ViiV, Vodafone team up against children with HIV children via mobile technology

ITRealms:

A global specialist on HIV, ViiV Healthcare in partnership with VodafoneFoundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies and the United States Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the launch of the Mobilising HIV Identification and Treatment (MHIT) programme in Lesotho, South Africa, reports ITRealms. The MHIT programme is a multi-million dollar three-year commitment led by the Vodafone Foundation through the Vodacom Lesotho Foundation, with financial contributions from the private and public sectors, including funding and community mobilisation expertise from ViiV Healthcare, as well as support from Elton John AIDS Foundation to Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation—Lesotho, ELMA Philanthropies and USAID. The goal of the MHIT programme is to double the number of children in Lesotho in care and on treatment within three years, thereby ensuring that their health and futures are not compromised or cut short through lack of access to HIV services. It also aims to improve uptake of services that address mother-to-child transmission of HIV to prevent more children from being born with the virus.   The use of mobile technology has proven a successful tool to address some of the challenges around access to healthcare services, such as access to transport, in rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa.(1) In Lesotho, the Vodafone Foundation is building on this success by deploying mobile clinics to rural areas to reach children – including adolescents – and mothers in hard to reach communities, providing primary care services (including antenatal checks and immunisation) and searching for individuals living with HIV to provide them with better access to treatment, using mobile money-based transport vouchers so they can reach clinics or hospitals. For many children and mothers, this could be the first time that primary healthcare services have been accessible to them. In addition, the use of mobile technology enables the management, coordination of services and communications to support the implementation of the programme. Dr Dominique Limet, CEO ViiV Healthcare, commented: “Through our Positive Action programmes, we have a successful track record in mobilising communities and supporting capacity building at grassroots level to address the challenges of the HIV epidemic. By working with the right partners, we can deliver practical solutions to make a true difference to the lives of children in Lesotho and help future generations live longer and more fulfilling lives.” Rishaad Tayob, Managing Director, Vodacom Lesotho said: “Vodacom Lesotho Foundation and Vodafone Foundation are bringing money, marketing, management and mobile technology to challenge paediatric HIV.  Partnership is critical and by working with private funders and the Government of Lesotho and USAID, we aim to double the number of children on treatment and in care. We are already saving lives.  We are privileged to also have the full support of His Majesty the King.”

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Interactive Intelligence launches cloud services in South Africa

ITRealms:

South African-based Interactive Intelligence Group Inc has launched a new customer engagement cloud service for businesses throughout the southern African country, ITRealms reports.

The unique PureCloud Engage architecture, ITRealms gathered is on offer alongside its advanced functionality, fast deployment, and simple month to month subscription terms offer contact centres accelerated business impact, more consistent outcomes, and the most innovative customer and agent experience.

“While cloud solutions have matured quickly, many organisations are still concerned about security,” said World Wide Worx Managing Director Arthur Goldstuck, stressing that it’s important to understand that cloud architectures differ quite a bit, and these differences have important security implications. As organisations evaluate their cloud options, they should assess a vendor’s security certifications, access management controls, encryption, and intrusion testing protocols. With careful assessment, organisations will find that in many instances modern cloud solutions are more secure than on-premises solutions. Combined with month-to-month subscription terms, these cloud solutions can give organisations an incredibly flexible, low-risk, high-value option.”

PureCloud Engage was built from the inside out with the most stringent security requirements in mind. It also addresses contact centre pain points such as high costs, lack of scalability, and difficulty managing geographically dispersed remote sites according to Interactive Intelligence Managing Director, Africa Region Andre le Roux.

“Local contact centres increasingly need to roll out faster, scale up or down for campaigns without unnecessary expense, and focus their resources and budget more on staff and customer experience rather than infrastructure,” le Roux said. “The unique PureCloud Engage℠architecture reduces start-up time to a matter of days, simplifies the management of workpools in different locations, and offers maximum reliability and scalability within a pay-as-you-go monthly subscription model.”


+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 
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Bring Back Our Girls group plans 2nd commemoration in Lagos

ITRealms:

The Lagos branch of the Bring Back Our Girls group has outlined plans to host a weeklong second commemoration of the abduction in the centre of excellence, wondering how much longer they have to wait, reports ITRealms.

A press statement made available to ITRealms and endorsed by Ms Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Mrs Aisha Oyebode, Ms Ayo Obe, Mrs Habiba Balogun, Ms. Yemi Adamolekun, Mrs Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Mrs Ngozi Iwere, Mr Olalere Babasola, Mrs Adwoa Edun, said they recall with dismay, the April 14, 2014 abduction of the 276 female students of Government Secondary   School, Chibok in Borno State by Boko Haram.

According to hm, about 57 of them managed to escape on their own while 219 remain in captivity with Boko Haram close to 2 years later.

“Outraged about the lack of government response, Nigerian citizens mobilized and took to the streets to demand the immediate rescue of the girls,” part of the press statement read.

In the initial weeks following the abductions, they said, there were protests in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Abuja, Enugu, Ekiti supported by friends and supporters around the world – London, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Paris, Germany and Nairobi to name a few.

“On Thursday, April 14, 2016, will mark exactly 2 years of their unfortunate sojourn in captivity! How much longer must we wait before they are rescued?,” they group said.

As concerned stakeholders and citizens of this country, the Bring-Back-Our-Girls (BBOG) advocacy group has highlighted the plight of these innocent girls even at a global level and engaged the government and other agencies in a constructive manner to secure the rescue of the girls. Our advocacy methodology include a daily sit-out in Abuja, weekly sit-outs in Lagos, Oshogbo, and Ibadan; visits to relevant stakeholders and development of tools like the Citizens’ Solutions to End Terrorism and the Verification, Authentication and Reunification System (VARS).

The BBOG family in Nigeria has engaged on a continuous basis various stakeholders including State Governors; the previous Chief of Defense Staff & National Security Adviser; various UN agencies; Ambassadors of our neighbouring countries and met twice with President Muhammadu Buhari on this matter. Sincerely, we had expected more and will continue to demand more from government than the rhetorics of lack of intelligence and other excuses.

#ChibokGirls: #731DaysGone. #NeverToBeForgotten #HopeEndures

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Bayelsa denies reports, says ‘we only got N1.285 bn salary bailout funds’

ITRealms: 

The Bayelsa State Government has denied media reports make a round that it received N12.85 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria as bail out funds for the payment of salaries of civil servants, describing it as "lies from the pit of hell," ITRealms reports.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the government had received only N1.285 billion from the CBN as salary bail out funds for its LGAs.

"We wish to make it very clear that the Bayelsa State Government has received only N1.285 billion from the CBN as salary bail out funds for its local government areas. As at July/August 2015, when application for these funds were made, the state government was not owing its workers, including pensioners any outstanding salaries and so could not have applied for any such bail out funds. This position was correctly captured in the Vanguard Newspapers of October 29, 2015 and the online publication -nigershowbiz.com,” he said.

The government of Bayelsa, he said, is not unaware of the antics of certain persons to report bail out of N12.85 billion instead of N1.285 billion by the mere placement of the dot after 2 instead of after 1 in the figures above.

“Government had in its last monthly transparency briefing held on 24 March, 2016 and in the meetings held by the Governor with various labour leaders explained that it had received N1.285 billion on behalf of the local governments and that arising from the change of local government council officers and the staff verification exercise, the funds will not be released until those processes have been concluded,” he said.

The State government warned Bayelsans that the fund is a loan and the state government has commenced repayment even though we have not started utilisation.

“We request all media houses to report issues objectively after sufficient cross check of facts, especially when that information could create security challenges to the state," he said.

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Buhari to Nigerians: I feel your pains

ITRealms:

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigeria not to lose confidence in the ability of his administration to bring about the change they so much desire, reports ITRealms.

Speaking at the 2015 Vanguard Awards in Lagos on Friday night, where he was honoured with the Personality of the Year Award 2015, the President said he is keenly aware of the difficulties that Nigerians are facing at this time, resulting mostly from the fuel scarcity, poor power supply, inflation etc.

''As a government that was propelled into office by the power of the people, we cannot but feel the pains of our compatriots, and we deeply empathise with them. We are working round the clock to ease the pains of Nigerians, and the efforts of the government have started yielding fruits as we seek to make the petroleum products available nationwide, restore gas supply to the power generating firms, reflate the economy and put Nigerians back to work,'' he said.

President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he understands that Nigerians have started questioning whether this indeed is the CHANGE they voted for, while some have even gone as far as saying that by voting for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigerians have entered ''One Chance''.

''Well, I can tell Nigerians that our CHANGE AGENDA is real, and that indeed, they will get the change they voted for. Nigerians have not entered 'One Chance', because the 'One Chance' drivers and their conductors have been driven out of town,'' said the President. ''''Change is a process, and that process has begun...The pains of today are temporary, and will soon give way to abundance joy as we put our country firmly on the path of sustainable growth and development.''

The President said all Nigerians, the Civil Society Organisations and the media are the real heroes of the last general elections in particular and the country's democracy in general, adding: ''And they, more than anyone or group of people, deserve all the accolades.''

He went on to commend the media for the role it played in ensuring the relative success of the last general elections, and the resilience of the nation's democracy since the beginning of this Republic.

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Pix: Buhari, Nigeria President

ntel kicks off commercial roll out in Lagos, Abuja

ITRealms:

… PH coming up in May

Latest entrant into the Nigeria’s telecommunication sector as the fifth Mobile Network Operator (MNO), the ntel, has kicked off commercial roll out of its activities on acclaimed most advanced Fourth Generation (4G) cum Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, reports ITRealms.

Confirming this, the chief executive officer (CEO) of ntel, Mr. Kamar Abass, informed ITRealms at a media launch in Lagos Friday that he was delighted.

“On behalf of the staff and directors of NatCom, this eighth day of April 2016, we start commercial activities on our newly commissioned 4G/LTE-Advanced network,” he declared.

This commencement of its phased and paced commercial operations, Abass said comes with bumper offers for early bird pioneers and data users.

“The first 100,000 to redeem and activate their ntel SIMs will get free on-net calls for life while data subscribers will get 3 months unlimited data usage on select bundles,” Abass disclosed.

Very earliest customers, he said, would be able to buy and use these services in clusters, across Lagos and Abuja from sales outlets and agents featuring the network bright new brand name: ntel.

ITRealms notes that ntel’s commencement of commercial operations is the culmination of their journey from acquiring the old NiTel/MTel assets to the delivery of successive milestones underlining their growing operating capability on their new fixed and mobile network infrastructure.

With the formal commencement, ITRealms gathered that commercial services will be available on ntel’s 4G/LTE-Advanced network across key site clusters in Lagos and Abuja. While coverage in Port Harcourt will follow during May, along with expanded coverage in Lagos and Abuja, and subsequently to other states, across multiple geo-political zones, during the second half of 2016.

The company, ITRealms further reports, said their 4G/LTE-Advanced technology built on the 900/1800MHz spectrum will deliver an unbeatable and game-changing customer experience of high-speed Internet access up to 230 Mega Bytes per second (Mbps), the fastest available in Nigeria today thus enabling a world of full mobile broadband experiences that will transform both lives and livelihoods.

Equally, Abass, a strong advocate of 4G/LTE, said his team is passionate at ntel about the power of broadband to boost productivity and, thereby, transform lives,

“We expect to see this happen as ntel helps to accelerate the ongoing migration, from existing 2G and 3G services, to genuinely high-speed Mobile Broadband on 4G/LTE-Advanced,” Abass submitted.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Pix: CEO, Abass with his team.

Breaking News: GSMA, ALTON, ATCON, NATCOMS reject plan to tax e-Services in Nigeria

Breaking News@ITRealms:

The Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) has led a joint petition with the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) against the proposed 9 per cent Communication Services Tax to be levied on charges payable by end-users of an electronic communication services in Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

Whereas GSMA is the industry association for mobile operators worldwide; ALTON, is for mobile operators of Nigeria; ATCON is for other associated telecom companies, and NATCOMS represents telecom consumers; jointly expressed dismay regarding the proposal, under consideration by the National Assembly, to establish a 9 per cent Communication Service Tax to be levied on charges payable by a user of an electronic communication service, for instance on Short Messaging Service (SMS), voice calls, MMS, data usage among others supplied by service providers.

In a strongly worded petition entitled ‘Objection to the Proposed Bill for the Establishment of a Tax on Electronic Communication Services in Nigeria’ addressed to the duo of Nigerian Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and her counterpart in Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, the four telecommunications interest groups jointly rejected the proposed plan by the government to tax electronic communication services in the country.

A copy of the petition obtained by ITRealms, revealed that Mortimer Hope, Director Africa of GSMA, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi, President of ATCON and Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the national president of NATCOMS signed for their respective organisations.

ITRealms also reported that the petition which was copied to the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Dogara Yakubu among others, insisted that if this tax proposal is accomplished, it will not only increase prices for consumers, but stifles further investment in a market already battling multiple taxation.

“If introduced, such tax will result in an increase in prices for consumers, have adverse impacts on the adoption of mobile services and industry investment, and be counter-productive to the longer term national digital strategy objectives set by the Government of Nigeria,” the groups said.

According them, the bill tends to increase affordability barriers to the uptake of mobile services in the country.

They quoted a recent World Bank report which showed that a 10 per cent increase in mobile broadband penetration in low to middle income countries leads to a 1.38 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

They also pointed out that as at March 30, 2016, Nigeria has 83 million people with access to mobile services, lamenting that over half of the population are still without a mobile connection, while affordability remains a key challenge to connect the unconnected, who are typically lower income population groups.

“Further taxation on electronic communication services will hit lower income consumers the most, who are already struggling due to the adverse economic situation and increased price pressure and for whom affordable access to information and communication technology is critical to their social and economic inclusion," the petitioners lamented, stressing that this will result in a double taxation for consumers who already pay Value Added Taxes (VAT) on telecommunications services.

The quadruple interest group argued that the proposal would also further increase the administrative cost burden on service providers to comply with numerous and complex tax regulations, already high compared to other countries of the world.

They, therefore, requested of both Ministers to urgently intervene to prevent the adoption of a new tax on electronic communications services to ensure that digital economy delivers its full potential in Nigeria and for Nigerians.

+Remmy Nweke +ITRealms DSA +GSMArena Official Google+

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Buhari govt to save 20% from travels

ITRealms:

The All Progressive Congress (APC) Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari has concluded plans to save some 20 per cent from travel expenditures by limiting Business Class travel to Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Chairmen of Federal Government Committees, as well as Chairmen and Chief Executives of Parastatals and Agencies, reports ITRealms.

Disclosing this, the office of Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance said they are collaborating very closely with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), to review the provisions of some extant government Circulars on Overhead Expenses one of which is on Travels.

Special Assistant on Media to Honourable Minister of Finance, Festus Akanbi confirmed this to ITRealms, saying that the Efficiency Unit, an initiative of the current Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun was set up to engender transparency and reduce government’s large expenditure through procurement in the various ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

He also said that the unit, in its negotiation for discounts with local and international airlines also recommended other measures for reducing the government’s large expenditure on travels to the OSGF.

This, he said, includes the need to restrict Business Class travel to Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Chairmen of Federal Government Committees, as well as Chairmen and Chief Executives of Parastatals and Agencies.

He noted that previously, some government officials who should have been on Business Class usually traveled First Class, while many others travelled Business Class instead of Economy.

The second recommendation, ITRealms reports, bordered on the need to reduce the frequency of travels by ensuring that Board and Committee events such as meetings, workshops and conferences in Nigeria are held in locations where the institutions or persons participating in the event are domiciled.

Furthermore, such events should for the most part be held in Nigeria but where this is not possible, the prior approval of the Secretary to the Federal Government should be secured.

This, he further said, aligns with the present administration’s commitment to reform public expenditure, hence, the OSGF accepted the recommendations in full and has accordingly issued a Circular recently to effect the changes. 

“The buy-in and prompt reaction of the OSGF is an attestation of the common resolve by government to its change mantra and the spirit of collaboration among government institutions and officials,” Akanbi said.

ITRealms recalls that Travel Expenditure is estimated to drop by about 20 per cent if the provisions of the new Circular issued by the OSGF are fully implemented.

Akanbi went on to explain that a 20 per cent reduction in Air Travel Expenditure, using the figure of N69.417 billion incurred on Travels in 2014 will result in a cost-cutting of N13.88 billion, stressing that such large savings from Travel, should ordinarily not be a major expense item for the government, but become available for investment in capital projects such as roads, power, railways and public health facilities.

“The savings are expected to be even larger when discounts secured from Airlines are added. Already, 11 Airlines have offered discounts on local and international routes for travel by MDAs while negotiations are on-going with others.  The discounts received so far vary across routes and airlines and range from 7 per cent to 50 per cent. The Efficiency Unit expects the implementation of the price discounts secured from Airlines to start in May 2016 when the Agreements would have been signed with the Airlines and MDA staff would have been trained and equipped for effective administration of the new process,” he explained.

Other overhead expenditure items, he said being reviewed by the Efficiency Unit are those relating to refreshments and meals, honorarium and sitting allowance as well as advertising and publicity. 

Measures, Akanbi said that will standardise spending on these items, cut costs and promote transparency on these items have been recommended to the OSGF and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, from which further cost-cutting on Overhead Expenditure is to be achieved.

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Niger Delta: 33 finalists emerge @ GEMS 2016

ITRealms:

About 33 finalists have emerged in the 2016 Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science (GEMS) programme being organized by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), reports ITRealms.

The Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari made this disclosure at a ceremony in Port Harcourt.

She also said that the 33 finalists all emerged from SSS1 and SSS2, who are beginning to see the practicality of science, even at that young age, and it becomes a foundation upon which they and other children of the Niger Delta, as well as the schools in the region, will build collective future.

The school that produces the first prize winner, she said, will get a chemistry laboratory, while the second and third schools will get a physics and biology laboratory, respectively.

“We are also going to reward the girls with prizes, such as laptops,” she said.

Further, she said, these finalists were selected from a rigorous elimination process that began with 2880 girls from the nine NDDC mandate states.

“From this first screening test 1110 girls were selected. From the 1110, 270 were selected at 30 girls per state. They progressed to the state finals, where 11 girls qualified from each state, leading to the regional finals, where 11 girls were selected from each of the three regions. Of the 33 who will participate in the grand finale, 10 would be selected for recognition, while the top five will receive awards, prizes and scholarships,” she said.

In initiating GEMS, she said, they are igniting a spark within these young, remarkable women, as well as in society, which we expect to build into a fire that will lead to great things.

“It is good for our society, and good for the Niger Delta region. It is good for our collective future,” shd said, and  called on other well-meaning organisations across the Niger Delta, especially oil and gas companies, to partner with NDDC on the GEMS programme, so that it becomes a worthy and engaging incubator for breeding young ladies who will grow up to conquer the world in various STEM-related careers. 

Gender ICT/GEE 

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Okey Bakassi, Raw Nwanne, Yaw clinche Daylight Leadership Awards

Art&Fashion@ITRealms:

The multi-talented trio of Okey Bakassi, Raw Nwanne and Yaw, will be presented with special recognition awards as Daylight Newspaper Comedian, Musician and Radio Personalities of the year, respectively at the 2016 Daylight Annual Leadership Awards (DALA), reports ITRealms.

The Anambra State born Publisher cum Editor-in-Chief of Daylight, Mr. Azuh Amatus, made this disclosure to ITRealms in Lagos and said the trio will join the 15 exceptionally qualified Nigerian celebrities to be honoured at the award scheme slated for Sunday, May 22, 2016.

Amatus also told ITRealms that the event starts with green and white carpet at 4pm, explaining that their honour is in appreciations of their great contributions to the various sectors they represent as leaders and role models.

In addition, Amatus revealed that the billionaire founder of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema’s company, will be decorated as the Airline of the Year. Even as Soundcity boss and leading content provider on TV, Tajudeen Adepetu, made the list as the proud recipient of the Entertainment Person of the year.

Another growing Nollywood actress and lawyer, Angel Ufuoma, who is one of the hottest new generation stars in Tinsel town, will be crowned with Nollywood Most Promising Actress of the year.

“DALA honourees are leading role models that have equally aided national growth and development with their leadership roles and God’s given talents. We are profoundly proud of them, appreciate and hold them in high esteem,” he declared.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Pix: Yaw, Okey Bakassi, Raw Nwanne,