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#ISurvivedEbola App Connects Survivors to Share Life-Saving Tips

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#ISurvivedEbola, the groundbreaking West African multimedia campaign, has launched a new, interactive mobile app that allows Ebola survivors to connect with each other, share public health advice, and update the world on the challenges they still face during their post-recovery lives.

The innovative digital tool debuted in Guinea on January 5.

It is being piloted by the first Guinean survivor to share her story with the #ISurvivedEbola campaign.

The updates from the app appear on the newly launched #ISurvivedEbola website- http://www.isurvivedebola.org, which also houses the stories of a growing community of Ebola survivors from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

In the first-ever message sent via the mobile app, Camara “Fanta” Fantaoulen of Guinea stated in French, “Yes, I survived Ebola, thanks to the help of the brave healthcare workers who treated me. And I’ve learned that together, we can defeat this virus and protect our families and communities.”

After losing her father and five other family members to suspected or confirmed Ebola, Fanta believed her death was imminent when she tested positive for the virus.

Thanks to a combination of early treatment, strict adherence to her treatment plan, and sheer determination, Fanta recovered from the virus and is now providing psychosocial support to Ebola patients.

The mobile app is the latest component of the #ISurvivedEbola campaign, which leverages survivor stories from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea to deliver vital public health information about Ebola to affected populations, and to reduce the stigma faced by Ebola survivors.

A key way in which the campaign does this is by documenting survivor stories in video, audio, and print formats; then disseminating these stories broadly via local, national, and international media, online platforms, and other distribution channels.

Educational radio dramas that tell fictional yet reality-based stories of survival, and radio call-in shows that feature Ebola survivors as guests, are among the equally important campaign activities.

Funded by Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions in response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, #ISurvivedEbola is part of the #TackleEbola initiative (http://www.tackleebola.com) and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s commitment of at least $100 million for Ebola relief.

The campaign is implemented by PCI Media Impact in collaboration with UNICEF.

Carole Tomko, general manager and creative Director of Vulcan Productions, states, “The mobile app really changes the face of this campaign by empowering the people of West Africa to share stories about Ebola and survivorship with each other and the world.  The app gives a human face to survivorship and has the potential to create a sense of community in which the survivors, rather than being stigmatized, become leaders and heroes in this fight. The new digital components of the campaign extend our reach beyond West Africa, allowing these very moving, personal stories to be seen and heard globally.”

Currently, campaign staff in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are providing each survivor who has shared his or her story through the campaign with a smartphone installed with the app, thereby enabling these individuals to use the technology to share information about their lives after recovery.

The smartphones and the app were provided and developed with support from the charity fundraising website GlobalGiving.

Campaign staff expect survivors in all three countries to begin utilizing the app within two weeks.

The mobile app updates will be shared globally on the newly launched #ISurvivedEbola website.

With the release of the app and launch of the website, the #ISurvivedEbola campaign has completed Phase I of its roll-out in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

With active distribution of campaign products across radio, print, digital, and video platforms in West Africa and beyond, the #ISurvivedEbola campaign is also continuing to add stories of hope and resilience to the world’s focus on the Ebola outbreak. These stories include two additional survivor story videos from survivors in Liberia and Sierra Leone, respectively.

The latest Liberia video introduces the world to Decontee Davis, a 23-year-old who overcame Ebola but lost her fiancé to the virus.

Decontee now works in an Interim Care Center for children who have come in contact with Ebola patients and are under 21 days of observation.

Many of these children have lost one or both parents to the disease.

In the new Sierra Leone video, audiences meet Aminata Kargbo, a university student who, after surviving Ebola, has arisen as a leader in efforts to educate her fellow countrymen and women on the benefits of early treatment.

“The campaign is really accelerating, especially in the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak,” said Sean Southey, CEO of PCI Media Impact.

“We began in early December with the launch of the campaign and release of the first survivor video (https://vimeo.com/113323185) out of Liberia. Then, the campaign launched educational Ebola-focused radio programs in Liberia and released the premier survivor story out of Sierra Leone (https://vimeo.com/115082561). Now, we have activated the mobile app, released the first survivor story out of Guinea, and launched a website that will allow concerned citizens throughout the world to join the movement.”

The multiple #ISurvivedEbola campaign products and activities are reinforcing the existing work being done by organizations like UNICEF in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea to spread key messages on Ebola to the public.

“While treatment of Ebola patients is critical, the best way to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is to cut the chain of transmission and prevent further infections,” said Rafael Obregon, Chief of the Communication for Development Section at UNICEF.

Obregon added, “As the global UN lead for the Social Mobilization Pillar of the Ebola response in West Africa, UNICEF is at the helm of efforts to stop transmission by working with national governments and partners to educate the public in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea about how to protect themselves, their families, and their communities from the virus. #ISurvivedEbola is reinforcing our efforts by providing this information in multiple, highly entertaining forms, including through the testimonies of actual survivors.”

 


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New Tax Law Empowers NRS to Fine Offenders up to N10m

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The newly enacted Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, has empowered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), renamed Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), to impose fines for individuals and companies for failing to register, file returns, use tax technology, or disclose basic information like a change of business address.

New Tax Law Empowers NRS to Fine Offenders up to N10m

The Act is among the tax laws signed by President Bola Tinubu on June 26.

The tax administration law is expected to take effect from January 1, 2026, under a renamed agency — the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), currently known as the FIRS.

The Act, which is an updated version of previous fragmented tax enforcement provisions, outlines a comprehensive list of offences and corresponding penalties, with fines ranging from N10,000 to N10 million, as well as prison terms of up to 10 years for serious breaches.

Under the general offences and penalties section of the law, a taxable person who fails to register with the relevant tax authority is liable to a N50,000 fine in the first month and N25,000 for each subsequent month of default.

The Act stressed that companies that award contracts to unregistered vendors will face a N5 million penalty.

The law also imposes a N100,000 fine for failure to file tax returns, plus N50,000 monthly for as long as the failure continues.

“A taxable person who fails or refuses to file returns or knowingly files incomplete or inaccurate returns to the relevant tax authority in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be liable to pay an administrative penalty of (a) 100,000 in the first month in which the failure occurs; and (b) N50,000 for each subsequent month in which the failure continues,” the Act reads.

“A taxable person who Failure to books (a) fails to keep accounts, books and records of business transactions and income, to allow for the correct ascertainment of tax and filing of returns to the relevant tax authority; or (b) upon request by the relevant tax authority, fails to provide any record or book prescribed in this Act shall be liable to pay an administrative penalty of- (i) in the case of a person other than a company, N10,000, and (ii) in the case of a company, N50,000.”

Also, the law states that failure to notify the tax authority of a change of address within 30 days of such change, giving a wrong address, or failing to comply with the requirement for notification of permanent cessation of trade or business under the relevant tax laws shall be liable to an administrative penalty.

“A taxable person who fails to notify the relevant tax authority – Failure to notify change of address (a) N100,000 for the first month in which the failure occurs; and (b) 45,000 for each subsequent month failure persists,” the law reads.

In a bid to modernise tax compliance, the Act makes it compulsory for businesses to allow the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to deploy fiscalisation technology or face a N1 million fine for the first day of refusal and N10,000 for each day after.

Any business that fails to process sales through the fiscalisation system will also be fined N200,000, pay 100 percent of the tax due, and accrue interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy rate.

The Act is especially punitive toward those who fail to deduct or remit taxes.

“A person that deducts, collects, or withholds any tax under this Act, and fails to remit the amount deducted, collected, or withheld by the 21st day of the month immediately succeeding the month in which the amount was deducted, collected, or withheld, is liable to pay,” it added.

“Failure to remit tax deducted source or self-account (a) the amount deducted, collected or withheld but not remitted; (b) an administrative penalty of 10% per annum of the tax deducted, collected or withheld but not remitted; and (c) interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria monetary policy rate. “A person convicted of any of the offences under this section shall be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine of not less than the principal amount due plus a penalty of not more than 50% of the sum, or both.

“A person who (a) fails to comply with the requirements of a notice served under this Act or any other tax law; (b) fails to attend or provide answers to a notice, summons or process served under this Act or any other tax law; or (c) having attended, fails to answer any question lawfully put to him, is liable to an administrative penalty of N100,000 in the first day of default and N10,000 for every subsequent day where the default.”


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Taskforce Arrests Six for over Fake Lottery Scam

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Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Taskforce) has apprehended six suspects allegedly involved in a fraudulent lottery scheme that targeted unsuspecting residents at Iyana-Ipaja.

Taskforce Arrests Six for over Fake Lottery Scam

Those arrested include Amaike Nelson, Kenneth Opuana, Oguntade Olusegun, Ogologo Obi, Goodluck Abel, and Oluwafunmilayo Adebimpe. The syndicate was tracked down following intelligence reports about their activities.

According to the taskforce, the suspects lured a 19-year-old student, identified as Rukayat Kamilu, into a manipulated street game. During the encounter, the group reportedly coerced her into surrendering her mobile phone and personal belongings.

The victim said one of the suspects, later identified as Oguntade Olusegun, posed as a confused passer-by seeking help to pick a “winning number.” After she got involved, her phone was seized, and she was allegedly pressured to pay N100,000 to retrieve it.

Acting on a tip-off, operatives led by CSP Adetayo Akerele, chairman, stormed the area and arrested the suspects. Several empty Android phone boxes, allegedly used as props in the scam, were recovered during the operation.

Condemning the criminal act, Akerele assured residents that the agency is intensifying its crackdown on street scams across the state.

“Our responsibility is to safeguard the lives and property of Lagosians. We will leave no room for such fraudulent activities to thrive,” he stated.

The suspects were subsequently arraigned before a Magistrates’ Court on charges bordering on gambling, extortion, theft, and conspiracy.

They all pleaded guilty. The court ordered that they remain in custody pending further hearing, scheduled for August 7, 2025.


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FG Plans N50m STEEM Grant to Support Student Innovation in August

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In a giant stride to support innovation, entrepreneurship and economic transformation, the Federal Government is set to unveil a N50 million grant for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Sciences (STEEM) students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

The project, which is referred to as the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), is a pioneering initiative designed to empower the students towards building the next generation of scalable, job-creating ventures.

According to a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Education, Folashade Boriowo, Friday, the initiative will be formally unveiled in August by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa.

Boriowo stated that the minister made the disclosure during a stakeholders’ engagement session held in Abuja in the presence of vice-chancellors, provosts, rectors, student leaders, academic staff, and development partners, and will chart a collective course for nurturing student-led innovation.

The statement noted that the grant targets full-time undergraduate students in STEMM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Sciences), specifically those in 300 level and above.

“Each selected student-led project will be eligible to receive startup funding of up to N50 million, along with access to mentorship, incubation services and business development support.

“The initiative will be implemented in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to ensure financial transparency, impact measurement and effective project execution.

“S-VCG is not just a grant. It’s a launchpad for bold, young innovators to lead Nigeria’s industrial and technological transformation,” said Alausa.

Speaking at the session, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, described the grant as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s knowledge economy.

“We’re building a stronger, more competitive future by supporting innovation from the ground up,” she said, adding that the programme’s design was informed by months of consultation with students, faculty and institutional leaders.

Participants at the event welcomed the STEMM-Up Grant as a timely, strategic and high-impact initiative that will drive youth innovation, tackle graduate unemployment, and position Nigeria as a hub for student-led entrepreneurship in Africa.

 


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