News
Lagos Unveils Website for Internship Scheme
The Lagos State Government on Thursday announced the opening of its website to register intending applicants for the 2017 edition of Ready.Set.Work (RSW) scheme which is an entrepreneurship and employability initiative designed to equip final year students of tertiary institutions in the State with the right skills to add value to the society.
Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Education, who disclosed this at a news conference, said interested applicants would be able to access the website – www.readysetwork.com.ng from June 16, while the training will run from July 1 to September 16, 2017.
He said as an improvement on the initiative which started in 2016, students of six tertiary institutions in the State would benefit, while three centres have been designated to host the training.
The six institutions, according to Bank-Olemoh are Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (ACCOED), Lagos State College of Health Science (LASCOHET), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Lagos State University (LASU), Michael Otedola College of Education (MOCPED) and University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Bank-Olemoh said out of the 12, 000 students, 2,000 final year students would be selected for the training at the three designated centres, while the remaining 10,000 would be selected from students in their penultimate year at the institutions and trained through the online platform and also registered for the RSW Academy.
He said: “When the administration of Governor Ambode came on board, one of the issues he was confronted with from the private sector was that there were major gaps in the work readiness of graduates, and his immediate response was to come up with a scheme to equip graduates from our tertiary institutions with the right skills needed to add value to the society.
“And so, the vision of the RSW is that every graduate from a tertiary institution situated in Lagos must have the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to gain meaningful employment or be self-employed and our plan is to train all graduates in tertiary institutions through the RSW.”
He said beneficiaries of the scheme would be selected to participate only on competence, and would be trained for thirteen weeks on labour market, mindset reorientation, 21st century skills, entrepreneurship, employability skills and teacher track.
He said about 750 of the beneficiaries would be helped to secure internship placement and given skill for life, while there would also be seed funding for winners of the business pitch competition to be held as part of the training.
Responding to questions on sustainability of the scheme and the need to accommodate other tertiary institutions in the State, Bank-Olemoh said plans are afoot to integrate the RSW into the education curriculum of the State, and also expand the modules as well as the benefiting institutions.
Out of the 500 students that were registered for the scheme in 2016, only 422 graduated after the rigorous training with Sarunmi Oluwafemi and Dada Samuel who emerged as the overall winners of the pitch competition walking away with N6million seed funding and N100, 000 monthly working capital for six months.
The second and third place winners also got N500, 000 and N250, 000 respectively with N100,000 working capital for six months.
News
Legit.ng, Shade of Life Foundation Partner to Advance Autism Awareness in Nigeria
Legit.ng recently joined forces with the Shade of Life Foundation to become a voice of autism, and drive advocacy for improved media support during Autism Awareness Month.
Conversations around media support exploration was led by Joseph Omotayo, head of Department for Human Interest Stories at Legit.ng, and Dr. Eziafakaku Nwokolo, founder and CEO of the Shade of Life Foundation,
This partnership is a response to the concerns raised by organizations like the Shade of Life Foundation about the level of support received from the media in discussing autism as a disability.
While other disabilities may receive attention, autism, with its critical developmental implications often lacks adequate representation in mainstream media.
Recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns, Legit.ng took proactive steps by integrating itself into the essence of autism awareness.
It facilitated a one-hour workshop with Dr. Nwokolo, the founder of the foundation, to deepen our understanding of autism, its various spectrums, and the language boundaries associated with it.
Other steps we took in advocating autism awareness in the media, can be seen in our attached press release.
Legit.ng believes that by amplifying the voices of autism and advocating for better media representation, we can contribute to creating a more inclusive and accepting society for all.
News
As Nigeria Struggle, Tanzania Turns off Power Plants Due to Excess Supply
While 85 per cent of Nigeria is in darkness, Tanzania, an African country has shut down five hydroelectric stations in a bid to reduce excess electricity in the national grid.
Kassim Majaliwa, prime minister, Tanzania, has said the main plant, Mwalimu Nyerere Hydroelectric Station, alone generated enough electricity to power major cities, including Dar es Salaam, the country’s commercial hub.
It is the first time Tanzania, which suffers chronic power shortages, has closed hydroelectric stations due to excess production.
“We have turned off all these stations because the demand is low and the electricity production is too much, we have no allocation now,” an official from state-run power company, Tanesco, said.
The 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam is said to be almost filled with water following heavy rains that started early this year.
Meanwhile, while the country has an installed capacity of 1,938MW and the grid installed capacity of 1,899MW, Nigeria which has an installed capacity of 13,000MW is struggling to electrify 85 per cent of its electricity consumers.
News
President Tinubu Appoints Jim Ovia as Student Loan Fund Chairman
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jim Ovia, renowned banker and businessman, as the Chairman, Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Ovia’s appointment is contained in a State House statement titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund,’ and issued on Friday by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the President, Media & Publicity.
The statement noted that “Ovia is the founder of one of Nigeria’s leading banks and a respected business leader, with a surfeit of efforts and benefaction towards nurturing and empowering young Nigerians.
“He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.”
The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.
“The President believes Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds,” the statement partly read.
Ovia’s appointment will also ensure “that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.”
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