Nigeria
UN lauds Africa’s success in virus fight
The United Nations has commended Africa for its exceptional management of the COVID-19 pandemic with record low incidences and deaths. The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Amb. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, said this yesterday while addressing a virtual press conference, adding that the developing countries have done better than developed countries as regards the management of the pandemic. COVID-19 has spread rapidly and extensively to most countries in the world, resulting in considerable mortality in Europe and the United States, as well as in numerous upper-middle-income countries in South America and Asia. Experts predicted millions of COVID-19 deaths in Africa because many countries in the continent rank poorly on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Dev...
Nigerian government approves new test kit for HIV
In its effort to ensure that the spread of the HIV virus is drastically reduced, the Federal Government has approved the inclusion of ”Wondfo HIV I and II rapid test kits” for use in the country. The National Coordinator, National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NASCP) Dr Akudo Ikpeazu, made the this known while presenting the evaluation report on the kit, on Tuesday in Abuja. “The Wondfo rapid test kit, could be used as a confirmatory test because of its high specification of 99.4 per cent,” she said. The coordinator said that in 2019, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) approved the conduct of the laboratory performance evaluation of Wondfo HIV I and II rapid test kit. “The result of the evaluation which was conducted at the reference testing laboratory Public Health in Vitro Diagnostic La...
UN condemns use of schools as isolation centres, IDP camps, military bases
The United Nations has condemned the repurposing of schools for use as markets, military bases, isolation centres and camps for internally displaced persons, IDPs, saying schools must remain safe places free of conflict and violence. It also warned against further attacks on educational institutions and students, lamenting that between 2009 and December 2018, about 611 teachers were killed in the Northeast due to the wave of insurgency in the region. In a statement marking the first International Day to Protect Education from Attack, the UN urged Nigeria to prioritise school safety as well as learners’ protection. It said while 910 schools were destroyed in the region within the period, 1, 500 schools were forcefully closed, with 4.2 million children at the risk of missing out on an educat...
83 stranded migrants rescued in Sahara desert
Reuters Eighty-three migrants were saved last week after their smugglers abandoned them in the Sahara desert in northern Niger, the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday. A team from the IOM and Niger’s Civil Protection service found the group 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the crossroads town of Dirkou on September 3, the agency said on Facebook. The 83 comprised 75 Nigerians, 41 of them women, including twin four-year-old girls, as well as four Togolese, three Ghanaians, and a Malian. They had left the Nigerien town of Agadez, the main stepping-off point for African migrants trying to cross into Europe via Libya, a week earlier. On September 1, the migrants were abandoned by their four drivers, after first taking all their belongings, when they spotted military vehicl...
Four Nigerian students arrested for ‘hacking’ bank’s system in Philippine
Four Nigerians in Muntinlupa City, Philippine have been arrested for alleged involvement in an international syndicate that hacks and siphons funds from banks. However, the Nigerians denied the allegations. The National Bureau of Investigation made this known in a statement on Tuesday, ABC CBN News reports. The statement, which was written in Phillwas signed by NBI’s Cybercrime Division chief, Vic Lorenzo. The investigative bureau claimed that “the fraudsters’ – Nigerians – transactions were traced when they hacked a system of one Philippine bank, where at least P100 million were transferred and funneled into a different account”. It alleged that the Nigerians violated the Access Device Law, Anti-Cybercrime law, and falsification of public documents. But the NBI in the statement failed to ...
PDP: Nigerians can’t survive hike in fuel, electricity prices
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that there is no way citizens can survive, what it described as the obnoxious hike in the cost of fuel and electricity, given the level of poverty his administration had allegedly already foisted on our nation. In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary in Abuja on Tuesday, it observed that “the brazen attempt” by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to justify the excessive hike in the cost of fuel from N87 per litre under the PDP to N162 as well as electricity from N30.23 per kWh to over N66kw/h, “as yet another daring and intolerable affront to the Nigerian citizenry, who have summarily rejected the increases.” The PDP said it stands with Nigerians in insisting t...
Spanish born Carlos Kevin ready to pledge his international future to Nigeria
Spanish-born Nigerian forward, Carlos Kevin Omoruyi says he is open to representing Nigeria at the international level. Kevin who was born April 10, 2001, in Spain to a Nigerian father currently plays for newly promoted side Huesca and the forward is excited to start his new adventure in the Spanish top flight. While speaking on his international future, Kevin said he is father has the biggest influence on his career and he wants to make him proud by playing for Nigeria. “My father has been motivating me to be a great footballer and I want to make him proud by being a top player in LaLiga and would be proud to play for Nigeria if invited. Of course, If Nigeria invites me, I would be very happy to honour the invitation,” he said. Kevin also disclosed that he has a good relationship with ano...
Manufacturers urges Nigerian government to review levies on imported electricity meters
The Electricity Meter Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (EMMAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to review its levies on imported electricity meters to promote full local content in the production of pre-paid meters. The appeal is coming on the heels of President Muhamadu Buhari’s approval of one year deferment of the 35 percent import adjustment tax (levy) imposed on fully built unit (FBU) electricity meters HS Code 9028.30.00.00 under the 2019 fiscal policy measures for the implementation of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) common external tariff (CET) 2017 – 2022. EMMAN believes the approval is an incentive for mass importation of pre-paid meters as against upscaling of local production. It noted that it takes an average of three months to set up Semi Knock Do...
Instant rain claims 25 lives in Jigawa
No fewer than 25 persons killed and more than 51,000 houses destroyed by heavy rainfall in Jigawa. Gov. Muhammad Badaru, made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Dutse. The governor, however, said he could not immediately give the exact number of casualties, adding: “You see to put the number of how many people died, you see this keep increasing. “The last count we had was between 20 and 25. Some are yet to be verify whether it is as a result of flooding or other issues, whatever it is even if it is one life that is lost as a result of flooding is very serious,” he said. Badaru, who condoled the families of the deceased and sympathised with those whose property were destroyed in the current flash floods assured them of his government support. He noted that not most of ...
Southern-Kaduna Christian leaders boycott peace summit
File Photo A peace summit organized in Kafanchan to find an end to the conflict in Southern Kaduna, suffered set back as Christian leaders in the area who doubted the genuineness of the occasion, boycotted the summit. Nevertheless, the peace summit still went on as scheduled with over 100 participants across religious faiths. The Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Christian leaders from the Southern part of Kaduna and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, were earlier scheduled to attend the peace summit in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Tuesday. Friends of Southern Kaduna in collaboration with the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission organized the summit as part of efforts to find a lasting solution to the killings in Southern Kaduna. Explain...
Enugu Assembly by-election: Casmir Nnadi emerges ZLP candidate
Hon. Casmir Nnadi has emerged the flag bearer of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) unopposed for the Isi-Uzo constituency by-election. Nnadi emerged at the party’s state primaries held on Friday 4th September 2020 at Cabrini Hotel New Haven Enugu after other candidates stepped down from the race, noting that Hon. Nnadi embodies the aspirations and representation yearned by people of Isi-Uzo constituency at the state house of Assembly. If Hon. Nnadi is elected 31st of October, 2020 Isi-Uzo constituency by-election, he will fill the vacuum created by the death of Hon. Chijioke Ugweze who died since June this year. Speaking to newsmen after the primaries, the state party chairman, Hon. Elvis Ugwuoke maintained that the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) will get the mandate of the people of Isi-Uzo consti...
Plateau governor tasks new council chairman on prudence, accountability
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has urged the new Chairman, Management Committee, Barkin Ladi Local Government, Jock Alamba, to embrace prudence and accountability in the discharge of his duties. Lalong also charged him to consolidate on the peace achieved in the area. He made the call while inaugurating the chairman on Tuesday at the Government House, Jos. Newsmen report that the former chairman of the Local Government, Mr Ezekiel Mandyau, died in July after an illness. The governor said that Nigeria was dealing with the impact of COVID-19, adding that the global pandemic had affected all facets of the economy, including the finances of local government. “This means that you must embrace prudence, accountability and accord priority to the programmes and projects that have direct bearing on t...
