Nigerians
Alibaba: Coronavirus is real, not a scam
Stand-up comedian Atunyota Akpobome, popularly known as “Alibaba”, has urged Nigerians to be cautious and keep safe, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic is real. Alibaba said that having just survived the deadly virus Nigerians should desist from describing the COVID-19 pandemic as a scam. The comedian thanked Govenir Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Prof Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Health, and other caregivers who worked tirelessly to keep him alive at the Yaba Isolation Centre where he was quarantined. ‘COVID-19 is real. Don’t let anyone tell you it is a scam. I just came out of isolation, several people died, while I was there. Some of my close friends know and they were very supportive. ‘I thank the Lagos State governor, the Commissioner of Health, Managing Director of the COVID...
PDP: Nigerians fed up with President Buhari’s government
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, maintained that Nigerians have become fed up with the Muhammadu Buhari administration and are now rallying under the main opposition party. In a statement issued in Abuja by its national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described the recent attack on it by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, “as a feeble kick of a weak horse, in another failed attempt to beguile Nigerians.” Recall that the presidential spokesman had described the PDP as “a university of lies.” The PDP said it is not surprised that “the Buhari Presidency is rattled by the bitter truth that Nigerians are fed up with President Muhammadu Buhari as well as his All Progressives Congress (APC) and are rallying on our platform to rescue our nation from misrule.” The party noted:...
PDP: Nigerians fed up with President Buhari’s government
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, maintained that Nigerians have become fed up with the Muhammadu Buhari administration and are now rallying under the main opposition party. In a statement issued in Abuja by its national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described the recent attack on it by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, “as a feeble kick of a weak horse, in another failed attempt to beguile Nigerians.” Recall that the presidential spokesman had described the PDP as “a university of lies.” The PDP said it is not surprised that “the Buhari Presidency is rattled by the bitter truth that Nigerians are fed up with President Muhammadu Buhari as well as his All Progressives Congress (APC) and are rallying on our platform to rescue our nation from misrule.” The party noted:...
Coronavirus: School reopening, worship centres, others caused second wave – Prof. Abayomi
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has attributed the reasons for the second wave of COVID-19 to the opening up of the economy, the re-opening of schools, large religious congregations, and social gatherings among others. A statement from the Lagos State Ministry of Health quoted the commissioner as saying this while giving an update on the State Government’s response against the second wave of COVID-19 at a press briefing held in Ikeja on Monday. The statement titled, ‘COVID-19: Lagos admonishes residents’, was signed by the LSMOH Director of Public Affairs, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo. “Abayomi attributed the reason for the second wave of COVID19 to include, opening up of the economy; general laxity, false sense of security and non-adherence to safety guidelines by citiz...
CBN: Naira to fall further in January
Barely five days to the end of the year 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that a survey carried out by its Statistics Department revealed that the naira is expected to depreciate further in January 2021. The report, titled, ‘December 2020 Business Expectations Survey Report’ added that there might also be a steady rise in interest rate from December till the next six months. The naira witnessed a sharp fall in recent weeks, reaching its lowest on November 30, 2020, when it exchanged for N500/$1. Since then, the dollar has been hovering between N460 and N470. As of Friday, however, one dollar exchanged for 465 in the parallel market. Also, the Nigerian economy had on November 21 slid into its second recession in five years when the economy shrank again in the third quarter. Th...
Expert: Excess alcohol intake injurious to health
A medical practitioner, Dr Akintunde Ogunfeyimi, has cautioned Nigerians against excessive intake of alcohol especially during the yuletide in order not to cause havoc to their health. Akintunde, the Chief Medical Director of Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa, in Okitipupa on Thursday said that excessive alcohol consumption had diverse consequences. He said that people tend to take much alcohol especially during festivities in expression of their happiness and delight, but that such acts pose great health risks. “Series of diseases ranging from hypertension, kidney problem, liver problem, heart-related diseases, accidents and outright death can be the result of drinking too much alcohol and drinks with high alcohol content. “Alcohol can also affect the brains and the person will no...
Yuletide: Police chief orders tight security nations wide
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP, M.A. Adamu, has ordered 24/7 water-tight security arrangement and proactive high visibility patrols in all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), ahead of the Christmas and New Year Celebrations. The IGP gave the directives to all Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police in charge of Zonal and State Commands nationwide to ensure a peaceful celebration. The IGP equally directed the Strategic Officers to ensure massive deployment of intelligence and other operational assets of the Force particularly on major highways, airports, railway stations, recreational centres, motor – parks, places of worship, financial institutions, amongst others. They are also to ensure that personnel deployed are adequat...
Yuletide: NSCDC chief orders deployment of personnel to flash points
SIGNAL The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, has ordered the deployment of personnel to all nooks and crannies of the country in order to maintain peace, order and effective security of lives, property before, during and after the yuletide season. This is done against the backdrop of various reports of kidnapping, bandit attacks, assassinations and other forms of criminal activities in recent times. In a statement issued yesterday, DCC Emmanuel Okeh, CDPRO, said Gana reiterated that the determination to make the yuletide season hitch free is upper-most in the scheme of things as lots of Nigerians will be traveling to different parts of the country to celebrate with family and friends hence, the need for citizens’ safety. H...
Coronavirus: President Buhari extends tenure, mandate of PTF
President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the mandate of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 “for a further period till the end of March, 2021 bearing in mind the new surge in the number of cases and the bid for vaccines.” The president disclosed this Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the End-of-Year Report of the task force. He said: “Recent reports reaching me indicate that Nigeria is now facing a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide which is similar to the second wave of infections occurring in other countries across the world. “New epicentres have been identified and the nation cannot afford to lose the gains of the last nine months. ”I have critically evaluated the situation and remain convinced that urgent measures have to be taken to halt the spread and the attendant f...
Lai Mohammed: My only regret as minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said his only regret as a minister is that some Nigerians have failed to appreciate that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so much with little resources. Mr Mohammed stated this at a Special Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said with dwindling resources, no government in the history of Nigeria has implemented programmes alleviating poverty among women and vulnerable groups as well as created jobs for the youth as the Buhari administration had done. The minister said his regret was that some Nigerians have failed to appreciate the efforts of the government but keep celebrating negative developments. “My regret in this government is that Nigerians have failed to appreciate that the ...
Bisi Fayemi urges Nigerians to stop seeking medical care abroad, come to ABUTH
The First Lady of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, has called on rich Nigerians to stop seeking medical treatments abroad, saying the multi-system nature of Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) can rival any hospital in the world. Fayemi added that ABUTH is well equipped with personnel and instruments with indisputable capacity to offer quality healthcare delivery that any hospital in India, United States of America, Britain and other advanced nations could offer. The state first lady stated this at her office in Ado Ekiti yesterday, while playing host to the family of Miss Precious Sodeinde, who suffered brain tumour, and was taken to the hospital by her for treatment. The operation done on Precious, who had gone partially blind before the issue was reported to the first lady,...
Nigerian National Assembly spends billions of naira on constitution review
The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, an analysis has shown. The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail. At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise. While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals. Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments ...