African
Nigeria to conduct 450 coronavirus tests per local council
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 says the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will carry out 450 COVID-19 tests in each local government area of the country. The PTF chairman, Mr Boss Mustapha, also Secretary to the Government of the Federation, made this known at the national briefing on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja. Mustapha said the exercise would start with the states that were in the forefront of resourcing and infrastructure. According to him, the PTF has authorised the NCDC to immediately implement the 450 tests per local government plan nationwide. Mustapha said: “We are aware that states are not on the same pedestal in the area of testing, and we shall begin with the states that are in the forefront of resourcing and infrastructure.” On resumption of schools, Mus...
WAFU B Cup: Ghana fall to Cote d’Ivoire but book Niger date
Ghana have ended their group stage campaign at the ongoing Wafu B Cup of Nations in Benin with a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast but will still progress to the next round of the competition courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Nigeria on the last matchday. Kossi Nguessan’s second-half free-kick proved the separating factor at Stade de Gaules in Porto Novo on Saturday. The Black Satellites ultimately finished second in a three-team group, setting up a semi-final date with Niger. The 2009 world champions had already booked the qualification to the next round of the championship before Saturday’s last group game, having amassed vital three points in their first game against archrivals Nigeria. Ghana coach Abdul Karim Zito made five changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s game, bringing on Alhassan U...
Guinea court declares Alpha Conde elected president
Guinea’s Constitutional Court on Saturday declared incumbent Alpha Conde had been re-elected for a controversial third term as president at the age of 82, while his main opponent called for resistance “by all legal means”. With 59.5 percent of the votes cast, Conde’s support was above the absolute majority needed to win in the first round, judges found, throwing out challenges to the October 18 ballot from figures including his main opponent Cellou Dalein Diallo. The official count from the Ceni national election commission gave Diallo 33.5 percent. But the 68-year-old insists that data his activists gathered at polling stations shows he won the vote and is the victim of fraud. While observers from other African countries have backed the official results, France, the European Union and Uni...
FAO: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, others risk famine
A new report by two United Nations agencies warned Friday of a heightened risk of famine in three conflict-torn African states and Yemen, and a high hunger risk in 16 more. The Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme warned that a “toxic combination of conflict, economic decline, climate extremes and the Covid-19 pandemic … is driving people further into the emergency phase of food insecurity”. The agencies swung the spotlight on Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen, all facing rising levels of acute hunger with potential risk of famine. Issuing “a stark warning” in their Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots, the agencies said the four countries have areas that could soon slip into famine. Some parts of the population “are already experiencing...
Africa CDC warns of possible second wave of virus infection
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday urged the African continent to brace itself for possible second wave COVID-19 infections. According to Africa CDC, the number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,759,794. The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 42,336 as of Friday afternoon. A total of 1,438,841 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, the Africa CDC said. The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed posit...
AFCONQ: Kaizer Chiefs confirm Daniel Akpeyi’s Super Eagles call-up
South African giants, Kaizer Chiefs, has confirmed that goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi, has received a call up for Super Eagles’ 2022 Africa Cup of Nations double-header against Sierra Leone in November. The Eagles are billed to face the Leone Stars in a Group L fixture at the newly refurbished Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin on November 13 before playing the return leg four days later in Freetown. Akpeyi manned the posts in the Eagles opening two games of the qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho in November 2019, but missed out of the team’s international friendly games against African champions Algeria and Tunisia earlier this month in Austria. Amakhosi confirmed Akpeyi’s invitation on their website, “Chiefs will be well represented on the international front next month during the internati...
Nigerian judge throws out case against 47 men for homosexuality
A court in Lagos throws out a case against men charged with public displays of affection with members of the same sex. A judge in a Nigerian court has thrown out a case against 47 men charged with public displays of affection with members of the same sex, ending what had widely been seen as a test of the country’s laws banning homosexual relationships. The Nigerian law banning gay marriage, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and same-sex “amorous relationships”, prompted an international outcry when it came into force under former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014. The men were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in the city’s Egbeda district in 2018. Police said the men were being initiated into a gay club, but the defendants said they were attending a birthday party. Prosec...
VP Osinbajo urges destination countries to insist on repatriation of illicit funds
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged leaders of destination countries to insist on repatriation of illicit funds and proceeds. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the Vice President made the submission at the virtual inauguration of a publication by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the impact of illicit financial flows (IFFs) on African Development. Osinbajo called for an overhaul of the international tax system in order to tackle the scourge. “The enormity of efforts required to tackle illicit financial flows is evident in the many dimensions the scourge presents itself. “It manifests through harmful tax policies and practices, abusive transfer pricing, trade mis-pricing and mis-invoicing illegal exploitation of natural resou...
Governor Abiodun congratulates Laycon over #BBNaija win
The governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has congratulated the winner of the Big Brother Naija reality television show, Olamilekan Agbelese. Abiodun made this statement via his verified Facebook page. He described Laycon as a pacesetter, saying his victory was aptly a confirmation of his brilliance. “I am delighted to congratulate one of our own in Ogun State, Olamilekan Agbelesebioba, AKA @itslaycon for emerging winner of Big Brother Naija Lockdown. “The pacesetter that you are, you have emerged one of the best in academic and social engagements, so this victory is aptly a confirmation of your brilliance, intellect and maturity,” he said. The governor seized the opportunity to reassure the citizens of the state that his administration will continue to support and empower the youths. “Our...
Diamond League: Ese Brume finishes second In Doha
The reigning African women Long Jump champion, Ese Brume, recorded an impressive outing at the Doha Diamond League on Friday. The Nigerian finished second in the Women’s Long jump event after a commendable leap of 6.68m (+0.4m/s) in the final. Brume had recorded a Season’s Best (SB) of 6.71m (+0.4) in the 4th round of the competition but her final jump was used in determining her final position going by newly introduced rules. Brume who won Nigeria’s only medal at the last World Championships held also in Doha has been starved of competition due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was World Silver medallist, Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, who won the women’s long jump event having soared to a SB of 6.91m (+0.6) in her final try. Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia who was the top seed going into the contest, jumpe...
President Buhari: CAMA Act will help us fight corruption
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday explained that the recently passed Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) in Nigeria will enhance transparency and corporate accountability in the fight against corruption. President Buhari spoke in a video message presented at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2020 Virtual Leaders’ Summit on the sidelines of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA75) in New York, United States. ”Since the inception of our Administration in 2015, the Government has been committed to changing international and domestic perceptions regarding Nigeria’s commitment to fight corruption and foster good governance. ”We focused on the task of dealing head-on with this destructive monster, which led to us joining the Open Government Partnership and...
VP Osinbajo: Virus vaccine distribution should be equitable
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has advised that the deployment of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine should be done in an equitable and affordable manner in order to effectively contain the spread of the Coronavirus disease across the globe. The Vice President stated this on Friday at the virtual 2020 EURAFRICA Forum themed “Towards a realistic Euro-African partnership during and beyond the COVID-19 era”. The summit featured presentations from notable global leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Ulisses Correia Silva, among other speakers. The EurAfrican Forum aims to foster stronger collaboration between Europe and Africa, and better promote a shared green and inclusive growth, a...
