LUTH discharges Lassa fever index patient (Guardian)
Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, says the Lassa fever index patient has been discharged from the isolation ward.
Adeyemo said on Tuesday in Lagos that the index patient had fully recovered from the disease.
“The index Lassa fever case with us has done very well.
“We were able to successfully manage the case and he has been discharged today (Tuesday).
“I say well done to all our team members,” he said. Read more
Tanker driver slumps, dies in lover’s Lagos apartment (Punch)
A tanker driver, Saka Abolade, has died in the apartment of his mistress, Kikelomo Adeyi, on Michael Ajanaku Street, in the Ipaja area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the 68-year-old Abolade visited Adeyi at her place of residence on Saturday, February 29, 2020, and decided to pass the night there, but after having his bath and was coming out of the bathroom, he reportedly slumped.
After he slumped, Abolade was said to have complained of pain all over his body.
Neighbours, who were said to have been alerted to the incident, rushed to his rescue and while making preparations to take him to hospital, Abolade reportedly died. Read more
2020 NiMET prediction: Lagos to experience 270 days of rainfall (Vanguard)
Lagos State shall experience a rainy season of 240-270 days, while the maximum annual rainfall is predicted to be 1,750mm this year, 2020
Recall, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMET, had earlier released 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) report to guide various sectors of the country, with an expected high volume of rainfall.
The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello, in the company of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Drainage Services and Water Resources, Mr Joe Igbokwe, disclosed this on Tuesday, at the press briefing on the year 2020 seasonal rainfall predictions and prevention of flooding in Lagos State.
“Worthy of note is the increasing frequency of extreme weather events which indicates that year 2020 will likely experience days with extremely high amounts may result in flooding,” Bello stated. Read more
Court remands UNIPORT undergraduate for Internet fraud (Punch)
The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday, remanded a 25-year-old undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Sunday Noble, in a correctional centre for impersonation and obtaining money by false pretences.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Port Harcourt Zonal Office, arraigned Noble on four counts bordering on fraud and obtaining by false pretences.
Noble was arrested by the EFCC based on actionable intelligence over his alleged fraudulent activities.
Investigation by the anti-graft agency indicated that the defendant presented himself as Ryan Murray, a Florida, United States-based contractor, on Facebook. Read more
Deposed Emir Sanusi to challenge banishment in court (DailyTrust)
Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II. The dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has vowed to challenge his banishment in court. Speaking through his lawyer, Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud SAN, the former emir said he had not been served with any arrest warrant when he was picked up at the Emir’s Palace in Kano on Monday. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Kano, Mahmoud said Sanusi’s legal team would challenge his banishment in court. He said the Kano Emirate Court Law 2019 has not in anyway empower the Kano State Executive Council to banish the emir. Read more
Surety remanded as manslaughter suspect jumps bail (Punch)
An Osun State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Osogbo, on Tuesday, remanded one Dele Abiodun, who stood as surety for his younger brother, Femi, who is being tried for manslaughter.
The 43-year-old Dele was remanded by Magistrate Olugbenga Oladoke after his brother, whom he stood surety for on October 10, 2017, before an Osun State High Court, Osogbo, jumped bail.
The police prosecutor, Idoko John, said Dele had given an assurance that he would produce the accused in court until the trial was concluded.
Dele pleaded not guilty to the one count levelled against him, and his counsel, Remigus Ngwu, urged the court to admit his client to bail. Read more
How Excess Crude Account was depleted to $71.8m in 2020 – Accountant General (DailyTrust)
The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris. * says govt yet to release single kobo for Capital Projects in 2020. The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, on Tuesday explained how the $325 million in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was depleted to $71.8 million as at March 2, 2020. Speaking at an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Finance, Idris said the balance in the ECA stood at $325 million as at the end of 2019. He explained that the National Economic Council (NEC) agreed to invest $250million into Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) adding that $4million was paid as professional fee to an unknown lawyer. Read more
FRSC to ban roadside parking in FCT (Guardian)
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it is prepared to move against motorists parking by roadsides in the FCT, to control traffic congestion and accidents.
The FRSC Sector Commander, FCT, Gora Wobin told News agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that roadside vehicular parking contributes to traffic and incessant accidents resulting in loss of lives and properties.
He said that such misconduct would no longer be condoned from motorists in the territory. Read more
LCCI laments impact of Coronavirus on the economy (Vanguard)
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has said that the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease few weeks ago has profound implications for the Nigerian economy posing a major threat to the nation’s macro-economic fundamentals, adding that the impact may be systemic and far-reaching.
The Director-General of LCCI, Dr Muda Yusuf, who expressed the view said stated: “Oil price benchmark for 2020 budget was $57 per barrel. This sharp drop in crude oil could cause significant dislocations in the 2020 budget and in the economy, especially for a country already grappling with challenges of weak revenue performance and complete erosion of fiscal buffers.
It is instructive that the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, is contemplating a review of the underlying assumptions of the 2020 budget, and rightly so,” he said. Read more
Rare white giraffes killed by poachers in Kenya (BBC)
Two extremely rare white giraffes have been killed by poachers in north-eastern Kenya, conservationists say.
Rangers had found the carcasses of the female and her calf in a village in north-eastern Kenya’s Garissa County.
A third white giraffe is still alive. It is thought to be the only remaining one in the world, the conservationists added.
Their white appearance is due to a rare condition called leucism, which causes skin cells to have no pigmentation. Read more
Coronavirus: UK health minister Nadine Dorries tests positive (BBC)
Health minister and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries says she has been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Ms Dorries, the first MP to test positive, said she had taken all the advised precautions after finding out, and had been self-isolating at home.
It comes as a sixth person died from the virus in the UK, which has a total of 382 cases.
The latest person to die was a man in his early 80s who had underlying health conditions.
Meanwhile, NHS England said it was scaling up its capacity for testing people for the infection, with the number of cases set to rise. Read more
Pope appoints Nigerian priest as adviser for Christians, Muslims relations (Guardian)
Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Fr. Joseph Ogundipe of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, as one of the six new consultors that will be advising him (the Catholic Pontiff) on relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
Rev Sr. Eunice Ikufisile, the Director of Social Communications in the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, stated this in a statement she e-mailed to the News Agency of Nigeria {NAN} in Lagos yesterday.
Ikufisile said that Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo received the message on March 9, 2020, from the Vatican City and conveyed the appointment to Fr Ogundipe same day. Read more
Forbes Lists Tara Fela-Durotoye Among “The Top 50 Most Powerful Women In Africa” (Punch)
Tara Fela-Durotoye, CEO, House of Tara International has just made the list of “The Top 50 Most Powerful Women In Africa” on Forbes Woman Africa in the March 2020 edition.
This issue celebrates 50 of the most powerful women in Africa. Forbes Woman Africa says that it considered women who are leaders, influential, consistent and have created an impact in Africa. “We sifted through several recognition lists, conducted our own research in coming up with new names, and short-listed nominations that came in from our editorial teams across Africa, applying our own metrics of leadership, influence, consistency, and most importantly, impact.”- Forbes Woman Africa.
The list which was published in the March issue of the magazine, outlined those who have been leading ideas and industries while purposefully contributing to nation-building and positively impacting the lives around them.
According to the author of the piece, Mashokane Mahlo-Ramusetheli, “This is a first-of-its-kind pan-African compilation of the continent’s leading women, drawn from business, politics, media, science, sports and public life, who are challenging the status quo and creating a trail on terrain where there was none. They are reshaping history, closing inequalities and pioneering new avenues of wealth creation and in turn, lifting others with them”. Read more
St Kitts and Nevis offers citizenship to Nigerians (Guardian)
ST Kitts and Nevis are offering citizenship to Nigerians who are interested in investing in the country’s economy.
The offer was revealed during a seminar held in Victoria Island, Lagos state on how to legally invest in a 60 shares Condominium in St Kitts and Nevis, a dual-island country situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea in the Northern American continent.
According to a member of Fairway Group, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) it comes with many benefits such as business opportunities, security, access to travel and lifetime citizenship including their generation. Read more
Harvey Weinstein seeks mercy as his lawyers ask for 5-year prison term (Metro)
Harvey Weinstein has asked for a five-year sentence as he faces 29 years behind bars, ahead of his rape conviction sentencing on Wednesday. Last month the disgraced Hollywood mogul was convicted on two out of five counts – criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree – after being found guilty by a jury of seven men and five women. The 67-year-old went on trial in early January facing five charges of rape and sexual assault, all of which he pleaded not guilty to. Now Weinstein’s lawyers have argued he deserved mercy for his already ‘historic fall from grace’ and serious health issues. Read more
Second patient cured of HIV, say doctors (BBC)
A man from London has become the second person in the world to be cured of HIV, doctors say.
Adam Castillejo is still free of the virus more than 30 months after stopping anti-retroviral therapy.
He was not cured by the HIV drugs, however, but by a stem-cell treatment he received for a cancer he also had, the Lancet HIV journal reports.
The donors of those stem cells have an uncommon gene that gives them, and now Mr Castillejo, protection against HIV. Read more
Cornavirus: Coachella music festival postponed (BBC)
One of the world’s biggest music festivals has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Coachella was set to take place next month in the California desert with Rage Against the Machine and Frank Ocean among the headliners.
The event’s organiser Goldenvoice has now postponed it until October, at the request of local health authorities.
Latest figures show the US has more than 950 confirmed cases of the disease and 28 deaths. Read more
Tottenham knocked out of Champions League by Leipzig (BBC)
Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League campaign came to an end as they were well beaten by RB Leipzig in the last 16.
The German club – who were only formed 10 years ago – led 1-0 from the first leg in London and Marcel Sabitzer’s double at the Red Bull Arena put Leipzig in control.
Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris should have done better for both goals – getting a hand to both the Leipzig captain’s 20-yard shot and near-post header.
Emil Forsberg scored with his first touch after coming off the bench to give Leipzig a 4-0 aggregate win. Read more
Contract renewal: Money not my problem – Rohr (Punch)
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has revealed that he has never thought of dumping the national team, adding that he is 100 per cent committed to his job.
Rohr has three months left on his current deal and while he has received an offer for his contract renewal from the Nigerian Football Federation, money won’t be the topmost priority for him.
The 67-year-old was linked with the Pharaohs of Egypt job last year before the Egyptian Football Federation appointed Hossam El Badry as the national team’s new head coach.
“I will not be a candidate for any other country because simply, I still have a contract with Nigeria and it is not my kind of work to do that,” Rohr told Sports Extra in an exclusive interview. Read more
Ilicic scores four as Atalanta beat Valencia behind closed doors (BBC)
Josip Ilicic scored four goals against Valencia as Atalanta eased into the Champions League quarter-finals in the competition’s first match to be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Italians arrived in Spain with a commanding 4-1 lead from the first leg of their last-16 tie and quickly added to their advantage inside an eerie Mestalla Stadium.
With the chants of a large gathering of home supporters outside the ground clearly audible, Slovenia forward Ilicic converted a third-minute penalty for the Serie A side after he had been fouled by Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby.
And while Kevin Gameiro capitalised on a defensive mix-up to tap in an equaliser for the hosts, Diakhaby’s handball allowed Ilicic to score his second spot-kick of the evening to put the visitors 6-2 up on aggregate. Read more
Arteta confident of new Saka deal (Punch)
Bukayo Saka’s contract impasse will definitely be resolved, assures manager Mikel Arteta.
The teen sensation has been embroiled in what seems to be a standoff as his representatives and club directors remain distant from agreeing on a new deal.
The England youth international of Nigerian descent is already in the final 18 months of his contract and looks likely to walk out on the Gunners if a new deal can’t be reached, with Manchester United and Liverpool waiting to swoop on him.
However, Arteta believes Saka’s future remains at the Emirates and is confident that the club can tie the teenager to a new deal.
“The club is doing what it has to do and is having conversations, (and hopefully) we’ll get it resolved,” he told the club’s website. Read more
Klopp, Guardiola voice concerns over matches behind closed doors (Punch)
Jurgen Klopp said Tuesday he was unsure whether closing stadiums would help tackle the coronavirus as Pep Guardiola admitted he did not like the idea of matches being played in empty stadiums.
No restrictions have yet been placed on games played in Britain and Liverpool will host Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in front of a capacity crowd of more than 50,000.
Nearly 3,000 Atletico fans are expected to travel for the game even though La Liga has announced that all matches in Spain will be played behind closed doors for the next two weeks. Read more
Sports competitors barred from leaving Kenya for a month (BBC)
There will be no travel to international events for the next month for Kenyan sportsmen and sportswomen over concerns about the global coronavirus outbreak, the country’s sports ministry has said.
The ministry said the travel ban will be “until further notice” but specified it was being applied immediately for a minimum of one month.
The ban will hit the Kenyan football team’s next away match against Comoros on 29 March, although they play the same opposition at home on 25 March – a match the country’s FA has already requested be cancelled.
Across Africa, various sporting events have been impacted as countries take measures to minimise the impact of the virus as it spreads around the world. Read more
I like Ighalo’s strength – Owen (Punch)
Former Liverpool star, Micheal Owen, has been impressed with Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo, hailing his impact despite coming on as a late sub in the derby win against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils’ new acquisition is earning rave reviews after initially suffering undue criticisms after his deadline transfer move to Old Trafford in January.
Ighalo followed up his five-star performance in the FA Cup win against Derby by providing the hold-up play that led to United’s second goal against rivals, City.
“Ighalo, look at his strength and awareness. I like him, I must admit. I think he’s a great alternative. Read more
Nigeria premier league suspended after player dies (Guardian)
Nigeria’s football federation on Tuesday announced the indefinite suspension of the country’s premier league to ensure proper medical support is put in place following the death of a player during a match at the weekend.
Nasarawa United defender Chineme Martins, 22, collapsed and died during Sunday’s league clash against Katsina United at the Lafia Township Stadium in northern Nigeria.
Lack of proper medical support has been blamed for what the country’s sports minister described as “regrettable and avoidable” death. Read more