The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in collaboration with the Borno State Government and development partners, on Wednesday commenced the validation of Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) priority areas to strengthen climate resilience and food production in the state. The exercise is being conducted under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Framework for Climate-Resilient Livelihoods (2026–2030), currently being validated at a stakeholders’ workshop in Maiduguri. Prof. Yakaka Maina, Natural Resource and Energy Safety Specialist with FAO, said the exercise represented the second phase of activities that began in July and was designed to allow stakeholders to validate priority areas earlier identified through a community-driven…
Author: Newsdesk
Kenya Airways has confirmed the death of a passenger on board a flight from Nairobi to Lagos shortly before the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. This is contained in a statement posted on the airline’s X account by its Corporate Communications team on Wednesday. Kenya Airways said the incident occurred at about 9.20 p.m. on Tuesday, when the passenger was found unresponsive about 20 minutes before the aircraft landed in Lagos. The airline said its crew administered first aid in line with their training and followed established emergency procedures. According to the airline, the…
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, has directed all workers in the FCT Administration, including those in the private sector, to commence an indefinite strike from Wednesday. The directive followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, over unresolved labour disputes and policy grievances affecting teachers. The council Chairman, Mr Knabayi Adalo, disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of an emergency State Executive Council (SEC) meeting. Adalo explained that the industrial action became necessary after the FCT Administration failed to meet the workers’ demands.…
An optometrist and Medical Director of Digital Bridge Eye Clinic, Oshodi, Dr Ezinwanne Osuji, says free eye screening conducted for staff of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos detected cases of uncorrected presbyopia. The screening and distribution of free glasses took place on Wednesday at the NAN Lagos office as part of the 2026 NAN Media Week medical outreach organised by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and sponsored by Lions Clubs International, District 404B4. Presbyopia is the gradual loss of the ability to see objects clearly at close range, caused by the hardening of the eye’s lens.…
An Artificial Intelligence (AI) system builder and automation specialist, Ms Mary Mmoh, says digital infrastructure remains the most critical gap holding back Nigeria’s technology ecosystem. Mmoh made this statement in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday while responding to a question on what Nigeria needs to build a stronger technology sector. She said reliable electricity, internet connectivity, data centres and access to cloud infrastructure are the foundations that allow technology companies to build and scale. She noted that Nigerian technology companies often build locally but deploy their solutions on foreign infrastructure, a practice she described as expensive because…
A fintech researcher, Vincent Edra, has identified privacy concerns, online scams and poor dispute resolution as major reasons many Nigerians remain reluctant to embrace financial technology. Edra said on Wednesday in Abuja that some digital lending platforms illegally accessed borrowers’ personal data to recover loans, undermining public trust in digital financial services. He said the data breaches had made some Nigerians wary of fintech platforms and reluctant to take advantage of the convenience offered by digital financial services. According to him, the early 2020s witnessed an explosion of digital loan applications offering instant loans of between N5,000 and N10,000 to…
The Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Ltd, Mrs Jane Egerton-Idehen, says the agency has concluded plans to replace its satellite to ensure reliable service delivery to customers. Egerton-Idehen disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja on the sidelines of the agency’s Customer Service Week. She said NIGCOMSAT had moved beyond operating a single satellite to building robust redundancies across its operations to guarantee service continuity. “We just don’t have a satellite. We have a plan to even replace it and put up another satellite, and that’s one of the things we are going to do,” she said. According to…
A military cardiologist, Maj.-Gen. Life Ajemba, has urged military personnel and veterans to prioritise heart health through regular medical checks, physical exercise, healthy diets and adequate rest. Ajemba, who gave the advice in an interview with reporters on Wednesday in Abuja, said hypertension remained one of the most common cardiovascular conditions among serving personnel and military retirees. He cited studies which showed that hypertension accounted for 15.31 per cent of cases treated mainly among military retirees between 2015 and 2020. He also referenced another study which found a hypertension prevalence of 34.3 per cent among military personnel. He noted that…
Dr Emem Jay, a gynaecologist, has warned that women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) may face increased risks of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Jay of M and M Fertility Centre, Abuja, gave the warning in an interview with reporters on Wednesday in Abuja. He described PCOS as a common hormonal and metabolic disorder affecting how the ovaries function, adding that it was also closely linked to metabolic health. According to him, many women with PCOS experience insulin resistance, abnormal cholesterol levels, increased abdominal fat or high blood pressure. He explained that when several of these conditions occurred together,…
The Federal Government has tasked the Africa Group on Earth Observation (AfriGEO) to promote continental space policies and strengthen Africa’s capacity to produce and use Earth observation data for development. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Udeh, gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja at the 10th AfriGEO Symposium. The event is being hosted by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and the GEO Secretariat of Nigeria from October 5 to 8. The symposium, themed “Earth Observation for a Resilient Africa,” is attracting more than 400 participants from across Africa and beyond. Udeh said Africa’s…