The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lifts

  • Council lifts elderly

    Council lifts elderly

    Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area has donated cash and gifts to the aged and elderly citizens in the area.

    The beneficiaries also underwent free medical screening.

    The council’s Executive Secretary, Mrs Oluwafunmilayo Akande-Muhammed, promised to continue the exercise.

    She said: “It will be sustained and whatever is given now is just a token of our love for you and the desire to cater for your welfare.

    “The scheme is designed to recognise our old ones who have reservoir of knowledge and wisdom as they have seen a lot in life and should be made happy to pass such to the upcoming leaders of tomorrow. Being elderly is a blessing and not a curse. I want our senior citizens to treasure their lives. Senior citizens still play a big role, as they have been doing, in bringing up children, hence the old needs to be recognised”.

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Alhaji Adebayo Sarumi hailed the council chief for the initiative.

    “It is not only the benefits given to the people that matters, but the way she has been transforming the area to enhance people’s belief that democracy truly works,” Sarumi said.

    One of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Olushola, thanked the council for the gifts.

  • FCMB lifts MSMEs with N122m

    FCMB lifts MSMEs with N122m

    First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited reiterated its support for the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country by disbursing additional funds worth N122 million. The fund is expected to grow in the coming months.

    In a statement, the bank listed some of the latest beneficiaries to include, Health Products and Farms Limited, Midows Limited (both based in Lagos); Everlasting Hands Limited, in Kaduna State and God’s Will Technical Services Limited, located in Ogun State.

    It also pledged support for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N220 billion MSMEs’ Development Fund meant to provide loans at lower interest rate of nine per cent and over a maximum period of five years to MSMEs’ operators.

    FCMB said its increased support to SMEs is in line with its value as a helpful bank and contributing to the success of such businesses considering the key role they play in driving national economic growth and the well-being of the people, especially in the areas of employment and poverty eradication.

    Its Group Head, Business Banking, George Ogbonnaya, said the lender realised that SMEs play critical roles in the growth of the nation’s economy.

    As agents of growth, it is committed to helping these businesses thrive and contribute to the development of the country.

    He said: ‘’We understand that a number of factors combine to determine the success or failure of SMEs. We will continue to support our customers operating in the SMEs segment to overcome the challenges they usually face, especially at the take-off stage. We want to be part of their success story.’

    Mr. Ogbonnaya pointed out that with statistics showing that over 17million SMEs are registered in Nigeria and contribute significantly to the country’s  Gross Domestic Product (GDP), FCMB realises the strategic importance of this sector.

  • Elshaddai Church lifts widows

    No fewer than 100 widows smiled home last Christmas with a bag of rice and vegetable oil during a empowerment summit by Elshaddai Covenant Ministries in New Oko Oba, Lagos.

    The summit was part of initiatives by the church to alleviate the hardship facing many of the widows.

    The General Overseer of the Church, Dr James Iruobe, encouarged the widows not to give up hope.

    God, he stated, was interested in helping them navigate through the path of life of greatness.

    According to him: “Don’t give up on hope; don’t give up on life. There is so much God has in store for you.

    “Your life can shine again and radiate the glory of God because it is not over for you. Life still has so much to offer you now and always.”

    He enjoined the widows to give their all to God, assuring that their lives would never remain the same again.

    Iruobe said the church decided to empower the widows during the commemoration of the birth of Jesus to underscore the love of God for them.

    “God loves you. He wants you to believe in Him. He means well. That is why He sent Jesus. If you embrace Jesus, I assure that life will take the best turn for you,” he stressed.

    When he requested for widows willing to accept Jesus, many hands went up.

    Iruobe later led ministers of the church to minister healing and deliverance to the widows.

    He vowed that the church will stand by them through several other interventions that will unfold with them.

  • Elshaddai Church lifts widows

    No fewer than 100 widows smiled home last Christmas with a bag of rice and vegetable oil during a empowerment summit by Elshaddai Covenant Ministries in New Oko Oba, Lagos.

    The summit was part of initiatives by the church to alleviate the hardship facing many of the widows.

    The General Overseer of the Church, Dr James Iruobe, encouarged the widows not to give up hope.

    God, he stated, was interested in helping them navigate through the path of life of greatness.

    According to him: “Don’t give up on hope; don’t give up on life. There is so much God has in store for you.

    “Your life can shine again and radiate the glory of God because it is not over for you. Life still has so much to offer you now and always.”

    He enjoined the widows to give their all to God, assuring that their lives would never remain the same again.

    Iruobe said the church decided to empower the widows during the commemoration of the birth of Jesus to underscore the love of God for them.

    “God loves you. He wants you to believe in Him. He means well. That is why He sent Jesus. If you embrace Jesus, I assure that life will take the best turn for you,” he stressed.

    When he requested for widows willing to accept Jesus, many hands went up.

    Iruobe later led ministers of the church to minister healing and deliverance to the widows.

    He vowed that the church will stand by them through several other interventions that will unfold with them.

  • Public school pupil lifts essay trophy

    Public school pupil lifts essay trophy

    The crown for the 10th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition will be worn by Miss Patience Brown, an SS2 pupil of Apapa Senior High School, Apapa.

    Patience scored 68 per cent in the first and second stages of the competition to top over 2,000 participants that sent in entries.

    The competition was started in 2004 to commemorate the birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo, founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

    The cleric hopes that Patience, who will be presented her reward, N100,000, a laptop and plaque, along with other winners on September 4, will move on to greater successes like past winners.

    Second place Precious Nwaigwe of St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu, Lagos, with 66 per cent, narrowly edged out third-placed AkinwandeAkinboluwarin of the Greater Tomorrow International School, Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State by one per cent.

    The fourth place went to Master David Oluwasoromidayo of Roshalom International Secondary School, Egbeda, who scored 65 per cent in the first stage but dropped to 64 in the second.

    Chief examiner of the competition and celebrated author, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo of the Dept. of English, University of Lagos, praised the pupils for making similar scores in the two stages of the competition.  She said this showed that they were able to defend the entries sent in (for the first stage) because the second stage was written under exam condition.

    “The four candidates who scaled through the first stage proved their intellectual prowess in the second stage by satisfying our criteria.  The close correlation in the mark scored by the student at both stages of the competition validates their efforts,” she said.

    Prof Ezeigbo said the pupils were graded for their knowledge of current issues among other criteria.

    “The students who meet our carefully defined criteria are usually those who have and can express an informed opinion on contemporary issues of national significance proposed by the organisers of the competition,” she said.

    In addition to her prizes, Patience’s school will get three computers and a printer.   Second placed Precious will get N75,000, a plaque and two computers and printer for his school.

    Third-placed Akinwande will get N50,000, a plaque and the school gets an Internet Ready Computer. The fourth candidate David, will get a consolation price of N20,000.

    The prizes will be presented at this year’s Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture at the Shell Hall Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos on September 4, which has as theme: The Power of your vote: A catalyst for a stable and united Nigeria.

  • FIFA lifts suspension on Nigeria

    FIFA lifts suspension on Nigeria

    World football –governing body, FIFA on Friday lifted the suspension clamped on Nigeria on July 9 as a result of a court order barring the Aminu Maigari –led NFF Executive Committee and the NFF Congress from controlling and managing the affairs of Nigeria football.

    In a letter signed by FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, and addressed to the NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, the world body, in the letter captioned ‘Lifting of the suspension of the Nigeria Football Federation,’ stated clearly that they received the correspondence of Thursday, July 17 from the NFF and were satisfied that Nigeria has complied with their demands for reinstatement into international football.

    “Since the conditions set by the FIFA Emergency Committee on 9 July, 2014 have been met, the suspension of the Nigeria Football Federation is lifted with immediate effect. The lifting of the suspension means that all of NFF’s membership rights have been reinstated, as defined in art. 12 of FIFA Statutes.

    “The NFF is therefore entitled to take part again in international competitions and to benefit from all programs which were suspended.”

    With this decision, the NFF has stepped up arrangements to ensure that the U-20 Women National Team, Falconets, travel to Moncton, Canada next week for a final training camp ahead of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup taking place in the same country, and for the U-17 boys to fly to Democratic Republic of Congo for a 2015 African U-17 Championship qualifier on Sunday, July 27.

  • FIFA lifts suspension on Nigeria

    FIFA lifts suspension on Nigeria

    World football–governing body, FIFA yesterday lifted the suspension clamped on Nigeria on July 9 because of a court order barring the Aminu Maigari–led NFF Executive Committee and the NFF Congress from controlling and managing the affairs of Nigerian football.

    A letter captioned ‘Lifting of the suspension of the Nigeria Football Federation’ signed by FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, and addressed to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Aminu Maigari, the world body stated clearly that it received a correspondence on Thursday, July 17 from the NFF and was satisfied that Nigeria had complied with its demands for reinstatement into international football.

    “Since the conditions set by the FIFA Emergency Committee on 9 July, 2014 have been met, the suspension of the Nigeria Football Federation is lifted with immediate effect. The lifting of the suspension means that all of NFF’s membership rights have been reinstated, as defined in art. 12 of FIFA Statutes.

    “The NFF is therefore entitled to take part again in international competitions and to benefit from all programmes which were suspended,” the letter read.

    With this decision, the NFF has stepped up arrangements to ensure that the U-20 Women National Team, Falconets, travel to Moncton, Canada next week for a final training camp ahead of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup taking place in the same country, and for the U-17 boys to fly to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a 2015 African U-17 Championship qualifier on Sunday, July 27.

  • Gov. Dickson lifts wrestlers’ spirits

    Gov. Dickson lifts wrestlers’ spirits

    • To cheer team in Glasgow

    Nigerian wrestlers to the 2014 Commonwealth Games holding in Glasgow received a major boost ahead of the championship as Bayelsa State governor, Henry Seriake Dickson doled out unspecified cash gifts to the team.

    Governor Dickson made the donations while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by its President, Hon. Daniel Igali who paid him a courtesy call at the Bayelsa House in Abuja on Wednesday.

    While charging the athletes to shun acts that would tarnish the image of Nigeria at the Games scheduled to hold between the 23rd of July and the 3rd of August, Governor Dickson equally challenged Igali, who is also the Sports Committee Chairman, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, to guide the wrestlers in his footsteps by winning medals for the country. He specially identified the wrestling president as someone who has brought a lot of honour to the state.

    Bayelsa State has continued to play a dominant role in wrestling in Nigeria and with about eight athletes presently in the national team, Dickson expressed high hopes of the team’s ability to do the country proud at the Games.

    The governor, who will be leading the Bayelsa State delegation to Glasgow, said he will be at the venue to cheer the Nigerian wrestlers to victory, even as he promised to personally host the team in Yenegoa on their return to the country.

    In his remarks, Igali thanked the governor for taking time out of his busy schedule to receive the delegation and expressed satisfaction with the level of commitment and support the governor has been giving for development of sports in the state and the country at large.

    He explained that the team of wrestlers selected to represent the country have been training hard with a view to bringing glory to Nigeria.

    SportingLife gathered from camp sources that Dickson’s cash boost has raised morale among the wrestlers ahead of the commencement of the Commonwealth Games’ wrestling event which will hold from July 29 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow.

  • Group lifts indigent Muslims

    Suf’yan Abimbola Islamic Foundation (SAIF) has offered scholarship to indigent Muslims to pursue their studies beyond secondary school level.

    President of the foundation Mr Mustapha Fadairo said this at the foundation’s annual Ramadan lecture in Lagos.

    Fadairo said the lecture  is to gear Muslims up towards excellent performance.

    “The aim of the foundation is to provide for the indigent Muslims during Ramadan and even beyond, we also help indigent Muslims in their education by providing scholarship for them to enable them carry on with their studies,” he said.

    Speaking on the theme; ‘Ramadan jurisprudence,’ Fadairo said this should prepare Muslims spiritually and physically during the month.

    “It is titled Ramadan jurisprudence to enlighten us on how to prepare spiritually, physically and materially for the month of Ramadan,” he said.

    He urged Muslims to be law-abiding and use the month of Ramadan for societal reformation.

    “We use the period to reach out to Muslims to be law-abiding and follow the teachings of the Prophet and Quran injunctions. We enjoin Muslims to be good to everyone around them irrespective of their religious inclinations. When we live an exemplary life, people will embrace Islam the more,” he said.

    The guest lecturer, Mallam Ahmad Abimbola who spoke on the theme ‘Ramadan Islamic Jurisprudence’ urged Muslims to be morally upright during and after the Ramadan.

    SAIF is named after Imam Suf’yan Abimbola, who was the Chief Imam of Abimbola Central Mosque for his contributions towards the growth of Islam.

     

  • Foundation lifts health sector in Delta with N100m

    Foundation lifts health sector in Delta with N100m

    MTN Foundation has donated mobile clinic worth over N100 million including medical consumables lasting for a year to the Delta State government.

    The event which held recently was witnessed by a large crowd including the Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan and members of the State executive council.

    The colourful event held at Asaba-the Delta State Capital.

    The project is under the first phase of the MTN Foundation Y’ello Doctor Mobile Medical Intervention Scheme (MTN F Y’ello Doctor Project)

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan praised the telecommunication giant for contributing to its human capital development agenda, urging the private sector to emulate the good gesture.

    Uduaghan, while recounting his experience as a young medical doctor, said the mobile clinic”gives me emotional memories”.

    According to him, as a youth corps member, he had two jobs which comprises manning the local health centre and the mobile clinic.

    He said the mobile clinic was deployed to remote communities.

    Uduaghan said the most fulfilling aspect was the ability to give healthcare to rural folks.

    He said: “The more fulfilling part of my job was the ability to provide healthcare to these rural folks. The healthcare means a lot to these people. We take the rural poor for granted, because health means a lot to these people.”

    He appealed to the MTN Foundation for support in its dialysis programme, adding that such support would enhance the first kidney transplant performed at Delta State Teaching Hospital, Oghara.

    He assured that the mobile clinic would be used for the purpose for which it was donated, while advising the medical personnel to put the equipment to good use.

    The Executive Secretary, Nonny Ugboma, said the event was in “keeping with the promise MTN made to Nigerians when the MTN Foundation was established in 2004: to improve the quality of life in our communities”, adding that through this intervention the telecommunication giant is “contributing to government’s efforts to enhance the quality of health care in the country thereby improving and transforming lives”.

    The project, which is in its first phase has a total of 6 state-of-the-art mobile clinics deployed in six states nationwide including Abia, Delta, Ogun, and Taraba and one each in the North Central and Northwest zones of the country.

    The project has been inaugurated in Taraba, Abia, Ogun and Delta states.

    The MTN Foundation Y’ello Doctor Mobile Medical Intervention Scheme, according to Ms. Ugboma, is just one of the many projects under this portfolio include the MTNF Medical Support Project (MSP) MTNF Eye Sight Restoration Intervention Scheme(MTNF EyeRIS), Annual MTNF Community Health Screening Project and the MTNF Sick Cell Project.

    Ms. Ugboma said MTN also invested in  education and economic empowerment.