The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has announced 1,133 new infections of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, bringing the total figure of infected persons to 80,922.
NCDC made this known via its verified website on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that more than 903,800 samples have been tested by the public health agency since the first confirmed case in February.
The Wednesday figure is one of the highest single-day tallies, NCDC said, adding that the new infections were recorded in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The agency also announced the discharge of 395 patients from isolation centres across the country within the period, while five COVID-19- related deaths were registered.
“Our discharges today include 134 community recoveries in Lagos State and 96 community recoveries in the FCT managed in line with guidelines,” it said.
It stated that Lagos, the state with the highest number of cases, reported 397 new infections, followed by the FCT with 357 infections, while Kaduna, Plateau and Katsina reported 81, 63 and 46 cases respectively.
Further details revealed as follows: Sokoto, 32, Oyo, 28, Ogun, 21, Kano, 19, Rivers, 18, Osun, 13, Edo, 12, Niger, 12, Bayelsa, 11, Borno, 11, Bauchi, eight, while Jigawa and Ondo recorded two cases each.
The NCDC said that a total of 69,274 patients had been discharged, with 1,236 deaths recorded in 36 states and the FCT.
A renowned Islamic scholar and retired justice, Ahmed Lemu, died on Thursday.
He died at the age of 91 in Minna, Niger State.
His son, Nurudeen, announced the death on behalf of his family, Punch reports.
“It is with sadness and reverence to Allah that we announce the passing away of our father, Dr Justice Sheikh Ahmed Lemu OFR, in the early hours of this morning in Minna. Burial arrangements to be announced later,” he said.
Lemu is one of the two Nigerians who won the King Faisal Prize.
He chaired the presidential panel on post-election violence in Nigeria in 2011. He was also a member of the Nigerian Council of Religions, the Presidential Council for Youth Development, and various other national committees and councils.
Born in Niger State, Sheikh Lemu started his career as a teacher under the Bida Native Authority. He was a principal of two famous centres of learning in northern Nigeria: the School for Arabic Studies (SAS), Kano; and the Arabic Teachers’ College, Sokoto.
Lemu also served in the judiciary, first as a Sharia judge at the Court of Appeals in Sokoto and Niger (1976 – 1977), then as Chief Sharia Judge at the Court of Appeals, Niger State (1976 – 1991).
The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday indicated that it might resume its suspended strike in February if the Federal Government failed to implement agreements it signed with the lecturers.
The National President of ASUU, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH in Lagos, while shedding more light on the decision of the union to suspend its nine-month strike.
But while ASUU ended its industrial action on Wednesday, non-academic unions in universities threatened to go on strike over N40bn earned allowances government promised to release to all unions.
They described the sharing formula for the money as unfair.
Recall that ASUU had on March 23 begun a nationwide strike over the Federal Government’s insistence that all its employees must register for the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.
Although government argued that the IPPIS was meant to eliminate fraud, the union stated that it should not be applicable to universities on the grounds that it violated their autonomy.
In the alternative, ASUU developed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which it said would meet the peculiarities of universities.
Until Tuesday’s meeting between the two sides, they had disagreed over UTAS, which government said would only be adopted if it tallied with the IPPIS.
Besides its opposition to the IPPIS, other demands of ASUU are setting up of visitation panels for universities, payment of earned academic allowances and revitalisation of infrastructure in the universities.
Ogunyemi, in the interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday evening, said if the government reneged on its promises, members of the union would not hesitate to withdraw their services.
Earlier at a press conference in Abuja, he said the union would as from 12am on Thursday (today) suspend its strike.
The decision to suspend the strike, according to Ogunyemi, was unanimously reached by the National Executive Committee of the union, after considering reports from the national secretariat and various branches.
While assuring Nigerians that ASUU would fulfil its own part of the agreements it reached with government, Ogunyemi warned that the union would not hesitate to resume its suspended strike should government fail to reciprocate the gesture.
According to him, ASUU is willing to return to classrooms and laboratories to rekindle the aspirations of its members to encourage their students to excel.
Ogunyemi further urged parents to take prime interest in their children’s welfare, learning, better funding, better laboratories, and free development to enable them to compete with their counterparts globally.
He said, “After diligent and careful appraisal of the various reports, especially the agreements reached by ASUU with the Federal Government of Nigeria on December 22, 2020, NEC resolved as follows:
“To accept the agreements reached between ASUU and the Federal Government on December 22, 2020, to consciously and diligently monitor the implementation of the FGN-ASUU agreements of December 22, 2020 in all branches.
“To ensure that no ASUU member suffers any loss of deserved benefits as a result of participation in the strike, to pursue fervently FGN-ASUU agreements in 2009 and the MoA (memoranda of agreements) 2013.”
According to him, both sides also agreed that the earned academic allowances should be backed by a law and the amendment of the Executive Bill in respect of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Act, 2004.
He added, “Finally, NEC resolved to conditionally suspend the strike action embarked upon on March 23, 2020, with effect from 12:01am on Thursday, December 24, 2020.”
While shedding more light on ASUU’s insistence on the implementation of the 2009 agreements, Ogunyemi stated that the objectives of the agreements were found to have been made even more potent by the findings of the Federal Government Committee on the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities in 2012.
He stressed that the agreements when implemented would reverse the decay in the Nigerian university system and reposition it for greater responsibilities in national development.
Ogunyemi also stated that the implementation of the agreement would reverse the brain drain in universities and enhance the remuneration of academic staff.
According him, university lecturers would be freed from “the encumbrances of a unified civil service wage structure.”
ASUU: FG Promised To Release N30bn For Varsities’ Revitalisation Before Month End
Later in an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday evening, the president of ASUU said government made promises about the demands of the union.
He said government promised to release N30bn to the union before the end of the month for the revitalisation of universities.
He stated, “The Federal Government made promises about our demands and we have timelines attached to them. On the demand for revitalisation, they promised to give N30b before the end of this month.
“They promised earned academic allowances. On the visitation panel, they have told us part of the preparations. We talked about renegotiation that is going. We have had two meetings already and more meetings will continue in the New Year.”
According to him, the law on state universities and the National Universities Commission is being reviewed and sent to the National Assembly.
He also said substantial progress had been made on UTAS, adding that the union was awaiting its final adoption after its verification by the National Information Technology Development Agency.
Ogunyemi also said, “The withheld salaries are being released. So with that, we believe that normalcy should return to our universities. We made it clear, if government reneges, our members are ready to withdraw their services and we made that clear to government.
“By end of February, we are going to review the situations with the government so that with that there is a kind of monitoring mechanism.”
But as ASUU called off its strike, non-academic unions in universities on Thursday threatened strike over the sharing of the N40bn earned allowances government promised the unions.
They said they opposed the proposed sharing formula for the N40bn earned allowances which would be divided among all the unions in the public universities.
The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, the National Association of Academic Technologists and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities alleged that the government planned to give 75 per cent of the fund to ASUU, leaving 25 per cent for the other three unions.
Commenting on the issue on Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, the National President of NAAT, Ibeji Nwokomma, said government should correct the alleged imbalance.
He stated, “My union is rejecting the sharing formula of the earned allowances as it is being done presently by the government. Government has allocated 75 per cent of the money to ASUU and 25 per cent to all non-teaching unions in the universities. That is grossly inadequate.
ASUU Doesn’t Have Monopoly Of Strike, Say Unions
“That is robbing Peter to pay Paul and using divide and rule in the university system. No union, not even ASUU, has the monopoly of opening or closing of schools through strikes; other unions also have that capacity to ensure that the system does not work.
“Secondly, my union, ASUU and other unions negotiated with the government. So, payment of earned allowances will be based on unions. It should be on the basis of the 2009 agreements. That is where the earned allowances are derived from.
“So lumping my union with other non-teaching staff is neither here nor there and totally unacceptable to us.”
Speaking further, Nwokomma said NAAT signed a memorandum of understanding with the government on November 15, 2020, where it was clearly stated that the government would define what each union would get from the N40bn.
He said, “My union is asking that our own earned allowances should be specified, just like they did to ASUU. If nothing is done, we will close down the system until we are fairly treated.
“Government should convene a meeting immediately to settle this issue, otherwise, any wish that schools will reopen, they are just wasting their time; schools will not reopen until these issues are adequately taken care of,” he warned.
The NAAT leader said he was making efforts to get in touch with the director and the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education to draw their attention to the brewing crisis.
Toeing the same line, SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, said that his union would not accept what he called the lopsided sharing formula.
Non-academic unions reject N40bn sharing formula, say ASUU doesn’t have monopoly of strike
He said, “Honestly, I believe that this remains a rumour even though I know it could be true; I have seen 75 per cent and 25 per cent.
“But truly, if it is that, we have stated in no uncertain terms that we will not take that kind of lopsided allocation again. What is the scientific measurement used to share this money? We have stated before now that the least we can take is 50-50, they (ASUU members) are not more in numbers.”
“We will not waste time in ensuring that we mobilise our members to also fight for our own. What it means is that government will only listen to a fight. Most of us are administrators for God’s sake and that is why we don’t see strikes as fashionable, but when we are pushed to the wall, we will react.”
Prevent Future Strike, Honour Agreements, Parents’ Association Tells FG
Meanwhile, National President, National Parents’ Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, in an interview with one of our correspondents, called on government to honour the agreements it reached with ASUU.
Danjuma said by doing this, students would not be sent back home. He appealed to ASUU to forgo holidays to enable students to recover what they had lost academically.
He stated, “Lectures should settle down and prepare themselves so that our children can recover what they had lost in terms of learning. It has been a very unfortunate situation our children found themselves and the children too should prepare themselves after this Christmas break .
“We also want the university authorities to make special arrangements to train our children, even if it means shelving all holidays to make them get all that was lost.
“Government should honour the agreements because it will be a big surprise to Nigerians that ASUU is back on strike again if government fails to honour their demands.”
Hundreds of couples were married in a mass wedding on Friday, December 18, 2020 at Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, Uzoakwa, Ihiala, Anambra State despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus virus.
About 5,000 people from around the world gathered to join the festivities and celebrate as the 200 new couples got married.
Speaking at the event, Most Reverend Michael Ukpong described a proper marriage as one that shows unity in Christ and the church.
He reminded the couples that the union is a journey of no-return and therefore, they should abide by the promises made to each other. He urged the grooms to love their wives and implored the brides to obey and respect their husbands.
Anambra State Governor’s wife, Dr. Ebelechukwu Obiano, represented by the Transition Committee Chairman of the Ihiala Local Government Area, Mr. Jude Obiwuru, described the wedding as a great thing aimed at channelling the minds of the couples to raising Godly children.
Britain on Wednesday introduced restrictions on travel from South Africa over the spread of another new variant of coronavirus, UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said.
The restrictions, which applied with immediate effect, were introduced following the discovery of two cases of the virus strain in Britain.
“This new variant is highly concerning, because it is yet more transmissible, and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK,” Hancock said, referring to a strain of the virus discovered in Britain which has also been found to be more contagious.
The health minister said that all individuals in the UK who had contracted the variant originating in South Africa had been placed in quarantine as well as their close contacts.
In addition to the travel restrictions, Hancock said the government was also asking anyone who has been in close contact with someone who had been in South Africa in the last two weeks to quarantine.
“They must restrict all contact with any other person whatsoever,” he said.
The discovery of cases of what officials believe is a new, more transmissible variant of the coronavirus in the UK follows the announcement last week that a new strain had spread throughout the south of England.
In response to the growing number of coronavirus cases, Britain ordered a series of coronavirus restrictions across the affected areas.
More than 50 nations also imposed their own travel restrictions on the UK, including France.
A ban on cross-Channel freight to Europe has wrought havoc around the key port of Dover and led to fears of food shortages in the country’s supermarkets because of paralysis in supply chains.
Hancock on Wednesday announced the expansion of strict lockdown measures across further parts of the south of England to contain the spread of the disease.
With more than 68,000 deaths from the virus, the United Kingdom is one of the hardest hit countries in Europe.
The Ondo State Government has on Wednesday cancelled the crossover service scheduled to hold at midnight of January 1, 2021, in churches across the state over fears of the second wave of COVID-19 in the state.
The government also postponed the resumption of pupils in primary and secondary schools from Monday, January 4, 2020, to January 18, 2020.
The Chairman, Ondo State Inter-Ministerial Committee on Coronavirus, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi made the declaration while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital. He said the decision of the government was to prevent the second wave of the virus from spreading across the state.
According to him, the committee had had extensive interaction with various stakeholders, physically and virtually, on the need to take proactive measures against the second wave of COVID-19.
He said the state was working assiduously to ensure it records no substantial case during the second wave of the pandemic, imploring the people to pay due attention and observance to the precautionary measures put in place to safeguard them.
Fatusi said, “No church service organized in respect of the new year celebration must exceed 10pm until further notice, in line with federal government directive on curfew.
“The government and business offices shall continue to open with strict compliance of COVID-19 precautionary measures; no primary or secondary school in the State shall resume until 18th of January, 2021, markets shall continue operations but with heightened enforcement of COVID-19 precautionary measures.
“Night clubs and relaxation spots must not operate beyond 10pm; picnics can operate but in open space and adherence to COVID-19 protocols; while anybody above 60 years of age or with existing ailment(s) are strongly advised to remain indoor and disengage from joining any social gathering.”
Fatusi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, said the government would begin to carry out strict monitoring of all the guidelines, adding that it would also continue to interact with religious leaders, markets associations, media, unions, and other critical stakeholders in the fight against the pandemic.
The chairman declared that the enforcement would commence by January 1, 2021, the strict enforcement of the law that guides against the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the state would also begin on that day.
“The law provides for three months imprisonment or payment of N20, 000 fine or both for offenders,” he stated.
South Africa’s second wave is driven by mutant Covid-19 strain similar to UK’s: New variant is more contagious and is more prevalent among young people
Cases in South Africa have spiked from 3,000 aan 9,500 per day in three weeks
Health officials believe it is driven by a Covid-19 variant similar to Britain’s strain
As in the UK, the new strain is thought to be affecting younger people more
South Africa is suffering a powerful second wave of Covid-19 caused by a new strain of the disease similar to the British variant which is feared to be more infectious and cause more sickness among younger people.
Cases in South Africa have risen from fewer than 3,000 a day at the start of December to more than 9,500 a day as of Tuesday, apparently driven by a variant called 501.V2 which has now been detected in Britain as well.
South Africa currently has more than 8,500 people hospitalised with Covid-19, surpassing the previous high of 8,300 recorded in August.
As in Britain, the new strain is thought to be affecting young people more than previous variants, and health experts say there are ‘quite a few similarities between the two mutations’.
The federal government has commenced issuance of e-passport at the FESTAC town passport office in Lagos.
Muhammed Babandede, the comptroller general of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), announced this on Monday at a ceremony to approve processing of enhanced electronic passport for applicants.
Before now, the e-passports were issued at Alausa, Ikoyi, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano passport offices.
The e-passport, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 16, is valid for all countries.
Represented by Doris Braimah, the assistant comptroller general, Zone A, Babandede explained that the new enhanced e-passport has 26 additional security features compared to the one being phased out.
He added that the e-passport is also water-resistant due to its hydrocarbon design.
The NIS boss said the new electronic passport meets the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
He said the approval of the FESTAC passport office is as a result of the strategic location of Lagos which is unique for its three border points of land, sea and air.
The electronic passport is available in three categories of 32-page valid for five years; 64-page with five years validity, both of which are available for adults and minors; and a 64-page version with 10 years’ validity for adults.
The 32-paged five-year standard passport costs N25,000, while the 64-paged five-year standard passport costs N35,000.
The 64-paged 10-year standard passport costs N70,000.
Babandede said the requirements for the new passport remains the same as the old one, adding that a national identification number (NIN) is required and mandatory for its issuance.
Sani Aliyu, national coordinator, presidential taskforce on COVID-19 (PTF), says COVID-19 vaccines will be administered on Nigerians free when vaccination begins.
He said this on Channel TV’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
Aliyu said through the GAVI arrangement, there is the assurance that over 40 million Nigerians will be vaccinated.
GAVI is a vaccine alliance of which bid to find solution to the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccines birthed COVAX.
COVAX is one of the three pillars of Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator. It was launched in April by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Commission and France, bringing together governments, manufacturers, scientists, the private sector, philanthropy and the civil society in response to the pandemic and ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine and treatments when available.
“Yesterday, the president gave the PTF the mandate to proceed with preparations with regard to the vaccine,” Aliyu said.
“The president has also given us a marching order that the COVID-19 vaccine be available in Nigeria.
“Making use of the GAVI arrangement, we already have assurance that 20 percent of our population will be accommodated by GAVI in the vaccine.
“We don’t need to pay for that and this will cover 40 million Nigerians or so. But we have to pay for the operations and the logistics associated with it.”
Aliyu also said there were plans to buy additional vaccines besides the GAVI arrangement.
“We are also planning to pay for an additional 20 to 40 percent. In general, over the next two years, at least 70 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated before we can have enough herd immunity,” he said.
“The Pfizer vaccine is one of the most effective vaccines at the moment.”
When asked if the vaccine would be administered free, Aliyu said, “of course, of course”.
The PTF national coordinator advised Nigerians not to discard safety measures already in place just because of the vaccine.
“Just to make it clear to the general public, even if we have the vaccine available tomorrow in Nigeria, the epidemic will not change.
“We still need to apply the protective measures we have been advising right from beginning. Vaccines alone will not change it. If you look at the time it takes the vaccine to take effect, the first dose will take about 12 days to have an anti-body response. The second dose takes a week. In all, it takes a month for one to have adequate immunity.”
Concerning the distribution of the vaccine when it is available, Aliyu said the PTF will make use of primary healthcare facilities that are situated in the secretariat of each of the 774 local governments areas of Nigeria.
He also said the primary healthcare facilities will be upgraded to be able to take delivery and preserve the vaccine which requires cold temperature, adding that healthcare workers will also be trained.
The Federal Controller of Works Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola on Tuesday announced a 72-hour total closure of the Third Mainland Bridge to cast concrete on the expansion joints.
Popoola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the shutdown will take effect from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Tuesday.
He added that construction works had reached the stage for casting concrete on additional three expansion joints.
“There is going to be a total closure of Third Mainland Bridge in order to allow for the casting of three number expansion joints on the Island Bound lane
” The effective date of the closure will be from 12:00 midnight of 25th of December. So people will be allowed to use the Third Mainland Bridge to celebrate Christmas.
“By the time the Christmas is winding down which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday the 26th and 27th we cast again.
” And we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the opening will be on the 28th December midnight, that is 72-hour closure.
“This is to prevent vibration of the bridge. If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there is going to be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly,” he said.
The controller said that all the alternative routes were in good condition and traffic regulatory agencies had been deployed to effectively divert and manage traffic to avert gridlock.
He appealed to road users to cooperate with traffic regulatory agencies.
Popoola also announced a 48 hours partial closure of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from Dec. 28 to Dec. 29 to complete some work on a flyover bridge on the project.
“The contractor, Messers Julius Berger wants to install cross beams at Kilometre 16, that is, around MFM,” he said.
He explained that the Piers were already standing on both sides of the road and the contractor was to lay the cross beam on top across the road.
“That area will be cordoned off, there will be closure within that section from 12:00 pm on 28th of December and it will be opened to traffic by 5:00 am the following day.
” 200 meters to get to that particular location we have diversion and another diversion 200 meters away from that place.
“One lane will be opened to traffic, it is only one lane we are closed to traffic at a time. The first lane that we are going to close is outward Lagos, which is the Ibadan bound carriageway, we will close it on the 28th.
” And then the second day which is 29th, we are moving to the other lane which in inward Lagos. The same 12:00 pm to 5:00 am,” Popoola said.
He appealed for patience and understanding of road users saying that the construction was part of the progress that the Federal Government had achieved on the project.
“We regret all the inconvenience and hardship this might have created,” he said.
He said that all the construction zones had been cleared and the highway had been opened to traffic which was responsible for seamless movement on the road.
NAN reports that the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, which was going through series of repairs, had to be partially shut on July 24 for another round of rehabilitation works.
The repair expected to last six months was extended by one month due to the recent #EndSARS protests in Lagos extending the completion date from January 2021 to February.
The construction was initially divided into two phases of three months on each carriageway, starting with the Oworonsoki bound carriageway whose completion dragged to four months.
Traffic was partially diverted on a stretch of 3.5km where construction is ongoing between Adeniji Adeniji Ramp and Ebute Meta, while different time belts were allotted for traffic diversions on the bridge.
The 11.8km bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.
The bridge starts from Oworonshoki, which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island.
Constructed in 1990, the bridge was adjudged as the longest in Africa until 1996 when the Oct. 6 Bridge in Cairo, Egypt was completed.
The reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on the other hand, was flagged off in 2013 by former President Goodluck Jonathan and was awarded to two firms.
Julius Berger is constructing section one which spans from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange while RCC is working from the Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan.
