Great Emma's Blog

Our Reporter   THE Edo State has recorded two deaths and 18 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 90. In a tweet, Governor Godwin Obaseki urged residents to take personal responsibility to protect themselves and their loves so as to prevent the spread of the virus. According to him, “We recorded two deaths and 18 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 90. As we combat the second wave of the pandemic, I urge you to take personal responsibility to protect yourself and your loved ones this season. Stay safe.” Read Also:  Edo Poly to partner NBTE The governor had earlier said the state government had reactivated isolation and treatment centres across the state, adding that the state’s contact tracing network and disease surveillance mechanism has been reinvigorated to deal with new cases in the state. He said: “We now have in place a robust disease surveillance system in the state with well-...

Our Reporter   THE Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) says it is investigating a video circulating on the social media alleging that fake COVID-19 result could be obtained at the institute. Its Director-General, Prof. Babatunde Salako, said in a statement yesterday in Lagos that the institute as “a reputable research entity would not engage in such derogatory activity”. The Lagos State Government had on Tuesday raised alarm over sales of fake COVID-19 test results in the state.  The government said processes were being put in place to clamp down on both buyers and sellers. Salako said: “A video has been circulating on social media, creating the impression that fake COVID-19 result can be secured from NIMR. This is to inform the general public and our friends that this will be thoroughly investigated.” Read Also:  COVID-19 vaccine: Facts, myths and misconceptions “NIMR does not stand for such behaviour, and will not be tolerated.” He said the institute ...

Fanen Ihyongo, Kano   THE police in Kano State have arrested two robbery suspects, Aliyu Shuaibu Dille, 22, and Rabiu Muktar, 28. They recovered a pump action rifle from them. Police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna, who yesterday paraded the suspects, said they had been on the wanted list for long. Haruna, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said a team of Operation Puff Adder led by Yunusa Danzomo of Badawa Division, arrested the suspects during surveillance patrol at Badawa Quarters, Kano. Read Also:  Police, others kill six bandits in Katsina During interrogation, the two men confessed that they had participated in robberies on the Hadejia Road, near Sheshe Super Market, Yankaba Quarters and Badawa Quarters, Kano. Dille said he used the money he made from robberies to sell Indian hemp. Police Commissioner Habu Sani ordered that the case be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for discreet probe. He said the suspects would be arraigned after ...

Hardball   AFTER nine months of ditching work, lecturers on the platform of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) suspended their strike last Wednesday, 23rd December. But it was not all-clear yet for industrial temper in the tertiary sector: the union warned its members would head back to the trenches without notice if government fails to meet its obligations under the new pact reached with them. Also, the sheathing of swords by the teachers’ union did not translate to immediate reopening of the long-shuttered schools. In his statement, ASUU National President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, said in view of the raging Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule for reopening of the schools lies with government which recently ordered partial lockdown measures to arrest the pandemic’s second wave. In effect, even with the call-off of the crippling ASUU strike, students must await a respite in the Covid-19 siege to get back to studies. ASUU had pulled the plugs on academic work in uni...

Olatunji Ololade   THE coronavirus is real. News of a second wave of the pandemic sweeps through nations as you read, spooling a global contagion of fear. Despair is what is left when humanity mutates to viral nature and nations submit to disease. We are lucky to have survived the first scourge of the coronavirus aka COVID-19 but who would be left after the plague is done with Nigeria? Who would be left after the country’s ravage by her innate plague, the raptorial ruling class? Between the pandemic and the plague of corrupt leadership, whose voices and whose breath would rattle as the dry bones they picked over? As the “second wave” seizes the nation, you can’t but wonder what is true and what isn’t true. It becomes more difficult to separate the truth from the lies, reality from empurpled fact. Of course, COVID-19 is real but if the government claims to have spent over N30 billion in fighting the pandemic in four months, it’s their word against our fears. The Federal Gove...

As Nigerians demand more actions from the Armed Forces to end the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other heinous crimes ravaging the country, it is fighting a major war for survival, writes OKODILI NDIDI   WITH over 26 Generals and other Commanding officers down with the dreaded COVID-19 virus, the Nigerian is torn between the counter insurgency war and the Coronavirus pandemic. The virus claimed the General Officer Commanding 6 Division Major-General Johnson Olu Irefin. He is believed to have contracted the virus while attending the annual Chief of Army Staff’s Conference in Abuja. There are growing concerns about the fate of top military officers and others who attended the conference. The Defence Headquarters said adequate measures have been taken to halt further spread of the virus among the personnel of the Armed Forces, there are concerns about the number of active cases among military officers. Part of the measures taken, according to a statement by the A...

The Federal Government has big plans to increase its total fish production. Nigeria is producing only 1.1 Metric Tonnes (MT) of fish, while the demand for fish in the country is 3.6 MT. But pressure from a global network of illegal and unsustainable fishing activities – and the inability to reverse collapsing fishing infrastructure – is weighing heavily against projected catch volumes. Hence, the government faces tall order to reform and expand the fisheries sector with dilapidated fishing jetties and terminals across the place, DANIEL ESSIET reports.   FRESH fish is a protein source Nigerians crave. It is widely available and local. But the infrastructure to support commercial fishing which produces fresh fish is under threat. The rapid decline in marine resources has prompted concerns not only over future supplies of seafood and the nation’s dried fish breakfast but also about the communities that depend on fish to survive. In its current National Development Plan, the Federa...

Globally, infrastructure finance is an investment opportunity that pension fund managers with foresight hardly ignore. With N11.56 trillion assets in their coffers, Nigeria pension fund managers have great opportunity to invest in infrastructure for business and economic growth. For the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Organisation (NSIA), infrastructure financing  should be made attractive to enable pension fund managers, organizations and individuals invest and explore the huge business opportunities it presents, writes COLLINS NWEZE   Identifying  sustainable investment and business opportunities has for decades  remained herculean task for fund managers. It takes a good fund manager to match the huge funds stacked in their vaults with investment opportunities spread across several sectors of the economy. From infrastructure funding, investment in education, manufacturing and even agriculture, there is always promising things to do with investors funds. But one ...

A book reviewer, SIMA ESSIEN , dissescts Vaults of Secrets, a collection of short stories, by Olukorede S. Yishau   Olukorede Yishau’s debut work of fiction— In The Name of Our Father , was a massive revelation. An entertainingly confident saga, it dealt with themes of entrenched hypocrisy, authoritative oppression and brave journalism. The novel garnered largely positive criticism, and titillated readers enough to stoke high expectations for new writing from Yishau. Now, following his debut novel’s achievements, Yishau returns with a slim collection of 10 powerful and precise short stories which collectively focus on the secrets that define Nigerian lives. All of the stories in  Vaults of Secrets  brim with the force of Yishau’s signature prose: a balance of measured narration, crisp detailing, sensitive unfolding and wisdom. Mostly people of a middle-class or lower, the primary characters within these stories breathe and speak and exist, not just as fictional devic...

Indiscriminate dumping of refuse has significant effects on health, environment, economic and social status of any community. Communities in Osun State still battle with this menace. TOBA ADEDEJI reports   The efforts of the Osun State government to save the society from environmental decadence are commendable. But a former Osun State Waste Management Agency dumpsite and other illegal dumpsites in areas across the state have become worrisome. The dumpsite at Onibu-Eja in Egbedore Local Government Area was certified for that purpose during the administration of Rauf Aregbesola. It was under the control of Osun State Waste Management Agency (OWAMA) but in January 2019, it was relocated to a new place far from communities after an incessant protest by residents. The dumpsite is on the Iwo/Osogbo Road, which very close to three communities namely Onibueja, Aduragbemi and Ido Osun but the latter community was not that affected because of its distance to the dumping site. Though O...