The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has appealed to the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory to intensify sample collection and contact tracing of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. The Head of Department, Surveillance and Epidemiology Department, NCDC, Mrs Elsie Ilori, made the call on Monday in Abuja at the 62nd joint Presidential Tasks Force Briefing on COVID-19. Ilori said that the drastic decline in sample collection and contact tracing for COVID-19 was not limited to states with few number of cases, but included states with the highest number of infection. She stated that a total of 32 states…
Author: Ayo Oye
Read More
Unhappy Lionel Messi missed FC Barcelona’s first training session of the new season on Monday. This has come days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the only club he has played for professionally. Messi’s failure to show up for the session, the first under new FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, was widely expected. The 33-year-old Argentine also failed to show up for a pre-season medical on Sunday. Reuters television footage showed players arriving for the session which began at 1730 local time (1530 GMT) and Messi did not appear. The six-times world player of the year insists…
Three new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kwara, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, the Spokesman of the state’s Technical Committee on COVID-19, made this known in a statement on Monday in Ilorin. Ajakaye, also the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, said that this was the situation as at 9.30 p.m. on Sunday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state now has a total of 954 confirmed cases of the virus. According to Ajakaye, out of the 954 confirmed cases, 778 patients have been discharged, leaving 151 active cases in the state.…
The Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, on Monday in Lagos called for manpower development to address the skill gap in engineering practice to achieve rapid national growth. Aregbesola made the call during flag-off of the Rauf Aregbesola Engineering Resource Centre being constructed by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to address skill gap in young engineers. Aregbesola, a fellow of the NSE, was represented by Mr Kolawole Omotunde-Young, a former Commissioner for Education in Osun. The centre is located at Ogba near, Ikeja. According to the minister, every aspect of life has bearing on engineering.…
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo, says he is not interested in contesting the 2022 Governorship election in Ekiti, advising such groups to desist from dragging him into the race. Adebayo, who governed the state between 1999 and 2003, made the clarification on Monday in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Julius Toba-Jegede, in Abuja. The minister was reacting to the recent erection of billboards in some parts of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital and other strategic locations across the state by some political and pressure groups. The groups were calling on Adebayo to…
The Akwa Ibom Government has threatened to shut down COVID-19 testing centres using or procuring the use of any other testing method, and not using the approved Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) method. The leader of the state COVID-19 Management Committee, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, stated this during an interactive session with newsmen in Uyo on Monday. He said that the state government condemned any attempt to use serological testing in the determination of a person’s COVID-19 status. He also said that it had a 40-per cent chance of error and could cause an additional threat to the health of such a…
The nation’s bourse on Monday closed the last trading day of August with a growth of 0.07 per cent, following sustained positive sentiment. Specifically, the All-Share Index rose by 17.76 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 25, 327.13 compared with 25,309.37 achieved on Friday. Similarly, the market capitalisation improved by nine billion naira or 0.07 per cent to close at N13.213 trillion against N13.203 trillion posted on Friday. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Mobil Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, Vitafoam and BUA Cement. Analysts at United Capital…
Torrential rains and floods killed at least 51 people and destroyed more than 26,000 homes in Niger in the past two months, the presidency said on Monday. About 281,000 people, or 32,500 households, have been affected by the flooding since early July, President Issoufou Mahamadou said during an emergency meeting. In addition, more than 5,500 hectares of crops have been destroyed due to the overflowing Niger river, the president said. The poverty-stricken West African nation is in the midst of its rainy season, which lasts from May to October, with the most rainfall occurring in July and August. Flooding is common in…
The Calabar Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has accused Vice Chancellors (VCs) of public Universities of manipulating the processes of appointments and promotions in the system. Its Chairman, Dr Aniekan Brown, at a media briefing on Monday in Uyo, specifically accused the University administrators of “rigging the processes”. “It will shock you to know that in the face of the ongoing industrial dispute by ASUU, COVID-19 lockdown and closure of schools, particularly Universitie, some VCs are rigging the processes of apppointments and promotions. “In some cases, these illegalities are carried out with the active connivance of…
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has commended the troops of the Nigerian Army for the destruction of DarulSalam/Boko Haram terrorists’ Camps in Kogi and Nasarawa States recently. Buratai gave the commendation in a statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, on Monday. The troops of the Nigerian Army 4 Special Forces Command, Doma, Nasarawa State, recently raided the identified camps of the terrorist group, neutralised scores and rescued over 700 of their family members and abductees. Buratai also lauded the hard work and resilience of the troops, as well as the supports of…