Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 3rd April 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 03/04/20
Read also
Coronavirus: Akwa Ibom Declares 14-day Lockdown
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has announced a 14-day lockdown in the state to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
This is coming after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed five cases in the state.
Though the government had initially denied the result by the NCDC and said another test would be conducted, the governor said the lockdown was to enable a thorough process of contact tracing to identify those, who may have been exposed to the five confirmed victims.
In a statewide broadcast, Governor Emmanuel said the confirmed cases are mostly health professionals, who gad contact with a foreigner that later tested positive for the virus.
The governor said there would be restriction of people and vehicular movement except of those carrying out essential duties.
He said, “I am hereby announcing a complete cessation of movement in the state extended to period of 14 days.
“There will be no movement of persons except those on essential duties, who must carry a proper means of identification.
“As I speak, the confirmed cases who are mostly healthcare professionals are in good health and have so far presented no symptoms.
“However, they have been moved to the isolation centres for proper management and the process of contact tracing has begun.
“All business premises, markets, shops, motor parks and offices must remain closed during this period.
“The only exception will be pharmacies and grocery shops. All events of any nature are prohibited during this period.
“Relevant security agencies have been briefed and they will ensure strict compliance with this directive.”
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Police, Air Force Personnel Clash In Abuja Over Violation Of Lockdown Order
There was commotion in the Nyanya area of Abuja on Thursday as some policemen engaged a group of Air Force personnel in a faceoff.
Trouble started when two young Air Force officers drove against traffic during the ongoing lockdown of the city occasioned by the outbreak and continued spread of Coronavirus but were stopped by the monitoring team of the Federal Capital Territory administration.The enforcement team directed the two men to turn back and follow the right way but they declined.
According to an eyewitness, “The Air Force officers started insulting the police commander, Azeez Idowu.”
This infuriated the policemen and other officers on the team, who made attempt to arrest the Air Force personnel.
The situation escalated when a detachment of Air Force officers arrived the scene to rescue their colleagues but were resisted.
This led to another round of shouting match, creating panic in the area.
Normalcy however, returned when a senior Air Force officer on the team asked the two men to apologise to the police commander.
Police
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
BREAKING: NCDC Confirms 10 New Coronavirus Cases In Nigeria
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has confirmed 10 new cases of people infected with Coronavirus in the country.
The new cases bring to 184 the total confirmed cases in the country.
Of the 10, seven was recorded in Lagos while three was confirmed in Abuja.
“Ten new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; seven in Lagos and three in the FCT.
“As at 08:00pm 2nd April, there are 184 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
“Twenty have been discharged with two deaths,” the NCDC tweeted.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Breaking News
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
BREAKING: Lagos Discharges 11 Coronavirus Patients
The Lagos State Government has discharged another 11 Coronavirus patients after they tested negative to the disease.
This was announced by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday evening.
He said, “I am happy to break to you, my good people of Lagos, the news of the release today of 11 more patients from our facility in Yaba.
“They have fully recovered and have tested negative to COVID-19 and have been allowed to return home to their families.
“The patients include two females and nine males. Their results came out negative in two rounds of tests.”
The governor thanked the health workers, who worked to ensure those confirmed with the virus are well treated.
He also urged Lagosians to adhere to all guidelines to curb the further spread of the virus.
He added, “I want to use this opportunity to once again thank our frontline health workers and other professionals for their service.
“Let me reiterate that this is not the time to relax but to maintain our vigilance against #COVID19 because of the community infection that we are beginning to see.
“Again, I assure you that at the end of it all, we will hoist a flag of victory – with your cooperation and by the grace of the Almighty.”
PUBLIC HEALTH
Breaking News
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99t-run-away-coronavirus-medical-expert-says Africa Can’t Run Away From Coronavirus, Medical Expert Says
A medical expert, Abu Clement Okolo, has said that Africa cannot run away from Coronavirus, hence the need to embrace the guidelines given by the World Health Organisation.
Clement, who spoke to SaharaReporters on the preparedness of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, said it is impossible to predict the possible turnout of events in Africa as many countries on the continent are not prepared for the pandemic.
He also expressed worry about medical experts contracting the disease.
Last week, the Provost and Deputy Provost of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Ezekiel Olapade-Olaopa and Obafunke Denloye both tested positive for the virus.
On the same day, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Jesse A. Otegbayo, also tested positive for the virus.
Speaking on the global spread of the virus that has now infested over one million people worldwide, Clement said happenings in European nations only go to show how unprepared Africa is.
He said, “Corona is not something we can run away from. Corona is real. We, as scientists, know we are not prepared in Africa for what is happening.
“What everybody needs to do is to brace up, heed the social distancing, stay at home. Nobody can say the turn of the event in the coming days.
“If it is starting with the people at the top of the medical community which is the best in the Nigerian setting, you can imagine what could happen.
“My advice to everyone should abide by the WHO instructions—stay home. Believe in God and Make peace with God.”
Nigeria has recorded 174 confirmed cases so far and two recorded deaths.
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Kano To Arrest Food Trucks Conveying Passengers
Kano Road and Traffic Agency
Kano Road and Traffic Agency
The Kano State Government says it will prosecute any food truck driver seen conveying people from other parts of the country into the city.
The Managing Director, Kano Road and Traffic Agency, Baffa Babba Dan’agundi, said the food will also be confiscated.
The state government closed down all entry points into the state to stop the spread of Coronavirus.
Dan’agundi said the agency had observed that drivers were violating the recent order aimed at preventing the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Kano by transporting persons from outside the state into the city.
He said, “Henceforth, owners of goods coming into the state are directed to send along an agent who would ensure that drivers conveying their goods do so without carrying passengers as any vehicle conveying goods and passengers would be impounded and the goods confiscated.
“Truck owners are also urged to warn their drivers to comply with the Kano State Government directives and desist from conveying people to the state until a time when government deems it safe to reopen its borders to movement of people.”
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Lagos Government Seals Agege Central Mosque Over Violation Of Ban On Public Gathering
The Lagos State Government has sealed the Agege Central Mosque for violating its ban on public gathering following the outbreak and continued spread of Coronavirus in the country.
Olusegun Fafore, Executive Assistant to Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on New Media, disclosed that the decision was taken because more than 20 persons were found inside the mosque at the time officials visited the place.
Recall that Lagos and other state governments across the country had adopted a number of measures in the wake of the outbreak of Coronavirus including closing schools, shutting land borders and placing a ban on public gathering to a limited number of persons.
On Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari during a broadcast, announced the total lockdown of Lagos, Ogun and FCT as part of new measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Nigeria so far has 174 confirmed cases of the virus and two recorded deaths.
Islam
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
PDP Calls For Free Electricity, Tax Holiday For Nigerians During Lockdown
The Peoples Democratic Party, House of Representatives Caucus, has called on the Nigerian Government to provide free electricity, tax holiday as well as stimulants for medium and small scale enterprises to cushion the impact of Coronavirus lockdown on the lives of people.
The party in a statement by Ogundu Kingsley Chinda, PDP House of Representatives Caucus leader, said government must take into account measured responses that alleviate the poor economic conditions of Nigerians and guarantee the rights of citizens.
The statement reads, “The President should as a matter of utmost urgency issue an Executive Order, pursuant to his powers preserved by Section 5 of the 1999 constitution, directing the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, National Food Reserve Agency and National Emergency Management Authority to release and manage the distribution of food in our national reserves.
“The executive order must set out clear consequences for breach, particularly as they relate to public officials who seize on the times to make brisk businesses and gains from the miseries of the people.
“Other measures such as food prices control should be ramped up; though specific, targeted and temporary legislation for enforcement.”
The PDP caucus called on government to maximise the two weeks lockdown and open free testing and treatment centres in all zones of the country, step down VAT and give partial tax holiday on essential commodities for two months, make electricity available and free for citizens within the period of total lockdown.
Electronics
Politics
PUBLIC HEALTH
Taxes
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Ensure Accountability For Donated Funds, Civil Society Group Tells Nigerian Government
A coalition of civil society organisations has urged the Nigerian Government to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of over N30bn donated by groups, institutions and well-meaning individuals to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.
In a statement on Thursday by the Centre for Democracy and Development, Women Advocacy Research and Documentation Centre, Journalists for Democratic Rights, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, HURIDAC, Green Peoples Environmental Network, Nigerian Human Rights Community, COPEAIDS Foundation, a health-concern rights group, Civil Society Coalition for Mandate Protection, HELP Center for Development, said no one should be encouraged to profit from human misery.
The statement reads, “We appreciate all contributors and donors in the emergency funds and materials in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The best that can happen is accountability. No one should be encouraged to profit from the current human misery.
“We urge all government MDAs and special task force to uphold procurement and operational standards and policies in awards and payments of services and distribution of materials.”
The coalition called for strict monitoring and evaluation of the disbursed funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that it is used for public good.
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Buhari: An Illiterate Jubril? By Ozodinukwe Okenwa
SOC Okenwa
SOC Okenwa
“President Buhari is an illiterate, he does not know what restructuring means, he is less concerned about the future of Nigeria, he is only bothered about his cows.”— Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Afenifere Chieftain and elder Nigerian statesman.
Illiteracy is defined by the dictionary simply as the inability to read and write. Someone unable to read or write could express themselves orally but when it comes down to putting pen to paper or reading a book or newspaper, for instance, their disability is exposed to their shame. Nigeria boasts of millions of cases of analphabetism especially in the rural areas. While thousands graduate yearly from the universities more and more numbers join the illiteracy class.
Analphabetism is a dangerous phenomenon given the ignorance it propagates. An illiterate is as dangerous to themselves as they are to the society at large. That is why it is said that education will forever govern ignorance! Serious-minded and well-governed societies invest heavily in education because it guarantees both development and the future.
President Muhammadu Buhari, even prior to his popular election in 2015 and controversial ‘re-election’ last year, had been embroiled in academic scandal bothering on his WAEC certificate. To the opposition he never possessed any; perhaps he never sat for one. As a septuagenarian Buhari’s generation could be said debatably to have had little or no academic records, so his claims and counter-claims of the opposition regarding his educational profile are understandable.
Litigations over his academic qualification for the presidency lingered for years without any definitive judicial pronouncement. He had once claimed that his CV was with the military high command! Yet the issue here is not whether he was qualified to vie for the presidency or not but whether he committed perjury by affirming what he never possessed.
A patriotic dedicated ‘illiterate’ who demonstrated uncanny ability to provide leadership may be preferable to a PHD holder who manifested crass incompetence in leading a new generation of Nigerians. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was said to be a PHD holder yet his presidency was riddled with corruption and ineptitude. So where is the academic link to sound leadership here?
We are not advocating for a Barkin Zuwo as President here. Sound education and leadership has something in common globally but certain factors could provide an avenue for ‘divorce’ especially in the African political context.
Is President Buhari a Jubril from Chad or Sudan? Nnamdi Kanu and his proscribed IPOB “terrorists” think that the Buhari we knew before he went for medical tourism that lasted months in London some years back had ‘died’ and was immediately replaced surgically with a Jubril from Chad or Sudan. Why Sudan or Chad and not Niger or Guinea? The so-called Jubril could have come from elsewhere!
Personally this commentator has never believed such wild claim because there was never any tangible evidence to support same. It is very cheap to allege that the number one citizen of a nation was dead and chirurgically replaced with a look-alike without the secret leaking in a digitally-powered world.
Telling us that evidence existed in the President’s head covered always with cap is like asking us to replay Thomas biblically by seeing before believing. Pray, how could anyone apart from the First Lady, Aisha, or the prominent members of the notorious Aso Villa cabal ever see Buhari without his customary cap? Or do we hire a detective to do the job for us by planting a camera in his bathroom or bedroom?
A former Head of State, former Minister and former Chairman of the Petroleum Trust “Fraud” (apology to Ray Ekpu) cannot ordinarily be said not to be qualified to be President, one democratically elected. When he led us by the Jackboot in the early 80s no one in their right senses dared questioned his academic credentials. But that is beside the point.
His case is not exceptional in a continent where barbarians and cannibals like the late Idi Amin Dada of Uganda had ruled their countries ignorantly for decades. It is nothing special in our continental political space where the likes of ex-President Yahya Jammeh dictatorially caged the Gambians for decades; where the likes of Dadis Camara ruled their Guinean animal kingdom.
Is President Buhari an illiterate Jubril? Or better still, is he a glorified illiterate? A Jubril from Sudan or Chad? Well, all things considered we refuse to accept that our President cannot read and write if certain academic indices are applied. He could not have been as brilliant as Prof. Wole Soyinka in school or Alassane Ouattara as President but he ‘soldiers’ on taking us all down the abyss of despair.
To start with it could amount to uncharitable insolence to insinuate that a retired General who has put in decades into the Nigerian military service is barely educated or an outright case of analphabetism. It cannot stand any intellectual crucible.
You do not rise through the ranks and file in your chosen profession as an illiterate, do you? Besides, he did military courses abroad and these studies were conducted in English and not Hausa, Fulani or Fulfulde. It is therefore disingenuous to say that Buhari is anything near illiteracy!
The President may be grammatically challenged; he may not be fluent enough, he may not possess the required presidential grit and charisma to lead a great nation like ours but that is secondary in our reckoning. He may be slow to taking decisions and may not be conversant enough with global realities (Covid-19 pandemic for example) but he has been ‘elected’ twice to provide leadership at the national level — even though such leadership is glaringly lacking in our embattled country.
The President may not be used to hiring and firing as circumstances dictate but nothing less could have been expected from an old health-challenged lacklustre leader. The cabal led by Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari could have seized the opportunity to circumvent power by taking presidential decisions on behalf of Buhari. But, fortunately, the ship of state is still afloat, not yet run aground.
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
Opinion
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Ozodinukwe Okenwa
Disable advertisements
:
Read also
You can also check
