CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria has warned the world about neglecting Nigeria in its bid to curtail the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
According to the respected journalist, the world cannot afford to let Nigeria explode over the coronavirus pandemic.
Taking to Twitter, Fareed in a video noted that the world leaders are not coming together to ensure that the virus is totally annihilated.
He said: “we would not be able to get back to anything resembling normal life unless the major powers in the world are able to find a way to cooperate and manage these problems together”.
He said while developing countries, including Nigeria, have recorded relatively lesser cases so far, there is a tendency that they could be hit hard by the disease.
On the economic impact of the disease, Zakaria said owing to the drop in the demand for oil globally, the implications for countries like Nigeria could be “political turmoil, refugees, revolutions, crackdowns, maybe terrorism”.
“All of these might happen on a scale we haven’t seen for decades,” he said.
The actress who's living separate from her husband after their big fight, shared the pics above and captioned it: “HOUSEWIFE VS SIDECHIC ....…Who Won????”
A number of Twitter users have been blasting popular Comedian AY for asking them to apply same energy used in calling out Funke Akindele against the “oppressors in Government”.
AY had tweeted, “YES! NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW. BUT I WISH THOSE OF YOU WHO CALLED OUT @funkeakindele CAN DO SAME WITH YOUR COUNTLESS OPPRESSORS IN GOVERNMENT… EVEN WHEN THE SKY IS FILLED WITH CLOUDS THE SUN STILL SHINES ABOVE. FUNKE WILL RISE AGAIN.#LESSONSLEARNT”
This didn’t go down well with some of his Twitter followers and they showed him...
One, BBM wrote, “Why we are on this subject, please can we have any tweet or comment or even a video where AY called out any of our countless oppressors in government. At least he is a Nigerian and he has the platform to use for speaking the truth to power.
We can start the calling out from here.”
Benson Ayomide wrote, “He rolls with them so that dey can pay for table for 5 at his shows. See, with this type of mindset; Nigeria will keep struggling.”
Dotun wrote, 'Not all the celebrities are sensible, olohun Your friend did the wrong thing, still got the balls to post it on SM and you here to say what is not. Had it been na one normal street guy do this shit, they (will) use him to preach but they don’t want to be used to preach.”
Many Nigerians on social media have tackled President Buhari and his government for lying that foreign rice is Poisonous and now promising to share the same seized foreign rice to people.
They feel that for their safety, they want to know if these were the same rice that was seized from smugglers because they were poisonous...
Oyo state Governor, Seyi Makinde has revealed that he got cured of COVID-19 by taking blackseed oil and honey.
The governor who earlier tested positive for the virus made this known while speaking on Fresh FM after two new tests came out negative.
According to him, the blackseed oil which he mixed with honey was given to him by the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Muideeen Olatunji.
Makinde said, “My very good friend and brother, Dr Muyideen Olatunji, he is the one in charge of the Primary Healthcare for Oyo State. He came to me and said, look, I am going to send to you this blackseed oil, it boosts immunity, so I mixed it with honey and took one teaspoon in the morning and one in the evening. So, there are local solutions to boost immunity.
“So, our people should not fret. They shouldn’t fret. Just as I have been able to get the virus out of my system, so will it be for majority of our people.”
Following the arrest of popular Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, for organizing a birthday party for her husband despite the stay at home order given by the government due to the Coronavirus, some Nigerians are accusing the Police of bias.
They pointed ou that the former governor of Lagos State and APC leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also celebrated his birthday at his residence last week and neither was he questioned nor arrested by the police.
Photos have been released that capture the true horror of the rising death toll in New York, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
Bright orange body bags are seen lining the hallways of a hospital in Brooklyn as New York City tackles the pandemic head-on...
The disturbing images taken inside the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick show several deceased patients in body bags on stretchers.
After patients pass away, they are left outside in the hospital corridor before they can be taken to a temporary morgue outside.
Federal Capital Territory Administration has directed that markets in Abuja will now operate from 7am to 2 pm three times a week.
They are to open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
The FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, issued this directive in Abuja on Monday during a meeting with Market Managers and heads of security agencies.
According to a press release by the Chief Press Secretary, Anthony Ogunleye, only retailers would be allowed to operate within the markets as wholesale services would not be permitted.
Bello directed market managers and the Police to ensure compliance with this directive by monitoring all entry and exit points of the various markets as well as activities of the traders.
He also advised FCT residents to patronise markets within their neighbourhoods rather than going to the major markets in the city centre, in order to limit the spread of the virus among communities in the FCT.
Lagosians on Monday morning took over the Gbagada expressway for fitness exercise in violation of the social distancing order by the government.
Concerned residents raised alarm over the fitness enthusiasts on Twitter, calling on the government to take action.
The Federal Government had on March 30 imposed a 14-day lockdown on Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The Police in Delta State has confirmed the arrest of a lady from Cote D’Ivoire and her chattered driver, at Udu area of the state, handing her and the driver over to health officials.
The lady and the driver have been placed on isolation for 14 days and to be monitored by the health officials.
The Police, however, warned that any officer found extorting money from motorists and commuters to allow them into the state during 14 days lockdown would be disciplined by the command.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, who made the disclosure, said: “A lady who came in through the land borders from Cote D’Ivoire was apprehended and handed over to the health officials.
“They asked for a certificate if she has been cleared from a test result and she had nothing to present, which made us hand her over. This was at Udu area of the State. Also, a driver she chartered was handed over to the officials for the due tests.”
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, Monday, hinted of a possible deregulation of the Nigerian downstream petroleum sector, stating that the Federal Government has eliminated subsidy and under recovery in the industry.
Speaking in an interview monitored on a television programme in Abuja, Kyari said,
“There is no subsidy and it is zero forever.
Going forward there would be no resort to either subsidy or under recovery of any nature. NNPC will play in the marketplace, it will just be another marketer in the space.
But we will be there for the country to sustain security of supply at market price.”
Halima Abubakar, has just welcomed a baby boy, and the excited mother took to social media to share the good news.
Halima announced the news on Instagram and has been received congratulatory messages from her co-stars, some of who said it was hard keeping the secret.
According to her, she welcomed the baby on the 3rd of April, 2020. She wrote;
“A gift from God And I will cherish you for life ❤️❤️❤️Biggest miracle ❤️A Boy 3/4/20”
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde yesterday revealed that he fought coronavirus with carrots, vitamin C and black seed oil with honey while in isolation.
The governor revealed this in Ibadan yesterday in a telephone interview with an FM radio station.
He had last week announced that he was tested positive for the disease and went into isolation. But two days ago, he announced that he had become negative after series of tests.
The governor said he only made efforts to boost his immunity and used his time in isolation to regularly exercise on the treadmill.
Makinde said in boosting his immunity to fight coronavirus, he consumed vitamin C, carrots and black seed oil mixed with honey.
He said: “My very good friend and brother, Dr Muyideen Olatunji is the one in charge of the primary healthcare for Oyo State. He came to me and said, look, I am going to send to you this black seed oil, it boosts immunity. So, I mixed it with honey and took one teaspoon in the morning and one in the evening.
“So, there are local solutions to boost immunity. Our people should not fret. Just as I’ve been able to get the virus out off my system, so will it be for majority of our people.
“I’ve lost a little bit of weight which I think is good. When you’re in isolation, the tendency is just to watch television and eat, I was eating amala. But I was also using the treadmill. It has also been a period to reflect and look at the programmes, policies and the things we want to do for the people of Oyo state and also reflect on how the COVID-19 is going to affect us socially and economically.”
He faulted the Federal Government’s palliative measures in the state, saying
“Two days ago in the task force meeting, the Head of Service told me that the conditional cash transfer from the Federal Government would be N20, 000 to people in 10 local government areas of Oyo State and I said, it’s good, but this programme predates this administration and I’ve never been impressed for one day about the way they identified the poorest and the impact.
“They’ve been making noise in the newspapers that they have some items for us. So, I sent the people at the liaison office. First day at the Nigerian Governors’ Forums’ meeting, I was told those items were taken to liaison offices. So, I called the liaison office in Abuja and asked, did you receive anything, but they said no.”
Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick, has sounded a note of warning to Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, saying no one is indispensable as far as the national team job is concern.
Rohr, who took over the national team job in August 2016, has entered the final three months of his contract with the Nigerian Federation and is set for a new contract, which the NFF president assured will be delivered next week.
Speaking on Arise TV’s The Morning Show on Monday, Amaju revealed the conditions in the new contract that was to be offered to the Franco-German.
“Going forward, we want to be very thorough with Rohr’s contract. Let’s say within the next one week he should get his contract and he should study the contract and possibly come back to us because his contract ends in June,” Pinnick told Arise TV.
“What I know and I have insisted, he must live in Nigeria. Anywhere of his choice, if he wants to live in Warri, if he wants to live in Lagos, no problem. He can travel three times in a week and he can bring in his wife.
“The reason why he needs to live in Nigeria is to go around the league and see how we can nurture some of these players and make them part of the national team. Two of us occasionally will go see some games and he can take notes.
“Also, his salary will be in naira and that one is certain because we have to do everything humanly and materially possible in encouraging our currency. He will be paid in naira whatever his equivalent in dollars.”
However, Pinnick said there could be an issue going forward between the NFF and Rohr, should the 66-year-old refuse the new clauses in his contract.
“If he is able to accept them, then we have a deal. But if he is not, there is nobody that is indispensable. There are lots of coaches out there that want to coach Nigeria.
“I get calls every day from coaches that want to come. But we believed we can maintain this momentum and this relationship and we believe with the crop of players that we have, who are young, dynamic and very discipline, I believe we can do great things at the Nations Cup and even qualify for the World Cup and do well at the tournament proper.
“We want to maintain this harmony but the only thing that can impede it is if he refuses some of our new clauses in the contract.”
Since taking over the Eagles’ job, Rohr has enjoyed some relatively amount of success, qualifying the country for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and a third-place place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The family of one Samuel Ponjul, a petty trader in the Abattoir community, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, have demanded the release of their son.
It was learnt that Samuel, who has a provisions shop in the community, was detained by the police for allegedly allowing his dog to bite an officer during an arrest in the neighbourhood.
Samuel’s brother, Jerry, told vanguard correspondent in Jos on Monday that since the incident happened on Saturday, his brother had been in detention.
“What happened was that the police came to arrest somebody in front of our shop in the Abattoir area. As they were passing with the suspect, the dog, which belongs to my brother, bit one of the policemen,” Jerry stated.
He said his brother was later invited and was detained at the station in the Angul ‘D’ area.
Jerry stated, “The policemen at the Angul ‘D’ area later invited my brother to the station. When they asked him if he was the owner of the dog, he said yes and presented the licence for the dog. But they demanded money for the treatment of the officer, which he provided, but he was not allowed to go and was detained at the station.
“When I got to the station, they told me that my brother would not be released unless he bailed himself with N50,000. We want the police to release him, because he has not committed any offence.”
When contacted, the spokesman for the state police command, ASP Ubah Ogaba, said he had yet to be briefed on the matter, adding, “It is easy for members of the public to make allegations that usually turn out to be untrue against our officers.”
Despite the lockdown in Lagos State to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of motorists were on Monday stranded in a gridlock on the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
Footage of the gridlock, which was trending online, showed hundreds of vehicles stuck in traffic.
“No isolation anymore, no quarantine in Lagos State, from Jakande Estate to Agungi, full hold up is going on right now,” the person, who recorded the video, could be heard saying.
Some of the stranded motorists lamented having to spend hours for journeys that should have lasted minutes.
While some complained that the gridlock was caused by security agents enforcing the lockdown by scrutinising motorists plying the road, others said not all those stuck in the gridlock were rendering essential services and thus, were exempted from the lockdown.
A stranded motorist, who is a health worker, said on condition of anonymity that she had to abort her journey to a hospital in the Ikeja area of the state after spending three hours in the gridlock, adding that residents were not complying with the directive on the total lockdown of the state.
The medical personnel stated, “I spent three hours navigating through Igbo-Efon and Jakande roundabouts. I was on my way to work and driving out of Lekki when I ran into the gridlock around 10am. I was still in the traffic by 1pm and in that period, there was a heavy downpour, so, I had to turn back at the Jakande roundabout.
“I learnt that the gridlock was caused by security agents enforcing the lockdown as they were stopping motorists and asking them where they were going. However, some of the people on the road were essential service providers. People are not complying with the lockdown at all.”
A Twitter user, Chiekezi Dozie, condemned the development and questioned the effectiveness of the lockdown.
He wrote on his Twitter handle, @iChexo, “As if we are not mad enough as it is already this is Lekki Ezpressway 1 hour ago on a supposed lockdown. We really are a selfish bunch of people @Outsiderinside1 see ya people on lockdown. Please help me ask them where they are going today.”
When contacted, the General Manager, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Olajide Oduyoye, said, “There will be gridlock, because the police are all over the place checking that those who are supposed to be on the road are the ones that are allowed to be on the road and once that happens, there will be gridlock.
“The fact that there is a build-up of traffic doesn’t necessarily mean that people are violating the lockdown. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the number of vehicles on that road was a bit high, because I saw the footage too.
“But the government also said that markets could open between 10am and 2pm; the issue now is that a market is not at the junction of every street, so the people who are selling in the markets will need to be conveyed there and there is no purpose for the markets if people who need to buy cannot get there.
“So, that could also be a factor in terms of the increased number of vehicles on the road. People in the Lekki-Ajah areas are affluent and rely on their cars, and that was what, in my opinion, created what was witnessed on Monday morning.”
The Edo Government on Monday directed residents who must leave their homes to wear face mask as precautionary measures against the coronavirus pandemic.
The State Deputy Governor and Chairman of the state COVID-19 Response Committee, Mr Philip Shaibu told newsmen that government has concluded plans to collaborate with local tailors to mass-produce face mask in the state.
“We have held several meetings with stakeholders today and we agreed that all residents who must leave their homes during the partial lockdown must wear a face mask.
“We are working with local tailors to mass-produce these face mask that will go round everybody.
“I want to encourage us to stay at home and if you must go out please wear a face mask and maintain social distance,” he said.
According to him, anyone found outside without a face mask will be prosecuted.
Shaibu also said that government has banned the use of hotels as isolation centres by those who returned to the state from other countries.
He said “we have discovered that some returnees use hotels as isolation centres and we are saying it is no longer acceptable.
“Those who are even isolating themselves at home do not adhere to the rules so it is banned with effect from today.
“Only the four designated isolation centres in Auchi general hospital in Edo North, Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo Central, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and Stella Obasanjo hospital in Edo South will be used from now on,” he added.
A lifeless body was found floating in Omu river, Kelebe, along Osogbo-Iragbiji road in Osun state.
It was gathered that the body was recovered by the officers of the Nigeria Police Command, who later took it to the morgue of Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital, LAUTECH in the state capital.
Though the cause of the man’s death could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, the head of the Ajoda Idi Okiti community, Chief Bisiriyu Aderemi, told journalists that he saw something floating on the river not knowing it was a human body until he moved closed to it.
He said: “This afternoon (yesterday), I was on my way to Iragbiji when I suddenly saw the lifeless body of a yet-to-be-identified man, initially I thought it was a log of wood until I moved closer and later discovered it was a dead body.
“Although my findings showed that he was not mentally stable when he was alive. But nobody can say what could have been the cause of his death.”
A police officer from Iludun Police Division, Nurudeen Salami, said they evacuated the dead body following the report they got at the station.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has directed that markets in the territory will now operate from 7am to 2 pm three times a week.
They are to open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
The FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, issued this directive in Abuja on Monday during a meeting with Market Managers and heads of security agencies.
Bello, who was represented by the Director of Security Services Department, Adamu Gwary, said the directive was part of the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the Coronavirus infection in the FCT.
According to a press release by the Chief Press Secretary, Anthony Ogunleye, only retailers would be allowed to operate within the markets as wholesale services would not be permitted.
Bello directed market managers and the Police to ensure compliance with this directive by monitoring all entry and exit points of the various markets as well as activities of the traders.
He also advised FCT residents to patronise markets within their neighbourhoods rather than going to the major markets in the city centre, in order to limit the spread of the virus among communities in the FCT.
In his remarks, the FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma, assured that the FCT Police Command would enforce the directive, even as he advised residents against flouting this regulation.
The killers of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
This is coming nine months after her brutal murder. It was reliably gathered that three out of the four suspects arrested so far are from the northern part of the country.
Vanguard also gathered that the suspects are said to have made useful confessions to the police.
Source also informed Vanguard that some police detectives visited the Afenifere leader, last weekend, to brief him of the breakthrough made by the police.
The detectives, it was learned, came from the Inspector-General of Police’s office and were mandated to update Pa Fasoranti.
Ondo police deny arrest
Contacted, the spokesperson of the Ondo Police Command, Mr. Leo Tee Ikoro, denied the arrest of suspected killers of Funke Olakunrin.
Ikoro told Vanguard: “There is nothing like that to my knowledge. I just called the Commander of SARS in the state and he said there was nothing like that.
“You are just informing me. There was no signal yet from the Force Headquarters on the arrest of the killers.”
When told that the alleged killers were arrested in the state by operatives of SARS, he said: “That is not true.”
