Angbakpa:
Wallahi Mal. Nasir El Rufai na kokari. Muna jindadi mulkin ka.

NextD18:
Fake!

They are close because they are still young, let them grow older when their women's natural traits of competing will set in, they'll you'll see for yourself.

Sisters are never that close.



Reason many ladies find it difficult to relate with other ladies. They aren't use to relating to ladies.

nani667:
Very small

Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed has disclosed two out of 78 artisans that came into the state from Port-Harcourt and Enugu state respectively have tested positive for coronavirus.

The Governor made the disclosure at a media conference at the state Government House on the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts taken to contain it.

Mohammad, who expressed dismay over the increasing number of confirmed cases in the state, said apart from the six index positive cases, including himself recorded in the state, the new cases are returnees from other states.
He however said the total lockdown without palliative measures is not the solution to the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that community ownership and active participation were the key to containing the virus.

He also directed the isolation of all returnees or visitors coming into the state from high-risk states.

Mohammed, who blamed border porosity for the new cases, said about 377 returnees have been quarantined so far, including the 198 Almajiris received from Plateau state.

He said: ” We have so far traced 625 contacts, and the new cases we have recorded so far are not from the index case but from returnees from Lagos, Abuja, Kano , Enugu and Port -Harcout.

”Currently, we have a total of 29 confirmed cases, the number increased from 14 to 29 with in few days. Six are already discharged while 23 are active cases.

"Out of the 78 artisans that came back to the state from Port- harcort and Enugu state, two tested positive, 11 returnees from Lagos are also under screening including 42 almagiris from Kano and all their samples have being taken as we await their result.

“Other Almajiris received are from Kaduna and Gombe states. We are also in the process of quarantining them. We have quarantined about 377 returnees and almajiris all together.”

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office in collaboration with Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Northern Education Initiative(NEI)Plus has launched a radio and television learning programme for primary school pupils, junior secondary school students and integrated Quranic school learners affected by COVID-19 lockdown.

Speaking during the launching ceremony held at the Hazibal Event Centre in Bauchi yesterday, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office, Mr. Bhanu Pathak, said the aim of the programme was to provide technical support for the development of education sector COVID-19 contingency plan as an integral part of the state response plan to ensure the continuation of teaching and learning while children are at home as a result of COVID-19 outbreak.

He explained that the programme is a joint initiative by USAID, NEI, master trainers from the state Colleges of Education, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Bauchi State Polytechnic.

The UNICEF boss added that since schools were shut down in the state as a result of COVID-19, millions of school children and their staff at all levels are currently staying at home, adding that with indefinite closure of schools, not only are children missing out on education, which is a fundamental right, they are also exposed to more risks of educational setback such as examination failure and missing from school where they could have been taught and sensitised on COVID 19.

According to him, “One of the response strategies of the plan is to develop context-appropriate strategies for continuous learning that allow pupils, teachers and schools to utilise flexible and remote/home-based learning, which may include homework assignments, reading material, Radio, television, online content, and internet-based learning. Past evidence has shown that delivering curriculum via radio and television can be an effective way of maintaining the learning process and student engagement.”

Imustsurvive:




this your grammar ehn! hmmm

Often Always . Lolzz

I pray make you no crash nairaland oo.

mrpaedo:
-About 11years ago,I had sex numerous times with my neighbours wife.She got pregnant & told me the child was mine.I told her to fvvk off.She then passed of my child as her husbands'
The mumu man was actually celebrating his wife's pregnancy

-I attended a mixed boarding secondary school from jss 1 to 2.I then discovered a hideout where I could watch the senior girls taking their bath.I was never caught

...Like a few states, Kaduna State Government is organising lessons on radio and television, for Senior Secondary School students who will soon take their final examinations after the coronavirus has been contained.

In this interview, Commissioner for Education, Dr SHEHU MOHAMMED MAKARFI, promised that the programme will be built into the state’s education architecture, even after the pandemic.

On April 6, Kaduna State started teaching Senior Secondary School students on radio and television in order to engage them during this lockdown, owing to coronavirus.

Will this be a permanent feature of the education system or an interim COVID-19 measure?

The programme initiated by the ministry to reach our students at home, is a child of necessity. It came because our children are now at home; we have closed down schools because of COVID-19. We found out that they are losing a lot of time. So, we worked around our curriculum and found a way of preparing them for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

They also have other contents that they were not able to cover before we closed down the schools. So, we felt that we should package something and send to these students while they are at home. It will help them revise. It will help them to prepare for the upcoming exams. Initially, that was the intent. It is to make them busy. It is to make them come back to their books. It is to help parents to also have control over them, watch over them and monitor their movements.

But we have now seen a big opportunity to expand the scope of teaching to radio and television. We are now having discussions with relevant stakeholders, to make e-learning as part of our activities after COVID-19. It is critical for us to do this because we are continuously looking for opportunities to ensure that our children learn better, by utilising the time they have at home.

So, basically, to answer your question, the initiation of e-learning was necessitated by COVID-19, but we have seen an opportunity and we are going to utilise it even after the pandemic. We will want to package contents that will help students to continue learning at home. Is the current programme a revision exercise or a continuation of the areas that the students didn’t cover before the closure of schools? It is both.

Let me use this opportunity to explain. When we initiated this idea, we invited relevant stakeholders; zonal directors, principals and teachers. And because we are using a uniform curriculum, we sampled schools to find out how many of them have covered their curriculum for the year, particularly SSS 3 students, and how many have not. After sampling, we realised that we could take the middle course. And the middle course is to combine content delivery and revisions.

And that is why in the presentation, we have decided to use two or more teachers in one presentation. So that by the time somebody presents the contents, someone will also ask questions and afterwards, assignments will be given. So that the people that have covered the curriculum and those that have not, are all brought together into one phase; all of them will benefit from the programme.

So, we have packaged the programme in such a way that the beginners and those that are doing revision will benefit from the same presentation. The teachers are well trained to do that and that is what they have been doing.

Is it correct to infer that in a single presentation, one teacher will deliver the lectures and the other will ask probable questions that students are likely to ask in a real classroom situation?

Certainly yes. The teachers that are running this programme are experienced; they have been setting questions and marking WASSCE scripts. So, by the time that the first presenter finishes his presentation, the teacher will come up with questions that have been asked either last year or previous years in WASSCE, so that he or she will engage the students on that and even give them some assignments that will enable them to understand the next session.

So, we are combining the two in one presentation. We have devised a way to get feedback from the students. By the time they are responding, the teacher will now know their areas of deficiencies.

He can now decide to either repeat the presentation or recycle the same content but re-present it in a different language; the same content, re-presented in different way and using different teaching aids. That is what we have been doing.

Expatiate on how the feedback mechanism works. Is it also done via radio and television?

We have downloaded these presentations unto Youtube, on the Ministry of Education’s website. So, students can revisit both the oral and textual presentations. Apart from that, the teacher who is making the presentation will make his or her phone number available on the screen or he or she will read it out in the case of radio presentations.

This will enable students make calls or send text messages to ask questions and the teacher will respond. In the next presentation, the teacher will answer all these questions collectively before moving to a new topic. So, there is an effective feedback mechanism. And we are also calling on older students, particularly those in schools of higher learning within communities, to assist these students.

Were the teachers given some kind of crash course on how to present lessons on radio and television?
They may be good teachers but don’t you think that teaching to ‘’virtual students’’ will pose some challenges to some of them?

Actually, there was none and that is one of the lessons that we have learnt. From the comments that we are getting from the public, we realise our mistake. One of the comments is that ‘’the teacher is too fast’’. During presentations, there are people who are assessing the teacher.

There is someone from Monitoring and Evaluation. We also have those who are responsible for content. They are all looking at areas of improvement. So, the teacher will want to serve a lot of masters; the students, the M&E people and those responsible for content. And then, there is a time keeper who is watching over the teachers not to exceed their 25 minutes.

So, we realise that teachers sometimes run faster than their shoes. So, we now tell them to teach slowly. Actually, in the real sense of it, there was only an orientation and discussions and brain storming session but not a separate training from what they were used to doing in the class room.

That we have not done and it is one of the lessons that we have learnt. The teachers are excellent in content and delivery but we are going to incorporate this training of teaching to a virtual audience, when we are going to continue after COVID-19. Apart from Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC), is there any other radio station that you have engaged for this programme? Federal Radio Corporation (FRCN) Kaduna is on, DITV/Alheri Radio is on.

We also want to engage other radio stations in the state, we are seeking approval in order to engage them. We want to ensure that no part of Kaduna State is left out of this. KSMC reaches everywhere but I know some sections of the state listen to one particular radio station more than the others.

So, we want to make sure that wherever a student is, he or she should be able to listen to lessons on radio and see some of them on television. We are discussing with INVICTA Radio, Freedom Radio, Salama Radio and so on.

You have left the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) in the whole list, when it has a dedicated Teachers Radio, which has pioneered what you are just doing. Won’t you consider leveraging on its experience in order to improve your programme?

We have opened it up to all stakeholders. They are welcome. Not only NTI Teachers’ Radio, we have received calls from other radio stations outside Kaduna State showing interest. Some of them are packaging how we will collaborate with them. Our constraint is funds. We can only give a token as a support but certainly not to sponsor the programme at commercial rates.

UNICEF is discussing with us on how they can come in. Some Foundations are also there. All our partners that are also helping to deliver our education mandate are also part of this.

The management of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC) said it had suspended electricity disconnections of consumers indefinitely until the coronavirus pandemic is over.

The company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, made the disclosure on Monday during the donation of relief materials to the Kaduna State Government by the DisCo.

This is even as he hinted that the company was committing N30 million to food donation to vulnerable people its area of franchise covering Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states.

According to him, the gesture is aimed at supporting government’s efforts at providing palliatives to residents of the state in order to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown.

While appreciating the efforts the government has put in place to control the spread of the virus, he said, “We believe that as a responsible corporate organisation, we also have a role to play in supporting this effort and that is why we are making this token donation of 500 bags of rice, 400 bags of Semovita, 100 bags of noodles and 100 cartons of vegetable oil.

“We hope that this will be judiciously given to those who deserve it and we hope that we will be able to combat this pandemic in the soonest possible time.” He expressed the company support for the state government’s call for people to observe the necessary health protocols in order to collectively defeat the virus.

The spokesman assured Kaduna residents of stable power supply throughout the lockdown. Abdullahi explained: “We have during the lockdown provided as much as possible adequate power supply to our customers so that they can cope with the stay at home order of the state government except in situation that are beyond our control including forced maintenance and some faults that many have arisen out of our control.”

Receiving the items, the Permanent Secretary General Services, Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mohammed Bashir Umar, said the state government had released over N500 million to provide palliatives for residents.

He, however, pointed out that government cannot do it alone hence its call to corporate organisations and individuals to assist in providing materials and food items to the poor and vulnerable people in this period of national need.

No fewer than 40 returnees from Lagos State have been intercepted in Sokoto State by security operatives attached to the special taskforce against the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Among the returnees were three nationals of Niger Republic who wanted to use the Sokoto/Illela road as simple entrance into their country.

The passengers were intercepted at Tambuwal/Aliero Jega highway on Saturday morning and handed over to the Sokoto State commissioner of health and chairman of the taskforce against the spread of COVID-19 in the state, Dr. Mohammed Iname.

Speaking after a medical examination carried out on the returnees, Iname said their vehicle was intercepted along Tambuwal/road while making efforts to enter Sokoto from Lagos.

The commissioner, however, added that aside the three that were from Niger Republic, all the rest were from Sokoto State.

“We have not opened the quarantine centre but because of what is happening and the trooping in of so many returnees from Lagos and other states, we are now going to use most likely the NYSC camp as the quarantine centre.

“The taskforce is working hard to monitor movement along the entry points from Kano and Katsina that are also endemic state of COVID-19.

“We are always on the move to monitor the enforcement along those borders, especially as regard the axis of Rabba, Isa as well as Tureta where we have people coming from Kano. Yes Kano most especially is a place to watch,” he said.

According to the health commissioner, those returning from Kano through Tureta and Rabba, use the non-official routes that is through Bakura, Rabba, Mai Kujera and then to Sokoto hence the need for more attention to those areas

…We can produce 50 machines per week Faisal Sani Bala, an assistant lecturer at the Department of Mechatronics and Systems Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, is the project lead of the COVID-19 Innovation Solution at the School of Engineering which invented an Automatic Ventilator, Automatic Disinfection Chamber, Software apps for detection of COVID-19, as well as Aerosol boxes. In this interview, he explains the motive behind the inventions, among other issues.

Daily Trust Saturday: How did this project begin?

Faisal Sani Bala: It started as a dream; I was actually restless for 53 days and then I thought of how to contribute my quota in fighting COVD-19. Seeing what other people are doing all over the world, I see no reason why Nigeria should be an exception. So, I came up with the idea, conceptualized and made some initial designs. By the time I finished those initial designs, we were already on strike, so I had to solicit direct access to the Vice-Chancellor and he granted me audience. I made presentations to him on the project and he gave me the go-ahead to start and also seed funds required to purchase materials needed. I mobilized like minds from immediate past students as well as my academic colleagues and technologist. As academics, we saw it as a sacrifice, just the way our colleagues are sacrificing around the world to combat the pandemic. Right now, our colleagues in places like the United State of America, United Kingdom and other developed countries are in their laboratories conducting research on the vaccine or a cure for COVID-19, as well as equipment required by medical personnel to combat the pandemic. As ASUU members, we were idle for some weeks because of the strike, but we felt we are humans first before being lecturers, so we had to talk with our union.

DT: What was ASUU’s reaction to your demand?

Bala: ASUU was very understanding in this regard and has equally contributed to the fight against the pandemic after several awareness programmes. All affected members of the union were able to work without violating the rules which we swore to protect as members.

DT: How long did it take to fabricate these machines?

Bala: We had just eight days to come up these four solutions and we worked as a team with discipline and unfettered commitment. The vision we shared helped in making this work a reality within a short time. As you can see, our prototype looks like an industrial type.

DT: How long will it take to manufacture a single ventilator or any of the machines?

Bala: If the essential materials are available, we can mobilize the human resources required and can produce at least 50 ventilators per week. We see the disinfection spraying machine as a necessity because infectious diseases like cholera and Lassa fever have maintained their momentum in the country, especially in ravaging rural dwellers. One of the major challenges is that people contract these diseases, even in hospitals when they come to visit or interact with patients. If we have disinfecting chambers at the entrance of the hospital, people will get disinfected while entering and coming out, so no disease will find its way into the hospital ward and those that originated or emanated from the hospital can be cut off at the chamber before the person leaves the hospital. Apart from hospitals, it can also be used in other places with high density of humans and it will help in improving the standard of hygiene.

DT: What did you intend to achieve with this project?

Bala: There are two or three things; the first is that we are trying to work the talk, especially to prove that the universities are not fake or that we don’t have the capability to do what is required of us. What you are seeing here is a testimony that we can actually do more if given the opportunity. This exhibition is a plea to the government that our universities will like to play their role in building this nation. They’d also like to play their role in the fight against COVD-19 because all over the world, universities have gotten funding and grants meant for fighting COVID-19. These funds and grants are to be accessed immediately to start research on COVID-19. We are, therefore, calling on government to try and make such grants accessible to the universities. This innovation is not for commercial purposes, but an intervention to help fight the pandemic. It wasn’t a paid research, but because our Vice-Chancellor is committed to innovation, he made resources available for the necessary materials. The members are not on any wage or salary, that is the human aspect of it. However, we need the government, private sector and donor organizations that are willing to fight the COVID-19 to key in.

DT: What is the difference between your ventilator and imported ones?

Bala: Ventilators are of various types. The ventilators we are coming up with are meant to address emergency and shortage, so the design method, design methodology and design philosophy is radically different from the ICU-based ventilators. And it is not just common with Nigeria; all over the world, the design now is to make ventilators that can be easily assembled, that can be made from simple components since we don’t have much time to do the long design circle, certification circle and other things. Now, the philosophy is to make something that can be used within the shortest time, but that doesn’t mean it’s done without the necessary medical experts.

DT: Would you be willing to share this technology with other states ravaged by COVID-19?

Bala: Yes, we are very much willing to take this technology to Nigerians, like our Aerosol boxes. We are willing to provide them to the Lagos State government and also willing to share with other states that have recorded cases and to also extend them to other states where they have isolation centres.

DT: What were some of the challenges you encountered before this breakthrough?

Bala: Well, some of the challenges are getting the right machine to do certain functions but we were able to improvise. Power has been a challenge, although we’re already accustomed to working with or without light and we have a generator. The Aerosol box is meant to protect medical personnel. When you look at the ratio of medical personnel to patients in Nigeria, it is terrifying. We lose our doctors, nurses and other personnel to infection as a result of coming in contact with patients. This technology is meant to mitigate such occupational hazard and I think once hospitals and Isolation centres are equipped with aerosol boxes, our medical doctors will have minimal exposure to infections. The Aerosol box is a protective device that gives medical personnel extra protection when handling patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases, particularly during incubation which allows smooth clinical manipulations required for successful incubation. The Automatic disinfection chamber ensures containment of an outbreak where disease pathogens get transferred from one person to another. This can happen in public places and particularly hospitals. Most people don’t disinfect their cloths when entering or exiting hospital wards. The disinfection chamber is wired with sensors that detect the presence of a human being, once there is someone inside the chamber, the disinfectant is automatically spread on the person from all directions. The Automatic Ventilator with solar powering and DC backup helps patient with breathing difficulty or any other respiratory disease. Ventilators are currently scarce and it is critical for patients who need it.

The device can run for hours even when there is no electricity. It is easy and portable for medical use. For the software apps, what you need to do is start the tablet and snap the picture of the CT-SCAN or if the CT-SCAN has a digital image available, it can be downloaded via memory card or USB and transferred to a tablet or computer for the classification of various illnesses. It is very simple; with just the press of a button, it will tell you whether it’s pneumonia, COVID-19 or if the patient is normal.

DT: Have you tested the machines and what was the outcome?

Bala: We have started working with medical doctors. The Chief Medical Director of the ATBU School Clinic has attempted to use the device and he has given a good response, but that is not a certification, the issue of certification is something we will pursue later, but so far, it has elicited remarkable responses and several other medical doctors who have seen the innovation are impressed.


DT: How much did the research cost?

Bala: For now, I can’t give you the actual amount, but be assured that all the machines will be affordable. For the ventilator, we will continue to work with medical doctors to fine-tune the machine as we are going to have a pre-clinical trial and clinical trial before the final delivery. We are not going to skip the protocol required to get it to work.

DT: What do you need to be able to produce in commercial quantity?

Bala: We will need standard devices from tested and verified OEMs like electric motors and so on. Rather than importing already made ventilators, the government should give us financial support and access to these machines, either those made in this country so that we can use them for our own production, or have them imported in large quantity so that we can use them to design our systems.

DT: Who are your team members?

Bala: I, Faisal Sani Bala, am the team leader. We have Engineer Aliyu Sambo, Engineer Aminu Muhammed Wunti, Mr Moses Adebayo, Miss Jennifer Kelechukwu, Nasir Nasir, Aliyu Hassan, with support from Engineers Fatai and Muhammad Shehu Azare from the Technology Incubation Centre

No fewer than 16,744 poor households have received N20,000 each in the ongoing implementation of the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programme in Kaduna State.

The Federal Government is disbursing N446.5 million to 22,380 vulnerable households under the scheme to cushion the effects of coronavirus pandemic impact in the state.

The Head of the Cash Transfer Unit in the state, Hajiya Hauwa Abdulrazaq, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ikara Local Government Area of the state.

Abdulrazaq said that the disbursement which took place between April 7 and 15 had been concluded in eight out of the nine benefiting Local Government Areas of the state.

She explained that the programme began in the state in 2017 with about 10,000 beneficiaries, but expanded to 22,380 beneficiaries in the current year. Abdulrazaq identified the benefiting councils as Chikun, Birnin Gwari, Ikara, Kachia, Kauru, Kubau, Kajuru, Lere and Sanga. According to her, 22,040 of the 22,380 beneficiaries received N20,000 each being payment for the months of January, February, March and April at N5000 per month.

She added that 340 new beneficiaries, whose payments were to begin from March received N10,000 each being payment for the months of March and April. “So far, N19.7 million has been disbursed to 978 poor households in Sanga; N12.2 million to 604 beneficiaries in Kachia and N69.1 million to 3,487 households in Lere LGA. “We have also disbursed N34.1 million to 1, 720 households in Kauru, more than N62.3 million to 3,108 beneficiaries in Kajuru, N41.2 million to 2,053 in Kubau and N34.1 million to 1,719 beneficiaries in Chikun.

“We have just concluded the disbursement of N61 million to 3,075 beneficiaries in Ikara local government area,” she said. The official said that the exercise would be concluded on April 21, with the disbursement of N112.8 million to 5,636 vulnerable households in Birnin Gwari council. She said that more vulnerable household would be captured in the Social Register to increase the number of beneficiaries in the state. “In fact, more than 14,000 new beneficiaries have were enrolled in March, their names had been sent to the national office for approval.

“I am sure that Kaduna state would also benefit from the one million vulnerable households that would be added in the Social Register as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari,” she said. NAN reports that the exercise in Chikun and Ikara areas was hitch-free as most of the beneficiaries expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the support. (NAN)