News

SMEDAN Trains 30 Business Men, Women On Digital Skills Marketing

Published

3 years ago

October 6, 2022

Our Correspondent, Bauchi

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has commenced a 2-day training of 30 business men and women in Bauchi on digital skills marketing of their businesses.

Speaking during the training in Bauchi on Thursday, Mr Abdulrasheed Aliyu, the Manager, SMEDAN, Bauchi Office, said the programme was designed under the digital skill training of the agency in collaboration with a digital institution known as ‘Mind the Gap Nigeria’.

Aliyu, who said that 19 states were picked across the country for the training, added that the participants are representatives of various unions in the markets.

According to him, things are changing in the business world where more people embrace online shopping, hence the training to equip the participants with skills to operate their businesses online and to compete with their counterparts from other developed countries.

“We understand that most businesses now go online and most people are doing their businesses virtually traditionally and one of the mission of SMEDAN is to develop small and medium enterprises to boost their businesses.

“That’s why we introduced this training to give them knowledge on how they can go online to do their businesses both nationally and internationally, and that’s why we call it digital skill marketing.

“We want to train our small business owners how to go online and do their businesses by marketing their products and get more customers for them to get more profit,” he said.

Aliyu also said that the trainer, who is an expert in Information Communication Technology (ICT) would not only teach the participants how to go online, but also how to protect their websites as well as how to evade hackers or scammers.

He advised the trainees to take the training very seriously, adding that they would have spent nothing less than N50,000 to acquire the training from a private individual but they were now being given free of charge.

Also speaking, Mr Zack Ibrahim, the trainer and the Community Manager, Mind the Gap Nigeria, Bauchi state chapter, said the trainees would be trained how to operate an online presence so that their businesses would not only operate locally but also they would be able to provide their services to the people beyond their reach and locality.

“A time will come when people won’t go physically to buy things and this is already happening especially in advanced countries.

“They should take the training very seriously because by the time they know how to make use of the skills, it will help their businesses.

“It would grow their businesses very well, in fact even in their finances, they will see changes,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, Malam Bala Winti, appreciated the federal government and SMEDAN for the ‘laudable’ training, adding that it would enhance their businesses.

He promised to pass the knowledge acquired during the training to other business people who were not lucky to have been selected for the training.

News

JUST IN: FG, NUPENG Begin Meeting Over Strike Threat

Published

15 minutes ago

September 8, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government is currently meeting with the leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

The meeting which was earlier slated for 10:00 am started around 5:30 pm due to the delay in the arrivals of NUPENG officials.

The meeting currently ongoing at the conference room of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity is aimed at stopping the nationwide industrial strike before it inflicts significant damage on the fragile economy.

NUPENG has accused Dangote and associates of pursuing “crude and dangerous anti-union practices, a monopolistic agenda, and indecent industrial relations strategies,” alleging the refinery pays some of the lowest wages in the sector and bars drivers for imported CNG trucks from joining industry unions.

The union says those recruitment conditions violate Section 40 of the Constitution, the Labour Act and International Labour Organisation conventions on freedom of association.

Details later…

News

Five Years After, Edo Govt Reconnects To BEDC As Ossiomo Shut Down

Published

2 hours ago

September 8, 2025

Editor

Five years after disconnecting from the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Edo State Government has reconnected to the power distribution company for supply of electricity.

The Godwin Obaseki-led administration in 2020 broke BEDC monopoly in the state by supporting the construction of Ossiomo Power, an electricity generation and distribution firm.

The switch over to BEDC by the state government was due to the shut down of Ossiomo Power Plant since September 1st over ownership tussle between Ossiomo Power and its Chinese partners, Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC).

Ossiomo Power generates 95MW of electricity which it supplied to government buildings, Edo Government House, Edo NUJ secretariat, private organisations, streetlights amongst others.

Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Omozokpea Egbadon, who confirmed the switch over to the BEDC, said electricity has been restored to some streetlights and government buildings.

News

NSCDC Vows To Bring Killers Of Edo personnel To Justice

Published

2 hours ago

September 8, 2025

Editor

The Edo State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has vowed to fish out the killers of eight of its personnel in Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area of the state.

The personnel were killed last week Friday at around 10:00PM at BUA cement factory site
in an ambush by suspected kidnappers.

One out of five Chinese expatriates the personnel were providing cover for was taken away by the gunmen.

Reacting to the incident, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Efosa Ogbebor said investigation into the matter was still ongoing, adding and that the Corps National Headquarters was also handling the burial of the victims and welfare of their family members.

He said: “The National headquarters has taken over the issue, investigation is still ongoing and our men are still out there combing the forests because those men must be brought to book. The Corps is not taking it lightly in any way, those people who did that must and will be brought to book, there is no hiding place for them. We are doing the combing in collaboration with other security agencies.

“For the victims, communication has been established with families by the Corps Headquarters and the welfare of the families they left behind is being handled by the national headquarters.”

Speaking on the kidnapped expatriate, the imagemaker said he was not aware of any contact yet but vowed that he would be rescued.