The United States has imposed visa restrictions on people accused of inciting violence in English-speaking western Cameroon.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “deeply concerned by the continued violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon”.
“We condemn those who undermine peace through engaging in or inciting violence, human rights violations and abuses, and threats against advocates for peace or humanitarian workers,” he said on Monday.
Blinken did not indicate the number or identify the people affected by the visa ban.
He urged the Cameroonian government and separatist armed groups to end the violence and engage in a dialogue without preconditions to peacefully resolve the crisis.
Cameroon’s English-speaking regions of North-West and South-West have been mired by violence since 2017, with separatists fighting to break away from the government dominated by the French-speaking majority.
According to the UN, more than 3,500 people have died and 700,000 displaced since the onset of the violence.
State troops and rebel fighters have both been accused of committing crimes and abuses against civilians.

This kind of thing will happen at the moment of the epidemic. This kind of violence must be stopped. At present, the common enemy of everyone is Covid-19, not each other. In order to alleviate the harm of the people, I hope the government can come up with effective policies to deal with such incidents.

High inflation driven by soaring food prices has pushed seven million Nigerians into poverty, the World Bank said.
In a new report, it commended Nigeria for buttressing its economy from fallout from the coronavirus pandemic but called for urgent measures to brake inflation and protect livelihoods.
A major crude exporter, Africa’s largest and most populous economy again slipped into a recession in late 2020 hurt by lower oil prices and the pandemic, but unexpectedly emerged from the slump in February.
In May, year-on-year inflation dipped to 17.93 percent, just below the four-year high of 18.17 percent registered in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The food price increase in May was at 22.28 percent.
“Food prices accounted for over 60% of the total increase in inflation. Rising prices have pushed an estimated 7 million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone,” its report published on Tuesday said.
The World Poverty Clock, which uses UN, IMF and World Bank data to monitor progress against poverty, reports Nigeria had 41 percent of its population or nearly 87 million people living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 per day.
The World Bank report applauded government reforms to offset the crisis and help recovery, including cost-cutting and adjustments to energy subsidies, but those measures needed to be sustained.
“Nigeria faces interlinked challenges in relation to inflation, limited job opportunities, and insecurity,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
“While the government has made efforts to reduce the effect of these by advancing long-delayed policy reforms, it is clear that these reforms will have to be sustained and deepened.”
Nigeria needs urgently to reduce inflation by promoting inclusive growth and job creation and helping small and medium businesses gain access to finance, it said.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price crash have hammered Nigeria’s economy, which gets 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings from petroleum exports, pushing it into its second recession in four years.
As well as inflation, a rise in joblessness has left a third of Nigeria’s workforce unemployed at the end of 2020, according to the statistics office.

The Delta coronavirus variant, which is highly transmissible and possibly more dangerous than current predominant variants, now makes up more than 20% of all samples sequenced in the United States after the percentage doubled in a recent two-week period, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
The country seems to be following a pattern seen in the United Kingdom, both with a variant first seen there -- the B.1.1.7 Alpha -- and now with the Delta variant, said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"As was the case with B.1.1.7, we seem to be following the pattern with the Delta variant, with a doubling time of about two weeks," Fauci said Tuesday at a White House Covid-19 Task Force briefing.
Some labs genetically sequence samples of the virus taken from patients to find out which variant is involved, and these test results are reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Offering some good news, Fauci said the mRNA vaccines, which are made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, appear to hold up against the Delta variant.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective in preventing Covid-19 symptoms in the Delta variant two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine, he said.
"When you look at hospitalizations, again, both the Pfizer BioNTech and the Oxford AstraZeneca are between 92 and 96% effective against hospitalizations," Fauci said.
The challenge, though, is getting more people to take the vaccines.

Upon seeing the health workers, Ani, who is a member of NYSC, a programme established by the Federal Government to involve Nigerian graduates in nation-building and the development of Nigeria, became afraid.
“I did not take [the vaccine] because I was confused,” the 23-year-old said.
“I never had anyone explain to me what the vaccine was all about and if there were any side effects after receiving it,” she said, stressing that some of the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation she received on social media discouraged her. “I saw some conspiracy theories on WhatsApp status, Facebook and Instagram about the vaccine.”
COVID-19 is caused by acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first identified in the city of Wuhan, China, and reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019.
Nigeria confirmed its first case on February 27, 2020. The virus was later declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020, as the number of cases and deaths continued to increase globally.
Scientists began to team up with pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines that would reduce the spread of the virus. Vaccines have been identified as the best method of preventing and controlling viral diseases. According to the WHO, there are vaccines developed to protect people from at least 20 diseases.
There was, however, a breakthrough in the development of vaccines, which were distributed to countries, including Nigeria, to vaccinate their population.
But Nigerians, especially those in rural communities, are not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine due to misinformation, leaving them susceptible to the virus.
More than 170 million people have been infected with the virus globally as at June 4, according to the WHO, of which three million people have been confirmed dead as at June 2.
In Nigeria, about 166, 000 people have been infected with the virus and 2, 000 people have died, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
In March 2021, Nigeria received 3.94 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and aimed at vaccinating 20 per cent of the population.
The Nigerian government said it planned to vaccinate 40 per cent of its total population in 2021, with an additional 30 per cent in 2022 and aimed to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the country’s population.
The vaccines were immediately distributed to various states with the NPHCDA assigned the responsibility to vaccinate Nigerians, starting with frontline healthcare workers.
“I will not be willing to receive the vaccine because I don’t really have factual reasons [I should],” Ani said. “A lot of people perceive the vaccine to be substandard. People do not know if the vaccine is the right one.”
How COVID-19 misinformation spreads
Misinformation has been spreading across social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp about how harmful the vaccine is when taken.
There was misinformation that the Messenger RNA vaccines developed for COVID-19 changes the DNA.
Many people said they were afraid to take the vaccine because they did not believe in the existence of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“I won’t take [the vaccine] because I do not believe in the virus,” said Judith Ohakwe. “I do not believe we have it here [in Nigeria].”
Ohakwe said she received several messages on Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, making her not to believe that the virus was present in the country.
“The messages were mostly voice notes shared to me privately and on WhatsApp groups I belonged to. I saw several Facebook posts,” Ohakwe said, stressing she no longer had access to the messages.
She received several conspiracy theories that influenced her decision to not believe the existence of the COVID-19.
“You might not necessarily believe in it [conspiracy theory], but it has a way of creating fear in you,” she said.
“Since I will still be alive, even though I will not take the vaccine, there is no point. Let me live my normal life. If death comes, I will die.”
The lack of trust in the Nigerian government has been referenced as a significant factor discouraging Nigerians from taking the vaccine.
“I do not believe that the Nigerian government will be so compassionate to give us the vaccine [for free], considering what is happening presently in the country. Nigeria does not love its citizens to give us vaccines,” Ohakwe continued.
“I know that President Buhari does not like us, I do not believe anything that comes from the administration. Had it been we had a good president that we believe in, if he says anything, we will believe him. Because we have someone like Buhari, I do not believe in vaccines.”
This is not the first time Nigerians have refused vaccines to reduce the spread of disease. The Kick Polio out of Africa Campaign led to the rejection of polio vaccination in northern Nigeria following misinformation by northern leaders that the vaccine was contaminated with antifertility agents (estradiol hormone), HIV, and cancerous agents.
This brought the immunisation campaign to a halt as leaders called on parents not to allow their children to be immunised. It took years for the government to debunk the misinformation.
In 2017, misinformation about the Nigerian Army injecting children with vaccines that inflicted monkeypox spread in South-East Nigeria, disrupting the immunisation programme of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Implications of COVID-19 misinformation
An epidemiologist and technical assistant to the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 Onyebuchi Onovo said the spread of misinformation, which had influenced the people to reject the vaccines, would prolong the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“Vaccine is a lifesaver and it has been proven to be so over time,” he said. “The low uptake of the vaccine means that the vaccine will continue to linger or continue to be within the population.”
He said one of the best strategies of addressing COVID-19 misinformation was giving out credible information at the right time and through the right sources, which included the government, religious leaders, and traditional rulers.
“These are people at the local levels who have presence and influence. If a traditional ruler comes out to say that these vaccines are safe and I encourage you to receive them, of course, the majority of the followers will receive them. The same with a religious leader.”
Ani said unless she was well enlightened and sensitised, she would not take the vaccine, adding that there was a lack of awareness on the part of the government and health workers.
“The mistake they [health workers] made was to send the vaccine to people without enlightening them and telling those more about the vaccine,” she said. “I feel there should be proper awareness about getting people convinced before bringing the vaccine to rural areas.”

There are still many people who do not understand vaccines. I think the government should increase its propaganda efforts. Let more people understand the role of vaccines. Only in this way can the vaccine be popularized.

Abuja — On June 1, I announced, with all humility, my intention to present myself, again, to our country as a candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
While the timing of the announcement, given Nigeria's current existential and security crisis, might have appeared either odd or remarkable (depending on the standpoint of the observer), it was intentional and deliberate.
This was an act of leadership intended to contribute hope into our seemingly hopeless situation. By pointing to a near future in which we can turn our situation around by selecting a different kind of leadership that is ready for the job on Day One if given the opportunity.
My announcement also was a signal to many compatriots disaffected with the status quo that we can now rally together around a vision of Nigeria we all share. It will take not one person alone, but all of us working together.
Yes, I know some wonder if we will even get to 2023 on current trends. Despite our uniquely trying times, I believe we will and must.
Our current crisis is the direct result of electoral decisions and leadership choices we have collectively made. Put simply, elections have consequences. The only real path forward, therefore, is a change of leadership in another election.
But, to what and to whom? More of the same -- in the sense that our country's reigning political elite represented in the two biggest political parties all live in the same house and share the same living rooms and bathrooms -- or to something different that can take us truly forward as a country? Unpleasant and scary as today's Nigeria has become, our present reality should force us to question our prior assumptions about leadership selection.
I seek the Nigerian presidency with a vision to secure and unify our country, manage its economy to real prosperity, and restore our country's respect in the world. Authoritarian restrictions of our freedoms of expression and assembly undermine all of these goals. I am motivated by an intense dislike of poverty and injustice of any kind and seek to work with our youth whose future is being drowned by reckless government borrowing, to create a more hopeful future they will inherit.
And I bring to this aspiration the very relevant preparation and track record of leadership performance in national economic management at the Central Bank of Nigeria, international peace and security operations and diplomatic work in the United Nations, and time in the private sector and academia. Not least is my prior political experience as a candidate for the presidency in 2019.
Nigeria's future is imperiled. But we can turn our present crisis into an opportunity for a rebirth of our country. So we have a choice: In 2023 we can decide to play politics as usual, with no serious consideration for post-election governance (only to complain loudly when the consequences arrive later) or we can proactively seek the leadership we deserve as God's children too, entitled to electricity, clean water, skills, jobs, security, education and healthcare. While politics and elections are the path to elective leadership in a presumed democracy, they are useless and self-defeating if their only outcomes are the clueless leading the able, the blindfolded leading those with a clear sight. As 2023 looms, apathy as a response to this reality is no longer an option.

Favour Obi graduated in 2016 with a first class degree in biomedical sciences and what felt like reasonable hopes for a career in medical research.
Before a recent shift waiting tables at a fast food restaurant in Lagos, the 27-year-old explained how gradually she let those hopes drift away. “I knew it would be hard to find a job but at the same time I was so determined, I was staying hopeful,” she said.
Her job for the past three and a half years pays 35,000 naira (£60) a month, just above Nigeria’s minimum wage and barely enough to live on. It was initially meant to be temporary.
“But it’s been years now and I’m still here. There are so many people I know in a similar position,” she said, describing friends around her age, who were well-qualified yet grappling with how to do more than just survive.
Obtaining a graduate degree has always been revered in her family, Obi said, yet her post-university life has been an uphill struggle. Like many of her generation she has been forced to learn trades and pursue other career paths. “We grow up being told that going to university will help you become successful,” she said. “Being qualified makes us proud, our parents are proud, but for many of us, it hasn’t changed our lives for the better because we’re lacking jobs.”
Nigeria’s vast, rapidly growing population of 200 million people has a median age of just 18. Many of its young people have seen their prospects quickly diminish in recent years.
Since 2015, Nigeria has endured one of its worst economic slumps in a generation. Two recessions since 2016 – driven by a combination of the government’s economic policies, a collapse in oil prices, and the Covid-19 pandemic – have inflicted prolonged misery.
The economic challenges are stark and affect people across the age spectrum, but the rise of youth unemployment has been among the most troubling factors.
The unemployment rate has quadrupled since 2015 to become one of the worst globally. At the end of last year, 23 million people – or 33% of working age people looking for work – were recorded as unemployed, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and younger people were worst affected.
Almost half of working-age Nigerians under 35 are either unemployed or underemployed – working part-time when they would like to be full time – the NBS said in March. A shadow has been cast over the young, reinforcing the sense that greener pastures lie elsewhere.
“Many people now just want to leave,” Obi said. “So many people I know don’t see Nigeria as a place they can actually thrive.”
Throughout the morning, dozens of mainly young people stream in and out of a dim hallway in an old building in the Lagos Island district of Nigeria’s sprawling metropolis, meeting job agents who connect them to employers.
“The number of jobs are shrinking and the number of people looking is growing everyday,” said 46-year-old Julius Oshie, a job agent for the past five years, as he explained how the job market had dramatically changed.
“The other problem is that the type of jobs available are not what many young people see as beneficial to them. They are jobs that they take to survive, not to get on in life,” he said. “Cleaning jobs, bar jobs, ‘house helps’ [maids]. And it’s not just the poorer masses taking these jobs. It’s the aspirational classes, the more highly educated,” he said. “It’s been like this for a long time, it’s just you can say it’s getting worse.”
Oshie gestured to a stack of CVs at the end of his desk. “I have people with top degrees in very technical, impressive subjects – physics, statistics – and they come here and after years without work in their field, they’re going to low earning jobs, paying less than 30,000 naira per month,” he said.
In some cases, white collar jobs had less appeal, Oshie said, due to corporate companies cutting the wages offered as the economy has struggled. It was also common for employers to complain that roles went unfilled because of skills shortages.
Attaining a university degree is a dominant aspiration in Nigerian culture, which venerates academic achievement and excellence. Many people see higher education as a route out of poverty, yet in practice university qualifications are not working for many young people, said Tokunbo Afikuyomi, the editor of Stears Business, an economic analysis company based in Lagos.

MANILA – The United States government has lowered its travel alert for the Philippines from Level 4 to 3.
In an advisory posted on June 8, the US State Department advised Americans to still reconsider travel to the country due to "high level" of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Under Level 3, US citizens are encouraged to get fully vaccinated before travel, while those unvaccinated travelers were told to avoid non-essential travel.
Last April, Americans were advised against all travel to the Philippines after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised to "Level 4: Very High" its Covid-19 advisory for the country, the highest of its pandemic warnings.
America's "do not travel" notice, meanwhile, remains in place in Marawi City and the Sulu archipelago, including the southern Sulu Sea due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping.
A "reconsider travel" warning is also hoisted in other parts of Mindanao.
"The Philippine government maintains a state of emergency and greater police presence in the Cotabato City area, and in the Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces," the State Department said.
"Terrorist and armed groups continue to conduct kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks targeting US citizens, foreigners, civilians, local government institutions, and security forces," it added. (PNA)

Maryland’s largest hospitals and health systems, including University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medicine, will require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment by the end of the summer, setting the stage for immunization requirements at all other state businesses, workplaces and institutions.
Some other area medical centers and hospitals also said they would mandate it but not set deadlines until the vaccines win full federal approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of the University of Maryland hospital system, said officials feel confident in the safety and efficacy of the shots, now six months into the launch of the vaccination campaign in the state and around the country.
“We believe in the science, and we trust the data behind the vaccine development,” Suntha said. “We understand vaccination provides the single biggest opportunity to lead ourselves and society out of the pandemic.”

As demand for Covid-19 vaccines declines across the country, unused Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses are piling up on state shelves, leaving state officials increasingly concerned that the lack of a coordinated federal plan to redistribute them means hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of doses will go to waste.
The buildup of doses is largely a result of the Food and Drug Administration's order in early April pausing distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of safety concerns. Enthusiasm for the one-dose shot was dampened after the 11-day pause, according to state officials.
State officials are aware that people in other countries are eager to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, medical director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Plescia described a growing fear among his members that Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses, which are coveted in the developing world, could go to waste if no national effort emerges.
"I think people feel ethically that you've got other countries with no vaccines and in dire shape," Plescia said.
Lead adviser Andy Slavitt said Tuesday at the White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing that "a very small fraction of doses that have been sent out to states" are at risk of expiring.
"It's not realistic to expect that not a single dose will go to waste," said Slavitt, who put some of the responsibility for getting the unused doses into arms on the states.
"Remember, those doses were ordered by states, delivered by states and should end up in people's arms, and we are working aggressively through this month of action and other steps to try to get those doses into arms," he said.

Many Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine doses may be close to expiring

A group representing some of the nation's property owners asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday to block enforcement of an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that has stopped landlords from evicting tenants who aren't paying their rent during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Keeping that order in place "will prolong the severe financial burdens borne by landlords under the moratorium for the past nine months," the group said, in an emergency application directed to Chief Justice John Roberts filed by the Alabama Association of Realtors.
"Landlords have been losing over $13 billion every month under the moratorium, and the total effect of the CDC's overreach may reach up to $200 billion if it remains in effect for a year." With the pandemic winding down the application said, the need for the eviction ban is fading.
In March, the Biden administration extended the moratorium on housing evictions through the end of this month.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C, ruled in May that the CDC had no power to issue the moratorium on foreclosures. But the judge stayed his order to give the government time to appeal. A federal appeals court declined to lift the stay, leaving the moratorium in place.

The answer is keeping many Nigerians awake as they chew over a proposal to change the name of the country.
For two weeks, federal lawmakers have been traversing the country collating citizens' views to amend the constitution.
The idea was to gather suggestions for amendments such as electoral reforms and the system of government.
But citizen Adeleye Jokotoye, a tax consultant, dropped something of a bombshell at the hearing in Lagos.
He wants the name of the country changed as it was an imposition by Nigeria's past colonial masters.
The name Nigeria was suggested in the late 19th Century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who would later marry the British colonial administrator Lord Frederick Lugard.
It is derived from the River Niger which enters the country from the north-west and flows down to the Niger Delta where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean through its many tributaries.
But Mr Jokotoye wants the name changed and his choice of United African Republic - to reflect the hundreds of ethnic groups that comprise the country - has blown a storm.

EVEN as COVID-19 infection continues to spread in Nigeria, a medical expert Professor Adesoji Fasanmade says Nigerians can reduce their odds of testing positive for COVID-19 by 24 per cent by taking the influenza vaccine.

Fasanmade, an endocrinologist, speaking at the University College Hospital (UCH) hybrid grand round and scientific meeting with the theme ‘The Value of Influenza vaccination in Nigeria,” said flu vaccination needs to be promoted to reduce the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Professor Fasanmade stated that vaccinated patients testing positive for COVID-19 were less likely to require hospitalisation or mechanical ventilation and had a shorter hospital length of stay.

Maryland hit a significant target in its battle against the coronavirus by at least partially vaccinating 70% of adults as of Memorial Day — reaching a goal set by Gov. Larry Hogan.
“Today — the last day in May — California and Maryland became the 11th and 12th states to top 70% of adults with at least one COVID shot!” Ronald Klain, the White House Chief of Staff tweeted Monday afternoon.
The states are ahead by more than a month on the goal set by Democratic President Joe Biden to vaccinate at least 70% of Americans by July 4. White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has said reaching that milestone could help avoid a spike in cases when the weather gets colder in the fall.
“In Maryland, our goal was to get 70% of adults vaccinated by Memorial Day, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” Hogan tweeted. “Thank you to all of our vaccinators, and to the millions of Marylanders who have stepped up to get the vaccine.”
The state did not immediately update its website Monday with the latest vaccination totals, so the number of shots went into people’s arms in the past 24 hours wasn’t immediately known.
But the state site reported Maryland’s seven-day positivity rate fell below 1.5%, a new low. And state health officials reported just 117 new cases Monday of COVID-19 — the lowest total recorded since March 25, 2020, when the state had 76 new cases in a 24-hour period early in the pandemic.
Here’s how the Maryland Department of Health’s coronavirus measures broke down on the holiday:
Cases
There were 117 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the state to 459,894 total cases since March 2020.
These numbers represent a steep decline from as recently as early April, when the state was regularly exceeding 1,500 new diagnosed cases a day and on one occasion swept past 1,800.
Deaths
State health officials reported seven more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the state’s fatalities to 9,402 in 14 months.
Hospitalizations
Currently, 333 people in Maryland are hospitalized due to COVID-19, a decline of 13 since Sunday. Of those hospital inpatients, 87 require intensive care.
Positivity
The statewide seven-day average testing positivity rate was 1.47% Monday, down from 1.57% a day earlier. It’s the seventh consecutive day that health officials have reported a testing positivity rate below 2%.
An additional 7,693 coronavirus tests were completed in the past 24 hours.

Boss Mustapha, chairman of the committee, said the national response will continue to focus on testing, detection, risk communication, community engagement, finding access to vaccines, vaccination of eligible Nigerians, enhancing surveillance especially at the points of entry, among other issues.
He enjoined Nigerians to keep adhering to the safety protocol and get vaccinated.
​”The philosophy is for us to keep out the virus as much as possible. India is still quite high in a number of cases and in the last week, the numbers in Africa experienced a spike, especially in South Africa,” he said.
”The PSC, therefore, appeals to all Nigerians to continue to observe the non-pharmaceutical interventions diligently.
“Similarly, Nigerians must eschew sentiments by ensuring that friends, relations and associates arriving from countries of concern and, indeed, all countries obey the quarantine and post arrival protocols. It is our duty to make sure this occurs.
‘”Pursuant to the travel advisory issued, I wish to inform you that the PSC has initiated series of sanctions against those that have violated the 2021 Health Safety Regulations.
“This is considered a serious infraction and the PSC will proceed to deactivate the passports of Nigerians involved, for a period of not less than one year; revoke the visas of foreigners that have abused our hospitality, and prosecute the violators where necessary.
​”Nigeria will continue to monitor the unfolding events and will deal with them as applicable. Nigeria cannot afford a third wave and thus will do everything to protect our territory.”
He added that the PSC will focus on increasing testing and improving oxygen reserve capacity in case there is a third wave of infections.

In the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, as countries around the world faced the first wave of infections, Nigerian photographer Andrew Esiebo caught the virus. “While I was able to recover at home, I saw firsthand — not just as a photographer, but as a patient — the enormous challenge facing Nigeria’s health services,” he said.
This series of portraits is Esiebo’s homage to these services. “It’s for the selfless sacrifices they made to Nigeria,” said Esiebo, whose goal was to show the unimaginable struggles of these medical workers “who endure everything from inadequate resources to poor welfare and the social stigmatization” that comes with being a coronavirus front-line worker. Yet, as the photographer met with them, he was stricken by how unfazed they remain as “they put their lives on the line day-after-day to help Nigeria overcome this global pandemic,” he added.
Esiebo felt it was important to show each worker in the clothes they wore before going to “battle,” he said. “And placing a halo of color on the walls of the spaces where they performed their duties reflects their sacred role and sacrifice.”
Through these portraits, the photographer also hopes to create an echo to the front-line workers’ calls for the public to play their part in controlling the pandemic in Nigeria where too many people are still not wearing masks or observing social distancing rules when less than 2 million people have been vaccinated.

VIENTIANE, LAO PDR — U.S. Ambassador Dr. Peter M. Haymond presented personal protective equipment and hygiene supplies to Minister of Health Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalysith, on May 25, 2021 as part of the United States’ ongoing COVID-19 support to Lao PDR. The equipment and supplies were the first of two deliveries of supplies via the U.S. Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Command to outfit 25 Quarantine Centers across Laos. The deliveries offer much needed resupply for healthcare workers, facilities maintenance workers, and visitors at each quarantine center, supporting World Food Program efforts there. This support is valued at $203,000 USD.
“I commend the Government of Laos’ leadership and efforts to keep the COVID-19 pandemic under control,” said Ambassador Haymond. “I am proud to hand over these supplies to support the healthcare workers, facilities maintenance workers, and visitors at the quarantine centers. We will continue to support the Lao PDR in controlling COVID-19, as part of the U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Partnership established five years ago by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bounnhang Vorachit.”
This handover highlights the United States’ sustained efforts to support the Lao PDR as it confronts the challenges of COVID-19, and the enduring commitment of the U. S. Department of Defense to build long-term capacity-building partnership here in public health. In the past year alone, the Department of Defense has worked with the Ministry of Health and the Military Medical Department, Ministry of National Defense to help address the health needs of the Lao people by contributing over $2.4M USD in areas such as health facilities, field ambulances, laboratory equipment and supplies, COVID-19 test kits, and personal protective equipment. Today’s handover is part of over $8 million in direct COVID-related assistance that the U.S. government has provided to the Lao PDR since the beginning of the outbreak.
This year, the United States and Lao PDR celebrate the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Partnership.

Nigeria's human rights organizations and Islamic bodies have called on the UN to go beyond condemnations and take all the necessary steps to stop Israel from its continued illegal occupation and forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes.
The coalition, led by Khadijah Olaniyan, Nigeria's representative at the International Muslim Women Union (IWMU), also urged the UN to protect civilians, especially innocent children from future Israeli aggression.
Representatives from the coalition gathered at the Lagos State Secretariat Mosque on Monday where they reviewed the aftermath of Israel's 11-day offensive in Gaza and the West Bank, which claimed the lives of 279 Palestinians, including 66 children.
"[Israel] is really out to wipe out Palestine," said Olaiyan, adding that the powers that be have silently watched Israel maim, kill, and commit war crimes.
Lakin Akintola, the director of Muslim Rights Concern in Nigeria, condemned the attacks on innocent civilians and called on the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold the US responsible for the crimes against humanity.
"We'll continue to hold the US government responsible until it stops Israeli aggression because we know the answers to the Palestine-Israel crisis, lies squarely with America," he added.
He said: "Israel is the greatest apartheid country in existence today. The South Africans who segregated blacks from the rest of the community and who compared blacks to dogs have been vanquished. Apartheid has fallen in South Africa.
"But we are surprised that around the same time that South Africa's apartheid fell, Israeli aggression, segregation, marginalization, discrimination against the Palestinians who own the land just started, with more vicious wickedness."
He noted that many Americans with "good conscience" have demonstrated against the Israelis and the US government.
He also corrected the wrong impression among Nigerians that the Palestine-Israel crisis is a religious issue.
"It isn't religion. This is clearly ethnic cleansing. There are Christians in Palestine, with 27% population, and yet, the world is keeping quiet against the right of this minority, as they, alongside Palestinian Muslim population were strangulated by Israel for 11 days," he concluded.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, the Nigerian Senate asked the federal government to suspend plans to deploy the 5G network pending a six-month investigation into possible health risks associated with the technology.
This development comes after the presentation of a report by the Senate Joint Committee on Communications, Science and Technology, ICT, and Cyber Crimes and Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases.
The Committee, led by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, had been directed to investigate the status of 5G deployment in Nigeria and its impact on citizens. This was due to a motion sponsored by Senator Uche Ekwunife on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, Vanguard reports.
In her debate, Ekwunife advised there was a need to investigate health concerns surrounding the deployment of 5G in Nigeria, citing the importance of ensuring that Nigerian citizens are not exposed to an unreasonable risk of significant bodily injury or harm.
While the Committee did not discover any link between 5G and COVID-19, and any other health implications, it has advised caution in the rollout of the 5G network and close observation of global attitude to its rollout.
The deployment of the 5G network in Nigeria has been shrouded in endless controversies, some of which we reviewed in this article.
After much research, the World Health Organization found no adverse health effects linked to the 5G technology despite operating at frequencies slightly higher than those of 4G and 3G.
Recall also that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 — coincidence? — signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited on the use of C-band Spectrum for 5G services in Nigeria.
All signs have so far pointed to steady movement in the direction of 5G deployment in Nigeria. But the Senate’s current stance seems to be another roadblock erected on this route.
The government’s seeming two-facedness to the rollout of 5G raises questions about whether it has any actual plans to deploy the technology in the country.
Nigeria continues to lag behind on the continent, as countries like South Africa and Kenya, where Safaricom launched in March 2021, already enjoy the 5G technology.
What should we expect next? Stay tuned to Techpoint Africa for more.

Ilorin — The upsurge in the incidences of mental disorder in the country is being driven by the menace of substance abuse and increment in neurological diseases, Bamidele Owoyele, a renowned academic and Professor of Physiology at the University of Ilorin, has said.
He said mental health disorders are on the rise in the country and that one out of every four Nigerians suffered from a mental health disorder.
Causes
Prof Owoyele explained that so many things could cause mental disorder; ranging from what we eat like psychoactive substances which damage or reduce the effective functioning of some neurons in parts of the brain to abuse, bereavement and heredity problems.
"This can be due to exposure in the environment to radioactive materials like consuming water that contains heavy metals like lead. There is also psychological problem like when somebody is abused or the family is not well set up. At times, it is difficult to overcome the loss of a very close person, such can precipitate, aside from it being genetic or hereditary. Been exposed to too much stress in the environment can lead to mental illness," he said.
Signs
The expert said abnormal and irrational behaviour is a sign of mental illness. This includes being moody and withdrawing from people and being hyper active beyond normal.
"At times, they claim to be seeing things which are ordinarily not there and they may indulge in food and sexual activities and become very harmful; killing people and even themselves in the process. So if you see somebody that was very social and interactive suddenly getting withdrawn, these are red signs.
"They may also become dependent on drugs and without it cannot get fulfilled. Some of them may be sickly continuously. You can have a case that the individual will be non-discreet about sexual relationship as a result of a damaged part of the brain resulting to inappropriate sexual relationship or sexual addiction and promiscuity.
"They may be eating excessively at time and they may get withdrawn from food. They sometimes don't take caution and start to beat or use dangerous things to harm or kill themselves aside consumption of poison," he explained.
COVID-19 and mental health
According to Prof Owoyele, COVID-19 has contributed to the rise in mental disorders.
"The stress in the society increased because movements were restricted during the lockdown and things were really bleak. Many people came down with one form of mental illness or the other.
"So stressful environment at home, work and between spouses can lead to it; or any toxic environment. We should also know that Covid-19 itself has the ability to influence the functioning of the brain and what people are even saying now is that those who have recovered still have some of its effects on their mental performance. The effect of lockdown increases the stress in the society and can lead to abnormal individual behaviour unexpected ordinarily from them," he said.
Prevention
Owoyele, who is the President of Ilorin Neuroscience Group (ING) said there is need to avoid substance abuse, and for environment at home, workplaceto be conducive. Another thing is for us to protect ourselves against mental health disorders.
"A family set up that is replete with shouting and lack of understanding is not ideal. Basically at home, there should be exhibition of some good behavior; we should behave responsibly and promote understating.
"We must desist from taking cocaine and other psychoactive drugs," he advised.
He further said the government should implement policies that protected people from depression and stigmatisation when they suffered from mental disorders.
"The solution generally is to reduce the stress in the society, and those who have come down with one form of mental illness or the other should be treated rather than being stigmatised.
"People are quick to ascribe terrible things to those suffering from mental illness, but that is far from the case. Mental illnesses are just like any other illnesses and scientists have advanced and are still working to produce drugs that can be used. So people should seek appropriate treatment rather than patronising quacks until it becomes too chronic to handle," he advised.
Speaking during the maiden global engagement and advocacy programme organised by the ING in conjunction with the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO) at the University of Ilorin, the don called on governments at all levels to allocate more budgetary provision for the health sector, saying about two per cent allocation often set aside for the health sector was too small for the health needs of the country.
He also called on philanthropists in the country to emulate their counterparts in the advanced world by assisting in the funding of research which would generate efficacious solutions to brain-related diseases.
The ING president further implored concerned authorities to engage in more public enlightenment programmes to educate members of the public on research participation, adding that such effort helped in the early detection of some neurological disorders and discovery of therapeutic interventions.
Training of professionals
Prof Owoyele also called for more training of experts in the field of mental health to address the growing level of neurological deficits among the nation's population, saying that effort should also be targeted at reducing the number of medical experts who were leaving the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures abroad.
On trado-medical patronage
"The best way is to take those with mental illness to those who have studied properly and have scientific evidence that can administer drugs that have effect with sound background of the relationship of these drugs. Although I don't doubt the fact that our traditional healers are working because there are things in our environment that can be taken that help the individual, there is need for increased collaboration among the trado-medical practitioners, scientists and healthcare providers on the issue. It cannot be entirely waved aside, but people should weigh the evidence before taking their patients to trado-medical practitioners," he explained.

Unvaccinated Latinos are two times more likely than whites to want a Covid-19 vaccine, highlighting an opportunity for targeted outreach to boost overall vaccination rates, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
But Latinos surveyed raised several concerns, including having to pay for the vaccination and having to give information that may reveal one's immigration status — showing that there needs to be more information that stresses vaccines are free and available to anyone regardless of legal status.
“With so many unvaccinated Hispanic adults eager to get a shot, there’s an opportunity to further close the gap in vaccination rates by addressing worries about costs and practical concerns, such as time off work,” Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in a statement Thursday.
A third of all unvaccinated Hispanic adults (33 percent) said they would like to get a Covid-19 shot as soon as possible. That's twice the share among unvaccinated white adults who wish to get vaccinated (16 percent), the foundation's Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor shows.
People's fear of vaccines stems from the fact that the safety of vaccines is currently not guaranteed. People are afraid of the possible side effects of vaccines. People will rely on vaccines to solve these problems.

The Nigerian government has said it will delay the local production of the COVID-19 vaccine due to the inability to procure the required technology for that.
In a statement, the Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire said although the fund approved by the National Assembly to support the local production of the vaccine was still intact, the country still had that major hindrance as regards the production.
The government, he said, continues to hold talks with a local vaccine firm to enhance a public-private partnership in producing the vaccine.
“Nigeria is a 49 percent shareholder in a company called Bio-Vaccine Nigeria Limited, and the bio-vaccine is a revival of the former vaccine plants that the federal government used to have, in which the private sector was invited to join and form a special purpose vehicle,” Ehanire said.
According to him, the joint venture was earlier stalled because of the COVID-19 outbreak, when there was a lockdown.
“So, there is a lot of delay by the company in getting themselves on their feet. The aspiration to produce vaccines has not been fulfilled. It is not that it is abandoned,” the minister explained.
He added that the government would continue to work on getting that technology to both produce routine vaccines, and also COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, the Nigerian government has earmarked the sum of 10 billion naira (over 26.3 million U.S. dollars) to support COVID-19 vaccine production in the country.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for use in children as young as 12 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week - but do not expect schools to require shots for students anytime soon given public hesitation and political hurdles.
State governments for the most part can order a vaccine be required for a child to attend a K-12 public school, said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a University of California-Hastings law professor who researches school mandates and the legal issues around vaccines.
In all but a handful of states, a measure must pass the full legislature to be added to the mandatory vaccine list, Reiss said. No state government has mandated COVID-19 immunizations for schools, she added.
There is increased hesitancy over the shots because some of them rely on the newer mRNA technology and have been authorized on an emergency-use basis. Early studies also indicate children are far less susceptible to grave health complications from COVID-19, though they are not without risk and can transmit the disease.
Reiss said it is highly unlikely state legislatures will push through mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for children this year.
“It takes political capital, and my bet is that legislators will not even try until they can do it for children aged 5 and up,” she said. “They will not want to go through the process twice.”
It is clear proponents of mandates could face opposition. Even before vaccinations were approved for younger adolescents, Republican lawmakers in dozens of statehouses filed bills seeking to block COVID-19 vaccination mandates, mostly arguing the vaccines are too new to force people to take against their will.
In Kansas, Republican state Senator Mark Steffen, an anesthesiologist, crafted a bill that would strip the state’s department of health of its power to add a new shot to the existing list of required vaccines. The bill remains in committee.
“It’s a vaccine that is experimental, a vaccine that is gene-manipulative,” Steffen said during a March hearing on the bill. “Its long-term dangers won’t be fully known for decades.”
Researchers from Harvard, Northeastern, Northwestern and Rutgers universities, who are part of the COVID States Project, surveyed nearly 22,000 people nationwide in April and found that over a quarter of mothers were “extremely unlikely” to vaccinate their children.
Because of such reluctance, education leaders should not focus on mandating shots, said Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers (AFT)union.
“Right now it’s about convincing people of their efficacy,” she said of vaccines. “We have to build trust and confidence, particularly amongst our Black and brown parents who have borne the brunt of COVID.”
Weingarten and others representing school leaders and staff noted wide agreement that vaccines are key to a more normal school experience.
In a sweeping policy speech given on Thursday in Washington, Weingarten said in-person learning, five days a week across the country must take place in the fall.

Nigeria on Monday introduced new restrictions, including a ban on mass gatherings, after a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries.
Although Nigeria has seen a steady decline in new cases of the virus in recent months, the surges in India, Brazil and Turkey have raised fears of a third wave of the pandemic in Africa’s most populous nation.
Mukhtar Mohammed of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) told reporters in Abuja that, despite existing travel restrictions on Brazil, India and Turkey, there was a need to take urgent action.
This is due, he said, to Nigerians’ non-compliance with the safety and health guidelines in place.
The beefed-up measures are designed “to mitigate the risk of a spike in new cases while the nationwide vaccine rollout continues,” Mohammed added.
He announced the closure of bars, nightclubs, pubs, event centers as well as recreational venues throughout the country.
Also under the new rules, the number of people allowed at weddings and religious gatherings is cut in half, while official engagements, meetings and conferences should be held online.
“Approved gatherings must be held with physical distancing measures and with other non-pharmaceutical measures in place”.
Nigeria had imposed restrictions and lockdowns in March last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
But those restrictions were relaxed following a drop in virus cases in the country.
So far, the virus has infected 165,419 and claimed 2,065 lives since the first case in February last year, according to official figures.
A total of 1.7 million vaccine jabs have been administered to health workers and other vulnerable groups in the country.

The chairman of Nigeria’s electoral commission, Mahmood Yakubu, was sworn in for a second term nearly six months ago. His second term will be defined by how much he’s able to improve the integrity of the country’s election system.
Yakubu faces an uphill task.
Complaints that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission can’t deliver free and fair polls have been growing louder. In particular, the 2019 elections came in for a heavy dose of criticism on the grounds that they were not totally free and fair.
Yakubu’s hand could be strengthened if the National Assembly finally approves amendments to the country’s 2010 electoral act. The changes, which have been put up for public debate, are designed to ensure free and fair elections.
Delivering credible elections in 2023 will show how well the Commission is successful under his leadership.
A chequered election history
The electoral commission has conducted elections at national and state levels since 1999 when the country returned to democratic rule.
Its performance reached a nadir in 2007. Five governorship elections won by candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that year were reversed by the courts. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was elected president in the poll and he served until his sudden death in 2010. On assuming office he admitted that they had shortcomings and went on to establish an electoral reform committee headed by Justice Mohammed Uwais.
The committee submitted its report 16 months later. It recommended various reforms to strengthen electoral administration. These included:
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making the election commission truly independent by removing the president’s powers to appoint the chairman and members of the commission and making appointments the responsibility of the National Judicial Council.
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changing the funding model for the electoral commission to ensure it was left free of government interference.
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the integration of the independent electoral commissions of each state into the commission’s structures.
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the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission to prosecute electoral offenders.
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shifting the burden of proof in election petitions from the petitioner to electoral commission. This is to show that elections were free and fair when challenged.
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the introduction of a mixed electoral system, with an introduction of elements of proportional representation.
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Attahiru Jega, a member of the committee who later became the commission chairman, was able to implement some of the recommendations. These included reorganising the commission, streamlining the voting procedure and biometric register of voters.
But, for the most part, the major structural reforms remained stalled.
Some improvements have nevertheless been made.
Reforms
Yakubu was able to incorporate lessons learnt from past elections to build on the workings of the commission. He has also stepped up interaction with election observer groups and political parties.
He also:
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introduced the transfer of registration location and release of a copy of voters’ register on demand at the payment of a fee. This enables the voter who has changed residence between elections to vote in his or her current location and make the registration process more transparent.
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simultaneous accreditation and voting with the announcement of elections results from the polling unit. This will enable access to the results from lowest to highest level to promote transparency.
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Other changes include amendments to the Constitution and the Electoral Act which empower the Independent National Electoral Commission to de-register parties. But this has been only partly successful. The changes to the Act led to 74 being deregistered. The Supreme Court recently upheld an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal which okayed the deregistration of the 74 parties.
Changes have been made in the ceiling on campaign or party finance too. There’s a penalty for failing to provide accurate audited financial records. There were also changes in the penalty on electoral offences.
But there’s a great deal that hasn’t happened that should have.
Challenges of 2019 elections
My review of election observers’ reports on the 2019 elections show there were interferences with results collation by political party agents and security agencies with the connivance of electoral commission officials. Inefficiencies in its operations manifested in puzzling discrepancies in records, voters’ register data and declared election results.
For instance, presidential and National Assembly elections were held simultaneously. But there were more votes cast in the presidential elections than the National Assembly.
Figures on the total number of registered voters announced before the election and the figures announced by electoral commission during the collation in 30 of the 36 states were inconsistent. Furthermore, poor logistics and supply of materials resulted in delays and created room for malpractices. There were also localised incidents of voter intimidation, ballot snatching and destruction.
And the primaries for the major parties were riddled with allegations of bad practice.
My review also concluded that security agencies were deployed without any clear coordination with electoral commission as required by law. The military posed significant challenges and obstruction to the performance of election duties by commission officials in some parts of Rivers State. Reports noted the overbearing and partisan role of the police and the secret service personnel.
Yakubu’s agenda
On being sworn in Yakubu made clear that he was intent on improving the integrity of elections under his watch.
He announced his commitment to getting the proposed changes to be made through the Electoral Act Repeal and Re-enactment Bill 2021. In the build-up to the 2019 elections, President Muhammadu Buhari refused assent to bills proposing election-related amendments to the Constitution three times in 2018 – in March, September and December.
The Act provided more detailed rules on various aspects of the electoral process than the constitution. The provisions of the Act must not contradict that of the constitution otherwise the courts would declare such provisions unconstitutional. An example is the earlier provision of the Act that allowed the electoral commission to de-register parties. This contradicts the freedom of association guaranteed by the constitution.
Yakubu has also begun consultations across the country to facilitate constituency delimitation to increase the number of polling units to reduce the distance voters have to cover and easy access to voting points.
There are other issues he should address as a matter of urgency too.
First, the channels for the distribution and retrieval of election materials must be strengthened. He must also improve the transparency of the collation and transmission of election results. And he must seek greater use of technology, especially electronic accreditation and verification of voters. Similarly electronic transmission of results, storage and publication of electoral data.
He must work with others to reduce vote buying and provide innovative means of reducing electoral malpractices such as the use of violence and ballot snatching.
He should also promote internal democracy among political parties. This is a major reason to continue pushing for an electoral offences commission.
He also needs to address the proliferation of political parties and its implications for election logistics, ballot access and polling management. I urge Yakubu to consider measures to control access to the ballot by political parties as an option for managing party proliferation.
Lastly, Nigeria needs to review the current first-past-the-post single member district system that continues to make electoral competition a winner takes all game. Introducing elements of proportional representation will ameliorate the intensity of electoral competition.

Nigeria's former President, Goodluck Jonathan, is close to making a final decision on whether to contest in the presidential election of 2023, The Africa Report understands. This comes after several months of political calculations.
Jonathan was defeated in the 2015 election which saw Muhammadu Buhari emerge president. This was the first time in the nation’s turbulent political history that a sitting president lost an election.
But Jonathan’s case was also peculiar because he conceded defeat even before the final result of the election was announced, a rarity in sub-Saharan Africa which is known for its many ‘sit-tight’ leaders.

Nigerians on Wednesday joined millions of people around the world to mark Global Hand Hygiene Day and mobilise citizens on the campaign, which was launched in 2009 – ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands’.According to the statement by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), this campaign aims to maintain the promotion, visibility and sustainability of hand hygiene in healthcare settings around the world. 
Led by global advocacy efforts, the campaign now
supports a social movement that helps to keep patients and health workers safe.
It stated that since 2019, the NCDC, through the National Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), programme has led the country’s efforts to make hand hygiene day activities a major national event in order to raise the consciousness of Nigerians on these efforts, and their role in saving lives.
This year, the global Hand Hygiene Day theme is “Achieving hand hygiene at the point of care”, and the slogan is “Seconds save lives – clean your hands!”
It noted that the COVID 19 pandemic has further exposed the risk of care-associated infections in low and middle income countries, particularly in patients admitted to intensive care units and in neonates. 
“This is a major public health problem in Nigeria and has a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life.
“The national sub-theme for Nigeria this year is “One Nation, One Plan: Turn Nigeria Orange!”.

“This recognises the efforts that have been made since the launch of the ‘Orange Network’ in 2019. The Orange Network is a network of dedicated tertiary health facilities in Nigeria
supported by NCDC, through the ‘Orange Project’ to become centers of excellence in infection prevention and control,” it said.
According to the statement, the NCDC recognises that the safety of health workers has to be at the forefront of Nigeria’s response strategy to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.
And in line with activities to mark the 2021 World Hand Hygiene Day, the NCDC in collaboration with the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi organised a lecture on the importance of hand hygiene in health care settings. 
“Together with its committed partners, Infection Control Africa Network, Nigeria Society for Infection Control, Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh Health Trust, DRASA, Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others we ask that everyone takes action to promote hand hygiene,” it added.

More than 60% of companies in the U.S. will require proof of vaccination from their employees, according to a new survey conducted by Arizona State University with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
A broad majority of U.S. employers, 65%, plan to offer employees incentives to get vaccinated and 63% will require proof of vaccination, according to the survey. Overall, 44% will require all employees to get vaccinated, 31% will just encourage vaccinations and 14% will require some employees to get vaccinated.
When it comes to consequences for failing to comply with company vaccination policy, 42% of businesses said the employee will not be allowed to return to the physical work environment, and 35% said disciplinary actions are on the table, up to and including possible termination.
The survey, released Thursday, represents the responses of 957 facilities across 24 industry sectors in the U.S. Most of the respondents were businesses with 250 or more employees.
Testing still remains critical to employers with 70% of respondents currently conducting Covid tests that are mostly mandatory.
In terms of employee well-being, the corporate respondents said burnout increased 54% and mental health concerns overall increased 59%. However, morale and productivity also both when up by nearly 50%.
Looking forward, 66% of employers are planning to allow employees to work from home full-time through 2021, and 73% intend to offer flexible work arrangements when the pandemic is over. However, 73% of businesses want employees to work from the office at least 20 hours a week.
“This is not just a bubble that goes back to ‘normal’, there will be some positive flexibility after the pandemic ends and we go back to in-person work,” said Mara G. Aspinall, a professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and one of the authors of the survey.
Employees are mainly concerned about their personal health, risk of infection and safety of the workplace, according to the survey. Thirty-eight percent of employees want to return eventually but not immediately and about one quarter said they are reluctant to return at all, according to the businesses that responded to the survey.
“The pandemic has changed the traditional office environment in many ways, possibly forever, yet a majority of employers are indicating they see real value in employees continuing to interact face-to-face,” Nathaniel L. Wade, a co-author of the study who is also affiliated with ASU’s College of Health Solutions. “We really wanted to make sure we’re giving public information to help people make good decisions.”
Most employees, about 51%, would prefer to wait until the government or health agencies allow them to return to work, and about 47% said they would return to in-person work when the entire workforce is vaccinated.
“Employers have been relatively quiet in the pandemic, we’re now entering the next phase where employers are creating their own policies so that employees can go safely and sustainably back to the workplace,” Aspinall said. “People want to get back to normal, but they want to do it in a safe way.”

President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, Tuesday stressed that Nigeria needs the support of her friends around the world in her bid to overcome the current security challenges.

Lawan spoke while playing host to visiting UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge. Duddridge who was at the National Assembly in company of the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing.
He said, ”We believe that our country, our Government has to do a lot to secure the people, their lives and their property and this is the time that all our friends across the world need to support us, give us the kind of support that we need. So it is an opportunity for me to appreciate what the British government has done so far and of course like Oliver Twist, we will ask for more of support in the areas of weapons, training that we have been receiving from you.
“This is one such phase that our country is passing through but we believe that with determination, our will and desire to sumount this problem, we will be able to do that but definitely we need the support of our friends especially Britain. We have a very long standing with Britain and we appreciate what you have been able to do so far but we need more support.”
Speaking on Petroleum Industry Bill and
Electoral Amendment Bill, Lawan said both Bills will be passed in May and June respectively
According to him, “The National Assembly is working tirelessly to ensure that we pass the PIB which is a very important piece of legislation for our country. This time around we have devised different means and ways of ensuring that it is not only passed by the parliament but it is assented to by the President.
“Our belief is that we have long been working together with the Executive arm of government to ensure that we don’t leave any gaps that will engender unnecessary controversy between us on the bill and so far it has been paying off. The bill is on its final journey into the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers for consideration. We are expecting that by the first week of May, we will be able to receive the report of our Committee on the PIB. Our design and desire is that we are able to pass the bill before the end of May. On the Electoral Amendment Bill, we have been working on that. It is also our programme that we are able to pass it before we go on summer break. We are hopeful that we will be able to pass the bill before the end of June”.
Earlier in his remarks before the meeting went into closed session, the UK minister indicated interest in the progress made by the National Assembly on some bills such as the Electoral Reforms Bill and PIB.
He also sought to have a view of the Senate Chamber to know the differences and similarities with the British parliamentary chamber.

Already taking action in north-east Nigeria since 2009, SOLIDARITéS INTERNATIONAL now intervenes in the north-west which is affected by growing insecurity and massive displacements of population.
NEW AREA OF INTERVENTION
North-west Nigeria has sadly been making the headlines at the beginning of the year, after a series of mass kidnappings. Including the one from the Jangebe boarding school, in Zamfara state, during which 317 girls were abducted. These abductions for ransom add up with village attacks, murders and pillaging that the local population already has to face.
These acts of violence are led by criminal groups, mainly consisting of breeders and farmers condemning the increasing scarcity of arable land due to global warming. These groups of ? bandits ? (name given to these groups in the area) now also include idle youngsters who joined because of the lack of livelihood, leading to great poverty.
Community tensions have quickly resulted in criminal actions. In addition, these bandits operate next to big corridors of various kinds of trafficking, that are used by many radical armed groups active in the area.
The resulting extreme violence has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their villages and seek refuge in host communities, obligated then to share already scarce resources.
OUR ACTION IN THE FIELD
Since last October, SOLIDARITéS INTERNATIONAL has been taking action in the Zamfara State, the epicenter of the crisis. Our organization is working towards meeting the displaced populations' essential needs, but also towards slowing down the spread of waterborne diseases as well choleraand Covid-19 epidemics, within the region.
Following technical and security assessments, several projects have been implemented with the help of a local team:
Construction of sanitary facilities;
Renovation of water points;
Distribution of hygiene and maintenance kits and emergency shelters;
Raising awareness about hygiene measures
Distribution of non-food items (detergent, buckets, jerrycans...)
In addition, the Health Ministry of Zamfara State has requested SOLIDARITéS INTERNATIONAL's help as soon as they detected the first cases of cholera in the city of Gusau.
Our team led an operation to chlorinate the water and disinfect the affected households, their neighbors' and the public infrastructures that had reported contaminations (schools, health facilities, gutters).
SOLIDARITéS INTERNATIONAL is, with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), one of the only two humanitarian organizations present in the area. We work hand in hand to address coherently the identified needs.
For instance, our organization distributes food vouchers that allow children treated by MSF for malnutrition to have access to basic food during their treatment.
WHAT NEXT?
Our development prospects are concrete. SOLIDARITéS INTERNATIONAL now has a true legitimacy in the field thanks to its reactivity, its understanding of the local context and its strong presence on a daily basis, in close proximity with the populations. Our teams will keep developing our base in the Zamfara State and providing emergency response in the towns of Anka and Gusau. The crisis in north-west Nigeria is very real, our response must be too.

A Florida man and his three sons were accused in federal court of selling tens of thousands of bottles of bleach that were marketed as a "miracle cure" for the coronavirus and other illnesses, authorities said.
The man, Mark Grenon, and his sons, Jonathan, Jordan and Joseph Grenon, were accused of fraud and violating civil court orders instructing them to stop selling the fake cure, which they promoted as "Miracle Mineral Solution," or MMS, according to documents filed Friday in Florida's southern district.

Facebook says it has launched a new social media drive that allows people to add frames and graphics to indicate they had taken the COVID-19 vaccine or plan to do so.
Adaora Ikenze, Facebook Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa made, said in a statement on Friday that the multinational media platform was working in partnership with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency on the initiative.
She said Facebook would use its scale and speed to reach people quickly, help them get credible information, get vaccinated and come back together safely.
According to her, the new range of Facebook frames and Instagram stickers would allow people to share their support for getting vaccinated with their family and friends, as the access to COVID vaccines expands across Nigeria.
"The frames and stickers include banners that say 'Let's Get Vaccinated' or 'I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine'.
" The banner will appear overlaid on the edge of their profile picture next to a blue bubble that reads 'We Can Do This', " she said.
According to her, Facebook is launching the profile frames because research shows how social norms could have a major impact on people's attitudes and behaviour when it comes to their health.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while thousands had taken the vaccine, millions of people remain hesitant about whether to accept the vaccine or not.
"We are promoting these unique profile frames and GIFs to all Nigerian Facebook and Instagram users to raise vital vaccine confidence," Ikenze said.
She said that the new frames and stickers allow people to share their support for COVID-19 vaccines, and see that others they respect and care about were doing the same.
Similarly, Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), expressed excitement at the partnership with Facebook.
"It is exhilarating to know that partnerships like the one we secured with Facebook demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit to endure, innovate and re-emerge.
"It also secures the promise of hope that COVID-19 vaccination offers to everyone, "Shuaib said.
NAN also reports that Facebook would show people a summary in their News Feed of all their friends, family members, and people they follow who are using the new COVID-19 vaccine profile frames.