Nigeria Today: Top 10 News Stories You Shouldn’t Miss
1. Ecobank has begun its rapid transfer ‘Back to School’ campaign to enable parents and guardians pay their children and wards’ school fees in an easy, fast and convenient manner while being rewarded. The Ecobank rapid transfer product is an innovative money transfer service available within Nigeria and countries in Africa where Ecobank has presence. The service was conceived out of the need to provide convenient, accessible, and reliable money transfer services for its retail and wholesale customers and non-customers.
2. Taking into account the collapse of the five-storey guest house owned by the Synagogue Church of all Nations, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has advised Nigerians to take the issue of compulsory insurance of public buildings seriously. “The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel sympathises with families of victims of the collapsed Synagogue church building in Lagos. He urges Nigerians to insure their risks against unforeseen disasters as this,” the statement added.
3. IBM West Africa recently organized a workshop titled, ‘Smarter Government Forum’ to intimate government institutions on trendy IT solutions for problem solving and efficient service delivery. The event was tailored to provide insight into the solutions IBM software has pioneered globally that leveraged current mega trends in IT.
4. The Sun has reported that the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, has said that the Federal Government is making commendable progress towards using Habitat lll to make housing and urban development more affordable and sustainable in the country.
5. In attempts to attract more Nigerians to the capital market, InvestData Consulting Limited has concluded plans to organise a workshop in Abuja and Lagos. A statement made available to The Nation said that the workshop is designed to boost financial literacy in the country and equip Nigerians with knowledge about how they can generate additional income in a changing stock market.
6. Four Nigerian investors have signed an agreement to stake N170billion for the Abuja Land Swap, to provide infrastructure to the various districts designated by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). The investors have already done a comprehensive survey and mapping, as well as detailed land use plan, engineering design, bill of engineering, and measurement and evaluation.
7. Malaria may soon become preventable in the country as medical researchers say a new and more effective vaccine is under way and is anticipated to arrive to Nigeria in 2015. One of the scientists working on the vaccine research, Dr. Sophie Biernaux, recently stated that the vaccine, RTS,S, has been submitted to the European Medicines Regulatory Agency for approval.
8. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has partnered Microban Standard Communication Ltd, on first National Software Challenge. According to NITDA, the partnership was propelled by the desire to live up to its mandate and nurture home grown software solutions providers in the country to increase sector contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
9. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and operators in the e-payment system have decried low patronage of electronic, e -payment channels in the country, stating that cash continues to be the predominant method used for transactions. Commenting on the progress of the system, however, the Director, Banking and Payments System, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun stated that “The success recorded so far on e-payments has been encouraging considering where the country started.”
10. The Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos has again emerged the busiest gateway in Nigeria, with 21, 955 aircraft movements in 2013, followed by Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which recorded 18, 417 in the same year. Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) states that this has indicated that the majority of Nigerian main airline operations are concentrated on Lagos and Abuja routes.
