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  • IE University Host First Digital Solution Venture Day In Africa At Zone Tech Park, Lagos

    IE University, a leading global higher institution based in Madrid and Segovia, Spain held its first African Venture Day in Lagos State on Friday the 20th of September. Themed Growth and Scalability in Business: Crafting a Winning Strategy, the event was put together to help further support startups dedicated to providing innovative digital based solutions to everyday problems faced by African businesses.
    The Lagos Venture Day which held at Zone Tech Park in Gbagada Lagos, commenced with a welcome address from the Lagos Consul General of Spain, Mr. Juan Antonio Moreda Otero. According to him, “IE University, Nigeria and Spain are three clear dots joined by three lines which are entrepreneurship, knowledge and commitment”. This was followed by a keynote address delivered by the MD, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi.
    An intellectual panel discussion on Business in Tech and Sustainability was deliberated on where Managing Director of BPL Nigeria Limited Ajibade Oluwabiyi also advised founders to think 10 years into the future when starting a business. “When looking for that first customer, it’s advisable to keep your cost very low,” advised Adedeji Oduntan – Co-founder of Gokada. Other members of the panel comprised of founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited, Dr Ola Brown; Senior Venture Analyst at Climate and Innovation Center, Adamu Garba; and Associate Director of Portfolio for Acumen (West Africa) Oluwatoyin Emmanuel. The insightful panel was moderated by CEO, Concept to Market, Funmi Odusola.
    Onyekachi Eke, Director of IE University (West Africa) and Sabine Yazbeck Director of IE University; (Middle East & Africa) shared the goals of IE which encompasses offering a dynamic, transformational learning environment that shapes the people who will go on to shape the world.
    The spotlight of the event introduced startups who pitched their innovative solutions to the jury made up of leaders in the tech and finance industries including Associate Director of IE Business School; Hans Kristofer Munthe-kass, Founder of TrainQuarters Stephanie Obi, Social Impact and ESG Manager at Alithea Capital, Temilade Denton; Programme Head, Accion Venture Lab Ekene Agu and; the Deputy Managing Director of Afrinvest; Victor Ndukauba.

    The five competing startups which had been selected based on their originality, financial viability and positive impact on major business challenges battled for the star prize of an all-expense paid trip to Spain to participate in a week long IE startup bootcamp and the South Summit start-up conference in Spain, 5 million Naira cash, $15,000 promotional credits courtesy Amazon Web Services and 50% scholarship for any IE University’s High Impact Online Program (HiOP) of their choice.
    Social Lender; an organization which offers lending services to low-income earners who cannot provide collateral emerged winner of the Venture Day after being pitched by Mudiaga Ogboru. Monify; a platform which provides financial advisory services emerged runner-up. Other competitors included InventOne (pitched by Oluwatobi Oguntade) which helps users and tech enthusiasts to create things with little or no tech expertise, E.Farms (pitched by Victory Israel) dedicated to funding, training and providing digital solutions to farmers and Get It Done (pitched by Akinwunmi Olayemi) an app that encourages users to get things done on time. The audience were also given the power to select a people’s choice startup winner via a Twitter poll with Social Lender still emerging as winner.
    Speaking on whether the ideas from the Venture Day would profit Africa, Dr Amy Jadesimi said, “Nigeria should be at the core of driving growth throughout Africa and young people are going to be at the forefront of that. The people in this room today are equally instrumentally changing waves in Africa to contribute to the economy”
    IE hosts several events annually connecting entrepreneurial communities all over the world. The institution has been over time dedicated to providing solutions and prior to the Lagos Venture Day, held an event titled African Solutions, Global Problems earlier in June this year. The event featured a keynote of intellects from various areas such as banking, law, Fintech, technology, civil service with speakers presenting solutions they had applied to solve global challenges.

  • Lagos Task Force raids brothel in Mile 2, arrests 14

    The operatives of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit on Friday raided a brothel around Mile 2 area and arrested 14 persons for alleged possession of illicit drugs.

    Chairman of the task force, Mr Olayinka Egbeyemi, in statement said: ”during the raid, five notorious miscreants and nine commercial sex workers were arrested with illegal drugs, and the brothel demolished” he said.

    The unit chairman further said that the raid became necessary following complaints that the increased criminal activities around Mile II and FESTAC areas were being perpetrated by miscreants residing in the brothels.”

    “The brothel where these persons were arrested had previously been demolished, but surprisingly, it was rebuilt.

    “Let it be known also that the last time we demolished this illegal brothel, miscreants taking refuge in it attacked our officers with dangerous weapons.

    “With this current demolition, we will ensure that it will not be rebuilt, this task force under my watch will not allow miscreants to make life difficult for law-abiding citizens,” he said.

    Egbeyemi said that the demolished brothel allegedly harboured criminals who robbed unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables.

    “It also serves as an outlet for the sale of illegal drugs such as Indian Hemp, Tramadol and other sex enhancement drugs, especially to under-aged children,” he said.

    He said that all those arrested would be charged to court in compliance with the directive of the Lagos State Police Command.

  • Iran releases British oil tanker leaves Iranian port to int’l waters

    The released British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, has left Iran’s Bandar Abbas port to international waters on Friday morning local time, the Ports and Shipping Office of Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province announced, according to official IRNA news agency.

    “The captain and the crew of the ship have officially committed that they have no claims,’’ the statement by the Ports and Shipping Office was quoted as saying by IRNA.

    “Despite the release of the vessel, its dossier remains open in Iran’s judiciary and investigations into its violations still continue,’’ it added.

    Iran detained the Stena Impero on July 19, alleging that it had “violated” the maritime regulations while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran had already released seven crew members of the oil tanker.

  • Saudi Arabia to offer first-ever international tourist visas

    Saudi Arabia will open its doors to international tourists for the first time under a new visa regime to be announced Friday evening, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage said.

    The move is part of the kingdom’s efforts to boost tourism.

    Riyadh aims to increase international and domestic visits to 100 million a year by 2030.

    “Opening Saudi Arabia to international tourists is a historic moment for our country,” Ahmad Al-Khateeb, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, said in a media release on Friday.

    Saudi Arabia has long been one of the hardest countries for tourists to enter, with visas only granted for short-term business trips, religious pilgrimage, or for travellers with family in the country.

    Details about the new visa scheme and wider tourism plans will be announced at a gala event on Friday evening (local time) at Ad-Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh.

    The ultra-conservative kingdom is on a push to attract holidaymakers as it seeks to diversify the country’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.

    The tourism announcement comes less than two weeks after drone attacks targeted two facilities operated by Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the eastern province of Buqyaq, forcing the kingdom to halt about half its oil supplies afterwards.

  • Buhari, other African leaders seek repatriation of stolen funds

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening joined his Zambian and Ethiopian counterparts in calling for unity among African countries to demand unconditional repatriation of assets stolen from the continent.

    The call came at a high-level event on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) held on the sidelines of the ongoing 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York.                

    The theme of the event was “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development”.

    According to some estimates, illicit financial flows from Africa is as much as 50 billion dollars annually.

    In his address, Buhari stated that Nigeria alone lost about 157.5 billion dollars to IFFs between 2003 and 2012.

    He said although his administration had recovered “millions of dollars stolen from our country” in the last five years, a lot more was still stuck in foreign bank accounts.

    According to him, a combination of “international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems”,  make it deliberately difficult for repatriation

    Buhari noted that any lasting solution to the challenges would require international cooperation and coordination.

    “Therefore, here lies a role for the African Union.  The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) must be supported to play a critical role in securing the cooperation of African countries and their international counterparts”, he said.

    The president of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewede, described IFFs and the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets as complex subjects.

    Zewede said “innovative solutions require sustained discussion among countries and various stakeholders in the spirit of partnership and shared responsibility”.

    For his part, the President of Zambia, Edger Lungu, highlighted some challenges faced by African governments in effectively tackling  IFFs.

    Lungu listed them to include lack of harmonisation in the legal and institutional frameworks and ineffective coordination between different jurisdictions.

    These, in addition to “ineffective border control and in some cases conflicts between national and regional interests are indeed notable challenges”.

    He, therefore, called for a harmonisation of legal and institutional frameworks to effectively tackle the monster.

    President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, pledged the support of the organ to member state’s and organisations that seek return of stolen money hidden abroad. 

  • Minister Tasks Nigerian Professors To Be Innovative

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) The Minister of State for Education, Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has tasked Nigerian professors to be innovative in their fields of endeavour to assist the Federal Government achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of 2030.

    Nwajiuba gave the task in Abuja at the opening of 1st International Conference of the Faculty of Education, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    He noted that the 21st century was experiencing revolution in many areas with increased recognition of technology and as such the need for Nigerian professors to key into the opportunity to broaden the scope of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that ended in the 1990s.

    “This conference is a prime opportunity for examining our path to making education count; to review elements in the ongoing reform initiatives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015 to 2030 within African continent and indeed Nigeria as well as  key active components in the implementation of the 17 targets and its 169 platforms.

    “The management of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has decided to look into the best ways to harness the gains of the SDGs, especially as it benefits the education sector.

    “More ambitions than the previous MDGs, the SDGs address new problems, emphasises the potentials of technological advancement, strengthening the overall education system, advocating innovative approaches in the design and delivery of communication technologies,” Nwajiuba said.

    According to him, there is hardly any African learner who has transformed something from its natural state to a new state.

    This, he said was because some Nigerians stilled believed that the Federal Government should award contracts to expatriates to constantly do things for us.

    “It seems capacity building is a norm; conferences and robbing of minds are taking for granted, but like all things in Africa, it seems that the more we learn the less we do.

    “For the amount of infrastructure that exists – all the empty building in Abuja and everywhere and the way universities are growing, we have still not moved an inch from where we were when our colonial masters came.

    “Everything we use is provided by them including the cloth we wear; every ‘pancake’ on our face is done by them, while the hair we wear is from Brazil. Everything we have done relies on them, I am confused.

    “Something is either wrong with the education we have been giving our people or we are not educated; something is definitely wrong,” Nwajiuba added.

    He therefore urged the conference panel to produce a roadmap for the advancement of technology in the country which would ensure the realization of the SDGs.

    The Keynote Speaker, Professor Naana Jane Okpoku-Agyemang, Chancellor of the Women’s University in Africa, who dwelt on the theme “Revitalizing Education for the Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa”, said education was critical in achieving the SDGs.

    “This is achievable when we properly redefine education, not as the variety imposed on us, not with the aim of making us independent, that which we have been happy to adopt and which we have done little to seriously review and replace.

    “Discussions on what education should be must involve everyone regardless levels or lack of it in so-called formal education, orientation or other socially constructed differentiations.

    “We must create the platforms for sharing situations in which everyone especially our students can and must participate.

    “This kind of teaching is not imposed from the top but takes place in a shared investigation or in a problem-raising situation between educator, support staff and students.

    “The emphasis is on the critical analysis and the creativity of the learner in order to discourage passive behaviour of the learners.”

    The Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Abdalla Adamu had earlier said that the 17 SDGs were integrated and as such would affect each other when action is taken.

    Adamu represented by Prof. Justus Sokefun, Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, NOUN, explained that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.

    ”Of all the 17 goals, goal number four, which is: ‘Qualitative and Inclusive Education, stands out above the rest.

    ”An inclusive and qualitaty education is one that focuses on the whole child – the social, emotional, mental, physical, and cognitive development of each student regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status or geographic location.

    ”Achieving inclusive and quality education for all reaffirms the belief that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicle for sustainable development.

    ”The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme is key to achieving the development goals; established in 1999, UBE’s primary objective is to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty as well as stimulate that, accelerate national development, political consciousness and national integration,” Adamu said.

    The conference which began on Sept. 24, ends on Sept. 27. (NAN)

  • 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits eastern Indonesia

    At least one person has died and another is missing after a strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s remote Maluku islands Thursday, destroying homes and triggering landslides.

    Terrified people ran into the streets as buildings fell in around them after the 6.5-magnitude quake hit at around 8:45 local time (0045 GMT).

    An official from the local search and rescue agency said one man died after falling off his motorbike while trying to flee to higher ground, while another person was missing after being buried in a landslide.

    People in Ambon, a city of about 400,000 people, were seen helping injured residents with blood-stained clothes, while images showed wrecked homes with collapsed walls and rubble strewn on the ground, but the extent of the damage was not immediately

    “The impact was felt across Ambon city and surrounding areas,” said Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquake and tsunami division at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

    “Many people were woken up by the shaking…it felt like a truck was passing by.”

    The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 37 kilometres (23 miles) northeast of Ambon in Maluku province at a depth of 29 kilometres.

    The area was hit by at least two dozen aftershocks including one that measured 5. 6 magnitude, Triyono said.

    “I was asleep with my family when suddenly the house started to shake,” said an AFP reporter in Ambon.

    “The quake was really strong. We ran from our house and saw the neighbours fleeing too. Everybody was panicking.”

    – ‘No need to panic’ –

    Initial reports said the quake struck offshore, but later analysis found it hit onshore, raising the potential for damage, according to Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency.

    Local BMKG head Oral Sem Wilar called for calm.

    “People were panicking and started to evacuate in some places, but we are trying to tell them there’s no need to panic because there’s no tsunami threat,” he told AFP.

    The Southeast Asian archipelago is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth. It experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

    In August, five people died and several were injured after a powerful undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s heavily populated Java island.

    Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

    The force of the impact saw entire neighbourhoods levelled by liquefaction — a process where the ground starts behaving like a liquid and swallows up the earth like quicksand.

    Nearly 60,000 people are still living in makeshift accommodation nearly a year after the double disaster, the Red Cross said this week.

    On Boxing Day 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.

  • Nigeria Customs Service intercepts 6,550 cartons of contraband poultry products

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) The Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted 6,550 cartons of contraband poultry products between Sept.20 and Sept.24.

    The Comptroller, Boyilila Binga, told a correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the seizures were made at Ebeche and Badagry waterways in Lagos State.

    Binga revealed that the seizure of the smuggled frozen poultry products was owed to a combination of the command’s intelligence and enforcement capacity.

    He said smugglers were getting sophisticated and the customs has devised means that are more sophisticated in order to counter them and renewed effort to give smugglers a run for their money.

    The comptroller said it was very obvious that with the border closure, creeks would be their next options, but the officers are keeping vigil as the command will continue the onslaught until the smugglers retreat.

    Binga reiterated that the community relationship between the officers and villages along the coast has been of benefit to the success and it has come to stay.

    He added that the availability of operations tools and personnel motivation instills prompt response in the men whenever any alert was raised.

    NAN reports that the NCS maintains that the importation of poultry products remained prohibited.

    (NAN)

  • NAF destroy insurgents’ logistics base, training camp in Borno

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has destroyed a major Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) Logistics Base and Training Camp at Kusuma on the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno.

    NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    Daramola said the operation was executed on Wednesday by the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.

    ” The air strike was executed after credible intelligence reports had established that a section of the settlement was serving as a training camp for the terrorists.

    ” While,  some buildings within the camp were being used to store their fuel, arms and ammunition as well as other logistics supplies.

    ” The pre-attack surveillance showed scores of fighters attempting to flee the location upon hearing the sound of the attack aircraft.

    ” They were engaged by the attack aircraft in successive passes, neutralising many of them.

    ” The terrorists’ logistics supply store, which was also hit, was seen engulfed in flames due to the raid,” he said.

    The spokesman said the NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its efforts to completely destroy all remnants of the terrorists in the North East.