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Juan Orlando Hernandez
The Honduras president announced in June that he had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with him. Hernandez said he had started what he called the “MAIZ treatment,” an experimental and unproven combination of microdacyn, azithromycin, ivermectin and zinc. He was briefly hospitalized and released.
More to come…
US president, Donald Trump, was rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday night to be treated for Covid-19 after announcing on his social media handles that he had contracted the deadly disease.
The hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, is the United States’ biggest military medical center that cares for the wounded, ill and injured from global conflicts. It has close to 7,000 staff workers taking care of those who are hospitalized.
The hospital is located nine miles from the White House in Washington, DC and has 244 beds and 50 intensive care unit beds.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday ;
“Trump would be spending a “few days” in the hospital’s presidential suite”.
The suite, known as Ward 71, is equipped to allow the president of the United States to keep up with his official duties even while in the hospital.
The suite which is around 3,000 square feet includes bedroom-type areas, living rooms with couches, a doctor’s office, conference room, office space and a dining room.
According to USA Today, the presidential suite is one of six special patient rooms reserved for high-ranking military officers and members of the White House cabinet.
The White House controls the entire presidential suite unlike other parts of the hospital controlled by Walter Reed administrators and the Defense Department.
If the White House doctor can’t treat something specifically, the medical center has prescreened specialists whose background checks are already available to the president.
Trump’s chief of staff has his own office space in the suite. The White House doctor has sleeping quarters there, so they could be constantly there while Trump is constantly being treated 24/7.
If Trump’s condition worsens, he will have to transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence using the 25th amendment .
With just 5 weeks to the election, such a scenario will dramatically upset the US presidential election.
Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has blamed former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as partly responsible for Nigeria’s weak infrastructural base, saying that instead of paying off Nigeria’s external debts, the ex-Nigerian leader should have invested in capital projects across the country.
According to Fashola, previous governments which he said had access to a lot of money, under-invested in the country’s infrastructure, saying if he had the $12 billion, like the Olusegun Obasanjo government in 2005, he would have built rails and more roads.
The former Lagos State governor, who has been minister under the present administration since its inception in 2015, spoke during an interview on Channels Television.
In 2005/2006, the Paris Club wrote off $18 billion or 60 per cent of the $30 billion Nigeria owed the cartel, after months of negotiations, a development touted as one of the biggest achievements of the Obasanjo administration.
Fashola said that rather than deploy the funds prudently, the Obasanjo government decided to pay the country’s creditors to the detriment of the country, insisting that today, Nigeria has gone back to borrowing because the governments in the past ignored investment in infrastructure.
He said rather, the Obasanjo government decided to pay the country’s creditors to the detriment of the country, insisting that today, Nigeria has gone back to borrowing because the governments in the past ignored investment in infrastructure.
Although he did not mention names, Fashola specifically said that in 2005 (when Obasanjo was president), Nigeria had the opportunity to revamp its roads and rails, but rather was pursuing debt cancellation as state policy.
“At one time in this country, in 2005, we had $12 billion. At that time, these roads were bad. At that time there was no rail. But what did we do as a matter of state policy, it was just to pay creditors to our own detriment.
I can only imagine if I had the opportunity then with $12 billion in my hand, we would have built rails and roads. What this government is dealing with, which I am responsible for the road side, is the infrastructure that will be enduring.
“Without the rails, we will not have roads that last. Trucks and heavy cargo is not meant for our roads. The jurisdictions we want to be like, don’t transport cargo, containers on their roads. That’s why I am so optimistic about tomorrow that if we advance this significantly, there will be a better tomorrow.
We lost the opportunity to invest $12 billion and then we went back to borrow and the problems haven’t gone away and they will have to be dealt with,” he maintained.
While defending the current administration’s tendency for borrowing, Fashola argued that the assertion that Buhari was mortgaging the future of the nation’s children was untenable, saying that the government was only ‘positioning’ for tomorrow’s children.
“Every generation that’s responsible enough like us must position for tomorrow’s children. We should not leave this for them to come and do because it will be more expensive.
That said, I think the way to go is to say that at the appropriate time, a tolling policy will be developed because for you to toll you must ordinarily develop alternatives. Government must also understand that not all of its infrastructure is of a commercial kind,” he stated.
The minister stressed that the Buhari government would continue to do its best to ensure that the country’s infrastructure is developed and brought at par with modern transportation systems like what obtains in other parts of the world.
Armed robbers attacked a branch of WEMA bank in Iyin-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun local government area of Ekiti State , on Friday.
The six-man armed wielding bandits, who arrived the town around 3.30pm, blasted the security doors with an explosive device suspected to be dynamite and carted away several millions of naira in the operation which lasted 40 minutes.
This came barely 24 hours after the police raised the alarm that some bandits were planning to invade the state and wreak havoc on the people.
An eyewitness confirmed to journalists that the robbers had shot sporadically into the air, thereby scaring residents and traders at the nearby market before gaining entry into the banking hall.
The residents were said to have run in different directions due to the severity of the gunshots which the source said had caused tension.
Vehicles travelling along the Ado-Iyin-Aramoko-Efon road had to take a detour to prevent being caught in the web of gunshots.
“In fact, the police disappointed us. They disappointed the people of Iyin today. The robbers robbed for over 40 minutes without any challenge”.
“They came in two vehicles, shot into the air and scared the people around away. In fact, those in the nearby market left their commodities and ran for their lives”.
The police station in Igede Ekiti was not up to 500 metres, while the police patrol point along the Ado Ekiti road should be a kilometre away, but none of them responded for over 40 minutes the robbers operated.
“We thank God nobody was killed, but the agony of the gunshots was too much on the locals”.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr. Sunday Abutu, said the police, upon receiving the information, immediately visited the place.
“We got a distress call from Iyin Ekiti about the robbery and we immediately dispatched our men and officers to the place. I want to confirm to you that the robbers are being chased as I speak with you and the determination is to effect their arrest. We are assuring the people that the hoodlums shall be arrested and brought to justice. Ekiti is not a safe haven for robbers”.
China in 2019
One year ago, Hong Kong saw one of its most violent days on 1 October as the pro-democracy movement raged, but this year the city was largely silent.
October 1 is also a significant day in Hong Kong. The date marks the founding of the People’s Republic of China, widely celebrated on the mainland.
In 2019, it was called “day of mourning” by Hong Kong protesters worried about China’s growing control.
This year, a Beijing-imposed security law and coronavirus have put a stop to most protests.
Requests for demonstrations were not granted by the authorities – with the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns cited as reasons.
Proponents of the security law say it was required to quell the kind of violence that was seen in Hong Kong for several months last year.
What Happened In 2020?
In the early hours of the day, city officials held a small ceremony with a flag raising and helicopters flying the colours of both China and Hong Kong.
Amid tight security and stepped up riot police presence, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hailed that “stability has been restored to society while national security has been safeguarded, and our people can continue to enjoy their basic rights and freedoms”.
But while fear stopped many from protesting, some Hong Kongers did not hesitate to tell reporters what they really thought.
“Today is a day for national mourning,” Mr Choi told Reuters. “What should we celebrate for?”
“A lot of people want to voice out their demands peacefully,” Roger Tsang said but that the “severe police brutality” was threatening people into silence. “The so-called ‘peacefulness’ is an illusion.”
And protests were not entirely muted. Several small activists groups sporadically gathered to protest and chant slogans in Causeway Bay, the downtown shopping area.
Officials say that at least 86 people were arrested, most of them for unauthorised assembly.
What has changed since last year?
In response to the past years’ repeated waves of protests, Beijing this summer introduced a wide-ranging new security law for Hong Kong.
It introduces heavy penalties – up to life in prison – for offences including subversion and secession.
Critics have called it “the end of Hong Kong”, saying it effectively curtails protests and freedom of speech.
But supporters say it was needed to stamp out the chaos of anti-government protests.
The law, which came into effect on 1 July 2020, has already been invoked in a string of arrests and several prominent pro-democracy activists have fled the country for fear of arrest.
Just this week, the US said it would prioritise Hong Kongers – along with citizens from several other countries – for its refugee admission programme.
What did 2019 look like?
On 1 October, while Beijing was celebrating 70 years of Communist Party rule, Hong Kong experienced one of its most “violent and chaotic days”.
Demonstrations had started peacefully but escalated when the police used tear gas and water cannons to drive back groups of protesters who fought officers with poles, petrol bombs and other projectiles.
An 18-year-old was shot in the chest with a live bullet and at least 66 people were injured during the clashes.
The protests and violence had raged for months in Hong Kong with mass demonstrations calling for democracy and less influence from Beijing.
Large rallies repeatedly descended from peaceful protest into prolonged clashes between small groups of frontline protesters and police.
A former British colony, Hong Kong is part of China but residents of Hong Kong prize civil liberties such as free speech, the right to protest and an entirely independent and robust judiciary, as permitted in the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini constitution.
More than three people died in detention centres housing thousands of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia,
The migrants, according to rights group Amnesty International, were facing “unimaginable cruelty” – including being chained together in pairs, and using their cells floors as toilets, the rights group said.
It also urged Saudi authorities to improve conditions of the centres.
The detainees were expelled from neighbouring Yemen.
The migrants from Ethiopia and other countries had been working in northern Yemen but were forced out by Houthi rebels, Amnesty said.
According to UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 2,000 Ethiopians remain stranded on the Yemeni side of the border, without food, water or healthcare.
Thousands of Ethiopians go to Saudi Arabia for work, making the kingdom nation a key investor and source of foreign remittances for Ethiopia.
Saudi Arabia has also been cracking down on illegal migrants.
There were up to 500,000 illegal migrants from Ethiopia in the country when Saudi authorities began the operation in 2017, according to the IOM.
At least 10,000 Ethiopians on average were being deported each month, but earlier this year Ethiopian officials requested a moratorium because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent months, Ethiopia has struggled to create enough space in quarantine to welcome the people back and make sure that they are not bringing coronavirus with them
Amnesty interviewed 12 detained Ethiopian migrants about conditions in the al-Dayer detention centre, Jizan central prison, and prisons in Jeddah and Mecca.
Conditions are especially dire in al-Dayer and Jizan, where detainees report sharing cells with 350 people, Amnesty says.
The organisation said two migrants reported personally seeing dead bodies of three men – from Ethiopia, Yemen and Somalia – in al-Dayer.
“However, all those interviewed said they knew of people who had died in detention, and four people said they had seen bodies themselves,” the report said.
Amnesty said the allegations have been corroborated by videos, photos and satellite imagery.
The rights group urged the Ethiopian government to urgently facilitate the voluntary repatriation of its nationals, while asking the Saudi authorities to improve detention conditions in the meantime.
Ethiopia plans to repatriate 2,000 detained migrants by mid-October, Tsion Teklu, a state minister at Ethiopia’s foreign ministry, revealed last month.
She said the total number of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi detention facilities was 16,000 earlier this year but that it had since gone down.
Last month three migrants told AFP that visiting Ethiopian diplomats had warned migrants to stop speaking out about detention conditions.
More to come…
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), on Friday, asked its members to commence a 14-day warning strike. The directive was given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the two unions in a statement.
The statement was jointly signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi for NASU and Comrade Samson Ugwoke for SSANU. According to the unions, the strike had become necessary due to the inconsistencies of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) in the payment of salaries of members of the two unions.
The statement read,
“Following the recent directives from the National Universities Commission to Vice-Chancellors for immediate resumption/safe reopening of universities you are hereby directed to commence a 14-day warning strike effective from 5th to 19th, October 2020.”
Among the demands of the unions are ‘Non-payment of Arrears of Earned Allowance being owed NASU and SSANU members despite various Memoranda of Understanding; non-payment of arrears of national minimum wage to members, non-payment of retirement benefits to outgone members and lack of seriousness by government in the renegotiation of 2009 FGN/NASU and SSANU agreements.
Others include usurpation of the headship of non-teaching units by academic staff in violation of conditions of service and establishments, neglect and poor funding of state universities, corruption in the university system and none constitution of Visitation Panel for the universities in line with the laws.
NASU and SSANU said the 14-day warning strike is a prelude to a full-blown, total and indefinite industrial action if the demands of the unions are not properly addressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called “Islamist separatism” and defend secular values.
In a keenly awaited speech, Mr Macron said a minority of France’s estimated six million Muslims were in danger of forming a “counter-society”.
His proposals include stricter oversight of schooling and control over foreign funding of mosques.
He had been under pressure to address radical Islam amid security fears.
But his comments were condemned by some Muslim activists who accused him of trying to repress Islam in the country.
Under France’s strict principles of secularism, or laïcité, the government is separated by law from religious institutions. The idea is that people of different religions and beliefs are equal before the law.
The country also has the largest population of Muslims in Western Europe. Many complain the authorities use secularism to specifically target them, for instance in banning the hijab.
Speaking outside Paris on Friday, Mr Macron said radical Islam was a danger to France because it held its own laws above all others and “often results in the creation of a counter-society”.
He said this form of sectarianism often translated into children being kept out of school, and the use of sporting, cultural and other community activities as a “pretext to teach principles that do not conform to the laws of the republic”.
“Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country.”
The measures announced by the president will form legislation that will go to parliament before the end of the year.
They include:
Mr Macron also said France must do more to offer economic and social mobility to immigrant communities, adding that radicals had often filled the vacuum.
He speech was the fruit of many months of discussions with religious leaders and intellectuals, says the BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris. It is being spun by the Élysée Palace as a sign that he wants to talk openly and without embarrassment about the dangers posed by radical Islam.
Many also see the address as an attempt to appeal to right-wing voters ahead of the 2022 presidential election, our correspondent adds.
Islam is increasingly seen as a threat to France’s core values in the wake of several terror attacks targeting secular liberties such as freedom of expression.
Last week a man wounded two people with a meat cleaver outside the former Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, which the government denounced as “Islamist terrorism”. In January 2015, jihadists killed 12 people in and around the magazine’s offices to avenge its publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
Muslims in France have roundly condemned the violence, and some reacted angrily to Mr Macron’s proposals on Friday.
“In a one hour speech #Macron burried [sic] #laïcité, emboldened the far right, anti-Muslim leftists and threatened the lives of Muslim students by calling for drastic limits on home schooling despite a global pandemic.”
Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, presented 54 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) to local government chairmen and their deputies. The vehicles were given to 18 local government councils in the state.
The 54 Sport Utility Vehicles comprises of : 18 Ford Edge to the Local Government Chairmen, 18 Ford Escape to the Vice Chairmen and 18 Ford Ecosport to the leaders of Council.
The deputy governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ivara Esu who represented the governor, charged the officials to make effective use of the vehicles. He said this during the presentation ceremony held at the Governor’s office in Diamond Hill, Calabar.
“It is not about giving cars; what is happening is important at the time we are now . With zero allocation, COVID – 19 and the economic crisis , if we were to rely on federal allocation, even salaries will not be paid. The governor is prudent in managing our resources. If this was not the case , the cars will not be provided. ”
The deputy governor further stated that;
“The cars are not free gifts , they were purchased through the JAAC Accounts and going by the NFIU regulations , they were procured by the chairmen themselves and the funds came through their individual local government accounts. The governor kept funds for them even before they came in and that is why we have been able to purchase the cars. It is their entitlement because it has always been a practice that the chairmen of council , considering the exigencies of their office, deserve mobility.”
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Chairman of Akpabuyo council, Emmanuel Offiong Bassey, commended the state government for meeting the mobility needs of council chairmen. He pledge that the vehicles would be used for the purposes for which they were bought.
US Senator Kamala Harris has criticised President Donald Trump’s conduct during the first night of the presidential debates as one that “denigrates the office”, as she extended support to the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, saying Joe Biden understands who are important — the American families.
President Trump and Democratic challenger Biden had heated exchanges on the first of three Presidential Debates in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday night.
“I think the American people deserve to have an ability to compare and contrast the candidates. I think tonight provided a very clear contrast. On the one hand, you have Joe Biden who looked into the camera, who spoke to the American people continuously, who understood who was important on that stage, which is the American families,” Harris told CBS News in an interview.
Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for COVID-19.
Naidu, according to officials on Tuesday, underwent a routine COVID-19 test.
“The Vice President of India who underwent a routine COVID-19 test today morning has been tested positive. He is, however, asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home quarantine.
His wife Usha Naidu has been tested negative and is in self-isolation,” said a statement posted on social media by Naidu’s office.
The 71-year-old Naidu who is also the chairman of the upper house of Indian parliament (locally called Rajya Sabha), recently attended the monsoon session of parliament.
The session was cut short after more than 25 lawmakers tested positive for the virus.
Last week India’s junior railways minister Suresh Angadi died due to COVID-19.
India is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday the health ministry said number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 6,145,291, including 96,318 deaths.
Globally India is the second worst-hit country due to the pandemic after the United States.
Oasis Petroleum Inc and Lonestar Resources US Inc’s bankruptcy filings are the latest in a slew of restructurings that put the country’s oil and gas producers on track for their biggest year of bankruptcies since the 2016 shale downturn.
Thirty-six producers with 51 billion U.S. dollars in debt filed for bankruptcy protection in the first eight months of the year, according to law firm Haynes and Boone. The coronavirus pandemic crushed fuel demand and left debt-laden producers without access to credit.
The number of companies filing still lags 2016, when 70 companies filed for bankruptcy. However, those firms were generally smaller and left a total of $56 billion in debt.
Oil and gas producer bankruptcies on track for most since 2016:
The United States grew to become the world’s largest oil producer at nearly 13 million barrels per day (bpd), led by shale companies. However, those companies, in order to maintain high levels of production, need to keep drilling new wells to offset the swift decline rates from each site. Many shale producers took on heavy debt to finance their operations.
Despite the industry’s growth, investor returns have been weak for years, and share prices struggled even as the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index set ever-higher records.
“It is reasonable to expect that a substantial number of producers will continue to seek protection from creditors in bankruptcy before this year is over,” Haynes and Boone said in its bankruptcy report.
Oasis, which operates in the Bakken formation of North Dakota and Permian in Texas, announced the news on Wednesday. Lonestar said it was going to file for bankruptcy on Thursday.
Largest oil and gas bankruptcies in 2020 by total debt:
The coronavirus pandemic caused fuel demand to slump by one-third globally. Prices have recovered to roughly 40 dollars per barrel but that is still not considered high enough to keep many companies afloat.
In the first three quarters of 2019, there were 33 producer bankruptcies, and 22 in the same period in 2018.
There were more U.S. crude producer bankruptcies in the second quarter than in any period since 2016, and without a continued recovery in the oil price, more are expected, said Chris Duncan, research analyst at Brandes Investment Partners, which has 18 billion dollars in assets under management.
In addition to oil producers filing for bankruptcy protection, 37 oilfield service companies have also filed, the Haynes and Boone said.
Major U.S. oil producer bankruptcies:
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted.
“Tonight, (at)FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a “quarantine process” after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn’t clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. This marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with less than four months before Election Day. However, it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.
Hicks traveled with the president multiple times this week, including aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, and on Air Force One to a rally in Minnesota Wednesday, and aboard Air Force One to Tuesday night’s first presidential debate in Cleveland.Trump had consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, even after White House staff and allies were exposed and sickened.
Trump, the vice president and other senior staff have been tested for COVID-19 daily since two people who work at the White House complex tested positive in early May, prompting the White House to step up precautions. Everyone who comes into contact with the president also receives a quick-result test.
The news was sure to rattle an already shaken nation still grappling with how to safely reopen while avoiding further spikes. The White House has access to near-unlimited resources, including a constant supply of quick-result tests, and still failed to keep the president safe, raising questions about how the rest of the country will be able to protect its workers, students and the public as businesses and schools reopen.Yet since the early days of the pandemic, experts have questioned the health and safety protocols at the White House and asked why more wasn’t being done to protect the commander in chief. Trump continued to shake hands with visitors long after public health officials were warning against it and he initially resisted being tested. He has been reluctant to practice his own administration’s social distancing guidelines for fear of looking weak, including refusing under almost all circumstances to wear a mask in public.
Trump is not the only major world leader known to have contracted the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a week in the hospital, including three nights in intensive care, where he was given oxygen and watched around the clock by medical workers. German Chancellor Angela Merkel self-isolated after a doctor who gave her a vaccination tested positive for the virus, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau worked from home after his wife fell ill.
The White House got its first COVID-19 scare in early March when at least three people who later tested positive came in close proximity to the president at his private Florida club. That included members of the Brazilian president’s delegation, including the Brazilian charge d’affaires, who sat at Trump’s dinner table.In mid-March, as the virus continued to spread across the country, the White House began taking the temperature of everyone entering the White House complex, and in April, it began administering rapid COVID-19 tests to all those in close proximity to the president, with staffers being tested about once a week.
Even an effective coronavirus vaccine will not return life to normal in spring, a group of leading scientists has warned.
A vaccine is often seen as the holy grail that will end the pandemic.
But a report, from researchers brought together by the Royal Society, said we needed to be “realistic” about what a vaccine could achieve and when.
They said restrictions may need to be “gradually relaxed” as it could take up to a year to roll the vaccine out.
More than 200 vaccines to protect against the virus are being developed by scientists around the world in a process that is taking place at unprecedented speed.
“A vaccine offers great hope for potentially ending the pandemic, but we do know that the history of vaccine development is littered with lots of failures,” said Dr Fiona Culley, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London.
There is optimism, including from the UK government’s scientific advisers, that some people may get a vaccine this year and mass vaccination may start early next year.
However, the Royal Society report warns it will be a long process.
“Even when the vaccine is available it doesn’t mean within a month everybody is going to be vaccinated, we’re talking about six months, nine months… a year,” said Prof Nilay Shah, head of chemical engineering at Imperial College London.
The report said there were still “enormous” challenges ahead.
Some of the experimental approaches being taken – such as RNA vaccines – have never been mass produced before.
There are questions around raw materials – both for the vaccine and glass vials – and refrigerator capacity, with some vaccines needing storage at minus 80C.
Prof Shah estimates vaccinating people would have to take place at a pace, 10 times faster than the annual flu campaign and would be a full-time job for up to 30,000 trained staff.
“I do worry, is enough thinking going into the whole system?” he says.
Early trial data has suggested that vaccines are triggering an immune response, but studies have not yet shown if this is enough to either offer complete protection or lessen the symptoms of Covid.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VACCINE
Prof Charles Bangham, chair of immunology of Imperial College London, said: “We simply don’t know when an effective vaccine will be available, how effective it will be and of course, crucially, how quickly it can be distributed.
“Even if it is effective, it is unlikely that we will be able to get back completely to normal, so there’s going to be a sliding scale, even after the introduction of a vaccine that we know to be effective.
“We will have to gradually relax some of the other interventions.”
And many questions that will dictate the vaccination strategy remain unanswered, such as:
Commenting on the study, Dr Andrew Preston from the University of Bath, said: “Clearly the vaccine has been portrayed as a silver bullet and ultimately it will be our salvation, but it may not be an immediate process.”
He said there would need to be discussion of whether “vaccine passports” are needed to ensure people coming into the country are immunised.
And Dr Preston warned that vaccine hesitancy seemed to be a growing problem that had become embroiled in anti-mask, anti-lockdown ideologies.
“If cohorts of people refuse to have the vaccine, do we leave them to fend for themselves or have mandatory vaccination for children to go to schools, or for staff in care homes? There are lots of difficult questions.”
“There’s not a question of life suddenly returning to normal in March.”
History studies the past, reconstructs the present and attempts to plan the future. Nigeria as an entity will be 60 soon. The pictures, one from each decade, represents moments in the country’s 60 years of self-rule.
After decades of British colonial rule, Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa took on the reins of power and led independent Nigeria’s new coalition government. The celebrations lasted for weeks in some parts of the country and for those present at the Race Course (now Tafawa Balewa Square) in Obalende, Lagos, on 1 October 1960, it was an unforgettable experience.”Just before the stroke of midnight, they switched off the lights and lowered the British Union Jack,” Ben Iruemiobe, then a bright-eyed 16-year-old student who witnessed the raising of the Nigerian flag, told the BBC.”Then at midnight, the lights were switched back on and the green-white-green stood majestically for all to see. This was followed by a volley of fireworks, then the military band played and we rejoiced,”
Seven years after independence, a civil war erupted as Nigeria’s eastern region tried to form the breakaway Biafra state.The three-year conflict, which ended with Biafran surrender, resulted in the death of more than two million people, most of them women and children who died of starvation in eastern Nigeria.For many easterners, the 1970s was a period to recover both emotionally and financially, especially for those who had lost their houses – termed abandoned properties – and all their savings.US-based novelist Okey Ndibe, a child during the war, describes it as the defining event in Nigeria’s difficult history.”The [government’s] main goal was achieved, but at grave human and moral cost.”The ghost of Biafra continues to haunt Nigeria. Festering violence in the north-east zone, renewed agitations for Biafra, and demands by residents of the oil-rich Niger Delta for resource control, are consequences of Nigeria’s failure to use justice as the arbiter of public policies,” he told the BBC.
In 1983 the government of Shehu Shagari ordered more than a million West African migrants, most of them Ghanaians, to leave Nigeria at short notice as the country faced an economic downturn.The red, white and blue chequered plastic bag that the desperate departing Ghanaians used to carry their possessions became known as “Ghana Must Go”. But now they are more often seen as a symbol of sleaze in Nigeria, preferred by corrupt politicians to ferry huge amounts of cash.
After 16 years of brutal military rule, interrupted by 82 days of a civilian government in 1993, democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999. Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar transferred power to Olusegun Obasanjo, who had won nationwide elections.The 1990s was a packed decade in Nigeria’s political history – including the annulment of an election by the military in 1993, the global condemnation of the 1995 hanging of nine environmental activists, among them Ken Saro-Wiwa by military ruler Gen Sani Abacha, and Abacha’s own death in 1998.The handover to democratic rule was seen by many as a culmination of these three events. The 21 years since have seen the longest uninterrupted republic in Nigeria’s history.
On 16 November 2001, when a group of women competed for the judges’ attention at the Miss World beauty pageant in South Africa only a handful of Nigerians were aware of the event.But by the end of the day, millions in Africa’s most populous country had become familiar with the name of 18-year-old Agbani Darego – the first black African to be crowned Miss World.”Prior to Agbani winning it wasn’t easy to get Nigerians and Africans to participate in pageants because they didn’t see themselves winning.”But from having 20 to 50 participants we had hundreds of thousands who wanted to participate. Now the world wants African music, they want African dance. We are black, we are beautiful and we are in demand,” Ben Murray-Bruce, a former organiser of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria contest, told the BBC.
In April 2014, Islamist militant group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok in Nigeria’s north-east, where there is still an insurgency.Boko Haram had kidnapped many girls and women before but the abduction of the schoolgirls sparked a global campaign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.Bukky Shonibare, one of the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girls Group in Nigeria that protested relentlessly for government intervention to help free the girls, says the abduction greatly affected education in northern Nigeria.”Children – boys and girls – became scared of going to school, and parents had to make a choice of either keeping their children alive or sending them to school.”Efforts at achieving gender equality were greatly affected. Gains recorded [previously], especially around girl-child education, were immensely affected,” she said.After six years, more than 100 of the girls are still missing.
Nigeria has developed a Covid-19 test kit that can give results in less than 40 minutes and does not need extensive training to use.
Health Minister Olurunimbe Mamora said it was much faster and 10 times cheaper than the PCR testing method currently being used.
The kit is yet to be approved by regulatory bodies but has raised hopes of boosting the country’s low testing rate.
Nigeria has been importing key elements needed for coronavirus testing.
The authorities said the test kit, known as SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay, was developed by Nigeria’s Institute of Medical Research.
The head of Nigeria’s Covid-19 response task force, Boss Mustapha, told a media briefing that the kit was Nigeria’s contribution to the global fight against the pandemic through scientific research.
The health authorities said the test kits will be distributed soon to communities – after a validation process – to boost testing across the country.
Nigeria has so far tested just over 500,000 people out of its population of around 200 million.
It has recorded more than 58,000 coronavirus cases with more than 1,000 deaths. The number of daily confirmed infections is declining
A London commercial court on Tuesday ordered that Nigeria be given the $200m (£156m) it deposited last year pending its appeal against the $10bn awarded to a firm over a failed gas plant.
Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), a British Virgin Islands-registered firm, had in 2017 won a $6.6 billion arbitration award after the West African country failed to adhere to the terms of the 2010 contract.
Last year, a UK court ruled that Nigeria’s assets could be seized if it did not pay the bill that had accrued to about $10bn.
Nigeria was allowed to appeal but told to pay a deposit of $200m.
On Monday, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that the “London Commercial Court [had] ordered the release of the $200m guarantee”.
“The court also awarded a £70,000 ($90,000) cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of £1.5m,”
Nigeria’s Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, said in a statement that the government is happy with the successes recorded so far in the case.
The Federal Government says the issue of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would soon be resolved.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Ngige said the Ministries of Finance, Education, Labour and Employment and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation will meet with the body.
“The issue of ASUU will soon come to an end,” he said. “Two reasons – ASUU have called the Federal Government represented by Finance and the Accountant-General Office and their direct employers, the Ministry of Education to come for the test.”
Ngige’s remarks come three days after ASUU said it had not called off its nationwide industrial action which started in March.
According to ASUU Vice President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the strike is still in force until the Federal Government meets their demands.
Also, President of the union, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, had vowed that the union would sustain its ongoing strike action until its requirements were met.
Ogunyemi said ASUU was asking the Federal Government to implement the 2012 universities’ needs assessment.
The ASUU leader had during a press conference on March 23, announced the nationwide strike, adding that the union rejected the use of force to enrol on Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS).
The National Universities Commission ordered universities across the country to close for a month, beginning from March 23, due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
The president made this known in a letter on Tuesday sent to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and read on the floor of the house
From the breakdown, Ondo State, where the governorship election will hold next week, is to receive N7 billion.
The Senate had last year approved N10 billion to Kogi State, three days to its governorship election.
The approval was criticised by opposition lawmakers who asked that the approval be delayed untill after the election.
They were, however, outvoted by majority senators.
South Africa’s economy lost 2.2 million jobs in the second quarter of 2020 during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, the authorities say.It is the biggest fall in job numbers since the employment survey began in 2008.Restrictions were brought in to try and prevent the spread of the virus and the economy subsequently shrank at an unprecedented level.Most businesses were shut for five weeks from 27 March.It was one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.
The national statistics office’s figure for the number of people who have not been economically inactive indicated an even more dramatic economic decline.Between March and June that figure increased by 5.3 million people to 20.5 million.
The official unemployment rate actually dropped in that quarter from 23.3% from 30.1% in the first quarter of 2020.But this may just indicate that lockdown prevented people from looking for work.The fall in the unemployment rate “is not a reflection of an improvement in the labour market, but rather an effect of the national lockdown, since the official definition of unemployment requires that people look for work and are available for work”, said the statistics office.In May, South Africa introduced social relief of distress grants of 350 rand per month ($21; £16) for people who are unemployed.There have been 653,444 recorded cases of coronavirus in South Africa – the 10th highest in the world. More than 15,800 people have died.South Africa was one of the first countries in the world to impose a lockdown, which at first included a ban on everything from dog walking to cigarette sales.The restrictions have been loosened gradually and from 20 September an overnight curfew was reduced, gatherings were allowed at 50% of a venue’s capacity, and restrictions on the sale of alcohol were eased
