Nigerian Navy sustains surveillance in Gulf of Guinea

The Nigerian Navy (NN) has sustained presence of her capital ships at sea as well as directed operations bases to enhance efforts to dominate their Areas of Operations, In response to recent spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

The Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Ayo-Vanghan said the spate of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) within the last 10 years reduced to an all time low in 2022.

He said that while concerted efforts were being made to reduce piracy within the GoG to its lowest minimum, two unfortunate incidences were recorded within the region in the last three weeks.

According to him, the first incident which involved the hijack of Motor Tanker (MT) MONJASA REFORMER, occurred on March 25 at a location144 nautical mile (nm) West-South-West (WSW) of Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.

He said it was later discovered that the pirates abducted six crew members from the vessel.

“The second incident involved the hijack of MT SUCCESS-9 about 306 nm SW of Abidjan Fairway Buoy (FWB), Cote d’Ivoire on April 10.

Ramadan Timing Day 27

“It is pertinent to state that the NN vectored Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) GONGOLA to rendezvous MT MONJASA REFORMER in company of NNS KANO and a French Warship to escort the vessel to Lome, Togo.

“The NN has equally continued to employ her surveillance infrastructure to monitor shipping activities within the nation’s maritime environment and will continue to exploit intelligence to track activities of criminals, to maintain sanctity of the Nigerian Maritime Environment (NME).

“To this end, the NN enjoins all seafarers to continue to carry out their legitimate businesses without fear,” he said.

The naval spokesman said that no incident of piracy had occurred within NME, adding that the area remained safe for maritime and economic activities.

He gave assurance that NN would continue to sustain credible presence to deter any form of criminality.

“In securing the NME and GoG in general, the NN appreciates the efforts of international partners under the Coordinated Maritime Presence arrangement as well as the support of other maritime stakeholders that play other roles in the collective security of the GoG,” he added. (NAN)

Foundation moves to transform teachers from analog to digital

AKaduna-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Emerald-Isle Foundation (EIF) on Monday began a five-day training of primary school teachers on digital literacy in Kaduna State.

EIF Chief Executive Officer, Ms Evelyn Ode, said at the opening of the training at Queen Amina College Kakuri, Kaduna, that the aim was to transform the teachers from analogue to digital teachers.

Ode said that the training was organised in partnership with the Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM), IHIFIX Foundation, Queen Amina College, LEAP Africa, and the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development (CALPED).

Ode said that 25 teachers from Local Education Authority Primary School, Nasarawa I, would be trained as a pilot, on basic digital skills, under EIF Train the Tutor Project, designed to improve the capacity of teachers.

This, according to her, is in line with the foundation’s focus on helping underserved children to gain access to quality education that will help them actualize their full potential.

She added that the training was the second phase, designed to build the capacity of teachers to leverage on digital devices to teach in class with a view to improve learning outcomes.

According to her, the goal is to improve teaching and learning outcomes in public and private schools in Kaduna in line with the current digital age.

“The world is evolving, and teaching and learning processes have gone digital.

“Therefore. Our teachers must not be left behind; they must be equipped with the needed digital skills to be able to use digital devices to improve their teaching delivery in the classroom.”

Ode said that the foundation had earlier improved the teachers’ teaching practices with a focus on classroom management and taking advantage of child development stages to impact the needed knowledge.

She explained that digital skills training became necessary to bridge identified gaps during the foundation’s Literacy Drive Project to improve learners’ reading skills using phonics (sounds of letters).

“We noticed the teachers’

Inadequate skills in the usage of the internet to source for relevant materials to enrich their lesson plans.

“We then decided to train the teachers on the basics of computers, how computers operate, and how they can use online platforms to source for materials to enrich their lesson plans and notes.

“This, in the long run, will trickle down to the learners and improve their learning outcomes,” she said.

The Head Teacher of the school, Mrs Victoria Ayuba, thanked EIF for the gesture which she described as very crucial to effective teaching and learning.

Alhaji Musa Mubarak has emerged winner of Sunday’s governorship primary election of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kogi.

Mubarak, popularly known as “Emperor’’ scored 607 votes to defeat his closet rival, Pastor Felix Oni, who scored 44 votes, while the second runner-up, Alhaji Hassan Bawa scored three votes.

Three other aspirants, Sen Adbulrahman Abubakar, Alhaji Aliyu Ali and Mr Kamaldeen Yakubu, stepped down from the race and supported Mubarak.

The election was witnessed by INEC officials.