The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, has pledged the commitment of the Federal Government toward improving access to potable water for all Nigerians. Adamu said this at a news conference in commemoration of the 2021 World Water Day with the Theme: “Value Water’’ on Monday in Abuja. According to him, the essence of World Water Day, which is usually celebrated on March 22, is to galvanise action towards active response to water crisis. He said it was also to seek out innovative measures to improve access to potable water supply, all in the aim of achieving the Sustainable…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
By Justina Auta The Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) has advocated that 40 per cent constituency funds should be channelled to provision and sustenance of safe water in rural communities. The National Amirah, FOMWAN, Dr Halima Jibril, made the call while briefing newsmen in commemoration of the World Water Day celebration in Abuja on Monday. According to her, lack of access to safe water has led to increase in maternal and child mortality, increased number of out-of-school-girls, poor sanitation, food security and climate change. She, therefore, stressed the need for government at all levels to make available…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday received former Gov. Gbenga Daniel of Ogun state and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The chairman, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the APC, and governor of Yobe, Mai Mala Buni, accompanied by governors of Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar and Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu presented Daniel and Bankole to the president. Daniel was governor of Ogun State from 2003 to 2011 while Bankole was Speaker of the House of Representatives (2007–2011), all on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Bankole…
Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), says between 49 million and 161 million Africans may have fallen into COVID-19 induced poverty. Songwe stated this in her presentation on Monday at the opening of the 53rd ministerial session of the ECA and the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference drew participants from across Africa and other development partners across the world. They included Mr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Ms Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; and Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of…
Book Title: Barewa College: History of a School and the Nation BOOK Author: Udu Yakubu Book Publisher: May University Press Place of Publication – Lagos Date – 2021 Pages – 335 BOOK REVIEWER: Professor Jibrin Ibrahim Presented at Centenary Celebration of Barewa College, Hilton Hotel, 20th March 2021 I thank the organisers for offering me the privilege of being the reviewer for this important book, which tells part of the story of those who have exercised power in Nigeria. I say part of because I don’t agree with the sub-title’s suggestion that the story of the school is also that…
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, says the IATF2021 will explore business and investment opportunities enabled by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to accelerate Africa’s integration and industrialisation agenda. He said this in a joint statement issued by Afreximbank, the African Union (AU) and the Government of Rwanda on Monday. The statement also announced a new date for the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021). The event which was scheduled for September 6 to 12 in Kigali, Rwanda had been rescheduled for December 8 to 14. Obasanjo, the IATF2021 Advisory Council Chairman, said the new date would enable organisers to take…
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF says no fewer than 26.5 million Nigerian Children do not have enough water to meet their daily needs and are experiencing high or extremely high water vulnerability. UNICEF in a statement to commemorate the 2021 World Water Day, said globally, more than 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – are living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. According to a new analysis released by UNICEF, one in five children worldwide lack water to meet their everyday needs. The analysis, is part of the Water Security For All Initiative, identifies…
Hundreds of shops were burnt to ashes following a fire outbreak at Katsina Central Market on Monday. The fire started at around 8 a.m., on Monday, from some shops located at the centre of the market, before it spread to other parts. The fire is still raging as at about 12:30 pm, in spite of efforts of firemen to contain it. The inferno had destroyed property worth billions of Naira, mostly belonging to traders selling clothings, shoes, kitchen utensils, carpets, plastics among others. Some of the traders affected said they had no idea how the fire started, but added that…
A newborn in Japan is believed to have contracted COVID-19 from the mother in what may be the first case of mother-to-baby coronavirus transmission in the country, the NHK reported on Monday. According to the Japanese broadcast media outlet, researchers from the Japan Paediatric Society studied 1,124 medical facilities across the country, which have paediatric departments. It said the survey results indicated that 52 newborns at 31 facilities were born to coronavirus-positive mothers last August, of whom one baby was said to be infected. The child reportedly did not have health problems, the broadcaster added. According to Morioka Ichiro, a…
New technology that can rapidly detect whether a positive COVID-19 test sample contains a known variant was being trialled by the British Government. Genotype assay testing could halve the time it takes to identify coronavirus mutations, which indicate if a variant was present, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said. It currently takes around four to five days to detect known variants from positive samples through a process called genomic sequencing. Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, described the technology as “ground-breaking’’ and said it was the ambition to eventually test every COVID-19 positive sample for new mutations. It was…