The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • FRSC threatens to close Rivers’ parks for disobeying rules

    FRSC threatens to close Rivers’ parks for disobeying rules

     Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

     

    THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Rivers State has threatened to shut down motor parks in Port Harcourt and its environs for flouting extant guidelines designed to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

    FRSC Sector Commander in Rivers State Salisu Galadunci, who spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Tuesday, said the sector observed that many passengers refused wearing their face masks at the parks.

    He said the FRSC would work with relevant agencies to stop such violations and called on the parks’ operators to take the warning seriously.

    He said the corps would enforce strict adherence to COVID-19 anti-preventive measures for travellers to stop inter and intra-state spread of the pandemic.

    He said the second wave of the pandemic called for responsibility on all stakeholders, adding that the corps had the backing of the Federal Government to enforce sanctions.

    He said: “We have repeatedly advised on the need for park operators and passengers to comply with the COVID-19 rules because of what we have observed in the state. If any motor park fails to or refused to comply with the rules, we have been giving the go-ahead to shut it down,” Galadunci said.

    Read Also: FRSC links low rates in road accidents in Jigawa to lockdown

    The FRSC on Tuesday urged drivers and travellers to adhere strictly to the Nigeria Centre for Drug Control’s (NCDC) preventive measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.

    Unit Commander, Ore, Ondo State Mr. Olusegun Aladenika gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He urged motor parks around the Ore-Benin axis to avoid over-crowding of passengers, ensure continuous use of face masks, regular washing of hands, applying alcohol-based sanitisers, as well as maintaining social distancing.

    The FRSC boss, who noted that the second wave of COVID-19 had begun, added that compliance with the preventive measures would check its spread.

  • Ondo to prosecute church leaders violating ban on crossover night

    Ondo to prosecute church leaders violating ban on crossover night

     Osagie Otabor, Akure

     

    ONDO State Government has threatened to prosecute any church leader that violated its ban on holding crossover night service into the new year.

    It gave the warning in response to statement credited to the Ondo State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev. John Oladapo that churches should hold crossover service in defiance of the state government directive.

    Rev. Oladapo was reported to have called on Christians in the state to disregard the government directive because relevant stakeholders were not consulted.

    But, Chairman of Ondo State Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19 Prof. Adesegun Fatusi said COVID-19 was primarily a health issue, and not a religious issue.

    Prof. Fatusi said it was implausible and absurd as well as not in the domain or area of competence of any religious group or for CAN leadership to indicate that technical decisions on health matters could not be validly made by the state government without first consulting with it.

    Read Also: Ondo, Ogun stop ‘cross over’ vigils

    Fatusi noted that the curfew order from 10pm to 4am was a subsisting public health order that has been in operation for several months and aimed fundamentally at safeguarding the health of the citizens.

    He stated that the decision to maintain the curfew through and beyond December 31, 2020, was taken jointly with a deep sense of responsibility by a body of leading health experts at a meeting convened by the Inter-ministerial committee on December 24, 2020, and involving the leadership of the major health professional groups.

    Fatusi said the governor does not need to consult with CAN or any religious or civil group before exercising the power that duly vested in him by the law of the land.

     

  • Nigeria not a failed state

    Nigeria not a failed state

    Niyi Akinnaso

     

    HONESTLY, it is beyond me how Nigeria’s political elite, especially politicians in power and those aspiring to grab power from them, interpret information, including critical advice. Ever since the Financial Times used the words “failed state” in its advice last week to the Nigerian leadership to reset priorities in order to avert failure, politicians have been rolling over themselves, either in condemning the FT or in supporting it over its statement on Nigeria.

    Unfortunately, however, neither side appears to have thoroughly grasped the full import of the FT statement. Defenders of the ruling All Progressives Congress have been quick in condemning the FT for describing Nigeria as a failed state. Members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party quickly jumped on the statement to declare that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government has failed.

    The truth really is that there is nothing to condemn in what the FT said about Nigeria in the statement, just as there is nothing there to make the opposition trigger-happy against Buhari.

    In fact, the FT does not describe Nigeria as a failed state. Not at all. Beginning with the title of the statement and running into what could be regarded as a subtitle, the focus is on advising the Nigerian government to avert failure.

    Here’s the title of the statement: “Nigeria is at risk of becoming a failed state”. This is not a categorical statement that Nigeria has failed.

    And here’s its subtitle, which appears directly below the title: “With kidnapping and insecurity rife, the government needs to restore trust”. This is an invitation to the government to reset the clock.

    The first half of the piece outlines the risk factors. One is insecurity, typified by kidnapping, banditry, extortion, and topped by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    A second risk factor is poverty. According to the FT, “Nigeria has more poor people, defined as those living on less than $1.90 a day, than any other country, including India”. It then goes on to add that “in non-Covid-19 years, one of every five children in the world out of school lives in Nigeria, many of them girls”. With a population now over 200 million, and “growing at a breakneck 3.2 per cent a year” to double at 400 million by 2050, the poverty and children-out-of-school rates are a ticking time bomb.

    A third risk factor is the economy, which, according to FT, “has stalled since 2015 and real living standards are declining”. It goes further to predict a shrinkage of 4 per cent in the economy after Covid-19 dealt a further blow to oil prices. This is a bad omen for an economy currently propped up by heavy borrowing.

    The second half of the statement, which most politicians have ignored is FT’s recommendations on how to avert failure. First, the FT suggests that the government “desperately needs to put its finances … on a sounder footing”.

    Second, it recommends that the Buhari-led administration must “redouble efforts to get a grip on security”. This has been the persistent cry of the Nigerian mainstream and social media for years, especially since 2014, following the abduction of the Chibok girls.

    Third, the FT advises the government to restore trust in key institutions, especially the judiciary, the security services and the electoral commission, which will preside over the 2023 elections. This recommendation must have been informed by the escalating security problems in the country and the possibility of using the 2023 election as cover to sew chaos.

    Fourth, the FT recommends the “R” and “D” words, but without overtly using them. I mean “restructuring” and “devolution” of powers . Here is how the FT puts it: “A new, slimmed-down state – ideally one with fewer, bankrupt regional assemblies – must concentrate on the basics: security, health, education, power and roads”.

    Finally, the FT draws the government’s attention to the youths. This is necessary because Nigeria has one of the youngest populations, with over 50 percent of the population below the age of 35. With the population doubling by 2050, those born today will only be about 30 years old by then and most of the present political elite, overfed on state resources, would have naturally bowed out.

    This is why the FT emphasises the need to put necessary public goods in place so that Nigeria’s young people can turn the country round. Here, the FT piggybacks its hope on the ray of optimism provided by the broad coalition that found political expression in the #EndSARS protest against police brutality.

    Against the above analysis, I doubt if Nigerian politicians crying foul over the FT statement actually read the statement critically enough. I also doubt if they have been reading Nigerian newspapers in the past five years in which numerous editorials and columns have highlighted even more than what the FT has said. More importantly, I wonder what Nigerian politicians would say when they study the recent report on Nigeria in the 2020 Fragile States Index (formerly Failed States Index).

    After ranking 178 countries on 13 factors, Nigeria emerged as the 14th most fragile country in the world. Nigeria shares this shameful bottom ranking alongside countries, such as Haiti, Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan, not far from the bottom five of Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whither the Giant of Africa!?

    A brief look at the factors considered shows that this ranking is not a fluke. They are grouped under four major indicators: COHESION (security apparatus, factionalized elite, group grievance); ECONOMY (economic decline, uneven economic development, human flight and brain drain); POLITICAL (state legitimacy, public services, human rights and rule of law); and SOCIAL (demographic pressures, refugees and IDPs, external intervention).

    An objective appraisal of Nigeria on these factors will have a hard time giving Nigeria a pass mark. This, however, does not mean that the country has failed. And it does not mean that the Buhari-led administration is doing nothing. The truth, however, is that the government is not doing enough and it appears overwhelmed.

    Nigeria, and any country in its present situation, can fail, if nothing is done to reverse the present trend. The trend cannot be reversed by word of mouth. Not by TV appearances. Not by rebuttals of the FT statement or the Fragile States Index in newspapers. But by political will, policies, relevant projects, and actionable implementation.

     

  • The Coronavirus diaries (20)

    The Coronavirus diaries (20)

    Festus ERIYE

     

    IF 2020 was the year of the coronavirus, then 2021 is already shaping to be more of the same. Less than twenty four hours into the New Year, the raging pandemic is showing little sign of slowing down and vaccines roll outs could take several months to reach most people.

    If you needed evidence these are not ordinary times, then look no further than the latest measures taken by several states to restrict what is one largest religious gatherings of the year – the so-called ‘Crossover’ services.

    Several states have expressly barred churches from holding the meetings which attract unusually large crowds as many put much store by entering a new year in the church environment. Many states hid under the 12.00 midnight to 4.00pm curfew imposed by the Federal Government to resist pressure from Christians who had been denied something they cherish so much. But as some have argued there would be other ‘Crossover’ nights for those who outlive this pandemic.

    With the numbers trending upwards, governments across the country are veering into panic mode, fearing that existing facilities could easily be overrun if the current spike spirals out of control.

    That is, of course, with the exception of Kogi State where Yahaya Bello, the famously denialist governor, continues with his insistence that COVID-19 is non-existent in his domain. He went on Channels Television on Sunday to repeat his controversial claim and boast about mass testing carried out by his administration.

    The trouble with his claims is that they don’t line up with facts provided by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Kogi has a population of 3.5 million people, but had tested only 425 samples as at December 11. So much for mass testing!

    Bello’s denial is the direct opposite of what’s going on in Rivers State where Governor Nyesom Wike, who at the height of the first wave famously bulldozed two hotels for violating lockdown measures, threatening a return to the harsh shutdown regime in the light of the deadly second wave.

    Speaking at a church service on Sunday, he hinted his hand might be forced beginning January because the state ends up picking the bill. “If you don’t comply, I have no choice, but to shut down the churches; Pentecostal, Catholic, Anglican. I have no choice because when you have it, who spends the money? It is the state that treats. So, we need to use the money for some other things, but not for this.”

    The governor’s threat has his people up in arms begging for mercy on every media platform. Rather than locking everyone up, they suggest he enforces existing regulations because the economic price would be too much for people to bear.

    Some even suggested that instead of the bitter lockdown pill, Wike should ban Nigerians returning from overseas from entering the state. While at it he should also shut the door against those coming from states with high number of infections.

    That would include states like Lagos, the original epicentre of the first wave. The number of infections is already rising here as it keeps pace with a similar trend in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    But the Lagos authorities has always been quick of mark and in the last few days they have shut a number of event centres which violated existing rules for operating in these times. The facilities include one where a monster party was held and the crowd was as packed as sand on the beach. On the bandstand was a famous Fuji musicians whose sonorous voice caressed the carousing crowd.

    It is not known if anyone picked up an infection at the event. But what is clear going by similar patterns from around the world, is this party met every yardstick for classification as a superspreader event. One post on social media identified an attendee who just passed on due to COVID-19 complications.

    The amazing thing is that the vast majority of those who crowded themselves into that party are the elite who by their education and exposure should know better.

    While the reckless rich are partying away like its 1999, the fraudulent and the desperate are making common cause with them. Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Monday raised the alarm over the sale of fake COVID-19 test certificates in the state.

    He said some people who just returned to the country were patronising crooks who sell these dodgy COVID-19 certificates. Abayomi says the government is working to apprehend those engaged in this criminal venture. Hopefully, they may nick a few of these characters. But when you consider that the fake drugs business is still thriving in these parts there’s very little room for optimism.

    One developments that has nations shivering in their boots is the mutation of the virus. Different highly infectious strains have been identified in the UK, US and South Africa. A similar mutation said to be of a separate lineage from those mentioned above has been found in Nigeria according to the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), John Nkengasong.

    The good news is that while these mutations might be more infectious, they are not necessarily deadlier than earlier ones. They don’t appear to make you sicker than other strains currently in circulation. Even better news is the fact that the new vaccines seem to be effective against both old and new strains.

    Spare a thought for frontline workers like doctors and nurses who must be watching with envy as their colleagues in Europe and the US become the earliest recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines. In Nigeria, the best armour they have going into daily battle with this beastly virus are flimsy PPEs. Little wonder that last weekend the Nigerian Medical Association chairman in the FCT reported that 20 doctors had succumbed to coronavirus in one week.

    It has also emerged that 476 health workers, among them doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory staff, drivers and other auxiliary personnel were infected by the virus since the first case was recorded in the FCT. Figures are not yet available to paint a full picture of the toll on medical workers across the country.

    But whether you are a frontline worker or just an anonymous citizen struggling to outlast the pandemic, stay safe and don’t become another COVID statistic.

     

  • We’re sequencing new sample to determine new variant – NCDC

    We’re sequencing new sample to determine new variant – NCDC

     Moses Emorinken, Abuja

     

     

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday stated that it has begun the process of sequencing COVID-19 samples to determine whether the new variant found in the United Kingdom (UK) is in the country.

    Stating that it suspects that the UK variant of the virus is already in the country, the NCDC stressed that only sequencing can determine that, and the process will take some weeks.

    The agency further disclosed that the new variant has not been linked with difference in known symptoms and severity in cases. It said the new variant is only linked with a higher transmission, which is evident in the rise in the number of new cases in recent times.

    The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this during the Presidential Task Force on covid-19 briefing in Abuja.

    He said, “We know that there is a new variant of the virus circulating in the UK but like we have said severally, there are new variants of viruses appearing all the time. The question is whether this new variant is associated with any increase in transmission or severity. We don’t know that yet but we suspect that this variant is already in Nigeria. It will be surprising if it is not, but we simply don’t know yet.

    “So what we are doing is collecting samples of most cases and working to do the sequencing that we need to do in order to verify if these variants exist in Nigeria or not. It will take us a couple of weeks to have enough samples to analyse, to then define whether we have this new variant or not.

    Read Also: NCDC: adequate preparedness will checkmate resurgence

    “The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading in a more global assessment of how prevalent this new variant is and whether it is actually associated with increased transmission in other countries in the world.

    “The new variant of the virus is not associated with any difference in symptoms or severity or outcomes. The single difference that we found is that it is more transmissible from one person to the other, and therefore, obviously the numbers add up and we have more cases and it becomes a bigger burden. The proportion of people that are severe has been fairly constant around the world. We are seeing an increase in cases now.”

    Concerning the circulation of videos portraying a negative narrative for vaccines, the WHO Country Representative, Dr. Walter Kazadi, urged Nigerians to disregard such materials stating that they lack credibility. He urged people to analyse the source and credibility of information before sharing on various social media platforms.

     

     

  • Oxygen shortage hits isolation centres – PTF

    Oxygen shortage hits isolation centres – PTF

    ...Treatment centres getting filled up

    …NCDC urged states to enforce safety protocols

    Moses Emorinken, Abuja

     

     

    The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 Tuesday disclosed that there is a shortage of oxygen needed to manage patients receiving treatments in isolation centres across the country.

    It further disclosed that treatment facilities are currently struggling to keep up with bed spaces needed for the increasing numbers of patients needing admission.

    Noting that some states are turning a blind eye to the obvious disregard of laid down safety protocols, especially with regards to social gatherings, the PTF therefore urged State Governors to enforce strict adherence to the safety protocols that have agreed on collectively.

    The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, made this known during the Presidential Task Force on covid-19 briefing in Abuja.

    He said, “Our colleagues, the Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) are here today because of the cases that we faced across the country. Treatment centres are filling up, and we are struggling to keep up. We are struggling to find the oxygen to manage cases. Every night we are faced with phone calls of patients desperate for care. So, unfortunately, January will be a tough month for all of us. It will be tough but we still have an opportunity to do what we need to do.

    “We have been liaising with Executive Governors of States across the country to be more purposeful in implementing the measures that we have agreed on collectively. We have seen some of them doing that but many of the States across the country have not; they pretend as if there will be no consequence. This is the reality we are faced with and we have got to brace ourselves for January.”

    The Minister for State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, in his address, added: “The fatality rate at 1.49 percent despite increasing number of active cases as well as morbidity is evidence of scaled up activity and quality of care at the isolation centres.

    “All Federal Tertiary Hospitals who obviously run levels 2 and 3 isolation centres have been directed to improve/scale up Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures in order to improve on treatment outcomes and enhance safety of the frontline health personnel. This is coming at the backdrop of the recent upsurge in the affected health workers and the unfortunate demise of some.

    Read Also: Positive cases rose 100 per cent in one week, says PTF

    “The Case Management team has continued to advocate for the presence of psychosocial support for both patients and health workers. This is necessary because of the fatigue and consequential apathy associated with the pandemic.”

    Representing the Chief Medical Directors (CMDs), the CMD of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Prof Bisala Ekele, said: “In the first wave there was no need for ventilators, now we are in the second wave but we do not know yet if we will need more ventilators. What is certain is that all the Teaching Hospitals and treatment centres have ventilators and when it is indicated they will be put to use.

    “Covid-19 is primarily a disease of the respiratory tract and therefore, depending on the degree of severity, there might be need to support the patient with oxygen. And within those treatment centres we have different devices that we use to support the patient with the oxygen. Simple ones like the use of facial masks etc. It is when all of those fail that we now think of the ventilators. Most of the patients that need oxygen really do not need a ventilator. But when it is indicated we shall put them to the ventilator.”

     

  • BREAKING: COVID-19 Second Wave: RCCG cancels crossover service nationwide

    BREAKING: COVID-19 Second Wave: RCCG cancels crossover service nationwide

    By Alao Abiodun

     

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has cancelled crossover service in its churches nationwide.

    This latest development is as a result of compliance with the federal and various states’ guidelines concerning COVID-19 prevention in the country.

    The church instructed members to connect with the virtual service of the church.

    It stated further that the January Holy Ghost Service (the first of the year 2021) taking place on Friday, January 8, will be held virtually.

    Members were advised to tune in to Dove television and other electronic media to link up with the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s End of Year message and other aspects of the crossover programme.

     

  • Professor Odekunle’s death comes as a shock to us – Buhari

    Professor Odekunle’s death comes as a shock to us – Buhari

    Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock at the news of the demise of Professor Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).

    President Buhari’s condolence message was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday night by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.

    The President described Professor Odekunle as valued friend and a towering intellectual giant with an impeccable knowledge of his chosen academic field, criminology and in such others as governance and administration.

    “His death is very saddening,” said the President. “His lasting contributions as well as his charisma, wit and sense of humor will be sorely missed by all us, his friends and associates. May the Almighty repose his soul.”

     

     

  • Lagos seals event centre for contravening protocols

    Lagos seals event centre for contravening protocols

    By Oziegbe Okoeki

    The Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, has revoked the licence of Queens Park Event Centre, Oniru as the Lagos State Safety Commission also sealed the facility for contravening the COVID-19 protocols.

    Commissioner for Tourism Uzamat Akinbile Yussuf said the step to withdraw the licence was taken in the best interest of the state and implored other event centres and venue owners to comply with the government’s laid down directives or risk losing their chances of doing business in Lagos.

    She reiterated that the fight against the virus can only be successful if people follow the laid down public health and safety protocols.

    Read Also: Lagos APC chieftain Oyasodun dies

    Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission Mr. Lanre Mojola said it became necessary to take such steps following an event that was held at the venue on December 26 that contravened safety protocols laid down by the state.

    He also sounded a stern warning to other event centres and venue owners that flout safety protocols, insisting that it is no longer business as usual.

    As such, he said they should either fall in line with the state’s protocols or risk losing their licence to operate in the state.

  • Obasanjo to leaders: stop blaming God for insecurity, poor economy, others

    Obasanjo to leaders: stop blaming God for insecurity, poor economy, others

    Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

     

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised Nigerian leaders to stop blaming God for the increasing insecurity, parlous economy, poverty and other challenges plaguing the nation.

    Obasanjo lamented that the hardship brought about by the country’s parlous economy and coronavirus pandemic have conspired to claim the lives of many Nigerians, submitting however that the nation’s woes were the ‘choice’ of the leaders and followers.

    The elder statesman who spoke on Tuesday at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State in his 2021 message to Nigerians, demanding that the narrative must change as the country approaches the new year.

    He noted that the economy remains the way it is because Nigeria as a nation is “not doing the right thing now,” stressing that given the enormous resources available, the country does not have to be poor and no Nigerian ought to go to bed hungry.

    Read Also: Book on Obasanjo’s life, times for launch Monday

    “I would say as St. Paul, the great Apostle said, ‘in all things we must give thanks. This year 2020 has been a year of challenge to the whole world, particularly for us in Nigeria.

    “We have gone from one form of insecurity to bad economy and on the top of it is the COVID-19. Some people, either for insecurity or for bad economy or for COVID-19 have gone to the great beyond, I will say may the soul of those who have departed, particularly in this year of challenges, may their souls rest in perfect peace.

    “But what then do we do the rest of us? As I said, we should thank God. I like the motto of a school which says ‘work and pray.’ Some people say it should be ‘pray and work’, but it doesn’t matter to me in what order I put it, but prayer must go with work and work must go with prayer.

    “And I believe we need to work hard in this country as we pray hard so that the coming year, the year 2021 will be a glorious year for us, but it will not happen unless we work to make it happen.

    “We do not have to blame God for our situation, we have to blame ourselves. Nigeria does not have to be poor; no Nigerian must go to bed hungry.

    “That we have a situation like that is a choice by our leaders and followers alike, my prayer is that God will make year 2021 a better year for all of us, but it will not happen without work,” he said.