By Yetunde Oladeinde

contributions to the Nigerian healthcare industry, the Managing Director of First Foundation Medical Engineering Company, the late Dr. Tosin Ajayi has been awarded a posthumous award of excellence.

In recognition of his excellent contributions to the Nigerian healthcare industry, the Managing Director of First Foundation Medical Engineering Company, the late Dr. Tosin Ajayi has been awarded a posthumous award of excellence.

The late Ajayi, who died on April 26, 2020 at St Nicholas Hospital in Lagos, of a kidney problem, was honoured at a programme organized by the AfriHealth Expo in collaboration with the Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN).

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Nigeria Healthcare Expo is an annual event aimed at improving healthcare business and patient care in Nigeria.

Receiving the award on behalf of the family, the deceased two daughters, Miss Tomisin Ajayi and her sister, Tiffany, thanked the organizer for deeming it fit to honour their family.

“Our father wasn’t one to do anything for clout or recognition. We are so grateful that his efforts and achievements have not gone unnoticed, and we are humbled to receive this award on his behalf,” Miss Tomisin said.

Experts in mental health have called on stakeholders and governments to put in place  measures to forestall the looming mental health problem that might arose after COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), they made the call in Ibadan on Saturday at the Advancing Community Access to Equitable COVID-19 Response programme.

It was organised by Asido Foundation, in partnership with Oxlade Consulting and supported by Open Society of West Africa (OSIWA).

The Founder of Asido Foundation, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, said at the Stakeholders Engagement Feedback on Community Resilience, that it was very clear to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations that beyond COVID-19 as an infection and pandemic, there was a lot of mental health consequences.

Abdulmalik said the consequences were from anxiety to depression, increasing rate of drug use and increasing rate of suicide, among others.

“COVID has caused a lot of mental health problems over time and it continues to cause it.

“So, we need to pay attention to the mental health consequences of COVID. We need to prepare.

“COVID-19 has not gone as we are dealing with after shot; people lost their jobs they are not happy.

“They are battling with frustration and economic challenges and many are wallowing of the fringes of suicide thought and hopelessness,” he said.

AbdulMalik, a Consultant Psychiatrist, stressed the need for attention to mental health consequences in the society.

“We need to be aware of it and prepare as well as intervene and encourage people that there is hope; they shouldn’t give up, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“Our religious leaders, governments and the media need to keep encouraging people and keep supporting one another until we can finally say we have put this behind us,” he said.

Abdulmalik said that the programme was to identify positive psychosocial community resilience stories from across Nigeria.

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“It is to see what are the lessons learnt from how people came together during COVID-19 pandemic to support one another and encourage one another for the future.

“Following the call for stories sent across Nigeria, we had over 100 stories and selected the top three stories from Calabar, Zaria and Ibadan, which was turned into a documentary,” the expert said.

Commenting, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Bode Ladipo, admitted that mental health was not given priority during the pandemic, saying that it was one of the lessons learnt going forward.

Ladipo, represented by Dr Femi Akinyode, the State Epidemiologist, said, “The pandemic made us realise that some specialists were in short supply such as social workers and mental health specialists.”

Ladipo stressed the need for emergency funds and improving communication with patients and their families as well as media advocacy during future pandemic.

Also, Dr Muideen Babatunde, the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Health Board, said the state had set up desk for mental health in all the 33 local government areas of the state.

Babatunde, represented by Mrs Funmilayo Abodunrin, a mental health expert, said that the state government would continue to educate people on mental health.

In her remarks, Mrs Ronke Bello, the President, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, called for psychosocial support to reduce emotional impact.

On the lessons learnt from pandemic, Dr Ideyonbe Eseile, the President, Association of Resident Doctors, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said that loss of jobs and inability to get jobs and lack of food for families which still persisted, were indications of a looming mental health problem.

Eseile decried the use of data from developed countries as a model for government intervention and policies which do not reflect the realities in the local context of Nigeria.

In her remarks, Ms Adedayo Ige, a Humanitarian and Programme Manager at Oxlade Consulting, said the programme was targeted at individuals and communities on how they built resilience during COVID-19.

Ige said, “We realised that in Nigeria, we do not have a lot of data, so instead of us relying on developed countries for data, this is one of the ways we can get data and prevent recurrence in the future.”

By Gbenga Aderanti

The Oyo State Coordinator of the Next Level Consolidation Forum (NLCF), Afeez Adio has promised to work for the reelection of the House of Representatives member for Egbeda Ona Ara Federal Constituency, Akin Alabi in the 2023 election.

The NLCF coordinator assured the lawmaker of massive support during the election.

Adio disclosed this when the Next Level Consolidation Forum paid a visit to Alabi.

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Adio thanked the lawmaker for his numerous efforts to turn around the fortune of his constituency by initiating various programmes and proposing life-changing bills.

In attendance were: Comrade Kazeem( Treasurer NLCF Oyo State Chapter; Mr Olalekan Asindemade, Asst. Secretary, NLCF Oyo State Chapter; Women Leader of NLCF, Ona Ara Local Government Area,

Mrs Fatima Aleshinloye;  Mr.  Oladipo Oladosu, National Coordinator of NLCF and  Mr. Rotimi Adeleye, Lagos State coordinator NLCF.

The Women Leader of NLCF, Ona Ara Local Government Area also made a commitment to campaign vigorously for Alabi’s electoral success.

With e-commerce adoption growing yearly, and with more Nigerians willing to trust online shopping, e-commerce companies like Jumia have hinted of plans to enlarge its coast.

Following the recent announcement from the company of its third-quarter 2022 financial report and the new strategy from the management team to see what the future holds, Jumia recorded substantial revenue and gross profit growth, according to the company’s financial earnings report.

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The most recent statistics show that $50.5 million was generated in revenue in Q3 2022, an increase of 6% from the $47.6 million reported in Q2. This also represents an 18.4% increase from the $42.7 million reported in the same period last year.

Interestingly, Jumia’s acting CEO, Francis Dufay, laid out the new business strategy for the company during the Q3 2022 earnings call, stating that the recent focus on cost discipline and return on investment speaks to an ever-increasing need to make the company profitable in the near future.

The Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) has revealed plans to create Vehicle Parking Lane Markings in selected streets within Surulere, Ikoyi, Lekki, Ikoyi, Surulere, Ikeja, Obalende among other high vehicular density roads across the State.

The efforts which begins on Monday, November 28, 2022, is geared towards improving the parking system in the state, the Authority said. Speaking on the planned initiative in her Ikeja office on Friday, the LASPA General Manager, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu, stated that the vehicle parking lane mark exercise is among initiatives to be rolled out by the agency aimed at improving street parking from 2023.

She listed the areas to be affected to include Surulere, Ikoyi, Lekki, Obalende, Ikeja and Victoria Island axis of the State, adding that the parking lane marking will minimise indiscriminate parkings as it will guide motorists on appropriate parking spaces.

Adelabu noted that the Parking Lane Markings will further guide motorists and pedestrians on appropriate parking regulations and spaces, minimise confusion and uncertainty while conveying a range of information to residents on parking procedures within each specified environment.

According to her, the lane markings will also include special consideration for people living with disabilities and signposts for parking directives, among other features.

The General Manager, however, solicited the understanding of residents within the locations who might be affected by any inconvenience the process might cause, assuring that the government is working rigorously in regulating and improving the parking culture as part of its Traffic Management and Transportation Agenda to ensure parking is convenient, safe and secure across the state.

By Samson Oti

The Lagos State government has announced the SDGs competition where It will award the sum of N5 million each to 3 winning ideas that targets each of the SDGs. In total, the grant seeks to fund 51 projects addressing SDG targets (3 projects per SDG) across Lagos state.

SDGs Grant Competition was conceived as part of the strategy to mobilize collective action to advance progress on the SDGs through social, economic, and environmental initiatives that are positive, transformative, collaborative, and scalable.

The Challenge is seeking projects that smarter, faster ways to make real progress on the 17 Goals and transform lagos to a more resilient. This grant competition is open to Civil Society Organizations, Social Impact Ventures and Non-Governmental Organizations within Lagos State.