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NIDCOM recognises US-based Nigerian doctor as ‘Diasporan of the Moment’

Oghenekevwe UCHECHUKWU
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NIDCOM recognises US-based Nigerian doctor as ‘Diasporan of the Moment’

A professor and world-leading scholar in the field of infectious disease epidemiology Ibrahim Abubakar has been named ‘the Diasporan of the Moment’ by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).

Abubakar was recently appointed as the new Dean of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College, London (UCL).

“He has contributed greatly to public health institutions, including achieving results in the area of communicable disease in the country,” NIDCOM said in a statement.

He runs a global health research programme that addresses major diseases affecting vulnerable groups, and his work focuses on the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of infections, including tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, and other common problems such as antimicrobial resistance and vaccine-preventable diseases particularly among underserved populations.

Abubakar first trained as a medical doctor at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Nigeria and later went on to bag a Master of Science degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of Cambridge and a doctoral research degree from the University of East Anglia.

He is an advisory board member of the Public Health Board of Open Society Foundation and of the editorial board of the European Respiratory Journal and BMC Medicine.

Abubakar was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020 in recognition of his research in infectious disease epidemiology, and migration and health.

South African woman gives birth to 10 babies, breaks Guinness World Record

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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South African woman gives birth to 10 babies, breaks Guinness World Record

ANOTHER African woman has broken the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole from Gauteng in South Africa delivered her decuplets (10 babies) by a caesarean section in Pretoria on Monday.

She has broken the record previously held by Malian Halima Cissé, who gave birth to nine children (nonuplets) in Morocco in May.

Sithole, 37, a retail store manager, had six-year-old twins before her new birth.

She said her conception was natural.

A US woman Nadya Suleman had, in 2009, given birth to eight babies, octuplets, (two boys and two girls) at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Bellflower, California, making her a world record holder before Cisse.

She conceived her babies with the aid of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).

The babies were nine weeks premature when she delivered them.

An Australian woman and another from Malaysia had given birth to nine babies in 1971 and 1999. None of the children survived after few days.

Sithole, the new record holder, did not believe she conceived more than a triplet months after she was pregnant.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole who gave birth to 1o children and her husband Tebogo Tsotetsi from Tembisa Township in Ekurhuleni Picture Thobile Mathonsi African News Agency ANA

Her unemployed husband Tebogo Tsotetsi could not conceal his joy as he said he “felt like one of God’s chosen children.”

 The ICIR reports that Sithole and her husband had exclusively spoken with Pretoria News, an online news medium, but urged that the platform delay the report for a cultural reason until she put to bed.

Sithole had more babies than doctors detected during scans. She was expecting eight but had seven boys and three girls.

She had the babies 29 weeks into her pregnancy.

“I am shocked by my pregnancy. It was tough at the beginning. I was sick. It was hard for me. It’s still tough, but I am used to it now. I don’t feel the pain anymore, but it’s still a bit tough. I pray for God to help me deliver all my children in a healthy condition and for me and my children to come out alive. I would be pleased about it,” she had said.

“I didn’t believe it. I doubted it. I was convinced that if it was more, it would be twins or triplets, not more than that. When the doctor told me, I took the time to believe it. Even when I saw the scans, I didn’t believe it. But, as time went by, I realised it was indeed true. I battled to sleep at night, though.

“How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive? What if they came out conjoined at the head, in the stomachs or hands? Like, what would happen? I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside. God made a miracle and my children stayed in the womb without any complications,” she had added.

Her husband said he was shocked when she learnt of the pregnancy.

“I could not believe it. I felt like one of God’s chosen children. I felt blessed to be given these kinds of blessings when many people out there need children. It’s a miracle which I appreciate. I had to do my research on whether a person could conceive eight children. It was a new thing. I knew about twins, triplets and even quadruplets.

“But after I found out that these things do happen and saw my wife’s medical records, I got even more excited. I can’t wait to have them in my arms,” Tsotetsi had said.

Pretoria News quoted the Deputy Head of the School of Medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University Dini Mawela, a professor, who said Sithole’s case was rare and usually caused by fertility treatments.

“It’s quite a unique situation. I don’t know how often it happens. It’s extremely high risk (pregnancy). It’s a highly complex and high-risk situation. The danger is that, because there is not enough space in the womb for the children, the tendency is that they will be small. What would happen is that they would take them out pre-term because there is a risk if they keep them longer in there. The babies will come out small, chances of survival compromised. But all this depends on how long she carried them for…

“Remember, when they do fertility treatment, they inject as many eggs as possible to increase the chances of conception because the assumption is that some of them would die. But they might all survive. So, I don’t know whether she conceived this naturally, which is possible, or whether this is a product of fertility treatment,” Mawela added.

She said the children would spend the next few months in the incubator because it was a ‘high risk’ pregnancy.

The Guinness World Record details the most significant births worldwide to include the most prolific mother ever (1782); heaviest birth and longest baby (1846); most consecutive girl/boy births in a family (1975); first test-tube baby (1978); most premature baby (1987); shortest female to give birth (2006); the oldest person to give birth (2006); heaviest woman to give birth (2007); most children delivered at a single birth to survive (2009), among others.

 

Worried over Lai Mohammed’s role in Twitter ban, experts demand ‘Office of ICT General of the Federation’

IHUOMA Chiedozie
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Worried over Lai Mohammed’s role in Twitter ban, experts demand ‘Office of ICT General of the Federation’

INFORMATION and communications technology experts are demanding the creation of ‘Office of ICT General of the Federation’ to oversee issues concerning the sector.

The demand followed concerns that Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed was meddling in the sector with his role in the suspension of the operations of microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, by the Nigerian government.

Mohammed had, through a statement by his media aide Segun Adeyemi, announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria on June 4, citing the alleged use of the platform for activities capable of undermining the country’s corporate existence.

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The minister also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all over-the-top (OTT) and social media operations in Nigeria.

But some ICT experts, who spoke with The ICIR on June 8, observed that the information minister lacked the qualifications and expertise to take informed decisions concerning the sector.

The ICT experts said the proposed Office of the ICT General of the Federation should oversee the harmonisation of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

An ICT expert and member of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) Chris Uwaje, in an interview with The ICIR, made a case for the establishment of the Office of the ICT General of the Federation.

Chris Uwaje
Chris Uwaje

 

ISPON is the industry professional body for indigenous software developers and practitioners in Nigeria.

Uwaje said the office should be headed by a professional who would have the same status as other top government functionaries such as the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Justice of Nigeria, and the Statistician General of Nigeria, among others.

“A critical issue is, we now have a minister of information who is delving into information technology.

“We need an ICT General of the Federation whose office will handle all issues relating to ICT, not information minister Lai Mohammed who is not a professional and as such does not understand what needs to be done in situations like this.

“The ICT General should be the chief information and communications technology officer of the federation for the ICT sector, just like we have an Auditor General of the Federation and Chief Justice of the Federation,” Uwaje said.

The ICT expert noted that issues arising from the Twitter ban had underscored the need to develop a national software policy and also build capacity in the country’s ICT sector.

He called for the establishment of ICT research centres in the country.

“ICT is research-based, so we should have ICT research centres. There is no technology without science.

“When you talk of Twitter, you are talking of software and Nigeria does not have a national software policy and we have not trained enough people that can develop software. So, we need to build a research base to develop the capacity so that when we need to fight back against big tech we will not end up losing out.”

Uwaje observed that the Nigerian government’s face-off with Twitter was a losing battle with ‘big tech’ that would end up hurting the country and its citizens.

“The issue is, we are fighting the big tech and we don’t have the infrastructure and the capacity to win.”

The Twitter ban is having a negative impact on the Nigerian economy and will end up worsening youth unemployment, Uwaje warned.

“If it becomes prolonged, it might even lead to further devaluation of the currency,” he added, noting that the Nigerian government should address outstanding issues in the ICT sector from infrastructural, policy and strategic angles.

The Nigerian government had threatened to prosecute individuals who continued to operate Twitter accounts through virtual private networks (VPNs).

Uwaje, however, wondered whether the government considered the implications of stopping foreigners in Nigeria from using Twitter to communicate with their home countries.

“We have foreigners in Nigeria who use Nigerian infrastructure to assess the internet. Will they also be banned from Twitter? If you say they should not use Twitter in Nigeria, how will their countries react?”

Reacting to the demand for creation of an Office of the ICT General of the Federation in an interview with The ICIR, a former president of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Olusola Teniola noted that information minister Mohammed and Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami were not on the same page on matters relating to ICT and social media.

“I think there is a friction between the views of the minister of information and what he intends to do with social media, and the views and direction of the minister of communication and digital economy.”

Teniola added, “It will be ideal to have a senior official that is almost like a digital czar – someone that reports directly to the President – that will oversee the transition from where we are now to the digital world so that social media, OTT, robotics, artificial intelligence and other trending emerging technologies are assimilated into the society in a manner that will bring together the government, civil society, the academia and Nigerian citizens.”

The former telecoms companies’ chief noted that the Twitter saga had highlighted the need to unify and harmonise the NBC and the NCC.

NBC is under the Ministry of Information while NCC is under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

“Like in the UK where they have the Office of Communication, which also regulates communications and broadcasting, I think it is high time we had that, so that we can have a clear strategic policy for communication and broadcasting and that will help us to know how to relate with the digital world,” Teniola said.

  • Twitter ban amounts to government shooting itself in the foot as platform has been a very effective means of communicating activities

Further reacting to the Twitter ban, Teniola said the development amounted to government shooting itself in the foot as the platform had been serving as a very effective means of publicising its activities.

The ICIR observed that the Nigerian government and its ministries, departments and agencies had been using Twitter to circulate press statements and other publications about their activities.

The instant, interactive nature of Twitter makes it a more efficient and cheaper option than traditional alternatives such as press releases and media conferences.

Should the ban be sustained, government will lose the opportunity of instant communication with about 40 million active Twitter users in Nigeria.

“The government has used Twitter to effectively communicate with Nigerians as well as global users. It has been an effective tool for the government to disseminate information and also interact instantaneously and spontaneously,” Teniola noted, adding that the social media platform had been very useful in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

“Government should engage Twitter to resolve issues surrounding this deleted tweet because we wouldn’t want a situation where the government has shot itself in the foot but is also preventing Nigerians from accessing and utilising the benefits of the platform, which is very useful not just for socio-economic reasons but also for economic diversification,” Teniola further observed.

 

Olusola Teniola
Olusola Teniola

 

The suspension of Twitter is already impacting negatively on the economy as small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), which rely heavily on the platform, have had their operations disrupted.

Noting that many SMEs use Twitter to market products and services and also interact with a wider audience, Teniola said the ban was threatening the survival of small businesses contributing a lot in terms of tax to government.

“At the moment, the ban represents a $1.2 billion risk and the risk gets bigger the longer this drags on,” he said.

  • Telecoms subscribers appeal to government to lift Twitter ban

The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria, an umbrella body of customers of telecommunications companies, has pleaded with the Nigerian government to lift the suspension.

President of the association Deolu Ogunbanjo told The ICIR that the ban was taking a huge toll on the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.

“Many ordinary Nigerians are relying on digital platforms, especially Twitter, to run their businesses – they operate on the social media from home because they don’t have money to rent offices.

“This category of Nigerians are now at risk of shutting down their businesses and this will have a severe negative impact on the economy.”

Ogunbanjo described the Twitter ban as a bad omen for digital Nigeria.

“We are appealing to government to please reverse the ban,” he said, noting that the matter between the Nigerian government and Twitter had been balanced after Twitter followed up on the removal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet by also deleting that of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

France President Macron slapped by protester in public

Vincent Ufuoma
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France President Macron slapped by protester in public

FRANCE President Emmanuel Macron was slapped by a protester while he was on a visit to Tain L’Hermitage, a town in the Southern part of the country.

In a viral video posted on social media, a man wearing a face mask was seen exchanging words with Macron while gripping his arm. He hit the president on his left cheek, while shouting, ‘A Bas La Macronie,’ which meant, ‘down with Macronia.’

It took a swift response from Macron’s security details to bring the situation under control.

Macron was said to be in the area to meet with restaurant owners, as part of an effort to ease the country’s  COVID-19 restrictions this week.

“A man indeed tried to hit the president. We have no further comment at that stage,” a spokesman for the French presidency said in a message to reporters.

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“The discussions with the crowd and the handshaking went on. The trip goes on,” he said. Two people were arrested, Agence France-Presse reported, citing local authorities.

The police said they arrested two men in connection with the incident.

How Gates’ uninformed COVID-19 projection spiked misinformation

Damilola OJETUNDE
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How Gates’ uninformed COVID-19 projection spiked misinformation

On February 25, 2020, Bill Gates, a co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), claimed that Africa could be the worse hit by COVID-19.

His now ex-wife, Melinda Gates, also a co-chair at BMGF, in a CNN interview, said the developing world would be hard-hit. She noted that she foresaw bodies lying around in the streets of African countries.

More than one year after the pandemic hit the African continent, these claims and postulations are yet to see the light of the day.

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A Public Health Expert and Executive Director of Project Pink BlueRuncie Chidebe said the postulation was made without any data and scientific backing.

He was shocked as a public health researcher and asked the evidence behind the data.

“It is easier to make projection with incidents and mortality when you have issues like cancer, a non-communicable disease, or infectious disease that you have a background data for. It is not accurate to hurriedly assume public health about the COVID-19 pandemic that scientists and researchers are still trying to find the trends. It is an epidemiological movement.”

However, he said Africa’s weak healthcare system was responsible for the quick projections and postulations of those who made them.

Away from the weak healthcare system in Africa, Chidebe said Gates did not consider other factors such as DNA, environment (weather), and aging because most African countries had a youthful population, and comorbidity was very low in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

Gates’ projection and waves of misinformation

Some public health experts have linked the uninformed postulation by Gates to numerous misinformation that went viral on different social media platforms.

“Because Melinda Gates made the statement in an interview and not in an academic journal that could have been scrutinised using a scientific approach, people will have different ways of interpreting and responding to the projection,” Chidebe said.

Public health practitioner at Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, Ezeude Charles said: “As much as we are aware that the healthcare system in Africa is very weak, it will be so hasty to postulate that a particular number of deaths will occur in Africa. Covid-19 is a novel disease, and there was no data to show for cases and morbidity to have made inferences as at the time they made their projections.”

Ezeude also said it was difficult for him as a public health practitioner to believe the claims of Gates because they were not published in any public health journal or paper. “Researchers and scientists would have questioned the methodology for making that projection if it was in a journal, so that gave birth to different persons bringing up different theories against the covid-19 vaccines and not believing in its efficacy,” he said.

Prominent among the misinformation was the depopulation of Africa claim that was credited to Bill Gates.

Some Twitter users shared a 2019 video by Robert O. Young, a US naturopathic practitioner in January 2021.

Specifically, @KhotsoSefatsa’s tweet read, “Mandating vaccines is part of depopulation plan. Check Dr Robert O. Young testimony https://youtu.be*** #BillGates #CovidVaccine.”

Another tweet by @makumbi_k2 read, “Everyone who is against the vaccines which Bill Gates and his puppet Cyril Ramaphosa want to impose on us, please like and retweet this Tweet so that they know what they want to do to us #BillGates #VaccineforSouthAfrica.”

However, checks by The ICIR revealed that Gates did not make the claim alleged by Robert O. Young anywhere.

The Microsoft founder in the 29-minute, 32-second video discussed ways the world could reduce carbon emissions and suggested how global population growth would be reduced through improved healthcare and vaccinations. He was not speaking on reducing population, as alleged by Young in the video.

Yahaya Bello

On numerous occasions, Governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello made bogus claims about the coronavirus outbreak and lately discouraged vaccine use in the country.

In a widely circulated video, the governor was seen to be discouraging supporters present in the gathering from taking vaccines.

The governor, who did not provide any evidence to back up the claim made against the COVID-19 vaccine, said: “They want to use the COVID-19 vaccines to introduce the disease that will kill you and us. God forbid!”

Dino Melaye

Another misinformation came from Dino Melaye, a former senator and a member of the 8th Nigerian National Assembly who represented Kogi West Senatorial district.

Melaye had advised Nigerians and Africans not to accept the use of any COVID-19 vaccine.

“For 100 years now, we could not find a vaccine for cancer. For over 40 years, we are yet to find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS; for over another 100 years, research is still going on to find a vaccine for diabetes. How is it possible on earth, is it possible that in one year, you find a vaccine for COVID-19?”

“I am calling on African leaders not to allow Africans to be used as guinea pigs by developed nations for their satanic reasons,” he said in the video.

“We say no to the application of any vaccine in Africa. We call on the minister of health of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to immediately discontinue the interaction with those who want to give us vaccine.”

Melaye also claimed, without evidence, that some people who took that vaccine died within three days, thereby supporting the already debunked claim of Robert O. Young on the depopulation of Africa.

Femi Fani-Kayode

Nigeria’s former aviation minister Fani-Kayode,, also, on May 1, 2020, in a tweet, linked the House of Representatives controversial Infectious Diseases Bill to  Gates.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila had, in May 2020, introduced a bill that sought to replace the Quarantine Act with a Control of Infectious Disease Act.

The contention surrounding the bill was regarding its provisions and the speedy passage it got from the House of Representatives.

In a series of tweets on the bill, Fani-Kayode alleged that the bill was a means of depopulating Africa, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He said, “I told you that the demons called Bill & Melinda Gates want to kill millions with their evil vaccine. Now a law is secretly being passed in your country that will make it compulsory for you to take a vaccine that will kill you like flies. Am I still just a conspiracy theorist?”

“Only a fool will believe that a man who believes in reducing the world’s population will produce a vaccine that will save the world. Then you say the vaccine is COMPULSORY? If Bill wants to reduce the population of the world let him start with his family and leave Africa alone,” he claimed.

However, on March 30, Fani-Kayode took COVID-19 vaccine after describing it as satanic.

A Nigerian journalist based in Kampala, Uganda, Caleb Okereke, said there was a considerable difference between an informed fear and an uninformed assumption, much of which the conversation surrounding the potential impact of COVID-19 on Africa so far seemed to have stemmed from.

Bill and Melinda Gates are not the only ones who predicted total doom in Africa. A report released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in April 2020, stated: “Anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19.”

The prediction of millions of COVID-19 deaths in Africa may be difficult to reconcile with the present growth rate of confirmed cases and the fatalities arising from these cases. As of June 4, 2021, data from the ICIR COVID-19 Dashboard showed that 4,910,833 cases had been confirmed since the outbreak of the pandemic in Africa, with 131,638 deaths.

To put this into perspective, based on the lowest projection from UNECA and at the present growth rate of confirmed cases, Africa would need to record at least 11.1 million confirmed cases of the virus to be able to reach 300,000 deaths, and 122.1 million people will have to be infected on the continent for the UNECA projected 3.3 million deaths to come to reality.

Bill Gates had later said the world did not have enough data yet to understand why the numbers of COVID-19 pandemic deaths in Africa were not high as first predicted. He, however, said he was happy to have been wrong about his projection.

 

 

This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme in partnership with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) and the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), and Africa Uncensored.

Fact-checking claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccine causes genetic mutation 

Lukman ABOLADE
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Fact-checking claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccine causes genetic mutation 

ON January 28, 2020, a social media user, identified as Vasco da Gama @ @Vascoda45821757, while responding to a tweet by the Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros, said that mRNA COVID-19 vaccine causes genetic mutation.

The tweet read, “Please clarify this matter. ‘For the first time in the history of vaccination, the so-called last generation mRNA vaccines intervene directly in the genetic material of the patient and therefore alter the individual genetic material which represents the genetic manipulation…”

Although there was no direct response to the tweet, seven other Twitter accounts liked the comment.

Screenshot of post seeking answer to questions concerning Genetic Mutation
Screenshot of post seeking answer to questions concerning Genetic Mutation

This was not an isolated case. Another social media user, who tweets at BibiDr.Fatma-Zahara Mzalendo Mkweli @FatmaMkweli, did a thread in which part of it contained the exact statement made in the other tweet earlier mentioned.

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The account operated by @FatmaMkweli has more than 14,000 followers, most of who are from Tanzania in Africa.

The tweet generated seven retweets and 12 likes. The claim was also found on some other posts on Twitter by different persons.

 

The false claim began to spread in Nigeria as it was shared in a WhatsApp group that had more than 200 members.

Verifications by this reporter showed that the claims were found on false beliefs and false attributions.

Screenshot from whatsapp
Screenshot from whatsapp

Verification, tracking genesis of the claim

While investigating this claim and the origin, this reporter found out that it had been shared across several social media platforms, including WhatsApp groups in Nigeria.

It has also been in circulation across Facebook and Twitter as well as published on blogs.

Using the Google Advance Search, this reporter checked across various platforms that the claim had been published.

This reporter discovered that the claim was first published on a website called ‘The Platform.’

Also with the use of Twitter Advance Search, the reporter found out that the claims were being shared, liked and commented on.

Searches revealed that the domain of the website was registered in Ireland.

Using the Who.is, an OSINT tool that reveals the details of other websites, this reporter found that the website was registered on January 27, 2020, after the COVID-19 had hit the world.

Also, the About Us section of the website was empty, putting questions on the credibility of the website.

The original article of the misinformation was attributed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr and first published online on 29 October 2020.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a lawyer, environmentalist and anti-vaccine campaigner.  He is also the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former US president John F. Kennedy.

He is the founder of Children’s Health Defense, a non-profit organisation that says its mission is to end childhood health epidemics.

When this reporter contacted Children’s Health Defense via email, the claim was denied, saying it did not originate from them.

“This is absolutely NOT a quote by RFK Jr. He doesn’t have ‘patients,’ he’s an attorney.

“Children’s Health Defense and RFK Jr. DO NOT advise people medically on any issue. It is up to the individual to make their own decision and to be allowed to hear both the risks and benefits of any medical procedure they are considering,” the Children’s Health Defense wrote in response to an email sent by this reporter.

Can mRNA vaccines alter human DNAs?

An Associate Professor of Genetics in the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, Khalid Olajide Adekoya, who spoke with this reporter via a telephone conversation about the claim, said the mRNA vaccine would not cause genetic mutation.

Adekoya said there had not been any fact, justification or experiment that could establish the claim.

He noted that the mRNA vaccines were being administered, and there had not been a reported case of genetic mutation.

“The DNA of the recipient is already ‘stood up’ in the cell and every human body, the number of cells that are there, its figure rate is 10 raised to power 11. They are not the same cell that can easily be changed, that when the gene changes affects another organ directly like that. Most of this information that is displayed, whether it is political or not, they are thinking the vaccine is likely to change the gene of the individual, there is no fact about it,” Adekoya said.

Health organisations’ position

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also said that vaccines produced through mRNA technology do not alter DNA.

The WHO explained that the mRNA vaccines were not live virus vaccines and would not interfere with human DNA.

The WHO Director of Immunisation vaccines and Biologicals Kate O’Brien explained that the process of mRNA helped the immune system recognise the virus and build protein to protect the body from it.

“The vaccine provides the instructions to our own immune system in order to produce the small tiny part that just a very small component of the viral particle against which the immune system will react. That is what these mRNA vaccines are,” O’Brien said.

Also, the  Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the mRNA vaccine would not enter the nucleus of the cell – which is where the DNA (genetic material) is kept.

The Center also noted that the human body cell broke down and got rid of the mRNA soon after it had finished using the instructions.

There are currently two vaccines that are produced through mRNA technology -Moderna and Pfizer.

Also, since administering the vaccine, there has not been a reported case of genetic mutation.

Hence, the claims made in these WhatsApp messages and Twitter posts in Nigeria have been found to be false as there is no evidence to prove that COVID-19 vaccines produced with mRNA technology could change the genetic component of an individual.

This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. For more information on ARN, please visit the ARN site.

Bandits now desire peace -Gumi

Ijeoma OPARA
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Bandits now desire peace -Gumi

CONTROVERSIAL Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi said on Tuesday that bandits were tired of terrorising Nigerians, noting that they were now ready to embrace peace.

In an interview with Daily Post, the cleric stated that the bandits were tired and ready to lay down their arms only if they got genuine partnership with the Nigerian government.

“If they have a genuine partner, they are ready to stop it. They are tired and want peace,” he said.

Gumi stated that the terrorists were pushed into terrorism by circumstances but were now tired and desired peace.

“As regards their ongoing activities, you realise that even when soldiers are fighting and a ceasefire is declared, it takes a long time before they stop fighting. Generally, they are ready for peace. We have gathered their representatives, discussed with them and they said they are ready but need a genuine partner. Politics is the cause of this issue,” he said.

The rising spate of terrorism in Nigeria has led to mass internal displacements in Nigeria, especially within the northern part of the country.

Most attacks within the region have targeted public places, including markets, malls, government buildings and international organisations.

Educational institutions have not been left out as there have been destruction of schools, leading to declines in school enrolment and attendance within the affected areas.

Reps investigate Twitter ban, summon Lai Mohammed

Vincent Ufuoma
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Reps investigate Twitter ban, summon Lai Mohammed

THE House of Representatives has mandated its committees on communications, justice, information and culture, and national security and intelligence to investigate suspension of Twitter by the presidency.

Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila, who gave the order during plenary on Tuesday, also directed the committees to summon Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed for questioning.

Gbajabiamila, while noting that the lower chamber of the National Assembly recognised the role the micro-blogging site played both in communication and trade, lamented that the House had been inundated with comments about the decision, requests for intervention and criticism.

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Kumuyi joins Adeboye to defy Nigerian government’s Twitter ban

“The House of Representatives recognises that Twitter, like other social media networks, is an important tool for communication and commerce in Nigeria, particularly amongst the younger generation who have used these networks for enterprise and innovation with great success,” he said.

“It is in service of our obligations under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and our moral duty to the Nigerian people, that the leadership of the House has decided to mandate the House Committees on Communication, Justice, Information and Culture, and National Security and Intelligence to immediately commence an investigation to determine the circumstances of the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria, and the legal authority for the ban on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.

“The Committees are additionally mandated to invite the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to brief the House of Representatives on the objectives, intent, and duration of the suspension on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria, and to report to the House within ten days.”

He urged the committees to act with speed and sound judgment “to address this issue that has animated our national conversations over the last few days.”

Lai Mohammed had announced the ban in a statement on Friday shortly after Twitter deleted a controversial and violent tweet by President Buhari.

The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced, in a statement on Saturday, that it had complied with the government directives. However, millions of Nigerians have continued to use the platform through Virtual Private Networks (VPN).

The Nigerian government has, however, said it will lift the ban if only the platform can be used responsibly.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama gave the condition in a meeting with envoys of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union in Nigeria on Monday.

Onyeama noted that the micro-blogging platform was not taken down because it was threatening the country, but the ban was meant to stop Twitter from being used for criminal activities.

The minister stressed that while the government would accommodate criticisms and diverse opinions, it would not sit back and watch social media become a tool for destabilising the country.

Ezeonu, Grand Prairie’s youngest councillor, wants more youths in public offices

Oghenekevwe UCHECHUKWU
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Ezeonu, Grand Prairie’s youngest councillor, wants more youths in public offices

A Nigerian-American Junior Steve Ezeonu, who became the youngest person to win the Grand Prairie City Council election in Texas, the United States at the age of 22, has urged more young people to be active in public office.

Ezeonu won the city’s council with 3,903 (51 per cent) votes, while his closest rival Greg Giessner garnered 3,720 (49 per cent) votes in a keenly contested runoff election that held on June 5.

“We do need young people willing to take that step and be active in public office. Diverse representation is important.  I believe God calls people to improve their communities. I want to make other people’s lives better,” Ezeonu said.

He  hopes to help improve some of the lower-income areas of Grand Prairie during his time on city council, as he believes he can provide service as a source of inspiration to many youths.

“I think that especially for the youth to see someone that looks like them and has a similar background to them can make a huge impact. If you want to be it, you have to see it first,” Ezeonu said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa has congratulated the new councillor for his victory at the polls.

In a statement issued by the Head of Media and Public Relations of NIDCOM Abdur-Rahman Balogun, she described his victory as very well-deserved, saying that “Ezeonu has proven that hard work and dedication to duty pays.”

The NIDCOM boss advised Ezeonu to fulfill all his electoral promises to the electorate as he had a lot of opportunities ahead of him in future, and encouraged Nigerians to strive for excellence in all their pursuits and continue to demonstrate the spirit of resilience.

Sale of Delta Line: We were most qualified among bidders, says GTDC

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Sale of Delta Line: We were most qualified among bidders, says GTDC

By Isaac MARKSON

THE management of God is Good Development Transport Company (GDTC) has refuted claims that it was unduly favoured in the sale of Delta State-owned transport company, Delta Line, in 2018. Investigations by this reporter had revealed the details of the controversial sale of the transport company to Governor Okowa’s crony, Chidi Ajaere.

GTDC’s management, who spoke with our reporter through its media consultant Chinedu Chidi, said the company won the bid based on merit. He also denied the allegation that he supported Governor Okowa with Mercedes-Benz campaign buses. He noted that there was no record of such in the company’s dairy, noting that Okowa must have hired some of the company’s fleet for his campaign, if any.

Chidi argued that Delta Line was functioning effectively despite inheriting over N1 billion liabilities from previous management.

When asked if GDTC had paid the last tranche of N60 million from the sale of the Delta Line to Delta State Ministry of Finance (MOFI), Chidi noted that the company had fulfilled all of its obligations to Delta State.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Delta State government and GTDC revealed that the MOU had no time frame for the complete payment – the same for the concession.

READ ALSO: Shady deal that marred sale of Delta Line

Read full statement below

OUR ACQUISITION OF 60% STAKE IN DELTA LINE TRANSPARENT—GTDC

Dear Editor,

Following the publication on the 22nd of May, 2021 titled ‘Shady Deal that Marred the Sale of Delta Line’, we would like to thank you for granting us the opportunity to present some facts which may not have been at your disposal at the time of publishing the story.

Kindly note the following responses to some specific extracts from the publication.

  1. Claim that the state-owned transport company, ‘Delta Line was sold to a crony’

-Mr Chidi Ajaere, mentioned in the publication as having being unduly favoured, is, perhaps, one of Nigeria’s best known young tech entrepreneurs renowned for leading a team that has managed GIGMobility, a road transport company, into one of Africa’s most admired and profitable organizations.

The emergence of GIG Logistics as Africa’s fastest-growing e-commerce logistics company is also credited to him and his team.

Mr Ajaere’s competences, rather than any other perceived issue, were critical in influencing GTDC’s successful bid for Delta Line.

It is, therefore, not correct to allege that the controlling shares of Delta Line were sold to GTDC because of any special relationship between the authorities in Delta State and the said Mr Ajaere.

GTDC holds that its competencies, technical expertise and proven results, above any other claims, placed its bid ahead of competition.

  1. Claim of lack of transparency

GTDC’s bid for Delta Line could not have been more transparent as there were newspaper advertisements inviting bids for a management takeover of the moribund organization. It was this public call that encouraged a formal bid that promised a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The invitations to tender were published in leading national dailies in 2017.

As part of its bid process, GTDC had secured the services of one of world’s leading consulting firms, Ernst & Young (EY) to conduct due diligence on Delta Line, with a clear mandate to evaluate their assets and liabilities.

Findings by Ernst and Young showed, among others, that:

  • Over 90% of the vehicles in the company’s fleet were faulty and beyond repairs

  • The company’s liabilities were close to a billion Naira

  • Of the purported 38 terminals, only 3 were owned by the company while the others were rented

  • Over 80% of the rented terminals had long overdue payments

EY, thereafter, estimated the value of the entire company (100%) at between N37.6 to N38.6million.

After months of intense negotiations and rigorous defense, GTDC was adjudged winner in 2018 after Delta State accepted its offer bid of N160 million for 60% shares of the company.

3, Claim that Delta Line may have been undervalued at the time of acquisition

GTDC wishes to note that company acquisition is a strategic investment decision driven largely by expected Returns on Investment (ROI), and devoid of sentiments.

We cannot join issues with claims made by a supposed NLC affiliate to the effect that they made a bid of N2 billion for the acquisition of stakes in the crisis-ridden Delta Line. GTDC submitted itself to all the parameters set by government, and would have resisted any temptation to play Santa Claus to the detriment of its long term goal of creating and returning value to its stakeholders.

  1. Claims of minimal exposure to creditors

At the conduct of due diligence in 2017, it was discovered that the creditors list spoke very little of the huge exposures awaiting would-be investors.

Further probes were to reveal that the claim to a mere N439 million outstanding debts was a smokescreen by the management. The following hidden facts were thrown up by an audit exercise:

  • The company had almost N400 Million of unpaid taxes in its books, and had had the gates of its corporate head office locked for at least 6 months by the FIRS.

  • Bank loans were understated as Zenith Bank loans alone were over N50 million based on evidence provided by the bank.

  • The company had multiple outstanding litigations which would ultimately result in financial liabilities for the company.

The consulting firm of EY also made the following discoveries:

  • Many vendors had been left out of the creditors list but had proof that they were being owed.

  • Third party bus operators whose monies were collected directly by Delta Line had not been paid for prolonged periods of time.

All of the above significantly affected the company’s valuation as done by EY.

  1. Claims that some staff were thrown into the labour market

It was anticipated that a rebuilding attempt at Delta Line would come with some inconveniences. For a company with over 12 months unpaid salaries, and almost a billion Naira in liabilities (excluding outstanding staff salaries and benefits), a re-engineering of its operations for sustainability was a natural course of action.

To ensure the company had a fighting chance of survival, some staff were let go but not without their complete severance packages which were fully paid before their eventual exit.

The re-engineering efforts since 2018 have seen GTDC acquire over 100 buses, with some unprofitable terminals shut to make way for new ones in strategic locations across the country.

With the company’s new direction facilitated mostly by technology, customer experience has received a significant boost. A new but experienced team is also taking root, both in numbers and capacity.

GTDC’s intervention has witnessed the rise of a new work culture built on quality service delivery as evidenced in a happier workforce now assured of steady salaries and other motivational rewards. Suffice that growth so far has been without any form of government subsidies

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