The authorities of the Rivers State University (RSU) have disclosed plans to unveil a full Department of Entrepreneurship Studies , the Vice Chancellor has said.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof NlerumOkogbule made the plans public while playing host to the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by it is Chairman, Comrade Stanley Job Stanley during this year’s World Press Freedom Day Celebration.
Prof. Okogbule said already the plans are in advanced stages, as the lnstitution is now putting emphasis on business skills as a way of empowering its graduates.
The vice chancellor observed that entrepreneurship remainS a sure path to transform society,” the purpose is to empower our graduates and make them self reliant…and we recognise the importance of our graduates to having employable skills.”
Acknowledging the importance of the media in advancing society, the Rivers State University vice chancellor opined that no society grows without information, hence, the institution accords recognition to the media.
He reiterated the position of the university to partner with the NUJ in areas of training, and human resource development.
Already he noted that the former Mass Communication Department formerly with the Faculty of  Management Sciences has now been unbundled and made a full Faculty of Media Studies with departments in various aspects of Mass Communication.
Earlier, Chairman of the State NUJ, Comrade Stanley Job Stanley lauded the university for its commitment to human capital development and research.
He said the NUJ has always been a friend and partner of the university, leading to the pioneering and founding of the Department of Mass Communication in the Institution.

The State NUJ Chairman while urging the university to maintain its high standard emphasized the need to focus on producing manpower that are self reliant and contribute to society.

Comrade Stanley said lack of skills has made many graduates to go into crime and as such the need to refocus on self reliance education.

By: Kevin Nengia

The National Malaria Elimination Programme(NMEP) has reported that Malaria accounts for 60 per cent of outpatient visits to health facilities across the country and 30 per cent of childhood deaths.
Globally, there are an estimated 249 million Malaria cases and 608,000 Malaria deaths among 85 countries.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare made the statistics at the key health players and experts to reevaluate its approach and strategies.
The event themed, “Ministerial Roundtable Meeting: Rethinking Malaria Elimination in Nigeria,” featured representatives from national and international health organisations, who analysed the country’s anti-malaria strategies over the past years.
Over the years, Nigeria has made continuous attempts to reduce its malaria burden to zero, however, the country still has the highest burden of malaria globally.
According to the 2022 World Malaria Report, Nigeria contributes about 27 per cent of the global burden of the disease, and about 31.3 per cent of deaths, the largest globally.
Experts speak recommending new approaches to fighting the epidemic, stakeholders and experts present at the event urged the government to reduce its dependence on external funding and improve government financing.
According to them, Nigeria needs to accelerate its effort to eliminate malaria by increasing the funds allocated to the malaria elimination programme annually.
A Senior Associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Soji Adeyi, said Nigeria should begin to increase internal funding for malaria elimination.
“Whether you turn to Premium Times for daily updates, in-depth investigations into pressing national issues, or entertaining trending stories, we value your readership. It’s essential to acknowledge that news production incurs expenses, and we take pride in never placing our stories behind a prohibitive paywall. Would you consider supporting us with a modest contribution on a monthly basis to help maintain our commitment to free, accessible new drugs. “Each year, reliance on external funding needs to be reduced. I looked at the summary of malaria reports from 2008 till now and what has been common is the complaint about the lack of funding. If this is a recurring problem what should be done is to find a new approach,” he said.
Similarly, Abdu Muktar, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Healthcare Initiative, called for the local production and manufacturing of medical supplies and for reducing the country’s dependence on drug imports.
According to him, the local production of anti-malaria and related medication will consider the peculiarity of the country’s terrain, population, and burden and would improve access to effective treatment.
The Regional Director of the WHO, African Region, Matshidiso Moeti, advised the country to accelerate its efforts to end Malaria by relying on adequate data for the implementation of health policies.
She urged the Nigerian authorities to increase data availability and access for the government agencies at national and subnational levels, and also for the use of the public.
Ms Moeti maintained that Nigeria must invest in data to get a clear understanding of the health issues in its rural communities

She said: “For Nigeria to accelerate its efforts, it needs to invest more in data from local communities across the country to know exactly what is going on there.

“We need to be sure that the data we have is viable, so we need to invest, starting from the local level. This will improve efficiency and reduce fragmentation.

“We have technology today that can help us improve some of the ways we are dealing with data in the health sector. We can use data to identify the location that needs intervention. This calls for collective intervention.”

Some of the stakeholders suggested that the country should improve its leadership and coordination to efficiently capture every corner of the country burdened by mosquito-borne disease.

According to the Director of Public Health, Chukwuma Ayandike, Nigeria, with proper coordination and leadership, will be able to achieve its target of zero malaria.

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What we are doing- Minister
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mohammed Pate, said more needs to be done to fight malaria in the country.

He said the country is deploying tools that are available, safe, and effective for the population to improve their health.

Mr Pate said: “This is in line with the president’s agenda. We intend to deploy all tools that can control the spread of malaria; we intend to deploy nets, testing, and treatments of malaria. We also intend to provide affordable antimalarial drugs”.

Mr Pate further disclosed that the government also intends to use political and traditional leaders and private sector leaders in the fight against malaria in remote parts of the country.

“The country also needs to prioritise the use of a driven approach to accelerate progress, as well as better financing and better partnership to eliminate malaria with private organisations,” the minister added.

Malaria in Nigeria
Malaria transmission within the country is high and even higher in rural communities situated by the banks of major rivers and water bodies.

The disease is caused by tiny parasites called Plasmodium, often found in mosquitoes.

When an infected mosquito bites a person, it transfers these parasites into the bloodstream. The parasites then travel to the liver and multiply. After a few days, they reenter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells, causing the symptoms of malaria, such as fever, chills, and flu-like illness.

The National Malaria Elimination Programme(NMEP) reported that Malaria accounts for 60 per cent of outpatient visits to health facilities across the country and 30 per cent of childhood deaths.

Globally, there are an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 malaria deaths among 85 countries.

The African region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.

Plans are in the works by the authorities in the Rivers State Ministry of Health to conduct training for Traditional Birth Attendants(TBAs) in the State.
State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh gave the hint while chatting with newsmen recently in Port Harcourt.
She said the training has become crucial to school the TBAs on methods and measures to complement in maternal health care.
In her words,”  We are aware of of their roles, but we need to be confident that they can still play that role, especially the skills set needed to complement what government is doing.’’
Dr. Oreh explained that maternal and child care has evolved, hence, the TBAs need to be schooled,” we want them to scale up their skills, especially on high risk pregnancies.”
She continued, “ We want to make sure that our system mops up those high risk pregnancies, because we know that many of them carry out clandestine activities they are not helping us.”
Assuring of improved manpower in the State health sector, Dr. Oreh said the Governor Siminalayi Fubara administration has embarked on fresh recruitment exercise for health workers to meet current challenges.
She assured that once the recruitment exercise is completed, the various health centres and hospitals will be staffed with qualified manpower to provide efficient health services in the State.

Kevin Nengia