The problem is persistent: a fully vaccinated public figure catches Covid-19, and social media sites are soon flooded with claims that this proves the shots do not work. From White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and American comedian Chris Rock testing positive to former secretary of state Colin Powell dying of COVID-19 complications, prominent cases have triggered a deluge of inaccurate information online. So-called breakthrough cases are expected and do not mean the vaccines are ineffective, US health authorities say. But claims that the shots are failing can erode trust and slow uptake efforts,…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Paris, France, urged world leaders and global health institutions to follow a regime of enabling access to the COVID-19 vaccines, admonishing that sidelining countries in terms of reach will undermine the entire effort for safety. Delivering a keynote statement at the Paris Peace Forum (PPF), President Buhari said export restrictions that encourage needless hoarding of vaccines need to be lifted, while welcoming the pledges by industrialized countries to share vaccines, a statement by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina said. The President said the pledges should be fulfilled in a timely manner, appreciating some countries, like…
The International Press Centre, IPC, Lagos-Nigeria has expressed extreme sadness over the death of Vanguard journalist, Tordue Salem who went missing on October 13, 2021. Vanguard newspapers on Thursday confirmed that the body of Salem who covered the House of Representatives (the second chamber of the Nigerian national parliament) was found in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory. Salem was reportedly last seen near a filling station opposite the Police headquarters in Abuja where journalists under the auspices of the Abuja Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists staged a protest to demand his freedom few weeks ago. “This is another…
The National Biosafety Management Agency, NBMA, on Thursday, presented guidelines for genetically modified stacked events to experts for relevant inputs that would give the country a robust guiding instrument. The Director General of the agency, Rufus Egegba in an opening remark appreciated all those involved in developing the guidelines to its present stage. He stated that the staff of the agency had put in so much efforts to come up with guidelines and also charged the experts to commit their expertise as they review the document for the National use. Ebegba revealed that “the stacked gene event is nothing different…
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has called on the people of the South West, South East and South South to stop demonizing tribes, regions or religion but fight criminals. This call is coming as the Ekiti State Police Command on Monday, paraded four suspected kidnappers who have been terrorizing the state in the past two years. MURIC, which director, Prof Ishaq Akintola gave the advice in a statement on Friday, observed that contrary to insinuations, the suspects paraded were not Fulanis. “The Ekiti state Police Command on Monday, 8th November, 2021 paraded four suspected kidnappers who had been terrorizing the…
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that for Africa to attain the high level of post-COVID-19 recovery recorded in more developed economies, stakeholders in the continent must begin to develop the required collaborations for local production of vaccines. The President, represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, made the observation in Abuja on Thursday at the opening of the 51st Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA (African Region). According to the President, “without vaccination of a huge number of its people, Africa remains at continued risk of socio-economic stagnation, because continuing infections including from new variants, will prevent full recovery.…
The President African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina has expressed appreciation for the Green Climate Fund’s approval of $150 million to support its Desert-to-Power Initiative. Adesina who made this known through his verified twitter handle @akin_ adesina, said this will support efforts to expand electricity access in Nigeria and 10 other countries in Africa’s Sahel belt. The 10 other countries are Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Djibouti, Senegal and Chad. He said the initiative would help the countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDDs) targets and the Paris Climate Agreement commitments. “This initiative will…
MFS Africa, Africa’s largest digital payments network, on Wednesday said it had raised $100 million through an equity and debt financing round. MFS, in a statement, said that the fundraising marks another milestone in its Africa’s expansion, following a series of acquisitions and investments in other African fintechs, including the recently announced acquisition of Baxi in Nigeria. The new investor, AfricInvest FIVE, is one of the most experienced private equity investors in the continent and co-led the round with existing investors Goodwell Investments and LUN Partners Group (“LUN Partners”). Other investors included CommerzVentures, Allan Gray Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor…
Nigeria’s Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s $16,230,077,718 billion and €1,020,000,000 billion loan requests under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing plan. It also approved a grant component of $125 million and the Bank of Industries’ request to issue €500 million but no more than €750 million Eurobond in the International Capital Market. According to the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Clifford Ordia’s presentation, President Buhari’s request was in compliance with the provisions of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act 2003 and the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. He also said that the approval followed the consideration of a report by the Committee…
The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), foremost civil society election observation organisation in Nigeria, has called for providing improved election equipment, especially the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS). The group, on Wednesday also urged the leadership of the security agencies to investigate and charge to court all security operatives who engaged in violation of human rights, and gross misconduct during the election. This is coming barely hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the winner of the Anambra 2021 gubernatorial election. The chairman of the group, Auwal Rafsanjani noted in a statement made available to ASHENEWS on Wednesday, that…