The Nation Newspaper

Tag: United Arab Emirates

  • FG to UAE: we will engage, sensitise Nigerians to be good ambassadors

    FG to UAE: we will engage, sensitise Nigerians to be good ambassadors

    Following the lifting of the visa ban on Nigeria, the federal government will engage and sensitise Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be good ambassadors.

    The chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this on ‘X’ on Wednesday.

    Dabiri-Erewa visited the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi following the lifting of the visa ban.

    Read Also: Tinubu pays tribute to Olatunji Dare at 80

    Recall on Monday, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced that the Federal Government and the UAE authorities have reached an agreement vacating travel restrictions imposed on Nigerians with immediate effect.

    It said: “Earlier today, Hon. Dr. Abike Dabiri-Erewa Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), visited Ambassador Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Nigeria (@UAEEmbassyNGR) following the removal of the visa ban by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Nigeria to further strengthen areas of partnership and collaboration mutually beneficial to Nigeria and the UAE.

    “She stated that NiDCOM intends to engage and sensitize Nigerians in the UAE to be good ambassadors of their country of stay and country of origin, to excel in whatever they are doing and never to forget home.”

  • Woman wakes up from 27-year coma

    A woman in the United Arab Emirates has regained full consciousness after being in a vegetative state since 1991.

    Munira Abdulla suffered a severe brain injury in a car crash 28 years ago in the city of Al Ain.

    The mother, who was 32 at the time, was hugging her son to protect him as a school bus ploughed into their car.

    For years there were no signs she would ever wake up but she started to show signs of responsiveness last year after being treated with physical therapies and drugs in Germany.

    Her son, Omar Webair, told The National newspaper: “I never gave up on her because I always had a feeling that one day she will wake up.

    “The reason I shared her story is to tell people not to lose hope on their loved ones; don’t consider them dead when they are in such a state.

    “My mother was sitting with me in the back seat. When she saw the crash coming, she hugged me to protect me from the blow.”

    Omar suffered only minor wounds, but his mother had a brain injury that was left untreated for hours.

    She was eventually taken to hospital, then transferred to London for specialist treatment.

    Read Also: Policemen, others to die for kidnapping woman

    Doctors declared her to be in a minimally conscious state, a condition that is similar to a coma but receptive to pain.

    Munira was then sent to the UAE, where for years she was fed through a tube and provided with physiotherapy to stop her muscles deteriorating through lack of movement.

    In 2017, the family was offered a grant by the Crown Prince Court, a government body in Abu Dhabi, for Munira to be transferred to Germany.

    Surgeries to correct her severely shortened arm and leg muscles were carried out and she was given medication to improve her state.

    Around a year later she began making strange sounds, and within three days she called out to Omar using his name.

    He said: “It was her! She was calling my name, I was flying with joy; for years I have dreamt of this moment, and my name was the first word she said.”

    She is now back in Abu Dhabi with her family, where she continues to receive treatment.

    Omar said: “All those years the doctors told me she was a hopeless case, and that there was no point of the treatment I was seeking for her, but whenever in doubt I put myself in her place and did whatever I could to improve her condition.”

    Huffingtonpost

  • Tope Alabi takes break in Dubai

    AFTER a busy period which saw her gracing different conventions and concerts, gospel singer, Tope Alabi and her hubby, are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on vacation.

    The singer has been posting pictures of their time together since arriving the Emirate on Monday, captioning them: “In Dubai on vacation for a while to resume soon. Thank you Jesus for journey mercy.”

    Though she is on break, Tope Alabi will be featuring in some gospel concerts, already lined up during her stay.

    The singer who recently featured on another album, ‘Toh Marvellous,’ a joint effort with Mike Abdul, is also asking her fans to buy her new work, The Spirit Of Light, which features top photographer TY Bello.

    “I like to tell you to get your own copy of The Spirit Of Life and people have been listening and they get blessed every day.”

    Born on October 27, 1970, Tope Alabi is a gospel singer, film music composer and actress. Alabi was formerly a member of the Jesters International comedy group and also made Yoruba films.

  • Broadband: Yahsat, Service Partners Ready to Connect 300 Rural Schools

    UAE-based global satellite operator, Yahsat, has planned to bridge the gaps in the provision of ICT services across the un-served and under-served regions with the announcement of a new collaboration with its Service Partners Hyperia and Zeta-Web in Nigeria.

    Building on their past efforts to deliver reliable and cost-effective broadband services across Nigeria, YahClick and its service partners Hyperia and Zeta-Web will work shoulder to shoulder to support the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in connecting more than 300 schools in rural Nigeria.

    Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) is the branch of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) tasked with fueling the expansion of telecom services in rural Nigeria. Working alongside Hyperia and Zeta-Web, Yahsat will extend YahClick broadband services to schools in rural Nigeria that have until now suffered from unreliable connectivity.

    The partnership will provide USPF with a dependable satellite-based broadband service that utilizes the Ka-band frequency. More affordable than the  Ku and C band frequencies, YahClick’s service will help these schools to overcome barriers to quality education  by maintaining consistent and reliable connectivity.

    “Through this partnership with Hyperia and Zeta-Web, we look forward to ushering in a nationwide revival of educational tools and resources that will help set thousands of children up for a brighter future,” says Farhad Khan, Chief Commercial Officer at Yahsat. “We are glad to work alongside like-minded partners who share our values and commitment to helping build a future generation that is fully equipped to strengthen the country’s economy,” he added.

    “Over the last decade, Hyperia has played an integral role in building a strong ICT infrastructure in Nigeria, and our alliance with Yahsat puts us on the right track to achieving our mission. This latest collaboration is a welcome development that will bring more digital opportunities to Nigeria, and ultimately lead to the growth of the nation,” commented Gabriel Bouzerdan, Managing Director of Hyperia

    “The large majority of schools in Nigeria’s outlying areas have had no or poor connection to broadband previously. We are proud that together with Yahsat we are able to bring a proper Internet access to these schools, enable richer learning experience amongst school children and overall make a positive impact on the education sector.” commented Gabriel Bouzerdan, Managing Director of Hyperia

    The news of this collaboration follows on Yahsat’s recent announcement of an agreement to establish a joint venture with Hughes Network Systems (HUGHES) to accelerate Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band services across Africa. Combining Hughes’ expertise as a global leader in broadband satellite networks and services with Yahsat’s knowledge as the leader in satellite broadband solutions in the region, the new joint venture will allow the companies to unlock the mass-market potential of satellite broadband solutions across the region.

    Yahsat launched its flagship service, YahClick, in Africa in 2012. It was the first operator to introduce HTS Ka-Band satellite broadband technology to the continent through Yahsat’s Al Yah 2 satellite. Following the successful launch earlier this year, and the recent commercial readiness of the company’s third satellite Al yah 3, YahClick’s footprint has extended to 19 additional markets in Africa. This collaboration is part of Yahsat’s commitment to deliver affordable, reliable and high-speed Internet connectivity to overlooked parts of the world.

  • How bureaucracy stalled Nigeria’s multibillion investments from UAE

    Nigeria’s quest for foreign direct investment from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been painfully slow no thanks to bureaucratic bottlenecks on the part of officials.

    Giving this damning verdict is no other person than Mohammed Aliyu Baiwa, who sits atop as the Chief Executive, Nigerian Trade Centre (NTC) Dubai.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation, he observed that Nigeria is one of the top major business partners of the United Arab Emirates in the area of trade export and services.

    He however regretted that the lopsided trade between the two countries was skewed in favour of Dubai Unite Arab Emirates. “It’s a ratio of 65% to 35% in favour of Dubai United Arab Emirates. Nigeria, being one of the biggest markets with over 180 million population and with large deposit of natural resources, which includes industrial, precious minerals and agricultural products is an advantage for any investors to look at.”

    As to why the country is yet to witness remarkable inflow of foreign investments from UAE and other Gulf countries into Nigeria, the former Director General of the Nigeria-UAE Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which later transmuted to NTC, attributed this to a combination of factors, with bureaucracy top on the list.

    “Many reasons attribute for the near investor apathy towards Nigeria. But I will mention few major ones that have hindered the inflow of investments into Nigeria despite concerted efforts to convince many companies that we are doing very good. The first thing is that there is no encouragement and cooperation from the Nigerian Embassy to the Nigerian Trade Centre Dubai, especially during the period of the two previous Ambassadors. They were not ready to cooperate with us in bringing some more than 450 Nigerian companies that were operating in Dubai and the other Emirates that were interested in Nigeria. Some of these companies have been operating for over 25 years in UAE,” he said.

    Besides, he said, the uncooperative attitude of some embassy officials was also holding things up.

    Thankfully, he said, “Majority of these companies in the UAE are still interested in investing in Nigerian markets as most of their services or products are being purchased by Nigerians. It took me time and follow up to convince many companies and investors to invest in Nigeria. The three companies that decided to show their presence in Nigeria and many others when the NTC DUBAI was functioning well include: KPMG, which is one of the top audit companies in the world, G4S Group, a security company and UAE Exchange company which is one of the largest money exchange companies in the Gulf to mention just a few. Nigerian companies should use this bilateral agreement opportunity to engage in joint ventures with companies in the UAE.”

    While commenting on economic potential of the nation’s non-oil export, the NTC boss said the benefits of the sector are enormous if well harnessed.

    Going down memory lane, he recalled that he presented a comprehensive report on how to unlock the potential of the non oil resources of Nigeria in the Gulf and Asian market to the then Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Agangan.

    “In my report to him my advice then was that first let’s establish an export house in Dubai, India, China and the United States, which are the biggest trading partners for Nigeria. The approval by the former President Goodluck Jonathan to open the (RTO’s) offices was my proposal that I said this will allow or give access for Nigerian products to the international market for the non-oil resources that will add more revenue to Nigeria economy,”he noted.

     

  • Digital technology transforming African media – Multichoice chief

    Rapid advances in digital technology in Africa have created new opportunities to innovate on content delivery, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Entertainment at MultiChoice, Yolisa Phahle.

    She said “digital disruption” has and will change how people consume media products.

    “As people who are invested and committed to the future of Africa, it is our collective responsibility to play an active role in making sure our continent benefits from this opportunity,” she said.

    Phahle spoke on the first day of the fifth edition of the Digital Dialogue, a thought-leadership platform established in 2012 and facilitated by MultiChoice.

    It is designed to address various issues facing the video entertainment industry on the continent, share industry best-practice and create a better understanding of Digital Migration and its impact on Africa’s digital landscape.

    Addressing a delegation comprising of several international industry thought-leaders and key media stakeholders from across Africa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Phahle said: “As a company, we are looking forward to investing even more in telling local stories, documenting our history and providing a platform for Africans to share African stories.

    “But today in the midst of the ongoing digital revolution – we collectively have the opportunity to not only tell stories that educate and inform African audiences, the digital age means we are in a position to take African stories to the world, and create a global market for what we do.

    “By using the internet and leveraging technology, we have the ability to reach audiences at a global level and the success of companies like Iroko TV, artists like Davido, actresses like Lupita Nyong’o and the movie Black Panther are confirmation that the world is ready to consume African stories, celebrate African culture and embrace African languages.

    “This will take incredible focus and increasingly, as we look to the future of news and media organisations, the conversation is focused on three words: content, technology and customer which we believe will continue to be essential for any news or media organization that wants to survive and grow in the future.”

    Phahle is of the view that to survive and grow, operators must find new ways of engaging more effectively with viewers when there are more choices than ever.

    “Nowadays, no-one can say with absolutely certainty what the future holds for any business in the news or media industry. What we do know, however, is that people today consume more news and entertainment than ever and I believe this trend will continue.

    “The delivery mechanisms will change, and in many ways digital is just another route to market, but the producers of the most relevant and resonant content will survive,” Phahle said.

    MultiChoice’s vision, she said, is to be the best African story teller in the world, with a promise to bring customers the best international stories.

    “Being able to tell the right story, at the right time to the right person is our absolute focus and if we are able to leverage the technology, and become obsessed with pleasing our customers we will nullify the headwinds and use the tail winds to drive exponential growth for our collective future,” the Multichoice CEO said.

    Phahle added that this year, MultiChoice is planning to start production on a number of epic African stories and use new digital platforms to create a stage for Africa to shine on while continuing to work with the best African talent to tell Africa’s stories.

    The aim, she said, is “to deliver the incredible economic benefits to Africa’s creative industries”.

    “Let’s undertake to bring this kind of prosperity to our continent and aim to use digital technology to entertain and inform the world,” Phahle added.

  • Technology cannot take teachers’ place

    With technological advancements in Artificial intelligence, mixed reality, quantum computing, 3D printing and others disrupting what is work and learning globally, Microsoft Vice President, Worldwide Education, Anthony Salcito, has called for changes in mindsets that would allow educators prepare learners for jobs of the future.

    Speaking at the opening of the two-day BETT Middle East and Africa Leadership conference and exhibition held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre ( ADNEC ), Abu Dhabi Monday, Salcito said kindergartners who would graduate by 2030 needed a different kind of education from what is presently on offer.

    Based on a research by Microsoft and McKinsey on “Preparing the Class of 2030”, the technology expert said their education needed to be more personalised and teach more soft and emotional skills.

    In doing this, Salcito said technology becomes an enabler that would, rather than take teachers’ place, strengthen them to learn more about their students and as a result give them education tailored to their needs.

    He said teachers needed to realise that technology could not take their place but could make them more productive in preparing their learners to excel in a world where the skill sets needed were presently unknown.

    He said such education should infuse passion in the learners.

    “The reality of why Artificial Intelligence is often feared is because of the displacement of jobs. In many ways it is going to create potential to improve existing jobs – potential to help students get better by providing teachers with tools to assist their jobs,” he said.

    In his speech, the Minister of Education at the United Arab Emirates, H.E. Hussain Ibrahim So, said his country was preparing hard to equip its citizens with the right kind of skills by evolving policies and establishing schools where innovative learning takes place.

    “UAE is the first to have a specialist for the fourth industrial revolution to create policies and laws. We need high quality education to enable our children for the future.

    “We were very proactive in the UAE and launched smart learning in 125 schools. We are planning to launch in 700 schools,” he said.

    In an interview with The Nation, the Story Adviser to Gov Abiola Ajimobi, on education, Dr BC Akin-Alabi said the Oyo State was ready to embrace the transformation technology brings.

    She said the government was partnering with Microsoft to make basic and advanced digital literacy curriculum available in all schools, public or private, at all levels.

  • Spying on spouse’s phone in Saudi Arabia now carries $133, 000 fine

    Spying on your spouse’s phone in Saudi Arabia now carries a 133, 000 dollars fine and up to a year in prison, under a new law that aims to “protect morals of individuals and society and protect privacy’’.

    The punishment would apply to both men and women in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, according to a statement on Tuesday by the ministry of culture.

    It could tend to protect husbands from their wives.

    As in many other parts of the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia laws on divorce, inspired by scripture, often required wives seeking alimony to provide evidence of abuse or sexual promiscuity.

    A husband’s phone could be a rich source of such evidence.

    The Anti-Cybercrime Law, says “spying on, interception or reception of data transmitted through an information network or a computer without legitimate authorisation” is a crime.

    It imposes a penalty up to 133, 000 dollars, prison or both.

    “Social media has resulted in a steady increase in cybercrimes such as blackmail, embezzlement and defamation, not to mention hacking of accounts’’, the ministry said.

    A similar law on the books in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates also bars the practice, carrying a minimum three-month prison term and 817 dollas fine.

    The oil-rich and tech-obsessed countries are among the most avid social media users in the world, but traditional values remained ascendant, even in courts.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Couple wins holiday trip at PZ-Coolworld promo draw

    A Lagos based couple has a won  an all-expense paid ‘trip for 2′ to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The couple, Mr and  Mrs Daniel Ude won the first prize at the Coolworld raffle draw event held on Tuesday,  at the Victoria Island, Lagos branch of the company.

    Coolworld Electrical Retails Stores, a subsidiary of PZ Cussons had organised the Coolworld Year-End Promo for its customers across its seven stores all over the country to reward and engage its customers as the year 2017 rolled to an end. The promo ran from the 1st of November till the 31st of December 2017.

    The retail stores’ customers participated from Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt by making purchases of products worth over N10,000 and above which earned them tickets to participate in the raffle draw. The draw event was observed by representatives of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Lagos State Lottery Board (LSLB) and journalists from various media houses.

    The second prize of a SMART 75 inches Haier Thermocool TV set worth over One Million Naira and the third prize, an American styled-fully stocked refrigeratorwas won by Daniel Nzeka from Enugu and Olusegun Babayemi respectively while three others won consolation prizes of microwave ovens.

    In his opening remark, the Commercial Director of PZ/Coolworld Electrical Stores, Mr. Olugbenga Kolawole made it clear that Coolworld Stores would continue to reward its loyal customers with incentives and experiences that would keep them coming back for more.

    He said, “Being the first Omni-channel retail outlet in Nigeria, we have over the years held our customers in high esteem and have always shown appreciation to them in so many ways and we intend to continue to do so.”

  • Djokovic withdraws from exhibition tie

    Djokovic withdraws from exhibition tie

     

    The comeback plans for Novak Djokovic hit the rocks on Friday when a recurrence of pain in his right elbow forced him to withdraw from an exhibition tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

    Djokovic hasn’t played competitively since he retired in the Wimbledon quarterfinals because of the elbow injury. He was scheduled on Friday to play Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the exhibition semifinals, his first match in nearly five months.

    “I am terribly disappointed that I am forced to withdraw,” Djokovic said in a statement on his website.

    “Unfortunately, in the past few days I started to feel pain in the elbow and after several tests, my medical team has advised me not to risk anything, to withdraw from the tournament and to immediately continue with the therapies.

    “This might affect the start of the season and the tournament plan, but the decision will be made in the following days.”

    Djokovic is entered in the Qatar Open starting on Monday in Doha, where he’s the defending two-time champion. That’s his lead-in tournament for the Australian Open, which starts in just over two weeks.

    Exhibition tournament organizers have arranged a substitute match between Andy Murray, another former No. 1 who has been out since Wimbledon with a hip injury, and Bautista Agut.

    Murray has been in Abu Dhabi only to train for the tour.

    Bautista Agut will take on the winner of the other semifinal between Dominic Thiem of Austria and Kevin Anderson of South Africa.