As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the US recorded its first confirmed case of Covid-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.” Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality and responsibility, the pandemic’s US death toll has eclipsed 400,000. And the loss of lives is accelerating. “This is just one step on an ominous path of fatalities,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University and one of many public health experts…
Author: ACNN TV
The head of the World Health Organization has criticised drugmakers’ profits and vaccine inequalities, saying it’s “not right” that younger, healthier adults in rich countries get vaccinated against Covid-19 before older people in poorer countries. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus kicked off WHO’s week-long executive board meeting — virtually from its headquarters in Geneva — on Monday by lamenting that only 25 vaccine doses have been provided in a single poor country, while over 39 million doses have been administered in nearly 50 richer nations. “Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest income country — not 25 million, not…
Access Bank Plc has unfolded plans to expand to eight more African countries as part of a strategy to support trade and finance in the continent and take advantage of the newly formed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The countries are Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Ethiopia. The Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, spoke on the plans on Tuesday during a presentation and investor conference call. Presently, the tier-one bank operates in 12 countries. According to Wigwe, across Africa, there is an opportunity for the bank to expand to high-potential markets, leveraging…
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Monday defended Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Dr. Matthew Kukah, over his Christmas homily, saying the attacks on him by the federal government and some Islamic groups were unwarranted. Soyinka, in a statement, said he had studied the transcript as reported in the media and found nothing in Kukah’s message that denigrated Islam as alleged by the Islamic groups. Kukah, in his Christmas homily had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of promoting northern hegemony, saying that there could have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president had done a fraction of what Buhari did.…
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Tuesday, approved the payment of the sum of N8 billion to Osun State Government as an asset sharing agreement on the ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso. DAILY POST gathered that the approval followed the ceding of the institution to Oyo State government. Oyo and Osun had last year agreed to share the property of the institution, which was jointly owned by the two states. It was learnt that Oyo State government reached an agreement to pay some money to the confers of the Osun State government. Makinde has, however,…
US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will resign from the Senate today, as all is set for her swearing-in on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Harris will officially leave the legislature ending her four years as a lawmaker after she became the first female, first black and first South Asian vice president of the US. Her aides have confirmed Harris has already started the process of her resignation, according to NDTV. She’s said to have informed California Governor Gavin Newsom of the moves, to enable him appoint fellow Democrat Alex Padilla. She will formally announce her resignation on Monday but will not…
Schools in both primary and secondary levels on Monday resumed across Benue State amid the spike in COVID-19. At some schools, it was found that some parents refused their children wearing facemasks. A nursery teacher with Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Nursery and Primary school in Makurdi, Benue State who wished not to be named said some parents refused their children using face masks because it would “choke them.” Speaking with DAILY POST, the teacher, however, pointed out that at the school’s secondary section, students adhered strictly to the COVID-19 protocols. She said: “Academic session will be operated fully, no shift…
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has advised the sick and older persons to stay away from worship centres. This is part of the guidelines released by the Christian body to churches following the second wave of COVID-19. They were included in a statement signed by CAN’s General Secretary, Barrister Joseph Daramola, on Monday. It read in part: “all worshippers including the worship leaders must wear face masks. There should be no exceptional cases. “People who are sick or too old should stay at home. There should be temperature screening at every entry point to the Church.” It further directed…
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo as the Acting Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). His spokesman, Garba Shehu, made this known on Monday. Shehu said Buhari has conveyed his approval to the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, who made the nomination. Fikpo will be in office pending the appointment of a substantive Director-General. Last month, the President sacked Mohammed Ladan Argungu as DG. He directed Keyamo to nominate one of the most senior directors to assume office in an acting capacity.
The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa has promised to reposition the agency for an efficient fight against illicit drug trafficking. Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari earlier approved the appointment of former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) as the New Director General (DG) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Speaking during his inaugural address to the staff of the agency on Monday in Abuja, Marwa said it was the duty of the NDLEA to stop all forms of drug abuse in the country, NAN reports. He said the NDLEA…