INSTANT NEWS

Professor Mabel Ifeoma Onwuka, a soil science expert at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike, Abia State, has cautioned farmers against planting crops at dumpsites, warning that it could lead to cancer. Speaking during a community outreach event, she expressed concerns about poor soil texture in the southeast region and advocated for measures to mitigate looming food insecurity. Onwuka identified harmful cultural practices such as bush burning, population pressure, climate change, erosion, and indiscriminate fertilizer use as major factors affecting soil fertility and leading to poor yields. She warned farmers to avoid planting crops at waste dump sites, as heavy metals like mercury, lead, and chromium can be absorbed by crops and lead to cancer and other health conditions. The professor also addressed the recent surge in food prices, encouraging Nigerians to grow their own crops. She demonstrated biochar production and organic fertilizer conversion using domestic and agricultural waste, urging Abia farmers to utilize MOUAU's community services to boost food production. Onwuka lamented the difficulty rural women face in accessing fertilizers and emphasized the importance of extending research innovations to rural farmers to enhance food production in Abia and Nigeria.

Pharmacist Umeh Camillus Chibueze, MD/CEO of Camillus Pharmaceuticals, has warned that many people are unaware they have been infected with cholera, a highly infectious disease that can lead to dehydration and death if left untreated. Chibueze attributes the spread of cholera to poor sanitation, crowding, and inadequate healthcare, and criticizes the government for not doing enough to stem the tide. Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, found in contaminated food or water. Symptoms include severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration, which can lead to death if left untreated. Chibueze notes that most people infected with cholera are unaware of their status, and can still infect others through contaminated water or food. To prevent the spread of cholera, Chibueze recommends avoiding tap water, well water, raw food, and undercooked seafood. He also advises drinking bottled water, eating prepackaged food, disinfecting water, washing fruits and vegetables with clean water, and avoiding street vendor food. Chibueze emphasizes the importance of hand hygiene, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Chibueze also criticizes the government's response to the cholera outbreak, citing a lack of effective policy and awareness. He calls for increased education and awareness, similar to the approach taken by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the US. By taking preventive measures and improving healthcare infrastructure, Chibueze believes that cholera can be prevented and controlled.

Dynamic Ambassadors for Social Transformation and Orientation Initiative, a advocacy group, has condemned the continued mistreatment of Nigerians in diaspora, describing the situation as alarming. The group visited the headquarters of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) in Abuja to protest the general maltreatment of Nigerian citizens abroad, with a specific focus on the detention of Pastor Benjamin Egbaji in Benin Republic. According to DAILY POST, Nigerians had recently staged a protest at the Benin Republic Embassy in Abuja, urging the Nigerian government to intervene in Pastor Egbaji's case and address the xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in several countries. Samson Eze, media coordinator of the group, led the delegation to NiDCOM and stated that over 5,000 Nigerians are currently detained in Benin Republic, in addition to Pastor Egbaji. Eze expressed disappointment that the Nigerian government has not taken sufficient action to address the situation, despite the country's proximity to Nigeria. He called on the government to apply the principle of reciprocity and demonstrate its power in response to the unacceptable behavior from the authorities in Benin Republic. The group also suggested that Pastor Egbaji may have been set up due to his popularity in the country, and lamented the hatred and victimization of Nigerians in diaspora. Responding, NiDCOM spokesman Abdur-Rahman Balogun assured the group that the government has intervened in Pastor Egbaji's case by providing additional legal representation, which he believes will help in his case. Balogun stated that the government will apply diplomatic efforts to ensure justice for the Nigerian detainee, but advised Nigerians to be law-abiding in their host countries. He emphasized that the government's intervention would be more effective if cases against Nigerians abroad are not based on criminality and infringement of the laws of their host countries. The group's visit to NiDCOM is a follow-up to their previous protests and calls for the government to take action against the maltreatment of Nigerians in diaspora. The continued detention of Pastor Egbaji and other Nigerians in Benin Republic has sparked outrage among Nigerians, with many calling for the government to take decisive action to protect its citizens abroad.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Tuesday hailed Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for delivering on his words to pay frontline health workers daily allowances in appreciation of their work.

Kwara State Chairman of the NMA Dr Kolade Solagberu said in a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, that AbdulRazaq has fulfilled his promise to pay decent allowances to all the health workers involved in the COVID-19 campaign.

While medical doctors are being paid N25,000 daily, all other categories of health workers in the frontline are getting varying allowances on a daily basis to encourage them to do more.

“This is to appreciate Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who has kept to his words by fulfilling all promises, especially the recently disbursed financial motivations to the Frontline Healthcare workers in Kwara State who are actively involved in facing the COVID-19 challenge in the State,” Dr Solagberu said.

“This is no doubt motivating and an added impetus towards driving the ready spirit of the health workers. 

“The Kwara State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association is proud to have you as our Governor at this crucial time and shall sustain our collaborative stance to further break newer grounds for an overall improved health care system in Kwara State.”


The government meanwhile has commended the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for its technical support for the state’s medical team, saying the NCDC delegation would be leaving Kwara better prepared to manage COVID-19 and similar cases in the future.

“I write on behalf of His Excellency Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the good people of Kwara State to express our profound appreciation for your noble contribution while in the state particularly in the fight against COVID-19,” Kayode Alabi, Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Kwara State Technical Committee, said in a letter addressed to the NCDC team which departed the state on Tuesday.

“Your expertise and technical know-how has tremendously improved the state’s healthcare services especially during this crucial time of combating the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic. It is also pertinent to state that the history of the present health challenges will not be complete without your contribution written in gold.”

The NCDC delegation, led by Dr Shuaib Belgore, arrived Kwara a few weeks ago to drill the state’s medical team on the handling of the pandemic, resulting in strengthened capacity and capability of the state to tackle the pandemic.

The Gombe State House of Assembly has recommended total lockdown of the state following the outbreak of Coronavirus in the state.

Abubakar Ibrahim, Speaker of the house stated this at the plenary session on Tuesday in Gombe.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state recorded five positive index cases of the virus on Monday.

The speaker stressed the need for a quarantine centre for all people coming into the state to be restricted for 14 days before being allowed entry.

He said the house recommended the use of NYSC temporary orientation camp, Amada in Akko Local Government Area of the state, along Gombe-Bauchi Road as quarantine centre.

According to him, the house decries the attitude of some security agencies that allegedly allow people to come into the state which leads to having the positive cases in the state.

He directed the house committee on security to meet with the heads of security agencies in the state on the matter and the way forward.

Ibrahim also expressed the need for more awareness campaigns against the spread of COVID-19, especially among women, adding that all forms of social gatherings must be stopped.

He further emphasised the need for everyone in the state including the governor to undergo a test toward containing the spread of the virus.

NAN also reports that the house approved the appointments of Chairmen and members of the State Civil Service Commission and State Independent Electoral Commissioners forwarded by Gov. Inuwa Yahaya (NAN)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Africa, 112 health workers from 16 countries have been infected.

WHO disclosed this in a weekly Bulletin on outbreaks and other Emergencies week 16 which covers April 13 to 19 released on Tuesday and posted on WHO Africa twitter account @WHOAFRO.



This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region.

The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 108 events in the region.

This week’s main articles cover key new and ongoing events, including COVID-19 in the WHO African Region, Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Measles in the Democratic Republic the Congo.

According to the report, Cameroon has reported the highest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases of health workers at 25, followed by Niger,13; South Africa,13; Mauritius,11; Cote d’Ivoire, seven; Sierra Leone, 11 and Republic of Congo,4.

The report stated that the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 10 confirmed cases of health workers, Togo, six; Madagascar, five; Namibia, two and Benin, Central African Republic, Eswatini, Guinea-Bissau, and Kenya recorded one case each.



According to the bulletin, most 96 per cent, representing 45 countries in the WHO African Region have been affected by the current COVID-19 global pandemic, with only Comoros and Lesotho reporting no cases.

Since week nine of 2020 (week ending Feb. 25), when the outbreak was first detected in the region, a marked increase in the number of confirmed cases has been observed.

In week 16 (week ending April 19), a total of 4, 405 new confirmed cases was reported, compared to 3 473 cases reported the previous week, a 27 per cent increase in the total number of reported cases.

In addition, there was a 43 per cent increase in the number of deaths (658) observed since the previous week, when 461 deaths were reported.

As of 19 April 2020, a cumulative total of 14, 068 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 658 associated deaths (case fatality ratio 4.7 per cent) have been reported across 45 countries in the WHO African Region.

Some of the countries most affected are: South Africa, 3 158; Algeria, 2,626; Ghana, 1 042, Cameroon, 1 016; Cote d’Ivoire, 847; Niger, 648; Burkina Faso, 565 and Nigeria 541 confirmed cases.

These eight countries account for 74 per cent of the cases reported in the region. Notably, two countries (Republic of Congo and Tanzania observed an exponential increase in their number of confirmed cases in week 16.

Tanzania observed an increase in the number of confirmed cases which rose by 434 per cent from 32 to 171 cases and the Republic of Congo by 104 per cent from 70 to 143 cases.

Seven countries Angola, Gambia, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and South Sudan have not reported any new confirmed COVID-19 case during week 1.

The bulletin further stated that 658 deaths occurred in 31 countries.

Six countries in the region have shown very high case fatality ratios: Algeria 14 per cent which 375 deaths out of 2, 629 confirmed cases and Democratic Republic of Congo 8.0 per cent (25/332).

Mali recorded 6.3 per cent fatality ratio (14/224), Burkina Faso 6.4 per cent (36/565), Kenya 5.2 per cent (14/270) and Republic of Congo 4.2 per cent (11/143).

According to the report, the COVID-19 outbreak continues to expand rapidly in the WHO African Region, with 96 per cent (45/47) of countries being affected.

Only Comoros and Lesotho are still apparently free of the disease. The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is now 14 068 and the number of deaths is steadily growing, standing at 658, an increase of 43 per cent over the previous week.

The disease is now spreading from the capital cities to the inter-land, with most countries in the region experiencing local transmission, and a few progressing to community transmission.

Most countries are implementing lockdown measures of various types, with varying degree of societal impact.

To prevent this outbreak from further intensifying in the region, it is critical that all governments step up implementing a strong public health response:

“Physical distancing, handwashing, finding cases, providing care and isolation, contact tracing and isolation and additionally, countries need to ensure,’’ it added.

In addition, WHO emphasised that the outbreak of COVID-19 had spread to most countries in the WHO African Region, with an associated upsurge in the number of cases and deaths in the past weeks.

The agency said that many countries were now experiencing local transmission, with a few beginning to see widespread community transmission.

Rigorous efforts are needed to bring this situation under control.

WHO continues to advise all countries in the region to scale up their public health response measures aimed to contain further spread of the disease.

In areas with the widespread or potential widespread transmission, countries will need to quickly adapt mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic.

(NAN)

…To start “supervised quarantine”

…Gov Sanwo-Olu becomes Chief Incident Commander

In a bid to prevent an outbreak of the fast-spreading Novel Coronavirus, the Lagos State Government on Monday launched an Incident Command System.

The health emergency structure is being set up to help with containment in the unlikely event of outbreaks of the virus in the State.

Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi explained that the Novel Coronavirus is a new pathogen to the human race and as such, research is still ongoing on how to arrest it.

According to him, no suspected or confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus has been found in Lagos, warning residents against rumour-mongering on public health and safety.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while launching the Incident Command System said the measure is not to stigmatise citizens of any country but a precautionary one taken in the interest of the people.

The Command System will have the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the Incident Commander while the Commissioner for Health will serve as the Deputy Incident Commander.

The Governor noted that relevant health professionals, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of health, would be deployed to the Lagos International Airport for a higher level of monitoring.

The Governor assured that the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations will continue to escalate communication and create public awareness.

He said: “What we have started to do is to have what we call a heightened state concern on the Coronavirus. We are not declaring an emergency in any form but creating a heightened state concern.

“Also, the Honourable Commissioner through his Ministry will identify relevant health professionals that would, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of health, be deployed to our International Airports in Lagos where we would see a higher level of monitoring as well as organised level of incidence reporting layout.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu said that although the team expects people to be self quarantined, he, however, stressed that the State will carry out a supervised quarantine where details about immigrants will be taken at the point of entry while the team will do daily follow-ups through phone calls to identified individuals for a period of two weeks.

According to the Governor, the command will be in operation for the period of time the risk lasts. He assured that adequate preparation has been carried out to tackle the virus.

The Governor said: “This command will go on until when we believe and we have been given assurance that we have a stable and controlled environment but in the meantime, these exercises are going to be put in place and we are going to start things immediately.

“I also want to mention that we have started providing both human and material logistics required for this exercise.

“All of our major General Hospitals are also being prepared in event of an outpour into any of them. The hospitals in the mainland have tents coming up and extensive resources are being put in that particular health facility for them to be on standby in case of any suspected or identified case.”

Abayomi further added that the WHO has declared the novel coronavirus a global health concern, saying this will make the State Government step up scrutinising travellers coming in from the mostly affected region.

“We need to really ramp up the human capacity at the airport to be able to scrutinise all travellers coming in from particularly the routes that are coming in from the South East Asian regions.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Consul General of People’s Republic of China, Chu Moaming and the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Folashade Jaji were among the dignitaries present at the event.