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COVID-19: FG Spends N104bn On Handwashing, Youth Programmes

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The Federal Government through the Ministry of Water Resources got N9.9bn from the N2.3tn COVID-19 intervention fund to implement the ‘wash programme’ which involves water sanitation and health projects.

This is just as N94bn was disbursed for youth empowerment and job creation.

These details were revealed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in response to a Freedom of Information request sent to the ministry by human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN).

The document titled, ‘Re: Request for Information on Utilisation of the Sum of N1.5tn Spent by the Federal Government of Nigeria on Managing the Effect of COVID-19,’ was signed by the Director, National Monitoring and Evaluation at the ministry, Dr Zakari Lawal.

The document obtained by The PUNCH correspondent showed that in June 2020, the Federal Executive Council approved a N2.3tn stimulus plan proposed in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan designed to support the nation’s economy to mitigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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N500bn was to be disbursed to ministries, departments and agencies, while the balance was to be disbursed to the private sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The document showed that out of the N2.3tn, about N1.9tn had been disbursed.

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While N94bn was released for youth engagement and job creation, health equipment and related issues gulped N128.5bn.

The Ministry of Youth and Sport Development got N690m to train 150 youths to become agro-technicians and 150 youths to become solar technicians.

The ministry also got N2bn to train 1,600 youths to become digital professionals and N1.1bn to provide 2,700 youths with work experience.

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The sum of N1.5bn was released to the ministry to build six ICT centres in Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Anambra, Cross River, Osun and 24 vocational centres nationwide.

The international Centre for Women Development, under the Ministry Of Women Affairs, got N250m for a job creation scheme post-COVID-19. It also got N1bn for job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Equipment for vocational skills training in the six geopolitical zones.

The Ministry Of Communications and Digital Economy received N1bn for job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Entrepreneurship and vocational training in the six geopolitical zones to support digital skills gaps and provision of subsidised training for qualified candidates across the country.

The Federal Government also released N2bn to the communications ministry for the job creation scheme post-COVID-19: Establishment of centres of excellence and labs for robotic, 3-D printing, IoT, big data analytics and block chain.

The National Directorate of Employment got N52bn to engage youths and for business training.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development was given N32.5bn to provide a social intervention programme.

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The Ministry of Health got N1bn for surveillance and epidemiology; N10.2bn for laboratory; N310.4m for point of entry; N133.6m for infection prevention and control; N1.8bn for case management; N89m for health-related communication; and N75m for research and development.

It also got N6.5bn for NCDC, N10bn to support Lagos State, 1bn to support pharmaceutical industries for raw materials not used, N20bn for hazard allowance, N2.5bn for contingencies, N10bn for food and drug services and local production of vaccines.

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As an extension of the support provided to health care in the country, the sum of N18.4bn was disbursed across 52 federal teaching hospitals and federal medical centres to equip 10-bedded intensive care units.

The 52 health centres received N5.2bn to equip isolation treatment centres; N7.8bn to procure personal protective equipment for all federal tertiary health institutions; and N18bn to procure molecular laboratory equipment.

The sum of N2b each was released for reagents and equipment for COVID-19 related laboratory services to the national agency for food and drug administration, Nigerian institute of medical research, national institute for pharmaceutical research and development, and Nigeria centre for disease control.

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Control also got another N2bn to upgrade laboratory testing of vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research got N1bn for an upgrade of laboratory equipment, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development got another N2bn for research and development.

The Federal Fire Service received N1.5bn for provision of COVID-19 kits and other medical equipment, the national correctional service got N951.1m for rehabilitation, provision, and maintenance of health facilities and correctional services revamps in six geopolitical zones.

While the public sector received about 490bn, the private sector got about 1.4tn.

The Ministry Of Finance, Budget, And National Planning got N750m for monitoring and evaluating the Economic Sustainability Plan and N36bn as measures to support states.

While the National Commission For Refugee Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons for N2.5bn, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation got N250m to support the activities of the economic sustainability committee.

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The Nigeria Police Force and Nigerian Air Force received N10bn and N2.7bn, respectively, as support for their operations.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development got about N56.5bn. From the total, N17.2bn was for the payment of five per cent interest on CBN loan to farmers; N27bn was for farmer/farm registration and mapping 50 per cent sampling; about N2.5bn was for land preparation; and 34bn for rural roads in the six geopolitical zones.

The Rural Electricity Agency got N12.4bn, which was used for mass rural electrification and solar power strategy.

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, And Investment got N75bn to support small businesses.

While the Federal Road Maintenance Agency got N60bn to repair roads, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence corps got N539.7m.

The Ministry Of Mines And Steel Development got N6bn for artisanal and small-scale miners.

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The Ministry Of Aviation received N5bn as bailout support to the aviation sector.

In the private sector, some MDAs were in charge of coordinating the funding support to the private sector. For instance, the federal Ministry Of Agriculture And Rural Development for N471.7bn for interest-free loans to farmers under the agriculture jobs and food programmes.

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N200bn was given to the family homes fund for jobs through homes programmes.

While the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria was given N40bn, the federal housing authority got N26bn to construct homes.

The Ministry Of Power through REA got N140bn for energy for all solar power strategies.

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The Ministry Of Petroleum Resources got N90bn for the national gas expansion programme.

The Ministry Of Trade, through the Bank of Industry got N250bn to support MSMEs.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and social development got N47bn for NP: skills and entrepreneurship, while the Finance Ministry got N72.9bn to support health systems.

 

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Israel Bombs Gaza, Fights Hamas Around Hospitals

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Israeli forces pounded besieged Gaza on Wednesday in the war sparked by the October 7 attack and fought Hamas around several hospitals despite a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire.

Talks in Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal, involving US and Egyptian mediators, have brought no result so far, with Israel and the Palestinian militant group blaming each other.

Tensions have risen between Israel and its top ally the United States over the soaring civilian death toll and dire food shortages in Gaza, and Israeli plans to push its ground offensive into the far-southern city of Rafah, which is packed with displaced civilians.

In heavy overnight bombardment, Israeli strikes again hit Gaza City and Rafah, where a fireball lit up the sky over the city crowded with up to 1.5 million people, most of them displaced by the war.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 66 people were killed in overnight bombardment and combat.

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Israeli forces have battled militants in and around three Gaza hospitals, raising fears for patients, medical staff and displaced people inside them.

Fighting has raged for nine days around Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, and more recently near two hospitals in the main southern city of Khan Yunis, Al-Amal and Nasser.

The army and Shin Bet security service said they were “continuing to conduct precise operational activities” in both cities “while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment”.

The army said “Troops continued to eliminate terrorists and locate terror infrastructure and weapons” around Al-Shifa.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Female Engineer Invents Smart Bra To Detect Breast Cancer

“Thus far, hundreds of terrorists have been apprehended and dozens of terrorists have been killed in the area of the hospital,” it said.

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Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have also massed around the Nasser Hospital, the Gaza health ministry said, adding that shots were fired but no raid had yet been launched.

The Palestinian Red Crescent warned that thousands were trapped inside and “their lives are in danger”. The Israeli army has yet to comment on the situation in and around the hospital.

UN warns of ‘man-made famine’
Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and other supplies, and the UN has warned that its 2.4 million people are on the brink of a “man-made famine”.

The flow of aid trucks from Egypt has slowed amid the war and due to lengthy Israeli cargo inspections.

Donor governments have airdropped food into Gaza where desperate crowds have rushed towards aid packages drifting down on parachutes. At least 18 people have been reported killed in stampedes or drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.

Hamas has urged an end to the airdrops and called for stepped-up road deliveries instead. The United States said it would keep airdropping humanitarian supplies while also pushing for more overland deliveries.

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The war broke out when Hamas launched its unprecedented October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

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The militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel says that, after an earlier truce and hostage deal, about 130 captives remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.

Israel also charges that Palestinian militants sexually assaulted October 7 victims and hostages.

The New York Times published a report on the first Israeli woman to speak publicly about having been sexually abused, 40-year-old lawyer Amit Soussana.

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Soussana, who was abducted from a kibbutz on October 7 and released in November, said she was repeatedly beaten and sexually assaulted at gunpoint by her guard inside Gaza.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that her abuse “is a wake up call to the world to act. To do everything and pressure Hamas. To free our hostages. To bring our hostages home.”

Death toll ‘far too high’
The UN Security Council on Monday passed its first resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and the release of the captives.

The United States, which had blocked previous resolutions, abstained, drawing an angry rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The right-wing premier cancelled an Israeli delegation’s planned visit to Washington, although Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was already there.

READ ALSO: Ghana’s High Commissioner To Nigeria Is Dead

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Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin stressed, before meeting Gallant, that “the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low” in Gaza.

Despite the tensions, Rear Admiral Hagari said security cooperation was closer than ever, “encompassing the entire US military and the US intelligence services”.

Israeli and Hamas envoys have engaged in weeks of indirect talks aimed at halting the fighting, but both sides said this week the talks were failing.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari has said that, although the CIA and Mossad chiefs had left Doha, the talks were “ongoing” at a technical level.

Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad charged that Israel “is being intransigent and wants to keep the war going, despite international positions and in defiance to UN Security Council’s decision to cease fire during Ramadan,” the ongoing Muslim holy month of fasting.

There hasn’t been any progress in ceasefire talks or negotiations for prisoners’ exchange,” he said. “The Israeli government’s procrastination is just a way to gain time and keep their aggression going.”

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Amid the bloodiest-ever Gaza conflict, Israel has also exchanged daily cross-border fire with Hamas ally Hezbollah based in southern Lebanon.

The hostilities, in which Israel has also targeted Hamas militants, have raised fears of all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war in 2006.

Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel Wednesday killing a civilian, after Israel carried out a deadly pre-dawn strike in south Lebanon.

AFP

 

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What Zelensky Told Ukraine’s National Team After Euro Qualifier Victory Over Iceland

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has showered accolades on Ukraine’s national football team for qualifying for the Euro 2024 tournament after coming from behind to beat Iceland on Tuesday.

Chelsea’s winger, Mykhailo Mudryk scored the winner for the war-devasted European country in a match that ended 2-1 at the Tarczynski Arena in Wrocław, Poland.

Ukraine trailed 1-0 at half-time after Albert Gudmundsson put Iceland ahead with a superb strike in 30 minutes of the game.

However, Serhiy Rebrov’s side came back from behind in the second half, as Viktor Tsygankov, and Mudryk’s netted at 54 and 84 minutes respectively.

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Ukraine will go into Group E at the Euro 2024 finals, alongside Belgium, Slovakia, and Romania.

Reacting to the victory on his X account, Zelensky said the win was important as it sent significant emotions through the country.

The Ukrainian leader said the victory was proof that Ukrainians win when they do not give up on trying times.

“Thank you, guys! Thank you, team! For significant emotions for the entire country. For the important victory and making it to EURO,” Zelensky said.

“For proving once again: whenever Ukrainians face difficulties but do not give up and continue to fight, Ukrainians certainly win.

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“In times, when the enemy tries to destroy us, we demonstrate every day that Ukrainians are and will be.

“Ukraine is, and will be! Thank you for the victory! Glory to Ukraine!”

Oleksandr Zinchenko, the captain of the team, earlier, also said he was proud of the players equaling it with the energy of their soldiers.

“I’m very proud to be Ukrainian, to be of the same blood as those who are now giving their lives for our freedom,” said Zinchenko.

We need to talk about it, shout about it every day. This is the only way we can win. It was one of our most emotional games.”

The Euro 2024 finals will begin on Friday, 14 June at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

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The tournament ends on Sunday, 14 July, with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany’s capital.

 

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Nigerian Female Engineer Invents Smart Bra To Detect Breast Cancer

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Nigerian robotics and embedded systems engineer, Kemisola Bolarinwa, has invented a smart bra capable of diagnosing early-stage breast cancer before symptoms develop.

Bolarinwa made the invention known to the world in February 2022, by designing the prototype of the smart bra, which was spurred by the death of her loved one in 2017.

She said before the death of her aunt, she rarely paid any attention to breast cancer because it was just something she heard on the TV or radio.

Bolarinwa, the founder and chief executive officer of Nextwear Technologies, the first wearable technology startup in Nigeria, said she was moved to invent the smart bra, after frequent visits to the hospital where her aunt was before she died.

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She said seeing other women battling breast cancer was painful, and her efforts to intensify research into the invention were increased.

Her invention was recognised by BBC Africa, adding that she spent a year and a half of intense research, before the smart bra came up in 2019.

How the smart bra works
To detect lumps in the breast, the smart bra repurposes ultrasound technology into a small form factor, with the initiative to shrink down an ultrasound machine to a portable size where it becomes wearable.

According to Bolarinwa, this was possible with nanotechnology — a branch of science, technology, and engineering that deals with the manufacturing of tech in small sizes.

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For more context, the smart bra uses an ultrasound system called the Doppler that bounces high-frequency sound waves off the body to detect blood clots, heart defects, and blocked arteries. This works differently from ultrasound machines that use sound waves to generate images of the scanned area.

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More work on the smart bra
After years of research and developing a prototype, she revealed there are still a lot of work to be achieved on the smart bra before it can be commercialised.

Bolarinwa said the smart bra still needs further development and extensive clinical trials and gave a time frame between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 for mass production.

Aside from being an inventor, Bolarinwa is also a strong advocate for getting more women interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), something she was passionate about growing up.

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Bolarinwa called for more work on research for inventions to be effective in solving the problems they are designed for while lamenting there are not adequate research organisations to help.

She said, “In four months, a fintech platform will be built and be ready for the market. This is one of the reasons why few people play in the hardware or deep tech side of technology in Africa. There aren’t enough research institutes.”

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Who she is

Bolarinwa holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering from the University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University).

She has more than 10 years of experience exceptional tech skills and strong problem-solving skills, and is passionate about solving complex problems and staying up-to-date with the latest technologies.

Bolarinwa is an inventor, innovator, entrepreneur, and president of the Women In ICT Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on providing technology education, leadership, and businesses for women and young girls to resolve problems of the under-representation of women in leadership, policy-making, and math-intensive fields of science and technology.

Nigeria is endowed with exceptional and skilled inventors such as the 70-year-old man who developed more than inventions, but the challenge they are faced with is the lack of support from the government and other recognised agencies or entrepreneurs to sponsor their research and inventions.

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