₦airaland Forum

Thank God the strike is over.


For the overzealous police officers, it is hoped the aberration will not be repeated

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says the fact that some coronavirus patients are seen in videos on social media playing and dancing in isolation centres does not mean they are not ill.

NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.

Ihekweazu said COVID-19 is an infectious disease which may not necessarily weaken infected persons the way other diseases do.

Responding to a question, he said, “I think people really need to understand why people are being put in these centres. Normally, you only go into a hospital when you’re ill, get a diagnosis, and then you are sometimes admitted if you’re very ill.

“But in this case, following the experience from other countries, we made a decision as a country to also put people in isolation centres not just because they are ill on their own but in order to stop them from transmitting this virus to others.

“When I travelled to China in late February or early March, things were put in place for these people (in quarantine), so they could exercise and dance because it is not easy to be somewhere, in isolation for three to four weeks when you are not physically ill.

“So, these are things we have to use to reassess our decisions. It is very difficult to make decisions based on one viral video. One Whatsapp video does not represent the experience of people across the country. It is very important that as leaders we are not pushed down a decision path because one video happened to go viral. Many people in these centres around the country are complying.”

The NCDC boss said the government would have liked to keep asymptomatic patients away from hospitals and rather have them self-isolate so that those who are physically ill would have enough bed spaces but said due to the complex nature of Nigeria and the population, such an approach may not work.

He stressed the need for Nigerians to take ownership of the COVID-19 response to ensure its success.

https://punchng.com/why-covid-19-patients-play-dance-in-isolation-centres-ncdc/

"You should trust me because I love you," I replied. "I will accept you back on one condition. That condition is there must never be any lover between us. Once you breach this, it will be over between us for ever." "I accept the condition," I replied. I went on to assure her of what would be a faithful love. She finally yielded to renewing our relationship. To compesate her, I sent some money to her account. I also promised to be in her campus that Saturday. On Friday morning, I thought of my imminent trip to Ado-Ekiti. I had not heard from Kate or Zaina. I liked it like that and intended to keep it that way. I must give all my affection to Lola - and only her alone. I would have to prove that I was more than someone who flirted around or broke ladies' hearts. I had resolved that I would be a committed and faithful lover. With determination and steadfastness, I could do it.

Banditry: Senate urges Buhari to expand military operations to Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger

•Senator Gobir alleges Nigerian soldiers don’t respond to distress calls in Sokoto
•Adds Nigerians now run to Niger Republic Army for help
•Notes over 300 killed in Sokoto East in 3 months; over 5,000 migrate to Niger Republic
•Army keeps mum


The Senate yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately deploy the military to Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and Sokoto states to flush out bandits currently terrorising the states.

The call came against the backdrop of last week’s order by the President that the military be deployed to Katsina State for the same reason.

The Senate’s decision followed the alarm raised by chairman of the Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC, Sokoto East), that over 300 people had been killed or kidnapped in his senatorial district on daily basis by bandits in the last three months.

Senator Gobir also told his colleagues that people in his constituency now run to Nigerien soldiers for protection, alleging that Nigerian soldiers often fail to respond to distress calls when the bandits come calling or come late when they respond at all.

The Nigerian Army could not be reached for comments last night as the spokesman, Col. Sagir Musa, who promised to send the Army’s reaction failed to do so at press time last night.


However, Senator Gobir, who was contributing to a motion on urgent military action against banditry in Niger State by the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger North), also alleged that Nigerian soldiers have completely abandoned his constituents, exposing them to serious danger.

Senator Abdullahi had in the motion, drawn the attention of his colleagues to the activities of bandits in Niger State and also called on government to extend its current military operations to flush out bandits in Zamfara and Katsina states to Niger State.

In his contribution, Senator Gobir, who took a swipe at the Nigerian military, said many people in his senatorial district have in distress, fled to Niger Republic for safety, aided by the military of the neighbouring country.

Senator Gobir said the people of Sokoto State have lost over 7,800 cows worth N2.5 billion, adding the activities of the bandits have displaced about 5,000 people in Basira area, located in the border between Nigeria and Niger Republic.

Senator Gobir said: “The situation in Sokoto East as far as armed banditry is concerned is pathetic and tragic because it is the army of Niger Republic that had been coming to their rescue, while the Nigerian Army looks the other way.

“In fact, based on very reliable and verifiable information from the area, many at times, the people of the affected areas call on Nigerian Army for help and protection against the bandits, but get no response.

“But graciously, the Nigerien Army has been assisting in warding off the bandits, the very reason why not less than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety.

“Fallout of this is the grinding poverty ravaging the affected people in the form of serious hunger since their cows and other animals are on daily basis being stolen.

“The situation is so bad that we only get help from Niger Republic and not from Nigeria at all, be it from the military or the police.

“The affected people cannot be perpetually be at the mercy of Nigerien soldiers and still expect to proudly see themselves as Nigerians.

“Very urgent, drastic action is required from President Buhari through the military in the form of expansion of anti-banditry operation currently being carried out in Zamfara and Katsina state to Sokoto State.”

Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Services Committee, Senator Muhammed Musa (APC, Niger East), who last week brought a similar motion before the Senate, expressed worry that Nigeria might not be able to nip banditry in the bud, considering the manner the issue is being handled by government.

Earlier, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, who came under Orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules as amended, lamented the daily occurrence of armed banditry in Niger State, stressing that required urgent intervention from President Muhamnadu Buhari.

He said the Senate is “aware through a Presidential spokesman that President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the commencement of a major military operation to sweep bandits and kidnappers out of Katsina State; as major proactive measures by Special Forces to replace the reactive strikes against the camps of these bandits and criminals.
“The criminality by these armed bandits and kidnappers is carried out mostly under the cover of the contagious forests reserves and areas stretching from Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna to Niger states with pockets of safe havens in Kebbi and Sokoto states.”

The lawmaker expressed concerns that a major offensive in Katsina State alone was likely to make the armed bandits and kidnappers seek safer haven in Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states which host the Zurmi and Kamuku forests among others.

According to him, this will further compound the plight of hapless and poor communities along these forest corridors.

“It was the earlier massive operations in Zamfara and Kaduna states that led the armed bandits to seek safe haven elsewhere, moving into Katsina and Niger states respectively,’’ he said.

The Senate also commended President Buhari for the anti-banditry operations going on in Katsina and Zamfara states.

Meanwhile, the Senate has urged President Muhamnadu Buhari to direct the military to immediately expand its operations against banditry from Katsina and Zamfara to Sokoto, Niger States and other affected neighbouring states.

President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, who noted that the security challenges in the country were enormous, said they were, however, surmountable.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/banditry-senate-urges-buhari-to-expand-military-operations-to-sokoto-zamfara-kaduna-niger/

Coming from a federal agency, this is rather strange.

It is good to learn that they are not in lamentation mood.

Tosin was watching a television fashion show when he sauntered to her seat and sat by her.

“It took you long,” she commented.

“Yes, don’t mind the landlord. He went into details of how PHCN has increased its tariff and why the electricity bill has gone up. He also talked about the monthly security levies that we pay.”

“I know it will be on something like that.”

He grunted and wrapped her shoulders with his right hand.

* * *

Dave’s Lexus Coupe was blaring a hip-hop music when he stopped the car at the front of the gate that bore the address Funmi had given him.

He switched off the sound system and came down from the car. He walked towards the gate of the house and as he did so, he used the remote car lock to lock the car.

Then, he pressed the bell button he saw by the gate. He could hear the ringing from inside. He waited patiently to be attended to.

Few seconds later, a girl in her late teen age appeared at the gate.

“Yes, what do you want?” she asked, not even bothering to open the gate.

“Hi,” he said importantly. “I’ve come to see Funmi.”

There was a slight pause. “What’s your name, sir?”

“Dave.”

There was another slight pause before the pedestrian side of the gate was opened.

“Good evening, sir. Please, come in.”

“Thanks.” He entered the compound. It was a duplex with fine color. He followed the girl to the sitting-room.

“Please, sit down. I will inform her that you have come.”

He nodded and sat on one of the comfortable seats. The girl went out of the sitting-room. Some minutes later, Funmi came to see him.

“Hello, there.”

“Good evening.” He stood up to give her a brief hug. “How d’you do, babe?”

“I’m cool. I hope you didn’t find it difficult to locate this place.”

“Nope. It’s very easy to locate.”

He sat down on his seat while she sat opposite him. “So, how do I entertain you?”

He shook his head. “Oh, no, don’t bother. I promised to check you up at your place and I’ve fulfilled the promise. As for the entertainment, I intend to take you to a nice place where we can have a good time.”

“So, you won’t take anything?”

“We’ll take all that we need to take later. You can go ahead and dress up so that we’ll be on our way.”


Funmi looked excited. “Alright, give me a couple of minutes to dress up and I’ll be back.”

She stood up to return to her room.


Full story at https://publish.okadabooks.com/book/about/lovers_on_the_loose/31373

Interesting

Nice work

This certainly is not a cheering news from the Minister.
Why is he so pessimistic?

A young looking spanish woman who is identified as Saida Ramirez has really showed that "black don't crack," As many people believe.


Saida Ramirez posted photos of her, at her fivety, she looks just like fiveteen years-old girl.


She posted different photos of her wearing different types of clothes with different postures.


She posted the pictures to celebrate her 50th birthday, therefore, so many people have commented on her pictures to wish her happy birthday.

So many deaths in this 2020.

RIP to the dead.

Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps in Osun State (NSCDC) arrested about 35 young men while trying to sneak out of the state.
According to the State Commandant of the Corps, Adeyinka Oguntuase the boys were arrested while hiding under the guise of darkness to travel out of the state.
He added that they were traveling in two buses without cognizance of the social distancing measures.
During interrogation, one of the arrested northerners disclosed that they were trying to travel through Ede to Ogbomoso and head to Sokoto.
“The guys were arrested last Monday night while trying to sneak out of the state despite the ban on interstate travel to go all the way to Sokoto state. They even revealed that they deliberately decided to travel at night to escape being caught.
“We have called on the leader of Hausa community in Ilesa intimating him of the development and he felt bad, saying he has spoken with his subjects on the need to obey the rules set by the government in its bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The NSCDC commandant said the arrested men would be taken back to Ilesa, where they reside and handed them to their leader.
“We are making arrangements on how to return them to Ilesa and hand them over to their leader with a view to ensuring that they live within the ambit of the law”, Oguntuase added

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/covid-19-osun-nscdc-arrest-35-northerners-attempting-to-sneak-out-of-state/

Why Africa is least affected by deaths from COVID-19

• Findings suggest world’s malaria-endemic regions fare better
• Health experts stress effects of diet, climatic, social factors

The predictions were sombre and the statistics scary. A calamity of immense proportion would hit the continent, leaving it worse off than other regions of the world. But months since COVID-19 struck, Africa with its notorious poor health infrastructure has recorded the least deaths.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had in April predicted: “Anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned African countries to “prepare for the worst”, while Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in a CNN interview, said: “It’s going to be horrible in the developing world. And part of the reason you’re seeing that case numbers don’t look very bad is because they don’t have access to very many tests…Look at Ecuador. Look at what’s going on in Ecuador. They’re putting bodies out on the street. You’re going to see that in countries in Africa.”


Latest figures from the World Health Organisation show that Africa has the least number of cases (58,663) and deaths with (1,710) compared to the Americas with the highest numbers of cases (1,966,932) and deaths (118,799).

This is closely followed by Europe with 1,874 075 cases and 166,121 deaths; Eastern Mediterranean with 326,568 cases 9,841 deaths; Western Pacific with 167,546 cases and 6,730 deaths; and South-East Asia with 134,531 cases and 4,351 deaths.

The most impacted countries worldwide as of May 17, 2020 showed the United States topping the chart with 1,486,757 cases and 89,562 deaths; Russia, 281,752 cases and 2,631 deaths; United Kingdom, 244,995 cases and 34,716 deaths; Brazil, 241,080 cases and 16,122 deaths; Spain, 230,698 cases and 27,563 deaths; Italy, 225,435 cases and 31,908; France, 179,693 and 28,111 deaths; Germany, 176,369 cases and 7,962 deaths; Turkey, 149,435 cases and 4,140 deaths; and Iran, 120,198cases and 6,988 deaths.

In contrast, in Africa, South Africa is worst hit with 14,355 cases and 261 deaths. It is distantly followed by Algeria with 6,821 and 542 deaths. Others include: Ghana, 5,735 cases and 29 deaths; Nigeria, 5,621 cases and 176 deaths; Cameroon, 3,047 cases and 139 deaths; and Guinea with 2,658 cases and 16 deaths.

While the argument that low testing indicates many African countries are yet to encounter the monster, the absence of mass deaths or hospitalisation seem to suggest something is ticking favourably for the continent.


A consultant pharmacognocist and President, Bioresources Development Group, Prof. Maurice Iwu, agreed that Africans might have some form of protection from the coronavirus.

“An issue is high humidity in most African countries, not just hot temperatures. Because of the density of the virus in tropical Africa, it cannot travel far. That means the recommendation of two metres of social distancing does not apply here because the virus cannot go far.”

Iwu also raised the diet factor. “Our food has more antioxidants. We take a lot of phytomedicines. A lot of our diets contain zinc, vitamin C and other antioxidants. People take all these on a daily basis without even thinking about it,” he said.

There’s also the social exclusion of Sub-Saharan Africa. He explained: “We are excluded from so many socio-economic activities going on in the West. The number of people who travel from just Milan to New York on a daily basis far outnumbers the air travels in most parts of Africa. So, the socio-economic exclusion from the global picture has protected us from the quick spread of the virus through frequent business travels and inter-continental movements.”

Iwu further cited the issue of seasonal flu vaccines common in most European and American countries. “Most of these countries use flu vaccine. Once you take the flu vaccine and a new strain comes in, it will cause all the defence mechanisms to relax. This scenario makes most countries that use the flu vaccine more vulnerable to COVID-19,” he said.

Indeed, a recent study published by Chinese researchers from Beihang University (BUAA) and Institute of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, demonstrated how high temperature and high humidity reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

The study was published in the journal SSRN. The researchers explained: “The paper investigated the influence of air temperature and relative humidity on the transmission of COVID-19. After estimating the serial interval of COVID-19 from 105 hand-collected pairs of the virus carrier and the infected, we calculate the daily effective reproductive number, R, for each of all 100 Chinese cities with more than 40 cases. Using the daily R-values from January 21 to 23, 2020 as proxies of non-intervened transmission intensity, we find, under a linear regression framework, high temperature and high humidity significantly reduce the transmission of COVID-19, respectively. One-degree Celsius increase in temperature and one per cent increase in relative humidity lower R by 0.0225 and 0.0158, respectively.


“This result is consistent with the fact that the high temperature and high humidity reduce the transmission of influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It indicates that the arrival of summer and rainy season in the northern hemisphere can effectively reduce the transmission of COVID-19.”

According the WHO Malaria Map and COVID-19 Map, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are endemic to malaria and are equally least affected by the coronavirus.

In 2018, six countries accounted for more than half of all malaria cases worldwide: Nigeria (25 per cent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12 per cent), Uganda (five per cent), and Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Niger (four per cent each).

The WHO Malaria Map shows that more than 90 per cent of countries worst hit by COVID-19 are not endemic to malaria including France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Italy, and Iran among others.

Unconfirmed report suggests that no sickle cell anaemia patient has died of COVID-19 because they are invulnerable to malaria. Africa is endemic to sickle cell anaemia. In fact, more than 90 per cent of all sickle cell anaemia cases exist on the continent.

A leader of the team of medical experts managing some of the COVID-19 isolation centres in Lagos, Prof. Akin Osibogun, told The Guardian yesterday that although he could not confirm the malaria-COVID-19 map claim, it was logical and worth investigating.

“No study has looked at that. Although it sounds logical but there is no scientific backing. What I think might explain why more black people in the United States and United Kingdom are dying from COVID-19 is because of the social inequalities that exist between whites and blacks in those societies. Whites are more likely to have health insurance and more likely to get urgent attention for ambulance service. Also, the blacks are more likely to lead bad lifestyles and take drugs. Another argument is that the BCG vaccination, which most Africans had may be offering some protection.”


Meanwhile, “predictions of mass deaths in Africa are problematic for reasons beyond inaccuracy,” write Caleb Okereke and Kesley Nielson in ‘The Problem with Predicting Coronavirus Apocalypse in Africa’.

“They (the West) assume that nothing that African countries do can mitigate the spread of the disease and prevent high death tolls. They presuppose that Africans will be just passive victims of yet another viral outbreak.

“But many African countries have long experience in dealing with infectious diseases and by now have developed know-how that many Western countries might not have. And many African leaders are also not unaware of their fragile healthcare systems – unlike some of their Western counterparts.

“This might, in fact, be the basis on which a lot of the continent’s proactive response is founded. Just as someone who is diabetic knows to avoid sugar, African governments understand that their most effective strategy in the battle against COVID-19 is prevention and applying lessons learned from previous and/or ongoing outbreaks.”

The duo added: “Why do we not see the same broad strokes applied to continents like Europe and North America? Western countries are able to recognise nuance and complexities within themselves, acknowledging that no two countries are exactly alike. If outcomes of this epidemic in Europe and North America vary greatly from country to country, why is it not possible to assume that the same would be the case in Africa?

“The view that all Africans think the same way and that all African countries will suffer the same fate is deeply rooted in colonial ideology, which dismisses an entire continent as inherently backward and dysfunctional.”

https://m.guardian.ng/news/why-africa-is-least-affected-by-deaths-from-covid-19/

Kano adjusts FG lockdown, okays Juma’at, sallah prayers

Kano State Government on Monday reviewed the lockdown order imposed by the Federal Government and extended it to Monday by another two weeks.

The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, announced the extension of the lockdown on Kano at the daily briefing of the committee in Abuja.

However, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Salihu Yakasai, on Monday made the disclosure in a statement shortly after a meeting held between the governor and religious leaders in the state.

The statement said, “Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has accepted and approved recommendations by a selection of 30 Islamic scholars in Kano for the government to allow Friday prayers to hold as well as Eid prayers.

“The governor gave the directive after a lengthy consultations, with the Islamic scholars, including other government officials at the Government House.

“This means that the relaxation of the lockdown on Mondays and Thursdays will continue, but Friday prayers will also be allowed as well as Eid prayers, but traditional Eid celebrations in the state will not be allowed.

“The Imams have also been directed to ensure that everyone wears a face mask, as well as the use of sanitizers and washing of hands. They should also observe spacing as well as making brief sermon and observing social distancing.

“The state government has also inaugurated a committee that will oversee the distribution of hand sanitizers, sanitation equipment, as well as face masks, among others to Imams of Friday mosques in the state.’’


https://punchng.com/kano-adjusts-fg-lockdown-okays-jumaat-sallah-prayers/

Graphic

The Senator has made a damning allegation.

I think they were trying to be creative.