DONALD OTITO

Cross River State Governor Benedict Ayade has called on the Federal Government to allow healthy Nigerians work and move freely noting that it is unnecessary to imitate Western approach in tackling spread of COVID-19 while the economy suffers. The governor said this on Wednesday at the Rice seeds and seedlings factory in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital while deploying agricultural equipment to some parts the state for commencement of another farming season. Ayade said Nigeria’s demography is different from Europe’s hence shutting down our economy is uncalled for. He added that the Federal Government should rather lock down sick and vunerable people only. READ ALSO:  COVID-19: 65 Persons Arrested In Lagos For Violating Lockdown Order “This is the opportunity for Africa to play catch-up instead of adopting what they are doing in Europe. It can never be the same in our circumstance. Our demography is not the same. “We don’t have the same number of aged people that ...

By David Royal The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi has appointed man in trending video, who rejected his son for sneaking into Ekiti state from Lagos state, as a COVID-19 Response Ambassador in Ekiti. The man, identified as Mr. Adeoye, who is a former road safety officer, rejected his son due to the fear that Lagos remains the epicentre of Coronavirus in the Country, and did not want to take chances by allowing his son into his house, who according to him, might have been infected. The government made the appointment known in a tweet on Thursday afternoon, stating that Mr. Adeoye represents the kind of self-discipline, selflessness, and sense of collective responsibility that Ekiti State and Nigeria need desperately today to progress. “Today, I appointed Mr. Adeoye, father of the young man who sneaked into Ekiti state, as a COVID-19 Response Ambassador in Ekiti State. I am proud of Mr Adeoye as a principled Ekiti man and I salute his courage in helping us keep Ek...

By Ibrahim HassanWuyo The Kaduna State Ministry of Health has confirmed 16 new Covid-19 cases in the state. Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni, Commissioner of Health in the state, said the new cases were Almajiris who came from Kano. “Their test results returned positive from a sample of 40 persons whose test results were released today. These latest cases have raised the number of active Covid-19 cases in Kaduna State from nine to 25,” she said. Baloni explained that the high number of positive results from persons with travel history from outside the state confirmed the Kaduna State Government’s fears about the danger of infection from neighbouring states and the role of interstate travel in facilitating the spread of Covid-19 across state lines. READ ALSO:  COVID-19: Residents in Lagos receive financial support, food items, others “One of the 17 cases announced by NCDC  was a repeat test from an existing patient, Their attention has been drawn to it and it wi...

Cuban Embassy in Washington. PHOTO: Getty Images A person was arrested early Thursday after opening  fire on the Cuban embassy in Washington, the US Secret Service said. No one was injured. The unidentified person fired multiple rounds from what some reports said was a high-powered assault rifle. “This morning at approximately 2:15 am, US Secret Service officers responded to the Embassy of Cuba following reports of shots fired,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “One individual was arrested for being in possession of an unregistered firearm as well as unregistered ammunition, assault with the intent to kill, and possession of a high capacity feed device. “No injuries were reported at the scene.”The administration of President Donald Trump has chilled relations with Havana after they were opened up by his predecessor Barack Obama. In October 2017, it expelled 15 Cuban diplomats after a rash of incidents in which US embassy staff in Cuba reported as yet u...

Archbishop kaigama Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, has urged the Federal Government to strictly sanction anyone who diverts palliatives aimed at cushioning the effects of the lockdown due to COVID-19. Kaigama, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said that some people often use emergencies and crises to enrich themselves. “We use situations of calamity to enrich ourselves, anybody who tampers with palliatives, relief materials provided for the vulnerable and the poor is committing a criminal offence and should be dealt with as a criminal. “Those who are charged with the responsibility of distributing relief materials should be honest and do it as unto their God; they should know that it is about saving humanity. “It is about dignity of human person; don’t keep anything aside for yourselves whether it is money or materials or foodstuff. “So, I really feel bad, bitter and sad when I see o...

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 196 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,728. { Vanguard News }

By Dapo Akinrefon The Yoruba World Congress, YWC, Wednesday, threw its weight behind the evacuation of Almajirai to their respective states of origin by northern governors, noting that it was good for Nigeria’s development. They noted that it was time to end totalitarianism and over-centralisation, which they said was hindering the country’s development. Almajiri educational system is a federal dictated, financed and controlled educational system for abandoned and wandering children scattered all over the Northern part of Nigeria. YWC, in a statement titled “Time to hands-off totalitarianism,” by its Communication Secretary, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, said the recent evacuation of thousands of Almajirai across the 19 northern states as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is an indication of the governors’ age-long dissatisfaction with the Federal Government’s meddlesomeness in the running of their respective primary education system. The statement reads: “In sacking the Almajir...

People sit at an outdoor restaurant in Stockholm on Sunday. JESSICA GOW/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images. The World Health Organization lauded Sweden as a “model” for battling the coronavirus as countries lift lockdowns — after the nation controversially refused restrictions. Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies expert, said Wednesday there are “lessons to be learned” from the Scandinavian nation, which has largely relied on citizens to self-regulate. “I think there’s a perception out that Sweden has not put in control measures and just has allowed the disease to spread,” Ryan told reporters. “Nothing can be further from the truth.” Ryan noted that instead of lockdowns, the country has “put in place a very strong public policy around social distancing, around caring and protecting people in long term care facilities.” “What it has done differently is it has very much relied on its relationship with its citizenry and the ability and willingness of its citizens to implem...

..As concerned resident writes Sanwo-Olu for immediate action Tinubu By Olasunkanmi Akoni Following the public announcement by the All Progressives Congress, APC, National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that his Chief of Staff, Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, Lateef Raheem, died of COVID-19 complications, there has been serious panic among the residents of Maplewood Estate, Lagos Island, where the deceased lived until his death. Tinubu, had on Monday, through a statement by his media aide, Mr. Tunde Ramon, confirmed that Raheem died of COVID-19 complication aside from his underlying diseases like High Blood Pressure and Diabetes. Consequently, a concerned resident, identified as Jumu’ah Abiodun, a social commentator, political analyst and journalist based in Lagos, stated raised the alarm among residents in an open letter to COVID-19 Incident Commander, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the need to act fast over Tinubu’s CSO death. Abiuodun, in the latt...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused the World Health Organization of being a “pipe organ” for China during the coronavirus outbreak. Trump said China “misled us,” as he referred to investigations the White House asked the US intelligence agencies to conduct into whether China and the WHO covered up what they knew about the early spread of COVID-19. “They must have known more than they knew,” he told reporters about the UN agency during a meeting with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in the Oval Office. “We knew things that they didn’t know, and either they didn’t know they didn’t tell us … right now, they’re literally a pipe organ for China, that’s the way I view it,” the president said. Trump and other world leaders have ripped China for its lack of transparency and for failing to accurately report the number of coronavirus cases after the initial report of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan in December. Arguing that the US payment to the WHO is about $500 milli...

                       Donald Trump  By Rasheed Sobowale The United States President, Donald Trump, on Wednesday boasted the country reported one million cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because of the methodology it employed in testing. Trump who was obviously reacting to critics’ comments on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the nation posted on his Twitter page; “ The only reason the U.S. has reported one million cases of CoronaVirus  is that our Testing is sooo much better than any other country in the World. Other countries are way behind us in Testing, and therefore show far fewer cases!” A former Democratic presidential candidate and Trump’s major opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, had asked: “Where are the damn tests”. Clinton was reacting to an earlier report that a  Detroit health care worker dies after being denied coronavirus test 4 times.  The Un...

By David Royal The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on Wednesday, revealed that  825 tests yielded the 195 positive results announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC on Tuesday night. The Minister disclosed this during the daily briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja.   You would recall that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Tuesday, announced that  the country  recorded  195 new cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total to 1,532. The 195 cases reported,  is the highest Nigeria has ever recorded in a day since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. NCDC, through its verified Twitter account, said of the 195 new cases, 80 were recorded in Lagos state, 38-Kano 15-Ogun, 15-Bauchi, 11-Borno, 10-Gombe, 9-Sokoto, 5-Edo, 5-Jigawa, 2-Zamfara, 1-Rivers, 1-Enugu, 1-Delta, 1-FCT, 1-Nasarawa. { Vanguard News Nigeria }

Uzodinma has achieved nothing – PDP Secretary By Chinonso Alozie, Owerri The Imo state government, Wednesday. said that Emeka Ihedioha, used his seven months in office as governor, to expand his mansions in Owerri, Aboh Mbaise and Abuja. The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, spoke in Owerri, on My radio FM, while responding to the state Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Raymond Emeana, who said that Governor Hope Uzodinma, has failed in his hundred days in office and that there were nothing to show to Imo people. Emelumba, replied by saying: “You can see that my friend, Raymond was having difficulty answering these questions on how Ihedioha expanded his mansions within 7 months in office, because he knows that it is a fact. “If you go to the civic centre, people who are living there can testify that from the day one of the inauguration of the Ihedioha’s administration, he started expanding his three mansions in Owerri, Mbaise ...

The Senate on Tuesday resumed plenary after five weeks of recess and headed for a closed-door session which lasted for about an hour. Speaking with the media, Sen. Godiya Akwashiki, Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said the session was held to discuss five pressing issues, with the security challenges facing the country as a priority. “ The primary assignment of every government is to protect life and property of its citizens, and today we went into a closed-door session, almost all 109 senators, including the president of the senate, we were all here. “And in the closed-door, we have agreed on five important issues that affect the lives and property of our people, the people we are representing, and amongst these five issues is security…  READ FULL STORY PHOTOS: Cross Section of Lawmakers all masked up during Plenary Session in the House of Reps Chambers during House plenary on Tuesday. Photos by Gbemiga Olamikan. Speaker of the House of Represen...

By Nwafor Sunday After appointing five dead persons in 2017, namely, Francis Okpozo, a senator in the second republic; Donald Ugbaja, a retired deputy inspector-general of police;  Ahmed Bunza, sole administrator of Jega local government area of Kebbi state, Christopher Utov, a former proprietor of Fidei Polytechnic, Gboko; and Kabir Umar, a former emir of Katagum in Bauchi state, President Muhammadu Buhari has again appointed a dead person in the Federal Character Commission, FCC. Late Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru was from Amudo in Ezza south local government area, Ebonyi state. Before his death at the age of 59, Okwuru represented Ezza south/Ikwo federal constituency. However, today Okwuru was named as a member of the board of the FCC, two months after he passed on. The deceased was appointed alongside 37 others. The appointees will be chaired by Dr Farida Dankaka. Reacting, Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara congratulated Hajia Fareedah Dankaka and Mr James Kolo for th...

A massive asteroid is approaching Earth, and it looks like it’s wearing a face mask, a startling reminder of the coronavirus pandemic. The space rock, known as 1998 OR2, will be nearly 4 million miles away from Earth on Wednesday at 5:59 a.m. ET – classifying it as a “potentially hazardous” asteroid despite the impossibility of it posing a threat to Earth anytime soon. A newly-captured image by Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico brings its own surprise. As the asteroid approaches our planet, it looks as if it’s wearing its own mask – and may very well be conducting its own social distancing practices. “The small-scale topographic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically,” Anne Virkki, head of planetary radar at Arecibo Observatory, said in a statement. “But since we are all thinking about COVID-19 these features make it look like 1998 OR2 remembered to wear a mask.” It’s classified as a “potentially hazardous”...

NEWS South Korea’s large churches reopened on Sunday, requiring worshipers to keep their distance and wear masks after the government relaxed restrictions on religious gatherings aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Onnuri Church, one of the biggest churches in Seoul, required members to sign up online ahead of the service and sit on designated seats to maintain distance. It has also limited attendance to 700 in a hall with a capacity of 3,000 people, a church official said. Last Sunday, South Korea extended its social distancing policy until May 5 but offered some relief for religious and sports facilities previously subject to strict restrictions. A secretive church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was at the epicentre of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak, with about half of the country’s total infections of 10,728 linked to its members. The first confirmed patient in the church, South Korea’s 31st overall, was discharged from a hospital on Friday, after be...

…Clerics sentenced to one-month imprisonment An FCT Mobile Court sitting at AYA Bridge By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA —  A Mobile Court sitting at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the nation’s capital, has convicted five clerics, among them are three Imams and two Pastors for violating the presidential order shutting down the Federal Capital Territory FCT. They were convicted by Presiding Magistrate Idayat Akonni who sentenced them to one-month imprisonment. Magistrate Akonni, however, gave them an option of a fine of N5, 000 in addition to supervised community service for one day. Those convicted were Imam Abdullahi Mohammed of Gwarinpa Estate, Imam Suleiman Idris of Mobi close, Area 11, Garki and Deputy Imam Useni Umar of the same address. Others were Pastor Phillips Olumbori of Celestial Church of Christ, Lugbe and Rev Moses Chinedu of Mercy City Gospel Centre, Aco Estate, Lugbe. Addressing journalists after the court verdict, the Chairman FCT Ministerial Enforcement Task team o...

The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has stated that West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, 2020 WASSCE, has not been cancelled. In a statement by the Head of WAEC, Nigeria, Mr. Patrick  Areghan, on Sunday, the body explained that a notice alleging the cancellation of 2020 WASSCE was false. He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a fake publication circulating in the social media, to the effect that the West African Examinations Council had cancelled the 2020 WASSCE for school candidates as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and was, therefore, set to refund N22,500 to candidates who had enrolled for the examination. “The publication is patently false and deceitful. It is nothing but the handiwork of mischief-makers, who are out to defraud innocent and unsuspecting candidates and their parents/guardians. “This piece of news is certainly not from the West African Examinations Council, WAEC. It falls short of the Council’s style, language and f...

ABUJA —  Minister of State in the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has assured residents particularly the target demography for its Palliatives, that the items would get to them as they cannot be diverted by anyone. The minister who had last week placed a curse on anyone who made attempts to steal any of the items, said since the distribution began a week ago, there has been no diversion of any of the items in the Federal Capital Territory as alleged in some quarters. Aliyu made the clarification yesterday during the inspection of 50, 000 bags of rice and other food items meant for distribution across the 10 Wards of Gwagwalada Area Council of the Territory. According to her, with the composition and structure of the monitoring team, it would be impossible for any diversion to take place. “I will be very clear with you, it is not possible with this team. I want to put it to you that the composition of this team is so strong across the 62 W...

The global death toll in the novel coronavirus pandemic soared past the grim 200,000 milestone on Sunday, as the World Health Organization warned against “immunity passports” for recovered patients, seen as a possible tool for countries preparing to re-open their economies. The WHO opposes such “passports” because recovery from the virus might not protect a person from reinfection. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the UN health body said in a statement. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world spent the second day of the Ramadan holy month out of mosques and avoiding large family meals to break the fast because of sequestration and social distancing policies. And Australians and New Zealanders marked Anzac Day without the normal parades and public ceremonies to commemorate fallen soldiers. Instead, under social distancing policies, people held da...

NEWS Nigeria, 9 others most at risk The world is at risk of widespread famines “of biblical proportions” caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations (UN) has warned. David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported. A report estimates that the number suffering from hunger could almost double from 135 million to more than 250 million. Those most at risk are in 10 countries affected by conflict, economic crisis and climate change, the WFP says. The fourth annual Global Report on Food Crises highlights Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti as the 10 countries. In South Sudan, 61 per cent of the population was affected by food crisis last year, the report says. Even before the pandemic hit, parts of East Africa and South Asia were already facing severe food ...