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MURIC Hails IGP On Hijab Approval For Female Officers

By
Munachi
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0

Human rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has hailed the approval of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, on the use of hijab by the female officers of the Nigerian Police Force.

MURIC Hails IGP On Hijab Approval For Female Officers

MURIC in a press statement signed Friday by the Director of its Zamfara State Chapter, Professor Ahmad Galadima described the approval as a landmark development and the beginning of a new dawn.

The statement reads in part:

“The High Command of the Nigeria Police Force has approved the use of hijab for policewomen who are willing to use the Muslim scarf. The single-paragraph statement reads:

“The High Command of the Nigeria Police Force under the watch of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has approved the use of hijab for the rank and file of its female workforce. The approval is one of the efforts of the leadership of the NPF, to encourage freedom of worship and promotion of religious tolerance within the police force and by extension, the general public. However, its use is optional and must conform to the approved style and design. This will be a welcome development to many Muslims and accords with respect to the Nigeria Police Force. In many, other countries of the world, especially in America, Canada, Britain, policewomen are allowed to wear the Hijabs, as part of their uniforms”.

“MURIC hereby expresses deep appreciation to the Nigeria Police High Command, particularly the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba for listening to the pleas and advocacies of MURIC and other Muslim groups which have been demanding the use of hijab in the security and uniformed agencies for decades.

“This is a landmark development in the history of the struggle for Muslim civil rights. It is the greatest news of the century and the beginning of a new dawn. It is another bite from the dividends of democracy for Nigerian Muslims. With this approval, the Nigeria Police High Command has proved that it is keeping pace with global best practices in police formations around the world.

“It is an open secret that female Muslims in police formations (including their army) in Britain, the United States, Canada, etc use hijab with their uniforms. Nigerians who travel abroad cannot deny this. Therefore what the Nigeria Police High Command has done is not new.

“We advise wailing wailers to accept the development as a natural evolution in civil rights struggle in the country. It will be petty, parochial, and archaic to oppose the introduction of something that is already being practiced in advanced countries. Only those who want to deprive Muslim women of the dividends of democracy and those whose agenda is to keep Muslims in perpetual bondage will cry foul over the approval of hijab for female policewomen.

“It is only in Nigeria that religious harmonization has taken control of our thinking faculties and we have consequently excommunicated objectivity from our borders. The hijab does not interfere with the professional efficiency of the person wearing it. A Muslim woman who wears hijab has only covered her head, not her brain! Hijab is a crown, not a crime.

“It is also important to note that the High Police Command statement was entitled ‘Newly Approved (Optional) Dress Code for Police Women’. It is therefore meant for female policewomen who wish to use it alone. Some female Muslim policewomen who do not wish to use it are free to continue dressing the old way. This means no policewoman will be compelled to use hijab. We are deliberately laying emphasis on this to foreclose mischief and misinterpretation.

“MURIC appeals to other security agencies to approve hijab for their female Muslim staffers who wish to use it. This appeal goes to uniformed security agencies like the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Immigrations and Customs as well as para-military bodies and traffic formations like the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA).

“At this juncture, we are constrained to reveal that many female soldiers, policewomen, female traffic officers, female immigration staff, etc, who are Muslims, have complained to MURIC that they are yearning for use of hijab because they are not comfortable without it.

“We thank all those who have worked behind the scene in collaboration with MURIC, particularly the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Senator Ibrahim Shekarau. Equally worthy of mention are various Islamic organizations in the country.

“We appeal to Nigerians to exercise patience and decorum in all their demands from the authorities. Violence is not the way to go. We will all get what we want at the end of the day if we can be patient. The keywords here are patience, advocacy, constant enlightenment, persuasion, dialogue, and behind the scene consultations. Nigerian leaders are not blind. They will respond positively when convinced.

 “This was the method adopted by MURIC in its struggle for hijab in the police and it paid off at long last. We carried no placards. We held no demonstration. For instance, as far back as three years ago, MURIC did coloured full-page advertorials on the matter in the Daily Trust of Tuesday, September 24th, 2019, page 19 and The Nation newspaper of Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019, page 35. The advertorial showed pictures of female Muslim policewomen from different parts of the world with all of them wearing hijab.

“We also sent a petition to the Nigerian Senate. The petition titled ‘Position Paper on the Need to Allow Hijab in the Army, Police and Para-military Agencies was dated 6th January 2020, and copies were sent to the heads of all uniformed agencies including the presidency.

“It has been a long road in our struggle for recognition of hijab in the security agencies. Its approval by the police yesterday signals hope for our dear country, Nigeria. The wind of freedom is blowing.”

FG Has No Funds To Meet ASUU’s Demands – Chris Ngige

By
ABN TV EDITOR
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Dr. Chris Ngige

The Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, has stated that the Federal Government does not have the funds to meet its obligations in the agreement signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

Ngige Reschedules Meeting With ASUU Tuesday
Dr. Chris Ngige

Ngige said the government was considering a renegotiation of the terms of the agreement with ASUU, in the effort to end the ongoing strike by university lecturers.

The minister made this known while appearing on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television monitored from Abuja on Thursday.

When asked if he agreed that the government had failed to fulfil its side of the agreement with ASUU, Ngige said no.

On when the conflict would end, the minister said, “I am hoping that ASUU should do the right thing and contact their members on the renegotiations that we have had in the last two weeks. First, the issue of earned academic allowances, we have agreed, giving a timeline to the NUC to go back to the old template used in working out the 2021 earned academic allowance – 10.8 per cent of personnel cost.“We want them to go back very quickly and use that same formula and get us what we are supposed to pay in 2022. That is agreed by everybody.”

On revitalisation of the universities, Ngige said “the amount is not very clear, what has been paid.” He said the actual amount paid is being determined.

On the release of N1.3tn between 2013 and 2018 to revitalise the universities, with N200bn released in 2013 and only N70bn released in the last seven years, the minister, who noted that government is a continuum, stated that the N1.3tn was promised by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration. According to him, oil was selling at between $100 and $120 per barrel then, while the revenue of the federation was rich.

“The government now says ‘we don’t have the money to pay it.’ This was the agreement between 2016 and 2017,” he said, adding that the government still does not have the funds to fulfil its side of the bargain.

Ngige said the government is now calling for renegotiation of the agreement with ASUU, “unless you want us to go and take money from TETFUND and deceive you as it was done in that period, and place it for you on the table.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Education has constituted another committee to renegotiate the 2009 agreement with ASUU.

Announcing the reconstitution of the renegotiation team, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, emphasised the need to speedily bring to conclusion the outstanding issues in the 2009 agreement.

The statement read in part, “The Federal Government has reconstituted a team to renegotiate the 2009 agreement it had with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

“Reconstituting the team, Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, said there was a need to speedily bring to conclusion all outstanding issues in the 2009 agreement in order to achieve the desired peace on our campuses.

“The Chairman of the reconstituted 2009 FGN/University-based Unions Agreements Re-negotiation Team is Prof Nimi Briggs, Pro-Chancellor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo.

“Members of the team include Lawrence Patrick Ngbale, Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Wukari (North-East); Prof Funmi Togunu-Bickersteth, Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Birnin Kebbi (South-West); Senator Chris Adighije, Pro-Chancellor, Federal University, Lokoja (South-East); and Prof Olu Obafemi, Pro-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna (North-Central).

“Others are Prof Zubairu Iliyasu, Pro-Chancellor, Kano State University of Science & Technology (North-West); and Matthew B. Seiyefa, Pro-Chancellor, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island (South-South).

“The team will be inaugurated by the minister by 12noon, on Monday, March 7, 2022 at the minister’s conference room, headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja.

“All advisers and observers in the Federal Government/University-based Unions 2009 Agreements Re-negotiation Team are expected to attend the inauguration.”

PM Boris Johnson Talks Tough As Russian Military Attacks Europe’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant

By
ABN TV EDITOR
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0
Boris Johnson

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has accused Russia of ‘threatening the security of the whole of Europe’ after Putin’s troops attacked the continent’s largest nuclear power plant overnight, sparking a fire that raged for hours before emergency crews were eventually allowed to extinguish it as Russian soldiers seized the complex.

PM Boris Johnson Talks Tough As Russian Military Attacks Europe's Largest Nuclear Power Plant
Boris Johnson

Mr Johnson condemned the attack as ‘reckless’ after a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky who branded it ‘nuclear terrorism’. Jen Stoltenburg, who is in Brussels today to meet with NATO allies, denounced attacks on all civilian infrastructure and said the fire at the plant underlined the need to end Putin’s war as soon as possible.

Russian troops had attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early hours of Friday, with CCTV capturing a fierce gun battle between Putin’s men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex. Moscow’s men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours.

Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to go in and douse the flames before Russian troops moved in an occupied the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity. The UN’s nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site’s six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal.

Moscow has, predictably, attempted to deny responsibility for the attack, saying its forces had come under attack by Ukrainian ‘saboteurs’ while patrolling the plant, who then set fire to the building themselves.

Ukraine is home to three other active nuclear power plants, one of which is located 70 miles from the city of Mykolaiv which Russian forces have begun attacking after seizing nearby Kherson. The other two active sites are located in the west and are not currently under threat, though that situation could change as the Russian attack branches out. Ukraine also has five sites which are out of action, but could still pose a risk if hit by shells.

Nuclear experts told the BBC that attacks on Zaporizhzhia were ‘frightening’, and that damaging nuclear plants risks creating a disaster similar to what happened at Fukushima in 2011 after it was hit by a tsunami – where a loss of power results in uncontrolled heating and an eventual meltdown.

Claire Corkhill, professor of nuclear materials at Sheffield University, told the corporation that the reactors at Zaporizhzhia now appear to be shutting down to remove the danger – which may have been Russia’s intention in attacking the plant.

Russia’s war against Ukraine is now entering its ninth day and shows no sign of stopping any time soon after talks between the two sides yesterday broke up without agreement, before Vladimir Putin went on TV to declare that he would keep battling for ‘total victory’ whilst spouting propaganda that Russia’s forces are not deliberately targeting civilians and that the ‘special operation’ is proceeding on time with all of its major objectives completed to schedule.

Mykolaiv, a city to the west of Kherson which is now under Russian control, came under attack on Friday morning with the mayor saying troops had moved into the outskirts. Mykolaiv is located along the road to Odessa, Ukraine’s third-largest city and main port, which is increasingly at risk of coming under siege.

The city of Mariupol, on the other side of the Crimean peninsula, also continues under heavy bombardment as Moscow’s men try to bomb it into submission – with the aim seeming to be cutting off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea to deny the government access to lucrative trading routes.

Fighting is also continuing across the north and east, with Ukrainian special forces ambushing and destroying Russian tanks and armoured vehicles at Hostomel – to the west of the city – and Brovary – to the east – late yesterday and this morning. Ukraine also claimed its jets have targeted part of a 40-mile convoy currently stalled outside the city, amid fears it would encircle the capital and bombard it.

Meanwhile Chernihiv, to the north east of Kyiv, and Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s east, were braced for more heavy shelling today after days of increasingly indiscriminate attacks including with banned cluster munitions have left dozens of civilians dead. Officials in Chernihiv said this morning that 47 people died in attacks yesterday.

President Putin is also stepping up actions on the home front, intended to head off internal dissent about the war as combat proves fiercer and harder than his generals anticipated, and western sanctions destroy large chunks of the economy.

Russia’s rubber-stamp parliament on Friday approved new laws that would see anyone spreading ‘fake news’ about the invasion jailed for up to 15 years. Putin had previously threatened and shut down radio and TV stations referring to the ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ of Ukraine – which Moscow prefers to call a ‘special military operation’.

Moscow also admitted to limiting news from outside sources getting into the country, with the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, independent Russian site Meduza and Germany’s Deutsche Welle all restricted, while access to Facebook has been blocked.

Putin has also gone after peaceful protesters, with thousands arrested while marching in rallies around the country asking for the conflict to end.

Meanwhile diplomats from NATO, the EU and G7 will hold a series of back-to-back meetings today in order to discuss next steps in the crisis, with discussions expected to focus on reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, supporting non-NATO states such as Moldova and Georgia, and calls for more military support to be sent to Ukraine.

INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye Denies Rigging By-Election For APC

By
Munachi
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0

The INEC National Electoral Commissioner for information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye has denied rigging the last weekend by-election for the Ogoja-Yala federal constituency in favour of the ruling APC in Cross River State.

INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye Denies Rigging By-Election For APC

The chairman of opposition PDP in the State, Venatius Ikem in a conference in Calabar, had accused Mr. Okoye who supervised the two by-elections of 26 February 2022, of compromising his office and rigging the exercise for the APC.

Speaking over a private radio station in Calabar, Sparkling FM, Okoye said, “Nothing can be farther from the truth.”

He took time to explain the processes of the election to show that it could be very difficult to rig elections with the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine deployed for the exercise.

He said part of the challenges the INEC experienced during the 2022 by-elections were provisions of agents by other political parties and vehicles to accompany the electoral materials to the various polling units.

He explained that the anxiety and anger that arose from the by-elections were from persons who wanted to rig the process but could not.

“The challenge we had was that some of the political parties did not make provision for vehicles to accompany the voting materials to the polling units (PU). So, at each stage, the two major political parties had their representatives at the PU.

“This anxiety and anger arose because those who used to hawk voting materials like permanent voters’ cards did not have the opportunity to corrupt the system this time around because of BVAS.

“BVAS was able to read the face and fingerprints of accredited voters. In the event that the machine could not do so, it means that the person would have been involved in identity theft, meaning that he was not registered at that PU, and the voter card he was holding was not his.

“That’s why you saw the level of contest and consistency in the numbers of votes scored by each party. Compare this with what used to occur when we used the Incident Form. So, it tells you that those that vote at each PU were those registered there,” he stated.

Okoye further said that before the votes were counted, they had to interrogate the BVAS, and it gave them the number of registered and accredited voters at the given PU.

This, he said, was to ensure that the votes cast were tallied with the number of accredited voters.

Fuel Crisis: Nigerians Faced Similar Challenges Before Buhari – Femi Adesina

By
Munachi
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0
What I Will Do When Buhari’s Tenure Ends – Femi Adesina

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina has said that the challenges being faced by Nigerians on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, was not new in the country.

Fuel Crisis: Nigerians Faced Similar Challenges Before Buhari – Femi Adesina

Nigerians have been having a hard time buying the commodity after contaminated petrol was imported into the country by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in February.

While many other filling stations had been shut down for lack of products to sell.

But reacting to the crisis, Adesina said that Nigerians faced similar challenges before the regime of President Buhari, stressing that fuel crisis had been a recurrent event in the country.

The presidential spokesman disclosed this in an article titled, ‘Knock, Knock. Who’s There’, and shared on his official Facebook page on Thursday, adding that Nigerians had slept in petrol stations queuing for fuel on several occasions.

The article read in part, “It’s obviously not the easiest of times in our country currently, with severe fuel scarcity exacerbating the other existential challenges we have been coping with. In some areas, there’s no fuel, no electricity, thus translating to the severe energy crisis.”

While admitting that the fuel crisis had worsened the living conditions of Nigerians, Adesina noted that the Buhari regime was working assiduously to restore normalcy.

“There were cases of bad fuel before in this country. We slept for days, weeks on end at petrol stations, queuing for fuel. We survived. We will survive again. Las las.

“President Muhammadu has promptly approved the sum of $8.5m for the evacuation of Nigerians in Ukraine. Good. That’s what a responsible father does to family members in distress. He’s also working night and day, ensuring the country has fuel, power, infrastructure, and all the good things of life.

“I’ve come to knock and ring and tap on your door today, to remind you that it is not all doom and gloom in our country. However overcast the sky is, there’s always a shimmer of light.”

“Fuel crisis will come and go. The energy crisis will be resolved. Nigerians who appreciate good things will be made happy progressively,” Adesina said.

Tinubu Says Nigeria Needs Real Change As He Consults Ekiti Traditional Rulers

By
Alex Enemanna
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0
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

A former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has informed traditional rulers in Ekiti State that he will be contesting for the presidency in 2023, saying his desire is for real change in the country.

Tinubu Says Nigeria Needs Real Change As He Consults Ekiti Traditional Rulers

Tinubu said Nigeria needs a competent leader who can unite the people, tackle insecurity, and put the economy right for the benefit of the masses.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti Thursday, during his consultation with members of the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers in furtherance of his 2023 presidential aspiration.

He was accompanied to the venue of the meeting held at the Traditional Council Chambers, by the Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi and top leaders of the Southwest Agenda 2023 for Tinubu Presidential ambition, led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye.

Addressing the council, led by the Chairman and Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Adejumo, Tinubu said he was in Ekiti to consult the traditional rulers that he would be contesting the 2023 presidency so that they support him with their prayers.

“I want to tell you that Nigeria needs serious change. I knew how Lagos was when I took over and we have never failed any election. There must be continuity in governance for progress to be attained.

“I was the first governor in Nigeria to start paying the WAEC fee of secondary school students. I shall do it again as a president,” he said.

Tinubu said he decided to consult the traditional rulers before declaring because of the enormous respect he places on culture and tradition.

“I have been on Nigeria’s project since the 70’s. I was with MKO Abiola in SDP. I was a senator before he came out. I was the youngest senator of that era.

“I was about to become Director of Finance of ExxonMobil, but I rejected it. I said I wanted to serve Nigeria. They gave me a leave of absence to go and do politics for four years and come back, but I only spent two years as a senator when the military came and terminated our tenure…

“We believe that there must be democracy in Nigeria, there must be freedom and there must be opportunities,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the council, Oba Adejumo, said the constitution permits every qualified Nigerian to aspire for any position, saying God will help him realise his ambition.

Tinubu also visited the palace of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, for consultation

Why FG Delayed Evacuation Of Nigerians From Ukraine — Officials

By
Munachi
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0

The Federal Government has delayed the evacuation of Nigerians fleeing the Russia-Ukraine crisis till Friday (today).

Why FG Delayed Evacuation Of Nigerians From Ukraine — Officials

This was made known by two top officials of the Federal Government coordinating the return of Nigerians back to Nigeria.

The first batch of the flights from Poland, Romania, and Hungary aboard Air Peace and Max Air was earlier scheduled to arrive in Abuja on Thursday (yesterday).

The Leader of the Nigerian delegation and Director, Consular and Legal Services, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinremi, announced the delay.

Akinremi said this followed the delay in the check-in of passengers.

He said arrangements had been made to ensure that all the passengers stayed together in the same hotel and left the hotel at 4 am in buses to join the flight.

The Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Christian Ugwu, also confirmed the development.

Ugwuanyi said it was difficult gathering the Nigerian nationals to embark on the trip.

He said he had to be hard on some of them.

He said: “You have to work hard to gather them together, especially young people, exuberant.

“Even here, some of them at the airport were arrested.

“One of them was arrested for moving about.

“So, these are the problems we encountered, but I am very sure by tomorrow (today) morning, the flight will take off.”

NCC Sets To Deploy 5G Network In Nigeria

By
ABN TV EDITOR
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0

The  Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is on the verge of deploying the Fifth Generation (5G) network in Nigeria. 

NCC Sets To Deploy 5G Network In Nigeria

Already, spectrum licenses for the companies that will rollout services have been issued.

Although the deployment will start from the state capitals and gradually extends to other areas across the state, it is important to state that, unlike 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G, the 5G network will bring substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities to communications services in Nigeria.

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said at the NCC Day during the Kaduna Trade Fair that “more importantly, it is also our commitment, at NCC, to continue to provide a level-playing ground for operators to thrive, promote investment and delivery of innovative services to individual consumers, SMEs and big business owners by ensuring enhanced consumer quality of experience.”

According to him, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I would like to sincerely thank all of you, for taking time to be with us at the “NCC Day” and we encourage you to take maximum advantage to get to know more about what we do at NCC. You’re implored to take advantage of this forum to ask questions on issues you might have regarding general telecoms service delivery as they affect you. Accordingly, please feel free to visit the NCC’s Stand at the exhibition ground, where our staff and representatives of your service providers are waiting to attend to all your service-related queries, enquiries and complaints. Indeed, this event is essentially meant for you and without you being here today, we would not have achieved our objective.

He said over the years, the NCC has continued to be a strategic partner of KADCCIMA(organisers of Kaduna Trade Fair ) “as the Commission leverages the opportunity provided by the annual event to engage telecoms consumers and business owners, who are based in this region of the country and have been relying on digital platforms for carrying out their daily personal and official activities in a more efficient and effective manner.”

“Hence, the Commission has been partnering with KADCCIMA through our special “NCC Day” event usually organised as an interactive forum with telecoms stakeholders, especially our esteemed telecoms consumers.  It is on this note that I would like to convey the appreciation of the Board and Management of the Commission to KADCCIMA for their regular invitation to NCC to participate in this annual trade fair. Ladies and gentlemen, the theme of this year’s edition of the trade fair, which is the 43rd in a series are “Strategising Nigerian Economy for Global Competitiveness.” 

“We consider this theme very apt and timely, especially considering the very important role telecommunications has been playing in providing the digital impetus that is transforming the landscape of businesses as well as sustaining other socio-economic activities since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. The telecommunications sector has been a strategic driver of the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government, as it continues to provide the needed digital sinews that support the economy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant restriction period.”

“At a time of COVID-19-induced slowed growth and continued volatility, many countries are looking for policies that will stimulate growth and create new jobs. Information Communications Technology (ICT) is not only one of the fastest-growing industries – directly creating millions of jobs – but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development. In Nigeria, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 195.4 million in December 2021 with Internet subscribers exceeding 141 million and a broadband penetration 40.88 per cent.”

“In this new environment, the competitiveness of Nigeria, for instance, depends on the ability to leverage new technologies. Hence, areas, where NCC’s regulatory efforts in deepening access to digital services will benefit Nigeria and make it competitive compared to another economies, include direct job creation; contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth; the emergence of new services and industries; workforce transformation; and business innovation. It is in our response to ensuring that Nigeria is competitive in all these areas that Commission continuously puts a number of regulatory measures in place to ensure seamless access by Nigerians to telecommunications services in order to deepen competitiveness of the Nigerian economy.”

“The steady growth of telecoms sector over the years with its pervasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery has been remarkable. This, however, would not have been possible without you, telecoms consumers who are using the services daily. To sustain this, therefore, the NCC continues to create a conducive environment that stimulates the deployment of robust telecoms/broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers, be it individuals or corporates. Without any doubt, we need robust telecoms infrastructure that will help our Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and even big business entities hitherto running a ‘brick and mortal’ operational approach to seamlessly transit to becoming Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be competitive on the global stage. While the COVID-19 has come with its challenges, the Commission is working assiduously with various stakeholders including you, the consumers, to see how more businesses can embrace digital platforms for delivering their services to the consumer.”

 “As a regulator, we also ensure we constantly inform you, the consumers on how to be protected to prevent cases of online fraud or eschew consumer falling victims of cybercrime antics while in their legitimate use of the Internet. Indeed, strategising the Nigerian economy is strongly connected telecommunications giving the power it has to positively disrupt traditional business models.”

 “The growing demand for connectivity is pressuring companies to upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure. Network transformation has become far more imperative for innovative businesses, allowing them to address changing customer expectations.

Suffice it to say that telecom services also have direct and indirect benefits for your business such as improved cross-team collaboration, increase employee productivity and satisfaction as well as providing leverage to reach more customers and business partners for greater value creation. With high-speed internet, mobile apps, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), social media networking sites and other means of digital communication, staff of a company can exchange information in real-time and reach out to prospective clients.”

 “These technologies support branding efforts and customer service strategy. SMEs in this era of COVID-19 pandemic can leverage ICT platforms to run their operations, thereby reducing operational costs, saving office space, increasing productivity across and ultimately increasing bottom-lines. Having said these, ladies and gentlemen, permit me to emphasize that the NCC will continue to drive the remarkable digital transformation we are witnessing in our economy today and one area that the Commission pays greater priority to is how our consumers – Yes, you as telecoms consumers- are treated by the service providers.”

“This is why at NCC, we continue to treat consumers as Kings and Queens. Of course, that is who they are because without the consumer, both the regulator and the service providers have no business being in business! Therefore, it is my pleasure to restate the NCC’s commitment to protecting and empowering consumers – whether individuals and corporate consumers – from unfair practices willingly or unwillingly orchestrated by the service providers.”

 “This is based on our regulatory mandate of ensuring that consumers of telecommunications services deserve to get value for their money and to be treated right as very important stakeholders in the scheme of things. It bears noting that one of the NCC’s centres of interest, over the next five years, as contained in our new Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), 2020-2025 and the Strategic Management Plan (SMP), 2020-2024, is our consumer-centric philosophy. By this, we continue to do everything possible to ensure telecoms consumers get the best value for their money.”

“Consequently, the Commission will continue to focus on excellence and efficiency of our regulatory activities and ensure increased connectivity to telecoms consumer through the deployment of robust infrastructure,” he said.

2022 WCQ: “Eguavoen Must Not Experiment With Players” — Udeze Warns Eagles Coach Ahead Ghana Clash

By
Munachi
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0

Former Nigeria international Ifeanyi Udeze has warned Super Eagles interim coach Austine Eguavoen not to experiment with players but rather go for the best legs for the 2022 World Cup play-offs with Ghana.

2022 WCQ: "Eguavoen Must Not Experiment With Players" — Udeze Warns Eagles Coach Ahead Ghana Clash

The Eagles will be guests to the Black Stars in Cape Coast on 25th March before entertaining them four days later in Abuja.

The winner between the Eagles and Black Stars will represent Africa at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

And looking forward to the crucial encounters, Udeze urged Eguavoen to select players who he feels can do the job.

“There is no time to experiment,” Udeze said on Brila FM.

“Eguavoen must feature players who he feels can do the job, this is not the time to experiment because this is a very important game and we must be careful.”

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