Mamora advocates Advancement of Science, Technology through good governance as panacea for economic challenges

Honourable Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora, has disclosed that Advancement of Science and Technology Innovations through Good Governance is a sure panacea for solving Nigeria’s economic challenges'

Mamora took the position while delivering his paper as a Keynote speaker at the Lagos State University-Alexander Von Humboldt International Conference (LASU-Humboldt Kellog 2023), on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at Ojo.

The theme of the conference was “Repositioning Science and Technology to Tackle Food Insecurity, Environmental and Health Challenges through Research Collaborations and Capacity Building for Sustainable Development”.

Mamora who was represented at the event by Dr Sam Etatovie, Director-General/Chief Executive, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, while describing the theme as apt in view of the numerous challenges associated with food security and other health issues brought about by COVID-19, spoke on what he titled “Advancement of Science and Technology Innovations through Good Governance for Solving Nigeria’s Economic Challenges'.

In his word, “There is no gainsaying that scientific processes and discoveries have been used to impact lives through the utilization of economic networks for improved livelihood and productivity. It is therefore important to note that Science, Technology and Innovation could be put to use in diverse areas of human endeavor including transportation, health, manufacturing, agriculture, administration, and banking.

“An important area being promoted is effectiveness and the efficiency of factories which manifest in the use of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics not just in the industries, but in everyday life. Science, Technology and Innovation hold the key to our  lives both  in the present and for future development. Nigeria cannot be an exception to its use where technologies from nanotechnology to biotechnology, space technology among others have been earmarked as the driving force for the development of any nation. In the case of food security, biotechnology initiatives and programmes have focused on safety, thus increasing livelihoods,” Mamora stated.

Speaking on what the Federal Government is doing, the Minister said that the Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is bringing the benefits of biotechnology for improved livelihood by bioresources development to all Nigerians, most importantly those living in the rural areas. “This also has led to bio-entrepreneurship which in turn has contributed to better livelihoods for dwellers in rural agricultural communities. Currently, Nigeria is pursuing the development of an inclusive biotechnology plan for farmers. Furthermore, in the area of medical innovation, emphasis is being placed on affordable techniques for vaccine production, DNA technology and the likes.”

He disclosed that aside technology innovation itself, human resource development is also focused on improved workforce in science and technology with the attendant calls for gender balancing in programmes targeted at female entreprenuers and researchers, adding that the Ministry is currently building a database of researchers aimed at having a pool of Nigerians working in different aspects of STI. Emphasis is also on top-down, research-led innovations to deeper and greater consultations with stakeholders”

Speaking on the area of healthcare, he stated that several policies are being developed to address inequalities which include both “push” (knowledge creation) and “pull” (market incentives). “On the push side, resources are growing by the day with emphasis being shifted from funding for research in the global North to effective collaborations and capacity building for research in the global South including Public-Private Partnerships that not only allow for increased participation but also encourage partners to go into riskier but important ventures of neglected tropical diseases. In this area, several collaborations have been formed in the area of vaccine manufacturing for deadly diseases prevalent in our environment.

He added that Nigeria, like other countries, through FMSTI, has engaged in STI dialogues on technology catch-up, adoption, and deployment. He said lessons have also been learnt from other countries of the world in areas of comparative advantage.

Mamora further stated that the Adoption of other technologies in such areas as transportation and logistics, fintech, potable water and sanitation, waste to energy, affordable housing, and low-cost, high-quality health care are being developed.

In the area of Waste management, he stated that Waste-to-energy processes generate low-cost, renewable energy from animal and human waste, organic waste from farming and food processing. Industrial waste and municipal garbage are also potent sources of renewable energy. These technologies, he added, also mitigate environmental damage from landfill and wastewater run-off into ground and surface water.

 

Babaloja Tejuosho tasks Ndigbo to disregard call to close all markets in Lagos for two weeks …Says those behind call, faceless, enemies of peace

Babaloja of Tejuosho Ultramodern Market (Phase 2), Yaba, Lagos State, Pastor Okey Anorue, has described as baseless and inconsequential the call for Ndigbo to close down their markets in Lagos for two weeks.

Anorue disclosed that those behind the call are faceless and a people without address, hence have no moral authority to give such directive to Ndigbo in Lagos.

Anorue who is also the Ezesinachi 1, the Eze Ndigbo of Igbogbo Bayerku Local Council Development Area, was speaking to Journalists in his capacity as a market leader and a leader of Ndigbo in Lagos State.

Anorue said “The call is baseless and inconsequential, how can you tell Ndigbo to close down their markets in Lagos for two weeks? We are still looking for a way to heal the wounds emanating from the just concluded election and people are pouring salt on injury again, this is unacceptable.

“For your information, there is no market in Lagos that solely belongs to Ndigbo, a customer who comes to market to buy, does he know Igbo or Yoruba; he is looking for where he can get value for his money.  So we are asking everybody to go back to their business, they shouldn’t bring their political differences to the market to start creating unnecessary fears in people.

“How can people who do not have any address or phone number begin to circulate such information and creating fears? I call them ‘unknown writers’, but we shouldn’t encourage that.”

He stated that the Executive Governor of the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is a lover of peace who has shown that he is a detribalized leader and warned trouble makers to desist from disturbing the peace currently enjoyed by residents of Lagos. He described Lagos as the most peaceful state in the country which must not be thrown into chaos by any group or persons.

Anorue who is also the former President of Imo State Towns Development Association Lagos (ISTDAL) stated that Market leaders in Lagos have alerted security agencies to arrest those that insist on disrupting the peace in Lagos markets. “We have alerted the security to deal with anybody that decides to foment trouble in the markets.”

Recalled that a group which described itself as ‘Nzuko Ndi Igbo di na ala Lagos’ recently sent out a circular on the social media calling on Ndigbo to protest the so called injustice and unfair treatment being suffered by the Igbos in Lagos State by closing markets for two weeks.

Part of the letter reads, “For this reason, we Igbos in Lagos have agreed to shut down the whole market for 2 weeks which includes transporters in Lagos State, with effect from 3^rd day of May, 2023.”

Anorue maintained that such call did not originate from any patriotic Igbo group and should not be given any iota of attention.

 

 

Madrid agog for SCOAN Spain Crusade

Ahead of April 28 and 29 SCOAN Crusade in Spain, Madrid, the country's city capital hosting the event is already agog for the much awaited Crusade for which the Spanish people have been longing over the years.

"With the announcement of the crusade in Spain, people have been trooping in from different parts of Europe like Germany, France, Norway, UK, Portugal, and some South American countries like Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay,  Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Guyana among others for the crusade" said Segun Olanipekun one of the Coordinators of the crusade in Madrid.

Hotels such as LCB group, Fuenlabrada, B&B hotel, Raddison Blu, Prado, Madrid Principe Pio, Madrid and NH hotel are currently already overbooked. The hospitality industries are already experiencing an unusual pressure of services with many more still scampering for booking. 

The two-day SCOAN Crusade by Pastor Evelyn TB Joshua will hold at Pabelion Fermando Martin, Fuenibrada Madrid, Spain. 

Speaking on the crusade, Pastor Evelyn TB Joshua stated that the Spain crusade would be holding by God's grace as scheduled and for the glory of God.

 Her words: "This is the Lord's doing and we will continue to give Him all honour, adoration and praise for His marvelous deeds. This is not about Evelyn but SCOAN where God reigns and His mighty hand is visibly in charge and Prophet TB Joshua has remained the General Overseer". 

According to her, there has been a deluge of invitations from several countries all over the world for Crusade of which Prophet TB Joshua to the glory of God was able to attend to some of them before his passing into glory.

"We have continued to receive invitations upon invitations from nations and friends of the Ministry who believe in the God of TB Joshua and know that his spirit is alive as his Master Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour is alive for He never said 'good bye' as He continues in the divine task of blessing, healing, deliverance and salvation for those who trust and look up to Him.

"It is in the veins of these invitations that we have chosen in grace to be in Spain and as soon as God gives us more grace it shall be turn by turn for other countries", the church leader leading the crusade, Evelyn Joshua further stated. 

Clearly, the expectations on this crusade are very high as many all over the world have remained dumbfounded at the great miracles still happening in SCOAN after the passing of the God's General, a personification of love whose Christ's spiritual prowess and philanthropic activities touched the lives of many.

 

Book launch: You can’t isolate youths from governance, they’re stakeholders to development---Ayodeji Akeem Amodu …Says Tinubu believes in youths

Estate Surveyor and Valuer, the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, on Housing, Ayodeji Akeem Amodu, has stated that the youths are so important that nobody can isolate them from governance, as they are stakeholders to development.

Amodu also emphasized that the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, believes in the youths and the youths themselves believe in Tinubu, the Iconic.

Amodu who described Sanwo-Olu as Mr Governor, Mr Salable, Mr Infrastructure and the Incident Commander took the position while addressing the media at the launch of the book titled The Iconic Bola Ahmed Tinubu: An Inspiration to African Youths which was held at the Lagos Oriental Hotel recently.

He said “I am a youth myself, I am just 50 plus now, the youths have been yearning for inclusiveness in governance, and I can say to you that it is high time the youths are put in the right places to actually participate in governance. As a leader, I believe in inclusive governance, there is no way you can isolate youths from governance because they are stakeholders to development, both social, economic, political, we need to bring the youths, we need to hear their view.”

He opined that the reason the youths demonstrated during the EndSARS saga was due to a feeling of exclusion from governance. “If you look back into what happened over two years now, during the EndSARS, what prompted that up was something that was civil initially but it went out of hand because the youths were bottled up with a lot of thought that they were not being carried along, they have not been given their rightful place, so they all joined up and it was a gang-up, and people were brainwashed to actually come out to display what we saw during the EndSARS.”

Amodu brought a message of hope, saying that government has seen the lacuna and has designed roadmap to fill it. “Be that as it may, the government has seen that there has been a lacuna, there has been a vacuum, even before the youths came out to display what happened at the EndSARS, going forward, 2023, as you know, the general elections have just been concluded, and that is one thing our President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will come to fill come May 29, when he will become the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the grace of God.”

Amodu maintained that as someone who believes in the youth, Asiwaju will appoint about 50% of youths into his cabinet “Asiwaju is someone who believes in the youth, look at his manifesto, he actually went all out to say, there will be about 50% of youths in his cabinet, that he is going to make sure that there is not going to be issues of they are not carried along. If you remember, Asiwaju became a Senator of the Federal Republic when he was a youth himself, and he understood what the youths needed, he understood the tenacity at which the youth need inclusiveness in government, and that was why he performed so much, someone that came after being a senator to become the Governor of Lagos State, when he chose his first cabinet, they were all young people.”

The internationally renowned Estate Surveyor gave instances of youths whom Asiwaju appointed into his cabinet when he was Governor of Lagos, saying that the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) was appointed when he was a youth, adding that even though people were saying that Asiwaju was too old to run for the office of the president, they forgot that he is a man who believes so much in the youth. “He employs the youths, he made sure that a lot of the youths were employed in 2004 in the civil service, most of the parastatals that are existing in government, from the LASMA, LAWMA, Neighborhood Watch, KAI, these were people that were meant to be street urchins before, but the Lagos State Government came all out and employed them en mass. The civil service, during the time of Asiwaju’s first and second term, witnessed the highest number of employment, and what are we talking about? The youth should wait and see what Asiwaju gonna do this first tenure of his, and I know that he is not going to let them down, he is going to make sure he put them in the right places.”

Amodu appreciated the youths whom he said worked assiduously to ensure that Asiwaju garnered votes enough to make him victorious. “During the campaign we saw all what the youths did, just recently the national leader of the youth His Excellency Dayo Israel just had a dinner in form of an Easter, for people to come and celebrate with Asiwaju’s victory at Lagos Continental. So you saw how that young man, at one point he was the One Day Governor in Lagos State, and from there he has been picked, and he has performed, he has been given very strategic positions, and that has even led him to be able to take over that position of a national youth leader, and we saw how he went all out, he travelled wide, all the 36 states, just to campaign for Asiwaju, what else can anybody want from the youth, Asiwaju believes in the youths and the youths themselves believe in Asiwaju, the Icon himself.”

Omoragbon tasks National Assembly on laws banning government officials from medical tourism, sponsoring their children abroad for studies

Pastor Peters Osawaru Omoragbon, the Executive President Nurses Across the Borders International, President Diaspora Nurses Association of Nigeria and Director, International Liaison Nigeria Nurses Charitable Association, UK, has recommended that the National Assembly should enact a law banning any government official from going abroad for Medical purposes and also preventing them from sponsoring their children abroad for studies. 

Pastor Peters Omoragbon who is also a Permanent UN Representative for Nurses Across the Borders and First Nigerian Designated Contact Person to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change made the disclosure while answering questions on a Live TV programme Lagos Talk 91.3 on Thursday, April 14, 2023.

Omoragbon stressed “If that is in place, they will be serious in fixing our medical facilities than going abroad for treatment.  When Nelson Mandela was dying, he was not flown abroad for treatment, he was treated in South Africa. But the reverse is the case in Nigeria.”

Omoragbon also knocked both chambers of the National Assembly over their attempt to stop health professionals from seeking greener pastures abroad until after five years of their training.  

The medical expert was speaking on the implication of placing Nigeria on the Red List by United Kingdom.

Omoragbon took a swipe at the lawmakers whom he reprimanded for obviously not doing due diligence and research work before drafting the bill, stressing that the government lacks justification to restrict freshly trained health workers from leaving the country because they did not train the health workers, adding that the bill in spite of its good intentions is ill timed.

“Without being disrespectful or without being immodest, I will say that the bill, as far as, I am concerned is wrongly timed, it is a good bill to try to moderate the migration of our healthcare practitioners outside of Nigeria in view of the dearth of the practitioners themselves to meet our demands.”

Omoragbon also argued that the lawmakers lack the power to restrict personal liberty “The other negative aspect of the bill is there is no way you can regulate or restrict personal liberty, it is one thing to say all Nigerian doctors and nurses should not go out, you can only make such rule if you are the one who trained them, pay for their training and at the end of the day it is imperative for you to serve me, we will agree for seven years or five years, if after your training you are going to serve me. For instance, I was trained at Aro as a Psychiatric Nurse by the Management of the Psychiatric Hospital and I was placed on level 4, as a student nurse in 1982, so every month I would be paid by the Psychiatric Hospital in Yaba for the three years I was training at Aro. When I came back, I was bonded for three years, I could not leave Yaba until I worked for three years; that was an agreement that was voluntarily entered.”

He informed that medical practitioners in Nigeria pay for their trainings and not the government, hence government cannot stop them from migrating to other countries through legislation.  “Today, every nurse, every doctor, every pharmacist, they pay for their training, their parents pay for them. Now for a government to come out and put up a bill and say yes, once you have finished your training, you must not leave Nigeria, it is not done.

“Even the WHO code of practice, is very clear. That code of practice is only applicable to governments, that means international governments cannot officially go to any country to recruit like they did years back, but it does not, it is very clear, it does not restrict the individual liberty of any nurse or doctor who wants on their own seek employment outside Nigeria. So you see that even the bill, the intent cannot be applicable, it can’t be promoted. One, you don’t have control over these people, you didn’t train them, so you can’t restrict their migration.”

Omoragbon queried the lawmakers for not carrying enough research before coming up with the bill “But the question I have for the Honourable members of Representatives, and Distinguished Senators, one, before initiating the bill, did they take time to carry out a research on reasons Nigerian nurses, and doctors and pharmacists are leaving the country, did they take time to find out, that is one. Two, in both chambers the standing committees on health of both chambers and even at the state chambers, because we have state assemblies, how many of these standing committees have taken time to go round the states, and even the federal government hospitals to ascertain their state and standard, to see the equipment that are there, are they working, how many nurses do they have?, Did they do that?  Number three, to what extent did this chambers interact with Diaspora professional associations  to engage them on emerging practices in these countries because we have the best doctors, the best nurses, the best scientists who are outside Nigeria, and these Nigerian professionals belong to various professional groups. You will recall I am the Director for International Liaison for Nigerian Nurses Charitable Association in Uk, so how many times have these people interacted with diaspora associations, they did not, but they come to these places for holidays or whatever, but they have not come for an official trip to discuss with these groups to come up with ideas on best practices and we can replicate them in Nigeria.

“The other question I have for the lawmakers is, are these lawmakers conversant with the universally accepted and approved ratio of health professionals to the patients as prescribed by WHO, are they aware? If they are aware, if they have taken time to answer these questions, they would have known that, yes, Nigerians are going out because they don’t have what they needed to work with, if they have taken time to answer these questions, they should have known as the second arm of government they would have impressed it on the Executive branch, to say, look, this and this, they come up with bills that can promote, project and improve our healthcare delivery services, that should be their target, they can take up the executive, if the executive refuses to play ball, they know what to do to make sure the executive complies, they can even refuse to approve the budget of the executive, but I don’t know whether there is a conspiracy, between these various arms, they don’t care, if they care so much about the health of the citizens, the nature of our healthcare delivery services, they won’t be paying lip service to it,” Omoragbon fumed.

He further made it clear that the government is not subsidizing training of the health professionals in Nigeria. “I told you as at 1982 when I went for my training, I said, Yaba Psychiatric Hospital sponsored my training, I was placed on level 4 in those days, after some years, the government stopped sponsorship of nurses. Now I don’t know what you mean by subsidy, my twin brother’s daughter is studying Nursing,  do you know that today, she attends a private university because our government universities are regularly on strike in Nigeria, and the tuition fee in this university for nurses is about N1million every session? Minus the fee for hostel and other expenses. Right now we are providing fund for this, and now government is saying they are subsidizing, I do not understand the definition of subsidy. The federal and state universities also pay fees.

“There is no school of nursing in Nigeria that doesn’t pay. The reason I can tell you this is, apart from training and practising in Nigeria before relocating abroad, I interact with Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, colleagues still in service. In fact I am currently in Abuja, I had a meeting with the Registrar two days ago. I interact with the National Association of Nigerian Nurses, which is the national body of nurses, we interact. Then I have colleagues, I know what is happening.  So School of Nursing are not free, they pay their school fees, you can say the school fees may not be as high as what is obtainable in private institutions. If the government is serious and they want the nurses to remain, the doctors to remain, let them put them on salary; they don’t even enjoy bursary. I don’t understand what they mean by Subsidy. It is either you pay them bursary every session or on monthly basis. In UK, to train as a nurse, when I got there I still went back to school. There are two assistance government gives. As a citizen who gets admission to study Nursing, the first one is about 10,000 pounds per annum tuition fees. Government pays it, you now have what is called Maintenance Allowance, given to you as loan, you are given 10 to 15000pounds a year, the government assess your household income to determine what you get aa Maintenance loan and all that, you can get as much as 12 to 15000 pound a year. Even at that they do not tie you down because they pay your tuition fee, or you must work for us. The only time you pay back is when you start working and your annual income is more than 21,000 pounds. You start paying monthly less than 6% of your Maintenance loan.  You don’t pay back the tuition.

 “There is what is called National Insurance, the national insurance records what you earn, the HMRC–Her Royal Majesty Revenue and Customs is the body responsible for tax and all that, you now start paying back the maintenance loan, it is automatic, the government will start taking from what you are earning.

 

 

 

LASU signs Technical affiliation agreement with two private institutions under Sandwich Degree Programme

Lagos State University, on Monday, 17th, April 2023, officially signed a Technical Affiliation Agreement with two private institutions namely, Topmost College Of Education, Ipaja, Agbado, Lagos and Royal College of Education, Ifo, Ogun State, to provide educational services under the Sandwich Degree Programme. 

The agreement signing ceremony took place at the Vice Chancellor's Conference Room, sixth (6th) floor, Babatunde Raji Fashola Senate Building, Main Campus Ojo, Lagos.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji - Bello mni, in her address welcomed representatives of the partnering institutions and also reiterated the commitment of the University to providing not just quality education to students, but, also conducting cutting - edge research and contributing to the development of Society.

Speaking on the collaboration, the 9th Substantive Vice Chancellor of the University said "...This partnership will enable us to provide more opportunities for education and skills acquisition to our students, it will also make education accessible to the common man in line with Goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on education which is to ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all." she stated.

The Deputy Registrar, Legal Unit, Mrs. O. O Boyejo, while detailing the terms of the partnership, explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) permits the partnering institutions using the statutory authority the Lagos State University has, to run their Sandwich Degree Programme and also making use of the University Expertise. In her words "This collaboration will allow only Lagos State University Senate - accredited courses in conjunction with the Lagos State University Faculty of Education to run at your institutions, under the collaboration. 

This was followed by the signing of the agreement, while the Registrar, Mr. Emmanuel A. FANU gave the vote of thanks.

The MOU signing had in attendance members of the University Management, Representatives of Topmost College of Education, and Royal College of Education, Director Sandwich Programme, Prof. John Adeogun, Members of the Vice Chancellor's Office and Centre for Information and Public Relations.

The Agreement is for a period of Five (5) years and it is renewable based on performance.

 

LASU gathers 16 heads of Police, DSS divisions to parley on security of staff, students ....As VC canvases for greater synergy with operatives

Sixteen (16) heads of Police and Department for State Services (DSS) Divisions around the University environs converged on the main campus of the Lagos State University, to hold a crucial parley with the University Management on Monday, 17th of April, 2023 with a focus on improving the security of lives and properties of staff and students of the University. 

Divisional Police Officers of Trade-fair division, Igando division, Sèmé division, Isashi division, Ilemba Hausa division, Iba division, Satellite division, Ojo division, Onireke division, Ijanikin division, Okokomaiko division, Badagry division, Festac division, Morogbo division, and the Head, DSS, Ojo were either physically on ground or represented at the first-of-its-kind parley.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Ibilola Olatunji Bello, mni while giving her opening speech at the Council Chambers, Babatunde Raji Fashola Senate Building, main campus, Ojo,  commended the security officers for taking time to be at the meeting as well as the great job done over time in keeping the community safe. 

She said, "The meeting of today was informed by a common purpose which is the safety of lives and properties of staff and students of the Lagos state university and by extension, residents of the environment. We have a duty of care to secure Staff and Students as long as they are within our span of control."

She further stated that "security is everyone's responsibility and it is up to us as stakeholders to adopt the right strategies to forestall issues that can threaten the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students", in a speech that opened the floor for extensive interaction between the officers of the forces, members of the University Security Supervisory Committee and the University Management. 

The meeting deliberated on areas of security concern such as cultism, kidnapping, rape, profiling of students, amongst others as stakeholders agreed on the need for better civility, education and orientation and improved communication among all stakeholders. The security officials also expressed their resolve to continue to look out for the safety of lives and properties of students under their Areas of Responsibility (AOR) in a show of commitment to the partnership with the university.

Some of those who spoke were the Chairman, LASU Security Advisory Committee, Prof. James Kehinde, Chief Security Supervisor, CSP Oluwole Ojo Rtd, DPO Onireke Division, CSP Smith Olanrewaju Kosebinu, Head, DSS Ojo Division, Mr. Ayodele Ogundoro, DPO Satelite Division, CPS Oyin Francess, amongst others. 

The Dean, Students Affairs, Prof. Tajudeen Olumoko and President Lagos State University Students Union, Comrade Moses Adelakun, were also among those who barred their minds at the breakfast parley.

The parley also had in attendance members of the University Management, officials of the Vice Chancellor's Office, the Centre for Information and Public Relations and the University Multimedia Centre.