Politics
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Chris Oyakhilome’s TV station sanctioned in UK over coronavirus claims
A TV channel in the UK owned by one of Nigeria’s most flamboyant evangelical pastors has been sanctioned by Ofcom, the broadcasting authority in London, BBC reports. According to BBC, the authority punished Chris Oyakhilome’s Loveworld Limited, which runs the Loveworld channel that can be viewed in the UK, “after a news programme and a live sermon included potentially harmful claims about causes of, and treatments for Covid-19”. Pastor Oyakhilome has linked the virus to 5G networks and alleged that it was part of a plot to create a “new world order”. Such views have been widely condemned by scientists, who say the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is “complete rubbish” and biologically impossible. Ofcom said that the programme “Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that...
Katsina releases N77 million scholarship allowance for indigenous medical students
The Katsina State Government says it has released N77 million as first tranche of the scholarship package for indigenous medical students of the state. The General Manager, Katsina State Hospital Services Management Board, Dr Abduljalil Abdullahi, announced this via a statement on Monday in Katsina. He made the disclosure through the Public Relations Officer, Muhammed Kabir Ahmed, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Katsina. A total of 421 indigenes of the state currently studying medicine within and outside the country would benefit from the scholarship package, according to the statement signed by Kabir Ahmed, the Public Relations Officer of the board. Abdullahi urged the students to reciprocate the government gesture by concentrating on their studies and work hard to a...
NDE trains Kano women on face mask production
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Kano State says the training of women on face mask production is part of the agency’s continuous efforts to tackle unemployment. The Kano State Coordinator of NDE, Alhaji Iliyasu Ahmed, made this known on Monday at a training organised for the beneficiaries at the NDE Skills Centre in Kano. Ahmed said that the training was organised in collaboration with Future Assured Initiative of First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari. He said that the women who were tailoring trainees of NDE would produce 20,000 safety face masks for the people of the state. Ahmed said that the training was part of the Directorate’s mandate to drastically reduce unemployment and poverty among youths and women. He said that the agency was on the verge of recruiting 44,000 art...
US coronavirus death toll exceeds 90,000 as Donald Trump urges reopening
The coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 90,000 on Monday as the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 1.5 million across the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. The grim milestones came as President Donald Trump tweeted to “REOPEN OUR COUNTRY!” and the White House attempted to shift blame, including onto its own scientists, for the high number of deaths. On Sunday, members of Trump administration disagreed on whether the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) let the country down with testing efforts. “Early on in this crisis, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing,” Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, told NBC’s Meet the Press programme....
Timipre Sylva wants Bayelsa APC members to remain strong
The Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Monday, advised members of the party in the state to remain strong and steadfast. Sylva gave the advice in a statement in Yenagoa, issued by the APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr Doifie Buokoribo. “Despite the troubling times in which we are all living in, APC members and supporters in the state must not lose hope,” he said. The minister observed that APC’s overwhelming victory in the Nov. 16, 2019 Governorship election that was voided by the Supreme Court on Feb. 13 still hurts. He said that the party cannot allow itself to be destroyed by that unfortunate incident. “It must survive it, reinvent and reposition itself for the great task of transforming Bayelsa...
Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel agree €500 billion coronavirus recovery plan for Europe
France and Germany proposed Monday a 500-billion-euro ($542-billion) fund to finance the recovery of the European Union’s economy from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus crisis. Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde told major European newspapers that “the Franco-German proposals are ambitious, targeted and welcome.” With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by “borrowin...
Taraba announces resumption of religious activities
The Taraba government has announced the resumption of religious activities in the state. The state Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu, made the announcement on Monday in a statewide broadcast in Jalingo, the state capital. Manu, however, said that observance of social distancing and other safety protocols must be strictly adhered to. He also announced a slight ease on restriction of movement and other activities in the state. According to him, government has set aside Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to enable the residents carry out their activities from 8 am. to 6 pm. The deputy governor added that lockdown would still be observed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, adding that violators would face strict penalties. Manu urged religious leaders and other citizens to comply with the r...
CCECC: Why Chinese medical team is still in Nigeria
Mr. Michael Yigao, the Managing Director of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has said 15 medical workers brought in from China to the country have not gone back because there is not flight. “Right now, commercial flight to China is not open, but when flights are open again, we’re considering the team going back to China. I think Nigeria is taking this very seriously and you can see it in the implementation of the lockdown and the suspension of international flights,” he said. On the activities of the Chinese men since they arrived the country, Yigao, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that the team has had a telecast meeting with the Minister of Health and some doctors in Nigeria where they shared their experience on how Covid-19 was fought in China among others. He added ...
Presymptomatic coronavirus patients can contaminate environments – study
Coronavirus was detected on several surfaces in hotel rooms where two presymptomatic Chinese students were quarantined before being diagnosed with the disease, according to a study released on Monday. For the study, published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers in China examined the hotel rooms of the two students, who returned to China from studying abroad on March 19 and March 20. They did not display any virus symptoms at the time and were transferred to a hotel for 14 days of quarantine. On the morning of the second day in quarantine, they remained presymptomatic but both tested positive for COVID-19 and were hospitalized. About three hours after they tested positive, the researchers sampled various surface...
Facebook chief ‘worried’ about China’s influence on internet regulation
Agence France-Presse Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday he is “worried” that other countries may be trying to imitate China’s approach to regulating the internet. “Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic,” Zuckerberg said during an hourlong video conversation Monday with European Union Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton. The Facebook CEO added that it was up to Western democratic countries to have a clear framework for data privacy. “We have a joint responsibility to help develop this,” he said. It was the latest instance of Zuckerberg citing the risks of a Chinese model of the internet spreading around the world. He made similar comments last year,...
Nigerian government commends NNPC, partners for coronavirus interventions
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha, yesterday, commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for her unwavering support and several medical interventions, geared towards providing a lasting solution to the novel coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. According to a statement by the NNPC, Mustapha stated that the gesture showed the corporation as the hallmark of a national oil company. The NNPC noted that Mustapha gave this commendation while receiving 20 ventilators donated by Ocea S.A, a France based company through the NNPC, to bolster the fight against COVID-19 in Abuja. It added that Mystrose Defence Systems Limited presented the donation to the NNPC on behalf of Ocea S.A. to bolster the fight...
Nigerian stock market capitalisation opens week with N37 billion growth
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed trading for the week on Monday on a positive trend, with the market capitalisation rising by N37 billion. Speficially, the market capitalisation which opened at N12.440 trillion rose by N37 billion to close at N12.477 trillion, indicating by 0.30 per cent. Also, the All-Share Index grew by 70.42 points or 0.30 per cent to close at 23,941.75 against 23,871.33 achieved on Friday. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Okomu Oil, MTN Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria, Lafarge Africa and GlaxoSmithKline. Analysts at Imperial Asset Managers Ltd stated that “This week, we expect market sentiment to be mild considering that risks remains broad following the increasing new cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria. ...
