Saturday, August 16, 2014

August 15th Iraq SITREP: The king is dead, long live the king




12th Aug: The United States sends another 130 "Advisors" to Iraqi Kurdistan
13th Aug: The US is reporting that its reconnaissance missions are confirming that the plight of the Yazidis is not as severe as was expected
14th Aug: The US Secretary of Defence clarifies that US troops will not take part in military operations in Iraq.Continue..

Friday, August 15, 2014

Ebola Control: NYSC Suspends Orientation In 6 States



The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has announced the suspension of scheduled stream two orientation programme of the 2014 Batch ‘B’ Orientation in six states billed to start on Monday, September 1st due to the dreaded Ebola disease in the country.  Brig Gen Johnson Olawumi, the Director General of the NYSC, who announced the decision in Kubwa Orientation Camp in the Federal Capital Territory, said the corps members deployed to Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe States will be affected by the directive.
 

Control of Ebola epidemic will take 6 months - President of Doctors Without borders



 The International President of Doctors Without Borders, Joanne Liu (pictured left), said today August 15th that it can take 6 months to bring the existing Ebola epidemic sweeping through West Africa under control. She said this after having a 10-day trip to countries in West Africa where the outbreak has up to now occurred. Liu, who met with Ebola patients & doctors, said the outbreak felt like'wartime'
"The main thing I come back to is that it is deteriorating faster, moving faster than we can respond to. To put it in context with my time with DWB, I really feel that it is like wartime, in terms of fear and nobody knowing what is going on. We need a response in terms of international organizations and states, and it needs to happen now if we want to contain this epidemic. Over the next six months we should get the upper hand on the epidemic, this is my gut feeling. We need people with a hands-on operational mindset to combat the outbreak." she said

Photos: Fashola commissions newly refurbished Tejuosho market



 Lagos state Governor, Raji Fashola today August 15th commissioned the newly refurbished Tejuosho market in Yaba Lagos, 7 years after the old market structure was completely gutted by fire.
 
The refurbished market, which used to have 1,484 lockup, has been increased to 2,640. Facilities in the new market complex includes banking spaces, 8 lifts to enable goods, services and people move up, two escalators for up and down movement of people, two ramps designed to assist physically handicapped people to get into and out of the building and a crèche where nursing mothers can attend to and keep their children while they are trading.

There is also a dedicated Fire Service Station within the complex with fire fighting systems built in the market to forestall any incident of fire disaster as well as a dedicated 800-vehicle capacity car-park unit. See more photos after the break.

U.S. Claims Ebola experimental drug 'Nanosilver' is a pesticide, warns



Yesterday we heard that the experimental drug called'Nanosilver'produced by a Nigerian in diaspora for the treatment of Ebola is here the country. (read here).
 Nevertheless now, regardless of the experimental drug getting approval for use by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that Nanosilver is just a pesticide

From Reuters
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it has become aware of products being sold online that fraudulently claim to prevent or treat Ebola.
The FDA's warning comes on the heels of comments by Nigeria's top health official, Onyebuchi Chukwu, who reportedly said earlier Thursday that eight Ebola patients in Lagos, the country's capital, will receive an experimental treatment called nano-silver.

“Don’t misuse your body for any reason”- Susan Peters



When asked by the Sun about possible advice for ladies who do all manner of things to achieve cheap social status,Susan Peters who says she was born with a silver spoon replied…

First, I will say that we (women) are like flowers that blossom for sometimes, but after a while go down. If you misuse your body when you are growing up, it will definitely tell on you when you are ageing….
I advise young women not to misuse their body for monetary reasons. Secondly, I will advise them to go to school and try to complete their education. They should be well focused on a particular vocation and develop on it.

Couple stabbed to death in Edo



 Residents of Upper Sakponba in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State were thrown into mourning on Thursday when unknown attackers stabbed a couple to death. They were said to be on their way to the market when they were attacked. It was gathered that one of the victims, identified as Angela, died instantly while the husband, Egboigbodin, who was said to have been stabbed severally, died later in a hospital. One of eyewitnesses, said they was about to cross to the other side of the road when the attackers struck.

Lagos residents enjoying 18-hour electricity -BPE




The Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has claimed that electricity consumers in Lagos State now get 18-hour uninterrupted power supply.


His claim was however countered by residents in the state who spoke with our correspondent on Friday.

Dikki, who made the remarks when members of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture paid a courtesy visit to the bureau in Abuja, stated that power privatisation in Nigeria had started yielding positive results.
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Presidency responds to statement which alleges GEJ unmasked area of Chibok women



Below is the State House Press Release
Press release which alleges that president Jonathan has revealed location of Chibok girls is political dirty trick... All media organisations and persons on my mailing list should kindly disregard the press release purportedly issued by me earlier today titled: President Jonathan reveals location of Chibok girls and exposes Boko Haram masterminds.

Gov. Fashola blasts GEJ & VP Sambo, says Nigeria is worse off under their leadership



In a speech he delivered yesterday August 14th to mark the 50th birthday of former Bayelsa state Governor, Timipre Sylva in Abuja, Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola said despite the academic qualifications of both President Jonathan and VP Namadi Sambo, their leadership skills have by no means benefited the living standard of the normal Nigerian, insisting that the lives of Nigerians is worse off now than what it had been four years ago. 
"Even recently, we all used to think that our National development was inhibited by the fact that we never had a university graduate as leader of any national government in an executive capacity. This perhaps alludes only faintly to some of what I have discussed about the elite consensus  but it is not quite the same. Thankfully, the myth for graduate leadership, desirable as it is has now been exploded. We now have two graduates, a Zoologist and an Architect at the helm of our National affairs and I think that the majority of Nigerians would tell you today that their lives are worse off today than they were 4 years ago. Clearly in my view there must be more to leadership than a University degree and educational qualification.
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OAU re-opens Aug 24




The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State have announced the re-opening of the institution after its closure in June due to students’ protest. A release by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, on Friday, stated that it will be officially re-opened on Sunday, August 24. It will be recalled that OAU was closed on Wednesday, June 18, over protests by its students against the increase in their school fees. Olanrewaju said, “Following the closure of the University on Wednesday, 18th June, 2014, the Senate of the University again reconvened on Friday, 15th August, 2014, to announce the re-opening of the University. 

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Police officer who shot & killed unarmed teen in Missouri finally named




The police officer who shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, St. Louis last Saturday August 9th has been named. His name is Darren Wilson and he's supposedly 'torn up' over the shooting. They are yet to release a pic of what the officer looks like.

Daniel Brown is said to be a six-year veteran of the Ferguson Police Department and has no history of disciplinary action. The police claim the officer was treated for injuries after the shooting. Officer Wilson claims Michael attacked him and struggled with him over his gun during the altercation. 

The Ferguson police chief in a press briefing today gave a timeline of the minutes leading up to the shooting on Saturday afternoon.
"At 11.48am, Officer Wilson was at an unrelated ‘sick call’ with an ambulance. At 11.51am, a 911 call came in reporting a 'strong-armed' robbery at a convenience store, which included a description of two suspects."
 Continue...

NMA rejects sack of 16 thousand medical doctors



The Nigerian Medical Association has rejected the sack of resident doctors by the Federal Govt which happened on Wednesday August 13th.  At a media briefing today in Abuja, the president of the NMA, Dr Kayode Obembe asked the  government to withdraw its circular on the sack of the resident doctors and also reverse the directive.

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Photos: Fuel Tanker on fire along Lagos-Ibadan expressway



 A fuel tanker is burning at Ogere junction over the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, causing heavy traffic on the road. Fortunately no lives or vehicles were lost in the inferno. Calling on FRSC officials to go on to the scene and manage the situation. See more Photo after the break

Lagos Ebola patients neglected, critically ill - Relatives, colleagues



Some relatives and concerned colleagues of Ebola patients being treated at the Lagos Isolation center have cried out about what they termed poor people living condition of the victims. 
 
At a media conference held yesterday in Ikoyi, Lagos, some medical practitioners and colleagues of the feminine medical doctor confirmed to have contracted the virus while attending to late Patrick Sawyer, said the living condition of the victims are poor, stating they've been left to fight the illness by themselves as some physicians that are faced with the responsibility of attending in their mind have abandoned them for anxiety about also contracting the deadly virus. Continue...

About £20k cash withdrawn from accounts of 4 passengers on missing Malaysian plane



According to new reports, approximately £20,916 has been withdrawn from the accounts of four passengers aboard the missing Malaysian plane which disappeared on March 8th while on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A bank in Kuala Lumpur, claim that they noticed the discrepancies in their accounts on July 18 and lodged a complaint to the police. The management of the bank said money from the accounts of three passengers was transferred to the account of a fourth passenger before the money was removed.

Assistant Commissioner to the crime investigation department, Izany Abdul Ghany, confirmed getting a report from the bank.

Why President Jonathan orders sack of striking doctors





Recently President Goodluck Jonathan approved the sack of doctors across federal hospitals in Nigeria, citing the current challenges facing the health sector as the reason for the action. The doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had embarked on a strike to press home their demand for an improvement in their welfare on July 1 and several attempts to resolve the issue have ended in a stalemate.


The government had earlier accused the doctors of neglecting their oath to protect lives and continue to turn down the request to suspend the strike, particularly during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus and the ongoing insurgency in some parts of the country. In a letter signed on behalf of the health minister by L. N. Awute, a permanent secretary in the ministry of health, the president ordered that the action should take immediate effect.
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"I don't owe you any explanation' - says Minister who approved Sawyer's trip to Nigeria



The Liberian Minister who approved late Patrick Sawyer's trip to Nigeria has angrily reacted after he was criticized for letting Sawyer, a staff of the Liberian government, leave Liberia for Nigeria despite Liberian health officials placing him on Ebola danger list.

Deputy Finance Minister Sebastian Muah Omar told a Facebook user who asked him why he made such a decision that he does not owe him any explanation. He also said he wasn't late Sawyer's doctor to stop him from traveling.

One of the minister's followers queried him, saying, 
“As his superior, if a man tells you his sister died from Ebola and he could have beenexposed do you not think it is your duty to ask the hard questions or maybe you could have reported this to the health officials?...
See the minister's reply after the break.

Ebola: Experimental drug developed by Nigerian arrives Nigeria



An experimental drug developed by a Nigerian in diaspora for the treatment of Ebola is expected to arrive the country today, the Minister for Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said.  The drug, called “Nanosilver”, has been approved for use by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an experimental treatment ethical in the case of the Ebola epidemic. The Federal Govt yesterday approved the use of experimental drugs in the treatment of the deadly virus.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Lagos doctor infected with Ebola as nurse who escaped from quarantine is returned back to Lagos



A doctor who attended to late Patrick Sawyer at the First Consultant Hospital has been confirmed positive with the Ebola virus. Speaking at a news conference today, the Nigerian Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu said the physician happens to be undergoing treatment at the quarantine centre in Lagos.

Prof Onyebuchi revealed  that a few of the 169 secondary contacts of Sawyer were no further under surveillance and have been released, having completed the 21 days of incubation period.  The Minister also said the nurse who'd escaped the quarantine center in Lagos and traveled to Enugu state has been returned back once again to Lagos with her husband in a special traveling ambulance.
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