₦airaland Forum

A former governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State, Aminu Sani Jaji, has disclosed that the immediate past ward chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alhaji Bala Roka, has defected to the APC along with over 3000 supporters.

Jaji, in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, said the former ward chairman led the decampees to the APC two days after the Supreme Court affirmed Governor Bello Matawalle as the duly elected governor of the state.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/3000-pdp-members-decamp-to-apc-in-zamfara-ex-rep-jaji.html

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Embattled 14 Edo lawmakers-elect have alleged that Governor Godwin Obaseki is planning to kill National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole. The lawmakers-elect, while addressing newsmen through their spokesman, Victor Edohor in Abuja in reaction to the governor’s threat that he would expel Oshiomhole from the party, also accused Obaseki of planning to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Daily Trust reports that the feud between Oshiomhole and Obaseki has created a crack in the APC in Edo State. The 14 lawmakers-elect were yet to be sworn in following the proclamation controversy rocking the assembly.

Obaseki had while addressing party chiefs in Edo on Wednesday, threatened to deal with Oshiomhole, saying; “All this nonsense they are doing, if anybody in the name of our party tries to do anything contrary to what we have agreed as a party, we will deal with that person ruthlessly no matter who he is.” Subsequently, the lawmakers-elect are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, party leaders and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to call the governor to order.

“We want to draw the attention of our President, Muhammadu Buhari, the national leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National Working Committee of our party and indeed all Nigerians to the continuous insults and threat to the life of our National Chairman, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, and other party members in Edo State.

“Governor Obaseki was on record, which was widely circulated on social media and mainstream media, threatening the national chairman of our party, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole,” Edohor said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/obaseki-planning-to-kill-oshiomhole-14-edo-lawmakers-elect-allege.html

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‘We did not appoint ourselves’ Some PDP, APC senators agree with lower chamber The House of Representatives yesterday directed the service chiefs to resign over their alleged failure to tame rising insecurity in Nigeria. The Senate also yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare national emergency on security. The 360-member house occupied by legislators from…

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/reps-ask-service-chiefs-to-go.html

What are they doing about it?

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Chai! hope all this happening will come to pass in Jesus name

Thousands of foreigners are among millions of people stuck in the central Chinese city of Wuhan as the country struggles to get to grips with the spread of a SARS-like virus which has claimed 132 lives nationwide. These are the plans so far by foreign governments to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the outbreak:

– ASIA PACIFIC –

Australia

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it was working on a plan to transport home all Australian nationals, most of whom it said are dual nationals. Officials added they had received about 400 calls from Australians in China registering for evacuation. Canberra does not have a consulate in Wuhan but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government is negotiating with Chinese officials over the arrangements. He said officials are talking to the United States and Britain about the plans and working with New Zealand on a possible joint evacuation effort.

India

Local media reported the Indian government will request clearance from Beijing to take more than 250 citizens out of Wuhan and that a Boeing 747 in Mumbai is on standby.

Indonesia

Jakarta said there are more than 230 Indonesians in China — roughly 100 in Wuhan and the rest in Hubei province. The foreign ministry said Tuesday it has yet to decide on an evacuation plan.

Japan

A plane chartered by the Japanese government left Wuhan and landed in Tokyo early Wednesday, with 206 nationals who had been stranded in the area on board. There are roughly 650 Japanese citizens in the area who have said they want to be evacuated, authorities said.

Malaysia

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Wednesday that Kuala Lumpur was keen to send a plane to Wuhan to evacuate some 78 Malaysians stranded in the city.

Philippines

The foreign ministry said Wednesday it would evacuate citizens in Hubei on a chartered flight, and asked nationals in the area to contact the Shanghai consulate. On Tuesday, officials said there were roughly 150 Filipinos in Wuhan and another 150 in other parts of Hubei.

Sri Lanka

Colombo said Tuesday there were roughly 860 Sri Lankan students in China. The foreign ministry said it is awaiting a response from the Chinese authorities to operate a Sri Lankan airlines charter flight to Wuhan to evacuate some 32 Sri Lankan students and their relatives. South Korea Seoul will send chartered planes to Wuhan this week, the foreign ministry said, to return hundreds of its citizens to South Korea on Thursday and Friday.

Thailand

Thailand’s premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Tuesday the country was waiting for authorisation from Chinese officials before evacuating people, but that aircraft and doctors were on standby. Sixty-four Thais — 49 students and 15 workers or tourists — are in China.

– NORTH AMERICA –

United States The State Department said a chartered flight had left Wuhan early Wednesday with 240 American citizens on board, including consular staff.

– EUROPE –

France

France ‘s health minister Agnes Buzyn says a plane will be sent to Wuhan on Thursday, returning either Friday or Saturday. About 500 to 1,000 French citizens are eligible for repatriation there. Another flight is planned. The European Union meanwhile said it would co-fund an airlift effort at France’s request, so that more than 100 nationals from other EU nations could be repatriated along with French citizens. The European Commission said “only healthy or asymptomatic citizens will be authorised to travel” on the flights.

Germany Berlin has not confirmed any evacuation plan but said it is considering options for roughly 90 citizens reportedly in Wuhan. Spain Spanish officials are working with China and the European Union to take Spanish nationals out of the area, the foreign minister said.

– NORTH AFRICA –

Algeria

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has asked the government to take all measures needed to bring home 36 Algerians, most of them students, living in Wuhan, according to state agency APS.

Morocco

About 100 people, mostly students in Wuhan, will be evacuated, according to local media.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/coronavirus-algeria-morocco-other-countries-evacuate-citizens-from-china.html

The death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, with the number of infections almost doubling in a day to more than 4,500. The rise comes as governments scramble to control the spread of the virus. Hong Kong is going to slash cross-border travel with mainland China. The virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally, according to BBC reports. Wuhan, as well as wider Hubei province, are already effectively in a lockdown with strict transport restrictions in and out of the area. Wearing masks in public is now mandatory in some Chinese cities.

On Monday, authorities in Beijing confirmed a 50-year-old man had died – the first fatality in the Chinese capital from the virus. Hours later, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the high-speed rail line between the territory and mainland China would be suspended from Thursday. Flights, buses and ferry services will also be cut down drastically in an effort to halt the virus’s spread to the city – a global financial centre.

The coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory infection and there is no specific cure or vaccine. Most of the deaths have been in Hubei province. The initial victims were mostly elderly people or those with pre-existing respiratory problems, but few details have been released about the dozens of deaths confirmed in recent days. A total of 60 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery, according to Chinese state media.

Efforts to stem the spread of the virus have coincided with the Lunar New Year celebration, which usually sees millions travel across the country to visit relatives and friends. To try to stop the spread of infections, many of the new year festivities have been suspended and the holiday period has been extended by three days to Sunday.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/coronavirus-death-toll-climbs-to-106-as-infections-reach-45000.html

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.Tukur Buratai yesterday at the reopening of Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road said the objective for closing the road in 2018 as an operational strategy to safeguard lives of law abiding citizens has been achieved. He said the closure of the highway was done strictly for operational exigency to enable troops curtail the incessant attacks from Boko Haram insurgents on commuters.

During the ceremony held at Molai, an outskirt of Maiduguri, the Army Chief declared that “Today’s reopening is quite unique in the sense that we have achieved the objective of the closure of this road and henceforth you have been told the road would be opened all days of the week. “Despite strategic considerations, it was not done deliberately to inconvenience the people that ply this road, and to prevent them in carrying out their economic activities.” He said adequate security has been provided with the combined efforts of the military, hunters and the Civilian Joint Task Force in collaboration with the Airforce, which will provide air surveillance.

“We have provided enough security along this road; we will have a very minimal incident of insecurity here. The road is not only open to Damboa but equally to Biu,” he said. He also expressed hope that with the improved security situation on the road, the security responsibility will soon be handed over to the Police Force to ensure safety of road users.

In his welcome address, Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, advised members of National Union of Roads Transport Workers (NURTW) to restrain from extorting commuters under the guise of providing logistics to soldiers saying the Army Headquarters has provided sufficient resources for logistics. Borno State Deputy Governor, Hon. Usman Kadafur appreciated the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff for facilitating the reopening of the road and guaranteeing adequate security at all times.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/b-haram-maiduguri-damboa-road-reopening-sign-of-success-coas.html

Bad news

Praise the Lord!

The pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, yesterday rejected the federal government’s position that Amotekun should align with the national community policing strategy. Spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin, however said the group has no problem with each of the state Houses of Assembly passing a law to give the outfit a legal backing.

According to Odumakin, the federal government cannot dictate to the region on how to protect its people. He said, “Those agreements are not bad themselves but they (FG) cannot dictate to the states. The states are a federating unit. They are coordinate to the federal government; they are not subordinate.

“They have been asking what the framework for Amotekun is… What is the framework for their community policing? Community policing from what I have heard from the IGP is not more than just informants to the police. Where will that take us to? We need more than that,” he said. “Yes, that there should be a law to back it, we have no problem with that but to say that it should be in line with the federal government’s community policing, we reject that totally,” he said.

The Executive Director and Chairman of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), Dr Wunmi Bewaji, agreed that each state House of Assembly in the South West would have to pass a law to capture the operational modalities of Amotekun. He said the federal government has “bowed to public pressure and realised the illegality” of its earlier position on the issue. “The truth of the matter is that protection of lives and properties is never in the exclusive list, not even in the concurrent list and public safety is also not in the exclusive list, not even in the concurrent list,” the legal luminary said.

He also rejected the position of the federal government that the issue must align with the FG’s strategies on community policing, saying the strategies had failed. “Is it the strategy that allowed the Emir of Potiskum to be brazenly attacked or the strategy that has given bandits and criminals total control over the states?” he queried.

A former minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe said the federal government should have initially proposed operational guidelines on community policing which would guide any community or state establishing a local policing outfit. He said declaring Amotekun illegal in the first instance was not the right thing to do.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/fg-cant-dictate-how-swest-should-protect-its-people-afenifere.html

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A veteran actor Pete Edochie has said kneeling down to propose is totally wrong and it is not an Igbo tradition. Edochie said it is the duty of the elders to correct the children of this generation who are following the western tradition even as he said he did not kneel to propose to his wife.

He disclosed that with his marriage now 50 years, no one had ever settled disputes for him and his wife. Edochie added that kneeling down for a lady means handing over authority to her. He said the western tradition is wrong, stressing that it had no place in Igbo tradition.

The actor explained that kneeling down in front of a lady in Igbo tradition means handing over the authority to her. He said it means she would become the head of the family.

According to him, marriage in the Igbo tradition is when a lady gives her husband-to-be wine while kneeling down, adding that this tradition signifies that the man has been accepted by the lady as her husband.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-igbo-men-should-not-kneel-down-to-propose-to-a-lady-pete-edochie.html

Nigeria has gone on alert for the new coronavirus after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) issued a health advisory detailing five ways individuals can reduce their risk of contracting the new virus that has emerged in China. The centre advises: Wash your hands regularly with soap under running water Cover your mouth and nose properly with handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing and/or coughing. You may also cough into your elbow if a handkerchief is not available.

Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing

Avoid self-medication, report to the nearest health facility when you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms Healthcare workers are always advised to observe standard infection prevention and control measures when attending to patients and take a travel history.

More information is still emerging about this new virus, and NCDC says it will continue to update the advisory as research uncovers its impact on populations. Coronaviruses are zoonotic viruses already in existence and transmitted between animals and humans. But the new one named 2019nCov is a strain that has been found in humans for the first time. The first case was confirmed on January 7, among patients said to have either visited or worked in the Huanan Seafood wholesale market in China’s Wuhan city.

By January 20, some 278 cases of 2019nCoV infections have been confirmed by laboratory tests, and six people have died. Many of the initial cases were thought to have contacted the virus through animal-to-human transmission from the market, but human-to-human transmission has also been established. More cases are expected to be reported in coming weeks. Beyond Wuhan, cases have been confirmed in other cities in China; Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai.

As at the 21st of January, five cases have been confirmed in four other countries; Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States of America, all with a travel history to China. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has convened its Emergency Committee on Wednesday to determine whether this outbreak should be declared a “Public Health Event of International Concern”.

NCDC is coordinating a multisector technical group to assess and manage the risk of 2019nCoV being imported into Nigeria. The Port Health Services unit of the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria has been placed on alert and has heightened screening measures at the points of entry. Travellers from Wuhan city have been undergoing enhanced screening at airports and ground transport stations in China since January 14.

This include temperature checks, combined with provision of information and masks to passengers with fever, as well as directing symptomatic passengers to health facilities for follow up. NCDC has advised travellers from Nigeria to Wuhan to avoid contact with sick people, animals (alive or dead), and animal markets.

“Travellers from Wuhan to Nigeria, may be asked questions upon arrival by the Port Health Services unit at points of entry about symptoms of illness and travel history, and are advised to report immediately to NCDC, if they feel ill after a trip to Wuhan,” the advisory warned. “This new coronavirus 2019nCoV appears to cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like cough, cough and breathing difficulties,” it said of the symptoms.

“From current evidence, it appears that death is a rare outcome, mostly in patients with underlying illness.” There is no specific treatment for illness caused by the novel coronavirus yet, but many of the symptoms can be treated. “Therefore, treatment is based on the patient’s clinical condition. In addition, supportive care for infected persons can be highly effective,” it added.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nigeria-on-alert-for-new-coronavirus.html

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A High Court, sitting in Kaduna, has restrained Governor Nasir El-Rufai and agencies of the Kaduna State Government from further demolishing and taking over of any part of Durbar Hotel Plc. The building, formerly housing the hotel, located on Muhammadu Buhari Way, Kaduna, was demolished by an agency of the state government last week in what is believed to be part of the urban renewal programme of the El-Rufai-led government. The property had been abandoned over the years following series of litigations over ownership some of which are yet to be determined at the courts as at the time it was demolished.

The restraining order is consequent upon an exparte motion brought before the court by the Management of Durbar Hotel Plc praying the court for an order of interim injunction restraining El-Rufai and agencies of the state government from demolishing, taking over, or tampering with the property.

Durbar Hotel had in the application also sought an interim injunction restraining El-Rufai and agencies of the state government from further trespassing into the property pending the determination of the Motion on Notice. Upon hearing the exparte motion, Justice Hannatu Balogun of the State High Court, noted that having seen the documents filed especially the affidavit of urgency and exhibits, granted the order.

“I grant an order restraining the Defendants from taking over the property in issue and from further tampering with some or trespassing into same or developing or assigning same pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” she stated in the order. The case has been adjourned to February 4, 2020 for the motion on notice.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/court-restrains-el-rufai-from-demolishing-durbar-hotel.html