Infowiz

Nigeria's House of Representatives has summoned the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, and Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, to appear and brief it on May 5 on government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its template for the intervention in all states of the federation. This follows the unanimous adoption of a motion of Matter of Urgent Public Importance by Ado Doguwa (APC-Kano) at the plenary on Tuesday. Doguwa said that index COVID-19 case was reported on February 27, 2020 in Nigeria and the country had so far recorded 1,337 confirmed cases of the virus, 40 deaths and 255 recoveries. He said the Federal Government had released N5bn to NCDC to scale up capacity and strategise on a rapid response to the pandemic.  The lawmaker expressed worry over the rising spate of unexplained deaths in Kano State in recent weeks where 77 COVID-19 cases had been recorded, the News Agency of...

AUTHOR: Fredrick Nwabufo Hate speech and fake news appear to be the exclusive preserve of religious and political leaders. This class can spread poison in statements, commentaries and homilies without any check. They can stoke religious animosity and drive the wedge of hate deeper without being held accountable for their actions. I had written about the indulgent liberties of clerics in a previous article entitled ‘When will Pastor Chris Oyakhilome be arrested for spreading injurious falsehood’. I believe we cannot purge the government without first eviscerating the bowels of the religious establishment which sustain temporal power. I wrote: ‘’Clerics in the country defy the law unabashedly and with unrestrained arrogance. And when there is an attempt to hold them to account the refrain becomes ‘our religion is under attack’ by unbelievers.’’ Ishaq Akintola, director of Muslim Rights Concern, is one cleric who is abusing his privilege and going off the bounds of...

THE leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, kicked against further lending by foreign lenders to the Nigerian government, saying it breaches the organic law of Nigeria. The pro Biafra leader warned international financial   institutions that  any foreign loan obtained in breach of the organic law of Nigeria would provoke a political/legal backlash that could complicate its repayment. Mazi Kanu in a letter he personally signed and sent to the  European Union  State Department,  African Union, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, titled, “Foreign Lenders must stop lending to Nigeria”,  made available to newsmen by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, alleged that Nigeria loan request  was not only complex by accident but by design and deception. The IPOB leader recalled that his group was on the front line of rallying a groundswell of opposition to the loan, b...

The Zamfara State Police Command has said it arrested two Chinese nationals for alleged illegal mining at Kwali village in Bukkuyum Local Government Arcollaborationea of the state. This was made known in a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mohammed Shehu, stating that the illegal miners had been involved in mining activities in  with their Nigerian counterparts. Shehu said the suspects were apprehended at Badarawa Burkullum village after two labourers at the mining site divulged useful information to Mr. Usman Nagogo, the state Commissioner of Police. According to him, two of the suspects, whose names were given as Mr. Wang and Mr. Chun, are helping the police in its investigation to dislodge the cartel and end illegal mining in the state. He also said that the police had recovered different chemicals used in processing Gold from the two suspects, NAN reports. Police arrest two suspected illegal miners in Zamfara Police raid...

The gradual easing of lockdown measures in the capital, Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states will take effect on May 4. Nigeria has announced plans to ease movement restrictions imposed late last month on three key states in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. In a televised speech on Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari said he had "approved a phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos and Ogun states effective from Monday, May 4, 2020". FCT stands for Federal Capital Territory and includes the national capital, Abuja. Buhari said "the federal and state governments have jointly and collaboratively worked hard on how to balance the need to protect health while also preserving livelihoods, leveraging global best practices while keeping in mind our peculiar circumstances". But the president also announced new measures including a nationwide 8pm-to-6am curfew, compulsory wearing of facemasks and a ban on ...

Development aid is a good gig for African top politicians. They know it comes with strings attached, but they do not care about self-reliance and political freedom of their countries. Aid money is easy money that they do not have to be accountable for. With aid money, they can simply ignore their constituency and focus on pleasing their imperialist masters in Western countries. The donors know that it does not help at all. They just use it to gain political and economic deals beneficial to their interests. It might be getting enough votes for their agenda at the United Nations, having a monopoly share in Africa’s mining industry, processing coffee and tea in their countries, and all sorts of mega deals worth billions of dollars in profits. In relative terms, development aid is a small investment they make to take over the economic and political freedom of African countries. Who is the biggest loser in these transactions? The African people. The other two part...

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has rejected bags of rice sent to the state by the Federal Government as palliatives. It was gathered that most of the 1800 bags received by the state from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management were not fit for human consumption. The 1,800 bags of rice and vegetable oil were sent to the State by the Federal Government as part of measures to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on residents. Recall that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State Government was the first Governor to cry out over the development when he rejected the  expired 1800 bags of rice  received from FG and ordered immediate return of the palliatives. Similarly, Governor Akeredolu was said to have expressed displeasure on the situation when he received the palliative items at the Government House, Alagbaka, Akure, following which he ordered the rejection. While giving an insight into the development, the Secretary of the Stat...