Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, his Deputy Alhaji Munir Dan’iya and some other government officials were on Saturday administered doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Addressing newsmen shortly after taking the vaccine, Tambuwal urged people in the state to make themselves available for the vaccination. “Today I have taken my jab of the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, I enjoined the good people of Sokoto state to come forward and obtain the vaccine against COVID-19 pandemic. “As we are all aware prevention is better than cure, therefore, instead of running halter skelter  in need of support it is better to take preventive measure…

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Experts say harmonisation of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) standards of organic agriculture in West Africa will guarantee quality of produce and enhance trade in the region. They gave the assurance at the virtual four-day workshop on Harmonisation of organic PGS Standards across West Africa and Regional Organic Trade Fair in West Africa (BioWest Fair). The harmonisation committee comprises six members from Benin Republic, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali and Togo. Mr Ernest Aubee, Head of Agriculture, ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, and Chairman of Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) Regional Steering Committee, said in his opening remarks that the workshop was to…

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Denmark said on Saturday that one person had died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral haemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination. The two, both hospital staff members, had received the AstraZeneca vaccine less than 14 days before getting ill, the authority that runs public hospitals in Copenhagen said. The Danish Medicines Agency confirmed it had received two “serious reports”, without giving further details. There were no details of when the hospital staff got ill. Denmark, which halted using the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 11, was among more than a dozen countries that temporarily paused the…

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Despite the European Medicines Agency EMA’s conclusion that AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective”, authorities in Finland have joined other Scandinavian countries to suspend the vaccination, Euronews reports. The country’s public health authority said two people developed blood clots after being vaccinated. As a result, jabs will be suspended “until there is more information and a possible causality can be assessed”. Dozens of European countries had suspended the vaccine amid reports of blood clots. Some, such as Italy, Germany and Spain indicated they would restart AstraZeneca vaccinations after the EMA’s safety review on Thursday. But Norway, Sweden and Denmark said…

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The Vice- Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, and another botanist, Dr Temitope Onuminya have won 2021 Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) grants. Mrs Nonye Oguama, a Principal Assistant Registrar, Corporate Affairs of the institution, made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday in Lagos. According to Oguama, the awards are part of the 2021 Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme, funded by the European Union. Ogundipe, a Professor of Botany, won a national level grant of €38,000 for his project proposal: “Implementation of the Biodiversity Information and Data System for Coastal Ecosystem in Nigeria”. Onuminya, on the…

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President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Tanzania’s Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan as she takes over the country;s president following the death of President John Magufuli. The president’s congratulatory message, to the first ever female president of the country, was released by Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in Abuja, on Friday. Buhari urged President Samia Hassan to unite the nation and lead the country in a good direction. The president expressed his desire to work with the new Tanzanian president, to advance mutual issues that were of common African and global interest. NAN

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 130 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 161,539. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “On the 19th of March 2021, 130 new confirmed cases were recorded in the country. “Till date, 161,539 cases have been confirmed, 147,581 cases discharged and 2,027 deaths across the country. “The 130 new cases were reported from 13 states – Lagos (46), Ogun (19), Kwara (18), FCT (12), Kaduna (10), Ekiti (six) Abia (five), Edo (three), Sokoto (three), Osun (three), Niger (two), Oyo…

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The Enugu Police Command on Friday, said it arrested a total of 39 suspects for various criminal offences, as well as recovered 10 assorted rifles and ammunition in the state, in one month. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Aliyu, who disclosed this said that the the suspects were arrested for offences ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, unlawful possession of firearms, child stealing and conspiracy, car and phone snatching, house burglary, among others. Speaking in Enugu, following arrests made between Feb. 12 and March 18, Aliyu explained that the arrested suspects included 37 males and two females, who…

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The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has advised Kwara state government to rename schools that have refused to obey court pronouncements and government’s directives on the use of hijab in such schools. This is contained in a statement by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Saturday. “It is obvious that the Kwara State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is determined to forment trouble. It has refused to obey court judgements. It has also rejected government’s directive on the approval of hijab for female Muslim students. “Worse still, CAN incited its members in the state to occupy the schools.…

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The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended 18 candidates to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as Justices of the Court of Appeal. This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of NJC, Soji Oye, on Friday in Abuja. The council said the decision to recommend the Judges for the various appointments was taken at the 94th Meeting of NJC held on Dec. 17 to Dec. 18 2020 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad. The Council further approved the appointment of eight heads of court, even as it constituted a panel to probe allegations that…

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