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Thursday, 28 May 2020 04:49

FG, CAN, NSCIA meet on guidelines to reopen worship centres

Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Presidential Task Force (PTF) met in Abuja on Tuesday, it was learnt. The meeting deliberated extensively on guidelines to re-open places of worship, especially in Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The parties agreed that it was time for places of worship to reopen, adding that precautionary measures should be followed. Guidelines agreed upon at the meeting include that: “Churches should disinfectant their premises before the reopening for services. Churches should provide alcoholic sanitizers, temperature readers, soap and water in their premises to…

Thursday, 28 May 2020 04:48

Akeredolu lifts ban on religious activities, lists guidelines

Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has lifted the ban on religious gatherings in the state. Mr Akeredolu placed a ban on religious gatherings as part of efforts to contain Coronavirus spread in the state. Akeredolu said at a press conference at Government House, Alagbaka, Akure on Wednesday religious gatherings would be in line with the preventive measures on Covid-19. According to him, the state government discussed with religious leaders before lifting the ban. He said: “As agreed with religious leaders, in specific terms, worship centres are to commence their main activities with effect from Friday. “Only weekly Friday Jumat services…

Thursday, 28 May 2020 04:47

NBC imposes sanctions on 31 broadcast stations over ‘unverified’ virus claims

National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), yesterday, sanctioned three broadcast stations for violating the code for unverifiable claims and lack of professionalism in the broadcast of Covid-19. The erring stations are Breez FM, Akure, fined N250,000; Adaba FM, Akure, fined N500,000 and Albarika FM, Illorin, N250,000. The commission in its first quarterly report for 2020 said its hammer fell on 28 stations for violating areas of the NBC Code dealing with obscenity, political breaches, hate speech, unprofessionalism, unverifiable claims, advertisement, and technical issues. NBC acting Director-General, Mr Armstrong Idachaba, while briefing journalists in Abuja said the sanctions were the outcome of the…

Thursday, 28 May 2020 04:43

Looting erupts during protests over black man's killing by police in US

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called on prosecutors to file criminal charges against a white police officer shown on a bystander’s video pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed African-American man who later died at a hospital. The officer, along with three others involved in the apprehension of George Floyd, 46, were dismissed from the police department as the FBI on Tuesday opened an investigation of the incident, a day after the deadly confrontation unfolded in Minnesota’s largest city. Late on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters, many wearing face coverings, filled streets near the scene of the deadly…

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 05:20

National Assembly cuts short recess to consider revised 2020 budget

National Assembly will resume on Thursday from its Sallah break to consider President Muhammadu Buhari’s Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Both chambers had on May 20 adjourned plenary to June 2 for the Eid-el-Fitr festivities. Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Mohammed Sani-Omolori, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said Senators and House of Representatives members are expected to resume tomorrow to consider the reviewed budget. The statement reads: “This is to inform all Senators and honourable members that resumption of plenary session earlier scheduled for Tuesday 2nd June, 2020, has been rescheduled for Thursday, 28 May 2020, to enable members…

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 05:19

Govs meet today over financial autonomy for judiciary, legislature, other matters

Governors across the 36 states of the federation have scheduled a meeting today to discuss, among other issues, financial autonomy for states’ judiciary and legislature. On May 22, President Muhammadu Buhari issued an executive order granting financial autonomy to the legislature and judiciary across the states. In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, head of media and public affairs, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said the governors will meet via teleconference. The meeting is scheduled to hold at 2pm, and is expected to be attended by all governors. “Among the issues to be reviewed are a number of critical national…

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 05:18

Nigerian airport officials speak on guidelines for passengers ahead of flight resumption

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said passengers should brace up for rigorous health checks at the airports, flight delays and increase in airfare when restrictions are lifted and operations resume post Covid-19. Speaking at an aviation webinar organised by Women in Aviation (WIA) Nigeria, with the theme: Aviation: The New Norm in the post Covid-19, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, said passengers should expect delays and long hours of checks and re-checks right from when they arrive the airport and depart as the agency has put arrangements in place regarding passenger facilitation and what to expect.…

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 05:15

Lockdowns made NO difference to coronavirus but destroyed millions of livelihoods worldwide, JP Morgan finds

Lockdowns have not altered the course of the coronavirus pandemic but have devastated the global economy, a study by JP Morgan has claimed. A paper by Marko Kolanovic, a strategist at the investment bank, argued that governments were "spooked" into imposing lockdowns that were "late" or "inefficient". Countries around the world introduced lockdown measures as the number of coronavirus cases grew in the opening months of this year, and have seen infection rates fall significantly since. Kolanovic claimed that numbers had declined because the virus "likely has its own dynamics" that are "unrelated to often inconsistent lockdown measures". He cites…

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 05:14

Lockdowns cause more death than the virus itself - Nobel Laureate

Coronavirus lockdown could have caused more deaths than it saved, a Nobel Laureate scientist has claimed. Michael Levitt, a Stanford University professor, who correctly predicted the initial scale of the pandemic, suggested the decision to keep people indoors was motivated by ‘panic’ rather than the best science. Levitt also said the modeling that caused the United Kingdom government to bring in the lockdown – carried out by Mr Neil Ferguson – over-estimated the death toll by ’10 or 12 times.” ‘I think lockdown saved no lives. I think it may have cost lives. It will have saved a few road…

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:13

Nigeria’s GDP posts surprise 1.87% growth for Q1, 2020

Nigerian economic growth beat estimates in the first quarter as oil production rose to the highest in at least four years. Gross domestic product expanded 1.87% in the three months through March from a year earlier, compared with growth of 2.55% in the previous quarter, Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said on its website on Monday. The slowdown reflects “the earliest effects of the disruption, particularly on the non-oil economy,” the statistics office said. The median estimate of three economists in a Bloomberg survey was for 0.8% expansion. GDP contracted by 14.27% from the fourth quarter. While crude prices started…

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Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:10

Power supply sinks below 2,700MW as 10 generation plants lie idle

The number of the nation’s power plants sitting idle increased by three on Monday to 10, prompting generation to tumble below 2,700 megawatts. Total power generation in the country fell to 2,626.9MW as of 6am on Monday from 3,738MW the previous day, according to Nigerian Electricity System Operator. Twenty-two power plants generated 3862.8MW as of 6am on Saturday as five plants were idle. The data obtained from the system operator showed that Geregu II, Omotosho II and Ibom Power plants did not produce any megawatt of electricity as of 6am on Monday, joining Sapele II, Alaoji, Olorunsogo II, Ihovbor, Gbarain,…

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:09

CBN approves N10b for coronavirus drug research

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved N10 billion aggregate loan request by pharmaceuticals and other health care organizations from its earlier announced N100 billion facility to enable the entities produce items to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. The apex bank Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, confirmed that “on the loan component about N10bn worth of applications have already been approved and many more are being processed.” On the procedures for accessing the loan, he stated: “Grants are guided by procedures and not a free for all. They have to be applied for and processed. There are…

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:07

Enrol your child into Almajiri system and go to jail, El-Rufai threatens Kaduna parents

Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State has warned that parents who enrol their children into the Almajiri education system stand the risk of prosecution and up to two years jail. Mr El-Rufa’i stated this in Kaduna on Monday when he visited some 200 Almajiri children repatriated from Nasarawa State and undergoing rehabilitation and optical screening at Government College, Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna. Almajiri are children enrolled to be taught Islamic knowledge under Islamic Clerics, but who loiter the streets with bowls begging for alms and food. The governor also said any Islamic cleric who enrols any child into the Almajiri system…

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:06

Pakistan plane crash survivor: 'All I could see was fire'

One of the survivors of Friday's plane crash in the Pakistani city of Karachi has described his ordeal, saying all he could see "was fire". Passenger Muhammad Zubair was one of at least two passengers who survived after the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A320 came down in a residential area. Health authorities in Sindh province said 97 deaths had been confirmed. The cause of the crash is not yet known. The pilot had reported a technical fault after one failed landing attempt, according to local media, then issued a mayday call as the plane came down. It came days…

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