In Uganda, Betty Nagadya is making waves with a novel kind of clothing song. When she walks through the trading centre on her way home, she sings a song in her local Luganda language: SafeBoda, SafeBoda, who needs a helmet? For those who feel cold, I have a coat for you. But, her waves-making song is not about clothing! It’s about condoms. Nagadya is a village health team volunteer. She distributes condoms in her community in partnership with the motorcycle taxi company SafeBoda, all as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Uganda’s COVID-19 lockdown, contraceptives and other…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed the Director of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Division on International Trade and Commodities, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, as the new Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva. ITC is a joint agency of UNCTAD and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It enables micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing and transition economies to become more competitive and connect to international markets for trade and investment. Its global goals are those of the Sustainable Development which represent a universal, global development agenda for all UN member states and…
There is a growing call in the United Kingdom (UK) for the total elimination of the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic. Experts, however, say any approach to controlling an infectious disease has one of three broad aims- suppressing, eliminating or eradicating it. The UK’s strategy so far seems to be focusing on suppressing the virus, trying to limit its spread. But, some of its concerned nationals have been thinking whether it is the best course of action. Independent SAGE, which produces advice on managing COVID-19 alongside the British government’s official scientific advisory group, is calling for a national effort to work towards…
The Chieftainess of the Chewa people in Zambia’s Eastern Province, Kawaza, is seriously challenging harmful social norms in her community. Chieftainess Kawaza leads more than 650 villages with some 100,000 people, one of the largest chiefdoms in her country’s Eastern Province. “As a female traditional leader, my aim is to be a role model within my chiefdom. I want to ensure that we collectively challenge social and traditional norms and practices that negatively affect our women and girls”, Kawaza says. She is one of many traditional and community leaders throughout Eastern Province who are challenging harmful social norms – including child…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared an anti-corruption war on President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged unending looting by officials of his administration. PDP is challenging President Buhari to speak out on the ‘’ monumental’’ corruption in his administration, and account for the N800 billion he has so far recovered from looters. Buhari rose to power in 2015 on the crest of popular support as the messiah who will make corruption history in Nigeria. But, five years after corruption appears to be well-entrenched in his administration. This tends to imply that his administration functionaries are not on the same page…
The Ifeanyi Okowa administration in Delta State, one of the top oil-bearing states of Nigeria, is currently in a seasonal battle with flood in the state. The state’s Environment Commissioner, Christian Onogba, says the administration will not relent in ensuring that issues relating to flooding in the state were adequately addressed. Onogba who made this known while inspecting the mechanical de-siltation of the Orogodo River in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area, says the administration is adopting proactive measures to tackle the menace of flooding in flood-prone areas of the state.. According to him, the mechanical de-siltation of the Orogodo…
Africa is currently taking a three-pronged approach – prevention, early detection, and control – to manage the menace of invasive species on the continent. It is estimated that 480,000 invasive species have been introduced to different ecosystems globally. Sadly, their geographic spread and impact are growing due to climate change. As the climate continues to change, invasive species also continue to increase and spread globally. Countries cannot wave off a global challenge individually hence the need for a continent-wide strategy. This strategy was developed to respond to the invasive species challenge by linking conservation of biodiversity to human health. Its…
A collaborative group of scientists have established associations of low plasma 25(OH)D with the risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation. They are from the Leumit Health Services (LHS) and the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, Israel. The scientists used the real-world data and Israeli cohort of 782 COVID-19 positive patients and 7,025 COVID-19 negative patients. They have so far identified that low plasma vitamin D level appears to be an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation. The research was just published in The FEBS Journal. Before now, vitamin D was recognised as an important co-factor in several…
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has expressed disappointment with the poor handling of development in the oil-bearing state by Federal Government and international oil corporations.“Our state produces oil and contributes significantly to the economy of the country. But I’m yet to see any meaningful development brought to our state. I have not seen any significant presence of those who explore our oil.“Even ExxonMobil feels too reluctant to pay tax. So, what we can do to help ourselves, is to encourage those who are willing to partner with us to develop our state”, Udom says.Mobil Producing Nigeria that operates…
Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio, has flung the gate of the mega-billions Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) contract racket wide open, and in the process unsettles the predators who have been devouring the financial flesh of the plundered Commission. Though Akpabio’s expose went far beyond the period the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC is probing, his action has sparked a wild agitation by civil society organisations for the anti-graft agencies to go after the implicated federal legislators. Already, the Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action) that is leading the agitation for the implicated lawmakers to face the wrath…
Countries like Nigeria are being urged to differentiate and tailor their trade policy to address specific needs. Experts say countries will continue to face different challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic. This is coming from a Georgetown Law School Visiting Professor and President/Founder of New Markets Lab (NML), Katrin Kuhlmann, and Chief of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) New York Office, Chantal Line Carpentier. To accomplish this, they say governments could use Aid for Trade, trade facilitation, investment strategy, regulatory review and monitoring, investment incentives, and a new generation of investment agreements. To ensure that trade helps countries to…
More cans of worms are being uncovered in the messy Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as concerned citizens continue to beam searchlight on the Commission. A group is alleging that top NDDC directors go home every month with tens of millions of naira as imprest and for the entertainment of guests. This allegation is contained in a presentation to the bicameral Legislature by a civic group, Act for Positive Transformation Initiatives (APTI). Head of the group’s Directorate of Research, Strategy and Programme, Kolawole Johnson, specifically claimed that NDDC’s big boss pockets N61.6 million monthly as imprest and for the entertainment…
Over 250 Speakers of parliament will be joining other parliamentarians, experts and United Nations representatives to mobilise the international parliamentary community to take action on the health, climate and economic crises facing the world. In partnership with the Parliament of Austria and the United Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is organising the first part of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. The confab will be taking place virtually this coming August 19 and 20. It was originally planned to take place in Vienna, Austria, under the overall theme of Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and…
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is currently raising environmental and social concerns that ‘’ must be urgently addressed’’ as efforts are on to cut greenhouse gas emissions. A report by UNCTAD says the expected boom in mining for the raw materials used to make rechargeable batteries raises environmental and social concerns that must be addressed. UNCTAD’s Director of International Trade, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, says “most consumers are only aware of the ‘clean’ aspects of electric vehicles. The dirty aspects of the production process are out of sight.” This is because while most of the consumers live in…
Movement between Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State and Port Harcourt, the oil and gas capital of Nigeria, by road is becoming increasingly difficult. The busy Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway has become almost unusable by motorists and the road users are calling on the Federal Government to save them from frequent loss of goods due to the terrible nature of the road.They say they have been losing goods worth millions of naira on the 41.4km Aba-Port Harcourt section of the expressway on a daily basis.Abuja recently approved a total sum of N25 billion for the reconstruction of the Enugu-Lokpanta section…
A global team of scientists led by Dr Sumit Chanda, a professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, in a Nature study has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The scientists analyzed one of the world’s largest collections of known drugs for their ability to block the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and reported 100 molecules with confirmed antiviral activity in laboratory tests. This is coming as an Israeli company is developing a coronavirus breathalyser test that gives results in 30 seconds, billing it as a “front line” tool that can help restore a…
How Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has been handling national and state issues has attracted the admiration of the ancient Benin throne. The revered Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba Akpolokpolo Ewuare II says Governor Wike’s leadership style is purposeful. Oba Ewuare II was speaking when Wike who is also the Chairman, PDP National Campaign Council for the 2020 Edo State Governorship Election, and Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate paid him a courtesy call at his Palace in Benin City, the Edo State capital.Also with Wike there were Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State,…
Flag-off of the PDP campaign for September 19, 2020, Edo State Governorship Election held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
Plant health is increasingly under threat. Climate change and human activities have altered ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and creating new niches where pests can thrive. The United Nations in December 2018, declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The year is a once in a lifetime opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. Plants are the source of the air we breathe and 80% of the food we eat. Healthy plants mean healthy human lives. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a major player…
The people of Ikebiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State are at loggerheads with Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NOAC), a subsidiary of the Italian oil major, Eni. According to Ikebiri Development Foundation (IDF), an elite group of the Ijaw community, the oil company is allegedly insensitive to the plight of its host communities. They are pointing at a recent devastating oil spill in the area caused by alleged equipment failure. Ikebiri community comprises several villages. Its main economic activities include palm-wine tapping, canoe carving, fishing, farming, animal trapping and traditional medical practices. On April 5, 2010, an oil…
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is targeting to test two million Nigerians within 90 days in a seeming frantic bid to support surveillance, confirmation and response to the surging COVID-19 in the country. This is happening as scientists say COVID-19 makes changes that cause cells not to recognize it. With an alarm code, one can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also has the same advantage of entering cells. It possesses the code to waltz right in. On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers at The University of Texas…
A modelling study published in The Lancet Global Health journal says the health benefits of maintaining routine childhood vaccination programmes in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic far outweigh the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission that might be associated with clinic visits. For every additional COVID-19 death that might be associated with additional exposure to the virus during routine clinic visits, the model predicts that 84 deaths in children before five years of age (uncertainty interval 14-267) could be prevented by continuing with routine vaccinations. The additional risk of COVID-19 transmission associated with clinic visits is predicted to primarily affect older adults living…
The long-standing debate on the pathway to achieving food security in sub-Saharan Africa is currently being revived following the effect of the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic on food security. Before the virus outbreak, there have been two divergent thoughts on how to accomplish this, with one side calling for Africa to become food self-sufficient and the other supporting international trade over self-sufficiency. Both approaches have merits and demerits with the dependency on international trade being risky and policy of food self-sufficiency being inefficient or costly. Dr Shiferaw Feleke, an agricultural economist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is arguing that the…
President Muhammadu Buhari has taken over the corruption-ridden Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and fired its Interim Management Committee (IMC). President Buhari has also appointed a Sole Administrator, Dabota Godswill Jumbo {Dr) to run the affairs of the badly damaged NDDC for an initial period of six months The President took the radical action on Thursday night following the displeasure of the Legislative arm of the Nigerian government with the rot in the supposed development agency. Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement: “Federal Government hereby accepts the recommendation of the Senate…
As drugs that are being used to treat other diseases are currently being repurposed for COVID-19 treatment, experts have warned that malaria drugs do not inhibit the virus Globally, more than 600,000 people have so far fallen victim to the lung disease COVID-19 which is caused by the SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Nigeria, the disease has so far claimed 833 lives and infects 38,948. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country on Thursday recorded 604 new confirmed positive cases and 20 fresh deaths. ‘’Till date, 38948 cases have been confirmed, 16061 cases have been discharged and 833 deaths…
Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio, has again exhibited an act of cowardice the second time within two years as a public functionary. According to the Merriam-Webster, cowardice is ‘’lack of courage or firmness of purpose.’’ The vociferous Akpabio on Thursday made a dramatic u-turn on his viral accusation that members of the National Assembly were beneficiaries of 60% of spurious contract deals awarded by the messy Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). While Akpabio was defecting formally to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, August 7, 2018, he publicly claimed that he was taking Akwa Ibom to the…
Maize farmers in Nigeria are gearing to produce 25 million metric tons of the cereal this planting season. But this production target is eight million tons less what the country produced in 2017. Nigeria is the largest African producer of the cereal with over 33 million tons, followed by South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia. However, the decision of the maize farmers to raise their production level this year follows the resolve of the Federal Government to ban maize importation in the country. Their trade group, Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) is hailing the government decision as a great step towards…
Ebonyi State’s FADAMA III Project Coordinator is alleged to have pocketed N120 million of the agric project in the Eastern Nigeria state. Fadama is, however, a term in Hausa that means irrigable land. The obviously shocked state government has directed its Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) to quickly recover the N120 million allegedly embezzled by the official. Government insiders say Governor David Umahi gave this directive during a virtual state executive council meeting on Wednesday. Umahi’s order follows findings of the FRC investigation into a petition against the state FADAMA III project coordinator, Dr Cletus Nwakpu. Secretary to the State Government,…
Head of Scripps Research Translational Institute, Dr. Eric Topol, says 40 percent of people do not even know that they have COVID-19, the killer virus ravaging the world. “We have to get out of the denial mode because it’s real”, Topol adds. Scripps Research Translational Institute was previously known as The Scripps Research Institute. It is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Researchers have exposed the frightening likelihood of silent spread of the virus by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic carriers. But how major a role seemingly healthy people play in swelling the ranks…
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Mohammed Sabo Nanono, is currently a seeming frantic effort to abort a massive loss of jobs in the agricultural sector of Nigeria’s economy. The minister is expected to meet with stakeholders of Feed Industry Practitioners Association of Nigeria (FIPAN), and others this Thursday in Abuja, the country’s capital city. FIPAN is pressing the Federal Government to support the sub-sector by releasing grains from its reserve to feed millers at an affordable price. Alternatively, the government could allow the importation of grains for a short period to remedy the domestic situation, the association said. Explaining the…
