Infowiz

Friday June 5, 1998, was a cool bright day. Before we left the Villa, the Press Corps was informed that the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, would be making a brief stop-over at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, enroute Morocco. And he was expected to hold a brief discussion with the General Sani Abacha. We were therefore expected to be at the airport to cover the event on Sunday, June 7. It was a topical assignment in view of Nigeria’s neutral position in the Middle East conflict. Besides, the rest of us were keen to meet Mr. Arafat, the man at the centre of the storm. That Sunday morning, the Press Corps headed for the airport to await the arrival of Yasser Arafat. We did not have to wait for too long before the Palestinian leader arrived, accompanied by a very modest delegation. President Arafat and General Abacha immediately went into private discussion at the VIP lounge of the Presidential wing of the airport. The Press outside waite...

Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has always kept dates with history. In 1965, he had been spotted by some British teachers at King’s College, Lagos, where he did his A Levels. They decided to enrol him for his university education in the UK. His elder brother, Zulu Gambari, the highly influential emir of Ilorin from 1959 to 1991, had other ideas. He insisted his younger brother should attend the University of Ibadan.  Off to UI the young Ibrahim went — but he spent exactly two weeks there, according to family members who spoke with TheCable.  His British mentors soon found out his whereabouts and took him straight to the London School of Economics and Political Science, one of the most prestigious institutions in the UK. In 1968, Gambari graduated with a degree in economics and international relations from LSE. He bagged a master’s degree in 1970 and PhD in 1974 from the Columbia University, New York, United States. In 1984, another date was waiting in his diary. At 39, Gambari wa...

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a former Minister of External Affairs, Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, as his Chief of Staff. The new Chief of Staff is nine years older than his predecessor, Abba Kyari, who died last month at 67. Infowiz gathers from media sources that the presidency will officially announce his appointment at the next Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday. If appointed on Wednesday, Professor Gambari will succeed the former Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, who died of coronavirus (COVID-19) complications. Gambari born on November 24, 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State and served as Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985. He holds the record of being the longest serving Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (January 1990 to October 1999), and altogether served under five Heads of State and President.  He was subsequently appointed by the former Secretary-General of United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, and the chai...

Adisa Funmilola, has drowned her baby because she prevented her from going to the university to study law. Girl drowns child According to Vanguardngr, she drowned the one-year and six months old baby inside a bucket of water in her apartment at Plot 22, Gowon Estate, Lagos, on Monday, and then reported herself to the Police. During interrogation, she blamed her action on frustration, saying her baby deprived her of actualising her dream of becoming a lawyer. She explained that she was impregnated by one Yusuf Folarin, while both were attending a JAMB class at City of Success in Abeokuta, Ogun State. However, Folarin denied it and request that the pregnancy be aborted. Along the line, she said she was offered admission into the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to study Law, but had to defer the admission because of the baby. Surprisingly, Folarin did not show remorse for her action. She said: “I killed my baby and reported myself to the police.  I filled a bucket with water, dip...

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on Monday, donated all its 425 health facilities to be used as isolation centres for COVID-19 patients, a decision that has received a widespread commendation from Nigerians. Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 who made the announcement added that the increased cases of coronavirus across the country was due to the fact that testing capacity has been increased in the country. Nigeria currently has a total of 4,461 confirmed cases, and 151 deaths, while 902 patients have recovered. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had said no state in the country has enough bed spaces for COVID-19 patients, but with the recent donations, Mustapha said these would add in the Task Force committee’s support for the state governments. He said ”During the first week, the country recorded high cases of COVID-19. ”This is attributable to our expanded capacity for t...

 In a build-up to the commencement of the global solidarity drug trial against the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government on Monday, announced that some states including Lagos, FCT, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano states have enrolled in the treatment regimen The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, made the disclosure in Abuja, at the 29th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. Recall that the World Health Organisation (WHO), announced earlier that Nigeria expressed interest in being a part of the global solidarity drug trial to tackle COVID-19 pandemic and that the process would soon start in the country. The Officer in charge, WHO Nigeria and member of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Fiona Braka, told newsmen in an interview session in Abuja that what Nigeria signed up for was drug trial and not vaccine trial, as there was yet no vaccine for the COVID-19. According to her, the four drugs that will be monitored in the solidarity trial are Remdesivi...

 Despite repeated assurances of protection from the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army, the heinous attacks of bandits on defenceless communities in the North-West have continued unabated. With the COVID-19 pandemic intensifying across the north, states such as Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state remain under siege from the notorious bandits who continue to kill and destroy with impunity. The hashtag #PrayForKatsina started trending on Twitter in response to the continued violence in the state, some of which have been reported by the media. Sources from the area have revealed to Today’s Echo that there have been several attacks on villages in Katsina since the president imposed a lockdown on some states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on March 30, 2020. The attacks have reportedly continued even after the lockdown was lifted on May 04. On Saturday, April 18, the Police announced that gunmen have killed 47 people in attacks on villages in Katsina in the ea...