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Airtel Employees Support Blind Boy with Sophisticated Braille Equipment

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Wole Abu, Airtel’s regional operations director, North Region, (middle) with Sadiq Usman; they are flanked by employees of Airtel and immediate family members of Sadiq Usman at the presentation ceremony in Zaria, Kaduna State, recently.
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Employees of leading telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, have come to the aid of Sadiq Usman, a four year old boy, whose eyes were  removed by suspected ‘ritualists’ in Zaria, Kaduna State, earlier this year.

A delegation of Airtel employees led by the Regional Operations Director, North Region, Wole Abu, visited Sadiq Usman on Thursday, December 1, 2016 in his home town in Zaria, Kaduna and presented him with a cheque of N400, 000 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira), sophisticated Perkins Brailler, Braille Coacher, Abacus, typewriter, tailors Frame and a computer laptop.

Airtel employees made the donations at the instance of its Employee Volunteer Scheme, a special platform created for the company’s staff to volunteer their time, skills and resources to uplift the underprivileged as well as support social causes that will create positive impact in the society.

With the donations, little Sadiq, a pupil at Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School, Zaria, is further empowered to learn to read and write, enjoy all the opportunities a good education provides and lead a normal life.

Commenting on Airtel’s employees’ support, Mr. Emeka Oparah, the Company’s director of Corporate Communications & CSR, said: “It is tragic and heart-breaking to see an innocent, vulnerable child suffer and go through such excruciating pains.

“My colleagues were deeply moved by Sadiq’s situation and generously supported the call to provide relief. Our support will not just end here, Sadiq is our adopted son and he will continue to be our priority and in our prayers

“I must thank my colleagues for their willingness to helping create a positive impact across the communities where we operate. Indeed, the Airtel Employees Volunteer Scheme (EVS) is committed to providing relief for the underprivileged, sick, physically disabled and hard to reach.”

Mr. Oparah also commended the authorities of Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School for offering Sadiq’s older brother and guide scholarship to be able to provide physical support to his disabled kid brother, adding that by the time the government of Kaduna State redeems its pledge of scholarship for Sadiq, his educational future and the opportunity to live and learn would be further guaranteed.

Sadiq’s family expressed their gratitude to employees of Airtel and other well-meaning individuals and organizations for coming to the aid of their son and making it possible for him to live a happy life despite the challenges.

Sadiq’s poignant story made headlines around the world after he was kidnapped and had his eyes forcefully removed by still unidentified assailants.

The unfortunate incident occurred in Bula area of Jushi in the outskirts of Zaria, Kaduna State, where little Sadiq lives with his parents. He was later treated at the ABU Teaching Hospital.

 


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FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

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Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.

According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.

Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.

Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.

GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.

Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.

The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.


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Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

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Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after  SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk

Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.

The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.

Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.

SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.

The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.

The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.

Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.

The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.

The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.

Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.

Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.

Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”

“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.

SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.

The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.

Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.

The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.

Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.

Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.

The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.

Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.


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Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

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African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.

The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.

Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.

Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”

He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.

Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.

According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.

The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.

Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.


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