape Town, South Africa, where the ventures will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from their mentors, peers, and local partners. The Cape Town residency will conclude with the Venture Showcase, a regional event in which the entrepreneurs will present their business models to a select audience of corporations and investors. 

“The program’s unique combination of targeted mentorship and access to investors represents a vital resource for digital ventures ready to grow,” said Lexi Novitske, Principal Investment Officer for Singularity Investments, a venture group based in Lagos, Nigeria. “By connecting innovative business ideas with the knowledge and resources available in the ecosystem, XL Africa will create a pipeline of investment-ready companies, unlocking better investment opportunities for regional and global investors,” he said.

The program will collaborate with prominent African investment groups, including the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), AngelHub Ventures, Goodwell Investments, Knife Capital, Nest Africa, Silvertree Capital, Singularity Investments, South African Business Angel Network (SABAN), TLcom Capital, Zephyr Acorn and 4Di Capital, and corporate partners, such as Orange, .Eco, Ringier, and Thomson Reuters.

ITRealms reveals that interested companies can apply online on the XL Africa website www.XL-Africa.com by Monday, June 12, 2017.

XL Africa is funded by the governments of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and administered by the World Bank Group with implementation support from IMC Worldwide, VC4A, and Koltai & Co.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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