Category: Uncategorized

By Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

Baobab Microfinance Bank has launched a scholarship programme to foot the bill of 50 female students in order to increase attendance of girl-child education in northern Nigeria.

Chief Risk Officer of the bank, Tunde Omolere, said the gesture, which paved the way for commencement of the ‘Girl Child Scholarship,’ would lead to the sponsorship of female students in different schools annually.

Omolere, who spoke at the presentation of a cheque to Elijah Future Stars Academy in Karu, Nassarawa state, explained the initiative was in line with the bank’s vision to support girls in their educational pursuit.

He stated the benefitting school had no prior contact with the bank but was selected due to the low tuition fee it charges, thus, bearing the hallmark of a school for the less privileged.

Omolere said: “Selection of schools was thrown open to our staff and we asked them to look at schools that charge ridiculously low school fees but making impact. We understand that some parents are not able to afford the fee. So, we wanted the schools to be micro schools for us to intervene.”

He added that over N250, 000 would be spent on the students.

The Country Human Resource Manager for the bank, Priscilla Okoko, noted as important as education is, it was often overlooked by some parents, especially where the female child is concerned.

She disclosed that the bank’s plan is to help the girl – child break the glass ceiling in Nigeria by giving them the opportunity to further their education.

One of the beneficiaries of the scholarship, Nafisat Omale, commended management of the bank.

She said the scholarship has inspired her to work harder, promising to come top of her class.

Proprietor of the School, Bishop Fred Kaka, commended the initiative, saying it would encourage more female students to stay in school as parents default in the payment of school fees of their wards due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Our Reporter

The Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN) has expressed determination and commitment to support women- related organisations to enhance women empowerment and growth.

President of MWAN Lagos chapter, Dr. Ibironke Sodeinde, stated this when the association collaborated with Bright Hope For Widows Initiative (BHFWI) as part of activities marking international women day.

She urged women not to quit but to challenge any problem that faces them.

Sodeinde challenged the widows never quit amidst the challenges of life and remain steadfast despite their negative experiences.

She counselled the women not to engage in anything that will threaten their well-being and remain health conscious at all times.

She further urged women to celebrate themselves beyond their challenges which i key to having fulfillment in life.

The MWAN delegation later donated foodstuffs such as bags of rice, garri, cartons of Spagehtti, cooking oil and several items to the NGO.

The President/ Founder Dr (Mrs.) Foluke Omosehin expressed profound appreciation on behalf of BHFWI to MWAN for the visit.

Sodeinde also addressed the widows, explaining the significance of the IWD and charged them to celebrate themselves and challenge everything that is against women.

One of the 26 widows in attendance appreciated MWAN Lagos on behalf of others.

The Secretary of BHFWI, Mrs. ‘Biyi Tunji- Olugbodi, also thanked Dr. Sodeinde and MWAN Lagos for the kind gesture.

By Uwaifo Faith Abiodun

About 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water.

The Ocean water is not drinkable because it is deeply salinized. If someone should ingest the water from the ocean, it might lead to death.

However, thanks to technology the ocean water can now be consumed. How? You may ask.

In one of the driest places in the world, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) there is rarely rainfall, no rivers and it is surrounded by salty ocean water.

In other words, millions of people in the desert do not have enough water to drink.

They decided to make freshwater out of the salty ocean water through desalination.

Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water, this simply means separating salt from water.

The process involves pressuring the salty ocean water and putting it through a filter that prevents salt from entering the water.

So while freshwater goes through one side, saltwater goes through another side.

UAE happens to be the country that does the highest desalination process because billions of liters of saltwater are desalinated every day.

READ ALSO: ‘Your pant or your life?’

Crazier is the fact that not only did they go through the cleaning water process, they decided to make new water also known as cloud seeding.

This process involves, releasing salt into the air, i.e. sending planes into the air and releasing salt gotten from desalination through the airplanes. The salt then fills the clouds and causes it to grow bigger and then it rains freshwater into the country.

Another amazing thing they do is to catch the water. The process involves building a dam that catches the cloud-seeded rain- a huge dam was built to contain fresh rainwater that falls from the cloud, so instead of the rainwater entering the ocean and becoming salty water, it enters the dam fresh and can be drunk directly. Fabulous isn’t it?!

UAE is not the only country that adopted cloud seeding; The People’s Republic of China has the largest cloud seeding system. Other Asian countries that have adopted this system are Iran, Indonesia, India, Israel, Kuwait.

In North America, there is The United States Of America and Canada

In Europe, there is Bulgaria, France, Spain, Russia, Germany, Slovenia and the United Kingdom

In Africa, Mali and Niger.

Cloud seeding, desalination, catching of rain and the building of wells are just some of the inventions that prove humans can indeed do the impossible, there are infinite possibilities that are available to a man if only he can think of it.

Our Reporter

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, may no longer have to be physically present at a pharmacy to get their drugs or consult a pharmacy or even see a doctor.

Aligs Pharmacy & Stores located in the highbrow Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja, is set to change the way clients receive medications.

The Managing Director of Aligs Pharmacy and Stores, Mrs. Ngozi James, said the innovation is to expand the role of the pharmacy as a primary care provider by giving Abuja residents easy access to drugs through online shopping and online drug information services.

Aligs Pharmacy is availing customers the opportunity to shop for all sorts of medications and interact with medical consultants via its website.

The reorganisation became necessary as more and more people are searching for exclusivity.

Also, some sick people tend to avoid visiting drugstores in order to limit their exposure to other sick people.

While maintaining its physical stores, Aligs Pharmacy, like many drugstores in advanced countries, seeks to take advantage of opportunities in e-Health.

On why Aligs Pharmacy is making the shift, James, a pharmacist, said: “I didn’t just want the idea of dispensing drugs to those who are ill but more like a community pharmacy where we reach out to each other; go beyond the regular pharmacy to patient relation to actually building a strong bond, follow up on people to find out if they have adverse reactions, find out if the drugs are actually working for them and change it if possible.

“We have a doctor who is on standby to consult for patients. We also have a clinic where people can rest till they are strong enough to talk to us. We have certified nurses and laboratory scientists on ground. So, we incorporate these things into our services, and we pride ourselves in having that all-encompassing community health outfit”.

Resident pharmacist of the drug store, Pham Karen Okereke, said with Aligs Pharmacy now digital, clients will not only chat with readily available experts in real-time, but the pharmacy’s website will also avail them the opportunity to get prescriptions online and get doorstep delivery anywhere in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

By Jide Orintunsin, Abuja

To inculcate innovation and creativity among youngsters, an Abuja- based finance outfit is organising an essay competition for secondary school students to mark this year’s United Nations World Innovation and Creativity Day celebration.

The literary competition is to advocate among students and younger generation the needs to embrace sustainable model and system in Nigeria.

The group Managing Partner, Olufemi Adedipe, who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, said the literary competition was to further drive conversation around global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a view to engaging younger generation.

“This has become imperative because civilization and technology is threatening human’s healthy living and existence.

“We also know that technology is at the same time empowering seamless living. We have found new easier and far more faster ways to do a whole lot of stuffs in a short period of time.

“Therefore, we must constantly seek new ways to ensuring that human civilisation, technology and healthy living co-exist in such a way that the environment is sustained and our future guaranteed.

“As an organisation that embraces sustainable model and systems, we believe that everyone should be concerned about the safety of our environment and ultimately the human lives, and we have constantly advocated for this,” Adedipe stressed.

He said the objective of the competition “is to build an exciting platform for school kids aged 10-16 in Abuja to leverage on their creative prowess to generate, create and write an original innovative, sustainable model that supports and proffers solutions to any of the UN SDGs.

“Bring together exceptional school children who are very innovative and gifted under a platform to provide acceleration and mentoring for them.

“Breed deeper levels of interaction amongst participants to enhance cultural tolerance for nation building and intra-generational learning.”

Three top candidates will get cash award, plaques and inducted into “The Pistis Alpha Scholars Club” while their schools get 50% of their cash prizes.

“The grand finale will be a two-hour event where invited schools and their representatives, media outfits, UN representatives, government officials from the ministries of education, science and technology will also be in attendance,” he explained.

By  Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

As part of efforts to promote oral health and celebrate the 2021 World Oral Health Day, Colgate, one of the leading toothpaste brands, has collaborated with the Nigeria Association of Dental Students (NADS) and the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NMSA) to reach out to 44 locations in rural communities across 31 states in the country.

At each location, activities started in the early hours of the morning with oral health sensitisation walk. The Colgate team, dental students, and medical students combed densely populated areas around the activation points such as the markets and residential areas to raise awareness about preventing dental cavities and the importance of ensuring a good oral hygiene practice.

Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to visit the Colgate Dental Checkup stand to have their mouth screened at zero cost by licensed and certified dentists. In Abuja, the team visited Paiko community, Gwagwalada, engaging families, market women and children. The team also conducted household calls to preach the message of adopting good oral care habit, which aligned with the 2021 theme: “Be proud of your smile”.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Colgate Palmolive Tolaram, Mr. Girish Sharma, this year’s World Oral Health Day campaign has the potential to transform the lives of many across the nation. Colgate’s partnership with NADS and NMSA made the impact even more far-reaching as it facilitated the possibility of simultaneously combing through the nooks and crannies of over 44 communities across 31 states in a day, Sharma said.

“The target population reach for this exercise is over 18,000 for both adult and children, in line with Colgate’s 2021 goal of touching more than 2 million people through its free dental check-ups. Oral care is a very important aspect of the human overall health and wellness, and preventing cavity is one of the cardinal parts of enjoying a good oral health. It is therefore imperative to create awareness around oral care.

“We are committed to proffering effective solutions to the spread of tooth cavities as well as aggressively promoting preventive oral care in Nigeria, which is why we decided to go national with the campaign to deeply penetrate the rural communities ensuring they also benefit from the free dental screening opportunity.”

The president of NADS, Michael Adejumo, said   “We embarked on this campaign to support our brand, Colgate and to enhance publicity on good oral care habits across every state in Nigeria and around the world.” Also speaking, the president of NMSA, Dan-Buba Mohammed, said it is a responsibility of medical students and medical profession to be able to make health advocacy campaigns. “While doctors treat diseases in the hospital, medical students will be preventing the occurrence of these diseases,’’ he said