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African Legends Launches #19KickupsAgainst Covid19 To Support Stay Safe Africa campaign

Published

4 years ago

June 10, 2020

Joel Ajayi

Confederation of Africa Football CAF in partnership with Speak Up Africa has kicked off the #19KickUpsAgainstCovid19 social media challenge, encouraging everyone to share information online to help stop the spread of COVID-19 on the African continent.

Speak Up Africa have launched a social media challenge called ” 1 billion together with distance” to further raise awareness on proven COVID-19 prevention methods as part of the Stay Safe Africa campaign.

The new online challenge forms part of the Stay Safe Africa campaign, which seeks to empower communities and individuals to take simple and proven preventive measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Africa. Stay Safe Africa, launched by Dakar-based advocacy tank Speak Up Africa, brings together partners to work towards a common goal of saving lives by increasing investments and awareness to protect our continent from this new threat while ensuring access and treatment from other ongoing health threats.

Speaking on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa Yacine Djibo, stated that, as part of the challenge, influential players are inviting their peers and everyone to participate in the challenge by recording a video of them doing 19 kick ups and sharing it on social media.

“To date, African football legends Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Joseph Yobo (Nigeria), Karim Haggui (Tunisia) and Trésor Lomana Lualua (DR Congo) have shared videos.

“Football brings together so many people from different backgrounds, nationalities and languages, and we hope that this social media challenge will bring people together in the same way. Even though the football season has been put on hold, we must all continue to come together, with distance, and fight the spread of this disease and misinformation. I personally took part in the challenge and I hope players and fans will engage and continue the chain ”, Baffoe said..

In Africa, there are currently over 157,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 4,000 deaths. Several risk factors mean the virus could spread quickly across the continent. A coordinated Africa-led approach to stop the spread of COVID-19 is crucial, as high population densities, communal living as well as the constrained access to water and washing facilities all increase the likelihood of coronavirus infections and fatalities.

“We are thrilled to have CAF’s influential players and members taking part in this exciting social media challenge and raising awareness of the importance of protecting yourself and others from COVID-19. Sport is a powerful tool to transform the continent, particularly when it comes to health initiatives. We encourage everyone to take part in this online challenge to raise awareness and incite positive change in health practices and behavior.”

Also, the CAF Deputy General Secretary Anthony Baffoe, has also participated in the challenge, as CAF lends its influential voices, clubs and legends to the campaign to help protect one billion Africans from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, to take part in the Stay Safe Africa social media challenge, share a video of yourself completing 19 kick ups along with the hashtag #19KickUpsAgainstCovid19 and nominate five more people to take part.

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Featured

RMRDC: Making Giant Strides Under Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso

Published

14 hours ago

September 19, 2024

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.

This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.

Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago. This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.

The RMRDC, operating under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.

Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office, he said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.

According to him, “In the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.

“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; and Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations.

“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed further: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.

“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information to drive our mission forward.

“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC), at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.

“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research (JORMAR) will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector. “The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.

“The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.”Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program. “Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.

“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance.

“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.

“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.

He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.

“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.

“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.

The DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.

In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.

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