Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state and his aides reportedly survived an aircraft crash after the private jet they had boarded, caught fire just before take off.

According to a report by Leadership, by a stroke of luck, on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, a Bombadier Global Express 6000, owned by billionaire businessman, Chief Adedeji Adeleke, caught fire at take-off point at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

Chief Adedeji Adeleke is the father of singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido and is also the brother of Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke.

The fire incident reportedly occured at the domestic wing of the Airport at about 9am on the said date when the jet was about to take off from Lagos to Abuja. 

The report stated that the jet with Governor Adeleke and his aides on board, had taxied to the end of the runway shortly before departure when a loud explosion was heard from the engine of the jet, causing it to abort take-off immediately.

Before the planned takeoff, the jet had been parked at the Executive Jet hanger of the Airport, the report added.

Sam Iwuajoku, the chief executive officer (CEO), Executive Jets, owners of the hangar where the private jet was parked, disclosed that the Chief Adeleke’s private jet had Foreign Object Damage (FOD) that made the aircraft experience high temperature, which resulted in the explosion.

“At take-off, the engine had high temperature and it was caused by bird nest in one of the engines of the aircraft.

It happened when an aircraft is parked and not properly covered so, birds will build their nest and anything they bring into the aircraft can spark high temperature.” Sam Iwuajoku told the publication. 

“It happened to one of my aircraft in 2021, we had to remove the engine and the engine was in Germany for 14 months. So, it’s a common thing in Africa because we have birds around,” he added

Nigerian singer Teniola Apata, aka Teni Makaniki, has said the assassination of her father, the late Brig. Gen. Simeon Apata (retd.) in her presence greatly affected her.

Speaking in an interview with media personality Taymesan, Teni disclosed that she was two years old when gunmen stormed their Lagos home and murdered her father in the presence of the family.

The ‘Uyo Meyo’ crooner added that this affected her growing up as she has since developed trust issues.

In the interview, shared Sunday by the host Taymesan on Instagram, Teni said, “Growing up with my father passing at such a young age, the trauma of losing my father at a young age affected me.

“You know, him being assassinated in the presence of all of us and all that stuff. I was 2 at the time.

“Him passing away robbed me of a father figure. It sort of made me have trust issues growing up. Because they [gunmen] came into our house purposely to kill him.

“The late Brig. Gen. Simeon Apata (retd.), was assassinated on January 8, 1995.

The federal government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Cuba on food security and agriculture advancement.

The director of information, office of the Vice President, Olusola Abiola, in a statement on Sunday, said the minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, signed the MoU for Nigerian government, in Havana.

The signing of the MoU that was done on the sidelines of the ongoing G77+China Leaders’ Summit took place at the ministry of agriculture of Cuba in the presence of officials from both countries.

Mr Kyari said the Expression of Interest (EOI) was a historic journey to strengthen the ties between Nigeria and Cuba in the field of agriculture.

He commended the willingness of Cuban government to partner with Nigeria, noting that both countries share a common vision for their people.

The minister expressed heartfelt gratitude for the shared insights into Nigeria’s pressing food and agricultural opportunities and challenges.

He also underlined Nigeria’s demographic advantage, vast land resources, immense agricultural potential and President Bola Tinubu’s vision for food and nutrition security.

“It is in this spirit that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development evolved into the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security,” he said.

Mr Kyari also extended a hand of partnership to his Cuban counterparts with a focus on vital areas such as bio-fortification of agricultural produce, improvement of agricultural seeds and seedlings.

He added: “Others were agricultural mechanisation, cutting-edge technologies for increased yields, and the reduction of post-harvest losses.

“Nigeria is keenly interested in collaborating with Cuba in the domains of poultry, livestock, and fisheries.

“Key areas of cooperation include veterinary medicine, vaccine development, artificial insemination, development of pastures and ranching as essential components in curbing the challenges posed by inefficient open grazing of cattle.”

The minister listed other areas to include training, capacity building, and knowledge transfer as the cornerstone of any thriving agricultural economy.

Earlier, Cuba’s minister of agriculture, Ydael Brito, told the Nigerian delegation about the island nation’s agricultural prowess.

He said: “Cuba has over 500,000 hectares under cultivation and remains a global player in the export of tobacco, coffee, honey, and other commodities.”

Mr Brito, who expressed delight at the opportunity to partner with Nigeria, stated that Cuba would provide impactful cooperation in identified areas contained in the MOU.

The host minister also highlighted Cuba’s agricultural human capital and different models of practices which have raised its productivity.

He assured that Cuba would deploy its wealth of experience to help Nigeria achieve its agriculture and food security policies.

Mr Brito said: ” Nigeria will benefit from Cuba’s agriculture capacity in areas such as bilateral relationship encompassing agricultural productivity, sustainability, knowledge sharing and technology transfer.”

Mr Kyari was accompanied to the ceremony by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Cuba, Ben Okoyen and other members of the Nigerian delegation.

The Nigerian delegation to the G77 + China Leaders’ Summit in Cuba was led by Mr Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu.

President Bola Tinubu has officially announced his selection of Jamila Bio Ibrahim as his nominee for the position of minister of youth, putting an issue which has seen speculations and permutations to rest.

Mr Tinubu also appointed Ayodele Olawande as minister of state for youth.

“President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim to serve as the minister of youth, pending her confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The President has further approved the nomination of Mr Ayodele Olawande to serve as the Minister of State for Youth, pending his confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed in a State House press release.

The top candidate for the office, Dayo Israel, who serves as the national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), lost out on the nomination.

Despite his positive outlook in recent months, the defining moment was last month, when a group of influential APC state youth leaders wrote to Mr Tinubu, suggesting that his son, Seyi, be given a say in selecting the country’s youth minister.

It is not immediately clear whether it was the president’s son who nominated Ms Ibrahim and Mr Olawande.

Ms Ibrahim, a prominent medical practitioner, has risen through the ranks. Her recent tenure as the President of the Progressive Young Women Forum (PYWF) showcased her dedication to youth empowerment and advocacy.

Additionally, she has garnered experience in governance as the Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating her commitment to advancing sustainable and inclusive growth.

Alongside her is Mr Olawande who was nominated as the minister of state for youth, subject to Senate approval.

Olawande is a highly regarded community development expert and a prominent youth leader within the All Progressives Congress (APC).

His extensive track record includes a crucial role in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Innovation from 2019 to 2023.

These nominations are now awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

Agboola Dabiri, a former commissioner for youth and social development in Lagos state, has urged residents of the state to embrace urban farming.

Mr Dabiri said this at an agriculture empowerment programme organised by members of Ajuwo Community Development Association in Surulere area of Lagos state, in collaboration with Africanfarmer Mogaji, on Sunday in Lagos.

According to him, embracing urban farming will increase and better their livelihood.

The empowerment programme is titled: “Farm and Profit”.

In his lecture titled, “Global Farming without Boundaries”, Mr Dabiri said that residents must begin to create space for farming in homes, balconies, compounds and garages.

The ex-commissioner noted that he started agribusiness as a young boy in the university because of his passion for food production and business.

He added that agriculture was a huge value chain that included production, processing, marketing, distribution, packaging and many more.

Mr Dabiri urged the residents to develop a passion for any of the value chains to better their lots.

According to him, agriculture has so many areas that they can explore, adding that they can grow vegetables, tubers and also rear animals.

“I don’t know the last time I bought lemon in Abuja. What I did was, I planted seeds in an old sack and that is what I have been using in my home.

“In Masha, here in Surulere, we have the biggest fruit farmers in Lagos. They are very organised and you can also join them by simply identifying where you belong.

“Also, in Surulere, we have one of the largest ram markets and I am a member because I also rear animals.

“You have to look at where you belong and explore all the potential in agriculture. During the last Ileya festival, I sold rams and I made profits, you too can do that. Agric is very profitable.

“I buy my ram myself; rear it myself and give it to my boys to sell during festival. I have already started rearing ram against the next festival.

“Residents of Surulere must come together and see how they can promote urban farming and contribute to the food self-sufficiency of the state,” he said.

Mr Dabiri advised the community development association and the local government council to start a Sunday market in Surulere, for residents to purchase farm produce at cheaper and affordable prices, as well as create a market platform for farmers.

He commended the chairman of Ajuwo CDA, Tunji Adebayo, for organising empowerment programmes for members of his association.

According to him, empowering the community is a lasting legacy that will outlive anybody.

“For you as an individual in the CDA or community, you have to think outside the box on how you can improve your life by leveraging agriculture.

“There is little that government can do, you must look at how to balance it. We all must try and start farming in bags or plastic containers. You can plant yams, vegetables, tomatoes, peppers and plantain.

“As great as America is, a lot of its citizens own private farms and gardens. They do that so that they can also contribute to food production and we can do that here too,” he said.

The air component of Operation Delta Safe has in the last two months, destroyed more than 30 illegal oil refining sites in the strikes around Cawthorne Channel and Bille, in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers.

The director of public relations and information, NAF, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Gabkwet said the air strikes ramped up efforts at denying oil thieves and operators of illegal oil refining sites the opportunity to burst pipelines, operate their illegal oil refinery sites while damaging the environment.

He said the air strikes conducted at Cawthorne Channel on Friday, destroyed four active illegal refining sites with dug-out reservoirs and surface storage tanks suspected to be containing illegally refined products.

According to him, similar air strikes were also conducted at Bille on Saturday and early hours of Sunday which destroyed three illegal oil refining sites with storage tanks and reservoirs were destroyed.

“In one of the sites, a Cotonou boat suspected to be siphoning crude oil from a flow station was engaged in several passes and destroyed.

“In the last two months, Cawthorne Channel and Bille have accounted for the majority of oil theft and illegal oil refining activities in Rivers State.

“Within this period, over 30 illegal oil refining sites in these two locations have been destroyed by the Land, Maritime and Air Components of Operation Delta Safe.

“These efforts will be sustained in these locations and others until oil thieves and their accomplices desist from their illegal activities,” the statement added.

No fewer than five people were confirmed dead on Sunday while 12 others sustained injuries in an accident near the Foursquare Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Florence Okpe, the Public Education Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun, confirmed the development in an interview with reporters in Abeokuta.

The accident was said to involve a DAF truck marked KMC 810 ZB, a Toyota bus marked TMA-244b XA, and a Mitsubishi pickup van with no registration number.

The FRSC spokeswoman said the accident occurred at about 6:15 a.m. and was caused by excessive speeding, tyre blowout, and a loss of control on the part of the truck driver.

She noted that due to the tyre blowout and loss of control, the truck fell and blocked the road, noting that both the bus and the pickup van rammed into the fallen truck.

Ms Okpe disclosed that 21 people were involved in the multiple crashes, saying that 12 people were injured and five people died.

She said the injured were taken to Victory Hospital in Ogere, near Abeokuta, for medical attention, while the dead were deposited at a morgue in Ipara community, near Abeokuta.

Ms Okpe quoted the Ogun State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Anthony Uga, as advising motorists to desist from using substandard tyres and to also apply common sense while driving during the rainy season.

The sector commander sympathised with the families of the victims, advising them to visit the Ogunmakin Unit of the FRSC for more information on the accident.

The police command in Kaduna has confirmed that two persons were killed and three others kidnapped by suspected bandits on September 15, in a community in the state.

The command’s Acting Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, confirmed the development in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Kaduna.

Mr Hassan said that the incident took place in Dogon Noma-Unguwan Gamu community in the Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.

He said that the bandits invaded the community at about 6:30 a.m., killing and abducting the victims.

The spokesman assured that the bandits would eventually be arrested to face the wrath of the law.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it was able to restore bulk power supply to Sokoto State by 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, said this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

Ms Mbah said that the company was working to restore supply to Kebbi and other areas affected by the unfortunate Birnin Kebbi Substation fire incident that occurred on Thursday.

She said that the bulk power supply to Sokoto was reinstated through the Talata Mafara Substation.

“Our engineering team, along with the Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, and the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider (TSP), were on-site, putting in every effort to reconnect Kebbi and its environs to the grid through another substation.

“Also, our engineers are actively working on transferring load to the 150 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) and 60 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) power transformers in the substation, which were fortunately unaffected by the fire incident.

“Additionally, cables are being rearranged, and reinforcement teams from other TCN regions have equally arrived at the substation with the necessary materials to expedite repair work,” she said.

Ms Mbah said that the restoration of bulk supply to Sokoto was achieved due to the commitment of TCN’s boss, Sule Abdulaziz, who pledged to ensure the restoration of bulk supply through the Talata Mafara substation.

She said that Mr Abdulaziz also pledged to collaborate with the engineers to temporarily back-feed Kebbi while connecting the 150 MVA power transformer as a permanent solution to the bulk power supply in the area.

“TCN greatly appreciates the patience and understanding of the government and people of Sokoto and Kebbi States and environs.

“We are fully committed to expediting work at the substation to ensure stable and reliable bulk electricity supply to all the affected areas,” she said.

In the midst of the online frenzy surrounding the death of Mohbad, former Marlian Music Record label dancer Lil Smart has expressed concern and fear for his life.

In a chat with singer Davido’s crew member, Dre, Lil Smart alleged that two former colleagues were driven mentally ill by Naira Marley’s violent lifestyle.

“Broo I’m scared, they killed my Mohbad. The only one encouraging me and giving me hope as we left that devilish label. Do you know, two people ran mad before I left?” Lil Smart said.

Dre assured him not to worry and took to Instagram saying, “God knows I won’t start what I can’t finish, may your spirit not forgive all of us if we don’t make you happy Mohbad.”

Sometime in January, the famous dancer revealed that he left the record label because he was not appreciated.

According to him, Marlian Music started with just one duplex but when Naira Marley began building houses, he refused to give him a room to stay, leading him to squat with friends.

The United Kingdom has said that its visiting visa will now cost N112,000 from its previous N14,000 and student visas will now cost a whopping N477,000 as opposed to N123,000.

The recent increase earmarks an over 600 per cent increment in visa prices by the UK. The UK government explained that the increase would enable it to pay for “vital services and allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises.”

In a statement published Friday on its website, the UK Home Office said the increase in new visa fees is “set to come into effect next month.”

The statement added that, “The changes mean that the cost for a visit visa for less than six months is rising by £15 (N14,592.70) to £115 (N111,878.28 ), while the fee for applying for a student visa from outside the UK will rise by £127 (N123,537.58) to £490 (N476,677.59), to equal the amount charged for in-country applications.”

The new changes also affect the majority of fees for entry clearance and applications for leave to remain in the UK, including those for work and study.

The recent changes are coming less than six months after the UK government increased the cost of visa applications and health surcharges In July, the UK government announced a 15 per cent increase in the cost of work and visit visas. It also announced a 20 per cent increase in cost of study visas, priority visas and certificates of sponsorship.

“If we’re going to prioritise paying public sector workers more, that money has to come from somewhere else because I’m not prepared to put up people’s taxes and I don’t think it would be responsible or right to borrow more because that would just make inflation worse,” Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, had said in July.

The recent statement by the UK Home Office explained that the income from fees plays a vital role in its ability to run a sustainable immigration and nationality system.

“Today’s changes do not include the planned increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) which are scheduled to be introduced later in the Autumn,” the statement added.

The new visa prices would become effective from October 4, and are subject to parliamentary approval.

The Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour Studies has conferred the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof Umar Danbatta, with the Fellowship of the National Institute of Labour.

Similarly, the NCC Director, Human Capital and Administration, Usman Malah, was honoured with the NIL fellowship.

This was made known in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, on Friday.

According to the statement, the Director-General of the Institute, Issa Aremu, while speaking at the event held in Abuja recently, stated that Danbatta was acknowledged for his outstanding contributions, along with those of his team, to enhance the Commission and the overall workforce of the nation.

Aremu said, “We have witnessed the amazing transformation in terms of broadband penetration, Internet subscribers and many other achievements recorded under the leadership of Prof Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC and how the telecom sector, regulated by the commission he leads, have improved national productivity.”

Malah who represented Danbatta at the event stressed the importance of jointly backing efforts that improve the welfare of Nigerian employees by expanding their access to cost-effective telecommunications services.

The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has arrived New York ahead of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

A statement by the Presidency reveals that Mrs Tinubu will also be speaking at “the Nigeria Economic Trade Summit, Africa First Ladies Peace Mission side meeting on Gender Actions for Peace, DUSUSU Foundation, among other high level meetings where she would be participating.

“The PUNCH reports that President Bola Tinubu will on Sunday depart Abuja for New York, USA, to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly with a focus on strengthening Nigeria’s economic ties and attracting foreign direct investments to the country.

Nigerian skit maker Adebola Adeyela, popularly known as Lizzy Jay Omo Ibadan, has cried out in a video via her Instagram account claiming that a yet-to-be-identified individual is threatening to leak her private video.

She narrated that she was terribly ill a few months ago and had skin rashes in major parts of her body, haemorrhoids, and bleeding.

Adeyela explained that after explaining these issues to her doctor, who is also her trusted friend, she had to send him screenshots of a video she made rather than having a physical examination.

She, however, revealed, “In the past few days, someone has been commenting on my page talking about having my nudes. He is trying to post the video of my most vulnerable moment.

“She claimed that the person had also threatened to post her nudes on social media, sent her mail with screenshots of the video, and called her via a private number.

She dared him to follow through on his threat, saying that she won’t give him money and she’ll find him with her last kobo.

She further claimed that the man trying to blackmail her hacked into one of her email accounts and used it to gain access to her Snapchat.

Following a resurgence of attacks in the northern region, Mali’s ruling military government has cancelled plans to celebrate its Independence Day on September 22.

The council of ministers announced in a statement on Wednesday that the anniversary will be “celebrated in sobriety and in the spirit of national revival.”

Junta leader Assimi Goita commanded the administration to use the monies set aside for this year’s celebrations to aid those hurt in recent violent attacks.

The council also considered the prospect of calling up reservists to defend against extremist assaults.

Despite the presence of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, security is deteriorating in the north and centre of the country.

Nigeria’s public debt stock increased from N49.85 trillion ($108.30 billion) in the first quarter of 2023 to N87.38 trillion ($113.42 billion ) in the second quarter of 2023.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said this on Friday in its Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Report for Q2 2023 released in Abuja.

The report said Nigeria’s public debt stock, which included external and domestic debt, grew by 75.27 per cent in Q2 of 2023.

It said external debt stood at N33.25 trillion ($43.16 billion) in Q2 2023, while domestic debt was N54.13 trillion ($70.26 billion).

“However, the share of external debt to total public debt stood at 38.05 per cent in Q2 2023, while domestic debt was recorded at 61.95 per cent,’’ NBS stated.

In a breakdown by states, the bureau said Lagos State recorded the highest domestic debt of N996.44 billion in Q2 2023, followed by Delta at N465.40 billion.

The report showed Jigawa recorded the lowest domestic debt at N43.13 billion, followed by Kebbi at N60.94 billion.

In addition, it stated that Lagos recorded the highest external debt, with $1.26 billion, followed by Kaduna State, with $569.38 million.

“Borno recorded the lowest external debt with 18.75 million dollars, followed by Taraba with 21.92 million dollars,” the NBS stated.

Suspected armed bandits have reportedly launched an attack in Giyawa village, Goronyo Local Government Area of the state killing four persons while eighteen others were reportedly abducted.

Goronyo is one of the local governments in the troubled Eastern Senatorial District of Sokoto State.

While confirming this incident, Sokoto State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ahmed Rufai said that eighteen persons were initially abducted by the assailant.

He also said seven of the abducted victims later escaped and returned to their community where many residents have fled for safety.

Though other sources from the affected community claimed that over thirty persons were abducted, but the police maintained that only eleven persons were still with the attackers.

He assured that the police are on the trail of the assailants and are making efforts to ensure normalcy is restored in the affected community and environment.

Meanwhile, some of the residents of the community who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone disagree with the figures of persons abducted putting the figure at about 30.

Inuwa Yusuf, a resident of the area while speaking with our correspondent said, “It is not true, we have about thirty people kidnapped by these bandits who also rustle our livestock and made away with large numbers of them” he added.

Traders in the popular phone and digital market known as Tarmac in the Panseke area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, were on Friday morning thrown into confusion when heavily armed policemen storm the market and asked the traders to vacate the premises on account that there was a court order for them to leave.

When Punch Metro visited the market, it was observed that there were heavy presence of policemen while the traders hanged around the vicinity of their shops that were under locks and keys.

Some of the traders who spoke with our correspondent noted that there had been recurring cases of land grabbers coming to asked them to vacate the market which has put their business at risk.

A trader, Akeem Oyeyemi, said that the police came in the early hours of Friday to send them out of their stores after showing them a court order which they were not privy of.

“What happened was that this morning around 5am, we receive a call that about 200 police men have invade tarmac with about 20 cars which our chairman also informed us that we should start coming. At around past 6am, we were all gathered here and went to the Olubara’s palace.

“From the palace, we came back here to meet the police to ask what happened. On getting here, the police showed us a court order asking them to lockup Tarmac but we told them that there was no notice of any court order given to us because we believed that if there will be need to lock this place up, we should be informed but we did not know anything.

“So we decided that we should be allowed to open our stores but the police started shooting which made everyone to run for their lives. Till this moment we were not allowed to open our stores,” Oyeyemi said.

Another trader who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that there had been a recurring issue of land grabbers coming to the market to asked them to evacuate the market.

She said, “This is not the first time some people who are land grabbers has been coming to this market to ask us to leave but we will later heard that our leaders has settled with them. The thing is becoming worrisome and it is affecting our business.”

Effort to get the reaction of the chairman of the market association, Ifebola Togunwa, proved abortive as he did not responded to calls and messages sent to his number.

When contacted via WhatsApp chat, the Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, asked if our correspondent was at the scene of the incident which our correspondent replied affirmative and even send pictures of the scene to but she was yet to respond after reading the message till the time of filing this report.

The PUNCH had on Wednesday reported that Ogun State House of Assembly alleged that policemen in the state are in connivance with some land grabbers to illegally arrest and detain innocent members of the public.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, who noted that hundreds of innocent residents of the state had continued to languish in various detention cells of the police both at Alagbon in Lagos and the Force Headquarters in Abuja had appealed to the Inspector General of Police to wade into the illegal arrest and detention

Three days after the sudden death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka MohBad, his records have continued to dominate the Apple Music chart.

Four of MohBad’s records, at the time of this report, hold the number one, two, four, and five positions on the chart.

The 2022 single ‘Peace’ currently sits in the number one spot. ‘Ask About Me’ in number two, ‘Beast & Peace’ in number four, and ‘Feel Good’ in number five.

MohBad died on Tuesday, September 12, at the age of 27.

His records have continued to garner massive traction following the announcement of his untimely death.

The John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy has trained 250 Edo State government officials in the use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance their operations.

The training which took place from September 13-14 at the Academy in Benin, was meant to empower civil and public servants in the state with the latest trend in organising and discharging their duties in a fast-growing and technology-driven world.

According to the Director General of JOOPSA, Imuwahen Ajoonu, all the modules in the course have been designed to introduce the Edo State Civil and Public Service workforce to Artificial Intelligence.

She said, “Artificial Intelligence, the world over, is transforming the way governments operate and provide services to citizens. Indeed, understanding the fundamentals of AI remains essential for government officials to make informed decisions, develop effective policies, and harness the potential of AI technologies for public good.

“The aim of the course is to empower civil and public servants with the requisite knowledge to enhance government operations, provide better services to citizens, make data-driven decisions.”

She reiterated that since AI can analyse vast amounts of data quickly, identify trends and provide insights, it could help government make more informed decisions, especially in areas like policy development, resource allocation, and crisis management.

She added, “Artificial Intelligence can also automate routine and time-consuming tasks, allowing government workers to focus on more complex and value-added activities. This will not only increases efficiency but also leads to cost savings in the long run.

“In line with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s E-Governance drive, the AI training programme is geared to, among other things, support workers to make more data driven decisions, resulting in transparency accountability and value-for-money outcomes.”

At the inaugural session of the programme, the lead Facilitator Professor Yinka Omorogbe (SAN) demonstrated to participants that everyone in Government could leverage Artificial Intelligence to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness of government operations.

He noted that government workers trained in AI could harness predictive analytics to anticipate trends and issues, adding, “For example, AI could predict traffic congestions, allowing city planners to optimize traffic management, or it could be deployed to forecast disease outbreaks, enabling health agencies to allocate resources more effectively.”