Broadcast media executives have converged on Lagos for the 3rd international summit on Digital Broadcasting in Nigeria. The event organized by the Broadcast Organizations of Nigeria (BON) and BSP Media International had the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in attendance.

Campaigns to get people cycling are focusing on girls and women, making it easier for them to get to school, helping with business and reducing sex attacks. [...] World Bicycle Relief, which has distributed and sold hundreds of thousands of bikes, is working with schools to change the dynamic.

The Women Against Violent Extremism, WAVE, campaign, developed by AUN students, has reached the international final of the Facebook Global Digital Challenge. [...] The AUN students' WAVE campaign, tagged #IAmABeliever2, seeks to promote religious tolerance in Nigeria by inspiring women and girls in the country to value their beliefs, respect the beliefs of others and take action against violent extremism within their communities.

THE  Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has unveiled a new roadmap with medium and long-term objectives that will fast-track the growth of the industry. The strategic five-point action plan is to galvanize the nation’s tourism, improve service delivery and effectiveness in critical sectors of the industry.

Zuriel Oduwole, the 14-year-old Nigerian filmmaker and advocate, who has received much fame on the international scene recently, was a guest of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at a conference on gender equality in France. Oduwole was part of 55 women invited by Irina Bokova, the UNESCO Director-General. They were to gather to discuss the soft power approach to women's development.

The total amount of soft loans that India has committed in the past 14 years is about $24.2 billion, in over 60 developing countries. [...] The fact that India has loaned out capital amounting to nearly 1% of its current GDP is a clear indicator of  the primacy of ‘aid’ as a diplomatic tool. “If you are seen by most people as playing a benign developmental role, then you strengthen your credentials of contributing to global good…If you want to be seen as a leader, then you must act like one,” said a senior MEA official.

The World Food Programme last week said nearly two million people were living on the brink of famine in the remote region, which has been devastated by Boko Haram violence since 2009. Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency has killed at least 20,000 people in northeast Nigeria and forced millions of others from their homes. Lack of security, plus restrictions on travel and trade, have hit agriculture hard, led to food shortages and driven up prices. The UN says Nigeria needs $1.05 billion this year to fund vital humanitarian projects including food, clean water and sanitation. 

The People’s Republic of China has restated her resolve to transfer technology and other competences to Nigeria through continuous training. This dominated the discourse at an exhibition tagged, ‘China through the eyes of Nigerians’. The event held at the china cultural center in Abuja. It was a delightful testimony of mutual relationship transcending more than 50 years between Nigeria and China.