Author: Chief Editor

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has declared Kogi a high-risk state for refusing to acknowledge the existence of the disease. The PTF also said that the Kogi government had failed to report testing, lacked isolation centers and therefore warned Nigerians to be weary of visiting the state. It said having analysed the pandemic in the country, 22 high burdened Local Government Areas within 13 states in the country had been identified. The National Incident Manager of the PTF COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Mukhtar Muhammad, said this on Monday in Abuja, during the PTF briefing on COVID-19. Muhammad said: “In addition…

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha,  has said that COVID-19 vaccines are important for the safety of Nigerians. During a sensitisation meeting with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Mustapha said nobody is safe from being infected with COVID-19 until everyone is vaccinated. Mustapha, who is the chairman of the presidential task force on COVID-19, urged religious bodies to enlighten their members on the benefits and efficacy of vaccines against the pandemic. He said, “The COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant global public health emergency of our generation. “Humanity has been under the siege of this…

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has pledged to fund efforts to stamp out discrimination after several Premier League stars, including Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, were subjected to online abuse. Just hours after United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer repeated calls for social media platforms to tackle racist abuse, Abramovich joined the fight against internet trolls. Chelsea defender Reece James, West Brom’s Romaine Sawyers and Rashford’s team-mates Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial have also suffered online racist abuse over the past week. Abramovich is understood to have written to each member of the Chelsea men’s squad, including James, to express how “appalled” he…

The Premier League announced on Monday that seven people tested positive for coronavirus last week, continuing a downward trend of cases in the English top-flight The results — from 2,957 players and club staff — came from two rounds of testing conducted between January 25 and 31. That followed eight positives the previous week — itself a 50 percent improvement. Britain is under a third national lockdown as it battles new strains of the virus and has recorded more than 106,000 deaths — the worst toll in Europe. Britain was the first Western country to begin a vaccination campaign and…

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich confirmed the loan departures of Chris Richards and Joshua Zirkzee on Monday while naming Liverpool and Chelsea as their main rivals to sign French defender Dayot Upamecano. Speaking to Sky Sports News, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that 19-year-old Dutch forward Zirkzee was set to join Italian club Parma on loan. “He wasn’t happy at Bayern,” said Rummenigge, who also confirmed that Parma had the option to buy Zirkzee outright for 15 million euros ($18 million) should they avoid relegation this season. USA youth international Richards meanwhile joined Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim on a six-month loan deal.…

Ghana is on course to get at least 17.6 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 pandemic by the end of June, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said. In a televised speech late Sunday, he said the government is working with bilateral and multilateral partners to achieve its aim to vaccinate the entire population. “I indicated our intention to procure our first consignment of the COVID vaccines within the first half of this year,’’ Akufo-Addo said. “Much work has been done toward the realisation of this.’’ The president said the Food and Drugs Authority would use its established processes for granting emergency-use-authorisation for…

South Africa’s beleaguered ex-president Jacob Zuma vowed Monday to not appear before a judicial panel probing corruption during his nine-year tenure, defying a court order compelling him to testify. Zuma, 78, has played cat-and-mouse with the commission since it was set up in 2018 to investigate looting of state coffers during his rule. He accuses the commission of bias and has demanded that its chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, recuse himself from the anti-graft inquiry. However, Zondo has dismissed the calls, saying Zuma failed to make a case that he was being unfair. The commission “can expect no further…

The Lagos State Government on Sunday banned the gathering of more than 50 persons in an enclosed space as the state continues to battle a second wave of the pandemic. The ban was communicated in a statement by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. However, religious services were exempted from the directive, so far gathering does not exceed 50% capacity of the space. “The State Government has observed with dismay the widespread flagrant disregard and non-adherence to guidelines and protocols aimed at stemming and curbing the tide of infection,” Sanwo-Olu said. “We particularly note that some event centers have been operating their premises…

A coalition of anti-corruption groups in Europe and Nigeria has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to release the report of the panel set up to investigate the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu. In July 2020, Magu was arrested and probed over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of power. He was later suspended by the president and has since been replaced by the Director of Operations at the agency, Mr. Umar Mohammed. The panel headed by a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami had probed the allegations against…

For Nigeria to emerge clean out of the current mess it has found itself, the challenge of bad leadership must be tackled and Nigerians must once again embrace one another in love. These are the views of professor of Political Economy and management expert, Pat Utomi. Utomi, who is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria, former presidential candidate and founder of Centre for Value in Leadership and the African Democratic Congress, made the postulations in this interview with MARCEL MBAMALU You used to be one of the youngest agitators for a better Nigeria. You are now…