…as Nigerians welcome product with mixed reactions By Tobore Ovuorie Better days are ahead for women globally as the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a vaginal ring; which can prevent the contracting of HIV, to be added as a prevention choice for women who are substantially at risk of the virus. This was disclosed Thursday, at the HIVR4P virtual conference by Michelle Rodolph of the WHO, while addressing the 2021 HIVR4P media Fellows. The ring, Ms. Rodolph said would be offered as a choice preventive like other contraceptives. The WHO guideline is a critical step for having HIV prevention…
Author: Editor
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent stood at 3,515,047 as of Friday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. According to the agency’s dashboard, the death toll related to the pandemic in Africa was 89,993 on Friday. A total of 2,990,890 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent. Southern Africa is the most affected region in Africa in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases, followed by the northern Africa region, according to the agency. The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include…
President Muhammadu Buhari says has communicated the appointment of the Service Chiefs to the National Assembly, NASS, and sought the confirmation of the said appointment by the Senate, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on NASS matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare has disclosed. Constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana had posited that President Buhari could not appointed new service chiefs without the confirmation of the National Assembly. However, Omoworare on Friday, said Buhari communicated with the Senate President through a letter dated 27th January 2021, in furtherance to section 18 (1) of the Armed Forces Act Cap. A.20 Laws of the…
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has donated 126 units of Patient Monitors and 63 units of Oxygen Concentrators, worth $600,000 dollars, to 21 Federal healthcare institutions, across the six geopolitical zones, said Mr Uche Orji, the NSIA Managing Director. Speaking at the formal handover of the equipment to the institutions, on Thursday, at a virtual ceremony, Orji said each institution would receive four regular patient monitors, two Intensive Care Unit (ICU) monitors, and three dual oxygen concentrators, to augment government’s ongoing effort of enhancing patient care in the treatment of COVID-19. Similarly, he added, that the donation would also…
Afreximbank has disbursed $250 million as part of its support for Trans Niger Oil and Gas Ltd (TNOG) to acquire 45 per cent stake in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 onshore oilfield. The NNPC holds 55 per cent equity in the Lease. The disbursement is about a quarter of the financing required to enable TNOG to buy stakes in the Lease from Shell Petroleum Development Company, Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. and ENI (AGIP). The total support package from Afreximbank – Africa Export Import Bank – is 1.1 billion dollars, it said in a statement issued in Cairo on Thursday. It…
President Muhammadu Buhari has warned against the promotion of ethnic and religious prejudices, saying such actions will not augur well for the development of the country. Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement, said Buhari gave the warning when he met with leadership of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in Abuja on Thursday. The leadership of the NSCIA was led by its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar. The president, however, stated that his administration would continue to create the enabling environment for religious freedom as guaranteed…
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, on Thursday, reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to resuscitate and ensure functional airstrips all over the country. The Director, Public Affairs, in the ministry, Mr James Odaudu, quoted Sirika, in a statement, as saying that the airstrips would help combat insecurity and boost commercial activities. the statement said that Sirika was speaking to a delegation sent by the Emir of Hadejia on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja. Speaking specifically on the Hadejia airstrip, the Minister said that there were many reasons for airstrips to be resuscitated, which included historical purposes…
Finally, the President sacked or “retired” his Service Chiefs off on Tuesday and appointed new ones. As is usually the case for our “Baba Go Slow” President, because he procrastinated for two years before acting, he gets no accolades for removing them after the country had been driven into a frenzy of belief that our President was keeping the Service Chiefs because he did not care about the deteriorating security situation in the country. I believe that the President does care about our security and safety and I am glad he finally removed them. In response to the standard question…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in Africa as new, more contagious variants of the virus spread. The UN health agency disclosed this in a statement posted on its website. It stated that over 175,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 6,200 deaths were reported in Africa in the last week, while infections rose by 50 per cent on the continent. It added that “infections rose by 50 per cent between Dec. 29, 2020 and Jan. 25, 2021, compared with the previous four weeks. “In the past…
By Tina George, Minna Towards reducing drudgery as well as encouraging more women and youths to embrace agriculture, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD Value Chain Development Programne (VCDP-AF), has distributed agro production and processing equipment to six agro-processing groups and 10 farmers. The equipment include, power tillers, rice reapers, sprayers, rice polishers, destoners, rice paddy cleaner, steam parboilers, rice milling machine, gari fryer, cassava presser, cassava grater, cassava siever, mini combined harvesters, sprayers and UDP applicator. According to the Niger Coordinator of the programme, Dr Mathew Ahmed, each of the agro-processing groups has 25 members while 10 other…