Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Monday 20th April 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 20/04/20
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BREAKING: Nigeria Records 86 New COVID-19 Cases, Three Deaths
Nigeria has recorded 86 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 627.
The number of deaths also increased from 19 to 21, just as the number of recoveries rose to 170.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a tweet on Sunday.
The agency said, “Eighty-six new cases of #COVID19 have been reported; 70 in Lagos, seven in FCT, three in Katsina, three in Akwa Ibom, one in Jigawa, one in Bauchi and one in Borno.
“As at 11:50pm April 19, there are 627 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Discharged: 170, deaths: 21.”Eighty-six new cases of #COVID19 have been reported;70 in Lagos7 in FCT3 in Katsina3 in Akwa Ibom1 in Jigawa1 in Bauchi1 in BornoAs at 11:50 pm 19th April there are 627 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria.Discharged: 170Deaths: 21 pic.twitter.com/7gsnusWRow— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 19, 2020
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BREAKING: Chioma, Fiance Of Nigerian Musician, Davido, Recovers From Coronavirus
Nigerian musician, David Adeleke widely known as Davido, has disclosed that his fiancé, Chioma, has recovered from Coronavirus after testing negative twice.
Davido made this known on his Twitter handle on Sunday.
He said, “Glory be to God, Chioma has now tested negative twice for COVID-19. Thank you all for prayers. We love you.” Glory be to God .. Chioma has now tested negative twice for Covid19 … Thank you all for prayers …. We love you ..— Davido (@davido) April 19, 2020
Davido in a post on March 27 had announced that Chioma tested positive for Coronavirus.
He however, added that he, his baby and crew were all negative.
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Police To Arrest Violators Of Lockdown Order In Kwara
The police in Kwara have said it would begin to arrest violators of the lockdown order in the state.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Kayode Egbetokun, warned residents to obey the order and remain indoors or risk being arrested.
Egbetokun said the clampdown and arrest of violators would begin on Monday.
He said, “We have reviewed strategies towards ensuring enforcement of the law.
“Lockdown is not to punish the people, rather, it was put in place to protect the entire society from the spread of COVID-19.
“People are taking undue advantage of our leniency but with these new strategies, we are ready to ensure that citizens cooperate with the State Technical Committee on COVID-19 and law enforcement agencies.
“The wellbeing of the people is paramount; mobile courts are already in place to ensure prosecution of violators.”
Kwara has so far recorded nine cases in the virus.
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BREAKING: Jigawa Records First COVID-19 Case
Jigawa State has recorded its first confirmed case of Coronavirus.
This was revealed by the state governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, while speaking with journalists on Sunday.
Abubakar also announced a lockdown in Kazaure Local Government Area where the COVID-19 case was recorded.
The governor explained that the victim recently returned from Lagos and was placed under isolated but that his sample returned positive.
Abubakar urged people of the state to be vigilant and alert in the area to avoid a spread of the virus.
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NGOs Deploy 1000 Volunteers To Monitor COVID-19 Palliatives In Nigeria
Some civil society organisations in Nigeria have deployed 1000 volunteers to monitor the distribution of palliative items meant to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown on Nigerians.
Following the outbreak of the virus, government had ordered the distribution of relief materials, but most of the items shared and the mode of distribution applied had been rejected by many Nigerians.
Human and Environmental Development Agenda in collaboration with Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, deployed the monitors last weekend across nine states and the Federal Capital Territory.
In monitoring the palliatives, the groups said they aim to ensure transparency in the process.
In a joint statement signed by HEDA’ s Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju, and his WARD-C counterpart, Dr Abiola Akiode-Afolabi, the volunteers will produce a comprehensive report covering strategic areas using jointly developed questionnaire tools designed to meet global best practices.
The monitors include women, People Living With Disabilities and media practitioners.
The groups noted that women and PWDs are most affected by the lockdown informed by the COVID-19 pandemic and any corruption in the process or failure to provide the expected relief and welfare packages will spell doom for in these categories.
“The continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria has informed several political, economic, social and corporate actions including the lockdown of some states and changes in Nigeria’s political-economy to reflect new realities.
“This has been followed by funds being disbursed to meet public needs. It is important that Nigerians ensure the funds meet the target audience.
“Citizens have had to resort to rumours, hearsays, fake news and unofficial sources for information on the relief packages and governments’ spending. Also, videos confirming reported anomalies in the distribution of relief materials and economic packages are all over the social media,” the groups said.
The groups added that they stepped in to fill the information gap as well as monitor and evaluate loose ends with a view to engaging critical stakeholders on the outcomes.
“Our objective is not all about pointing accusing fingers after the deed had been done, but to assist the people and the government alike in identifying red flags or opportunity for corruption in the process; and in cases where the funds are already diverted or mismanaged by corrupt elements in government, ensure that looted public funds are recovered and perpetrators adequately prosecuted.
“This is why we are not just evaluating the impact, we are equally monitoring implementation through the tools that will be administered by the volunteers,” the groups added.
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E2%80%99s-burial-told-self-isolate Journalists Covering Aso Villa Who Attended Abba Kyari’s Burial Told To Self-Isolate
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Journalists covering the Presidential Villa in Abuja, who attended the burial of Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari, on Saturday, have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
During the burial of Kyari, whose death due to Coronavirus complications was announced on Friday, a large crowd turned out to witness the ceremony, contravening the social distancing rule of Nigerian health officials put in place to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
The situation led to outrage among various categories of Nigerians, who condemned the crowd and government officials in attendance for breaching the guideline in place.
A statement by Attah Esa, Deputy Director of Information at the State House, on Sunday, advised the concerned journalists to work from home for the next 14 days.
It reads, “As a precautionary measure, all State House Correspondents and Media Office Staff who covered/attended the funeral prayer/burial ceremony of the late Chief of Staff at Defence House and Gudu Cemetery, Abuja, respectively, are strongly advised to work from home for the next 14 days.
“Please be careful to observe the recommended measures to prevent the Coronavirus transmission, including maintaining physical distancing and good personal hygiene going forward.”
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Bauchi Records One New Case Of COVID-19
The Bauchi State COVID-19 Task Force has announced that the state has recorded another positive case of Coronavirus, bringing to seven the total number of positive cases in the city.
In a statement on Sunday, the task force said the patient had been moved to one of the isolation centres in the state.
It said, “As at today, Sunday April 19, 2020, the Case Management of the Bauchi State Task Force on COVID-19 has confirmed a new case of COVID-19.
At the moment, all his contacts have been identified and isolated by the State Surveillance Team.
“In summary, 397 have been listed and will continue to be monitored. We have no severe cases as all two cases are being properly managed.”
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Nigerian Social Intervention Programme And The Ogogoro Cocktail By Evans Ufeli Esq
The social intervention programme of the executive under the Coronavirus pandemic is spanning out a huge harvest of disgrace for the Nigerian state. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development claims it has a strategy to reach out to the poorest of the poor and adequate resources are being channelled to them to cushion the hardship occasion by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Meanwhile, the so-called poor are faceless and unidentifiable. The ministry claimed it has spent billions of naira and disbursed huge sums of money to the poor. This claim attracted the attention of the leaders of the National Assembly recently who called for a probe into the assertion made by the ministry. The said beneficiaries of this scheme and their mode of recruitment is not transparent, it leaves a lot to be desired. Except for the ministry and its agents, no one can tell the criteria adopted for which the beneficiaries were inducted as valid candidates for this purpose.
It will interest you to note that while this charade is ongoing, poor Nigerians who deserve the conditional cash transfers are lost somewhere between our greedy propensity to subvert the initiative and our reprobate manipulation and fraudulent wickedness. Did you see the woman with the ‘ogogoro’ story online? Who out of ignorance and poverty took on to drinking that locally brewed gin as a prophylactic against COVID-19 and as a stimuli for temporarily suspending her fears for the pandemic? Hers was a self-improvised cocktail amidst the lack of awareness and system failure.
I called it an ‘ogogoro’ cocktail because while the government is busy playing useless politics with the national register for the social intervention scheme, the poor and needy are helping themselves with dangerous concoction to fight and fortify themselves against the COVID-19 pandemic. The conditional cash transfers have not reached the poor, neither is the policy weaved around it effective. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives have called out the scheme as a fraud. Who won’t call it a fraud when there are no viable structures in place to manage the process. We saw cash some time ago on a table and people queuing around to collect it as palliatives and this was being supervised by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
What a strategy!
There is also the story of the woman who went out desperately to solicit for s** to enable her feed her children. She took that option at the height of desperation and hopelessness. In the midst of such gory stories some Nigerians are busy somewhere diverting funds meant to cater for the poor under this pandemic emergency. The s**-soliciting woman depicts a level of social disorder and crass failure of a society with a zero social support system. A society that cannot plan and put together for her citizens a social support system and an enduring welfare scheme is lost already and such is not qualified to hold itself out as a society.
It’s shameful.
The Nigerian Government must therefore disband this current madness forthwith and reach out appropriately to the poor Nigerians who are suffering as a result of this pandemic. The Nigerians who are having casual s** in exchange for a means survival, those stealing and robbing people around their neighbourhood in order to eat. Some are going around begging for food on the streets to survive the hard times.
The informal sector remains the harbinger of the aforementioned class, the government cannot afford to fail her citizens at this time. It must develop a critical model to save the 65 per cent of her working class population that falls among the informal sector bracket that contributes hugely to our GDP having offered adequate palliatives for the formal. And to stretch this further a post COVID-19 exit plan must be put in place to help the citizens sustain soft landing as they exit the COVID-19 misery index phase.
Evans Ufeli Esq is a Lagos based Lawyer and Executive Director Cadrell Advocacy Centre
evanylaw@yahoo.com
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COVID-19 And The Assault Against Freedom By Emmanuel Umohinyang
That all living things by nature love to enjoy their freedom to the fullest is an established fact. Though freedom is not absolute, even in the best democracies, those who are privileged to exercise such guard their liberty jealously.
Therefore, when there is a threat to such rights, even animals frown most times because they often feel like fish out of water, if such liberties are denied.
In most democracies, the people often resort to the judicial system if and when their rights are infringed on to get the much needed reprieve.
However, Coronavirus disease has since changed the story, with its attendant consequences across the globe.
From Asia, to South America, Oceania, Africa, America and the world over, the fear of COVID-19 is now the order of the day and the fear it’s bring to the minds of human beings is better imagine than seeing.
This is not unconnected with the fact that it has affected everywhere and everything, even as casualties keep growing across the world.
Worse still, there is no known cure for the pandemic which was said to have originated from China and has no known cure till date, even as scientists and the World Health Organisation are battling to find a cure.
It’s assault on human race is unimaginable, dealing a heavy blow on all critical sectors, businesses, tourist sites, aviation, agriculture, infrastructure, sports, religion, the list is endless.
That COVID-19 has dealt the greatest blow on all frontiers of freedom in the 21st century cannot be overemphasized as governments, institutions and people have had to infringe on human rights to outwit, to confront the disease.
In the sporting area for instance, every known sport has had to hurriedly come to a close, even as billions of dollars in revenue have been lost to the epidemic, leaving businesses and economies badly hit.
These include revenues expected from sponsorships, advertisers, fans etc, especially in such sports as football, basketball, golf, athletics etc, which command a lot of followership across the world.
Worse still, this sector has a large pool of supporters most of whom are fanatical as far as the sports they support are concerned.
For instance, the English Premier League has the largest following all over the world and is reputed to be worth billions of pounds, as millions watch the sport live every week or do so through cable television.
The betting side of the sport is so massive as football betting across the world is said to be in the region of millions of pounds weekly.
Worse hit are the fanatical fans who are so much in love with their teams, though many of them are several miles away from England, home of the EPL.
The joy, camaraderie, chants that come with such matches are gone, at least for now, no thanks to Coronavirus.
The story is the same in Spain, home of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid etc, where their league has also been put on hold, same as Italy where Juventus, Inter Milan and others who make the sport highly competitive.
This is why across different parts of the world governments are not leaving anything to chance by coming up with different measures to ensure that their people are safe at all times from this pandemic.
All those who would have loved to exercise their freedom to move around are today in the lurch, for something beyond their control in the name and style of Coronavirus.
Even if they decide to go to the playing grounds of their beloved reams, they will meet nobody as those grounds are today deserted because nobody wants to be a victim.
Back home, even foreign travels are being curtailed, to ensure Nigeria remains safe from the pandemic, even as the Federal Government has stopped its officials from travelling abroad, at least for now.
Even those who have the resources to travel are having a second thought as they cannot afford to take an avoidable risk.
Nigerians and foreigners alike who would have travelled for Easter break are also been careful by postponing such trips.
Pupils and students who would have loved to conclude their studies before going on holidays have been told to go home, same for their counterparts across the globe.
The story is the same for those who has been practicing to showcase their talents at the National Sports Festival tagged “Edo 2020” which has been cancelled by the Federal Government.
For such people, the hope of winning laurels has been shattered albeit temporarily, as an opportunity to display their talents has been cut short by the deadly virus.
Even freedom of worship has been largely affected as Nigerians have been told to avoid places with more than 50 people.
This has negatively impacted many worship centers, especially churches and mosques especially the big ones who have asked their members to keep away, at least for now.
Perhaps, for the first time in a very long time, Nigerians are witnessing a very strange scenario where churches and mosques have been asked to shut down..
But this is a major sacrifice we must all endure, at least for now, because this is not a time to take needless, risks, to avoid stories that touch the heart. Statistics of those who have been killed by the pandemic is no joke and should serve as a lesson to all patriotic Nigerians in these very trying times.
This obviously is not the time to be talking about exercising certain rights, as if we cannot do without such, as doing so may come with unpalatable consequences, not just for us, but for the majority of our citizens whose lives we may also be putting at risk, without knowing it. It is there for better to cooperate with the Federal Government which has done well so far by being proactive on the pandemic, going by the effective and efficient manner the issue has been handled by both the federal and state governments.
Kudos must be given to President Muhammadu Buhari for displaying uncommon and dynamic leadership in confronting the disease by ensuring that a high-powered committee was set up with a view to tackling the menace frontally and giving Nigerians necessary information on the pandemic. Nigerians must therefore follow suit by cooperating with the authorities to ensure that we jointly win this battle, a war we cannot afford to lose by giving the much needed support to the government and ensuring they remain safe at all times.
Umohinyang, President, Centre for Leadership and Justice wrote in from Abuja
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Rest In Peace Abba Kyari By Tony Ademiluyi
In 1999, the nation returned back to democratic rule after a 16-year hiatus, no thanks to the gory era of military rule. The then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was akin to a clone of the revered Nelson Mandela as both men went from the penitentiary to the highest office in the land, decided to model his government after what is obtainable in the United States of America. The White House since the first Presidency dating back to 1789 under the leadership of the war hero, George Washington, created the office of the Chief of Staff. This precedent has been followed in US till date.
Obasanjo, a personal friend of the former US President, Jimmy carter, decided to replicate that office in Nigeria. The holder of that office is the gatekeeper to the President as he is the Chief Protocol Officer to him or her. Anyone who wants to see the number one man in the land has to go through him and he is also an integral part of the day to day running of the government since he or she is a member of the Federal Executive Council.
The holders of the office since 1999 have been rather self-effacing as they acted more like civil servants who are seen but not heard. Major General Muhammed Abdullahi who held the office in the Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’adua Presidency hardly made the front page of the news. After Abdullahi threw in the towel in June 2008, Yar’adua decided to scrap the office and in its stead created the office of the Private Principal Secretary which was held by David Edevbie, one of the anointed political sons of former Delta State Governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori.
Under the Goodluck Jonathan-led Presidency, we had the likes of Chief Mike Oghiadomhe and Brigadier-General Jones Arogbofa holding the highly exalted office.
The game changer for the office came in August 2015 when Abba Kyari was appointed into it by President Muhammadu Buhari. Many Nigerians were upset with his choice as the ruling All Progressive Congress came into power riding on the mantra of change and a sturdy fight against corruption. The Borno-born Cambridge graduate left the United Bank for Africa where he held sway as the Managing Director under the Chairmanship of fellow Cambridge alumnus, Hakeem Belo-Osagie, in rather controversial circumstances bordering on alleged financial impropriety.
Kyari made his power and influence felt in the Aso Rock Villa as he wielded his clout with ruthless efficiency. He was seen as part of the deadly cabal who were allegedly said to control the President and distract him from his original ‘goal’ of anti-corruption.
He was allegedly part of the team that made telecommunications giant, MTN pay less than what they were supposed to have paid for committing the infraction which caused them to be fined.
He was larger than life and many pundits called him the de facto Vice-President as the incumbent, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), was said to have been surreptitiously reduced to a mere lame duck number two man.
We recall that he took the Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract) bills for the President to sign in London in November of last year. One wonders why he had to go all the way to the land of our erstwhile colonial masters when Osinbajo was just seats away from him. Political commentators were greatly alarmed at the obvious sidelining of the Law professor. Kyari was also a lawyer with his law degrees obtained from one of the world’s best universities. Why couldn’t he prevail on his boss to transmit power to his deputy before hopping on the plane to the United Kingdom?
His fortune was exponentially bolstered after his boss won the second term elections last year. The ministers were ordered to report directly to him. The health challenges of Buhari made him the real power behind the throne who took no prisoners. Nigerians recall the widely publicized spat he had with the former Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita where the latter pointed her finger at him. Many keen watchers opine that it was the beginning of the end for the Cross River born bureaucrat.
He was said to have probably caught the virus while on an official trip to Egypt and Germany. He was said to be in Germany to allegedly seal a power deal with Siemens. Why did he embark on that trip when there is a substantive Minister for Power? Didn’t it amount to a usurpation of duty which lent credence to the popular insinuation that he was rather overbearing?
Why didn’t he agree to be quarantined and self-isolated when he returned from the aforementioned countries? Did he succumb to the hubris of pride and arrogance by not humbling himself before the health officials till it was too late?
It was tragic that there was no hospital to treat him in Abuja and he had to be flown to Lagos which made his condition deteriorate further. The virus is indeed a cruel leveller as the practice of the elite hopping on to the next place to get medical treatment in the west is no longer possible as the disease has even greatly overwhelmed the Western hospitals.
His burial was a sore anti-climax as Buhari and the rest of the top ranking government officials didn’t turn up for fear of the dreaded COVID-19. There was the lack of observation of social distancing in it as the crowd violated the rules against contracting the disease.
His life and times is a sad reminder of the ephemeral and transient nature of our lives here on earth. It is a complete waste of time and energy to pursue fame, wealth and power as an end in itself. What matters at the end of the day is the legacies that one leaves behind which no public relations spin doctor or propagandist can influence.
We pray for eternal rest of Abba Kyari and hope that he can find peace with his maker in the other side of the divide after his earthly labours.
Tony Ademiluyi wrote from Lagos
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