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Sterling Bank, QSE Foundation To Empower Women

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Sterling Bank Plc, through its One Woman Proposition, has collaborated with the QSE Foundation to empower women in the Ikate Elegushi community of Lekki in Lagos State by providing them with credit facilities.
The programme for empowering women, which is a focal point for One Woman at Sterling Bank, will enable the women to scale up their existing businesses while also positioning Sterling Bank Plc as a gender-centric organization.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Gbenga Adegoke, Group Head, Products and Proposition with Sterling Bank, said the empowerment programme is an integral part of the bank’s partnership with QSE Foundation, founded by Olori (Queen) Sekinat Aramide Elegushi.
He disclosed that the One Woman Proposition of the bank recently partnered with the QSE Foundation to organize free breast cancer awareness for women in the Ikate community as part of activities to mark the global Cancer Day, which held recently.
Also speaking, Ifunanya Ugboko head of One Woman Proposition, said it was important to ensure female owned businesses thrived, lifting a lot of women out of poverty. She also mentioned the empowerment program for the women would be done in various phases, She explained that they had analysed each beneficiary and structured the loans according to their needs and capacities, adding that those who have big businesses were given as much as N300,000 and above.
In partnership with OneWoman, EveryNanny team was present at the woman empowerment programme. Adaobi Ugha, Head, EveryNanny said that although the EveryNanny was created to assist homes/parents with stress-free parenting and domestic care support, it has provided jobs opportunities for over 2000 women in Lagos and across Nigeria in the past two years.
This is because Every Nanny has evolved beyond providing nanny services to rendering other services like home tutor, elderly care, cooks, housekeepers etc. on its platform. Overall, Every Nanny has empowered women financially/economically whilst providing domestic care support for homes.
Olori Sekinat Aramide Elegushi, who celebrated her 45th birthday recently, expressed appreciation to Sterling Bank for partnering with her foundation and assisting her to fulfill a long held desire to support some of the women who have existing businesses with micro loans in her community.
The One Woman proposition was designed to identify and proffer tailor made solutions for the Nigerian woman, this solution cuts across an array of different value-add offerings to meet financial, business and personal needs of women, to foster support by providing platforms for women to support other women. ensuring women live a fulfilled life.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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