Featured
NYSC At 50: DG Seeks NITDA’s Support For New ICT Center
Joel Ajayi
As the NYSC Scheme prepares for the 50th anniversary celebration of its establishment, the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed has appealed for technical assistance and ICT equipment from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for a smooth take-off of the new ICT centre situated at NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
General Ahmed stated this on Thursday when he led some management staff of the Scheme on a courtesy visit to the Director General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu A. Inuwa at his office in Abuja.
The DG thanked the agency for its support for the Scheme over the years, especially for training Corps Members on digital skills.
He equally appreciated NITDA for providing digital ICT centre for the NYSC Rivers State Secretariat which has been of immense support in the deployment of ICT services for the Scheme’s operations.
“I want to assure NITDA that NYSC will continue to support the agency to fast track the set target of 95% goal of digital literacy by 2023”, Ahmed said.
In his response, the Director General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu A. Inuwa congratulated General Ahmed on his appointment as the NYSC helmsman.
He promised to collaborate with the NYSC to assist the Corps Members move the country forward through ICT related skills.
He added that NITDA would strengthen its collaboration with NYSC to enable Corps Members make Nigeria become a developed country.
“We have identified with you as a strategic partner and we are looking at how we can work together and strengthen this relationship.
Our team will visit the centre and see how we can assist you”, Inuwa said.
He added that the one year period of national service, if well utilized by the Corps Members have alot of benefits.
Inuwa stated further that the collaboration would add immense value to the Corps Members before the exit service and also benefit the Scheme through digital NYSC Certificate of National Service, artificial intelligence among others.
Featured
NAPTIP Restates Commitment To Fighting Human Trafficking
Joel Ajayi
… decries corruption in law enforcement, weak legislation
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, has pledged the agency’s commitment to fight human trafficking.
Waziri-Azi gave the assurance during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, in Abuja.
The commitment by NAPTIP follows an investigative report by Human Angle Media exposing how many Nigerians trafficked to Egypt are inhumanely treated and exploited by their sponsors.
Represented by the agency’s Director of Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Kehinde Akomolafe, decried the rising number of Nigerians who are victims of trafficking, pledging that “NAPTIP is fighting on all sides to curb human trafficking.”
Akomolafe disclosed that the agency is aware of the report of Nigerians trafficked to Egypt and has already commenced interventions to rescue them while warning citizens to be wary of “offers that are too good to be true.”
She identified weak legislation, lengthy judicial processes, and corrupt law enforcement officials as factors aiding and abetting trafficking in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world.
“Corruption is endemic and cuts across other countries of the world, and that’s why trafficking is easily perpetrated in Nigeria and around the globe. You find law enforcement officials aiding and abetting traffickers. Some of them know these traffickers from their operations either at the entry or exit point. They give them something or become too familiar with them.
“Apart from the bribery aspect, we also have officials turning a blind eye to trafficking activities, and that’s why for us at the agency (NAPTIP), we are not resting.”
According to her, the agency, from inception, secured 672 convictions, 67 in 2023, and 35 persons so far this year (2024). She added that “NAPTIP is winning the war against trafficking but still wants stiffer punishment for traffickers and the support of the judiciary in hastening cases.
“weak legislation is aiding trafficking. That’s why the agency continues pushing for amendments. Currently, NAPTIP is pushing for stiffer punishment against traffickers that will lead to confiscation of their monies and property.
“NAPTIP Director-General (Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi) is fighting on all sides against human trafficking.
“Where law enforcement officials are found complicit, NAPTIP Director-General does not take it lightly; she doesn’t compromise her anti-corruption stance even when a staff is involved,” Akomolafe stated.
According to the Editor of Southern Operations, Human Angle Media, Kabir Adejumo, many Nigerians trafficked to Egypt engage in forced labour. They are also living in fear as authorities go after illegal immigrants.
Adejumo said victims interviewed during the investigation are willing and interested in returning home, but their sponsors refuse to release their travel passports and threaten to implicate them.
He also revealed that the NAPTIP and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) are aware of the plight of Nigerians trafficked in Egypt and have currently rescued one person.
On her part, the Programme Manager of the Human Angle Foundation, Angela Umoro-David, expressed satisfaction at NAPTIP’s response to trafficking cases while urging the agency to stay on course with their mandate.
Umoro-David called on Nigerians to use a Freedom of Information platform (foi.humananglemedia.com) to help citizens navigate requests for public records from different government parastatals and agencies.
She stressed that the platform “is a website where people can submit their FOI requests to us (Human Angle), and we’ll submit it on their behalf to the particular agency. So we act as middlemen, connecting these government parastatals to the citizens”.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation
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