Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Thursday 9th April 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 09/04/20
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With Humans In Hiding, Animals Take Back The World
Gulf states have tightened lockdown measures in large cities, and with Dubai’s shops closed and almost no people on the streets, peacocks that normally live in nearby gardens ventured out to explore other areas of the Middle Eastern city.
A flock of geese searched for food inside a temple in Nagaon, in India’s state of Assam, on April 3. Many temples and shrines across the country have closed during the nationwide lockdown.
On April 5, two cows strolled on a Corsican beach usually popular with tourists. It was the 20th day of a strict shutdown in France.
A young puma walked the streets of Santiago on March 24 after the government ordered confinement measures in some areas of the Chilean capital.
Mountain goats roamed the streets of Llandudno, in Wales, on March 31, one week after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a stay-at-home order.
Sika deer wandered over to a sushi restaurant in Nara, Japan, on March 12. When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and its surrounding regions, the number of visitors to the city of Nara dropped significantly
Macaques searched for food around the closed stalls of the Johari Bazar in Jaipur, India, on March 26. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a nationwide lockdown, the marketplace was deserted.
Since Italy’s countrywide lockdown was imposed, the water in Venice’s canals have cleared, and residents have noticed more birds appearing.
On March 30, ducks ventured across the street in the heart of Paris, which is typically bustling with traffic.
Goats sauntered on abandoned streets in Jaipur on March 24
A baby rabbit crossed a main road in Christchurch on April 1. New Zealand entered its strictest state of lockdown on March 25.
A wild fox roamed the empty streets of London on the night of March 28.
On April 1, cattle looked for food in Palu, Central Sulawesi, in Indonesia, where the government is recommending that people avoid public spaces.
A coyote stood outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 3, weeks after Major League Baseball suspended all play.
The movie theater was closed in Westbury, N.Y., on March 20, leaving the parking lot empty for Canadian geese to roam.
Gulf states have tightened lockdown measures in large cities, and with Dubai’s shops closed and almost no people on the streets, peacocks that normally live in nearby gardens ventured out to explore other areas of the Middle Eastern city.
Karim Sahib/AFP via Getty Images
It took just a few days of lockdown for baby rabbits to dare to cross once-bustling roads in Christchurch, New Zealand, and less than a week for a puma to descend from the Andes Mountains into Santiago, one of South America’s busiest capitals. In Barcelona, wild boar, a familiar sight for citizens on the city’s outskirts, have made their way into Diagonal Avenue, an eight-lane thoroughfare.
It’s surprising and strange, yes, but also meaningful. Research suggests that ecosystems can rebound with speed once human intervention subsides. A review published last week determined that damaged ecosystems and wildlife can be rebuilt if the right conditions are achieved. Marine ecosystems in particular can substantially recover by 2050, according to the study, led by Carlos Duarte at the Red Sea Research Center in Saudi Arabia.
Of course, a deadly pandemic that brings about a sudden economic collapse is no way to sustainably restore threatened ecosystems. Yet it’s a clear reminder of how quickly the wild world responds when humans take a step back.
Scientists have tracked this pattern for decades. The number of humpback whales migrating from Antarctica to eastern Australia has been increasing each year, from a few hundred animals in 1968, when commercial whaling was banned, to more than 40,000 today. In 1880 only 20 breeding northern elephant seals had survived decades of hunting, and today there are more than 200,000.
Hunting bans, habitat restoration, and the reduction of water pollution are all linked to the recovery of marine species. The continuation of these practices—and, most of all, working to mitigate the effects of climate change—would contribute to oceans recovering significantly by 2050, the researchers said.
It’s more difficult for land ecosystems to bounce back because both the scale of extinction and the scale of human presence are so large there, said Duarte, a marine science professor. But these differences don’t mean the return of wildlife to deserted city streets isn’t significant, he said: “I believe our own confinement, and the release of wildlife from confinement, should bring some empathy between humans and wildlife moving forward.”
A flock of geese searched for food inside a temple in Nagaon, in India’s state of Assam, on April 3. Many temples and shrines across the country have closed during the nationwide lockdown.
Anuwar Ali Hazarika/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
On April 5, two cows strolled on a Corsican beach usually popular with tourists. It was the 20th day of a strict shutdown in France.
Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP via Getty Images
A young puma walked the streets of Santiago on March 24 after the government ordered confinement measures in some areas of the Chilean capital.
Andrews Pina/Aton Chile/AFP via Getty Images
Mountain goats roamed the streets of Llandudno, in Wales, on March 31, one week after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a stay-at-home order.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Sika deer wandered over to a sushi restaurant in Nara, Japan, on March 12. When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and its surrounding regions, the number of visitors to the city of Nara dropped significantly
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Macaques searched for food around the closed stalls of the Johari Bazar in Jaipur, India, on March 26. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a nationwide lockdown, the marketplace was deserted.
Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Since Italy’s countrywide lockdown was imposed, the water in Venice’s canals have cleared, and residents have noticed more birds appearing.
Andrea Pattaro/AFP via Getty Images
On March 30, ducks ventured across the street in the heart of Paris, which is typically bustling with traffic.
Mehdi Taamallah/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Goats sauntered on abandoned streets in Jaipur on March 24
Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A baby rabbit crossed a main road in Christchurch on April 1. New Zealand entered its strictest state of lockdown on March 25.
Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A wild fox roamed the empty streets of London on the night of March 28.
Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto via Getty Images
On April 1, cattle looked for food in Palu, Central Sulawesi, in Indonesia, where the government is recommending that people avoid public spaces.
Basri Marzuki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A coyote stood outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 3, weeks after Major League Baseball suspended all play.
Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images
The movie theater was closed in Westbury, N.Y., on March 20, leaving the parking lot empty for Canadian geese to roam.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Credits: Bloomberg
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BREAKING: Nigeria Records 22 New Coronavirus Cases, Total Now 276
Nigeria has recorded 22 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 276.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a post on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
The new cases are spread across Lagos, Bauchi, Edo and the Federal Capital Territory.
The NCDC said, “Twenty-two new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 15 in Lagos, four in the FCT, two in Bauchi, one in Edo.
“As at 9:00pm 8th April, there are 276 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.
“Fourty-four have been discharged with six deaths.” Twenty-two new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 15 in Lagos, 4 in the FCT, 2 in Bauchi, 1 in EdoAs at 09:00pm 8th April there are 276 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Fourty-four have been discharged with six deaths pic.twitter.com/Z7W9nJNowS— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 8, 2020
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Coronavirus: Lagos Government Quarantines 67 Ivory Coast Returnees
The Lagos State Government has placed 67 persons, who arrived Nigeria from Ivory Coast, in isolation at a facility in Badagry.
SaharaReporters gathered that travellers were heading to Ejigbo, a town in the Osun State, when they were stopped.
Recall that 127 returnees from Ivory Coast had made it to Ejigbo last week out of which 17 of them tested positive for COVID-19.
“The 67 Nigerians resident in Ivory Coast arrived at Seme Border in Lagos on Wednesday, disclosing that most of the passengers in a luxurious bus with registration number Osun XA 240 EJG which conveyed them were women, children and few men.
“Officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Health arrived at the border post around 4:00pm and took the returnees to isolation centres in Badagry for tests and quarantine.
“They were delayed on their way because of the border closures in Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a government official said.
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COVID-19: UK Daily Death Toll Surpasses 900 For First Time
More than 900 people are reported to have died from Coronavirus in United Kingdom hospitals in a day.
The government announced an increase of 938 deaths, taking the UK’s total to 7,097.
According to the country’s department of health, a total of 60,733 people have now tested positive for the virus and 7,097 of those hospitalised have died.
As of Tuesday, the number of deaths recorded was 6,159 with 55,242 confirmed cases.
“As of 9:00am 8 April, 282,074 tests have concluded, with 14,682 tests on 7 April, 232,708 people have been tested of which 60,733 tested positive.
“As of 5:00pm on 7 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for Coronavirus, 7,097 have sadly died,” the department said
The National Health Service said the patients, who have died from the disease, were aged between 22 and 103-years-old.
It added that all but 46 of the deceased had underlying health conditions.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who had tested positive for the disease, was hospitalised on Sunday.
He was later taken to intensive care unit over worsening symptoms.
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Nigeria Slashes N312bn Off Capital Projects In 2020 Budget
The Nigerian Government has slashed N312bn from capital projects in the 2020 federal budget.
This was occasioned by the global fall in oil price and the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
A copy of the revised budget showed that there was a 20 per cent cut on capital projects across ministries, departments and agencies to around N312,820,542,675.
The decision to review the budget downwards was arrived at after a meeting between Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the leadership of the National Assembly.
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Hear Urgent Cases Via Skype, Zoom, Falana Tells Nigerian Judges
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Muhammad, to prevail on judges in the country to “hear urgent applications via Skype or Zoom during the lockdown”.
Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria, courts were directed to shut down until the pandemic was brought under control by government.
But encouraging judges to embrace technological tools to attend to cases during this lockdown period, Falana in a letter to the CJN said, “Since the Federal Government has relaxed the lockdown by allowing markets, shops and stalls selling food and groceries to open to customers between the hours of 10:00am and 2:00pm daily, the National Judicial Council ought to review the suspension of court sittings to enable them attend to urgent matters to ensure that thousands of people who are either awaiting trial or under investigation are not subjected to unlawful detention.
“The review has become necessary in view of the fact that motions for the bail of many criminal suspects and applications to secure the enforcement of the fundamental right to personal liberty of other detainees are pending in several courts in all the states of the federation and in the federal capital territory.
“In addition, the return dates in respect of several ex parte orders made by magistrates for the remand of a number of criminal suspects which have since expired are due to be quashed or renewed to extend time for further investigation.
“More so that the heads of the various courts are vested with the power to designate judges and magistrates to attend to urgent matters in accordance with the laws establishing such courts.
“However, in order to observe the social distancing directive, we suggest that arrangements be made for judges to hear urgent applications via Skype or Zoom.”
Already, that strategy had been adopted in Kenya where 4,800 prisoners had been released by judges after hearing their cases through Skype and Zoom, a report by CNN said.
“We prioritised getting a lot of people out of prison, especially petty offenders. Those who are in prison for a short term and those who have been there for a long time but have just about six months and below to go,” Anne Amadi, Chief Registrar of the judiciary in Kenya, told CNN.
“As of Friday last week, we managed to decongest the prison by about 4800 inmates from different parts of the country.
“All our 39 high court stations have released people. Most of them, a good number, through Skype or Zoom,” she added.
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Five Nigerians In China Test Positive For Coronavirus
Five Nigerians based in China have tested positive for Coronavirus, Daily Mail UK reports.
Out of the bunch, four had recently visited the same eatery, ‘Emma Food’, multiple times, the Guangzhou Health Commission announced on Tuesday.
The restaurant owner, alongside her daughter and another child, later tested positive for the pandemic.
Wuhan, the former epicentre, on Wednesday saw all travel restrictions lifted after 76 days.
Seven people, who tested positive for Coronavirus, have been linked to the same restaurant in China, sparking fears.
The Nigerian citizens with the infections were detected between March 28 and March 30, after screening 3,779 travellers from high-risk countries living in the city.
The Coronavirus epidemic erupted in China after dozens of people suffering ‘mysterious viral pneumonia’ were linked to the same seafood market in Wuhan.
Guangzhou is situated 1,028 kilometres (638 miles) South of the former epicentre.
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Fifteen Chinese Doctors Arrive Nigeria To Help Coronavirus Fight
At least 15 doctors from China have arrived Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The team was received by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Zhou Pingjian; Executive Director, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Mr Jacques Liao, and senior Nigerian Government officials.
The medical team is expected to support local health workers to tackle the Coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria.
The country currently has 254 confirmed infections and six recorded deaths due to the p
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E2%80%99s-pathetic-leadership-deficit-ugochukwu-ejinkeonye COVID-19 And Nigeria’s Pathetic Leadership Deficit By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
There is no better warning about the growing confusion that seems to be gradually beclouding the federal government’s response to the coronavirus challenge than the belief it betrayed last week that, perhaps, all it needs to calm the fears and apprehensions of Nigerians about its ability to halt the spread of the virus is to reel out a catalogue of activities President Buhari was said to have undertaken so far concerning the pestilence, whether the people felt their impact or not.
Now, if your family is starving badly, do you solve the rumbling signs of biting hunger in their stomach with some wild tales of the efforts deployed by you so far to feed them, or just keep quiet, give them food, and they will see and feel for themselves that you have played your role responsively and effectively? Or if you must talk, tell them something you have done whose benefits they can readily verify and identify with.
Indeed, some Nigerians are beginning to achieve the conviction that there must be something about being in government in this country that seems to diminish the reasoning ability of people once they get in there and deprives them of the capacity to realize when they have stopped making sense or even become downright annoying. This is very pathetic.
And so, last week, presidential spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina, issued a document entitled: “COVID-19: What President Buhari Has Done And Is Doing.” And, I suppose that with the release of that handout, the virus immediately received a deadly blow and vanished from the country! Aren’t we so blessed? Why then are Nigerians not on the streets celebrating the unprecedented feat?
A prominent item on Mr. Adesina’s list is the president’s March 29 broadcast. And what exactly did the broadcast achieve? The two things I can readily remember now is that Gen Buhari had announced the continuation of the school feeding programme for pupils who are all at home now due to the closure of schools as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Probably, nobody remembered to inform him and his speech writers that school children were on compulsory holidays, or are they going to send the food to them in their homes? Or, perhaps, somebody is trying to find a justification for the billions of naira we will be informed later was spent on the exercise?
Also, the president proclaimed the lockdown of Lagos and Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). And when he was through, he returned to his hideout – where only a few privileged eyes and ears see and hear from him, and then come out to tell us what they think he has said or done.
Now, what exactly was the lockdown meant to achieve? Okay, as social interactions are reduced, the chances of spreading the virus decrease. Yes, but what else? Has anyone seen any evidence that there were any plans to use the stay-at-home period to access the people and step up medical tests to determine how many people have become infected with the virus and how they could be attended to?
The government that was boasting that it was “adequately prepared” to tackle the virus was later to prove when the virus eventually arrived that it was only making empty claims as usual. A country of 200 million people has yet to demonstrate any capacity to test even a reasonable fraction of one percent of her population. And somebody is publishing a document to tell us what the president was supposed to have done or is doing. As if such boring tales will remove the cloud of gloom hovering over Nigeria?
Again, in a country where electric power is just an unaffordable luxury for many, how can a leader just lock down some states and return to his hideout to continue his “vacation” that was rudely interrupted by the loud, persistent and widespread demands that he should address his country even though some other presidents were doing daily briefings and leading the war against the virus from the front? As the markets closed and movements became restricted, how are those who could afford to buy and stock food items at home preserve them without electric power?
What of the greater population which depend on daily earnings for their survival? What is the government’s plan for them? Okay, we are hearing of palliatives that have been extended to this category of people and the billions of naira that have already been transferred to their accounts? Now, who has encountered the happy recipients of the twenty thousand naira (N20, 000) said to have been given to each of them? Are there really existing data showing the social and economic status of every Nigerian which is in the possession of the authorities? So, all the “poor and vulnerable” Nigerians now have bank accounts whose details are known to the government? So, why then are too many Nigerians very suspicious of these claims as shown in their social media comments? And why is such a rare display of kindness by this government not being celebrated? Or have the funds (if indeed any were shared) ended up in the hands of the same people who have more than enough to need them while those who are genuinely deprived remain terribly famished?
Already, the biting hunger out there is forcing a growing number of people to defy the no-movement decree and soon, the whole effort might be defeated, and the country will return to square one. Information Minister, Mr. Lai Mohammed, is threatening that the lockdown may be extended if Nigerians fail to behave themselves. But what he should rather have done is to hasten to school himself to realize that there is always a price to pay when leaders leave the country they claim to be governing in great disarray only to suddenly wake up when there is an emergency to grope for fix-quick solutions.
A few days after the president’s broadcast (that is, Tuesday, March 31), Daily Independent carried a front page lead story about 26 Americans who came into the country through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and headed to Calabar without being screened. Now, who cleared their trip to the country and why were there no health officials available to screen them and ensure they were quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to fly to Calabar? Is it because they are Americans or clients of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or both? Does that automatically exempt any of them from being a carrier of the virus which is presently ravaging their own country? What kind of government claims to be fighting a virus with one hand and using the other hand to be undermining the efforts being deployed to contain it?
Okay, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has just announced that an 18-man Chinese team of medical “experts” will soon arrive the country to “assist” Nigeria in the fight against the coronavirus. Now, is it the federal government that asked China for help or was it China that volunteered their assistance? Indeed many Nigerians are vehemently opposed to this gesture at this time. Our own local medical experts have not shown any signs of being overburdened by the work, so what difference are these 18 Chinese doctors and nurses going to make? Will they, like the 26 privileged Americans, also be given express entry into the country or will they be isolated for 14 days as should be the case, before they would be allowed to start rendering their “assistance”?
Do we really need this Chinese gift now or is it that the government lacks the liver to politely decline their offer of help, despite the widespread apprehension among the citizenry about their involvement (since many Nigerians, habour strong fears that the gesture might turn out a Greek gift)? Even the umbrella body of Nigerian doctors, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), has come out to strongly oppose the coming of the Chinese medical team. Is it that our government is too intimidated to say NO to China’s offer probably because it has yoked itself so much with crushing debts due to its excessive borrowings from them – debts, whose positive effects on Nigerian lives many are yet to see?
I raise these points because, although, Nigeria has recorded one of the lowest deaths from coronavirus, it was the stubborn refusal of the government to close our borders when it became very necessary and urgent (and despite calls from well-meaning Nigerians) that led to the explosion in the number of confirmed cases that the country has recorded today. In saner climes, the government should have profusely apologized for that terrible miscalculation that is costing the nation so much now.
But it now has another opportunity now to gratify the yearning of Nigerians and reject the Chinese offer even if it is well-meaning and the fears about it are misplaced.
Now, what lessons is the government taking away from the scourge of coronavirus? Will they see the need to equip our hospitals this time and upgrade at least few of them to world standard now that they have realized the folly of always waiting to use public funds to send themselves and their families abroad to treat even minor ailments? For the first time in Nigeria, the naïve and largely misguided Nigerian leaders have found out that it is not always safe to seek solutions for health challenges outside the country and that there is afterall no place like home. This is hoping that the lesson will endure and be redemptive.
*Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, is a Nigerian journalist and writer. (scruples2006@yahoo.com)
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Assuaging Plight Of The Poor In This Perilous Time By Okechukwu Nwanguma
Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre has been monitoring and receiving information on public compliance with the Federal Government ordered lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states, which contain measures to contain the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic.
Our monitoring of the compliance with the lockdown and stay-at-home orders in Lagos, Abuja and few other states indicate that most people are finding it difficult to effectively comply for various reasons.
First, there are those, who still don’t believe that Covid-19 is a real life-threatening pandemic and that precautionary measures such as social distancing, personal hygiene and other outlined measures can prevent its infection and spread.
In fact some have been made to believe that the lockdown is a deception by government to achieve other ulterior motives. Those, who promote this narrative are mainly the apocalyptic Pentecostal ‘Men of God’, who push arguments linking Covid-19 to 5G mobile technology, which they argue is a part of the biblically ordained designs of the Anti-Christ.
Second, some Nigerians are simply lawless or lack discipline, just like when passengers are asked to switch off their phones prior to flight take off and you still find some people, seemingly ladies and gentlemen, fiddling with their phones.
To illustrate, a relative of mine called me yesterday to complain that he was arrested by the police somewhere in Lagos when he drove out to buy pap for his baby. I asked him whether he knew about the lockdown order and whether there was nowhere around his neighbourhood he could walk down to buy the pap. He said ‘but other vehicles are on the road’. I told him that he had broken the law as much as those other people. Everybody may not be arrested at once.
He wanted me to talk to the police officers, who arrested him and ordered him to drive to their station. I asked him what he wanted me to tell them.
Third, and most significantly, there are yet others, who are forced out of their homes by want and hunger. They can’t stand the site of their tender children crying for hunger.
As I said elsewhere, majority of the population fall within the poor and vulnerable category. Usually, many feed themselves and their dependents on their daily earnings. They live from hand to mouth.
Under the prevailing difficult and uncertain situation, many families and individuals are already suffering and starving, just one week into the lockdown, with one more week left to go, with the probability of an extension.
The Federal Government’s Social Intervention Policy, the so-called conditional cash transfer is not yet addressing mass poverty, deprivation and hunger. The billions, which government announced that it has released and made available for conditional cash transfer to the poor and vulnerable in communities are not reaching the targets. There are still cries of woe and anguish in most communities.
We have seen videos of caricature of the ‘social intervention’, of food items shared to some communities. In one video, we saw a street in Lagos of over 30 families, who said they were given two loaves of bread and few cups of rice and garri and few condiments (tomato paste sachets) to share. And we see members of the community lamenting and asking how a whole street of over 30 families could be given such quantity of food items not enough to serve one family for two days to share!
Corruption has become our national culture. A seemingly intractable challenge to our progress and development. Most of our politicians and public office holders are unscrupulously avaricious.
Given our past experiences where public funds meant for and released to assuage the sufferings of poor and vulnerable communities were either unconscionably used to ‘cut grasses’ or inexplicably got ‘swallowed by snakes’, we call for transparent and community-based approaches to the management and disbursement of social intervention funds.
Considering complaints by many local communities about not benefiting from the released billions of naira announced and meant to alleviate poverty and hardship, especially during this difficult and uncertain period, we call for a transparent and effective investigation of the management of the funds so far allocated. Efforts must be put in place to ensure that the funds are not diverted as usual.
Independent community committees must receive these funds and be charged with identifying those in their midst, who qualify to benefit.
The management of the funds should be monitored by a multi-stakeholder committee including government and community representatives as well as credible media and civil society representatives.
Government must put effective measures in place to check corrupt public officials, who want to steal or divert funds meant to relieve the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable people in this perilous times.
This is the only way to help the people comply with the law and stay at home for now!
Finally, since government has been announcing huge numbers of beneficiaries of cash transfer program running into millions and claiming to have paid billions, can the government make the system transparent by publishing the names and addresses of the beneficiaries on an electronic portal so that Nigerians can do the verification?
Okechukwu Nwanguma is the Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre
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