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Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu Commends resilience and Commitment of Women

In keeping with its mandate of empowering Nigerian women with enabling skills, the Renewed Hope Initiative of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu has graduated the first set of beneficiaries of its Women ICT Training and Empowerment Programme.
The training had no fewer than 35 women drawn from across the FCT.

The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu in her address, congratulated the participants and applauded the Director General and his team of facilitators for the success of the training.
She emphasized the importance of digital literacy and its role in fostering economic independence, noting that these skills are indispensable tools for driving growth and innovation”.
“Also, the importance of digital literacy and its role in fostering economic independence cannot be overemphasized. In a world driven by technology, these skills empower women to take control of their lives, contribute to their communities and seize opportunities”.
“As we celebrate the successful conclusion of this programme, I extend my congratulations to all participants. You have exhibited resilience, determination and a hunger for knowledge that will undoubtedly set you on a path of success”.


The Director General (DG) NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi appreciated the First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu for the opportunity given to work with the RHI
“Thank you for protecting all the vulnerable Nigerians, we are blessed to have you as the First Lady and mother of our nation, the participants, your daughters are graduating today taking home five major things, they are all equipped with digital literacy and ICT proficiency, they are going home empowered to safely and responsibly use digital platforms, they also master digital marketing on how to be able to use social media to sell your products and services, you are also enlightened on how to be part of gig economy, you learnt skills on how to work remotely and earn money, you also learnt how to use productivity tools, and lastly they were empowered on how to network. They are going back home with a laptop and N100, 000.00”’.
“The First Lady has agreed with us to work and collaborate with Renewed Hope Initiative to craft a national digital gender inclusion strategy in order to bring you at parity with the men to benefit from digital economy”.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, also promised to work with the Initiative in ensuring that the training is extended to millions of women across the country.
He said the programme was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for women inclusion and empowerment among others.
“I want to extend my appreciation to the visionary of this initiative, our First Lady. Your unwavering commitment to empowerment and progress has charted the course for change for all the members of this cohort.


This is a programme that we hope we can partner with you to actually scale significantly. I’m a big believer in the fact that we have to empower women because there is something that works really well for me, women are empathetic and when you have women around you, it is about the good for people not egos, this is why it is important the role you are playing in the society Ma”.
“I must also acknowledge the DG of NITDA and his team for their role in bringing this programme to fruition”.
“Women empowerment is fundamental for the development and growth of every society, there is actually no any individual that was not raised by a woman. By empowering women, we unlock the unique creativity and innovation that can enrich every aspect of our lives. It is well documented that when we provide equal access to education resources and opportunities, that it becomes architect of positive change, changing the trajectory of economic progress, social harmony and sustainable development”.
“This programme represents a critical step in this direction; it also aligned with two priority areas of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the first one being the investment in the digital economy to empower Nigerians with new skills and also sustain jobs, secondly to driving women empowerment to champion equity and parity across every facet of our lives”.
The power of digital tools and connectivity through the tranning also shattered the boundaries of what the participants thought it was impossible according to what representatives of the participants said.
On behalf of other participants, Miss Nkiru Ogbuli, a graphic designer expressed gratitude to the First Lady for keeping her promise of empowering women and explained that the program has expanded her knowledge and provided her with opportunities she wouldn’t have known existed.
Another beneficiary, Promise Ogbuehia, a makeup artist says the training is not only beneficial for her but also the people she would subsequently teach in order to impact them with knowledge she has gathered.
The First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu,alongside the Minister then handed Certificates, brand new laptops and #100,000 intervention grant to each of the graduates.
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JUST IN: Filling stations shut after Dangote Refinery’s petrol price drop

Some filling stations and petroleum products marketers, partners of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, temporarily shut down for the past five days after the latest premium motor spirit price drop by the 650,000 barrels per day refinery.
Recall that for the past five days, MRS filling stations in Abuja, along Kubwa Expressway, and others have not dispensed fuel since Dangote Refinery announced its ex-depot fuel price reduction to N835 per litre on Tuesday, 16 April, 2025.
An official of MRS filling station, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak said the filling station is grappling with the loss incurred after Dangote’s latest price adjustment.
“It is because of Dangote’s latest price drop. The filling station had old stock, which it couldn’t sell at a loss.
“This is the reason we have shut down since Tuesday. We may reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
Meanwhile, another official at the filling station said the retail outlet is billed to reopen on Tuesday, noting that it has been undergoing minor maintenance.
“We have been on maintenance for the past few days, which is the reason the station was shut. We will reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
According to him, the filling station would commence dispensing at the new price of N910 per litre from Tuesday.
Other partners of Dangote Refinery, such as AP, Ardova, and Optima, are dispensing fuel between N910 and 920 per litre in parts of Abuja as of Monday, 21st April 2025.
Reacting to the development, the National President of Petroleum Retailers Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the latest fuel price drop affected the purchasing power of petrol retailers and marketers.
According to him, indiscriminate price adjustment, whether downward or upward, is not good for the petroleum downstream sector and the Nigerian economy.
At every point, if prices of petrol are indiscriminately changed without any clearly defined economic reason, the chances that it will impact on the buying power of retailers and marketers are there.
“It is not good for business, the economy, and Nigerians.
“Prices of petrol change for reasons that are understandable with proper information to retailers,” he said.
Recall that Gillis-Harry had earlier called for a six-month fuel price stability plan to halt fluctuations.
Earlier, the spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, had hinted that marketers having old stocks of fuel will incur billions of losses following Dangote’s latest fuel price drop.
Last week became the second time the $20 billion refinery reduced its fuel price nationwide. This indicates a combined downward ex-depot price drop of N45 per litre.
Dangote Refinery had, on 10 April, reduced its gantry price of petrol to N865 per litre.
However, the ex-depot fuel price had further dropped to N835 per litre.
This comes after the federal government’s renewed commitment to the indefinite continuation of the naira-for-crude deal with other local refiners and the drop in global crude prices to around $66 per barrel.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently reduced its retail price to N935 per litre for customers in Abuja in response to Dangote Refinery’s latest price cut.
This means that Nigerians currently buy petrol at between N890 and N950 per litre, depending on the location nationwide.
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NNPC’s Olufemi Soneye Emerges NIPR Spokesperson for 2025
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.

Soneye (middle) receive NIPR’s prestigious award .
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Olufemi Soneye, has emerged the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) spokesperson of 2025.Announcing the award, the NIPR described Soneye as a “diligent” spokesperson, characterising him as “a strategist.” Soneye’s capacity to shape public opinion, also stood him out of the crowd of spokespersons, according to the Adjudication Committee, Chairman, Dr. Shaibu Hussein.
Represented by a member of the committee chairman, Lami Tuiaka, the chairman said the moment to the conclusion of the award was rigorous and demanding. He also predicated Soneye’s victory on his communication skills, crisis management and overall impact.
“Our committee comprising communication scholars, Public Relations practitioners, and media personalities worked tirelessly to review the nomination, assess performances and deliberate on the winner.
I must report that we carefully examined each nomination, considering factors such as communication skills, crisis management and overall impact,” he said.
Presenting him the plaque at the National Spokespersons Award 2025, chairman of the event Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Joshua Audu, said the institute would celebrate Soneye throughout 2025 as the current NIPR spokesperson award winner.
He said: ” On behalf of the NIPR Award Night 2025, I have the honour and privilege to present the Spokesperson of the year 2025. Please join me to celebrate our latest spokesperson that we will celebrate throughout 2025 in the person of Olufemi Soneye.”
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.
Amid a standing ovation, he said: “We are all happy and I am deeply honoured to receive this award tonight from NIPR. This award reflects the dedication of our entire team and we want to thank NIPR for all they have been doing.”
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Mission to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.

Artwork: The experiment will orbit the Earth for three hours before returning to Earth and splashing down off the coast of Portugal.
(BBC): Steak, mashed potatoes and deserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful.
A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds.
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.
The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space Station in two years’ time.
Lab-grown food will be essential if Nasa’s objective of making humanity a multi-planetary species were to be realised, claims Dr Aqeel Shamsul, CEO and founder of Bedford-based Frontier Space, which is developing the concept with researchers at Imperial College, London.
“Our dream is to have factories in orbit and on the Moon,” he told BBC News.
“We need to build manufacturing facilities off world if we are to provide the infrastructure to enable humans to live and work in space”.
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