Former Minister Of Education Pleads With The Federal Government To Reopen Schools
The issue of school reopening has been the trending news all over the country on all news channels, radio stations and online. The federal government who ordered the closure of schools in march due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to keep the students safe from contracting the virus but it’s four months now and students cannot take it any longer as they are impatiently waiting for federal government to reopen schools for them to return back to class. The Ex-minister of education Prof. Tunde Adeniran has urged the government to open schools so that learning can commence. He said that the ministry of education should set up an inspection panels to visit universities and assess their level of preparedness for resumption and give go ahead to any that has satisfied the requirements for reopening. In an interview with PUNCH newspaper on Sunday, he was asked about the danger of delay in school reopening and he said, “Government should make sure that measures to prevent the COVID-19 virus should be put in place in primary and secondary schools and reopen them as the school calendar is being affected. Then he went on to say that we are in the age of technology where we cannot be defeated by what is happening and we should be anticipating things. We must not put the lives of our children in danger and at the same time we cannot afford to keep them out of school totally.
Oxford University produces vaccine, WHO says It is good news after successful trial
Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergencies program Mike Ryan speaks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland. The World Health Organization on Monday applauded newly published data by researchers at Oxford University and AstraZeneca on a potential coronavirus vaccine but cautioned that it’s still early and further evidence of its effectiveness is needed. “It is good news,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies program, said at a press conference at the organization’s Geneva headquarters shortly after the data was published in The Lancet. “In generating T-cell responses and generating neutralizing antibodies, this is a positive result. But again, there is a long way to go. We now need to move into larger-scale real-world trials.” The phase one trial had more than 1,000 participants in people ages 18 to 55. The Oxford researchers said the vaccine produced antibodies and killer T-cells to combat the infection that lasted at least two months. The vaccine was also found to be well-tolerated and there were no serious adverse event. Fatigue and headache were the most commonly reported side effects, the researchers said. Other common side effects included pain at the injection site, muscle ache, chills and a fever. “The immune system has two ways of finding and attacking pathogens — antibody and T cell responses,” Oxford professor Andrew Pollard said in a release earlier in the day. “This vaccine is intended to induce both, so it can attack the virus when it’s circulating in the body, as well as attacking infected cells. We hope this means the immune system will remember the virus, so that our vaccine will protect people for an extended period.” Despite the findings and the WHO comment, share prices of AstraZeneca were down 3.8% Monday afternoon. Public health officials say there is no returning to “normal” until there is a vaccine. There are no FDA-approved drugs or vaccines for the coronavirus, which has infected more than 14 million people worldwide and killed at least 606,922 as of Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Last week, a top official from the United Nations warned of decades of tragedies if wealthy nations don’t help poorer nations fight the coronavirus. Ryan said Monday there are 23 vaccine candidates in clinical development, and until Monday, only one had produced phase one data available in a peer-reviewed journal. Once one of the vaccines are proven effective, the next challenge will be ensuring there are enough doses to distribute globally, he said. He noted “significant challenges and headwinds” to ensure the vaccines are scaled up to be supplied to as many people as possible. “That mechanism as it presently stands is not going to be able to supply a vaccine for everybody on the planet,” he said. “We’re going to have to priorities who gets what vaccine at the beginning depending on which vaccine becomes available and we’re going to have to have some policy and priorities around the best use of those vaccines.” He urged more countries to join the Covax initiative, a program intended to ensure that any effective vaccines are fairly distributed around the world. “Part of that does depend on more countries joining in that Covax initiative and the more countries that join in that initiative and share the risk and the benefits of that process, the more likely it is that vaccines can be made available to more people around the world.”
Oxford coronavirus vaccine produces strong immune response – New Study
A team of scientists at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group have taken the next step towards the discovery of a safe, effective and accessible vaccine against coronavirus. The results of the Phase I/II trial published on Monday in the scientific journal, The Lancet, indicate no early safety concerns and induces strong immune responses in both parts of the immune system. According to the University of Oxford, the vaccine provoked a T cell response within 14 days of vaccination (white blood cells that can attack cells infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus), and an antibody response within 28 days (antibodies are able to neutralise the virus so that it cannot infect cells when initially contracted). During the study participants who received the vaccine had detectable neutralising antibodies, which have been suggested by researchers as important for protection, and these responses were strongest after a booster dose, with 100% of participants’ blood having neutralising activity against the coronavirus. The next step in studying the vaccine is to confirm that it can effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The Phase I/II data for our coronavirus vaccine shows that the vaccine did not lead to any unexpected reactions and had a similar safety profile to previous vaccines of this type. The immune responses observed following vaccination are in line with what previous animal studies have shown are associated with protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, although we must continue with our rigorous clinical trial programme to confirm this in humans “We saw the strongest immune response in the 10 participants who received two doses of the vaccine, indicating that this might be a good strategy for vaccination,” Professor Pollard continues. A UK Phase I/II trial began in April testing the Oxford coronavirus vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. The team started working to develop a vaccine against the global threat that is coronavirus in January 2020 and have been working with unprecedented urgency in a race against the coronavirus. During the Phase I/II trial the vaccine has been evaluated in more than 1,000 healthy adult volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years in a randomised controlled trial. A subset of these volunteers (10 people) received two doses of the vaccine. Between April 23, 2020 and May 21, 2020, 1077 volunteers, received the vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or a placebo MenACWY vaccine. There were no serious adverse health events related to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. These encouraging results support further evaluation of this candidate vaccine in our ongoing large scale Phase III programme, that is still needed to assess the ability of the vaccine to protect people from COVID-19 The University of Oxford is working with the UK-based global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the further development, large-scale manufacture and potential distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, with plans for clinical development and production of the Oxford vaccine progressing globally. The project has been further spurred by £84 million of Government funding to help accelerate the vaccine’s development. “We are encouraged by the Phase I/II interim data showing AZD1222 was capable of generating a rapid antibody and T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2. While there is more work to be done, today’s data increases our confidence that the vaccine will work and allows us to continue our plans to manufacture the vaccine at scale for broad and equitable access around the world,” says Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals Research and Development at AstraZeneca.
A 35-year – old man, Maruf Ojo , was on Monday jailed for one month by an Osun State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ile -Ife for stealing plantain . The defendant, who stole bunches of plantain worth N 55, 000, pleaded guilty to the one count of stealing pressed against him by the police. The police prosecutor , Sunday Osanyintuyi, said the convict committed the offence on July 17, 2020, at Oke -Ora village , via Ile -Ife . Osanyintuyi explained that Ojo stole some bunches of plantain valued at N 55, 000, which belonged to one Sunday Oladipupo. According to him , the offence contravened sections 383 and 390( 9) of the Criminal Code , Laws of Osun State , 2002. Ojo ’ s counsel , Mrs Tosin Omoyeni, pleaded with the court to be lenient with him . Magistrate A . A . Adebayo , in her judgment , noted that the defendant was a first time offender .
She, therefore , sentenced him to one month in a correctional centre or an option of N 1, 000 fine.
Ismaila Isa Funtua, Buhari’s ally is dead, burial tomorrow
Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua, founding publisher of defunct Democrat Newspaper and former President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), is dead. He died of cardiac arrest Monday night in Abuja. P.M.News learnt he will be buried Tuesday in the Federal capital city according to Islamic rites. Funtua, a businessman and a close ally and in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari, was chairman of Bulet Construction, which built the Federal Secretariat in Abuja. Despite closing his newspaper, he remained committed to the print media and a defender of media freedom. He was life patron of Newspaper’s Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN). Malam Ismaila Isa was born in Funtua, Katsina State about 75 years ago. Some friends put his age at 77-78. He was a pioneer student of the Federal Training Centre Kaduna. He later trained as an administrative officer at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and as an administrator at the Manchester University in the UK. He served at the Katsina Native Authority for seven years as an Administrative Officer. Isa Funtua was also a former minister of water resources and had the national honour of Officer of the Niger(OFN).
Lawmaker Travelling To Participate In APC Governorship Primary Election Involved In Auto Crash
Favour Tomomewo, a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, was on Monday involved in a car accident while travelling to participate in the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress. Tomomewo, who represents Ilaje Constituency II, was on her way to Akure, the state capital, when the accident occurred. She is one of three members of the Ondo State House of Assembly suspended from the parliament for refusing to support the impeachment of the deputy governor, Mr Agboola Ajayi. SaharaReporters gathered that the accident occurred along the Ondo/Ore Expressway. The lawmaker together with three of her aides on the trip sustained injuries as a result of the incident. “We thank God that no life was lost but she and the other aides who were involved in the accident suffered injuries. “We had to rush them to a hospital for medical treatment because one of them was already bleeding,” an aide to the lawmaker said.
6 things Akpabio told House of Representatives Panel on NDDC
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, said quite a lot of things today, some of them startling, about the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the former managing director Joi Nunieh and allegations of looting at the agency. Here are some highlights: 1.Rep. Olubumi Tunji-Ojo did not get NNDC contract: At the investigative hearing on the alleged N40 billion irregular expenditure in the NDDC, Akpabio said that he was yet to see contract documents made to Tunji-Ojo’s company. “I am not sure if NDDC awarded contract to the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee, Rep. Olubumi Tunji-Ojo. “For me to say that, I need to see that contracts were awarded to his company; may be the contract was awarded in the area where he comes from in Ondo,” he said. Tunji-Ojo was accused of executing contracts by the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC. As a result of the allegation, Tunji-Ojo stepped aside as chairman of the committee to allow for a free and fair hearing and not to be a judge in his own case. The acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, had accused Tunji-Ojo of corrupt practices in the commission. Members of the House of Reps committee on NDDC
60 percent of NDDC contracts go to National Assembly members: After refuting the accusation that Tunji-Ojo got contracts from NDDC, Akpabio dropped another bombshell, that 60 percent of contracts by the agency go to ‘you, National Assembly members. A member of the committee took him up on his “you people” allegation and asked him to clarify. “I just told you that we have records to show that most of the contracts in the NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly,” he said.
Joi Nunieh: Akpabio said the former acting Managing Director of NDDC, Ms Joi Nunieh, Akpabio was sacked for insubordination, among other sins. He also claimed Joi does not have the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, certificate. She also did not possess an exemption letter from the NYSC. He said Joi was sacked when he received a letter from the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari that she does not have the requisite qualifications to remain as NDDC’s acting Managing Director. He explained that he wrote to the NYSC twice and was told twice that she never served and that she did not have the NYSC certificate or exemption letter.
Forensic audit of NDDC: Akpabio said that the forensic audit directed by President Muhammadu Buhari is ongoing and that the process had not been hijacked as alleged in some quarters.
NDDC Funding and Budget Control He explained that the NDDC draws its funds from two sources, the Federal Government and the oil companies. Akpabio recommended that the budgeting system for NDDC be changed so that it will reflect budget lines in the Appropriate Act. He also recommended some amendment to the NDDC Act to prevent the management from spending beyond its threshold by splitting big projects into small components. Akpabio said that management of the NDDC had spent N4.2 billion, which is beyond its threshold by splitting projects into small components of N49 million to evade the approval of the supervising minister. The minister said that no member of staff of the NDDC had been sacked under his watch, saying that even those on leave got COVID-19 allowance.
NDDC Interim Management did not spend N81.5b in five months Contrary to allegations claiming that the IMC had spent N81.5 billion between February to May, Akpabio said only N23 billion had been spent. The minister said that only three contracts had been approved since he was appointed as minister of the ministry. According to him, the contracts include the procurement of forensic auditors, purchase of official cars for NDDC and the award of emergency project on the control of COVID-19. He told the lawmakers that all contracts were approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC); except of the emergency COVID-19 project. Akpabio said that at the time of his appointment, there was no budget running and could not have compelled the then IMC to pay N10 billion for Christmas largess to all state. He said, prior to the implementation of the of the TSA account, the NDDC had over 300 accounts across commercial banks saying that with such systems, monies could get missing. What Pondei said: Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, the Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Monday, collapsed during investigative hearing while answering questions from lawmakers at the ongoing N40 billion irregular expenditures in the commission. The members had asked Pondie to explain the N642 million paid to a company known as Clear Point Communication. The lawmakers also asked the Pondie to explain the N536 million paid for Save Life Campaign in the oil rich region and to prove that there were all budgeted for in the 2019 Appropriation Act. Pondie told the lawmakers that N642 million paid to Clear Point Communication to train locals and to help locate and identify NDDC projects in the area. Pondie, however, could not confirm that the payments were budgeted for, asking the lawmakers to give him time to provide the budget. In the process, Pondie collapsed, sweating profusely and was carried out for first aid and medical attention. The hearing was then adjourned for 30 minutes to all members and guest go for tea break.
Examinations begins today in Ghana amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The former Ghana President and Presidential candidate for 2020 election, John Mahama, in a statement released today had called the candidates that would be writing this year WASSCE – heroes. He stated, “Ghana has for successive years been known and celebrated for producing the best WASSCE results in West Africa, and that is why, you, even before stepping into the examination hall, are already our heroes. Nothing can change that”. He advised them to strictly observe COVID 19 safety protocols. Nigeria is yet to announce a formal date for the commencement of WAEC exams. This is to prevent the spread of the virus among students. The Nigerian Minister of State for Education had previously hinted that talks were ongoing with Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia on postponing WAEC last Friday.
Slumped NDDC MD will not appear before panel again – Gbajabiamila
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has disclosed that the Acting Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Kemebradikumo Pondei who slumped during the ongoing investigative hearing will not appear before the committee again. The Speaker disclosed this at the resumption of the session following the adjournment due to the collapse of Mr. Pondei. He noted that the committee will adopt the written response of the MD. Gbajabiamila was responding to questions after the NDDC boss collapsed and rushed out for medical attention “There would be no need for the MD of NDDC to appear anymore since he has submitted a written response. “I wish Mr. Pondei safe and speedy recovery and I have also sent the Medical Director of the National Assembly to follow up to ascertain the condition of the MD. Thank you very much and I, therefore, hand over to the current chairman of the Committee, Mr. Thomas Ereyitomi to continue with the hearing.”
PurpleWorld 