UBA Upgrades Chatbot features, as Leo launches service on Google Business Chat, Instagram
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced the expansion of the services of Leo, its Artificial Intelligence chatbot to Google Business Chat and Instagram.
Leo – UBA’s AI-powered chatbot, which enables customers to make use of their social media accounts to carry out key banking transactions – was first introduced in January, 2018. It has since evolved to become a custom-fitted, personalised virtual banker to several UBA Customers across its 20 African countries. Before now, UBA’s Leo was servicing customers on Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and Apple Chat.
The bank also announced an interesting upgrade to the existing features of Leo, where customers can now carry out their activities in a 3D animated format. Armed with this upgrade and with its recent expansion to Instagram and Google Business, customers will now be able to carry out more transactions from the comfort of their homes and can now perform more activities such as funds transfer, checking balances, buying airtime and data, and getting their bank statements with ease, from any of these social media platforms.
UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, who spoke about the upgraded features of Leo, explained that the bank was always on the lookout for innovative ways to develop strategies aimed at easing transactions for the bank’s numerous users, while ensuring utmost safety of their transactions.
He said, “At UBA, we have been working with technology giants that have the global capacity to ensure not only seamless but also effortless banking for millions of our customers across Africa. We at UBA, have collaborated with the very best to actualise this unbeatable innovation that is capable of revolutionising the way banking is done in Africa.”
He disclosed that Leo’s activities has aptly spread across Africa, changing the face of e-banking in other key African locations including Cameroon, Zambia, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Congo DRC, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Benin, Mozambique, Zambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali.
Uzoka emphasised that the uniqueness of Leo lies in the convenience. “Customers can initiate transactions without leaving their favoured phone applications. By bringing Leo to the comfort zone of its customers, UBA’s chat banking became a pioneer innovation and has since enjoyed leadership status in the chat banking space,” he explained.
Since inception, Leo has been effortlessly enhancing the digital customer experience in banking and also achieving a range of other benefits like 24/7 availability as the chatbot Leo stays available round the clock to assist customers and handle the common financial queries asked by the customers.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-five (25) million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries. With presence in New York, London and Paris, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.
The Lagos State Government has banned the operation of commercial motorcycles popularly called Okada, in six Local Government Areas of the state.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made the announcement while briefing heads of security agencies in the state at a meeting at the State House, Ikeja on Wednesday.
The governor stated that the total ban on Okada in the six local councils takes effect from June 1, 2022, and would be fully enforced.
Sanwo-Olu pointed out that the ban in the six local councils is part of the phase banning okadas in the state.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) under the six local government areas would also be affected.
The governor listed the six affected local councils as Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island and Apapa.
He, however, charged all Divisional Police Officers (DPOs), Area Commanders and the Taskforce to enforce the total ban from June 1.
“This is the phase banning we are going to be embarking on so that others know that in a short while, either they get out or get something else to do.
“From the first of June, the LCDAs that are underneath them, we are going to publish them and list all of them, so we are giving the notice now.
“Begin to do your strategy now, from the first of June we want all the okadas to be completely off these major roads,” he said.
A yet-to-be identified teacher at Gilgal Private School, Edo State, has allegedly absconded with the sum of N2 million meant for the registration of students for the forthcoming West African Examination Senior Secondary School Examinations (WASSCE).
It was learnt that the money was handed over to the teacher for safe keeping owing to the lack of commercial banks in Iguobazuwa, the headquarters of Ovia South-west Local Government Area where the school is located.
According to a report by Daily Post, an alarm was raised by one of the parents of the students that eventually led to the arrest of the proprietor of the school by police operatives of Iguobazuwa division.
The Public Affairs Director of the Polytechnic Ibadan, Alhaji Soladoye Adewole has said that Daniel Igunnu who reportedly lost his life during marathon romp was an Higher National Diploma (HND) student of the institution.
Naija News reports that Adewole confirmed that the incident happened off-campus, precisely, Idi-Ito area.
According to the institution, it is yet to establish the identity of the lady involved in the incident.
It would be recalled that the two lovebirds, were engaged in marathon romp at the deceased apartment in Idi-Ito in the Ido local government area of Oyo State when he died.
The lifeless body of the deceased was seen on the floor while the lady whose identity could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report was met unconscious.
The lady, as reliably informed was rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan for medical attention.
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday morning ordered that the six-count amended treasonable felony charge against Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) be struck out, POLITICS NIGERIA reports.
The implication of this is that Kanu has no case to answer.
In April 2022, the court struck out eight out of the 15-count charge filed against Kanu, by the federal government.
Also on Wednesday, Justice Nyako said the absence of the defendant (Nnamdi Kanu) in court after his bail was granted in 2017 must be discussed before another bail is granted. Thus, the defence is expected to apply for a fresh bail.
During the resumed trial on Wednesday, Justice Nyako questioned the Department of State Services (DSS) on why the agency repeatedly flouted her court orders.
Earlier, security operatives barricaded the entrance to the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Kanu was rearrested in Kenya last June and transferred to Nigeria.
Heirs Oil & Gas’ OML 17 wins PFI Africa deal of the year
Heirs Oil & Gas (HHOG), Africa’s integrated energy company has been awarded the ‘Africa deal of the year 2021’by Project Finance International (PFI), following the $1.1 billion financing and acquisition of 45% stake in OML 17 in 2021. The award ceremony which took place on Monday, May 9 2022 in London was a gathering of senior industry leaders across various sectors to celebrate excellence.
“On behalf of the HHOG team, I would like to thank PFI for this great honour which recognises the OML 17 acquisition deal, while also acknowledging the efforts of the entire team involved in the transaction.” said Executive Director, Heirs Oil & Gas, Samuel Nwanze.
The deal, which was announced in January 2021, saw Heirs Holdings, the leading African strategic investor, in partnership with affiliated company Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), acquire a 45% participating interest in Nigerian oil license OML 17 and related assets from the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited, and ENI.
While acknowledging the award, Chief Executive Officer, Heirs Oil & Gas, Osayande Igiehon said “This great recognition reiterates our commitment to excellence in our bid to fulfil Africa’s unique energy needs and ensure that Africa’s natural resources are directed toward value creation on the continent.”
The PFI awards is organised by Project Finance International (PFI), a leading source in global project finance reporting, covering all the major sectors, including transport, power, oil & gas, infrastructure and mining.
A self-proclaimed Muslim cleric in Oyo State, Alfa Tiamiyu Abass, has been nabbed with human body parts.
The suspect Naija News understands is currently being interrogated by the Police Command in the state.
The dismembered body found with the suspect was identified as a hairdresser with the name Barakat, a resident of the Oyetoro community, in the Oyo West Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the state police command, Adewale Osifeso, said “On May 15, 2022, around 6.30 pm, one Oyerinde Gbadegein reported at the Atiba Divisional Police Headquarters that around 1 pm of the same day, a corpse was seen dumped by the side of a stream on Jibola Afonja Street, Oyo town.
“On receipt of the complaint, a team of detectives from the Atiba division swung into action and proceeded to the scene. It was discovered that the corpse was that of a lady of about 25 years packed in a sack bag, which was already decomposing with the head, hands, toes and flesh from the thigh cut off from the body. One Alfa Tiamiyu Abass was arrested in connection with the case.”
The police mouthpiece said the suspect has since confessed to killing Barakat who happened to be his customer.
Abbas told the force that he committed the heinous act with the help of one Qudus who is now at large.
Osifeso told newsmen that a search was conducted in the suspect’s house and that all the parts removed from the deceased’s body were recovered.
However, the investigation is ongoing to arrest the said Qudus for possible prosecution, the police spokesman noted.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost the Eagle Square, the proposed venue of its presidential primary to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Naija News learned that the opposition party lost the venue to the ruling party with the help of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Muhammed Musa Bello.
It was gathered that Bello helped the APC to reserve the Eagle Square for its presidential primary scheduled to hold between May 30 and June 1.
According to the Guardian, the minister denied the PDP from holding its special convention/presidential primary at the Eagle Square. The opposition had slated its presidential primary for May 28 and 29.
Following the development, the opposition party has reportedly moved its event to the MKO Abiola Stadium on the outskirts of Abuja.
The PDP Convention Planning Committee, led by former Senate President David Mark, on Tuesday, visited the stadium to assess facilities at the proposed venue of the special convention.
Meanwhile, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has hit back at the presidency over the accusation that the group is pushing for the break up of Nigeria.
NEF submitted that the presidency might be playing some mischief by accusing it of supporting calls for some tribes or regions to leave Nigeria.
The spokesman of NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said at no time did the forum release any statement calling for the break up of Nigeria as claimed by the presidency, adding that the forum is interested in the unity of Nigeria.
The position comes after the call out by the presidency in a statement on Tuesday by the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu who said NEF has no right to speak on behalf of Nigerians just because they have access to the media.
The Federal Government has accused the social media platform, Facebook of being responsible for the violence being perpetrated by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South East.
The government said IPOB has been using Facebook to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in the country and the social media platform could not do anything to curtail the activities of the group.
Naija News reports that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made this known at a meeting with a team from Facebook in Abuja on Tuesday
Mohammed said Facebook has no reason to allow its platform to be used by the outlawed group whose aim is to destabilise the country.
He said: “I have called this meeting to enable us to discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria,” he said.
“For whatever reason, they seem to have now chosen Facebook as their platform of choice. And their tools include disinformation, incendiary statements and hate speech.
“They use Facebook broadcasts to reach their followers, who are in thousands. They tag those opposed to their violent ways as ‘saboteurs’ who must be attacked, maimed and killed. They use both English and their local language as it suits them.
“Our social media people have been monitoring these separatists, anarchists and purveyors of hate, and have been reporting their atrocious actions to Facebook, but all they get are default responses that their complaints have been received and are being looked into.
“Most often than not, nothing is done about such complaints. The truth is that whatever Facebook is doing to check these people is mere tokenism and is totally ineffective.”
The minister said the plan by the government to regulate social media is not an attempt to stifle the press or encroach on press freedom.
Mohammed said the Buhari administration is just advocating for the responsible use of social media.
He added: “Some have tagged our efforts as an attempt to stifle social media.
“They are wrong because we have no intention of preventing Nigerians from using social media responsibly. All we have been advocating is a responsible use of social media.”
The Lekki Adult Literacy Centre And Vocational Centre is set to launch its kick illiteracy out of Lagos state campaign in a way to empower and restore hope to Lagosians who are interested in learning in order to be valuable to their societies.
The movement, which is one of the Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God (RCCG) LP 20 started in 2020 out of the need to bridge the gap between the elites and ordinary populace who are disadvantaged for lack of education.
According to the provincial pastor of Lagos Province 20, Pastor Tunde Natufo who is also a member of the board of trustees, the organization is to transform the lives of those around the catchment area of RCCG LP 20. He mentioned that Lekki Adult Literacy Centre is existing to allow the disadvantaged populace get knowledge which will in turn boost their confidence in relating with people.
‘’As we all know, education is a key to life and we know it provides confidence, knowledge which is power. Looking at all these, the mandate given to us by our father, Pastor EA Adeboye who has told us to give back to our immediate community. The need to give back cannot be overemphasized, what we render is the gospel and it is for the total transformation of man. You can’t be transformed and be on the same spot and when the idea came, we jumped at it and ever since then, it’s been a successful story.’’
‘’We had our first major event sometime last year and it brought the ministry of education in Lagos, education at this level is a collaboration, it’s a thing that one person can’t do. God has really helped us. There used to be very huge gap between the elites and their drivers, nannies, domestic staffers but today, we have been able to bridge that gap.’’
‘’This is just the beginning, we will try as much as possible to deepen knowledge and we are also trying to expand our reach. There is no way we will do what we are doing today that the value, economic capability of the beneficiaries will not improve. Education is a basic tool for social communication but when there is no education, it tells on the self-esteem.’’
‘’In the world today, the highest paid is the one that uses less energy, the lowest paid is the one that exerts more energy when it comes to the physical, the difference is knowledge and that’s what we have come to manage. Some of these people have knowledge too but education will fast track both the understanding and the passage to transfer that knowledge. That’s what we have been doing and by God’s grace, we will continue to do.’’
Also, Deacon Joe Mbulu, who is also a coordinator and a trustee stated that the movement discovered the influx of people into the Lekki area but it was difficult coping with the requirements for survival and end up becoming maids to the elites. As a body of Christ, RCCG picked up the responsibility of impacting knowledge into them.
He also explained that many of the illiteracy problems are foundational therefore, Lekki Adult Literacy And Vocational Centre took it upon itself to address the psychological issues too.
‘’As a body of Christ, our responsibility is not just to feed the soul, we are to also be light in the society and education is part of it. We have seen a lot of influx of people into the Lekki area but as people come, we see they can’t cope with the requirements of today’s world. Knowledge is power, it is important that we teach them how to write so they can relate with people because most can’t read simple things, they can’t even read job advertisements so they will end up being house girls, house boys, maids, etc. considering this, we started this movement in October 2020 with about 20 learners but as people came in, we quickly realize our vision had to go beyond teaching them how to read and write, we discovered that the problem is not just reading and writing, it’s foundation’’
‘’Some didn’t go to school because their parents didn’t have money to send them to school, some was gender discrimination, some lost their parents and with this circumstances, they were psychological challenges. Our vision was to repair faulty foundation because when we make people believe they can learn, when they believe there is a future for them, we can teach them anything.’’
‘’We have taught people not only how to read and write but to believe in themselves. One key element is what we call the morning charge. We bring people to encourage our learners, we have about 17 facilitators and people within, outside the church join us.We have spent time encouraging them, letting them know their past cannot determine their future and the joy of learning comes back. We see people happy learning ABC as simply as that. People come here with lost hope but within few weeks with us, they get joy in the learning process and that gives us so much joy.’’
‘’In the last one year, we have been able to build our structure like that of a corporate organization, we are not just selling reading and writing, we are restoring hope.’’
Furthermore, while speaking on the Kicking Illiteracy Out Of Lagos Campaign, Mrs Chika Idalah-Allison, the lead facilitator stated that it is to celebrate the second matriculation of learners and to call on the government to take the education of Nigerians very seriously especially at a time like this when most institutions are on strike.
She narrated briefly how the structure of the organization is and how the programme is run for the learners.
‘’Looking at our educational sector, most of our tertiary institutions have gone on strike. If we don’t look into things that will make our government be passionate about education, very soon only God knows what will be the hope of education for our young ones.’’
‘’ In our own structure here, we run every Saturday because our learners are drivers, market women, cooks, households, nannies, and all working at different households within Lekki phase one. They are always at work during the week and on Saturday at 11am, they all come to school to learn how to read and write.’’
‘’Beyond reading and writing, we are building an exceptional structure for them whereby they get the things they would get in formal settings. Sometime last year, we had to take our learners on excursion to UNILAG because we want them to be more visionary towards going further after learning how to read and write and be value oriented to their community, Lagos state and Nigeria.’’
‘’In addition to our structure, every month we celebrate our learners by celebrating their birthdays for them. We make them look forward to learning and these are adults who are so excited coming to school. Going forward, we also partnered with the Lagos state government.’’
‘’Our structure is like a win-win situation whereby when the bosses allow their domestic staffers learn to read and write, they get morally equipped in relating with their bosses and that’s why for our brand campaign this year, we are looking at Kick illiteracy out of Lagos state.’’
![Sanwo-Olu Imposes Total Ban On Okada In Six Local Councils [Full List]](https://www.societygazetteng.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/images-2022-05-18T155940.505.jpeg)
