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Eko Digital: Over 120,000 Lagos Schoolchildren To Get Tech Skills In 2021

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The Lagos State Government has concluded plans to train over 120,000 schoolchildren on Information, Communication Technology (ICT), networking, and other tech skills in 2021 through Eko Digital Initiative.

It added that under the Eko Digital initiative, the schoolchildren would be selected from 720 public primary and secondary schools with over 120 selected from the six educational districts across the state and prepare them for the future.

Announcing the plan at the flag-off of Eko Digital Initiative 2021 on Tuesday, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Tokunbo Wahab, said that the aim was to prepare the schoolchildren for the ICT revolution which he described as the fourth revolution.

Wahab explained that to achieve this, the government has retooled the Digital Skills Initiative Lagos to Eko Digital Initiative to take the programme beyond its previous state as well as achieve a more in-depth training of the digital skills in schools across the state.

“The Eko Digital program is strategically placed to train and equip young students in Lagos State Government primary and High schools with the knowledge, skills and the know-how that would enable them to thrive in the technology space within in a couple of years”.

According to him, under the new initiative, within this year, the government would be embarking on three phases of the programme, and the first phase would be to train the schoolchildren in the selected public schools across the state.

“The second phase of the programme will be to train those that are out of schools. And they will be trained on digital marketing, sales management, data analytic, programming, clouding project management and many others.

“And in the third phase, we will come to the schools again and pick another over 100 schools from each district. And what we intend to do is to ensure we integrate it with our library programme. It is not going to change the content of what we have already but to complement what we already have on the ground”.

Wahab further disclosed that the new initiative was designed to have Tutor-General and Permanent Secretary ( TG/PS) of each district to be the major drivers of the programme within their districts, adding, they own the schools and can ensure that this programme goes around the selected schools within their districts.

Responding, the TG/PS for Education District III, Dr. Olayinka Ayandele, said that training the students on ICT would prepare them for future challenges particularly when they are out of school.

Ayandele, who assured the government that she and her colleagues were ready to ensure the project achieves its successes, stressed that it would boost the standard of education in the state.

According to her, we will work together, all the six districts, and ensure that the students are properly engaged both online and offline. Doing this, it will benefit the students and their communities.

Also, the project manager for Advent Solutions, Marygene Ugbaja, said: “With this, the education of Lagos will be boosted and the schoolchildren will be able to compete with their peers globally. The lockdown has drawn us to the fact that education is a key ingredient for any society wishing to develop. This is a very laudable project”.

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Peter Obi Did Well For Us In Labor Party, But I’ve Won Election Before In Abia Without Him —  Alex Otti

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Abia state governor-elect, Alex Otti said he had won governorship election in the state in the past without Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

Otti stated this in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday.

The Abia state governor-elect, however, acknowledged that Obi contributed to his election victory.

According to him, it’s on record that he won the 2015 governorship election in the state without Obi’s support.

Otti said, “In 2015 when I ran under APGA, there was no Peter Obi. And we have it on our record that I won that election. At the time we were joining Labour Party, Peter Obi had not joined.

“It took about a week before called me and said that he purchased the presidential nomination form and he was coming to Labour Party.

“We were prepared to fight the way we fought in 2015. The votes we garnered in Abia could have been had but maybe the margin could have been smaller. That is why it’s always good to acknowledge Peter Obi. He came to Abia about four times to campaign for us.

“I think he had done well for us. That is why even the first election out of the eight House of Representatives seats we took six and sent some people on permanent retirement.

“Peter Obi is a great addition to our campaign, but I can tell you that we won an election before in Abia without him.”

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday, declared Otti winner of the March 18 governorship poll in Abia state.

Otti polled a total of 175, 467 votes defeat his closest rival, Chief Okey Ahiwe of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party who scored 88,529 votes.

Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party, YPP, came third with 28,972 votes.

Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, Professor Nnenna Oti, subsequently declared Otti the Governor-elect having polled the highest number of votes and satisfied all necessary conditions.

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Runaway Nigerian Nurse Arrested In Lagos, Extradited To US For Trial Over Fraud

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A convicted Nigerian fugitive, Florence Enwerim Onyegbu, was on Thursday, extradited to the United States of America, where she is wanted to answer to criminal charges bordering on the violation of the U.S. law involving the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

Onyegbu‘s extradition was coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following a request by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI,  seeking assistance for her apprehension.

The EFCC said its investigations revealed that she had changed her name from Florence E. Onyegbu to Janet Boi in an attempt to remain hidden.

But that she however ran out of luck when operatives of the EFCC swooped on her at her residence in the Ojodu area of Lagos on February 21, 2022.

The anti-graft agency said that upon her arrest, a national identity card with the name Janet Boi as well as a Texas driver’s license with the name Florence Enwerim Onyegbu were found on her.

The Commission, on March 22, 2023, handed over Onyegbu to the FBI, following an extradition order granted by Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on December 2, 2022.

It will be recalled that Onyegbu’s travails began after she was arrested on February 12, 2011 in the U.S. and subsequently sentenced to 46 months imprisonment, following a guilty plea , over the violation of the U.S. law bordering on the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

Although she was ordered to report for service of her sentence on April 4, 2011, she failed to surrender on that date.

Consequently, she was further charged with failure to surrender for service of sentence in violation of U.S. Law on March 4, 2013.

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JUST IN: CBN Directs Banks To Open On Saturday, Sunday

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations.

The CBN has also directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Isa AbdulMumin, disclosed this in Abuja, on Friday, stating that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.

According to him, the CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted, adding that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.

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