Edwin ClarkAs the former Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, clocked 93 today, May 26, President Muhammadu Buhari congradulated him, describing him as “the grnad old man.
No fewer than 112 people who were among the over 180 people that attended Church service in Frankfurt, Germany, are believed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus.
According to Rene Gottschalk, head of the German city’s local health authority today, May 26, another 150 people are being assessed after they had contact with those who have tested positive.The service at the Evangelical Christian Baptist Church was attended by 180 people, Gottschalk said.
Many of the infections occurred after worshippers left the service. The Frankfurt church community initially insisted that all hygiene and distancing measures currently in place to curb the pandemic were adhered to, but a statement posted on its website yesterday admitted to shortcomings.
“In retrospect, it would be appropriate for us to wear protective mouth-and-nose covers during the service and to refrain from singing together,” it said.
Places of worship have gradually reopened in Germany over the past month, along with various other areas of public life, due to gains made in reducing the rate of infection.
Source: dpa/NAN.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine, as potential treatment for coronavirus after a publication indicated that it’s use could increase the likelihood of dying.
Director-General WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who spoke today, May 25 at a virtual press conference, said: “the WHO-backed trials had been suspended while the safety is reviewed.
“It’s important to continue to gather evidence on the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine.
“We want to use it if it’s safe and efficacious, reduces mortality, reduces the length of hospitalization without increasing adverse events,” WHO Chief Scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, added at the press briefing in Geneva.
President Buhari addresses the nation on Covid-19 outbreak
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on African leaders to move fast to silence the gun as the best condition for sustainable development.
In a message to African leaders to mark the ”Africa Day 2020,” commemorated by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), President Buhari said that Africa has given the world a new hope by choosing the theme ”Silencing the Guns in the context of the COVID-19” for this year’s Africa Day.
He stressed the need for African leaders to ensure that every effort is made to silence the guns on the continent, emphasizing the need to sensitize Africans about the inseparable connection between peace and development.
”Peace, security, unity and harmony are prerequisites for development in Africa.”
Buhari advised citizens all over the continent to innovate on ”Silencing the Guns” aimed at achieving peace and development of African economies.
He called on regional economic groups, civil society organizations and the private sector in Africa to take full ownership of the theme of this year’s celebration to strengthen collaborative efforts among member-countries of the African Union.
Africa Day is observed annually on 25 May, to commemorate the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union, which was created on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The National President of Tomato Out Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Abdulahi Ringim, has lamented the resurfacing of pest called Tuta Absoluta, which is invading their farms across the country.
According to him, Tuta absoluta, one of the most devastating pests, had so far spread to Kaduna and Katsina states.
Photo credit: ICIR
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, is in trouble with the government of the United States of America as it called for an independent probe into several allegations against him.
Some of the allegations, contained in a petition by some staffers of the bank include “unethical conduct, private gain, an impediment to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities”
On May 5, the ethics committee of the continental bank, headed by Takuji Yano, said in its report that Adesina was not guilty on all counts.
But in a letter by US Treasury Secretary, Stephen Mnuchin, dated 22nd May and addressed to Niale Kaba, chair of AfDB’s board of governors, rejected the findings by the ethics committee of the bank that “totally exonerated” Adesina.
The involvement of the US Treasury, which owns the largest non-African stake in the bank, is coming a fortnight after the ethics committee claimed it found no proof to back accusations of favouritism against the AfDB President.
Adesina, who has consistently denied the allegations, is the sole contender for the election into the AfDB’s presidency timed to hold at its annual general meeting this August.
“We have deep reservations about the integrity of the committee’s process. Instead, we urge you to initiate an in-depth investigation of the allegations using the services of an independent outside investigator of high professional standing,” Mnuchin said.
The US has a 6.5 per cent stake in the lender, the largest shareholding after Nigeria as of November 2019, according to the AfDB’s website.
US criticism of the bank’s internal processes follows comments by World Bank President, David Malpass, in February that multilateral lenders including the AfDB tend to provide loans too quickly, and, in the process, add to African nations’ debt problems.
The bank rebutted the statements as “inaccurate and not fact-based.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that Nigeria has no money to import food, saying that the savin grace against the nation being thrown into hunger is for the farmers to take up the challenge of embarking on massive production of food.
The President, who spoke today, May 24 shortly after observing this year’s Eid prayer alongside members of his family and few presidential aides at the presidential villa, Abuja, said: “I hope the raining season would be bountiful, so that we get a lot of food.
“I wish the farmers will go to farms and save the lives so that we can produce what we need in sufficient quantity so that we don’t have to import food.
“In any case, we don’t have any money to import food. So we must produce what we are going to eat.’’
President Buhari advised Nigerians to strictly adhere to guidelines and measures put in place against the spread of coronavirus in the country.
According to him, the pandemic had reduced both developed and developing nations to the same level, even as he advised Nigerians to always be careful so as to avoid infections.
“Nigerians can see that the COVID-19 has reduced us, both the developing and developed countries, to the same level. In fact, we have least casualties than they we have.
“So, it’s a very frightening development and I advised Nigerians to be very careful and take the advice of the Ministry of Health. Ministers of Health have been doing very well, speaking and educating the citizens on the deadly virus.
“So Nigeria, we should be very careful.’’
The First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, who also observed the Eid prayer with the president, thanked almighty Allah for sparing the lives of Muslim ummah throughout the Ramadan period.
Aisha, who enjoined the Nigerian women to continue to be in the forefront in the fight the Coronavirus pandemic across the country, prayed that Allah would forgive the sins of those who lost their lives as a result of the virus, and grant them Aljanah Firdausi.
“We must thank the almighty Allah for the successful completion of the holy Month of Ramadan, despite the current difficult circumstances we found ourselves.
“I wish to thank the Federal Ministry of Health and also the NCDC for their efforts in combating the pandemic.”
President Muhammadu Buhari poses with Aisha (his wife) and children in happy mood, after observing Eid prayer with them in the vicinity of the Presidential villa, Abuja, today, May 24 (1st of Shawwal), marking the end of the 30-day Fasting.
New Moon: It’s Excitement, Imagination, Not Real, By Tijjani Umara
The truth is that before anyone goes westwards to sight the moon, such a person must arm himself with some basic facts.
The person must know the sunset and moonset times for that day. He must know if the moon will set before or after sunset . If possible he or she should know the exact time for the Conjunction (literally, birth of the new moon)
The young crescent that is sighted in the west must have stayed at least several hours (sometimes may be up to 23 hrs) from it’s birth. A newly born moon (which is invisible to anything you can think of) is what is called the Astronomical new moon. The exact time of the moon birth can now be calculated based on some formulas/algorithms and these calculations are accurate to the nearest minute!
A young crescent is usually sighted after sunset usually several hours after the newly born invisible moon. It can’t be seen before sunset, the sunlight will obscure it. One of today’s sighting claim (from Zamfara) was said to have been rejected because the person said he saw a crescent at a time that was some minutes before sunset!
When a moon is born, it must meet some criteria before it is visible to the eye or even a telescope. The moon must be separated from the sun by angle of at least 8⁰ for it to reflect adequate sunlight before it can be sighted on earth.
Secondly the moon must be at least 5⁰ above the horizon (above the sun) before it’s visible.
The above criteria coincided with a moon age of at least 15 hrs after birth. Mind you even a 21 hr old moon may not be visible if the elongation is less than 8⁰!
The record for the youngest Moon ever seen with optical aid was 11hours 40mins goes to Mohsen G. Mirsaeed of Tehran who saw it on September 7, 2002.
The youngest crescent ever seen by the naked eye was 15hours 32mins from it’s birth observed by Stephen James O’Meara in may 1990.
In Nigeria, the moon of Shawwal was ‘born’ at 6:36pm Kano time (ie time of Conjunction) and this same moon was to set at 6:40. This is about 4 mins before sunset.
How can anyone claim he saw a 6 mins old moon that was going to set before sunset? Even the most powerful telescope cannot achieve this talkless of human naked eyes. There’s nowhere in the world where visibility criteria were met. This made sighting difficult.
For today’s sighting claims, It could be one of the so many things people mistakenly think as the moon. In our times, there are numerous man-made flying objects, helicopters, air-planes, and satellites, that sometimes reflect sun light in such a way that people take it as a moon. A piece of c-shaped thin streak of cloud, a jet-smoke, or even a small piece of hair stuck to eye-glasses has been considered the Hilal by many sincere Muslims. Sometimes, the zeal of sighting, brings shear imagination that the person thinks (s)he has seen the moon.
And finally Nigeria’s criteria for declaration of the beginning or end of lunar months is based mainly on sighting except for month of Dhulhijja when we rely on Saudi.
Let us examine the conjunction (in Makkah) as a possible basis of starting a month. Remember, the conjunction can occur at any time between 24 hours. Suppose the conjunction occurs at 11pm GMT (Sunday), then at that moment Makkah time is 2am (Monday). Should England start the month on Monday and Saudi Arabia start the month on Tuesday?
Now, if someone says that let us make Makkah as our basis and whatever day in Makkah, the conjunction occurs the next day the new month starts. The problem with this is that if conjunction occurs at 0:01am (Monday) of Makkah time then at that moment it is 2:01pm (Sunday) in Hawaii. Should Hawaii start the month on Monday and Saudi Arabia start the month on Tuesday?
Look at another case: Suppose the conjunction occurs at 11:59pm (Sunday) Makkah time then at that moment it is 5:59am (Monday) in Tokyo. Should Japan start the month on Tuesday and Saudi Arabia start the month on Monday?
If someone says, ignore what time it is in other locations of the world, just go by Makkah time, then why do we have different prayer times for every city? Why not adopt Makkah Prayer Time all over the world. In essence Nigeria is not ‘following’ Saudi in this case. It just happens that the moon cannot be sighted in Saudi or Nigeria.
We can call it a coincidence of fate!
Dr. Umara wrote in from Abuja.