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UNIPORT: 301 Youths Benefit From Holiday Programme On ICT
No fewer than 301 youths have benefitted from the one-month holiday programme on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) organised by the Centre for Information and Telecommunication Engineering (CITE), at the University of Port Harcourt.
The programme which was christened “Catch Them Young Digital Boot Camp” was designed to equip young individuals with essential skills on emerging digital realities and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Speaking during the graduation/exhibition ceremony, the Director of CITE, Prof. Bourdillon Omijeh, explained that the “Catch Them Young Digital Boot Camp” was more than a traditional holiday ICT training programme.
According to him, it is a life-changing, impactful, and career-driven experience aimed at preparing participants for the evolving digital landscape.
He said the programme is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative; not profit-driven, providing both privileged and less privileged youths equal access to digital education.
“This inclusivity enables participants to tap into the vast economic opportunities offered by the ongoing AI revolution.
“The Boot Camp trained about 301 participants, including about 190 males and 111 females, in various digital skills such as UI/UX, web development, mobile app development, coding, robotics, embedded systems, IoT, Drone technology, 3D design and printing, Microsoft Office packages, Python Programming, Data science, and Machine learning”, he said.
Professor Omijeh emphasised that the platform not only builds digital skills but also sharpens the vision, activates potential, and nurtures creativity and innovation in the participants, preparing them for excellence in their future careers.
He thanked the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Owunari Abraham Georgewill, for his continuous support for the Catch Them Young programme.
He also expressed appreciation to the parents, partners, and friends who contributed to the success of the initiative.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt commended the CITE team for their efforts in promoting digital literacy among young people and praised Professor Omijeh for his visionary leadership.
Also speaking, the Regional Coordinator of the National Information, Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Bernard Ewah, pledged NITDA’s continous support for CITE’s vision.
Mr. Chinedu Ikejiani of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) who represented the General Manager, Research, Stats and Development of NCDMB, Mr. Silas O. Ajimijaye, affirmed his organization’s commitment to supporting the initiative.
The Director of ICT, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Engr. Emeka Ani, who was represented by the Deputy Director of Information and Technology, NDDC, Engr. Patrick Isicheli, reiterated the Commission’s dedication to the programme and lauded Prof. Omijeh for his passion in promoting digital literacy in the Niger Delta region.
The Technical Manager of MTN, South-South, Dr. Theophilus, who has been an industry mentor in CITE also expressed satisfaction with the programme.
The graduands displayed their knowledge and skills on the CTY SCHOOL App, TICTAC TOE GAME App, CTY SCHOOL Website, Design of Website station, Design of an attendance system, and Design of an automated green house watering system(smart farm),
Design of gesture-controlled Robot Car, Design and implementation of an obstacle avoiding robot, Design and implementation of a remote and voice-controlled Robot car.
Others were Design and implementation of an industrial distribution robots, Design and implementation of a smart home automation robots, Design and implementation of a line following robot, Flash card design, Age Calculator, Tic tac toe game, Analog clock, Count down timer, etc.
The Tide source reports that “Catch Them Young Digital Boot Camp” which commenced from July 29, 2024, to September 7, 2024, has proven to be an invaluable platform for empowering young people with digital skills, preparing them to harness the economic benefits of the digital age.
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
