World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday warned that the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) would not be the last such crisis. Tedros gave the warning in a video released to mark the first-ever International Day of Epidemic Preparedness on Sunday. “History tells us that this won’t be the last pandemic and epidemics are a fact of life,” he said. The WHO head said that better investment in public health supported by governments and...
Voters in the Central African Republic go to the polls on Sunday for presidential and legislative elections being held under violence. This is as the government tries to hold off a rebel advance. Militias hostile to President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking a second term, have stepped up attacks since the constitutional court rejected several candidacies, including that of former President Francois Bozize, earlier this month. The crisis has left many in the diamond and...
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 829 new infections of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the country. The NCDC made this known via its verified website on Saturday. The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that since the beginning of the outbreak in February, more than 925,215 samples have been tested in the country. The NCDC said that the new infections bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to...
The Oyo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Operation Amotekun, has said that its men killed a leader of armed robbers and not a student of the University of Ibadan as being claimed by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). The NANS and the family of Akolade Gbadebo, a 400-level student of the Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo, affiliated with the University of Ibadan, had accused Amotekun of killing the Nigerian student. They claimed...
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says, no fewer than 20 doctors have died of COVID-19 in the last one week in Nigeria in the second wave of the pandemic. Dr. Emma Amodu, NMA Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), disclosed this at a press briefing on Friday in Abuja. “These doctors lost their lives after contracting the deadly disease while treating infected patients who failed to disclose their true health status. “For those of...
“Rural development and urban development go together, and until we get those dynamics right, making sure we develop our urban areas at the same time as we develop our rural areas, we won’t be able to achieve much” — Godwin Ezeemo Let me start by stepping back for a moment. I would like to remind all of us why urbanization, and in particular, integrated urban-rural development matters. Getting urbanization and rural development right is essentially...
The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Awka, Reverend Dr. Paulinus Ezeokafor has wished Christians a most joyous celebration, even as he also called on Nigerians to celebrate this year’s Christmas with discretion, considering the realities of the time. The Bishop made this call yesterday December 24th, 2020 during a media parley at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with select media practitioners, in Awka, the Anambra state capital. Bishop Ezeokafor also commented on various issues of national...
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the third quarter of 2020 lent Deposit Money Banks the sum of ₦1.7trillion. This was disclosed by the CBN in its third-quarter economic report. The report reads in part, “Deposit Money Banks and merchant banks continually accessed the standing facilities window to square up positions in 2020 Q3. “The trend at the CBN standing facilities window indicated more activities at the Standing Deposit Facility window, compared to the...
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has announced new travel rules for passengers coming into Nigeria from South Africa and the UK where a new variant of the virus has been discovered. The National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr. Sani Aliyu made the announcement on Thursday in Abuja, during a media briefing. Aliyu said effective from Monday, all passengers coming into the country from the UK and South Africa on direct flights must use...
Britain and the European Union (EU) have reached a deal on their post-Brexit trade relations, British media reported on Thursday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm it at a press conference later, the reports said. Johnson is quoted by British media as saying that “the deal is “done.” “All of our key red lines about returning sovereignty have been achieved,” the BBC quoted an important government source as saying. Meanwhile, European Commission...
