Day: July 20, 2024

Dr Charles Osasuwa, Chairman/CEO of Hilltop Global Oil and Gas Solutions International Ltd, has advocated the use of sports to drive child development in Nigeria.

Osasuwa made the call when the executive committee members of the IBB International Golf and Country Club , Ladies section led by Lady Captain, Julie Okah-Donli, paid him a visit in Abuja on Friday.

He said that his passion for tennis was birthed when he went for a medical checkup and was advised to do exercise to keep fit.

‘I have really invested in table tennis, because I believe in human development and I am one of the best when it comes to playing tennis in Nigeria.

‘If you do your research, you will know I sponsor table tennis tournaments yearly in this country.

‘The next time I am looking at doing it within west Africa where players will come from different African nations in Benin,’he said

Osasuwa pledged his commitment to supporting the IBB international golf and country club ladies golf session, for the Junior Open starting on Aug.15
to 19 at the Club.

‘I pledge my readiness to support the team in sports development and also join the golfers.

‘I want to join the golfers because of the energy, the enthusiasm and the fact that they want to make a difference,’ he said.

Earlier, Okah-Donli, said the aim of the visit was to intimate the CEO with activities of the club and seek his support especially for the children’s golf day.

She explained that the tournament was one of the pragmatic approaches to golf talent discovery in the country.

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Okah-Donli said that the aim was to catch children young and develop them using sports.

‘I thought it was right for us to come and invite you as the father of the day for the junior open coming up at the IBB International Golf and Country Club, starting on Aug. 15 to Aug. 19.

‘The visit came out very positive as expected, and my team and I are very happy with the result of the meeting,’ he said.

Okah-Donli said that the children’s clinic wou
ld take off with about 120 children, while 150 children from the ages of to 16 across Nigeria would participate in the Junior open competition.

Also speaking, the Competition Secretary of the club, Ememe Thompson said that the club organises championship programmes annually .

Thompson said that for this year, the club was looking forward to something better than 2023.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Nigeria’s Justice Stella Anukam re-elected into the African Court on Human Rights at the AU MID-YEAR Coordination Meeting in Ghana.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Dr John Okesoto, Chief Lecturer, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), says there is a correlation between the distance to a worker’s workplace and his productivity.

The chief lecturer called on governments to provide affordable staff quarters near offices to enable workers to access their workplaces with ease and be more productive.

Okesoto made the suggestion while delivering Yabatech’s 15th Inaugural Lecture Series for 2024, on Thursday.

The lecture had the title: ‘The Poor, the Pot and the Bed’.

He said: ‘The poor represents the low-working income group in both public and private sectors: those in a low-paid occupation such as househelps, unskilled labourers and artisans,’ he said.

According to him, ‘the pot’ is the workplace of the individual who provides income for the household from where family members draw their expenses for housing, food, health, investments, transportation and education.

‘Pot is usually found in the kitchen not too far from the bedr
oom,’ he said.

Okesoto described ‘the bed’ as representing housing.

‘Housing is a basic need of man and a place of abode.

‘The pots of poor workers are far from their beds due to their poor incomes which directly impact their choices of location for their homes,’ he said.

He said that many poor workers lived far from their workplaces because they could not afford housing near their workplaces.

According to him, the situation impacts negativity on the gross domestic product as well as the carbon footprint of the environment.

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‘It is therefore necessary that something must be done to make the working poor to live closer to where they work, to make the poor to sleep closer to where the pot is.

‘All government and non-government establishments with more than 99 staffers should be mandated to make provision for staff quarters,’ he said.

The chief lecturer also said that employers could consider providing staff quarters through public/pr
ivate partnership.

He said that living far from workplaces impacted on workers’ living standards and made them less productive as they spent more money, time and energy on commuting.

In his remarks, the Rector of Yabatech, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, said that the lecture addressed the intricate dynamics that characterised the social, economic and cultural landscape of Lagos State.

‘As an institution of learning , we are not just about academics, we are also about community and social responsibility.

‘The aim of this lecture is to deepen our understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist within our urban landscape and to spark a renewed sense of

purpose in addressing the complex issues that affect the well-being of our fellow citizens.

‘We are presented with a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the multi-faceted nature of Lagos, to explore the interplay between wealth and poverty,’ he said.

The rector also said that the lecture presented an opportunity to examine the societal structures that
impacted the lives of Lagos inhabitants and to reflect on the ways to contribute to creating a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous urban environment.

He thanked the chief lecturer for sharing his knowledge.

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‘I am confident that the insights and perspectives shared by our esteemed speaker today will serve as a catalyst for meaningful dialogue and critical reflection,’ he added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okesoto is a Member of the Nigeria Institute Town Planners.

He has written no fewer than 69 conference papers, contributed to 63 journals and edited four books.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in collaboration with Onesight Essilorluxottica Foundation on Friday flagged off the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria (ESCIN), to increase access to eye care in the country,

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that the First Vision Centre in Lagos State was unveiled at the Alimosho General Hospital alongside the flag-off event.

Speaking during the event, Dr Oteri Okolo, National Coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme (NEHP), said the initiative was put together to improve and ensure easy access to eye care in the country.

Okolo said the programme, which was an initiative of President Bola Tinubu and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Health, was tagged: ‘Jigi Bola 2.0: Let Nigerians See’.

According to Okolo, an Optalmologist, over 800 million people globally have refractive errors or vision impairments.

The national coordinator explained that the initiative and unveiling of the vision centre was in line with the World Health Ass
embly’s global target for effective coverage of eye care by countries by 2030.

Okolo said: ‘Eye care is very important and good vision is very critical to humans, and that is why this initiative of President Tinubu is to ensure that Nigerians have access to affordable glasses .

‘Globally, it is estimated that over 400 billion dollars is lost every year in productivity as a result of poor vision.

‘The eye glass is a 700 years old invention, yet people do not have access and that is why we have partnered with Onesight to increase access to eye glasses for every Nigerian who needs it irrespective of their age.

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‘The programme will also help to increase screening to enable eye expert detect symptoms earlier, and make sure interventions are implemented earlier to prevent vision loss.’

She commended the foundation for complementing government’s efforts through its support in improving eye care in the country.

The Senior Speci
al Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Tope Ajayi, said that the Jigi Bola Eye Initiative was introduced in Lagos State when President Tinubu was governor.

Ajayi said over 200,000 residents of the state benefited from the programme then, noting that it has been re-introduced at a national level to target the needs of Nigerians as related to vision.

Speaking also, Mr Anurag Hans, the President of Onesight Essilorluxottica Foundation, said the organisation was committed to solving the problem of various eye impairments globally.

Hans said that eye impairments are the largest disability in the world, noting that two-thirds of the world population could not see clearly.

He disclosed that the foundation had initiated programmes to eliminate poor vision challenges in 120 countries and had also distributed 18 million glasses to people around the world.

‘Most of the eye refractive errors can be fixed with a simple pair of eye glasses and the only sustainable way of solving this problem is to crea
te permanent healthcare services to increase access to vision care.

‘We plan to create this access to millions of Nigerians by the end of this year by working with our partners to prevent permanent vision loss in rural areas in Nigeria,’ Hans said.

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Also, Dr Ayodapo Soyinka, the Medical Director of the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando, commended the initiative aimed at strengthening the state’s capacity for efficient eye care delivery at the grassroots.

Soyinka, who also represented the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the collaboration between the FMOH, NEPH and Onesight would promote sustainable access to quality care within the health system.

‘The choice of Alimosho as a centre to flag-off this epoch event is very strategic knowing fully well that it is the biggest local government in the state.

‘This is something we have been looking forward to and it is beyond the hospital environment and the impact will b
e felt in the state at large.

‘Apart from the inauguration of the vision centre, the foundation also provided consumables to the hospital that will last for a year to make the service free for everyone with eye defects to access care,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Justice Esther Anukam of the African Court on Human Rights has commended the efforts of President Bola Tinubu and Nigerian Government towards he re-election.

Anukam said that the support assistance greatly in her re-elction as a Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for a second term of six years.

She was re-elected for the second term on Friday as a Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

According to her, the efforts of the Federal Government was displayed through the active role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Justice.

She added that the Nigerian Representative in Addis Ababa also played a role that led to her overwhelming victory in the election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election which was held at the 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of African Union on Friday, was on the side-line of the 6th Mid-Year Coordinating Meeting of the African Union holding in Accra.

Anukam was first elected as a Judge of t
he African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2018, among 11 other Judges.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election which was held at the 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of African Union on Friday, was on the side-line of the 6th Mid-Year Coordinating Meeting of the African Union holding in Accra.

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Anukam was first elected as a Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2018, among 11 other Judges.

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Speaking to NAN her election, Anukam said ”the African court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is established by the Ouagadougou Protocol in 1998 and was operationalized in 2006.

‘It has the mandate to integrate and apply the African Chatter on human and peoples right, including any other Human Rights instruments to which a state party is a signatory.

‘The court is established to compliment the Boundary Commission, which is the African Commission on human and peoples’ right that
has both promotional and protective mandate’.

‘Access to the court is by state parties that have rectified the protocol establishing the court as well as the African Chatter on human and people’s right.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria