The Nation Newspaper

Tag: forum

  • Council holds stakeholders forum on road construction

    Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos has urged all contractors handling construction of roads in Oshodi to establish a cordial relationship with the host communities.

    The council boss Dawood Olajobi said this during the stakeholders’ forum on the construction of Ogunyinka, and Kalejaiye/Sunday Solola Streets.

    According to Olajobi, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has given a directive that councils should involve all major stakeholders in any projects embarked on in fulfilment of the state vision 20:20:57 whereby the state will construct 114 roads in all councils.

    Olajobi therefore appealed to the contractors to do in accordance with the state standard, hence the need for supervision and proper monitoring by the stakeholders.

    However, the proximity of Sunday Solola street to Kalejaiye street in Ewu ward prompt the approval of three street in Oshodi instead of two.

    He implored all contractors to move to site, promising to mobilise them if their work is justifiable.

    He urged them to engage the services of artisans needed within their construction site.

  • Forum seeks ministerial slot for FCT

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Indigenous Women Forum, under the aegis of GBAKKA, has called on the Federal Government to give the FCT indigenes a ministerial slot.

    GBAKKA is an acronym for the six area councils of Gwagwalada, Bwari, Kuje Kwali and Abuja Municipal.

    President of GBAKKA, Mrs. Rifkatu Chidawa made the call during a visit by some members to the secretariat of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Abuja.

    Chidawa said there was need for Abuja indigenes to have a say and presence in the Federal Executive Cabinet like the other 36 states, adding that the indigenes have educated and qualified professionals that can occupy positions in government.

    She also called on the members of the National Assembly to review the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which will enable the people of the FCT have equal rights and be recognised as a state.

    “We are calling on the Federal Government that indigenes who are equally Nigerians should be given what is our right. We are citizens that have sacrificed so much for the growth and peace of this great nation.

    “Being women of the FCT indigenes and knowing that women dialogue, we are using this forum to press for our demands.

    “We want to be carried along and have a sense of belonging. We also add our voice to our people’s agitation and clamour for the Abuja people to have a say and presence in the Federal Executive Council like other states in Nigeria.

    Our lands are our oil wells. Our fathers and mothers before us bequeathed to us our ancestral land in furtherance of nationhood. Giving up one’s land to one’s country is the greatest price to pay by any citizen.

    “Abuja is bigger than seven states in terms of landmass and bigger in population than four states. It is estimated that about 4.5 million people live in Abuja, yet the inhabitants have no say in governance of this country.

    “As good as the All Progressives Congress (APC) government is, we say that the change will not be complete as long as indigenous people remain helpless, voiceless and their constitutional rights denied them,” she said.

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to Gambia and member of the group, Hon. Mrs. Esther John Audu also urged the Federal Government to consider the people of the FCT by providing a ministerial slot for them.

    “I expect consideration, justice and fairness to the indigenes of the FCT so that they can have equal rights as other Nigerians have.

    “The indigenes are people that have sacrificed a lot for the existence of the nation’s capital and development of our country Nigeria.

    “I call on all women to develop the talent God has given to them and make themselves available to serve the country when the need arises and do the best they can for their immediate families and the society.

    “A nation state cannot develop if a group of people are marginalised and their rights denied them,” she said.

    The President of NCWS, Mrs. Nkechi Okemiri Mba assured the FCT Indigenous Women Forum that their yearnings and agitation would be forwarded to the First Lady of the Federal Republic whom is the Grand Patron for Nigerian women.

    She commended the women for their peaceful agitation for a ministerial slot, assuring them that their demands would be given adequate consideration.

    Mba said: “I am very grateful with the visit and I am assuring you that your request will be granted.

  • Access Bank chair to speak at business forum

    Access Bank chair to speak at business forum

    Professionals and entrepreneurs will meet next Wednesday at Oriental Hotel to discuss  ways to improve the economy through business opportunities and networking.

    MoveBackToNigeria (MBTN) and Young African MBAs (YAM) are organizing the event that will afford young entrepreneurs within the country and from the Diaspora an opportunity to meet investors and business development professionals, with the aim of improving businesses.

    Chairman, Access Bank, Mrs Mosun Belo-Olusoga,  will deliver a keynote address at the business forum, after which there would be a panel discussion featuring successful entrepreneurs, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Agrolay Ventures, Ada Osakwe, CEO of Okadabooks.com, Okechukwu Ofili, Managing Director of Hotels.ng, Mark Essien, and CEO of TalentMine, Dr. Femi Kuti.

    The event, which is billed to start at 5:30pm, would also feature an award ceremony to honour personalities who featured in MBTN weekly interviews.

    According to the organisers, the gathering would enable participants and guests to network and interact on business ideas.

  • Access Bank hosts anti-fraud forum

    Access Bank hosts anti-fraud forum

    Access Bank Plc will host stakeholders involved in anti-fraud functions in various banks at a forum in Lagos.

    The forum, with the theme: “Fraud Management – The need for a Harmonised Approach” is an initiative of the lender to engage stakeholders on how to proactively solve the industry’s fraud challenges and to minimise frauds with active collaboration amongst stakeholders.

    The forum is expected to also provide an opportunity for anti-fraud officers of banks to further interact on ways this menace (Fraud) can be curbed by their joint collaboration.

    The bank’s Chief Internal Auditor, Yinka Tiamiyu said: “The Anti-Fraud forum is another way Access Bank demonstrates its commitment to go the extra mile towards using collaboration in fraud prevention.”

    Representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Inspector General of Police, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), Akintola Williams Deloitte House, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) are expected to attend the forum with other participants from various banks.

    The forum holds this week Thursday.

  • Forum sends SOS on poor roads

    Forum sends SOS on poor roads

    Woeful Southeast roads have inspired an urgent message to the Federal Government from an organisation known as Southeast Assembly Forum in Anambra State.

    The forum made up of people who contested legislative positions in the last election sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to President Muhammadu Buhari on bad federal roads in the zone.

    •A section of Port Harcourt Road, Aba
    •A section of Port Harcourt Road, Aba

    The organisation in Awka listed the roads, some of which are: Oba-Arondiuzogu-Okigwe Road, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and Aba-Port-Harcourt Expressway, among others.

    The meeting was attended by representatives of Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states.

    The group said that if those roads were fixed by the president, they would boost economic activities in the zone, ease transportation of commodities and equally reduce road mishaps.

    The group hailed the president on the anti-corruption fight, assuring him of their support in ridding the country of sleaze.

    Furthermore, they described the appointments of ministers by the president as demonstrating equity and statesmanship, adding that the names from the Southeast were indeed the best.

    Some of the people who attended the meeting in Awka were Comrade James Chikwendu (Chairman), Ifeanyi Justin Okeke (Secretary General), Hon Bright Benson (PRO), Hon Frank Ndibe (Organising Secretary).

    Others were Hon Ifeyinwa Kalu (Abia Secretary), Chief Uche Anakor (Anambra Coordinator) and Hon John Agha (Enugu Coordinator), Dr Ejike Ogoegbunam, among others.

    They appealed to President Buhari to urgently come to the assistance of the region in rehabilitation of federal roads there.

    “These roads,” they said, “have become impassable for many years as a result of lack of maintenance from past administrations, and many lives have been lost on the roads.”

     

     

     

  • Gwandu, others discuss 5G at global telecoms forum

    Mr Bashir Gwandu, a former acting Executive Vice Chairman  (EVC) and Executive Commissioner, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) was  one of the chief presenters at a two-day conference  organised last week by the Wireless World Research Forum to discuss challenges and implementation in the new generation of communication technology, the 5G, which proposes a total connected  life.

    It provided a platform to discuss global standardisation, global co-operation and interoperability, looking at how a user-centric approach can be used to identify and overcome the obstacles and challenges connected to a 5G future.

    Presentations were made by some industry leaders and experts, and specific sessions for this year’s event included:  Building a Globally Agreed Vision for 5G Development and Deployment, Creating the 5G Architecture, Overcoming the Obstacles to 5G Deployment, Revolutionary New Use Cases and Implications for Industry, New Business Models and Commercial Opportunities Across Different Sectors (using the Automotive Industry as a sector case study).

    Some of the features expected of the 5G as raised in the conference includes very low sub-millisecond round-trip latency (delay) of 5G signal, Better security to avoid hacking, better location identification, ultra-broadband speed of over 10Gbps, distributed content and processing, much better coverage and availability, low power consumption, high-order Mimo antenna systems, use of sub-6GHz or the spectrum between 6GHz and 100GHz, and whether or not the network should evolve from the 4G-LTE or simply new type of network, etc. Projected applications include machine to machine to people communications, autonomous cars and robots, and super wireless cloud computing etc.

    The 5G has already been tested inJapan by Huawei and NTT DOCOMO using sub-6GHz bands and in a public place, unlike previous experiments, which are usually conducted in a lab.

    The carrier managed to reach peak speeds of 3.6 Gbps where as the fastest average 4G LTE speeds come from Spain at 18 Mbps.

  • Fed Govt to host IDPs forum

    Fed Govt to host IDPs forum

    A two-day engagement forum with local and international stakeholders aimed at bringing relief to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast will hold next week in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said the forum will ensure an efficient coordination and create synergy of purpose between Federal Government and non-governmental organisations in the humanitarian intervention efforts for the Northeast.

    The forum  with the theme: “Coordination, Communication and Cooperation” is being convened by the Presidency and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    The statement reads: “The engagement forum will hold next week Tuesday October 27, at the Multi-Purpose Hall in the Borno State Government House.

    “It is expected to establish a framework for coordination by bringing key stakeholders together to produce a blueprint for best practices and ensure  an articulated response to emergencies and humanitarian challenges like the present situation in the three most affected states of the Northeast: Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.

    “This interactive forum with relevant international and local NGOs,  development partners, aid and donor agencies will create an enabling platform to discuss the most efficient approaches to adopt towards complementing efforts of the Federal and state governments with specialised services in the affected areas and thereby ensure a sustained and coherent system for social services delivery in the region.

    “It will put in focus, the desirability for complementary, results-driven, goals-targeted collaboration of efforts among the Federal and state governments, non-governmental organisations’ and other stakeholders within the framework of the Federal Government’s plan in both the short and long-term.”

  • World Economic Forum selects Waltersmith as global growth company

    THE World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced  the selection of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, a wholly indigenous Nigerian oil exploration and production company as a member of the Forum’s Global Growth Companies (GGC).

    According to Olivier Schwab, Head of Business Engagement at WEF “when choosing entrants to our community of Global Growth Companies, we assess companies on their business model, annual revenues and growth rates, executive leadership and market position. Waltersmith is a dynamic company with a clear potential to shape the future in its relevant business sectors and so is a per fect fit to our GGC community.”

    With the selection, Waltersmith becomes a member of a group regarded as the most dynamic, high-growth companies, which are trailblazers, shapers and innovators, committed to improving the state of the world.

    Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited was incorporated in 1996 as a joint venture between Waltersmith and Associates  Limited, a Nigerian investment company, and Petroman Oil Limited of Canada, to operate as an oil exploration and production company. In 2001, Waltersmith became a wholly indigenous company after the divestment of Petroman Oil.

    Responding to the honour, the company’s Chairman/CEO, Mr Abdulrazaq Isa said: Waltersmith is delighted and proud to be selected as a member of the Global Growth companies of the World Economic Forum.  This is clearly a recognitioin of the giant strides the company has made in the past 10 years in the realization of its long term goals and objectives. Waltersmith is focused on creating a resilient and robust enterpreise with a clear vision of being an integrated energy company, with interests in gas, power and petroleum refinery. The emergent Waltersmith will have a significant impact on employment while making important contributions to the national GDP.”

    With alomost 400 members from about 65 countries, the world Economic Forum believes each GGC has the potential to become a leader in the global economy arising from their business models, growth records, leadership and unique markets.

    Membership nominations come from WEF’s network of media leaders, existing GGCs, Forum members and partners, faculty members and the general public. The WEF selection committee of regional business experts evaluate the nominees on the following stringent criteria: the company’s sustainable growth over a five-year period, major influence inb the industry of operation or national competitive skills, visionary leadership and global corporate citizenship.

    The GGC membership is a platform for executives from high-growth companies to network with other businesses, as well as leaders from government, civil society and academia, to discuss global, regional and industry issues while advancing a sustainable and responsible path of growth.

  • Acting INEC chair, others for women’s forum

    Acting INEC chair, others for women’s forum

    The Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Hajia Amina Bala-Zakari will speak tomorrow at the 2nd edition of SheForumAfrica at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja.

    Other speakers are publisher of Today’s Woman, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, founder/Director at The Contact Project, a global Enterprise, Jennifer K. Lynne and Vice President – Women in Politics Forum, Sharon Ikeazor. Others are Angela Ajala, an astute Educational Entrepreneur/Administrator; Aisha Attah, a Personal Development Consultant; Dr. Ify Monye, a Primary Healthcare  and lifestyle medicine expert , Lola Adele-Oso, Executive Director of Act 4 Accountability UK, an African diaspora organisation, and Terri Pardonu – host of the popular ‘WE WOMAN’ radio talk show.

    In a bold and novel demonstration of the commitment to bridge the generational knowledge gap, SheForumAfrica 2015 features a number of young panelists representative of various age brackets among them, Rinsola Abiola; Adaora Asala, the dynamic MD of Easy Taxi Nigeria, Lois Auta, Mandela Washington fellow and founder Ceedar Seed Foundation and  Fatima Musa Aliyu.

    Also in the line-up are Hajia Saudatu Mahdi of WRAPA, Dr. Christianah Kwabe, a GP with Asokoro General Hospital, Chioma Kanu, a gender exponent/Programme Manager, CISLAC; Laura Ajoiyi, a Legal Practitioner, and Amina Salihu, foremost gender activist and Chairman Board of Trustees, HADIS Foundation.

    The keynote presentation on the topic: “Being a Voice not an echo: Synergising for Sustainable Impact” will be delivered by  frontline broadcast journalist, author/trainer, motivational speaker and life coach, Mrs Eugenia Abu.

    The maiden edition of SheForumAfrica held last year with participation from two countries.

    According to conference host  and founder of the Friendraiser Community, Inimfon Etuk, “the conversation this year across the Forum’s 4 Panels will reflect the road travelled by the average African woman, with a priority on demystifying persisting stereotypes that keep women at the bottom of the ladder, especially in the areas of health, basic education and the ability to function optimally in the enlarged entrepreneurial space”.

    The theme for SheForumAfrica 2015 is “Risk the unusual – make it happen”.

     

  • Praises for UN forum

    Over 400 participants from tertiary institutions, business, government, and civil society, who gathered at the 2015 Global Forum (a UN initiative) for Responsible Management Education – 6th PRME Assembly, in New York, have commended the ongoing work of the PRME community. The forum, which was designed to carve a niche for management education and business, also charged participants to take a leading role in shaping and achieving the global sustainable development agenda.

    The major theme that resonated among participants during the Global Forum was the prospect of business and business education, and their roles in achieving the UN’s forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Susana Malcorra, Chef de Cabinet, said: “I am encouraged to see the progress you have made-individually, at your academic institutions, and as a community.” As educators, researchers, and thought leaders, the role of participants in achieving the SDGs is essential, she added.

    Jonas Haertle,  Head of the PRME Secretariat, noted that the eight years of PRME have grown the initiative into “a thriving network and a truly global platform for learning and action with over 600 institutions in over 80 countries, all of which have heeded our call to ‘place sustainability at the heart of management education.” According to him, over the last one and a half years, 18 PRME chapters and regional meetings have been held-with the chapters now reaching 12 around the world.

    Resources and deliverables presented at the forum included a report on PRME chapter activities, a toolkit on public reporting (a mandatory requirement for PRME signatory schools), a transformational model to support broader and deeper implementation of the Principles of PRME, and reports on Faculty Development and Learning in a Social Context. PRME Working Groups on Anti-Corruption, Gender Equality, and Poverty met, and new work streams were launched on Business for Peace, Business and Human Rights, and Climate Change.

    The mission of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative is to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally. The six principles of PRME are inspired by internationally accepted values, such as the principles of the United Nations Global Compact. They seek to establish a process of continuous improvement among institutions of management education in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century..