ECOWAS @50: Golden jubilee of regional integration, growth and impactful media - Telecoms Clinic@ITREALMS

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Despite cheering 50 years of making notable progress in promoting regional integration, connectivity and economic growth, ECOWAS faces unprecedented challenges; Withdrawals of some members, sanctions, and security threats test the bloc's resolve, amidst impactful media coverage, writes REMMY NWEKE in this edition of Telecoms Clinic@ITREALMS.

Prologue:

As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) celebrates its 50th anniversary, the bloc's citizens, including OluGbenga, are reflecting on its remarkable journey of regional integration and growth.

Road Safety: Between Ejidike, seat belt and Korope driver - ITREALMS

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REMMY NWEKE reminds Nigerian motorists and commuters that the ‘Mber months' are here again, stressing the importance of using seat belt for our safety.

 “… The use of the belt is not for the driver or Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), but for his own safety.”

Preface:
After waiting for over half an hour, penultimate Friday, the driver of the mini-bus known as Korope, entered behind the steering, with hope of taking the passengers from the National Stadium Gate at Surulere to Oshodi both in Lagos State.


Given his early bird boarding, Ejidike took the first passenger only seat in front and waited for others or the bus to be loaded.


As soon as the bus was filled, the driver switched on the engine, only then Ejidike reached out for the seat-belt. Initially, his efforts to reach the seat-belt was met by resisting comments from the driver, who actually advised that Ejidike literally forget about the seat belt.


In his usual self, Ejidike ignored him, knowing fully what he wanted by way of safety and at over 50 years, which half has been spent in Lagos, he went ahead to put on the seat-belt while the driver continued to rant; reaching out for his brand of sachet gin drink from one of his ankra dress pockets.

Nobody uses that belt here:
One message stood out, that after the fuming, he declare that ‘no body uses that belt in his bus, which Ejidike retorted that the use of the belt is not for the driver or Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), but for his own safety.


This brings to mind, that a few weeks ago, Ejidike was on transit to Enugu State and obviously encountered same character in a driver that took him from Oji River to Four Corner. To cut the long story short, the driver, supposed elderly who should knew the need for seat belt advised him to leave that when he attempted putting it on, after all, no one in form of FRSC also known as road safety, will disturb them on the route.


Whose duty to use seat belt in commercial vehicle?
Telecoms Clinic then went to social media and Facebook to be precise asking “Whose duty is it to use seat belt in commercial vehicle; Driver or passenger?” Most respondents agreed that both the driver and passenger should use their seat belts always. Then a follow-up question was “what happens when you board a bus and driver commands you not to use the belt? Whereas Prince Abiodun Bayo was skeptic about a ‘trained’ driver dishing out such a command, posited that “most drivers will insist that you should use your belt. It will be strange for a driver to stop you from using the belt even when he doesn’t insist.”


And for a digital right advocate, @Nnenna Nwakanma, “The law in Côte d'Ivoire says that UNTIL both are belted, (especially in the front seats) the driver CANNOT turn on the ignition.” While @Tunde Omis described seat belt as a “utility not a possession in a car.”

And the Minister died:
Telecoms Clinic recalled after the death of a serving Federal Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi, wife and son, who all reportedly died recently due to non-usage of seat belt at the back, that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had resolved to enforce speed limit device and rear seat belt usage.

The immediate past Corp Marshal, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi had warned that most Nigerians, especially those who are described as ‘car-owners’ and who usually seat at the rear should imbibe the habit of wearing their seat belts among rear passengers, stressing that if they do, and even have a company at the rear, definitely such a passenger should wear theirs as well.

Globally, about 50% of those killed in vehicular accidents died for non-usage of seat belt.

For instance, in 2022, estimated 25,420 passenger vehicle occupants killed, while seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives and which could have saved an additional 2,549 people if they had been wearing seat belts, in 2017 alone.

As stated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in 2022, Telecoms Clinic gathered that data showed seat belt use was at 91.6 per cent, and unrestrained occupant deaths accounted for 49.8 per cent.


Use your seat belt, save a life:
Experts at the United States-based NIH informed that passenger’s seat belt is crucial to surviving a crash, enjoining that they make it a habit to always buckle up every time. Pointing out that in 2022, half of passenger vehicle occupants who died in crashes were unrestrained, noting that from 1975 through 2017, seat belts have saved an estimated 374,276 lives, even as they advised “Wear your seat belt every time—no matter how uncomfortable it feels or how far you're going.”


Olumuyiwa Joshua Ogundele et al in a 2013 study available to Telecoms Clinic on “The impact of seat-belts in limiting the severity of injuries in patients presenting to a university hospital in the developing world” published by NIH revealed, that about 1.2 million people were killed each year in road crashes worldwide, with up to 50 million more injured. Over 95% of these deaths and injuries occur in the low- and middle-income countries of the world.


The study, Telecoms Clinic also gathered, evaluated the impact of the use of seat-belts in reducing the severity of injuries from road traffic crashes, determine compliance and awareness of the importance of the use of seat-belts among 140 Nigerian motorists; which outcome showed that a total of 81 (57%) patients used seat-belts, while 59 (42.1%) did not. Nineteen (13.6%) patients died as a result of their injuries; 4 (21.1%) of these had used seat-belts, while 15 (79%) had not (P = 0.001). The mortality rate of 79% for patients who did not use seat-belt was statistically significant.


Lack of information:
Telecoms Clinic equally gathered that there was no much information about how many vehicle accidents in Nigeria who were due to non-use of seat belts, but Naija Vibes reported existence of some related information about seat belt use in Nigeria, such as seat belt use in Makurdi, citing a study of 500 vehicles in Makurdi, Nigeria, where some 5% of vehicles had no seat belts at all. Noting that in overall analysis, seat belt compliance was 57%. Compliance was highest among car occupants and private vehicles, and lowest among commercial vehicle occupants.

For instance, efforts to get any update on seat belt usage from Road Safety spokesman and Corps Public Education, Assistant Corps Marshal, Jonas Agwu, proved abortive.


Submissions:
Though, according to study, Nigeria has one of the highest death rates across the African continent, with 33.7 per cent deaths per 100,000 population per year and considering that Nigerian motorists and commuters have some factors affecting their use of seat belt, which include socio-cultural, law enforcement, and availability of seat belts in vehicles especially on Tokunbos; imported used car, which have become often first own-driven cars by a huge middle class in Nigeria.

Whereas it has become crucial at last quarter of the year also known as ‘Mber months, namely October, November and December; in Nigeria for people to wear seat belts these festive season, which could reduce the risk of fatalities in road traffic accidents by 40-50% among front seat occupants and by 25-75% among rear seat car passengers, according to experts.


Hence, there is no doubt that seat-belt is an effective safety tool that not only saves lives, but also reduces significantly the severity of the injury associated with a vehicle occupant in the event of any accident, even as more public enlightenment cannot be over-emphasised to increase the awareness and compliance of use of seat-belts among Nigerian automobilist, moreso the drivers like the one encountered by Ejidike.

Neptune Prime publisher unveil cancer clinic, school, foundation for late journalists’ families - ITREALMS

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... As son weds in Yobe

The publisher of Neptune Prime newspapers, Dr Hassan Gimba, has announced plans to commission three major projects in his home state, Yobe State.

In an invitation letter sent to newsmen on Wednesday, the publisher disclosed that the event, which is scheduled to take place on August 31, is coinciding with the wedding Fatiha of his son, Barrister Suleiman Gimba.

Police ban on phone search & Corporal Kadiri’s virality - ITREALMS

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Preamble:
About January 2016, Nigerians wake up soon after the new year rave to herald a circular from the Office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Nigeria, banning the men and women of the Police Force from searching mobile phones of civilians without warrant. This also means that it has become illegal for the rank and file of Nigeria Police to attempt to access the phones of Nigerians.

According to the Compliant Response Unit (CRU) in a news bulletin with reference number: CZ:4570/X/FHQ/CRU/VOL.1/1 signed by Officer in-charge of CRU, Force Headquarters, Abuja, then, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Abayomi Shogunle, entitled “Inspector-General of Police Prohibits Officers from Illegal Accessing of Personal Mobile Phones” available to 
ITREALMS quoted IGP Solomon Arase as having warned Police officers who are in the habit of indiscriminate checking of personal information on mobile phones of members of the public to stop such practices with immediate effect.

Can you vouch for Netizens in this era? - ITREALMS

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The viral events on social media space recently, have left many wondering if the 21st century parents could still vouch for their Netizens children, asks REMMY NWEKE.

Preamble:

Growing up, one thing parents do easily is knowing their children well enough to vouch for them simply because often they all live under one roof, especially mothers.

Telecoms Clinic: Travails of Iyom and obtaining of NIN for SIM - ITREALMS

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In this piece of Telecom Clinic, REMMY NWEKE brings to the fore the travails of local dwellers in Nigeria, especially in South East, who wish to have telecom access despite weird interpretations of guidelines on linking NIN to SIM.

Primer:

Iyom Achala Ugo is a local rice farmer from Awba-Ofemili, a town about 30 kilometres from Awka the capital of Anambra State. She was privileged to have been using the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications at least since 2010. Iyom or Otu-Odu is the most revered and coveted society for women in the southeastern part of Nigeria. The Iyom title is a women-only.

SEED to improve financial access to education, hosts clinic | ITREALMS Online

ITREALMS:

The Sustainable Education and Enterprise Development (SEED) has reiterated resolve to improve financial access to the education sector, as it hosted a clinic, reports ITRealms.

ITRealms reports from the maiden edition of the SEED Access to Finance Clinic recently in Lagos, founders of SEED, the W-Holistic Business Solutions, revealed this resolve.

According W-Holistic it planned to leverage the network of 723 Affordable Private Schools in the six education districts of Lagos State, insisted that the aim of SEED Access to Finance is to improve access to finance for SEED beneficiary schools.

“…And serve as a platform for the schools to understand the requirements for financing, get further information on various finance options, and commence the access to finance process(-es) for their preferred option(s),” the organisers declared.

The theme of the Maiden Edition of the SEED Access to Finance Clinic was “Financial Inclusion for Affordable Private Schools” with presentations by the SEED Access to Finance Partners including Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Sterling Bank, Jessefield Microfinance Bank, Lotus Capital and FINT. The Maiden Edition of the SEED Access to Finance Clinic had 307 Affordable Private Schools out of its network of 723 Affordable Private Schools in attendance.

The Maiden Edition of the SEED Access to Finance Clinic also featured a Keynote Presentation by Nigeria's first licensed credit bureau, FirstCentral Credit Bureau, represented by the bureau’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Mr. Olanrewaju Agbede. Other features of the SEED Access to Finance Clinic included messages from Heads of School Associations, which are SEED Acquisition Partners, and messages from one of the partners of SEED, Developing Effective Private Education in Nigeria (DEEPEN). The SEED Access to Finance Clinic also had a Panel Discussion session, Updates on SEED Project session and Breakout Sessions which contained Visits to the SEED Access to Finance Partners’ desks by the SEED Alumni for Contact and Registration on Various Finance/Loan Products.

According to the CEO of W-Holistic Business Solutions and Project Director of SEED, Mrs. Olanrewaju Oniyitan, in her Welcome Address, the SEED Access to Finance Clinic was initiated to bridge the gap between Affordable Private Schools and Finance. 

She reiterated the history of the SEED Project which was started as a result of the desire and interest to change current status of education in Nigeria and positively affect the future incomes and livelihoods of today’s school-aged children through a multipronged business development support approach which impacts major stakeholders in the school business sector including school owners, school administrators, teachers, parents, communities, and most importantly, the school children. 

Stressing that the SEED Alumni in attendance should be open minded towards the opportunities which the SEED Access to Finance Clinic was going to afford them including the opportunities to interact with the SEED Access to Finance Partners one-on-one. 

She urged the schools to take full advantage of the platform for accessing funds for aspects of their School Transformation Plans which required external financing for their schools’ growth and sustainability.

During his message on behalf of one of the SEED Funders, Developing Effective Private Education in Nigeria (DEEPEN), the National Program Manager, Dr. Gboyega Ilusanya, stated that there was an essential need for partnership and support for low-cost private education in Nigeria as these private educational institutions contribute to provision of services to children from low-income households. 

He opined that despite the increasing debate across the world on the UKAid’s funding of low-cost private education as against channeling such funding to the underserved and underfunded government-owned public education, it remains critical that funding should also focus on low-cost schools as enabling environment including access to finance should be provided to them to support their sustainability towards education of children from economically-disadvantaged households. 

Further, he stated that partners seeking to support low-cost education should focus on ensuring regulations leading to enabling environment for service providers, access to finance, school improvement services and access to information for their growth and continued existence. He added that the approach adopted by SEED for Affordable Private Schools provided a sustainability platform for low-cost schools while lauding the SEED Project including the SEED Access to Finance Clinic.

In attendance at the clinic were representatives of school associations including the President of Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED), Mrs. Ifejola Dada, and the Chairman of Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS), Lagos State Chapter, Alhaji Misbaudeen Zakariyah, took turns to describe the SEED Project was a laudable and impact intervention by W-Holistic Business Solutions towards changing the narrative and landscape of Affordable Private Education in Nigeria as the SEED Project has been able to address critical challenges faced by Affordable Private Schools in Nigeria.

Uj. N. Dominic/ED, Ops

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