News
Lagos RDC Gets N200m Matching Grant
Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has inaugurated the state Research and Development Council with an initial working grant of N200 million, saying that that research and development would define the lives of citizens in more ways than they could possibly perceive.
The council was constituted to generate ideas that would enrich government policies and offer solutions to some of the state’s major challenges.
The 10-member Council that the objective behind Government’s initiative was to establish a nucleus of research and development personnel who it feels have the capacity to develop something that could help the State and the country.
“As a Government we want to get people who we feel have the capacity and probably move from there to probably a board for the expression of interest in developing something that can help this State, that can help this country and we help you fund it. We think the community will be better for it”, the Governor said.
Noting that there is a disconnect between the society and the universities or what he termed “the town and the gown”, Governor Fashola expressed dismay that Nigeria has become a destination for mosquito nets which she does not manufacture whereas it is possible for her citizens to eradicate Malaria and mosquitoes in the country.
“I have been personally challenged about how, perhaps, we cannot eradicate Malaria and mosquitoes in this country when such was achieved during the construction of the Panama Canal. We are just a destination for mosquito nets that we do not manufacture and so many other things”, the Governor said.
Professor Akinyinka Omigbogun, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynacology, University of Ibadan whio is also a Council member expressed pleasure in the idea of the Council describing it as a worthwhile venture.
According to him, “If there is anyway universities can make any impact in any society apart from teaching, it is research. This is what drives development”.
He said he accepted to participate “because I see the record set by the Governor in the development of the State and because he is a person to be trusted”, adding that one of the ways to consolidate the development going on in the State was through research.
Another member, Professor Oyelowo Oyewo of the Department of Public Law, University of Lagos, in his own remark, reiterated that there has been a disconnect between the Academia and the society adding that the society has, as a result, found itself thirsty in the midst of water.
Nigeria has launched an emergency response centre after recording 190 deaths from Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, according to Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
The disease, mainly transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or excrement, has infected 1,154 people in six Nigerian states.
Jide Idris, head, Nigerian Center for Disease Control, said the agency’s risk assessment has categorized it as high, prompting the activation of the emergency Operations Centre to manage the outbreak.
“While the disease occurs throughout the year, peak transmission typically happens between October and May, coinciding with the dry season when human exposure to rodents increases,” he said at a press briefing in Abuja.
The centre will ensure seamless coordination of the control and management of the outbreak.
Symptoms of the virus – which can also be passed between people through bodily fluids of those infected – include fever, headaches and, in the most severe cases, death.
The World Health Organization classifies Lassa fever as a priority disease due to its epidemic potential and lack of approved vaccines.
Federal government has proposed to spend N1.5bn for internet services for passengers at five international airports in the country.
The project, “Provision/Upgrade of WiFi Services for Passengers in Five International Airports and some Domestic Airports” was listed as a new project in the 2025 appropriation.
In some parts of the world, access to the internet via Wi-Fi at airports is regarded to be a basic human right.
Such amenities are lacking in Nigeria.
But the 2025 budget presented to the National Assembly last week by President Bola Tinubu saw the sum of N105.953,496,365 being allocated to the Ministry of Aviation.
Apart from internet access at the airports, some other capital allocations were reinstated for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
In previous budgets, three agencies of the ministry including the apex regulatory agency, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and NAMA were exempted from the annual budgetary allocation.
In addition, the federal government deducts 50 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is against the standard and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which recommends that the funds generated by the agencies should be reinvested into improving infrastructure and boosting aviation safety.
Fidelis Egueke, former bank manager, , has been convicted and sentenced to six months in prison by an Asaba, Delta State Chief Magistrate’s Court for defrauding a victim of $46,900.
Chief Magistrate Callistus Isioma Moeteke found Egueke guilty of a single charge brought against him by the police under case number CMA/295c/2024.
Raphael Eze, prosecutor, of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba, said Egueke, a former Asaba branch manager of a tier-one bank, fraudulently obtained $46,900 by using two Certificates of Occupancy (CofOs) as collateral.
One of the land titles, however, was not his, and the other was fake.
After receiving the money, Egueke used it for personal expenses and failed to repay the victim as promised.
The prosecution argued that Egueke’s actions violated Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C21, Vol.1 Laws of Delta State, Nigeria, 2006.
Despite denying the offence, Egueke failed to present evidence of repayment during the trial.
Chief Magistrate Moeteke determined that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Egueke was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
However, the court also gave him the option to pay a fine of N350,000 in lieu of serving the prison term.
The court ordered Egueke to pay N30 million in restitution to the victim within six months of his conviction.
The charge against Egueke stated that, in 2016, he fraudulently obtained a credit facility worth $46,900 (approximately N60 million) from Chief Jude Ndudi by presenting false documents, including land titles that did not belong to him, in violation of Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law.
Egueke is also facing trial before a Lagos Federal High Court on charges related to a separate fraud case involving N179.498 million.
He is being prosecuted by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos.
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