Facebook launches tech hub in Nigeria

Facebook is launching a "community hub" and training program in Nigeria, its biggest market in Africa. 

The hub will offer support to tech startups and will also train 50,000 young people and SMEs in digital skills across the country.

Opening in 2018, it will be Facebook's first tech space in Africa as the social media company follows in the footsteps of search giant Google who in July launched an ambitious initiative to train 10 million young people in online skills over five years.

Emeka Afigbo, Head of platform partnerships, Middle East & Africa told CNN: "What we aim to do at the incubator is to provide support for high tech startups that do not ordinarily get investments, until they can develop a proof of concept, which will attract other investors."
With an eye on growing their user base, US technology companies are increasingly turning to Africa's large youth population.
In Nigeria alone, there are 22 million monthly Facebook users; 10 million of them log in daily to the platform, all on mobile devices, Facebook says.

Afigbo added that Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, was an important market for Facebook. "Everybody knows about the country's entrepreneurial drive," he says.
"Its creativity, large population, and that a lot of this population is young people, more important is that we think the investment in Nigeria will spread and have impact across the continent," he added.

Facebook has been investing heavily in Africa, recently appointing a regional director based in South Africa.

In August, founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria and Kenya for the first time and visited the Co-Creation (CCHub). He met with developers and entrepreneurs and spent time learning about the startup ecosystem in Nigeria. 

"The energy here is amazing and I'm excited to learn as much as I can," he said during his visit.
During that visit, Zuckerberg announced an investment of 24 million dollars through his Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Andela, a tech startup that trains software developers in Africa and gives them full-time roles in international companies.

CNN

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Nigerian Army gives deadline for all soldiers to learn Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba

The Nigerian Army has directed all its officers and men to immediately commence the learning of the three major Nigerian languages.

A statement by army spokesperson, Sani Usman, on Wednesday morning said all personnel are expected to be proficient in Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba by December 2018.

Mr. Usman, a brigadier general, said the directive is part of the new language policy by the army.

Read full statement below.

NIGERIAN ARMY INTRODUCES NEW LANGUAGE POLICY FOR OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS

1. The Nigerian Army has introduced a new Language Policy. The study of foreign and local languages is world-wide practice among armies, in which officers and soldiers are encouraged to be multi-lingual. The Policy will foster espirit-de-corps and better communication with the populace to enhance information gathering, civil-military relations, increase understanding between militaries when operating abroad and assist officers and soldiers to perform their duties professionally.

2. It is to be noted that English remains the official language in the Nigerian Army. Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa languages could be used during Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) activities or interrogation. Therefore all Nigerian Army personnel have been given one year to learn the three major Nigerian languages. Invariably, by December 2018, all Nigerian Army personnel are expected to learn the three major Nigerian languages. The standard of proficiency to be attained is the basic level. Certificated proficiency level will attract Language Allowance.

3. The ability to speak the 3 major Nigerian languages will be an added advantage to those applying for recruitment or commissioning into the Nigerian Army. Therefore, prospective candidates are encouraged to learn Nigerian languages other than their mother tongues.

4. Before now, the Nigerian Army officially encouraged the learning of French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Swahili. French language is an assessed subject in some career courses and examinations for Nigerian Army personnel.

Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman
Director Army Public Relations

Premium Times

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Suicide bomber kills 50 in Mosque attack in Nigeria

More than 50 people have been killed by a teenage suicide bomber who blew himself up during morning prayers in a mosque in north-east Nigeria.

Boko Haram, the militant group that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in the region, is thought to be behind the attack in Mubi, a town in Adamawa state, but has not yet claimed it.

The group has used children as young as five to carry out hundreds of attacks on busy marketplaces, checkpoints and mosques in the past few years, but the death toll from the Medina mosque is among the highest.

Pictures posted on social media in the aftermath of the attack showed bloodstains on the floor of the mosque, which had a gaping hole in its wall.

Abubakar Sule, who lives near the mosque, told Agence France-Presse he had just returned home when he heard the blast and rushed back to the scene.

“I was there when the rescue was on and 40 people died on the spot and several others were taken to hospital with severe and life-threatening injuries,” he said.

“The roof was blown off. People near the mosque said the prayer was mid-way when the bomber, who was obviously in the congregation, detonated his explosives.”

A police spokesman, Othman Abubakar, said authorities were “still trying to ascertain the number of injured because they are in various hospitals”.

Asked who was responsible, Abubakar said: “We all know the trend. We don’t suspect anyone specifically but we know those behind such kind of attacks.”

Boko Haram is most infamous for the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls three years ago from their dormitory. Many of the Chibok girls, whose cause was made famous by Michelle Obama and other celebrities, have been released, but more than 100 remain missing.

Pushed back from some of its former strongholds, Boko Haram’s main tactic is now bombing.

Some bombers kill a handful of people; others hand themselves in to the authorities, who remove their and have their explosive vests.

There is little that can be done to stop the attacks and girls and young women walking alone are frequently suspected of carrying bombs under their clothes.

This year, the Guardian interviewed vigilantes who described the “hugging technique” they had developed in response: young men take turns to keep an eye on busy neighbourhoods, and if they see somebody who seems suspicious, they run up to them and hug them to limit the damage should they detonate.

The Nigerian military has repeatedly claimed to have won the war against Boko Haram and to have killed its most prominent leader, Abubakar Shekau. But President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim late last year that the extremist group had been “crushed” has proven to be premature.

Boko Haram has been blamed for more than 20,000 deaths during its nearly decade-old insurgency, which has spilled over into neighbouring countries and displaced millions of people, creating a vast humanitarian crisis.

Boko Haram briefly overran Mubi in late 2014 as its fighters rampaged across north-eastern Nigeria, seizing towns and villages in its quest to establish a hardline Islamic state.

The town’s name was changed temporarily to Madinatul Islam, or “City of Islam” in Arabic, during the Boko Haram occupation.

But it has been peaceful since the military and the civilian militia ousted the terrorists from the town, which is a commercial hub and home to the Adamawa State University.

In recent months, Boko Haram activity has been concentrated on the far north of Adamawa state, around Madagali, which is near the border with Borno state.

This month, at least two civilians were killed when dozens of Boko Haram fighters tried to storm the town of Gulak but were repelled by soldiers.

There have been repeated suicide bombings in the area, which is near to the Sambisa forest area of Borno, where the militants had a base.

Boko Haram fighters are also said to be hiding in the Mandara mountains, to the east of Adamawa state, which forms the border with neighbouring Cameroon.

Guardian