 Hello, it's another edition of PLUS reports, a compilation of the stories and events that made the news recently. I'm Jacinta Obuco. In the wake of world communications and information day marked on every May 17, Nigerians have been urged to harness the opportunities and in parts which digital communication brings. Destiny Momo has more on this. International Telecommunication and Information Society Day has been celebrated annually every 17 May since 1969 to mark the founding of the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, and the signing of the First International Telegraph Convention in 1865. The COVID-19 crisis has not only highlighted the critical role of information and communication technologies for continued functioning of societies but has also brought to the fore the startling digital inequalities between and within countries. In commemoration of the day, a telecommunications expert, Michael Dazi, says Nigerians have embraced digital communication as the new normal, complying with social media and other digital services. International technology is a great invention that has come to enhance humanity in every respect and in every way of life. Nigeria to some extent has embraced it. We can see that with the introduction of GSM in 2001. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of accelerating digital transformation and advancing the goals and targets of the Connect 2030 agenda to leave no one behind. Just how has communication and information helped in building a society to achieve national development? Do we have enough infrastructure that will enable information to get to everyone? I said to you, internet penetration is less than 50 percent. So if I were to use the web to disseminate information, how many people will get access to that? How many people have access to TV? How many people have access to radio system that they can listen to? While telecommunication and information die is an opportunity to continue to push for digital transformation by promoting national strategies on ICT development, smart policies to encourage investment cooperation and partnership. Destin Momo for Plus TV Africa. While of a truth, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of accelerating digital transformation and according to UN report, advancing the goals and targets of the Connect 2030 agenda to leave no one behind. And this next report is about excessive working hours. The recent report released by World Health Organization and International Labor Organization, which puts 745,000 deaths rate in 2016 as a result of stroke and heart disease, has elicited reaction from human resources practitioners. The WHO and ILO say this culture is reportedly to have worked an average of 55 hours weekly as against the 40 hours recommended by ILO. World Health Organization in a statement from its headquarters in Geneva on Monday said that the figure was the first global analysis of loss of lives and health associated with working-long hours. According to reports, working-long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year and could be getting worse due to the economic slowdown. The World Health Organization warned by calling for employers and governments to cap working hours in order to safeguard employees' health. Some HR experts shared their thoughts on how it causes serious health hazards to workers. The health and its telling on the employees themselves because having to work 80 hours for a week, because labor law mandated that average in Nigeria labor law stays 40 hours per week. So because of employee wanting to achieve a whole lot, they tend to use their employer as more than the numbers of working hours and this is really, really causing a lot of hazards in the health of employees. My own recommendation for handling this issue of long-hour work for employees is we should embrace, gladly, we should embrace the issue of work, presentation, working, removing, working from any way the employees choose, in as much as we provide some IT-based tools and make you to checkmate and see what they are doing. Some workers in Lagos also expressed how this has affected their mental health. It affected me today, my mental health, because I actually was dozing. I wasn't thinking properly, I was about having a headache because I don't think I had enough sleep. So it really affected me. Stressful, I must confess. It affects the mental health because in balance, sometimes when you look at it, some of us will fall sick. In the morning you will be so tired. It's stressful, really stressful and I always can't wait to get the weekend so I can rest and regain my sanity and ease off a bit. The World Health Organization says hours should be kept for worker safety as long working hours appear to be the most significant occupational disease burden, accounting for a third of work-related disease. For Plus TV Africa, Gozika or HSC. Well it is crucial that employees can manage GS Shadow for family and personal needs. This will help alleviate stress, provide flexible work hours throughout the year and avoid many work-life conflicts. So in security now, following the spate of violence and criminality across the country, a group known as Southwest Women Arise for Nigeria has called on women as mothers of the nation to arise to the clarion call of certain things right. According to this group, the peace enjoyed by communities and nations supersedes every other thing. These women say they have decided to silence the drum of war being beaten by some unscrupulous elements. The co-convener Bolanle Ido and other speakers say insecurity is grossly the bane of development hence women can play a vital role to combat. The women have come together today to talk about Nigerian unity. We are for Nigerian unity. We are not for division. For 2023, we cannot divide. If your BP is normal in Nigeria, you are not normal, that's just the truth. The rape of our girls, our women, our husbands, our sons are not left out. We can shake this nation, we can shake this nation by the words of our mouth on our news, whether you're a Christian or a Muslim. Some of the speakers blame women identifying the hostility as a factor. The transformation can be instantaneous, that's impossible. The rot is not instantaneous, it's been over the years that things have been going bad and we've kept quiet. So the change also towards a better Nigeria is going to be one day at a time. Others said because of the stake they have, they cannot watch things fall apart where the centre cannot hold. As they say, they will be active in the next election by supporting a competent hand to stem the tide. The owners of the peace of this country lies in the hands of women. And we need to take mantle to say we've had enough of bloodshed. Yagabelo is one of the governors who have been very supportive of our cause. Irrespective of what tribe you are. Someone made mention of Governor Yagabelo this afternoon. And when we look at it, he's a very young man that came up on board. He cleaned up the civil service payroll. He has done so much for the youth in Kogi States. According to them, women and children are greatly affected during unrest. They say it is time to groom good leadership skills in their sons, husbands and also among themselves. Destiny Momo for Plus TV Africa. It's a good thing that women are lending their voices to such issues like this as national security is everyone's business. Now to the lingering debate on restructuring. Governors have called for a national dialogue between Northern and Southern Governors. This disparity began when the Southern Governors recently called for restructuring and a ban on open grazing in their zones. At the Banker Odonui filed this report. In a bid to provide solutions to the challenges bedeviling the nation. Governors of the 17 southern states under the ages of the Southern Governors Forum had on May 11th called on the federal government to restructure the country. In response to the call, Senate President Amela Wan won against joining the agitation for restructuring of the country. While responding to the Senate president, Delta State Governor Ifai Okowa has opined that the calls for restructuring were not new and that they were simply echoing the voice of the people. The call, though referred to as a step in the right direction, was described as coming late. The call for restructuring by the 17 southern state governments of Nigeria was a call that was not only necessary but extremely vital for the development and progress and peace of our country. It didn't come timely enough. Individual restructuring was however championed for as this would help that of the country succeed. From my own perspective I would rather drag it further that the structuring should start from the individual because that is what we need more than any other thing. We need to restructure our attitudes as individuals because if we are restructuring the state or the national if we are still going to go there with the same attitude of most Nigerians there might not be much difference from what we are witnessing now. And from there we can now go to the state level to do restructuring and then from there we go to the national level to do restructuring. The need for dialogue and following the resolution to let our voice emphasize. We need to come together and discuss because there are a lot of tensions in the land there is a lot of volatility all over the country. While speaking on Plus TV Africa's breakfast show a representative of the Miety Allah encouraged the southern governance to have a dialogue with their northern counterparts in order to take steps that would be preferred to the ban of open grays in the southern states. I am calling on the northern governors to open up the typhoon with their southern counterparts so that they could come up with a resolution that would be generally acceptable to both farmers and harvest in their respective states. The southern governors have stated that they took this and other decisions to amplify the voices of their people and keep them safe reporting for Plus TV Africa at Ibanke Udunui. Everyone seems to have different opinions but the hope is that all the issues bedeviling the nation should be tackled head on. You're watching Plus report. There's more after this break.