Author: NewsDesk

By Shafa’atu Suleiman United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has harped on the need to ensure every community is open defecation free, noting a lack of safe toilets threatens everyone’s health. “Globally, the consequence of a sanitation crisis often manifests in morbidities and mortalities including those of Diarrheal infections, Cholera, SAM, etc. Daily, over 700 U5 children die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene,” it noted. Speaking in Sokoto at a Media Dialogue in commemoration of World Toilet Day, Chief of Field Office Sokoto and Kano State, Muhammadeen Fall lamented only 25 per cent of those in…

As part of efforts in promoting ICT practice in Nigeria, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has empowered 50 women journalists with requisite skills and tools. The digital journalism initiative drew participants from Nigeria’s Northwest states of Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna. “It is to help increase awareness of the potentialities that the use of ICT in journalism offers in transforming the Profession, especially among Women Journalists,” NITDA Director-General Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi stated. Speaking at the capacity building workshop organised in collaboration with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists Jigawa State Chapter, he added it…

Rakiya A. Muhammad For some hard-to-reach communities which lagged in ICTs, bridging the digital literacy divide means they can access critical information and digital media necessary to shape their day-to-day lives. Internet access positively affects agricultural outcomes for women in some rural areas in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It is boosting computer-based examinations for the students. The youths access information to help improve their knowledge, attend online events, apply for internship programmes, and identify/create products and services. Tunga Asheri is one of these rural areas leveraging on a digital literacy initiative to change their narratives. It now has a…

Sokoto State Government has expressed commitment to tackling the out-of-school menace and ensuring education for affected boys and girls. It had enrolled 75,600 learners for the first phase of the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme. Speaking on the programme, Chair, Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board, Hon Shuaibu Gwanda Gobir, said BESDA which the state government is implementing in collaboration with the World Bank, targeted the out -of- school children. Gobir noted that the initiative had enhanced enrolment in school. He pointed out Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal had declared a State-of-Emergency on Education to improve the standard…

An assessment of the mother -to -child HIV transmission by researchers at the Nigeria Institute for Medical Research shows an intervention programme saved more than 2 000 babies saved from being born HIV positive. The institute screened 143,000 pregnant women for HIV at the facility. Out of the figure, it enrolled 7,076 HIV positive pregnant women on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme. Source: NIMR

… as UNICEF urges investment in critical services Nigeria ranks second in terms of the risks that climate change poses to children, according to UNICEF, calling on governments, businesses and relevant actors to increase investment in climate adaptation and resilience in key services for young people. “To protect children, communities and the most vulnerable from the worst impacts of the already changing climate, critical services must be adapted, including water, sanitation and hygiene systems, health and education services,” it stressed. It also underscored the need to “ensure the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is green, low-carbon and inclusive, so that…

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo has charged over 9,339 matriculating students of the university to be security conscious in order to not fall victim of any crisis that could ruin their academic career in the institution. The VC gave the charge while addressing the 29th Matriculation ceremony of the University which held Saturday at the Town campus of the University, saying only worthy students of the university would bag degrees. He urged them to abide by the University’s matriculation oath, and shun such vices as cultism and examination malpractices, adding that there…

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has described education as the best way to empower women. “I believe in women empowerment, and the best way to empower women is by giving them education,” he stated while speaking with journalists in Sokoto. “We believe that if you give women serious education, they can do well; they can even do better than a number of us.” He said that was why his administration established the Girls Science Academy, Kasarawa and many other projects to boost girls’ education and advance women’s empowerment. Commenting on his administration’s record of appointing many women to leadership…

TUNDE OMOLEHIN writes on the perpetual electronic banking fraud (e-fraud) experienced by Nigerians as a result of the mandatory biometric data collection system by the Federal Government. In December last year, an unidentified middle-aged man surfaced on social media, threatening to kill himself at a United Bank for Africa (UBA) Iju branch, Lagos State, alleging that the bank transferred his money to hackers who compromised his account. It was gathered that the man had earlier reported an unfamiliar debit transaction of N450, 000 on his account to the bank. The bank asked him to get a court order to prove…

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that more districts are at risk amid the ongoing cholera outbreak in the southeastern part of Ethiopia. The cholera outbreak is currently active in 23 localities of three districts of the Bale zone in the Oromia region, as well as in nine localities in one district of the Liban zone in the Somali region, the UNOCHA said. It said in its latest situation update that the figures indicated that as of October 25, some 273 cholera cases have been reported including nine deaths. It added that suspected cases in…