Six members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have received a total of N10 million in grants to expand their agribusiness ventures under the Farmers for the Future Programme.

The programme was organised on Monday by the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) in collaboration with the NYSC to encourage young Nigerians to embrace agriculture and develop sustainable businesses.

Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries in Abuja, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, urged Corps members to maximise the opportunities provided by the service year by venturing into commodity marketing and other viable businesses.

Nafiu said agribusiness remained a viable avenue for young people to build sustainable enterprises, create employment and generate wealth.

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He also stressed the importance of value addition to the success and sustainability of business ventures, while commending BATNF for placing Nigerian youths at the centre of its entrepreneurship initiatives through value-chain development, employment creation and its partnership with the NYSC.

“I charge you to spread the news around. We have seen the outcome, and it is a good idea,” he said.

The beneficiaries are Dominic Olufemi (FC/25C/1143), who received N3 million; Temitope Adewole (ED/26A/2251), N2 million; Abdulwaheed Bala (ED/25B/1402), N2 million; Olanike Mayungbe (OG/26B/1037), N1 million; Kingsley Udoeyen (KG/26A/1735), N1 million; and Lorember Lorsue (JG/25B/1742), N1 million.

Speaking on the selection process, the Acting Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), Mrs Winifred Shopeka, said the programme began with an online registration portal through which Corps Members engaged in agribusiness submitted their business plans.

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She said nearly 3,000 Corps members applied and underwent a rigorous selection process that produced 20 finalists.

According to her, the finalists participated in a boot camp and a final pitching session, which produced the 10 best presenters before the six ultimate winners were selected.

Shopeka said the beneficiaries had also been mentored and attached to established market operators to assist them in marketing their products.

She added that Corps Members who did not make the final stage of the competition were also trained by BATNF.

The BATNF Team Lead, Mr Oludare Odusanya, congratulated the beneficiaries and urged Corps Members engaged in agribusiness to master the fundamentals and acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.

“We are happy with our collaboration with the NYSC, and it will continue,” he said.

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Odusanya explained that BATNF was an independent organisation established to contribute to poverty reduction in Nigeria through sustainable agricultural practices and other interventions.

He said the Farmers for the Future Programme was instituted in collaboration with the NYSC to encourage Corps Members to venture into agribusiness and become job creators.

He added that the beneficiaries would be attached to mentors who would guide them towards achieving success in their respective businesses.

According to him, the programme has, since its inception, continued to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of Corps Members.

Nigerian Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as KWAM1, has brokered a peace deal between the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) National President, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, and the Lagos State Chairman of the union, Mustapha Adekunle, aka Tafa Sego.

The reconciliation took place at Ojusagbola in Ijebu, Ogun State, where several NURTW chieftains gathered for the meeting.

The development was announced on Tuesday on KWAM1’s digital media page on Instagram, alongside photographs from the meeting.

According to the post, the two union leaders have resolved their differences after years of strained relations.

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“After years of an age-long rift, MC Oluomo and Tafa Sego have finally settled their differences. And from what we know now, this is final,” the post said.

The musician was said to have intervened as the Mayegun of Yorubaland, with the aim of bringing an end to the longstanding disagreement between the two NURTW figures.

“K1 acted in his role as the Mayegun of Yorubaland by seeking an end to the long-standing rift, once and for all,” it said.

The post also described the meeting as a significant step beyond previous public displays of reconciliation.

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“This time, it was not just another handshake for the cameras. The two old friends and colleagues came together at Ojusagbola, with King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (K1) playing the peacemaker.”

Both MC Oluomo and Tafa Sego were reported to be pleased with the outcome of the intervention.

“Both parties are delighted about the new development,” the post said.

The two men had previously been allies and prominent figures within the Lagos NURTW before their relationship became strained amid disagreements linked to leadership of the union in the state.

The Edo State Government on Tuesday threatened to fine and permanently close health facilities over failure to meet stipulated health standards in the state.

Dr Adesuwa Urhoghide-Edigin, Chief Executive Officer, Edo State Health Regulatory and Monitoring Agency (EDOHERMA), who issued the threats in Benin on Tuesday while briefing journalists, disclosed that more 20 health facilities sealed in the state for not meeting stipulated standard are currently taking steps to correct the identified inadequacies.

She stressed that the enforcement exercise was not designed merely to punish health facility operators but to ensure compliance and protect patients.

Urhoghide-Edigin, while noting that EDOHERMA is the statutory agency responsible for regulating and monitoring healthcare standards across Edo State, noted that the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo was committed to ensuring that Edo residents have access to healthcare facilities that meet approved standards.

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According to her, some of the facilities earlier sealed were not registered with the Edo State Government, while others had obtained registration but failed to maintain the standards under which they were initially registered.

She said: “Even in the sealing we have been doing, we are also encouraging such facilities to know that we are not all punitive and that we are also supportive. Over 20 for now are doing what we have already asked them to do and, when they finish, we are also going to come back to the public to say this XYZ facility has done better.”

“That is why we are revalidating,” she said, adding that the exercise would enable the agency to establish the actual status and compliance level of healthcare facilities across the state.

The EDOHERMA boss, however, warned that facilities that refuse to upgrade or persistently operate below approved standards would face permanent closure, while the agency is also set to introduce enforcement fines for defaulters.

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“We are going to close permanently those that fail to upgrade their health standard,” she declared, stressing that enforcement would be balanced with support for operators willing to comply.

She said the agency was currently undertaking enumeration and revalidation of health facilities across the 18 local government areas, adding that the exercise would also expose outright quack facilities operated by unlicensed persons.

“Some of these facilities, there are no doctors there, and that cannot be a hospital. What we are trying to do is for everybody to stick to their scope of services,” she said.

According to her, EDOHERMA’s mandate extends beyond private hospitals and clinics to include health-related facilities such as orphanages and shelters, as well as public secondary hospitals and primary healthcare centres.

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She further added that the agency would identify deficiencies in public facilities and work with those responsible to address them, noting that regulation was necessary to ensure that standards were maintained across the board.

Urhoghide-Edigin said the agency’s approach was collaborative and required the support of healthcare operators, the public and the media.

“It is either you are standard or not, and that is where our categorisation comes in,” she said, stressing that the ultimate objective was to protect patients and improve healthcare delivery across the state.