Major cause of Lagos doctors’ strike addressed – Sanwo-Olu (Nation)
Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday said the major issue that led to doctors strike in the state has been resolved.
He attributed the strike to inadequate communication and understanding.
The Governor was responding to reporters at the Infectious Disease Hospital(IDP) Yaba where he commemorated year 2020 Tree planting day and commissioned a 36- chamber morgue donated by IHS Towers to the State Government. Read more
Lagos hoodlums attack man, steal money for surgery (Punch)
An ex-employee of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Babatunde Akindele, has been in pain after losing the money his family put together for his colostomy reversal surgery to hoodlums in the Surulere area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that for three years, Babatunde had been passing out excreta through colostomy, a surgical procedure in which an artificial opening is made in the abdomen for excreta to pass through instead of the anus.
The 21-year-old had gone to withdraw the money from the bank and was returning home when a yet-to-be-identified person reportedly asked him for direction to his destination in the Itire area of Surulere. Read more
Cultist jailed 20 years for raping FUOYE undergraduate, friend (Punch)
Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, on Monday, sentenced a cultist, Tayo Bakare, to 20 years’ imprisonment for raping an undergraduate of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, and her friend.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Bakare was arraigned on eight counts bordering on conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, deprivation of liberty and rape.
The prosecution said the offences contravened sections 260(1) (2), 272, 297(1) and 299 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015. Read more
CBN moves to ban importation of maize (Guardian)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all authorised dealers to discontinue the processing of Form M for the importation of maize with immediate effect.
The CBN made this known in a circular signed by Dr Ozoemena Nnaji, the Director of Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank in Abuja.
Form M is a mandatory statutory document to be completed by all importers for the importation of goods into the country. Read more
Army redeploys Generals, GOCs in major shakeup (Punch)
The Nigerian Army has announced new postings and appointments of top Generals, Commanders and senior officers.
Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa in a statement on Monday, explained that the posting which was approved by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, was intended to reinvigorate the system for greater professional effectiveness and efficiency.
According to the statement, Maj. Gen. L. Irabor has been redeployed from Defence Headquarters, Department of Training and Operations to Training and Doctrine Command, Minna, while Maj. Gen. F. Agugo was moved from 6 Division NA Port Harcourt to Headquarters, NA Signal Corps, Apapa, Lagos as Corps Commander Signals. Read more
Nigerian-American charged for COVID-19 relief fraud in US (Guardian)
A man of Nigerian origin Oluwadamilare Olugbuyi on Tuesday was charged with COVID-Relief fraud in Washington, D.C. United States.
Olugbuyi, owner of a residential construction contracting firm based in Washington, D.C., was charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with making false statements to a financial institution.
According to the complaint contained in a statement released by the Department of Justice, Olugbuyi submitted several fake and fraudulent documents to a financial institution in support of two PPP loan applications seeking more than $400,000 in forgivable loans for a construction firm that he owned. Read more
Okowa, wife, daughter recover from COVID-19 (Punch)
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, his wife as well as his daughter have recovered from coronavirus.
The governor, who had announced a few weeks back that his family contracted the virus, made news of their recovery known on Tuesday via his verified Twitter handle.
He thanked God and appreciated all those who supported his family during the intervening period of their health challenge.
Okowa wrote, “My wife, my daughter, and I have tested negative for COVID 19, along with other members of the family. We give God all praise and wish to appreciate all who have interceded for us in prayers. Read more
Senate passes law prescribing life imprisonment for kidnappers (Guardian)
Nigerian Senate on Tuesday passed a bill which prescribes life jail to replace the current 10 years maximum sentence for kidnappers.
A Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District Oluremi Tinubu proposed a review of the law against kidnapping in the country in November 2019.
In the last few years, many Nigerian states have passed laws that heavily punish kidnapping. For instance, Section 3(3) of the Lagos State Kidnapping Prohibition Law 2019, punishes kidnapping, where a ransom is demanded, with imprisonment for 25 years. The kidnapper is liable to death if the victim dies while in hostage in section 2(2) of the law. Read more
COVID-19 Pandemic New York City reports no COVID deaths in 24 hours (VOA)
New York City, once the center of the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak, has had its first 24-hour period with no coronavirus deaths.
“This disease is far from beaten,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, the first day without any reported COVID deaths since the first case was reported March 1.
“We look around the country and we see what so many other Americans are going through, so many other states and cities hurting so bad right now,” said de Blasio. “So, no one can celebrate, but we can at least take a moment to appreciate that every one of you did so much to get us to this point – 24 hours where no one died. Let’s have many more days like that.”
De Blasio says he is particularly concerned about the growing number of people in their 20s contracting the coronavirus. He urged them to wear masks and social distance. Read more
UK bans China’s Huawei from 5G networks (BBC)
The UK’s mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm’s 5G kit from their networks by 2027.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons of the decision.
It follows sanctions imposed by Washington, which claims the firm poses a national security threat – something Huawei denies. Read more
COVID-19 may raise death toll from HIV, TB and Malaria (VOA)
The ripple effects from COVID-19 may substantially raise the death toll from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, according to a new study.
The pandemic is disrupting services aimed at controlling these three diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Health authorities are concerned it will set back progress against these diseases by years.
“It looks to us like a big part of minimizing the entire impact of the COVID-19 epidemics in these countries is going to be maintaining services for these key diseases,” said Imperial College London global health professor Timothy Hallett, co-author of the new study in The Lancet Global Health. Read more
UN’s top court backs Qatar in air blockade row with neighbours (Aljazeera)
The International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court, has backed Qatar in a dispute with four neighbours which imposed an air blockade against Doha more than three years ago.
The Hague-based ICJ on Tuesday rejected the appeal by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against a decision by the world civil aviation body in favour of Qatar over sovereign airspace, ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said on Tuesday.
The court also “holds that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has jurisdiction” in the case, by 15 judges to one, Yusuf said. Read more
Macron: Wearing masks ‘in enclosed public spaces’ to become mandatory in France (France24)
France will in the next few weeks make it compulsory for people to wear masks in shops and other enclosed public spaces to stop a resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
The virus, which killed more than 30,000 people in France, has been on the decline, but Macron said it was spreading again in some places as France opens up beaches, bars and restaurants after a two-month lockdown.
“We have some signs that it’s coming back a bit,” Macron said in an interview with French broadcasters. “Faced with that, we must anticipate and prepare. Read more
Daniel Lewis Lee: US executes first federal prisoner in 17 years (BBC)
US murderer Daniel Lewis Lee has been put to death, hours after the Supreme Court allowed the first executions of federal inmates in 17 years.
Several executions were initially delayed when a judge ruled on Monday that there were still unresolved legal challenges.
The condemned prisoners had argued that lethal injections constitute “cruel and unusual punishments”. Read more
Billboard will no longer count albums sold in merch and ticket bundles toward chart rankings (Vulture)
Billboard revealed Monday that it has changed its rules for how artists’ placement on the Billboard 200, the Billboard Hot 100, and other album and song charts will be tabulated. Per the announcement, Billboard will reportedly “eliminate the practice of counting albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether.”
It’s currently common practice for artists to sell digital copies of their albums rolled into merchandise or ticket purchases. Late last year, Billboard had sought to limit the impact of that bundling by requiring musicians to make their albums available individually, sell merchandise for a lower price if sold separately, and make bundles available only on their official website. Read more
Sports minister hailed over planned sports return (Nation)
Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle, Ebi Egbe has hailed sports minister, Sunday Dare over plans the being put in by the ministry ahead of the long-awaited return of sporting activities in the country.
The minister hinted last week that plans have reached an advanced stage to have Nigeria sports back on stream with non-combat sports including table tennis, lawn tennis and track and field following the ease of lockdown due to COVID-19.
Speaking on the development, Egbe commended Dare for his meticulous plans so that country can safely return to sports. Read more
Drogba’s election hopes suffer serious blow (Guardian)
Didier Drogba’s hopes of becoming the next president of the Ivory Coast’s football federation has suffered a serious setback after the failure of his fellow players to support his candidacy.
Drogba, 42, is one of three candidates standing for election as president of the Ivorian Football Federation in September but is yet to win the endorsement of any of the five special interest groups needed to get onto the ballot.
He was expecting to be backed by the footballers’ union, headed by former teammate Cyrille Domoraud, but they are supporting Idriss Diallo, one of the two other candidates. Read more
UFC: Usman earned $.6m after Masvidal win (Punch)
Welterweight champion Kamrau Usman earned $640, 000 after his title defence against Jorge Masvidal in UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Usman defeated Masvidal via unanimous decision after five rounds, winning 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 on all of the judges’ cards to retain his title in his second defence.
The Nigerian Nightmare earned $600, 000 for appearing for the fight, and was handed an additional $40, 000 for the fight week incentive, while Masvidal took home a total purse of $500, 000 after the loss. Read more
African Champions League: Tunisia, Egypt ready to replace Cameroon as hosts (BBC)
Egypt and Tunisia have both said they are prepared to host the semi-finals and final of this year’s African Champions League.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) is looking to replace Cameroon who on Monday withdrew from hosting the matches due to a spike in coronavirus infections in the country.
The Tunisia Football Federation (FTF) insists it should be hosting the matches. Read more
Chiejine wants female players discouraged from going abroad for peanuts (DailyTrust)
Ann Chiejine, a former Super Falcons assistant coach, has advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to be more involved in contract agreements many Nigerian female footballers now sign abroad.
Chiejine, who appeared for the national team at three FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, said on Monday in Abuja that the contents of such contract agreements are very alarming.
“The rate at which Nigerian female footballers sign playing contracts with clubs across the world, particularly in Europe and Asia, is now alarming and needs to be checked. Read more
Pep Guardiola: Manchester City manager says club deserve an apology (BBC)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his team deserve an apology after the club successfully overturned their ban from European club competitions.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) cleared City of committing “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
On Tuesday Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho called it a “disgraceful decision”. Read more
