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Minister presents draft national biosecurity policy to stakeholders
The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, formally presented zero draft National Biosecurity Policy to stakeholders. The Minister, who made the presentation in Abuja today, said the Zero draft National Biosecurity Policy has been developed with the full recognition of Biosecurity as a multi sectoral discipline, with all efforts geared towards a one health approach, collaborative approach and an understanding of the responsibilities of various sectors which include governments, NGOs, CSOs, communities and individuals. The honourable Minister said ” to maintain Biosecurity, significant attention should be paid to strategies for the prevention and early detection of, as well as rapid response to, harmful and potentially harmful organisms. She noted that to afford true protection,...
Ghana election: President Akufo-Addo to soon start work in his second term – minister
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will start work in his second term in office after he was re-elected as president of Ghana in the December 7 general elections. Mr Akufo-Addo polled a total of 6,730,413 votes, representing 51.59 per cent to beat closest contender John Dramani Mahama, who polled a total of 6,214,889 votes, in Monday’s presidential elections. Returning Officer of the 2020 Presidential Elections, Jean Adukwei Mensa, who is also the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC), declared the incumbent president winner of the polls. In a tweet on Thursday December 10, Mr Oppong Nkrumah who was also re-elected Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi constituency said “The last 36hours have been hectic. In the end Ghana won. ...
National Assembly to make smart card reader compulsory in future elections
File Photo The National Assembly plans to make the use of Smart Card Reader compulsory in future elections in Nigeria, a lawmaker has said. The Chairperson of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Aishatu Dukku, said this at a Joint Public Hearing on “The Bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) and enact the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Act, 2020″, on Wednesday in Abuja. The event was organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters. Ms Dukku said the amendment will affect about 300 clauses in the Act. ” In Section 49 of the Electoral Act 2010 under Use of Ballot Paper, Subsection (1) and (2) are to be amended to read: “A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a pre...
Congo lawmakers hurl chairs in parliament brawl
A brawl erupted at Congo’s parliament, Tuesday, December 8, as tensions boiled over after President Felix Tshisekedi’s moved to end an alliance with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Tshisekedi announced Sunday that he planned to disband his coalition with allies of Kabila, and Kabila’s side argued that would be illegal. In 2018, Tshisekedi won a disputed election over Kabila’s chosen successor but Kabila’s allies won majorities in parliament, forcing the coalition’s formation. Police eventually dispersed the crowd with tear gas. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards...
NCC to ensure enforcement of copyright laws from 2021 – chief
File Photo The Director General, Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr John Asien, says the commission would focus more on the enforcement of copyright laws as from 2021. Asien told newsmen on the sidelines of the just concluded 39th International Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in Ilorin, that it would no longer be business as usual for pirates, as different strategies would be used, both online and in physical space, to ensure that pirates stopped selling pirated books. ”For us at the commission, we are more than committed, by next year we will be focusing more on enforcement and we are going to do that in all nooks and cranny of Nigeria. ”We are going to use different strategies and working on different platforms, both online and the physical space. This is beca...
Kaduna screens youths for community policing to curb insecurity
Kaduna state government has started screening youths in its preparation to commence community policing to tackle insecurity in the state. The Acting Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, chaired a meeting which is part of the consultations in the three senatorial districts on how to address insecurity on Monday. The meeting had senators, members of the House of Representatives, state House of Assembly members and chairmen from the 15 local government areas in Kaduna North and Kaduna Central senatorial zones as well as District Heads in attendance. Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the senator representing Kaduna Central zone, Uba Sani, said they came together to look into the security problem facing Kaduna, stressing that insecurity needs to be tackled collectively. “I’m working on a bill ...
India’s Serum Institute seeks approval for COVID-19 vaccine
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, has sought government approval for emergency-use authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine that it has developed in partnership with the University of Oxford and British drugmaker AstraZeneca. “As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,” the company CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted on Monday. The experimental vaccine can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius and can be distributed more easily in India, which has the world’s second-highest number of infections at 9.6 million. The company has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), with Poonawalla saying the vaccine will “save countless lives” witho...
Stock market gains N138 billion despite profit taking
The stock market posted positive performance last week despite profit taking by some investors, as it sustained the growth recorded in the previous week. Precisely, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) rose 0.7 per cent to close at 35,137.99, while market capitalisation gained N137.5 billion to print at N18.365 trillion. Apart from the NSE ASI index that appreciated, NSE Insurance, NSE ASeM and NSE Oil/Gas indices also went up by 2.61 per cent, 1.56 per cent, 0.19 per cent and 1.71 per cent respectively. Although the gains recorded in the market in November was expected to propel profit taking, some market analysts are still upbeat that the bulls would remain in control till the end of the year. “With the low yield environment in the fixed income space and investors’ cor...
African environment ministers support green recovery plan
Ministers of Environment from Africa on Friday agreed to support a comprehensive green recovery plan to boost economies and social systems aimed at building back better from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is contained in a ministerial statement issued at the end of the eighth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Nairobi, Kenya. Representatives of the 54 African governments re-affirmed their commitment to enhance environmental resilience as well as protect and sustainably use natural resources for the region’s development. The high-level ministerial regional conference held virtually under the theme “Enhancing Environmental Action for Effective Post-COVID Recovery in Africa”, further called to accelerate the protection and restoratio...
Nigerian governors to meet with President Buhari to address security challenges
Governors of the thirty six states under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF have resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the security challenges with continued cases of armed banditry, terrorism and kidnapping across the country. The governors are meeting with President Buhari especially to discuss last week’s gruesome beheading of about 43 Farmers in Zarbamari near Maiduguri, Borno State by Boko Haram Insurgents while they were working in their farmland without any form of resistance. The decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 22nd NGF teleconference meeting. In a Communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, ” Members of the forum resolved to meet with Mr. President as soon as possible to ad...
Lekki shootings: Nigerian Army legal team submits report to General Buratai
The legal team set up by the Nigerian Army to represent the service at the ongoing Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the alleged shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate has submitted its report to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai. The team, led by Akinlolu Kehinde, said the Nigerian Army was not under any form of trial over the alleged shooting at the Lekki Tollgate. The team has as members, the Director Legal Services of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General M.U. Wambai, Samuel Agweh, Biola Oyebanji and Colonel Michael Ede. The report was received by the Chief of Policy and Plans (COPP), Lt-Gen Lamidi Adeosun, who represented the COAS. Presenting the five-page report, Kehinde said: “I want it to be clear that at no point in time was the Nigerian Army summon...
Interpol raises the alarm over fake coronavirus vaccines
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has alerted Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 190 other countries of threat from organised criminal groups during the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including fake vaccines and the theft of supplies. The alert came as the UK yesterday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use. The need for a vaccine has become more urgent globally and nationally with Nigeria recording over 67,000 COVID-19 infections and over 1,000 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far identified 49 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials in humans. Hopes are high ...
