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Saturday, 04 April 2020 05:46

Nigeria excluded from World Bank's Covid-19 support fund; Ethiopia, others in

Nigeria has been excluded from the list of 25 countries to benefit from the World Bank’s $1.9 billion first set of emergency support operations for developing countries around the world, using a dedicated, fast-track facility for COVID-19 response. The package was approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the global financial powerhouse. According to the World Bank, the decision for the intervention was reached by the board on Thursday, adding that it was prepared to deploy about $160 billion in the next 15 months to help countries combat the COVID-19 pestilence and recover quickly from it. The bank in…

Saturday, 04 April 2020 05:44

Retired judge who spent 7 years in Boko Haram captivity recounts ordeal

Alkali Musa, is 78, years old. He is no doubt the oldest man among the 680, repentant terrorists undergoing rehabilitation and de-radicalization at the Operation Safe Corridor rehabilitation camp at Malam Sidi, in Gombe state. He is a retired civil servant. During his years of service, he worked as a judge under the Borno State Ministry of Justice, Maiduguri, where he served over 30 years before retiring from service on June 1, 2012. Upon retirement, he decided to relocate to his village having spent all his life in the city. That perhaps was the greatest mistake he made in his…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:19

Global coronavirus cases cross the one million threshold

More than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University - another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic. Nearly 53,000 people have died and more than 210,000 have recovered, according to the US university's figures. The US has the most cases, and about 1,000 died there in the past day. The disease, Covid-19, first emerged in central China three months ago. Though the tally kept by Johns Hopkins records one million confirmed cases, the actual number is thought to be much higher.…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:17

The economy isn’t looking good, Ahmed, Emefiele, others tell Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met with the Presidential Committee on the impact of the coronavirus on Nigeria’s economy, and directed Ministry of Finance and National Planning to ensure that salaries were paid as part of relief for Nigerians after hearing about the current bad shape of the Nigerian economy. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who chairs the presidential committee, said this in Abuja while answering questions from State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. She said the committee briefed the president on current happenings around the world due…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:16

Buhari appoints CMDs for two federal hospitals

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved appointments of Chief Medical Directors for two federal medical institutions. They are Mr Bassey Eyo Edet for Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State and Mrs Aisha Shehu Adamu for Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Taraba State. Announcement of the approvals was made in a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, on Thursday evening. According to the statement: “Edet hails from Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State and graduated from University of Calabar in 1998. “He is a Fellow of National Postgraduate Medical College in Psychiatry, and…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:16

Lagos discharges another batch of 11 coronavirus patients

Lagos State government on Thursday confirmed release of 11 patients, who have been receiving treatment for COVID-19 at Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba. The state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed this on his Twitter handle – @jidesanwoolu – said the patients which include nine men and two women were discharged after their tests turned out negative. He said: “The patients include two females and nine males. Their results came out negative in two rounds of tests. I want to use this opportunity to, once again, thank our frontline health workers and other professionals for their service. “Let me reiterate that…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:14

We’re helpless about traders hiking prices due to coronavirus lockdown - FG

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, says there is nothing the federal government could do about businesses exploiting Nigerians during the coronavirus pandemic. The SGF said, during a press briefing by the presidential task force on the disease in Abuja, on Thursday, that Nigerians are fond of being exploitative in times of crisis. There have been complaints about shops and retail outlets in Nigeria hiking prices of goods since the pandemic began. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) had also expressed concern over such arbitrary price hikes. Mustapha, however, said the government can…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:13

Buhari’s daughter in coronavirus isolation re-joins family

Presidency says a daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari, who had been on 14-day self-isolation following her return from London, a hotbed of the coronavirus pandemic, joined the family yesterday. Her mother, Aisha, had on March 19 disclosed the development on her Facebook page. Mr Aliyu Abdullahi, Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the First Lady, told our reporter last night that: “I’m happy to inform you that the young lady in question, Mr President’s daughter, has successfully completed her isolation period of 14 days and she’s normal, healthy and well. “She has since this (yesterday)…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:12

Trapped by coronavirus, Nigeria’s elite faces squalid hospitals - Bloomberg

For decades, powerful Nigerians could ignore the government’s failure to invest adequately in the health-care system by seeking medical treatment abroad. The coronavirus pandemic means they can no longer escape. Since Nigeria identified its first case in late February, President Muhammadu Buhari has responded by closing the borders and imposing a lockdown on two key cities and the state of Ogun, an industrial hub. Commercial flights and private jets have been grounded. Like most African countries, Nigeria is now largely cut off from the world. The pandemic has forced much of Africa’s elite into a unique situation where it’s no…

Friday, 03 April 2020 05:11

Nigeria's death toll from lassa fever mounts amid coronavirus crisis

Death toll from Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has risen to 185, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Thursday. Amidst the global coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria has also been battling a Lassa fever outbreak since the beginning of the year with 951 confirmed cases of the infection. As of last week, number of deaths from the fever was 176, meaning nine people died from it within the week. NCDC said there was a decline in the number of cases reported for the reporting week 13 as to the four consecutive weeks. The public health agency said 19 cases were…

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Friday, 03 April 2020 05:10

Youth group distributes relief materials to Ogun orphanage, urges more media campaign against Covid-19

New Generation Leadership, NGL, has advised the Nigerian Government to embark on massive media campaign to enlighten and educate the public on the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic to be able to curtail its spread, as infected people continue to increase in the country daily. The advice was given by a member of NGL, Mr Dayo da-Silva while donating food items, toiletries, sanitisers and other needs to the Gideons Orphanage Home, in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Mr da-Silva who said the donation was a token of support to the special Children by NGL, at a time when the coronavirus pandemic was hitting hard…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:58

FG reviews lockdown rules for Lagos, Ogun, FCT

Federal Government has relaxed total lockdown it imposed on Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states to curb the spread of COVID-19. The government, in the new guidelines it issued on Wednesday, stated that markets selling food would open from 10am to 2pm every other day. Also, supermarkets and pharmacies are to open from 10am to 4pm every day, but must maintain a high level of hygiene. The new guidelines also ban bus services during the lockdown. It adds that a mass gathering of more than 20 people is not allowed. The Federal Government reviewed the lockdown on Wednesday just…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:57

Nigeria’s debt rises N1.18trn in 3 months - DMO

Federal Government and the 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, owed a total N27.4tn as of December 2019, according to latest figures released by Debt Management Office on Wednesday. The development marked an increase in Nigeria’s public debt portfolio from September 2019, when it was disclosed that the country owed a total of N26.22tn. The N27.4tn included the total external and domestic debt portfolios of the Federal Government and the states. Data obtained from the DMO on Wednesday showed that domestic debt amounting to N18.3tn accounted for 67.07 per cent of the total debt stock. The Federal…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:50

Buhari approves 70,000 tons of grains for distribution in Lagos, Ogun, FCT, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved release of 70,000 metric tonnes of grains from the National Grain Reserve to be shared to vulnerable persons in the country as part of government’s palliative measures for the COVID-19 pandemic. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, said this in Abuja at the third joint national briefing of the PTF held on Wednesday. According to him, 60,000 metric tonnes of the grains would be shared to the vulnerables in FCT, Lagos and Ogun states, which are presently on lockdown, while the…

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