0704 Summer 2003.pdf - Friends of Nigeria

(Continued from page 4)Institution of Child Health and PrimaryHealthcare (1981-1985). As Minister ofHealth, he expanded the Programme onImmunisation for children andemphasized the advantages of breastfeeding. He was also an advocate foropenness in recognizing the threat fromAIDS. He publicized the first NigerianAIDS case in 1986 and acknowledged in1997 that the death of his world-famousmusician brother Fela Anikulapo-Kuti wasfrom AIDS. At the time of his death,Prof. Ransome-Kuti was chairman of an18-nation body, the Better Health inAfrica Panel of the World Bank, NationalPrimary Healthcare Development Agencyunder the Federal Ministry of Health, anda member of the Board of PathfinderInternational USA. (Source: Vanguard[Lagos], 6/7/03; This Day [Lagos], 6/21/03; Africa Action [Africa Policy E-Journal],6/22/03).Global Fund for AIDS to Grant$150 Million to Fight AIDS,TB, and MalariaThe Federal Government has signed agrant agreement with the The GlobalFund for AIDS for $150 million. Thecountry will have immediate access toabout $28 million for expansion of itsanti retroviral drug program andprevention of mother to childtransmission of HIV/AIDS. The twoinstitutions that will benefit from thegrant are the Yakubu Gowon Centre forUnity and International Peace, and theNational Action Committee on AIDS(NACA). To have access to the GlobalFund for AIDS, the government set up a38-member country coordinatingmechanism that sent 5 proposals to thefund that were approved. Nigeria wasone of the first countries to donate to theGlobal Fund for AIDS with acontribution of $10 million. (Source:Daily Trust [Abuja], 6/25/03)Vice President Atiku AbubakarTravels to U.S.Vice President Atiku Abubakartraveled to the U.S. to participate in thisyear’s US-Africa Business Summit,organized biennially by the CorporateCouncil on Africa (CCA). The summitbrings together business and governmentleaders in the U.S. who are committed topromoting trade and investment betweenthe U.S. and Africa. In addition tointeracting with members of the CCA,Abubakar was expected to address thesummit on the initiatives of the Nigeriangovernment to curtail the impact ofHIV/AIDS among Nigeria’s productivepopulation. (Source: Daily Trust [Abuja],6/25/03).LNG Ltd. Exports LiquefiedGas to U.S.The Nigeria LNG Ltd. exported thefirst liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fromthe Bonny LNG plant. U.S. oil traderVitol purchased 40,000 metric tons of theLPG at the current international marketprice of $261 per metric ton. The LNGplant began production of LPG lastMarch, with a plant capacity of onemillion metric tons per annum. (Source:This Day [Lagos], 6/25/03).Yoruba Keyboard Wins AwardThe effort of African LanguagesTechnology Initiative (Alt-I), a researchand development organization headed byTunde Adegbola, a computer scientist andlinguist, has developed Africa’s firstindigenous language keyboard. TheYoruba keyboard won this year’s editionof the IICD Award on Local ContentApplications of InformationCommunication Technologies (ICTs).The award is one of the AfricanInformation Society Initiative (AISI)Media Awards of the UN EconomicCommission for Africa (UNECA) thatrecognizes users of innovativeapplications of ICTs to local contentdefined as “the expression of the locallyowned and adapted knowledge of acommunity” in Africa.Prior to the Alt-I’s Yoruba Keyboard,one single character might sometimesrequire up to five keystrokes on thecomputer keyboard. In response, Alt-Ideveloped a modification of theQWERTY keyboard to guarantee that noYoruba character will require more thantwo keystrokes. The scheme takesadvantage of the fact that Yoruba neveruses the letters Q, Z, X, C and V, todevelop Yoruba fonts and other softwarecomplements that take account of thecomplete Yoruba character set and toremap the QWERTY keyboardaccordingly. (Source: This Day [Lagos],6/12/03, 6/23/03).Nwankwo Kanu Brings U.S.Doctors to NigeriaTwenty-one U.S. doctors werescheduled to travel to Nigeria for twoweeks in June and July, courtesy of theKanu Heart Foundation, to performoperations on 50 children who have heartailments. They will work at the Universityof Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enuguwhere the nation’s first open heart surgerywas carried out some years ago. Afterplaying in the Atlanta ’96 Olympics,Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu, who isbehind the project, was diagnosed with acareer-threatening heart defect. Afterundergoing surgery in the U.S., herecovered to resume his career. Sincethen, he set up the foundation in aneffort to treat as many children aspossible suffering from heart problemsbut who are unable to afford treatment.(Source: This Day [Lagos], 6/23/03).Mental Tests Ordered forTraffic OffendersThe city of Lagos has begun torequire psychiatric tests of trafficoffenders blamed for the city’s gridlock.Impatient drivers who jump curbs anddrive on the wrong side of the streetaggravate Lagos traffic jams. The LagosTraffic Ministry has now ordered policeto arrest offenders, impound theirvehicles, impose $200 fines and ordermandatory psychiatric tests. Hundreds ofdrivers have already been punished underthe new measures, and their vehicles arebeing held until they have received a(Continued on page 6)WINTER 2003 75