Coach Augustine Eguavoen says his squad “is on a momentum” as they prepare for Tuesday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.
Super Eagles began their campaign in the 2025 AFCON Qualifier on a bright note with a 3-0 thrashing of Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday.
“We have the right mentality now, and the mood in camp is excellent.
“Everyone in camp is eager for us to pick up the three points in Rwanda and stay firmly on top of the qualifying table.
“We are here for business and I am happy that everyone is on the same page.
“I am also happy that we have arrived here in good time, and the players can rest well while we look forward to the official training on Monday afternoon,” he said.
The Nigerian delegation to Tuesday’s match, which departed the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo at 12.48 p.m. on Sunday, landed at the Kigali International Airport at 4.20 p.m.(Nigeria time)
The delegation, which included 23 players and the team’s officials, was led by President of NFF, Ibrahim Gusau.
Others were; NFF 1st Vice President Felix Anyansi-Agwu and a couple of Executive Committee Members, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, a couple of NFF Staff, few stakeholders and few media representatives.
Team captain William Ekong said: “There is nothing much to say other than that we are here for a purpose.
“Our target is the three points, and we have spoken among ourselves on the imperative of going hard for it from the first blast of the referee’s whistle.
“It is going to be a tough game because Rwanda have a good team and got a point from their first match. We must not relent throughout the 90 minutes.”
NAN also reports that the Amavubi of Rwanda forced Libya’s Mediterranean Knights to a 1-1 draw in Tripoli in their own Matchday 1 encounter.
Tuesday’s match will kick off at 3 p.m. Rwanda time (2pm Nigeria time).
Rwandan political critic Paul Rusesabagina, internationally renowned for saving hundreds of people during the Tutsi genocide in 1994, denounced on Saturday the situation in the country.
In his first public address since his surprise release from prison last March, the vocal opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame described the regime as authoritarian.
The message was launched on a social media platform to coincide with Rwanda’s proclamation of independence on July 1st, 1962.
Human rights activists accuse Rwanda – ruled with an iron fist by President Paul Kagame since the end of the genocide in which 800,000 people were killed, of repressing freedom of expression and opposition.
Ghana Power Producers Call Off Shutdown After Interim Deal Reached
Ghana’s independent power producers have announced the suspension of a planned shutdown starting on July 1st.
In a statement released late on Friday, the group announced having reached a deal with state-run Electricity Company of Ghana over arrears owed to them.
In May, the group of independent power producers rejected a government proposal to restructure $1.58 billion in arrears owed to them by the state as part of the West African nation’s efforts to implement a $3 billion loan deal from the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
The loan from the International Monetary Fund is aimed at addressing Ghana’s worst economic crisis in a generation.
According to the statement, under the new agreement, the power producers have received an interim payment offer with the understanding the government and Electricity Company of Ghana will use the grace period to work towards a permanent resolution to the debt issue.
President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Wednesday for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), being held from June 20 to 26.
The theme for CHOGM 2022 is, “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming.”
The President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to Adesina, the president will join other leaders in discussions on the progress and prosperity of the more than two billion people living in the 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that make up the Commonwealth.
“The Heads of Government are expected to reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Commonwealth Charter, which focuses on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, as well as economic opportunities and sustainable development,” he said.
The Nigerian leader, according to the media aide, will attend the official opening ceremony on June 24, followed by high-level meetings of Heads of State and Government on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June.
He said: “The leaders are expected to consider a range of topical issues including post COVID-19 economic recovery, debt sustainability, climate change, poverty reduction, youth entrepreneurship and employment, trade and food security.
“Prior to this, the Nigerian delegation drawn from the public, private and youth organisations participated in four forums covering youth, women, business and civil society; and will engage in ministerial meetings and several side events.
“On the margins of the meeting, the Nigerian leader is scheduled to deliver remarks at the High-Level Session of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Summit and participate in an Intergenerational Dialogue for Youth.
“President Buhari is also expected to hold bilateral talks with some leaders from the Commonwealth countries,” he further stated.
The biennial meeting was due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Buhari, in an article published in The Telegraph, London, stressed that the Commonwealth could become a real global power with improved collaborations on trade and security, lending weight to each other in international bodies.
The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami.
Others in the president’s entourage are the National Security Adviser, retired Maj.-Gen Babagana Monguno, Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i and the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NidCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
The President will return to the country on Sunday, June 26.
The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says Nigeria is set to hold a smart cities summit in June as part of efforts by the Federal Government to develop the ICT sector in the country.
Mr. Shittu disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on the sideline of the Transform Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, an ICT conference focused on development of smart cities.
The minister, who said the plan was to replicate the unparalleled ICT transformation of Rwanda in Nigeria, said the “Smart Cities Nigeria 2017 Summit” was scheduled for June 28 and 29.
NAN reports that a smart city is an urban development vision to integrate in ICT and Internet of Things (IoT) technology in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets
The initiative aims at leveraging technology solutions to improve efficiency of cities.
Rwanda which is spearheading the initiative has rolled out a number of developments such as WiFi in public areas, including public transport vehicles, as well as cashless payment systems in public transport.
Currently, the initiative is backed by 18 African countries while more nations including Nigeria are expected to join.
While explaining further on the Smart Cities Summit, Mr. Shittu said Nigeria was starting late but steadily.
“I will say that we have some delays within the government operations we ought to have unleashed some of these ideas in the Nigerian scene more than eight months ago.
“In consonance with our desire to pursue all initiative in the ICT transformation including smart cities we have planned a summit.
“The summit is with the theme `Smart Cities Nigeria 2017’ fixed for 28 and 29 of June, this year, is with a view to getting the buy in of stakeholders in the Nigeria projects.
“From that point, we will kick off and there would not be any stoppage,” he said.
Mr. Shittu said the Smart cities project would provide the opportunity to get a buy in of all stakeholders in the Nigerian project.
According to him, Nigeria needs the buy-in of all stakeholders especially that of the state governments if the ICT transformation project is to work.
“To transform Nigeria using ICT we need the buy-in of all states that must get it right from the onset that ICT is the way to go.
“Of course, we would demand the patriotic participation of all states,” he said.
He also said that government was seeking foreign investments into the country’s ICT sectors to fast-track the digital transformation agenda in the country.
The minister said that he had spoken with some foreign investors to that effect.
“I have had the privilege of speaking with a lot of foreign investors persuading them to come to Nigeria because Nigeria offers a lot of advantage in terms of the huge population.
“On the West African sector of the African continent, Nigeria’s population is more than that of the other 14 countries. That means that there is a huge market and any investor who comes will never regret.
“I have spoken with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Strive Masiyuwa, Chairman and founder of Econet Wireless, as well as Inmarsat, among others.
“In fact, Inmarsat will be coming to Nigeria for a meeting in first week of June. I have spoken with Korean Telecommunications,” he said.
Mr. Shittu said that when he went to Rwanda four months ago he spoke with them and put in application for them to bring in smart towers to Nigeria, adding that the process was still ongoing.
“I have renewed our bid for them to come and invest in solar based tower stations and I am confident that once they come, it will be a leap jump towards our having enough infrastructure for the steady progress of ICT,” he said.
The Minister of Communication, Mr Adebayo Shittu, has described the Internet as a resourceful tool that could be employed to transform Nigeria’s education sector and contribute to economic transformation of the continent.
Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu.
Shittu stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kigali on Friday.
He was commenting on a report of a new study on internet released at the African Regional Internet and Development Dialogue in Kigali by the Internet Society.
The minister, who commended the study, stressed that internet was not only the future of education but of other sectors such as commerce, transportation, health, governance among others.
Shittu said Nigeria was putting in place mechanism to take its rightful place on the continent and world’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
He said that the present administration had invested and still investing in the development of ICT and had also created favourable environment to attract investors to the sector.
The study, which results were released in Kigali, showed that internet offers an opportunity for addressing the learning needs of diverse groups in Africa.
This, it stated, included the bulk of learners that are currently out of school.
The study titled: “Internet for Education in Africa,” stated that a blended learning environment that leverages internet could potentially help connect education to work and improve the skills that allow youths to access employment.
“It could also help empower lifelong learners, and importantly, support women, girls and disabled people to participate in learning without space, time and other cultural and social barriers.”
It described blended learning as an education system that combines online digital media with traditional classroom methods.
“The participation in the global economy is now dependent on 21st century skills, which includes the ability to navigate in the digital world.
‘‘Progress in countries like India, China and South Korea shows that connectivity serves as a foundation for access to information economy jobs and advancing innovations,” it stated.
The study shows that in Africa, using internet for learning is a real possibility.
It added that more than a quarter of the African population (334 million) has access to internet, the majority of which are young people.
According to the study, there are 147 million Facebook users in Africa as of June 2016.
It, however, noted that such access to internet and use of social media had not been harnessed systematically to advance education and learning at individual and institutional levels.
The study said there was hope that internet and ICT can transform the education landscape in Africa, but that there are still challenges blocking internet use in education in Africa.
These, it stated, included limited literacy and skills that are needed to participate in the Internet economy and lack of infrastructure to host and exchange locally available content.
Others, it stated, are inadequate supportive infrastructure such as electricity, and high taxes on ICT hardware and software, among others.
Dr Lishan Adam, one of the lead researchers behind the study, said it was also part of reviewing the position of Africa in global education commitments.
“As internet is growing, educational challenges are advancing and normally the two are not supposed to be intersecting.
‘‘What we are trying to do is to look at where we are in terms of providing access to quality education, which is in line with the global education commitments under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
‘‘The education targets of the SDGs, among others aim to ensure universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education, achieve gender equity among learners, ensure disabled learners attain equal education, and foster youth employability,” he said.
To achieve this, Adam stated that improved connectivity in the region and the vast learning resources that are available over the internet are useful.
According to him, while access to mobile broadband has increased in urban areas, last-mile connectivity remains a challenge.
‘‘With about half of the population more than 25kilometres from the nearest fiber connection, broadband connection in rural areas remains very low.
‘‘With over 70 per cent of the population living in rural areas, the majority who need internet the most, such as rural schools, do not have it,” he said.
