COVID-19: EKITI STATE CASE UPDATE

EKITI COVID-19 UPDATE

 As at 3:00 pm on May 30, there are two (2) active cases of #COVID19 in Ekiti State. 

Discharged: 16

Active: 2

Deaths: 2

Click here for live updates: www.covid19.ekitistate.gov.ng

#CoronaUpdate

Buhari taking Nigeria to the next level of irreversible change- Lai Muhammed

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says President Muhammadu Buhari is taking the country to the next level of irreversible change.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the first anniversary of the second term of Buhari on Thursday, Mohammed said the president got reelected because of his performance.

The minister said under Buhari’s leadership, Nigeria is going to join the comity of great countries.

“President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on the strength of his promise of change. Nigerians are satisfied with his performance, especially in the cardinal areas of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and revamping the economy, overwhelmingly re-elected the President in 2019,” he said.

“One year later, the president is taking Nigeria to the Next Level of irreversible change for the better.

“With the bold and courageous leadership provided by President Buhari, Nigeria is marching surely and steadily to join the comity of great nations. Change is never easy, and the birth of a new nation comes with pain.

“We thank Nigerians for their support and perseverance, and hereby reassure them of the administration’s unrelenting commitment to making life more meaningful for the citizenry.”

Mohammed said the decision to expend a $1.2 billion loan on agriculture would revolutionise the sector.

“I want to inform Nigerians that the stage is set for the implementation of the greatest agricultural revolution in the history of Nigeria,” he said.

The minister said before the country recorded its first COVID-19 case, the federal government had taken measures to protect Nigerians.

“One month before the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in Nigeria, the Federal Government had already announced it was strengthening surveillance at the nation’s gateway international airports to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.

“By 31 January 2020, the Federal Government had set up a Coronavirus Preparedness Group to mitigate the impact of the virus if it eventually spreads to the country.

“To put things in perspective, Nigeria’s current power generation capacity is more than 13,000 megawatts, but only an average of 3,400
megawatts reliably reach consumers. In essence, the current amount of power that reaches consumers will more than double by the end of next year.” (The Cable)

Court sentences Pastor to death for murder

AN Ondo State High Court has sentenced one Pastor Kolawole Samson to death by hanging for the murder of Ayo Olaniyi in Okeigbo council area of the state four years ago. 

Delivering judgement, the trial judge, Justice Ademola Bola held that Pastor Kolawole was guilty of inflicting injury on the deceased’s head with a cutlass at Gberinlegi Village, via Okeigbo, which later led to his death at the hospital.

The state Attorney General and Justice Commissioner represented by two government counsel Mr Olusegun Akeredolu and Mrs Omotola Ologun, had told the court that the accused had on 3rd of March, 2016, inflicted deep cut injury on the head of the deceased.

They said that the injury was inflicted on him when he went to hunt for frogs with three other friends at a fish pond owned by the convict. According to them the offence was contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Laws of Ondo State (2006).

The accused person claimed he was not guilty of the offence. However, in his judgement yesterday, Justice Ademola Bola ruled that all evidence adduced before the court during the trial in the last four years, showed that the accused was guilty of killing the deceased person.

Justice Bola thereafter ruled that Samson Kolawole should die by hanging

Meanwhile, in another development, two men have been sentenced to seven days community service by an Akure Magistrate court for violating the state government order on COVID-19 pandemic. 

 They are Shadrach Adi 35, and Bidemi Samuel, 26.

The accused persons were arraigned on one count charge of disobeying the order of the state government.

Police prosecutor, S. Kolawole said they committed the offence on May 27 at about 9: 50pm at Ayede Ogbese.

They both pleaded guilty and the trial Magistrate, O. Bukola sentenced them to two hours community service per day for seven days to serve as deterrence to others in the state.

 Five others charged with them who pleaded not guilty were granted bail in the sum of N50,000 each with one surety in like sum. The matter was adjourned till June 5, this year for hearing. (Vanguard)

NCDC Announces 387 New cases, 254 Cases in Lagos.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 387 new cases in Nigeria, bringing the total number of cases to 9302.

NCDC in a tweet on Friday night confirmed that Lagos accounts for 254 cases, 

FCT-29

Jigawa-24

Edo-22

Oyo-15

Rivers-14

Kaduna-11

Borno-6

Kano-3

Plateau-2

Yobe-2

Gombe-2

Bauchi-2

Ondo-1

It said: “As at 11:46 pm, 29th May, there are 9302 confirmed cases in Nigeria. 

Meanwhile, 2697 patients have now been discharged from various treatment centres, while 261 patients have died of the disease.”

FG to pay jobless youths N20,000 monthly to sweep markets, clear drainages

In a bid to curb the high rate of unemployment in the country, the Federal Government has rolled out a scheme which will see unemployed youths in rural areas earning N20 ,000 per month , The PUNCH reports.

The youths will be engaged in the clearing of drainages , sweeping markets , road maintenance , traffic control, and cleaning of public infrastructures like health centres and schools.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN ), said this at a news conference on Thursday.

Keyamo said the scheme targeted 1 ,000 youths each from the 774 local governments across the country.

The minister said the programme is one of the biggest social intervention schemes to be carried out within a short period of time by any government in the history of Nigeria.

The PUNCH reports that the scheme , known as the Special Public Works Programme in the Rural Areas , is domiciled in the National Directorate of Employment for implementation and is expected to take off in October.

The minister ’s speech read in part , “ The pilot programme earlier approved by Mr . President was designed to mitigate lack of job opportunities in the rural areas through a short - term engagement of 1 ,000 unemployed persons per local government area for a period of three months.

“ It is a dry season/ off - season transient job programme and was originally designed for the rehabilitation /maintenance of public and social infrastructure. Participants were to be paid an allowance of N 20,000 monthly and were to be recruited largely from the pool of unskilled persons resident in those rural areas.

“ This pilot scheme was approved to be implemented in five local government areas in eight states namely : Adamawa , Borno, Ebonyi , Edo, Ekiti , Jigawa , Katsina and Kwara . Beneficiaries are engaged in: drainage digging and clearance, irrigation canals clearance, rural feeder road maintenance , maintenance of the Great Green Wall nurseries and orchards in Borno, Jigawa and Katsina states ; traffic control , street cleaning , cleaning of public infrastructure like health centres , schools and the likes. A total of 40 ,000 direct transient jobs were expected to be created in the eight pilot states.”

Keyamo said the Special Public Works in the Rural Areas is an employment- intensive technique acquired and adapted by the National Directorate of Employment from one of the capacity - building collaborations with the International Labour Organisation in the late 1980 s to the middle of the 1990 ’s.

The minister said for the purpose of transparency and accountability in the process, the President has approved the use of select banks to register and collate data of the beneficiaries.

“ The banks will open accounts for all beneficiaries and in the process obtain Bank Verification Numbers for those without accounts.

“ All payments would be made from the Central Bank of Nigeria directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries ,” he added.

(The Punch)

AFDB: Obasanjo hits US over call for Adesina’s probe

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has blasted the United States of America for insisting on “independent investigation” into allegations of favouritism and others against President of African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina.

The US Treasury Secretary has called for investigation into the 16 allegations after Adesina, who is seeking reelection, was cleared by the Ethics Committee of the Board of Director and Chairman of the Board of the Governors of the bank.

The former President lamented: “The US treasury secretary disparaged the bank and ridiculed the entire governance system of the bank which has been in place since 1964.

“This is unprecedented in the annals of the African Development Bank Group.

“If we do not rise up and defend the African Development Bank, this might mean the end of the African Development Bank, as its governance will be hijacked away from Africa.”

He called for solidarity in the fight to preserve the independence of the bank, stating the former African leaders should issue a joint statement “to support the laid down procedures embarked upon to evaluate the allegations and recommend that the Board of Governors as well as the Ethics Committee of the Bank should firmly stand by their process and its outcome.”

Obasanjo added it is “critical” to emphasise the need for the AfDB to remain an “African-focused development bank rather than one which serves interests outside Africa. (The Nation)