₦airaland Forum

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has warned that the number of deaths as a result of fake drugs is escalating.

This is just as the drug law enforcement agency stressed that “In every 10 drugs you buy, there is a high probability that seven of them are fake.”

Speaking during a sensitisation workshop organised by Christabell International Organisation, CIO, for the Onitsha Branch of the National Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers, NAPMED, the representatives of NDLEA and the organiser agreed that something urgent must be done to address the problem.

Deputy State Commander, NDLEA, Anambra State, in charge of Operations and Intelligence, Adewumi Alfred, said the proliferation, consumption, and abuse of illicit drugs are high in Nigeria, adding that recent report revealed that about 70 per cent of all the drugs in the market are fake.

He said: “In every ten drugs you buy, there is a high probability that seven of them are fake. If that is not alarming, I don’t know what can be alarming in Nigeria, there is also a further research work that shows that in the South East, the number of deaths as a result of fake drugs is escalating.”

ogatboy:
And the ones in New zealand are muslims before being human??

By Titilola Oludimu

In May 2018, Twitter officially released the Account Activity API to help developers build solutions that enable businesses create better customer engagement experiences on its platform.

On the team of engineers that worked on the API is Babatunde Fashola, a Nigerian software engineer that has worked at Twitter for the past three years building products now used by millions of people around the world.

Many Nigerians may recognise the Twitter software engineer’s name as that of the former Lagos state governor and current Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

“I get that a lot,” says Tunde in a recent chat with Techpoint, “My name is Babatunde Olaide Fashola”.

Tunde was in Nigeria recently and during our chat, he shared his story; from name references to the minister, his medical background to working with one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

From medical physiology to tech

Babatunde described his introduction to computer science in secondary school as being too abstract for him. As a result, he failed the subject and never dreamt of pursuing a career related to it. Instead, he aspired to become a medical doctor.

“Asides the fact that I sucked at computer science, coming from an African background, the goal was to either become a medical doctor or an engineer.”

He eventually enrolled at the University of Ibadan (UI) to study medical physiology. After Tunde graduated in 2009 and observed his compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service year, he was back home with nothing to do.

While waiting for something to come along, Tunde began teaching himself Java programming.


“Electricity and Internet access were the major challenges I faced when I was learning how to code. There were days when I had to write my code on a piece of paper and wait till there was power to compile them.”

Things became even worse when his computer developed some issues. Then, he’d have to borrow his younger brother’s laptop for a few hours everyday to type in code he had written on pieces of paper.

After learning the basics of Java programming on his own, Tunde enrolled at Aptech, a Lagos-based IT training institute where he got his certification in Java programming.

“After I got my certification at Aptech, I got a job as a medical rep. I did that for about three months. I wasn’t so good at it so I quit and got a job as an instructor at Aptech.”

He didn’t teach at Aptech for too long either. After about three months, he quit and took a job as a Java programmer at a software company based in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Tunde worked at the company for another three months before he left Nigeria to get his master’s degree in the U.S.

From Nigeria to the U.S

In 2013, Babatunde Fashola enrolled at the Morgan State University, Maryland to pursue a master’s degree in bioinformatics.

“The programme entails using information tech to solve biological problems. I chose it because I wanted a merger between physiology and tech.”

Interestingly, while he was studying bioinformatics, Babatunde began leaning heavily on the tech side of the course and at one point became a leading software developer for the Morgan State University. He built some solutions for the school and reported directly to the school’s chief information officer (CIO) at the time.

“I also led a team of undergraduate students who were building a solution for the school’s admissions department. The more I built solutions, the more I realised that it was much more fun and interesting.”

However, nothing drove Tunde towards software engineering as much as the narrative that there weren’t many black software engineers in Silicon Valley. His anger towards this narrative was fueled in 2014 when he attended an information session.

“I was so livid that anyone would think that. So I decided to prove this narrative wrong by approaching several software companies in The Valley and requesting for an interview".

It was at this point that Babatunde Fashola knew that he wanted to pursue a career in software engineering.


Joining Twitter

Still on a quest to change the narrative about black software engineers in Silicon Valley, Babatunde would attend several conferences to meet recruiters and ask to take their tests and interviews.

This was when he came across a Twitter representative. He took the company’s recruitment test, passed and joined the team as a software engineering intern in 2015.

“I did a great job during the internship and was retained.”

During the summer of 2015, right after his internship at Twitter, Tunde got a software engineering-related research job at IBM. He returned to Twitter after the summer to resume as a software engineer at the company in January 2016.

Working at Twitter

“There was a culture shock for sure. I went from being used to a culture of 9 to 5 in Nigeria to a work environment where people take their jobs like a religion. You leave when you get your work done and can be called upon anytime the need arises. Until then, I thought only doctors could be on call, I never knew software engineers could be on call as well. I love the work ethic at Twitter.”

At Twitter, Babatunde takes pride in working with one of the best software engineering teams in the world and working on products being used by millions of people all over the world.


“The fact that one can impact the world by just typing some keys on a keyboard is actually very powerful.”

However, this power, according to Tunde comes with a lot of responsibilities. In addition to working alongside his team to help people around the world use Twitter as a positive tool, he also works alongside other software engineers to help bring in more black talents into Silicon Valley.

“The awareness is there. We’re beginning to see more diverse intern classes and work spaces all around Silicon Valley. It’s not where we want to be but it’s getting better.”

Looking back at his transition from a medical physiology graduate to a self-taught Java programmer back when he first started, Babatunde says his journey into tech would have been much easier if he had gotten some mentorship.

Currently, as a member of the /dev/color community which empowers black software engineers to help one another, he’s getting some help and mentorship from his fellow black engineers.

“Being a software engineer is not just about writing code; you might possibly need help with that. But also with navigating the tech space and progressing in your career. This information is not readily available so you need to have discussions with and seek advice from those who have gone ahead of you.”

When Tunde is not working on Twitter products, he enjoys reading books, hiking, skiing, hanging out with friends and playing soccer (football).

Babatunde Fashola loves his job at Twitter and says he’d only consider coming back home to Nigeria to set up something “for the right things and for the right reasons.”

dammiecool:
I don't think ibo candidate is possible in apc, ss even stand a better chance Dan se, d possibility is higher in PDP dat is if dey don't sell their rights to d North

Gbenga Olarinoye, Osogbo

The campaign organization of Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, a former aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the September 22, 2018 Osun State governorship election, has absolved its principal of blame on legal issues the PDP candidate in the election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is passing through.

Adeleke Ogunbiyi came second in the PDP primary and went ahead to challenge how Adeleke emerged the party’s candidate.

But following Tuesday’s judgment of a Bwari High Court which faulted Adeleke qualification to contest in the governorship election, tongues had been wagging in some quarters that Ogunbiyi was behind it.

However, in a statement in Osogbo by the Director of Strategy of Idera de Movement, Mr Kunle Omolere, the campaign organization said Adeleke’s examination malpractice matter and subsequent investigation by the police predated the PDP primary and gubernatorial elections.

“That some members of the PDP have exercised their rights to explore judiciary intervention on a perceived injustice is within their rights. It is also on record that the opposition party and other interested members of the public who have axe to grind with Senator Ademola have approached the court”, the statement said.

"It is on record that the only case instituted by Dr Ogunbiyi was that of Osun West Senatorial ticket which was brazenly taken away from him after all reconciliations to the contrary. The case had long been decided and the rest is left to posterity.

“Out of sheer mass of hypocrisy, those behind the campaigns of calumny also claimed that a loyal party man does not go to court. But, the self claimed moral compass have never for once condemn any of the myriad of injustice melted on Dr Ogunbiyi for no just cause.

"Also, a number of Senator Ademola Adeleke’s followers maintained that Dr Ogunbiyi should not have been allowed to participate in the controversial governorship primary of the PDP, claiming that he is new to the party. The highly biased elements deliberately failed to acknowledge various contributions Dr Ogunbiyi had made and is still making to support the party as far back as 2016.

"In their cluelessness and spurious claims, they also failed to consider the fact that Senator Ademola Adeleke himself decamped from APC to PDP and clinched PDP’s Osun West senatorial ticket within 24 hours in 2017″.

festacman:
There is nowhere it is written in Nigerian Constitution that Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has to congratulate a president-elect to validate his election.

Moreover, It is rather naive for a man of God and President of CAN to make this careless statement.

Maduawuchukwu:
Patricia Etteh was during Yaraduas tenure not Obj and she was quickly replaced with Dimeji Bankole who was a Muslim.

Amitez:
Again, Gbaja will lose ... HOR and Senate leadership can both not be Muslims. Simple balance of power. You can argue with your spirit but any Christian candidate will receive overwhelming support from PDP. Do not also forget the Dogara factor. APC votes will be split into 60/40 while PDP will break the expected tie.

Maduawuchukwu:
Patricia Etteh was during Yaraduas tenure not Obj and she was quickly replaced with Dimeji Bankole who was a Muslim.

SweetGist:
and may God punish u for wishing evil on my state. This is not about politics, it's about u not using ur sense rightly. Idiotic baboon.. U ought to had been flushed down the toilet.
4ck you
4ck saraki
4ck anyone who cosign your comment

SweetGist:
and may God punish u for wishing evil on my state. This is not about politics, it's about u not using ur sense rightly. Idiotic baboon.. U ought to had been flushed down the toilet.
4ck you
4ck saraki
4ck anyone who cosign your comment

Donmedra:
pain for what? Like northerners are voting for slaves people over their own? Mumu

InaNla:
Hope you are already on your way to support Gandollar?