Abuja — The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said it will commencethe registration of chemical manufacturing companies in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by the Resident Media Consultant of the agency, Mr. Sanyo Akintola, the Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said it has agreed with the manufacturers of chemical products in Nigeria to explore how to penetrate the international market to enhance the country's foreign exchange earnings.
Adeyeye stated this yesterday during a virtual chemical manufacturers stakeholders' meeting organised by the agency with the aim of sensitising, enlightening, and creating awareness on the current trends in the regulation of the manufacture of chemicals with emphasis on the need to be listed as a chemical manufacturer in Nigeria.
She added that the objective of the deliberations augured well with the current focus of the NAFDAC management to bring the agency's regulatory activities in line with international best practices.
The NAFDAC boss noted that Chemical Evaluation and Research Directorate has the mandate to safeguard public health by ensuring that only the right quality chemicals are manufactured, imported, exported, distributed, sold and used in NAdeyeye disclosed that the directorate has put in place effective regulations and guidelines for sound chemical management in Nigeria.
According to her, This is achieved by ensuring proper utilisation of chemicals in a manner that reduces risk to health and environment, and advocating for use of chemicals that are less harmful and hazardous."
Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, in a statement yesterday in Lagos quoted Adeyeye as saying that a portal has been created by the agency for registration of chemical products for effective quality control and strict adherence to international best practices.
She expressed the hope that chemical products manufactured in Nigeria would enjoy wider acceptability and high competitiveness with the NAFDAC registration identity.
Adeyeye said penetrating the international market would further enable the industry to grow with more Nigerians gaining employment opportunities sequel to the expected expansion in the operations of the manufacturers, and invariably the accompany development of the real sector of the economy.
She further noted that the law also compels all handlers of chemicals to adhere strictly to all the stipulated guidelines for sound chemical management in order to safeguard health and protect the environment.
The agency boss noted further that the use of chemicals has increased geometrically in the past years in Nigeria resulting in increase in the local manufacturing capabilities for chemicals.
The chief executive officers of chemical manufacturing companies among the over 94 stakeholders, including members of the Amalgamated Association of Chemical Marketers of Nigeria, who participated at the event, commended the ingenuity and courage of Adeyeye in creating the directorate dedicated to the regulation and control of the country's chemical industry.
The Managing Director of Brenntag Chemical Nigeria Limited, producers of liquid caustic Soda, Mr. Pieter De Konnick, a Belgian, said NAFDAC involvement in regulating the chemical manufacturing sector would bring it to limelight and reposition the Nigeria chemical industry for economic growth.
"This is my eighth year in Nigeria; this is the best thing that has happened to me in this industry," he said, as he showered encomiums on the leadership of the agency for the "wonderful job it has been doing."
Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director of Unikem Industries Limited, producers of Ethanol from cassava, Mr. Uzor Kalu, and Mr. Paul Audu of Roychem Industries Limited, noted that the introduction of the online platform via electronic process by NAFDAC had made application and processing of the vital import documents completed in the last quarter of every year while manufacturers already have the documentation done in readiness for the new year.

The federal government has supported the Sokoto State Contributory Health Scheme with the sum of N500 million which was meant to cater for indigents in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Ali Inname, revealed this to journalists on Sunday.
Inname explained that the money was meant to cater for 43,000 vulnerable people in the state.
Those to benefit from the money were pregnant women, under five children, poorest of the poor and those above 60 years old who were suffering from major sickness.
He explained further that the money would cover for only one year, adding that the programme had started in eight facilities across the state.
Inname said UNICEF supported the scheme with N60 million for 5000 pregnant women and children only.
On how the beneficiaries were selected, he said the selection was devoid of politics with the use of social registry and State Zakkat Endowment Commission

Restate call for review of revenue allocation formula
By Chioma Onuegbu & Emmanuel Okon-Harris, UYO
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum has condemned the current debt profile of the country put at N36 trillion incurred by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government.
The forum expressed worry that the Federal Government is gradually plunging Nigeria into bankruptcy with excessive borrowings on frivolous items, adding that over 80% of the normal appropriation is being spent on debt servicing.
In a communique issued after a meeting of the Forum yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the governors also accused the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and other revenue-generating agencies of the Federal Government of lack of transparency and accountability in the declaration of revenue proceeds.
The communique read by Chairman of the Forum and governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, complained that the lack of financial transparency by NNPC and other agencies has robbed state and local governments of the needed funds to provide employment and develop their territories.

As medicine continues to change at an unprecedented pace, Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola has said that healthcare professionals, particularly, medical doctors need to embrace Information and Communication, Technology, ICT, to deliver topnotch services and maintain leadership role in the sector.
Making this assertion during a 3-day Leadership Retreat of the Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, tagged: "The 21st Century Nigerian Medical and Dental Practitioners; Leadership, Opportunities and Threats", Ogunsola charged Nigerian doctors to up their game by embracing technology, even as she said most doctors are notoriously resistant to change.
Ogunsola, a Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, said ICT has changed the role of the doctor in terms of the doctor-patient relationship as well as the doctor and other healthcare worker- relationships.
She said any medical professional in the 21st Century who does not think technology is already irrelevant, notng that technology has democratised knowledge and no knowledge exclusively belongs to doctors.
"There was increasing professionalism and knowledge in the other professions in health as well as the administrators and that started to create tension within the healthcare workers.
"For doctors to keep that supremacy role, our knowledge base has to go up, our skills and competencies must rise because our leadership role is going to come from what we know. Technology is a major disruptor, and it's still going to disrupt more and some of our professions might actually disappear. If we don't wake up, we will be disadvantaged."
The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, noted that the challenge doctors must constantly take into cognisant and address is how to take optimal advantage of technology to improve service delivery in medical practice.
"We must embrace technology which requires total overhaul of our system and serious management to ensure proficiency in the system. We must deploy digitally enabled system and innovations in providing care, these and others should be in our minds."
Earlier, Chairman, NMA Lagos, Dr. Adetunji Adenekan, said the theme of the programme was well thought out especially now that the sector is experiencing enormous challenges emanating from conglomerate of issues like inter and intra professional leadership related crisis, threats of all forms including brain drain.

Mosaic Life Care was recently awarded $902K from the United States Department of Agriculture Distance Learning and Telemedicine federal grant.
Funds will be used for telemedicine devices for increased access to quality health care within northwest Missouri communities. Telemedicine services will flow from the hub in St. Joseph to the rural end-user site, with equipment installed at Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville, Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing plant, and Mosaic Medical Center – Albany.
The telemedicine expansion eliminates the need to travel for medical visits or risk dangerous transfers in emergency situations. The service also allows physicians to spend less travel time to rural communities and more time interfacing with patients.
Mosaic Medical Center – Albany President Jon Doolittle said this would continue Mosaic’s efforts in technology advancements.
“Mosaic Life Care remains committed to providing a variety of high-quality, in-person medical services in all of its hospitals and clinics,” Doolittle said. “However, changing consumer preferences and the experiences of the past year have highlighted the need for us to be excellent in virtual care, as well. This grant will help us continue our investments to provide technology-enabled access to world-class care, close to home.”
Rural residents in Maryville and Albany will gain access to virtual hospitalist services, electronic intensive care units, and access to over 70 categories of specialty care through the over 200 specialists at Mosaic Life Care at St. Joseph Medical Center and the extended Mayo Clinic Care Network. Mosaic Life Care will also expand telemedicine capabilities to deliver behavioral health services through a partnership with Family Guidance Center in St. Joseph to provide emergency behavioral health assessments to Maryville and Albany residents.
Nate Blackford, Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville president, said the expansion of telehealth services has been on their radar for several years.
“This grant will enable us to more rapidly make these much-needed services available to our patients and communities,” Blackford said. “From mental health to specialty care, telehealth will enable us to both extend and enhance the care being delivered.”

The US mission in Nigeria said it has increased student visa appointments to accommodate more Nigerians who choose to study in the United States.
COVID-19 has caused a decline in the issuance of student visas by the embassy in almost two years.
The US ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, who stated this during a Visa Day Celebration for Nigerian students studying in the United States, said processing the student visas remains a high priority for the US mission in Nigeria.
She said, "With over 13,700 students fulfilling their American education dreams, the United States welcomes more Nigerian students enrolled than ever before.
"Education USA team has helped Nigerian students apply for and receive more than $28 million dollars in scholarships and other educational funding to pursue their future.
"We know from our over 8,000 education and exchange program alumni in Nigeria, the tremendous community impact that results when these ambitious students return to apply their knowledge and skills.
"Here at the U.S. Embassy, we are proud of the diversity in American educational institutions.
"There are more than 8,000 Student and Exchange Visitor Program-certified educational institutions in the United States. Students can choose from virtually any subject matter, ranging from the humanities and liberal arts to the most advanced science, technology and engineering fields, or STEM.
"The students celebrating with us here today reflect this diversity; they are studying international health, law, mining, fine arts, and engineering".
The embassy also warned the prospective applicants to avoid using third party services to book visa appointments because they may provide inaccurate information.
Five students representing a variety of degree programs were honoured at the event.

Poised to achieve comfort in buildings, experts have stressed the need for professionals in the industry, especially builders to hone their skills and be abreast of developments in construction activities.
They noted that such expertise would enable them deliver services and products that are of high performance, value to clients and end users.
The professionals also called on governments and experts in housing sector to adopt the national building code and ensure compliance among designers. This, they emphasised would further enable builders to contribute their input in the building delivery process, thereby blocking unprofessional practices in building services design and installation.
The President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, led the call during a virtual mandatory professional development workshop organised by the institute in Abuja.
Awobodu, who stated that professional builders are trained and recognised by law for construction and maintenance of buildings, including the assembly and integration of its various components and services, charged practitioners to enforce proper plumbing in building, installation of lighting and other electro-mechanical works.
He explained that building services must contribute to the comfort of users, utility of buildings, such as lighting and other transportation systems such as lifts and escalators.
In his remarks, President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Babagana Mohammed, called for increased cooperation and teamwork among various professionals in the construction industry to eradicate quackery, enhance service delivery and building quality in the country.
In his submission, Prof. Ikemefuna Mbamali, said building services ecosystem starts from design, equipment selection, optimisation, spatial coordination and user behaviour, hence the entire process must be well coordinated.
The Chairman, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Prof. Kabir Bala, commended NIOB for organising the workshop amid search for sustainable solutions to the problem of services in buildings.
Also speaking, a quantity surveyor, Oluwole Olatunji, observed that defects in building design have huge cost implications on facilities operation and maintenance.
He argued that there are no perfect designs, but built drawings may be the answer to quality buildings. Olatunji further said Nigeria and indeed Africa do not lack capacity for building edifices, citing examples of the pyramid of Egypt. According to him, the problem of Africa is centered on the challenging environment in which building professionals operate.

Eva Johannesdottir has gone through six kitchen workers since reopening her restaurant The Cliff last May. Each time, she invested time and money to train them, but they were unable to keep up with the demands of serving busy brunches and take-out orders at the small cafe in Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States.
“The biggest challenge with staying in business right now is to find help,” Johannesdottir told Al Jazeera. “One of the main reasons why I cannot have the business open more than three days a week right now is because I just can’t find workers.”
Her problem is not unique. As capacity limits on restaurants are lifted and Americans indulge their pent-up desire to dine out, many establishments have “help wanted” signs gathering dust in their windows.
Restaurants were among the hardest-hit businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and ended 2020 with around 3.7 million fewer jobs than they started the year with, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But as vaccinations have increased and restrictions have lifted, demand for restaurant workers has come roaring back: there were 1.2 million leisure and hospitality job openings in March, but a lot of those jobs aren’t being filled.
Staffing levels remain 14 percent below pre-pandemic levels, the National Restaurant Association found. In an April survey, 84 percent of restaurants said their staffing levels were lower than what they would normally be without COVID-19, with nearly half of them operating with staffing levels more than 20 percent below normal.
Restaurants eager to up their sales after a devastating 2020 find themselves constrained by the lack of workers — and they’re paying the price.
It can cost almost $6,000 to find, screen and train an hourly worker, a study by restaurant platform Toast found, and that’s in an economy when every other restaurant isn’t also looking for servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers and front-of-house staff.
The staffing shortage is being driven by a number of factors, experts say, from bottlenecks and workers who can’t find childcare to people switching careers. But one factor, in particular, has become a political lightning rod — the $300 federal weekly top-up to state unemployment benefits, which some argue acts as a disincentive for people to go out and find jobs.
“A lot of people are like, well, I’m going to just enjoy the summer, spend time with family, keep collecting and then go back to work in September,” Johannesdottir said.

The governor says the scheme will ensure all residents of the state have access to quality health service at an affordable cost.
The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has flagged off the state's contributory healthcare scheme (GoHealth) with renewed commitment to ensure all residents have access to quality health service at an affordable cost without suffering financial hardship.
The ceremony took place at the banquet hall of the Government House, Gombe.
In his remark, Mr Yahaya said his administration had constituted the governing board and posted appropriate and competent staff to the new agency to ensure successful implementation of the scheme.
He recalled that during the electioneering campaigns, he promised the people of the state that his administration would take bold steps to holistically address the numerous challenges facing healthcare delivery in the state.
"Following our historic success at the polls, we set up a needs assessment team that toured over 400 communities across the the state to identify and prioritize the needs of our people. Access to quality health care came top as the most pressing problem bedeviling our people," he said.
Mr Yahaya said a survey had revealed that there was extensive decay in the health system following years of neglect by the immediate past administration, stating that the sector in the past was in shambles, without essential drugs and lacking equipment and human resource.
He said, "Our health indices were among the worst in the country. Yet, the system was being overstretched due to influx of IDPs from our neighbouring states.
"However, upon assuming office in May 2019, we declared a state of emergency in the health sector and set an ambitious agenda to transform the system as set out in our health sector response plan 2019-2023.
"We adopted a holistic approach to address the challenges so as to improve both physical as well as financial accessibility to basic health services."
The governor explained that at the primary health care level, his administration had commenced immediate revitalisation of at least one fully functional PHC in each of the 114 political wards of the state in collaboration with the World Bank-supported Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP), which saw the injection of over N600 million as counterpart funds.
"Today, I am proud to say we have at least 1 PHC in every ward of the state that is fully revitalized and open 24-hours a day in order to provide basic health services to our people at the grassroots," he said.
Similarly, Mr Yahaya revealed that at the secondary health care level, his administration was able to thoroughly renovate and upgrade the Specialist Hospital Gombe, thus expanding its capacity to meet the increasing demand for specialised health care service by the growing population in the state.
He said the Gombe State Government under his leadership had also commenced works to upgrade one general hospital to a befitting status in each senatorial district, which includes General Hospitals of Bajoga, Kumo and Kaltungo.
"In addition, we shall equally renovate all other secondary health facilities in the state before the end of our four years mandate Insha'Allah. We have also established a Hospital Services Management Board to particularly ensure effective management of our secondary health facilities," he said.
He said in order to improve the human resource for health in the state, his administration completed the internship quarters in the Specialist Hospital which was abandoned for more than 20 years thus meeting a critical requirement for accreditation by the MDCN for internship training of young doctors.
He added that his administration was working to improve the training capacity of the college of nursing and midwifery.
"While we are working assiduously towards improving physical access to quality healthcare services, we are also mindful of the significant hardship that individuals and families face because of paying for basic health care services out-of-pocket at the point of service utilisation," the governor stated.
He noted that available data shows that in the North-east region of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of this kind of out-of-pocket expenditure for health services pushes individuals and families into poverty, saying that was why his administration was working tirelessly with the Gombe State House of Assembly to enact the enabling law that established the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Scheme (GoHealth) following the decentralisation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Also speaking at the occasion, the Commissioner for Health, Habu Dahiru, said the establishment of GoHealth was a deliberate effort by the current administration to achieve universal health coverage for the people of the state.
"We are all aware of the comprehensive approach this administration is adopting to address the inherited challenges in the health sector by improving both physical as well as financial accessibility to basic health services.
"The state has witnessed a revolutionary turnaround at both the primary and secondary health facilities levels over the last two years," he said.
Mr Dahiru said introducing such a scheme will no doubt protect individuals and families from financial difficulties should they have the cause to visit the hospital for medical attention.
The chairman of GoHealth governing council, Mohammed Isa-Umar, commended Mr Yahaya for exhibiting a rare courage and political will towards the establishment of the scheme.
He said within six months of its establishment, the scheme had rolled out two important programmes to include basic health care programme for 25,000 Poor and Vulnerable Households PVHHs in the state and that for civil servants otherwise known as GoHealth.
He assured the government and people of the state that the scheme will provide quality health care services to the citizens of the state.

While Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Ghana over the weekend for a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that discussed the political crisis in Mali, at least 24 persons including Ahmed Gulak, a former presidential aide, were killed while two courts and police stations were razed in various states in the south-east. Yet, the growing insecurity is just one of the many challenges the president is struggling with - and many believe he has lost control of his administration.
In addition to spiralling violence by non-state actors carrying out attacks across the country, the Nigerian economy has been on a downward slope, forcing millions of citizens out of jobs and depriving them of livelihoods.
“Things have never been this bad in Nigeria, especially when you now play the insecurity against the background of poverty and unemployment,” says Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, an Abuja-based policy advocacy and research organisation.
Increasing security challenges have destabilised the country in the face of an emboldened Boko Haram (an insurgent group locally referred to as bandits, that is behind kidnappings in the northwestern region in exchange for ransom) as well as growing insurrections in the south-east and south-west.

The House of Representatives is taking a significant step at reducing the country’s exposure to Illicit financial flows as well as save the economy from losing a minimum of N5 trillion yearly.
Yesterday, the House, via its Committee on Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) led by Mr. Nicholas Garba, held a public hearing on the planned establishment of a chartered institute of forensics and certified fraud examiners to tackle illicit financial flows.
Sponsor of the Bill, Mr. Yusuf Yakub, argued that when passed into law, it would tremendously help the nation to fight against corruption; trace, track and recover looted funds, assets and resources; build capacity, attract foreign direct investments and build/restore the confidence of investors in the Nigerian economy.
The Adamawa-born lawmaker also said thousands of jobs would be created across the 774 local government areas because of the wide applications of the legislation.
“The bill, when passed into law, will significantly help in combating illicit financial flows and will save the Nigerian economy a minimum of N5 trillion yearly.
“The Joint African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (AUC ECA) high-level panel report on illicit financial flows from Africa estimates that the continent is losing in excess of $50 billion a year to illicit flows and about $10billion (20 per cent) is from Nigeria alone.
“The report makes the startling claim that over the past 50 years, Africa has lost more than $1 trillion, equivalent to all the official development assistance received during the same period. Every dollar that leaves one country must end up in another.
“Very often, this means that illicit financial outflows from developing countries ultimately end up in banks in developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as in tax havens like Switzerland, British Virgin Islands, or Singapore,” the lawmaker said.
However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAN) kicked against the proposed legislation on the basis that the training to be provided by the institute is being offered by the accounting profession.
Vice-Chairman of ICAN, Mr. Innocent Okwuosa, said his outfit had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigeria Police Academy to enhance forensic investigation on corruption.
“This bill will create professional bodies that encroach into other professions. It is an anathema. The National Assembly should pause and ponder over the bill. But if it is bent on passing it, it should not criminalise those practicing forensic auditing,” Okwuosa said.
But the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Dr. Nurudeen Abdullahi, urged stakeholders to discountenance the stance of ICAN by supporting the passage of the bill.

Nigeria spends $2.5bn importing dairy milk annually, to cover for the nearly 60% shortfall in primary production.
While the issues derive their root from a historically outdated model for the breeding and raising of cattle, they are also a result of willful ignorance and lack of technical knowledge on the value chain for this sector, which has a ripple effect across the board.
Milk is the third most consumed food item in Nigeria, however, in 2020 alone, the country imported $534m worth of refined sugar from Spain, Brazil, France and India, and $2.5bn worth of dairy milk from the Netherlands, UK, US, Australia, and others, to power its value chain for everything from evaporated milk, pasteurised milk, to yoghurt, cheese, chocolate, and more.
What is the problem with the dairy sector in Nigeria?
Why are we unable to solve the problem of milk and all its attendant derivatives, which to a large extent contributed to the $10bn the Netherlands earned exporting milk around the world in 2020?
Nigeria has 13 major breeds of cattle, and of them, the White Fulani breed has the most dairy of them all. What has happened is a situation where, because of the outdated mode of handling these cows, there has been no effort to adopt modern global best practices for cross-breeding and calving of these cows through artificial insemination (a process where semen is used from a cattle with a higher production output to fertilise the eggs of a lower producing cow, for the purpose of producing a new line that’s disease resistant, adjusted to the weather, and feeds available in that region of rearing).
There is also a need for quality veterinary care from professional doctors familiar with cattle specifically, a properly designed irrigation model built into the metal fabrication compartments of the ranch pen, a weaning hose used for automatic extraction of milk from the udder of the dairy cattle, a storage tank that can store the milk at a particular temperature that prevents fermentation and building of bacteria in the liquid before it’s taken by reefer vans to the milk collection centres, and radio frequency identification (RfID) tags built into the monitor braces to track everything from distance covered to amount of feed consumed.
Most importantly, there is a need for a vertically integrated model for developing a feed lot for maize, which remains the best and most nutritious source of feed for cattle globally.

E tok dis one for interview give BBC News Pidgin say na because of nepotism for inside di armed forces, di welfare of di armed forces and lack of professionals for inside di armed forces na im dey cause wahala.
E bin tok say di palalva for di kontri no be today wey im start and di issue na when pipo see say kasala dey work for one side of di kontri dem go try recreate am.
Oga Chidoka add say, "Nigerians for act to helep secure di kontri if dem get trust in di Nigerian state like di South East bin do with di Bakassi boys but trust no dey again"
Di trust extend to di picking of di new Chief of Army Staff, wey oga Chidoka tok say suppose go to somebodi for a different part of di kontri so pipo for armed forces go fit aspire for di position.
E say, "Soldiers fit ask dem selves say if you no fit trust me to be your COAS, why make I go die for you".
E also state say di absence of President Buhari for di burinal of Lieutenant General Attahiru also add for di problem of trust on top say "Buhari suppose show face for di burial to show say im ey united togeda with di army."
Osita Chidoka wey dey work as Political and Developmental analyst tok say as at now, Nigeria be two.
Di Nigeria wey dey deal with quota system and dey behave anyhow and di Naija wey young pipo dey use create wealth with start up companies, music, sports among odas.
One of di ways wey Nigeria go fit work, im add, na if we carry di spirit of Naija enta Nigeria.
On top di Biafra agitation wey don get Oduduwa Nation agitation too, oga Chidoka say dia agitation dey valid but for any of di kontris to work as well as di restructuring wey di political class don dey push for, first of all, e dey important to unlock Nigeria.
E say make State and Local governments around di kontri start to dey tok how dem dey spend di monthly allocation wey di federal goment dey give dem.
E tok say di issue of health and edcation suppose be di mata of state and local goments so di Federal go get time to focus on immigration, defense among others.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan says the National Assembly will continue to review of all COVID-19 emergency measures. This he said was to determine the effectiveness and prepare the government for future emergencies and would include all relevant legislations.
Lawan stated this on Wednesday at the the official unveiling and public presentation of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) Publication, “A Political Economy of Pandemics and Consequences of COVID-19 for Nigeria.”
He said that as Nigeria began to recover from impact of the pandemic, the national assembly would continue to undertake thorough review of all emergency measures to determine their effectiveness and prepare the government for future emergencies.
“We will equally maintain oversight of government interventions to ensure comprehensive reporting on how funds and other resources were utilised by relevant government agencies during the pandemic.”
“The response of Nigeria to the pandemic was decisive and the government adopted well-defined strategies to contain the spread of the virus, provide healthcare to those affected and cushion the economic effects of the lockdown.”
He, however, noted that in the health sector, the pandemic revealed some inadequacies and underscored the need for a complete overhaul to reposition the sector to better respond to this and future emergencies.
Lawan listed efforts of the national assembly at containing the pandemic to include the fact that lawmakers had to reconvene to consider and pass the revised 2020 budget and approve other financial measures of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his remarks, Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila said Nigeria and indeed the world had in the past year, witnessed a global pandemic that had altered lives in fundamental ways.
“The way we do business, the way we manage the affairs of government, the nature of our interactions with family and friends, all these things have been affected, perhaps permanently.
“For the most part, we do not yet fully understand the consequences of these developments.”
He said the institute had used the instruments of research and data analysis to help Nigerians understand the changes that had happened and were still happening all around.
“This compendium will guide policy making to ensure we are better prepared for the next time. And there will be a next time,” Gbajabiamila said.
The book reviewer, Prof. Sam Egwu, who is the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niger said the solutions to tackling such pandemics laid within the purview of elected officers.
“That is why where you have a pandemic, you are actually dealing with a political question and it requires political leadership to respond and address them accordingly.”
He also said that parliamentary oversight of policy measures undertaken to deal with health and economic emergencies were critical to the entire outcome.
“While partnerships with other stakeholders including the executive and civil societies are required for sustained effort to combat emergencies.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that leaders, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II gave a goodwill message, urging stakeholders to carry out a peer review “to compare with what other nations are going through.
” Many nations have not really come out of the pandemic, ” he said.

At least 25 states, plus Washington, DC, have now fully vaccinated at least half of their adult residents, data published Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
Those states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Four of those states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont -- have fully vaccinated more than half of their total resident population, not just adults, the CDC said Monday.
The impact of the vaccination program is obvious.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city's public schools will fully return to in-person learning in September, with no remote option. Face masks will still be required in schools, NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter said.
"We have proven that we can beat back Covid all over this country, and school opens four months from now," de Blasio said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "So, I absolutely believe Covid will continue to go down, vaccinations will go up, recovery will be strong."
In New Jersey, mask-wearing and social distancing requirements will be lifted Friday regardless of vaccination status, except for certain designated situations, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. Individual businesses can require employees and customers to wear masks if they choose, he said.
In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced updated return-to-work protocols and guidance including allowing fully vaccinated employees to forgo wearing face masks and social distancing. Whitmer said the state has reached the 55% vaccination threshold.
Air travel hit a new high of the pandemic last weekend, with the Transportation Security Administration saying it screened 90% of the total number of people it screened on the equivalent day in 2019, long before the pandemic.
The Sunday figure of 1.86 million people screened is compared to nearly 2.1 million on the equivalent Sunday of 2019. At this point in 2020, the pandemic had driven air travel into a deep hole, and the TSA reported only 267,000 screenings.
The new number beat the previous record set one week earlier.
With Memorial Day just one week away, planes are nearly as full as before the pandemic. The average domestic flight is carrying 98 passengers, compared to an average of 99 passengers in 2019, according to data from Airlines for America.
The impact of vaccination program is obvious, but we can not ignore the infectivity of COVID-19 just because we have been vaccinated. It is not feasible to cancel the requirements of wearing masks and social isolation. Vaccines can not guarantee certain safety, and only self-protection is the safest.

A deadly coronavirus surge taking place in India and surrounding countries could threaten pandemic progress in the United States and globally with variants and interrupted vaccine production, according to public health experts from Johns Hopkins University.
“This is a problem not just for those in India, but it’s a problem for everyone,” said Dr. David Peters of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
One of the main concerns about the outbreak in India and its implications for other countries is the B.1.617 coronavirus variant, Peters said in a Thursday briefing.
Peters said the new mutant makes up 80% of all COVID-19 cases in India, but is also significant in the United Kingdom and Italy.
“It’s also arrived in the U.S., although it is currently in low proportions,” Peters said. “The problem is that it seems to be much more transmissible than the earlier virus, and we’re yet to see whether it is also causing more serious illness, or makes it less susceptible to vaccine.”
On Wednesday, India reported more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic with a count of 4,529 deaths. It also reported 267,334 new infections.
Overall, the country has seen a total of 25.7 million infections and 287,000 deaths. It is second behind the United States, which has logged 33 million total cases and 588,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins tracker.
India was also expected to produce vaccine supply for other countries, which has now been halted.
“The crisis in India has caused the government to ban exports of the vaccine to other countries, so that means that countries are scrambling to get vaccines,” Peters said.
Dr. Anita Shet of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins said the situation in India shows us that we cannot afford to be complacent.
“The trajectory in India that is happening can actually occur anywhere else,” Shet said, adding that other countries must be cautious about coronavirus successes and loosened restrictions.
The United States and other countries can help India with vaccines, raw materials and PPE, Shet and Peters said.
“We need to keep the aid pouring in for suffering countries — share vaccines, share resources, until there is an equitable distribution of protection, because we know that we are not safe until everyone’s safe,” Shet said.
The United States recently sent six flights and up to $100 million of assistance to India, according to the Biden administration.

FORT BELVOIR, VA — The National Museum of the United States Army, a museum in a publicly accessible area of Fort Belvoir, will reopen on June 14.
June 14 will mark the Army's 246th birthday. The museum officially opened on Veterans Day in November 2020 but closed temporarily on Dec. 14, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"June will be a month of celebration as we recognize Army Heritage Month, the Army's birthday and the reopening of the Army museum," said John Whitley, acting Secretary of the Army, in a statement. "As the museum tells the history of our American Soldiers and honors their accomplishments and sacrifices, we will also reflect on their more recent service to our nation, including their contributions to COVID-19 and disaster-relief efforts, and the protection they provide us all."
The museum is the first to tell the U.S. Army's complete history since its creation in 1775. The displays and interactive exhibits tell stories through the perspective of soldiers and highlight the Army's role in defending and building the nation, as well as Army humanitarian missions and technological and medical breakthroughs. The museum also has a 300-degree theater, rooftop garden, museum store, cafe, and hundreds of historic treasures rarely or never before seen by the public.
The museum is located at 1775 Liberty Drive, Fort Belvoir, VA. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. It is open daily except Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
Tickets must be reserved in advance, and each group is limited to five tickets. Timed-entry tickets are free at www.theNMUSA.org.

SIR: In the build-up to the now-historic 2015 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari, who was running against the then-incumbent president, promised to end medical tourism for government officials. Contrary to that promise, Buhari has gone to the United Kingdom on a sixth trip since assuming power.
The sixth trip coincided with a general strike by a doctors’ union in the country. The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) downed tools to protest poor remuneration and unfavourable conditions of service. The Nigerian healthcare system has been in a state of disrepair for decades, leading to the late General Sani Abacha, a former head of state, quipping in 1984 that Nigeria’s hospitals are mere consulting clinics.
Health care facilities across the country are neglected, and the poor bear the brunt by having no choice but to patronise the decrepit, ill-equipped and underfunded healthcare centres. What is not recognised is that the government’s negligence violates a fundamental right to accessible health care.
In a half-hearted bid to make healthcare available to all and sundry, former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, enacted Nigeria’s National Health Act (NHAct) which prescribes a legal structure for the regulation, development, and management of Nigeria’s health system. With inclusive Universal Health Coverage, everybody can get quality health services whenever they need them, without suffering costing an arm. Sadly, the laudable act has been abandoned.
The Basic Health Care Fund (BHCPF), an offshoot of NHAct, is meant to substantially increase revenue allocated to improving Primary Health Care, with a sustainable mechanism of removing financial barriers to accessing primary healthcare. BHCPF comes from not less than one per cent Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and contributions from donor grants.
If put in place, the BHCPF will increase access to healthcare for the poor. Sadly, the 2018 Health access quality index rated Nigeria in the lowest rung of health indicators. Nigeria is ranked 187 out of 195 countries, despite the government earmarking N55 billion for BHCPF in 2018.
In 2021, only 4.526 per cent (N592.166 billion) of the proposed N13.082 trillion of the budget has been allocated to the health sector, the bulk of which goes into recurrent expenditure. This proposal means that most of the money would go into the system’s administration and not improve it. Especially when Nigeria battles Covid-19 pandemic, this is a far cry from the 15% of annual budget set by African Union countries.
Besides, Section 3(4) of the NHAct, appears ambiguous. It states that: “… all Nigerians shall be entitled to a guaranteed minimum package of services.” The federal government should spell out the minimum package in clear terms. If the NHAct is fully implemented and operationalised, it promises to protect Nigerians’ right to health.
The government can also leverage on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), a long-term contract with risk-sharing to expand access to quality healthcare delivery, especially in remote areas.
For instance, the PPP between the Abbott Fund and the Government of Tanzania greatly assisted in modernising facilities, training staff, improving hospital, patient management, and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment at over 90 hospitals and rural health clinics across Tanzania. So far, Abbott Fund has invested more than US$50 million.
In Nigeria, the feat can be replicated. A coalition of public and private partners can collaborate on primary health facilities, medicine, diagnostic centres, treatment, research, among others.

Covid-19 lockdown and curfew go return from Tuesday midnight 11 May, 2021 across Nigeria
Federal Goment for di west African nation call am Phase Four of restriction of movement to reduce coronavirus spread.
Nigerian Presidential Steering Committee for Covid-19 na im make di announcement on Monday for Abuja.
Di restriction go cover recreational activities and events and mass gatherings for events of any kind go get maximum of fifty pipo.
Di goment also order shut down event centres, bars and clubs dem to close down till further notice.
Why Nigeria reintroduce Covid-19 lockdown?
For statement wey di PSC release dem say na ontop review of some issues make dme see need to increase restrictions.
Di rising trend of coronavirus cases for several kontris and di high risk of surge for Africa.
Delay in global supplies of di vaccine to di kontri even though Nigeria don start di vaccine rollout.
Pipo no dey hear word and no dey use mask or wash hands, event to continue to dey social distance sef dem no gree do.
Oda tins we dey Covid 19 Nigeria phase IV new restrictions
All goment workers from Level 12 down go continue to work form house till 11th June, 2021.
Also, every recreational venues, gyms and indoor sports facilities go remain closed till 11th of June, 2021 too.
Dem also ban concerts, carnivals and street parties till further notice.
Howeva weddings, conferences, congresses, office parties, seminars, end of year events go fit hold as long as dem no carry pass 50 pipo.
Nigerians don start to dey question di reasoning for dis new restrictions on top say di cases of coronavirus don drop to average 50 new cases per day.
As at di last recording by di Nigerian NCDC, di number of active cases for di kontri na 7,085 for di kontri.

The Ekiti State Government announced it has received an extra 40,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. This comes as NPHCDA data reveals the state so far has issued 86% of its initial proportion.
Dr Oyebanji Filani, Commissioner for Health and Human Services, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Ekiti, citing that the 52,960 doses sent to the state had mostly been utilised.
NPHCDA data for the 9th of May 2021 revealed that 1,665,698 people had so far been vaccinated, which is 82.8% of its proportion.
The commissioner added that the State is committed to vaccinating even more people and advised residents to get vaccinated in a bid to reduce the spread of the virus in the state, stating that continuous compliance with social distance measures will also remain in place.
In case you missed it
The FCT Primary Health Care Board (FPHCB) announced it would end the first round of Covid-19 vaccination on the 14th of May 2021.

The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has warned job seekers paying money out of desperation to secure employment, that immigration job was not for sale.
Babandede issued the warning in Abuja on Friday at a media chat on the NIS ongoing recruitment exercise.
He said some of its officers were arrested for extorting money from desperate job seekers and handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for prosecution.
“Immigration job is not for sale and, we have arrested so many people in respect of fraudulent activities and deception about our ongoing recruitment exercise.
“Just last week, I signed a letter to ICPC forwarding one Immigration officer and Correctional personnel to them for prosecution.
“They have collected almost N15 million from innocent Nigerians, who gave them money with a promise of jobs in the service,” he said.
According to him, a lot of people have opened fake websites which look exactly like NIS with his pictures all over such as: www.immigration.gov while ours is www.immigration.gov.ng.
“Anybody, who has given money for or ask to give money about recruitment, should send details of the person or officer concerned to my email.
“If you are not satisfied, because it’s a report against us, there is SERVICOM site. Or, better still, you can go to ICPC or any anti-corruption agency near you.
“We have not sold any slot, we don’t intend to sell any slot, there will be no slot for sale,” Babandede reiterated.
He said that only 4,120 applicants would be employed by the service after undergoing physical fitness examination and credential verification.
The comptroller-general said that the list of successful applicants would be published on the NIS’ website.
He said successful candidates would be contacted through bulk emails and text messages, adding that applicants were expected to check the website for their centre, starting from Monday.
On security measures put in place to ensure candidates’ safety, he said that all NIS state officers would work with security agencies in all the six zones during the exercise to ensure safety.

U.S. backs waiving patent protections for Covid vaccines, citing global health crisis
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it supports waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, as countries struggle to manufacture the life-saving doses.
“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines,” United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai wrote in a statement.
“As our vaccine supply for the American people is secured, the Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts — working with the private sector and all possible partners — to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. It will also work to increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines,” the statement added.
The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised the U.S. decision as a “monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19” that reflects the “moral leadership” of the White House in the fight to end the pandemic.
Stocks of major pharmaceutical companies that have produced vaccines, including Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer, dropped sharply after news of the potential waivers first broke. Pfizer ended its trading day flat, while Moderna lost 6.1%; Johnson & Johnson shed a modest 0.4%.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America expressed pointed opposition to the Biden administration’s support for waiving IP protections. The trade group’s members include vaccine makers such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
 “In the midst of a deadly pandemic, the Biden Administration has taken an unprecedented step that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and compromise safety,” said Stephen J. Ubi, the group’s president and CEO. “This decision will sow confusion between public and private partners, further weaken already strained supply chains and foster the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines. ”
World Trade Organization leaders reportedly urged member nations this week to quickly hash out the details of an agreement to temporarily ease the rules protecting intellectual property behind coronavirus vaccines. The waiver, proposed by South Africa and India, could remove obstacles to ramping up the production of vaccines in developing countries.
An administration official with knowledge of Tai’s decision cautioned that the WTO’s discussions over waivers could take time and, since the body’s rulings are based on consensus, will require approval from all 164 members.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Tai held at least two dozen meetings and calls with various industry stakeholders, including the major vaccine manufacturers. The person added that Tai plans to advocate for friendly cooperation between global firms to ease supply-chain bottlenecks.
President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday affirmed that the White House would back the World Trade Organization’s IP waiver proposal. “Yes, I’m going to talk about that later today. Yes,” Biden said shortly before Tai’s statement was released.
The Biden administration’s move comes as coronavirus infections surge to their highest levels in countries that have struggled to procure or distribute vaccines, highlighting a contrast with other nations, including the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
In recent weeks, India has grappled with a staggering rise in new coronavirus infections. Over the weekend, India reported 400,000 daily cases, bringing the nation’s cumulative total to 20,665,148 cases, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The spike may have been triggered by a highly contagious Covid variant, known as B.1.617, which was first identified in India.
The variant has since been identified in other countries, including the United States.
In April, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed lifting the patent protections of coronavirus vaccines with Biden, according to a readout of their call. The relaxation would grant governments quicker and more affordable access to the lifesaving doses.
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it will immediately make raw materials needed for India’s coronavirus vaccine production available. 
Critics have argued that patents on vaccines and other protections are not the central obstacle to producing more vaccines for the nations that need them most. Some also suggest such agreements could harm companies’ incentives to innovate.
“This is a huge misstep by the Biden Administration that will do nothing to increase vaccine distribution and will endorse China’s ability to piggyback on U.S. innovation to further its vaccine diplomacy aims,” Clete Willems, a former attorney at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said of the decision.
“A solution more in line with the Administration’s stated objectives of improving U.S. competitiveness and keeping jobs in America would be to produce and export vaccines from the United States,” said Willems, who worked under both the Obama and Trump administrations.
A Washington Post editorial this week said the goal of creating a “people’s vaccine” to defeat Covid is “more slogan than solution.”

In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari was elected president of Nigeria, a country sometimes touted as Africa’s largest democracy, if only in name. Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan, whose major achievement during his tenure as president was leading the nation in becoming Africa’s largest economy. But Jonathan’s failures in national security—including the notorious kidnapping of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok in April 2014 by the terrorist group Boko Haram—proved disastrous for his political future. Buhari, a former military general, ran and was at least partially chosen by a majority of voters due to his promise to end security issues in areas of conflict, notably in the country’s northern region.
Seven years after the Chibok kidnapping, 112 of the girls are still missing. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported in March that since last December, more than 800 children have been abducted in the country, a majority in Nigeria’s north and northeast. For the kidnappers, called bandits in the country, many request ransoms, sometimes as much as 500 million naira (approximately $1 million).
A 312-page report recently released by the International Committee on Nigeria and the International Organization for Peace Building and Social Justice has detailed how Boko Haram’s offensive and attacks by Fulani herdsmen have left tens of thousands of Nigerians dead in what is tantamount to religious genocide and ethnic cleansing. Buhari, who is from the north, in a nation where its north-south split is erroneously used as a proxy for its religious and ethnic differences and tensions, has undeniably failed to keep his security promises.
Yet security is just one among this administration’s many deficiencies. Buhari has failed to expand the economy, reduce the country’s dependency on oil, and follow through on his anti-corruption pledges. Indeed, he may be presiding over the least effective government since Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960. Sadly, the current state of the country under Buhari was eminently foreseeable based on his political past.

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday stressed the need for Nigeria to remain united to tackle the country’s challenges.
Tinubu, while canvassing for people’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari as he addressed the nation’s challenges, also dismissed speculations about a frosty relationship with the president.
Speaking on Monday night after an hour closed-door meeting with Buhari, Tinubu, in company with a former Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, stated that a concerted and united response was what was needed presently to address the various crises facing Nigeria.
According to him, some of the ingredients needed to overcome the crises include “cooperation, understanding and determination, effective security and effective information.”
He added that there is no president who will want his country in chaos.
“Have you seen one? Point one to me. There is no one that will want his citizens exposed to banditry and danger.
“There’s no president or leader that will want his nation fractured by tribalism, religious differences and all that. It calls for serious management and serious evaluation and dialogue once in a while,” he stated.
He said he was at the State House to discuss with Buhari on finding solutions to the various national challenges and urged Nigerians to support the government in its journey to finding solutions to them.
According to him, the current challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria, adding that finding solutions, through consultations and exchange of views and ideas on how to change the fortunes of the country should be collective and contributive.
He said: “My visit is to generally review the perceptions going on outside there and equally focus on the security across the country more. The president will have more information than we have, but we are his ears close to the ground and we have to exchange views so that a better Nigeria is grounded. That’s all.
“The best way is what we are doing; coming together to reduce banditry, to move for unity and be able to bring a better Nigeria to the people.
“The welfare of our people is extremely important. And yes, every nation will go through these curves and difficult times. How we communicate it to the people, what are the areas to help make it easier for people to bear, those are ideas on how to be able to change the leadership of the country.”
On the perceived frosty relationship between him and Buhari, Tinubu said they maintained a cordial relationship, adding that he doesn’t have to be seen often at the State House to show the warm ties between them.
“There is nothing like that, nothing like unhealthy. Who is our doctor? Is it social media that is measuring the relationship? I don’t have to disturb him openly on camera. No, we have so many ways to look at issues. We have nothing like that. We have a very close and cordial, frank and honest relationship,” he said.
On the forthcoming 2023 general election and the chances of the APC returning as the ruling party, he said: “I don’t want to predict that one right now, I don’t want to do that subject now. The chances are as bright as a midnight star. We’ll continue to work for a better Nigeria and that’s what we need.
“We cannot interject politics and assumption into everything, we have a nation to build, and we have a baton to pass. You can depend on Buhari that he will not spend one hour beyond his tenure. He will do that; he will comply with the constitution. So, how does it happen? Read the Nigerian constitution and find out from the INEC website.”

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak Tuesday with community organizations in Guatemala, a day after the United States announced economic and other efforts to help Guatemala and its neighbors slow uncontrolled migration. 
Harris’ office said Tuesday’s virtual roundtable session “will underscore the importance of placing the Guatemalan people at the center of solutions to root causes of migration.” 
She said during talks Monday with Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei that she was “eager to hear their thoughts,” and that the people of the region “must be at the center of everything we do.” 
An increased number of migrants have traveled from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to reach the United States, leading President Joe Biden to task Harris to work with the governments of the three countries, along with Mexico, to try to address the factors motivating people to leave their homes. 
Honduran migrants clash with Guatemalan soldiers in Vado Hondo, Guatemala.
The World Food Program said in a report earlier this year that after several hurricanes hit the region, and the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people facing hunger in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras has reached 7.8 million. 
A $310 million U.S. program announced Monday will seek to address food insecurity in the region and deliver other needed humanitarian aid. 
The effort includes aid to farmers, food and literacy programs for school children, disaster relief services, and addressing safety and protection of refugees, asylum seekers and those displaced within their country. 
Harris told Giammattei that behind the U.S. effort is a responsibility to engage with its regional neighbors and a desire to “bring hope to the people of Guatemala that there will be an opportunity for them if they stay at home.” 
Giammattei said his government shares that goal. 
“Creating hope through the consolidation of walls of prosperity where people can find here opportunities to move ahead and, therefore, not need to go abroad to the United States is the road that should be our objective,” he said. 
The two countries also agreed on a plan for the United States to send a group of employees from the Department of Homeland Security to train members of a Guatemalan border protection task force. The United States will also help with aid programs and shelter construction for migrants who are returned to Guatemala.

The prices of essential food items are rising beyond the reach of Nigerians and this situation is deepening hunger and dragging more people into poverty.
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown affected local food production and farm output, leading to economic instability and loss of jobs.
Loss of means of livelihood for many Nigerians and slashed salaries for others have reduced their ability to buy basic food items, heightening hunger and thwarting cash transfer initiatives of the Nigerian authorities to households and businesses.
Nigeria’s inflation rate has been galloping since last year and rose to a three-year high of 18.17 per cent in March 202?1?, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.56? per cent? in March 2021, this is 0.02 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in February 2021 (1.54 percent).
The NBS report stated that food inflation soared to 22.95 per cent in March from 21.79 per cent recorded in the previous month.
The rise in the food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam, and other tubers, Meat, Vegetables, Fish, Oils and fats, and fruits.
According to NBS, non-food items such as cost of transportation and medical services are also pushing up inflation in Nigeria.
The bank had estimated that the poverty headcount rate or the national poverty line—would remain virtually unchanged at a little over 40 per, although the number of poor people would be set to rise from 82.9 million in 2019 to 90.0 million in 2022 due to natural population growth.
However, due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis, the national poverty rate was revised and projected to jump from 40.1 per cent in 2019 to 45.2 per cent in 2022, implying that 100.9 million Nigerians will be living in poverty by 2022.
Data from the NBS National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS) reinforced this prediction as it suggested that despite many Nigerians’ subsequently returning to work, many households’ incomes are lower than last year and they are more food insecure.
Way Forward
To cushion the effects of the ?COVID-19 crisis on the economy, the Nigerian government has helped many businesses to pay the salaries of 319,755 employees.
Also, 265,425 beneficiaries received Artisan and Transport Support from the government while 172,129 business names were registered free by Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
However, this is not enough as many experts have advised the government to address insecurity in food-producing states in the country.
The Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the government should stimulate growth in agricultural output.
He added that more support of the government is needed in the manufacturing sector to guarantee improved output and the reduced the intensity of too much money chasing after fewer goods. The DG called on the government to deliberately and partner with the productive sector to grow non-oil export.


The impact of the epidemic is very extensive, leading to the most urgent need to solve the epidemic in society. As everyone worked together, the epidemic was gradually brought under control, and social order was gradually restored.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari reversed a government decision to revoke four oil permits from a unit of China’s Sinopec.
Buhari “approved the restoration” of the licenses to Addax Petroleum Corp. as part of his commitment to “the rule of law and sanctity of contracts,” spokesman Garba Shehu said in an emailed statement Friday. The West African nation’s oil industry regulator, the Department of Petroleum Resources, announced the termination of the leases on April 6.
The president directed the DPR “to retract the letter of revocation,” according to Shehu. He instructed the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., which is in a partnership with Addax, to “resolve issues” in line with their contractual relationship, he said.
The DPR said it withdrew the permits known as Oil Mining Leases 123, 124, 126 and 137 because of Addax’s failure to develop the assets sufficiently. It had planned to transfer the licenses to two local companies, Kaztec Engineering Ltd and Salvic Petroleum Resources Ltd. A DPR spokesman didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.
Addax pumped an average of about 30,000 barrels per day in 2019, equivalent to about 1.5% of the country’s output, according to data published by the NNPC. Other than the OMLs, the China-owned producer also holds a small stake in a marginal field in Nigeria.

Daily Covid-19 deaths in the US should continue to decline in the coming months, though that could change if vaccine hesitancy rises, Murray's IHME said Friday.
The country averaged 704 Covid-19 deaths a day across the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data -- down from the 3,000s in parts of January and February.
An IHME model projects that average will dip to around 425 by June 1, and 105 by August 1, the institute said Friday.
Recent vaccine expansion and mask usage have helped death rates decline even as more contagious coronavirus variants -- such as B.1.1.7 -- have spread, the IHME said.
But in a worst-case scenario, daily deaths could stay in the 700s in May and June, and in the 600s through July, the IHME predicts. That scenario involves a fast decline in mask use and an increase in mobility, the institute said.
Vaccine hesitancy also would be troublesome, the IHME said.
"Given how central vaccination is to the US strategy to control the B.1.1.7 potential surge, the slow erosion of vaccine confidence unfolding over the last two or more months is cause for concern," the IHME said.
Vaccines are now the most direct and effective preventive measure. Reducing vaccination rates will directly lead to an increase in the number of infections and deaths, but vaccine doses are limited and there are simply not enough vaccines in many countries.