News
Sodiq Alabi Implores Undergraduates to Leverage Technology for Success
By peter oluka
Undergraduates must go out of their way to acquire important Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) skills to position themselves for career and business success, this was the position of Mr Sodiq Alabi, a tech advocate and Paradigm Initiative’s Communications Officer.
Alabi was speaking at a campus outreach called Winning Without Compromise (WIWIC) at the Oduduwa Hall of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, recently.
The event was organised by the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) and was targeted at female undergraduates.
Alabi, who spoke on the topic “’Technology Are You Plugged In?”, implored the participants to ensure that their tech skills are always improved.
“It matters little your field of study or passion; you must ensure that you have the necessary tech skills that can allow you improve your productivity and efficiency in the field. At your age, you should not limit yourselves. Learn how to code even if just the basics of coding. Learn how to use technology to plan your time, organise your tasks and stay on top of your processes. There are free platforms to learn this skills, find them and avail yourselves of the opportunities they bring,” Alabi said.
Also speaking at the event, Mrs Olamidotun Votu-Obada, a business consultant and CEO of Filii Magna Consultancy, encouraged the students to invest in themselves before searching for money.
“You are your greatest asset and you must invest in yourself before anyone would take you seriously. Start by volunteering and getting yourself a mentor. You must learn to work as nothing good comes easy,” she said.
Mrs Hansatu Adegbite, the executive director of WIMIZ, told the students to be ambitious and work hard to achieve the goals they set for themselves. She informed them that, “WIMBIZ is ever ready to support you. We are all about building women and support them to greatness.”
Other speakers at the event were the award-winning actor, Kemi “Lala” Akindoju, and the wealth coach, Omilola Oshikoya.
A business pitch and a make-up competition were other side attractions at the event. Some 1300 students of the university attended the event.
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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