The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said Nigeria will leverage on tourism in its efforts to take development to the grassroots.
The Minister said this in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday to mark the 2020 World Tourism Day, which has the theme: ”Tourism and Rural Development.”
The statement was made available to newsmen by Mr Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture.
The minister said the theme, in the words of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), celebrates tourism’s unique ability to drive economic development and provide opportunities outside of big cities.
”Tourism plays an important role in preserving and promoting culture and heritage all around the world.
“This is why we are leveraging on the sector to take development to the grassroots by ensuring that local communities own and benefit from the cultural heritage and the tourist attractions in their domain,” he said.
According to him, the plan by the Federal Government to establish community museums is part of efforts to ensure that local communities benefit from tourism, thus ensuring that the sector contributes to rural development.
The minister said the occasion of the 2020 World Tourism Day presents the opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic which has hit the sector hard and also stepped down the national celebration of the day.
He said inspite of the negative impact of COVID-19 on the sector, it was a mark of its resilience that governments around the world still look to the sector to drive recovery as a leading employer and economic pillar in cities and the rural communities.
”It is globally recognised that tourism empowers rural communities and provides employment mostly for women and youths.
“It plays an important role in diversifying the rural economy and its growth, thereby contributing to the sustainability of the population and the economy of the areas.
”Tourism therefore helps rural communities make the transition from agrarian to diversified and sustainable economies,” he said.
The minister said rural tourism perfectly suits the trend of most modern travellers seeking authentic and unique experiences, local lifestyles and the need to experience natural and unspoiled landscapes.
” Rurality is the central and unique selling point in the rural tourism package, and apart from being located in rural areas, small in scale, traditional in character and slowly growing and controlled by the local people, rural tourism is regarded as tourism in the countryside, which embraces the rural environment.
“‘Most importantly, rural tourism aims to include and benefit rural communities, while preserving their environmental and cultural assets,” he said.
Mohammed said that Nigeria had set up a committee to look at the impact of COVID-19 on the creative industry and tourism, with a view to finding ways to catalyse the growth of the tourism sector in particular and the creative Industry in general.
He said the step was in line with the comment made by the Secretary General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololisashvili, that the current COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity for member states to rethink the tourism sector and its contribution to the people and planet,
The minister expressed the hope that all the relevant sectors will fully integrate and promote all the recovery recommendations and deliverables developed to support the recovery efforts.
The development of tourism also plays a key role in economic development. Because of the impact of COVID-19, the tourism industry in various places has suffered a huge blow, but when COVID-19 is not over, we had better move less. , To avoid crowded places, especially in countries where there are still more than 7 million infections. We can’t start to take it lightly just because there is some improvement.

Authorities in Abuja have shut two of the four isolation centres that cater for coronavirus patients in the Nigerian capital.
COVID-19 isolation centres located inside Karu and Asokoro general hospitals are now closed following the reduction in the number of patients.
Only the treatment centres in Idu and THISDAY Dome will now hold COVID-19 patients in Abuja.
There has been a significant reduction in the number of daily infections across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
For about a month, the West African nation has been recording daily figures below 300, an indication that the country is heading for a plateau in its epidemiological curve.
Health authorities, however, warn against relaxing, as low testing is still being witnessed across the country.
“One critical issue is the number of tests being done, and yes the number of tests has actually declined,” the director-general of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said at a Presidential TaskForce on COVID-19 briefing.
There has also an increase in the number of patients being discharged across isolation facilities in the country.
Nigeria has recorded over 58,000 cases leading to the death of over 1,100 people. Meanwhile, about 49,000 of the infected total have fully recovered after receiving treatment.
Only about 8,000 infections are still active, data from NCDC shows.
With more than 5,000 infections and 77 deaths, Abuja is the most impacted city after Lagos. A little over 4,900 persons have recovered in FCT with 509 active cases as of Friday evening.
Closure
PREMIUM TIMES reporters who visited the Karu isolation centre on Friday saw that it was under lock and key. The same scenario was seen at the isolation centre in Asokoro.


Authorities said they decided to close down both centres, leaving the ones in Idu and THIS DAY Dome, since there are now fewer patients infected from the COVID-19 virus.
The acting secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration Mohammed Kawu, said the centres were not purposely built as COVID-19 treatment centres, hence the need to convert them to their initial purpose.
“We officially converted both centres to conventional hospitals on August 24, 2020, because the number of COVID-19 patients is tremendously low,” Kawu told PREMIUM TIMES on the phone.
The 500-bed capacity facility in Idu used to be an unoccupied railway school facility at the Abuja-Kaduna railway terminal at Idu. It was however converted to an isolation centre at the onset of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“THIS DAY Dome also has a 300-bed capacity, which is enough to cater for patients in the Nigerian capital. Both centres were intentionally built as isolation centres,” the official said.
This is really good news! The closure of the quarantine center shows that the number of infection cases is decreasing. In contrast, India, the United States and other countries have a huge number of infections, and there are many hospital patients. Most people who are not serious can only be isolated and observed at home. It’s really incomprehensible that some people don’t pay attention to COVID-19. At present, the situation of COVID-19 has been suspended, but we can’t relax our vigilance until COVID-19 has completely disappeared.

After a steady decline from summer peaks through the beginning of September, new COVID-19 cases appear to be on the rise again in the United States.
According to data from the New York Times, there have been 41,822 new cases per day in the country over the past week, a 14% increase from the previous 2 weeks. Among the states seeing the largest increases in new cases over the past 14 days are Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
And the United States is far from the only country seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases as the fall begins. In a televised speech yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the nation is at a "crossroads," with British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec all entering a second wave of the pandemic, the CBC reports. Trudeau urged Canadians to follow public health guidelines.
"I know this isn't the news that any of us wanted to hear. And we can't change today's numbers or even tomorrow's … but what we can change is where we are in October, and into the winter," he said.
Meanwhile, coronavirus infections are surging throughout Europe, where health officials are warning the coming months could look similar to this past spring.
Globally, there are now 32,048,333 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 979,454 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard. The United States accounts for 6,962,333 of those cases, with 202,467 deaths.
After reading this news, I learned that there are many countries with COVID-19 outbreaks, and the number of infections in the United States is still ranked first. It is really not understandable, but we have to be cautious. It is very likely that the second outbreak period has come. Will we die 200,000 people? Only a madman would let this happen. We should have full confidence in our country.

The Ministry of Education has warned states against flouting the Safe School Readiness Template (SSRT) in states ahead of full reopening of schools.
The minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, gave the warning yesterday at the opening of North West zonal stakeholders’ meeting on schools’ re-opening dialogue in Kano.
Nwajiuba, who regretted that learners had lost huge grounds in their educational pursuit since the lockdown six months ago, maintained that states must ensure strict adherence to the implementation of the template.
He explained that the Federal Government, with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), developed the SSRT, an integrated approach with critical components that guarantee safe teaching and learning against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Although, the Federal Government has directed the re-opening of schools nationwide, the minister emphasised that the final decision rested on state’s preparedness and commitment to all safety measures.
He added that Monitoring and Evacuation, as well as Quality Assurance and Compliance teams, would be deployed to states to ensure compliance.
Kano State Commissioner for Education, Mohammad Kiru, disclosed government’s preparedness to decongest classrooms with the release of N20 million each to the 44 councils, for rehabilitation of dilapidated structures.
MEANWHILE, UNICEF, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and other stakeholders in the North East are meeting with the ministry for guidelines on schools’ resumption.
At a North East Zonal Meeting in Bauchi yesterday, the minister said that the closure of schools affected the education sector negatively.
However, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Mr. Bhanu Pathak, said with the emergency at hand and closure of schools, it had become important for the states to develop response plans to ensure continuation of teaching and learning as well as spread COVID-19 prevention and control messages.
But the commissioners of education from the 19 Northern states have agreed to open schools on October 30, 2020.
A communiqué signed by Kaduna education commissioner, Dr. Shehu Mohammed, after their virtual meeting on Sunday, stated: “We agreed to re-open schools as soon as possible, fully or in phases, hopefully before October 30, 2020. But subject to the approval of our respective governors, some states have already re-opened fully while others opened partially since September 14, 2020.”
The commissioners urged the Federal Government to support states to meet the COVID-19 requirements for re-opening of schools, as it did to other sectors.
The reopening of schools has caused many conflicts. Parents are more worried about the safety of their children, and the Ministry of Education is more worried that the closure of schools will have a negative impact on the education department. But considering that the number of infections in Western countries is approaching 7 million, we are also very worried! It is recommended to postpone the opening of severely infected areas to avoid more cases of infection.

Nigeria reported 97 new cases of the novel coronavirus, local authorities said late Sunday, bringing the nationwide tally to 57,242.
“On the 20th of September 2020, 97 new confirmed cases and 3 deaths were recorded in Nigeria,” Nigeria's National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in latest update.
It said a total of 48,569 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while the death toll in the country reached 1,098.
With over 18,900 cases, the commercial capital Lagos remains Nigeria’s worst-hit city.
It is followed by the Federal Capital Territory, which includes the capital Abuja, with more than 5,500 cases, and the southwestern Oyo State, where more than 3,200 cases have been confirmed to date.
The pandemic has claimed more than 960,800 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December, according to the latest figures by US' Johns Hopkins University.
The US, India and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.
Over 31.04 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries surpassing 21.25 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, more than 960,800 people in 188,000 countries and regions have been killed. We are all very sad! According to reports, the United States, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries. I am very worried for them, but at the same time we have to make up for the shortcomings and can’t become the next "America",, "India" or "Brazil".

Nigeria’s economic hub Lagos is set to reopen gyms and cinemas after months of shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor of the state Lagos Babajide Sanwo-Olu told the media on Saturday that the cinema and gym operators in the state had been given green light to reopen as soon as they comply with all necessary safety measures.
However, the governor said the reopening of the gyms and cinemas is only allowed at one third of their capacity, which was part of the agreement with operators of the outfits.
Sanwo-Olu said churches and mosques had also been given the clearance for full religious activities, and safety protocols must be strictly complied with.
Bars, night clubs, spas and event centers would remain closed until further notice, said the governor.
As COVID-19 is getting better, taking into account economic factors, it is okay to slowly open up these dense places, but you must protect yourself. If the situation is serious, the infected area will be blocked and closed. We can't learn from some European countries. Once negligence occurs, the consequences will be very serious!

More evidence surfaced on Thursday of the widening divide between the haves and have-nots in the United States, with data signalling an economic recovery that is going well for the well-off while leaving millions of jobless Americans behind.
Some 860,000 Americans filed for state unemployment benefits last week, a decrease of only 33,000 from the previous week, the US Department of Labor reported.
Add in people filing for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) - gig workers and self-employed individuals who are not eligible for state programmes - and the total climbs to 1.5 million Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week. 
The big picture is even more sobering. Some 29,768,326 Americans were collecting unemployment benefits in the week ending August 29. That is roughly 28 million more people than February 1. Even adjusting for millions of double counts - individuals collecting benefits from both state and federal programmes - that number is still staggering.
What this signals is that the labour market recovery is losing steam and leaving millions of out-of-work Americans fearing for their futures as the March round of economic stimulus from Congress fades and legislators on Capitol Hill remain at odds over another virus relief aid package. 
While more spending stimulus remains stalled, the Federal Reserve this week reiterated its commitment to use its lending powers to try and do what it can to help the nation's jobless get back to work. 
COVID-19 will inevitably affect the economies of all countries in the end. The more severe the COVID-19, the heavier economic losses will be. The government must strike a balance between COVID-19 and economic development, otherwise it will plunge the economy into a quagmire. According to reports in the United States, the government's unwise measures have caused disastrous consequences. The only advantage is that it provides a good example for other countries in the world, so that we can learn from it.

The Nigerian government has announced plans to reopen schools for the first time since March, when schools across the country were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move comes after the government partially reopened secondary schools in August to allow students take their exit examinations.
Before the pandemic, Nigeria’s education sector was already beset with many problems, with 10.5 million children not going to school, mostly in the North.
Issues like gender discrimination, disasters and armed conflict, language challenges, household poverty, child labour, and child marriage have contributed to depriving many Nigerian children of their right to access quality education.
Since the onset of COVID-19, millions of children in Nigeria have been stuck at home not learning. For vulnerable and disadvantaged children, the impact has been worse.
There is now a real risk that millions of children forced out-of-school by the pandemic won’t ever return. Globally, according to Save the Children, education cuts and rising poverty as a result of COVID-19 could force almost 10 million children out of school forever by the end of this year alone.
After Nigeria's federal government ordered schools to shut, state governments have taken different approaches to the in-person learning problem. Lagos State, for example, launched a radio learning programme and distributed radios to low-income families. However, millions of public university and secondary school students across the country, most of whom are from low-income families, have not received any kind of support during this time.
Startups like uLesson have also launched e-learning solutions but the least impacted segment of the Nigerian education sector has been private schools and universities. According to TechCabal, Babcock, Covenant, American University of Nigeria, Crawford University, and Mountain Top University have all developed e-learning alternatives. For 102 million Nigerians who live in extreme poverty, however, these options are out of reach and simply unaffordable.
Evidently, a huge amount of support is required to ensure that more children don’t remain out-of-school due to the impact of the pandemic.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, millions of children in our country have been trapped at home and unable to study. Children in some areas are unable to perform e-learning due to difficult conditions, which will cause difficulties in student education. Many people support the reopening of educational institutions, but considering that COVID-19 has not yet ended and some countries have as many as 6 million cases of infection, we cannot relax. Children are very fragile, so we should be more cautious!

The Federal Government has taken delivery of samples of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine from Russia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Alex Shebarshin, on Friday, September 4, 2020.
The vaccine was received on Nigeria’s behalf by the Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire, from the Russian Ambassador.
According to a monitored media report, the Director of Information, Media and Public Relations of the Ministry of Health, Olujimi Oyetomi, in a statement disclosed that the Russian envoy made the delivery during a courtesy visit to the ministry in Abuja.
The statement pointed out that Ehanire quickly referred the vaccine to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigeria Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development and others for review and possible validation.
The minister said, ‘’We are exploring all knowledge in terms of therapeutics and vaccines. We are expressing our interest in the Covid-19 vaccine so that we will have the opportunity to work elaborately.’’
Ehanire explained that Nigeria has been taking part in a series of knowledge exchange and contact with several research bodies and nations in a bid to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his own remark, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, stated that this opportunity will help to strengthen the collaboration between Russia and Nigeria.
The Ministry’s Director of Hospital Services Department, Dr Adepimpe Adebiyi, said that this is an opportunity to expand our vaccine production. He said the technical officers will interphase with the Russian team in order to strengthen the relationship between Nigeria and Russia.
Thank you very much for Russia’s help. This action has also strengthened the relationship between the two countries. Under the current trend of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines can indeed inhibit the development of COVID-19. In the future, we can also expand vaccine production opportunities to help countries in serious situations such as India and the United States.

Schools will reopen in Nigeria's commercial hub of Lagos next month as part of plans to revive the economy as COVID-19 cases decline, the state governor said on Saturday.
Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria, plans to reopen colleges on Sept. 14, and primary and secondary school schools on Sept. 21, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said.
“The gradual easing doesn’t mean the pandemic is over,” he said in a tweet. “It is not an invitation to carelessness or nonchalance.”
The Lagos governor said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centers would also be allowed to reopen as long as they followed safety rules.
Nigeria has reported 53,727 infections in total – including 18,104 in Lagos – and 1,011 deaths.
The West African nation has been opening up gradually.
It aims to resume international flights in September after domestic flights restarted last month and a ban on interstate travel was lifted.
Secondary schools reopened across Nigeria this month for pupils due to take graduation exams.
Due to the decrease in COVID-19 cases, schools in Lagos will be reopened for the sake of students' study and economic revitalization. But this does not mean that we can relax our vigilance. In some countries, the number of infections has exceeded 6 million. This is something we should pay attention to. If the situation improves, we can open public business places one after another, but if new cases are discovered, we must continue to maintain strict closure measures and not take it lightly.

The Presidency on Wednesday said the nation’s economy, despite contraction, performed better than that of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and others in the second quarter of 2020.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had said the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP declined by –6.10% (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2020, ending the 3-year trend of low but consistently improving positive real growth rates recorded since the 2016/17 recession.
It said consequently, for the first half of 2020, real GDP declined by –2.18% year-on-year, compared with 2.11% recorded in the first half of 2019.
Reacting to NBS’ figures, the presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said the overall decline of -6.1% (for Q2 2020) and -2.18 per cent (for H1 2020) was better than the projected forecast of -7.24% as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics.
He said the figure was also relatively far better than many other countries recorded during the same quarter.
“Furthermore, despite the observed contraction in economic activity during the quarter, it outperformed projections by most domestic and international analysts. It also appears muted compared to the outcomes in several other countries, including large economies such as the US (-33%), UK (-20%), France (-14%), Germany (-10%), Italy (-12.4%), Canada (-12.0%), Israel (-29%), Japan (-8%), South Africa (projection -20% to -50%), with the notable exception of only China (+3%).
“The government’s anticipation of the impending economic slowdown and the various initiatives introduced as early responses to cushion the economic and social effects of the pandemic, through the Economic Sustainability Programme (ESP), contributed immensely to dampening the severity of the pandemic on growth,” he said.
On the fiscal side, Adesina said a robust financing mechanism was designed to raise revenue to support humanitarian assistance, in addition to special intervention funds for the health sector.
He said adjustments to the national budget as well as emergency financing from concessional lending windows of development finance institutions were critical in supporting governments’ capacity to meet its obligations.
“On the monetary side, moratorium on loans, credit support to households and industries, regulatory forbearance and targeted lending and guarantee programs through NIRSAL were some of the measures implemented in response to the pandemic during the second quarter.
“It is equally worth noting that since the start of the third quarter, the phased approach to easing the restrictions being implemented centrally and across States have resulted in a gradual return of economic activity, including the possibility of international travel,” he added.
According to Adesina, more importantly, the anticipated health impacts of the pandemic had been managed without overwhelming the health infrastructure, which would have further compromised the ability to re-open the country to travel, commerce and international trade.
He said this had provided greater confidence and ability for authorities to initiate the conduct of nationwide terminal examinations and resumption of the next academic year.
“Finally, it is anticipated that while the third and fourth quarters will reflect continued effects of the slowdown, the Fiscal and Monetary Policy initiatives being deployed by government in a phased process will be a robust response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Furthermore, as the country begins the gradual loosening up of restrictions, and levels of commercial activity increase by people returning to their various livelihoods and payrolls expand, it still remains imperative that all the necessary public health safeguards are adhered to so the country avoids an emergence of a second wave,” he stated.
Affected by COVID-19, the global economy is showing signs of recession, and countries are also looking for ways to alleviate this problem. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, my country's economic performance in the second quarter was better. Therefore, we still have to pay attention to protection in public places to avoid the second wave.

The National Association of University Students (NAUS), National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), and National Association of Nigerian Colleges of Education (NANCES), yesterday held a nationwide protest to demand the immediate reopening of campus across Nigeria.
Students also vowed to shut down the economy and every other sector in the country if the government refuses to harken to their demands and immediately reopen all the tertiary institutions across the country.
According to the aggrieved students, the continued closure of schools further reiterates the insensitivity of the leadership to education and the plight of students in the country.
Speaking at the protest which was held at the Ministry of Education and the Unity Fountains, on Wednesday in Abuja, the Senate President, National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) Dio Oghale Emeka Rex, said with the re-opening of markets, worship centres and international flights, there was no basis for the continued closure of tertiary institutions.
He said “The federal government is just playing with the future Nigerian student’s. The cure of Coronavirus is not in any political party, the cure of Coronavirus is in our institutions. The pandemic has not taking the life of students that the lockdown has taken.
“Many students have been victimised sexually and many of them have been murdered. Assuming they are in their various institutions, by now most of them would have graduated.
“Many political parties conducted their primary elections and rallies without regard for social distancing and wearing of facemask.
According to him, “The age limit for national service is 30 years and most of us are 29, of it continue like this, at the end of the day we will not be mobilised but NYSC we will shut down the country they refuse to open the schools.
On his part, a former Zone A Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Umar Farouk, urged the Presidential Task Force (PTF), on COVID-19 immediately reopening the tertiary institutions.
“The international flights that are about to open should be shut down, the markets should be closed and all economy shut down. Coronavirus is not an excuse for our campuses to be closed, our campuses must be opened.
“If Edo state can go for rallies and also conduct an election, we are urging the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to open our campuses, they cannot continue to be in lockdown.
Also speaking, National President, National Association of University Students (NAUS), Ije Felix said the cure of the Coronavirus can only come from researches which are only conducted in the universities.
“It is fundamental to note that the cure of the virus can only come through research, research are not done anywhere except the campuses, research are not done at home or in the market. If the government is serious with this pandemic so that professors can begin to conduct researches.
“Nobody gave us money to come and protest in Abuja, we came here to tell Nigerians how we feel, we came to exercise our fundamental human rights. We are also here to tell the Nigerian government that we are tire of staying at home.”
Student education is very important, but the safety of students is equally important. I think we can temporarily open schools to low-risk areas, but we must pay attention to maintaining social distance and wear a mask. It is correct to shut down international aviation, because other countries such as the United States, Brazil and other countries with a large number of infections are not doing well with COVID-19. We must take precautions and hope to return to normal life as soon as possible.

At an event in Oshkosh, Wis., President Donald Trump said the country was "doing great" in the fight against the coronavirus.
"We're coming back and our numbers are better than almost all countries," Trump said Aug. 17.
When we asked the White House about the claim, the press office noted that by one measure, the United States is doing well.
Looking at the percentage of confirmed cases that lead to death, the United States has a rate that’s about half that in Europe and the rest of the world. 
But the source the White House cites, Oxford University’s Our World in Data project, says that "During an outbreak of a pandemic the case fatality rate is a poor measure of the mortality risk of the disease." 
There are other ways to track the suffering and reach of the coronavirus and by those, the United States is not doing well.
Measured against the size of the population, the United States has the 10th-highest death rate in the world. It’s doing better than the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Chile, but worse than France, Canada and Germany, to pick a few examples.
Factoring in population size, the United States has one of the highest rates globally of people who have tested positive — 16,430 per million residents, which is lower than Chile, but higher than any other large country. Put another way, the virus is known to have infected a higher fraction of the population in the U.S. than in many other places.
The United States has indeed "done very well" with regard to COVID-19. By comparing the infection rate and deaths, it is indeed lower than other countries. Is it right to compare the number of infections and the number of deaths?

For the fourth consecutive week, new coronavirus cases recorded in Nigeria have reduced despite increased testing.
The consecutive reductions in new cases may suggest Africa’s most populous country has overcome its worst phase of the virus although officials have continued to advise caution, telling residents to adhere to COVID-19 protocols including social distancing and use of face masks.
Last week (August 9 to 15), Nigeria recorded 2,628 cases, a 12 per cent reduction compared to the 2,989 cases recorded in the previous week (August 2 to . The week before that (July 26 to August 1), Nigeria recorded 3,560 new infections. A total of 3,870 new cases were recorded in the week between July 19 and 25.
Last week marked the 32nd week of the pandemic in Nigeria.
While the new cases have reduced for the past few weeks, the number of people tested for the virus has increased for three consecutive weeks.
Data from the public health agency showed that 32,913 people were tested last week, a 6 per cent increase from the 30,716 tested the previous week. About 24,400 people were tested the week before that.
Nigeria has so far collected 347,545 samples since its first case was recorded in February.
Recently, the number of people infected with COVID-19 has continued to decrease, indicating that the measures we have taken are effective. However, considering that the number of infections in other countries continues to increase, there are nearly 50,000 new cases every day. In this way, we must be more vigilant, not underestimate COVID-19, and take the lead to protect ourselves.

A total of 453 coronavirus cases were recorded in Nigeria on Wednesday. That brought to 47,743, the total number of infections recorded in the West African nation.
No deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, making the fatality to remain at 956, the figure reached on Tuesday after six people succumbed to the disease.
This was disclosed by the NCDC, the agency heading Nigeria’s national response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the dangerous pneumonia-like disease that has spread to over 200 countries, infecting more than 20 million.
Nigeria has continued to report less than 500 daily coronavirus infections for about two weeks.
The NCDC said out of a total of 47,743 infected persons so far, nearly 34, 000 have recovered and have been discharged after treatment in the country’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The 453 new cases are reported from 16 states- Lagos(113), FCT(72), Plateau(59), Enugu(55), Kaduna(38), Ondo(32), Osun(26), Ebonyi(20), Ogun(9), Delta(, Borno(7), Akwa Ibom(6), Oyo(5), Bauchi(1), Kano(1) and Ekiti(1).
Lagos State recorded 113 new cases, the highest of the total 453 new infections across Nigeria in the last 24 hours.

Lagos is the hardest hit state with about a third of Nigeria’s cases (over 16,000) recorded in the country’s commercial capital.
The second most affected place in Nigeria is Abuja, the capital city, with more than 4,500 cases.

According to reports, the number of COVID-19 infections continues to increase, but fortunately the death toll has not changed, and most of the infected have recovered and been discharged from hospital. But we still can’t relax! Especially considering that there are countries with severe COVID-19 infections abroad, the number of infections has even reached more than 5 million, and the death toll has reached 150,000. This requires us to do more on epidemic prevention measures and strictly prevent the import of foreign cases.

The Nigerian Government may reciprocate the visa restriction imposed on its citizens by the United States and other countries, the Nigeria Immigration Service has said.
This Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mohammed Babandede, said this while explaining the new visa policy that was launched by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) earlier in the year.
The US had in January said it would suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar. However, they could apply for other visa categories.
The US had also introduced reciprocity fees for Nigerians thereby nearly doubling the cost of obtaining a visa based on the premise that Americans seeking Nigerian visa were paying too much to secure it.
Speaking with Signature50 Magazine, however, the immigration boss said the new Nigerian visa policy is reciprocal in nature, adding that like the US, Nigeria has the right to dictate who it allows in or restricts from entering the country.
“I can tell you that US is a country, it is a nation like Nigeria. They have the right to restrict who will enter their territory or not just like we can restrict US citizen or whomsoever from entering Nigeria,” Babandede said.
He added, “So they have the right, but I want people to know that visa restriction is not a visa ban, it is a ban for people who want to take residency not people who want to go for short visits.
“You are aware that President Muhammadu Buhari just launched a new visa policy for Nigeria, the visa policy has 79 classes of visa. So, we will be in a position to say to countries, if you allow us for short visits we will allow you for short visits and if you stop us from other visits, we do the same, because the new visa policy is based on reciprocity.
“So, we will test this for a year and see those who reciprocate and we take actions for those who do otherwise.”
Our attitude towards other countries depends on how they treat us. The United States suspended our visas before. Now our country has the right to take the same measures to respond.

The World Bank Board of Directors approved a $114.28 financing to help Nigeria prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 with a specific focus on state level responses. This includes $100 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA)* and $14.28 million grant from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility.
Through the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project (CoPREP), the Government of Nigeria will provide grants to thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as immediate support to break the chain of COVID-19 local transmission and limit the spread of coronavirus through containment and mitigation strategies. Grants to states will be conditional on states adopting COVID-19 response strategies which are in line with the Federal Government guidelines and strategies. CoPREP will enhance the institutional and operational capacity for disease detection through provision of technical expertise, coordination support, detection, diagnosis and case management efforts in all states and the FCT as per the WHO guidelines in the Strategic Response Plan. It will also help the government mobilize surge response capacity through trained and well-equipped frontline healthcare workers and strengthen the public health care network for future health emergencies.
“Nigeria has ramped up its efforts to contain the COVID -19 outbreak, but more needs to done at the state level, which are at the frontline of the response,” says Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria “The project will provide the states with much needed direct technical and fiscal support to strengthen their position in combating the pandemic.”
In addition, the project will finance federal procurements of medical equipment, laboratory tests, and medicines to be distributed to the states based on their needs. It complements the Second Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Project (REDISSE II) which is already providing short-term emergency support to implement national and state Incident Action Plans. So far, all 36 States have incident action plans cleared by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and funds have been disbursed to 23 States.
Thank you very much for the assistance of the World Bank, which also shows that in the face of a global epidemic, all countries must unite and act in unison. But the reality is that some countries continue to shirk their responsibilities and despise COVID-19, which is a pity.

Nigeria will reopen for international air travel in a matter of weeks, the aviation minister said on Thursday, without giving a specific date for the resumption after months of closure due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
“It will be in weeks rather than in months,” Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika told a regular briefing in the capital Abuja on coronavirus.
Nigeria began to close its airports in March, a month after Africa’s most populous country confirmed its first coronavirus case. Domestic air travel restarted last month.
The country has 44,890 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 900 deaths, figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control show.
Opening up is the general trend, but it must be considered comprehensively. For example, issues such as scale and isolation. At present, Brazil, the United States, India and other countries have not improved. The most important thing is that our own epidemic prevention measures should keep up.

Nigeria’s coronavirus case count is now over 44,000, with the death toll just shy of 900, authorities said on Tuesday.According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 288 more infections and eight fatalities were recorded in the country over the past 24 hours.“Till date, 44,129 cases have been confirmed, 20,663 cases have been discharged and 896 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” the NCDC said in its latest update.With more than 15,300 infections, commercial capital Lagos remains the area hit hardest in Nigeria, the data showed.It is followed by the FCT, which includes the capital Abuja, where almost 4,000 cases have been confirmed to date, and the southwestern Oyo state with over 2,770 cases.At least 192 COVID-19 patients have died in Lagos, 42 in FCT, and 28 in Oyo, according to the NCDC figures.Nigeria is among the three worst-hit countries in Africa, where the total case count is now over 968,000, including more than 20,600 fatalities.Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed nearly 694,000 lives in at least 188 countries and regions since last December.More than 18.28 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the highest number of infections in the US, Brazil, India, and Russia, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.The data shows more than half of all patients in the world – over 10.91 million – have recovered so far.Despite recent progress on several vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization has said there may never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19.“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.“However, there's no silver bullet at the moment – and there might never be.”
There will be no special medicine for COVID-19. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we can only rely on the country's prevention and control measures and its own protection. Data shows that the United States, Brazil, India and Russia currently have the highest number of infections. Before effective vaccines are developed, we must strictly abide by the prevention and control regulations, wear masks, and stay away from crowds.

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council has finally approved the ratification of the Air Transport Agreement between Nigeria and the United States to strengthen cultural and economic ties that exist between the two countries.The ratification was made after Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, presented a memo to the council on the approval for ratification of the air transport agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United States of America.The decision of the Federal Executive Council was disclosed during a press briefing with statehouse correspondents, by the Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Minister for Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.During the press conference, Hon. Mohammed explained that the air transport bilateral agreement is aimed at strengthening economic and cultural ties between Nigeria and the United States.Mohammed further revealed that both the United States and Nigeria are parties to the Chicago Convention of Dec. 7, 1994.According to Mohammed, Article 6 of the convention urges parties to sign air services agreement with member states to improve social, political and economic ties.“The US has ratified its own and Mr President and council graciously accepted today to also ratify this agreement,” Mohammed said.Mohammed further noted that the air transport agreement would be of great benefit to Nigerians particularly now when it is working towards establishing its own national airline.“So, we will now take advantage of this air transport bilateral agreement to strengthen economic, social, and cultural ties between the two countries,” Mohammed said.The air transport agreement is expected to promote an international aviation system based on competition among airlines from both countries, with minimum government interference and regulation.The agreement will also facilitate the expansion of international air transport opportunities between both countries and will benefit eligible Nigerian airlines.
For now we are working hard to establish our own national airline, this air services agreement can really help us a lot, and it can also strengthen the cultural and economic ties between the two countries. However, what worries me is whether the timing of the implementation of the agreement takes into account the current COVID-19 factors, especially considering that after the implementation of the agreement, with the exchange of trade and tourism, it will put a lot of pressure on my country's epidemic prevention.

About 117 Nigerians evacuated from Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania after being stranded following the outbreak of Coronavirus, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Sunday morning aboard Azman Air flight.The returnees are expected to embark on a compulsory 14-day isolation period in line with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocol on Coronavirus.
Those who return from other countries must be quarantined for 14 days. This coercive measure has caused some trouble in our lives, but it's a manifestation of being responsible to ourselves and others. I hope that all countries can strictly abide by such measures. The United States, Brazil and other countries are now paying attention. According to the current situation, we can't relax!

I saw an American netizen post on Twitter saying that he might have been infected with COVID-19 in November. If this is the case, it would be too bad! COVID-19 may have appeared long ago.

Nigeria on Tuesday said it has not validated the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, an obvious reaction to the viral video of Nigerian-born Dr Stella Immanuel.
Immanuel, also a Christian preacher, claimed in the video that has gone viral worldwide that she has successfully treated more than 350 COVID-19 patients using hydroxychloroquine, Zinc and Zithromax.
Immanuel first made the claim on April 27 in a Twitter post in which she also showed support for American President Donald Trump’s backing for the use of chloroquine to treat the virus.
But Nigeria’s Ministry of Information and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, in identical messaging on Twiter, said the use of hydroxychloroquine is “only limited to clinical trials“.
“Some trial drugs show promising results but are yet to be validated for use,” NCDC said on Twitter on Tuesday.
“In Nigeria, use of hydroxychloroquine is ONLY limited to clinical trials.”
Lagos State Government said in April that its hospital treated many patients who suffered chloroquine poisoning in the wake of Trump’s endorsement of the drug in March
Immanuel doubled down on her April claim on Monday when she addressed the press after America’s Frontline Doctors Summit in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Monday, July 27.
Hydroxychloroquine has long been used to treat malaria as well as other conditions such as lupus and arthritis.
It’s used to reduce fever and inflammation, and the hope has been that it can also inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19.
Apart from Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has also claimed hydroxychloroquine could prevent or treat COVID-19.
“I’m here because I have personally treated over 350 patients with COVID,” Immanuel said in the video.
“Patients that have diabetes, patients that have high blood pressure, patients that have asthma, old people… I think my oldest patient is 92…87-year-olds. And the result has been the same. I put them on hydroxychloroquine, I put them on zinc, I put them on Zithromax, and they’re all well.”
this is a good news! If it is really effective in clinical trials, we also support trials in other countries such as the United States and Brazil.

Young people generally think that they have good physical fitness and are not easily infected. Therefore, these issues are often not paid attention to. At present, the number of infected people in African countries is also increasing. We must not only pay attention to them, but also take protective measures. Now that COVID-19 has attracted the attention of the whole country, places like the United States and Brazil have also begun to pay attention to protection. They have also realized that they cannot go their own way and are responsible for themselves and the world.

“A Nigerian mother and her quadruplets remain in Dubai because of coronavirus travel restrictions that have prevented them from traveling home, her husband told CNN.Tijani Abdulkareem, 32, said his wife, Suliyah, 29, gave birth to the babies -- two boys and two girls -- on July 1.The couple, who live in Dubai, began making plans to relocate his wife to Nigeria to give birth when they found she was having quadruplets in January.They share a hostel accommodation with others, and it would have been difficult to rent a bigger place with their combined income, according to Abdulkareem, who works as a cook at a restaurant in the city.But the government banned all commercial international flights when the pandemic struck in Nigeria in March, shortly after it recorded its first case.Only diplomatic and essential flights are currently permitted into Nigeria's airspace and Abdulkareem says the travel restrictions, had frustrated their plans.Althoughrepatriation flights to Nigeria from Dubai are taking place, they are few and far between.”

This is the experience of a small family under the raging global COVID-19, but it also reflects that everyone and every family will face various difficulties under the virus. We want to call on all countries in the world to unite and actively fight COVID-19, instead of blaming each other. We hope that those politicians will see what happened to ordinary people, see the rising number of infections and take more concrete measures. Under the epidemic, no country can stay aloof.

“A third evacuation flight has departed the United States of America for Nigeria, with 324 Nigerians on board.The flight left the Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, shortly before midnight on Friday, and will arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Saturday afternoon.”“The United States has experienced a surge in the COVID-19, with the recent second wave of infections. Only on Thursday, 75,600 new cases were recorded.A total of three evacuation flights have been successfully conducted with hundreds of stranded Nigerians brought back home.”

For our citizens to go home, the mood is actually very complicated. At this moment, going home is the best thing, but there is no guarantee that there will be a risk of infection on the way home. And for the United States, why should foreigners leave at this moment? What is their real intention? Is it to reduce the pressure on epidemic prevention? I dare not think of more terrifying things!

I hope that our candidates can serve as WTO leaders. The candidate's speech is a worry about the US government's continued withdrawal from international organizations and its isolation. It is impossible for "American priority" to gain the support of other countries! The international community needs a responsible America.

This move will have a great impact on the study and education of our students. Now they have to take action to expel foreign students. What should students in our country do?

We should strictly abide by COVID-19's precautionary guidelines and keep a safe distance when going out. Seek medical attention if you have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

At present, the reopening of schools is indeed very dangerous, and the safety of students cannot be guaranteed. But the students' courses are also delayed a lot, which is indeed a problem.