Pandemic
Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda to be buried on July 7
Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda will be buried on 7 July, three weeks after he died aged 97, the presidency announced on Monday. The hero of the struggle against white rule in southern Africa “shall be put to rest… at a very private ceremony for family and selected invited mourners,” Vice President Inonge Wina said on state television. He will be buried at the country’s presidential burial site situated opposite the cabinet office in Lusaka, following a state memorial to be held at the city’s 60 000-seat National Heroes Stadium on 2 July. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign leaders may be accompanied by just one official, she said. Ahead of the funeral, Kaunda’s remains will be transported to the country’s 10 provinces starting Wednesday for people to pay their last respe...
Catholic Church seeks Nigerian government’s partnership to tackle climate change
YouTube The Catholic Bishop of the Abuja archdiocese, Ignatius Kaigama, has urged the federal government to collaborate with the church to ensure a clean and healthy environment for Nigerians. Mr Kaigama made the call Saturday at an event to mark the beginning of a seven year climate improvement programme by the diocese, with the theme: “Care for our common home.” Mr Kaigama said local and international environmental realities had proven that “nature has been wounded and the church must be part of its healing” process. “We are interested in collaboration. We just hope that the government will return the gesture and embrace us. We must work together for beautifying the earth, for creating harmony and order in our society. “When we are doing it our way, providing the quality schools and clin...
FAO reiterates support to Nigerian government’s efforts to tackle food insecurity
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reiterated its commitment to support the Federal Government‘s efforts to ensure food sufficiency. FAO Country Representative, Fred Kafeero, said this at the 44th meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) in Abuja on Thursday. He said that the theme of the meeting, which is “Nigeria’s Agriculture and Food Security in the face of COVID-19, Floods and Insecurity, ” was timely. Kafeero, however, said that the theme was a call for action to cushion the knock-on effects of these shocks and threats on the livelihoods of a large section of the population, especially vulnerable groups. He urged the government to provide enabling environment for private participation, creating synergy, engaging other sectors, interven...
Canada’s premier says he discussed border with Joe Biden, but no deal
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday he has spoken with U.S. President Joe Biden about how to lift pandemic-related border restrictions between the two countries but made clear no breakthrough has been achieved. U.S. and Canadian business leaders have voiced increasing concern about the ban on non-essential travel in light of COVID-19 that was first imposed in March 2020 and renewed on a monthly basis since then. The border measures do not affect trade flows. The border restrictions have choked off tourism between the two countries. Canadian businesses, especially airlines and those that depend on tourism, have been lobbying the Liberal government to relax the restrictions. Canada last week took a cautious first step, saying it was prepared to relax quarantine protocols fo...
Brazilian president fined for not wearing mask
Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, has been fined for not wearing a mask as he joined thousands of motorcyclists at a rally in Sao Paulo. Bolsonaro waved from his bike to the cheering crowd as he used the occasion to insist masks were useless for vaccinated people. The rally snaked in and out of the city, arriving back at Ibirapuera Park, where the far-right leader addressed supporters and said mask-wearing for vaccinated people was pointless. However, President Bolsonaro’s claim has been disputed by most health experts. “Whoever is against this proposal is because they don’t believe in science, because if they are vaccinated, there is no way the virus can be transmitted,” said Bolsonaro. Under 12% of Brazilians have had both doses of a vaccine, the ministry of health says, and many expe...
COVID-19: Hard choices made by Nigeria responsible for successful impact – President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said the hard choices made by his administration to tackle the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world have yielded successful impacts. The president, who addressed Nigerians in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday to mark the 2021 Democracy Day, was referring to some measures, including travel restrictions across the states of the federation and beyond, compulsory use of nose masks, hand washing protocols and other relevant protocols instituted to limit spread of the virus. Mr Buhari said; “Our response to the pandemic involved making hard choices in balancing livelihoods and public health concerns. “You are all living witnesses to how successful this has been due to a number of proactive measures put in place. Our response to COVID-19 is globally acclaimed. “...
UK: Some countries are using coronavirus vaccines as a geopolitical tool
British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday there was no doubt some countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence but Britain did not support so-called vaccine diplomacy. Raab was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, that was likely to be dominated by the West’s attempts to reassert its influence as the world looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. Western diplomats fear Russia and China are using their vaccines to gain influence across the world, especially in poorer countries that do not have their own production or the means to buy shots on the international market. Asked whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines in exchange for influence, Raab said: “There’s no doubt there’s...
Zambian court throws out second challenge to president’s re-election bid
Zambia’s Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that President Edgar Lungu can stand for re-election in August, throwing out a second opposition challenge to his eligibility on the basis of the constitutional two-term limit. The ruling comes as Zambia faces a multipronged economic crisis, after overleveraging its debt right before the brutal global COVID-19 shutdown. The crisis has triggered Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default and driven the southern African country to seek emergency IMF help. Lungu’s first term in office lasted a year and six months, when he took over after the death of the previous elected president, Michael Sata. He then won an election in a disputed vote in August 2016. Since this is technically his second term, the opposition had argued that he is no longer el...
Africa on cusp of the third wave of coronavirus facing a vaccine shortage
Africa is heading into a third wave of coronavirus infections as the least-inoculated continent faces a shortage of vaccines. African nations reported 94,000 new cases in the week through June 6, a 26% increase. South Africa announced the most new cases, followed by Tunisia, Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention Director John Nkengasong said in an online briefing Thursday. “Fourteen or so of our member states are now heading toward the third wave, and aggressively so,” he said. “It really highlights the need for us to roll out vaccines at speed and at scale.” Only 2.8% of Africa’s population is inoculated, compared with a global average of 14.5%, according to Africa CDC and Bloomberg Economics data. The program has slowed because of interruptions to supply from India, where m...
US prioritises students’ visas
US Embassy in South Africa The U.S. Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, has said the Mission in Nigeria will continue to prioritise student visa appointments throughout the summer months. Tuller disclosed this during the celebration of the U.S. Consulate’s “Student Visa Day.” According to her, there are over 13,000 Nigerian students and soon a few more may join them in studying in the U.S. She added that the Mission has interviewed over 2,500 student applicants since this year. Tuller noted that student visa numbers have gone down worldwide due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, student numbers from Nigeria were up to 2.5 per cent for the 2019/2020 school year, adding that in the eighth year in a row, the percentage has increased. Tuller encouraged students ...
Gernot Rohr: Super Eagles will be ready for 2022 World Cup qualifiers
Gernot Rohr has declared the Super Eagles will be ready to get off to a good start in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in September. The Eagles prepared for the World Cup qualifiers with two test matches against Cameroon in Austria, losing one and drawing the other. In September, they first welcome Liberia to Lagos, before they embark on a tricky trip to Cape Verde. “We will be ready in September for the World Cup qualifiers,” Rohr said after today’s goalless draw with Cameroon in Austria. “We hope the fans can return to the stadium in September after this crazy Pandemic (Coronavirus), which has made everything difficult. “We have to start well in Lagos (vs Liberia) and four days later, we play in Cape Verde. “Cape Verde beat Cameroon 3-1 on their synthetic pitch recently. So, we know already...
Nigeria orders broadcasters not to use Twitter to gather information
Nigerian television and radio stations should not use Twitter to gather information and have to de-activate their accounts, the broadcast authority said following the move to suspend the US social media giant in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s government on Friday said it had suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the platform removed a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish secessionists. Nigerian telecoms firms have since blocked access to Twitter. International diplomats responded with a joint statement in support of “free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria”. Buhari, who was Nigeria’s military ruler in the 1980s, has previously been accused of cracking down on freedom of expression, though his government has ...
