Lassa fever hits lagos

A case of Lassa fever has been confirmed in Lagos.

The  victim ,identified as a 25-year-old student from the Ahmadu Bello University case,  was diagnosed with the ailment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba.

The patient  was first admitted  at a private hospital in Ojokoro area of Lagos State.

Health  Minister  Isaac Adewole said the patient was  responding to treatment.

The minister had,last week,confirmed 40 deaths from a Lassa fever outbreak in parts of the country.

The death toll increased by one with the loss of a patient  at the National Hospital,Abuja during the week.

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Bird Flu is back

Two days ago, the Kano state Government, through the Directorate of Veterinary Service in the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed that the dreaded Bird flu disease had returned to the country, with the report of several cases in the state.



It would be recalled that the disease was prevalent in the country between January and September 2015.



During this outbreak, 491 poultry farms were affected in 21 states, which led to the loss of 1.7 million birds. The economic value of last year’s bird flu epidemic cost Nigeria N10 billion.

After Jigawa state advised its residents to take precautionary measures, the government of Anambra state has also followed suit.

In a statement released by Dr Barr Mrs Uju Nwogu, Hon. Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Anambra state, the public was alerted on the return of the disease.

Read the statement below:

The Anambra State Government alerts members of the public about the resurgence of Avian Influenza popularly called Bird Flu in some states across the country. This disease which is usually associated with birds can also be transmitted from bird to man.

Bird Flu can be transmitted through direct contact with infected birds or poultry materials. The Symptoms of the disease include fever, sneezing, cough, diarrhea, trouble breathing, general ill feeling, muscle aches, runny nose and sore throat.

Members of the public are by this announcement advised to observe personal hygiene, and to wash their hands with soap and clean water after contact with birds and poultry product.

They should also ensure that all poultry meat and eggs are thoroughly cooked before eating. All poultry farmers in the state are also advised to clean their surroundings, and to report cases of sick birds to the nearest veterinary clinic.

Similarly all veterinary officers in the state are by this announcement requested to commence surveillance/sensitization visits particularly at Live-bird markets in the state to avoid the contact and spread of the flu.

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Naira depreciates again, now N300/$ at Parallet Market

Monday’s stoppage of foreign exchange sales to Bureau De Change operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria failed to lift the naira on Tuesday as the currency exchanged for 300 against the United States dollar in Kano, 290 in Lagos and 292 in Abuja.

Financial experts said the naira would decline further, while private sector operators described the move as a welcome development.

The ban was announced on Monday, when naira trading at 285 against the dollar at the parallel market from 278 on Friday.

The Acting President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, told one of correspondents in a telephone interview that the currency traded against the greenback at 300, 290 and 292 in Kano, Lagos and Abuja a day after the CBN announcement.

“There is cut of (dollar) supply to the market. The BDC sub-sector has been murdered. We are not coping. The naira is going to head northwards. There is no solution in sight,” Gwadabe lamented.

The Head of Investment Research, Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Mr. Ayodeji Ebo, said the stoppage of forex sale to the BDCs meant that the CBN wanted everybody to apply to the banks for dollars.

He stated, “But we feel the pressure now will move from the BDCs to the parallel market. We will see significant spike in the value of the naira at the parallel market because the little supply to the BDCs have also helped to cushion the demand at the parallel market.

“It will further compound or increase the spread between the parallel market and the interbank market. So, it will also increase round-tripping and unethical practices within the financial system.”

On the lifting of the ban on cash deposits into domiciliary accounts, Ebo said, “I am still sceptical about how this will work except they are also assuring us that if you deposit it, you can consummate business with it.”

A professor of financial economics at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Leo Ukpong, said, “I don’t think the stoppage of dollar sale to the BDCs will solve the problem. The currency will depreciate some more.

“This move will make the naira to weaken more as demand for dollar will skyrocket because of the short supply.”

Members of the organised private sector, however, applauded the CBN for the stopping the sale of dollars to the BDCs and lifting the ban on cash deposits into domiciliary accounts.

The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs, said industrialists had earlier kicked against the funding of the BDCs by the central bank, adding that with the development, the forex could be channelled towards funding the real sector in terms of importation of raw materials.

On the removal of the restriction of cash deposits into domiciliary accounts, Jacobs said manufacturers were still waiting for more clarification as to how the money deposited could be utilised by the customers.

The Director-General, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mr. Emmanuel Cobham, said the forex sale ban was a welcome development.

According to him, although the BDCs are necessary in the economy, they are licensed entities and should, therefore, source for their own funds.

Also speaking on the matter, the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, lauded the forex policy review, noting that it had addressed the concerns of economic operators.

According to him, it is a source of worry that the CBN continues to maintain its official exchange rate at N199 to the dollar at a time of dwindling forex inflow.

“The pressure on the official window will persist. The risk of round-tripping and distortions in the foreign exchange market will consequently remain high,” he said.

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2016 Budget Documents re reportedly declared Stolen From National Assembly

The documents of the 2016 budget handed over by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 22, 2015 have been reportedly declared missing, Premium Times informs.
As the Nigerian Senate was going to commence deliberation on the proposed budget today, Tuesday, Senate leader Ali Ndume disclosed that the hard and soft copies of the budget documents had been stolen.

According to people familiar with the matter, Ndume explained that deliberation on the budget could therefore not begin until fresh copies of the documents were obtained from the presidency, the Ministry of Finance or that of national planning.

Danjuma Goje, the chairman of Senate Committee of Appropriation, was appointed to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the senior special assistant to the president on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.

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Nigerian Police Launch Mobile Application called SMART POLICE [DOWNLOAD HERE]

I'm happy to inform you that Nigeria police force has stepped up towards competing with their counterparts across the globe by going digital.

This time a mobile application has been launched. You can report any case with 100% convenience and the most interesting part of it is that you can choose to do all these without revealing ur identity.


Click Here to download the application.


Criminals are in real trouble this time.

Steps on how to activate the app.

Click on open to launch it.

Then register (You must register before you will be able to use the app).

Ways through which you cn register.

Click on the menu at the top left hand side of the screen.

Facebook
Google+
Anonymous login (your details will be unknown)

Create account.

You can use the Panic mode Button to make a distress call at ease.

You can equally make incident report.

You don't need to be looking for phone numbers any longer.

You can also interact with Nigerian police force.

This is used by the force to monitor how the men in the police force responds to distress call.

Remember if registered with your email, your identity will be known, a confirmation email will be sent to your inbox.

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3032 soldiers rejects redeployment to battle fronts in the northeast

Thousands of soldiers who were pardoned last August for various alleged offences during campaigns against the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, have rejected redeployment to the battle fronts in the northeast.

The soldiers totaling about 3032 soldiers, explained that they were never really pardoned and re-integrated into the Army, but rather, re-sentenced to the war front.

Vanguard reports that this created anxiety at the command and staff college, Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI), in Jaji, Kaduna state.

The soldiers who claimed to have been subjected to unimaginable ill treatment after their pardon – were gathered by the commandant of NASI, Major General Kassim Aldulkareem, to inform them that they have been assigned new riffles and should be ready for deployment to the fronts on Monday, January 11, 2016.

Sources inform that the soldiers complained that they have not been fully re-instated into the Nigerian Army, because attempts by them to report to their units were rejected at their bases since they have no re-instatement letters.

The soldiers also said that since they have been kicked out of the barracks they have not been paid for seven months making their families who live off-barracks begging for food.

Witnesses said they cried, “We are not going! Give us re-instatement letters! You are sentencing us back to war,” among others.

According to sources, the commandant hurriedly left when the soldiers were becoming uncontrollable.

One of the soldiers who spoke to some newsmen on grounds of anonymity, said: “Look at me; I have put in about 28 years of my life serving this country. I have seen action in Liberia; I have been to Rwanda, Sudan and even served overseas and we the Nigerian troops did very well and were decorated in some occasions.

“But, our experience in fighting to save our motherland is too sad a story for the outside world to know. We are not cowards. We held on for over four months facing Boko Haram.

“I just want to say that after the Army dismissed about 5,000 of us, 3032 of us were pardoned last August. Since that time, the Army Authority has treated us like prisoners of wars.”
“We were told to assemble in Jaji on August 17, which we did. Then on August 19, the General Officer Commander (GOC), of 1st Infantry Division, Maj Gen Adeniyi Oyebade gathered us and without prior noticed moved us to Nigerian Army training Centre (NATRAC), Kontogora. Some of us found ourselves there in bathroom slippers. We were just taken straight to the place. Then, without any additional clothes or uniform, we were subjected to what was clear punishment, not training for another three weeks.

“Still in the clothes we came, we were again relocated to 333 artillery Barracks, Njetilo, Maiduguri. We got nothing but constant insults as cowards. We were there without uniforms no arms. They just left us there and we were abused and told to assemble at every two hours through these days for another three weeks.

“In Jaji, we went through another round of punishment, not training. Yet, we were not given any letter to show that we are still serving soldiers.

“So when the Commandant came and said we were going back to the North East, without clearing our status, we felt we have been punished enough.” the soldier said.

Spokesman for the Nigerian Infantry Corps, Major CK Abaide, told pressmen on phone that he was not aware of the development. He said he would get back to the correspondents to share the army’s side of the story.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian army on Wednesday, January 6, said that implementing the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the federal government was reason for the delay in payment of allowances to some of its officers.

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MTN Buys Visafone, Sacks 2000 Workers

Reports has it that over 2,000 employees of Visafone have been immediately sacked as MTN Nigeria completes its acquisition of Visafone.

Reliable sources reveal that MTN completed the acquisition of Visafone, the only surviving Code Division Multiple Access operator in the country, before the end of 2015.

When contacted, MTN Nigeria neither denied nor confirmed the deal, but said the management was already working on a statement that would be made available to journalists later in the day or today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, the disengagement of the 2000 staff members took effect from January 5, 2016 with a payment of three months' salaries as severance package.

The only categories of employees said to be left were those in the personnel and transmission departments.

A senior management employee at Visafone confirmed the sacking, but was quick to refer media enquiries to MTN because he was not authorised to speak on the deal.

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