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NNPC announces subsidy removal on petroleum products

Amos ABBA
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NNPC announces subsidy removal on petroleum products

ON Monday, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, revealed that Nigeria would no longer pay subsidy on petrol following the fall in global oil price.

This development was announced in a statement by NNPC’s spokesperson Kennie Obateru, who spoke on behalf of Kyari at a television programme in Abuja.

“There is no subsidy and it is zero forever, going forward there will be no resort to either subsidy or under-recovery of any nature.

“NNPC will play in the marketplace, it will just be another marketer in the space. But we will be there for the country to sustain the security of supply at market price,” he said.

He said that NNPC was a transparent organisation, saying the National Oil Company was probably the only company in the world that published its monthly financial and operations reports.

During the interview, he said as of  April 5, Nigeria produced 2.3 million barrels of crude oil, including condensates stating the plan was for the country to ramp up production to 3 million barrels per day in the nearest future.

He admitted that though the COVID-19 pandemic had ground demand and supply fundamentals, all Nigeria’s export terminals were still in operations.

“The key issue in the crude oil business is market fundamentals of demand and supply. I believe COVID-19 will subside and countries will come back to life.

“I don’t see the oil price going below the $20 we witnessed last week. I’m certain, all things being equal, the oil price will bounce back,” he added. The NNPC’s helmsman assured Nigerians of ample supply and distribution of petroleum products.

He said the corporation had in stock about 2.6 billion litres of petroleum products that could serve the country’s energy needs for the next two months, stating that the NNPC was collaborating with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the supply and distribution value chain was not disrupted to guarantee energy security for the country.

Covid-19: UK Prime Minister health worsens, moved to ICU

Samad UTHMAN
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BORIS Johnson, UK Prime Minister has been moved to an intensive care unit in a London hospital after his health conditions took turn for worse ten days after he tested positive for Coronavirus.

According to Downing Street,  the Prime Minister was moved on the advice of his medical team and is receiving care at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London.

Downing added that the United kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab will deputise Johnson where neccessary

The 55-year old Prime Minister was admitted to hospital in London with “persistent symptoms” on Sunday evening.

According to BBC, Guto Harri, Boris Johnson’s Communications Director when he was mayor of London, explained why he was taken to the hospital.

“There has tragically been quite clearly a deterioration that is quite significant for him to now have to succumb to intensive care and to have to deputise formally to the foreign secretary,” he said.

Harri said in the four years he worked for  Johnson, “I don’t think he was ill once” and said the PM would be “hugely frustrated” that he cannot now take the lead.

“I think what’s clearly happened over the last few weeks, there have been enormous decisions about lives and livelihoods… and he’d have felt that the important thing was he was out there, he was seen to lead from the front and he probably wouldn’t have slept well and would have been working too hard.”

Borris Johnson was initially taken to hospital for routine tests after testing positive for coronavirus 10 days ago. His symptoms included a high temperature and a cough.

 

FG approves employment of 774,000 Nigerians in new special public works programme

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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FG approves employment of 774,000 Nigerians in new special public works programme

THE Federal Government on Monday announced plans to employ 774,000 Nigerians from the 774 Local Government Areas  in the country.

One thousand persons would be employed from each of the 774 Local Government Areas under the scheme  described as Federal Government’s special public works programme.

Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning disclosed this during a briefing held in Abuja on fiscal measures among other interventions the current administration intends to deploy to reduce the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the minister, about N60 billion was already set aside from the COVID-19 crisis intervention fund for the project, basically for allowances and operational cost.

She noted that the programme had earlier commenced in eight states across the federation and being implemented by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), as a pilot special public works programme after presidential approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ahmed added that the president had now approved it’s extention to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT from October to December 2020.

“The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning are also evaluating how best to extend the Special Public Works Programme, to provide modest stipends for itinerant workers to undertake Roads Rehabilitation and Social Housing Construction,” the Minister said.

“And also Urban and Rural Sanitation, Health Extension and other critical services. This intervention will be undertaken in conjunction with the key federal ministries responsible for Agriculture, Environment, Health and Infrastructure, as well as the states, to financially empower individuals who lose their jobs due to the economic crisis.”

“Mr President has approved the establishment of a-N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund. The establishment of the Fund will involve drawing much-needed cash resources from various Special Funds and Accounts, in consultation with and with the approval of the National Assembly.

“The N500 billion is proposed to be utilized to upgrade healthcare facilities as earlier identified by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and approved by Mr President.

“This will help to finance the Federal Government’s Interventions to support states in improving healthcare facilities, finance the creation of a Special Public Works programme and Fund any additional interventions that may be approved by Mr President,” she added.

Abuja markets now to open three days a week for eight hours— FCT Minister

YEKEEN Akinwale
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Abuja markets now to open three days a week for eight hours— FCT Minister

MUHAMMAD Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on Monday directed that markets in the territory will now only operate three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 7.000 am to 2:00pm.

A statement issued by Anthony Ogunleye, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister explained that this was part of measures to limit the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in the FCT.

He stated that Bello issued this directive in Abuja on Monday, April 6 during a meeting with FCT Market Managers and the top hierarchy of the FCT Police Command, led by the FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma.

Ogunleye disclosed that Bello who was represented at the meeting by the Director of Security Services Department, Adamu Gwary, noted that that only retailers would be allowed to operate within the markets as wholesale services would not be permitted.

The Minister, according to him, however directed market managers and the FCT Police Command to ensure compliance with the directive by monitoring all entry and exit points of the various markets as well as activities of the traders.

He also advised FCT residents to patronize markets within their neighbourhoods rather than going to the major markets in the city centre, in order to limit the spread of the virus between communities in the FCT.

In his remarks, Bala Ciroma, the FCT Police Commissioner,  assured that the FCT Police Command would enforce the directive, even as he advised residents against flouting this regulation.

 

COVID-19: China records rise in asymptomatic cases, moves to tighten land borders

Ihuoma ILO
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COVID-19: China records rise in asymptomatic cases, moves to tighten land borders

THE National Health Commission of China said on Monday that 78 new asymptomatic cases had been identified as of the end of Sunday, compared with 47 the day before.

According to the Reuters, Hubei Province, the original epicentre, accounted for almost half the new asymptomatic cases.

It reported that 705 people with asymptomatic cases were under medical observation around mainland China.

The surge in asymptomatic cases, which China only began, reporting last week, poses a worry as Hubei’s capital, Wuhan prepares to allow people to leave the city on April 8 for the first time since it was locked down in late January.

Wuhan officials revoked the “epidemic-free” status of 45 residential compounds due to the emergence of asymptomatic cases and other unspecified reasons, according to a report on Monday by the official Xinhua news agency.

“Epidemic-free” status allows people living in Wuhan compounds to leave their homes for two hours at a time.

China has now reported a total of 81,708 cases, with 3,331 deaths. One new locally transmitted infection was reported in the latest data, in the Southern Province of Guangdong, down from five a day earlier in the same province.

China has closed its borders to foreigners as the virus spreads globally, though most imported cases have involved Chinese nationals returning from overseas.

The country began testing all international arrivals for the coronavirus from April 1, customs official, Song Yueqian said.

 

Schools are closed, shortage of supplies lingers – US laments as it evacuates 385 citizens from Nigeria

Seun DUROJAIYE
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Schools are closed, shortage of supplies lingers – US laments as it evacuates 385 citizens from Nigeria

THE United States(US) Mission informed it citizens just before evacuating about 385 of them from Nigeria the country was facing a shortage of supplies including toilet paper, canned and frozen foods.

The US Mission also told citizens willing to return home that schools were closed as up to 385 of them were evacuated on Monday, through the Murtala Muhammadu International Airport, Lagos amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a notice published on the Nigerian US Embassy website, the government told its citizens they would cater financially for themselves including bearing the cost of the flight back to the country as well as the cost of reaching their final destination.

In the notice, citizens on the verge of return to the US were informed that the hospitals in the country were  overwhelmed and those seeking to get back in the country would be liable for their health bills where their insurance lapses.

It was also highlighted in the notice that US citizens exiting Nigeria might not get the chance to return due to the travel ban and restriction placed on commercial international flights.

It advised that travelers brace up for the worst as they exit Nigeria in this COVID-19 period.

Currently, the US has recorded over 273,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 7,000 deaths as a result of the deadly virus, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In Nigeria, 232 cases of Coronavirus and five deaths have been recorded according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Court sentences Funke Akindele, husband to 14 days community service, fined N100,000 each

Seun DUROJAIYE
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Court sentences Funke Akindele, husband to 14 days community service, fined N100,000 each

NOLLYWOOD actress, Funke Akindele and her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz, have been sentenced to 14 days of community service for violating the lock down directive issued by the Lagos State Government to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The couple were also fined of N100,000 each after pleading guilty at the start of proceedings at a Lagos Island Magistrate Court on Monday.

They were arrested and charged to court after a video surfaced on the social media showing Akindele  hosting a house party during the weekend in clear violation of the social distancing guideline against Coronavirus.

According to reports, the couple would also go into isolation after the community service which entails educating some residents on the need for social distancing.

Akindele and her husband, came under fire for disregarding the law which was passed in the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday, March 26.

The Bill which was passed into law empowers the state Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to issue and enforce a lock down to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the state.

Titled ‘A Law to Combat and Stop the Spread of Coronavirus Pandemic in Lagos State and for Connected Purposes’, the Bill has 25 sections, one of which stipulates that anyone caught flouting the Coronavirus lock down directive will be jailed for a month or fined N100,000.

Besides the prosecution,  the actress has also suffered a hit on her brand.

Shortly after she was arrested for the offence, the Jenifa Diary creator, an advert for Dettol where she was preaching social distancing and improved personal hygiene, was pulled down from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)’s website, where it had previously been published.

In addition, NCDC distanced itself from the brouhaha when it clarified that it has not employed an ambassador to spread messages on preventive measures to be taken against Covid-19.

Also, Dettol, the brand directly linked to Akindele, stated that it did not condone any breach of directives issued to ensure safety of citizens against the spread of the deadly virus.

At the moment, Lagos is the epicentre of the deadly virus in Nigeria, with a record of 120 confirmed cases according NCDC.

No link between 5G and coronavirus – NCC dispels rumour on danger of 5G

Seun DUROJAIYE
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No link between 5G and coronavirus – NCC dispels rumour on danger of 5G

THE Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has said that there is no link between fifth-generation (5G) technology and coronavirus, as recent rumour mill across social media has led many to believe.

In a press release sighted by The ICIR and signed by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Henry Nkemadu, the commission debunked some of the misinformation that has linked 5G with coronavirus and implied that the technology is being created to exterminate a large percentage of the world’s population, including Nigerians.

According to the commission, this idea is far from the truth.

The statement noted that 5G is a huge advancement from the 4G network currently used in the country and the mobile technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data, all of which will improve the quality of work and living for humans.

It was further explained that 5G is not available in Nigeria at the moment. The commission also revealed that there is no deployment for the mobile technology in the country but a trial test was approved and carried out for three months back in November 2019.

“The trial among others was to study and observe any health or security challenges the 5G network might present. Relevant stakeholders including members of the security agencies were invited to participate during the trial,” the statement pointed out.

The commission also discredited the news that 5G emits a copious amount of radiation that can ‘dry up blood’ and ‘kill everyone in the space of seconds’ as claimed in some messages shared on social media.

According to NCC, 5G is not different from 2G, 3G or even 4G as they all belong in the same class of Non-ionizing Radiation.

It buttressed that Nigerians shouldn’t worry themselves about 5G technology as “safety and human health are top priority in the design and deployment of 5G.”

In highlighting the benefits of the technology, NCC submitted that 5G is set to transform the world by connecting everyone with everything.

The commission says it will create millions of jobs, add billions of dollars to the economy (GDP), solve problems solve insecurity problems as well as improve governance and efficiency in the society.

NCDC pulls down Dettol advert with Funke Akindele from website, she may spend one month in jail

Seun DUROJAIYE
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NCDC pulls down Dettol advert with Funke Akindele from website, she may spend one month in jail

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday pulled down from its website, Funke Akindele’s Dettol advert in which she preached social distancing and improved personal hygiene, as public health advisory to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

This is coming shortly after Akindele, and her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC Skillz, were seen on tape hosting scores of people in their home as they celebrated a birthday party.

It was gathered that singer, Naira Marley, actress, Eniola Badmus and a host of others were present at the house party which outrightly flouts the coronavirus lockdown directive issued by Governor of Lagos State, Babjide Sanwo-Olu.

The directive prescribes a one month jail term or a fine of N100,000 for offenders who disregard the lockdown order.

As such, Funke Akindele has since been arrested and a man hunt for her husband and others at the house party is being carried out by the Lagos State Taskforce,  responsibile for enforcing the lockdown.

State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the actress had been taken to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba.

The NCDC has also issued a release on its official Twitter page, clarifying that they haven’t engaged any ambassador as part of measures taken to combat COVID-19 and urged Nigerians to maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

On its part, Dettol, the antiseptic brand directly associated with Akindele and partnered with NCDC put out a statement on Twitter saying that it doesn’t condone any breach of the guidelines on Covid-19 and spelled out that the actress flouted the law in her personal capacity.

However, it is unclear whether the brand has withdrawn its ambassadorial duties from her

Akindele may spend a month in jail or pay a fine of N100,000, if found guilty.

There is a large pool of unemployed medical personnel in Nigeria, don’t invite Chinese medical doctors, NMA tells FG

Lukman ABOLADE
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There is a large pool of unemployed medical personnel in Nigeria, don’t invite Chinese medical doctors, NMA tells FG

THE Nigeria Medical Association has slammed the Federal Government over plans to invite Chinese Medical practitioners to battle COVID-19 in the country, saying there is a large pool of unemployed medical personnel in Nigeria.

In a press statement signed by the President of NMA, Francis Faduyile, who said ‘the association is aware of a large pool of General Medical and Specialist Practitioners who are either unemployed or underemployed that can be engaged instead of bringing
foreigners who aside from national security concerns may not be conversant with our culture.”

Faduyile added that the government should rather channel its attention to the unavailability of enough COVID-19 test centres and protective kits in the country.

NMA noted that whatever experience the Chinese doctors might have to offer Nigeria could be explained digitally, also adding that the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC, Chikwe Ihelkweazu had just recently returned from China.

The association noted that the FG’s intention is an abuse on the extant laws that guides medical profession in Nigeria.

Faduyile said the invitation is also an embarrassment on Nigeria medical practitioners who have been working ‘under deplorable condition’ to rid the country of the health crisis.

“In rejecting the invitation of the Chinese doctors, the NMA would instead urge the Federal Government to review and approve better welfare incentives to the frontline medical personnel, the provision of adequate personal protective equipment, opening and properly equipping more isolation centres and health facilities across the country is an excellent first step,” the statement further read.

 

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