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St Maria Goretti Old Girls Urge Edo State Govt to Return School to Catholic Mission

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The Class of 1982 of Saint Maria Goretti Girls Grammar School Benin City have pleaded with the Edo State Government to consider returning the School to the Catholic Mission to enhance the education of the girl child.

The old students, under the auspices of Saint Maria Goretti Old Girls’ Association (SMAGOGA), made the passionate appeal in Lagos recently where they marked their 40 years reunion after leaving school.

The event saw many old girls across the world from all walks of life gather to reminisce on their time at the school. The theme of the reunion was: “Women, Wealth and Winning.”

Speaking during the programme, Mrs. Grace Bose Ojougboh, member of the alumni association and Deputy Director at the Nigerian Communications Commission, called on the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to consider returning the School to the Catholic Mission towards reclaiming the school’s age long glory.

“Now, more than ever before, there is need to empower and raise girls who are pious, confident and equipped with the skill and capacity to function as leaders and nation builders in the 21st century and we believe our alma mater is poised to deliver on this even more with its management being under the Catholic Mission,” Ojougboh said.

She stated that, the Class of 1982 has, over the years, joined hands with the national body of St Maria Goretti Old Girls Association to give the school a facelift as well as support the students through award of scholarships and skills acquisition.

Mrs. Ijeoma Isiolu, a seasoned banker and an old girl of the school, lamented on the very poor state of the school since it was taken over by government. She said the association looks forward to the time when the school will be returned to the Catholic mission.

Henrietta Iweze, a lawyer and member of the Class of 1982, spoke on the need for women to support women and the importance of winning and creating wealth.

She emphasised that women should be open to change and stressed the need for women to always give value wherever they find themselves.

Mrs. Maureen Okoro-Sokoh, a human resource consultant and Managing Director, Estymol Group, called on her classmates to use the opportunity of the reunion to really come together and empower each other in different ways.

Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Ononuju Irukwu, a financial expert and wealth adviser with First Bank of Nigeria who is also of the Class of 1982, stressed the need for women to be empowered through education and financial inclusion.

Irukwu stated that financial literacy opens doors and more opportunities for women and helps them to make informed decisions.

The walk down memory lane by members of Class of 82 brought a lot of nostalgic feeling of joy and gratitude for the wonderful time spent together at the school and the training and discipline they received in their formative years which, they agreed, have molded them into women of excellence.

The Class of 1982 set also used the opportunity of the reunion to visit the Heritage Homes located in the Anthony Village of Lagos Sate to reach out to the less privileged in the society while plans are in the works to visit their alma mater in Benin City.

Saint Maria Goretti Girls’ Grammar School was founded on March 4, 1959, by the Catholic Mission. It was the first “All Girls” Secondary School in Benin City. The School was named after St. Maria Goretti as it was established the same year Maria Goretti, a 12-year old girl, who stood for purity in mind and body was canonised by the Catholic Church.

Late Rev. Sister Dr. Henrietta Powers, a member of the missionary order of the sister of Our Lady of Apostles, was the 4th Principal and the trailblazer from 1961 to December 1984 when she retired from service. She managed the affairs of the school and raised women, who have become excellent women, breaking barriers, changing and impacting their communities in all spheres of life.

St Maria Goretti Girls Grammar School in its heydays, under the Catholic Mission, was the school of choice for people, who wanted an all-round spiritual, moral, vocational and academic development for the girl child.


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Investing in Innovation Africa Shifts Focus to Growth-stage Startups in Response to US Aid “stop-work” Directive

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Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for startups building the future of healthcare supply chains, has made a pivotal change to its third cohort selection to prioritize the immediate support for between five and seven growth-stage companies building the future of pharmacy care in Africa.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics, Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, i3 is dedicated to facilitating the commercialization of promising early- and growth-stage companies.

Selected startups receive introductions to leading potential customers in industry, donor agencies and governments, grant funding, and tailored investment readiness support from leading accelerators Villgro Africa, IMPACT Lab, Startupbootcamp Afritech, and CcHUB.

This comes in response to the United States (US) State Department’s “stop-work” directive for foreign aid issued on January 25, which is anticipated to impact the distribution of essential medicine in Africa’s healthcare supply chains.

The order highlights and intensifies the need for locally-driven, market-creating approaches to health product distribution and service delivery across Africa.

 


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Fidelity Bank to Launch Dedicated SME Hub for Small Businesses and Creative Entrepreneurs

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Fidelity Bank, a leading financial institution, has announced the imminent launch of its dedicated physical facility for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurs in the creative sector.

Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc

Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc

Known as the Fidelity SME Hub, the multipurpose facility features training halls, meeting rooms, networking spaces, podcast rooms as well as music, photography and content production studios.

“For nearly four decades, Fidelity Bank has been at the forefront of supporting small businesses in achieving their potential and driving the nation’s economy. During this time, we have recognized that SMEs require more than just financial assistance. This realization has led to the implementation of various non-financial initiatives tailored to support this sector.

“The Fidelity SME Hub is our latest non-financial solution for SME growth. The facility is designed to foster innovation, collaboration, and capacity-building -vital elements necessary for strengthening Nigeria’s SME ecosystem and driving economic growth”, commented Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc in a chat with journalists recently.

Located at the heart of Lagos, the Fidelity SME Hub will provide entrepreneurs with networking and stakeholder engagement initiatives as well as access to industry experts and mentors for hands-on guidance and business advice. A key feature of the facility is the Creativerse, a well-equipped space for entrepreneurs in the creative industry.

The bank has also announced the launch of dedicated courses to be hosted at the SME Hub in areas such as Financial Management & Investment Readiness, Digital Transformation & Technology Adoption, Marketing, Branding, and Business Growth Strategies. Furthermore, a fully-fledged creative academy will be established to cover courses on Music Production, the Business of Music, Website Design & Development, Mobile Videography, Disc Jockey and Photography. To see a comprehensive list of available courses or to apply, please visit https://www.fidelitybank.ng/smehub/.

Explaining further, Onyeali-Ikpe said, “Beyond empowering small businesses, the Fidelity SME Hub will also serve to bolster our non-oil exports drive as we empower SMEs to increase their contribution to Nigeria’s non-oil GDP thus supporting government’s economic diversification drive. Through our investment in Creativerse in particular, we anticipate that content creators will unlock new revenue streams in entertainment, digital media, and arts, an industry already contributing 2.3% to GDP.”

Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank serving over 8.5 million customers through its 255 business offices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, as well as through digital banking channels.

The bank has garnered multiple local and international awards, including the Export Finance Bank of the Year at the 2023 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards, Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023, and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. It was also recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023 and the Best Domestic Private Bank in Nigeria by the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2023.


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Investing for growth By Engr. Gbenga Adebayo

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has made the vital decision to allow Telecom companies to increase their tariffs for the first time in more than 12 years. It was a brave decision that should be recognised and commended.

All the customers of our member operators are understandably disappointed that they will have to pay more to stay connected. We recognise that. We know that Nigerians have been through a series of even more substantial price increases in other sectors like fuel and power.

That is why it is so important for us to set out why the tariffs need to go up, how the revenue from the price increases will be used and how long it is going to take us to deliver the improvements that our customers will be able to see and appreciate.

The telecom sector is capital-intensive. It requires constant investment to maintain the infrastructure that we use to deliver connectivity, ensuring that we can deliver the quality of service that our customers demand and continue to upgrade to the latest technologies like 5G.

In 2024, the telecoms sector faced a perfect storm. The need for our member operators to continue to invest in their infrastructure remained, but the cost of operating their networks increased significantly. In isolation, that might have been manageable, but it followed 12 years of progressively increasing costs during which they could not increase prices.

Despite that, the telecoms industry has continued to grow. We have been able to expand voice connectivity, introduce world class data services and diversify into value added services like payments and platforms. But at some point, something had to change if we want to have the digital economy we all know Nigeria deserves.

While we have continued to invest, we were not able to do so at the speed and scale that we would have liked to ensure we deliver service quality at the levels we want, or to roll-out the products we want our consumers to have access to. In 2024, the significant losses across the industry meant that investment slowed considerably to a level that would be simply unsustainable for Nigeria going forwards.

The process of securing the price increases was a long and deliberate one, under the strong leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NCC and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani. It was a process that sought to find the right balance that unlocks investment, while minimising the impact on consumers. Our collective goal has been to enable the investment needed to give Nigerians the best service, while continuing to do so at a price that is as competitive as possible from a global perspective.

The 50% increase is a reflection of this, and it is important to assess how this compares to our regional contemporaries. Following the increase, the cost of 1GB of data in Nigeria will remain lower than it currently costs in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa and will be just 9.5% of the cost of 1Gb in the USA. Nigeria will continue to have low-cost connectivity that enables the broadest possible access.

Following the decision, all our member operators will now be able to activate investment plans that will drive improved quality of service, new technologies and expanded reach. But the impact of this will not be felt immediately. It is not something we can just switch on. We cannot address a protracted period of under-investment overnight. The supply chain for the telecom industry is global and competitive. The hardware required must be fabricated by the original equipment manufacturers, shipped to Nigeria, cleared and installed, and this needs to happen at a large scale.

Following the tariff increase, the acquisition, importation and installation of the equipment can now begin. All our member operators have planned for this moment. We know what to do.

The journey to improved service delivery, more advanced technical solutions and a better customer experience has started. The progress Nigeria has made in the growth and development of the digital economy can, and will continue, and the potential to drive social and economic transformation is incredible. We believe in that vision, and the government does too. They have recognised its strategic importance and demonstrated the leadership required to put us on the path to progress.

All hands are now on deck!

Engr. Gbenga Adebayo is the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

 

 

 

 

 

 


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