NIGERIAN NEWS BLOGGERS

The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis has called on member states to strive towards effectively deploying Information Communication Technology (ICT) in educating its populace especially in view of the new normal occasioned by COVID-19. Tunis gave the charge while delivering an address at the opening of the meeting of Parliament’s Joint Committee on Education, Science and Technology -Telecommunication and Information Technology and the committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security, as well as Committee on Infrastructure, Tunis added that 20 years was an important milestone. He stressed that there was an urgent need to embrace technology in educating the populace and as such, technology must be made available and assessable to ward against a looming socio-economic inequality in education. According to Tunis, West African leaders must prioritise this move and other such recommendations that would emanate from the committee meeting so that education is not further di...

  Prof. Stanley Okolo, DG WAHO The West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) has called on members of the ECOWAS Parliament and regional leaders to brace up for a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that may hit West Africa even as confirmed cases of the pandemic have hit 195,073 in the region. The Director General of WAHO, Professor Stanley Okolo, said this on Wednesday, while making his presentation during the technical session of the ongoing Delocalized Meeting of ECOWAS on Agricultural Production, Food Security and the Fight against Covid-19, which commenced in Guinea Bissau on Tuesday. The Delocalised Meeting was organized by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Industry and Private Sector, Health, Energy, Mines and Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment with the theme “Agricultural Production and Food Security in the ECOWAS Region under Covid-19 Pandemic”.  Okolo tasked the region’s leaders not to relax even if the region appears to ...

Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament) Sidie Mohammed Tunis, has been joined by  experts in the sub region and other stakeholders to strategize on how to improve food security and  agricultural production in order to ameliorate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region. This is the crux of the ECOWAS Parliament Delocalised meeting with the theme " Agricultural Production and Food Security in ECOWAS region under Covid-19 pandemic" scheduled to begin on Tuesday November 10 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau. Speaker Tunis, who led a delegation of members of Parliament for a courtesy visit on the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Embalo, at the Presidential Villa in Bissau on Monday ahead of Tuesday's opening ceremony, said Guinea Bissau was chosen for the meeting because it is believed to be stable. The Speaker said :  "As you all are aware, Covid-19 has had very negative effects on food production, which is threat...

  THE COVID-19 pandemic and security issues have been identified by the ECOWAS Parliament as threat to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in West Africa, especially on the going concern of companies and business start ups. Notwithstanding the benefits of free trade, there are visible threats which stall progress and create stumbling blocks to investments that in turn affect commerce and employment in the region, the ECOWAS Parliament stated. Among these are terrorism and insecurity, which it said increase uncertainty and raise the cost of goods and services. Continuing, speaker Tunis said that Terrorism slows the flow of goods and resources through through ports due to greater inspections and safeguard and divert government expenditures from more productive public investment to less productive security activities. "In addition to terrorism, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement," the Sp...

  The National Examinations Council (NECO) wishes to inform candidates, schools and other stakeholders of the resumption of the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in all states and the FCT from Monday 9th November 2020.  The Council was constrained to postpone the examinations indefinitely on Monday 25th October 2020 due to security challenges occasioned by the ENDSARS protests, which disrupted the smooth conduct of the examinations in some parts of the Country. Following the return of normalcy in the states and FCT, the examinations will now continue with a new Time-Table from Monday 9th November, 2020 to Saturday 28th November, 2020.  This new Time-Table will be made available to the general public, schools and candidates from Wednesday 4th November, 2020. The Time-Table can also be seamlessly downloaded from the NECO official website: www.neco.gov.ng The Council thanks the general public and candidates for their patience and understanding during the peri...

 ... To Pay 40,000 Monthly Stipend to Interns  As part of efforts to reduce the rate of unemployment in Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved Internship Programme for 4,000 unemployed graduates in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the present administration and the Youth Development Programme of the State.  Speaking recently on the programme with newsmen, the Honourable Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke, said the Graduate Internship Placement Programme (GIPP) is designed to give candidates the opportunity to develop employability and work-ready skills that are needed in securing gainful employment.    She added that the Internship Programme will be addressing the third and fourth pillars of the present administration's T.H.E.M.E.S agenda, which are Education and Technology and Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, while the beneficiaries will be paid a monthly stipend of N40,000 for the six months duration of...

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has emerged as the new director-general of the World Trade Organisation,  The former Nigerian finance minister clinched the position by a wide margin against South Korean Yoo Myung hee, Arise reported citing officials in Europe. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala received widespread support from Africa and other continents for her role. She was a former World Bank executive who has sat on the boards of several international organisations, including Twitter and the Global Vaccine Alliance. Her victory came days after European Union member nations backed her candidacy against Ms. Myung hee, who was supported by the United States. Earlier this month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chairman of the African Union, said Africa will ensure her emergence for the top WTO job. Source: ARISE TV