Who doubts African COVID 19 Figures, Suspends Chloroquine Trial

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May 26, 2020

By Akinwale Kasali

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kadun a State has warned parents, sternly, against enrolling their children and wards into Almajiri School.

He said that any parent that enrolls his/her child for Almajiri education system risks prosecution and up to two-year jail term.

El-Rufai made this statement when he visited about 200 Almajiris repatriated from Nasarawa State undergoing rehabilitation at the Government College, Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna.

The Almajiris are children, usually from poor rural backgrounds, who leave their hometowns to be taught the Quran, but end up loitering the streets with bowls begging for alms and food.

The Governor said any Islamic Cleric who enrols any child into the Almajiri system would also be prosecuted, jailed and fined N100,000 or N200,000 per child.

According to El-Rufai, the state has a responsibility to give the Almajiris hope and a better future.

“We will, therefore, continue to take delivery of every Almajiri pupil indigenous to Kaduna for rehabilitation, treatment and enrollment into formal schools nearest to where their parents live.

“We will continue to do this until we clear Kaduna of the menace of the Almajiri system, which is not education but the abuse of the privilege and future of a child.

“Our ultimate goal is for them to acquire formal education without depriving them of the opportunity to acquire Quranic education.

“They will continue their Quranic education but under the care of their parents and not under someone who does not know them or paid to look after them,” El-Rufai said.

The Governor said all the 218 Almajirai who were repatriated to Kaduna tested negative for Coronavirus.

“I am pleased to see our Almajiri children, the batch of 218 from Kano, Nassarawa, Plateau and Gombe states, looking well and free of COVID-19.

“With the support of UNICEF Nigeria, AMA Foundation, other NGOs and philanthropists, they are being restored with full human rights as children, dignity and hope!

“Every child in Kaduna has equal opportunity and access to 12 years of free and compulsory education in our public schools,” the Governor said.

Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, said the state has so far received over 900 Almajirai from Kano, Bauchi, Plateau and Nasarawa states.

No fewer than 500 of them were rehabilitated and reunited with their families; some 400 others were still undergoing rehabilitation and would soon be reunited with their families, she said.

Ighalo Set To Return To China, As Manchester United Fail To Secure His Service

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May 26, 2020

By Akinwale Kasali

Manchester United Football Club of England are on the verge of losing their Nigerian asset forward, Odion Jude Ighalo, to his parent Club, Shanghai Shenhua Football Club in China.

The Chinese Club has decided to terminate the loan deal of Ighalo to Manchester United, calling for his return.

Shanghai Shenhua had already asked for the sum of £20 million from Manchester United to secure the permanent service of Ighalo, but the Chinese Club rescinded its decision, clinging on Its priced asset.

Manchester United Coach, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, had declared his intention to make permanent the loan deal of Ighalo after the Nigerian-born striker performed brilliantly well for the Manchester outfit, filling the vacuum left behind by Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial who had been injured.

With the English Premier League set to resume tentatively on June 12, 2020, Manchester United will release Ighalo back to Shanghai Shenhua and will be hoping to boost their team with the arrival of their players from injuries.

It, however, remains uncertain whether Manchester United and Shanghai Shenhua will reach a compromise on the future of the 2019 African Cup of Nations highest goal scorer in the coming days.

Lagos: More Demands For Obasa’s Resignation After Dele Momodu’s Interview

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May 26, 2020

By Tosin Olatokunbo

The Speaker of the Lagos state house of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa has not been able to shrug off public angst against him over allegation of corruption and abuse of office as the number three citizen in the state of Excellence.

Obasa has been accused of committing financial scam including the discovery of 64 accounts he allegedly used to frisk several millions of naira from the state.

The lawmaker, however elicited more condemnation after he told Dele Momodu, Publisher of Ovasion, in an interview, that “you must spend (public) money” in response to a number of financial corruption allegations against him.

The viral video published by Sahara Reporters appears to have put the Lagos Speaker more on the sport and call for his resignation from office has further gained ground.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP has now joined well meaning Nigerians calling on Obasa to step aside from his position.

The opposition party said APC has become a bastion of corruption and that there are underground efforts by Obasa’s party, APC to cover up the allege scam and shield him from prosecution by anti-graft agency such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

According to s statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, some APC leaders in the state has ensured that the state remains under oppression and deep corruption, in other to continue to fester their own nests, insisting that huge revenue accruing to the state from taxation and the federal governor are not being well accounted for.

PDP lashed out at APC that “our party is however not surprised that the APC and its leaders have remained silent on an allegation, which had already gained national and international prominence; a development that only points to the complicity of a party that brims as sanctuary of corruption with unequaled proclivity for concealment.

This is especially when viewed with the exposed humongous sleazes in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development; the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) among others, under the APC administration.”

Obasa, the PDP said must step down to allow for independent investigation on the matter, as the APC and the state government are under serious moral burden to prove that they are not in support of corruption.

ACF Backs Northern Governors Against Almajiri

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May 26, 2020

By Fola James

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, has for some time been at the forefront of the elimination of the Almajari system in the northern part of Nigeria.

Apart from speaking against the social vices that makes children to beg for daily survival, the state’s helmsman has ensured that legislation are enacted to curtail the menace, including a two year jail term for parents who allowed their wards to engage in begging and N100, 000 fine for any Islamic teacher who accept the children into his custody.

His government has also sent back hundreds of Almajarai back to their home states in the last few months.

But after what seemed like a solo effort on the part of the governor, the Northern Governors’ Forum recently threw their weight behind the war against the almajiris system.

The latest support has now come from the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF a northern social political body, which said the abolition of the system was long overdue.

ACF said it supports the recent decision to repatriate almajirai back to their states, but warned that northern governors against allowing the action to cause dispute among them.

The group said the system which allows children to fend for themselves is retrogressive and slavery in another form.

According to Emmanuel Yawe, the National Publicly Secretary of the ACF, leaders in the north should transform the abandoned children to useful citizens of the society.

We support any decision that would transform the stranded children to responsible citizens the group said

ACF said “the decision to repatriate Almajiris to their states was taken by the Northern Governors Forum and we have no quarrel with that because we don’t believe in the Mmajirinci system.

It’s a retrogressive system. We don’t believe in it at all. Its against the human development of the North and the development of the country. So, the ACF is against the Almajiranci system.

The throws it weight on efforts by NGF to eliminate the system once and for all, adding that northern governors should go beyond mere rhetoric to find a lasting solution.

It says “So, the decision of the governors to take them to their states of origin and the state to find their families, we totally agree with it. This is because if somebody has given birth to a child, he should be in the position to look after that child and not to throw the child onto the streets.

We support that decision. But the only problem is with the implementation. The implementation is very clumsy and the governors should sit up and implement in a proper way.”

“The Governors are implementing it harphazardly. It is not properly implemented. You can’t just carry the Almajiri in your state and without proper coordination with another state and go and drop them in another state and go away.”

It said the repatriation of almajirai back to their state of origin should not be allowed to cause rancor among governors from the region.

“If one state is taking them to another state, the state should be alerted accordingly so that the state should make proper arrangement to welcome and trace their parents and take them back to their parents(families).” he said. “The Northern Governors should sit up and implement the policy properly, without leading to any form of rancour and misunderstanding among the states,” ACF said.

Covid 19: Evacuees Arrive Nigeria From Lebanon

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Uche Mbah

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May 25, 2020

By Uche Mbah

While Airpeace is busy refunding Nigerians in Canada who have not been able to be evacuated due to the Canadian government’s refusal to use Air Peace airline, 69 evacuees returned from Lebanon to Nigeria this week. It is not clear when they will be quarantined, if at all.

Recall that Canada officially refused the evacuation of Nigerians from Canada while negotiating with Ethiopian airlines for the same purpose. Meanwhile, Nigerians have already booked their own flights through Air peace.

But the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced on his twitter page that sixty-nine evacuees, including 50 victims of human trafficking, have safely been returned to Nigeria. He however did not say which airline brought them back.

“With the financial and logistic support of the Lebanese Government and Lebanese community in Nigeria, 50 trafficked Nigerian girls and 19 stranded Nigerians were successfully evacuated from Lebanon and arrived in Nigeria today (Sunday).

“Profound gratitude to Ambassador Houssam Diad, Lebanese Ambassador in Nigeria and Ambassador Goni Zannabura, Nigerian Ambassador in Lebanon,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the UK has announced a special charter flight to evacuate her citizens from Nigeria.

In a statement issued Saturday in Abuja, Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, announced that the scheduled trips, which will take place starting from May 29, may likely be the last batch of charter flights to depart the Nigerian shores.

The flight schedules include Lagos to London on May 29, 2020; another from Lagos to London on June 1, 2020, and the third from Abuja to London on June 6, 2020.

“Hundreds more British travelers are set to return home from Nigeria on three flights chartered by the UK Government,” the statement read.

“More than 1,700 British travelers have already returned to the UK on special charter flights in April and May – from Lagos and Abuja”, the statement said.

Last April, the UK government had announced plans to evacuate 900 Britons who were stranded in Nigeria. On April 28, May 1, and May 8, Britons were evacuated in batches from Lagos and Abuja to London.

AfDB: US Digs In On Nigeria’s Ex-Minister

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May 25, 2020

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Akinwumi Adesina served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture for many years under former President Goodluck Jonathan before he was elected President, African Development Bank, AfDB, with his integrity intact as a honest public servant.

He’s now under the searchlight of the United states government to prove that he has not violated the codes of conduct of his office since he became the bank’s chief executive, after being accused by some staff of the bank of gross misconduct.

The worried staff had accused him of “unethical conduct, private gain, an impediment to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities,” prompting an investigation by the Board of the AfDB which later exonerated him of the allegations.

On May 5, the ethics committee of AfBD, headed by Takuji Yano, discharged Adesina of the charges and pronounced him not guilty on all counts.

But the US government has rubbished the not-guilty verdict on Adesina and has now demanded a fresh and in-depth investigation to be carried out by an independent investigator.

The US is strong partner of the bank and has contributed billions of dollars in funds and aid since It joined the bank in 1983.

In a letter dated May 22, 2020 to Ms Kaba, the U.S. government, through the Secretary, Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C., said the committee did a shoddy job and was very hasty in its decision to totally exonerate Adesina of all allegations.

The US said in the letter that “We have deep reservations about the integrity of the Committee’s process. Instead, we urge you to initiate an in-depth investigation of the allegations using the services of an independent outside investigator of high professional standing.

We emphasise that undertaking an independent evaluation of facts, at any stage, is not at odds with a presumption of innocence.

The allegations set out in the whistleblowers’ complaints submitted on January 19, 2020 raised significant issues that all relevant governing bodies of the Bank must handle with the utmost care, using all tools available to them.’

The United States government said there are enough facts to prove that Adesina abused his office.

“Had the Ethics Committee undertaken a proper preliminary examination that was in line with the Board of Governors Resolution B/BG/2008/11, standard practices at other international financial institutions, and the Bank’s own rules and procedures, it would have reviewed available facts that could be gathered by external counsel and found in internal Bank records.

We fear that wholesale dismissal of all allegations without appropriate investigation will tarnish the reputation of this institution as one that does not uphold high standards of ethics and governance,’ the letter said.

It said the reputation of the continental bank is at stake except Adesina is able to prove his innocence beyond reasonable doubt that the allegations were false.

We believe “This is a serious risk when we need strong confidence in the A fDB to play an influential role in the current global economic and health crisis, and when many shareholders are seeking legislative support for payments under the recently-concluded General Capital Increase.

Therefore, the United States cannot support dismissing the allegations at this stage. We believe the Board of Governors must demonstrate that this institution takes governance, anti-corruption, and transparency seriously.

We thus request that you take steps to initiate an impartial, independent investigation into these allegations. Whatever the outcome, the AfDB will emerge stronger for having taken seriously its obligations to uphold good governance.

The United States sincerely wishes the AfDB to remain a high-quality institution with the capability to address the needs of the African continent, particularly at this critical time.

Considering the scope, seriousness, and detail of these allegations against the sole candidate for Bank leadership over the next five years, we believe that further inquiry is necessary to ensure the AfDB’s President has broad support, confidence, and a clear mandate from shareholders,” the US government said.

The US has donated billions of dollars to the Bank after becoming a member 37 years ago, one of AfDB’s single biggest financial contributor of all times, analysts say.

Meanwhile, the former Agriculture Minister has insisted that he’s innocent of the allegations.

COVID 19: IMF Warns Of Economic Gloom In Nigeria, Africa, $200bn Loss

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May 25, 2020

By Fola James

Nigeria and other sub-saharan African countries must do everything to contain the corona virus pandemic before the end of June this year, failure which can lead to the loss of a whopping $200 billion in revenue, the International Monetary Fund has said.

According to a recent research published by Papa N’Diaye, IMF’s Head of Research in the Fund’s African Department, COVID 19 has already slowed down the economies of these countries and the situation could get worse if allowed to drag into the second quarter of 2020.

The researcher said funds should be pumped into the health sector to make sure the pandemic in contained in time.

He said all projections by SSA countries for higher income has been dashed by the novel virus, that less income is expected “relative to what they were expecting 6 months ago.”

IMF said the projected income loss this year will be higher than the previous year when $100 billion was lost by countries in the region, adding that failure to contain the virus will have devastating effects on the SSA’s health care systems and the economies.

Sub-Saharan Africa, the researcher said “is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis that threatens to reverse much of the development progress it’s made in recent years.”

For Nigeria for instance, the Fund said the fluctuations in the price of crude oil in the international oil market will shatter government revenue expectation.

Serious progress was already being made by SSA countries to improve their economies before the COVID 19 pandemic crept in, it said.

From all indications “the region was making significant progress towards achieving its sustainable development goals. There was progress in improvement of education, reduction in poverty from 60 percent in early 2000 to 40 percent, which is still high but some improvements there.”

The way out. The IMF said SSA countries must focus on basic economic interventions such as cash transfers to the poor and expand support for Small and Medium Scale businesses, SMEs, post COVID 19.

Forgotten Singer, May D, Recounts Ordeal With Defunct P-Square Group, Lambasts Social Media Users Who Called Him ‘Greedy’

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May 25, 2020

By Akinwale Kasali

After over a decade since parting ways with Peter and Paul Okoye, popularly known as P-Square of the defunct Psquare music group, Hip Hop star, May D has come out to share his ordeal with the twin brothers.

This is coming just after Cynthia Morgan narrated how she lost everything she made from music to Jude Okoye, P-Square’s elder brother, due to the contract she signed with his record label ‘Northside Music Group’.

In a series of tweets he shared, the singer slammed those who accused him of being ungrateful to the brothers for making him popular and making his music famous and acceptable.

May D also claimed that he never got paid for all he did for the music group, from writing songs, to his vocal input in their Invasion album.

He also revealed that he never had a bank account while with Square Records which was owned by Psquare, as he was made to share a room with their driver and cook even though their twin duplex was empty.

The group split when Peter decided to go his separate way following unresolved issues with his brothers, especially Jude.

Speaking up now, May D revealed that while he was with PSquare, he was sleeping on a TV carton, using his shirt as his blanket.

He slammed those who said he was greedy and ungrateful.

May B wrote: “When I speak , people think I’m ungrateful, but the truth will always come out one way or the other last l cuz I’m a covenant child!

“Do you know I was with Psquare since 2008 I never had a bank account!!

“How can you say greed when I never billed them for anything I have ever done for them in my life? From writing credit and vocal credit on the invasion album … ask them if I was ever greedy! Just let them say it!

“For your information I was staying in their boys quarters with their driver and their cook just one room all of us shared a toilet and I had big songs and also the other side of their twin duplex was empty! Now! I slept on brand new television carton used my shirt as cover cloth

“Don’t ever in your life, say I’m greedy again. I’m the most reasonable person you can ever meet!!”

Former President Jonathan felicitates with Chief E.K. Clark at 93

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May 25, 2020