Broadcasting
Glo-sponsored CNN African Voices Profiles 3 Naturalists this Weekend
The Globacom-sponsored CNN African Voices, a magazine programme of the Cable News Network, this week profiles three Africans naturalists, who are believers in or adherents of naturalism, especially in the arts.
The trio include Samson Ogbole, a Nigerian whose penchant to get something out of farm lands is both legendary and revolutionary; Junior Gabela, a South African ornithologist, who has an uncanny knowledge of flying creatures and guides birds for a living and Angus Paul, a Kenyan who has uncommon love for fishery and has turned fishing into a spectacular art.
The swivel of Ogbole’s research revolves round his belief that the future of health can only be secured if it is built on agricultural practices that are healthy for the farmer, healthy for the consumer and healthy for the environment. His vision is to ensure that humans “eat right, live longer” as well as “ensure food is the drug we eat to live healthier and longer”.
Ogbole’s firm “PS Nutrac” now grows crops without using soil. This feat isachieved by deploying several technologies, including hydroponics (plants in water), aquaponics (using waste produce of fishes to feed plants) and aeroponics (plants growing in air) to ensure that crops are grown all year round and no longer seasonally.
His intervention may just be the right step for agricultural development in Nigeria as he says that “plants grown without soil have higher phytochemicals and antioxidants compared to those grown in soil”. He says the crops are also healthier as there is reduced use of inorganic fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides or other agrochemicals on the crops. There are already aeroponics farms in Ibadan, Abuja, Umudike in Abia State and Araromi Ake in Ogun State.
The second naturalist, Gabela, is a site guide for Amatikulu Nature Reserve, Nkandla Forest, Dlinza Forest, Eshowe, Mthunzini, Richards Bay, Ongoye Forest, and Umlalazi Nature Reserve in South Africa.
He has a unique passion for birding and an uncanny knack of locating even the most hard to find species. He has been a Birdlife South Africa accredited guide since 2005 and has been guiding since 2000, and at the same time working with the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) where he undertakes researches and participates in school outreach programmes.
The third guest on the programme, Angus Paul, specialises in deep-sea fishing. He says that his aim in life had been to be a fisherman since his childhood on the North coast of Kenya where he was fortunate to have world-class bill fish fishing right on his doorstep.
“It also helped that my family ran one of the few charter companies in the region at the time. There were no favours offered, and I did my training through the ranks like everyone else and became a skipper more than 30 years ago’’, he adds.
Paul is known for catching the most Sailfish year-on-year and his sound reputation for getting his clients ‘on the fish’. He at present runs the family business bringing up his eldest son up through the ranks so that he could step into the father’s shoes in the art of fishing and sports-fishing.
Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) has established six committees to help strengthen and modernize the country’s broadcasting industry.
The committees will focus on content creation, skills development, digital transformation, sustainability, policy and commercial opportunities
The initiative aims to support industry growth and improve collaboration between broadcasters, regulators and media experts
The official launch recently, was led by Tony Akiotu, president, BON and attended by media professionals, program directors, former journalists and heads of specialized media organizations.
The event brought together several prominent figures in Nigeria’s media industry, including veteran broadcaster and trainer Bimbo Oloyede, Tony Uyah of M4S TV, Kingsley Uranta of Channels Television, Ismael Sani of Platinum TV and Ibrahim Shehu of Trust TV.
Together, they are expected to help drive innovation and support the growth of Nigeria’s broadcasting sector.
According to Akiotu, the committees are intended both to help shape industry policy and to provide a forum for dialogue between BON and broadcasting experts.
Akiotu said the ad hoc committees were intended to strengthen BON’s work and ensure that the umbrella body for Nigeria’s broadcasters played a more direct and meaningful role in developing the country’s broadcasting sector.
The six committees reflect the sector’s main priorities. The first focuses on collaboration and innovation to promote content creation.
The second is dedicated to training and talent development, while the third focuses on industry sustainability by improving the sector’s long-term financial viability.
A fourth committee will focus on digital transformation and work with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on regulatory issues.
The remaining two committees will oversee public policy advocacy and the development of sports and commercial rights to help broadcasters increase revenue and attract more investment. Together, the committees are expected to guide BON’s efforts to modernize and strengthen Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
The committees, chaired by members of BON’s General Assembly and supported by the organization’s Secretariat, have an initial 12-month mandate that may be renewed if necessary.
They are required to submit a progress report within three months and implement approved recommendations within the following six months.
The arrangement is intended to ensure close oversight and the timely implementation of their work.
Akiotu also reminded committee members that Nigeria pioneered television broadcasting in Africa and urged them to carry out their work with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is investigating about 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television.
Sawyerr said the agency had deployed a five-member investigative team, including operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and internal auditors, to examine the allegations.
According to him, the investigation was prompted by numerous complaints received from affected students.
“As of right now, there are 34 institutions that we are looking at closely with respect to this issue,” he said.
Sawyerr explained that the double payment issue arose because President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme commence in the middle of an academic session instead of at the beginning.
He said the decision compelled many students to pay their tuition fees to meet registration deadlines while awaiting approval of their loan applications.
“What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment; some from the students and some from us,” he said.
“The refund process is entirely out of our hands. It is the recipient of the double payments that is obliged to make refunds to the students.”
The NELFUND boss noted that many students had borrowed money from family members, friends and other sources to pay their tuition with the expectation of receiving refunds once the loans were disbursed.
He said while some institutions had promptly refunded affected students, others had failed to do so.
“Some have been very good at this. Others haven’t been so good at it,” Sawyerr said.
“I reserve judgement on the intentionality around it because, for some of them, they just didn’t have the process to make refunds.”
Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND was exploring a tokenised payment system that would enable students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions, thereby reducing the likelihood of duplicate payments.
He said the agency deliberately chose not to disburse tuition loans directly to students to minimise the risk of fund diversion.
“Paying the funds to the students could really lead to the temptation for them to divert and do other things,” he said.
The managing director, however, acknowledged that NELFUND lacked the statutory powers to compel institutions to refund students or prosecute officials found culpable.
He added that many frustrated students had submitted complaints not only to NELFUND but also to anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sawyerr also expressed concern over increases in tuition fees by some institutions following the introduction of the student loan scheme.
He said NELFUND had declined to pay institutions that increased their tuition fees beyond acceptable levels.
“Some schools, because they get paid easily, started to put up their fees. We refused, point blank, to pay institutions who had hiked their fees beyond a certain level,” he said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to investigating every reported irregularity and strengthening the implementation of the student loan programme through continuous monitoring and internal reviews.
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