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Another Supreme court governor....

Do as others do;....

Nice

Bleep that ediot...

Na wa

Nigerian Covid variant ‘even deadlier than South African strain’ sparks fears after rise in cases

A NIGERIAN Covid variant that could be even deadlier than the South African strain has sparked fears after a rise in cases in the UK, experts have warned.

The threat from new variants is one of the top priorities when it comes to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.

A rise in cases of new strains could mean that restrictions are pushed back.

There are currently around 300 cases of the Nigerian variant in the UK, a rise from 150 cases at the end of February, papers seen by the i state.

Overall Covid cases have continued to fall in recent weeks and the number of people who have died with the virus has plunged almost 50 per cent in a month.

Another 45 deaths were recorded yesterday, with infections sinking 46 per cent month-on-month, after another 2,763 cases were reported on Wednesday.

The jabs rollout has been hailed for a fall in death rates and cases and so far in the UK over 31.7 million Brits have been given a first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab and the Pfizer/BioNTech offering, with 5.6 million having had a second.

The Moderna jab also made its debut in Wales yesterday.

Despite cases falling and more people being protected, experts say variants of concern are rising.

In papers seen by the i, cases of the South African variant have risen in the last week - but it's cases of the Nigerian variant that have seen the biggest rise.

The figures show that in the last week there have been more than 470 cases of B1351 (SA) compared to 400 cases the week before.

At the start of February there were thought to have been 150 cases.

Cases of the Nigerian variant, B1525 have more than doubled in the last month.

At the end of February there were 100 cases and at the end of March this was at 250 and experts say it is now around 300.

The reason experts are so worried about the Nigerian variant is due to its fatality rate in comparison to other strains.

It’s fatality rate is 4.3 per cent, while the South African variant is 2.2 and the Kent variant, 2.3.

Figures show that 12 people in the UK have died from the Nigerian strain, while nine have died from the South African variant.

One senior Sage source told the i: “If it can infect and transmit in vaccinated people, B1351 (SA) will increase in that population. It is slowly going up, but that might be because we are looking for it so hard.”

In recent months surge testing has been rolled out to catch variants of concern and stop transmission.

While figures from the Nigerian variant and South African variant are still lower than the Kent strain, which is accountable for 150,000 cases to date, experts say the other strains can spread widely and could try and evade jabs.

Foreign travel is still banned in the UK in order to stop variants coming into the country.

Experts have warned that if bans on travel are relaxed then we could make “the fatal mistakes of last summer”.

Professor Devi Shridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University this week said: Why are we focused on holidays abroad? It feels like we are repeating the mistakes of last summer.

“We have just got schools back open, we are just getting pubs and hospitality back on their feet, let’s focus on a full domestic recovery.

“Getting back to some normal daily life within the country and then we can look at getting aviation going.

“I’m afraid if we accelerate too quickly then there could potentially be another lockdown, and no one wants another lockdown, we can’t do this again.”

Mr Johnson has refused to confirm when foreign holidays will resume, but a traffic light system was revealed this week.

Different countries are set to be graded green, amber or red according to their vaccinations, infection rates, the prevalence of variants of concern, and their genomic sequencing capacity.

Mr Johnson insisted he is desperate to “get the country flying again” but said families should wait before booking a foreign getaway.

During the press conference this week he added: “We are hopeful we can get going from May 17, but I do not wish to underestimate the difficulty we are seeing in some destinations people might want to go to.

“We don’t want to see the virus being reimported from abroad.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14579347/nigerian-covid-variant-deadlier-sa-sparks-fears-rise-cases/

No esn in rivers...

Foolishness

Him go call lawyer.....to defend himself?

Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra says the Anambra Cargo Airport in Umueri, Anambra East Local Government will be ready for use in April.
Obiano disclosed this when he led the joint committee of the National Assembly on inspection of the project on Saturday.

The governor said his administration was determined to deliver the airport in view of its enormous economic importance to the state and southeast zone and Nigeria at large.

He expressed satisfaction with the speed and quality of work at the site since January 2020 when the project started.

Obiano assured that at the end of April air operation would have started fully.

He described the airport as one with the longest runway in Nigeria with a satellite landing system to aid aircraft land any time of the day and in all weather.

“One other important thing is that this is the only airport in Nigeria that has a satellite landing system, you can confirm that from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.

“We did that deliberately because this is going to be one of the busiest in Africa because of the orientation of our people who are business people and travelers,“ he said.

Speaking on the technical details of the project, Mr Marcel Ifejiofor said the airport has two runways with 100 per cent erosion control which would prevent flooding during rain.

Ifejofor said it was a high-tech project with good local content, adding that it was being executed by the competent company under the supervision of some of the best consultants in the aviation sector.

“This runway has 06, 024, it has a length of 3.7klm, the width is 60 metres, 45 metres carriage way and 15 metres shoulders and the category is 4F, meaning it can take any Airbus,

“The orientation is that you can land on two sides, you can land on 06 or 024, it has category two light and satellite landing system, one-kilometer racer to take care of overrun.

“We have four grids on either side or a diversion channel to Oyi River,” he said.

In his remark, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, Chairman Senate Committee on Aviation said the airport project was viable and could compete favourably with Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.

He said the National Assembly joint committee would go back and think about how the Federal Government could assist in the project.

“Aviation is key to social-economic development for any political entity, we have heard about this airport and decided to come and see for ourselves.

“Most airports in Nigeria are not viable but they are essential, Lagos Airport contributes about 65 per cent to our aviation but I can say that next to Lagos is where we are standing,” he said.

Also speaking, Sen. Uche Ekwunife said in spite of political learning, Obiano deserved commendation for what he was doing on the airport project.

https://guardian.ng/news/anambra-cargo-airport-to-be-ready-in-april-says-obiano/

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday paid tributes to patriotic martyrs of the civil war whose glorious sacrifices facilitated unity of the country.

Buhari spoke at an event to welcome the world leader of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Religious Movement, Sheikh Muhammadul Mahy Niass, the Grand Khalifa of Sheikh Ibrahim Niass, to Nigeria.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President thanked the movement for its prayers for an end to the war and the reunification of Nigeria.

The President recalled in the 30 months of the civil war, Nigerians on both sides lost numerous lives and prayed that never again shall such be experienced.

He welcomed the Grand Khalifa to Nigeria and commended their efforts in finding solutions to the problems of security in the country.

The leader of the Tijjaniyya in Nigeria, Sheikh Dahiru Usman, described the sect as the largest with 70 million followers across the globe and prayed for continued peace and blessings for the country.

He prayed for peace, unity and the greatness of Nigeria.

https://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-honours-civil-war-martyrs/

Deprivation of citizenship.

(1)In this section a reference to a person’s “ citizenship status ” is a reference to his status as—

(a)a British citizen,
(b)a British overseas territories citizen,
(c)a British Overseas citizen,
(d)a British National (Overseas),
(e)a British protected person, or
(f)a British subject.

[F117(2)The Secretary of State may by order deprive a person of a citizenship status if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good.]

(3)The Secretary of State may by order deprive a person of a citizenship status which results from his registration or naturalisation if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the registration or naturalisation was obtained by means of—

(a)fraud,
(b)false representation, or
(c)concealment of a material fact.

(4)The Secretary of State may not make an order under subsection (2) if he is satisfied that the order would make a person stateless.
[F118(4A)But that does not prevent the Secretary of State from making an order under subsection (2) to deprive a person of a citizenship status if—

(a)the citizenship status results from the person's naturalisation,
(b)the Secretary of State is satisfied that the deprivation is conducive to the public good because the person, while having that citizenship status, has conducted him or herself in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, any of the Islands, or any British overseas territory, and
(c)the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, to become a national of such a country or territory.]

(5)Before making an order under this section in respect of a person the Secretary of State must give the person written notice specifying—

(a)that the Secretary of State has decided to make an order,
(b)the reasons for the order, and
(c)the person’s right of appeal under section 40A(1) or under section 2B of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 (c. 68).

(6)Where a person acquired a citizenship status by the operation of a law which applied to him because of his registration or naturalisation under an enactment having effect before commencement, the Secretary of State may by order deprive the person of the citizenship status if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the registration or naturalisation was obtained by means of—

(a)fraud,
(b)false representation, or
(c)concealment of a material fact.]

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61

EFCC....Take note

On February 17, a gang of "gunmen" kidnapped more than forty students, teachers, and administrators from a secondary school in Niger State. At least one student was killed. Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has appealed for assistance from President Muhammadu Buhari, who has ordered all four service chiefs to go to Niger State to coordinate rescue operations. In December, "bandits" kidnapped some three hundred schoolboys from a school in Kankara, located in Katsina State. There have been several other mass kidnappings, though none has acquired the international notoriety of the 2014 kidnapping of more than two hundred school girls from a school in Chibok. (More than one hundred are still missing, but some recently escaped.)

Most—not all—of these mass kidnappings appear to be purely mercenary. These kidnappings are different from Boko Haram attacks in the past decade where the goal was to kill those who were benefitting from Western education. In these recent instances, kidnappers are after ransom, and appear to try to keep their victims alive. Nigerian federal and state authorities always deny paying ransom. Yet they often do so. Schoolboys and bandits involved in the Kankara abduction contradicted official denials that ransom was paid. Reports suggest the Katsina State government paid N30 million (about $76,000) to recover the schoolboys. Hence, the expectation should be that unless the Kagara victims are quickly recovered, which is unlikely, either the state or federal government will pay ransom to secure the release of those who have survived.


Kidnapping in Nigeria and across the Sahel can be an extraordinarily lucrative enterprise in what is one of the poorest regions in the world. "Bandits" particularly prize citizens of the European Union. As rich countries with governments susceptible to emotional public opinion, EU member states can pay enormous ransoms while always denying that they are doing so. Jihadi and criminal networks overlap in the Sahel, so kidnapping can also provide both funding and manpower for jihadi groups. At Kankara, Boko Haram's Abubakar Shekau claimed his group was behind the kidnapping, though it appears to have been purely a criminal enterprise.

The United States as a matter of policy never pays ransom. The U.S. government had previously threatened to prosecute private individuals who seek to do so. Refusing to pay ransom may provide some cover for American citizens that find themselves in the Sahel. However, Americans are few in number in those areas where kidnapping is rampant.

https://www.cfr.org/blog/kidnapping-and-ransom-payments-nigeria

Ahead of the March 27 local government election in Sokoto State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced its withdrawal from the exercise.

Addressing journalists on Sunday at the party secretariat in Sokoto, APC Caretaker Chairman, Isa Sadiq Achida, said party cannot participate in an election that will be conducted by unfair, compromised and bias umpire.

According to him, the state electoral commission is a composition of men not only loyal to the state government, but very close allies of the state governor, and are allegedly ready to do his bidding.

He said the party is pained that the present administration in the state has destroyed the local government administration, noting that the APC cannot tarnish its good mage by participating in a compromised exercise.

The APC chieftain is however sure of winning the election if conducted in a free and fair manner.

Achida blamed the party’s decision to pull out of the exercise on what he described as a lack of transparency by the state government.

https://www.channelstv.com/2021/02/14/apc-to-boycott-sokoto-lg-election/

The Peoples Democratic Party has described the arrest, humiliation, and trial of #OccupyLekki protesters on Saturday, as a sad reminder of what Nigerians went through in the hands of military dictators.

The Lagos State Chairman of the PDP, Adedeji Doherty, reacted to the occurrence, in a release on Sunday, titled, “#OccupyLekki: Lagos PDP slams Sanwo-Olu over arrest, humiliation of protesters, demands discontinuation of their trial.”

The chairman said, “It is a shameful irony that a government that is pampering terrorists could send policemen armed to the teeth against civilians who only expressed their displeasure over a government decision.

“Lagosians will never believe that a time will come in the state when citizens’ rights to peaceful protests will be muscled by a supposed democratic government.

“It is now clear that all that matters to the APC (All Progressives Congress) government of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the billions of naira generated at the Lekki Toll Gate, and not the welfare of the people.”

He also demanded explanation on whether or not it was part of the mandates of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution to investigate cases of police brutality in the state to order the commencement of operations at the toll plaza.

“When did it become the duty of a judicial panel of inquiry to order the resumption of collection of tolls at a Toll Gate, which was shut down owing to the alleged killing of youths whose only offence is that they demanded that SARS policemen should stop killing them?

“The Lagos State Government and most especially, the members of the House of Assembly from Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki, and Epe LGAs should open up a public hearing or referendum on the reopening of this controversial tollgate to show the world that democracy is really the order of the day in Lagos State, instead of trying to crush a peaceful protest without presenting any kind of alternative medium of diplomacy as it concerns the tollgate issue.

“As for those who were arrested among the protesters, we wish to tell them to remain strong, committed, and resolute in their quest for a Nigeria where the government does the right thing and citizens are allowed to ventilate their grievances against government freely,” the PDP chairman said.

http://saharareporters.com/2021/02/14/it%E2%80%99s-shameful-arrest-arraign-protesters-pamper-terrorists-%E2%80%94pdp

Ranting and raving......