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Google restates commitment to empowering businesses with AI

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Google restates commitment to empowering businesses with AI

Google has reaffirmed its dedication to harnessing artificial intelligence to empower businesses at a recent AI in Action event.

According to the firm, the conference aimed to enlighten businesses about the benefits of adopting Gemini, Google’s AI model, to optimise their operations in a rapidly changing business landscape.

With Gemini, business owners gain access to a collaborative creative partner that accelerates decision-making processes and enhances performance, the search engine giant said in a statement obtained by Sunday According.

According to Google, what sets Gemini apart is its intuitive interaction through prompts, which differs from traditional search queries.

The tech company stated that this advanced model processed prompts with a unique blend of science and artistry, generating responses that could include visuals, sounds, images, and videos.

Google’s Business Strategist for AI, Yvette Baez, noted, “AI has swiftly transformed from an intriguing concept into a powerful asset for businesses. Its capacity to stimulate economic growth and create unprecedented opportunities is undeniable.

“No longer confined to text-based interactions, AI now offers a multisensory experience, delivering information through visual, auditory, and even video formats. As such, our work in this area has focused on responsibly building helpful products and platforms that can assist businesses to improve and overcome their most pressing challenges—making otherwise static information useful.”

Google revealed that it had expanded access to its AI models, like Gemini 1.5 Pro in Vertex AI  for cloud customers and developers and Open Model Gemma, designed to assist customers with various types of code.

It added that the upgrading of Gemini Code Assist would also help customers code more efficiently, and identify and resolve security threats.

Nigeria cannot escape revolution, says Charly Boy

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Nigeria cannot escape revolution, says Charly Boy

Veteran singer and activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has stated that Nigeria could not escape revolution.

Oputa, in an interview with Sunday According, said the revolution would put an end to the current hardship and injustice.

The singer cautioned the Nigerian youths to be peaceful on the ‘End bad governance’ protest starting on August 1, just as he warned the security agents against crackdown on the protesters.

He said, “This frustration and hopelessness are too much. There is no way out of this quagmire we find ourselves in than a revolution. You can’t have peace without war.

“Whether the Federal Government wants or not, something must give. The sooner it gives, the better for everybody. I understand the government is jittery but you cannot subject the masses to hardship and think that they would not react.

“But the youths should do whatever they want to do peacefully. We don’t have guns, we don’t have weapons, it is the government that has all the weapons.

“However, I will advocate that the coming protest should be peaceful because you cannot be mad at people with guns. I don’t want any of my street children to get hurt or killed.

“There are more superior ways that they can bring this government to its knees without engaging in violence. Already, you can see that the government is shaking because we are in a very precarious situation. It is like putting fuel everywhere, so any small spark will result in a blast. That is what they are afraid of, but that day will surely come.”

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Dangote dismisses report on crude oil sales

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Dangote dismisses report on crude oil sales

The Dangote Oil Refinery has said it is not reselling crude oil to other traders as reported by a media organisation.

The refinery, in a statement by the Group Chief, Branding and Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, on Saturday, dismissed the claim that its crude distillation units had issues.

Reuters had reported that the refinery was reselling crude oil cargoes from both the United States and Nigeria as a result of technical challenges.

But the spokesperson for the refinery, Chiejina said, “Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report suggesting that our refinery’s crude distillation unit (CDU) is experiencing issues and that we are reselling crude oil.

“We categorically deny these claims. The Dangote refinery is not authorised to sell crude oil purchased from Nigeria, and our CDU is fully operational and functioning optimally.

“We advise the public to disregard these false narratives, which are likely driven by interests opposed to the local refining of fuels.”

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NIS mounts surveillance at borders over hardship protest

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NIS mounts surveillance at borders over hardship protest

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs Kemi Nandap, has directed all Zonal Heads, State Command Comptrollers, and Divisional Immigration Officers nationwide to intensify surveillance at the borders.

She also announced the “temporary suspension of all leave applications.”

The directives were contained in a statement titled, ‘Planned protest: CGIS expresses readiness to secure Nigeria’s borders’, signed by the service public relations officer, Kenneth Udo.

Sunday According learned that the directives were in response to the planned nationwide protest.

The statement read, “In keeping with the responsibility of safeguarding the nation’s gateways placed on the shoulders of the Service, officers, especially Heads of Border Commands.”

She urged personnel to “rise to the occasion by ensuring that no foreign element can take advantage of the protest to destabilize the country.”

Apply properly – Wike

Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has directed protesters who applied to use Eagles Square to apply properly and pay security costs for their scheduled demonstration. He stated this at a Town Hall Meeting held at the Conference Room of the Federal Capital Development Authority in Abuja, on Saturday.

The ‘Take It Back Movement,’ through its Director of Mobilization, Damilare Adenola, had written to Wike, requesting to use the facility for its protest and also asked for the provision of security and utilities for the duration of the exercise.

However, the minister said, “I’m just reading on social media that they have applied to grant the Eagle Square to me. Do you apply to me through social media? You will write a letter to the Minister, I will see you, who are you, what do you want to do, how many days will you spend, how much will you pay?

“I watched them on Channels TV news telling the IG I have applied. You don’t apply to me through Channels; you must apply properly. You must pay what we call security cost, so that if there’s any damage to the facility, we will take that security cost and repair it. We don’t just give people just because they have applied; you’ll fulfil the conditions.”

Lawmakers move to strengthen identity management

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Lawmakers move to strengthen identity management

Nigeria’s National Assembly has begun the process of repealing and re-enacting the NIMC Act No. 23, to strengthen the regulatory function of the National Identity Management Commission.

This development was revealed in a statement signed by the NIMC’s Head of Communications, Kayode Adegoke, on Friday.

The proposed NIMC Bill aims to enhance the efficacy and inclusivity of the National Identity Management System by expanding the scope of registrable persons.

According to the commission, the overhaul is expected to yield benefits, including enhanced national security, efficient service delivery, and the promotion of financial inclusion.

“The amendments seek to fortify the foundational framework of the NIMC and its operations by expanding the scope of registrable persons.” The benefit to the country is a more comprehensive and inclusive identification system, which enhances national security, facilitates efficient service delivery, and promotes financial inclusion,” the statement read.

According to NIMC, the bill will streamline the sharing of personal data, incorporating robust data protection measures to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of individuals’ data and foster trust among citizens in the handling of their information.

It added that the proposed amendment would enhance its administrative enforcement power to ensure timely and accurate compliance with ID registration requirements.

The NIMC repeal and enactment bill, when passed into law, would lead to a more streamlined registration process, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and enhancing the reliability of the Nigeria ID System.

Despite the milestone of enrolling about 107 million Nigerians for the National Identity Number, the Commission faces allegations of privacy violations as the custodian of the country’s database.

NIMC has denied any data breaches and insisted that the national identity registry under its custody has not been compromised.

However, digital rights advocates have argued that NIMC failed to secure the data entrusted to it by Nigerians.

They believed NIMC needed to take responsibility, acknowledge the data leaks, and ensure they did not happen again.

The World Bank is sponsoring Nigeria’s NIN project through the Digital Identification for Development project.

The bank initially set a target for Nigeria to enrol 148 million Nigerians in NIN by June 2024.

However, Nigeria missed the deadline.

Consequently, the World Bank has restructured the $430m ID4D project to avoid truncation, extending the project closure date beyond the initial June 30, 2024, deadline by two years.

Police CP assures citizens of security

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Police CP assures citizens of security

Ahead of the planned hunger protest across the country, the Rivers State Police Command has said its men are prepared to contain any situation that may arise in the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, stated this while interacting with journalists in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

Disu said the command has held meetings with various stakeholder groups to ensure that the peace in the state is sustained.

He said, “That is of concern to us. It is information that is everywhere for everybody to see. We have been having meetings with a lot of our stakeholders, very important stakeholders in the communities.

“And more meetings have been slated for tomorrow and then Monday. On the side of the police, our men are prepared. We have talked to them. Most importantly we don’t want it to be a situation of we versus them. We are all in this together.

“The officers have been told what to do. We have withdrawn our men from essential duties and have talked to them. They have been trained again and again. We are ready to hold any situation that presents itself to us in the state.”

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Acting beyond having good looks— Femi Branch

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Acting beyond having good looks— Femi Branch

Popular actor, Femi Branch, has said that in Nollywood, talent should be prioritised above good looks when casting actors for roles.

Branch also emphasised the importance of training for actors, especially the new entrants into the industry.

He told Sunday Scoop, “The growth indices in Nollywood have been ‘pandemic’. The influx of new talents (or lack of it) into the industry has always been on a steady rise. This is not entirely a bad thing as we have been blessed by a plethora of amazing talents, even in recent times. However, my worry is in the area of professional conduct, which is where one differentiates between the trained and untrained. By training, I mean formal or informal. We should start giving recognition and opportunities to those who are talented and trained, rather than those who can only boast of good looks and loose morals.”

Asked about the challenges he faced while interpreting his role in the recently released movie titled, House of Ga’a, he said, “One of them was playing the role of a real life character. That is usually harder for an actor. The person lived and had a family, friends, acquaintances, and enemies. There are many people who not only knew the person’s story, but they know how the person walked, talked, loved, hated, worked, played, and did basically every other thing. In that case, an actor needs to do a lot more work in order to make their interpretation believable, especially for people who knew the person in question. So, Femi Branch had to ‘die’ for about two months for Basorun Ga’a to come back to life.”

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I was sad when scan showed four babies – Mother of quadruplets

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I was sad when scan showed four babies – Mother of quadruplets

For days now, Olayode Abiodun, a Sterling Bank staff member, who recently gave birth to quadruplets, has received an avalanche of love and support from Nigerians at home and in the diaspora after a colleague shared her daily struggles with providing diapers for the newborns on Twitter (now X). In this interview conducted in her home in Akute, a suburb in Ogun State, the 32-year-old, spoke with TEMITOPE ADETUNJI about the shock of learning about the multiple births, the mixed feelings and uncertainties she feared and challenges associated with caring for the quadruplets

Can you describe your initial reaction when you found out you were expecting quadruplets?

At the initial stage, I didn’t know I was expecting quadruplets. When I was three months, pregnant, the scan showed just two babies. At five months, my tummy became big and looked as if I was going to give birth the next day.

At some point, my doctor at the Gbagada General Hospital said there was a need to carry out another scan and sent me to a radiology centre a Anthony.

There, the scan showed two babies and three placentas. However, when I told my doctor, he said it was not possible and that maybe, the third sac had been terminated.

We hoped for the best and lived with the mindset that two babies were on their way.

When I was six months gone, my legs became too heavy to lift and I couldn’t walk. I was put on bed rest for a month in the hospital. With time, my stomach became massive.

Though I was allowed to return home, it was for a short while. I stayed in the hospital until I gave birth.

A few weeks before my delivery, my consultant sent me for another scan and it was then that we learnt that there were four placentas and four sacs.

How did you feel at that moment?

I wasn’t happy. I became sad because I already had two children, and having quadruplets would make them six children. And considering the economic situation of the country, it was not a funny situation.

I called my husband to break the news and he asked in a confused state, “What are we going to do? We can’t terminate this pregnancy because it’s already late.”

The pregnancy was almost due, so there was nothing that could be done because my health and life were more important.

I was going through a lot at the time. I was in the hospital for bed rest and monitoring until I gave birth. When the pregnancy was 30 weeks, I was weak and kept asking my consultant when I was going to give birth.

I couldn’t walk again because my stomach was so big. Those who saw me in the hospital during my pregnancy were scared.

Everyone pitied me, and to the glory of God, here we are, and we are doing fine.

If you had found out earlier about being pregnant with quadruplets, would you have considered termination?

If I had found out earlier about the quadruplets, in this Emilokan era, I would have considered termination.

During the early stage of any quadruplet pregnancy, it could be difficult to find out because a scan can be accurate.

When exactly did you welcome your babies?

It was on June 19, 2024.

How did your family members react to the news of having four more children at once?

My family members were all happy even though they didn’t know what I went through. As you can see, everybody is around me; my mom, brother, sister and mother-in-law. They are all supporting me.

What challenges did you face during your pregnancy?

I went into depression, but God is great. Swollen legs were one of the biggest challenges because I couldn’t walk. Apart from that, I had fatigue, couldn’t eat, and was spitting excessively. It continued till I was wheeled into the theatre.

How was your health managed medically during pregnancy?

A dedicated team of specialists managed my case at the Gbagada General Hospital through God’s guidance.

Apart from thanking God, I would like to thank Dr Innofomoh and his team at the Gbagada General Hospital. This particular doctor was always there for me. He and his team saved my life, but I give all glory to God.

Was there any complication?

I give all the glory to God because there was no complication.

How did you prepare your home and two older children for the arrival of the quadruplets?

There was nothing to prepare. We just had to face the reality that we were expecting four more ‘giants’ in our home. I told the older ones about their four siblings and they were happy. They are coping well.

What is the sex of the new babies?

We have two boys and two girls. Altogether, we now have three boys and three girls in the house.

How challenging has it been financially to take care of six children?

I want to thank Nigerians who came to our aid financially. We appreciate them. It’s not easy, especially in this economic situation. Even buying foodstuff has not been easy, let alone taking care of quadruplets. I also want to thank the Sterling Bank management and my husband’s employers at Cyberspace. They came through for us.

Gbagada Ilera Eko NHIS is a lovely scheme. They gave me free drugs and paid for my CS.

I only paid for my children’s incubators. The hospital charges per day for incubator use, so you pay every week, and the money is massive. Just having one child in the incubator is expensive, let alone four.

How do you ensure that each of the quadruplets get adequate attention and care?

I take care of them all together. They are precious to me; all of them, including their older siblings.

Your older children are how old??

I have a nine-year-old and a three-year-old. My niece, who is 17, also stays with me. We are all happy, and I treat all of them like my children.

Was there any time you became uncertain about providing adequately for your children?

I can’t escape my reality but I don’t want to think about it. I know I am still coming back to that. There is no way I will not think about who will help me take care of them. However, there’s nobody except God.

Does your husband help with childcare and household chores?

My husband has been very helpful. If you see him, you will know he is good. He has been very supportive. My husband is always busy, ensuring everything is in order.

He cooks, washes plates, sweeps, and ensures everything is in order. That’s my husband for you.

Have you experienced any negative reactions from the public over your large family?

I wouldn’t know because I’m not sitting with them. If they are talking about me, I don’t even know. As long as God is with me, I’m fine.

What has been the most rewarding part of having this large family?

Everything has been good and I keep thanking God. I am very happy about the outpour of love and show of support from people. It is not as if I did anything special, but they just want to support my family. I want to say thank you to all of them.

How much have you received from Nigerians so far?

About N16m.

What are your plans for the future of the six children?

Educating all my children is very important to me. I am already training two and the quadruplets will not be excluded.

However, my prayer is for God to help me and my husband.

I was trained by my parents, so I will do the same for my children. I’m educated, and my husband is also educated. There is no way we won’t educate our children.

Can you share any memorable or funny moments since the quadruplets arrived?

The sleepless nights are unforgettable. It’s not easy to take care of four babies at once. Even one baby is tough, let alone four.

How has this experience changed your perspective on motherhood?

It has changed my motherhood perspective. Loving six children equally is one of the things that has changed my life. Loving six children equally is not easy, and I’m trying to adjust.

I strive to treat them well, equally.

You’ve been trending on social media. How do you feel about that?

I’m not a social media person, but my friends kept sending me trending news about us. Even people we finished school together, who might have forgotten about me started calling and asking questions. I’m grateful to God for giving me these children. Many people are looking forward to this kind of blessing. They are spending millions just to have children of their own. I pray that God will give them children in multiple folds.

Is there any support you need from the public?

It’s not easy to take care of God’s blessings. If anyone wants to help us, we would be grateful, especially with scholarships for our babies. We expected the government to come to our aid when we were in the hospital, but to our surprise, we only saw Ilera Eko people.

They provided free drugs while I was in the hospital. Though we had to pay for other things, we were told the First Lady is a doctor with a foundation that cares for multiple babies.

We are still expecting them to come to our aid. Educating children is not easy, especially as salary earners.

I am pleading with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his wife, Dr Ibijoke, to come to our aid.

Even if it is a scholarship, we would be immensely grateful.

What advice would you give to couples expecting quadruplets?

All I can say is that they should put their trust in God because He is the only one who can do all things.

NNPC, marketers blame supply hitches

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NNPC, marketers blame supply hitches

As the scarcity of petrol worsens in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil marketers have blamed the development on a disruption of supply at key depots in the two cities.

Sunday According, however,  gathered that some oil marketers and transporters in the two cities reduced the number of trucks they sent out to load the product to watch how the planned nationwide hunger protest would turn out.

It was learnt that some PMS dealers had asked some of their truck drivers to park, particularly those involved in the transportation of products from the coastal depots in the South to the hinterlands in the North.

The development, according to marketers, contributed to the fuel queues being experienced in many parts of the country, including Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos, and Ogun, among others.

The NNPCL said the fuel queues were caused by hitches in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

It was, however, quick to state that the national oil firm was working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in operations.

Our correspondents gathered that the queues for petrol surfaced at the Nipco Filling Station on the Zuba-Kubwa Expressway, while motorists besieged the Conoil Filling Station opposite the headquarters of NNPC inside Abuja on Saturday.

Many other outlets, including Shafa, Salbas, and Gegu Oil, among others, located on the busy Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, were also closed yesterday, and some of the attendants said this was due to a lack of products to dispense.

In Lagos, Sunday According gathered that the fuel queues occurred at some major filling stations located along the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway, especially those in the Abule-Egba, Agege, LASU/Igando, Egbeda, and Iyana-Ipaja axis of the state.

As a result of the scarcity, petrol was sold for between N650 and N850 in the affected parts of Lagos on Saturday.

Our correspondent, who visited the Ibafo and Magboro areas along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, Ogun State, also observed that several filling stations were either shut or overwhelmed with long lines of vehicles and motorcycles.

This was just as several other Filling Stations, including Enyo, Heyden, Haoti, and Osadol in Ibafo, as well as Quest filling station in Magboro, were not dispensing petrol despite being open.

Commenting on the development, the Deputy National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, said the queues were also due to the planned protest.

“The planned protest is one of the reasons for the queues we are seeing now. Most transporters and marketers are a bit sceptical about dispatching their trucks for loading at the various coastal depots for delivery to the hinterlands.

“So, people are waiting to see how things are going to be, and there are not many trucks that have gone to lift the product. Everybody is watching; nobody knows how the protest is going to turn out,” he stated.

The IPMAN official urged those gearing up to protest to be responsible during the exercise to avoid losses to private businesses, government, and other individuals.

“My advice is that even though it is the legitimate right of anyone to protest, it should be done with a sense of responsibility because we have a lot of unemployed idle youths. It shouldn’t be done in such a way that hoodlums will hijack the protest and cause disharmony within the country.

“No matter what you are protesting against, there must be peace. Once law, order, and peace are strangulated, we will all face the consequences. So, let us all use a sense of responsibility and caution in exercising our rights to protest.

“It is not wrong to come out and protest to show the grievances one has against the government, but it should be done with a sense of responsibility and caution,” Mustapha stated.

Also speaking on the queues, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, blamed the development on discharge operations at some fuel vessels.

He pointed out that the situation was being addressed by the company and stakeholders.

“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is due to a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

“The company further states that it is working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in operations,” he stated.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, IPMAN National Vice President, Hammed Fashola, said some members of the association could not buy the product at private depots on Friday due to the high price the product was being sold.

Fashola said, “The truth is that there is little disruption in supply. And it is the NNPCL that can really tell us what is happening because they are the sole importer for now. And now that they have told us the reason, we have to agree with them. But as oil marketers, we discovered that fuel supply is not as it used to be at the depots.”

When asked to comment on the hike in the price of the commodity, he said, “The law of demand and supply has actually come into play. When demand surpasses supply, automatically, the price will go up. But that is not official. Moreover, we, marketers, buy from private depots. If you go to them now, you will discover that they have raised their price. As a result, some of our marketers didn’t buy the product because they can’t sell it at a high price in their filling stations.”

Additional Reports: Daniel Ayantoye, Muhammed Lawal and Ayoola Olasupo.

NEF chair warns against blackmailing Dangote refinery

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NEF chair warns against blackmailing Dangote refinery

The Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, has issued a stern warning against efforts to frustrate and undermine the Dangote refinery, stating that such actions would be detrimental to the country.

The former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, expressed his concerns in a statement released in Abuja on Saturday.

These concerns arise amid the Federal Government’s intervention in the ongoing conflict between the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the management of the Dangote refinery.

Recently, media reports have highlighted the difficulties faced by the refinery, one of Africa’s largest oil plants, in securing local crude oil.

Prof Abdullahi expressed worry that for 30 years, vested interests controlling the NNPC cartel have ensured that the nation’s four refineries remained non-operational and unable to meet domestic petroleum needs. Instead of appreciating Aliko Dangote’s efforts to reduce Nigeria’s dependency on imported refined petroleum products, some groups are intent on hindering the refinery’s operations.

He emphasised that Nigeria is globally ridiculed as the only member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) without refining capacity, relying heavily on imported oil and derivatives.

The statement reads, “The Northern Elders Forum is watching with sustained interest the unfolding drama being orchestrated by some powerful vested interests to frustrate the good example set by the nation’s leading investor and foremost African entrepreneur, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who has defied all formidable odds to build a privately-owned ultramodern petroleum refinery in Nigeria.

“This remarkable business feat, which ordinarily should instantly earn him national encomiums and accolades, has paradoxically ignited the malicious fury of enemies of our dear country, who are strategically located in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

“They have been wreaking havoc over the years through many subterfuges, resulting in the crippling of our nation’s refining capacity and the ruthless imposition of a ruinous regime of massive refined oil and other sundry products importation to the detriment of our national growth.

“In this wise, the lamentable and highly troubling commentary against the Dangote refinery that came out from the NNPCL and its other sister regulatory bodies smacks of a glaring attempt to de-market this epochal national achievement and premeditatedly derail the economy from the path of healthy growth and stability.”

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