USPF: Following rural connectivity money through FOI requests by Remmy Nweke - Telecoms Clinic @ITREALMS

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One of the least discussed yet most consequential drivers of digital inclusion in Nigeria is the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), a public fund established to ensure that people in rural, remote, and underserved areas are not left behind in access to communication services.

For more than a decade, the USPF has overseen programmes intended to expand network coverage, provide community ICT centres, support rural base stations, and strengthen last-mile broadband access. Yet, for many Nigerians, the central question remains unanswered: What has been the measurable outcome of these investments?

'Telecoms: Driving growth in Nigeria through connecting people, transforming lives' - ITREALMS

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The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, has declared that telecommunications industry is driving growth in Nigeria through connecting people and transforming lives, reports ITREALMS.

Ogunsanya in his keynote address at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) Sharing Experience Series 2023, described telecoms as an industry that empowers both individuals and organizations, by eliminating certain barriers simply by connecting people.

ICRC boss @WES'22: FG commits to infrastructure development via PPP – ITREALMS

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The Federal Government (FG) has acknowledged that the major problem facing the Nigeria’s economy is the lack of adequate infrastructure and expressed total commitment to the development of infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

The Acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Mr. J A Michael Ohiani who said this on Wednesday in his keynote address at the WorldStage Economic Summit 2022 #WorldStageEconomicSummit 2022) said the FG commitment was evidenced by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s continuous commitment as provided in the 2021-2025 National Development Plan (NDP) which sought to encourage more private sector participation in National Infrastructure Development.

NCC generated $563.1m for FG through 3.5GHz auction - ITREALMS

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The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has declared that NCC raised $563.1m for the Federal Government (FG) through the auction of 3.5GHz, even as 80 million Nigerians have broadband access, reports ITREALMS.

Danbatta made this disclosure at a recent Ministerial retreat for management directorates of all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE) in Abuja.

Group warns Adelabu, APC: You can’t take gov seat through back door - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

Oyo State-based socio-political group, the Oyo Kajola Group (OKG) has chided the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 9 election, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu and his party for seeking to snatch the governorship seat through the backdoor, reports ITREALMS.

The group, in a press statement made avaialble to ITREALMS on Thursday by its Media Coordinator, Adebayo Ayandele, said that the statements credited to the APC and its candidate were targeted at provoking the good people of Oyo State.

“We cannot understand what Mr. Adelabu meant when he said he had a date with history in a statement he made after the ruling of the Court of Appeal on his election petition. We can also not understand the enthusiasm of the APC on the same matter.

“Rather than creating false hopes and hiding under the banners of lies and confusion to deceive their followers, we wish to urge the APC to face the reality of it all and accept that the 2019 governorship election in Oyo State has been won by Engineer Oluseyi Makinde.

“Let us warn very clearly that the election of the Governor of Oyo State was done within the purview of the law and not extra-legal factors.

“We, therefore, reject in its entirety, any form of ambivalence or ambiguity written into the judgement of the Court of Appeal on the Oyo State election matter and stick to the truth of it all: that Engineer Seyi Makinde remains the man voted for by the people of Oyo state and that his mandate will be in force till May 28, 2023.”

The group described the statement credited to Adelabu that some agents of darkness perfected the plan to steal his mandate,” which led to his “recourse to the judiciary to proof (sic) their wrongdoing,” as hogwash, and an insult to the good people of Oyo State who massively rejected him on March 9, 2019.

The statement also warned the APC not to keep the hopes of manipulative tendencies too high as according to it, no one can supplant Makinde through the back door.

The group urged Makinde to continue the good works he has started in Oyo State, which it said have made him a cynosure of all eyes and a worthy example for other governors.

It noted that “the APC’s plot to take a mandate given to Governor Makinde by Oyo State people through evil machinations will not succeed.”

“We read with amusement a statement credited to Adelabu that the pronouncement of the Election Appeal Tribunal has rekindled his and his party’s hope in their march to keep a date with history. They, indeed, will have their date with history at the Supreme Court and it will end in disappointment and shame, as we are sure that the court, as the last bastion of hope for the common man, will not allow itself to be used for the APC’s evil intention.

“In the said statement, like a similar one released by the APC a day after the judgment, Adelabu had robed himself in borrowed gowns, stating how some imaginary people knew he was the best candidate among the lots that sought the mandate of Oyo State people. He had equally prided his campaign as most organized and issue-driven.

“We in the Oyo Kajola Group would not have bothered with whatever borrowed gowns Adelabu chose to robe himself in, of course, no one can stop a butterfly determined to pride itself as a bird.

“Indeed, we would have considered his statement and that of his party as a bit of blarney, an amusing nonsense that should be laughed at and ignored but knowing the evil machinations of the APC and its tendencies to pervert the cause of justice and snatch popular mandates through the judiciary, we will like to place it on record that the APC did not and could not have won the 2019 governorship election in the state. The result of the election in which Makinde won in 28 out of 33 local governments, polling 515,621 votes to defeat the Adelabu, who polled 357,982 votes.

“The people of Oyo State reacted rightly by voting against the APC, a party that nearly ruined Oyo State in eight years; turned nearly every institution and processes upside down and tore into the core of the state’s nobility and prestige as a pace-setter state. The people voted against a reign of terror synonymous with the APC campaigns.

“It is, therefore, amusing that the same party is laying claim to victory and putting its hopes in the Supreme Court. We will like to call on well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community to be watchful at a time like this so that some desperate individuals do not sabotage democracy using ill-gotten wealth to pervert the cause of justice.”

Ayo  Midele/Editor
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Pix: Ayo Makinde, Gov. Oyo State

Runway Jazz: Ibidunni recounts hardship women go through, bags award

ITREALMS:

Mrs. Ibidunni Ighodalo has been honoured with the Runway Jazz Humanitarian award as she recounts hardship women go through in search of fruit of the womb, reports ITRealms.

Ibidunni who is the promoter of Avant Garde, a bridal fashion brand, had worked closely with the organisers of the Runway Jazz; all week through the Masterclass and preparations leading to the show itself, it was astonishing how the award was carefully concealed until the last instance.

ITRealms gathered that the previous day, Ibidunni had participated in a training session to encourage budding entrepreneurs, just as she lit the candle of joy for two participants by gifting them with wedding gowns worth N1 million each.

The dresses, ITRealms also gathered, featured on the runway by Avant Garde by Elizabeth R were the fashion house’s high-end wedding dresses, designed in partnership with Walid Shebab Couture.

ITRealms reports that for her first runway show, Ibidunni Ighodalo collaborated with Mr. Frank Osodi who provided the models, styled them and directed the runway flow.

For her, it was an experience best described as “truly magnificent feeling.”

Further, ITRealms reports that Ibidunni was honored for being a pillar of support for many couples who are waiting to become parents; through Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation (IIF), a non-profit organization created to raise awareness on issues pertaining to infertility and to provide grants for couples that require fertility treatments such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination, she has continued to bring hope and joy to many couples.

The recognition insignia was handed over to her by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo at the Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos. Among other interests, Ighodalo has become one of the most recognizable transmitters of charity, which includes, but is not limited to an orphanage.

“I thank God first because without Him none of these would be possible. Special mention must be made of the good people who have donated immensely to the foundation. It’s amazing how people have supported the foundation. To the couple who celebrated their wedding anniversary, this award is for them as well because they donated towards IVF treatment for 20 couples. I am also indebted to my humble friends Tonye Cole, Mrs Titi Adenuga and Pastor Mattew Ashimolowo who were at the Parents-in-Waiting Conference and donated funds for treatment of couples.

“To my Instagram followers who have donated immensely to the foundation, this award is for all of you and I pray that the Lord will answer every prayer in your heart and put smile on your faces. To my special administrator, Dayo Richard who has poured herself into this task and finally to our partner hospitals who have bent over backwards to be a part of this journey of putting smiles on the faces of our couples, God bless you all. May you never experience barrenness,” she said.

Ibidunni equally praised the efforts of her team, dedicating the award to “God who has blessed us with children in the foundation. To all the families who are still expecting their bundles of joy, to the families who have received theirs and to everyone helping the foundation and donating from every part of the world and everyone working for the foundation, without their support, the IIF couldn’t have made it.”

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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