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All Chinese schools now have access to internet
Andrew Brookes/Getty Images All Chinese schools now have full access to the Internet, and 95.2 per cent of them are equipped with multi-media classrooms, according to a senior official with China’s Ministry of Education. The country has been constantly accelerating informationisation of teaching, and sees it as underpinning the modernisation of education, said Zhong Denghua, vice minister of the education ministry, at a virtual conference attended by ministers of education on the E9 Digital Learning Initiative jointly held by UNESCO and Bangladesh on April 6. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, online courses thrived across the country as a way to ensure normal teaching activities, said Zhong, adding that nearly 300 million teachers and students had learnt or taught online whi...
Reports: Governments ‘gender blind’ to coronavirus’ ‘greater impact’ on women
Governments are putting women and girls at greater risk of the health and socio-economic impacts posed by the coronavirus pandemic, two global studies released Wednesday show. They called on leaders to prioritise gender equity in their response to the health crisis. Two studies, one from a global research partnership led by the Global Health 50/50 Project in London and another by the Center for Global Development (CGD) in Washington, were released Wednesday to coincide with World Health Day that highlight major failings by national governments to consider sex or gender in their COVID-19 policies. Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, several studies have pointed to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women. Many women have shouldered a heftier burden taking on more unpa...
NACC seeks quick visa facilitation for members
The Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) has urged the American Embassy in Nigeria to do everything possible to facilitate the Visa processing for members of the bilateral Chamber especially when it involves business trips for national growth and development. The National President of the Chamber, Otunba Toyin Akomolafe, who spoke at the NACC’s 60th Anniversary Public virtual Lecture in Lagos, said this is imperative given the enormous benefits inherent in the natural resources of both countries to be harnessed by mutual benefit. “Given the wobbling economy all over the world occasioned by the global pandemic, it’s expedient for embassies especially the American Embassy in Nigeria to fastrack VISAs and other protocol involved for trade experts going to America for the sole purpose ...
Pep Guardiola: Why I respect Marcelo Bielsa’s coaching ideas
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has said the best way to judge Marcelo Bielsa is how he makes players and teams better. City meet Bielsa’s Leeds this weekend. “His teams are always better than before his arrival. You see his influence. he doesn’t need much time to realise his own team, it belongs absolutely to him and for world football it is a joy,” Guardiola said. “A guy who respects the opponent, who plays for the fans, who just wants to play for a victory home or away and convinces the players to follow him. I recognise the best because people say he doesn’t win titles but give him Manchester City and he will win titles. “It depends on the players you have but the players he has are always better players. That is the best proof of when a manager is good.” Get more stories like thi...
NNPC to partner Borno government to establish gas power plant
The Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Mele Kyari has said that the corporation will partner with Borno State Government to establish a Gas Power Plant following the vandalization of the national grid by insurgents which put the state almost three months into total blackout. Kyari who led a powerful delegation on a courtesy call on Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on Friday said, the Federal Government will not fold its arms and neglect the state which is been ravaged by insurgents, especially cut off from the national grid, as power is a source of income to the teaming people of the state. “We are here with my colleagues, the Head of Gas and Power Business, Engineer Yusuf Usman, Representatives of Greensville Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is a...
Nigerian Army begins show of force in Imo
File Photo The Nigerian Army on Thursday began show of force in Imo State. Our correspondent gathered that the military exercise was an offshoot of Monday attacks on Owerri Correctional Center and the Imo State Police Command headquarters. The attackers, who operated between 1am and 3am also attacked a military base at Ukwuorji on Owerri-Onitsha expressway, burnt a soldier in a car and razed four military operational vehicles. The military exercise was intended to burst the moral of security agents and to restore the confidence of the people in the security agents, a source told newsmen. The source said, “The operation show of force is a military exercise targeted at restoring the confidence of the people in the security agencies. It is also a way of raising the morale of the operatives af...
Sheikh Khalid: Politicians, religious leaders behind Nigeria’s insecurity
Renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, on Thursday, alleged that some influential people, including religious leaders and politicians, were the real sponsors of insecurity in some parts of the country. He stated this in Abuja during the public presentation of a book titled, ‘The Infinite Light, The Pride of Humanity,’ authored by Sheikh Fathullah Gulen a spiritual leader of Hizmet. Khalid claimed that bandits, who were predominantly youths of northern extraction, had been terrorising innocent citizens because they were getting engaged by some prominent politicians and religious leaders working towards the Balkanisation of the nation. So, he urged the government to address the issues of education and unemployment as a solution to the security challenge. The Muslim scholar sa...
House leaders demand full autonomy for local councils
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase; and Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, have called for full autonomy for local governments in Nigeria, stating that it is the only way dividends of democracy can get to the people at the grass roots. Wase and Elumelu made the call in Abuja on Thursday, at a leadership training sponsored by the Minority Leader for chairmen and councillors of Local Government Areas in Delta State. The Deputy Speaker, while answering questions from journalists, recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had signed an Executive Order to declare financial autonomy for LGs. Buhari had signed Executive Order 10 in May 2020. Wase said, “As for me, first as a member of parliament representing my constituency and my people, I think I am on the s...
Kaduna governor: Bandits have lost rights to life, must be wiped out
Gov. Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State says bandits terrorising Nigeria have lost their rights to life under the constitution and must be wiped out. El-rufai made this known during a town hall meeting on national security organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture held in Kaduna with theme:”Setting Benchmark for Enhanced and National Unity in Nigeria”. ”The bandits are at war with Nigeria and there is no other way to approach the current insurgency but for security forces to take the war to the bandits and recover forests where they are occupying. “The security agencies mostly react to cases of banditry and abduction, we are in a war with these terrorist challenging the sovereignty of the Nigerian state. “Our security forces must collaborate to take the war to the bandits and terror...
NBA urges judiciary workers to shelve strike
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday urged judiciary workers under the aegis of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to shelve their plan to begin a nationwide strike on Tuesday. The association in a statement signed by its President, Olumide Akpata, said although it believes in the battle for financial autonomy of the judiciary being waged by the workers, the timing of the planned strike would spell doom for the country considering the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the last one year. Akpata stated, “However, as commendable and laudable as the proposed strike action may be, the NBA is concerned about its timing and the potentially devastating consequences it would pose for justice administration in the country, particularly coming on the heels of prolonged...
APC chieftain writes on ’21 political lies in Nigeria’
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, says his book on “21 political lies in Nigeria” is to educate the electorate on the antics of politicians during elections. Oyedepo said this on Monday in Ilorin while speaking at the presentation of the book. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 21 chapter, 140 pages book chronicled many lies told by politicians to win votes during campaigns. According to Iyiola, the book is targeted mainly to educate the electorate on how to vote for candidates seeking their franchise, adding that if the electorate votes wrongly, it will live with them for another four years. He said: “I sat down and examined issues through which we win election and I discovered that some of these issues may be there. “They are imp...
Easter: VP Osinbajo urges Nigerians to have hope, says all will be well
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on Nigerians not to lose hope in the country, saying things will get better for Nigeria. Osinbajo stated this during a brief chat with journalists after the Easter Sunday service at the Aso Villa Chapel on Sunday, April 4, 2021. He said, “I just want to thank God for our nation, and pray that our nation will experience the grace and mercy of God in so many different ways that we are expecting His grace and mercy. All will be well in Jesus’ name.” While wishing Nigerians a Happy Easter celebration, the VP added that the message of Easter is a message of the special and exceeding love and grace of God. He said, “God’s plan for humanity was that Christ will die and will resurrect. The resurrection is evidence of the fact that those who believe would be ...
