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Days ahead of Easter and two weeks before Ramadan, the World Health Organization on Wednesday cautioned against crowded indoor celebrations that could trigger a fresh surge in coronavirus infections. “In countries experiencing widespread community transmission of the virus, virtual meetings, postponing or reducing such gatherings should be seriously considered,” said a WHO statement. “Regardless of location, any religious service should be held outdoors wherever possible or be limited in size and duration, with physical distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene, and mask use, as appropriate,” it added. Better would be for people to mark the festivals with those they lived with and avoid meeting others — especially if feeling unwell or in isolation or quarantine, it said. ALSO READ:  INSECURITY: Nigeria operating adulterated federal system — Alaafin “Indoor gatherings, even smaller ones, can be especially risky.” Experts are worried that some people may drop their guard while celebr

By Owei Lakemfa NIGERIAN Presidential spokespersons behave like people who stumble out of a bar, spew things at the public, and return to their seats to continue their favourite pastime. The country is in the grip of serious security crises with some 800 students abducted from five locations within four months, bandits laying siege on many states in the North West and Middle Belt, the Boko Haram terrorising the North East, staff residences being attacked at international airports and our highways and forests infested by bandits. Various parts of the country are restive with some demanding for a redrawing of our geographical map. The insecurity is so bad that like in ancient times, people are beginning to think of securing themselves, their families, neigbourhood and towns with their private armies. This is what happened in Somalia. In the midst of all these, including grieving parents demanding the release of their abducted children, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has attributed the fierce political battles recorded in the state to people’s “over-dependence on politics” as means of livelihood. Umahi said this on Wednesday in Abakaliki during a send-off organised by the state in honour of the Nigerian Ambassador-Designate to Zambia, Chief Nwanne Ominyi. He said that most people in the state had no other job than politics, adding that the situation stemmed from people’s deficient background. He said: “I have realised that the background was not right from the time our leaders sojourned from Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu before the state was created in 1996. “This has made the battle of politics in the state fierce but we are doing everything within our powers to change the narrative. “We can longer depend on the government and allocation from the Federation Account for survival,” he said. READ ALSO:  Be vigilant over financial outflows, EFCC chairman charges Nigerians He congra

By Adeola Badru, Oyo The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Wednesday, solicited the collaboration of the media industry on efficient disaster management in Oyo State. The newly deployed zonal coordinator of the agency to the state, Mr Akiode Saheed, made this known, during a media parley, held at the Film Centre of the state’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. Saheed stressed the need for a cordial relationship with relevant stakeholders in the media industry in taking the right measures to avert disasters and also to adopt effective management strategies in averting incidences such as fire, accident, flooding across the state. According to him, the media parley was aimed at engaging the media men and identified their challenges towards ensuring effective management of disaster. He added that the interaction would enable stakeholders to identify the most critical disasters, responses and implementation of national disaster plans. ALSO READ:  Juventus goali

Global trade is set to grow by eight percent in 2021, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said Wednesday, stressing that the route out of the Covid-19 crisis rested on the rapid rollout of vaccines. The predicted bounce-back in global merchandise trade by volume is slightly stronger than the WTO’s previous 7.2 percent forecast issued in October. The organisation said global trade shrank by 5.3 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shocked the world economy. “The strong rebound in global trade since the middle of last year has helped soften the blow of the pandemic for people, businesses, and economies,” said the WTO’s new boss Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The global trade body’s assessment of the Covid-19’s impact on 2020 trade is nowhere near as bad as had been first predicted when the pandemic broke out. A year ago, the WTO had cautioned that global trade could plummet by a third in 2020 but gradually revised that estimate to an expected 9.2-percent drop. It said strong monetary

…govt urged to meet 10% budgetary allocation on agriculture By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja Over  15, 000 smallholder women farmers’ cooperatives have benefited from ActionAid Nigeria, AAN’s, Public Financing for Agriculture, PFA, project in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in boosting productivity. This was disclosed by the Country Director, AAN, Ene Obi, in an address of welcome at the Public Financing for Agriculture (PFA) Learning and Close-Out Meeting, held in Abuja. According to Obi, the PFA Project is designed to catalyse increased quantity and quality of public investment in agriculture to increase the productivity and well-being of women smallholder farmers, their households, and communities in Nigeria. She further stated that the project was able to empower smallholder women farmers and Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, through capacity building, evidence-based data generation and creation of policy and programmes influencing spaces. She added that the Proje

AstraZeneca says it respects this week’s decision by Germany to restrict the use of its coronavirus vaccine – but reiterated that the jab has been deemed safe by other health bodies. “We respect the decision taken by STIKO [the Standing Committee on Vaccination] in their advisory capacity for use of vaccines in Germany,” the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company told dpa on Wednesday. “Patient safety remains the company’s highest priority.” It added that investigations by the British and European vaccine regulators were “not able to establish a causal relationship between the vaccine and clotting events.” On Tuesday, Germany’s federal and health ministers agreed to limit the use of the vaccine to people aged 60 and older due to concerns about blood clotting. AstraZeneca said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) found in its review that there was no link between the vaccine and blood clotting, but further analysis was “deserved.” “Regulatory authorities in the UK, European Union,

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State. Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu Wednesday unveiled the Lagos State Government (LASG) Learning Management System (LMS), aimed at enhancing professionalism in the public service. Sanwo-Olu said during the unveiling at Ikeja that the learning platform would enhance capacity, human capital development, and improved public service delivery. He said that the unveiling of LMS was a crystallisation of the reform process, which his administration initiated to improve service delivery in public administration and governance. According to him, the platform helps the state personnel to be exposed to a wide spectrum of opportunities for enhanced competence and efficiency. ”Our administration places a premium on the competence of the public service to deliver government policies, strategies, and programmes for the benefit of the people. ”It is, therefore, necessary that we equip our public service personnel with the requisite skills an

By Ekanpou Enewaridideke KING Robert Ebizimor – a legend legendary for his legendary futurological capability, his legendary embarrassment and disorientation of death, his legendary humanism and undiluted, unstinting love for his protégés/apprentices, particularly that his indescribably appreciative protégé called Aguiyi-Ironsi, later lovingly ‘roberted’ as Izonebi  – is a household name in Ijaw land. His 71-year resonance originated from Angalabiri town in Bayelsa State where he is paternally rooted and Ojobo town in Delta State where he is maternally rooted. As William Shakespeare and Wole Soyinka are to the world in Literature so is King Robert Ebizimor to the entire Ijaw nation and beyond in music because his like can only be spotted in a century – the music genius whose wise words were philosophically 99 years old when he was only 20 years old in age, though September 25,1943 is the indisputable claimant of his birthday. The life of King Ebizimor began as a palm wine tapper, l

By Dayo Johnson – Akure Eighteen year old hacker, Omisakin Samson has confessed in Akure, the Ondo state capital that he felt offended anytime he spends money stolen from his victims. Police detectives said the teenage suspect specialised in stealing money from bank account using stolen SIMs cards. Omisakin was arrested by police detectives after stealing N44,000 from a victim’s bank account using a stolen SIM card. In an interview when he was paraded by the Ondo state police command with 14 other criminals in Akure, the suspects said he received 18 SIM cards from some armed robbers but could only withdrew money from some of the cards. He gave the names of the armed robbers as Isaac Monday and Ajilogba Wande. The suspect said he attended the Polytechnic, lbadan but couldn’t further his education because of lack of fund. [ALSO READ]  Police brutality: 80% of cases still at hearing stage in Kaduna ” l took to yahoo yahoo business to survive. My mother has stroke and my father is

By Dirisu Yakubu The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Monday, demanded immediate review of the 375 kilometre Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road reconstruction contract, following what it called “the unearthing of corrupt padding in the N797.23 billion contract recently approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC.” This is even as the party called for an open probe into the alleged padding of the contract “from the original N155 billion to an outrageous and indefensible N797 billion, with a whoping N642 billion apparently earmarked to be shared among corrupt officials.” In a statement signed by Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the PDP, the party noted that, “with the approved N797 billion, for a 375 kilometre road, the Buhari Presidency is claiming to be reconstructing a kilometre of road with an outrageous and inexcusable N2.12 billion; a huge slap on the sensibilities of Nigerians.” The statement further read: “While our party restates our total support for the reconstruction of this

French president, Emmanuel Macron From the French role during the Rwandan genocide to its colonial-era crimes in Algeria and looting of indigenous art, President Emmanuel Macron has gone further than predecessors in recognising some of the darker chapters of his country’s past in Africa. But historians say more needs to be done to restore France’s image on a continent where its long history of meddling in former colonies has created a poisonous legacy, particularly for young Africans. The latest development in France’s reckoning with its past came on Friday, when a historical commission set up by Macron concluded that France bore “overwhelming responsibilities” in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The report accused France, which had close ties to the Hutu regime behind the massacre of ethnic Tutsis, of being “blind” to preparations for the mass killings, though it found no evidence of French complicity in the bloodshed. The French presidency said it hoped the report would engineer an

By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos Ahead of this year’s Easter celebration, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Zone 4 Command comprising Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States has called on all road users and transport fleet operators within the Zone to abide by traffic rules and regulations as well as the COVID-19 protocol during the Easter festive period or risk arrest and prosecution. The Zonal Commanding Officer RS4, Assistant Corps Marshal Kayode OLAGUNJU, mni gave this warning in a release signed by the Acting Public Education Officer, Route Commander Olusegun Owoeye in Jos to herald the commencement in the Zone of the nationwide “EASTER SPECIAL PATROL OPERATION” with the aim of ensuring sanity and prevention of deaths and injuries on the road during the festive period. ALSO READ:  N544m Grass-cutting fraud: EFCC presents third witness against Babachir Lawal The statement noted “The Command is poised to reduce road traffic crashes and fatalities as we celebrate Easter. The Zonal C

Experts probing links between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clots have found no specific risk factors, including age, but are investigating further, the EU’s drug regulator said Wednesday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said however that its safety committee expected to issue an “updated recommendation” on the controversial vaccine after its monthly meeting next week. Germany on Tuesday became the latest in a series of countries to advise against using the AstraZeneca jab for younger people after rare reports of clotting, despite the EMA saying it is safe. “At present the review has not identified any specific risk factors, such as age, gender or a previous medical history of clotting disorders, for these very rare events,” the Amsterdam-based EMA said in a statement. “A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and further analysis is continuing.” The EMA statement came after experts met on Monday to discuss their latest findings on the As

  The European Union has fallen short of vaccinating 80 per cent of health care workers and people over the age of 80 against Covid-19 by the end of March, a target set by the bloc’s executive branch. Figures published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show that no country in the EU achieved this goal. Only 56.7 per cent of over 80-year-olds and just over 60 per cent of health care workers had received a first vaccine shot on EU average, according to figures updated on Wednesday. And the number is even lower for those who were fully vaccinated: Only 27.4 per cent of over 80s and 47 per cent of health care workers received their second jab. The EU is racing to ramp up its sluggish vaccination campaign to save potentially thousand of lives. Older people are generally at a higher risk of dying from Covid-19, while health care workers are more exposed to contracting the virus because of their profession. Despite an EU-wide effort to distribute jabs eve

The Gocreate App, which was recently launched by Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN), has ushered a great awakening for the Nigerian music industry. Gocreate App equips right owners with data from airplay reports and analytics, and this makes rights management and royalty distribution more transparent and effective. ALSO READ:  Effium killings: Declare state of emergency in Ebonyi to save lives, AESID urges FG According to MCSN’s Managing Director, Mayo Ayilaran, within three weeks of the deployment of Gocreate App, the Collective Management Organization (CMO) has recorded 30% increase in its membership base. With this feat, stakeholders agreed that MCSN has taken a golden step in the right direction by making the technology available to right owners in Nigeria, especially to artistes, producers, writers and record labels, who are downloading the app in droves. “The Nigerian music industry is very vibrant and it’s no surprise that stakeholders have embraced this cutting ed

By Boluwaji Obahopo, Lokoja A Non-Governmental Organization, Mercy Corps has trained Chairmen and Vice chairpersons in the 21 council area of Kogi State on conflicts management at the council areas. The 3-day Capacity building training for Local Government Chairmen and Vice on interest-based Negotiation and Mediation was organised by the office of the state Sustainable Development Goals. Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Folashade Ayoade at the event urged the chairmen and vice to build a better working relationship with each other in order to effectively tackle conflicts for the development of the State. ALSO READ:  Banditry, insurgency: We’re making progress — COAS She noted that the Council chairmen need to acquire skills and norms on how to meditate and negotiate conflicts at their various local Government areas. Dr Ayoade called on them to established a symbolic working and living relationship among their people at the grassroots. Special Adviser to the State Governo

By Child Nkwopara, Owerri The full potentials of Nigerian women can be fully maximized “if people of good conscience mobilize requisite action towards addressing persistent socio-cultural norms and practices, hindering the maximization of this goal”. The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, Professor Francis C. Eze, made his feelings known yesterday, while flagging off a one-day seminar, to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, in the institution. Professor Eze said: “I celebrate our women, who have remained an indispensable backbone of our administration. I am delighted to note that every modest effort we have made to reposition our University, bears the indelible imprint of our women, working tirelessly in various capacities. ALSO READ:  Go hard on vandals, other criminal elements, FG orders NSCDC boss “We particularly raised the bar of women empowerment in the University, through strategic appointments into leadership positions, including Offi

As women demand strategic role in peacebuilding By Gabriel Ewepu – Karu As women continue to be under-represented in governance, ActionAid Nigeria, AAN, yesterday, decried poor implementation of 35 per cent Affirmative Action in Nigeria. Expressing displeasure over the poor treatment meted out to Nigerian women in terms of elective positions and appointments in public offices including being worst hit by current insecurity challenges in the country, Country Director, AAN, Ene Obi, during a ‘Workshop on Strengthening State Level Institutional Capacities to Enhance Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peace and Security in Nigeria’ held in Karu, Nasarawa State, said women’s voice in terms of national issues remains at the back-burning including issues, directly and indirectly, affecting them. Obi recalled the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari, during his campaign on giving 40 per cent appointments in his government to women, but up till now the percentage of appointments rem