Giant stride

With the two-weeks presidential lockdown order coming to an end and the coronavirus continues to spread to more states in the country, Nigerians are yet to know if the lockdown will be extended or not. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Saturday issued a statement to the public through its Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu,  which has left many Nigerians wondering if the lockdown on Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states has now become indefinite as the president was not specific but rather said the lockdown will last as long as necessary if recommended by medical experts. The statement: I wholeheartedly thank all Nigerians for your patience, resolve and strong determination to defeat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. We realize that today, there will be sons and daughters unable to visit their parents, and elders that are isolated from young ones. And there will be those who live day-to-day, eating as they earn, who face real and present suf...

As Nigerians continue to stay at home following the total lockdown imposed on Lagos, Ogun and Abuja over the coronavirus pandemic, vice president Yemi Osinbajo has stated that President Muhammadu  Buhari  is very much concerned about the daily survival of Nigerians among other issues associated with the lockdown. He made this known on NTA news shortly after meeting with Buhari. “What we are concerned about is how to ensure that the economy remains stable, that jobs are protected and if possible, more jobs are created,” he said. “We are very concerned about that and the President has expressed very serious concerns about the problems that may be associated with the lockdown. “Many of our people work for a daily wage, they have to go out to work, so we have to think in terms of how to ensure that we are able to give them some succour during the period when they are not able to work. “Some of those issues are the issues Mr President wanted me to discuss fully w...

With a death toll constantly on the rise, the novel coronavirus covid-19 has claimed the life of thousands in its wake. Here are some of the notably deceased: Suleiman Achimugu, ex-PPMC boss, 67 Suleiman Achimugu, an engineer and former PPMC MD was Nigeria’s first coronavirus fatality. His family said Achimugu returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom two weeks prior to showing symptoms of the virus. Christogonus Osuagwu, hotelier Christogonus Osuagwu was the owner of Fancy Hotel, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. He was said to have arrived the country from South Africa via Abuja. He visited Owerri, where he fell sick. Later, he returned to Abuja where he was said to have died of complications arising from the infection. Alfa Sa’adu, medical doctor, 68 Alfa Suda, a prominent Nigerian doctor in the United Kingdom, lost his life to the novel coronavirus after treating many patients suffering from the disease on March 31. Dr Saadu’s death was mourned by the Niger...

The names of the Nigerians who have died from the Coronavirus pandemic abroad have been released by the Federal Government. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), published a video in honour of the victims via her Twitter handle on Thursday. She wrote; ”May the souls of our brothers and sisters in Diaspora, who lost their lives to COVID 19, RIP. May the Lord heal the world ”Alfa Sa’adu (United Kingdom) ”Carol Jamabo (United Kingdom) ”Kole Abayomi, SAN (United Kingdom) ”Bode Ajanlekoko (United Kingdom) ”Adeola Onasanya (United Kingdom) ”Ugochukwu Erondu (United Kingdom) ”Chidinma Olajide (United Kingdom) ”Bassey Offiong (USA) ”Caleb Anya (USA) ”Mmaete Greg (USA) ”Akeem Adagun (USA) ”Laila Abubakar Ali (USA) ”Patricia Imobhio (USA May the souls of our brothers and sisters in Diaspora , who lost their lives to Covid 19, RIP. May the Lord heal the world 🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/T1Nu77xP3G — Abike Dabiri-Erew...

Mrs Aisha Buhari has extended her magnanimity to the people of Edo state by donating 1,000 bags of 10kg rice to the state government to share to the vulnerable. Edo state first lady, Betsy Obaseki, while speaking during the presentation, assured residents that the relief items are expected to be shared as soon as possible. “I have received these items from the First Lady of Nigeria and informed the governor who advised that it should be given to the state’s COVID-19 committee for distribution to vulnerable persons and groups in the state.

In response to the National Assembly’s earlier expression of displeasure at the manner in which the federal government handled the conditional cash transfer scheme, the presidency has fired back, stating that poor Nigerians are not people who can access internet or have bank verification number(BVN). This was contained in a statement signed by  Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments on Thursday, where details of how National Social Investment Programme works and how the poor and vulnerable are reached. “The National Cash Transfer Programme derives all the cash transfer beneficiaries from a National Social Register (NSR), comprising State Social Registers that are developed and hosted by the State Ministries of Panning of each State. “The process for objective identification of poor and vulnerable households is as provided in the Financing Agreement (F.A) signed between Nigeria and the World Bank, for which purpose the World Bank IDA Cred...

Following the arrival of the   Chinese doctors   who are supposed to aid in the combat against the spread of   coronavirus in Nigeria , Nigerians have taken to social media to give a poor reception of the medical team. In a new twitter trend, ‘ChinaMustExplain’, Nigerians express their minds on the arrival of the Chinese doctors. Recall that the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA rejected the move by the federal government to invite Chinese doctor to Nigeria. Here are some of the thoughts on social media:

Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, has confirmed 16 new cases of Coronavirus,  COVID-19  across the country, bringing the total to 254. The agency broke the news by releasing a statement via Twitter on Tuesday. Delta and Katsina also recorded their first cases. “Sixteen new cases of  COVID-19  have been reported in Nigeria: 10 in Lagos, 2 in the FCT, 2 in Oyo, 1 in Delta and 1 in Katsina. “As at 09:30 pm 7th April, there are 254 confirmed cases of  COVID-19  reported in Nigeria. Forty-four have been discharged with six deaths,” NCDC tweeted.

Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, says President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the engagement of 774,000 Nigerians on Special Public Works programme in the country to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic. Mrs Ahmed disclosed this at a press conference on fiscal stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 pandemic and oil prices fiscal shock, on Monday in Abuja. She explained that 1, 000 people were expected to be recruited from each of the 774 local government areas in the country. According to her, the sum of N60 billion for allowances and operational cost has been earmarked from the COVID-19 crisis intervention fund for the initiative. She disclosed that President Buhari had previously approved a pilot special public works programme in eight states to be implemented by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). She added that Buhari had now approved that this programme be extended to all 36 States and the FCT from October to Decem...

Nigeria aligns with the guidance from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on medications to treat the Novel Coronavirus Covid-19. Please avoid self-medication and adhere to the cautions and directives of the front-line operatives. #COVID19Nigeria In Nigeria, we align with the guidance from @AfricaCDC on medications to treat #COVID19 Please avoid self-medication as this can be fatal. #TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/MHlaLPVqHR — NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 4, 2020

“As at 09:00 pm March 30, there are 131 confirmed cases of COVID19 reported in Nigeria with 2 deaths. This was reported by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control via their Twitter handle. “Of the 131 cases, Lagos currently has 81, FCT 25, Oyo eight, Kaduna and Ogun three each, Enugu, Edo, Bauchi and Osun two each, while Ekiti, Rivers, and Benue have one each,” the tweet reads.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the COVID-19 Regulations, 2020, which declared COVID-19 a dangerous infectious disease on Monday. This according to Femi Adesina the special adviser to the President, is in line with the exercising of the powers conferred on Buhari by Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act (CAP Q2 LFN 2004), and all other powers enabling him in that behalf. In his statement on Monday, the presidential spokesman noted that the regulations, effective March 30, 2020, also gave legal backing to the various measures outlined in the President’s National Broadcast on  March 29, 2020, such as Restriction/Cessation of Movement in Lagos, FCT and Ogun State and others toward containing the spread of the pandemic in the country. He added that to ensure that Nigerians can still perform on-line transactions and use ATMs whilst observing these restrictions, exemption is granted financial system and money markets to allow very skeletal operations in order to keep th...

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control ( NCDC ) has announced the confirmation of two fresh cases of  coronavirus  in Lagos and Osun States respectively. The agency announced the update on its official Twitter account. With this development, the total number of cases now stands at 46. Both cases are returning travelers to Nigeria in the last 7 days. As at 07:00 am 25th March, there are 46 confirmed cases of  #COVID19  in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with 1 death. 

As of 11:00 am on Sunday, 22nd of March there are now 27 confirmed cases of the Covid19 Coronavirus in Nigeria. The new case was reported in the federal capital territory, Abuja and was also confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) via their twitter account.

One of the victims of the fast-spreading coronavirus has reportedly died in Ghana, authorities have confirmed. According to the Ghana Health Ministry, the 61-year-old male Lebanese trader and resident in Kumasi was unwell and reported to a health facility with fever, and cough. The sample tested positive for COVID-19. His case, which was the 11th confirmed infection in the country was reported on Thursday, March 19. Deputy Health Minister Alex Abban who confirmed the death to Accra based Citi News noted that: “The information I got from the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service is that that person [the Lebanese man] has died.” Earlier today the country recorded three(3) new confirmed cases of the fast-spreading Coronavirus pandemic, making a total of 19 cases in all, GhanaWeb reported. All 3 cases were confirmed on the 21st March 2020 from the Greater Accra Region and Ashanti Region with two being recorded in the country’s capital according to information on gov...