The Nation Newspaper

Tag: grants

  • Court grants siblings N200,000 bail for ‘beating up’ policeman

    Court grants siblings N200,000 bail for ‘beating up’ policeman

    An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court yesterday granted N200,000 bail each to two siblings who allegedly beat up a policeman and tore his uniforms.

    The Magistrate, Mrs O.A Layinka, also ordered each of the accused – Michael Oladunjoye (28) and Sephia Oladunjoye (26) – to produce two sureties each with evidence of two years tax payment.

    The accused, who lives at Church Street, Ayobo in Ipaja, Lagos, however, pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of assault and unlawful damage.

    The prosecutor, Donjor Perezi, had told the court that the accused on July 16 assaulted a policeman, Isaac Akam, at Allen Avenue, Ikeja.

    According to the prosecutor, the duo beat up the policeman and tore his uniform while performing his duty.

    He said a fight ensued between the policeman and the duo after the police stopped their car for a routine search.

    According to him, it was the intervention of other policemen at the scene that saved their colleague from the duo.

    Perezi said the siblings were subsequently arrested and taken to the police station for further questioning.

    The offences, he said, contravened sections 173 and 348 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    The case was adjourned till August 28 for mention.

  • How varsities can attract grants, by ex-NDDC boss

    How varsities can attract grants, by ex-NDDC boss

    It is high time tertiary institutions set up non-profit organisations to manage their endowments and seek more funds, according to Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Mrs Ibim Semenitari.

    Mrs Semenitari spoke at the Eighth Annual Lecture organised by the Registry Department of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, last Friday.

    Managers of tertiary institutions, she said, need to activity engage the private sector to attract more funds for research and facility development. She also said varsities needed to engage their alumni bodies on sustainable relations to facilitate grants, adding that alumni bodies’ activities in their alma maters must go beyond yearly anniversaries.

    The lecture with the theme: Endowments, grants and Corporate Social Responsibility as funding options for tertiary and research institutions in Nigeria was held at the institution’s 2,500-seater auditorium and was attended by local and international scholars.

    Mrs Semenitari said Nigeria higher institutions were yet to explore the huge potential in education sector, unlike their counterparts in other developing countries. She said varsities must expand their research frontiers to stoke the interest of donors in providing needed grants to stimulate cutting edge research.

    Citing her recent visit to Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arabs Emirates (UAE), she stressed that there were always willing partners globally to drive research and development.

    Semenitari called on university administrators to embrace corporate governance and openness in the running of their schools, noting that such would help build confidence among partners and promote sustainable endowments.

    On how the commission is promoting research in tertiary institution, Mrs Semenitari said: “NDDC has been a dependable local partner in funding researches. We run a robust educational directorate that focuses on appropriate and sustainable manpower development. We have specifically focused on environmental hazards that confront the Niger Delta, while other researches are looking at how to maximise the potentials of our hidden resources.

    “To improve the wellbeing of the people and create positive socio-economic indices in the Niger Delta region impelled the NDDC to release grants and fund educational research. We recently funded research on malaria at the Centre for Malaria Research and Phytomedicine (CMRAP) at the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State with for the sum of N25 million per annum for an initial period of two years.”

    On the hostel accommodation under construction in FUTA, she promised that the commission would speedy up the work on the facilities, saying: “NDDC is earnestly taking steps to address the issue of abandonment of the project with the contractor and we will get on with it without further delay.”

    Chairman at the lecture and Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Adebiyi Daramola, observed that there had been paradigm shift in funding of higher institutions, adding that the prevalent economic reality in the country had shown that education stakeholders needed to devise creative ways of funding research.

    Daramola, who was represented by represented by his deputy for Academics, Prof Olatunde Arayela, said: “It is a reality that government alone cannot fund higher education, because of myriads of demands it is facing in other sectors of the economy. Higher institution can only impact positively on the society when its tripod functions of teaching, research and community service are properly funded. This is why we must devise a new means of getting grants.

    The Registrar, Dr Modupe Ajayi, said the lecture was an exercise designed to celebrate academic excellence, which was geared towards improving activities of school registries as well as attract development.

     

  • Alleged 13.5b fraud: Court grants Dasuki, others N250m bail each

    Alleged 13.5b fraud: Court grants Dasuki, others N250m bail each

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has granted bail to former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and two others.

    The others are ex-Director of Finance and Administration in the office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu, and former Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa.

    They were arraigned on December 14 before the court on a 19-count charge bordering on criminal diversion of funds preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Yesterday, Justice Hussein  Baba-Yusuf, in a ruling on their bail application, admitted each of them to bail at N250million and one surety at the same amount.

    The judge said the sureties must show evidence of owning a property in the Federal Capital Territory worth N250m

    The judge further directed that the surety must be a civil servant not below the rank of a Director in the Federal Civil Service. The surety must also swear to an affidavit of means while the accused persons are expected to deposit their travel documents with the court in addition to informing the court whenever they need to travel outside the federal capital territory.

    The judge adjourned to January 21 next year for commencement of trial.

    Dasuki, Salisu, Baba-Kusa  and two companies – Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited were charged with conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code Act and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establsihment) Act.

    Dasuki and Salisu were accused of distributing funds held in the account of the NSA in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to politicians, media practitioners and businessmen purportedly for political campaigns and organizing of prayer sessions.

    The duo was, in counts 5, 6, 7 and 8, accused of paying N2.2billion to Baba-Kusa  through  the bank accounts of Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited in Zenith Bank Plc.

    Dasuki, Salisu and former Special Assistant, Domestic Affairs to the President, Hon. Warimpamowei Dudafa (now at large), were, in count 1, said to have received N10billion, which they converted to $47m and 5.6m Euro, and claimed to have distributed to  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary election delegates  around November 27, 2014.

    Dasuki and Salihu were, in count 2, said to have, between January 22 and March 19, 2015 “remitted N2,120,000,000 into the account of Daar Investment and Holding Company Limited   controlled by one Dr. Raymond Dokpesi for the funding of the media activities for the 2015 presidential election campaign for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    They were, in counts 15, 16 and 17, accused of paying N670m “to the bank account of General Hydrocarbons Limited with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc controlled by one Obaigbena Nduka purporting the said sum to be payment for ‘energy consulting’; “N250m to the bank account of Tony Anenih with First Bank of Nigeria Plc”; and “N345m to the bank account of Starbriid Limited with Stanbic IBTC Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank controlled by one Emmanuel Lawani on behalf of Senator Iyorcha Ayu for the construction of shopping mall at Jabi, Abuja.

    Baba-Kusa, Acacia Holdings and Reliance Referral Hospital were charged in counts 9, 10, 11 and 12 for receiving funds from Dasuki and Salihu which they knew to be proceeds of criminal conduct.

    The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.

     

  • Experts seek more grants for research

    Experts seek more grants for research

    Scientists have called for more research grants to enable them collate data to enhance the government’s policies in the health sector.

    They spoke at the Nigeria Research Trust Award organised by AstraZeneca Research Trust in Lagos.

    The experts underscored the need for more research to know the health indices of Nigeria to enhance social and economic development, especially health care planning.

    Besides, data generated from research are often used to formulate government policies.

    Chairman, Scientific Review Committee of the awards, Prof Folasade Ogunsola, said research conducted often culminate in knowledge, and as such, provide necessary information for growth.

    She blamed Nigeria for not investing in data.

    According to her, Nigeria has a lot information on HIV/AIDS because there were data on the disease.

    This, she said, was made possible by various researches that were conducted.

    “Since 2007, the Presdent Emergency Fund for HIV/AIDS Research was given to universities and local governments, among others, and they developed data, which have been passed to the centre,” she said.

    Ogunsola said lack of data to plan health care is one of the country’s great problems.

    “Everybody is guessing what the situation with malaria is because there is no national data on it. This is because we have not committed serious fund to research. The United States through the National Institute on Health (NIH) commits billions of dollars to health research, in terms of what is going on and new medications, and new understanding of disease processes.These are no cheap and if people knew the answer they would not be doing the research. At the end of it people may still not get the answer. But, we have to keep trying,” she said.

    Moreover, the more money that goes into the funding of research, the better for the country.

    She said what the committee was looking for was a standardised data that cut across all regions/geo-political zones. “As at now, what we have are fragmented data and to bring them together is difficult because they were arrived at, using different methodologies. We do not want a single hospital data,” she said.

    “We are looking at communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). But we are not focusing solely on NCDs because we still have major problems with communicable diseases. This is still a major problem with data on communicable diseases. This year’s grant is on communicable and NCDs. Next year, we might face just NCDs,” she said.

    A member of the committee, Dr Funmi Lesi, said one of the major data base in the country is on HIV and AIDS.

    She said this had helped the government to plan and make innovation for health care.

    AstraZeneca Business Unit Lead, William Prinsloo, said the health challenges in Africa were increasing rapidly while the health status of Africans remained far worse than that of some people in developing regions.

    He continued: “Although a lack of access to health care and serious health system deficiencies are important reasons for this phenomenon, other elements aggravate it. One of them being insufficient research and development aimed at addressing Africa’s unmet health needs.”

    The trust fund, he said, supports local academic medical research in  non-communicable diseases (NCDs), focusing particularly on cardiovascular/metabolic, respiratory and oncology conditions.

    He said the company spent $350,000 yearly on researchers in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

    Prinsloo said the company has made a positive impact in stimulating local research.

    “To date, 46 studies have been awarded funding. Twenty seven were on non-communicable disease studies while 19 were on communicable disease studies,” he said.

  • 12 finalists compete for N2.25m UBA grants

    12 finalists compete for N2.25m UBA grants

    UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced the names of the 12 finalists for the 2015 edition of its National Essay Competition (NEC).

    The finalists emerged after a rigorous appraisal of entries for the annual competition, which opened on September 30.

    The Foundation received about 3,500 entries for the UBAF NEC 2015 edition from students of senior secondary schools all over Nigeria, representing 50 per cent increase over 2014.

    The entries were reviewed by a panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities, who thereafter, shortlisted the 12 best essays.

    The 12 finalists are Ayomide Omole; Udochukwu Melvin Okonkwo; Emediong Uduak Uko; Jonathan Favour; Obiabunmo Precious and Starish Ugie-Oritse-Ete Enonuya. Others are Comfort Macaulay Uwem; Dada Oluwatobi Joshua; Osagiede Omosefe; Olaoye Promise Oluwatobiloba;Eze Ugochinyere Golden and Peter G Okon.

    Managing Director/CEO of UBA Foundation, Ijeoma Aso said: “Three best essays will be selected from the 12 finalists, who will now write a supervised essay at UBA House this weekend.”

    The first prize for the UBA National Essay Competition is a N1 million educational grant for the winner to study in any African university of his or her choice. The second and third prizes are N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants respectively.

    Meanwhile, three brilliant students have already emerged as winners in the 2015 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition in Ghana.

  • Grants for Ondo schools

    Grants for Ondo schools

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has said secondary schools will be paid running grants this week.

    Mimiko made the promise at a workshop for head- teachers by the Ministry of Education.

    The governor, who hailed the teachers’ patriotism, assured them that a minimum of one term running grant would be paid to schools next week.

    He said: “I can assure you that from this week a minimum of one term running grant will be paid.

    “Arrangements will be made on how to pay the subsequent ones.”

    Mimiko said his administration had provided a world-class training institute at Ilara Mokin for training and re-training of workers.

    He said there was need for the government to implement the Land Use Charge to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    The governor called for the teachers’ collaboration to increase the state’s IGR.

  • Abuja court grants Lamido bail on self-recognition

    Abuja court grants Lamido bail on self-recognition

    •Sons, aide admitted to N25m bail with two sureties

    After about three days in prison custody, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, his two sons – Aminu and Mustapha – and one of their aides, Aminu Wada Abubakar, were granted bail yesterday by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

    In a ruling on their bail applications, Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted bail to Lamido on self recognition in view of his status as an ex-governor.

    The judge admitted Aminu, Muspaha and Abubakar to bail, but at N25 million and two sureties each.

    Justice Kolawole said one of the sureties must be a Level 16 civil servant in either a federal or state establishment. The other, the judge said, must be an entrepreneur, who must own a property worth N75 million located in Abuja, Kano or Jigawa.

    He ordered the accused persons to deposit their travel documents with the court, which they could retrieve whenever they wish to travel.

    The judge said the decision to have their travel documents, currently with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), retrieved and deposited in court was not to deny the accused their right of movement, but for the court to be aware of their movements.

    Justice Kolawole said the accused ought not to have been denied bail because some of their supporters were milling round the court. He said that was an issue for the police to handle.

    The judge said he would return the case file to the court’s Chief Judge, for onward transfer to the Kano division of the court, from where the case was brought to him.

    Lamido, his two sons and Abubakar were arraigned on July 9 before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Kano division of the Federal High Court on a 28-count bordering on corruption, abuse of office and money laundering, to which they pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Ayandike declined to take their bail application in view of the court’s approaching vacation and adjourned to September 28 for trial and directed that they be remanded in prison till then.

    The judge also said they could approach the court’s headquarters in Abuja where a vacation judge was sitting.

    Justice Kolawole, who is the sitting vacation judge in Abuja, granted them bail yesterday.

    Dressed in white traditional attire, Lamido, who appeared emaciated, maintained a pensive look, while proceedings lasted yesterday.

    Aminu and Mustapha, who stood with their father and Abubakar in the dock, smiled throughout the proceedings that lasted hours. They looked unruffled.

    Lamido was accused of using his position as the governor of Jigawa State, between 2007 and 2015, to award contracts to companies in which he and the two sons had interest. The money involved, the EFCC said, was N1.351 billion.

    Some of the companies include Bamaina Holdings Limited, Bamiana Company Nigeria Limited, Bamaina Aluminum Limited and Speeds International Limited.

  • Group seeks minister’s intervention on cassava bread grants

    The Delta Youths For Agriculture (DYFA) has  called on the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adesina Akinwunmi, to intervene in the stalemate over Cassava Bread Out-grower Intervention Fund.

    The Coordinator of the group, Mr Lucky Aruoture, made the appeal at a seminar organised by the group in Warri, Delta.

    The group accused the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and the Ministry of Agriculture of frustrating access to the fund by potential beneficiaries.

    He coordinator said BoA failed to release the fund approved for Jopat Nig. Ltd under the Cassava Bread Out-grower Fund even when it had fulfilled the conditions.

    Aruoture said the development had frustrated the dreams of young Nigerians on agriculture.

    He said the conditions spelt out for accessing the fund in January 2014 included payment of N5,000 per hectare and a minimum of two hectares and maximum of four hectares per accredited beneficiary.

    “The payment of N20,000 for four hectares as equity contribution to access the loan/grant, land preparation and all other conditions have been met.

    ‘’All approved beneficiaries in our group have received SMS alerts confirming approval since September 2014, so we wonder why the bank and the ministry of agriculture have not released the funds,’’ he said.

  • BOA grants collateral-free loans to youths

    BOA grants collateral-free loans to youths

    Mrs. Tokunbo Afolabi, the Manager, Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Lagos Branch, on Thursday urged the youths to take advantage of the collateral-free funding opportunities provided by the bank, to empower themselves.

    NAN reports that the call was made while speaking at the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) 2015 General Meeting in Lagos.

    According to her, youths between the ages of 18 and 35 years, who engaged in agribusiness, can access up to N1 million loans, without collateral.

    “The loan is dedicated solely to the youths, in partnership with the Federal Government’s ‘You Win’ programme.

    “The loan is granted to youths for start-ups or expansion of agribusiness,’’ Afolabi said.

    She, however, added that youths applying for the loan must provide two acceptable guarantors, one of which must be a civil servant.

    Afolabi also said that micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could access up to N250,000 by opening and running a Micro Enterprises Savings Account with the BOA.

    She said that the account would also encourage micro enterprises and cooperative groups to develop a savings culture and assist them in achieving a steady and regular income.

    “Account holders will enjoy attractive interest rates, monthly interest payments, a flexible standing order, acceptability and free passbook,’’ she added

  • How to get grants for traditional medicine care

    How to get grants for traditional medicine care

    Prof Olukemi  Odukoya, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos (UNILAG) and  leader of the research team in the Department of Pharmacognosy, answers the question below:

    The Lagos State Research and Development Council (LRDC) is a Lagos State Government initiative to drive research and innovation in Lagos State. Part of the objectives of the LRDC are to develop an economic and business climate that rewards innovation; develop and support initiatives that takes innovative ideas to implementation; enabling legislation and policies for innovation; develop human, physical and technological resources for innovation; create strong networks to facilitate the flow of ideas, expertise and knowledge for innovation; develop policies and incentives to encourage private-sector investment in innovation and research and development and also invest in research and innovation via grants, equity funding and match funding.

    The team at the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG) identified that there is a dearth of access to primary health care. And where available, may not be affordable. We made a proposal on this, i.e, making healthcare more accessible to Lagos residents. The proposal was successful and the project we proposed is already ongoing.

    It is a Model herbal clinic for the Department of Pharmacognosy in collaboration with the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB)with the aim of teaching, research and direct community assistance purposes where herbal medicines with proven efficacy through thorough, verifiable and reproducible research as a contributor to the primary health care of people. The project will translate the experience gained from the model herbal clinic located within the building of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos and equipped with formulations from the research efforts of the academic staff to model clinics within designated primary health centres in Lagos State.

    The title of the Research project is: Translational research from gown to town: Development of model herbal clinics and medicinal plants regeneration centres in Lagos State. I am the team leader while other members are Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi; Dr. (Mrs) Glory Ajayi; Dr. Abimbola A. Sowemimo; Dr. Joy I. Odimegwu and late Prof Gbemisola A. Agbelusi.

    The amount received from the Lagos State Research and Development Council is Two million, two hundred and fifty six thousand, two hundred and fifty naira (N2, 256,250).

    It is good Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board has several success stories to its credit. They have been able to successfully retrain Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) for effective use within the community hence reducing maternal mortalities. They have also put in place a good referral system to the primary health centres. Also, it has been recorded that the dropout rate for immunisation within the state at TBA facilities has been found to be lower than at government hospitals.

     

    Stated project objectives

    •Transformation of laboratory research work to practical everyday use for Lagos communities for better health for all.

    •Promoting research for solutions to common-but-difficult to solve ailments e.g. obesity, fertility, sickle cell anemia, cancers, malaria, microbial infections etc.

    •Introducing and training Pharmacy students and teachers on real-life solutions proffered by herbal medicines in disease management and eradication to be applied to public health systems.

    •Regeneration of medicinal plants in common use to tackle the ever-present problem of their depletion and encourage use of materials that are locally sourced from our local environment.

    •Introducing to the environment what has been taken from it in an eco-friendly manner.

    •Encouraging cultivation of medicinal plants as a means of supporting the economy and raising the current low standard of living of the medicinal plant farmers.

    •Provide dividends of democracy through the integration of herbal medicines into primary health care.

    The team has done the following to date: Acquisition of machines/equipment/consumables; purchase of an automated tea bag packing machine to measure, fill and seal herbal medicinal teas; tea packaging filters; plastic containers and UV Light air steriliser for the processing laboratory.

    In addition, the project has been able to do a collection of plant materials.

    The collection, drying and grinding and bagging of plant materials is on-going.  The demand is being documented by the research assistant. The team has also visited the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board Medicinal Plant Propagation site at Itoikin and the Board already committed a portion of the land to construction of ‘Green house’ for cultivation.

     

    Preliminary impact of grant

    Indication of preliminary impact of the project as executed so far: The automated tea bag packing machine can automatically complete such functions as bag-making, filling, measuring, sealing, thread feeding, labeling, cutting and counting, thus reducing labor expenses and improving production efficiency and sterility. Thus the Faculty can boast of a well-equipped herbal processing laboratory set to provide researchers and students with specialised skills on the formulation of herbal teas. It is the first to be recorded in any University across the nation.  It will assist in the practical training of Pharmacy students and teachers on formulation of real-life solutions proffered by herbal medicines in disease management and eradication to be applied to public health systems.

    The team in collaboration with the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board team is set to support the takeoff at two designated sites, for the model herbal clinic (Onikan, and Ikorodu). The Onikan clinic is in the process of renovation by the research team.

    Clinic dates have been scheduled out for consultation and management of disease states with the Traditional Medicine Board as follows: Mondays- stress; Tuesdays- Hypertension; Wednesdays- Diabetes; Thursdays- General consultation, including Sickle Cell anaemia and then Fridays are for antenatal and infertility.

    Visited the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board Medicinal Plant Propagation site at Itoikin and the Board already committed a portion of the land to Construction of green house for cultivation.

     

    Constraint/Limitation

    The team waited for a long time for the supply of the automated tea bagging machine; infrequent power supply affecting the grinding of the plant materials. We are able to proffer solutions to the identified problems with the supply of the machine and team awaiting supplies of other machines for the next phase and the purchase of a power generator.

     

    Evaluation:

    The level of project completion against the stated overall targets/performance indicators is 65 percent completed.