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Pathfinder International, IHS donate generators to primary health facilities in Abuja, Borno

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L-R. Dr Farouk Jega, Fmr Senior Program Director/Portfolio Lead ; Mrs Asma’u Smaila, IHS Towers ; Dr Amina Dorayi, Country Director, Pathfinder International Nigeria ; Mrs Olamide Oyelade, Finance and Admin Manager, Pathfinder International Nigeria during the handover and signing of partnership between Pathfinder International and IHS Towers.

Pathfinder International, a global non-profit organisation, has partnered with IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of IHS Towers, to provide ten refurbished generators to health care facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and Borno State.

According to a statement released to Nigerian Newssphere on Monday, the generators are expected to support the provision of healthcare services, such as reproductive, maternal and child health services.

In her words, Country Director Pathfinder International Nigeria, Dr. Amina Aminu Dorayi, said, “Healthcare facilities are life support systems in times of crisis and other healthcare needs,

“Due to the intermittent power supply in Nigeria, an alternative power source is needed to keep life support machines and other healthcare tools working to sustain human lives”.

She added that across the country, many primary healthcare centres rely on alternate sources of power supply. In some rural areas, healthcare workers depend on torchlight or light from their mobile phones at night due to less reliable power supply from the national grid.

Dr Amina stated that the donation is the latest in Pathfinder International’s efforts at strengthening both community and healthcare systems to deliver high-quality sexual and reproductive health services. In addition, Pathfinder International continues to work to ensure that those services are responsive to the needs of vulnerable communities. The recipient centres were selected by the governments of Borno State and the FCT based on needs.

She emphasised that through IHS Nigeria’s support, Pathfinder International is helping healthcare facilities address their current power generation gaps by donating generators to specific institutions.

“This donation is timely as we strive to strengthen the delivery of primary care services across the country, a critical step towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage,” Dr Dorayi added.

In his response, the CEO, IHS Nigeria, Mohamad Darwish, said, “Healthcare is an important component of human life, and this, to a large extent, influences the growth and development of local communities. At IHS Nigeria, we believe we have a responsibility to support the government of Nigeria and the communities that host our towers. We hope this donation will help contribute towards larger efforts to deliver more sustainable healthcare in Nigeria.”

“This is a new dawn for the staff and management of Yerwa Maternal and Child Health facility. The power issue was long overdue, and I want to thank Pathfinder International and IHS Towers for their benevolence. This will improve our work and the quality of care in our facility”, Officer-in-Charge, Yerwa Maternal and Child Health Facility, Maiduguri, Borno state, Yagana A. Modu said.

Whether it is through direct implementation of technical programs, the building of expertise and knowledge, or the engagement of communications that can change opinions and encourage investment, Pathfinder believes the corporate sector has a role to ensure that people in communities can access essential health services regardless of where they live.

Ms Martha Dikko, Officer-in-Charge, Dakwa-Dantata PHC, Abuja, Ms Martha Dikko remarked, “This generator is so big! I am sure it will ease our work especially during delivery time that happens mostly at night, and in the storage of vaccines in the facility. We are immensely grateful”.

All the generators have been delivered and installed at the selected healthcare centres. IHS Nigeria will also support the facilities by servicing, fueling and maintaining the generators for a one-year period.

Supported by TAConnect, Pathfinder International is currently providing technical assistance to the Borno state government on Group Antenatal Care to improve sustained uptake and quality of well-integrated RMNCH services, including prevention of malaria in pregnancy and early detection and treatment of malaria. Through its Access Project in FCT Abuja, Pathfinder International, with funding from MacArthur Foundation is advancing COVID-19 mitigation and recovery by curbing vaccine hesitancy, improving equitable access to quality vaccine services, and strengthening accountability mechanisms for vaccine delivery.

National Economic Committee:I don’t know what the team can achieve as Buhari’s administration comes to end in Months-Reuben Abati

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Arise TV anchor and former Media Aide to Former President,Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Reuben Abati has knocked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over it recently inaugurated Presidential Committee on National Economy.

Newssphere learnt this on Monday during a popular ‘The Morning Show‘.

Reacting to news headlines across Newspapers, Abati shedded the Buhari’s administration indicating that the inauguration of Presidential Committee on National Economy towards the end of his era may not yield anything.

In his words, “The committee, code named Emergency Room’, may not achieve anything as it has been the same people who have been advising the government for Seven 7years now and it is too late”.

Recalled that yesterday, in a series of tweets from the President’s official Twiter account declared the inauguration of a National Economy Committee to take the nation’s economy from the woods.

“Today I inaugurated a Presidential Committee on the National Economy, to bring together all policy makers responsible for the economy, against the backdrop of disruptions caused by Covid-19, complications from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the decline in our oil production.

“The Presidential Committee on the Economy, which I will chair, will serve as an economic ‘Emergency Room’ that will work towards keeping Nigeria on the path of economic recovery and growth, global competitiveness, inclusive development and sustainability”, the tweet reads in part.

NCC, Civil Defence Corps align to tackle telecoms crimes

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L-R: Nnena Ukoha, Head, Corporate Communication, Nigerian Communucations Commission (NCC);  Eweka Okoro, Lagos State Commandant, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); Adamu Kambra, Commandant, National Headquarters, Abuja, NSCDC; Ephraim Nwokonneya, Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, NCC; Agboola Sunday, Osun State Commandant, NSCDC; Mohammed Babajika, Director, Licensing and Authorisation, NCC; Ajibola Niyi, Ogun State Commandant, NSCDC; Femi Ete, Oyo State Deputy Commandant, NSCDC; Salisu Abdu, Head, Enforcememt, NCC, and Yomi Arowosafe, Lagos Zonal Controller, NCC, during a one-day workshop organised for the South West leadership of the NSCDC in Lagos recently.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has teamed with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to tackle some of the criminal activities bedeviling the telecom industry, such as telecom equipment vandalism and fraudulent registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards among others.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who addressed a gathering of senior management staff of NSCDC in the South West Zone, at an exclusive workshop organised by the Commission, hailed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sealed between the agency and the Commission, for which the gathering was to explore how the Corps will deploy enabling laws, subsidiary legislations, and extant guidelines to arrest any form of criminality in the sector.

Danbatta, who was represented at the workshop by the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement at the Commission, Ephraim Nwokonneya, said, over the years, the NCC has been working with relevant law enforcement agencies, and in particular the NSCDC, towards protecting telecom sector from all kinds of criminal behaviour.

“Through despicable activities that are criminal and totally at variance with national security concerns of government, the deviant elements in our midst have been acting to undermine efforts put in place to consolidate the gains of the sector,” the EVC said.

Danbatta declared that “These criminal activities include theft and vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure, the illegal use of fraudulently-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, operating without license, illegal call masking, and so on.”

He said while the NSCDC officers have been of tremendous assistance, the objective of the workshop was to constantly engage and update them on new trends and existing regulations, requiring concerted efforts for their implementation towards enhancing sanity in the telecom sector.

Danbatta said the NSCDC and other agencies have done very well with the assistance of their personnel in carrying out raid exercises and mopping up fraudulently-registered SIM cards found in circulation, as well as in raising the banner of awareness on the need to protect critical national telecom infrastructure.

Some of the topical issues discussed at the workshop covered the activities of the Commission as presented by the relevant departments in the context of laws and other regulations, and in relation to the roles of NSCDC, as depicted in the presentation made by the NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Salisu Abdu, during the workshop.

NCC-CSIRT alerts Nigerians on Google Chrome Extensions Malware

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The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has identified five malicious Google Chrome Extensions that surreptitiously track online browser’s activities and steal their data.

In a statement signed by the Comission’s Director Public Affairs, Mr Reunen Muoka on Saturday, the five malicious extensions which the McAfee Mobile Research Team earlier discovered are Netflix Party with 800,000 downloads, Netflix Party 2 with 300,000 downloads, Full Page Screenshot Capture Screenshotting with 200,000 downloads, FlipShope Price Tracker Extension with 80,000 downloads, and AutoBuy Flash Sales with 20,000 downloads.

The NCC-CSIRT said the five google chrome extensions identified have a high probability and damage potential and have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times and serve as access to steal users’ data. The telecom sector-focused cybersecurity protection team alerted telecom consumers to be cautious when installing any browser extension.

“The users of these chrome extensions are unaware of their invasive functionality and privacy risk. Malicious extensions monitor victims’ visits to e-commerce websites and modify the visitor’s cookie to appear as if they came through a referrer link. Consequently, the extensions’ developers get an affiliate fee for any purchases at electronic shops,” the advisory said.

In addition, the advisory stated that, although the google team removed several browser extensions from its Chrome Web Store, keeping malicious extensions out may be difficult. The NCC-CSIRT, thus, recommended that telecom consumers observe caution when installing any browser extension.

“These include removing all listed extensions from their chrome browser manually. Internet users are to pay close attention to the promptings from their browser extensions, such as the permission to run on any website visited and the data requested before installing it. Although, some extensions are seemingly legit, due to the high number of user downloads, these hazardous add-ons make it imperative for users to ascertain the authenticity of extensions they access.” the advisory stated.

Google Chrome extensions are software programmes that can be installed into Chrome in order to change the browser’s functionality.

This includes adding new features to Chrome or modifying the existing behavior of the program itself to make it more convenient for the user. They serve purposes such as block ads, integration with password managers and sourcing coupons as items sent to a shopping cart.

The Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

EPL games postponed in honor of late Queen Elizabeth II

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…Decision ridiculous, says Piers Morgan

English Premier League(EPL) has postponed all its fixture scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in honour of Late Queen Elizabeth II.

Newssphere learned in a statement released by the league management on Friday.

“At a meeting this morning, Premier League clubs paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

“To honour her extraordinary life and contribution to the nation, and as a mark of respect, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed, including Monday evening’s game”, a tweet on its official handle said.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Masters, said: “We and our clubs would like to pay tribute to Her Majesty’s long and unwavering service to our country.

“As our longest-serving monarch, she has been an inspiration and leaves behind an incredible legacy following a life of dedication.
“This is a tremendously sad time for not just the nation, but also for the millions of people around the world who admired her, and we join together with all those in mourning her passing.”

According, EPL management said, “This is aligned with the approach that The FA and EFL will take with their competitions this weekend.

Further updates regarding Premier League fixtures during the period of mourning will be provided in due course”.

Reacting to the development in a tweet, ace UK’s broadcaster, Piers Morgan has described the decision to postponed EPL’s fixture this weekend as ‘Ridiculous’.

Blame corruption for Nigeria’s insecurity- ICPC

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said public sector corruption directly and indirectly causes insecurity in Nigeria.

The Chairman, ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN made this disclosure on Friday at the ‘National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Insecurity in Nigeria’ programme organized by the Commission in Abuja.

He explained that diversion of Military funds, job racketeering, embezzlement of public funds, others bane to pervasive insecurity in Nigeria.

Owasanoye highlighted efforts made so far by the Commission to reduce corruption and its attendance effect on Nigeria’s economy.

He added that the Commission under his watch will see to speedy conclusion of all corruption cases currently being investigated.

According to him, “Policy dialogue aims to broaden our thinking on causative factors, enabling factors and policy gaps that weaken the country’s capacity to decisively and conclusively eradicate insecurity from within her border.

“At face value, insecurity is seen to be, and is sometimes treated as a matter requiring only a military response or reaction, but an in depth look into its possible root cause(s) shows that  corruption is a major contributory factor to the continued existence and propagation of insecurity in the country.

“In fact, a clinical diagnosis of the insecurity menace in the country reveals that to effectively combat insecurity we require the collaborative efforts of Security Agencies (the military, intelligence, Police, Customs, Prisons, others), as well as Law Enforcement and Anti-Corruption Agencies.

“ICPC’s research and investigation findings on the subject matter show that Public sector corruption, directly and indirectly, enables insecurity, and can sometimes complement it.

“Cases of job racketeering abound in the security sector, many of which are under investigation by the ICPC. There are also ongoing investigations into military contracts spending. Recently, ICPC arrested a military contractor that  received over a period of less than ten years cumulative sum of about N6 Billion from the Nigerian Army in suspicious circumstances and in violation of extant legislation. The Commission’s recovery of huge cash sums in local and foreign currencies, luxury cars, customized mobile phones, designer watches including three Rolexes as well  as property documents from the premises of the contractor underscore the corruption that often attend military procurement.

“Some former military and security personnel are being investigated by ICPC and our sister agency for embezzlement of funds allocated to security. For example, a former head of one of the arms of the military in the twilight of his tenure deposited the sum of N4 billion from military budget into the accounts of two companies where he is beneficial owner and sole signatory.

“ICPC’s prosecution of this high ranking officer to recover all the implicated assets was strangely and perversely frustrated by a recently retired High Court judge who decided to forfeit some of the assets to FGN and the rest left to the suspect. While the Commission has filed notice of appeal, this strange development aggravates an already bad situation and escalates insecurity and impunity

“Funds to retool and reposition the police to a world class institution is no less threatened by corruption. The newly established police special intervention framework designed to eliminate underfunding of the police, the Police Trust Fund, is already under ICPC investigation for abuse, fund diversion bogus, questionable welfare packaging that is not for the police who are the beneficiaries of the fund and sundry corrupt practices. One may safely conclude that other security agencies are dogged by similar practices albeit to varying degrees”, he revealed.

 

NIPR Fellowship to Muoka, Ibietan, meritorious, deserving says NCC EVC, Danbatta

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Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, has hailed the conferment of the Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, (fnipr) on two management staff of the Commission, as meritorious and a testimony to the Commission’s promotion of professionalism and excellence in its scheme of management.

The NCC EVC’s assertion followed the recent investiture and induction of Mr. Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs, and Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, Head, Media Relations in the Public Affairs Department of the Commission, as Fellows of the Chartered Institute during its AGM and Conference at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

Danbatta, in congratulating the duo, said the Commission is proud to have produced these two individuals who have been considered worthy of elevation to the fellowship cadre of the prestigious institution like the NIPR, and that their emergence resonates with two of the Commission’s core values; Excellence and Professionalism; which the Commission coincidentally shares with the NIPR.

The NCC boss, a Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, with many Fellowships like: Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Renewable and Alternative Energy Society of Nigeria, expressed delight at the level of performance of the Commission’s staff in their different areas of professional calling.

He commended the NIPR as a body for its commitment in the regulation of the practice of public relations in Nigeria for which it has found an ally in NCC. “This can only rekindle the healthy collaboration and partnership existing between the NCC and NIPR, especially in the area of capacity-building and commitment to appropriate national social orientation”, Danbatta stated.

Muoka, the Director of Public Affairs Department of the NCC, holds M.Sc. in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos with specialisation in Public Relations and Advertising, after a Postgraduate Diploma in the same field from the same University; and he had earlier obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts from the University of Ilorin. Besides being a fellow of NIPR, he is also an associate of the Registered Practitioners of Advertising, (arpa).

He had worked for many years as Communications Editor in Vanguard Newspapers during which he also chaired the League of Communications Correspondents, one of the platforms that championed the deregulation of the telecom industry in Nigeria. He also worked for MTS First Wireless, Nigeria’s first mobile network operator, where he rose to the position of Deputy General Manager. In 1999, Muoka received a fellowship involving a Pan-African training and tour, leading to the award of a Diploma in Journalism, at the instance of the Egyptian Ministry of Information, and the African Journalists Union (AJU), in Cairo, Egypt.

He had worked for many years as Communications Editor in Vanguard Newspapers during which he also chaired the League of Communications Correspondents, one of the platforms that championed the deregulation of the telecom industry in Nigeria. He also worked for MTS First Wireless, Nigeria’s first mobile network operator, where he rose to the position of Deputy General Manager. In 1999, Muoka received a fellowship involving a Pan-African training and tour, leading to the award of a Diploma in Journalism, at the instance of the Egyptian Ministry of Information, and the African Journalists Union (AJU), in Cairo, Egypt.

Ibietan earned a PhD in Communication from North-West University in South Africa. He had earlier obtained MA in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan, a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Uyo, and a Journalism Diploma from the Moscow-based International Institute of Journalism, Abuja Campus. A noted advocate of freedom and democracy, he was Freedom House Nigeria Project’s Regional Media Researcher in the Niger Delta until his appointment in 2006 as Special Media Assistant to the Federal Minister of Information and Communication, during which he popularised the use of new media for public communication in Nigeria. He is a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) and the International Institute of Communications (IIC).

Ibietan joined the NCC in 2008 and was deployed to Legislative and Government Relations (LGR) Department where he was frontline liaison staff of the Commission with the National Assembly. Much later after the merging of the LGR Department with the Public Affairs Department in 2010, he served as Manager Media and Public Relations under Muoka’s supervision and became Senior Manager Media Management until January 2017 when he was redeployed to PAD’s emergent Online Media and Special Publication Unit, and subsequently designated as the head of the Unit. He also worked at the Consumer Information and Education Unit of the Commission’s Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB) until his redeployment to PAD. He became an Assistant Director in January 2021 and was appointed Head Media Relations in July 2022.

Breaking News: Queen Elizabeth dies at 96

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His Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died at age 96 after a brief illness.

Buckingham Palace made this known on Thursday.

Earlier Newssphere reported that there is rising concern over His Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s health.

This is as Prince Charles, Camilla and Prince William are currently travelling to Balmoral, Clarence House has said.

However, official spokesman of Buckingham Palace has confirmed that she is currently comfortable at Balmoral.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision.
“The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”

The new Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted: The whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime.

“My thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time.”
The Queen, 96, met Ms Truss at Balmoral on Tuesday to appoint her as the new prime minister.

The queen of England has witnessed 15 Prime Minister since her reign and head of State for 14 other Countries.

This is including leading 54 common wealth countries.

Here are some of the things that will happen following the Queen’s death:

.The Queen’s Private Secretary will be the first official to convey the news.

.The media will be informed via an announcement to the Press Association and the BBC through a radio alert transmission known as ‘RATS’

.Buckingham Palace will have a notice outside which will symbolise The Queen’s passing. It will also be on the palace website.

.Parliament will be recalled.

.If the Queen dies at Windsor Castle or Sandringham House, her coffin will be moved by car to Buckingham Palace within a couple of days.

.The day after the Queen’s death, the Accession Council will meet at St James’s Palace to proclaim the new monarch

.The Queen’s funeral day would become a national holiday, along with Prince Charles’ coronation as King.

On the day of the monarch’s death, Ministers will receive a call and an email reading: “Dear colleagues, It is with sadness that I write to inform you of the death of Her Majesty The Queen.”

The details of the funeral will be announced while government and royal websites will display a black banner.
Charles will deliver a speech to the nation before meeting the Prime Minister.

Policy Dialogue: Senate President, NSA, Security Sector stakeholders to Brainstorm on corruption, insecurity

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Major actors and stakeholders in Nigeria’s security sector, political office, public service, traditional institution and civil society organisations are to brainstorm this week on corruption and insecurity at the Policy Dialogue of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and its training and research arm, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN).

According to a statement released to Nigerian Newssphere on Thursday by the Commission’s Spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, the Policy Dialogue will be held on Friday, 9th September, 2022 at the ICPC Auditorium, Abuja.

The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, is expected to chair and declare open the policy dialogue while the National Security Adviser, Major General Mohammed Babagana Monguno (Rtd) will give the keynote address on corruption and insecurity in the country.

Top officers of the Nigerian Military, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Custom Service and Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency are expected to make presentations at the assembly.

Some key stakeholders have also been invited to give goodwill messages. Notable among these stakeholders are the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and representatives of traditional institutions.

A professor of criminology and member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Etannibe Alemika will serve as the moderator of a panel of discussants which include: a Professor of International Relations, Prof. Amadu Sesay; Director General of Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness (CCLCA), Dr. Nwambu Gabriel, and Prof. Isaac Olawale Albert of the University of Ibadan.

The Chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, stated that the outcomes of the Commission’s policy dialogues are to assist the Commission to produce policy briefs with actionable recommendations for stakeholders in all arms of government.

“The policy dialogue and concomitant policy brief are designed to be part of the Commission’s key performance indicators in implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NAS), 2017 – 2021 of the Federal Government, as well as the Policies, Programmes and Projects Audit Committee (PPPAC) Roadmap (2019 – 2023) adopted by the government at the commencement of its second term in 2019.

“The policy dialogues are generally meant to deliberate on issues that focus on more systemic challenges and require institutional improvement with practicable solutions directly relevant to the needs of the country,” Prof. Owasanoye explained.

 

Breaking news: Graham Potter will be Chelsea’s new Manager

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Brighton manager, Graham Potter will be Chelsea’s new head coach! It’s a done deal, Chelsea will complete the agreement with Brighton in the next hours.

Details later!

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