Coronavirus: Nigerians, Chinese Companies Count Losses [LEADERSHIP]
As the global community mobilises against the further spread of the deadly coronavirus, Nigerian and Chinese companies are counting their losses to the disease outbreak.
The virus, which first broke out in Wuhan, China, has reportedly claimed 213 lives and infected about 9,800 people, both Chinese and nationals of other countries.
LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that Nigerian companies have abandoned and also denied the importation of Chinese goods such as N95 mask, a device used for protection against the disease.
Since the virus broke out, the volume of import from China into Nigerian ports have dropped. Sources said some owners of imported Chinese products have failed to come forward to clear them.
Top officials confirmed yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos that imports from China had significantly dropped.
It was also gathered that the Chinese government had also refused the export of masks for controlling the spread of the disease to Nigeria.
FG Dismisses Corruption, Rights Violation Allegation Against PMB [LEADERSHIP]
The federal government has dismissed the allegations of corruption and human rights abuses against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The government said that accusations of corruption and violation of basic freedoms were simply borne out of “confusion” and “misrepresentation” of the situation in Nigeria.
In an interview with Tim Sebastian, DW’s Conflict Zone, yesterday, the minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the Buhari “administration, in particular, has been very sensitive to the issue of human rights.”
Mohammed, who is in London to discuss the state of the nation and the steps being taken by the government to address the concerns of international bodies and the civil society, rejected the idea that the government had “covered up for any damaging evidence against it.”
When confronted with human rights violations against the administration, the minister said that “Nigeria has been locked in a war of attrition with Boko Haram for almost a decade. And even then, the military has been very careful to ensure that as much as possible, rights are not violated.”
The minister said that there is no policy that is targeted against people’s rights in Nigeria.
Brexit: Union Jack Lowered In Brussels As Britain Quits EU [LEADERSHIP]
After 47 years of United Kingdom (UK) membership of the European Union (EU), it has finally dumped the pan-European body.
In 1973, the UK joined an organisation that aimed to bring European nations closer together.
The British people voted two years later to remain in what became the European Union (EU), but in a 2016 referendum voted to leave.
On Friday, 31st January, at 23:00 GMT, the UK made history as the first EU member state to legally leave the bloc.
Europeans from several of the remaining 27-member states have shared their thoughts about Brexit and the EU.
More than three and a half years since the EU referendum, during which the country has seen two general elections and much political wrangling, the wishes of 17.4 million Britons will be realised.
But do not expect an end to the drama.
January 31 marks a single page-turn in the Brexit odyssey and the next chapter could be just as fraught.
A transition period will run for at least 11 months, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ideal timeframe, while negotiators thrash out the future relationship between the UK and the EU.
FG Strengthens Response To Stop Importation Of Coronavirus [NATION]
- We’ll not stop Nigerians from travelling to China – Lai Mohammed
The Federal Government said on Friday it had strengthened its preparedness and action plan in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to stop the importation of coronavirus into the country.
Health Minister Osagie Ehanire, speaking at a Coronavirus Inter-ministerial Preparedness and Response Meeting with relevant key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Abuja, said as part of initial response, the ministry was actively working with port authorities to prevent the importation of the virus at ports of entry.
His Information and Culture counterpart, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said government would not stop Nigerians from travelling to China or any other country where coronavirus has manifested.
He explained that rather than impose travel ban, there would be travel advisory to help Nigerians wishing to visit China to do so without any encumbrances to their health and wellbeing.
US Restricts Issuance Of Green Card To Nigeria, Five Other Countries [NATION]
The Trump administration on Friday stopped Nigerians and nationals of five other countries from moving to the United States of America to live permanently.
Washington claimed that Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration.
Officials said immigrants from the affected countries will face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to visit the United States. Although it is not a total travel ban, unlike President Donald Trump´s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for unfairly targeting Muslims,issuance of Green card to nationals of the six countries is restricted.
Lassa Fever: Three Pregnant Women, Six Others Die [NATION]
1,200 under observation in Edo, 70 in Rivers
121 infected in Ondo
Two expectant mothers – one each in Rivers, Enugu and Adamawa states – are among the latest victims of the current Lassa fever outbreak in parts of the country.
Six other persons have also lost their lives to the killer virus in other states.
Edo State alone has placed 1200 patients under observation while 70 are under surveillance in Rivers State.
Apart from the expectant mother, Lassa fever has claimed two other lives in Rivers State.
They included a young father of two and one other, according to the Director Planning, Research and Statistics in the state Ministry of Health, Chinwendu Atata.
He told reporters in Port Harcourt that results of samples from the deceased persons showed that they died of the virus.
She appealed for calm and assured that the state has procured facilities and sufficient drugs to tackle the challenge.
The Rivers State Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), she said, “had earlier commenced pro-active effort for containment of the outbreak. So far, all hands are on the deck for facility decontamination, line-listing, presumptive prophylaxis and surveillance to ensure public health safety and security.
“In addition, the state has procured large quantities of anti-viral agents; isolation centres have been designated and are being set-up across the teaching hospitals in case of any eventuality. Rivers State Government is doing everything to contain the Lassa virus.”
Two persons, among them a pregnant woman, have been confirmed dead in Enugu State as a result of the Lassa fever outbreak
$1.09bn Malabu Oil Deal: FG Still Pursuing Cases In Italy, London — Malami [NATION]
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Friday said he did not advise President Muhammadu Buhari against the trial of those involved in the $1.09billion Malabu Oil Block Settlement Agreement.
He said under his watch, the Federal Government has been trying to bring more suspects to trial in Italy and London.
He also said a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki was not put on trial for allegedly forging the Senate rules because there was no prima facie case against Saraki.
He said he withdrew the case against ex-Governor Danjuma Goje having found out that 19 out of 21charges were struck out by the court.
He said nothing fundamental was found against Goje in the remaining two charges.
Malami made the clarifications in a statement against the backdrop of allegations that he has been frustrating anti-graft cases.
The allegations of obstructing justice were said to have accounted for the low rating of the country by the Transparency International (TI).
But Malami, in a statement through his Special Assistant, Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said he was not undermining anti-graft war.
Insecurity: Sack Security Chiefs Now, More Nigerians Tell Buhari [PUNCH]
Following renewed calls for the sacking of the security chiefs by Nigerians, including some senators and regional groups amid unabated state of insecurity in the country, Saturday PUNCH conducted online polls to gauge the feelings of ordinary Nigerians.
The polls conducted on Twitter and Facebook on Friday indicate that more Nigerians want the President, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to sack the service chiefs, describing them as “failures”.
In the Twitter poll involving 3,137 persons, 82.6 per cent of the voters (2,591 respondents) called on Buhari to sack the service chiefs while 5.3 per cent of the respondents (166) did not support the call. The third option – I don’t care – was the view of 12.1 per cent of the voters (380).
The Twitter poll opened at 11.49am and closed at 5.59pm.
On Facebook, as of the time of filing this report at 8.30pm, the poll which opened at 1.30pm had 2,916 respondents. According to the poll, 91.7 per cent of the voters (that is, 2,674 respondents) called for the sacking of the service chiefs while the remaining 8.3 per cent (242 respondents) voted that they should not be sacked.
Some senators on Wednesday called on Buhari to sack the service chiefs and appoint new ones as they deliberated on a motion on the security challenges and the need to restructure the security architecture.
The service chiefs are Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
Similarly, regional groups including Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere and Pan Niger Delta Forum, recently backed the call by the lawmakers to sack the service chiefs.
Many comments on the pages of Punch newspaper on Facebook and Twitter are also largely in support of the sacking of the service chiefs.
Why I Withdrew Goje’s N25bn Fraud Case – AGF [PUNCH]
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said he decided to withdraw the N25bn fraud case against Gombe Central lawmaker, Senator Danjuma Goje, because the case against him was weak.
The Muhammadu Buhari regime had come under fire for withdrawing the charges preferred against Goje barely three weeks after he abandoned his ambition to run for the Senate Presidency and endorse Senator Ahmed Lawan.
Transparency International had also made reference to the Goje incident when it decided to rate Nigeria low on its corruption perception index.
In a statement signed by his spokesman, Dr Umar Gwandu, the AGF said he had the constitutional right to withdraw any criminal case at any time.
Proliferation Of Security Outfits May Break Nigeria –Shehu Shagari [SUN]
Former Minister of Water Resources, Mukhtar Shehu Shagari, is a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He also served as Sokoto State Deputy Governor between 2007 and 2015. In this interview with TUNDE OMOLEHIN in Sokoto, he warned that the local security outfits springing up across the country in response to some security challenges could constitute grave threat to Nigeria’s unity and federation. “If we are not very careful with different security outfits coming up, it may later cause serious problems to the unity of the country”, he warned. He spoke on other national issues including the race for the 2023 presidency.
Recently, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar called for the reform of PDP ahead of 2023. Which area(s) do you want such reform to focus?
There is no organization that can prosper without undergoing one form of reform or another. The call of former Vice President Atiku is very important and we must yield to that call due to problems in the party. And it is only when we sit down and look inwardly to see which areas we are lagging and need reform. That is how we can move forward as a vibrant political party. We want a more transparent and organized party before the 2023 general elections, and we cannot get there without such reform.
Political groups are canvassing return of presidency to the South in 2023. Is PDP looking towards that direction?
I think PDP is a national party that has interest and supporters spread across Nigeria. Nevertheless, it is too early to talk about who gets the ticket or not. It is more of strategy talk than public talk. When the time comes, we will do the right thing as a party.
Nigerians are concerned about the security situation, which has renewed more calls for community policing. Do you see it as a way forward to solve the country’s security challenge?
Why Operation Amotekun Will Fail –Primate Ayodele [SUN]
Founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, and newly appointed United Nations Peace Ambassador, Primate Babatunde Elijah Ayodele has stated his fears over the recently launched Southwest security outfit, codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun.’ He also expressed concerns on the 2023 presidential ambition of APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even as he said Chief Bode George should not waste his time on the coming race.
After providing video evidence of where he prophesied about coronavirus earlier in the year, he added that the virus will reach the shores of the country but the government can only curb it if medical personnel are well treated. He spoke with LAWRENCE ENYOGHASU in Lagos.
What is your position on the recent killings of some Christians?
If you go through my prophecy for 2020 and before now, it is written that Christians have not seen anything, we have people who are not reliable, who are not formidable, who are not credible as Christian leaders, worst of them is our leaders in CAN, that is why I don’t join them because they are not able to see the truth, they are ‘use and dump’, they are used during elections. They are not vibrant enough to lead, you can’t do that to Muslims, so I see that the Christian leaders are not ready to accept to change, they deceive Christians, they deceive their followers. We are supposed to see them as pressure group but it is only when there are political functions they will be coming, look at the so-called CAN president, it was so unfortunate, I don’t know who put somebody like that as the CAN president. They don’t take the serious matter seriously, I don’t know why the CAN president will ridicule himself over Osinbajo’s problem. He was dabbling into politics, going and coming back to defend Osinbajo without any form of investigation.
Christian leaders don’t have one person to lead, the one leading is not right for people, there will still be more Christians to be killed, we have just started, because there are some terrorists that are to fight Christians, that is what the Lord said to me and the fight is coming from Egypt and Libya, they are already coming to Nigeria, that is why our security network is zero.
Is this a ploy to drag Christians into war?
It is not about jihad, we Christians use fire in our prayers, why can’t we fight with our faith? There are thousands of churches in this country but we can’t come together to protect ourselves. The known leaders have failed us, that is why I don’t give them respect.
I stand for peace, but there is no way to get peace without sacrifice. This is a thing our CAN leaders should know and they should have worked towards it but they are not useful, they are useless; they only go to places their pockets are being filled.
What is it about the prophecy on Buhari’s inner circle betraying him?
Buhari’s inner circle is still going to betray him because what the Lord has sent Buhari to do, he is not doing it. If you remember, I told you that corruption will fight Buhari’s government and such has happened. All these will happen because there is a sentiment, his government is not doing the right thing. Politicians have generally failed this country. The unity of this country is under threat, it is only God that can hold this country because Nigeria is about to break.
We will break as a nation before 20 years. Let us be realistic, things are difficult, no job, the economy is dwindling and no electricity.
You also said something about PDP losing and ceasing to exist if they fail to choose Saraki as flagbearer for the 2019 election?
PDP also lost it when they didn’t choose Saraki as their candidate. The prophecy didn’t fail because the repercussion is what the PDP is seeing and it will continue until God knows when. Our prophecy has standard, we document all for reference. I prophesied it about Bayelsa and PDP but they never listened. Anybody who takes God for granted will be grounded. Our government has done so and God is grounding our country.
What do you say about Mbaka and his last prophecy on Imo State?
Mbaka is not a prophet. Leave him out of what happened in Imo, he is not a prophet, he is just taking advantage.
Could that be part of what you once told me that some governors will not finish their term?
God gives spiritual support to whoever that seeks him, not prophecy. I have been saying it that Jonathan will lose the 2015 election and he did. I also said that Buhari will win second term but we would pay for it. If we are talking about prophets, let us talk about Primate Olabayo and Ositelu. Mbaka is not a prophet.
What is your view on Operation Amotekun?
It is a nice and beautiful idea. It is a good project but the cost of the management will cause another problem. They must ensure that the outfit is not turned to another terrorist group. There is a tendency of Nigeria building a terrorist group within the country and this is going to happen before the next 15 years. This includes all other security outfits in the north, if they are not managed properly they will turn to terrorist groups. They will mismanage Amotekun and corrupt the system. Amotekun is going to crack because of lack of funds for the management. They should not have started at all. They will threaten the government. Africa is going to experience a new terrorist group from Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, Benin Republic, and Nigeria. Our security network needs to be reformed and they can’t do it alone without directives from God. Prophets are part of security checkers.