Obire Efe Blog

GHANA BEGINS CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN Authorities in  Ghana  have started a two-week lockdown on Monday of three cities – Accra, Tema, and Kumasi – that were identified as hotspots for the spread of coronavirus. President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the order on Friday to prevent the spread of the virus and help with being able to trace people who’ve been in contact with positive cases. It prompted a mass movement of people out of those three affected cities over the weekend. This, in turn, has raised serious concerns about the possibility of people spreading the disease in other parts of the country. Only Ghanaians providing essential services like health workers, some key government officials, restaurants and food vendors can now go out. Residents of the affected cities will also be allowed to go out to buy food. Commercial vehicles are operating but with a reduced number of passengers. Over 35,000 joint police and military personnel have been deployed to enforce the di

FAIR TO AWARD LIVERPOOL PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE IF SEASON NOT COMPLETED – ILKAY GUNDOGAN It would only be “fair” to award Liverpool the Premier League title if the season is not completed because of coronavirus, says Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. With football in England suspended until at least 30 April, Liverpool have a 25-point lead over defending champions City and are two wins from a first top-flight title in 30 years. Asked if the Reds should be given the trophy if the season is cut short, Gudogan  told German broadcaster ZDF:  “For me, that would be OK, yes.” “You have to be fair as a sportsperson,” the 29-year-old Germany international added. Premier League clubs are due to meet on 3 April, when it is almost certain the current postponement until the end of April will be extended again. That will take it past the official end of the English Football League season and towards the last round of Premier League fixtures, which was supposed to be on 17 Ma

COVID-19: NAFDAC ORDERS MANUFACTURE OF CHLOROQUINE FOR EMERGENCY STOCK The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has ordered the manufacture of Chloroquine for an emergency stock for possible clinical trial treatment of  Coronavirus (COVID-19). Chloroquine was reported to function as antiviral at both the entry and post-entry stages of 2019-nCoV infection. It has also recently been reported as a potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja. According to her, “In a very recent publication, chloroquine was reported in a press briefing by the State Council of China, indicating that chloroquine phosphate had demonstrated marked efficacy and acceptable safety in treating COVID-19 associated pneumonia in multi-center clinical trials conducted in China. “The study involved 10 hospitals in Wuhan, Jingzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai,

ISRAEL’S PM NETANYAHU ENTERS QUARANTINE AFTER AIDE TESTS POSITIVE Israeli Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu  has entered precautionary quarantine after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus, AFP quoted a statement as saying. Netanyahu’s aide was present at a parliament session last week attended by Netanyahu as well as opposition lawmakers with whom he is trying to build an emergency coalition government to help address the coronavirus crisis. Visit  obireefe.com  for more stories

BUHARI EXEMPTS BANKS, OTHERS FROM LOCKDOWN The Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have secured approval from President  Muhammadu Buhari  to exempt key players in the financial services sector from COVID- 19 movement restrictions. A statement jointly issued by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele on Monday appealed to President Buhari to enable the financial services sector particularly banks render skeletal services. President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday in his nationwide broadcast, imposed a total lockdown restricting movements in Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja. Addressing Nigerians, the President said: “based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020. “This restriction will also apply to O

SHARI’AH SUPREME COUNCIL EMULATE SANWO-OLU IN DISTRIBUTION OF ITEMS – COVID-19. THE SUPREME COUNCIL FOR SHARI’AH IN NIGERIA HAS CALLED ON GOVERNORS AND OTHER LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS TO EMULATE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT IN DISTRIBUTING FOOD AND SANITARY ITEMS TO THE POPULACE DURING THE LOCKDOWN. The Council in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Nafiu Baba Ahmed, on Sunday in Kaduna, said all the affected countries across the globe  took the measures  in spite of their higher socio-economic standard. According to the statement, “Allah has enjoined the privileged amongst us to cater for the needy, thus: “And spend something (in charity) out of the  substance which we bestowed  on you, before death should come. The Council also advised all Muslims to be law abiding as all the steps taken by the Government to  curb the pandemic , are for the betterment of the citizenry. Visit  obireefe.com  for more stories

NCDC WORKERS EVACUATED FROM BRAZZAVILLE – COVID-19. STRANDED STAFF OF THE NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL (NCDC), WHO HAD BEEN DRAFTED TO BRAZZAVILLE, THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO, TO UNDERGO A SPECIAL CAPACITY BUILDING COURSE WITH THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) HAS BEEN EVACUATED. The medical team, according to the  Nigerian Ambassador  to the Republic of Congo, Deborah Iliya, who were on a training programme to expand their knowledge of the  management of Coronavirus  had been stranded following the closure of air and land borders by Congo Brazzaville ostensibly. The ambassador, in a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend,  commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the systemic,  practical and sincere efforts  being taken to end the Coronavirus scourge Visit  obireefe.com  for more stories

FIVE SUSPECTED CASES, NEGATIVE IN BORNO STATE – COVID-19. THE BORNO STATE COMMISSIONER FOR HEALTH DR. SALISU KWAYABURA, HAS CONFIRMED THAT ALL THE FIVE SUSPECTED CASES OF COVID-19 IN THE STATE CAME OUT NEGATIVE. Kwayabura who addressed journalists Sunday evening in Maiduguri said the cases were isolated in the state Public Health and  Emergency Operation Centre,  stressing that, “the five persons willingly submitted themselves to be tested following their history of travelling to countries with highest  coronavirus cases” . He explained that, “The results from the specimen taken from the five  suspected cases  for test at the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Abuja, came back negative. According to him, “The Health and the Emergency Operation Centre are functioning at optimal level and  fully ready  to deal with any emergency in the state”. Visit  obireefe.com  for more stories

UMAHI INSPECTS ISOLATION CENTRE OVER FEARS OF CORONAVIRUS. ISOLATION CENTRE INVESTIGATED, AS GOVERNOR DAVID NWEZI UMAHI TAKES ACTION TO MINIMIZE THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 IN THE STATE. Governor David Nweze Umahi of Ebonyi State on Sunday inspected the state Isolation Centre, built by the government, to handle any  confirmed case  of the deadly  Coronavirus in the state. Inspecting the facility at the Unity Square Abakaliki, Umahi charged the state’s health officials to expedite action towards completing the remaining portions of works in the facility. The  isolation Centre comprises  several beds, Ventilators, Disinfectants, Sprayers, and hosts of other Medical equipment. Visit  obireefe.com  for more stories

CAN PRESIDENT: NIGERIANS WILL OVERCOME PANDEMIC. THE PRESIDENT, CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN), REV. SAMSON AYOKUNLE, ON SUNDAY, URGED NIGERIANS NOT TO BE AFRAID IN ORDER TO OVERCOME THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC. Ayokunle, who doubles as the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), also narrated how he escaped plane crash recently while in the United States on his way back home. The cleric made these disclosures in his online Sunday sermon yesterday, titled “Conquer Your Fear” taken from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 14 verses 22 to 33, where he charged people not to be afraid of the  coronavirus plague in order to overcome it. His words:  “Our Lord Jesus Christ walked on the raging water to show that the raging water is under His control. God rides on storms as His horses. At times whenever I was travelling by air and there was a storm, I would say, ‘Father, thank You for demonstrating your power here again! You are riding on this wind. I know Y

ABDULRAZAQ DONATES 100 PERCENT OF HIS 10 MONTHS SALARY – COVID-19. KWARA STATE GOVERNOR ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRAZAQ ON SUNDAY RALLIED SUPPORT FOR THE STATE’S CAMPAIGN TO KEEP CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) OUT OF THE STATE. The governor also announced the donation of 100 percent of his 10 months salary from May 29, 2019 to date, to his administration’s  efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “Whereas our state has no confirmed case of Coronavirus as at now, we have been taking every step necessary to ensure we keep Kwara safe. Such measures have included keeping our people at home while we ramp up investments in our capacity to cope with this global health emergency,” AbdulRazaq said in a statement issued by his chief press secretary Rafiu Ajakaiye. “This time calls for sacrifice from everyone as humanity needs all the help it can get. For this reason, I am hereby donating 100% of my monthly salary since May 29, 2019 when I was sworn in to our efforts to  prevent this virus fr

SANWO-OLU URGES RESTRICTION OF MOVEMENT FOR 14 DAYS. IN LINE WITH PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI’S ORDER ON RESTRICTION OF MOVEMENTS IN LAGOS, OGUN AND ABUJA IN A NATIONAL BROADCAST ON SUNDAY, THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNOR, BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU HAS REITERATED RESTRICTIONS OF MOVEMENT IN THE STATE IN THE NEXT 14 DAYS. The governor, in a release on Monday, signed by the commissioner for information, strategy and security, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso said as  announced by the President the restriction  is effective from 11pm, March 30th 2020 and will be on for 14 days. He noted that only people rendering essential services, such as health workers, manufacturers and distributors of health equipment and drugs, food and water companies are expected to go out. “Also allowed to move are workers in telecommunications, petroleum distribution and retailing as well as power companies and the media, among others whose jobs cannot be handled at home”, he added. While acknowledging that the restric