By Ibrahim Apekhade

The University of Buckingham (UB) Alumni Association, Nigerian chapter has elected new executives to pilot the affairs of the organisation for the next two years.

The election, which held virtually, saw 11 eminent Nigerians, mostly lawyers, declared elected into various positions.

Announcing the results of the polls, the chairman of the Organising/Electoral Committee, Mr Seni Adio (SAN) declared a commercial lawyer, Mr Olakanmi Arowosegbe as the new President while an Abuja-based oil and gas Administrator and lawyer Mrs. Blessing Ughiovhe emerged as the Vice-President.

Mr Oke Odhomor was announced as the General Secretary while Mr Abdul Umar Mutallab was named the Treasury of the Association.

Also an Abuja-based socialite and lawyer, Mrs Tinuke Julius-Adegoke emerged as Social Secretary while Fidel Abowei, PhD, won the battle for position of Financial Secretary with Mr Onyeka Nwilo being elected as the Public Relations Officer.

In his acceptance speech, the new president, Olakanmi Arowosegbe, said the UB Alumni, with an estimated over 1000 membership strength in Nigeria remains committed towards upholding the values of the institution in the country.

READ ALSO: Why I dropped out of university, by Dakore

He said his three cardinal agenda are to pursue steady and progressive growth of the association, promote welfare and well-being of members and build a sustainable and stable structure for the organisation.

Members of the alumni in Nigeria include Mr Anthony Ehilebo, Hon. Justice Yerima, Hon. Justice Oshodi, Hon. Justice Femi Solanke, Hon. Justice Dipeolu, Hon. Justice Chidi Uwa, Hon. Justice Bose Bolaji and Hon. Justice Folake Oshin.

Others are former Osun State Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada CON, former Osun Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Cross Rivers Governor, Liyel Imoke, former House of Representatives Speaker Hon. Patricia Etteh and Hon. Lynda Ekpeazu of the House of Representatives, former Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Funmi Tejusoho, Renowned Commercial Lawyer, Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Mr Philp Ikeazor, Mrs Bola Adesola, Mrs. Bisi Soyebo SAN,

Dr Alex Izinyon SAN, Cllr Adekunle Osibogun, Mrs Tinuke

Akinwunmi-Nwakohu, Hon. Emeka Anohu, Hon. Chinwe Monu-Olarewaju, Mrs. Cecilia Madueke, Hon. Chijoke Edeoga, Sina Sofola SAN, Olurotimi Vaughan, Abdul-Ganiyu Sanusi, Mr Kingsley Odabi, amongst others.

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The Federal Government Wednesday launched the National Domestic Resource Mobilisation and Sustainability Strategy to reduce the country’s over-dependence on international donors to fund HIV/AIDS interventions and responses.

Currently, 80 percent of funding for HIV comes from international donors and development partners, while the government (national and states) only contributes a paltry 18 percent of the funding.

Stakeholders have therefore advocated an increase in the level of domestic funding for HIV responses across the country, which will place the country in a safe position, should foreign donors decide to withdraw their funding.

Speaking during the official launch of the Strategy in Abuja, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Aliyu, said: “Sustaining HIV funding requires resource mobilization, and this resource mobilization for a long time has always been external. It is time to mobilize resources domestically to ensure that sustainability of HIV funding is guaranteed after the epidemic control.

“Between the year 2005 to 2018, about $6.2 billion was extended to identify close to one million people living with HIV and AIDS in this country and place them on treatment. However, 80 percent of this money came from international donors and development partners.

“Only 18 percent of the money was contributed by the Federal and State government, and one percent of it came from the private sector. Because of this, it becomes imperative, with the leadership of his Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, and the pledge he has made for which he has fulfilled to place 100,000 people living with HIV and AIDS on treatment with the government of Nigeria money; and also on an incremental basis to increase this number by 50,000 every year. I am glad to say we did this last year and we are on track to repeating it this year.

“However, our strategy reflects the need to expand our resource base and increase domestic resources to diversify our source of funding. The goal is to ensure that sustainable resource is available for the implementation of our programs to meet the United Nations goal of identifying and placing on treatment and actually controlling the virus of 95-95-95.

“What that means is that at the end of it, if that is achieved, over 80 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS in the country will have the HIV restricted in them in such a way that it doesn’t leave them to affect other people, and also, it lacks that opportunity to bring down their body defense mechanism which could claim their lives. We are on target to do that program-wise, but are we on target to do and to continue sustaining that financially and domestically?

“It is essential that our national and state stakeholders assume greater ownership of the HIV response, including financing. Strong accountability structures, along with a multi-sectoral HIV response are needed to monitor the use of the funds that are raised, and to ensure that we spend on activities that will continue to have real impact on people living with HIV and AIDS.”

In his remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM), Hon. Abubakar Sarki Dajiru, said: “The 2022 budget, by the grace of God, the National Assembly, based on the Committee on ATM, and also our Senate partners, felt that the budget of NACA should be improved by 100 percent.

“Based on our position, we have always felt that we are living on risk because if today the development partners decide to withdraw from Nigeria, believe me sincerely, we felt that at the end of the day we are going to crash between the zero level.

READ ALSO: We must eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030 – Buhari

“Also, one of the things that we felt is very important is between the private and the government, especially the Governors of all these states. They are supposed to be doing their own contributions also to NACA. This way, at least at the end of the day, the States will be able to see the impact, especially within the rural areas.

“Almost 90 percent of the Governors are not doing what they are supposed to do. So, we are having that alliance with the Director-General of NACA, of which sooner or later, from the National Assembly, we are going to come up with a motion whereby all the Governors and all the counterparts (funds) that we felt they should pay to NACA, should be directly from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.”

The Country Director of UNAIDS, Dr Erasmus Mora, added: “Recently, the world came together at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting to adopt a new political declaration on HIV/AIDS for the year 2021 to 2026, which is that all countries should move in the direction of increasing ownership, financing and accountability for HIV.

“Right now we have approximately 1.8 million Nigerians living with HIV. Congratulations to NACA because about 1.6 million of them are on treatment. And the question now is: who is paying for these 1.6 million Nigerians who are on treatment? If the payer should change their mind, what happens to these people who need the drugs for the rest of their lives.

“So, this particular agenda we are calling domestic resource mobilisation and sustainability agenda, is about how do we pay to keep Nigerians from getting infected from HIV, and more importantly, how do we pay to ensure that those who are in treatment currently can comfortably remain on treatment and that the remaining 20 to 30 percent who are not on treatment are brought on treatment?”

By Adeola Ogunlade

In this report, Adeola Ogunlade explores the impact of misinformation on Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts across Southwestern States of Lagos and Osun

On Wednesday, March 2nd 2021, Nigeria received nearly four million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility, a global pooled procurement mechanism that ensures fair and equitable access to vaccines for all 190 participating economies, many of which are developing countries.

The COVAX Facility is a partnership between Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

However, this laudable initiative at tackling the COVID-19 virus has been undermined by a deluge of misinformation about the efficacy of the vaccines as well as the capacity of healthcare facilities in Nigeria to preserve them in the extremely cold temperatures required. Even more worrisome is the peddling of misinformation about COVID-19 by persons supposedly educated and enlightened.

A case in point is Comrade Adenitan, Akinola, a resident of Oshogbo, the capital city of Osun State. According to Akinola, who is a media practitioner, the COVID-19 vaccine is a product of medical imperialism perpetuated by panic and fear with the primary objective of generating wealth for the foreign pharmaceutical companies who manufactured them.

Akinola further justified his anti-vaccine stance by claiming that Nigerians have managed malaria and other diseases through traditional and herbal remedies, citing the case of Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde, a COVID-19 survivor, who publicly declared that he successfully used various local herbs like black seed and garlic to treat the virus.

Like Akinola, Felicia Cheoma, a market woman in Orelope area of Lagos, was emphatic she would not take the COVID-19 vaccine since she was not sick. She even doubted the reality of COVID-19 in Nigeria comparing it to acute malaria, if at all it exists.

“COVID-19 is not real in Nigeria. It is like acute malaria. Since last year when they told us that there is coronavirus, I have not seen anyone down with COVID-19. Assuming it is real, I would see one here in this market or on the street where I live,” She said.

On his part, former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa on SciDev.Net, said “as far as I am concerned, Nigeria is not ready to receive the vaccine and distribute it accordingly. There are no -70 degrees Celsius freezers needed to store the [Pfizer] vaccine. If the government claims to have it in place, they should show it to Nigerians.”

An humanitarian worker, Magnus Onunwa in an article titled Vaccination hesitancy: Will history repeat itself? in Business day in March 14 noted that some people who have been vaccinated in Europe are manifesting some adverse effects already, especially blood clothing.

“With the adverse effect, Norway and Denmark have suspended Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, and the development is giving grave concerns to many on the safety of the vaccines even in Nigeria”.

“Many Nigerians do not know how potent the newly procured AstraZeneca vaccine is. Some are also bothered about the speed with which things have been done from testing to manufacturing, yet the government has not said anything on compensation for people who develop side effects after the vaccination”, Onunwa said.

A front line Health Worker, Dr. Boluwatife Afolabi, who spoke to TechCabal and shared his perspective: “Health workers in general have fears about the vaccine. Most of the fear is motivated by information they have been exposed to online.”

“There is the fear that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has adverse side-effects, and there are also workers who aren’t taking the vaccine because they assume they had a previous infection and are now immune.”

Record from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) stated that out of the nearly four million COVID-19 vaccines donated to Nigeria, 1,945, 273 eligible Nigerians had so far taken the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

However, NPHCDA last Wednesday, noted that only 262, 000 have been given to Nigerians since the flag off of the second phase of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on the 29th of May, 2021.

As Nigeria rolled out its second phase of the vaccination programme in the last two weeks, the response has been low. From the figure available, less than 300, 000 persons have received the second dose.

Since the discovery of the COVID-19 a moment ago before the China’s big Lunar New Year festival in 2020, health experts had announced the outbreak of a novel virus similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARs) that led to the death of nearly 800 persons globally between 2002 and 2003. Today, 3.5 million deaths, thus, preventive measures and vaccines have been proven as the best defense against the virus across the world.

However, anti-vaxxers (those opposed to vaccination) have continued in their campaign to provide false information about the vaccine. These campaigns have been visible across social media even before the advent of the COVAX Vaccines into Nigeria.

On Yandex search engine, our correspondent saw a report flagged on CNBC, in which an American physician-scientist and immunologist, Anthony Stephen Fauci said that new data shows that the COVID-19 vaccines currently on the market may not be as effective in guarding against new, more contagious strains of the coronavirus, giving “all the more reason” to vaccinate people faster.

Fauci noted that a handful of new strains of the coronavirus have emerged overseas that have given scientists some cause for concern. Some variants that have been identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil appear to be more transmissible than previous strains but not necessarily more deadly.

Fauci, who is White House Health Advisor, noted that some early findings that were published in the preprint server bioRxiv, which is yet to be peer reviewed, indicate that the variant identified in South Africa, known as 501Y.V2, can evade the antibodies provided by some coronavirus treatments and may reduce the efficacy of the current line of available vaccines.

Using keywords such as of misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines, this Correspondent used Hoaxy® to visualise the spread of the information on Twitter, as shown below:

However, in a swift response, the World Health Organization’s Immunization Director, Kate O’Brien, said on the 22nd, January, that it’s too early to have clear information on whether the emerging variants will have an impact on any of the current vaccines.

O’Brien added that not every variant will act the same way, and the answer will depend on the type of mutation and the vaccines.

“This is really evolving information and there are a number of ways evaluations can be done to understand whether or not any … of the vaccines are less effective against the variants”, O’ Brien said

How misinformation impacts government efforts

Director General of the National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said the recommendation for Emergency Use Authorization of the use of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine was based on rigorous scientific considerations which include Vaccine quality, Vaccine safety and efficacy and Pharmacovigilance of COVID-19 Vaccines.

She said that from the Phases 2/3 conducted, the COVISHIELD (vaccine) was found safe and well-tolerated in adults above 18 years of age. The incidence of solicited, unsolicited adverse event (AEs) and Serious Adverse event (SAEs) was comparable in the study control groups. No causally related SAE was caused by the study vaccine.

“Safety of the vaccine is premium to NAFDAC and a lot of efforts are being put into this regulatory function. The Agency initiated multi-stakeholder collaboration with National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), UNICEF, GAVI, WHO and Ministry of Health.”

She added “the focus is to use a holistic approach for the effective immunization or delivery of the vaccines and monitor any Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI). The multi-stakeholder technical working groups have been meeting to address different issues, from access to distribution to traceability (track and trace) of the vaccines, to monitoring of adverse events following immunization.”

Other experts’ view

A Professor of Virology and Chairman Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19, Professor Oyewale Tomori said that the globally approved COVID-19 vaccines were build up on the research done on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARs2) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome vaccine which was done in 2003 and administered to many people. It was abandoned when SARC2 was not life threatening.

He noted that however when coronavirus emerged, scientists build their research on the SARs 2 vaccines and that helped in shortening the time frame for the invention of COVID-19 vaccine, added that it is imperative to note that the time frame of the vaccine is not less than one year of the emergence of coronavirus but is a build up on the knowledge gathered when SARs 2 vaccine was invented.

He said that the vaccine is still the only potent safety net against the coronavirus. We have seen in some countries, especially the United Kingdom that the more they take the vaccine, the less number of persons going down with the virus. He stressed that the use of herb or other traditional medicines have not be proven scientifically as veritable in the fight against COVID-19

On the availability of an adequate storage facility for the vaccines, Tomori said that the current oxford vaccine in Nigeria can be stored with ordinary fridge temperature. “I will be worried with Pfizer vaccine which has to be stored minus 2 degree. We don’t have the capacity here in Nigeria. In all the Primary Health Centres, they have fridges and supported by Solar panels to keep the current vaccines in Nigeria in the right temperature.

On the rumour that many Nigerians have developed HERD immunity against the virus, he said that there is no proof that Nigerians have developed herd immunity against COVID-19.

He said that the COVID-19 has been with us for more than one year. How many people have herd immunity? Most times when tests are carried out among 100 Nigerians, only 25% have herd immunity, living 75% vulnerable to the virus. They are only speculations; there is no proof or facts that confirm it.

Tomori debunked another common myth about COVID-19. Asked on the effect of weather on COVID-19 Transmission and Mortality in Nigeria, Prof Tomori said that there is currently no conclusive evidence that either weather (short term variations in meteorological conditions) or climate (long-term averages) have a strong influence on transmission.

According to him, there are parts of Europe that are hotter than Nigeria. The only advantage we have is that people are moving around and our markets are opened. Though, we must emphasis that people should wear their face mask and ensure social distances. The challenged faced in some western countries is because of their cold weather condition makes people congregate indoors. People are often close to each other and that makes the transmission of the virus widespread.

Also speaking to The Nation, a public health pharmacist and the Special Adviser to the Osun state Governor on Public Health, Siji Olamiju, said that the vaccine remains potent but it does not rule out the need to ensure the safety protocols put in place by the government. He noted that vaccine does not mean that someone cannot be infected with coronavirus but the advantage is that the vaccine will prevent someone from dyeing from the virus.

Though, he added that someone who have been vaccinated can be infected and can also infect others with the virus and that calls for caution and watchfulness. Many vulnerable persons who have not be vaccinated are still at risk of been infected with the virus. The rate at which people come down with catarrh, cough and respiratory tract infections have actually reduced

Asked about the spike in the infection rate in January 2021, he said that many Nigerians came back to Nigeria from Christmas celebrations abroad and that calls for concerns among health workers. The approach then was to improve on our testing programme and we discovered a lot of positive people who were isolated and treated. The vaccine still remains potent against the virus.

• This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. For more information on ARN, please visit the ARN site.

Luxury Network, the global luxury industry, is hosting its earning and Development programme on Thursday.

In an interview with reporters, the Managing Director, Luxury Network Nigeria, Cas Ojo, said  the company believes the future of Nigeria’s luxury industry demands a fresh approach that focuses on promoting a consistent and homogeneous luxury narrative, and raising the profile of the luxury industry in Nigeria, through conversation and collaboration with established luxury brands and service providers on the global stage.

“The core objective of the network is to identify synergies between luxury brands, with the view to facilitate strategic alliances and collaboration for its members, both in Nigeria and on the global stage. In the real world, the process of exploring new business channels between companies can be complex, however membership of The Luxury Network enables an exciting platform to explore bold and innovative strategies and partnerships” she said.

The goal of the network Ojo pointed out is to create unique partnerships between luxury brands, that give participating companies increased access to pre-qualified high net worth individuals.

“As a company, we have proven expertise identifying new business channels that are mutually-beneficially for our members. In addition to the brilliant partnerships we facilitate within our network, The Luxury Network Nigeria also aims to boost the profile and perception of the Nigerian luxury industry on the global stage. Nigeria is ready to take her place on the global luxury business stage, and we will assist companies, to respond to the opportunities that lay ahead.”  she added.

The first event is a private event for members and will see an exclusive group of Nigeria’s finest companies converge at the Seattle Residences and Spa, VI, Lagos, to explore strategic partnerships and new business opportunities within the network.

The company’s Learning and Development programme commences on 24th June 2021. The first session will be a virtual event hosted via a Zoom webinar. Kindly visit the website The Luxury Network Nigeria – Luxury Marketing Group to find out more.

The Luxury Network is the world’s leading private Business Club and affinity marketing group for luxury brands, high-end businesses and premium service providers. With over 15 years of industry experience, the company has worked extensively with the most prestigious brands such as: Aston Martin, Bang & Olufsen, Barclays Wealth, Bulgari, Cartier, Ferrari, Gucci, Jaguar, and many more.

FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo has decried the inability of nations across the African continent to harness available resources to provide home-grown solutions to their health challenges.

Obasanjo said this at the launch of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) Independent Task Team on Equitable and Universal Access to Vaccines and Vaccination in Africa.

The launch, which was yesterday at the Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital (IUTH), Okada Town, Edo State, had in attendance medical experts, researchers and policymakers from nations across the continent of Africa.

CoDA is an initiative of the Africa Union created to discuss and begin the process of vaccine development and distribution within the African continent.

Obasanjo, who is the chair of the CoDA’s board of directors, said Africa’s main challenges cannot be attributed to lack of funds or resources but the use of all within its disposal to proffer sustainable solutions.

Represented by Abdoulaye Bathily, former special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Africa, he said the African region must harness available resources to develop home-grown solutions.

“I have always believed that Africa’s main challenge is not the lack of funds or resources. Our main challenge is the inability to harness available resources to provide customized home-grown solutions needed to address the challenges we see across the continent,” Obasanjo said.

Other members of the CoDA team are Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, Deputy Chancellor of Igbinedion University Okada, Lucky Igbinedion, Chief Medical Director of Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital (IUTH), Godwin Bazuaye and Chairman, Pan African Manufacturers Association, Mansur Ahmed.

Obasanjo lamented that many researchers, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are constantly being drawn out of Africa to serve in other continents.

He said this had left the region underdeveloped.

He said; “They use their intellect to serve the needs of other continents, and most times without being duly credited or acknowledged for their intellectual investments, while our health systems are underdeveloped.

“We need to reverse this trend and begin to take actions to harness our local resources to solve our local problems.”

He said through initiatives like CoDA, Africa will be able to encourage and retain its talents and support them in finding solutions to its age-long healthcare challenges.

“The initiative we are launching today is one of those initiatives that will help Africa look inwards to identify and channel available resources to areas where they are needed.

“This initiative has the potential to positively change the vaccine and vaccination landscape across the continent and set precedence for vaccine entrepreneurship in the continent.

“If we carefully nurture the initiative through to maturity, we would have laid a good foundation for a healthier Africa using, largely, resources from within the continent,” he said.

In her remarks, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission, said public health research in Africa has suffered some setbacks in the past few decades partly because of insufficient investment in research and development.

Ms Nsanzabaganwa explained that the gaps between public health research, the private sector and public policy in Africa continue to widen.

This, she said, is partly because the African private sector has not shown sufficient interest in health sector research and development.

“Public health research is capital intensive, but we must also realise that health business is everybody’s business, judging from our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said, adding that; “Apart from the lives lost, the private sector has been greatly affected, and that tells us that if the people are sick, businesses will also be sick.”

She said the private sector is the spirit of any nation because they give direction to human and economic development.

“When businesses don’t play their role of uplifting the morale and helping to raise living standards sustainably, they lose their relevance,” she said.

Ms Nsanzabaganwa said it was essential for the African private sector to be involved in public health research that will help find solutions to the health problems on the continent.

She said the launch of CoDA is a wake-up call to other private universities and businesses in Africa to contribute towards strengthening healthcare services across the continent.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has registered 51 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total numbers of infections in the country to 167,206, as of June 19.

The NCDC said this through its verified website on Sunday morning.

As at Saturday, June 19, 2021, the public health agency registered no COVID-19-related deaths for the past 15 days, leaving the total fatalities in the country to 2,117 deaths.

The agency stated that the 51 new cases were reported from six states, including Lagos (41), Rivers (5), Gombe (3), FCT (1) and Akwa-Ibom (1).

It noted that 10 people were discharged after been successfully treated from isolation centres across the country.

The NCDC stressed that 163,550 cases have been discharged in hospitals and isolation centres across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, since the beginning of the pandemic.

The agency noted that there were now 1,498 active cases across the country as of June 19.

It added that so far the country had carried out 2,231,409 test samples since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020.

The agency assured that a multi-sector national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, is coordinating response activities nationwide.

It was a solemn gathering in New York as the Consulate-General of Nigeria at the weekend held a remembrance ceremony to honour the memory of Nigerians who died from COVID-19 within its jurisdiction.

The event drew Nigerians from all walks of life, including UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, other Nigerian envoys, community leaders, families, friends and associates of the victims.

Some Nigerians, who converged on Nigeria House venue of the event and those who joined by virtual all thanked the consulate for the initiative.

They also encouraged Nigerians who had not been vaccinated to do so and to raise their voices to encourage others to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus.

UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, in her keynote address, urged people to raise their voices against COVID-19, noting that vaccine is the surest way to be protected.

Mohammed said that the remembrance ceremony was in line with tradition and culture of honouring the memories of the departed.

She said it was surprising that high fatality of COVID-19 had been recorded in some part of the world, more than in Nigeria and some parts of Africa.

“For us, it not about the virus itself, although, it took so many lives; it is also about the social economic impact; even those who have lost loved ones are also suffering from the social economy impact.

“We are grateful to God that those fatality – even I will say, one life lost is one too many but – it is not as bad as we expected.

“You remember there was projection from voices in the world that fatality in Africa will be more but we thank God, it is not so.

“We must commend our government and local leaders who really stepped up to protect as many as they could from the virus; although we lost so many,’’ she said.

Similarly, Amb. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, thanked the consulate for honouring the memory of the deceased, saying it is a long tradition in Nigeria to remember the departed loved ones. Muhammad-Bande said it was also a sense of community that necessitated the gathering to condole with the families and friends of the COVID-19 victims.