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Vietnam begins human trial of home-grown coronavirus vaccine
Human trials began on Thursday for Nanocovax, Vietnam’s first home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, a Director of a National Medical Research Centre said. “In the first phase, we will choose a group of 60 volunteers. This morning, we have finished vaccinating three people. “They will be monitored for three days, and if they remain in good condition, we will continue to vaccinate the rest.’’ Ho Anh Son, Deputy Director of the Military Medical Research Institute, told dpa. The trial is the first of three phases of testing for the vaccine. The second phase will involve testing on between 400 and 600 volunteers, according to the Health Ministry’s reports. Researchers told local media that an independent monitoring organisation will be hired to ensure the safety of volunteer participants and guarantee t...
NAICOM: Don’t shun insurance despite inflation, harsh business environment
File Photo As businesses and individuals adopt cost reduction measures in response to rising inflation and the harsh business environment, the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has charged Nigerians to avoid the tendency to shun insurance of their assets. Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas, who gave the charge noted that despite the biting inflation in the country, even as people reduce the cost of expenses, this is not the best of time to reduce insurance consumption. Thomas stated this at a webinar organised by Coronation Insurance Plc in partnership with Access Bank Plc, with the theme: “Managing Business Risks at a Time of Uncertainty.” Thomas, who was represented by Mr. Taiwo Adeoye, Technical Adviser to the Commissioner for Insurance, noted that sometimes the gain in ...
CAN: Nigeria almost becoming a failed nation
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the abduction of 333 students of Government Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State. CAN also said that the worsening security situation across the country shows that Nigeria is “almost becoming a failed nation.” The group’s statement by Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the CAN President, described the incident as another tragic chapter in the history of the country. Newsmen reported how 333 schoolboys of the school were abducted on Friday by the gunmen. A terrorist group, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the raid. The federal government said security operatives have already located where the abducted students were taken to and they “would soon be rescued”. CAN expressed its sadne...
Senator Musa: Two killed, 30 abducted, 5,000 homeless in Niger East
Chairman, Senate Services Committee, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East has raised the alarm that the insecurity situation in his Senatorial District is worsening every day, saying that it has been one week of sleeplessness and horror. Senator Musa has reiterated his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put the security operatives on their toes to ensure they live up to their responsibilities of protecting the lives of the citizens, adding that if security agencies in the country cannot guarantee the protection of lives and property of the citizens, then Nigeria may be on the precipice of anarchy. According to him, the horrible event in the last one week in Niger State and particularly in Niger East Senatorial District has raised tension and uncertainti...
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
Mozambique jihadists push masses to Pemba
The population has soared in Pemba, a northern Mozambique port known for its wide bay, but rather than tourists coming for a swim, the newcomers have fled Islamic extremists. In the past few months, boatloads of people with little but the clothes they wear have landed under the palm trees after their homes fell prey to Al-Shabaab gunmen swearing allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS). In October, the violent rebellion entered its fourth year and has reportedly killed more than 2,400 people and displaced half a million, according to the government. Their villages were torched, many men killed and many young women kidnapped. After seizing coastal zones that host natural gas installations, Islamist fighters have begun to push to the inland districts of Cabo Delgado province. The last offi...
Governor Ganduje: Ex-President Jonathan right to sack Lamido Sanusi as CBN governor
Kano State governor Umar Ganduje said he is in support of former Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to sack Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria in 2014. Ganduje said this at the launching of a book on Jonathan written by journalist Bonaventure Philips Melah in Abuja. “Jonathan took a bold step in sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, which created bad blood in certain circles,” Ganduje said. “When Sanusi said $49 billion was lost in Jonathan’s government, I said in my mind that No, you could have discussed with him (Jonathan) privately. “You (Sanusi) could have given him this clue and then he would know how to investigate even before those who had stolen the money would find a way of hiding the money.” Jonathan in April 2014 sacked Sanusi as CBN governor over ...
Nigerian government says 300,000 mass housing scheme strictly for low income earners
The Federal Government says its Social Housing Programme, one of the components of the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), is targeted at low income earners. Imeh Okon, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Infrastructure, who made this clarification on Tuesday in Abuja, said the scheme was not meant for politicians or highly placed persons. The 300,000 social housing programme is a component of the NESP designed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led committee constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians. She explained that one of the objectives of the administration was to provide houses for citizens across the country. Okon said that the houses would be durable and of high quality not minding the low prices. “It is a social ...
Foundation feeds 1,000 Calabar orphans at yuletide
The Romeo Odey Cares Foundation has visited Infant Jesus Orphanage Home and Good Samaritan Home, both in Calabar, Cross River State, feeding over 1,000 orphans as part of its mission to cater for the most indigent members of society. A statement delivered to newsmen by the Brand Manager of the Foundation, Gidyon Thompson, explained that the gesture extended to helpless children from the streets of Calabar. The foundation, owned by network marketing expert Romeo Odey, said the gesture was a way of giving back to society. According to him, the move is part of Odey’s decision to affect humanity positively. He urged the federal and state government to step up and take responsibility for the children on the streets to avert impending doom. He added that the serial entrepreneur would launch two ...
Justice Tsoho: Why court froze #EndSARS promoters’ bank accounts
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, on Tuesday said that contrary to the belief in some quarters that the court intentionally froze the accounts of #Endsars promoters, it only played its part as an interpreter of the law. The CJ noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria had approached the court to ask for an order freezing certain accounts of corporate bodies and names of individuals over suspicion bordering on alleged money laundering. He however stated that the CBN did not attach any names to the applications. Justice Tsoho, spoke at the opening of the 2020/2021 legal year, Abuja on Tuesday. He noted that CBN’s request came about three months before the ENDSARS protest. The CJ was reacting to the speech by the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumid...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Ex-President Jonathan: I was judged harshly before 2015 elections because …
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he was wrongly judged by some of his friends and political opponents before the 2015 presidential election because of his personal convictions and the vision he had for the country. He, however, insisted that he does not hold any grudge against his detractors for their harsh criticisms. It would be recalled that the ex-President was widely criticised, before the election, for his approach to alleged corruption in his administration, the perennial problem of insecurity, and the sacking of some top government functionaries within his administration including the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among other. Speaking in Abuja during the public presentation of a book ‘Dear...