It was 1:30 pm on Tuesday and the entrance to the Adamasingba Stadium looked normal and abnormal. After driving past gates six to two -- which were all locked -- TheCable arrived at gate 1. It was normal because, from the facade of the structure, nothing appeared to be happening. The aura was however abnormal for a facility that was [...]
Jamilah Nasir
ON THE GO
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says between May and September, it will begin mass testing for COVID-19. The centre disclosed this in its report detailing how it plans to scale up laboratory test for COVID-19 in Nigeria. Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC, had earlier said there would be no mass testing for COVID-19 given the scarcity and expense of [...]
Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, has accused China and other "rich countries" of worsening the poverty indices in Africa. In an opinion article first published by the Washington Post on Friday, Ezekwesili, a former vice-president for the Africa region at the World Bank, said the outbreak of COVID-19 has eroded the economic gains made by the continent since the 2008/2009 global crisis. China, [...]
Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, says the committee is concerned about reports of people being smuggled in trucks out of Lagos. Giving updates on COVID-19 on Thursday, Aliyu said inter-state travels are leading to community spread of the disease. He appealed to Nigerians to limit their movement if the disease must be curtailed. Several states in [...]
The United Kingdom has extended the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country by three weeks. Dominic Raab, UK foreign secretary, who announced the development on Thursday, said there have been indications that social distancing measures in place were "starting to pay off". Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced a total lockdown in the country on March 24. Rabb said the [...]
The Oyo state government on Tuesday launched a drive-through/walk-through testing centre for COVID-19. The development comes two weeks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched a similar initiative. The centre is located at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan, the state capital. Speaking during the flag-off, Seyi Makinde, the governor, said the initiative is to conduct a mass test for 10,000 residents, with 2,000 [...]
President Muhammadu Buhari says he is aware of the hardship the lockdown in some states has caused citizens. Buhari had declared a two-week lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the federal capital territory (FCT) effective March 30 as parts of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was supposed to lapse on Tuesday. However, the president announced an extension by another [...]
Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, says more laboratories have been made available but the demand for testing has reduced. This is coming after TheCable reported that Nigeria had only tested 5,000 people in six weeks, while Ghana -- a less populous country by far -- had tested over 37,000 people in four weeks. Aliyu disclosed [...]
David Nabarro, World Health Organisation (WHO) special envoy, says COVID-19 will remain in the world for quite some time. The novel coronavirus which broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province of China in December, has infected over 1.6 million people and claimed over 110,000 lives worldwide. Nabarro told NBC News that WHO thinks "it’s going to be a virus that stalks the human [...]
Another batch of 23 Nigerian returnees arrived Seme border in Lagos from Togo on Sunday. This comes four days after 67 travellers arrived the country from Ivory Coast. According to NAN, the returnees, from different parts of the world, landed in Lome, capital city of Togo, via Ethiopian Airlines over two weeks ago. NAN quoted an official of Port Health Services (PHS) in [...]
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), says the government is aware of and on top of the ill treatment of some Nigerians in China. In a video that trended online, some Nigerians in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China, were left stranded after Chinese officials siezed their passports. Razaq Lawal, head of the Nigerian consulate in Guangzhou, however, helped them retrieve their passports. Lawal, who berated [...]
Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, says Easter service will no longer hold across the state. The state government had approved the request of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) to observe the Easter Sunday worship in various churches across the state. The government had initially granted the request on the condition that services will hold based on "precautionary measures and guidelines earlier put [...]
The total number of deaths recorded from COVID-19 globally has exceeded 100,000. As of Friday evening, the total casualty figure stood at 101,762, according to Worldometer, a website which provides real-time updates on the disease situation globally. According to the update as at 7:09 pm, 1,680,527 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been recorded, with more than 370,000 recoveries worldwide. Italy, US and the Spain recorded [...]
Razaq Lawal, head of the Nigerian consulate in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China, has tackled Chinese officials for seizing the passports of some Nigerians in the country. In a trending video, Lawal was seen addressing a Chinese official he referred to as "director". He accused the country of also discriminating against Nigerians by quarantining them illegally. According to him, Nigerians who travelled to China [...]
Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says the use of face masks alone is not enough to protect people against the spread of COVID-19. Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, had said there was no need for social distancing as long as people put on face masks. But speaking during the presidential task force briefing on Friday, Ihekweazu [...]
The ministry of power says no decision has been reached on whether Nigerians will get two months of free electricity. This comes after electricity distribution companies (DisCos) said the federal government would bear the financial responsibility of the exercise. In a tweet on Friday, the ministry of power said the government would officially communicate its decision when it has arrived at one. The ministry [...]
Advertisement
