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Okezie Ikpeazu By Innocent Anaba Abia State government has accused Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, of misinformation on the trial of a lawyer, Mr Emperor Ogbonna, over his issue with the state government, saying NBA was misinformed by the branch of the association. Chief of Staff to Abia governor, Dr. Anthony  Agbazuere, in a counter statement, yesterday, said Ogbonna was being prosecuted in court for cybercrime and not terrorism as allegedly claimed by NBA. Agbazuere stated that the facts put forward by NBA, Aba branch, which NBA national relied on were “copiously false, erroneous and misleading.” He said: “My attention has been drawn to a press statement issued by Kunle Edun, National Publicity Secretary of NBA with regard to one Emperor Ogbonna which has also been published in the media. “As Chief of Staff to the governor, who was also mentioned in the press statement, I am compelled to put the records straight that the NBA press statement clearly confirmed that at least...

By Chidi Nkwopara A former member of Imo State Executive Council, Ichie Best Mbanaso, yesterday, told the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Contracts that he has been receiving threatening calls since he appeared before the commission. Mbanaso made the disclosure while answering questions from the witness box. His words: “My Lord, I have been receiving a lot of threatening telephone calls since I appeared before this honourable commission and stated all I knew about the specific contract details I was asked to explain. “The callers usually hid their phone numbers. I am not perturbed by such threats, so long as I know that I told the truth. What I told this commission are what I can fearlessly tell any other person or group. I only felt that I should let you know what I have been passing through.” Reacting, Justice Benjamin Iheka advised his counsel, Mr. Fintan Ilika, to immediately report the matter to the police, “since such an act is criminal in nature.” Going into the substan...

Chief Ralph Uwazurike By Chidi Nkwopara It has been jubilation galore since Biafra Independence Movement, BIM, received information that the people of Biafra have been officially admitted as the 46th member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, UNPO. The protagonist of Biafra Independence Movement, BIM; and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, broke the news to Vanguard yesterday, in Owerri. “The people of Biafra have been admitted as the 46th member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, UNPO, an international body attached to the United Nations, the European Union and the United States of America,” Uwazuruike said. READ ALSO: I’ll appear in a live broadcast tomorrow, to show I’m alive – Nnamdi Kanu Uwazuruike also confirmed that he has received a letter officially addressed to him, dated April 22, 2020, and signed by the UNPO General Secretary, Mr. Ralph Bunche, through his Foreign Re...

By Aliyu Dangida THE Jigawa State Government has announced the first death  from coronavirus, COVID-19 in the state, saying the deceased, a Lagos returnee,  was  a resident of Fanisau community in Dutse, the state’s capital. He died hours after he was moved to the isolation centre. READ ALSO: COVID-19: Nigeria records 86 fresh cases, largest increase in a day Commissioner for Health, Abba Zakari, said “Immediately after we got results of Jigawa, we swiftly moved to action and evacuated the patients into the isolation centre. Unfortunately one of them came in a very bad situation and passed away.” Mr Zakari added that the state recorded a total of nine cases from eight of its 27 Local Government Areas. The affected local councils include Gumel, Auyo, Gwaram, Kazaure, Miga, Taura, Birnin-Kudu and Dutse. He said the state government has locked down the affected local government areas. This, he said, will aid the health workers to trace the primary and secondary contact...

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, has informed that he has authorised the use of chloroquine as a medication for the treatment ofcoronavirus,  COVID-19. Governor Mohammed, who was the COVID-19 index case in the state, said he was treated with “chloroquine and Zithromax.” The governor, who disclosed this while providing an update on COVID-19 in the state, at the Government House, Bauchi, said he would take responsibility for any consequences of approving such drugs. He said “Our medical team is using their own ingenuity to use chloroquine and Zithromax to treat the patients, even though in some places, they said it is against the protocol. As the governor, I’m taking responsibility for that because I don’t want anyone to die.” READ ALSO: COVID-19 drags world E&P CAPEX down 13-yr low — Report Addressing the health officials directly, Mohammed said, “I have given you the directive that you must use something that I have used to get well, just as you have used for all ot...

President Muhammadu Buhari •President orders SGF, HoS to implement Oronsaye report •We won’t tolerate job losses – NLC; SERAP hails move By Clifford Ndujihe, Victor Young & Henry Ojelu There were widespread fears of imminent job cuts in the public sector yesterday as President Muhammadu Buhari, in response to COVID-19 realities, approved  implementation of a report submitted by the Stephen Oransaye Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies during the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Known as the Oronsaye report, the 800-page report had recommended the abolition and merger of 102 government agencies and parastatals, among others, to drastically cut the cost of governance. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this in an interview on Channels TV  said: “The President has approved that this administration should implement the Oransaye report, and th...

Femi Adesina You have possibly watched the 1998 action-thriller film with the above title, starring Will Smith. It was the box office hit story about a group of people plotting to kill an American Congressman, and the tape of the plot was discovered. Well, an Enemy of the State struck in Nigeria on Monday, but this time, it was no fiction. It was real life act of sabotage from somebody who does not wish his own country well at all, and who derived a sinister kind of pleasure from undermining the system. President Muhammadu Buhari was to broadcast to the country by 8 p.m, to give an update on the battle against COVID-19, and what becomes of the lockdown that had lasted four weeks, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun States. Kano was also a point of heavy interest, with the strange deaths ravaging the state. Was it COVID-19 or not? As the country waited for the President with great expectations, a purported copy of the broadcast began to circulate on socia...

A vial of the investigational drug remdesivir is visually inspected at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. PHOTO: AP Remdesivir has been shown to speed up recovery times for patients with COVID-19 in a major US-led trial, becoming the first drug with proven benefit against the disease. Here is what you need to know. – What is remdesivir? – Remdesivir is an experimental, broad spectrum antiviral made by US pharmaceutical Gilead Sciences that was first developed to treat Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever. It showed early promise in a primate study in 2016 and was later rolled out for a major trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was compared against three other medicines. That study concluded in 2019 when it was discontinued because it did not boost survival rates as greatly as two monoclonal antibody drugs, which are lab-engineered immune system proteins. In February, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced ...

Today, we celebrate all our health care workers that are on call, working long hours and tirelessly trying to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without them, the country would be overwhelmed by the Coronavirus pandemic but they are risking everything to make sure we conquer the virus. Aside from being a day to celebrate workers, “Mayday” is also a distress call. Hence, we are calling on all Nigerians to mask up and stay home as much as they can so that the efforts of our health care workers will not be in vain. Happy Workers’ Day from all of us at Coronation Merchant Bank The post Happy Workers’ Day!!!from all of us at Coronation Merchant Bank appeared first on Vanguard News . https://ift.tt/2VQxs07 by sunday via Vanguard News Albert Einstein Fools of Fortune

By Funmi Komolafe Labour costs of COVID-19: Matters arising EXPECTEDLY, Nigeria joined other nations to effect a lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 that has claimed lives in hundreds in many developed countries. In many countries, the International Labour Organisation anticipates economic and social costs, as we are experiencing in Nigeria right now. The International Labour Organisation warned: “The eventual increase in global unemployment during 2020 will depend substantially on future developments and policy measures. There is a high risk that the end-of-year figure will be significantly higher than the initial ILO projection, of 25 million”. For us in developing countries like Nigeria, the ILO noted, “Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies.” According to ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, “We have to move fast, decisively, and together. The right, urgent, measures, could make the difference between survival and collapse.”...

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful, Joe Biden Joe Biden will break his silence Friday about a former aide’s allegations that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, according to the broadcaster set to interview the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Biden’s morning appearance on MSNBC comes as he faces mounting pressure, including from President Donald Trump, to address the allegations, and as top Democrats rushed to the party flagbearer’s defense. “Tomorrow in a @Morning_Joe exclusive, former Vice President @JoeBiden (will) respond for the first time to the recent allegation of sexual assault,” the cable television channel’s public relations team said Thursday on Twitter. Biden’s campaign has denied the claim that he assaulted a 29-year-old staff assistant who worked in his US Senate office. But the 77-year-old White House hopeful has yet to personally respond to the bombshell accusation by Tara Reade, now 56. Trump, who himself faced more than a dozen accusations...

President Muhammadu Buhari Tailor Morenike Alabi was convinced Tuesday that a decision to ease a lockdown on Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, was the right call — but other residents feared the move could see coronavirus cases rocket. “One thing is sure: the suffering, hunger, idleness, and uncertainties of the past one month will ease,” the 33-year-old told AFP as she waited to sell a pile of hand-made facemasks. “At least, people can go out to look for money to feed.” President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered a “phased and gradual easing” from next week of a lockdown covering Africa’s biggest city, neighbouring Ogun state and the national capital Abuja. For a month now, millions of people have been ordered to stay home under the measures aimed at curbing the spread of a virus that has caused 1,337 confirmed infections and 40 deaths in the country. The restrictions have seen usually bustling streets emptied and taken a huge toll on the vast numbers of poor who depend on dail...

The number of sexual assaults in the US military increased again in 2019, though at a lower rate than the previous year, according to an annual Pentagon report published Thursday. The report from the Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPR) showed the number of assaults and sexual crimes brought to the attention of military authorities rose to 7,825, a three percent increase from 2018. The year before, such incidents rose 13 percent. The biggest rise was in the Air Force, which saw a nine percent spike, while the Navy had a five percent increase, the Army’s sexual assaults were up two percent and such reports were down six percent in the Marines. The report notes that 73 percent of sexual assaults in the military are committed by a superior. The proportion of military personnel reporting a sexual assault remained steady from the year before, according to the report, at 5.1 per 1,000 people. ALSO READ:  Trump says evidence ties C...

The Lagos State Government on Thursday issued fresh guidelines for public transport operations in the state as part of the controlled measures to ease the lockdown over COVID-19 pandemic. The state Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, released the guidelines at a news conference in Lagos. According to him, public transport operations within the state shall be between the hours of 6.00a.m and 7.00p.m daily from May 4. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new guidelines bring a slight difference to the Federal Government directive that ordered 8.00p.m to 6.00a.m curfew in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja as from May 4. Oladeinde told newsmen that the guidelines should be followed by commuters and transport operators in the state until further notice. He reiterated that inter-state operation had been suspended until further notice, except for essential services. According to him, the operations of commercial motorcycles, popularly known as “Okada”, has been su...

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar By Atiku Abubakar How to pull Nigeria from the brink. ON Monday, April 27, 2020, British oil and gas giant, BP, became the latest in a growing number of energy firms to declare a massive quarterly loss. Their loss was in the region of $4.4 billion. Bear in mind that this was a conglomerate that posted a $2.6 billion profit in the corresponding quarter of 2019. The challenges that are already engulfing the oil and gas sector will continue to plague that industry for at least the rest of the year, and may reach apocalyptic levels sooner than we expect. As I write this, there are hundreds of crude oil-laden ships, all filled up, with nowhere to berth, and accruing daily charges of an average of $30,000. We have also seen crude oil prices plunge to record lows, to the extent that some variants of the product have been given out for free, or worse still, producers have paid storage facilities to take their products. As at today, Nigeria is pricing its very low s...