Stakeholders want teaching of leadership, entrepreneurship as subject in schools

With continuous decline in moral values and lack of good virtues among Nigerian youths, stakeholders have called on managers of the country’s educational system to facilitate the teaching of leadership and entrepreneurship as a subject in all schools.

They made the call at the launching of a book titled, Leadership and entrepreneurship series, co-authored by Chief Executive Officer, Crystal Marketing Centre Ltd, Dipo Ojedeji and creative director, Manners and Conduct, Aderonke Faseru.

The stakeholders regretted that social vices and societal ills are multiplying by the day, thus the need for government at all levels to begin to redirect the minds of the youths and expose them to good traits of leadership and entrepreneurial education.

Vice chancellor, Caleb University, Prof. Ayandiji Aina, who described the attitude of most Nigerian youths as unsatisfactory, pointed out that majority of them lack skills, mentorship and moral values, which he described as a threat to the country.

Citing so many nefarious acts the contemporary youths usually engage in at homes and in schools, he stated that from all indication parenting has gone wrong in the society.

He said, “We recently had conference on revitalising Nigerian education system, and I have come to realise that we cannot revitalise without doing something in the feeder system.

If the foundation is wrong, there is nothing we can do at higher education level.

Thus I recommend this book for all schools as it has lesson plans that will enable teachers inculcate leadership traits and stimulate entrepreneurial spirits of leaners at early age.”

Tobi Lawal, who chaired the event, said Nigerian youths are highly intelligent and hard working but lack mentorship and direction.

Teaching of leadership and entrepreneurship in practical terms is key.

They must be made to understand that attitude, integrity and passion are imperative to living a responsible life.

The book reviewer and education consultant, Busola Adegbaju, said the 17-chapter book, which is divided into two segments-leadership and entrepreneurship, regretted that Nigerians are known for high intellectual prowess, but applying it to realities of life is a challenge.

Describing lack of application of knowledge to real life as a huge gap, which must be bridged, she said issues of leadership and skills must be prioritised in Nigerian schools.

“I have read a lot of books, and I have not seen one with this volume of activity pages. This will encourage collaboration among pupils.

The author was able to develop a curriculum in the book and this is laudable, as it will stimulate hands-on activities and enable learners to be explorative.

This is the standard in developed climes but unfortunately it is lacking in our schools.”

The authors urged both the federal and state governments to ensure that leadership and entrepreneurship is separated from civic education and prioritised in teaching and learning.

We resorted to illegally escorting goods since 2015 - Dismissed military personnel

- They were arrested for allegedly hijacking a truck carrying N13.5 million worth of goods - They were dismissed from the military in 2015 and have since resorted to escorting goods for survival Two dismissed military men arrested in Lagos for allegedly hijacking a truck carrying N13.5 million worth of goods have allegedly confessed to be involved in illegal escort of goods since 2015 as a way of surviving after their dismissal from military service. They were described by the Lagos state police command as leaders of an armed robbery gang that had been hijacking trucks and diverting goods on highways, Daily Trust reports. NUCBLOG.com gathers that the military personnel were identified as Moses Johnson, a former lance corporal in the Nigerian Army, his counterpart in the Nigerian Air Force, Akintola Abiodun. Another suspect identified as Osegbu Chidi, was allegedly parading himself as an Army lance corporal. 

Speaking with newsmen on Wednesday, September 5, Johnson said: “I never knew that this one was hijacked. I only got a call as usual from Oje Oloja to escort a truck from Ajah to Epe. They have not even paid us before our arrest. What happened was that a truck ran into our vehicle. "While we were arguing, Oloja came and ordered one man to drive the truck away. I was at home when someone called to say that I should come for another escort job. I was arrested on arrival." According to the police,on September 2, 2018, the suspects intercepted a truck registration number LSR 266XW, laden with groundnut oil and valued at N13.5 million at Epe, Lagos. The commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, said: “At about 22.30 hours, policemen on stop-and-search duty saw the truck coming and intercepted it. In the process, Monday and Emeka were arrested, and during interrogation, they mentioned Johnson, Abiodun and Chidi as part of the people that hijacked the truck. The truck and goods were recovered intact and the suspects had been identified by the victims. They will soon be charged to court.” 

Air Force launches Operation Thunder Strike 2 against Boko Haram

The Operation, which commenced on Monday, 3 September 2018, is an independent Air Interdiction Operation targeting selected BHT locations within the fringes of Lake Chad and Sambisa Forest in Borno state, with a view to further degrading the remnants of the insurgents, curtailing their freedom of action and denying them bases from which they could launch attacks against our ground troops’ locations. On Day 2 of the Operation, September 4, 2018, air strikes by NAF aircraft resulted in the destruction of BHT hideouts and neutralization of scores of insurgents at 3 locations namely; Tumbun Rego, Sabon Tumbun and Tumbun Allura, all on the fringes of the Lake Chad. Tumbun Rego, which is located about 140Km Northeast of Maiduguri, has been identified as a major logistics/communications base and staging area for the insurgents. Accordingly, the ATF detailed F-7Ni and Alpha Jet aircraft to attack the identified BHT logistics/communications hubs. 

The identified hubs were subsequently destroyed by the strikes. Similarly, a number of solar panels were spotted and destroyed during the attack. The attack on Sabon Tumbun was undertaken based on Human Intelligence reports, which were later confirmed following several days of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, indicating that the settlement was a BHT tactical operations base. The settlement also had some equipment and vehicles cleverly concealed under thick foliage. Accordingly, the settlement was attacked in successive waves of strikes by Alpha Jet, F-7Ni and Mi-35M Helicopter Gunships, leading to the destruction of BHT facilities, equipment and structures in the settlement as well as the neutralization of several insurgents. Tumbun Allura, another major BHT operations base on the fringes of the Lake Chad, was attacked by Alpha Jet and F-7Ni aircraft. Overhead the area of interest, several of the BHTs were observed and the objective attacked leading to the complete destruction of one of the specific target buildings under a tree. Many of the fleeing insurgents were also mopped up by subsequent follow-on attacks.

Only 4 varsities approved to run e-Learning degree programmes —NUC

The four universities as listed by the commission are the University of Uyo; National Open University of Nigeria; Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and University of Maiduguri.

Director, Information and Public Relations of NUC, Mr Ibrahim Yakasai, however, warned that the commission maintains its stand that online degrees are not accepted in Nigeria at the moment.

He added this ban does not include the four universities earlier mentioned, which have been duly approved by the commission as the pilot institutions for the Nigerian universities e-Learning programme run within the shores of Nigeria.

NUC had blacklisted about 57 illegal universities in Nigeria, with some of them running online degree programmes in affiliation with some foreign universities.

But Yakasai said the Nigerian Universities e-Learning Programme is a legitimate and well thought-out pilot e-Learning initiative. It is a public-private-partnership between NUC, Park Associates e-Learning Group and the four federal universities.

He added that its goal is to provide new opportunities for students to access university education in Nigeria.

He said the students enrolled for the programme could select any of the following undergraduate degree programmes: Economics, Banking & Finance, Accounting, Business Administration and Marketing, for which they have requisite qualifications.

NUC in its weekly bulletin obtained by the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja said: “The Commission wishes to use this medium to allay all fears and doubts concerning the legitimacy or NUC endorsement of the Nigerian Universities e-Learning Programme.

“This is one of the avenues that the National Universities Commission is exploring to increase access to university education without compromising quality.

“Students in the programme are therefore advised to continue to pursue their studies without fear, and prospective applicants are encouraged to enrol.

“Concerned parents, guardians, students and the general public may contact the commission for further clarification on the programme,”

Smart bed - New Technology 2017

The Sleep Number 360 smart bed is designed to keep you comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically adjusting your position to keep you sleeping blissfully.

It works even when there are two people in the bed, can warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster, and even raise you head to stop snoring.

Ford just invested $1 billion in self-driving cars

The race to build a self-driving car keeps getting more intense -- and expensive.

Ford (F) announced Friday afternoon it would invest $1 billion over five years in a previously unheard of startup. Argo AI, led by Google and Uber veterans, will combine with Ford's existing team to develop a fully self-driving car.

It's the latest high-priced investment that a major company has made in self-driving car engineers.

Almost a year ago, General Motors (GM) spent $1 billion to acquire Cruise Automation. And last August, Uber spent $680 million on Otto, a self-driving car startup led by former Google (GOOGL, Tech30) engineers that hadn't even existed a year before.

Related: You car's data may soon be more valuable than the car itself

Argo AI is a startup that hadn't even been publicly announced. And Ford hasn't acquired all of the startup, it's only the majority stockholder. Argo AI engineers will have equity in the company, which should help it attract talent. Other companies have tried similar arrangements amid intense competition for qualified engineers.

When Google spun off its self-driving car project as Waymo in December, CEO John Krafcik said the arrangement would help it to better align incentives for employees.

Argo AI plans to have 200 employees by year's end. They will be split between Silicon Valley, Michigan and Pittsburgh.

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky spent three years working at Google's self-driving car program. He left in 2016. His cofounder, Peter Rander, spent nearly two years working on Uber's autonomous vehicle team in Pittsburgh.

Experts have long warned that legacy automakers such as Ford risk being disrupted by tech companies like Google. Tech companies have the software expertise that is necessary to build a safe self-driving car.

The doomsday scenario for automakers is to turn into Nokia, which was a global leader in cell phones -- until Apple unveiled the iPhone. Nokia wasn't able to keep up during the smartphone revolution and watched as SiIlicon Valley titans Apple (AAPL, Tech30) and Google sucked up their profits.

Ford is clearly willing to spend a lot of money to avoid such a fate.

CNNMoney (Washington)

Apple CEO Tim Cook calls for "massive campaign" against fake news

Apple CEO Tim Cook wants the tech industry to take action against "fake news" stories that are polluting the web.

"There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic," Cook said in a rare interview.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Cook also said "all of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news."

Other leading tech company CEOs, like Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have spoken about the problem in recent months. But Cook's comments were much more frank.

According to the Telegraph, he said made-up stories and hoaxes are "killing people's minds."

And he called the "fake news" plague "a big problem in a lot of the world."

The term "fake news" was originally coined to describe online stories that are designed to deceive readers. Often times these stories are shared on Facebook and other social networking sites to generate profits for the creators. Other times the stories are essentially propaganda made up for political purposes.

These kinds of stories received widespread attention before and after the American election. Fictional stories with titles like "Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president" won millions of clicks.

It can be very difficult for web surfers to tell the difference between legitimate news sources and fakes.

That's where companies like Apple come in.

In the Telegraph interview -- part of a multi-day European trip -- Cook said "too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven't figured out what to do."

He urged both technological and intellectual solutions.

"We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will," Cook told the newspaper.

What he described is music to the ears of media literacy advocates.

"It's almost as if a new course is required for the modern kid, for the digital kid," Cook said.

There are scattered efforts in some schools to teach media literacy, with a focus on digital skills, but it is by no means universal.

When asked if Apple would commit to funding a PSA campaign, an Apple spokesman said the company had no further comment on Cook's interview.

The Apple CEO also suggested that tech companies can help weed out fake stories, though he added, "We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press."

Apple's own Apple News app has been credited with being a relatively reliable place to find information.

The company "reviews publishers who join Apple News," BuzzFeed noted last December.

And the app has a "report-a-concern function where users can flag fake news or hate speech."

Facebook recently started working with fact-checkers to test "warning labels" that show up when users share made-up stories.

Cook, in the newspaper interview, expressed optimism that the "fake news" plague is a "short-term thing -- I don't believe that people want that at the end of the day."