Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates said on Wednesday that he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media on the COVID-19 pandemic. Gates in an interview with Reuters said the millions of online posts about him and top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci were “crazy conspiracy theories.” He explained that the conspiracy theories had likely taken hold in part because of the combination of a frightening viral pandemic and the rise of social media. “Nobody would have predicted that I and Fauci would be so prominent in…
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday confirmed 15 additional deaths from COVID-19 complications, bringing the total number of death toll in the country to 1,522. The NCDC disclosed this on its official website on Tuesday. The centre also said that 1,303 new cases of COVID-19 was recorded, bringing the total number of infection in the country to 124,299. It stated that the new infections were reported in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The centre said that Lagos, FCT and Nasarawa recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections on Monday, with 478,211 and 83 cases respectively. Others state…
Members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday in Abuja observed a minute silence in honour of former three members of the cabinet who died recently. The former ministers were Alhaji Dauda Birma, Alhaji Mohammadu Gambo Jimeta and Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim. Late Birma, aged 80, who served as Minister of Education from 1997 to 1998, died on Jan. 5 while Gambo Jimeta, aged 83, died on Jan. 21. Jimeta, onetime Inspector General of Police and National Security Adviser at various times, was also the Minister of Agriculture from 1995-1997. Late Abdullahi Ibrahim was the Minister of Education, Science and…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) projected global growth for 2021 to be 5.5 per cent as against 5.2 per cent it forecast in October 2020. Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist of the fund, said this during a media conference on Tuesday in Washington D. C at the release of the January update on the WEO with revised growth forecasts for the world. She said that the new forecast was moderating to 4.2 per cent in 2022. According to her, the upgrade for 2021 reflects the positive effects of the onset of vaccinations in…
The World Bank says economic inclusion programmes are on the rise in 75 countries, reaching approximately 20 million poor and vulnerable households and benefitting nearly 92 million individuals. The bank said this in a statement on Tuesday in Washington D.C. on its newly published “State of Economic Inclusion (SEI) Report 2020: The Potential to Scale”. According to it, the surge comes at a crucial time, as more than 700 million people around the world face extreme poverty, a number on the rise for the first time in two decades. The report profiled economic inclusion programmes, usually a combination of cash…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Tuesday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing new service chiefs for the country. The governor made this known on Tuesday in Port Harcourt in a statement by Mr Paulinus Nsirim, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications. He noted that although the appointments came late, the president should be commended for listening to the voice of the people. The governor urged the new appointees to see their appointments as an opportunity to re-engineer the nation’s security architecture which saw tremendous challenges in the last five years. “The new Service Chiefs should not politicise security…
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said that the government was exploring opportunities for mutual collaborations with Canada on COVID-19 response and other health care interventions. Abayomi disclosed this through a series of tweets on his official Twitter account @ProfAkinAbayomi on Tuesday. The commissioner said that the collaboration was discussed during a courtesy visit of the Acting High Commissioner of Canada, Mr Nicolas Simard, to his office. According to him, the meeting which is at the instance of the Canadian High Commission, is aimed at exploring opportunities for mutual collaborations with Lagos government and its health…
President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated an 18-member Presidential Steering Committee on Alternate School Programme, with Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq as the chairman. This is contained in a statement signed by Mrs Nneka Anibeze, the Special Assistant on Media to the minister on Tuesday in Abuja. The statement said Buhari charged Farouq’s ministry to coordinate and lead the deployment of a National Plan to address the issue of out-of-school children in the country. The president said it was unacceptable to see children abandoning formal school to engage in menial jobs and child labour in…
The Director-General Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, says 70 lockup shops have been destroyed by fire in Alade Market in Somolu He added that goods worth millions of Naira were also damaged by the inferno. According to him, the Agency received distress calls on Tuesday at 1.05 a.m. concerning the fire outbreak in Alade Market. “We commenced fire suppression activities immediately we arrived at Somolu market and investigation revealed that the fire was likely from a voltage surge when power supply was restored. “LASEMA fire fighters with the Lagos State and Federal Fire Services worked tirelessly…
A Kaduna State High Court, on Tuesday, adjourned the trial of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, until March 8 and March 9. The adjournment followed Justice Gideon Kurada’s ruling in an application by the counsel to defendants, Mr Eddie Inegedu, representing Mr Femi Falana, requested for time to preview a video brought to court by two prosecution witnesses. Inegedu told reporters after the trial, that the court admitted one of the two witnesses brought by the prosecution. He said the second witness was not admitted because the defence team needed…